Sir Mix-a-Lot, you be so proud of me...

Does anyone else find the placement of these words on my classroom Word Wall as humorous as I do?

I swear to you I didn't plan this. It was rather serendipitous. And it brings a smile to my face every time I look at it.

(Oh, and I also swear on my life that I don't always look like a ten year old. But sometimes I am THAT girl--the one that just has to wear her hair up in little nubbins with pretty bows. I may be pushin' 30, but seriously, don't nubbins and bows just scream "I got spirit, how 'bout you?")

Are You Captivated?

We have started studying this book in my Sunday School class at church. Our class is comprised of both males and females, all of whom are single and over 28 years old.

I read this book about two years ago upon recommendation from a friend, but I am reading and studying it again. Having just come through a divorce,I had a very tender heart at the time in which I read it, but I do remember liking the book.

When I have looked online at reviews of this book, people seem to either LOVE it or HATE it. I was wondering if any of you have read the book? If so, what did you think about it?

Adventures of a Schoolmarm

Main Entry: school·marm
Pronunciation: \-ˌmä(r)m\
Variant(s): or school·ma'am \-ˌmäm, -ˌmam\
Function: noun
Etymology: school + marm, alteration of ma'am
Date: 1831

1 : a woman who is a schoolteacher especially in a rural or small-town school

2 : a person who exhibits characteristics attributed to schoolteachers (as strict adherence to arbitrary rules)

So, when I was contemplating what I could "tag" some of my adventures as a public school teacher, the word schoolmarm just popped in my head. I thought it sounded humorous. Images of a prissy old woman with her hair pulled back tightly in a bun who wears glasses and long skirts every day began flooding into my head.

Being the nerd that I am, I plugged the word into dictionary.com out of curiosity... and discovered that I really AM a schoolmarm. Turns out, it's just a title for a woman who teaches in a rural school. Well, considering that my school can technically be found in a "village" with one stop sign and no stoplight... I'd say I qualify.

The adventures will follow as they unfold. But it's 4:10 PM. And it's Friday. And I should already be well on my way for some weekend fun. :)

I'm gonna make it to heaven...

Light up the sky like a flame.

FAME!

I'm gonna live forever.

Baby, remember my name.

This Friday, I have somehow managed to talk several friends into dressing up in 80s clothes, going out to dinner, and then watching the new version of FAME at the dollar theater. I can't even tell you how excited I am to bust out these...

Nothin' says 80s like leggins and leg warmers. Except maybe stirrup pants and stillettos. But I can't walk in stillettos. And I think all stirrup pants were rounded up circa 1992 and ritualistically burned in large rallies filled with women growing out bad perms, so they can only be viewed in fashion history books (filed under "Fashion Faux Pas").

Or at least that's what should have happened to them.

Did I mention I get to rock a side ponytail?


(Am I in heaven already?)

You must try these cupcakes... you simply MUST!

pumpkin cupcakes + cream cheese icing = heaven in my mouth

Although the recipe technically makes pumpkin "bars"... I poured the batter into cupcake tins, and it made D.E.L.I.C.I.O.U.S. cupcakes!



Yes, I am aware that some of the spiders look like they have already been smushed on the cupcakes. Would you believe me if I said I meant for them to look like that? Didn't think so.



(In my defense, I did ice them at 2:30 in the morning. So it could have been worse, I think.)



For the original recipe and an even more adorable blog, click here. Please don't let my poor job at icing these mini bites of heaven deter you from trying them out!

And one more thing. When it says to use pumpkin PIE filling, make sure you actually buy one with the word PIE on the can. I learned that the hard way. Much like the way I learned the difference between baking powder and baking soda. But that's a story for another day. Enjoy!

Let me introduce you to my close, personal friend, Hugh Jackman.

No... not that one. I'm referring to Hugh Jackman, the transcontinental US traveling dinosaur.

This past summer, Hugh, Penelope the Prius, and I ventured off on a two-week trip across America, leaving behind the pleasant suburbs of Ohio to take in the breathtaking views of Pacific Ocean and as much as possible in between.

I hope to share some of our adventures along with pictures of God's glorious creation... but for now, I just wanted to give you a moment to fall in love with the other Hugh Jackman.

The Aftershocks Remain

Am I allowed to throw a Welcome Back! party for myself? Just messing with ya--I'm not really in a partying kind of mood. If I'm being completely honest, I'm a little irritated with God right now... which of course, puts an interesting spin on any attempted prayers to Him. I mean, "God, you fill me with awestruck wonder at the glory of your name... and oh, by the way, you also irritate the crap out of me" just doesn't seem to have the right spin to it, you know?

Where is this all coming from? Well, I suppose I will blame it on a boy. The Boy (pronounced "thee" with an emphasis), if any of you know me in real life and therefore know who I used to refer to by this formerly affectionate title, to be exact. It's not that HE'S the issue so much as it is that situation which brought this whole concept to light... the concept being...

How in the world can anyone truly know
what God's will is for their life and seek it out?

I mean, really, truly know His will.

Yes, people will spout off the blah, blah, blahs of praying to Him and seeking His face and dying to self and all those Christian phrases people like to say because it sounds good and right, all the while never fully explaining.

I thought I understood it. I thought I was seeking His will. I thought that being in a relationship that was leading to marriage in the future with the aforementioned Boy was part of God's will for my life. I mean, the relationship in and of itself was awesome. People always say that evidence of something being God's will is that it leads both people closer to Him... well that, in complete honesty, was this relationship. When I say it was awesome and he was awesome, I truly mean it. And so I REALLY BELIEVED it was God's will for us to get married.

Instead, after ten months, he tells me he never had romantic feelings for me and that he never would... IN AN EMAIL. Out of the blue, the train known as my life DERAILS once again.

I'm not writing this to say that I am still pining away for said Boy. I'm not. It took awhile, but my feelings for him have completely faded and he is no longer any part of my life.

But the aftershocks remain.

Because now I feel like I just have NO CLUE when it comes to understanding God's will for my life, let alone anyone else's. How could I be so convinced... and so wrong? How could it seem like He was giving me confirmation after confirmation... only for it to end with a cowardly email?

And how do I begin to trust that I will ever be able to discern His will?