Adjusting to Winter

AHHHH!!! It is Friday night. I am finally home. I was able to leave school on time tonight and my neighbor friend took me to a new restaurant. Only a 45 min. drive from my house (that is close in North Dakota). The food was good at a reasonable price. I am back home trying to warm up from standing outside talking and saying good bye to my neighbor. We exchanged small tokens of appreciation known as early Christmas presents. I bought her a couple of things to show how much I appreciate all she has done for me this year. She took me under her wing, helped me set-up my classroom and get the kids somewhat under control. She knew exactly when I needed a break and would pop into my room at the end of the day to chat and wisk me out of town. We have become good friends. We had been talking about unusual foods when we first met. I told her I had some chocolate covered potatoe chips and I really liked them but they were hard to find. Today I opened the present she gave me and she had found chocolate covered potatoe chips!!! I offered her some but she refused to be adventurous. Oh well more for me. Hehehe.

So here I sit curled up under a blanket all cozy while the temperature drops and the clear sky shows tiny diamond stars in the sky that look so close you could reach up and grab them. I have a nice pot of hot tea and I am enjoying my chocolate covered chips. I thought about saving them and sharing them with my class or bringing them home to share with my family but they are real good. I don't think the tin will last that long. They taste a lot like Nestle Crisps. I have six more days till I am on my way home for a wirldwind break in Oregon.

Okay it is cold!!!!!

My dream house

I don't like this white stuff. It really sucks. It have been dropping below zero as low as -10 degrees. I don't like this not one bit. I am still surrendered to God and all He has planned but come on, does it really have to be this cold. I now know what I have always suspected, I do not want to live in Alaska. Yuk with winter stuff, I want to move to Florida, 80 degrees in the winter time. Yes that would be the life.

I have a heater in my classroom with a broken button. We cannot turn it off. During the warm months we had the air conditioner on and the heater on and in the afternoons we would throw open the windows just to be able to breath. The maintenance team at the school managed to turn the heater to low. So now I have a room that is 20 degrees in the morning and I run two space heaters all day. By about 3:00 we have a 70 degree room. I have finally broken out my heavy sweaters.

This week in order to walk to work, which mind you is only 500 feet, I put on a zipper-front hooded sweatshirt, a down filled coat, a scarf wrapped around my face, a ear muffs, thick gloves, leg warmers, and insulated boots. I can barely see five feet in front of me but I am warm for the most part. I could put on my footless tights under my pants but I am afraid I might be too warm during the day and I do not want to strip to unbundle in the morning and then get redressed in the evening in order to walk home. I am thankful I live in a house and that it is pretty warm. I have a draft that makes my kitchen floor cold but I only notice that when I go into the kitchen. I can avoid that most of the time.

This cold dry weather is getting to my hair. It is a frizzy mess. My students were trying to help me with suggestions of combing my hair or putting in some hairspray or gel so it is not so fly away. Then my eyes water in the cold and my mascara runs down my face so I have two black eyes when I get into the building. I also have chapped lips because the weather is dry and I have never used so much hand lotion and face lotion in my life. I feel like I am drying out and really miss the rain in Oregon. Not only my heart but my skin and hair miss it too. 20 degrees with the east wind chill factor sounds like a nice warm spot from here.

I know God has a plan but did He take into consideration I prefer heat and occasional rain to this cold snowy stuff? Right now I feel like I am a tropical flower transplanted in Antarctica. Will I survive, only God knows. LOL Well, I need to run. Tomorrow is the second parent teacher conference of the school year and I teach all day then get to stay till 8:00 pm. 13 hour days are long and very tiring. I need be beauty sleep. Sweet, warm and blessed dreams to all.

It is December!!!

I woke up yesterday to the first day of December and snow. Not much just about a half inch but it is cold and icy. It snowed a little more today. Everyone is teasing me about the snow and cold. I finally was able to pull out my warm, winter sweaters. Which, in Oregon, I would have been wearing since October. (The pic on the left is my frosted sparkly porch and the one on the right is my front yard. Yes it is snowing again.)

I worked late tonight on grades and walked home on a very cold, quiet, clear night. The snow sparkles here. The frost does too. Frost does not cover everything in a white layer here like in Oregon. On a frosty morning you walk through the grass and it just sparkles like glitter. Tonight on top of the snow that is what it looked like.

I was working on positive behavior in my classroom so we are rewarding ourselves on Friday for doing good behavior with root beer floats. They have earned a cup, root beer and 1 scoop of ice cream so far. Tomorrow is another scoop of ice cream and Friday a straw. Then in the afternoon before school gets out, we will enjoy what has been earned. Some students will not have ice cream in their floats. But it was their decisions that and no one else will have to suffer for other peoples bad choices. I am lucky my neighbor is an experienced driver in the snow. I told my students that they were lucky too because I don't drive in snow and I need to go to the store tomorrow for the root beer float party. My students don't understand why I won't drive in the snow.

I told them it was because I didn't know how. They asked me if I didn't know how to drive at all and if so why do I have a car. I explained in Oregon when it snows a couple of inches the city practically stops. That I take a bus or stay home because it is safer. I then had to explain how wet our snow was so it is very slick and how there is usually ice under the snow. I also told them I didn't have any chains and they began to laugh at me. Apparently, here you only need snow tires to get around. Well, it is 35 miles to the closest town and a long drive or walk to find anyone near the road if you wreck and need help. I don't think I will practice my winter driving for awhile.

The Bad Lands are not exactly a place with straight roads and they are not flat like the rest of the mid west. So hilly, curvy roads with deer, antelope and smaller animals runny across the road without warning. Not fun especially in the dark which is usually when I get to drive. So I am going to rely on the hospitality of my neighbors.

This week, the staff and teachers started their secret Santa. Of course, I would get the name of another new teacher so I have no idea what she likes. Today I put in her box a small stoneware trinket box with some pretty ceramic inlay. I filled it with paper clips. She was delighted. The fun part was watching her enjoy the gift and pretending not to know who gave it to her. I am looking for other little things to slip into her box. I only have till 12/17 then I will be revealed. I want to buy something nice for her when I am revealed. I don't know what that might be but I am thinking a nice scarf in her favorite color. Now comes the fun stuff, finding out her favorite color.

Well, it is late and need some sleep. I know I will sleep well tonight because the snow has driven the cows out of the neighborhood. For the last four night, I have had four cows in my yard. They arrive around 10:30 pm and mow my lawn as well as fertilize it. However they also enjoy a good scratch by rubbing various parts against the corner of my house. The very corner where the head of my bed is. Sounds like a hand saw trying to cut through my house. I have been told they are better than having buffalo around because buffalo are mean and dangerous. But do they rub their butts on my house when I am trying to sleep I wonder.

Happy Thanksgiving

One of my followers has showed me the error of my ways. I have been slow in adding new posts to my blogg. For that I apologize. Apparently the bloggers' manners states that I should be adding a new post at least once a week. So I will try to mend my ways and keep my blog updated. It is just that I cannot think of things to say. When one goes to work, which is less than 500 feet from my house, works all day then walks home what is there it say. I did have a wonderful Thanksgiving and I am enjoying the long weekend.

I was invited to two meals. The first was a Native American family which had a lot of babies. It had all the traditional Thanksgiving food. I brought Indian Fried bread, my new found talent apparently. They loved it. I nibbled on the meal since I was due at another meal in two hours. I could not however refuse to eat for, as I have said before, that would be rude. I was surprised because when my family gets together we are loud with talking and laughter and enjoyable noisey activity. However the native family was very quiet, even the children. They are very soft spoken and enjoy long periods of comfortable silence. There were several elders there with long grey braided hair and wonderful expressive wrinkled faces. Their faces show their wisdom. Then off to my friend who is Norwegian. There was a small family with wonderful food and talking. Very homey but I was full when I finished. I spent the rest of the evening grading papers and getting caught up on the paper work.

On Friday, I went to Minot (2 hours away). I went to all the thrift stores looking for some things that can help me set up my art studio/office space. I got paint for some old book case I have that is unfinished and picked a couple things up at Kmart. I intended to go to a movie but I got tired and decided to go home and watch a movie. So that is what I am doing. I did make a contact with some high school friends on Facebook. I can hardly believe next summer is my 30th reunion. There is even a guy I barely remember but he is living in Rider ND about an hour away from me. Small world.

Now it is only about three weeks till I make it home for Christmas and I am excited. I was able to buy tickets for my sons to come home for Christmas too. I can hardly wait to see them and my brothers and sisters. I am now going to brew some tea and relax in my nice warm house. It has been warm in the 40's during the day and cold enough to freeze at night but no snow. I hear we are to have a mild warm winter of which I am thankful.

God is good all the time, ALL the time God is good. Happy Thanksgiving. Oh the photo is my lame attempt at drawing my dad. Practice makes perfect and I am practicing.

My birthday

I am so blown away. These students of mine they act so tough and like they don't care and that they don't like me. I was worried about the fact that I was not making connections. Every teachers manual written talks about how you cannot teach students that you do not make a connection with. Then I had my birthday. A couple of teachers and their classes gave me presents in the morning. I only told my students in passing when my birthday was and I could not figure out how the teachers knew about the birthday. Well my students threw me a surprise birthday party! It was their idea, they planned it and made me a cake and two cards and got me flowers. All the teachers said they had never done that before. The card said I was the best teacher in the world. They usually tell me I am mean. WOW I made connections. They may be learning something.

Then I woke up late on Friday (10-30) I was late, I had a big day. Today was a Halloween party and the carnival. We had two booths one ring toss and one musical chairs. I had a lot to bring to school so I decided to drive. I pulled my car out of the garage and then started to close the garage door and I caught my finger as it folded down. Man it hurt. It is still tender. Then the bag rips as I unloaded my car. We did not get anyone to play musical chairs. It is a good thing the ring toss made some money. What a fund raiser. The day was long but went pretty well despite my wounds. Glad it is Friday. It is cold and snowing a little and I am ready for a long weekend curled up and warm.

South Dakota

I just got back from four days in South Dakota. I went with my Native friend. We stayed with her friends. It was definitely in the middle of nowhere. I posted a couple of pictures from the house where I stayed. They had a large population of ground hogs. Not only ground hogs but a bald eagle was there hunting them.

One day we went to Mt. Rushmore and the Crazy Horse monument. I learned the Native history of the Crazy Horse. The museum was wonderful there and the gift shop had a lot of Native made things. It was a full day of sight seeing.

The people I stayed with were Lakota Sioux. They filmed Dances with Wolves near where I stayed. These people spoke fluent Lakota and they are fighting to keep their traditions alive. The younger generation are not listening to what their elders are trying to pass down and with every loss of a grandmother or grandfather, the native traditions and languages are being lost.

I did get to enjoy a sweat lodge. While I could not take pictures of this ceremony out of respect to my new native friends, I can tell you a little about it. In the morning, we got up and stripped the lodge of all the blankets and tarps they cover the wood frame with and shake out the blankets that are inside. Then we set them out so they could air out in the wind. Then we went inside and spent the rest of the day cooking traditional food. We made bread for rolls, a wonderful soup made with deer meat and squash, buffalo tongue, buffalo kidneys and a wild berry desert. The other native women began to arrive about four hours before the sweat and they brought more food. We had a great time laughing and talking and teasing each other. The hearts of these people are so open and welcoming I forgot I was the stranger. I know God had been here before me to open hearts and prepare the way for me. About two hours before the sweat, we covered the lodge layering on blankets and tarps making sure there were no holes and placed the blankets inside. We also placed rocks under wood and built a large fire. More visiting and then we were ready to sweat. There was a small prayer and ceremony on the outside of the lodge then the women crawled in and placed the red hot rocks in. The water was pour over the rocks along with herbs and the steam filled the lodge and heated us all up. I don't know how long we were in but I enjoyed the sweat. We all prayed and sang and I came out feeling refreshed and closer to God. It was interesting how there were different people gathered together and we had different things to pray about but all our differences faded away and we were united for a short while.

I had a peaceful weekend, the weather was great it rained a little and was sunny most of the time. Not too cold except for the constant wind sweeping the prairie. Now it is Wednesday and it is getting cold. The weather man is promising snow tonight about 6-8 inches with wind. I hear that is a blizzard out hear. But so far no snow just dropping temperatures. I guess winter is arriving and time for me to bundle up. I am looking forward to my trip back home for Christmas and hope to be able to fly my sons home from Texas.

Blessings on all who read this.

Snow in October? Really snow in October?

Well, it snowed last week on Friday and the snow is just going away and it is Monday. It is only the first week in October and already there is snow on the ground. What have I gotten myself into? Lucky it was a small amount and the wind blew it off the roads but it was and still is cold. With a capital C, C O L D. I hear it gets even colder in January. Oh man am I in trouble. I have been adopted by a nice Native American woman who is showing me around. We went to visit her relatives. I had just eaten dinner when she called me and wanted to know if I wanted to go with her. Well, we get there and sit at the kitchen table and they put food in front of you and ask what you would like to drink. You cannot turn them down because that is very insulting. So I ate another meal. They say the reason they feed whoever comes to visit is because food is the sustenance of life and they are blessing you with a long life.

I learned how to make Indian fried bread. They use it for a lot of food but they mostly use it to make Indian Tacos which is fantastic. My family at home is in for a treat at Christmas time. They do not know this but I am making them Indian Tacos. UMMM I can hardly wait.

At school we are gearing up for the Halloween Carnival,. My students have decided to do musical chairs. I know that sounds lame but we are giving out great prizes and I think we will be on our way to earning some money for our end of year field trips. Ugh field trips are not something I look forward to the work the planning the outside the classroom management too tiring but I have a few months to get ready.

I was reading in my devotional "A Woman After God's Own Heart" the other day and it said that I should surrender everything to God daily. Don't you just hate it when God speaks to you about things you don't want to deal with? I know what God was talking about. I had to surrender my hope of moving back home in the spring and I did not want to trust God with that. Silly me, I know I can trust God with everything. I am on this adventure because I trusted God completely. But I feared that God's will was for me to stay and I don't want to stay. I want to go home and be close to my family. But as my wise sister told me, if I don't surrender to God I will not have the peace, or joy that comes with obedience. God will not force anyone to surrender but He also cannot work with a stubborn heart. If I do not surrender, than what ever it is the God wishes to accomplish with me here cannot be done. So I surrendered. The homesickness does not occur as often, I am more at peace and able to handle my class better (I think), and I am starting laugh and become more joyful. I am standing on the promise that God said "I know the plans I have for you, to prosper you and not harm you." I know God wants the best for me and I refuse to settle for second best and since He can see the big picture and I cannot, I will surrender and trust Him to know what is best.

"May God bless and keep you, may He shed His countenance upon you and give you peace."

October Plans

While it is tough teaching my students because of behavior, it breaks my heart to hear about their home lives. A lot of my students live in war zones due to drugs and alcohol. These kids have such potential but they are hurting deeply. I can tell they want to trust me but they always question me about whether I will be sticking around. I tell them that I don't know what the future brings. My ultimate goal is to live and teach on the Oregon coast. I tell them that I do not know if I will be offered a job for the next year or if I will get an offer on a dream job and move back to Oregon. But what I do know is that I am here this year and I am not giving up on them and if I move during the summer, it will not be because of them.

On Fridays I am so tired of the battle field that I do not want to return on Mondays. But God always come through for me. Case in point, I spent today (Saturday) slowly cleaning my house, talking to my sons and my sister which made me miss home. I watched one movie after another and talked with God about how badly I want to return home in the summer. I emailed a principal I know to let her know that I would be available should an opening for the next school year manifest itself. I was getting down about the fact that Saturday always seems to fly and I was not ready for Sunday or Monday to come. It was about 9:00 pm when I got a knock on my door. This is unusual as most people here to not visit in the evening because people are usually in night clothes and do not want to be seen. So I open the door and there my neighbor who is a wonderful native woman and has adopted me, was standing there. She asked me if I was doing anything tonight and I said no. She then invited me to drive her to New Town to the casino and for a couple of hours. I reluctantly said yes because that is a 35 mile drive and it was 9:00 pm.

I am so glad I did. It was fun. She knows everyone and I met two of her sisters. I played the penny machines and won enough to continue playing on my original 20 dollars for three hours. Then we drove home and she encouraged me and we discussed teaching and lesson planning. I learned about a tradition the natives believe in. They carry tobacco pouches with them and they throw them out the window as an offering after they pray that any four legged animal will stay away from the road. She forgot to do this and we almost hit a fawn as it followed its mom across the road. She immediately pulled out a pouch of tobacco and prayed and threw it out the window. Now she prays the same God I pray to, the one true God. I am not sure if this is a pagan thing or not but let me tell you we saw a deer close to the road on our way home but no four legged animals crossed into the road and that is unusual at 1:30 am around here. She says that the Natives believe that animals have a spirit and that makes them brothers and sisters and the prayer is their way of respecting life.

She also has invited me to go to a class with her that is teaching the history of Teddy Roosevelt and what he did for North Dakota. We even will be touring his ranch in Medora ND. I am also going with her in the end of October to South Dakota. We are going to visit her family and friends and do a "Sweat". I get to go into an authentic sweat lodge with other women. We pray and sweat and this purifies our bodies, minds and souls. I can hardly wait. Also I will be sight seeing and touring Mt Rushmore among other places with traditional Native Americans who will teach me all about the history and importance of several spots. I hope to got to wounded knee but I am not sure it we will be near there. I can hardly wait. I am praying the weather is nice since it usually starts snowing and getting nasty around the end of October.

My sons are doing real well in Houston. My oldest is excelling at his school becoming a mechanic and loving it. He does not usually like to talk on the phone but we have been having great conversations that last up to an hour. My youngest plans on starting auto body repair courses in January. God has been so good to us. It is amazing. I am not use to living under His abundance. I am trying to be a good steward. I am learning about a foreign concept called savings. I have never had money to save before and now I do. The four years of great struggle have taught me to trust God with everything and appreciate everything He has given me. I also have honed the gift of perseverance and now I am learning to live in God's abundance. My cup does runeth over. And soon I will have a savings account. I always thought those were myths. Oh and I finally can work one job instead of three and have extra money another myth proven. LOL.

Well it is late and I may get to go to a sweat tomorrow and not wait for the end of October so I had best get to bed. I hope this finds all of you well and content. I may miss my home but God is giving me chances to choose to be content. I am taking everyone of them. I tell my students that hate and anger are a choice, well so is joy and contentment and I choose to be content and surrendered to God until He takes me home be that my temporary home of Oregon or my permanent home in Heaven. Praise God for small outings that change my perspective. Night all. pleasant dreams.

My Sixth Week Teaching

It has been almost six weeks that I have taught. I work long hours trying to keep up with everything I have to do. I am very tired but most of the time it is worth it. I have fourteen students that have great personalities and I am having a good time getting to know them all. They are also very challenging. Everyday is a new challenge in class room management. I am learning by fire. I have pretty much decided that God willing I am moving back to Oregon in May when this adventure is over. I will have a year of teaching under my belt and a whole lot of new perspective. I want to live in Oregon. I know that now better than ever. I think that is one reason why God moved me here. I wanted to have an adventure by teaching overseas. God knew I would have a lot of trouble living away from home. He knew it but I did not. So He sent me here to clear my vision on what I want and where I want to live. I love Oregon and living near my family. It is amazing how this adventure has brought me closer to my family then we were when I lived down the street. I will get to spend two weeks with them in Christmas and hopefully a week with my sons in Houston on spring break. I can hardly wait. I miss my small group, my friends, my family, the pine trees and the ease in which I could get to stores and food.
I miss going out to eat more often and going to the movies at least once a week. The people in North Dakota are so friendly and helpful and welcoming but I long for home. I am saving money and hopefully God's plan will include me moving back home. I am sorry I have not written more often in my blog but I will do better. Thanks for reading it and your comments.

Life is sweet

I finally have my satelite connected and my dsl on. I am settling in. Its funny I can live without a cell phone. I have even lived without any kind of phone before. I can little for awhile without a tv. But I cannot live without my laptop and internet. I did not realize how addicted I have become to keeping in touch through the internet. I have been dealing with a very dim signal on wify but it was difficult to do anything. It took so long for me to blog or check my email and respond. I would startup my computer, click my e icon and go get myself some dinner. Then I would check my email and eat my dinner while I waited for it to down load. Then I would wait some more and wait and wait and wait then maybe I could get on facebook and maybe not and it took forever to send an email and don't get me started on trying to pay any bills or change service online. It was a nightmare.

But life is sweet now becuase God has provided me with a some of lifes little pleasures. So here I sit. In one of my two chairs in my cute little living room. I was up till midnight working on planning next weeks lessons with my teacher mentor. God bless her heart for staying up so late to help me. But I am staying up late tonight to celebrate my simple pleasures by watching movies and playing on the internet. Oh God is soo good. And I have taught for three weeks already. Amazing.

Oh and to top it off it is raining today. I am a native Oregonian and the rain is soo sweet to this dried out transplant. It feels soo good. The air is crisp and cool and the rain is light. I am hoping for a thunderstorm. There was one in the middle of the week and it was bright and loud. The thunder rolled and it shook the house when it cracked. The lightning lit up the sky and my room and danced across my room walls. The storm seemed to hover over my house. It was so awesome to see, hear and feel God's power and might and to feel safe in his arms as the storm raged around me.

Today when I came home from school my birdfeeder had been knocked down and my bird bath was tipped over. I think it was a porcupine. The dog next door tangled with one last night and had a couple of quills in her side. I saw a porcupine along the side of the road and it was very large. I could not believe how large they were. Wow.

Powwow

I went to my first big powwow in North Dakota. It was fantastic. The dancers were wonderful and their outfits were spectacular. This gentelman let me take his picture because I had on my t-shirt that says "The few the proud the Marine Moms." He and his wife were selling beautiful handmade jewelry. I bought myself a beautiful tourquise and silver neclace. The tourquoise are carved into bears. Anyone who knows me knows how much I love bears. I toured the little town of New Town and we ate at the casino. I took pictures all over. I saw some of my students there. They did not seem happy to see me. I must be doing something right. I have to be tough for at least the first part of the year and hopefully I can loosen up soon. It did kind of hurt my feelings though. My teacher friend that moved from Vancouver WA the same time I moved from Oregon teaches art for all the grades. All the students said hi to her and were happy to see her. But I understand I can't be a pal right now I have to teach them life skills and they don't like the unfamiliar structures. I can only hope that they reflect on the year in the future and see how much I cared and that they in turn will say hi to me in the halls when they are no longer in my class. It is nice to have a three day weekend and to have had company for a night. My teacher friend and I did not know each other till we met the day before orientation began. We have been fast friends ever since.

In the pictures I have attached here and at flickr, the native outfits are hand made. The bead work is all sewn by hand and they cannot dance until they have completed their outfits. At one point of the dance competition everything came to a halt because an eagle feather fell off a dancer's headdress or fan and was found laying on the ground. No one but an elder who has permission through a ceremony can pick up an eagle feather. So we waited until an elder was found and a short ceremony of the elder picking up the feather very reverently and giving it back to the owner was performed. It was a very serious matter. I found it very interesting.

I am still on the hunt for a pair of moccasins for my grandson. All that was for sale during the Powwow were beautifully beaded but also priced right for the work and above my price range for my grandson to wear. So on I look. I have heard of a couple of other places to go look.

Today (Sunday) as I write this it is sunny, warm with a nice breeze and except for my windchimes it is very quiet. I am told we are in fall. There are a few leaves that have turned, not as colorful as Oregon. We have Elm here and they change to yellow but I have only seen a couple of leaves turned. To me it is a beautiful Indian Summer. Friday night I went to dinner with my neighbor. We ate at a place called Tabacco Gardens. We asked how the place got its name and were told that Lewis and Clark camped there and thought they found tabacco growing so they picked it and smoked it and discovered that it was only a weed they found.

The cafe is in a resort where there is rv and camping spaces, little bunglos and a boat launch. The water is from an inlet from the little Missouri and this is the first year it has been reopened. For several years this inlet and this part of the Little Missouri has been dried up. Along the banks in the water you can see tops of elm trees that had grown up while the inlet was dry and now stand in the water. It looks like the Columbia when it is high and the trees along the islands are standing in water. It is not as big as the Columbia but has the same look where the trees are. My neighbor did not know why this place had been dried out for so many years. It could have been because the Corps of Engineers decided to divert the water to South Dakota or the snow melt in Montana was not enough to feed the tributary.

My brother and his wife will be here soon. Oh another highlight now is I finally will have TV tomorrow. The satelite people will be coming out to hook me up. It will be nice to have a little company via TV to occupy my evenings when I finally get home. I have made it through two weeks with students and this is my first weekend off. I am starting to settle in and love it where I live. I like walking to work but I do find I need to leave town occasionally to get away from the shadow of my work.

One more thing before I sign off. On Thursday, I found a wasp in my spare room. No biggee he probably got in when I walked in. Then when my friend and her daughter came to spend the night after the powwow I had three wasps inside and a milipede. They slept in the living room last night and today I began smashing wasps, I killed six or seven and another millipede. I thought they were getting in through the hole in the wall were the cable for the satelite came through the wall. Then we looked and two of my double hung windows the top of the windows had slid down and of course they were the windows without screens or storm windows. Luckily my friend is tall because I am not. She was able to shut the top and we locked the windows and now no more bugs. I am glad because I lost at least a half hour of sleep last night trying to figure out how I was going to drive 35 miles to Watford City get a bug bomb, bomb the house and air it out before I drove back to Watford City to meet my brother and his wife. Then I remembered that Watford City is closed on Sundays except the gas stations and a couple of restaraunts. Such is life in the boonies.

Wednesday

I am spent. It was a very hard day today. I feel like I have lost all control and with the behavior issues I feel like I am above my head. God is the only reason I am still standing because I have nothing left and two more days to go before the blessed weekend. I cannot wait for a three day sabath. I have so much to do before I can have three days off. I need rest so I am plowing through.

A relative/friend sent me a scripture today it fits. " I have to reshape and remold her ...to renew her to what I had planned for her to be. It has not been easy for her or for me." Jeremiah 29:11

I gave Cricket the dog back to his original generous owner. I discovered I don't like pets. I don't like the mess, walking and picking up the piles, or the interuptions when I am trying to work. Plus the final straw, I got a call in the middle of class stating that my dog was running loose in the street all over the neighborhood. I am lucky that I have a teacher and a para that could cover for me so I could get Cricket back into the garage. I do not have the patience nor the energy to love this dog after my days teaching, Giving Cricket back was the highlight of my day. He has a new home with kids already. I know he will be happy.

God is still good all the time even when I am homesick. Boy this journey with God is going to be a fun rollercoaster ride. I better buckle my seatbelt. I have a feeling that I have not reached the highest part of the ride yet.

My first week teaching

I have prayed everyday that God will give me the grace, mercy, patience and knowledge to reach my students. Everyday He has been faithful. I have fifteen seventh graders who are all taller than me. My class has a lot to learn about self control and behavior. We are working on that together. I survived my first week of school and I am now into the second week. I love my students and the challenges they bring with them. They are a great bunch of rowdy kids. They want to learn they just don't know it yet.

I have a wonderful teacher who has become my mentor and is my neighbor. She seems to know the perfect times to come over and wisk me out of my house and the little town I live in. I literally have to drive out of town to get away from my job. I can see the school from my house. I never thought I would miss driving an hour one way to work but it did allow me to unwind.

I feel that I am in a season of God's blessings. I was finally able to get my license from North Dakota so I can now teach solo and I think I am ready to fly on my own wings. I actually got home before 7 p.m. tonight. That is a first in a week. But I love my job and my carreer.

I have been looking for a new church to call home. As of yet, the Lord has not revealed where. I went to an Assembly of God but it is a half hour drive then two hours for Sunday school and service then half hour back. SO very long for my only true day off. I will do as the Lord leads. I am totally surrendered to Him.

After the big panick last week a peace and contentment has settled in my soul. I feel very well looked after and a sense of freedom and peace as I surrender myself to God completely. He is truely leading me into a season of abundance.

I have decided to give my cute little dog back to his original owner. Cricket at first had a little trouble adjusting to life indoors. He has figured out that outside is his potty place so that is better. However, I come home soo tired and late that I don't have energy or patience for poor Cricket. I take him for a walk grudingly and put him a little. Then I need to do something for school the next day so he gets to lay around the house but has very little of my time or attention. Plus I don't like to have to deal with the mess and care for a pet. I cannot give Cricket what he deserves because he is such a great dog. I pray that God will find him a great owner that will spoil him rotten.

My brother and his wife are coming to visit me this weekend and I am very excited to show then around. I hope to be able to show them some of the beauty I am surrounded by both day and night. I am also going to my first big powwow this weekend. I plan on eating buffalo and enjoying the native dances while sitting next to my native friends who can tell me the stories that go behind the dances.

Tonight at least, I am home. God is good all the time.

Blessings

How it all began

I know a lot of people who know me has heard how my adventure started, but I am a story teller and I like to start my stories at the beginning. So here it goes. I just graduated from College with a BS in Elementary Education at age 46 and this summer I prayed for a job. I kept an open mind and listened for God's direction and all I heard was to enjoy the summer and do art with your friends. So I did but I was a little anxious about my new job that I know God promised me. It' s hard to be still and wait when you want to know where you are going and what you will be doing. But I waited.


My small group bible study prayed for me and I surrendered everything to God. He has provided for me for the almost four years of jobless schooling. He will provided for me now. I put countless applications in for teaching jobs all over the world. Yes all over the world. Finally in August of this year I got a call from a small school in North Dakota. To tell you the truth I don't remember applying for it. This small school is on an Indian Reservation. This peeked my interest since I love culture and Native Americans have a rich culture. They asked if I could come for an interview and I told them I was in Oregon with no means to travel for an interview. So they set up a phone interview on Tuesday Aug. 11. They called and talked to me then said they would let me know. They called that afternoon and offered me a job. I said I needed income to move and they said they could give me free rent for a year if I lived next to the school. And they could give me a small signing bonus. I called my sister and she and her husband prayed and then opened thier check book and loaned me the money to move. (Rats my last excuse was wiped away. I guess I had to trust God and surrender where He would lead).



I called and accepted the job and they said I needed to be there by Monday 8/17. I packed on Wednesday and left my birth and home state Oregon for North Dakota with all my belongings on Friday morning 8/14. I had a going away party where my family reassured me they all had a peace that I was doing the right thing. I was excited lets face it I did not have time to feel fear or much of anything but stress.



My youngest son and I drove a U-haul and towed my car to North Dakota and I dropped my son off at a train station to return to Oregon. Both my sons are moving to Texas. So I on the 17th I met my boss and toured the school and while I was in orientation a group of men unloaded my truck. I met another new teacher who was from Washington and we became instant friends. God provided all I needed and blessed me every step of the way.


I asked for a 10' Uhaul and got a 14' truck for the same price. I asked for a tow dolly and was given a full trailer for the same price plus two free days and extra mileage for free. One motel gave away our room because we were late so they gave us a suit for the price of a double. My sister prayed for me to have connections and saw a picture of an older more experienced teacher befreinding me and she is my neighbor and teacher mentor.



I had all these blessings. It says in the bible God will ask you to do things you cannot do on your own and give you the things you need to do them. He did this for me and I was great. Until I dropped off the truck and trailor and went back to my free two bedroom, spacious, newly remodled home. That is when I panicked. Oh I broke down and cried when I made it into town and had to drop my son off at the station. But this was much worse. All I could think of was that I made a big mistake and I needed to come home. I have no cell service for 35 miles from my home. I know because I drove around that first night trying to find some. I gave up and slept in a bedroom that night.



My thought that night was I will just bring a chair and my tv and laptop into this one bedroom and hide there for the rest of the year becuase I could not open a box. Everytime I tried I could not breathe. When I woke the next day I felt worse. I told my boss I could not stay that I felt I made a big mistake. He understood and I left to find service and call home. My family and friends were right there and they supported me and calmed me down. I called my boss to say I was staying even though I was shaking in my shoes and got his home by accident. His wife invited me over and showed me her home, fed me and let me sit on her coiuch until I was able to go back to school.



My sisters dropped everything and drove to North Dakota and they spent three day unpackimg me and praying over me and praying over the desks in my room. They even hung curtains and pictures making my house a cozy home. My sisters are awesome and they came along side me and helped me to gain my strength pointed me to the one who has always provied for me. God is great. They left this morning 8/25. I miss them but I am okay.