Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Debbie Downer

That's me right now. Debbie Downer. I really am not sure why I'm choosing to be this way right now when there are so many fantastic celebrations going on! For example: 

1. I just finished my very LAST exam for my Masters Degree! Now all I have to do is log some hours, pay for those classes and you can call me Master Amanda! haha... kidding.

2. My dear friend Leny finally joined us in our wonderful world of blogs. And, her family is from India so that already makes her fascinating! Check her out!

3. Although my house is a complete disaster right now, it is showing some small signs of improvement. My camera is broken (gasp!!) so I'm probably going to use my birthday money to get it fixed - my birthday hasn't happened yet - because I need you guys to SEE my life too!

4. Eli says banana all the time now in the form of "nana!" and he also says please now in the form of "psss"!

But even with all of those wonderful things I am still kind of blue. I think I've worn myself to the ground lately. Maybe being a little over committed or a little over involved, but mainly just because all of my schedules seem to be crashing into each other and I have had not one ounce of peaceful me time in what seems to be ages. Wes assures me that will change soon, and I hope so. I would like to go back to being Amanda Martin instead of Double D. 

That was cheerful huh.

Oh! and #5 would have to be Hugh Jackman's fabulous performance at the Oscars! He was truly great! 

Sunday, February 22, 2009

what a great time to sell a house

so... Wes and I have decided to try and sell our house. WHAT? yes. ARE YOU SERIOUS? mmm hmm... basically our decision is based on the fact that we found a beautiful house we would love to buy. We like it so much that we decided to be a little crazy and get our house ready to be put on the market. If it doesn't sell, then we made our house as beautiful as possible and we get to enjoy it! If it does sell, then WHOO HOO!!! We get to move across town! I'm telling you we are so excited and tired. Really tired actually. I'll have to post some pics soon!

I've made some new commitments, one of which is to blog more faithfully. Not only because I miss reading about your precious lives but also it has been such a great sense of therapy to have some me time and talk about my day.

Tomorrow and Tuesday are my final exams for my last two grad classes for my School Counseling Masters. After that, all that is left is my pre-practicum and practicum! WHOO HOO! So... I'm off to play with Eli until study time. Love you guys!!

Friday, February 13, 2009

In mourning

Today our school is grieving. This morning, before school started, a senior male student had a wreck on his motorcycle in the school parking lot. He did not make it. There were many witnesses and he had many friends. We spent the morning and early afternoon contacting parents and counseling students. Please keep our students, teachers, and his family in your thoughts and prayers. It was a horrible day. 

Thursday, February 12, 2009

He's almost 14 months.

Here's a little Eli update for you :)

He will be 14 months on the 18th. He's definitely much more of a little boy now than a baby. He basically runs everywhere leading with his big ole belly and his arms behind him to keep his balance. :) He's one of the tallest one year olds I have ever seen! My sweet friend Jaclynn watched him yesterday and today and she has a daughter who is two months older than he is. Her daughter is just to tiny compared to my giant child!

He loves to babble all the time... His favorite words are "mama!" "dada" "dog" "no (while shaking his head, and most of the time no means yes...)" "ooce (juice)" "mo (more)" and I think he's been trying to say several other words that I just can't make out quite yet. He's still into reading, especially reading to himself. His favorite book is God Loves Opposites which he throws at you so you will read it to him... thanks Jen... :)

He still goes to bed at like 7:30 and wakes up around 7:30 in the morning. We haven't stopped his night time bottle yet, but I'm sure that will come soon. If he's not going to sleep we give him his sippy cup. hmm... what else. He loves eating almost anything but he's not really allowed to have an
y sugar because it completely messes up his system and we have to deal with the messy aftermath... and what one year old needs sugar anyway. 

His favorite things to do would include going outside, pushing any button anywhere at any time, playing the drums, chasing Ebony, pointing at the fan or any light, climbing stairs, getting off the couch, shaking his head no, dancing, singing, and playing on the computer.

We love him so much and have so much fun with him! We're thinking of adding to the family sometime soon... don't worry... I'll let you know when! And we are completely thankful for his spunky little self!

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

The Inauguration

The Inauguration was incredible. I have said on here before that I didn't vote for our President but of course I am an American and I will always support our country. That being said, I would not have missed Obama's inauguration for anything. Truly! It was one of the most amazing experiences I have ever witnessed! Ever! We had to wake up very very early each morning and didn't get home until late each night but it was well worth it.Monday, Jan. 19: We (20 students and 3 other sponsors) met up at the school at 3:30 in the morning. We went to DFW, had plenty of time to go through security and make our flight, and arrived in DC around 10:30. It was extremely cold there and we were all SO excited to be in the District. Monday was a full day of going to Smithsonians, walking around the National Mall, and letting the kids get the feel of the area. We watched as they started preparing the grounds and putting up the giant screens for the festivities to come. You hear on tv all the time that people can "feel" the excitement and I never really understood what that meant until we were there. You could literally feel the energy. Everyone was happy, street vendors making a profit on Obama's name and face were all over the place, and the crisp air carried with it a feeling of hope. Exactly what you hear about on the news.
Tuesday, Jan. 20: We were up again at like 4 am to get some breakfast and load onto the bus. We had been told we couldn't bring any bags or anything like that, only what could fit into your pockets for security. We really had no idea what to expect. Saying that you will be standing in millions of people compared to actually standing with millions of people are two different stories. It was still dark out when we reached DC and the sidewalks were already full of streams of people walking towards the capitol. There were A LOT of frustrations happening with our tour guide, which I won't waste time on going over, but we were trying to remain positive. Each time our bus would pass through a street, they would close it off and then a sea of people would fill it. All of the major roads running into the heart of the district were closed to vehicles and open to humans. People were EVERYWHERE. People were selling things, cheering, clapping, singing, chanting... it was like a rock concert with no music. And we were there 3-4 hours early before anything was happening and that's how the people were like.
There were no security checks where we went to. We were far far from the capitol, at the base of the Washington Monument, but since they had those huge screens, we could see everything up close and clear. Basically while you were warm and cozy at home or work or wherever you were while watching the inauguration on tv, I was cold and stiff and standing also watching it on tv :) Of course Bryan (one of the sponsors) and I decide to go get some coffee and snack before it started and we started parting our way through the people (you could literally see nothing but blue skies, some tree tops, and people at this point) and when we got to the snack stand, the wait was 2-3 hours. So, we turned around to go back to find our group, got separated from each other, and ended up watching the inauguration with total strangers. awesome. 

Anyways, people were cheering Obama, booing Bush, his mom, his dad, his wife... which personally I thought, "the man is going to be President for another 30 minutes, can you cut him a break?" but... they apparently couldn't. When Obama spoke, the crowd silenced. They listened to every word he said. People were crying, cheering, clapping, raising their hands... truly, it was such an incredible energy to be a part of that day. I don't remember a time where I have ever felt so cold, but standing with the thousands upon thousands upon thousands and not being afraid, and not feeling alone was fantastic. 

Cell service was cut off in the area around the capitol. There were snipers everywhere. There were plain-clothed secret service everywhere from what we heard. There were men in fatigues with binoculars near all the screens. The air was being kept clear by different types of helicopters. We spoke to policeman from all over the country that were sent there to help out. There were zero arrests the entire day of the inauguration, which makes complete sense to me because if anything had gone wrong, like a fight or something in the crowd, there was not a single thing a policeman could do. Y'all the crowd of people was overwhelming. Our kids had an amazing time but trying to stay together even in small groups was extremely difficult. The police had no idea what to do with us most of the time, which probably wasn't their fault, but we usually just saw them standing on top of buses or sitting on porch steps. The crowd was felt just like the ocean. If one part of the "current" started moving, you had to move where they were going. You had no choice. But no one was angry with each other, no one was pushing or shoving or cussing or anything. Everyone was feeling the same sense of annoyance with the police for not telling us where to go, but the tree people (civilians who had climbed the trees to watch the inauguration) were very helpful in looking out to see which group was moving which way. So, thank you tree people. :)


Not one of "those" bloggers

Friends! Thank you for checking up on me and seeing how I'm doing! The answer to that is/was "overwhelmed" but after today I think I'll be back on track! After the Inauguration things got crazy!! I went to Lubbock, then to DC, then back here to two grad classes full of tests and homework that was not yet done, to Eli getting the flu, to Wes traveling a lot, to taking my exit level test for School Counseling. I know your lives are crazy busy too but I just couldn't keep up with everything! 

More to come!

I have another test tonight! Prayers please!!!

Love you guys!