well.

Hopefully everybody had a great Thanksgiving! I sure did! Saw about 25-30 of my family members on Thanksgiving day, and that's only a fraction of them. Most of them didn't come to do illness or other plans or...other things. LOL. You just gotta know my family. Anyway, it was good to see everyone, and of course, the food was very good. And there were lots of leftovers. And let's just say I'm over turkey until at least...Christmas. One of the most exciting things that happened while at my grandparents house was that my grandma's microwave blew up. Apparently it couldn't handle all of the leftover reheating, so it started popping with this weird noise anytime anyone turned it on. Eventually it was shooting flames out the back and so we decided to stop using it. (We Smiths are a stubborn bunch, if you haven't noticed.)

And how about those CHIEFS on Thursday....takin it to the BRONCOS! Oh yeah, that's what I'm talkin about. AND SUNDAY...with the Raiders. Yup...it's gotta be a good week when the Chiefs beat both the Broncos and the Raiders.

So then on Saturday I got to sleep in (yay, sleep!) and then that night, spend some quality time with some good friends. That was great fun. Thanks for having us over, Jeff!

Then Sunday was good with really great services at church. The sermons were really needed and relevant and it was good to be able to worship with God's people.

Sunday night after church, Tami, Triston, Klaire and I went down to see the Christmas lights on the Plaza and at Crown Center and Union Station. These are some of my favorite places in the world, especially when they are all lit up for Christmas. Yay, Christmas lights! And yay, Christmas music! (I know that was random.)

So back to work today! Lots of people were out sick, or for other reasons, and it was pretty much a typical Monday. Except that I took a full dose of NyQuil before I went to bed at 12:30 AM, and I don't really think that was a good idea. I was pretty fuzzy-brained all day. But then again...nope, I won't say it. I know some of you are thinking it. But you just better watch what you say. Christmas is comin.... and so are bonuses.... (right Jeff?).... so that's all I'm gonna say.

Gotta go for now. Hope everybody has a fantabulous week! Be blessed!

Much love to all!

untitled.

Wow. Where did this week go? Actually, where did this year go?? Seriously! I can't believe we are about to celebrate Thanksgiving...Christmas is right around the corner!

The last couple of weeks, like I mentioned before, were pretty stressful, but they're over! Whew! Last Friday night was Homecoming, and all the work and preparation was well worth it. It was a beautiful night and lots of great memories were made. I'll try to post some pictures soon.

The past two days of school were, frankly, kind of unproductive. I'm not sure why we have two days of school before a holiday. Why don't we just take the whole week off?? We will have to hit the ground running after Thanksgiving and work hard till Christmas. (To all of my lovely students who read this blog -- consider this fair warning!)

I saw Happy Feet in IMAX last night. That is one funny movie. I really liked it. Great music too!

Today I got to sleep in (yay, sleep!) and now I'm doing laundry and trying to get ready to leave for Tulsa in a couple of hours. My parents and I are going down to spend the holiday with the Smith side of the family. It's always an interesting time -- with that many Smiths in one building, you never know what might happen! I'll be back sometime Saturday most likely, so don't miss me too bad.

I hope all of you have a wonderfully blessed Thanksgiving! Whether you're spending it with family, friends, strangers, or a combination of all three (I, for one, have a family that is pretty "strange"...haha) I hope you have a safe and happy holiday.

Much love to all.

i love my life.

Well, for anyone who's been wondering, I've been really stressed lately. The last couple of weeks have been very stressful. Then, to top things off, I got sick last weekend (note previous post.) I have said and done some pretty crazy things due to my stressed out tiredness, and there have been misunderstandings and dramatic interludes aplenty!

HOWEVER...all that being said, I love my life. I was thinking today about how blessed I am. I am so blessed to be working at a place that I love, doing the things that I love, with the people that I love! How much better could life get! Not to mention the fact that I feel I am exactly where God wants me at this moment! AND I've got amazing friends whom I love dearly, and who love me (I hope!) and an amazing church and church family who are supportive and understanding. I ALSO have an incredibly awesome family who love me and support me and understand me. I truly could not ask for more. God is good.

So as stressful as things are at the moment, I just want to go on record as being thankful. I'm grateful for the good things God has placed in my life and I'm determined not to take them for granted. I thank God for each of my friends and for the influence they have on my life. I'm grateful for my students who bring life to my days and a smile to my face. I am deeply thankful and indebted to each person who touches my life. You are one of them! Thank God for you -- thank you for being my friend and for the impact you have on my life! Without you, my life would lose some of its value and color. You are important and you are needed and I depend on you. Thank you for the person you are.

Thank you for praying for me, and please know as you read this that I have said a prayer for you.

Tomorrow is Homecoming at OCH. I will be spending the day in the gym decorating and practicing and getting ready for the big event. The senior class, which I sponsor, is in charge of concessions; and the Student Senate, which I also sponsor, is in charge of everything else! Thankfully, I have lots of good help this year, or I would be going crazy right now. I actually have a lot of things that need to be done tonite, so I am going to wrap this up and get busy.

I hope all of you have a wonderfully blessed weekend! Much love to all of you!

sick.

Blah. I hate bein sick! I stayed home from church this morning to try to get some rest and get rid of this...whatever it is I have! Anyway. I don't have time to be sick is the thing. I will just have to power thru. I miss goin to church tho. When I don't go, I have serious withdrawals. I miss all you people and I just miss bein there. I will be there tonite, no matter what!

This past week went really fast for me! I just can't believe how fast the year is going! Friday night I actually did some Christmas shopping - can you believe it?? I can't! I don't think I've ever done Christmas shopping before Thanksgiving! LOL. But it was cold and felt like winter outside so...it kinda put me in the mood. I have not started listening to Christmas music yet, but I'm about to. Anyway.

Yesterday was a fun day. In the morning, I went to my little nephew Jaydon's 7th birthday party. It was at Chuck E. Cheese. That is a fun place for kids! Then I met Lisa and Sophia and Bethany to go shopping for Homecoming decorations. We actually got everything at one store, which was great! (I'm not a great shopper!) Then last night was the Alumni Gospel Sing. It was great fun and lots of people showed up. The music was really good and several of the songs were a real blessing to me. If you couldn't be there, you ought to order the DVD! Of course, after the concert, Jeff and Tami and Triston and Klaire and I heard Applebees calling our name...and of course there was bunch of other people from the concert there too...and it was Klaire's birthday so the waiters came out and sang to her and gave her an Oreo shake, so she was happy.

Woke up this morning feeling terrible, as I've already said, so I think I'm gonna go try to sleep some more. It's actually kinda hard to breathe while lying down...you know how it is. Ugh. Have I mentioned that I hate being sick!?!

This week I got my new Michael W. Smith CD, Stand, and I'm still listening to it. It's amazing. I love the song Open Arms and it, along with what Aaron preached about in chapel Wednesday (I wasn't there, but I heard all about it...and it sounded like it was awesome!)...well, it's got me thinking alot about love. I think we all need to be a lot more loving. After all, didn't Jesus say the greatest commandment was all about love? Hmmm... Well, anyway, I will post those lyrics if I can ever find them online. It's a really good song and you should listen to it if you can.
Well, I'm out for now. Hope everyone has a marvelous, worshipful Sunday! Pray for me and I'll pray for you!

Much love, as always, to all!