Randomness

Okay so I have realized that it has been awhile since I have posted anything - probably a month. I kept waiting for something fun to happen so I could post it but then nothing really has happened so I will just give you an update into my life/world.

I will start with my evening job - coaching basketball: We have less than a month left and my team has improved a ton, however we only have one victory. I will say that ALL of our losses have been under 14 points. Which is good and bad all at the same time. It means we were right there but then we could not just hang on. My team seems to have some trouble with rebounding and turnovers. These are 2 huge factors when it comes to winning a game, so you can see why we have only won 1 game. But really my job as the JV coach is to make them better and to have some of my kids getting Varisty minutes - which a few of them are - one has shin splints/stress fracture so she is out for the rest of the season, but she was getting some varsity time prior to that. I do think that a few of my girls will either start varisty or get lots of varsity minutes next season if they do what they should in the off season. As far as the varisty team they are doing really well. They beat Bishop Miege a few weeks ago. A little background info on that so you can see how that is a HUGE win for our team. BVNW (where I coach) has not won an EKL (the division we play ing) game in 4 years, and we have not beaten Bishop Miege in 6 years!! Bishop Miege has won state 17 times total including last year! With that being said Bishop Miege was not expecting to lose to us - the team who only had 3 wins at the time!! Well they were WRONG - we beat them in OT it was so fun. The girls were so excited. Then on Thursday we played against Blue Valley North who ended up beating us but we were only down by 5 at half and were in the game almost the whole time. True they beat us by a lot still but we were in the game for 3 quarters for sure and I can't remember the last time that has happened. (Blue Valley North won state 2 years in a row) So with that being said the team is playing exactly like they should be at the end of the season so hopefully we get a good match up at the end of the season in substate - which is where it all matters anyways.

Home life: Things are pretty good there. We are fasting television for 40 days - started on 2/1/08. I really should say that my roommate is and that I just am benefiting from it. Also we don't have cable so its not like when the tv is on that there is anything exciting on it. We sometimes just have it on in the background for noise. I am enjoying not having the tv on so far. We listen to music instead, and I am sure eventually I will be reading more - or maybe typing etiher for Paul or for the blog! I have taken my cute dog Harley to the vet 2 times in the last month. She is having some trouble with her booty...I won't go into too much detail cause it is grossamossa, but if you would like details just ask. She was on some drugs that did not help so we had to go back and be more aggressive this time - hopefully it helps - I really do not want to go back and have them do even worse stuff to her, I cried this past time cause she was in some pretty serious pain. I might be the mom who has to wait outside in the waiting room if my kids ever get hurt or something. I thought I would be able to go in cause I am kind of tough and I don't normally don't get grossed out by those things, but the last vet trip was a little tear jerking. My cousin is getting married tonight the first one on my mom's side - she is younger than me by five years. I wonder if I will get some hints on the fact that I should be next tonight. Good times!My brother is coming in town so I am excited to hang out with him - maybe he will be my dance partner too if my mom and grandma don't hog him :) He just recently recorded (not sure if that is the right lingo) a commercial the Spanglers - a restuarant in Witchita. It is a local commerical but he was/is excited. If it gets on YouTube or the internet no worries his big sister (me) will be posting it right here on the the blog! Way to go lil' bro - one step closer the red carpet! :)

Okay will I am not quite sure what else I can type about so that is it for now. Hope I kept you somewhat interested.

SNOW DAY!

(okay not really a pic of Kansas - but its pretty snow)

So today we had a snow day, which I think was a true blessing from the L-rd. I have been pretty mentally tired since Sunday and could use a day to rest/sleep a little longer. Then Bam - a snow day! Thank you! People often wonder what teachers do on snow days. Well I am not like most teachers I am sure but here are a few of my favorite things to do:

• sleep in
• watch movies
• make a fire
• eat junk food
• lay on the couch
• type for Paul

Okay now here is what I get to do today:

• slept in a little - until the basketball girls started texting me about games/practice times
• texted the basketball girls
• got a phone call from "THE WEAF" (an unexpected surprise)
• shovel the driveway
• let Harley in and out about 100 times (rabbits under the fireplace)
• ate a healthy lunch
• basketball practice
• basketball game (against my old high school)
• blogged (obviously)
• typed for Paul
• watch a couple episodes of CSI:Miami
• some laundry

Well I hope you all enjoyed the snowy day in Kansas. I know I did. I think that snow is real pretty when it is untouched, but usually about halfway through the day the snow in my backyard is mostly yellow - which is not real pleasant to look at :)

Okay so my friend has a friend who is in Jerusalem right now - for 3 months total - well she has a blog set up and there are some amazing pictures there. So if you have time check it out. The girls name is Johnna and I believe she is an IHOPer so some may recognize her pic.
www.jbrynn.blogspot.com

Holiday Letter

Well I have been getting several Christmas cards and some of them even have the annual update of the family who sent the card. I for one do not send Christmas cards to anyone, in fact I only bought one Christmas card this year and it was for my secret pal at work. I guess the main reason that I do not send out cards is because there is not much going on and I do not want to send any of my spare time addressing or writing Christmas cards - that might be rude but it's true. So since I am now considered a "blogger" I figured that I could write one letter and whoever checks out my blog will get to read it.

First of all Happy Holidays to you and your families.

Update on Me:
Well the last year has been a little bit more exciting than normal. In June I had Arthroscopic Shoulder surgery on my right shoulder. The doctor thinks that it was due to the wear and tear that I put it through playing softball all those years and then one day while teaching/playing PE with the children it had enough and popped. The doctor repaired my cartilage in my shoulder and with some fun therapy and a beautiful brace I am happy to report that it is fully healed. I got to wear a full brace that had my arm attached to my stomach 24 hours a day for 5 weeks and I did some physical therapy for about 9 weeks. Overall it was not that bad, I did get bored from being limited on what I could do, I did hear some reports that I was not such a great patient the first few days - I am sure that had something to do with the pain and lack of sleep due to uncomfortness. To be honest there were only 2 things that were extremely painful 1.) the day that Yoh and I tried to take the surgical tape off my bandages - it was so painful that it brought tears to my eyes and tore some of the skin off my back and neck. 2.) the third time I went to therapy she pushed me real far and whoa it was painful.
In December I turned 30!! Yep that's right the big one. It was a good time, my friend Yoh through a surprise party for me - which I found out about - it was fun and I appreciate all that came to enjoy my day with me. On my actually birthday my car broke down and I spent many hours dealing with that and waiting for the tow truck. Let's just say I was really glad that I got to do something the night before to enjoy my day! I am going to Jamaica to celebrate with all my other old friends in July I can hardly wait - its 210 days !!! Also in December I finished my Master Degree from Baker University. My degree is a Master in School Leadership, which is just a fancy term for saying I could be an assistant principal or a principal in a school if I wanted to. However at this time in my life I am comfortable where I am.
I am still teaching at the same building that I started, I am teaching physical education in a middle school in the Blue Valley School District - this is my 6th year. I have been coaching 3 sports since I have been at this school, however this year I felt that the Lord told me I should only coach 1 so that I can focus on my masters and spend more time doing the things that I enjoy and also this would allow more time for me to do things for the Lord and strengthen my walk with Him. So I am the Junior Varsity girls basketball coach at Blue Valley Northwest High School. I love it - it is one of the best things that I do every day, I look forward to it!
The answer to the question that I get asked the most is no! I do not have a boyfriend at this time. I am still waiting for the Lord to bless me with one of those when the timing is right. So if any of you know a nice man who loves Jesus, wants to learn about Jewish roots, and likes an athletic girl who has a busy schedule - you just tell him to check out the blog and give me a call :) :)

Update on my family:
My mom started a new job at Key Bank in downtown and she loves it. Yes she would still love staying at home and not having to work more, but at least at this job the people she works with are nice to her and pleasant to be around. She enjoys her job now. My little bro, Mark, is living in Wichita Kansas and working in theater down there both as an actor and as the technical directory - so he is busy as well. I think that he likes the work for now, I do think however that he is almost ready to move on to something a little bigger. However there are some things that will probably keeping him there. My dad is doing good also he is an electrician for a company and he is working on his own company called Clay-Platte Electrical. My dad and I recently went to Washington D.C. for veterans day, my dad goes often and this year he invited my brother and I - I was the only one who could go. It was a really fun time and a good experience to see my dad with all of his old army buddies. I took several photos which are on this blog site somewhere so check them out.

Spiritual Journey:
Alright they say you save the best for last, so here it is, my walk/journey with the Lord. I belong to a small house church called Kingdom Living, check out the website: www.merriamhop.org. It is a group of people who are going hard after the Lord and trying our best to do what the Lord asks us to do. We also are learning lots about Messianic Jews, I have even taken one course on Jewish roots. Which was mind blowing but amazing all at the same time. I have also been attending the services on Friday nights(when my schedule allows). I know that this is where the Lord wants me to be, however it is truly different than the way I grew up, but I do enjoy it. But at the same time I am learning many things about the way Jesus wanted things and meant for things to be before we as humans tried to do our own things without listening to what the Lord wanted us to do. Okay that might have been too much or hard to understand - so I will stop now, but if you have questions please don't hesitate to ask me.

Okay well I wish you all a great holiday and a happy New Year. I also hope that you have many blessings in the year 2008!

A Shout out to DJ - Happy 30th!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Birthday Girl is the one with light skin!

Well on Sunday December 2nd my good friend Alicia M. Johnson is turning the BIG 3-0 so I thought I would post a blog all about her and how amazing she is! Plus she did ask a few weeks ago when I was going to post about her again - she is the megabus girl that was posted earlier. Let me start by saying that Alicia and DJ are the one in the same DJ is her nickname-which she has had since 1996 when we were freshman in college-I will give you a small hint on where the nickname came from the show FULL HOUSE!

I like to give DJ a hard time because she is a whole week older than me, truthfully I give her a hard time because she seems to care about getting older a little more than I do so I just razz her some about that. I met DJ in college my freshman year when both were in the same sorority- I know its hard to believe I was in a sorority but its true. I am not 100% sure when we became really close friends, it just sort of happens when two fun and amazing people hang out together they just become friends for life.

We have been through a lot together in the 11 years that we have known each other here is a list from off the top of my head so I am sure that I will forget many things: a spring break cruise in college, New Orleans for New Years (at least 4 times, maybe 5), random weekend trips to Iowa, Maryville, Nebraska, DC, St. Louis, we have seen Albert the Bull at least 4 times, planned wedding shows and baby showers for other people, her dad's death, my parents divorce, dealing with both of our moms emotional processes, several family/friend deaths, living with siblings (hers was a little more hectic - her bro is a little anal), and much much more but those are the items that stick out to me.

DJ - I know that getting older can be sad but just look back at all that you have gone through and accomplished and be amazed at how amazing the Lord is and how he does have a plan for you. You were able to raise money in the Race for the Cure for your dad, you walked several miles in a walk to raise awareness for suicide, you got to go to Ghana Africa to help with AIDS orphans and with their education, you are currently doing amazing work with American Cancer society, and you are also paying a tutor to give a better education and life options for one of the orphans that you met while in Ghana! WOW!!! You have an amazing heart for people and you are doing great things for people all over the world, GOD has His hands on your heart and I am just blessed that He has chosen to keep our friendship going strong! DJ I love you and have a fantastic birthday - sorry I cannot be there - darn that coaching job :) :)

A few photos from DC

Here are a few photos that I took while in DC with my dad. I took almost 200 - no worries I did not post them all!

Korean War Memorial

Arlington Cemetery

My dad and Doc at the Korean War Memorial - my favorite one

Washington Monument

My Dad (stocking hat) and his friend Doc at the Vietnam Wall

Tis the Season

Well it's that time of the year again- - basketball season! It started this past Monday November 12th. There are so many things about basketball season that I love: the smell of freshly varnished gym floors, the sound of basketballs bouncing, the girls saying "hey maase", the sound of squeaking tennis shoes, the sound the net makes when the ball goes through the net, all the sounds that you hear when you just stand at practice for your eyes closed for just a minute. Of course there are a few things that I do not like about the basketball seasons: the hours(i spent24 hours in the gym for practice in 6 days- YIKES!), that the season is during all the fun holiday breaks from school-so I don't have much of a "break", dealing with parents who complain, trying to get everyone into the game..I'm sure that there are more but I am to tired to remember them, but I do know that the pros do outweigh the cons or I would not do it.

I do think that the teams will be more successful and more competitive against other schools than we have been in the past. My team - the JV team - should be pretty good, and be able to handle ourselves against the other EKL teams, they might even be able to press more often which is something that is fun to do and watch as a coach.

So if you have not seen me in awhile or heard from me it is because I am mostly likely doing something related to the high school basketball team that I coach. You can come catch a game anytime you want. The schedule is located at www.highschoolsports.net just find the school which is Blue Valley Northwest and select girls basketball - JV and you should see the schedule, if that doesn't work then just email me or post a comment.