Food Irony

Coming home and indulging on Dark Chocolate Almond Bark Thins, which proudly stated on the package they contained no GMO.  This after having delicious rice and dishes for dinner which contained untold amounts of MSG.

Both were yummy and I enjoyed them both.

Is this a teacher thing?

My roommate and I got home from a staff/board potluck shortly after 8 p.m. on a Friday evening.  It felt later than that and we both decided, after talking for a little while, to go to bed.  Happy Teacher's Friday Night. :)

Set Puzzle

Do you know the game Set?

Well, there is an online version.  My cousin, Lynola, and I do it almost every day, and we email each other our times.  We are happy if our times are under a minute.  Over a minute is a bad day, and anything under 30 seconds is great.  The other day I set a record of 16.808 sec.

Anyway, today I figured out that we have been doing this puzzle almost daily for around 8 years (though I am not exactly sure when in 2010 we started).  If we spend about a minute a day on the puzzle, in the last 8 years we have each spent about 48 hours on the online set puzzle.  Wow.

Reading

A couple years ago, I heard about a challenge between a mother and daughter to read a new book each month.  I love to read fiction, so when I decided to try the challenge for myself, I modified it to reading a non-fiction book each month.  I didn't quite achieve my goal, but in some months that I did not read an entire non-fiction book I did read fiction books I wouldn't normally go to, ones that challenged my faith and my perspective on life.

I have been blessed and challenged by many of the books that I have read in the past couple of years. Here is a list of what I can remember.  

2016
The Story - Max Lucado
One Thousand Gifts - Ann Voskamp
Living Water - Chuck Smith
Abba's Child - Brennan Manning
The Cure - John Lynch, Bruce McNicol, Bill Thrall
I Don't Wait Anymore - Grace Thorton
A Good and Perfect Gift - Amy Julia Becker

2017
January: Tortured for Christ - Richard Wurmbrand
February: The Broken Way - Ann Voskamp
March: The Five Love Languages - Gary Chapman
            The Jesus Storybook Bible - Sally Lloyd-Jones
April: A Slice of Pi - Liz Strachan

May: The Passion of Jesus Christ - John Piper
June/July: Spiritual Rhythm: Being with Jesus every season of your soul - Mark Buchannan
August/September: Experiencing the Trinity - Joe Thorne
September: Get Married: What women can do to help it happen - Candice Watters
November: The Purity Principle - Randy Alcorn
December: The Greatest Gift - Ann Voskamp

Two things I like about washing my hands at school:

1. Foaming hand soap
2. Hot water

You know you're a teacher when . . .

You meet a parent at the grocery store and they greet you, "Hello Miss Vis" and you wonder if they even know your first name, after teaching their child for a year and a half.

Morning Devotions

Some mornings my morning devotions come more easily than others.  

On days like this one,

it is so easy to praise God for the beauty of His creation and how His creation reveals His character.  It makes me sad (and reminds me to pray) for my neighbor who thinks the view is magical, but doesn't recognize the God created it.

I am so thankful for the beauty of God's creation, which I get to enjoy everyday, and for my senses that enable me to enjoy it.

First Day of School - stream of conciousness

So, that day when you are really sore from doing a workout you shouldn't be sore from, on a day that just happens to be the first day of school, and because the sun is out after school - aka around 6pm when you finally leave even though it was a half day - you go for a run to enjoy the weather and you feel your sore muscles with every step. 
But, in all that, you feel so blessed because the first day went better than expected, the sun is shining after a number of gray rainy days, the ocean water looks so blue, the mountains are beautiful, there is a rainbow in part of one of the clouds near the sun (apparently rare for the cloud to turn into a rainbow), and despite feeling sore and stiff you actually feel really good while running; seeing the sun peek through a hole in the fast spreading clouds after noticing you have a partial shadow, and thinking that maybe God did it just for you. 
And, feeling incredibly blessed by a good God and a good day.

Last day of Official Vacation

Today was my last official day of Summer Vacation.  I have gone to school most days in the past two weeks - including a family work day this past Saturday.  Today, instead of going in and doing prep work, I enjoyed my last day of vacation going hiking with a friend.

We stopped to enjoy the view of Mount Baker along the drive.  It was cloudy when we left home, so we were very thankful to have such a clear and beautiful view!

We took a trail called Rainbow Ridge.  After climbing 1000 feet in the first half mile, we got out to some great views.  First was Mount Shuksan.

We got to see many different views of Mount Baker as well.  The clouds came and went, but only at the end did they come in front of the mountain.

As we were leaving some clouds moved in.  This view reminded me of artistic depictions of Mount Sinai, except it is missing the lightning bolts, I thought it was a fun connection.

Summer Smoothies

Summer is a great time to make smoothies!  The other day I decided I wanted a smoothie.  I went outside and picked what was left of mom and dad's strawberries.  Then I moved to the raspberries and picked a bunch of them (there were more of those left than strawberries).  I went inside and added some frozen saskatoons - I would have had to go for a walk to get enough saskatoons.  The only drawback was that because the berries were warm, I had to add ice to make the smoothie cold.

Delicious summer treat.

When does this happen?

The best view I've ever had while playing piano.  The acoustics were excellent too! 

I wish I brought some music along.

On Sunday we hiked up to Crater Lake with some friends.  On the way we stopped to play piano in an alpine meadow.  The piano was brought up by helicopter a few days before and will stay up there until September.  It is part of a local program promoting music in Smithers.

Special Treat

After school today a parent gave me a cup of frozen blueberries.  Frozen blueberries make a delicious snack at the end of the school week, and are especially appreciated when the classroom is around 74 degrees. (I have been thoroughly enjoying our beautiful weather)

I was blessed by the gift of frozen blueberries.  It may seem like a small thing, but this mother and daughter took the time to know that I love frozen blueberries and then brought them simply because.  I love gifts like that because they are completely unexpected and straight from the heart.  The gift was more than just the blueberries, but also the gift of being known.

Thanks Margo and Taryn!

Productivity

This weekend I have a nice long list of things to do for school.  I was anticipating a productive day.  So, I slept in and actually noticed that sun can get into my window (under the carport) if it is at the right angle.  Then, because the weather is beautiful I sat outside in the sun to do my devotions.  I even thought that if I sat there too long I might get a sunburn.

After breakfast I put dinner in the crock pot - basically some beans, onion, garlic, and a ham bone (thanks to Green Eggs and Ham lunch at school).  Then, because it was sunny and windy, when I thought it was supposed to be rainy, I decided I should mow the lawn.  I knew it needed to be done, but wasn't expecting to be able to do it because of the weather.  Now I smell like gas mostly (and maybe a little like fresh air), but I have a couple of windows open.  I would love to spend the rest of the day outside.  Looking out at the water made me miss sailing.

So, instead of school work, I have prepared dinner, mowed the lawn, and gotten some exercise (yay for multi-tasking).  I feel like I have been productive, but sometimes productivity doesn't look like I expect it to. 

Now, time to get down to my list of tasks for school.

Part of the Life of a Teacher

So...

It is just before 9pm, and I am eating dinner.  Although I often eat later than some people, I try to finish eating before 8pm.  Today is an exception.

This morning I was thinking that I would be able to leave school early because I didn't have much to do, then I would pick up a few groceries and head home to cook dinner.  You have to understand that I don't actually cook that often - I usually reheat leftovers from the freezer.

It ended up being a busy day at school - not because of any specific thing, but probably because other than recesses, I don't have a break on Fridays.  There were also a few random things that I ended up needing to do today - like analyzing placement tests that my new student took.  I also had to do some extra photocopying and finding papers because I am getting another new student on Monday.  This included a trip to another building to find a couple more chairs for my room.

I think it was around 5pm that I actually started my daily grading and planning - so I didn't leave school until after 6pm.  The trip to the grocery store still happened.  Thankfully I had a short list, though I did have to add a stop at Walmart because I needed a balloon for science.

I got home about an hour later and had to unload my stuff and put groceries away.  I snacked a little while I did so, and then decided I was still going to cook something - even though I knew it had to bake an hour after some prep.  Since I wasn't too hungry after my snack I decided to wait until it was finished.  Hence I am just finishing my supper.

I did make a new batch of muffins while my dinner was in the oven.  And, in case you were wondering, there is a difference between mild and medium rotel.

In a few minutes I will eat a fresh muffin, until then I have some clean-up to do.  Then I need to convince my body it is not three hours earlier than it actually is so that I will go to bed.

Moment from today

This afternoon, during a discussion filled with questions and answers, I had one student raise her hand. She had more of a statement than a question, wanting to make sure that I knew it wasn't Bible class.

You see, we had started our Social Studies lesson, which mentioned Philadelphia and the meaning of the name.  Which brought to mind Revelation and the letters to the 7 churches, so I mentioned it to the students.  They were surprised to know that there was also a Philadelphia during Bible times.

From there they asked a whole variety of questions and we talked about the Old and New Testament, the different covenants, the law and grace, the languages in which the Bible was written, the fact that there are many languages in the world without any Bibles (which tied in to a missionary visitor we had share at school a few weeks ago), how Jesus could be from the line of Judah and still be an Israelite if Judah and Israel were two different countries, the fact that a number of men in the Bible had multiple wives, and a variety of other things.

The students seemed genuinely curious, but even if they were simply trying to get me off topic, I would gladly take the extra time to answer their questions about the Bible.  So, when the one girl let reminded me it wasn't Bible class I told her I knew.  I also told her that we can't separate God and the Bible out of the rest of life, they are an important part of all of life.

The students were surprised when it was recess time, not realizing that we had been discussing the Bible (instead of Socials) for almost half an hour.  It was a great discussion and one that I will remember for a long time.

Christmas Music

I turned on Christmas music this evening.

I was feeling somewhat discouraged/sad after reading a few things.  Christmas music seemed like just what I needed.  Partly it was because I love Christmas music and it can be sentimental.  More importantly, I needed to remember the truth and the hope of Christmas.  No matter what is going on in the world, my hope is secure in Jesus, the Savior who came at Christmas over 2000 years ago.  This is something worth celebrating any day! - even if it isn't 'Christmas season'.

A Good Run

I went running today.

The weather was cool, I was home earlier than all of last week, and I needed a shower anyway.

I smelled woodsmoke from someone's fire and apples as I ran past someone's apple tree.

Running here makes me feel like a wuss because there are hills - whereas in Texas and Louisiana where I used to run it was flat.  It doesn't help that I live at the top of a hill, so no matter which way I go, I have to finish by going up hill.

The part that really made my run good was that I saw 5 or more deer.  I slowed down - even though I was going downhill - to let them cross the road in front of me.  When I came back down the road later I saw one again.  I'm not sure if it was another one or the same one.  I am not sure when, if ever, I have been that close to deer.  It reminds me of having a bear cross the road in front of dad and I while we were biking one summer.  Even stranger was the day I had an alligator cross the road in front of me while I was driving.

I am thankful for a healthy body, a beautiful area in which to live, and the variety of God's creation.

It's Official - I live in Washington

As of this weekend, my Washington residence is official.

• I received my WA driver's license in the mail.
• A neighbor helped me put my WA license plates on the car (which included drilling a couple of holes in my front bumper - being from a one plate state it didn't even have an indent for a license plate).
• I received my voter registration in the mail as well.

One thing that might still be lacking is that I haven't been paid in this state yet so I haven't paid my state income tax - oh well, that will come soon enough.

Back in the Northwest

It has been below 70 in my house for a couple of days now (without air conditioning) - I even closed the windows!  I have voluntarily worn socks part of the day two days in a row - they are fun socks.  I even wore a sweatshirt when I went to school this morning.  The weather in the Northwest is definitely different than living in the south.  Although it takes some adjusting, I like it. :)

Another perk of being in this area is the fresh fruit.  Each meeting I have had at school so far has included home grown plums, compliments of our principal.  I have blackberries growing in my backyard, and some in my freezer (thanks dad).  This evening I made an apple crisp with local apples brought to me by one of my student's mom.  YUMMY!

Struggles

Why is it that my current struggle always seems like the hardest one?  Maybe it is because I tend to focus on the struggle and lose perspective.  Maybe because it is hard to compare different kinds of struggles and challenges.

Last night it was good for me to take a step back in perspective and look at try to view my situation from an eternal perspective.  In light of spending eternity before the throne of God, my struggles became much smaller.

I was reminded again to see my situation in light of who God is, rather than seeing God in light of my situation.

"The things which are impossible with men are possible with God." ~ Luke 18:27