Postcrossing!

Though my summer vacation is over for now, as an employee of the public school system, it could be argued that my summer vacation really lasts until August 1. But since I'm working a part time job, I'm only counting the moments where I am actually gone from my house as a vacation. I am really enjoying my part time job right now. It's not killer money, but it is a little extra in my pocket. And, not to brag, I'm pretty decent at it. Certainly not interested in doing sales for the rest of my life, but it is flexible, allowing me to take work off whenever I want to travel, and I can transfer to another store when I move this fall. I'm really excited about this aspect, because I will already have a job when I arrive in Kansas, to tide me over until I find a more stable and permanent job. 

This summer, I am traveling to the beach, and to Kansas. But there are many places I want to go that I simply cannot afford to fly there. Europe entices me more and more every time I think about it. I hope we are stationed there at some point. 

My way of getting my fix, without having to buy a pricey airline ticket is postcards. Call me old fashioned, but snail mail just makes me so excited! I love opening the mailbox and seeing something in there for me. I am a member of a site called Postcrossing. It's so much fun. Basically, you sign up to send postcards all over the world. For each postcard you send, you will get one in return. I have received postcards from some amazing places: Belarus, China, Finland...just to name a few! This site is totally free, and the only price you pay is obtaining postcards, and their postage. It's also a really fun way to learn about the world beyond our back porch. I would say the hardest part is finding postcards. I suppose no one really uses them anymore so they are becoming increasingly difficult to find. 

If my classroom kids were a little bit older, I think this would be a really awesome project to have them join the site and send postcards to people around the world! 

Here are some of the cards I've received. 

So if you decide to join........

HAPPY POSTCROSSING! 

This post was in no way sponsored or encouraged by the Postcrossing website. I just love the site and wanted to share it with my readers. 

Three Trips in Ten Days

The past ten days has been complete bedlam for me. Let's recap:

June 26 & 27, I was in Florida with our church's middle school choir and hand bell choir, where we spent one whole day at Typhoon Lagoon and the next day, singing and ringing at nursing homes, before heading back to Georgia. 

Typhoon Lagoon was such a cool water park, and it gave me a self-appointed badge. With my visit to Typhoon Lagoon, I have now been to every Disney World park in the Orlando area. My next area to conquer is Disney Land, in California! 

I really enjoyed the Mid-High choir tour. To begin with, I usually spend my days with four and five year olds, so it was fun to get to hang out with an older bunch. What impressed me the most was that after we were finished with our performances, the kids would immediately go out into the audience and speak with the nursing home residents who came to see us perform. I can tell you that in Middle School, I would have NEVER been in a group who I knew performed in nursing homes. I would have never been comfortable enough to go out and visit with the residents. You probably would have found me with my nose in the corner, like an ostrich with it's head buried in the sand. 

But not this group. They went out and really showed the love and grace of Christ to these nursing home residents. For some of these people, this may be the first they've seen of young people in quite some time, and it made their day. So many of them commented on what our performances meant to them and how glad they were to have us. 

It's amazing, all of the things I've done in churches throughout my entire life-youth group, bible study, passion plays, church choir, mission trips, the list could go on. But this trip made a huge impact on me because I was so impressed by these courageous and loving middle schoolers. I had a great time and I really learned a lot from them. 

Right after returning from Mid-high choir tour, I packed my bags and headed for Tybee. We lived on Tybee Island for six years, and I really find it to be the place my heart calls home. When I drive across the causeway and the marsh air fills my lungs, I have to keep myself from tearing up because of the sheer joy my heart feels to be back where I belong. 

Shortly after my arrival, I got right back on the road. My fiance's grandfather passed away, so I drove to Cottonwood, Alabama for the funeral. 

My future sister-in-law, on her Facebook, said that she never really understood when people said "it was a beautiful funeral" until Pa's service. And I couldn't agree more with her. It was a full military funeral, complete with a gun salute, flag folding, and the playing of Taps, during which there wasn't a dry eye to be found. There was even a group of bikers who came to escort the funeral procession. I was honored to be a part of it, and very proud to see my handsome man honor his grandfather by wearing his dress blues and being a pallbearer. I'm always  proud of him, but that was really a tear jerker moment for me because I knew how much it meant to him and his family.

My handsome Airman 

My fiance, and my future sisters-in-law

So now, I'm back at the beach and enjoying the days before I have to go back home and get started on the long days of my summer job. But I cannot complain! It's extra money and it's pretty rare to be able to find one job these days, much less two! I'm looking forward to the summer, not just all the fun things and family trips we have planned but also just the feel of summer days. 

What are you most excited about this summer? 

Tell me in the comments below or in the Facebook/Twitter post! 

Sunday Funday with Mid-High Choir Tour

As I said in my last post, I will be spending this week with our church's middle school choir and handbells players. I'm used to being with little 4 & 5 year old so this is definitely a change of pace for me. I'm enjoying it so far. 

Tonight's devotion was led by our assistant music director, who was also my high school choir teacher my senior year. She spoke about, Psalm 43, about  God's new song for our lives-about being brave enough and strong enough to listen to the new song God has given us and to trust that God will be faithful to fulfill that song. 

My new song is obviously my upcoming marriage and move to a totally new place. I'm excited for this new song, but also a bit terrified. I'm not afraid of being married, I'm actually overcome with joy and excitement to finally be with my man and not be long distance. 

My fear comes with being so far from my family. And from not knowing. 

I'm a planner. But in this move, I won't know what my next job will be. I won't know what the future holds for Brian and I as he continues his Air Force career. I won't know how to drive in the snow. And I won't know....anyone. My entire family and all of my friends {with the exception of Brian} will be no where near me. I'll have to make a new set of friends, and that's scary to me. I'll have to find a new church-one that is completely unrelated to my dad. 

My fear comes in not knowing. And in Kansas I will know nothing. 

But I'm trying to walk in faith. 

This is my new song. I'm learning to trust and life faithfully. 

Today on the tour bus, we also watched Facing the Giants. It's only the second time I've seen it, but the line that has spoken to me today is...

"When we win, we'll praise Him. 

And when we lose, we'll praise Him"

So no matter how this new song plays out for me, I'm ready to trust and love faithfully. I'm ready to praise God and live to glorify God regardless of the outcome of the game. 

And that's my post today. Maybe it wasn't your favorite and it wasn't for you, but it's the lyrics and verses to a new song that's stuck in my head.

**typed using the Blogger iPhone app so please excuse typos! :) **

Memorial Day

Okay, today is the end of the wimpy blogs. I'm so sorry that the past few have been short, or GIF filled,  or one liners. The summer is here, so things are on track to change and be a bit more interesting since i'll have time to sit down and really write. 

Of course, the obvious topic for this weekend is Memorial Day, a day where most Americans purchase red, white, and blue plastic ware, grill out, and enjoy the first official weekend of the summer. But this U.S. federal holiday is not just for a good family backyard BBQ. It's a time to remember the great men and women who died while serving in the various branches of the U.S. Armed Forces. 

We don't really have any family members who have passed away during their service to our country. I'm extremely lucky that my fiance, in the US Air Force, is coming up on two years as an Airman and has yet to be deployed to a war zone, or anywhere he could be in any sort of danger. I'm so incredibly thankful for that. 

 But there are countless men and women who have lost their lives during their time of service. However, it is a great time to get together with your family, because that is what freedom is all about. We are all so fortunate to live in a place where our families can get together, without fear of persecution for our race or religion. 

As a woman, I feel that I am fortunate to live in a place where women can be represented in our armed forces, and represented in business, media, and families. Of course, if you know me, you know that I feel that,  even though women are represented in these various facets of our culture, we still have a long way to go before we reach complete equality. Some

 people believe that our society can never and will never be perfectly equal. But we are much, much closer than other countries around the world.

I am thankful to have been born in the USA, but I am also thankful for the opportunities provided to me just because of where I was born. Because of being born to an American family, I've been able to live relatively near to my extended family, go to college with the help of loans from the government {a blessing and a curse, I suppose}, and I've been able to voice my opinion freely on Facebook, twitter, and this very blog! Many countries don't even allow their citizens the right to a Facebook page or the internet!-which is something we take for granted all the time. It seems little and frivolous but its a place where anyone can say anything and basically, all they risk is a possible un-friending from friends and family. 

The bottom line of this post is to be thankful. Let's be thankful for silly things like Facebook, and lets be thankful for huge things like family and freedom. 

For Memorial day, I will not be BBQing or swimming in the pool, I will be chaperoning

my church's Mid High Choir Tour.  Though I won't be eating on a plate patterned like Old Glory, I will be traveling through central Florida, listening to middle schoolers sing about the love of Christ and playing hand bell music with some really cool young teens. I'm thankful to be able to travel with them and get to know them. I'm thankful for that freedom-and for the freedom to make mistakes, the freedom to voice your opinion, and the freedom to be who you are. For me, that personal freedom comes from God and in a lot of ways, from the nation I live in. 

Have a safe and wonderful Memorial Day weekend, everyone! 

** This is an actual situation that happened in my class today. **

Little Girl: "Be careful! That will burn you"

Little Boy: "I'm a man. Nothing can burn me."