Soul Armor

I was reminded of this passage yesterday and I've decided that I'm going to memorize it and say it to myself every morning.  I used to have it memorized but I have definitely slacked in that area that past few years.

Ephesians 6:10-21
"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.  Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.  For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.  Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.  Stand therefore, having having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.  In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.  TO that end kepp alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the y mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I amy declare it boldly, as I ought to speak."

I Love Those Lady Bears!

According to the AP Poll, the Lady Bears are ranked #1 in the nation!  I am so proud of all of the good news Baylor has been getting lately.  I'm hoping for another national win for the Lady Bears this year.

Here's the news story from www.baylorbears.com

an. 3, 2011

For the first time in program history, Baylor's women's basketball team is ranked No. 1 in The Associated Press poll. Baylor, 13-1 on the season and ranked No. 2 every week since the beginning of the 2010-11season, moved to the top spot after then-top-ranked Connecticut lost Thursday at then-No. 9 Stanford, 71-59.

Connecticut, which dropped to No. 2, had been the top team for a record 51 straight weeks, beginning Feb. 18, 2008. Duke, Stanford and Tennessee round out the first five. The Cardinal moved up five places after routing then-No. 4 Xavier and beating UConn.

Baylor's lone loss was a one-point decision at UConn, 65-64, on Nov. 16. The Lady Bears have since reeled off 10 straight victories which includes wins over four ranked opponents - - No. 25 Michigan State (78-52), No. 16 Notre Dame (76-65), No. 6 Tennessee (65-54) and No. 23 Syracuse (77-43). Baylor has posted a +16.2 scoring margin versus its five ranked opponents this season.

"This top ranking brings positive recognition to our program, Baylor University and the Big 12 Conference. We welcome that, every coach in America would, but we keep it in perspective, we want to be ranked No. 1 at the end of the season," said head coach Kim Mulkey. "We are young, talented and confident but we hunger for a Big 12 championship and a national championship."

The Lady Bears are led by 6-8 sophomore post and National Player of the Year candidate Brittney Griner's 21.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and 5.1 blocks per game. She is followed by National Freshman of the Year candidate Odyssey Sims' 12.4 points per contest. Baylor's starters, Griner, Sims, Melissa Jones, Kimetria Hayden and Brooklyn Pope, are shooting an impressive .518 (304-587) on the season.

Baylor brings a conference-best 10-game win streak into its Big 12 season opener as it hosts No. 17 Iowa State on Saturday, Jan. 8, at 11 a.m., in a game that will be televised on Fox Sports Net.

The Lady Bears are Baylor's first team to achieve a No. 1 listing in an AP Poll. Men's basketball's highest ranking came on Dec. 6 and Dec. 13, 2010, when it checked in at No. 9 and football's highest ranking was No. 3 for two consecutive weeks during the 1953 season.

However, this isn't Baylor's first No. 1 ranking overall. Women's basketball was ranked No. 1 in the final USA Today/ESPN Coaches' Poll after winning the 2005 NCAA championship, men's and women's tennis have both been ranked No. 1 on numerous occasions by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) and the equestrian team was listed at No. 1 in the Women's Intercollegiate Equestrian National Coaches Poll on Feb. 24, 2009.

Baylor becomes the second Big 12 women's team to be ranked No. 1 in an AP Poll. Texas claimed the top spot for two straight weeks beginning with the Feb. 9, 2004, poll. In addition, Texas Tech was ranked No. 1 in the Jan. 6 and 13, 2004, USA Today/ESPN coaches polls, but was No. 2 in the AP Poll each week.

AP TOP 25
1 Baylor (23)
2.Connecticut (14)
3.Duke (1)
4.Stanford (2)
5.Tennessee
6.West Virginia
7.Texas A&M
8.North Carolina
9.Xavier
10.Kentucky
11.Michigan St.
12.UCLA
13.Notre Dame
14.Maryland
15.Georgetown
16.DePaul
17.Iowa St.
18.St. John's
19.Oklahoma
20.Ohio St.
21.Iowa
22.Texas
23.Syracuse
24.Florida St.
25.Arkansas 

St. Paddy's 5K

Today Matthew and I registered for the St. Paddy's Dash Down Greenville 5K Run and Fun Walk.  I am soooo excited!  Matthew will be wearing his kilt (with his privacy flap buttoned correctly this time)and I am looking forward to looking goofy in green.  Last year there were about 4000 participants so we will definitely not be the only ones there.  I can't wait!

Matthew in his kilt

Goodbye 2010

2010 was one crazy year!  As a teacher, I usually think of years being school years and sometimes I have to think if something happened last year or last school year.  I get confused.  Let's see if I can recap.

Matthew proposed on December 20th and the first 6 months of 2010 were all about getting ready for the wedding, marriage, and moving.

School was pretty tough.  I mean really tough.  Looking back I know that the teaching and the students didn't make it unbearable.  It was the lack of professionalism and working with people you couldn't trust with a 10 foot pole (besides a few people).  It made me question whether or not I made the right decision in becoming a teacher.  I spent the spring really considering grad school in order to get my Masters in Social Work.  When I was at Baylor I was able to spend A LOT of time at Mission Waco and serving the poor/homeless and I loved it.  I decided that if teaching wasn't my thing then Social Work must be it!  I started grad school at UTA in the fall and as soon as I started interviewing places for my internship I realized that Social Work isn't what I am supposed to do.  I decided to quit in the middle of the semester.  It was a really hard decision to make but I know I made the right choice.

I was super duper sick for the first half of 2010.  I came pretty close to needing minor heart surgery but it was scary enough.  I'm so thankful that Lord is The Great Physician.  Got the heart under control and therefore got the passing out problems under control.  I've also been on a miracle drug and haven't had any major allergy, sinus, or asthma problems since the spring!  That is one big deal!

Planning the wedding was a lot of fun!  There were a few stressful times but it seemed like everything fell into place; like it was meant to be  :)  Matthew's favorite party of wedding planning was cake testing.  His least favorite was licking the envelopes and sticking the stamps on.  He was a great sport.
I had my bridal portraits done.
We had engagement photos done.
Had a bachelorette party (photos not appropriate  :P )
And we had an incredible wedding!

My lease in my apartment was up in February so I got to live with my partner in crime, Angie, for a few months.  We had way too much fun together.  We could write a book about our adventures of living together.

In June I quit teaching at the school I had been at for 3 years.  It was hard to leave the students and a few friends but I really wasn't sad to leave.  Matthew and I moved into our new apartment.

Matthew and I went on the PERFECT honeymoon.  We spent 2 nights in San Francisco down at Fisherman's Wharf and then drove to Healdsburg in the Sonoma Wine Country.  We spent 4 nights at a cute bed and breakfast.  The owner used to be the head chef at Churchill Downs in Kentucky and made the most delicious breakfast.  We visited wineries, drank wine all day long, and even went on a hot air balloon ride!  I can't wait to go back.

My grandmother sold her house and I was able to spend some time with her helping her move.  It was a lot of fun to go through my grandparents things.  It made me miss my granddaddy like no other but it was good to talk about it him as much as we did.

This fall I helped teach Sunday School to K-3rd graders.  It was a lot of fun and as cute as can be but I don't know what to do with those little people.

I've been fortunate to do some long term substitute jobs this semester.  I've already been hired for this school district and both schools that I've taught at want to hire me for next school year.

My dad has been cancer free for all of 2010  :)

The Lord has been so good and faithful.  I'm healthy, my family is healthy and I never thought I would be married, especially in my 20's and here I am, married to my best friend and the one and only man for me.

I'm looking for to what the Lord has in store for us in 2011.

Texas Bowl Adventures

Wednesday Matthew dropped me off at the airport bright and early so I could go to the Texas Bowl to see my Baylor Bears win.  My friend Angie picked me up from the airport and we went straight to lunch.  When we're together, we're pretty good eaters and we always have a little something something to drink when we dine together.  We had lunch at a really yummy Italian Restaurant called Zio's.  When we arrived it was right after 11:00.  As soon as we were seated the server offered to give us samples of a new white wine, 7 Daughters.  We always take free samples!  Then he offered the bottle to us.  Usually, when people ask if we're going to have any wine its a fast reply of "Of course" but since it wasn't even noon yet we were a little hesitant, but not for long!  Being the out of control girls that we are, we decided to order a bottle.  During our three hour lunch, we happened to make great friends with our server, met the local manager, met the guy who's in charge of designing the menu (yes, Angie said she would like to see more pictures in the menu) and we also met the guy who owns all of the Zio's in Texas.  Apparently they were having a pretty important meeting.  We managed to get all of the guys to sit down with us and visit for about 15 minutes each.  I love hanging out with Angie, she makes friends where ever she goes!  On January 24th a Zio's will be opening in the DFW area.  I'm pretty excited, they had some really delicious food.
We left for Angie's parents' place and hung out with her family for a little while and then Angie, Angie's mom, and I headed for the Baylor Game.  I was pretty excited because I just knew my Bears were going to win.  When we finally arrived at the game and found our seats, the Bears were already trailing by 6 points.  The Bears never caught up.  The Bears must have been nervous because they played awful!  It was a little embarrassing.  I felt like I was at a football game from my college days when we expected them to lose.  There were a ton of Baylor fans at the game.  I'm really proud to see that many fans come out and support the Bears even though they didn't show up.  Being at the game was fun, I had a good time teaching Angie and her mom the sic'em bears, and all of the cheers.  Also, Angie and I were enterainted by the crazy man sitting across the way from us.  He was not too happy with the calls the refs were making and he let everyone around him know that he was not a happy camper.

Better luck next time Bears.
That was all we did.  Angie and I drove back to DFW the next morning.  I really miss seeing Angie 5 days a week.  We still talk just about everyday but it isn't the same as seeing each other.  It was great to spend that much time with her.

Crazy Guy from the Baylor Game.  I love his wife's BU socks  :)  I'm sorry the picture isn't the best

Good Bye Houston!  See you next time!  I love this statue  :)

Fall at the Arboretum

For awhile Matthew and I have been wanting to go the the Dallas Arboretum to check out the fall scenery. As always, it was beautiful and so relaxing.  I love the fall colors, the ginormous pumpkins, and the gross warty pumpkins.

I love BIG pumpkins  :)

I would be okay if I could live in a house made of pumpkins.

I've never seen so many different pumpkins before.

Hehehe, this one was one of my favorites.

Scary!

:)

Did you know that pumpkins can grow anywhere in the world but Antarctica?  Pretty amazing, huh?

I love these flowers!

I feel like these should belong in The Wizard of Oz.  

The End.

Starting November 26, they'll do their Christmas themed stuff called The Magic of Santa.  Yep, I will definitely go to that one!

Middle Schoolers are so entertaining!

When I'm teaching it doesn't take long for me to countdown the days until Christmas Break, Spring Break, and especially Summer Break.  However, once the school year started, it didn't take long for me to miss those crazy kiddos.
This past week I went to a baby shower at the school I used to teach at.  I looked out the doors and a student I had two years ago was running towards the room with his football uniform on but no shoes.  I opened the door and holding my nose asked the kid where his shoes were.  He told me that the football team left without him and he couldn't get into the field house to get the rest of his stuff.  So me and my bestest friend (who happens to be this kids spanish teacher) had him find a janitor and told him to run and get his stuff.  In the meantime, we called the kid's coach and asked him if he knew where his only kicker was and that's when he realized that they left this kid at school.  The coach laughed.  This kid comes running down the hall without any of the stuff.  This poor 8th grader couldn't figure out how to get the door unlocked.  My friend had to walk all the way to the field house in her fancy high heels to help him out.
Before we took him to the game, we went to McDonald's to feed the poor child.  I made him order at the drive through and apparently he had never ordered food by himself before.  Angie had to keep on telling him to say please and thank you.  On our way to the game the kid asked what the coach said when we called.  Angie was going to be a lot nicer than I was and say that he was really sorry but I beat her to it.  I just told him that coach laughed and wasn't sorry.  Maybe I should work on being nicer.

Anyway, I know this story isn't entertaining to anyone but myself, the coach, and Angie.  It was hilarious.  It made my week and made me remember that this kids are crazy!  People always tell parents of toddlers and young children to write down everything they say but those middle schoolers have some funny and clever things to say as well.
I'm looking forward to teaching middle schoolers again.