"I'm at the starting line...

...of the rest of my life, as ready as I've ever been.

Got the hunger and the stars in my eyes.

The prize is mine to win."

*****

So I'm quoting a new song by Billy Ray and his daughter...maybe that's odd, maybe not.

But I really like this song, more specifically, the chorus. I can relate to those words.

It's the start of a brand new year and I'm the girl in the chorus of that song. I'm 26. I've finally become content, even happy, with who I am. I feel like I am right where God wants me to be. I finally realized that I am complete in Him. I have learned so much over the past year about who I am and who I can't wait to become. And now, at the start of 2008, I really am at the starting point of the rest of my life.

The thought of a new year holds so much promise - new people, new experiences - prizes to be won. I'm excited about the new year. I'm excited that I've finally learned to live my life and live it for me, doing what truly makes me happy.

So, like I said, I can relate to the girl in the song....

I'm 26.

Life holds so much possiblity for me.

I'm excited about what's in store.
God has great plans for my life.

I can't wait to see what they are!

I can't believe...

...that 2007 will be over in about 12 hours...

Where has the time gone? This year has completely flown by.

It's been a GREAT year though! God has been so wonderful and I have received so many blessings!! I have grown in my walk with Him. I have become more involved in my church than I ever imagined and I love every minute of it! Through Crossroads, God has brought so many wonderful people in my life...I've made lots of new friends and reconnected with some old ones and they all are very dear to me. I can't imagine my life without them!

I continue to work in a wonderful job with some great people. I didn't ever think that I would fit in so well in the place where I work. So often you hear about people who don't really like their job or the people they work with. I feel blessed to love my job and not just work with my colleagues, but to be friends with them.

I've had a great 2007. I've grown so much as a person and learned so much about myself. Unlike last year, I can now say that I am truly happy with myself and my life - and actually mean it. I've become the genuinely happy girl that I was as a child...and I love it.

I'm not one for resolutions....but I think I will make one this year to work on updating this thing more... :0)

I don't know how many people read this (possibly no one....) But for anyone that might, I wish you a wonderful New Year! I hope 2008 is full of joy and blessings!!

Below are just a few pictures (from the several that I took...) from Christmas....

It's been quite a while...

...since I last updated this thing!!

Gosh! A lot has happened since July....

The school year is back in full swing. We've just about completed the first nine weeks. And they've been great!! I have a wonderful class of thirteen students this year! They are so sweet and such hard little workers!

Here are some pictures of my classroom from Open House. It looks a little different now - the walls have student work on them now and lots of charts we've made to help us remember all the new things we've learned, but basically it's the same.

My bulletin board - Miss Holder's Little Learning Ladybugs

My room...
Reading Corner
Another of the room...
Word Wall (which is now full of all the new words we've learned...)

So the school year has been off to a wonderful start!! Lots of learning going on in Miss Holder's room!!

Let's see...what else has happened? Well, Phillip and I turned 26 back in September. How in the world we got to be 26, I'll never know!!!

Happy Birthday to the twins!!

Not only have Phillip and I gotten a year older, Bethany is now 13!!!!! That's what really blows my mind! How in the world is it possible for that child to already be 13??? Time sure does fly! No pictures yet of Bethie's special day - they are still on Daddy's computer.

I'm also now officially halfway done with my specialist degree. I have 6 classes left and if all goes as planned, I will finish up in May!! Hooray!! Then I plan on being done with school forever (although friends tell me that in less than a year I'll probably go back for my doctorate. I disagree, but I guess only time will tell).

Over the past few months, I've also seen more and more how truly amazing God is. He has completely blessed me beyond measure - each and every day I discover a new blessing!! I have a wonderful family! I work in an amazing school with fantastic people! I belong to a church that is simply awesome and I work in the children's ministry there - and words can't describe how neat that is! I have great friends! Life is just good!

So I think that's pretty much it since July. Maybe I'll get better at updating this thing, I guess we'll see!!

Hairspray...

...awesome movie! You should definitely check it out!

Great music, great dancing...just great fun!!

Saw it last night and loved it!!

Well...

...it's been a while since I last posted...
Nothing much new to share today, just a cute email I got from a friend.

As a teacher, I related to this and found it enjoyable...thought I'd share...

YOU KNOW YOU'RE A TEACHER IF... Jeff Foxworthy

1. You can hear 25 voices behind you and know exactly which one belongs to the child out of line.

2. You get a secret thrill out of laminating something.

3. You walk into a store and hear the words "It's Miss/Mr. _________" and know you have been spotted.

4. You have 25 people that accidentally call you mom/dad at one time or another.

5. You can eat a multi-course meal in under twenty-five minutes (or less).

6. You've trained yourself to go to the bathroom at two distinct times of the day: lunch and planning period.

7. You start saving other people's trash, because most likely, you can use that toilet paper tube or plastic butter tub for something in the classroom.

8. You want to slap the next person who says, "Must be nice to work 7:15 to 3:15 and have summers off."

9. You believe chocolate is a food group.

10. You can tell if it's a full moon without ever looking outside.

11. You believe that unspeakable evils will befall you if anyone says, "Boy, the kids sure are mellow today."

12. You feel the urge to talk to strange children and correct their behavior when you are out in public.

13. You think caffeine should be available in an intravenous form.

14. You spend more money on school stuff than you do on your own things.

15. You can't pass the school supply aisle without getting at least one thing!

16. You ask your friends if the left hand turn he just made was a "good choice or a bad choice."

17. You find true beauty in a can full of perfectly sharpened pencils.

18. You are secretly addicted to hand sanitizer and finally,

19. You understand instantaneously why a child behaves a certain way after meeting his or her parents.

My new dishes...

...are so neat!!

I got some new dishes today for my "future kitchen."

I like them...so I thought I'd share them.

The pictures came out a little blurry, but that's okay,

they're still cute dishes!

(Much cuter in person, by the way...

so come by sometime for lunch and I can show them to you) :0)

Blessings...

...come when you least expect them.

This may seem minor to most, but it came as a huge, unexpected blessing to me. I've been working on balancing my checking account tonight (after I received a rather large bill for my specialist degree classes....) and I was trying to figure out how it was going to be possible to pay everything I owe for the next year while I'm in school (car payments, car insurance, lovely student loans from good ol' LaGrange College and the like...) I had resigned myself to the fact that I would literally barely make it by for the next year, and it had pretty much put me in quite the "blah" mood...

I then opened what I expected to be yet another bill from the Georgia Student Finance Commission. But rather than a bill, I opened a letter telling me that the loans have been deferred until May 2010!! Whew!! This led me to call the customer service number for my other loan - only to find out that it too has been deferred!! What a relief!! Two of my biggest bills are deferred until I finish getting my degree!!

God is so good!!!