South by southeast

I'm definitely in the south. It's hot, there are big bugs, sweet tea, Chick*Fil*A, little old ladies with sweet southern drawls, and houses with big white columns on the front.
It's fantastic!

I've already been to 4 states brand new to me, and another will be added tomorrow, when we reach our final destination. Florida.

P.S.
It's so great that I can publish all this right from my phone, on the road. Hooray!
Oh, the marvels of modern technology.

More to come later!

Ready?

The support letters are sent.

The bags are packed. (Hoping I packed light enough…!)

It is official. I leave for Jacksonville in…7 hours. So exciting!

I’ve thought about my expectations for summer 2011 as I head to Florida. Some things I want to see, and will be looking for, are:

1. I want to know God more. I want to clear my heart of all the philosophies about God my mind has come up with, and let God tell me who He really is, without  my own ideas getting in the way.

2. I want to better realize my worth in Christ, not in abilities or circumstances…

3. I want to better control my attitude. This past year, I didn’t go as far as changing my attitude, despite my circumstances or emotions, but it was a learning experience for me. The fact that “things are what you make of them” has really been reinforced to me, and I’m sure this summer I’ll be provided times when I can actually apply this, and choose a good attitude even in a not-so-good situation!

4. I want to form some great friendships with fellow believers. This summer couldn’t be better in regards to fellowship!

5. Lastly, I want to establish and/or improve these  life-long habits: prayer, daily quiet times, and sharing what I believe with others. Pretty straightforward, but very important.

So long, Nebraska! I’ll be back in The Good Life in about 2 months. :)

Focus.

It’s so hard for me to focus in life, sometimes. Part of it is the fast-paced lifestyle that modern technology now allows us, and part of it is my own natural tendency to keep busy. I was looking through some old papers the other day and found one from 3rd grade. It was a before-school-started letter that my mom filled out and returned to my teacher, filling her in about my personality, strengths, weaknesses, and such. My mom wrote down that “Kimberly doesn’t sit still and relax a lot at home. She goes from one activity to another.” Let me tell you, nothing has changed in 13 or so years.

While it’s a blessing, it’s also a curse. I have a naturally creative mind, which allows me to think up all sorts of projects to do around the house. This even includes cleaning- yes, I do volunteer to clean out my mom’s closet! It’s crazy, but I love doing things. I am able to get so much accomplished in a day, a benefit for both me and whoever I may be helping out. But…the downside is that with all this busyness and accomplishment, I neglect some very important things. Like spending time with God, for one.

I’m so excited for this summer. I’m pretty nervous at the same time, too, since I have to go through the whole having-to-meet-people-since-you-know-absolutely-no-one. But that’s okay. I’m outgoing enough to do it well (not the case my freshman year of high school!). Two whole months of fellowship and encouragement in my walk with God. I know I need it and so I’m putting myself out there. It’s gonna be a blast, and I pray that it changes me and establishes life-long habits.

For a better picture of where I’m headed this summer, check out: JAX STP 2011

Summa time

Oh, sweet summer time. You’re back! And I’m taking full advantage of that.

Today I had two picnics in one day. For lunch, my mom and I ate outside on our picnic table- tuna sandwiches and curly fries. It was wonderful. And then tonight, my sister and I went on a for-real-picnic…you know, a REAL picnic basket and blanket on the ground type of thing. It was wonderful again.

I have less than two short weeks to enjoy all my summer stuff here in Nebraska, and I plan on doing just that. So far so good, though. Today summer was enjoyed thoroughly.

MEOW.

I love being able to see my cats every day now that I’m home. :) I wuv them! I’m not a crazy cat lady or anything…yet. But who knows? If I end up an old spinster teacher, I may become just that. Oh boy.

But in all seriousness, I really do love my cats. All four of them live outside (my dad is pretty strict about having animals inside- it was a miracle that we convinced him to get our dog, Gabby). My cats are Thomas, Mosa, Girly, and Dani. They all have distinct personalities and you would NOT believe how much drama goes down between them! Oh my, some days it’s just incredible. If you’d care to get to know each of them a little better, keep reading.

First there’s Thomas. He’s old, like 12 or something. He came to our house one day about 10 years ago, and stayed ever since. He’s got a pretty sweet lightning bolt patch of white on his back, but that doesn’t say much for his personality. He’s pretty mellow. He lays around all day, and won’t move unless you’ve got cat treats. He goes bonkers for those.

 

Then we’ve got Mosa. She’s quite the character. She also wandered to our house when she was only a kitten, a very feisty one at that. I thought she was a boy, so I named her Amos. Well it turns out she was a female- of course- so I added an ‘a’ to the end of her name to make ‘Amosa’, or ‘Mosa’ for short. She’s moody and could bite your head off, but definitely my favorite cat because of her sassiness. She is also cross-eyed, adding flair to her overall likableness. (This picture makes her look so evil…yikes!)

 

 

Mosa had one litter of kittens, and begat Girly and Daniela Sofia. We thought Dani was a boy (I guess we didn’t learn after the first incident), so I named her Danny. After finding out she was a girl, I fancied up her name a bit. She’s kind of an outcast. The other cats practically hate her and always chase her off. Not sure why…but she is kind of a hog when it comes to eating!

 

Girly is the runt of the litter and thus has the least brains. She’s the prettiest cat, but also the dumbest. Sometimes I call her Stupid, which isn’t really very nice, but kind of funny! I think she never figured out how to purr. She sits in the pouring rain even when she could take shelter in our shed…how dumb can you get?! We still love her, though. Here she is getting a bath.

 

Basically these four little critters are great. Every time I step outside they make my day more interesting, even if they are just sitting in the sun, looking content with their eyes shut tight and a slight- could it be a smirk?- on their faces. They are just the best!

Settled in…for a bit.

I’m back at home.

*sigh*

You can easily tell by the ridiculous amount of stuff piled in the living room. I’m glad for such frequent moving, because it provides an opportunity for me to downsize…but it also reveals how much of a princess I tend to be! It doesn’t seem like I have this much stuff when it’s all packed away and organized so nicely. :)

I love being home because cupboards are full. I can search the kitchen for something to eat and always find something healthy (thank goodness!). And so far, I’ve used a different kind of lotion every night after my shower. I love opening up our bathroom cabinet to find about 50 half-used bottles of lotion. I like variety and this is it!

There are about 3 weeks left until I leave yet again. I think all this moving around like a nomad is good for my soul. It doesn’t allow me to get too attached to my living situations, and it leaves me with a renewed sense of adventure. I guess I’m always ready to move on to something new. I suppose eventually I’ll settle down, but not until I’ve seen as much as necessary for knowing where I want to be for a long time.

Well. I’d better get to bed soon, for I have much un-packing (and re-packing) to do tomorrow! Goodnight, internet. I’ll talk at ya later.

Time sure flies…

Get ready for an explosion of pictures.

This school year’s almost done, and I’ve been thinking back at all I’ve done and all that’s transpired. I’ve been so blessed in so many ways, it’s incredible! People say college is the best time of your life, and I think they’re on to something. :)

Let’s start back at the beginning- in August. I moved in with my dear friend Caitlin and our room has been a source of fun and crazy antics since!

Then there was Homecoming, and we ROCKED it! 1st place- Men’s Hall!

 

We never ceased to enjoy nature, taking full advantage of the many parks around town.

 

We live in the Honors dorm, after all…of course we’re nerds!

I turned 21. :)

We raved as much as possible.

I got to meet Patricia Polacco! If you don’t know who she is, go find out right now. She is wonderful and very inspirational.

I got to see the beautiful Bryce Avary live, in person. The concert was 3 hours away, and I had a math test the next morning at 8:00, but I still got an A!

My friends and I had so many fun outings…here we are with hats.

I can’t forget our tea party!

And our day-trip to the Lincoln Symphony Orchestra Christmas concert- we finished the day with Spaghetti Works, too!

Broomball. Those were some pretty late nights, followed by 8 o’clock class, but worth every second of it.

My little friend, Tessa. She is so fun and sassy and I just love her!

Our Wind Ensemble toured over part of spring break, and it was such fun. So many great memories there!

And then there’s finals week. Something crazy always goes down. This year it was…pie in the face! My friend’s bucket list includes getting a pie in the face, and so I was happy to fulfill her dream for her. :)

‘Tis been a wonderful year. I like closure, so here’s a quote that fits quite nicely with my thoughts about this year.

“Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art…it has no survival value; rather, it is one of those things that gives value to survival.” – C.S. Lewis

Kiddos!

Today was my very last day with the first graders.

My cooperating teacher brought popsicles and we had a party! Which was a huge deal. :) We got to go outside and eat them- the kiddos then following their snack with a rousing game of Duck-Duck-Goose. It was so fun!

I got countless hugs from them, and one girl even kissed her fingers and quickly put them to my lips before I could even realize what she was doing! Too funny. I had made cards for each of them and the teacher, and I was surprised to get 24 cards of my own! They are all so precious. Here are some especially cute ones:

 

(This is me holding the interactive/matching game vocabulary board I made for my lesson on plants. What  good details this artist added!)

 

They were a great bunch. Certainly the most trying group of kids I’ve worked with so far, but that’s what I need as a pre-service teacher- some challenges that will stretch me and ultimately leave me a better educator and all-around person. Can’t wait for the next bunch of kids I get to work with in the fall!