One Simple (yet not so minimalist-friendly) Love

There are things that we all love in this world. One of my loves is Book. Well, books. plural. The bigger the plural, the better. I adore bookstores. I covet the expansive collections in libraries. I could spend hours upon days upon years just browsing and sniffing and touching (followed by a good douse of Purel, of course) all of the books that are in used/half-price/thrift stores.
For the past few months, I have been compiling my Summer Reading List. Now that I have summers again, I plan to spend the majority of that time in the sun while devouring delightful book after page-turning adventure-keeper. Don't worry, it's mostly in preparation for work... so, technically, it IS work... and many of these books will be middle-school level-early high school level reads, but it just so happens that I am really excited to have an excuse to read all of the classic pieces of literature that I was never forced to (or took the opportunity to) as I progressed through school. I'm also extremely excited about re-living the adventures that I remember (or have forgotten) that I was so intrigued by when I was in middle school. For example, starting tomorrow, my students will be beginning units on Hatchet by Gary Paulsen and The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. Both great novels, and I've got some really fun (I hope/think?!) projects planned for my kiddos for the six weeks.




ANYhow...so, this Summer Reading List. My goal for the summer was originally to read 100 books. However, once I ran the numbers, I figured I'll have about 10 weeks of no school from the end of this semester to the beginning of staff development for the next semester, so if I stuck with the 100 books in a summer goal, I'd have to be able to crank out about 1.5 books a day to accomplish it... Not realistic. Not with a whole new school year of lesson plans to tweak/write/find, a new home (hopefully!) to finish putting together, a garden to tend to (I plan to spend many joyous hours there!!), and a kitchen to continually dirty just to re-clean (all for the sake of delicious edibles that will TOTALLY be worth it). :)

So I adjust... I am trying to decide whether I want to stick with the 100 books goal, and just start now, or if I want to lower the goal number... I'm open to suggestions.

So, I leave you with a book that Aaron and I found as we browsed the books section of a local shop in Cape Coral, Florida just before Christmas. It caught our attention for being awesome, and we stood in the aisle and read it, in its entirety, together because it continued to be awesome. It's called Dinosaur vs. Bedtime by Bob Shea. I plan to own this book when we start having little ones. Count on it. If you have little ones, you need to be heading to the store to get your copy. :) P.S. You can click the picture of the book to see a YouTube video of the author reading the book :) i love it. :)

Happy Book Hunting!

love, denise

A Finals Week Disaster

So, as many of you already know, I am a middle school reading teacher. I love it. It is the most challenging job I have ever had, and had no idea the extent of hard work required of a teacher before I was thrown into the classroom (just one of the things that I missed out on by doing alternate certification instead of student teaching).

Well, today is the third day of final exams for our little darlings here. It is an early release day (my first ever as a teacher! woo!). It is also Staff Potluck day, AND I was able to leave the house early enough to spend a little of my well-hoarded "frivolus spending allowance" at St. Arbucks this morning on the way into school for a surprisingly delicious cup of steaming hot, toffee flavored joe. So, all in all, this was shaping up to be a FANTASTIC day!

Enter my mistake:

I had my arms more than full as I loaded them down with all the goodies to take in for the potluck later this afternoon, and did not have a hand to spare for my delicious coffee, so instead of unloading my arms again to put the cup back in the cupholder until i could come out and get it in about 5 minutes, I opted to simply leave it on the roof of the car. "No one will mess with my coffee! I'll be right back!" I told myself, foolishly.

On my way back out (less than 5 minutes later) to the car (AKA: temporary coffee haven), I mention what I'm doing to one of my fellow teachers. He tells me that another teacher grabbed it off my roof and was asking around to see who's it was. "OH! awesome! I'll just go get it from him, " I think as I head for the stairwell. When I get to his room, I am happy and perky, and excited to have my coffee back (that I had only had about 4 sips of so far). I walk in and say, "I'm hear to claim my long lost coffee!"

He had thrown it away.

Ultimate waste of $3.00. Ultimate fail.

Moral of This Sad Tale:

Don't throw away someone's coffee if you do want to be nice by picking it up off of their car for them! If it's hot, they probably still want it!

Happy Thursday! ;)

As I put the finishing touches on my first Semester Exam that I will be giving tomorrow to my lucky 2nd period class, and I finish reading the new Christmas cards we received in the mail today, I think I will further my multi-tasking abilities to add a third thing to my plate: I'll update with some lovely pictures :) ALWAYS FUN!

I'm totally stealing this first picture from my friend Alyssa's blog and the others from our dear friends the Irwins because we didn't bring our camera to the wassail fest this year! BUMMER!

Kelley, Me, and Alyssa (Can you tell how happy we were to be at Wassail Fest!?)

It wouldn't really be us without some odd picture like that one, right?!

Okay, that's a little better!

Wassail fest is one of the things we look forward to every year! Last year, we were unable to attend, however, because Aaron had a last minute work trip to the lovely Lufkin, TX... but this year we made it a point to be there!
One of the things i LOVE about Denton is that we have small-town celebrations. I was talking with someone the other day about how it's almost a Stars Hollow feel (for all you Gilmore Girls fans - you know who you are!!), and I LOVE that. I LOVE that we have an anual Lighting of the Christmas Tree on the square coupled with a Wassail fest which means that the streets around the square are shut down and blocked off for pedestrians to run hog-wild as we go from shop to shop to shop around the square to taste and vote for the best wassail in town! For those of you who do not know what wassail is... the best and easiest way to describe it is to say that it's like apple cider...but different. Google it :)

aaaaand, of course, another goofy picture... :)

Next, we have Denton Family Christmas. We were able to share a meal with some of our closest friends recently. Christmas is a great excuse to get everyone together. With so many newlyweds and busybodies among us, it's just plain hard to do... EVER, but we were glad to have a group together on this particular evening to celebrate friendship, love, and the grace of our King who allows and created it all. We drew names to participate in a gift exchange, too, so I'll share some of the fun with you now:

Potluck and "bring your favorite beverage to share" is the best way to do any party! :)

There were DEFINITELY many laughs this night. I keep many of the laughter pictures at bay simply because laughter is not necessarily the most attractive facial position that most of us want to be captured and remembered (at least, not when things are REALLY funny...).

Mr. and Mrs. Jeff and Jen Holm share a sweet moment after the gift exchange :)

Nels is VERY excited about his new lighter!! can't you tell??
(we missed his wife at the party! She was out of town, many states away, at the time)

Jeremy already knows he's getting an iPhone, so his gift was iTunes Gift Card and an iPhone case!

Ryan got two DVD's of his favorite director's movies. Very great movies... however, for the life of me I cannot think of the director's name. I will have a head (at least one) shaken in my direction for admitting this, and Ryan? I'm okay with it. Just get it over with.

Alyssa's gift was definitely one of the most creative and most personalized! Great Job, Jen! Her logo for Pink Antler Cakes (her delicious bakery business) was printed on personalized recipe cards and now she has an official Pink Antler Cakes Recipe Book!!

she was so excited about it!!!

Kelley's a bit more prepared for next semesters many late night class days with her new Crock Pot recipe box (i think that face means she likes it? haha)!

and, anyone who knows Kel, knows that she LOVES her rubber gloves! Now she's got some stylish rubbers (um, gloves, that is...)!

Aaron was lucky enough that his video game playing partner drew his name, so he got a... GAMESTOP gift card! woo! now... what to get?! the world is your oyster!!!

Jeff got some great fishing gear! I'm sure they will be put to use at the very first opportunity! :)

Jen got some great earings and a great houndstooth scarf! Perfect gift!

Alyssa has been roped into helping me decorate and redecorate too many times to know that I need nothing more than great art to hang on our walls!!!

So, what's the solution?! Well, she painted me a canvas, of course!! Such a creative woman! It's perfect. We both love the colors she used, and I can't wait to find the perfect place for it in our home that we buy in the spring (Lord willing!!).

Another thing that I cannot go without mentioning is the delicious homemade Hot Chocolate with ...wait for it... HOMEMADE marshmallows courtesy of our very own Alyssa of Pink Antler Cakes. Her recipe is actually her most recent post, I believe! BUT... just in case she has been able to sneak another post in since this post, here is a direct link do that delicious bit of blog.

Okay, it is officially WAY past my bedtime, and I'm sure you're a little more than tired of my novel of a post, so I need to wrap this up.

The last thing that I will share is how one of my very favorite things about this time of year is opening the mailbox to find letters and PICTURES of our friends and family in the form of Christmas cards/postcards. We got three more today, and it was all I could do to keep from letting out a giggle of glee as I sat, alone in my car, in the garage opening christmas cards because I couldn't even wait long enough to get to the kitchen table. :)

We'll get ours out...eventually :/ haha

Video from Matt

I'm providing a link to view the video Matt made on Thursday before going into surgery on Friday to have a 2"x1" brain tumor removed. I know many people are asking for updates, and I think this is probably the best way for you to get them! :)
Warning: It's only about 5 min long, but you may want a tissue handy...

http://hv.thevillagechurch.net/blog/hvpastor/

Yum!

If i owned this:






I would make THIS recipe and THIS recipe.
If you didn't catch it, this was merely an excuse to both advertise Alyssa's site and to share some delicious recipes :)


love, denise.

this is a very short and to the point update.

while i was sitting in a professional development meeting this evening, i received a text from my mom that simply said,
"pray for mawmaw. on her way to the hospital. says her heart is "doing funny things". I'll keep you posted"


please please please pray for my grandmother. she is the greatest grandmother on the planet (no offense to your gmaws...), and we are to visit her and my grandfather at their home in Cape Coral, FL for the christmas holiday, in just a few weeks. please please keep her in your prayers. I need her to be okay.


well, need... obviously not like i need Jesus, but i do - i need her to be okay.


please pray.


thank you, and i'll keep you posted. I love you all, and I covet your prayers in these moments.

My beautiful grandmother and me at my little brother's HS graduation about a year and a half ago.

Much Needed Addition to Every Coffee Table

Today I have written two office referrals (and very close to a third)...
One was for a particular student sleeping in my class EVERY time we read our novel aloud in class, and showing no remorse. On the contrary, the response to me when I question why this is a constant struggle (sometimes there are legit issues at home!) is, "MAN! It's so BORING!!!". This response gains zero sympathy from me. Suck it up. You won't enjoy everything you learn (I don't say that, of course...). Today, he/she fell asleep 8 different times. During one of these instances, there was drool spilling over lips into his/her lap... nice.
The second was a student from whom I have personally collected at least 4-5 notes from and seen writing notes at least 10 times... After today's addition to my collection, this student will be visiting the office.

All of this to share my sweet, hilarious husband's ingenious idea with you. He is encouraging me to keep all of the funny notes that I pick up over the years and to publish a collection of hilarious notes by middle schoolers when I have a significant number of them...Names will have to be changed, of course, but the beauty is NOT in the names. I assure you.

so, if you teach middle school (or other grades, too...) please lend me your hilarious notes. I would like to recognize these students for their phenomenal dedication to their education.

love, THE Mrs. Power
;)

p.s. my favorite note still stands as the first note I ever took up in my classroom. It is actually from the aforementioned student, believe it or not...

from a 7th grade female written to 8th grade male.
My favorite line: "I love it when you be wearin' them skinny jeans, yo booty be lookin' extra big!"

wow. i love my job. :)

LA FITNESS

Thought i'd share with you: maybe you work for DISD or know someone who does? :)


Attention D.I.S.D. Employees:


L.A. Fitness International, LLC is now offering all Denton ISD employees a discounted membership program.

Denton ISD employee only discount:
Enrollment Monthly

Employee: $25 $29.99
Family Add-Ons: $0 $29.99

Regular Rates: $149 enrollment (savings of $125); $49.99 monthly (savings of $20 per month)


Amenities and terms of membership

LA Fitness offers a 25 yard heated lap pool, hot tub, dry sauna, full locker room facilities w/ private showers, full court basketball, 5 racquetball courts, group fitness classes including- yoga, Pilates, kickboxing, boxing, hip hop, body pump, step, cycling, water aerobics and more. We also carry over 200 pieces of the most state of the cardiovascular machines, resistance training equipment and free weights to meet all your fitness needs. Also included w/ your membership is one complimentary orientation w/ a certified personal trainer. Kids club is available for a nominal fee. This plan will give you access to every LA Fitness location excluding Signature clubs.
Membership is monthly w/ no long term contract. First and last months dues must be paid at time of enrollment and electronic draft is required for ongoing monthly payment. Other terms and conditions apply. See club for details.

This offer is only available at the Denton location (1350 S. Loop 288, Denton, Tx 76208). The deadline for this offer is November 30th, 2009. This is the last day you will be able to take advantage of these unbelievable rates so don’t miss out! We look forward to helping you achieve all your fitness goals.

Ask for Matt or Allison
(940) 380-2904

Synonym for Torture = Christmas Music

November is here, which means that Thanksgiving is almost here, which means that Christmas is in that petri dish at our major retailers and is currently growing like the Cloverfield Monster (or Godzilla, in case you didn't catch Cloverfield) into what will be a full grown monster. Think about it, nobody panics when the monster is small. It's fun, it's cute, it can be ignored. When it gets big though, you'll see the panic. You go about your normal day, enjoying November to it's fullest glory until that inevitable day of pandemonium...Black Friday. They call it Black Friday because people act like blindfolded 12 year old children hopped up on Mountain Dew and Pixie Sticks. The blindfold implies darkness...black...darkness...are you following me yet?

So where were we? Christmas. Yes, Christmas. Just you wait, you can ignore that monster until December gets here. But at that point this monster gets harder and harder to fight. The panic level goes up, up, up. Don't even think of waiting until the week of to start shopping, because at that point the monster is huge, out of control, and the city has turned to havoc induced frenziness. I made that last word up for dramatic effect.

So why title this blog about the torture that is Christmas music? The reason is that it plays everywhere you go 24/7. Chic-Fil-A is notorious for this, which is why I won't go there during the holidays. I wouldn't create a playlist of 50 or so songs and distribute them to every major restaurant and retailer and ask them to put it on repeat for 1 month, but for some reason this idea is OK during the Holidays.

Hear me out...there is a point to this.

I don't hate Christmas music, I just am quite picky about my Christmas music. I made some friends a Christmas Mix CD last year and quite honestly, it's really good. I mean just ask Darrell. It's good. Especially Relient K's rendition of "The 12 Days of Christmas". They make a great point when singing the self-written/inserted chorus line discussing the weirdness of these presents. They round out said chorus by saying "...but I can bet those are terrible gifts today".

That's hilarious.

So this Christmas I'll try not to get grumpy. I'll try not to feed, ignore, or even complain anymore about the X-Mas Beast. This year we plan on enjoying a little Secret Santa to cut down on Christmas spending. We plan on investing our time and effort into one present for one person. It's fun and easy. Sure, we'll spend on our immediate family as well, because let's face it, our grandparents always need new pictures of us, my mom always needs some sort of house decorating thing, my sister needs money.

And yes, my dad will never avoid getting socks.

see you next week.

All Things Go!

I woke up at 5:30 AM this morning in a bed all by myself because Denise is staying at my parent's house. She has a conference in Richardson so Allen to Richardson is much less of a beat-down commute than Denton to Richardson. So, as the John Mayer Village Sessions EP is playing on the oh so handy iPod alarm clock I begin to get ready for the day. I know it's going to be a good day, just like all other Corporate America does, when it's Casual Friday. I leave the house, stop by St. Arbucks, and head on into work.

My wife will tell you that I have musical A.D.D. I can't ever just let the stereo do it's thing, I have to find the right song for the right time. This can be difficult on the way to work at 6 in the morning. Sometimes I need some wake-up tunes, so I'll blast something upbeat and catchy, maybe a little MuteMath, maybe some Cobra Starship, or maybe some Bruce Hornsby. This morning was a little different, I was awake and not in the mood for anything loud and fast. I decided to go with some Sufjan. Illinoise was the choice for this morning. That CD has everything: Great harmonies, great musicianship, and well-crafted lyrics.

When the song Chicago came on I felt something. I started singing this song and really thinking about the words and it really moved me. I mean, I was somehow worshiping to this song. The chorus (in bold if you're unfamiliar) is a really great picture of what Christ as done for us and our relationship with him. I don't really know why these songs get me like they do. I just know that I've never heard this song like I heard it today. It's really cool that God uses song and music to reach down to us. It's a really great way to start off the day. All things go.

I fell in love again
all things go, all things go
drove to Chicago
all things know, all things know
we sold our clothes to the state
I don't mind, I don't mind
I made a lot of mistakes
in my mind, in my mind

you came to take us
all things go, all things go
to recreate us
all things grow, all things grow
we had our mindset
all things know, all things know
you had to find it
all things go, all things go

I drove to New York
in the van, with my friend
we slept in parking lots
I don't mind, I don't mind
I was in love with the place
in my mind, in my mind
I made a lot of mistakes
in my mind, in my mind

you came to take us
all things go, all things go
to recreate us
all things grow, all things grow
we had our mindset
all things know, all things know
you had to find it
all things go, all things go

if I was crying
in the van, with my friend
it was for freedom
from myself and from the land
I made a lot of mistakes
I made a lot of mistakes
I made a lot of mistakes
I made a lot of mistakes

you came to take us
all things go, all things go
to recreate us
all things grow, all things grow
we had our mindset
all things know, all things know
you had to find it
all things go, all things go

you came to take us
all things go, all things go
to recreate us
all things grow, all things grow
we had our mindset
(I made a lot of mistakes)
all things know, all things know
(I made a lot of mistakes)
you had to find it
(I made a lot of mistakes)
all things go, all things go
(I made a lot of mistakes)