Friendship Firehouse Festival

Our booth from across the street at the top of the Frienship Firehouse Museum.

It's Nemo! (I did this one...)

Pastor David tried out his hand at painting a two-headed snake.

Doing what we do best...meeting people...

The Enthusiastic John Lee!

One of the many dogs who enjoyed our yummy dog biscuts.

There was a lot going on at our booth.

Face painting...

Our live advertisement for FREE face painting.

More face painting...even the adults watned their faces painted!

Aww...she was absolutely adorable...and the thing she wanted on her cheek was our teal DC Metro Bullseye!

It did get quite crowed at some points of the day...

It was a major success...we were able to love on the people of Alexandria and just have a good 'ole time in the heat...

50 and Counting...

This past Friday night we had our third Vision Night. Vision Night is a party/reception type deal where we have invited people who we think might be interested or have shown interest in learning more about DC Metro Church. Our first Vision Night was back in July - we had a fabulous turn out and practically doubled the number of people on our launch team. Our second vision night was on August 3rd with our third following this past Friday night. We are now up to 60 people on our launch team...we are quickly arriving to the "100 people" we have been praying for...

Our last few weeks have been very busy and packed with lots of excitement. On August 1st we began a 21 day fast. Now, this looks different to many people on our launch team...some (mostly the guys) are doing a full fast where they are only drinking fluids, others are doing fruit/veggies/juices (like me) and others are fasting from sweets or one meal a day. It has been very exciting to see how God is moving due to our sacrifices of our physical need for food...but it's also been very draining. It is highly recommended that when you are fasting (especially for a long period of time) that you limit your physical activities...duh, because you are not taking in a normal amount of food...you don't have a "normal" amount of energy. Well...let's just say I think our amount of physical activities may have increased for the first week of our fast instead of decreased...

Let me see if I can put this into perspective...

• August 1st (first day of fast)...not so bad, typical day working in the "office" (which right now is whatever coffee shop has free internet); ended the day with a prayer meeting
• August 2nd (Thursday)...First Thursday on the Avenue (The street Ray & I live on is perpendicular to a street called Mt. Vernon Avenue. The area we are in has this "small town" sort of feel...on Mt. Vernon there are a bunch of small shops, businesses, restaurants, ect...it's the ideal description of a small town "main street".) Anyways...all of the businesses join together on the first thursday of the month (throughout the summer) and have a street party. We (DC Metro Church) have joined with this group of businesses and we were able to set up a table on the Avenue and participate in First Thursday. We did our ever famous FREE water bottle hand-out. We also gave away glow bracelets & lolipops to the kids and dog biscuts to the dogs (and some people who asked) because EVERYONE and their mom up here owns a dog...
• August 3rd (Friday)...2nd Vision Night (this required the entire day to prepare for...preparing food (which is the WORST thing in the world to have to do when you are fasting), baking cookies, setting up tables, cleaning the house...all to get ready to love on people for about 4 hours in the evening and then cleaning up and breaking everything day afterwards (last person left after 11pm that night).
• August 4th (Saturday) - 5:00am...time for me (Summer) & friend Angie to wake up and go reserve our spot at the Annual Friendship Firehouse Festival in Old Town. We set up a tent, table, chairs, coolers and face painting stations. We again passed out FREE water bottles (we handed out OVER 1,100 in 4 hours), gave our dog biscuits and painted hundreds of awesome little faces with flowers, butterflies, two-headed snakes, lizards and even dalmatian puppies (go Angie!).
• August 4th (Saturday evening)...we moved our lovely friend Julie Reams in to her new apartment...
• August 5th (Sunday)...rest...finally!
• August 6th & 7th...catch up days in the office at St. Elmo's Coffee Shop
• August 8th & 9th (Wednesday & Thursday)...Ray and I took 1.5 days off to drive 3 hours to Ocean City, MD to visit with his mom, grandma and aunt. We had a great time, but had to turn around and come back on Thursday to make it to Worship Band Practice that evening.
• August 10th (Friday)...Vision Night prep...shopping, set-up, same as before...
• August 11th (Saturday)...rest in the morning...visit to the Potomac Yards Regal Cinema (this is where we will be having services) for a walk through (oh yea...we did watch a movie there somewhere in the 5 hours we spent at the theatre)...
• August 12th (Sunday)...move, move, move...yep, it's becoming a weekly occurance, but we moved another couple in to their new place in Fairfax today...

Wow, that's exhausting to look back at the past two weeks. I don't feel like we have stopped yet since we got here...it's been truly great though...we might be tired (and hungry), but we wouldn't trade it for anything...well, I might trade it for a coke, friend chicken and some chocolate chip cookies right now...

Just some cool things...

• We (DC Metro) made the Alexandria Gazette. I have a copy of it in which I need to scan because it's just a local newspaper that doesn't get put on the internet. Once I scan it I will post it. It's not anything huge, but it's a one page spread about the Friendship Firehouse Festival we attended...Pastor David had his picture taken as he passed out some water bottles and we got a little bleep in the article about who we are and about our upcoming launch in September!
• Celebration Church (our sister church back in Jacksonville, FL) was featured on the Channel 4 news in Jax. It was really a great segment about Celebration. Click here to watch the story.
• Pastor David and Taryn found out that they are having a...
  
  Well, that's all for now...I still can't find the cable for my camera, but I do have some pictures from our last few events that a great friend sent so I can post some pics...
  
  
  
  
  
  

We Are Alive..

It's been a long month...but 800+ miles we have finally arrived in Alexandria, VA. This past Monday we picked up our 22 foot Penske moving truck and packed it as full as possible...yep, we filled the entire truck...it's amazing how much stuff you can accumulate over the years (and even after throwing away A LOT of stuff, we still had A LOT of stuff). Tuesday we spent the day saying good-bye (or see you later) to friends and ending the night with a dinner at Ray's parents with friends and family joining us. We pulled away around 8pm Tuesday night to embark on a very long 13.5 hour drive (Ray drove the entire way while his brother Craig and I attempted to sleep and eat and fight...). We pulled into a friends' house in Dumfries, VA around 9:30am on Wednesday morning to take our pick-up truck off of the trailer, rest for a little, and finish our drive of 45 more minutes into Alexandria.

We met our WONDERFUL landlords on Wednesday around lunch time to receive our keys and sign our lease and then the fun began. We unpacked the whole truck and began to set up house on Wednesday. It was a really long day, but God managed to give us the grace and energy to make it thru the day. Thursday we dropped Ray's brother off at the Reagan National Airport to head back to Florida and headed back to the house to finish unpacking and organizing.

It's really been great so far. God has really blessed us with the place we are living in right now...it's absolutely beautiful and it is so much more than we could have ever hoped or dreamed of. The neighborhood that we are living in is great...we've met all of our surrounding neighbors (who have been very generous) as well as Mr. Max who is the neighborhood cat (he's already been inside our house to check things out and I have bought treats to bribe him to be my friend...). Ray won't really appreciate this much, but everyone has asked us if we have kids or a dog...and of course our response is no to both...without fail the response we get back is..."Well you better get one or the other or both"...EVERYONE is the neighborhood seriously has kids or a dog. And when I say EVERYONE...that's what I mean. It's a truly fabulous neighborhood and we really hope that our stay here is long.

I have lots of pictures, but I have been unable to find the cable that connects my camera to my computer (it's in an unpacked box somewhere...). As soon as I find a cable or get a new one I will get our pictures posted.

Please be praying for us as we continue to get settled in and things with my job really get into full swing. We have a lot coming up with the church...meetings, dinners, outreaches and so much more as we are less than 2 months out from our first service on Sept. 9th.

Keep checking the blog because there will be lots more to come (we have no TV, so is there a better way to spend my time in the evenings than blogging?...Nope, don't think so...)

I Need Words

I need words as wide as sky

I need language as large as the longing inside

And I need a voice bigger than mine

And I need a song to sing you, that I've yet to find

~David Crowder "I Need Words"

More Pics from Our Anniversary

Ray and I went to SeaWorld to celebrate our Anniversary. As Florida school teachers we get in free all year long - so it was a great, cheap way to celebrate.

This was at the dolphin tank.

Penguins...Brrr....

Clyde & Seamore - This is by far my favorite show at SeaWorld.

This guy cracks me up everytime.

JUMP!

What a huge animal?!

One of my other favorite things to do while at SeaWorld is to go feed the seals and sea lions. I seriuosly spend like $20.00 feeding them. These little guys are two that I got to feed!

Beluga Whales...this one was really curios. Everytime someone's flash on their camera went off, he would swim right up to the window.

BELIEVE!

It's a bird, it's a plane....no it's SHAMU!

BRAVO!

One Year, Oh My...

Ray and I celebrated our 1st anniversary on Monday, May 14th. It's so crazy to think that we have been married for one year. I still vividly remember the chaotic time of the months leading to the wedding and the wedding events to day before and day of the wedding. I remember sitting in the limo after being picked up from my house and taken to the wedding site. I had my mom, my sister, two brides maids, and my flower girl with me...we arrived and they got out of the limo, leaving me with my thoughts, anticipation, and prayers about what was about to happen. To think back, I really wasn't very nervous...I knew what I was doing, I knew that I was marrying the man of my dreams and The One that God had given me, and I was filled with peace. I was more nervous about whether my dad would step on my dress or forget what to say when he gave me away or whether it was going to be too hot for my great grandmother. Oh the thoughts of a bride moments before one of the biggest times in her life...

On Saturday Ray went up to Jacksonville to hang out with the guys that are part of the launch team for our church in Virginia. While he was gone I watched our wedding video for the second time since we've been married (the first time was only about a month after the wedding). Ray will laugh at me and call me a "goofy women" whenever he reads this and realizes that I watched it (mainly because I have asked him at least 10 times to watch it with me and he laughs and says no...). I enjoyed watching it...I remember how I felt when I walked towards Ray that day...I remember looking into his eyes and becoming overwhelmed in the moment - trying to hold back the tears of joy and the excitement that filled my heart.

I have enjoyed every minute of being married to my husband (that still seems weird to say). He's truly amazing! We've learned a lot and have grown a lot in this year. It's awesome to look back at what God has done and all He's given us. But even more exciting is the anticipation of what is to come. With our upcoming move to Virginia, we know that God is in control and He's providing for us in so many ways. I can't help but think about where we will be in 5 or 10 years. Where will God have taken us?!

We spent the evening of our 1st anniversary with some wonderful people in Jacksonville. We had one of our last launch meetings in Jacksonville. It was a great evening in fellowship with the group.

Tuesday evening Ray picked me up from the house and we went out for dinner at The Garlic in New Smyrna. The Garlic is one of our favorite restaurants (they also catered our wedding).

After dinner we went to get the top piece of our wedding cake from my mom and dad's condo in New Smyrna.

Uncovering our wedding cake.

The cake...

When we got the cake home last night, it was too frozen to cut and eat. So, we cut into it and ate it tonight. Surprisingly...it was still a really good cake...1 year and 2 days later.

My Hubby Got A Job!

Good News...Ray had an interview today and was offered a job and he took it! YIPPEE! He took a position as a math teacher at Commonwealth Academy in Alexandria, VA.

I just had to share it real quick...

Update from DC

So, here's an update on what's been going on...

Ray was in Alexandria Thursday evening thru Saturday morning. He had an interview with Alexandria Country Day School that went very well. He returns tonight and will stay thru Sunday morning. He has another interview with Commonwealth Academy on Thursday and is attending the Job Fair for Alexandria City Public Schools on Saturday morning.

I flew in Friday evening. I attend the Job Fair for Alexandria City Public Schools, which went very well. I spent Saturday afternoon and Sunday hanging out with my cousin Chris, who lives in Arlington. He opened his house up to us to stay at while we are visiting the area. Monday was an exciting day for me, as I spent the entire day (7am to approximately 3pm) exploring the area of Alexandria. This was my very first time up here. I have visited DC and driven through it a few times; however, I didn't know what or where Alexandria was. I hunted down every elementary school in Alexandria, drove around the communities, and explored the sights to see. The area is absolutely beautiful. It's very diverse and multicultural. Each street is different is some way, shape, or form. There are mutli-million dollar houses and three blocks over there are houses falling apart, trash blowing through the streets and people hanging out on the street corner.

Monday afternoon I drove through the middle of Washington, D.C. as I was on my way to go visit April and John Tomassoni for dinner. Today I got up earlier and drove back into D.C. and spent a few hours walking around the streets of our nations capital. It was really amazing and got me so fired up. It's been years since I visited DC. I came up years ago with my sister, grandmother and grandfather, but it had to have been at least 12 years ago. I found a free parking space in front of one of the Smithsonian's and thus started my walk. I walked up the hundreds of stairs to the front of the Capital, then down Constitution Ave and in front of the White House. Then it was over the Washington Monument and off to the Lincoln Memorial. What amazing structures and monuments built to remind us of our history as a nation and the freedom that we have. It blesses me and excites me to know that God is going to use me and others in this great city; that a foundation will be laid, walls will be torn down, and God's love is going to shine in the lives of so many people!

Ray and I go house hunting tomorrow. Reality of our commitment to move up here has really begun to hit me this week. I know it's going to hit me even harder tomorrow. It is so exciting because we know that God has our best in interest in all that we do. Sometimes I feel as if I just turned 18 and graduated from High School. But when I begin to think that I am going to be buying a house and that my one year anniversary is only 14 days away...I think, wow, I have grown up fast. God is doing great and amazing things in mine and Ray's lives and we are fired up about what more is to come.

Our church signed the contract with the theatre that our church will be using for services last week. We are still planning to launch in September. There's a lot about to happen, so please, continue to keep us and the team in your prayers.

We will keep you posted with updates as there will be many. And pictures are soon to come, once I get home and can download the pictures that I have taken the last few days.

Forcefully Advancing...

We are forcefully advancing on this journey to DC. Last week I wrote and said that we were going to be launching on September 23rd. God is advancing us every week as we press more and more into him. Our launch date has been moved again. Now, for what we believe is the final date, we are planning to launch on August 26th.

By launching on August 26th, it means that we will be moving sooner than we thought. We have been planning for move the first week of July. We may now be moving in early June. It's not a big jump for Ray and I, but for some members on our team, this will be a large advancement for them. God is good though and we know that everything will work out.

Each day we are getting more and more excited. I finished revising my resume and just sent it in to the Alexandria City Public School District so that I can begin applying for jobs. I am flying to VA on April 27th to attend a job fair on the 28th. I have found a school that I really feel is the one school that I am going to pursue. It is located very close to the area we are looking at to find housing. It's 55% hispanic, which means they have a lot of ESOL students, they have a dual language program - where their 1st-5th graders are taught in English and Spanish, and they are big into family involvement. They are also on a modified schedule, which appears to be similiar to the year-round school schedule. This is good because I would actually start teaching on July 25th. All of the other schools don't start until the 1st week of September. This is a good thing, because I will begin to be paid earlier than originally thought and we won't have a lapse in insurance.

Ray is also going to go up for the middle/high school job fair on May 5th. We are going to overlap our trips so that we can meet with our real estate agent and look at housing while we are there.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers!

800 Miles!

We are moving! There...that's our BIG news. We are moving. (It's still very wierd to hear those three words come out of my mouth.)

We are moving approximately 800 miles away from Daytona Beach to Alexandria, Virginia. If you are familiar with the area - you can practically say that we are moving to Washington, D.C.

In January Ray and I sort-of came to a fork in the road and began to pray about where God was leading us. After two months of prayer and seeking God's vision for our lives, and meetings with our pastor - Pastor David Stine, our decision to move to Alexandria is final. We are part of a "launch team" who will be moving to Alexandria, VA over the next 1-3 months to plant a church on the outskirts of Washington, D.C. Pastor David is currently a pastor at our home church, Celebration Church in Jacksonville, FL. Pastor David and his wife, Taryn, have been praying for the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area and laying the foundation for this church plant for over 8 years.

Ray and I will be moving around June/July. We are finishing up the school year with our classes. We will be done on May 25th. We are looking for and believing for teaching jobs in Alexandria, VA for the next school year, which begins in September. I am flying up April 25th-29th for a Job Fair on April 28th. I will have numerous interviews with numerous school and I am praying for my "dream job" with the public school system of Alexandria City Public Schools. Ray will be applying for jobs from afar; however, we are believing for favor for Ray to land a job at the one high school in the area or at a middle school. The one high school in the area is T.C. Williams High School (which is the school from the movie Remember the Titans and I think it would be neat to say that my husband works there).

We are also planning to buy a townhouse or condo in Alexandria. Although our pay will increase significantly with our teaching jobs in Virginia, the cost of living also increases significantly. So our eyes are open and we are waiting for a fantastic deal on a place to buy and call 'HOME'.

The name of the church is DC Metro Church. As of right now, there are 11 members of the launch team (Pastor David & Taryn, John & Julie, Matt & Andy, Ray & I, Jasenn, Lorraine, & David). Please keep us in your prayers as each of us is looking for jobs and places to live.

We are about 75% sure of a facility that we will be using for our services. Our launch date, meaning the day we will publicily open to the community is set for September 23, 2007.

There will be much more information on this and the progress that Ray and I are making with packing, jobs, housing, and the BIG move. I have already begun packing. It's a weird feeling putting all of your stuff in boxes, labeling it and taping it up.

We are very excited and are looking forward to the great things God is doing and is going to do in the Washington, D.C. area. The website is up and running for the church. It's a simple outline right now, more information on the vision and details will be coming very soon.

If you can partner with us in prayer, please pray for the following things:

• Pray for our launch team (Pastor David, Taryn & their son Issac; John & Julie; Matt, Andy & their two daughters; Jasenn; Lorraine; David; and Ray & I). Please pray for unity, protection, housing in DC, future employment in the DC area, and our launch meetings with these incredible people.
• Pray for the Job Fair that I am going to on April 28th. That I would have favor with every person that interview's me. That I would land my "dream job" (even though I don't quite know what my "dream job" is yet - God will reveal it in due time).
• Pray for Ray to have favor as he applies for jobs from afar. We are believing for a High School Math position at T.C. Williams High School.
• Pray for our finances that God will continue to bless and multiply it, that as we prepare to find housing that we would find the right home for us to live in and how to afford it (God has always provided above and beyond for us! Phil. 4:19).
• Pray for the Regal Cinemas Potamac Yards 16. This is the facility we are believing for - for our services beginning in September.
• Pray for the D.C. Metropolitan Area - the people, the schools, the businesses, ect... for favor and softened hearts.

Ray and I thank you ahead of time for your prayers, your thoughts. We look forward to this journey and to being able to share it with all our friends and family all over the world.

Some BIG News Coming Soon...

I know, it's been a while. And, again, as usual, I apologize. No excuses; however, we have been very busy.

As the title of this post says...Ray and I have some BIG news coming within the next two weeks. Sorry to build up the anticipation, but we cannot talk about our BIG news yet. However, I am so excited about it that I had to, in some way, let a little of my own anticipation and excitement out to share with you all.

And just so you know...we are NOT pregnant. I am not having a baby. I promise that is not the BIG news.

Please keep Ray and I in your prayers daily. We have a lot going on, it's a time of transition and excitement. We are pumped up about what God is doing...pray that we are protected from any attacks from the devil and that our steps will continued to be ordered of the Lord.

"...I have placed before you an open door that no man can shut..." ~Rev. 3:8

"And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus." ~Phil. 4:19

"I am the Lord, The God of all Mankind. Is there anything too hard for me?" ~Jeremiah 32:27

Thank you ahead of time for your thoughts and prayers!

You're a Graduate...Get a Job!

Ray graduated from Stetson this past Saturday, December 16th. One of the lines that the graduation speaker said was, "You're a graduate now...go get a job." Well, speaking of jobs...Ray was hired on Friday (the day before graduation) at Ormond Beach Middle School. Ray starts January 8th as an 8th grade math teacher.

Graduation

Us after graduation

Ray's family

This is the little guy that was in Ray's graduation cake. One of the youth in our church decided to make it the "real Ray," beard and all...

Do you know what's behind YOUR walls?

We recently made, lets say, mind blowing discovery. While cleaning his feet in the shower last week, Ray slipped and his foot went right through the wall in our shower. He knocked out 12 shower tiles with his foot. We later discovered, first by smell...and second by knocking out the whole wall...that behind the tiles, our insulation and drywall had been overcome by mold.




Two good things are coming out of this....no more mold smell AND I get a new shower!

Congratulations!

Congratulations to Paul & Sara on their recent engagement!

Kids Spin Their Wheels for Science

Last Thursday, Nov. 16th, the 5th graders at my school had the oppurtunity to partcipate in the annual Soapbox Derby. The fifth grade teachers, with the help of the school, parents, and the PTO, give the fifth grade students the oppurtunity to learn about simple machines, forces of motion, and other aspects of science through building and racing their own cars.

The Daytona News Journal came out to watch the even and write about it. Click here to see the article. If, for some reason, the link will not open, following is the article.

Kids Spin Their Wheels for Science

By NICOLE SERVICE Staff Writer

DELTONA -- The crowd roared as the little yellow taxi cab made its way down a ramp.

"Brooke, Brooke," they shouted as the car coasted for more than 100 yards.

The car's driver, Brooke Wallis, 11, and her partner, Amirah Hill, 10, grinned for each and every one of those yards.

"I think we are in third place," Amirah said to Brooke, her friend since second grade. "We did good."

They were among about 40 Sunrise Elementary School pupils racing in 20 homemade cars in the school's annual Sunrise Derby.

Each year fifth-graders are given the challenge to build a car they can sit in and steer, then compete to see whose car can coast the farthest down a ramp or to see who can push and steer the fastest.

And they get to do it all in front of about 100 cheering, and in some cases, laughing parents, classmates and teachers.

"The derby helps students study force and motion and the concept behind simple machines," said fifth-grade teacher Laura Bernstein. "It's truly a good way to learn science."
The movie "Taxi" inspired Brooke and Amirah's little yellow cab, complete with taxi sign and numbers.

"I thought why couldn't we do that," Brooke said. "It would be something different."
She said it took her and Amirah, with some help from Brooke's father, two weeks to build the car.

Jordan Lewis and his partner, Marcus Polite, both 11, added a more personal touch to their camouflage car. Painted on the back was a black cross with the words -- In memory of Tony.

"Who is Tony?" the crowd kept shouting.

At first Marcus would just shrug and walk away, not answering his classmates' question, but eventually he explained that Tony was his father who recently passed away.

"I thought it would be a nice way to honor him," he said.

The two weren't too happy with their car's performance, though.

"I thought it would be faster," Marcus said. "But it's not about winning. It's about learning, competing and being a good sport."

"Yeah," Jordan added. "This was the most fun I had in school all year."

Regena Koning and her 10-year-old daughter Cheyenne were new to the whole soapbox derby event.

They were pretty happy with the performance of Cheyenne's powder-blue car, but admit they were amateurs.

"They had parents here who just reused old cars," Regena Koning joked. "They had kids in this before so they learned from the year before what they did wrong and how to tweak the cars to go faster. They were some pros."

It's the second year for Brooke's mom, Suzan Wallis.

Last year, she was there to cheer on her son. This year she stood by the finish line, cheering on her daughter and Amirah, with camera in hand.

Bernstein said parents and students have come to value the event.

She said one year, they actually thought about not doing the derby.

"You would have thought we canceled their sweet sixteen," Bernstein joked. "They were so upset. This is now part of the school's tradition."

Lifetime...

It has been a while since I have posted. Unfortunatly, my only excuse is that life is busy. We truly have had a lot going on and I always tell myself to slow down and take time for other things, but it is often hard for me to do that. Those that really know me, know that I never slow down. Life is always busy and my plate is always full. And even when I think I have no more room for anything...I seem to find the time to add one more thing to my plate. I guess that's why I was born with the last name Wonder.

Well, things are getting busy. I am almost through my second nine weeks of teaching, which means I am almost 1/2 way through my first year. Ray is getting ready to graduate in December. He is already beginning to look for a job. He loves the school that he is at, so we are praying for great favor there for a position to open for him. On top of that...believe it or not...we are both going back to school in May. I have applied for the graduate program at Stetson University. I will know in a few weeks if I have been accepted. My plan is to get my Master's in Reading Education. Ray is going back to school for a second Bachelor's. This one is going to be in Civil Engineering, from Embry Riddle University. He has found a new love, aside from teaching and that is the engineering field. So why not?! We will both be lifetime students.

11 Hour Days

Well, after almost two months...I am back to post!

Two months.
Maryland for April and John's wedding.
Pre-planning for my first week/year of teaching.
Ray's grandfather passed away - Ray off to Maryland again.
1st week of school - a success.
2nd week of school - another success.
Eric Mobley graduated from boot camp with the Marine's -Paris Island, SC.
3rd week of school - again...success.
Ray's first week of his Senior Internship.
4th week of school - YIPPEE!
My poor husband....sickee!

School has gone great. I am teaching at Sunrise Elementary in Deltona, FL. I have 23 students. 16 boys, 7 girls. My poor, poor girls. That many boys makes for a very active classroom. It's up and down, here and there, and up and down some more. I have been pulling 11 hour days:
5am -Wake up
5:45am - Leave the house
6:30am - Arrive at school
7:53am - First bell for the beginning of the day
7:53am - 2:05pm - Six hours with my kiddos
2:05pm-4pm or 5pm or 6pm - Clean up after students, prepare for the next day, paper work (oh yes, teaching is NOT all coloring and gluing...there's lots of paperwork)
4pm or 5pm or 6pm - Head home

Ray is such a blessing....he cleans, cooks, and maintains the house when I am so exhausted. He has long days too right now. He started his Senior Internship at Hinson Middle School. He's teaching 7th grade Algebra. He loves it. The teacher he is interning with has been teacher of the year a few times and has many great accolades. Ray is learning a lot.

Ray was sick this past week with what we think was the flu. He's all better now and I keep thanking God that I am healthy. For me to get sick and be out of the classroom is more work than being there.

We both love the teaching. I love my kids, I love the school that I am working at. God really opened the door for me to be in a great, encouraging, uplifting work environment where the teachers are really there for the kids.

The kids at our school have big hearts and they want to learn. There are many of them that have sad stories and rough backgrounds. I have students who refuse to do any work becuase they feel it's a waste and it's not going to get them anywhere. I have one student who knows no English.

My days are very interesting and I wouldn't want to be doing anything else.

Off,Off & Away

We are off to Maryland tonight. We are driving through the night and will arrive in the DC area tomorrow afternoon sometime. It's finally here...time for Miss April Berry to marry Mr. John Tomassoni. The BIG day is on Friday. Just having our wedding, I know how crazy the week before the wedding is. So, we are going up early to help out and spend time with the bride and groom in all of the pre-wedding festivities. Ray also has family in Annapolis, so we are going to spend a few days with them. It'll be a busy, busy week. We will be home on the 22nd.

Life picks up from here. As soon as we get back I begin my week-long teacher induction program, followed by a week of pre-planning, followed by my FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL...as a teacher anyhow. I think I am going to be more nervous than my students. There's a whirlwind of emotions that are surfacing with the start of my teaching career. I will write more at a later date. Ray also starts is Internship (last semester!!) in a 7th grade Math class.

Well...it's off to church, and then to Maryland. Have a wonderful week. Stay tuned for more wedding pictures coming SOON!

Owe Me Nothing...

"Even after all this time the sun never says to the earth, "You owe Me." Look what happens with a love like that, It lights the whole sky." ~Unknown

Reception Pictures

Here are some of our Reception pictures. There will be more to come.

There are wedding ceremony pictures posted as well. If you click on July 2006 (under Archives on the left side of the page) you will find them.