Who cares about weather?! I have a salad!

Okay, now before you yell at me for not taking pictures of the pretty snow....I really would have, but there was something else I desperately needed to do or someone might have gotten hurt. I had to order a nice big chef salad from Romana's and dig in! Why is this more important than the pretty snow? Well, to put in it one word...STRESS! I was too busy this morning to stop and eat breakfast and I was too stressed to remember to pack lunch. GRRRRR....around 11:30, I was ready to keel over. I could always buy lunch, but there is nothing carb free and I have lost over 13 pounds, 5 in the last week. Eating junk food would totally set me back:) So I toughed it out and here was my reward:
Piles of yummy cheese, meat and veggies dripping with homemade italian dressing. SOOOOOO much better than a silly snow storm.

A light in the fog

You ever have a moment when things just click? I think everyone has these moments whether they are revelations, visions, moments of understanding. But seeing them happen for kids (especially kids who struggle with academics) is like seeing a sky of shooting stars, or feeling the first drops of pure summer rain.

Today I was getting observed and it was my last class of the day. This particular class is very very low academically speaking. There is a consultant teacher that works with me in the classroom everyday and it's a struggle to get many of them to be engaged because school in general is very difficult for them. Well, I'd taught the lesson three times already and it just wasn't coming out right. I was mixing things up, I was having trouble finding the right wordsto teach with, and the kids were just sort of there. Then came 8th period and my observation. And suddenly the lesson just clicked. My kids who struggle so much because of learning disabilities were simply ALIVE! They were answering questions and even better, they were getting all the challenging concepts I was presenting. At one point, I paused in my discussion and realized with a jolt that absolutely every single eye in the classroom was on me. If you've ever taught, you know that moment is HUGE. Almost never do I have full attention of an entire classroom of 12/13 year old bodies. But these kids were staring at me and their eyes held...I don't know...excitment? fire? Something!

This isn't the first time this has happened to me, but to see these kids having success and to see them engaged, happy, ready for the next moment....I just felt like the luckiest person in the world to be a part of the learning they were creating. So today, I choose fire and fog for my picture. I have the candle burning and I fog up my lens to show that the light does come through the darkness. We do, in little moments along the way, see things the way they are meant to be. And I thank God for those moments and for my kids. They lit a fire in me today:)

The torch reluctantly passed...

The new winner of the coveted trophy for photography goes to...

(maybe parting a bit unwillingly though I can't blame you Trish...that thing is honey to bees)

LINDA! Congrats to the new winner and to everyone for all the great posting for the past two months. Seems like only yesterday we were venturing down the unknown path of blogdom. Now look where we have ended up! 70 days in the clear...the 365 day challenge continues!

gifts beginning

Another Carolyn Classic

So my mom told me I should get some pictures of the Christmas trees with snow on them. Well, sounds good to me. I got to the little Christmas tree shop which was right down the road from church and there were these cute little trees all lined up in rows. But most of the snow had blown away by then and the light was not fantastic. I began shooting, looking for a beautiful majestic tree glossy with white snow covered branches and sharp evergreen. It was blistery cold! But I finally got a nice shot and of course I used my coveted oil painting filter to make the snow like fluffy cotton. When I finally made it back to my car, I was totally in the Christmas spirit, frozen fingers and all! I cranked up the holiday tunes and realized that I am totally excited about Christmas this year. Not that I am usually a grinch, but the past 5 or 6 years, I have been battling depression and it was only after my trip to Africa that I realized God had healed me completely. What this means is that it feels like someone has pulled back a veil from Christmas. Everything is bright and beautiful and my heart is aglow.

Night time shot

Here is a night time shot of the flag pole outside the window. Again, I don't really like nighttime photography, but that's the assignment, so I figured I'd try it out. I do like the way the flag is moving and it's very whimsical.

Old idea but new for me

What more can I say?
Psalm 52:8

But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God. I trust in God's unfailing

love

forever and ever!