Blessings, Basketball, and Birthdays

Well, to start I want to say how grateful I am to have such wonderful friends and family. I have felt loved and appreciated by so many this year. As for the reference to basketball, I was able to go with several of my students and players from my team to an ODU girls' game today. It was lots of fun and a good memory for a birthday.

Finally, I would like to wish two special people a very Happy Birthday today.

My grandmother had a birthday today too. I love being able to share a birthday with her. Sadly, she lives in TX so we usually can't share it in person. She is the sweetest lady and a wonderful grandmother. I love you, Mema!

The other birthday wish is for my dear friend Sommer. I wish her many blessings in the coming year. Happy Birthday, Friend! I miss you!

...And I'm back.

I've been planning to post for some time now, but other things (well, life in general) keep coming up and before I know it, it's late and another day has passed. I'll admit too that often I don't know what to share on my blog so rather than ramble on about the mundane I don't write at all. I should probably come up with a purpose statement or something, but that would involve more time than I have at the moment.

All that said, in this post I'm still only going to write about the mundane to update my faithful readers of what I've been doing over the last few months.

The holidays went by in a blur, especially as I realize today starts the last full week of January. Most of my break was spent traveling or going to weddings, as you'll see from the list below.

• Dec. 15 School vacation begins
• Dec. 16 Drive to and from DC for a friend's wedding
• Dec. 18 Fly to TX to visit with extended family for Christmas
• Dec. 23 Cousin in TX gets married
• Dec. 28-29 Drive back from TX to VA with family
• Jan. 3 Return to school

The 2nd quarter ended Friday which means grades are due soon. I gave my first high school French exam last week. I was as nervous as the students, I think. Teaching French has been much harder than I thought it would be.

Basketball season has officially started for me as well. We lost our first two games, but won our most recent; I think we have a good chance of winning a few more too. I only have 7 girls again this year, some of which are far less experienced than players I have had in the past.

One last update, my best friend is now a mom, which makes me a proud aunt (pronounced like ant if you're from the south like me). Here's one picture of my "nephew" Keagan Burns, the first of many.

Happy News

Warmest congratulations to my dear friend Andrea and her fiancé Jeff. I'm so happy for you both. Best wishes in the coming months as you make plans for the wedding and as your relationship continues to deepen. May you continue to know God's grace and His leading in all that you do.