Behind the Grayest Clouds, the Sky is Still Blue.

Hello to all!

So, you are not going to believe that I do not even have a single picture to put in the blog this week! I know, it's Tuesday again because I had quite the crazy Monday... again. So last week was not very eventful in the eyes of other people I am sure. For me, there were a few magical moments. The first shinig star was on Tuesday when I presented my children's story in sign language. It was my last project and it was really good. I really think that I nailed it!

Wednesday was a great day for me. It was the day that I taught my seminar on Social Stories as a part of my Thesis Project. I was so nervous. It was a little over an hour and what made it so nerve racking was that I was suddenly teaching my teaching peers instead of three and four-year-olds! It is hard to get up there and demonstrate that you know something that these people really want to know about. Some of the people sitting in front of me had been teaching and working with kids with Autism for more than five times the amount of experience that I have! Once I got started, though, I was really into it. I completely made every point that I wanted to make, people were interested, and people really learned new things! I was so excited when it was over. I had required that one person from each classroom attend the session, so that would be 10 people, but I ended up with a totaly of 25 people!! Not only did teachers and therpists come, but parents and other people from the community were there, too! There was a woman there who had heard about the program and changed her lunch break to be at the time of the seminar so that she could attend!! How cool is that?!? I felt like a real respected speaker! The best part is that people were telling me for days (including today) how much they enjoyed the session and how much they learned from it! There were some people from the school that I have no specific relationship with who stopped me to tell me that it was the best inservice that they had been to. That it ran so smooth and time went to quickly because you could tell my interest and passion in the information! I just feel really proud of myself. I actually think that I could do this kind of seminar as a profession when I can no longer work in the classroom with kids (old bones, or whatnot). I really didn't think it was something that I would be good at, but as I told Dr. Clark the other day, I am realizing things about myself that other people have known for years! Thanks for always supporting me everyone I love you guys!

Thursday was business as usual. I got over to the gym and worked on my final thesis paper. Thursday night, Kris and I had dinner at Red Robin! It was super delicious! It was really nice to hang out with Kris as well, we had a really nice conversation and it was a good relaxing time.

Friday night was all about my scrapbook, so that was a lot of fun. I printed out the zillions of pictures from Houston and Charlotte and I got to work on that a little. I used some of my new fun scrapbooking gear that Aunt Christa got for me! Saturday was PiYo and Thesis! The most fabulous part of Saturday was that JAMES CALLED! Woo! It was so incredible to be able to hear his voice. We had such a long time where there was no communication at all, I finally got the emails back, and then I got to talk to him! It was perfect. Marissa, a friend from the boat, is truly the best! Her fiance has an international cell phone, so he can call her as soon as the boat docks and she lets me know that they are in so I can get my phone ready! It is the best plan, otherwise, I would have missed James completely (probably every time on the entire deployment)!! It has been such a blessing to have that extra support! Thanks again Marissa!!

Sunday passed as usual with a delicious Sunday supper and family time at Aunt Christa's new outside table set. We had beautiful weather all weekend! Monday was just a blur, but Kasey and I did got to see the Soloist and I absolutely loved it! It had a great message and was completely meaningful. It is the kind of movie that people really need to see to be able to get some real perspective. Kasey and I had dinner at Friendly's. It was the greatest thing, full meal (big burger plus fries), a drink, and a delicious ice cream sunday including whipcream, a cherry and two toppings all for $9.99!! You can't beat that!!

I guess that covers me for now. I just got out of my last exam ever and got a 97, I can't complain about that! All that I have left of my educational life is to defend my thesis projoct and graduate! To start that process, I am going to go to bed! Can't do anything with a cloudy head! Talking to James a couple of times has given me an entirely new enthusiasm. I miss him more every day... every minute. He is as sweet as they come and I cannot wait for him to come home and marry me! I wish everyone the most wonderful week and, for those of you I am going to see next week for graduation, I CAN'T WAIT!

Oh sweet Sailor, please be safe and get your tush home to me! I love you to pieces!

always,
Jamie