Snow day!!

First of all, we had a snow day today!!! We got a ton of snow over the last 24 hours and they actually closed schools in the Madison School District (which meant no practicum) and my class got cancelled! I actually woke up feeling like crap because I caught a cold, so I spent the day laying on my couch. It helped a lot and I felt a lot better by Primetime tonight.

Practicum started yesterday! It feels weird to not have a partner and to be in a different classroom, but I think it's going to be a good semester! I really like my cooperating teacher and the kids in my class are really great! It's a 2/3 class, but I'm only with the 3rd graders for the first hour of the morning, and then they split up for math and reading. It'll be interesting teaching math this semester...a lot different than literacy! Just yesterday, I was helping a student with a math problem and I had trouble explaining and helping her with the question. I knew what I wanted to say, but I couldn't think of how I could say it so she would understand and so I wasn't just giving her the answer. Hopefully I'll learn how to do that better!

Crusade is going really well. We had our Women's Valentine's Dessert last night and it went pretty well! We had about 60-70 women and Lori's talk went well. Big Break planning is going really well too! We have 52 people signed up already!! Last year we had 38 people go, so we've passed that way up and have the bus filled!! I'm really looking forward to this trip. I think it's going to be awesome, and I think God is going to really move that week!

So, this week was Valentine's week. I'm pretty used to not having a valentine every year, so it's nothing new for me to be alone (although I hung out with Katie from SDSP, so I wasn't completely alone!). I actually was fine with it until recently. But as more and more people get engaged (I know of two in the last week!) and other people get together, it makes it hard to be satisfied with being single. Tonight at Primetime, the guys gave all the women flowers, told us how much they appreciate us and think we're beautiful, and a couple of guys sang a song. It was really nice, but it also made me wish I had someone personally telling me that. They talked about how God finds us beautiful and that's all we need. I really do believe that and am so thankful that He does, but I still long for a guy to tell that to my face. One of my friends asked another one of my friends out for Valentine's day, and although it's so great for them both, I admit that I'm a little jealous that she's being pursued. Why don't guys want to pursue me? What do other girls have that I don't? I know these are stupid questions that are only fed to me from Satan, but it's hard to not think them. I guess it all just makes me feel a little left out. Just another thing I have to trust God for because only He can satisfy my needs and help me when I'm feeling down.

It's been a while!

Man, I've been a busy girl and didn't get a chance to update this thing! Well, a lot has happened, and is happening, since I last wrote. I went to Jane's funeral two weekends ago...it was a very interesting weekend. It's a pretty long story, but the funeral went well. The family and friends ended up getting completely wasted, and things happened that got me pretty upset with my mom (don't worry, things are better!!). I think Jane's family is doing alright, but I think there were/are some people that still have a lot of emotions to sort through.

The job search continues...but hopefully the end is in sight! Abby forwarded me an email from a lady looking for a babysitter for her 1 year old one morning a week. It was for my free morning, so I emailed the lady and she asked me to meet her this morning! Talk about a last minute interview! It went well, but she's interviewing a couple other people, so who knows if I got the job. Also, I found out about an open position at a Christian daycare for afternoons. This was good news, but it soon brought bad news when I found out that it is nearly impossible to get there by bus. So, I called my mom frustrated because I felt like I wasn't finding jobs because of my lack of a car, but I wasn't sure if I could afford the extra expense of having a car. Basically, we both agreed that it's getting to the point in my life when I need a car for various things and it's getting harder to get by without one. My stepdad has this thing where he gives every kid $1000 towards our first car. After looking around online for cars and then talking with my mom, we're both leaning towards me just getting the car I use at home. It has some damage (from both me and my brother, hehe), so it wouldn't be worth much more than $1000 if we tried to sell it. My sister is learning to drive and taking her drivers test in April, but my mom and I decided that it would be more beneficial for me to have the car we've had for years and know will work well and then they can buy a "cheap" car for my sister to use while she's still at home. So, we'll see what happens with that. I would love to be able to get the job at the daycare because I think it would be a really fun and good atmosphere.

Hmm, what else? Oh, this weekend is going to be so much fun! Laura, Abby, Dusty, a couple of Laura's friends, and I are all going up to Minneapolis for my birthday! Laura was able to get us tickets to the U of M vs. MSU basketball game, so we're going up for the weekend and staying in a hotel! We're just going to hang out with some people from high school on Friday night, and then Saturday, we're going to the basketball game, watching our basketball game on TV, then going out for the night to celebrate my birthday! AND THEN...my friend Katie from project is coming to visit for about a week on Sunday!! I couldn't have asked for a better birthday present!! It's going to be so much fun hanging out with all my old ladies for a few days!! :D

I'm also really excited about the women's Valentine's event I've been helping to plan! It's next Wednesday and we're starting to really publicize and get the word out this week! God has really blessed us and almost everything has really fallen into place! It's been a crazy last week or so with this planning, SPEV stuff (Big Break planning), looking/applying for/interviewing for jobs, school, figuring out my car situation, etc. I feel like I've been emailing everyone and their mom lately! And because of that, I think today alone, I got at least 25 emails! :O Crazy!! I was saying earlier today that it's a good crazy busy though. I feel so blessed to be able to be a part of our Valentine's event and I'm so excited to see it come together. God revealed through a friend today that He really wants me at Big Break this year, and I'm just so excited for it now! Plus, I feel extremely blessed to have that friend in my life and am so thankful for his heart. And both of these jobs just popped up out of nowhere in the last few days and I'm really excited that they could possibly work out...but if they don't, I still know that everything is in God's hands and will work out! Just seeing how God has answered prayers, and provided for me, just in the last week or so, has really made me excited and helps me to completely trust in His ways! I knew He had something planned for me this semester, but I didn't know what it was. It's exciting to see little pieces of the puzzle being revealed! :)

Well, if you've read this far, you must really be my friend because this blog was long!! I probably haven't updated everything, but it's mostly what's been going on recently. Hopefully I'll be able to update again sooner!