A time to mourn

Received word today that Jonathan's Grandaddy Rollins went to heaven this morning.  Very thankful I had the opportunity to meet this amazing man of God at Christmas before he went to be with his Savior.

Crazy weather, crazy day

I think my students decided to play weather imitation today.  The weather was so changeable...cloudy, warm, windy, off and on rain...tornado watch weather.  My kiddos seemed like they were on tornado watch with their behavior.  I don't know what got into them today but they were NUTS!

I had intended to run errands this afternoon after school, but what with having to re-work the duty schedule and then the weather being so weird, I just headed home and knitted instead.  I will have to run errands AND pack tomorrow.  Starting on Clue 3 of 8 for the mystery KAL tonight.  Enjoying the cranberry red yarn with gold beads.

Knitting a mystery

Today I found out that one of my "problem" students is withdrawing from our school.  I have to say in some ways, that is kind of a relief, even though it seems wrong to feel that way.

When I arrived home, I cleaned my bathroom and vacuumed my newly re-arranged bedroom.  Then finished a Wham Bam cowl and cast on for the latest Susanna IC shawl mystery knit-along (which I have already started making alterations to in the middle of the first clue to conserve yarn).  I am excited about using my last SAFF purchase, but since it is a single skein that I can't match I need to make sure that I don't run out midway through the project.  But enjoying working with the soft, cranberry red alpaca.

Oh what a Monday

Jonathan was sick all last night and sick today.  I felt completely helpless and miserable that I couldn't help.

I found out this morning that I would be teaching the Bible study at tutoring again tonight, so had to prepare kind of last minute for that.

Watched the latest episode of Downton Abbey...DRAMA!  And a few tears shed by yours truly.

Finally fell asleep and hoping that tomorrow would be a little less nuts.

A birthday, a year and 2 days, and a pleasant change

Rita's birthday once again!  It has now been 1 year and 2 days since I started blogging...crazy!  Time goes by so fast!

I did run errands this afternoon on my way home from church, and then decided to actually re-arrange my room while Jonathan took a nap.  I was very pleased with the results, although it took several moves to get it the way I like.  Then enjoyed a game of Sequence through video chat with him before bed :)

Sleepy Saturday

Spent the day resting, relaxing, grading, talking to Jonathan, and pretty much having a (mostly) full day off.  It was a wonderful feeling.  Kept being nagged by the desire to completely re-arrange my bedroom, but never got enough inspiration to actually do it.

Roller coaster day

Phone call....is school cancelled????? No....
Don't. Want. To. Get. Out. Of. Bed.
Friday last day of the week!  YAY!
Have to get work ready for student who will be out for several days.
Oh dear, the kiddos are sad we didn't have school cancelled.
At least they're being relatively quiet.
And look at that, we're getting early dismissal!
But I have to tell them, and they're going to go insane.
Somehow getting them corralled into order.
Got all of the tests done!
Lunch is running late and we're running out of time.
It arrived!  Hallelujah!
Lots of teachers on duty...this shouldn't take too long!
Too many teachers who don't know what they're doing...
But look, the kids are almost gone!
I have to call a parent before I leave campus??? WHY???
You made me wait 5 more minutes to tell me what????
On the road home, ready for a warm house after freezing at dismissal.
Home enjoying a comfy couch and just looking around emails and such
I FOUND DOWNTON ABBEY SEASON 3 EPISODES ON PBS.COM!!!!!
Curled up on the couch, knitting, watching a great show.
Jonathan is home!  We get to video chat!
My emotions are going haywire....what is going on?  Why am I so teary tonight?
Question game!  I love this game!  He asked to play!
Snuggling down to bed.

Just wondering

One of those days when you really wonder if you're getting through to your students.  Having to deal with a physical fight is NOT fun.  Having a student lie to your face about the fight (claiming to have done nothing) when a substitute teacher saw, broke up, and reported the fight...can eat away at your soul.  Thankful mine is replenished by the only One who can.  Trusting that He is using me....somehow....

Hump day

Such a weird day---only the 2nd day of the school week and yet it was Wednesday.  Definitely fun to have a long weekend...and weird to have a short week, even though it is enjoyable to have one less day!

Got home late because of waiting around for a meeting that never happened.  Then laid down for a nap and overslept through Journey Group, which was sad, but it was a really awesome nap!  Talked with Jonathan for a while after he returned from church before we both went to sleep.

Back to school

First day back after the long weekend.  Managed to make it through the day with relatively little difficulty, considering how crazy the past 2 weeks have been.  It seems like something changes every day, especially during dismissal.  Today was the installation-in-progress of the fence along the sidewalk that made dismissal....interesting.  Thankfully we finished with everyone safe and sound in their cars!

Enjoyed spending time catching up with Jonathan today--talking about work and life and just appreciating time together.  Looking forward to seeing him in person and getting a big hug! (Alli sent some more pictures today so I'm posting a couple).

A month already!?!

Hard to believe it has already been a month since Jonathan proposed.  Was so thankful to be able to video chat tonight "face to face" so to speak.  As much as I enjoyed time in Virginia, I missed being able to see him too.  Getting in gear to finish up the 68 days until spring break when I get to see him in person!

Off the ice

We went to Charlottesville for an ice skating birthday party for one of Nicholas' friends.  I was reminded, again, how much I hate ice skating, so I did one turn around the rink and was more than happy to be done.  Grace and Rita skated for a good long while, and I think one of them was even working on skating backwards...but I might have been seeing things ;-).  Nicholas was done very quickly and we hung out while he watched people playing video games and sports TV.  Go figure.

After the ice skating excursion, Aunt Jeanne, Grace, Rita, and I headed to Waynesboro on the way back to Lexington for some shopping.  We had an interesting few minutes when my gas tank went to reading totally empty, although we found later that there was still over a gallon left, even after all of the bars on my tank gauge dropped out.  Shopping was fun, and I found my bridesmaid gifts for a steal.

Then headed home for some more amazing Uncle David cooking--shrimp, scallops, couscous, green beans, leftover asparagus, and a cold veggie/salad tray.  SOOOO good.  Plus chocolate ice cream!  I think it made Nicholas a little loopy....

Fun day in VA

Yummy breakfast by the one and only Uncle David, then playing games with Nickelboo, helping Grace work on her scholarship application, walk with Aunt Jeanne, grocery run, lunch, shower, Goodwill trip, AMAZING dinner by the aforementioned o-a-o-U-D starring steak, grilled asparagus and red potatoes (made by him) ensalada caprese and portobello mushrooms (made by me), and a great evening hanging out afterward.

A day to enjoy

Sleeping in late
Waking up with Jonathan (for once)
Exchanging Christmas gifts that I would never use for ones that I would
Laundry and packing
Relaxing for awhile
Making pizza for the girlies and me (from Papa Murphys!)
Driving to Lexington
Sleep!

1 year + 1 day

Since I met this awesome guy....who took pictures of me (ick)...and later asked me to marry him (YAY!)..Who'da thunk?

In other news, today was the LAST DAY before the weekend for me!  And I spent 5 hours grading papers so that I don't have to do any school work until Tuesday.  HOORAY!

Rain, Rain Go AWAY!

Ms. Custer's class all want to play
They're going to drive her quite insane
Rain, Rain go away!

After 3 days of no recess and a rainy day forecasted tomorrow...I'm so glad this week will be done a day early!

Praises

Just thankful that God answers prayers.

Bob passed his exam
Wedding finances have been more than adequately supplied
Jonathan is getting better
This is my last year of completing my certification and teaching at YPA

So incredibly blessed!

Miss "R"

Tutoring at the Dream Center today was interesting...I found out about 45 minutes before we started that I needed to teach the Bible study.  Fortunately, with a suggestion from Jonathan and a lot of insight from God, I think it went fairly well.  It was neat to be able to share the gospel and also what He has been teaching me recently in my own personal Bible Study.

However, one of the highlights of the evening was tutoring little Miss "R" (I'm abbreviating her name for confidentiality reasons), a 2nd grader that I tutored today, and who wanted me to show her how to knit.  We spent several minutes with my hands over hers on my current project.  Then she didn't want me to leave...so sweet...

"My" day

Enjoyed being the center of Jonathan's attention today...even if the poor guy was sick and had to take a nap in the middle of our chat.  The best part of the day was reminiscing about how our friendship turned to romance.  I love this guy!

P is for productive

Got a lot done today...oil and air filter change, grading, knitting, making pan-fry for dinner, rereading old love letters...over all a fun and relaxing day.  Happy :)

For the curious...guest post

Jonathan wrote such a sweet account of our engagement on Facebook...I wanted to share it here!  And just "because" I'm throwing in another engagement photo (and yes, little Miss Thumbs Up is Allison). =D

After many posts and new photos, I decided it was time to cough up the story of the proposal.  But first some background:

I agreed to help a friend, Allison Campbell, do a photo shoot of a friend of hers since she wanted help learning to shoot in manual mode as opposed to full auto on her camera...or so I thought.  Unknown to me, several months before the shoot occurred, the friend we were to photograph, Janet Custer, had been visiting Allison when the topic of marriage came up and what Janet was looking for in a future spouse.  As I've since been told, as she began to list what she was looking for, Allison's sister kept whispering the initials JR to Allison, then finally had to give up my name since Allison wasn't getting it.  Consequently, Allison began to play matchmaker as she realized that we might work together. She arranged for the photo shoot to take place on MLK Jr Day 2012 as a way to introduce Janet and I, and then planned to take us all to Starbucks so we'd have time to talk.  We met mid afternoon that day, did the shoot, then went to Starbucks where Janet and I fell into easy conversation and stayed after the others left to continue talking some. 

Later that week, I edited the photos I had taken and emailed them to Allison, but had forgotten to send them to Janet.  Allison asked me a couple days later if I had sent the photos, so I finally did.  A couple hours later, I get a text from Allison saying, "If you ever want to talk to Janet, here's her number." Right then I knew the whole thing was a set up.  I didn't keep her number, but as Janet and I emailed about the photos, we fell back into easy conversation.  We became friends quickly.  Emailing lead to online chatting and texting and phone calls.  The friendship grew rapidly.  We shared many interests, thought alike, laughed together, and greatly enjoyed each other's company.  

Our friendship had grown to best friends, talking about everything.  Working a 12 hour shift, then talking on the phone until the wee hours of the morning became a regularity for me.  Rough days at work for one person, led the other to selflessly stay up and encourage the first.  We both began to see qualities in the other that we desired in our future spouses.  After much prayer, we began dating/courting on July 14, 2012.  The friendship only continued in a more intimate way.  Even when I moved to AZ, the relationship never wavered and only grew stronger.

Praying for guidance, I realized that this was the woman with whom I want to spend the rest of my life.  So plans began to form about proposing.  I told my parents I was going to propose over my Christmas vacation.  They were excited, as Janet and my mom have become good friends, often spending time with each other.

Having learned some carpentry recently, I thought of the perfect plan for how to propose.  Though Janet was expecting the proposal, I knew she'd never expect my plan.  I was going to construct a wooden box and give it to her for Christmas.  Inside the box was going to be a love letter, of which a post script would explain how to open a secret drawer.  I was going to place her ring inside the secret drawer and drop to one knee and propose as soon as she saw the ring.  However, the wood for said box and I had a great fight.  I lost.  Plan B was now needed, and fast.  This was Sunday, I was to travel over Tuesday and Wednesday to see her with Monday spent packing and cleaning to leave AZ.  We had planned that the Friday I got home to spend the day together and start looking for possible wedding venues.  I asked her dad that morning about proposing, and with his blessing, Plan B was in effect.  

That Friday afternoon, we started with Table Rock Lodge.  After exploring there, we drove up to Pretty Place in northern Greenville County, SC.  After driving for forever, and finally finding it, we got out to look.  I had the ring in my camera bag so that at the right place I could pull it out and ask.  I had forgotten to take it at Table Rock, so I was hoping that it wouldn't give anything away when I took it into Pretty Place.  I snapped a few pictures, and deciding this was the place to ask, I commented on the view.  As she turned to look at it, I quickly retrieved the ring box from my bag.  As it was clearing the pocket, she turned around.  My heart sank.  I was sure she had seen the box and my surprise was ruined.  I quickly closed the box in my hand and slid it beside me out of her view.  I walked over to her to enjoy the view with her, or so she thought.  Standing beside her, I waited for her to turn to face me.  As soon as she did, I dropped to one knee and asked.  I was so excited, I actually missed her answer, although her eyes and smile said enough for me.  She was completely surprised.  Somehow, she had never seen the ring box.  We spent the rest of the day looking at a couple other options, enjoying our first meal together as an engaged couple, then headed home to tell our families.  

I must say that I had resigned myself to a life of celibacy and had no interest in trying to find a spouse.  Even when I knew I had been set up, I wasn't looking or wanting to start a relationship.  About a month after we met, Janet and I decided to meet Allison and her friend for a Clemson baseball game.  However, they "conveniently" had a birthday party to attend and left us hanging much to Allison's delight.  Janet and I managed to each bring a respective brother to help limit the awkwardness.  Even after that, I wasn't expecting anything.  But with time, God worked on my stubborn heart and changed my desires.  I will be eternally grateful to him and to the scheming of friends who introduced me to the most wonderful, amazing, beautiful, smart woman that I am excited to spend the rest of my life with.  

Wish I could get one of these right now....

Celebrate!

Celebrating my engagement with Nicole today--we're going out to Olive Garden for dinner.  Hooray!

Just cuz I like them and want to share...a couple more engagement pictures....

Finally returning to normal

Today finally feels like I'm kind of going back to normal.  School went fairly well, and we had Journey Group tonight.  It was wonderful to see everyone and share my exciting engagement news.  Sorry for the shorter posts the last couple of days, but after trying to catch up 3 weeks of blogging, I'm running out of things to say!

Trying to get caught up

Was able to at least get my desk cleared a little today.  When I got home I felt really strange and ended up trying to nap for awhile before running out to Aldi for groceries.  It was nice to be able to chat a little longer with Jonathan tonight before I fell asleep.  I love this guy!

Back to School

First day back--it feels really weird.  My desk is a mess, and I don't feel like I accomplished a whole lot, but at least we got started.  Tutoring at the Dream Center this evening, then chatting with Jonathan a little before falling asleep.

Returning to Rock Hill

Packed the car before I left for church.  Enjoyed the service, and was able to ask Mr. Farmer if he would be willing to perform our wedding ceremony (he said yes! =D).  Then home fellowship at the Maguires' house before leaving to head back to Rock Hill.  Jonathan was so sweet to call and talk with me (or listen to me) on my drive home, and then he went to dinner at the Wilsons' while I unloaded the car and caught up with Nicole.  Then we were able to video chat because he is house sitting for Matt and Rachael for the next month or so.  Lots of video chats. Yay!

Recovery

Spent most of the day sleeping.  I was so exhausted from work, and a busy break.  Definitely a well-needed recuperation time, even though I thankfully avoided the flu.

Lethargy and Legwork

Was really tired today, had a nagging headache, just did not feel great.  Mom and I were able to go to lunch and start discussing wedding plans, as well as looking at some possibly venues, which was nice.  Several places we checked had membership clauses, but we found two that we liked (although the people we needed to talk to weren't there that day).  The Mount Church and Clemson United Methodist both had sanctuaries that while very different could work for our wedding.  We'll see whether either one is a possibility later when Mom contacts their offices.

The Mount

CUMC

Departure

Early morning.  Mom dropped me off at the Rollins after she took Daniel to school so that I could help Jonathan finish laundry and packing.  Then the sorrowful journey to drop him off at the airport, where I managed to twist my ankle.  Ick. Made me even more emotional than I already was.  Stopped by the mall on the way home to get my frame exchanged (we realized that the date had been engraved incorrectly).  When I arrived home, I found out that Dad had been diagnosed with the flu.  Between my injured ankle and the chance of catching the flu, I called in sick for Friday and ended up staying in town rather than heading back to Rock Hill that night.

Coming to the end

Last full day together.  We went and saw the Hobbit with Rita, Grace, and Daniel, and then went back and spent the rest of the afternoon at the Rollins' before going to church for the undecorating party.  Jonathan managed to get put in charge of the 16 foot ladder, so that was certainly an adventure!  Then Alli, Ronnie, Sarah, Jon, Jonathan, and I went to Moe Joes for coffee and to catch up.  We were planning to play Apples to Apples, but that was nixed because Ronnie and Jon got into a gospel conversation with some guys who were there for open mic night.  But it was still fun to talk with Alli and Sarah and just enjoy the time.  Then we headed back to my house for a while before finally going to bed.

Parents Dinner

Jonathan and I spent the morning and early afternoon at my house with my family playing games and just hanging out before heading over to his house to help his parents with final preparations for dinner.  Then my parents came over and officially met his, and we had a delicious meal of roasted veggies, grilled chicken, salad, mac and cheese, homemade bread, and brandied fruit cake.  Yum!