Habla ingles?

Hello bloggity blog world! Hope life is finding everyone well this beautiful Thursday! It's amazing to me how much my mood can change when I walk outside...it is just gorgeous here today! We've had some really refreshing mornings recently (which has been great running-wise), but the afternoons keep reaching sweltering temperatures. But today...ooooh today is glorious! So, needless to say, I'm a pretty happy camper. Plus I've been in the presence of some really awesome people who uplift me and that has helped my mood greatly! These "people" include my friend Hannah and all of our ESL students! We started teaching this week; Hannah's with the intermediate class, and I'm with the beginners. We each have a co-leader, but mine is not teaching on Thursdays so I get the class to myself, which I really enjoyed! It lets me be creative with my lessons and my students, which I love! The women in my class are all incredibly sweet; I was a little intimidated to be teaching adults, but I actually really like it! They're easy to get on task and I don't have to discipline-ha! They're also eager to learn because they have a lot of life situations where they need to be able to speak English, and I love, love, love, LOVE helping them to learn more English so that they can be successful in these situations! I tell you, this is a rewarding job, and I've only been there twice! The other week I had to help a woman translate a field trip permission slip-she knew what it was, but she couldn't figure out how to fill it out. I love giving them helpful tools and vocabulary to aid them in learning not only the English language but also our culture. For example, today we tried to explain tailgating...yeah, that didn't go over so well! As well as explain that there was really no equivalent to "Viva Mexico/Espana/whatever country!". "Go America!" just sounds cheesy. haha!

So I'm currently on a high after this morning. There are some challenges but having Hannah there really helps--we can talk it through on our drive to and from class, so that is wonderful for both of us! The director and some of the teachers teach with some old-fashioned methods, and Hannah and I are itching to be able to use some of our new-fangled ones that we think are a bit more effective. So, we would love some prayer for patience, respect, and insight, as well as humility...these women have taught ESL on and off for quite a few years, so I'm sure we can learn something from them while still infusing our own "flavor".

This week Brian is in the field again. This whole field-business is starting to get a little old. I got pretty lonely (and a little self-pitious...) the other night, but we're doing better now. The Lord is reminding me that He is my all--my support, my encouragement, my best friend, my Provider-everything. I've really been missing home, friends, and family this week, so I'm anxious for Brian to get back so I can have a little bit of normal in my life! All of these new things are so exciting and I've been able to make some great friends, but we're still in the learning process about each other, which is great! But sometimes I dearly miss the familiarity of people who will sit on the couch with me, eat ice cream out of the carton, watch cheesy chick-flicks, and pass the whole night talking! All that said, I am so thankful for my friends here-the Lord has been so good to both me and Brian in the "friend department" and I am so grateful for all of them and how quickly we've gotten to be close. Just part of the growing up process, I guess...it's a little painful, but I'm sure there's a purpose! And there's always reunions, such as the upcoming one in Baltimore! I'm behind on my half-marathon mileage, but that's ok...it's for fun, right?...

Other news...well, college football Saturday started off with a bang at the Page household. I watched our game last week (ahhh it was so antagonizing!) and then Brian celebrated being out of the field with a full day of football! I went to a concert with Dana, Stuart (her husband), and Dana's mom, who's in town. It was an outdoor concert (my favorite kind!) and it was a perfect night. We had a lot of fun watching the privates hoot and holler over Laura Bell Bundy; she was crazy! But she was a really good/funny performer, and she knew how to work the crowd. Needless to say, we laughed a lot! Her album is called "Achin' and Shakin'", so half her songs were more melancholy while the other half were...shakin'! And she danced the whole night away...once she even tap danced while she sang! After I got back, Brian had called a few guys and had them come over; I had made a big pot of chili for them as well as the Wardens' favorite rice crispie treat...peanut butter rice crispies with melted chocolate chips on top...yum. Gran used to make it for us all the time-we love it! Some of the guys felt like they needed to bring something over since they were going to be "guests" in our house. What did they bring? Beer (of course), as well as coffee and Dunkin' Donuts. Ha! Well, everything got eaten, so I guess they thought it was a great combo!

Brian and I are headed to Fort Rucker this weekend to see Allen and Lindsay as well as Matt and Leigh-we're really excited about it! We're going to watch the MSU v. LSU game and just hang out--should be lots of fun! Friday night Brian and I are going to meet Emily and her friends in Opelika for dinner; they're coming down for the Auburn v. Clemson game which is in Auburn this year. I can't wait to see her! And meet all of her crazy friends...they have some pretty epic times up at Clemson!

As far as news concerning Brian, well, he's in the field. And his PT clothes still stink. haha! They go directly from PT to the washer; I usually wash them immediately! If I don't, the whole house smells...I don't know what they're doing in the field this week; probably more live fires and playing Army, if I had to guess! We're getting close to Brian being done with this training, which I CANNOT BELIEVE! I feel like yesterday we were in week 3, and the end felt so far away. Now, we're about 5 weeks out! Crazy how time flies! And it's only going to go faster; almost every weekend this month and in October has something that we're doing or somewhere that we're going! We're trying to take advantage of the fact that we still live close to friends/family, since El Paso is going to be...really. far. away. When we went to Starkville, I used the atlas to measure distances from El Paso to places that we'd want to go...let's just say it was depressing, and you should just come to us...Hey, it's a new terrain! Skiing! Grand Canyon! Could be awesome! :)

Well think that's about it for now...Hope everyone is doing great! Love and miss you all!