Expect A Miracle... There is Beauty in Every Day.

My Mom likes to email me immediately after I miss a Monday blog. I wonder how many times on Monday nights she checks this thing out! I have been so busy this week with birthday excitement and the end of the teaching school year. I have lots of pictures this week, so for all of you that have been disappointed with my lack of pictures, I will make a comeback today. My first adventure for this blog is going back to Wednesday, July 10th, 2009. A friend of mine is in a great coverband called The Rhythm Method (and they are totally Catholic. How hysterical is that name!?!). They were playing at The Quaker Steak and Lube and Kasey and I had been wanting to try that place out anyway. When we got there, much to our surprise, it was totally biker night!! It was sweet! There were so many cool bikes. We thought the restaurant was going to be super busy because there were so many people outside, but inside was not bad. We sat right down and the service was fast. The bathroom line, now that was bad! After dinner were walked around, looked at bikes, and listened to the band.



Thursday was a normal day at school with the exception of a crazy emotional break-down. It was the first time that I was able to talk with James at a decent time of day for me and for a bit of a longer time. I sat in a little room Jowonio calls the Honey Pot and we talked about all the things going on, school, Calfornia, and such. I miss him so terribly much. All my thanks are to Tina because I was working with her when the phone rang and I looked at it and looked at her and pretty much ran out the door. Once I got off the phone, I ran back down stairs to class and, for whatever reason, it hit me right as I walked into the classroom... full of children! I just broke down. I went into the bathroom for a minute to get it together. I walked over by Jane (who was with the kid that I was supposed to be with) and she said that I had missed lunch and as she was about to say go... sit down at the table and eat (she was pointing at the table) we made eye contact and she turned her hand from the table to the door and was like ...to the kitchen and take a break. I was just like Thank YOU! I did eventually get it back together, but it is really important to know that I have a team that really supports me.

Friday was a normal day at work and then Kasey and I went and visited Kim at the hair salon. We were there for FIVE hours. It was insane. As Kasey was getting started, I just sat on the chair looking at how hysterical my highlights looked. Why is it that no one told me that the length of my hair was over half NOT highlighted (the top half, that is)!?! I think it was the lighting that was supposed to make you want them to do more to your hair. Anyhow, all is well now. My hair looks super much better and I just feel better because it is shorter. Kasey did this really fun red thing to her hair, but ended up going all black. She is looking very nice, too!

Saturday was when the photography started kicking in. We all went out to a baby shower for my second cousin and his girlfriend who are expecting a baby in July. It was at my cousin's house and was a lot of fun. Lets go from here with a little picture story.


Babies are such a beautiful gift!


So, Kasey and I were in charge of the poopy diaper game. We took lots of kind of candy bars and melted them in these diapers. Everyone had to look into the diapers and try and guess what kind of Candy bar was inside. It was really funny and gross!


Cutest bib! Some other cute ones included "wiggle worm" and "little peanut".


Sweet pregnant Melissa opening her gift from my Mom.


She loves it!!


The Happy couple. Melissa and my cousin Sean.


Very cool cake made by my other cousin Rachel. Nice work Rach!!


New hair! Having fun.


My new baby third cousin, Cayden Edward.


We were the first to arrive and the last to leave, always the life of the party :-)

We had a really nice time. After the party Kasey and I went to the movies and saw Up. It was so wonderful. I completely recommend it to everyone! It was cute and sweet and had an perfect message that everyone needs. Don't be scared that you are too cool for cartoon movies, go see it. I cried! It was so sweet.

Sunday, June 14, 2009, I got up and headed over to church. I am not even going to get into the problems that I encountered there. Sunday afternoon, I pretty much packed the whole time. I moved a lot of my stuff over to Aunt Christa's house, where we will be living for the last three weeks in Syracuse. Monday, June 15, 2009, was my birthday! Hooray! I had a very nice day. I was able to talk to James, that was so special because I had been dreading the fact that I wouldn't be able to see or talk to him, but I got too!! Yay! Kasey had a fun celebration set up for me... lots of sparkle and excitement, and she did not leave one stone unturned.



I headed to work and had fun with the kids. They love any reason for celebration. My Mom sent me a beautiful arrangement of flowers that were completely in my wedding colors! I love that!



I thought that I was done with surprises after school when I got home to find a beautiful arrangement of flowers from James!! He is completely the sweetest! I am so proud of his planning skills and how he managed to arrange all these little surprises for me! I love him so much.




Does it get any better than this?


I am blessed beyond anything!

Because Kasey and I were the only ones that had been to The Quaker Steak and Lube, we ended up going there for dinner. Aunt Christa was the picker because she is a year or two older than me (we have the same birthday). We had a great time at dinner. The service was SO slow. We decided they must have been rushing on biker night becasue they were scared of the bikers, lol. It was okay though because the company was very good!


If you notice Kasey's head, you will see that the car is hanging from the ceiling! This picture is not upside-down! Crazy!


Birthday twins! :-)


Roomies!!


So, pickles are not my friends, yuck, BUT I had to try one of these deep fried pickles (everyone had told me they were the best) and I couldn't stop, they were delicious. Who knew?!


YUM!


This thing was totally cool! When I took the picture, the flash caught the reflectors in the license plates and it just popped like that! Don't you love it?! Very cool wall hanging.


That would be a car on a lift over some tables. How would you like to look up right into a live engine while you are eating your burger and fries!


Aunt Therese and Victor got to the restaurant early and must have cued in the birthday message, this is my joy about them all singing happy birthday from "the Lube", as they say.




This is the beautiful (and delicious) cake that Kasey got for Aunt Christa and Me. The problem with pictures is that they give you the opportunity to notice mistakes, such as the fact that Aunt Christa's name is spelled wrong... but the "h" might have just fallen off when Uncle Jim tripped and ran the cake into the door frame on his way into the house! :-)


Hehe.

My birthday was a fun day. I am looking forward to going home and being able to celebrate with my parents, too! I always miss my parents a little bit more on holidays! It will always be hard to be away from home!

Tuesday was a lot of fun. It was graduation day for the kids in the Dragonfly Room. We had a really nice ceremony. Each teacher took a turn reading names of the kids and talking about how great they did this year. I have some really great kids this year and I love them like crazy. I got some of my favorites to present the certificates to, so I was happy about that. I got some big hugs and had a great time. It has been a wonderful year!







This week has already been full and it isn't over yet. The biggest part of the rest of my week will be packing and moving! I can't believe that is where I am right now. One of the things that James and I talked a lot about is California and moving. It is unreal to me that we are so close. I have spent well over three years loving this sweet boy to pieces and travelling ALL OVER to see him. I am so excited about living with him! When I am with him, I feel like everything is right in the world. I feel safe and secure and always happy. He is the best part of my day, near or far, when near is the norm, I will be in bliss.

I want nothing more than to hold James Robert with all of my might right now, so I know this last leg of the deployment is going to hit hard. The support that I always have is going to be really handy while all these transitions bring me back to the love of my life. I wish you a blessed and beautiful week and weekend!

James Robert, I am so glad that you were able to call this week! Thanks for reminding me over and over again why I love you so much (as if I needed a reminder). You are the best. I love you more and more every day. Be safe, okay, and please hurry home.

always,
Jamie