Nae’s Heart

So the last few days have been fun but very busy… It all started on Thursday night…

I was hanging out with Lori and we drove to Mission Viejo to pick up a package that UPS had attempted to deliver, but hadn’t left since no one was home.  After we did that we went back to her house and watched a movie.  I walked home around 10 and headed to bed.

Friday dawned beautiful and I had to work… I did my normal morning work and then headed upstairs to sub in Spanish… I know, what is Renae doing subbing in Spanish since she doesn’t even speak it?  Well the teacher left very good detailed instructions of what her students were supposed to be working on and how they were to act.  I managed just fine.  That night, James had a softball game and I went to freeze, ummm… I mean cheer, for him.  :) His team, The Goats, won, he ended up sliding at some point in the game and tearing the scab off his leg… It was a big scab on a sore he had gotten sliding the week before.  When we got home he cleaned it and we headed to bed.

Saturday dawned cloudy and rainy.  We headed to the church around 9 am for Cantata practice.  I didn’t get to sleep in like I normally do, but that is okay… We were at the church until 12:30 and then we headed to Chino so I could get my allergy shots.  Then James took me home and I took a 2 hour nap. He headed back to Bethel to work on some design stuff that had to be done by Sunday.  He arrived back home around 5 and we went to South Coast Plaza, which is a ritzy mall close to our house.  We walked around the mall for about 2 hours and then headed to Souplantation for dinner.  It was a great end to a busy day.

Sunday was a typically “normal” day… arriving at the church at 8 am, heading home after service for lunch and a nap, back at the church at 4 pm for choir practice, and back home to relax before work on Monday.

Monday turned out to be pretty laid back… I worked my normal hours and then headed home to do some laundry and then went back to pick James up from work and then back home for the rest of the night.

Tuesday, I worked all day.  I did my normal morning work and then covered a k-4 class in the afternoon.  After school I helped out by organizing some choir music and then went over to a friend’s house for dinner and a movie.  I went straight to bed when I got home at 10 pm.

Wow, finally to today, Wednesday!  Today I had a somewhat fun day.  I was privileged to go on a field trip with James’ 5th grade class.  We went to The Discovery Science Center in Santa Ana.  Most of you would know it as the place with the big black cube off the 5 fwy.  It was a lot of fun and gave me a break from the “normal” work week.  I was able to take a 20 minute nap in the auditorium after we got back and so along with that and a White Chocolate Mocha from Starbuck’s I am ready for church.

I hope you have all had a great week so far!

Well… Jr High volleyball is done.  The girls learned a lot and had a great season.  We had our last match today, it was a playoff game and whoever won was going to the championship on Thursday.  We lost, but we won one of the 3 games played so I have nothing to complain about.  My girls played their hardest and enjoyed learning the game of Volleyball.  They are all winners in my book because the all accomplished a goal that they had set for them self at the beginning of the season.  I loved being their coach and enjoyed the opportunity to teach them about a sport I love.  I was also able to encourage them to let the Lord get the glory for wins and losses.  We had a wonderful time drawing closer to the Lord and learning how to honor Him.

So we didn’t win first place in the division, but we did get 3rd.  Yes, we would have loved to win 1st place but the Lord knew we need the lesson in humility.  I for one appreciate the learning processes and the chance to try again next year.

So on our day off on Monday, which I blogged about, James took me out to dinner at BJ’s.  I like their pizza but I like their pazookie more.  We enjoyed some delicious pizza and a three pazookie sampler with Triple Chocolate, White Chocolate Macadamia, and Cookies and Creme.  It was all so good and I was so full.  We headed home and watched some more olympics and then went to bed… I woke up around 3:30am not feeling well.

I had the 24 hour flu and it hit me at 3:30am… not the most wonderful time to get sick, but then is there ever a wonderful time to get sick?  Needless to say on Tuesday I stayed home from work and spent the day sleeping… Thankfully I survived the day with only a fever and some aches… I still had a fever that night so I stayed home on Wednesday also.

On Thursday I was back at work in the swing of things… I still had to turn in my passport application since I had been sick on Tuesday and Wednesday.  So on Thursday afternoon I ventured to the post office to get things turned in… When I arrived I realized I didn’t have a copy of my driver’s license and so I had to get copies made and get my passport photos taken.  Thankfully I got everything done and turned in and was back at the school to take my Jr High girls to their volleyball game… We lost by only a few points which I think is good considering we didn’t have any practice this week.

Today, Friday, I have had a fairly normal day.  I am subbing in 4th grade this afternoon, but they are doing seatwork so it is an easy class… I do have practice with my girls and I think James has a softball game, but it is the weekend so I am okay with a busier evening.

I have been watching a lot of the olympics… being sick the beginning part of the week helped with that.  On Wednesday, I watched the very interesting sport of Curling, Yes you read that right, Curling… It is actually quite nail biting.  You slide the rock to get it to curl just right into Home.  The closest Rock at the end of the End wins a point.

I have also enjoyed figure skating, snowboarding, hockey, skiing, speed skating, etc… I happen to enjoy pretty much any sport.  I am looking forward to the many events still to come.

I have a super busy week next week with a normal day Monday,  a “Women in Sport’s” Seminar on Tuesday with some of the high school girls, a Jr High volleyball game at home on Tuesday evening, Jr High girl’s volleyball pictures on Wednesday, Church, a Jr High volleyball game at home on Thursday, and I don’t know of any special plans for Friday night yet…

Hope you all have a great weekend and a good week!

Well yesterday was the Super Bowl and a very busy day for our youth group.  We do an activity every year called Main Event and this year was no different.  As we prepared for the big party we also took the time to pray for the visitors and the message that Matt would be giving.  We barbequed hotdogs, put out candy and chips, we got the stuff ready for nachos… and then the game started.  We had at least 100 teens… We went through a lot of food but the best part was all of the visitors heard a clear gospel message and were given the chance to speak with a youth worker… Yes the Saints won in a huge upset of a game, the kids ate so much candy and junk food that they probably went home sick, and I didn’t actually get to watch the game because of serving in the kitchen, but if the message made one teen think about their eternity it was all worth it…

Why the part about the sickness in the title, you may ask?  well yesterday I had a really plugged nose and today when I woke up it was a full on cold so I stayed home from work and have been sleeping all day… I have a lot going on the rest of the week and I can’t afford to be sick, but then I stop and realize that God is still in control and he know what is happening in my life.  I hope I feel better soon… I am going to go back to sleep now.  Hope you all have a good day!

Well Homecoming was a huge success… I had a wonderful time helping decorate.  I did my first balloon arch… It took me 2 and 1/2 hours to fill 200 balloons with helium, tie them together, and wrap them around the frame.  My hands hurt from tying all of them and I have a blister but the arch looked wonderful and wowed the teens… Dinner was scrumptious.  I was there to help and ended up serving drinks for most of the evening. James worked the sound booth.  At the moment I don’t have any pictures but I will try to get some from some of the teens.  James and I didn’t get home until midnight.

We are enjoying a relaxing day at home… taking our time getting ready and just enjoying the time together.  We will be going grocery shopping and just getting things done around the house… I hope you all have a relaxing day!

So this week is Spirit Week… Today is Nerd day and I am already enjoying the outfits the kids are coming in… It is only 7:35 and I can tell it is going to be a fun day.  James’ class has a surprise… I will post pictures after it is unveiled.  Tomorrow is Retro Day and you can dress up as any decade… Wednesday is Fake an Injury Day, We are going to have a bunch of toilet paper wrapped kids running around… Thursday is Favorite Career Day… Friday is School Spirit day or Warrior day… I am looking forward to a great week! I didn’t do much today but tomorrow I will be in full participation.

I love rainy days… Especially when it is a day off!  I am spending a very relaxing day with James and my parents.  We started off sleeping in and having a lazy morning with coffee and coffee cake! I have done 2 loads of laundry and we are going to be heading out to a few stores this afternoon.  We have plans for lunch and dinner… I am also going to be helping my mom make some jewelry and I will be finishing a set for my sister!

Hope you all have a great day off!

I am telling the truth… I absolutely love Christmas.  It is my favorite time of the year.  I love the reason we celebrate Christmas and all of the meaning behind this season.  I love Christmas music, the decorations, spending time with family, the secrecy of presents, and rejoicing in the birth of Christ.  It makes me sick to see people so caught up in all the festivities that they for get about the real reason of the season.  I am all about giving presents but I think that if you don’t honor Christ and make Christmas all about gifts then you have missed out on a blessing.

This will be mine and James’ 2nd Christmas as a married couple.  It will however be our first Christmas at home, just the 2 of us.  We will be joining my parents for Christmas dinner.  I am looking forward to the many traditions that we will establish this year.  We just finished decorating on Monday night and I am very excited about it.  We got a 4′ fake tree and it is sitting on our table.  I love our tree.  I would love to have a real one, but I am allergic. To see pictures of our decorated apartment click here I am so thankful for this season and what it represents.

This week has been a very busy Christmas week.  Today I did narration for a k-4/k-5 Christmas program and tonight is the 1st-6th grade Christmas program.  I am not a part of this but since James is I am in a way.  I will be here and be helping out.  I am not upset about this… Remember I like Christmas… it is the kids I can’t handle. jk  On Friday night there is a High School Drama production… yep you guessed it, it is Christmas also!

I hope you are all enjoying your holiday season.  Only 2 1/2 weeks of school before Christmas vacation… then we get 2 weeks off to enjoy all the festivities!  Just don’t forget that Jesus is the one who gave us Christmas… Without Him we would have nothing to celebrate!

Yesterday Ruth and I took a mini road trip to Fresno.  It was Ruth’s 21st birthday and we were going to have dinner with Mom A.  Mom A was doing a WASC visit at a school there and she had Ruth’s car.  Since Ruth had Daniel’s car we  were switching vehicles and what better day then Ruth’s birthday.  We left my house at 10:30 am, grabbed some breakfast, and hit the freeway.

We had a great trip… Lots of laughter, fun, and coffee.  We hit heavy fog going through the grapevine but Ruth handled it like a pro. We decided that Pixley is a very interesting town name and that California cows are happy because the smog makes them high.  We also decided that we like the 99 better than the 5 because of all the houses right by the road.  We got to the hotel where Mom was staying around 3:00 pm.  Mom got there just after 3:45 and Mom and Ruth opened birthday presents.  We went and walked around the small mall there.  It made Montclair Plaza look hugongous. We went to Red Robin for dinner and then back to the hotel.  All of this took 2 1/2 hours, but it was a great time with mom.

We headed home at 6:15.  We stopped for Starbucks in Delano and made the rest of the trip with no stops.  We started the trip in a Ford Focus Wagon and ended it in an ‘09 Versa with 600 miles on it when we left Fresno.  We arrived back at my apartment at 10:30 pm.  It was an 8 hour day in the car… 4 hours there and 4 home.

I missed James but enjoyed having a day off and spending time with Ruth.  It was nice to be home and my bed felt so good.  Check out the pictures here

So today at school we had a slight scare… We had a gaseous smell on campus and evacuated all the classrooms.  For approximately 1hour we sat out on the far side of the parking lot and waited for the Gas Company to come and check it out.  Well, nothing was visibly wrong so all the kids went back to class.  It was the second time I have evacuated for a gas smell, except the first time it was real. It was a broken gas line on our campus.

Beside the exiting afternoon, this week has been fairly normal.  On Saturday we went to a wonderful wedding for some close friends of ours. On Sunday morning I wasn’t feeling the greatest but made it through church, that afternoon and evening I stayed in bed.  We had Monday off to celebrate Veteran’s Day, James and I slept in and had a relaxing day at home.  Tim came and visited us that evening, which was nice since he hadn’t visited us in a while and we hadn’t seen him since Oct 1.

Tomorrow I am working all day, I am subbing in Spanish in the afternoon. The reason: our friends that got married on Saturday, well the bride is the Spanish Teacher at Bethel. So she is on her honeymoon. I didn’t take Spanish in high school but I am hoping that she has a  very carefully laid out lesson plan.  I am actually not really worried about it I enjoy subbing every now and then.