Friday morning

Well, so far my weekend of relaxation has started with an early morning call from the center, because of "crisis". Crisis being that we had a worker out, she had found a sub, but that sub was sick, and then that sub found a sub, but then that sub also ended up sick. One of my early morning supervisors called for advice, because my liaison in the childcare office also can't cover the room, because she is recovering from being sick and doesn't want to pass along her germs if she is still contagious.

Sensing a pattern here? Sickness. It feels like we haven't gotten a break from it this year, and probably most peculiar for me about it is that this year has probably been my healthiest year in a long time. Why? Because I went back to taking an allergy pill everyday. I'm not happy that I'm tethered to my prescription medication, but at least I'm not on antibiotics every other month, like I used to be.

So, anyway, here I am awake probably an hour or two before my usual sleep-in time (I am going to relish sleeping in because I know it won't happen with kids!). I fortunately went to bed about 10 PM last night, so waking up at 15 till 8 AM hasn't left me sleep deprived. I would have been woken up even earlier, but I do give myself a break on Friday, and I put my phone on silent until I'm ready to look at it.

Speaking of sickness, my poor husband is asleep in the bed. His cold had him coughing all night, and he is trying to rest up. It's a good thing he got on antibiotics at the start of this thing, because it has been rather rough for him. I'm still sporting some sinus drainage, so I see a hot cup of tea (with milk and sugar, of course!) in my near future.

I'll probably post Photo Friday in a little bit. I have slacked the past week or so, but I have been making up for it with lots of long posts. Information overload!

Thursday Things

This weekend comes as a very welcome relief from what has been a very peculiar & hectic week.

Today was a short work day for me, with multiple errands in the afternoon. I left work, picked up Josh, & met up with my parents for lunch just before noon. We ate at the Little Diner on 1st, a meat & three eatery, with quite yummy food. After we were done there, I dropped Josh back at work, & I set out on some errands. I got a haircut, pictured later in the post. I stopped by the bank with my paycheck, and then I headed over to an allergist appointment. My allergy appointments usually take a long time, which is why I took the afternoon off. I have a lot of comp time from the weekend, plus plenty of sick time for doctor's visits. Surprisingly, my appointment didn't take as long as I thought it would. This visit came at a good time since I've had a sore throat for about two days, but my allergist seemed to think I looked healthy enough, so I didn't have to go on any medication (thankfully!). I'll just drink fluids. It's probably drainage.

After the doctor, I drove over to the center to get some paychecks out of the bookkeeper's office. She had left for the day, and without me or my afternoon supervisor in, I needed to get checks out for afternoon workers. The office was locked, and I was the closest person with a key.

After that I went to pick up my husband at work. He left early today because he hasn't been feeling well. He is recuperating from what we think is a cold (He has a Z-pack to help him along), and I already had a sore throat, and I was worn out from the week. After stopping for gas & a few groceries, we were home earlier than usual.

This weekend brings much needed rest & relaxation. This comes in the form of housework & studying for the MAT, but maybe just having two days at the cabin will give me the much needed stress relief I long for. I think I may be going for some yoga over the next few days to release some tension. I realized at the doctor it's not all in my head. A 122/90 reading for my blood pressure (I'm normally a 110/70 kind of gal), showed me that the waves of anxiety aren't just in my head. Deep breaths Amanda, deep breaths.

Although the week was crazy, God has still blessed me each and every day. I'm leaning on Him to help me not worry so much and to continue to open doors & provide for me & Josh each and every day. After all, where stress is concerned, this too shall pass.

Mini-praise of the day, my haircut turned out cute. I only had a few inches taken off, but it was a much needed trim to give it some shape & prevent tangling. The curl you see...Yup, it's natural. I washed my hair when I got home to get rid of any stray clippings, plus the hairspray was giving me a headache (My allergies make me sensitive to fragrances). I sprayed it with some "Frizz-Ease", brushed it, and after it dried a bit, I finger combed out the curls. I don't often wear my hair like this simply because my hair is unpredictable enough that it only looks good when I stay home. lol. If I try to wear it out like this, it falls flat or frizzes. Oh well.

Past, Present, & Future

On our honeymoon last November, Josh arranged for us to eat at Cinderella's Royal Table. Since we were talking tonight about making reservations for our upcoming trip this November I thought I would post a few pictures from that trip. We're wearing our "Just Married" buttons, which got us many, many congratulations from Disney cast members. We had our picture taken with Cinderella as well, but it was not with our camera, but rather theirs. I don't currently have a digital file of it.

It's been crazy, busy, and stress-inducing week, but I am happy to say that everyday has had a ray of sunshine somewhere in it. I would appreciate some relief from the waves of tension that have been washing over me the past few days.

Saturday began with me waking up at 6:30 so that I could arrive at a training at the center at 8:00 AM. It was excellent, given by RIP (Regional Intervention Program), on their theories and strategies on dealing with behavior in children. Very beneficial, and I was one of 14 staff who attended the 4 hour training. Afterwards, I went over to my parents, and had lunch with them, my sister, & my sister-in law. We had chicken, mashed potatoes, peas, & gravy. Mmmm!

After we ate, I gathered up some boxes of things that I hadn't yet moved to the cabin, and Kimmie & I set off for a an afternoon/evening of sister time since Josh was away helping to chaperone a Christian youth retreat. We had a fun evening eating & playing Rock Band.

Sunday was a mainly typical day with church in the morning, lunch at Mamaw's, & evening church. The basic things that changed the day for me were going to a baptism for some members of the church Josh used to attend. It was in the Conasauga River and was a nice service. Also, I ended up a at church a few hours earlier than usual since Josh was driving separately, and he needed to help his dad with a few things. We had pint-sized projects that evening, so I got to spend time some time with some hilarious kindergarten boys. They do & say the funniest things.

Monday - Wednesday of this week had me exceptionally busy at work. The phone has been ringing a lot, I've been in classrooms a lot, and in general I've worn a lot of hats this week. I'm most certainly looking forward to the weekend, and I am going to relish some time out of the office tomorrow afternoon for lunch & a doctor's appointment @ the allergist.

So, why so stressed? Well, work itself is stressful, but mostly it's because I am again a student. I am going to pursue an MAT in Early Childhood Education, and it's a bit overwhelming. I'm easing in slowly this fall with an online course in Early Childhood at Cleveland State. Next semester will hold Master's Coursework at Lee. Between now and November 1st I have to take the Miller Analogies Test (I'll be taking it September 21st), which I dread simply because it is a timed standardized test. Besides that, I get to gather things like immunization records, references, fill out paperwork, get fingerprinted, etc.

Here's God's blessings & reassurance that I'm headed the right direction. Albeit I have some stress, I'm so excited about going back to school. A friend from Bible study is the person who helps to coordinate the MAT program, and she has been a wonderful help in answering my tons of questions. Also, most exciting is that TECTA (TN Early Childhood Teaching Alliance) will pay 85% of up to two class each semester (assuming they have funds) just because I took a 30 hour free orientation with them. They already paid 85% of my class this fall. Overall, I'll end up saving half the cost of the tuition for the Master's because they are willing to support my pursuit of early childhood education.

God is AWESOME. Josh is incredibly supportive too, and he's already been figuring out my class schedules for the next few years. It's thrilling & daunting all together. My knowns are starting to outweigh the unknowns, but there is still a lot to do. Pray for peace & clear focus for me as I embark on studying for the MAT on September 21st, and I get all my things together.

FBC shower - A Glimpse Back

Pictures from the wedding shower at First Baptist last fall.
I worked with Ms. Betty in the two-year-olds class for years.

She handmade a quilt for me & Josh. It is currently on our bed.

It's a bit late to do a full post tonight, but I'll try to get updates up soon.

Sunday Sunset

Little blessings each and every day.

A crescent moon sat high in the sky as the sun set this evening.
A brilliant sunset another evening during a calm between the storms.

The Rainbow Connection

Today, I've had abundant blessings.

I had the opportunity to have lunch @ Oliver's with my mother & two friends who are both involved in missions. We had a great time in fellowship with one another, and we wished one well as she is preparing to leave for Ethiopia at the beginning of August. My other friend, who hosted a Bible study that I attended, is currently in on furlough from Barbados. All of them are wonderful Christian women, and I thoroughly enjoyed lunch.

My second blessing came on the ride home. It had been sunny, yet drizzly along the way, and this produced a beautiful rainbow. I was even happier that it was still there when we pulled up in the driveway, and I was able to capture it. God is wonderful to remind us that He keeps His promises. After spending part of my day talking to two women who have ventured into the unknown to spread the love and grace of God, the rainbow is a great reminder that God will keep His promises to us. It is something for me to keep in mind as I am currently seeking information about returning to school to educate myself further about early childhood (since that's my profession).

Have you ever searched the Bible for God's promises for you? They're pretty amazing. "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

Sometimes it just takes perspective when it comes to how your day goes. There's something about full moons & rainy days at the childcare. Today was cloudy, so there were several classes which seemed a lot more rambunctious than usual. We had several teachers out sick, recovering from being sick, or coming down with something. It was like pulling teeth to get substitutes. The phone rang off the hook, and I really didn't get as much as I needed to accomplished because of the above.

But, when I focus on the positives of the day I forget the rest. Like one of the ladies said today, don't worry about tomorrow, and for that matter don't worry about yesterday. Just live for today. I'll add to that, and say, don't worry about today either.

On a much less serious note, Rainbow Connection has an especially funny memory for me. The nursery at the daycare has a CD that plays multiple instrumental songs, including Rainbow Connection. About a year ago, anytime I would enter the nursery, for some reason that song came on. It had to have happened 50 times (no kidding), no matter when I came in there. The song got stuck in my head so much, that I had to buy it off of iTunes just so I could learn the words.

Weekend in Pigeon Forge

A flashback from my first weekend in Pigeon Forge with Josh. We went Fall of 2007. We had known each other about 3 months and had reached the more than friends but still getting to know each other phase. It was all new and exciting because I had never been in a serious relationship, and we could tell it was headed that way.
Josh & I have now know each other for 2 years (official a few weeks ago on August 9th). It's still fun and exciting, as we enjoy each other's company each and every day.

We returned to Pigeon Forge this weekend for our first trip alone together as a married couple. All our vacations to Pigeon Forge up to this point had been with family (also a fun way to spend the weekend). We had a blast on our own though!

We left Friday morning, stopping along the way for breakfast at McDonald's. I'm a sucker for cinnamon rolls, cinnamon clusters, and anything of the like. So the Cinnamon Melt that they have at McDonald's is right up my alley. Sure, it's covered in butter & sugar, but I enjoy it as an occasional splurge. After that, we headed straight towards Splash Country. Josh, ever the thrifty one, got us free tickets through the Coke Rewards that we had stored up. We enjoyed a few slides, the lazy river, & wave pool. We also marveled in disbelief at what I would have to deem one of the brattiest children I have ever experienced (and that is saying something!).

This girl was in the lazy river, squirting passersby with her water gun. Where this is acceptable enough at a water park, she should have desisted when a woman politely asked her to stop. Did she? No, she started splashing her with water. The woman became upset with her (I was kind of annoyed with her at this point too). The girl proceeded to smart off to her, and say that she didn't have to worry about anything because she didn't know her parents, and the woman couldn't do anything about it. About the time the woman was going to take her by the arm & tote her off to said parents, the girl said she would stop. My sense of decency had sprung into effect by then, and although I was just an observer, I was going to grab the nearest lifeguard and turn the girl in myself if she hadn't stopped.

It sounds much milder in writing than it actually was. Like I told Josh, since her behavior was already so awful while she was unsupervised, her parent is either already wrapped around her finger or doesn't invest much in her to begin with. It's sad really, but probably true. I've never seen a child be that rude to an absolute stranger.

Fortunately that was our only negative experience, and overall we had a great time at Splash Country. After we changed in to dry clothes & left there, we took advantage of our season passes to Dollywood and parking lot hopped over to the park. What did we do? We popped into the ice cream shop to share a triple scoop ice cream sundae, and I got one of the delicious DollyWood cinnamon rolls from the bakery to take back to the room. They are literally as big as my hand! MMMMMMMMMMMMmmmm! Tram ride to tram ride, we only took 30 minutes.

After Dollywood, we headed over to Wyndam to check in to the resort. We got a great deal through a friend of the family who has timeshare points.

Here's a view of the main room.

There's a view of other rooms from the balcony.

Here's a slightly hazy view of the mountains.

We had a fantastic evening relaxing. After we had chilled out in the room a while, we went down to TGIFRiday's and got a free appetizer with a coupon Josh had. We enjoyed dinner as well, and then shopped at a few outlets. Surprise, surprise! I had restraint and didn't spend a cent! We got a few necessities for Josh, and I made a mental note to look at Naturalizers more closely next time we're there.

Saturday morning we slept in a little, checked out of the resort, and headed to Dollywood. We rode two roller coasters (skipping Mystery Mine - too jerky), Blazing Fury, & a spinning disk thing. We watched a show, Sha-kon-o-hey (it means "land of the blue smoke), and we grabbed another cinnamon roll on the way out. WooHoo!

After that we headed home, stopping at Turkey Creek in Knoxville to eat at Red Robin (with another coupon). Josh showed me a t.v. at Best Buy that we wants us to buy a year or two down the road (when the price goes down), and we drove around the parking lot looking at the shops since I hadn't been down there to shop before. We didn't get out. It takes money to buy things. Go figure.

I was a bit amazed to see a one-hour daycare in the plaza. Yes, very smart idea to charge high hourly rates to moms who want a break from their kids while they shop, but you couldn't pay me enough to run that place. Having kids you've never met for only a few hours, with constant turnover, crying, & separation anxiety? No thank you!

We got home about 7:30 Saturday night, and we spent a few hours cleaning, doing laundry, and tidying up in general. I had church yesterday, and Josh stayed home with water in his ear (It was making him dizzy & a bit motion sick). I spent the afternoon & evening nursing my allergies, which seem to be much better today.

I'm headed off to bed so I'm not too tired tomorrow. Sorry if there are too many typos. It's late, and the post is too long to proof right now. lol.