W A R E A G L E

This is in front of Samford Hall...one of the spots Adam sent me too during the scavenger hunt he came up with to propose to me.
Me and my best friend Virginia....in the new student center...with our AU tattoos on.
The next picture is of us right after we beat TN!! This is Toomer's corner and after every Auburn win the fans race down here to roll all the trees and cheer!

Heritage Softball Team

From left to right its (back row) Corrine ( my new bff :)), Adam, Me, Matt Deakins, Amy, Dave, Terra, Heather, Don. (front row) Abby, Justin, Jay, Chico and in the very front is Dawn!!
These are some pictures of the Heritage Softball team from this fall. This is right after we won the last double header of the season. It was a lot of fun and I think Adam and I will probably play again in the spring. Adam was nicknamed "Sweet Feet" after the speed he showed last night. He also batted 100% during the two games. We start tournament next week and then we are done for the season.
Here we are holding up our #1 (for the night, not for the season :)!!!!

Almost

So this weekend was lots of fun. Great weather...perfect for camping..which is what we did. We spent the night right beside a creek at Laurel Falls. We went with Morgan and Whitney and had a lot of fun. Then we went to Jerri's soccer game on Saturday which she won 2-0. Then we went to Best Buy where we found an awesome deal on a laptop, so we bought it..YAY. Then we went home so that Adam could yell at the TV during the AU vs. LSU game. It started out great...auburn got the first touchdown. I thought I was safe..I laid down beside Adam on the couch and went to sleep (my favorite activity during a football game). However, around 10:30 I was woken up to Adam yelling and doing the guy thing. LSU scored a touchdown in the last 2 minutes of the game and WON. I decided that I would just go onto bed and let him deal with this loss privately :). When he came to bed about 20 minutes later he leaned over and said " we almost had it". As we talked we both realized that God must think that about his people quite often " they almost had it"...and his sadness must be compounded. Lately, we have been in Genesis and there are several people and circumstances where we could say "they almost had it". For example Sarah and Abraham... In Genesis 15

But Abram said, "O Sovereign LORD, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit ^[c] my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?" 3 And Abram said, "You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir." 4 Then the word of the LORD came to him: "This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir." 5 He took him outside and said, "Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them." Then he said to him, "So shall your offspring be." 6 Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

Only one chapter later we see Sarah and Abraham forgetting what the Lord has promised and forging ahead with thier own desires.

Genesis 16:

Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar; 2 so she said to Abram, "The LORD has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her."
Abram agreed to what Sarai said. 3 So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian maidservant Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. 4 He slept with Hagar, and she conceived.
When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress. 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, "You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my servant in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the LORD judge between you and me."

6 "Your servant is in your hands," Abram said. "Do with her whatever you think best." Then Sarai mistreated Hagar; so she fled from her.

If they only knew that God already had Isaac on his mind. If they would have only let Him be God instead of doing things thier own way. Thus we have Hagar and Ishmael come into the picture and the beginnings of the Muslim belief system. It might be a bit much to compare almost winning a football game to almost following God's perfect plan but He can certainly work through our worldly activities to reveal things to us.

Educare

So I'm pretty sure that I am going to love this job. I could just have had a really good first day but let me remind you that this wasn't the kids or the programs first day. When I got there I met the guy that will be training me and about 10 minutes into our conversation we were laughing and I felt very at ease. Then we went through all the different procedures of checking kids in, how to collect money from their parents (auditers are picky), and how I will be paid (thats an important part). I also got Educare polo shirts...there is a different color for every day...even though yesterday all 4 of the directors had on different colors ??.
The kids arrived and immediately were interested in the new girl. He introduced me and pretty soon I was holding hands with one little girl who stuck by me the rest of the afternoon. Her name was Katelyn and boy can she tell a lie. She was trying to convince me that her teacher wanted her to color a white piece of paper blue, then use white out to write Cat in the Hat on it. Now, she had colored construction paper in her bag andI told her to use a blue piece of paper instead. She insisted that she had to color it...so she started coloring it, with a marker, that bled. Well then she saw me with a hole punch and insisted that her teacher wanted her to punch holes all over the paper saying "just like every other book". In a very sweet voice, I asked her if she had a paper with the directions on it and she said no and told me that if i didn't give her the hole punch then she was going to "make a zero on her homework". About 10 minutes later her mom came and she immediately balled up her "homework", threw it in the trash and skipped out. What an angel :).
It's also really weird what kinda stuff I pick up on now that I have had child development classes, child psychology classes and teaching methods. When all of my kids (3rd-5th) had left I went over to the younger group to see what was going on. They were in the gym playing with balls and hoola hoops. There is a boy with down syndrome in that group and he was walking around the border of the gym by himself. He was very responsive though and interested in what the other children were doing. As I sat down to play with one little girl I heard the other worker say "Kinzie, your mom is here". I of course turned around and noticed two other little girls running towards the door. The worker then said which Kinzie it was and she left. I got up and asked the other Kinzie how she spelled her name....Mackenzie. I told her what my name was and we were instant friends. We played roll the ball, bounce the ball and when I told her how I spelled my name she said "you spell yours wrong". When I asked her if we should invite Willie (the boy with down syndrome) to play with us she said "no, he won't want to". I said "he looks like he may" and she said " no, he doesn't play with us". I told Adam that its crazy, that this little kindergartner was already conditioned to notice differences and either be scared of them or discriminatory against them. None of the kids wanted to play with him actually. They already had labeled him and decided that they wouldn't include him. It was sad...but something I am going to work on...well when I get the time.
Other than that everything was fine, I got to leave early and we still get paid til 6. AWESOME.

As of today...

As of today I am a Woodland Elementary employee. The job is with Educare which is an after school program that is considered the best in Johnson City. Its put together so that students spend time in organized centers/activities...think Montesorri style. I am responsible for coming up with games, art lessons, cooking lessons and helping them with homework. I interviewed last Monday and wanted the job immediately. Yesterday I got a call at 10 and was asked to start work today. I went and met with my boss and she said "we will stay with you through next week and then you are in charge"....my stomach turned but I smiled and said "great". This is my 3rd job..I know, I know. I am an overachiever. However, let me break down my schedule for you. I work 8-10 every morning at my GA position (where i am writing this) which pays for my tuition and gives me a monthly stipend. Then I head to the bookstore where I work from 10-2 (only MWF). On tuesday and thursday I head to class from 11-12:30. Then from now on I will go to Woodland from 3-6 daily. See..its not that bad...I only have 3 classes and one is online..the other meets on Monday night. The Woodland job has great pay and I know it will be good experience and look great on my resume. Adam and I both agree that this will be the only time in my life where I will have 3 jobs....when its all compiled I only work 37 hours a week...have about 5 hours of class and work the occassional weekend for my GA. I will also get to keep my Educare job throughout my student teaching and since Woodland is a year round school there will be extra hours during thier two week breaks between semesters. God really did bless me with this job. They have a very focused education philosophy there...which is good...kids need consistency and will thrive when the teacher is consistent in thier discipline. They are also huge on bullying and sarcasm...its just not allowed. They even told me that if we don't move this summer that I have a position there waiting for me.
Adam and I are looking foward to this next weekend as we are going camping at Laurel Falls with some friends from church. Then the next weekend we will be heading to Auburn for the AU/ TN game....I can't wait to see my friends and AU family there!! I just hope that gas goes back down by then..key word "hope".
Other exciting news is that our friend Cassie's mom got her test back and she does not have cancer. Cassie was worried b/c there is a strong history of cancer in her mother's family. Luckily the mass is benign and the other masses are from arthritis. Another praise is that our friend's Tiffany and Dave had to take thier 6 month old to Vanderbilt for open heart surgery last Thursday. Ethan, was born with down syndrome and needed to have the surgery soon. He had to be placed on a feeding tube during the weeks leading up to the surgery so that he could gain weight. The surgery went well and Ethan is doing great...they are watching him to make sure he doesn't develop phuenomia but other than that he is on the road to recovery. Can I just tell you that he is the cutest head full of bright red hair!!!
OH YEAH- I almost forgot. I went to this party with my friend Brittany at a photography studio. They have a girls night out once a year where they give out prizes and invite you to look at everything they offer. We met Anna there and the three of us walked around the studio (an old historic home) and oohhhhedd and ahhheedd. We ate really good food too! At the end of the night they gave away prizes.....I won a party for 20 catered by the same people who were catering that night...I am thinking we will use it for our AU/AL party and whatever is leftover for Thanksgiving (they are usually close). Brittany won an hour long massage....LUCKY!!

I've been bored for over 5 minutes now.

So, since my life is pretty full right now...and thats a good thing...i haven't had a chance to be bored lately. Therefore, I haven't been blogging b/c I blog when I am bored. So here are some refreshing thoughts (ha, thats comical).
A. If we still lived in the hunter-gatherer era I would be the most awesome gatherer. Last weekend we went camping and before everyone else woke up I was outside gathering fire wood to cook our breakfast. I also collected blue and blackberries from around our camp site for breakfast. I'm pretty sure it was the best breakfast ever too... hard boiled eggs (yes on a campfire), bacon, smores (with reese cups), water and bananas.
B. Having long fingernails is not as great as you think. I'm pretty sure the cons out weight the pros (which is only one that I can think of - its pretty). I can't button my pants without stabbing my stomach, I can't pop the top of a coke can, I can't type well ( i am hitting two keys almost every time) and Im so concerned with breaking them that I have neglected other things.
C. Moving on- Ever since Pastor Reggie gave us the assignment to find an atheist and ask them why they believe that way (yes atheism is a belief) I have only been able to find christians wanting to tell me their views. THIS IS NOT A PROBLEM...just ironic. In the gym the other day this guy walked up, read my shirt and started a conversation with me about how much he loved the Lord, how we are the minority, how much he trusts God with his future and then as he was leaving he said "Nice to meet you Sister". Then in the line at Food City ( i went there b/c i had coupons, not b/c I have forgiven them for the video fiasco) I met a girl named Laura who was also using coupons and we got to chatting. She works for Campus Crusade and was inviting me to come to thier meetings. Then I went out to eat with my friends from school (point D) and for the first time we invited our husbands to join us. At one point Adam went riding in one of the husband's new cars and the girls were left alone to chat. Before you know it we were talking politics ( you weren't surprised huh?) and that led to Christ. The two girls I was talking to are Christians but admitted that they hadn't been to church in years. They were both interested in why I choose to live my life the way I do (with imperfection) and very interested in Heritage. Especially when I told them that our church is culturally relevant in the fact that we have what evereyone is looking for...CHRIST...we have what today's cultures wants...UNCONDITIONAL LOVE. We aren't putting on a concert every Sunday hoping that someone will be more entertained with church than with the re-runs they may find on TV at home. So anyways, God has really been showing himself to me this week and making my search for an atheist pretty hard!!
D. I have more friends from my graduate program than I ever had from Auburn. Isn't that weird? I mean I spent 4 years with the same group in the same building day after day and when I left there I only kept in contact with like 3 of them. All of my friends came from church. This is good and bad. It means I wasn't reaching out, but in the same sense I was spending my time with people who would bring me up, rather than pull me down. Just the opposite though has happened here at ETSU. I have only been in the program for a little over a year and I have about 10 really good friendships with people from class. There is a group of 5 girls that get together about every 3 weeks for dinner, and we just started inviting our husbands. I love growing these relationships outside of the classroom.
E. Wipeout has got to be the funniest show on TV. Seriously, on Tuesdays at 8 you will find Jerri, Adam and I in front of the TV laughing so hard that we are either holding our stomachs (adam), on the floor (Jerri) or slobbering (my attractive feature). It's not just the people falling and flipping that is funny, but the commentary is ridiculous. So here is my commerical for it....beware though it will crack you up!!!! If you get bored and want to watch it online, go to ABC, then their full episode player and then wipeout......you won't be dissapointed!!!

Sarah Palin

Did anyone listen to Palin's speech last night? I couldn't because I took my migraine medicine and was dead to the world. However, first thing this morning I googled it and WOWZER!!!! I have to say that I think she touched on every point that has been made against her. I think she also did a great job representing McCain. I believe her to be someone who is truly looking out for what is good for America, not her own interest. She doesn't want to be fussed over as Vice President with unnecessary spending. As govenor she got rid of the private jet plane and personal chef...she prefers to drive herself to work. I was also very glad that she pointed out the "fine print" of Obama's tax increases. Following this post will be an attatched chart of who is raising what followed by some websights that confirm these figures.
The one thing that I was dissapointed in last night was Rudy Giuliana's speech before Palin. He was almost mocking Obama, which is just unneccessary. Let's just stick to the facts.
Here are some highlights from Palin's speech (for you Caroline).
***(Palin)To the families of special needs -- (cheers, applause) -- to the families of special needs children all across this country, I have a message for you. For years, you've sought to make America a more welcoming place for your sons and daughters. And I pledge to you that if we're elected, you will have a friend and advocate in the White House
***(Palin)To confront the threat that Iran might seek to cut off nearly a fifth of the world's energy supplies, or that terrorists might strike again at the Abqaiq facility in Saudi Arabia, or that Venezuela might shut off its oil discoveries and its deliveries of that source, Americans -- need to produce more of our own oil and gas. (Cheers, applause.) And take it from a gal who knows the North Slope of Alaska; we've got lots of both. (Cheers, applause, chanting.)Our opponents say again and again that drilling will not solve all of America's energy problems, as if we didn't know that already. (Laughter.) But the fact -- the fact that drilling, though, won't solve every problem is no excuse to do nothing at all. (Cheers, applause.)
***(Palin on Obama)Government is too big. He wants to grow it.Congress spends too much money. He promises more. Taxes are too high, and he wants to raise them.His tax increase are the fine print in his economic plan. And let me be specific. The Democratic nominee for president supports plans to raise income taxes and raise payroll taxes and raise investment income taxes -- (boos) -- and raise the death tax -- (boos) -- and raise business taxes -- (boos) -- and increase the tax burden on the American people by hundreds of billions of dollars. (Boos.)
***And then there are those, like John McCain, who use their careers to promote change. (Cheers, applause.)They are the ones whose names appear on laws and landmark reforms, not just on buttons and banners or on self-designed presidential seals.

2008 PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE COMPARISON TALKING POINTS

ISSUE		JOHN McCAIN	BARAK OBAMA
Favors new drilling offshore U S		Yes	No
Will appoint judges who interpret the law not make it		Yes	No
Served in the US Armed Forces		Yes	0A No
Amount of time served in the US Senate		22 YEARS	173 DAYS
Will institute a socialized national health care plan		No	Yes
Supports abortion throughout the pregnancy		No	Yes
Would pull troops out of Iraq immediately		No	Yes
Supports gun ownership rights		Yes	No
Supports homosexual marriage		No	Yes
Proposed programs will mean a huge tax increase		No	Yes
Voted against making English the official language		No	Yes
Voted to give Social Security benefits to illegals		No	Yes
CAPITAL GAINS TAX
MCCAIN	0% on home sales up to $500,000 per home (couples). McCain does not propose any change in existing home sales income tax.
OBAMA	28% on profit from ALL home sales. (How does this affect you? If you sell your home and make a profit, you will pay 28% of your gain on taxes. If you are heading toward retirement and would like to down-size your home or move into a retirement community, 28% of the money you make from your home will go to taxes. This proposal will adversely affect the elderly who are counting on the income from their homes as part of their retirement income.)
DIVIDEND TAX
MCCAIN	15% (no change)
OBAMA	39.6% - (How will this affect you? If you have any money invested in stock market, IRA, mutual funds, college funds, life insurance, retirement accounts, or anything that pays or reinvests dividends, you will now be paying nearly 40% of the money earned on taxes if Obama becomes president. The experts predict that 'Higher tax rates on dividends and capital gains would crash the stock market, yet do absolutely nothing to cut the deficit.')
INCOME TAX
MCCAIN (no changes)	Single making 30K - tax $4,500 Single making 50K - tax $12,500 Single making 75K - tax $18,750 Married making 60K- tax $9,000 Married making 75K - tax $18,750 Married making 125K - tax $31,250
OBAMA (reversion to pre-Bush tax cuts)	Single making 30K - tax $8,400 Single making 50K - tax $14,000 Single making 75K - tax $23,250 Married making 60K - tax $16,800 Married making 75K - tax $21,000 Married making 125K - tax $38,750 Under Obama, your taxes could almost double!
INHERITANCE TAX
MCCAIN	- 0% (No chan ge, Bush repealed this tax)
OBAMA	Restore the inheritance tax Many families have lost businesses, farms, ranches, and homes that have been in their families for generations because they could not afford the inheritance tax. Those willing their assets to loved ones will only lose them to these taxes.
NEW TAXES PROPOSED BY OBAMA
New government taxes proposed on homes that are more than 2400 square feet. New gasoline taxes (as if gas weren't high enough already) New taxes on natural resources consumption (heating gas, water, electricity) New taxes on retirement accounts, and last but not least....New taxes to pay for socialized medicine so we can receive the same level of medical care as other third-world countries!!!
		& nbsp;

You can verify the above at the following web sites:

http://money.cnn.com/news/specials/election/2008/index.html

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/issues/issues.taxes.html

http://elections.foxnews.com/?s=proposed+tax es

http://bulletin.aarp.org/yourworld/politics/articles/mccain_obama_offer_different_visions_on_taxes.html

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/candidates/barack_obama/

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/fact-checker/candidates/john_mccain/

CAUTION....this could be classified as my soapbox.

So, this weekend we headed off to camp, hike, play frisbee golf and enjoy the weather. However, this has taken me away from the computer for 3 whole days (gasp)....days in which I have been thinking and discussing politics with any and everyone I can. While I was talking to someone about Obama's view of abortion they said "well that isn't so big that it would keep me from voting for him".....HELLO!!!! In my mind, the way he deals with abortion says a lot about his character. He is saying that if you get yourself into trouble, but don't want to deal with the consequences then just get rid of the problem...even if the problem is an unborn child. He is saying that there are not consequences for our actions, and that the answer is not to be more responsible but to give people the option of facing that responsibility. I am well aware that there are "unwanted pregnancies". My cousin was raped at a party, gave birth to a beautiful little girl and then died 2 years later from AIDS ( which she got from the rapist). That was an unwanted pregnancy but not an unwanted child. If you are on the fence about the seriousness of abortion let me show you scripture that might change your mind. The book of Amos (which is what my community group is studying -good job Morgan) is set up as different war oracles to 6 different territories surrounding Isreal. Amos is setting up the wickedness that occured in all the places and the destruction that God sent to show Isreal its fallen ways and the punishment they also deserved.
In Amos 1: 13 This is what the LORD says:
"For three sins of Ammon,
even for four, I will not turn back {my wrath}.
Because he ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead
in order to extend his borders,
If anyone else gasped (as did Brittany and I) while reading this then you get the picture. The Ammonites not only killed the people of Gilead but ripped open the women and killed what would be the next generation. Sounds a lot like abortion huh?This is the punishment that God promised to Ammon.

14 I will set fire to the walls of Rabbah
that will consume her fortresses
amid war cries on the day of battle,
amid violent winds on a stormy day.

15 Her king ^[g] will go into exile,
he and his officials together,"
says the LORD.

He promises to destroy thier own boundaries, take away thier military headquarters, send violent winds and last but not least send all authority figures into exile. Which brings up another good point. As my friend Brittany pointed out last night, you can not take a back seat when it comes to this election. We are given authority to vote for a leader who will represent our nation. Therefore, we are just as responsible for the actions of America as they are.

I know that some people don't like to discuss politics or just don't care but I think you should count yourself lucky that you live where you are given the right to care!!