Can We Do It Again, Please?

There are some days that I think I could relive over and over and wouldn’t want to change a thing about them. This past Saturday was definitely one of those days. Friday night I went with a group of friends to Smith Lake. Friday night just enjoyed spending time together. We spent the whole day Saturday on the lake riding boats and Seadoos, tubing, swimming, and just enjoying being together. I am so blessed to have such great friends and I loved spending the day with them.

Sidenote: I did not go tubing. Several years ago (I was probably 10 years old or so), I was riding in a tube behind a Seadoo. This particular tube didn’t have a bottom so I was trying to figure out a more comfortable way to ride. I thought it would be a good idea to get in the tube straight up and down (think about a little kid who is floating around a pool in an innertube). My chest down was underneath the water. As soon as the Seadoo driver took off the innertube (with me stuck in it by my life jacket) and the rope was instantly sucked underwater. I have no idea what Law of Physics this falls under but apparently if the majority of your body weight is underwater when a Seadoo takes off, the rest of you quickly will be to. I have not ridden a tube in a lake since then. I’m thinking next time we go it will be time to conquer that fear. I went bungee jumping, surely I can ride a tube!

I left the lake early Saturday afternoon to come home for Laura’s wedding. Laura and I have taught together the last two year and I L-O-V-E that girl! Her wedding was in the beautiful Cathedral of Saint Paul in downtown Birmingham. As I have said before, I don’t just love my job because of my sweet students, but I also have the best coworkers in the world who have become close friends.

Laura won the award for Most Animated Teacher this year:

Are you surprised?!?! Like I said, I L-O-V-E this girl!

And only at Laura Madonia's wedding do the guests have:

Glow Bracelets!!!

One final parting shot:

We wanted a picture of Laura with all of our Special Ed. staff who was there. This is what we got. A nice couple sitting at the table next to us said that they would take our picture. Wasn't that sweet of them? Well, when they looked at it, they kinda looked at each other, shrugged, and handed the camera back to me. When I looked back at the picture this was what we had. Next time I will ask the photographer if they've ever used a camera before....

Happy Summer to You!

I love my job! I know I have mentioned this before, but I really love my job! There are definitely some challenging days but I have no doubt that I am doing exactly what God has intended for me to do. Of course I feel blessed to work with the kids I work with everyday. It’s not just the kids who make my job great. I could not choose better people to work with.
We love getting together to celebrate outside of school and what a better time for teacher to celebrate, than the beginning of summer?!?! We gathered at Kristie’s house to eat, hang out, laugh, tell stories AND….tie dye!!! Yep! We tie dyed t-shirts. Actually I tie dyed a pillow case because I forgot to buy a t-shirt.

I had no idea how easy tie dying was. There’s even a DVD that comes with the kit.

Kristie and Jessie are our lead teachers. I love being able to say, “I have no clue. Ask Krisite and Jessie!” Really, they are great…super organized…and good at making the tough decisions. They gave each of us cute little cross necklaces as an end of the year gift. Very thoughtful!

We got to choose our favorite cross necklaces.

We were each supposed to bring an appetizer to share. My “go to appetizer” is Buffalo Chicken Dip. I love all things buffalo style with ranch dressing!

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
½ cup blue cheese salad dressing or ranch salad dressing
½ cup buffalo sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
2 cans (9.75 ounces) chicken

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Stir the cream cheese in 9 inch deep dish pie plate with fork or whisk until smooth. Stir in dressing, pepper sauce, and cheese. Stir in chicken. Bake for 20 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Stir before serving.
I don’t have any pictures of the finished product, but trust me, it looks delish!

Tonight I had a little Buffalo Chicken Dip drama though. I rode with Erica and as we were driving and talking I noticed something on my leg. The chicken dip was pouring out of the pie dish. Being the resourceful girls that we are EP and I quickly started screaming, “What do we do? What do we do?” We ended up stopping at a gas station for paper towels and went to work getting Buffalo Chicken Dip off the seat, my leg, shorts, shirt, purse and the side of the dish.

All smiles after the Buffalo Chicken Dip Incident...

Pomp and Circumstance!

Congratulations Class of 2010! This has been a very full May celebrating with my 2 favorite graduates this year.

William Rushton Syphurs

Hoover High School

Sam Mathis DeVane

Ensworth High School

I began babysitting for Rushton when he was 3 years old. The Syphurs went from being the family I babysit for to being a second family for me over the years. I am so proud of Rushton and Alyssa and can’t wait to see what God has planned for them for the future.

Rushton graduated from Hoover High School (where I am also a graduate) on Thursday night. The best moment of the night was seeing him walk in with his class with a smile that had such a sense of accomplishment and pride. That night is one of my new favorite “Rushton memories!”
Our celebration of Rushton’s graduation continued on Saturday. It was a great time for everyone who loves Rush to gather together just to let him know how proud we all are of him.

Congratulations Buddy!

Mom, Dawn and I traveled to Nashville on Saturday afternoon to see my cousin Sam graduate from Ensworth High School. I love any opportunity to spend time with my family and being able to celebrate with Sam made the time even better. Sam’s graduation had to be moved indoors to Lipscomb University due to the possibility of inclement weather. I have to say it was one of the liveliest graduation ceremonies I have been to and I loved it. The friends and families of the students at Ensworth were truly there to celebrate all they had accomplished. Listening to the speeches made by the four student speakers reminded me of high school…actually they made me miss high school.

We then had a delicious dinner hosted by Sam and Denise at their house following the ceremony. It was a special night to celebrate and create new memories for our family. We ended the weekend with the perfect southern family breakfast this morning at Loveless Café….amazing!!
As we ate breakfast Denise said that this weekend went just how she had imagined it and couldn’t agree more. It was a great time from Saturday to Sunday!

Great Aunt Jerri loves all of her nephews!

Baby James (Nolan and Olivia) and Baby Kate (Matthew and Courtney) will both be here soon!

Go Into All The World: Praying for Shanna!

My friend Shanna leaves tomorrow for Tanzania with e3 Ministries. She will be gone for 2 weeks working in some of the most remote parts of the country. Please remember Shanna and the rest of her team in your prayers. I cannot wait to hear all about her trip when she gets back. Love you Shan!

Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
Matthew 28:19-20

To Everything There is a Season...

To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under the sun. A time to be born and a time to die; a time to plant and a time to pick that which has been planted; a time to kill and a time to heal…a time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn and a time to dance….a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to lose and a time to seek; a time to rend and a time to sew; a time to keep silent and a time to speak; a time to love and a time to hate; a time for war and a time for peace. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Saturday morning, Emma Catherine Velotas was baptized at Holy Trinity Holy Cross Greek Orthodox Church.

Emma’s mom Mary is my cousin. I was Mary’s Maid of Honor when she and Jimmy were married almost 4 years ago. We have been very close ever since we were little girls and I am so excited now to have Emma a part of our lives. She was an angel during the service. I can’t wait to see the professional pictures from the church.

Emma Catherine Velotas

Emma’s beautiful cake to celebrate her baptism I love having Jimmy as my fousin (fake cousin). From the time I met him I knew that he and Mary were meant to be and I am so glad that he is a part of our family. There are so many things that I love about Jimmy, he is very kind, has a great sense of humor and will do anything for his friends and family; but I have to admit that one of my favorite is that he is Greek, which means he can cook and I get to enjoy delicious Greek cooking either from him or going to the Greek Food Festival every year! Hummus is a personal favorite but I really l love it all!

Little love from Grammy and Grampy
Brooke and John (Jimmy’s cousin and Emma’s godparents) hosted a delicious lunch for the guest of Emma’s baptism in their neighborhood . I don’t have any pictures of the service. I was caught up in watching the service and traditions that went along with baptism that I never took any, however, Mary did have a photographer and I will post pictures from him later to give you any idea of the many different traditions associated with infant baptism in the Greek Orthodox church.

While we celebrated Emma’s life through her baptism this week, our family is also walking through a valley. My cousin Robert passed away Thursday morning. We all love Robert very much and he will be so missed by all of us in the years to come. Robert loved being at the lake for the 4th of July and I will always think of him from now on when I am celebrating with family and friends. He also loved to torture his little cousins growing up at Mammaw's house. I remember many summer afternoons banging on Mammaw's door for Robert to unlatch the screen so that we could come inside. Love and miss you Robert!

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither present nor the things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39

Robert with Blair, Kathleen and Rebecca just after his December wedding.

A final celebration of Saturday was the wedding of Michael and Alice Moss. Spending time with friends on a beautiful early summer night was just a reminder to me that God is faithful. He holds us during the hard times and gives us opportunities to still see Him at work around us. I am so thankful that my hope and joy are not based on the temporary things of this world! My heart can be full of God’s love and a joy from Him even when I can't imagine where it comes from.

Alice and Michael's wedding was at Oxmorr Valley Golf Course. It was the perfect setting for an outdoor wedding. The weather had been a concern earlier in the day but turned out beautiful for the ceremony. Their reception was held in the clubhouse. We enjoyed the reception and dancing on the porch of the clubhouse overlooking the golf course as the sun set. Congratulations Michael and Alice and Best Wishes!

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. I Corinthians 13:13

The GAP girls celebrating Michael and Alice’s wedding with Steve.

Mr. and Mrs. Michael Moss

May the road rise to meet you, may the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face and the rain fall soft upon your fields. And until we meet again, may God hold you in the hollow of His hand. --Irish Blessing