Wheaton Acadamy Interview

As, I mentioned in my last post, Tim had an interview with Wheaton Academy. The process actually started back in February. Tim filled out the initial application and sent it in. At that point, he had no idea how competitive and complicated the process would end up being.

Once Wheaton Academy reviewed is initial application, they gave him the go ahead to fill out the FULL application - which ended up being like 14 pages of essays about doctrine and teaching practices! It took him forever to fill out.

So after that was sent in -end of February, We waited to hear back. Finally we heard back that they wanted to see him for the first round of inteviews. That interview took place last Wednesday, March 26th. The interview lasted almost 2 hours! He thought that it went well as far as he could tell. But while he was at the interview, he found out that more there were over 60 applicants for this one position! Only 15 had been chosen to come in for the first interview. Only 5 will be called back for the 2nd round of the interview process, and out of those 5 only 1 will be CHOSEN!

Isn't that just crazy?! We had no idea that it was that competitive. IF he gets called back, we will most likely know by the end of April, he will have to go back for a FULL day at the school. He would teach a few classes, eat lunch with the kids, and spend some time with the other Bible faculty members.

After that day, IF he all goes well, he would be called back again.
The position is to teach Systematic Theology and World Views to high schoolers full-time. If the Lord would work this out, he would certainly love the opportunity. It would mean that we would have to move a little bit south. But we are not making any plans yet. I have every confidence that the Lord knows what is best for us. And He will certainly open this door or close it according to His Sovereign plan.

Thank you for your love and prayers. We will keep you updated!

Props to my Husband

It's been an exciting and yet difficult time of our lives moving to Chicago. Since September, Tim has been taking about 15 graduate credits at TEDS. He has loved every minute of it - which has encouraged me greatly! He started in the fall simply focusing on seminary full time. The way that Trinity works is that anything over 10 credits is free... so at $630 a credit hour, he was saving us money by not working and going to school full time!

After a while, we realized that our budget couldn't handle Tim not working, so he sweetly offered to get a part-time job to help pay the bills. In February he started working at Starbucks. So now he is a full-time student, part-time Barista, and a full-time husband! He is so busy and so tired, but he rarely complains.

On an average day, he wakes up at 3:30am - gets ready for the day and drives to Starbucks to open at 4:30am. He works until about 8:30am (some days until 12 or 1 if he doesn't have an early class). Then he heads straight from work up to TEDS to attend classes. Some days he is there until almost 6pm. He heads home, eats dinner, and then usually helps me clean up before he gets to some reading for writing. He has been trying to get to bed around 10pm, but that hasn't always been happening (if he has something pressing due).

On top of that,he went to Colorado for a week to preach to his old students from GCA. Then last weekend he spent the weekend in Iowa to preach at a camp for Ben Eilers.

Today is interviewing at Wheaton Academy to teach High School Bible in Fall 2008.

I am just incredibly blessed and thankful to have a husband that is so industrious. And yet as busy as he is, he has made it a priority to spend time with me - he always deals with my emotional ups and downs so well (even if he does have a paper due the next morning). He has been incredible in helping me get used to grad school as well. He helps me think through my papers and projects and gives great advice.

I don't know what I would do without him. The Lord has blessed me greatly to have such a husband - he is my best friend!

Things that my 3rd Graders say daily:

1. "Mrs. Baylor - he's breathin' his nasty old breath on me!"
2. "I'm gonna use it on myself!" (Go to the bathroom in their pants)
3. "Oooohhh he just treated you!" ( Made fun of you badly)
4. "He just kicked me!"
5. "He just hit me!"
6. "Mrs. Baylor, he be talkin' bout my mama!"
7. "Mrs. Baylor, he said my whoooolleee generation!" (i still do not know what this one means!)
8. "She's dancin' all nasty like!" (yes, a little dirty dancing)

There will be more to come...

Scared out of my wits!

Ok, so last Friday night, I went out with some of my friends from work. We went to a little place near where I teach. The logo is above, which in light of the story I am about to tell, is very ironic :o)

If you don't remember, I work on the west side of downtown Chicago. It is not a great area to say the least. But it was still light, so I thought that it wouldn't be a big deal.
I left there at about 8:00pm and left with a friend to go to a diner close by to get some breakfast for dinner. Well, it was about 9:00pm when I left to go home. I was really silly and forgot to get directions to the highway. Well, I had a map, so I looked at it, but ...I went the wrong way (anyone who knows me, knows that is not uncommon :o) So I basically went into a worse part of town.

Well, I am driving down North Avenue minding my own business, when a cop car (or the po-po as my students say) slid to a slanted stop in front of my, cutting off the road. The officers jumped out of their car and drew their guns, pointing into a crowd of people (away from me fortunately). Before I knew it there was glass breaking, people shouting, and guns shooting! I could not believe my eyes!

I was less than 20 feet from all of this! I was so nervous! I thought for sure I was going to be one of those innocent bistander's that is in the local news for getting shot!
I called Tim right away and he told me to keep driving slowly until I could get past all of the craziness.So as I drove by I saw people in handcuffs, yelling, and mulling about. Just as I got past the area, 5 more cars/SUV's swarmed the area. I got out of there as quickly as I could, my heart racing! Tim had a map and navigated me out of the area! PTL!

Before I knew it I was home safely in my own house! AAAhhhh I have never been so scared in my life.

Ok, so now Sarah Branine, Katie Zakes, um I mean Barker, and I have all had some close and crazy encounters! This is starting to get weird!

A Few Lessons learned:

1. Do not stay in west Chicago much after dark (especially by yourself)
2. Get directions BEFORE you leave somewhere (especially downtown)
3. Have your husband by your a tom - tom ;o)

Another week come and gone

Well, it has been a very busy with Tim starting Starbucks, our car in the shop and my kids getting a little stir-crazy with all of this snow and cold weather.  But I have really enjoyed having Tim back and we are starting to get back into the swing of things again.

Wednesday night I went to Suzanne and Ryan Dobbertin's house for dinner (tim couldn't make it with his work schedule).  We had a great time catching up and remembering old times.  I am so glad that she is in the Chicago area and hopefully we can stay in better touch now.  Her son Gavin is soooo cute!  And she is such a good mommy!  I had a wonderful time with them.  

Then came the weekend....Finally! The weekends are always nice, because we usually sleep in Saturday mornings and then go out Saturday nights. Last night, we hung out with the Logan's. The guys watched a big basketball game (no idea which one:o) and Lindsay and I went out to Babies R Us to check out things for her registry. We had such a nice time!  After almost 2 hours of walking around the store, we found this great reclining rocker.  I just had to get a pic of her.... she looked so cute!

I have been going to church early, because I have been doing nursery during the 8am service.  It has been a really neat experience getting to know a lot of families and their children... and of course it give me my "Baby Fix " -- so Tim is glad for that ;o) Then Tim meets me at church at 9:30am and we go to our 20 something sunday school class.  We have loved this time!  Not only is it a great time to get to know couples our age, but it is also such a good time of study in the word.  After that, we go to the 11am church service.  

We just love our paster Colin Smith so much.  he has been such a blessing to us in these last 6 months.  Today there was a guest speaker, but his message was very encouraging to both Tim and I.  The basic proposition was  that God does not bless you or use you because you have a certain level of potential or usability. He blesses you because he wants to accomplish his work through you. But it really has nothing to do with YOU and your abilities.  

What a blessing!

I hope you all have a wonderful week in the Lord !  

"Crank Dat" Written by Soulja Boy, performed by my third grade class

ok, so my kids always sing this song and do the dance... it's kind of a rap song. It always makes me laugh, so I had to share it with you! They are so silly :)

Here are the lyrics to the chorus in case you can't understand them.

Soulja Boy up in it (OH!)
Watch Me Crank It
Watch Me Roll
Watch Me Crank Dat Soulja Boy,
That Super Man Dat (OH!)
Now Watch Me Do
(Crank Dat Soulja )
Now Watch Me Do
(Crank Dat Soulja )
Now Watch Me Do
(Crank Dat Soulja )
Now Watch Me Do
(Crank Dat Soulja )

Busy life in February

Well, this last month has just flown by! I finished up my first grad school class  "Foundations of Education" and actually pulled offan A- (not sure how that happened with working full time etc... but PTL!) Then I started a class called "Foundations of Integrative Thought".  It was Tuesday and Thursday nights from 6-10 pm.  

Wow! Talk about crazy!  It was a very interesting class. It was basically a Biblical Theology class on crack.  What I mean by that is that it was very accelerated since it was a block course. So there was a lot crammed into 2 and a half weeks!  I found myself surrounded by people in my class (including my professor) who were questioning whether people go to hell or not! It was crazy.  I didn't think that I would face that. I was certainly the only Calvinist in there (which truthfully, I have experience that before). So needless to say, it was quite the experience.  I was really challenged in my beliefs.  It was very good for me study these things and defend them without Tim there to help me.  

Well, in this last week of February, tim was gone in Colorado preaching at a GCA teen class trip.  I was so happy that he got to go and be with this kids again.  But it came at such a bad time.  I had a Biblical Theology paper due in my class that week! And it was worth 80% of my grade! Fortunately, some of Tim's friends were a huge help! I would like to give a shout out to Nate Mihiles, Scott Logan, Tim Barker, and James Gordon. Thanks guys for giving me advice an

d helping me with this paper while Tim was away! I am sure that Tim is thankful that you kept me from falling into heretical arguments in my paper (bad for the Baylor name here, ya know?)

Tim came back into town Friday night (29th of Feb.) and we went out to dinner at a sweet little Italian restaurant in our area. It has been great havi

ng him home again.  Although, now he has to play catch up with seminary.  Fortunately, he has this week off of classes for Spring break... and I have off of my grad school classes as well! So hopefully we will be able to get back into the swing of things!

Oh yea, and Tim started a job a Starbucks!  It is just great for me! We get 1 lb. of FREE coffee beans eery week!  And when we are out together we can get coffee drinks for 30% off!  It's sweet.  He will be working 4:30am - 8:30 am Monday - Friday.   It will be difficult, but it will really help us to pay the bills. 

I am so pumped that I have about 14 days until my Spring Break at HFLS! So I am absolutely excited!

I can't believe that this year is going by so quickly! I just have March, April, and May left until the school year is over... crazy!  

Well, that's all for now. Hope you and your families are all doing well!  May God's blessing and peace be upon you in the rest of this year!

Valentine's Day

Well, Valentine's week was very busy for Tim and I.  I had class on Tuesday night and Thursday night. So we ended up going out on Wednesday night.  We had received a Red Lobster gift card for christmas, so we went there to celebrate. The sad thing was that we looked up the closest RL on the internet, but when we got there... there as no RL!  We drove around for another hour, called the # on the gift card and found another location.  Anyway, by the time we got there it was 8:30!  We were starving, so we really enjoyed the meal.  And it was so nice to just sit and catch up on things.  With as busy has we have been, we really haven't gotten the chance.

Pray for Scott, Lindsay, and now Lindsay's Mom!

Ok so the other night, Lindsay's mom was walking outside (here in Chicago) on the snow and ice and fell to the ground pretty hard.  She was in a lot of pain and went to get x-rays... she broke her hip!  She is going into surgery today to have them put a metal bolt in for stability.   So Lindsay's dad drove up from the DC area to be with Lindsay's mom.... and all the while Lindsay is still recovering!  Sooo just wanted to let you know to continue to pray. 

 Lindsay is starting to feel much better, but she is still not able to go back to work. Thank you all for your prayers and thoughts. If anyone would like Scott and Lindsay's address or any more info. just e-mail me at juliebaylor@gmail.com 

Thanks!

Pray for Lindsay and Scott

Last week Lindsay went to the hospital unexpectedly for some intestinal problems. She ended up getting surgery and staying a total of four days (at $250 a day, that's not cheap!). She and the baby are healthy, she is just recovering now. She got home on Sunday evening. She has to be on bed rest for 7-10 days (minimum). Fortunately her mother came to visit for over a week (Sunday - Tuesday). Also, Scott is at home taking care of her.

Please pray that she will recover quickly and not be in too much pain. Also, she gets paid hourly and is not getting paid for her work she is missing! As well, her job just contacted her and wants to change her hours all around to nights and weekend (since she will be having the baby soon anyways, they said).They are not sure what they want to do about everything. It's hard for her to even think about it right now.
I know that Scott and Lindsay would covet your prayers for health, and also finances.

One down --a BUNCH more to go!

Well, I finished my first graduate class as of last Tuesday! I really enjoyed the class. It was called "Foundations of Education". It was actually very interesting!  We were required to right papers on various subjects(boy crisis, religion in education, history of Pestalozzi, Acelerated Schools Project ), which really allowed me to dig a little deeper and figure out what my position is on certain subjects. Usually each of us in my cohort (11) researched a different topic and then shared them with the class.  It was very interesting! 

So I start my next class tomorrow night. It is called "Foundations of Integrative Thought". It looks promising as well. The only bummer is that it runs Tuesdays and Thursdays from February 12th - 28th.  It will be a lot quicker, but more intense.  And just in case you didn't notice, I will be in class Thursday, February 14th 6pm-10pm.... so we are celebrating wednesday night instead, which is fine.

I don't know that I have really explained how this MA is going to work.  It is basically block course upon block course January '08 to January '09. Then after that is student teaching - yup you heard me right. I have 3 months of student teaching to do... yes, I have been teaching in my own classroom for almost 5 years now! But since NBBC was not regionally accredited, I have to do the student teaching in a public school in order to get Illinois State Certified.  So, I'm doing it (Lord willing). All of the course work will add up to 41 credit hours.  If everything works out the way we are planning (ha!) - Tim and I may "walk" together next may 2009! How cool would that be!?

Restaurant Review #1

Tim and I decided to try a restaurant near our house tonight called Ted's Montana Grill. 

This was funny in light of the fact that the seminary Tim is attending is called: "TEDS:Trinity Evangelical Divinity School"

We were pleasantly surprised at the atmosphere, service, and food.  We had to laugh when we saw this bison head behind our table.  I just had to get a picture. 

The atmosphere was casual, but very nice.  Dimly lit with individual lights at each table.  We had waited for about ten minutes, so when we got a table, the manager came over to us, greeted us and apologized personally (very refreshing!).  She immediately brought us out their starters: they served warm sweet bread with whipped butter and a side of homemade pickled cucumbers (very tasty!)I ordered the grilled chicken sandwich with cheddar cheese, mushrooms and bacon.  It was excellent!  The manager told us that the chicken is marinated for 36 hours before being cooked: very juicy!  I got a baked sweet potato on the side. It was covered with brown sugar and cinnamon.  

Tim ordered the bison burger with barbecue sauce, cheese and bacon. He got the side of fries. The manager also shared that the fries were cut and fried fresh and the bison is much leaner and healthier than the regular beef burger. He very much enjoyed it; although he said next time he might go with the regular burger :o)
All in all, it was a wonderful experience. We were also pleased to find out that they are very environmentally friendly. They use biodegradable straws, to-go containers (made out of corn!), and even have recycling bins on site.  Ted's Montana Grill has locations around the Mid-West and East Coast -- ironically, however, they do not have a location in Montana!

 It was so nice to try something new in the area. It is located only about 7 minutes from our house, so again, ANYONE WANT TO VISIT?

Ash Wednesday

Ok, so today at Holy Family Lutheran School during chapel  I was part of a their Ash Wednesday ceremony.  It was very interesting. They had previously burned the palm branches from the last Palm Sunday to use the ashes for the service.  The pastor explained how the ashes were representative of how we came from dust and to dust we will return. In short, the mortality of man.  Ash Wednesday commemorates the start of Lent.  The kids were all encouraged to admit their faults and to give something up for the forty days prior to Easter Sunday(Sundays not included in the count). The purpose of this was to have the children sacrifice something for the name of Christ.  After a prayer, the pastor came around with a small canister and made the symbol of a cross on each forehead with ashes while saying, "from dust you have come, to dust you shall return".  They were encouraged to leave the symbol on their heads as a reminder throughout the day.  I have to admit, I was  a little nervous about the whole thing at first.  I thought it sounded too catholic to me.  But as the symbols were explained, I found that I really had no problem with using this as a symbol of my own mortality. So I joined in the ceremony.  

What do you think you would have done?  Any more thoughts on Ash Wednesday or Lent?

Here is one website I was looking at about the history behind this tradition.

Super Bowl Sunday!

Well, the morning started out with homemade monkey bread. I haven't made that since college, with Carissa and Jennifer!  It brought back some good memories :o)

Then we enjoyed a wonderful service at church and had the opportunity to go out with two other couples from our 20 something sunday school class. There names are Same, Kim, Rachel, and Adam. Kim and Rachel are both teachers so we had plenty to talk about.  We had such a nice time with them!  It was the first time we had gone out with anyone new here in the area, so that was nice.  We are hoping to continue to develop relationships within our church body.

____________________________________________________________________

After lunch, we came home, cleaned up a little before our guests arrived for the Super Bowl : Scott, Lindsay, Gary and Jamie.  We had a great time together just spending time together... and oh ... watching the game.  Even I have to admit that the last few minutes were good!

Jamie and Lindsay hanging out talking

Meatball subs :o)

Gary and Jamie

Scott and Lindsay (and baby Logan)

Tim and I

The Giants win!

Snow Day!

As many of you know, the Mid-West got hit with a big storm this week.  Last night we got 9 inches of snow!  And believe it or not, my school in downtown Chicago did not cancel.  However, the roads were so horrible that I could not make it in. So it turned out to be a snow day for me.  Here are some beautiful pics of our apartment complex :o)

A

The Boy Crisis: Is it Real?

Last week, I wrote a controversial issue paper on the question. " Is there a Crisis in the Education of Boys?". I have to admit, I didn't know a lot of the issues going into the paper, but I learned a lot during my research. I am posting my paper, not because I think it is exceptionally good, but I would like to hear your opinions on the matter. So feel free to disagree with me if you want :o)

Imagine that you are a parent of an elementary, middle school, or high school male and you heard that there is a crisis in the education of boys. Wouldn’t you be concerned for the education of your son? Many parents, teachers, administrators, and researchers are concerned as well and have been looking into the situation with great interest. The question is, are boys really in crisis in their education? This paper will discuss the views on the “boy crisis”, the possible problems facing boys in their education, and the proposed responses to these problems.
First, is there a crisis in the education of boys today? There are many scholars, teachers, and researchers who differ in their opinions on this matter. Two major views are prevalent: 1) boys are truly in crisis and need to be educated differently and 2) there is a gap between boys and girls, but it is marginal and therefore should not be of major concern.
Debra Viadero makes the point in her article in Education Week (2006) that boys truly are in educational crisis. Viadero says that this is not a new problem, but that on the National Assessment of Educational Progress test in reading, boys ages 9, 13, and 17 have lagged behind girls since 1971 (Viadero, 2006). Furthermore she asserts that this is a “universal problem”. In 2003 in a reading test given to 15 year olds around the world, females scored higher in all but one of the 41 countries tested (Viadero, 2006). Viadero continues that based on the National Center for Education Statistics, between the years of 1971-2001, men went from the majority of undergraduate population to the minority compared to females (2006).
Leonard Sax also believes that there is a major gender gap in the educational system and therefore, boys and girls should be educated differently. He gave the example in his article called “The Boy Problem” of his experience visiting an all boys elementary classroom in Waterloo, IA. This public school classroom was unique. There was a male teacher, walking about the room reading a book to the students; as he read, the boys in the classroom were moving about the room, twirling, talking, sitting on the floor or just interrupting in response at any time. When asked about how the children were doing not being required to sit still and be quiet, the teacher, Jeff Ferguson, said, “The students are paying attention and thriving under the relaxed atmosphere.” (Sax, 2007). Sax concluded that girls and boys are just different and need to be educated differently. He admits that girls are more likely to read for fun than boys are (NEA 1980-2004), but Sax believes that there are some major factors that have encouraged this trend (2007). He says that video games, medications for ADHD, endocrine disruptors, and the devaluation of masculinity have all contributed to boys not reading for fun (Sax, 2007).
While some like Sax believe that there is a major crisis in the education of boys that requires the restructuring of the classroom, others believe that the gap is marginal and does not warrant reformation. Deborah Perkins–Gough in the article “Do We Really have a Boy Crisis” says that based on recent NAEP scores, girls score higher in some areas, while boys score higher in others (Perkins-Gough, 2006). She believes that there are larger educational gaps of another kind that researchers and teachers should be concerned about - race and class gaps.
Rosalind C. Barnett and Caryl Rivers agree. They state that “ Overall, among non-poor academically elite students, boys are doing well” (Barnet & Rivers, 2006). They go on to say, “More males attend prestigious universities, such as Princeton and Harvard, and they are excelling in Science and Engineering in schools such as Cal Tech and MIT”. Both of these researchers agree that there is not a major gap between genders, but rather that there should be more focus placed on issues such as race and class.
They cite a study by the Urban Institute concerning the graduation rate of high-school students in Florida. Asians had an 81% graduation rate, whites had a 60% graduation rate, while Hispanics were at 48%, and blacks only a 46% graduation rate. Sarah Mead, a senior policy analyst at Education Sector, says, “Focusing on gender gaps, takes attention and resources away from the real and wide gaps of race and poverty” (Mead, 2006).
The major issues of the boy crisis have been discussed and now the important question of why might there be a gender gap must be answered. Debra Viadero (2006) gives three reasons why boys may struggle in school more than girls do. The first reason is that boy’s brains are hard-wired differently. The second reason is that school practices are not boy friendly. The third reason is that the after-effects of the women’s movement created this problem.
Leonard Sax adds one more reason: boys and girls develop at different rates. He believes that most boys are not prepared to read at age five (September 2006). He states that, “Language centers in many five-year-old boys look like the language centers of the average three-and-a-half-year-old girl.” Thirty years ago, kindergarten was a way of socializing children. They worked on finger painting and singing, but today, most kindergarten curriculums are much like the previous first grade curriculums. His conclusion is that most boys are not quite prepared for the rigid structure of the kindergarten program today. This often sets them behind in their reading abilities from the start (September 2006).
How should we respond to these claims that boys are in crisis? Those that believe that boys are truly in crisis, think that the education of boys must change. Kenneth Wallace wrote his dissertation on this trend. He argues that, “Rather than change boys, we need learn to respect and understand who they are.” Barnett and Rivers say that, “The remedy lies in creating a positive culture of learning in the classroom and beyond that will counteract the wider message that it’s a girl thing to do well in school” (2007). Those who hold this view of the boy crisis believe that boys should be either separated from the girls or that they should be treated differently in a coed classroom. They should be allowed to be more relaxed in their learning style. Just as Sax says, “sitting should be optional, and talking allowed” (2006).
On the other hand, those who believe there is only a marginal gap between the education of girls and boys, have a different take on the appropriate response. Deborah Perkins-Gough says that we should not panic. Boys will be just fine. “Rather we as educators and researchers should focus our attention where it is really needed: on closing the gaps of race and class.” She does however, admit that we should still support and fund the research of the boy crisis. But is that a contradiction?
My response to this question: “Is there a crisis in the education of boys?” is very similar to that of Sara Mead, Rosalind Barnett, and Caryl Rivers. There may be a slight gap between the educational progress of boys compared to girls, however, the margin is not wide enough to warrant changing the entire structure of our present schools and classrooms. In light of the widespread educational gaps presently between races and classes, it would be a misuse of resources to chase after the slim gap between genders.




References



Barnett, Rosalind C., & Rivers, Caryl. (2007). “Gender myths & the education of boys”. Independent School, 66(2), 92-4, 06, 98, 100-3.

Mead, Sara. (2006). “The truth about boys and girls”

Perkins-Gough, Deborah. (2006). “Do we really have a ‘boy crisis’?” Educational Leadership, 93-94.

Sax, Leonard. (2007). “The boy problem.” The School Library Journal, 53(9), 40-3.

Vail, Kathleen. (2006). “Is the boy crisis real?” American School Board Journal, 22-23.

Viadero, Debra. (2006). “Concern over the gener gaps shifting to boys” Education Week, 25(27), 1, 16-17.

This too has passed!

Ok, so I kind of flipped out and vented in yesterday's post. Sorry about that. I was just in the middle of it and couldn't see past my present situation.

Fortunately, today has been a MUCH better day! I even met with my principal and she gave me better marks on my observation than I thought she would. She did have some constructive criticism, but it was done in an encouraging way!

So anyways, I am off to my class now... and I just wanted to let everyone know that I am not going off the deep-end :o)

Everything is A -ok!

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers.
God is good - all the time!

Frustrating day!

What a day! I woke up and my phone was not working.. couldn't make any calls, although I could receive calls (weird).

Then I got to school and the kids were just horrible! I have no idea what got into them. It's like they had forgotten everything that I had taught them. I had to really crack down. It was just frustrating!

And then, I got observed by my principal teaching a Math lesson, which is fine. BUT - not only were the kids terribly behaved - but the lesson was a very hard one for 3rd graders. It was determining range, median, and mode. They are already behind in math, but they did not seem to understand it at all! It was so frustrating! I explained it like four different ways, but they kept whining and throwing fits that they did not understand it... all in front of my principal. UGHHH! In the end after MUCH explanation, they seemed to kind of get it.

Then I had the 4th graders in after school from 3:15 - 4:15.
After that, I have to run home and make dinner.
Then I have to run to a school board mtg (requirement for my grad. class)

That will put me home around 9:30pm!

Oh well, I guess I asked for this busy schedule. Some days seem harder than others though.

Tim did remind me that I have a lot to be thankful for - and I know it's true. It's just hard to remember sometimes!

One thing to be thankful for I guess, is that I finished my research paper this weekend (instead of having to stay up until all hours finishing it tonight)

Even amidst this crazy time, I will choose to rest in the Lord, for He is almighty!

My Favorite Spot: Sweet Dreams Organic Bakery and Cafe.

About 5 minutes down the road from our house, there is this adorable little, family owned, coffee shop and bakery that I love so much. This is the table I usually like to work at.  There is free internet access, friendly service, and comfy atmosphere.

Here is my steaming cup of hot tea.  It was a blend of fruits and spices.  The small bowl on the side is a teaspoon of organic honey.  All very yummy!  All of their dishes and furniture are from Crate & Barrel
I love this little bar you can sit at too and look out the window as you work :o)
Here is where the baristas and bakers hide. They are amazing!  I will  have to post some pics of the gorgeous pastries that they make!
If you ever come to Chicago to visit, I would love to take you to my little "hole in the wall" favorite spot!

A Wonderful Birthday

Well, yesterday was my birthday and Tim made sure that it was a very special day!

As soon as we woke up, he brought my present into me.  For any one who knows me, I just love presents... I had begged to open them all before the day, but he made me wait. And I am glad that I did!  

After that, we went to Panera to have breakfast together (I had gotten a giftcard :o)

We spent time reading our Bibles and praying together. It was such a blessing!

Then we went home and for about 4 hours I worked on school work for HFLS (exams are monday) And then... the REAL fun began :o)

Over the Christmas holiday, we had received two large gift certificates to use in Chicago. One was a GC to Lawry's Prime Rib, from Jon and Rach.  The other was a set of tickets to go see the "Blue Man Group" from my brother Tim and his wife Shannon.

Well, enough talking, here are some pictures of the lovely night we had!

The chef carved our prime rib right in front of us!

The brought out a mini- trifle for my birthday!

Creme Brule

They didn't allow us to take pictures inside the theatre, but here are a few outside. 

They show was hilarious and exciting. So many unexpected things happened!d