Week in Review

Another week's pictures. Enjoy! :)

January 23: My first picture started the week off with a bang (literally)! On Saturday I did some scrapbooking with my mom. At some point I tried to glue some ribbon down, but it wasn't coming out. My solution? Squeeze harder. It worked, just not the way I'd envisioned it. In case you're wondering, scrapbook glue does come out of clothes after being run through the washing machine three times.

January 24: Sunday afternoon with Cousins Caleb and Becca, my brother Eric, and my sister-in-law Abi. I am so grateful for my family. This shot is actually somewhat candid, and you can see so much personality in everyone's facial expressions. I interpret Abi's to mean "WHY did I marry into this family again?"

January 25: NO PICTURE. Only three weeks into this photo project, and I've already messed things up! After accidentally leaving my camera at school, I wasn't able to take my daily picture. No worries, though...the next day I photographed my camera's sleeping quarters from the night before. Safe and sound.

This might cause you to ask the question: "Erin, why did you have your camera in the bathroom to begin with?" And that, my friend, is certainly a question.

January 26: One of the many things about my job that makes me smile. Thank You, Lord, for evidence of Your mercy through the encouragement of a child.

January 27: Eric and his mini-desert from Johnny Carino's. Since Eric got married last year, I can't remember the last time we had quality time together. I've actually been struggling with how our relationship has been different over the last year, even though I kind of expected things to change a bit. We were able to meet for dinner on Wednesday night, and I walked out of the restaurant feeling very encouraged. After great conversation and some time in prayer, I left so thankful that the Lord blessed our time together. I'm grateful for a brother who loves the Lord and desires to follow Him in everything.

January 28: My last Thursday night with the Myers' (for awhile). We enjoyed risotto for dinner and Mario Party on the Wii. And we wore fuzzy socks, of course.

January 29: After rummaging through my sock drawer, I found myself in a bind. Seriously, how does this happen? Matches are nowhere to be found for 7 pairs of socks!

A Smorgasbord

Smorgasbord. Such a fun word to say...

Anyhow, here are the pictures of the week! It really is a random assortment. A lot has happened in the last few days! Enjoy...

January 16th: Kim's birthday celebration at Chuy's with Cary and Melissa. Happy 28th Birthday, Kim!

January 17th: Cousin Becca and I went to visit Cousin Ashley & Rudy last weekend. This is their precious 1-year-old daughter. Judging from the look on her face, I think she's a little wary of "Aunt" Erin.

January 18th: Velour Day with Cousin Becca and Ashley! Some might think it's nerdy to match like this...I do not.

January 19th: Evidence of the worst math lesson I've taught yet. Really. By the end of it, I think my students were more confused about division than when we started. I'm thankful for reteaching opportunities!

January 20th: Julie's precious daughter, Lara, sent me a thank-you note this week! She wrote it "herself" - such a smart girl! I thought the card was creative and wanted to share.

January 21st: I read this verse during my evening devotional the other night (Evening by Evening by Charles Spurgeon). It was very convicting to me since I find myself so often distracted by "worthless things". How often my thoughts drift away from my Savior and His work on the cross! How often I lose sight of the fact that life is about His glory, not mine! ~Psalm 119:37 "Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways." Praying to that end.

January 22nd: Oh, the story that goes along with this picture. I was driving out of my school parking lot this afternoon when I was attacked by another car. A coworker of mine (so sad!) didn't see me as she pulled out of her parking spot. The funny things is, I had a dream last night about getting into a wreck. In the dream there was ice and a wall, though. And it was just me running into it. And it was dark. So really...it wasn't the same at all!

An Encouraging Week

So Project 360 continues...it's been such fun finding things to take pictures of each day! I'm a fan of this project because it means a guaranteed blog update at least once a week. I need something to hold me accountable! Here is my week in review:

January 11th: This is my friend Megan who I have gotten to know and love over the last few years. I teach with her husband and have been grateful for the opportunity to get to know her even better this year as we've done BSF together each Monday night. In this picture, we're out in the parking lot after Bible study. I said "Look how you feel right now", and this is what we ended up with. Intriguing.

January 12th: God's Word, coffee, and the stillness of the morning. My favorite part of the day.

January 13th: This was the sky from the parking lot of my school Wednesday morning. What kindness the Lord has shown us in His creation! We get to look at that! "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims His handiwork." ~Psalm 19:1

January 14th: Most Thursday nights I have the honor of dining with these two incredibly fun people, Kc and Megan. There is always dinner and fellowship, sometimes followed by "The Office" (on special nights there might be rug jigs and fractured feet). I'm grateful for the hospitality and encouragement of these friends!

January 15th: Julie gave me this book for Christmas, and I have LOVED it. It's an allegory of the Christian walk, and as I've read it I've been greatly encouraged. I'm hoping I can finally finish it tonight.

Project 360

Cousin Becca called me earlier this week and invited me to join her in something called Project 360 (it's actually called Project 365, but I started 5 days late). The assignment is simple: Take a picture every day of the year. I thought, "I can do that!" It's a great way to practice with my camera, and it will be fun to have a year of pictures to look back at by the time 2011 rolls around. We'll see how long this lasts! ;) Here are the photos of the week:

January 6th: This is my friend Dani from my home group. She is a fellow teacher and has been a blast to get to know! We met at Pei Wei to catch up after the holidays.

January 7th: The dreaded Thursday afternoon. :) My lesson planning day after school. There is always Dr. Pepper involved.

January 8th: Cousin Becca herself. She was gracious to give me a ride to my mom's since my car is in the shop, and we ended up at Babe's chicken for dinner. I found out that night that she also pronounces syrup "see-rup". We must be family!

January 9th: The thank-you notes I should have been writing last night. I had every intention of doing so, but I was too busy taking pictures of the cards.

January 10th: Church. :) Boy, do I love this place. It is through the teaching here (as well as my previous church) that God has taught me more about His Son's redeeming work on the cross. His love for a sinner like me has become more and more overwhelming as I've remembered:

"For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. "

~2 Corinthians 5:21

It Looked So Simple

I've been trying to get involved at my new church by volunteering for every opportunity that comes my way. So far it's worked out pretty well for me! However, last week I volunteered to help assemble new preschool toys/equipment for the church's new building, and this...

...this did not go well for me.

Behold the Fisher Price Learning Home:

Intimidating, right? I spent about an hour trying to set this thing up! Just to make one thing clear...it is NOT hard to assemble. There was an instruction sheet with 15 simple steps (with pictures included!). I had to go back and "un-assemble" at times because I didn't properly follow directions. For example...the door is supposed to be one of the first items on, which I realized at about Step 13.

And I expect 24 nine-year-olds to follow directions in my classroom. Little do they know their teacher is a hypocrite...

I suppose I better evaluate my gifts/talents before jumping on the next volunteer bandwagon. Assembling is not my thing!

Pumpkins and Cousins

A couple weekends ago I carved a pumpkin at a birthday party. It was a rather festive thing to do, and it made me feel very autumn-y. Sadly, my pumpkin only lasted a week before it got old and moldy. I came home one day and noticed its upper lip was caving in - it got worse over the next couple days. The poor pumpkin had a massive underbite by the time it went into the trash can! It made me giggle every time I came home, so I thought I'd share a picture of my defeated jack-o-lantern. Poor guy.

In other news, I spent the weekend with my cousins Ashley and Rudy. Their birthday present to me was a photography class so I can better learn how to use my digital SLR camera. Ashley and I took it together this morning, and I learned some super helpful information! I think I finally understand what aperture, f-stop, and shutter speed are. The class was quite challenging for me, and I found myself thinking more than once, "I have no idea what she (the instructor) is talking about". She was very good, but it was a lot of new information and vocabulary!

Speaking of cousins, tomorrow cousin Ashley is moving to College Station. I'm sad about that. I know it's the best decision for her family, and I am excited to see what the Lord has in store for them down in Aggieland. At the same time, I will miss her dearly. I'm thankful God graciously placed us in Dallas for the last seven years, and I'm grateful we've had the opportunity to build that relationship. Ashley, you have been such an encouragement to me - know that you and Rudy will be missed by all of us Dallas folk.

Diaper Cakes

Well, I'm writing this at 10:40 on a Wednesday evening. Will I have a hard time rolling out of bed tomorrow morning? Absolutely. But I type away with joy because one of my devoted readers loves me enough to care about my blog. And I love her!

It's been a while! Much has happened since September, but for now I'll share a tidbit from today. My assistant at school (I'm spoiled, I know), wanted to learn how to make a diaper cake for a friend. Which, by the way, I didn't realize were not known in other parts of the country. I have a friend from Indiana who hadn't ever heard of one before coming to Texas! We southerners are strange, making diapers into cakes. Anyway, I went to my coworker's house this evening for Diaper Cakes 101. She graciously offered me a home-cooked meal with her family, and we spent the evening being crafty. Below are pictures of our (almost) finished products. My cake is for my cousin, who is decorating her nursery in a Dr. Seuss theme. Any idea where I can get a small red and blue fish for the top?

Off to bed for now, but I'll attempt to update again soon. :)