Why I love teenagers!

Just wanted to share some hilarious recent happenings at school which make me love working with teenagers (and sometimes little ones!). Working with kids is something I love, especially teenagers...I know that  sounds horrendous to some, but truthfully, I prefer the older kids to the younger ones! Don't get  me wrong-I love young kids, but if I'm going to have to spend all day with them....teenager is the way to go for me!

So, I am consumed by The Hunger Games. I read the first two books in less than 24 hours, quickly followed by the 3rd. Then I re-read the 1st one in about 3.5 hours on a flight home before I saw the movie to make sure I could adequately critique it ;) My students are also totally into the books, so many days during yearbook period while we make pages we simultaneously discuss the ins and outs of the books, including details such as which Cinna dress we wanted to wear the most. As well as tactics we would use to survive in the arena. Which leads me to my first hilarious school story...

Story #1: My students told me the other day that if I was in the arena, I'd kill people with a smile on my face. Apparently I smile too much... ;) This is totally morbid, but in light of the Hunger Games, it makes sense.

Story #2: This week is Teacher Appreciation Week, and my Christian Honor Society girls and I are in charge of planning and executing all the appreciation activities. We've been doing recess duty, had a big breakfast, and are having a luncheon tomorrow as well as a few surprises for the teachers. One of om very thoughtful CHS students wrote me a hilarious card (complete with HG quotes) and then handed me a small package which contained my very own MOCKINGJAY pin! She MADE it for me out of cardboard, aluminum foil and paint! Seriously--it is amazing! And such a thoughtful and meaningful gift! After I opened it we all discussed how we were going to be the characters of the books for Halloween. Seriously...we're obsessed.

Story #3: Today one of my high schoolers was talking about how she thought it was so wrong to eat horses (don't ask HOW they got on this topic...I have no idea). We were all confused. So she proceeded to explain she thought that it was terrible that people eat horseradish sauce. After a few quiet seconds, we all burst out laughing! Poor thing...she thought the sauce really came from an actual horse. Thankfully she's a confident gal and wasn't upset over her public confession of not knowing what was actually in horseradish.

Story #4: I also help out with some elementary kids, and one of my dearest friends at school and in El Paso teaches 1st grade, so I know all of her kiddos. Well, Katie and I were feeling frisky and hyper last week, so we played 4-square with our kids and then...her kids did our hair! It was hilarious! A kid brushed our hair with a twig, I had about 4 sparkly clips in my hair as well as several braids....so much fun!  I think we irked our other teachers, but it was such a fun way to love on our kids and let them love on us!

Hope you enjoyed a little school-related fun--we'll keep the stories coming! They give us great stories all the time ;)

Spring Break!

Sorry, please don't be jealous...

I have to say, Spring Break as a teacher is way more awesome than it was as a student. Well, I didn't take any great trips like I did in college, but the relief of Spring Break was felt tenfold versus when I was a student! (Well, maybe excluding graduate school...)

Interestingly enough, my Spring Break consisted of lots of working, but I was actually excited about it....whhhhat? Yes, I basically spent my week doing things I can't get done in a normal week: doctors appointments, tax prep, planting flowers, scrubbing various things, and doing lots of car maintenance with my Dad. He came in town for the last few days of my week off due to business out here and he helped me do loads of work on both of the cars as well as the garage and other odds and ends around the house that require male assistance...so thankful for a handy Dad! Now I have a few new tricks up my sleeve to show off to Brian when he gets home :)

Speaking of Brian, he is doing well! He switched jobs so he's not in as much imminent danger as he was before; praise the Lord! His new job is still stressful and he's liable for all sorts of expensive things, but I breathe a little easier knowing he's somewhat safer... :) This weekend marked 6 months of deployment down--wahoo! The time is moving at a pretty good clip, mostly thanks to how busy school keeps me. Buuutttt I'm still super ready for him to come home! This deployment has taught us a lot about communication, priorities, and how to go on with life while still keeping the other one involved. It's provided several challenges and some frustrations (like craptastic Middle Eastern internet that goes out for 10 days so you're not really sure how your husband is doing/where he is...), but all in all, I can't really complain! I have awesome neighbors who always wheel my trashcan in for me because I've already left for work (seriously--this is one of my least favorite things and they do it without even knowing how much I hate it!), incredible friends to weather the weekends with, and an awesome church that is so supportive! The Lord has definitely blessed us during this time!

El Paso has already started to heat up...we hit the 90s this weekend and it's nowhere but up from here! Soooo if you need some heat without humidity, the desert welcomes you with open arms :)

We have a few fun things planned to get us through this final push--this weekend I get to come home and I'm so excited! One of my dearest friends from growing up is getting married, most of my best friends will be home, AND we're going to see "The Hunger Games"--I'm so stoked about all three! Seriously, don't judge the book since it's about teenagers killing each other...it's so much more than that-read the books first! And be prepared to not move once you sit down. That's another thing I did over Spring Break...read the first 2 Hunger Games in less than 24 hours...nerd alert.

School is going well--we only have something like 7 or 8 Mondays left-hooray! I love my job but this girl is ready for a breather...it's been non-stop since January and there's no sign of slowing down...Someone remind me again how I got volunteered for Yearbook? ha! I enjoy it, it just consumes me and my free time.

Well enough rambling; I'm off to create fake pesos and euros to use to teach the kids to barter and go shopping in Spanish...que divertido!

Blogger Fail

I'm sure no one reads this any more, because let's be honest, I have posted practically nothing in oh, I don't know how long because it's been THAT long...Life has been literally non-stop for the past 5 weeks or so. If I'm not at school, I'm either working on school stuff, planning for school stuff, working on FRG things or attending them, at church or Bible study, or asleep. Eating is also in there, because eating is high on my priority list always, regardless of the situation.

So, a quick rewind: February is a crazy month at school. I co-lead "Valentine's Grams" at school, which required a lot of bargain shopping, order forms, and putting my crafty bow-making skills to good use. It was really fun to get to work with my teenagers in a non-classroom environment. I sponsor the Christian Honor Society, which is basically like National Honor Society for those of us who didn't go to a private, faith-based school. I love working with my girls (it's comprised of all girls currently...boys need to get their grades up!) because I get to know them better and really learn about who they are and help them navigate life...I love it. So often my teenagers come to me and ask, "Mrs. Page, what would you do if...." Now typically when they say this, my palms begin to sweat and I begin to pray intensely because let's be honest: they're teenagers, and you might die if I told you some of the things that come out of their mouths. But I love it. I love that they feel comfortable enough to ask me hard questions, questions that show me they're seeking to know truth and how to apply it in their lives. But like I said--I basically pray my way through the conversation because of several reasons: A) They always catch me off-guard and I panic; B) I'm always nervous; and most importantly, C) because I know I can depend on the Lord to give me words when I am unsure and when I deeply desire to lead these kids to do life Christ's way.

After Valentine's Grams came Senior Week, known to public school kids as "Spirit Week": the week you get to dress wacky, act stupid, and at the end of the week, have a dance. Well, it's a smidge different at our school, but the same concept. I got to wear JEANS two days that week--I was estatic. We can't wear pants of any kind so when the opportunity arose for me to wear not only pants, but JEANS, you best believe I took it. We had some fun activities for the entire school, like tug-of-war, watching a movie together (Lion King! And you better believe me and my fellow teachers sung along!), and pie a senior in the face...should've known this would turn against me. I was helping clean up from the pie mess, and my students attacked me...good thing I was ready and was able to quickly and efficiently retaliate. I also realized that my days of sprinting in high school have not completely left me, which worked greatly to my advantage. We had a half-day that day, because that night was Senior Banquet; no dancing, but dinner, fancy dresses, and fun skits!

That night, I did double duty; we had a "Half-Way" party for FRG at the Brigade level, where we celebrated the deployment being half-way over! I wasn't able to stay the entire time, but I helped out creating the decorations and pouring our beverage into the grog bowl...so fun :) A friend and I wore ACU pants, ran screaming from the back of the room, and shot our beverage into the grog bowl with giant supersoakers...it was amazing. After that, I did a quick costume change and headed to Senior Banquet, because I was part of an act there as well...the other high school teachers and I did a rap for our seniors, and it was hilarious. The kids loved it and even though I botched my lines because I got nervous, it was still incredibly funny. The English teacher and I wrote the rap and it took me back to my college days when Stacey and I would write goofy poems for...everything. Really. Everything. :)

Annnnd after that, the night was still not done. Some of the seniors asked me to chaperone them to a movie. This totally caught me off guard--seniors? Need a chaperone? Come to find out one of our exchange students has quite strict host parents, so they required that a chaperone be there; and it was pretty late, so it made sense. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized it wasn't a terrible idea; El Paso is huge--over half a million people, and while we're the "2nd safest city in the USA" (no lie, it's true), that doesn't mean there aren't a good handful of folks who could take advantage of young kids. Initially I was a little nervous, but it ended up being so much fun! It was fun to get to spend time with them outside of school; felt like youth group all over again :) None of them are actually in my class, so that made it less awkward. After that, we raced to Taco Bell (hello, high schoolers). I got in later that night that I have in I'm not sure how long...I slept forever the next morning! I can't do those late nights (actually, early mornings) that well any more!

This week life finally slowed down...and Spring Break is in a week, so that is AWESOME! Maybe I'll update the blog again...haha!

Onto my sweet other half...Brian is doing well; he switched jobs so he's not constantly in harm's way like he was the first 5 months over there, praise the Lord. He doesn't really love his new job (paperwork....) but he does admit it will help him learn new skills that will be important later on down the road. We're hoping with his new position we'll be able to talk more since he won't be out and about as much! And hallejuah, we're over half-way done with this thing! So exciting! But I have to say, even through all the miles, our December heartbreak, and infrequent communication, the Lord has blessed us so incredibly much! I keep telling people this: "the anticipation is much worse than the reality". Before he left, we had no idea what to expect, and that made me, especially, anxious and worried about this time without him. But having a job, friends, and incredible church here have made life so much easier! The Lord knew what we were going to need and it is so evident how He put situations, my job, my friends, and my church in place before I even knew it! Totally claiming Deut. 31:6-8, being strong and courageous in Him, knowing that He goes BEFORE me always and is always WITH me. What an incredible promise to rest on! We do not have to worry about the now or the future, because He is there. What a peaceful knowledge that is!

Well, that is about all from the El Paso homefront...we're getting into windy season which is such a joy...the sunshine is wonderful as is the temperature, but my oh my, the WIND! It is normal for the spring to have 35-55 mph winds daily--normal. You better believe my hair looks oh-so-cute those days... :) I'm going to leave you with some pictures and videos for your enjoyment-adios!

The mountains on a clear morning; was trying to show how BIG the moon was this particular morning!

Dust out...Yes, visibility is about a mile, or less--the mountains from the above picture are right in front of me and you cannot see them!

Same story; the winds here blow all day, but in the afternoon the dust picks up. You can see the outline of the mountains, but that's it...on a clear day, you can see for miles! It's beautiful!

Annnd here's the rap to our seniors :)

2012?

I'm not sure about the rest of you, but I still write 2010 on important documents, checks, lesson plans, and everything else in between...and now you mean to tell me it's 2012? Time is flying by, or so it seems!

I am going to award myself "worst blogger ever" award...life is so busy! After work, going to the gym, convincing myself to make dinner even if it is only for myself, I just can't seem to want to sit in front of the computer... :)

So, here's a hasty recap of life...
We had a whirlwind of a December; I'm not sure I've ever felt so many emotions in one month. The month started off with the Angel tree drive I was in charge of at school...let's just I made good work of the Wal-Mart toy department in less than 2 hours one school day. I'm not sure I'm going to bite off an a project that big again with a school as small as ours, but Praise the Lord, we got it done! And I also realized that while guys may be eager to help in wrapping presents, they usually don't have a clue about what they're doing... I'm talking using several different sheets of wrapping paper, enough tape to bind a wound...hilarious! Definitely unwrapped several and then rewrapped them!

That was Thursday. That weekend, I was looking forward to de-stressing from the week and packing my bags because Brian was slated to be home for R &R for 2 weeks and I needed to get in gear for his arrival! That was until Saturday...
We lost 3 men from Brian's platoon to an IED blast, and let me tell you; it was the hardest week of my life. I'm not sure I've ever cried as much as I did that week; the heartache and sorrow I felt for those families (we knew several of them well) was almost too much to bear. To add on top of that, I was bound by confidentiality standards from the Army, so I had to keep it quiet until the details were sorted out. Thankfully, the Lord has provided some incredible friends here for me to talk to and cry on. Our Battalion's leadership here and overseas is wonderful, and they helped us navigate the week as well as possible. It was so difficult to go to work every day that week, feeling as if I wanted to do everything but at the time could do nothing...I don't like feeling useless, but that week demanded a lot of patience on all our parts. I haven't had to deal with death much in my life, thankfully. I still have all my grandparents, and death hasn't brushed our family the way is has some of my friends. It was such a surreal week; you realize your own life is so fragile, you have a difficult time accepting it actually happened, especially because it happened so far away from us all, and you worry about the ones left behind. It brings the reality of war, and daily life, into focus a little better. Your prayers and thoughts for Brian during this deployment are so appreciated and felt so deeply; He has provided for us in so many ways, keeping him safe and healthy.

The Lord knew we'd need each other after this; the week it happened I was only able to talk to Brian about it for about 10 minutes total, and if you know me, I wanted (and needed...) more time with him. So, praise the Lord, he came home for R &R! My principal is so understanding and let me take the entire last week off of work...God is so good! Our two weeks together were wonderful; we got to spend so much time together with our families and our friends, as well as by ourselves. And, the 2 weeks felt LONG! Praise the Lord! The "Army road" usually means missed holidays and special events, but we've been so blessed to have the last 2 Christmases together! We'll miss some other important landmarks this year, but you start to realize that one day on the calendar doesn't hold some secret power to make it more special than another; while something important or exciting might be happening/have happened on that day, you learn that any day of the year can be May 15 if you want it to be :)

Ok enough with the sappiness, onto resolutions! Haha, for once in my life I'm actually making some! I even wrote them down and framed them...getting serious here people! :) I'm a little chicken to admit them here (hello, what if I fail? haha!) but here goes...
Be more intentional in my friendships
Be more intentional with the Lord
Eat better...seriously, cooking for one is no fun! :)
Run a marathon (I swore I'd never do this, but suddenly after you get a few half-marathons under your belt, you begin to toy with the idea of a full...yes, I am deranged, I fully admit that)

I'm sure there's more, but they're downstairs and if I looked at them I might become depressed-ha!

And for the most exciting news of all time: I'm going to have a nephew! I seriously cannot wait for him to get here! Thankfully my sister-in-law, Lindsay, does not seem to mind the fact that I (gently) attack her belly every time I'm around her...she's seriously the cutest preggo woman you'll ever see. I probably need to back off lest I become the overbearing aunt...haha!

2012 also marks the fact that we've lived in El Paso for a full year now! And believe it or not, I actually like it here. I enjoy teaching, I LOVE my friends and my church, and the desert, while not home, feels like home for now. I don't want to wish this year away, but if July came tomorrow, I wouldn't be sad... :)
To add to my self-awarded bad-blogger title, I apologize for I feel this blog is all over the place...I'm out of practice! :) Happy January! Because let's not kid ourselves; I probably will forget to do this again until February :)

Busy Much?

So the past week and half have been...insane, to put it lightly. It has been a whirlwind of activity, all of which has been very fun and somewhat hectic. Some of this stems from my inability to say no to volunteer activities, but we'll get to that later...

I pretty much had ants in my pants last week because my ENTIRE family came to El Paso to visit me for Thanksgiving! (So very gracious of them to come over to Mexico El Paso.) I am the Christian Honor Society sponsor at school, and of course we sponsored the Thanksgiving food drive for families in the church, school, and community. The day they arrived just happened to be delivery day for the baskets, so they were able to come along and join the fun of delivering the boxes for members of the community, who just happened to live smack dab in the middle of the GHETTO. Seriously...I was glad I spoke Spanish because that was the only language being spoken. I told my students this was great practical application for my class and should encourage them to take notes and pay attention lest they end up in the ghetto again and need to talk their way out. But I digress...thankfully, my dad and Clay were there to go with us to the apartments, otherwise I would've left immediately (the students in CHS just happen to be all girls). While we were in this apartment complex, we watched someone get arrested (mind you, at 2:30 in the afternoon...?) and arrived at a door that had a very professional sticker that read "Police and authorities are not allowed to search your house unless the provide a search warrant"...just the place you want to be, right? The last food box we delivered was to a house that was literally a stone's throw from the border. Seriously, about 5 houses down was the FENCE. You know, the border fence. Creepy...I have an unspoken rule that there are certain places I will not drive/go to in El Paso...well, those rules were broken for Thanksgiving food baskets and the Lord kept us safe, so the day went well.

Once I was off of work we had a whirlwind of activity in my house, which was awesome because I'm alone most of the time now! Minus my fish, but they keep to themselves...
My parents and siblings did some major yard work for me as well as a "backyard beautification" project that is awesome! I have this trellis/arbor thing over my patio, and we laced burlap and another material through it so that the birds would stop defecating all over my porch...it looks lovely and it's working so far! I don't know how I haven't blogged about this yet, but my brother and sister-in-law are HAVING A BABY! I'm so excited!! But that dear babe kept Lindsay sick almost all week (and on top of that, she got the stomach bug...yuck-o) so poor Linds had a hard trip....next time will be better; she'll be healthy and there will be a baby to play with!

We went to Hueco Tanks, an awesome state park near us. We had to wait awhile because it rained. Whhhhhat? It was bizarre, but totally worth the wait because we had so much fun! We also celebrated Mom's birthday while they were here with a bit of hiking and plant education :)

After I they left and I shed my fair amount of pity tears (after a full house it gets LONELY around here!), I geared up for this week which was the finale of our Christmas children toy drive...yes, in charge of that one, too. We had to have all the gifts to the organization by Dec. 1, so we were crunched for time...I made quick work of Wal-Mart's toy department and can I just say--it is WAY easier to shop for boys (of all ages!) than it is for girls! Especially if those said girls aren't into princesses, because oh my gosh, that's all there is! And it's all sickeningly pink...yuck. I plan on giving my kids this book and this book , as well as a fair supply of Laura Ingalls Wilder, Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, and Roadl Dahl (as well as many others...I'm somewhat obsessed with kids books), and we'll have lots of adventures and leave the princess talk for the movies.

There were lots of other events thrown into the past few weeks but I'll spare you the details because they're not really all that exciting! I'm not hearing from Brian very often any more but from what he wrote last week, it sounds like they're doing well. He got promoted a few weeks ago too, so that was exciting!

I hope all is well in your neck of the woods! I said that phrase a few days ago and I got some strange looks... :)

San Antonio Trip!

Forgive me for my long absence...I don't have as much free time any more! Haha! And when I get home from work, well...If my body finds the couch/bed, it usually stays there!

The past 2 weeks have been incredibly busy--I feel like that is life's current tempo right now and for the next 6 weeks or so! School has been going well; I've had some change in my responsibilities, which I'm thankful for because it relieves some stress from my day. Although with letting go of a responsibility, I inevitably end up with another one! I've become the yearbook sponsor, so each week I am learning more and more about how to do this...mostly by guessing/brainstorming/trying to be creative, but if you have any suggestions, I'll gladly take them!

Last weekend, we got Veteran's Day off from school which worked perfectly with our plans to go to San Antonio for the half-marathon! Me and my friends Dana and Katie left at the crack of dawn Friday morning for the 8 hour trek to San Antonio...very boring drive, with very few opportunities to stop for gas. Texas is way too big. Seriously, when driving 8 hours through the South, you'd at least go through 2, maybe 3, states in 8 hours time! We definitely pulled over to pee on the side of the road...thanks a lot, Starbucks ;)

We had drop Dana's dogs off at her in-laws, who live on a ranch, complete with cattle and a Texas longhorn--so cool! Stuart's dad drove us around the ranch and I got the full tour--it was a lot of fun! After that we went to Dana's house and went out to eat with her family at a delicious Mexican restaurant--you know I never turn down Mexican! Afterwards we headed to downtown to our hotel and got settled as well as met up with our friend Michelle, who also ran the race with us. Saturady morning we headed to the expo at the Alamodome...I love race expos! It's an awesome place to try stuff (like food/drinks related to exercise/running) as well as see lots of neat gear. It's also very difficult to show shopping-restraint! We had lunch on the Riverwalk, which is beautiful! It reminded me of Europe; very pedestrian, with lots of restaurants dotted along the river. It was very picturesque and such a relaxing afternoon! After picking up Julie, another friend, from the airport, we  went back to the Riverwalk for dinner. It was super crowded but we got to eat at a delicious Italian restaurant and people-watch throughout dinner--such a fun time!

Sunday morning was the race; it was supposed to be sunny but instead it was a little damp and cloudy...which I was very thankful for! It's been awhile since I've run in humidity...it practically doesn't exist here, which is awesome for the hair, but a little hard on the lungs at first! The race was a lot of fun; lots of people and fun music every mile. At the mile 6/7 exchange, a band was playing "Living on a Prayer" and when we ran by the stage, they were on the chorus... "Oh, you're half way there, oh, you're living on a prayer"; we died in laughter because we really were halfway there to the finish line! Dana and I didn't train as well as wanted to for the race; LIFE got in the way...we have big plans for the spring though and we're going to dictate life a little better than we did this fall! We ended up finishing in 2:05, which isn't too far off of my PR! The course was very flat except for the last 0.2 miles, which were uphill! You ran uphill, rounded a corner, and had about 200 meters to the finish line...See, you should always run through your hills when training! Next time, I'll follow that advice...haha! We had to rush back and shower before we got kicked out of the hotel and then got in the car and headed home...it was a long drive back! We had to take a couple of stretch breaks and we killed a bag of Salt & Vinegar chips...our bodies were craving super salty foods!

We ran in honor of our husbands and had some awesome tanks made...It made me so proud to run for Brian! We had a few people comment on them, which was really cool! I'll leave you with some pictures from the weekend--I'm off to finish cleaning my house because my whole family is coming for Thanksgiving--SO PUMPED!

Our shirts!

Fall has come to El Paso!

We have finally reached fall-like temperatures...the 60s-70s! And this morning the thermometer tipped into the 40s...practically the Ice Age, considering until Wednesday it was 85-95 degrees! I am so thankful for this beautiful weather...it feels so nice outside!

In other news, life is good here in EP! The past few weekends, I have been working with other wives from our battalion to create props, signs, tombstones, and the like for a haunted house. Our battalion sponsors a local elementary school, and since the guys are gone, we're taking up where they left off. Thankfully, we have several soldiers still here so they were able to help out! Last night was the haunted house, and it looked awesome! (And was probably too scary for lower elementary students, but whatever...) You know the Army is in collaboration with something when the outside section of the haunted house is covered with camo netting and lit up with chem-lights...ha! We thought we were going to be selling tickets, but instead they needed more actors in the haunted house so we got painted up and scared little children for 3 hours straight. Dana pretended to eat a (plastic) rat as well as follow kids around with it, Michelle scared kids to death with her scary eyes and mutilated cow head, I jumped out from behind hay bales, and Sue was the school marm, shooing kids into the "school". The haunted house theme was a haunted ghost town, so we were western all the way. Here are some pictures...we look RIDICULOUS.
To make it even better, the inside part was the scariest of all; very dark, very creepy. We probably lost 40 people after they got done with the outside portion to tears...there was an "emergency exit" near us, and we watched countless kids leave!

Props we made:

 Dana and I  built/spray painted this, came up with this "caption" and painted the whole thing!

 Michelle and Sue!

Aren't we creepy?

The end of the night-we were pooped!

The Halloween fun will continue tonight--we're carving pumpkins!  I'm going to try and make mine a little more advanced than my normal...we'll see what happens!

I've gotten to talk to Brian on the phone once since he's left, but I get emails every few days. He seems to be doing well and is so happy to hear from us! School is going well too; we're in full "holiday swing" and my Christian Honor Society students have lots to do...Thanksgiving food drive, Angel tree adoptions/party and some other ideas they've dreamt up...I have some awesome students!

I'm sure there's more to report, but pumpkin-carving is calling my name! Have a spook-tacular weekend!

Cool-Weather Camping!

Hello bloggy world...sorry for my long absence-the past 2 weeks have been insanely crazy!

I think I'll start with the most recent events and work backwards...
This past weekend, my friend Dana and I decided (at the last minute) to go camping. We needed a break from El Paso and her 90 degree days and went in search of fall-like weather up in New Mexico. Thankfully, we found what we were looking for only 2 hours away in Cloudcroft, NM. The elevation there is almost 9,000 ft., so the temperatures were much cooler. We decided to just go for a night, since we both had things we still needed to get done at home. We drove up on Saturday and found ourselves surrounded by pine trees, aspen trees whose leaves were a gorgeous yellow (think gingko tree on State's campus...) and cool air! We went to a "dispersed campsite", which is "maintained" by the National Forest Service. A dispersed campsite is free to use, and is basically found off of the beaten path--which also translates into no bathrooms and no running water. Yes, we can pee in the woods! We found our campsite about 1.5 miles down a gravel road. Surprisingly, we had quite a few "neighbors" who were also camping/ATVing, so it was nice to know we weren't alone in the vast wilderness!

After setting up camp, we took her hilarious dogs, Bruno and Howdy, on a long hike through the woods...gorgeous. It was just the medicine we needed! We spent the rest of the evening cooking hot dogs and smores and drinking hot chocolate that was waaaay too hot...but it felt good on our cold hands! We even managed to keep our meager fire going for over 3 hours! We basically scavengered for wood and what we found did not want to cooperate with us! That was really the only thing we weren't prepared for; both Dana and Stuart and Brian and I (as well as our families...) are camping/hiking junkies, so we have ridiculous amounts of gear between the two of us. Stuart even has two large tupperware boxes completely organized for camping...it was awesome! After seeing those I'm inspired to make some for us--it makes it so you can literally throw them in the car and you'll have almost everything you need to go camping for a few nights!

Once the sun went down the temperatures dropped dramatically. The weather said that the low for the night was going to be around 38 degrees....chilly, especially to us "desert" girls. Well, the weather LIED. It definitely got down to somewhere between 20-24 degrees...we were freezing. We even had good sleeping bags! The next day we had planned on going on another hike, but it was so cold (at 8:30, it was still only 28 degrees!) we decided to pack up and try again another time...Dana's poor dogs were shivering they were so cold! It was such a fun trip though and we hope to do it again...although we might not camp with these cold temperatures!

In other news, I've been keeping myself busy around the house with lots of tasks that I wanted to get completed. Brian has been deployed now for about 2 weeks, so I'm trying to keep busy with little projects around the house as well as other goals I'm trying to meet while he's gone. So far, deployment hasn't been too bad, but I'm sure those bad days will come. We've gone weeks as well as a full month without seeing each other (and sometimes without talking to each other) so I think this whole deployment thing will really set in once he's been gone longer than that. To keep me occupied I have loads of school work I can always do (joy, joy...haha!) as well as some fitness goals and projects to fill up my time. We girls try to make a point of seeing each other often, especially on the weekends so that the time doesn't feel so lonely.

The Lord was so good to us before he left; we got to spend some great quality time together and make a lot of fun memories. Saying goodbye was pretty awful...the hardest part was walking away from each other-neither one of us would move after we ended our 4 minute (or more?) hug...That was definitely when it hit me. Thankfully, Dana and Stuart had to say goodbye at the same time we did, so Dana and I had a brief cry-fest in the parking lot before heading home...

Since then, I've gotten to hear from him via email every couple of days. We're hoping Skype will work, but apparently their Internet isn't too great where he is, so we'll see! He says that he is always busy and is enjoying what he's getting to do, so that's good!

School for me is going well; we're to our 9 week mark which is crazy to me! I think I've finally settled into teaching and it's getting easier to plan/create for my lessons. Well that's about it from El Paso; we finally got a "cold front" this weekend, so we're now down to the 80's--haha! I sure do miss those crisp autumn days at home!

Swimming in BBQ and 1st grade-isms

Hola blog world! Thought I'd fill you in one the happenings of the Page household...for one thing, our garbage (up until yesterday) and kitchen (still...) smell of the approximately 65 POUNDS of barbeque pork Brian and I cooked up  last week. Yes, 65 pounds. Let's just say my crockpot and one that I borrowed from a friend were running non-stop from Monday night to Thursday afternoon...

A little background: I serve as a co-leader for our FRG (Family Readiness Group) for Brian's company. We decided to have a predeployment picnic and wanted to step it up a notch from the normal hotdog menu...If you need a reason to dislike hotdogs, go volunteer to unwrap 150 of them and grill them...but anyways, we decided to change the menu to a BBQ, complete with pulled pork and all the sides. Thankfully, we had a lot of wives and soldiers bring sides, chips, and desserts, which meant my leader and I were responsible for all the meat, drinks, and servingware. Well, we were preparing for around 100; there are about 150 guys in Brian's company, but we figured not all would come...until we got word (on Tuesday, before the cookout THURSDAY) that it was now a "mandatory" event for all soldiers...hence the need to up the ante on the meat! I seriously love BBQ pork, but if I don't eat it again for a solid 2 months or so, I will not cry. I have never in my life made so much food! (on top of that I made a ridiculous amount of pasta salad...) The picnic though was a great success and I think fun was had by all. Much thanks probably to the 2 kegs and whatever the guys brought in, but whatev. I was happy with the turnout :) And they ate my food. But they didn't eat enough, because I still have 1 1/2 crockpots full...hello, freezer.

I always get so nervous before things like this because I'm paranoid that I will run out of food and then people will make fun of me. No seriously, they would...that's how these guys are! :) I know they mean it in jest, but I would feel terrible about it for days...so I just opt to have too much :)

Needless to say, I was glad for last Thursday to come and go! This past weekend, one of my friends (who dates a guy in Brian's battalion) decided to host "Thanksgiving" for our group of friends before they left since they won't get to have a real Thanksgiving overseas. It was so much fun! We cooked a 25 pound turkey (see, she too worries about not having enough!), 4 pumpkin pies, apple crisp, 6-8 quarts of mashed potatoes, gravy for days, mac'n'cheese, grilled butternut squash, and homemade whipped cream for the pies! Can you say 10 extra pounds?...But it was SO.GOOD. And so much fun! Love making good memories before they leave!

Finally, I leave you with some of the most hilarious things that 1st graders say:

"Mrs. Page, one time, I was dancing around by myself, and I was swinging my arms and I accidentally punched myself in the face." (he just randomly told me this one day, which makes it that much better)

(after I had read a book about fish and they were telling me what kind of fish they'd like to be) "Oh yeah, I'd be an ALIEN FISH! Did you know that alien fish are more powerful and dangerous than any other fish? They can kill any other fish that swims in the sea...they're that powerful." (and on, and on, and on about alien fish)

The same kid said these things. He is so funny, and he doesn't even mean to be. What's even better is that he gets so excited that he talks super fast and when he runs out of air he takes a gasping breath and continues. Seriously, Katie and I love this kid. Even if he does talk to himself and distract the class all day long...

My nickname is Tyra

A few weeks ago, I was asked by several of the other teachers in my school to help them with a "project" they had at their second job...They work at Christopher and Banks, which is a clothing store, and needed "models" to show off their fall line. Well, Katie (the 1st grade teacher) and I say yes, more out of a feeling of obligation than a true desire to walk the catwalk. Well, as it turns out, Katie's husband deployed today, so I had to fly solo! I knew a few other of the teachers who said they were going, but...let's just say I almost chickened out! Thankfully it was only in the store, not out in the middle of the mall. And we got a 40% off discount for doing it...bonus! I basically laughed embarrassedly (is that word?) thoughout the entire thing...yes, you may laugh at me too :) But their clothes fit the bill for the dresscode at my school...skirts below the knee, no sleeveless tops, and closed toe shoes. Yes, I resemble a nun every day that I walk out of the house. But I'm thankful for the job! :)

The first graders this week were chock-full of funny things they said, one of which being the following.

 We have a sweet girl who is Hispanic in our class. Well, she and a friend were returning to the cafeteria after a quick trip to the bathroom. (seriously, 1st graders have to pee ALL. THE. TIME.) She came up to me and the male teacher, with whom I was having a conversation, and loudly delcared, "Mrs. Page, there's a crotch-rotch in the bathroom!!!" With a look of consternation on my face, I asked her to repeat what she had said. She responded, a decible louder, "A crotch-rotch!!!" Thankfully, something clicked in my brain and I said to her, "A cockroach?" To which she and her friend replied "yes yes yes! A crotch-rotch!"

Soooo hilarious. To make it even better, my school is very conservative (you know-Nun Rebecca) and I doubt the word "crotch" has ever been uttered within its walls. Annnnd I was standing next to a male teacher. He wasn't so amused, but I was dying laughing.

Hope that brightens your day and that you don't find any crotch-rotches in your near future.

An Oddly Quiet Sunday

I am sitting at the computer, attempting to get a grip on my numerous lesson plans, and I cannot let go that today is the 10th anniversary of 9/11. And it is strangely quiet. Living on a military post, I expected some sort of ceremony of remembrance for this significant day. And perhaps there is one...I am a little out of the loop these days! Or maybe it's because each day we eat, sleep, and breathe the reminder of 9/11, so everyday is a memorial to those historic events. Either way, it is quiet. On that day back in 2001 I would've never in my wildest dreams thought I'd be here on it's 10th anniversary; a military wife, a bonafide teacher, in the desert of Texas, and about to send my husband overseas. I suppose days like these help us to be reflective of life, and that it is just a mist, here and then gone. James 4:14: "Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes." That is not meant to downplay the significance of life, but rather to help us realize our time is short; we must use all we have here for the glory of God.

Perhaps it's quiet because not everyone can remember the searing images of that day; my students were only 5 and 6 years old when it happened, and when they mentioned the anniversary this weekend there was a distance in their voice; there was awe and sympathy, but no relatability; they cannot relate to what they cannot remember. For me though, I was 14 years old and that day and the following day are forever in my memory. I wonder if this is how people felt after Pearl Harbor, or the OKC bombings, or the various other attacks people have committed against us. What is really strange about my memories is that I only remember the colors red, white, and blue. For example, my English teacher was the first one to catch wind of what had happened; she always watched the news before we got to school, and that day, she couldn't get the TV to turn off (it was a TV/Computer contraption that sometimes worked against you...). She turned the TV around so that we could watch; she had on red shoes. I had on a red and blue striped shirt. When we made it to Geometry, my friend Lydia had on a red shirt and red ribbon in her hair. The next night at youth group, we--teenagers--spent 2 hours at the alter, surrounded by red, white, and blue candles, crying our eyes out and crying out to the Lord. I was so burdened for the ones left behind; I remember weeping for those who couldn't find their family members, those who had perished, and for the fear the attacks put into my heart.  In college I met a guy who's dad had been in the Pentagon when it'd been hit, and he'd not made it outside in time. To this day when I hear personal accounts of that day, I always end up in tears...I probably will for the rest of my life.

And now, 10 years later, we have found two of the biggest offenders of 9/11, as well as many others I am sure, lost many lives, and sent soldiers overseas for longs months or years away from their families. That day though, and the months that followed, showed me, and I think the rest of the country, what it is to be an American again. And as believers, we have an even greater responsibility to continue to pray for our country, for everlasting peace, our national leaders, those who protect us and our freedoms, and that eternal truth would come to those who do not know it.  

A Visit from the Pages

Over Labor Day weekend, the Pages and Eric flew in to see Brian once more before he deploys shortly. We had a packed weekend of fun activities and little house projects!

Saturday morning we went to Hueco Tanks, a state park about 30 minutes from us. It's the easier hiking around here...fewer cacti to run into! No, I'm really being serious...We ran around and scaled up numerous boulders and saw some neat cave paintings; Brian and I have been here once before with friends and it was nice to go back! This time though, some of the rainy season had passed, and things were GREEN! Excuse me?...Aren't we in the desert? Amazing what fractions of an inch of rain do to this place!

After hiking around and working up quite a sweat (still pretty hot in the desert!), we grabbed a quick lunch and then cleaned ourselves up! The guys headed to Lowe's to buy...PAINT! Yes, we painted two of our walls, which is so exciting! Military housing always has white-ish walls, and we're tired of them...so we painted two green walls this weekend, and with the Pages' expertise, we got the whole job done in about 3 1/2 hours! It adds so much to the rooms. I am already dreaming of painting some more rooms! The Army's only stipulation is that you either pay a fine for each wall you paint or you prime your painted walls before you leave so you don't get charged...definitely keeping my rollers so I can prime!

We spent the rest of Saturday evening watching football and catching up! Sunday we headed to church and heard a great sermon and Sunday school lesson! I haven't talked much about church yet, but we've started going to First Baptist and are really enjoying it. The teaching is solid and based purely on Scripture and we have found a GREAT Sunday school class! The teacher does an excellent job of facilitating the class and everyone contributes--it is so neat!

Sunday afternoon we headed to Cattleman's Steakhouse, which is about 45 minutes outside of El Paso. It's famed for it's food and atmosphere; several movies were filmed out here and they also have a variety of animals to look at and feed...like goats, rattlesnakes, longhorn cattle, horses, buffalo, and ostrich! We got to go on a "covered wagon" tour of the movie sets as well as see some replicas of pioneer houses. It was really neat! We ended up being there almost 4 hours! And of course, the food was delicious. If you've never eaten a cow that was grass-fed, do it. It is the BEST BEEF you will ever taste in your life! Thank you, Texas for excellent red meat :)

The filmed "Courage Under Fire" here! As well as a Chuck Norris movie...haha!

As we drove into town Sunday we gave the Pages a tour of where Brian works and then headed home to be lazy...we had just eaten a very large lupper...aka, lunch/supper. The rest of our time we spent talking, telling stories, and just catching up--it was so nice to have visitors, especially now that we have the new house! I'm so glad they were able to come out and see us before Brian deploys. 

Well that's it for now...this teacher is beyond exhausted.
More to come on life in general, school, and Brian's deployment...

Life Lately...

Life has been a whirlwind the past 2 weeks or so. Seriously, we have not stopped moving until the late hours of the night and then we're up at the crack of dawn again for round 2!

A recent recap of life: We signed for our house on post last Monday. Last week we ran loads of boxes to our new house from the apartment every night, as well as trying to get the apartment clean so we could officially move out. Oh yeah, and I started my job...I got my students on Tuesday, and the day went great! I was literally sweating bullets when I got my first class...I was so nervous! And the air conditioning is pretty much nonexistent in my classroom, which I think added to the beads of sweat on my bead and running down my back...felt like I was burning alive. Hopefully my savvy teenagers didn't catch on...My highschoolers were gone from Wed-Fri. on a spiritual emphasis retreat which allowed me to get used to my other daily tasks at school as well as do some "revising" to what I already had planned. Here's how my day looks: 8-12:30: First grade assistant/Special Ed assistant...I spend a lot of time with an autistic boy, even doing pull out class with him every day for an hour. The 1st grade teacher just happens to be a friend of mine though so it's a blast being in class with her all morning! And I'm learning a lot about 6 year olds, such as: they do not know how to control their bladders and/or can't remember to go to the bathroom; they usually need help opening at least one item in their lunch box; they are MAJOR tattlers; one second they think you're the devil, the next they're telling you "I love you, Mrs. Page!".
I have also learned a lot about first grade; I'm trying to remember all of the phonics I so hated at that age as well as explain things like place value and making up goofy movements so that they can remember Bible verses...Katie (the 1st grade teacher) and I often share lots of laughs as well as looks of frustration...they are so cute but can be so whiny at times! :)

Next, I take the autistic boy (who's also in the 1st grade...) out for an hour so we can do specific practice on things like counting, the alphabet, and much more. I'm learning a lot about teaching and working with all types of students but I can't say it's always easy...I've already had to chase him down (literally, I'm sprinting) a few times this past week...we had some hard days, but I'm hoping for better next week! He's a really sweet boy when he wants to be ;)

After my morning of 1st grade,  I head off to teach my Spanish class. I was supposed to have both a Spanish 1 as well as a Spanish 2 class, and in fact, I still do...I just expected them to be at different times. Instead I teach them both during 7th period. I'm calling this a "creative challenge"...ha! And truth be told, I made a command decision to move some of the original Spanish 2 kids down to Spanish 1 because after I gave them a diagnostic test I realized they knew nothing...seriously, nothing. Thankfully my principal was cool with that :) They had a variety of Spanish teachers last year so it's an understandable situation.

After that, my afternoons vary. On Mondays and Wednesdays I help with the high school choir. Yes, please start laughing because if you know me, you know I cannot sing. I wish I could, but I'm at best an alto with some very good singers standing next to me who I can try to blend my voice with and match their note...So with choir I sing with them and do crowd control...it's hilarious to me. The rest of the afternoons I'm either with 1st grade or being the yearbook sponsor, which is another title I carry for this school year...haha! Also no experience with this, so we'll see how it goes. I truly love the school I'm working for as well as all the teachers, and the day keeps the time rolling along, even if I am doing laps around the school!

So, school has provided me with quite a workload of lesson planning and grading, and once we got done with last week, it was time to rent a U-haul.  We picked it up Friday afternoon and starting loading up our cars.  Saturday we have some dear and generous friends come over and help us move all of our stuff to the new house...no rest for the weary, right? We started at 7 and got done around 1...had to do it while it was at least a little cool out! This past week we have spent unpacking and trying to get things set up, but progress is slow...I think we're burned out! We helped our friends Stuart and Dana move today into their new house which was very exciting! Most of the friend group is now established in a house...so much better than cramped apartments!

This last week was busy with unpacking and unit-related activities. We had a battalion pre-deployment ball last night which was a blast! It was a really fun night and I got to know some of the guys Brian works with and see a lot of friends which made for a great evening. Disregard the fact that it took me a solid hour to get my hair to cooperate...grrrr. It is at times the bane of my existence.

Brian is doing well; work has slowed down some and they now have all of their official gear for deployment. The deployment uniform looks a little different than what they wear in garrison, so they get issued all this stuff in the new camo...uniforms, ruck sacks, body armor...the list goes on. You should see our storage closet-it is a mountain of green and tan! He's set to leave soon; in keeping with OPSEC (Operational Security...another Army acronym for ya!) I'm not going to publish exactly where he's going/when he's leaving, but if you want to know his mailing address or something like that let me know and I can get it to you once he gets overseas :) He loves Vienna sausage. Disgusting, right? Just the sight of those slimy things makes me queasy...  Perhaps that's why he makes a good infantryman...he will literally eat almost anything. As long as it's not a tomato.

Well I'm sure I'm forgetting things but I think that's plenty for now...Pictures of the house to come once it's all set up!

Disney World and Moving!

Well, this post can't be too long because of all the life happening right now, but I figured I'd update you on the latest happenings in the Page household(s)...

Last week, Brian and I flew to Disney World for one last hoorah before he deploys in a few weeks (ahhhh). We arrived on Monday afternoon and decided to hit the park immediately! We started with Disney's Hollywood Studios, which used to be MGM. Of course the first thing we do is Tower of Terror...I forgot how exhilerating that ride it! After some rainshowers and getting free ice cream (bonus!), we headed back to our resort. We stayed at Shades of Green, which is a Disney resort specifically for all branches of the military and their dependents. It's very nice and we had a great time there last week! Tuesday, it downpoured again while we were at Epcot...we finally broke down and bought ponchos because we were getting so wet...but that didn't deter us! We spent 4 hours walking around the "countries"; if you've never been to Epcot, they have about 15 countries represented in small clusters with food, artifacts, videos, and sometimes rides associated with that country. We had a blast--I loved seeing all of the creative architecture and eating delicious German carmel and chocolate...and Brian of course had a beer :) At Epcot we also rode a ride that simulated a space shuttle take-off and flight...it was awesome! We realized at the end of the day as we watched an amazing fireworks show that we had been walking/on our feet for over 13 hours...yes, my feet were aching!

Wednesday was my 24th birthday and we spent the morning sleeping in a bit (it was downpouring again...) and eating breakfast in bed....breakfast being PopTarts, that is. Everyday we carried in our own lunches and snacks to deter some cost...their food is pretty expensive! That afternoon we returned to Hollywood Studios and did the Rockin' Roller Coaster as well as Tower of Terror...three more times. Seeing a trend? We also went to the Indiana Jones Show which was really great! They go through how they accomplish special effects in the movies-lots of explosions! That night, Stacey and Zach drove down from Gainesville to have dinner with us at Paradiso 37 in Downtown Disney. It was sooo yummy! It was so great getting to see them too and catching up on life as well as laughing a lot!

Thursday we got to get into Magic Kingdom an hour earlier than normal since we were staying at a Disney Resort, which was awesome! That meant that in 1.5 hours, we had ridden Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain, and Pirates of the Caribbean! We got quite a few fast passes that day and rode Splash and Space Mountain various times...Splash Mountain is Brian's favorite, and Space is mine :) We saw lots of Disney characters as we roamed around too! Which reminds me...I definitely got a picture with Mulan, my favorite :) And if Nemo had been around, that probably would've happened too... :) Yes, I'm 24 years old, why do you ask?... haha!

We flew back into Huntsville (after being delayed 2 hours), arrived at 6:45 PM, said goodbye to our families at the airport, and drove to Jackson, MS. We got to Jackson around 11:30 that night, and we pulled out of the driveway Saturday morning at 6 AM sharp...We were planning on stopping but we were making good time, soooo we drove all the way from Jackson to El Paso for a grand total of about 1,050 miles...15 hours or so. But hey, the GPS said it was going to take 18 hours...take that! The reason we wanted to get back quickly is because we had so much to do! I had a bunch of lesson-planning to do and we had to pack up the house...which we signed for this morning! We officially have a house on post now! Hooray! So this week consists of...Brian going back to work, me starting my job (get my students tomorrow!), moving...and about 12 things for the FRG in our unit. One step at a time, right?....

I'll update you on school whenever I find a second to breathe...until then, I will be moving boxes and educating minds! :)

The Epic Vacation of 2011

Thought I'd update the blogworld on the Page happenings over the past 3 weeks or so...and the craziness isn't over yet! In a nutshell, I've been living out of a suitcase since July 21 and will continue to do so until August 14...yep, almost a month!

A brief recap of my life before the "real world" starts on August 15...
July 21-flew to Jackson for Krystina and Eric's wedding weekend! And what a wonderful weekend it was. The rehearsal and the ceremony/reception went off without a hitch except for a brief rain shower...or rather, monsoon. The rehearsal was at the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame (Eric's a huge sports fan!), where Stacey, Karen, Elizabeth and I played all of the interactive games at the museum. We were such enthusiastic participants that Elizabeth ripped the slit in her dress so bad that Jan had to walk behind her on their way out! It was so much fun though! I stayed with Karen and Jared, which is always so much fun--I love their darling house and ridiculously comfortable bed and their company of course! Karen took me to her Bunco group Thursday night and I almost won the award for "Most Losses". Who doesn't love a game where you can get a prize for losing?

Saturday, Krystina was a gorgeous bride; I had no doubt about this because the girl is stinking drop dead gorgeous in everyday life, so I was sure as a bride she'd be beautiful! It was probably the most people I've ever seen at a wedding ceremony...perhaps because Eric is the pastor of the church they got married in! You could tell how much the congregation loves these two...I know they must be a blessing to their church! Then they swept off and spent the week in Hawaii. jealous. Their wedding also allowed me to see almost all of the MSU girls I was close to in college! It was so neat to catch up and hear about how their lives have developed over the last  year.

After the weekend in Jackson, Stacey and I drove up to Starkville Saturday night. Sunday I was flooded with love from some of my dearest friends at First Pres in Starkville. FPC was probably the hardest thing to leave behind in Starkville, and it was an absolute blessing to get to spend a morning in worship there again, especially because Joey, our college minister, spoke!

That week I stayed with Clay and Lindsay in their darling house; it is quintessentially cute, and has so much CHARACTER! I'm  dying to be in a non-cookie cutter house/apartment! Lots of windows, natural light, and old house charm. Unfortunately I took no pictures of their house...but Lindsay has some up on her blog!

That week was insane...better to just give a brief synopsis: lunch/visits with old bosses, student-teaching teachers, friends, children, church family, and so many more! We spent the week cleaning up/setting up Lindsay's new classroom at Armstrong Middle School! So proud of her!

Thursday I headed down to the beach with the youth group as a chaperone to BigStuf, a youth conference in Panama City Beach. We went last year and had a great time, so we decided to repeat again this summer! We had some pretty good speakers (and one we didn't care for as much...) and the youth leaders got to spend time being poured into from the leaders of Think Orange, a ministry that's aiming to join families and churches in one mission to raise up their children as followers and disciples of Christ...amazing! We also played some intramurals, and made it to the finals in frisbee! We lost, but the kids were great sports and showed awesome sportsmanship.

We returned on Sunday, and mom picked me up in Birmingham to cart me home...thank goodness for family to be my chauffeurs! Brian also arrived from El Paso last Monday, and we spent last week at home between mine and Brian's houses, catching up with family. Last Tuesday, I drove with mom to Atlanta to pick Emily up from India! She's been there for the last 4 weeks with a project from Clemson, and she told us some hilarious stories about being chased by monkeys and sittinng on elephants as well as various temple visits!

We've just returned from Birmingham from an epic friend reunion...almost all of our friends from MSU were able to come, as well as both our brothers and their respective wife/fiancee! We spent the day shopping/window shopping, eating great food, and spending time in great conversation. It was the last time for many of them to see Brian before he deploys, and it meant so much to us for them to drive such a distance to see us. It's so refreshing to see friends! I miss living in the same town as all of them!

And the epic vacay is not done...we're flying out to Disney World tomorrow morning! Whoo-hoo exciting! Brian wanted to go before he left, so we're heading down there to spend a few days to ourselves :)

It has been an insanely crazy few weeks but I wouldn't trade them for anything! When we get back, we sign for our house on-post, I start my job, and Brian goes back to work...all on Aug. 15! It's going to be INSANE! Moving, new teaching job, and a lot of Army-related things to do...I try not to think too much about it, otherwise I feel stress building...instead I'm focusing on the fun of right now and I'm just going to take a deep breath when I get back and soak in my last few weeks with Brian before he leaves!

Running for Margaritas

Hola blog world! I know I probably don't need to say hello every time I begin writing, but I feel like my readers (hi, mom!) deserve a salutation.

This past week has been a whirlwind of getting ready for my JOB! Which I'm still so estactic to have! Since I'm working at a private school, I don't have some of the things usually provided in public schools...like, textbooks. Actually, the other classes have textbooks, just not Spanish...so, let's just say I panicked a little, found some serious bargains on teacher books on Amazon, and I have recovered :) Thankfully, I was overly ambitious in college and did a TON of legwork that I am now so incredibly grateful for. The perfect time in my life for my "need to overachieve" is coming to my rescue! I did a pretty in-depth linguistic individual study during grad school that basically helped me to get all my grammar notes researched, organized, and ready to present...praise the Lord!

Thanks to the encouragement of a few other blogs, I couponed for the very first time! Can I get an "amen" on how awesome Walgreens is?! They list all their coupons, mailers, as well as the manufacturer's coupons on their website! Which is great for someone like me, who runs out of patience hunting down all those coupons...well, it totally paid off; we paid only half of the bill on school supplies for my classroom! I'm totally inspired. This is very good for me, because I will spend a fortune on organizational things as well as all things related to school...I love school supplies. Especially post-it notes.

Now onto the title for this post! Dana, my incredible friend who is also stationed here with her husband, and I are running a marathon this fall. (As I type this, fear is mounting in my soul...) Yes, I'm slightly terrified, but at the time we started this, I thought, "this is the perfect time to train! I don't have a job!" ha. ha. ha....Oh well-we'll make it work in the form of early Saturday morning long runs! Having the accountability to get out of bed is a must for me, and Dana and I end up talking the whole time, so the time flies by! (well, usually flies by...) This past Saturday we had to do a 9 mile run, but we decided to split it up; we ran 6 in the morning, and that evening, we ran a 5K! The 5K was called "Run for a Margarita"...fitting, right? Well, we posted a pretty good run time and then celebrated with a free margarita and free dinner!  I have not run a 5K since high school...you want to know why? Personal pride issues. You see, I knew I would never be able to run as fast as I did back in high school, and I was honestly scared that I would be so ashamed of my time that I haven't run one since I graduated! Lame, right? Well, the time didn't depress me too much because I was excited about my marg. It was perfectly refreshing! But we decided that wasn't enough (it was super hot) so we went and got Sonic afterwards too...we had earned it, no?

Here are some pictures from the race!

drinking our margaritas! I didn't think I'd like alcohol after a race, but this was pretty good :)

Well that is all for now! The next four weeks in the Page life are crazy...Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, and Florida again! Excited about being in the South for awhile! Maybe it'll rain! Fun fact: up until last week, our annual rainfall for this year was 0.31 inches. That's right: not even an inch. It did rain the other night, so we might've pushed up over an inch :)

Pictures from Phoenix!

Thought I'd share some photos from our weekend in Phoenix over the 4th of July!


Our first view of Arizona!

Picture after we got done rafting the Salt River...wish I could've taken my camera along because there was some gorgeous scenery!

 Dinner & Transformers 3!

Flagstaff, AZ. GORGEOUS city!

First view of the Grand Canyon! It was a hazy morning, that's why the picture looks a little blurry.

Foster, our resident daredevil...

Moose/elk! Not sure which one...

Crouching behind the wall, trying to keep the rain off of us! It was blowing sideways...

Historic lookout tower!

The Colorado River

Rainstorm in the desert on the drive home!

"Our" mountains! We live on the other side of that "dip" to the right.