...my diploma that is. I am so excited. I know I finished graduate school at the end of July, but like I said before it would not be official to me until I received the diploma. I was taking Spencer to work the other morning and when we drove past the house we saw the package on the front porch. It was very exciting. Take a look:
Just an up close shot so you can see that it has my name on it.
Well, we have only been in school for 10 full days and I already have the crud. If it's not the crud then I guess it's a sinus infection or cold. Junk is draining down the back of my throat, my throat hurts, nothing tastes good, I'm sneezing, and I have a headache. I am not usually one to get sick, but I guess working with the younger ones it happens more frequently. Hopefully, I will feel better by the weekend that way I can enjoy it since we have Monday off and everything.
Can you believe the time has arrived for the students to return to school? I can't. Once I finished graduate school I felt as if my summer had just started. Then six days later I am back to work.
I am teaching second grade this year. I am super excited about this new position. I no longer have to deal with ranging hormones and smart mouths. My second graders seem to love me and appreciate anything I do. They also get upset if you don't assign them homework and they love school. So far this year I have 23 students on roll. That is a lot, but not as many as the kindergarten and first grade teachers. They are up to 26-27 students a piece. Crazy!!! Fultondale is growing so fast and so many families are moving to the area.
Anyway, here are some pictures of my classroom.
Me on the first day of school standing outside my classroom.
A view from the back.
Another angle
So, that's my classroom. I noticed I forgot to take a picture of the student cubbies. The are located on the back wall.
Hopefully, once I get in the routine of school again I will be able to blog more frequently. I am off to a great school year. Stay tuned to see what Spencer and I get into in the near future.
Today, Joycie (my grandmother), Vicki (my mom), and Katie (my sister), and myself went on an outing. We went to Madison to shop at the new Bridge Street Town Center. We met at Joycie's house at 7:00 this morning. I arrived first and my mom and sister arrived about 10 minutes later. When Katie got out of the car and walked through the carport I noticed we had on the same shirt. How crazy is that? We don't even live in the same town nor do we talk to each other on a daily basis, much less did we discuss what we were going to wear on this outing. This was very strange and not the first time something like this has happened. It happened at Easter when we both wore a black top with a white embroidered skirt. However, Dougie Boy (my grandfather), Joycie, and my mom thought this was quiet hilarious. At least we don't have on the same color pants. :)
I'll update more about our adventures to Madison once I receive pictures from my mom and sister. They took more than I did.
So... it all started when Spencer's dad found out he needed to go and pick up some of his trucks in Houston, Texas. He needed three drivers. I, of course did not want to drive back, but I thought about going. Needless to say...I bought myself a plane ticket and off I went with Spencer, his dad, and Mike (Lauren's dad) to Houston. I haven't been anywhere all summer because of graduate school so I was ready to go somewhere, even if it meant driving a truck back, or actually riding.
We arrive at the airport and pick up our boarding passes and proceed through security. For some reason on Saturday the security level was "high." This made me nervous. Especially considering this is only my fourth time (in my life) to fly. As we are going through security I place my purse in the plastic container and it goes down the conveyer belt. Well.....then I notice the security guard is looking at me very peculiar. He takes my bag from the container and asks if this belongs to me. Of course I say, "Yes," and he asks me to come with him. This is where I begin to get very nervous. He repeats some memorized phrase about going through my belongings and I am not to touch anything as he pulls them out and yada, yada, yada....He pulls out my Pepto Bismol bottle and tells me that it is supposed to be in a plastic Ziploc bag, and I should have pulled it out of my purse and laid it in the bucket beside it and there wouldn't have been any question. I apologize and get my purse and head down the concourse to meet everyone else. You better believe I learned my lesson though. I had no idea it was even in there. It's just there. Oh well, LESSON LEARNED!!!
So...we board the plane and off we go to Houston.
These are pictures of us circling Houston preparing to land:
Aren't the clouds beautiful?
Me, once we arrived at Hobby.
We also ate lunch at this place called Jack in the Box. The name itself should tell you not to eat there, but my opinion did not really matter. Let's just say, it will be the first and last time I ever eat at a Jack in the Box!
Once we picked up the trucks, we proceeded the 650 miles back to Alabama. However, Spencer and I decided we would detour a little before coming home. We stayed straight on Interstate 10 to Mobile. Originally we thought we would stay in Gulfport or Biloxi, Mississippi, but there really wasn't anything available. So we drove the next 35 miles to Mobile. We found this really nice Renaissance Hotel in the Bay. We stayed in a king suite with a corner view on the 23rd floor. It was awesome. The bed slept so well!!
The view of the shipyard from our hotel room.
Same room, different angle.
So, we got up on Sunday morning and proceeded with our adventure. My dad went to Mobile College now the University of Mobile so I wanted to have a see for myself what it looked like. My mother says I have been there, but I was only 6 months old, so I do not remember. Check it out:
This is the housing similar to what my dad lived in when he was there, if not the same one.
Then, we proceed up Hwy 43 to come home. We like to travel two lane roads. It gives us the opportunity to see things we otherwise might not have seen. 
We were going to try to visit Gees Bend, but we got lost and it ended up being out of the way. That will be another one of our many Alabama adventures this fall. So, instead of visiting Camden and Gees Bend we decided to get onto Hwy 5 and visit Marion Military Institute and Judson College where Spencer's grandfather and great aunt attended school.
This weekend was quiet an adventure for both of us. We saw many things we have never seen before and traveled many roads we have never traveled. This fall we plan to take small excursions on Saturdays and visit our lovely state. Stay tuned for our next adventure.
Okay, well I am out of order just a little, but that is because I am way too excited about finishing school. So...now I am going to go back and post some photos from Spencer's family birthday get-together on Tuesday, July 29th.
Linz and Spence posing for a "Sony" moment in the kitchen.
Okay, so there is a little history as to why this picture was taken. Eleven years ago Spencer and I stood in the same spot in front of his license birthday cake for his 16th birthday. We even stood behind the same kitchen table. I don't have a scanner or else I would have scanned the other picture so everyone could see.
Spencer opening his birthday cards. Is that money I see in that card???
Buddy was Spencer's birthday gift 11 years ago. How precious is it that he is still around to celebrate with us?? We love you Buddy!
Owen enjoying his spaghetti supper.
April, Lindsay, Lauren, and Katie smiling for the camera! Say "Cheese" ladies!
Happy 27th Birthday Spencer!!!
