It is the beginning of March, and what do we have? A LOT of snow!!! It is beautiful though! I am amazed  as I look out my window how great our God is! He created this snow, a display of His glory and beauty. Every time I see a snow fall, I am reminded of my status before God---as white as snow---because of the blood of Jesus Christ. WOW! It still gets me everytime....I am humbled to think that God loves me enough to sacrifice his ONLY son for me.

School has been going really well. I am enjoying each and every day! My students keep me on my toes all day long, and when the day is done I am constantly asking myself "What am I getting myself into?" Each day, however, I keep coming back because I know I am exactly where God wants me...you know serving the Lord where He wants you to be is so rewarding, despite the hardships and struggles! I really think my students are learning, and that makes me so happy! It is awesome to see their hard work pay off in projects and application of their learning.

I absolutely love the teachers that I work with, they are SO enoucraging. There have been so many times when I run to them with questions and they have willingly and eagerly answered them! They have given advice and have helped me out a lot. Teaching in a small Christian school has really enabled me to make some wonderful friends. The teachers I have been teaching with have become some of my greatest friends. We've gone to movies together, taken walks, gone out to dinner, talked, went to yoga, worked out and are going sledding today! Again, my thankfulness to God for this job comes out when  I think about the relationships I have with my fellow teachers. It is encouraging to work with fellow brothers and sisers in Christ who are working toward the same goal!

My family is doing well. We are keeping busy, doing our own thing, but that is where God has us right now. My dad was injured on the job about 2 weeks ago and we are waiting for him to meet with the surgeons to finalize a date for surgery. Please pray for him, because he will most likely be out of work for 3 months or so and it is quite an adjustment because he is an active person. Also, pray that the pain would not be too much and that the surgery will be effective for proper healing!

Well,  I am out to shovel the driveway and then go sledding! Whahoo! Enjoy your day of snow!

so it has been a while since I have been on xanga and written about the goings on in my life. I'll try to give a shortened version of everything going on.

Well, as hard as it is to believe, I have been teaching school for almost a month now. Things have been going well. I am learning something and being stretched everyday. I have six wonderful students who make me laugh and are (for the most part ) well behaved. This class has been a great transition into teaching in my very own classroom. The teaching aspect has been going quite well. I love the material that I am covering with my students, which is funny since I never thought I'd want to teach 5th grade. I finally think I have a routine down, it took a little bit for the timing of everything to work out, but I think it is smoothing its' way out now. For my first year, I think things are going better than I could have expected. Believe me, the days are not without challenges or frustrations, and many times I feel as though I am not up to par, but all in all I think things are going well. The support I have is really and truly unbelievable. I am so grateful for an administration and colleague staff that is supportive and encouraging. They all are so willing to help, give advice, make suggestions and lift me up when I am down. I am a huge fan of Christian Education and am now very thankful I am working in that environment.

I am also helping out coaching the volleyball team. I am easing my way into coach for the JV team and am assisting the head coach for the varsity team. It is a lot of fun! This week I took "head chair" for the jv teams...I was a little nervous and felt like I wasn't sure what to do, but things turned out ok. The girls are doing well this year, they have a lot of talent and are determined. I like that. At the end of the match, the score might not always be in our favor for a W, but to me, that is not the most important thing. As long as the girls are playing their best, working together as a team, encouraging eachother and playing for God's glory, what more can I ask??

So I am convinced that I want to live in the mountains someday!!! This week my entire mom's side of the family (all 21 of us) are staying in HUGE mountain resort house in Seven Springs, Pennsylvania (near Somerset). It is absolutely gorgeous here!! We are having a blast being together as a family, not doing much of anything besides spending time together.

The reason we are all together this summer for a week-long vacation is to celebrate my grandparents 50th wedding anniversary. They didn't want a party, they just wanted us all to be together. Let me tell you it has been so incredible. The Lord has blessed me with amazing grandparents who love and serve the Lord. They have raised a very special family. Today was the day we chose to "celebrate" their anniversary. The grandkids presented them with a scrapbook that we made (each of the 11 grandkids made a page for the book). It was so special giving this to them. My aunt and uncle made a slideshow movie thing of all these pics throughout the years....the pictures were set to some really great music from the era my grandparents were kids....it was sooo incredible!!! We also had a cake and gave them another scrapbook compiling letters, notes, cards that all sorts of friends and family of my grandparents sent. This day was quite emotional, but truly special. I am very thankful for the legacy my grandparents have given us and I pray that the Lord would be gracious to me that I will be able to carry this legacy on.

The rest of the week will be spent relaxing, hottubbing on the deck (with the mountains in the background), playing games, DDR, guitar hero, hiking and a waterpark. It is only Monday and I feel SO relaxed....I am so thankful for this because that has been very needed.

I'll try to put up some pics soon...until next time God Bless!! <><