1st Year Teacher: check!

Is it really over?? Is this school year actually finished? Did I really just complete my 1st year of teaching? It seems so surreal! When that bell rang today, it was ringing in my first summer as a teacher. I have had an incredible year! It's been amazing how much God has blessed me at my school; my principal, my team of teachers, new friends.

One thing I learned this year was to not let things worry me. I had to put on a total of 5 music programs this year and the day of my first program, one teacher came up to me and said, "You are the calmest music teacher I have seen on program days!" That made me feel good! I mean, there was no sense in worrying about it! The kids knew their music, nothing I could do to make it any better! I was more nervous to just speak into the microphone and say something awkward! Those kids shined and sang beautifully and were just so cute!

The best part about this year was creating my own music games and activities. I'm gonna be honest- I know people say that musicians are really creative, which, don't get me wrong, PLENTY of them are! But I am just not that creative when it comes to making things up. But I created several music games and instrument accompaniments for the students to play and they had a blast! Plus, it was fun for me to make and refreshing to have something new in my tool box!

One of the funniest things that a kid said to me (on numerous occasions- practically every single time I saw this one little kindergartner), was "Mrs. Nice I like your hair!" No matter what it looked like! In a bun, in a braid, down with a headband- this kid liked it all. Even today, on the last day of school, I saw him for 1 second, and he turned to me and said it in that little voice of his. It just made me laugh.

I'm excited for next year because the art teacher and I are going to try to collaborate and combine music and art in our classes. The 'Composer of the Month' will be in the same time period as the artist that the students are learning about. She'll play music from that time period in her classroom while the students work on their art. We also want to plan out a fine arts night at our school and have music and arts and crafts for the whole family to come and enjoy! I am getting so excited about that!

It's funny because I still sometimes feel like such a little kid at work. Who wouldn't? I get to play games and sing and teach music all day! But because I am, was a 1st year teacher, I felt sometimes like I was inferior to the other teachers, or I couldn't relate to them. Granted, most of them have been married for years and have kids. But I just have to remind myself that I know what I am doing! I know how to teach! I just had a bit of an inferiority complex goin' on... does that ever go away? I think part of it is because I still look really young. Funny story- so before school started, I was sitting on the floor in the music room going through books or something, and the PE coach walks in and looks at me for a second and asks "Oh, is your mom here?" I had to laugh because that was what I had joked about, saying that I will blend in with the kids! Well, the kids weren't even there yet! :) We still laugh about that day.

If I were to give one piece of advice to anyone about to dive into their first teaching year, I would say this: It's going to be hard, but maybe not how you think or expect. Be confident in what you know and have spent years learning and practicing and preparing. But don't be too afraid to seek help or advice. Oh, and don't stay at work for hours and hours and hours after the kids leave! Go home! And have a life! Ok, that was more than 1, but I just had to share that!

1 year ago I was applying all over the state of Texas for a job. 2 days before our wedding I was offered the elementary music teacher position at Johnson Elementary in Bryan. Get to be close to my sister and brother-in-law, and niece and nephew and LOVE my church and the friends I have there.

God is good. This year has flown by, so I'm hoping that this summer will just take it's time for me!

See you in August school!
lisa

Messina Hof Surprise!

On Friday morning as I walked into the kitchen to eat breakfast before work, Mike looks at me and says, "Why are you wearing that?" And by "that", he meant jeans and a North Texas t-shirt "Well, it's Friday and I can wear jeans!" He asked me in a sweet way, "Well, can't you wear what your normally wear during the week today? I have something planned..." I've been wearing a lot of skirts lately because the weather has been so nice, but I was going to be outside most of the day with the kids jogging, so I didn't really want to wear something nice. (and it was jean day! Can't pass that up!) So I told him I would just bring something to change into at the end of the day.

He picked me up from work a little early and made me wear a blindfold.

Eventually after about 20 minutes of driving around I was able to take my blindfold off and we arrived at a local winery and resort, Messina Hof. Neither of us had been there before, and I've heard good things about it, (and had their wine), so I was excited to know that we were going there.

They have a bed and breakfast place to stay on the property and Mike reserved us a room for the night. It was really nice and cozy.

The Villa from the outside.

The doors to The Villa, that were the actual doors to the home of Louis Pasteur!

Inside the foyer area.

That stained glass window at the top is from Le Louvre in Paris France, where Mona Lisa lived! (Painting, not the person!)

Stained glass up close.

View from top. Breakfast was served here in the morning.

View from our balcony.

We walked around the property for a bit and enjoyed the GREEN everywhere and the beauty of it all. It was so peaceful.

(of course we had to get bluebonnet pictures! haha)

There was a pottery place right across the road so we decided to poke our heads in there to see what it was all about. They had some really neat stuff there. We bought a mug that was just too cool to pass up.

Then, we had our wine and cheese tasting. Honestly, I think we were both a little more excited about the cheese, but hey, it was fun. We both asked for the sweetest and fruitiest wine they had. :)

Mike being a good sport.

How Mike really feels when drinking wine.

Oh yeah! And there were turtles in the pond and we got to feed them! Do you see the HUGE one in the water??

Then after our first wine and cheese tasting, we went on a tour of the place. Apparently, the guy who owns the place is a 6th generation wine maker. His family had, still has I think, a winery in Messina, Sicily, hence the Messina. And the Hof is from his wife's family in Hof, Germany. And there you have it, Messina Hof!

Anyway, the tour was really cool. They talked about how they made the wines and all that neat stuff. They keep the wine in barrels, sometimes up to 13 years or something crazy like that!

Wine also stored in these big guys.

The roses are used as a warning sign for the vineyard. If the roses begin to show signs of disease, then the vines have about 2 weeks until they are possibly infected. So only then, will they spray the vines with disinfectant stuff. Pretty cool system.

Then of course, after the tour, we got to try 4 different wines. She was very generous with her portions. Of course I'm sure to the wine connoisseur, they have their own way to get the wine "awake", but this is the process she showed us. (in case you ever want to show off to your friends or something)

Mike's tongue turned a little purple from the red wine! And sidenote, that lifesize poster guy in the red suit and hat is the owner of the place. :)

1. Check for clarity -and bugs apparently...by tilting the glass a little to the side. And if there happens to be some cork in it, it's ok. Won't hurt you.
2. Smell the wine.
3. Swirl the wine around in the glass. This helps "wake it up"
4. Smell it again. I usually think it does smell a little different after swirling.
5. Take a sip.
6. I usually swirl again because I think it's fun.
7. "Trill" the wine into your mouth. Do this if the wine is too dry for you. Basically, get a little bit in your mouth, (a very small amount!) and like your were sucking up a straw, suck the wine to the back of your mouth (without choking!). I really thought this step made a difference in taste, especially if it was dry. I'm not a huge fan of the dry stuff.
8. Of course, swirl again. :)
9. If it's red wine, don't do the trill thing, you will do a "cluck"... you know when you push your tongue to the roof of your mouth and it makes that sound, well, you take a sip of red wine, and do the tongue thing while the wine is in your mouth. This also helps "wake up" the wine.

So now you can show off some of your wine skills!

But anyway, after tasting 5 different kinds of wine, we had dinner reservations at the restaurant there. I guess all that wine filled me up and I wasn't very hungry, but the food sure was yummy! Mike licked his plate clean. I took leftovers back. :)

And yes, those barrels and many more in the restaurant were filled with wine!

The next morning we had breakfast in the foyer area and it was also very tasty. I can't believe that it's still only Saturday. It was such a nice, relaxing time. It was even nicer knowing that Mike had been planning this and doesn't even really care for wine, but knows that I would think it was fun! And he had fun too!

If you ever come to Bryan, call us and we'll come with you to Messina Hof for some cheese... and wine. :)

THANK YOU MIKE FOR THE AWESOME, SWEET SURPRISE! LOVE YOU!

God is so good!

God is so good
God is so good
God is so good, He's so good to me.

Remember that song? Well, it's true and here is just ONE reason why:

It all started a couple weeks ago when my dad (who is crazy healthy by the way) had a seizure in the middle of the night. He eventually got blood work done and had a CT scan, because you never know what's going on in the brain until you see it. And I just have to say that my mom is such a trooper. She didn't worry about anything (at least didn't let on about it), drove my dad around, even sang in the choir in his place so-to-speak on Easter Sunday! (and that's a big deal for my mom!)

So, after the CT results came back, I guess the Dr. decided that surgery was needed because they found some sort of "mass" in his brain causing pressure to the frontal area. At this point they have no idea if it's cancerous or not, or really what it is at all, so I was a little bit of a mess just thinking about all that could go wrong.

Wednesday was difficult. I talked with him on the phone and just thought about how different things could turn out after surgery. I tried to hold in my tears as I talked with him about it. I could tell he was trying to be very strong for me and not let me worry about it. But of course I was a bit. I texted and emailed friends that I knew would be praying for him and on Friday (Good Friday) I was praying for him almost all day.

I prayed probably one of my most honest prayers with God. I said "Lord, I know you love him and want him with you in heaven, but I love him too and still want him here with me." Obviously, the Lord knows how much I love my dad, but I just had to trust that whatever God had planned was truly good and the best and HIS plan.

Sidenote: How sweet to trust in the Lord. To be able at any time, all the time, go to Him with our concerns and worries and that He actually deeply cares about it all!

I called my mom and she said that the surgery went really well. My dad was in the best hands as far as neuro-surgery goes and apparently was wide awake and very attentive after the surgery. They had removed the "mass" in the brain completely, wasn't cancerous, and my dad was recovering quickly. He was released yesterday and the Dr.s called him a "model patient".

What he had was called vesticular meningioma, which is a brain tumor, but 97% of them are benign. The tumor was about 5 cm in diameter, so a bit big.

I was able to talk with him a day after the surgery and he sounded great! What a relief. How gracious is that the Lord heard our prayers of faith and answered them beyond what we could imagine! I know the Lord has many more years in store for my dad. He's not done with him yet! Can't wait to see how He plans to use him even more!

LOVE YOU DAD!