It's Monday...

Life is a road that I want to keep going, love is a river that I want to keep flowing.

I think of this song, a refrain from my freshman year of college, because teaching is such a journey. Here's where I am tonight.

I'm feeling tired on this Monday evening. It was a long, long day, filled with teaching, meeting, and helping, as well as watching students play in a girls' bball game and shopping for groceries. Fortunately, Danny boy was the ever helpful husband, making dinner and being my partner in crime at the store. All this AND I had him worried because I forgot to tell him I wouldn't be home until late, due to the faced-paced basketball game I was watching.

All this, and I remain encouraged. Teaching is truly a joy -- even if I feel like I'm already playing catch-up with this brand new week. I am thankful to be in this place, in this situation, learning and growing and maturing. And I am thankful to the giver of these blessings.

"Even to your old age and gray hairs, I am He, I am He who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you." -Isaiah 46:4

Mountains, Animals, and Miles on the Car

DBS and I spent two wonderful weeks touring a smattering of the western National Parks, including the Badlands, Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, Glacier, and Theodore Roosevelt. We slept in our tent a total of 12 times, which made us even more grateful to the people we stayed with (Dan's high school pal, Dan's former boss, and one of my college roomies). We splurged on a hotel only once, but on ice cream several times. We saw a bull moose, a grizzly bear, hundreds of bison, and mountain goats. We got slap happy in the car on our way to Idaho, were 20 miles from being in Washington State, and drove over 4000 miles.

We had a blast.

Now we're home, and we've hit the ground running. It's back to OWLS for Dan (although it has moved to a different location), and on to student teaching for me. Welcome back to the real world!