help!

my fellow solid rock church-ians-

i am putting together a slideshow of pictures from 2007. if you have any that are church-related (fourth of july, christmas banquet, christmas eve service, that recreation thingie we did this summer, mega sports camp, or anything else), please e-mail them to me. i would greatly appreciate it!

oh yeah, you might need this:
bethgrace@juno.com

the siblings

i really do intend to post pictures from graduation, but i love this one so much that i just had to put it up before the others.

oh yeah

did i ever mention that i LOVE the spurs? you may have figured that out...

so sad

less than 20 measely posts in the months of december...so sad. maybe my new year's resolution should be to blog more. oh! go vote here!

change is coming

be forewarned: i'm on the hunt for a new blog template. and yes, i know i need to update. i'm on it. right after my nap...

crazy

• isn't it crazy how quickly your life can change in just a few weeks? or maybe the change comes so slowly and over time that you don't realize it when it's happening. instead, you wake up one day and realize that something's different, but you can't quite put your finger on it.
• i have to make a decision pretty soon. well, i've basically made the decision-i just don't like it. i keep stalling because i'm holding out hope that a third option presents itself. i don't think it will. growing up stinks.
• i miss asu. my dad mentioned something about the asu basketball teams yesterday, and i got a little sad thinking about how i'm not a student there anymore. is that silly?
• today someone at school gave me a book on teacher prayers. it made me cry. it's just great being this emotional...
• that overwhelming feeling is starting to kick in. i don't think i know what i'm doing. oh Jesus help me.
• i've got to go to bed. hysteria is about to set in. good night.

big news

i graduated on saturday. it was a good, full day. i promise to post pictures here at some point in time. but i didn't really have a chance to savor that "just graduated" feeling. why?

BECAUSE I'M A THIRD GRADE TEACHER! yes, ladies and gentlemen (all 3 of you), i got a job teaching third grade. i've been since there since yesterday, and i just know i'm going to looooove it. there are certain perks here at this school that i wouldn't get anywhere else...know what i mean? if not, just act like you do and nod. thank you.

i have to go now. i have papers to grade and my new bedtime is 9:00.

oh yeah, and teachers...I NEED HELP!

happy birthday, baby brother

today was ryan's 13th birthday. whoa...i still remember the day he was born. kelli and i were pulled from school early because my mom was in labor. kelli was really mad because she had to leave her class christmas party early. ha! some things never change. we waited for two hours, and then the nurse brought him out. he had so much hair. and when we finally got to hold him later in my mom's room, he had this high-pitched cry. we joked that he sounded like a puppy.

little did i know how much i would love him and take care of him. other than splashing water on his face to wake him up, i think i did a pretty good job. he even made me a mother's day card one year because i was his 2nd mother. and now he's 13. that just doesn't seem right. he should still be 2 years old and extremely fat. he should still be waddling over to my bed and asking to sleep in my bed. now he's a handsome 13 years old young man, playing sports, involved in choir, orchestra, and of course church. where does the time go?

happy birthday, ryan! i love you, even though you say mean, sarcastic things to me. i have no idea where the sarcasm comes from. no idea at all...

this picture's a year old. i don't have my camera with me or else i would put a more current picture on here. sorry.

joey, give me my camera back! pretty please...

bethany g. hernandez, college graduate

i graduated! i am so.....tired. it was a full day, but an absolutely great day. there are so many things i want to blog about, but that will have to wait for tomorrow...maybe. the important thing is that I DIDN'T TRIP! thanks to all who made this a special day for me, especially mom and dad. i love you!

more to come...

this never ends

by now many of you have a pretty good idea of what it's like to live with kelli. half the time i want to pull my hair out, and the other half i'm laughing my head off because of something she's said. wednesday night was one of those nights.

we went to help our friend sarah put up her christmas lights. before i got there, it was just kelli and sarah working on them. sarah went to get the ladder and was carrying it to the front of her house when she heard kelli gasp.

"sarah, do you need help?"

"no, i got it."

"well, you're really strong. that thing weighs 250 pounds!"

after sarah stopped laughing hysterically (i'm assuming-at least that's what i did when i heard this story), she explained that the ladder could hold up to 250 pounds, but really only weighed only 25 pounds.

and to answer your question, yes, this happens quite often.

december 13, 2007

the christmas tree in the hernandez girls' household is officially up.

we are so on top of things...

sorry about the lack of posts

it's just that i've been so busy. sleeping late and taking naps all day really wears you out. ok, i'll quit now.

i DO have something exciting to blog about. the reason i haven't yet is because i'm not sure that it's supposed to be public information yet. i mean, it hasn't kept me from blabbing to all my friends, but that's because i saw them last night and couldn't help myself. putting it in writing, no matter how informal, seems to be a whole different ordeal for me. maybe soon i'll know if i can share it with the rest of the blogging world, k?

i know you're dying of curiosity. i just know it. please try to contain yourself.

oh yeah, i got something. i bought my cap and gown yesterday! what was really neat was that two people saw me walking around with it in the bookstore and said congratulations. isn't that sweet? look for pictures of me trying it on-that is if i can ever get my lazy self out of bed. now it seems real. now i can't wipe the grin off my face. now i'm worried about tripping when i cross the stage.

oh goodness...

tomorrow's a school day

oh wait...

not for me it isn't!

=)

finally finished

it came. the day that i've been waiting for since august 27th finally arrived. and now it's over.

i'm no longer a student teacher. now i'm a college senior waiting for graduation and the real world. all of my hard work, all of my lesson planning, waking up at insane and ungodly hours (you know it's true), and spending 10 1/2 hours at the school for 15 weeks has culminated in this: i'm finally finished with college.

well, i've got a couple of things to turn in-nothing major. but as far as student teaching is concerned, i'm done. over. finished. kaput. you get it. i really thought i'd feel different than i do now. i thought i'd be incredibly excited. you know, the kind where you can't wipe the smile off my face. but again, my emotions surprised even me.

i woke up to a really weird feeling. it followed me all morning and into my certification test this afternoon. it occurred to me what it was when i was in the middle of answering a question on how to administer the TAKS test (i don't know-don't they have instructions for that kind of stuff...like when you're a real teacher?! geez, people...)

i miss my kids. i'm not going to see them every day. i'm not going to help them with their novels. i'm not going to hear their stories of what happened last night, last week, five years ago. i won't see them on a daily basis anymore. and that really stinks.

now i'm sitting at home wishing i could have just one more week. or just one more day to spend with them and hear them talk about how i assign book reports that are too hard. or just one more afternoon to watch them look at a math lesson like they've never seen multiplication before. or just five minutes for me to see them smile when i tell them that i think they're awesome.

and they are awesome. i hit the jackpot yesterday with the gifts that they gave me. but my favorite was a book that they made for me called a tribute to ms. hernandez. they made an acronym of my name, and i got teary-eyed reading it. and i laughed because those poor kids had a hard time coming up with a word for z. i got some doozies on that one. =)

teaching has affected me deeply and in ways that i never imagined. i love my kids. they taught me so much-lessons that i can't do justice to on a seemingly insignificant blog. the past 15 weeks have been a blessing-a touch from God that i can't get anywhere else.

because of this, i am excited to graduate. i'm ready to see what God has planned for me, because i sure don't know what that is yet. but i'm here. and i'm willing.

Lord, use me. and please keep me sane.

blonde moments

i, completely unlike my good friend chelsea, have blonde moments quite frequently. i get teased about it constantly. the latest episode happened about five minutes ago.

i've noticed that we have big black dust balls around our house. there's quite a few of them. as i was sweeping them up, i kept wondering where they were coming from. brown dust makes so much more sense than black dust. i mean, my house isn't that dirty....is it?

then it hit me - i have a black dog.

oh.....i get it now.

can blondeness rub off on others? should anyone else be worried that i'm currently molding young minds?

it's december!

one more week to go...

one more week to go...

one more week to go...

just call me...

jennifer. at least that's what my students say. a couple of girls decided yesterday that i looked like a jennifer. initially it was jamie (ironic, mom?), then jenny, then finally jennifer.

apparently i need to find more work for them to do.

roddick's exhausting life

he's using my bag as a pillow, with one paw under his head...isn't that cute?!

good enough

a few weeks ago a young boy in my class had to stay in from recess to finish an assignment. he'd been procrastinating on it until the teacher made him stay in to complete it. as you can guess, he wasn't very happy. he finished it in about 15 minutes and gave it to the teacher. she looked at it, handed it back to him, and said, "i know you can do better. try again." his shoulders slumped over, he dragged his feet back to his desk. this scene played out three times. back and forth he went from his desk to the teacher's desk, his shoulders slumping more and his feet dragging longer each time he made the trip back to his desk. finally, he stood up, walked quickly to the teacher's, and uttered four words that shocked me, the teacher, and the other teacher in the classroom.

"is this good enough?"

i'll spare you the details of the lecture he got from both teachers. one of the teachers made a really good point, though. she said, "you know, if one of my students brings me work and then ask if it's good enough, then that tells me they already know that it's not."

the rest of that day and since then, i've thought about that exchange. it reminded me, sadly, of times in my relationship with Christ. the sacrifice he made was great, and what he requires of me is very little compared to that, but still i half-heartedly fulfill my commitments. i try to get by with just reading the Bible instead of studying it. i pray on my way to school to save time in the morning. and through all of that, i ask God, "is this good enough? is this it? are you going to require any more of me?" and i can see God up in heaven shaking his head while saying, "if you have to ask me if it's good enough, what do you think the answer is?"

God used that cute little boy to convict and teach me a lesson that day. it hasn't been easy. it hasn't been pretty. but it has been a blessing.

thank you, Father, for loving me enough to not let me get away with "good enough." thank you for continuing to discipline me so that i can become an even better ambassador of you. please continue to help me as i go through this life, that i would exhibit your grace, peace and love to others, even in the worst of circumstances. i love you.

a small suggestion

i highly recommend not reading james and the giant peach right before you go to bed. you will have crazy dreams.

pastor appreciation day

earlier this month, on november 11, our church celebrated pastor appreciation day. it is now my new favorite day of the year! i've mentioned how much i love my church, and much of it has to do with what great people they all are. they let us know all the time how much we are appreciated (now who wouldn't love that?!). this particular sunday, they presented us with money to eat lunch (olive garden, yum yum!) and then we played a fun game of wheel of fortune. it was hilarious! we got so many good things off of it: a bag of m&ms, dr. pepper, starbucks card, chick-fil-a card...and those were only my gifts! i'm not too sure what everyone else got; i was too busy oohing and aahing over my gifts. i've got to hand it to bernice and cheli-they planned the day for us and cheli even preached so my dad could have the day off. thanks so much, solid rock church! we love you!

adorable cousins

hernandez=crazy

need i say more?

um...

since getting my laptop, i have checked my blog approximately 30 times.

no joke.

last year at this time

last year at this time, there were three things that i wanted: a digital camera, an ipod, and a laptop. it's last year at this time that our story begins...

last year at this time, i wanted a digital camera. thanks to christmas money from my uncle noe and my parents, i bought a digital camera. i love it, love it, love it. i take pictures all the time now. trust me, i just finished transferring about 100 pictures of roddick. i'm not even kidding.

do you like this random picture? kelli says they look alike!

last year at this time, i wanted an ipod. i still don't have an ipod, but i do have an mp3 player. i got it because of the hard bargaining skills of my dad and one of joey's classmates.i love it, love it, love it. again, i listen to it all the time. forget the radio, i plug in my mp3 player every single time i get in the car. yesterday on the way home from la grange, i listened to christmas music. i have to change out the battery every few days because yes, i listen to it that much. i'm not even kidding.

so two out three isn't bad, right? right, until now...

I GOT A LAPTOP!!!! yes, faithful blog readers, i received an early graduation present from my parents this morning at the crack of dawn (11 am-same thing). this is my absolute favorite gift of all. i love it, love it, love it. like i said earlier, i spent lots of time transferring the tons of pictures from my memory card to my laptop. i don't think this grin is coming off my face any time soon! i'm just so excited to have this laptop, and think about it-i can now blog to my heart's content! i think i'm going to be on this thing all the time. i'm not even kidding.

so thank you, mom and day, for my amazing present! my blog readers thank you too =)

i love you!

and one more thing...

HOW 'BOUT THEM COWBOYS?!

happy turkey day!

yay, it's thanksgiving! i love thanksgiving because 1) it gives me a great excuse to stuff myself and 2) i'm reminded of all things God has blessed me with.

my first blessing is my family. there's a movie where the girl is telling the guy, "you know that family where is everyone is out of their mind but at the end of the day they're still your family and you love them? that's not my family." i laughed hard when i first heard that, but it's so not true. well, half of it isn't anyway! i love my family. you put all of us together and it will take approximately five seconds for us to start getting on each other's nerves, but we still love each other. we pray for each other, defend each other, and help each other out. there's nothing i couldn't do without my family.

then, naturally, there are my friends. i know everyone says this, but i think i have the best friends anyone could ask for. these are the people who make me a better person just by being around them. they are godly, strong, and overall great friends. they are the ones who pray for me and call to check on me. today i got text messages from some of them just to say happy thanksgiving. i think that choosing to go to ch. 1 back in august of '04 was one of the best decisions i've ever made. i love them and thank God for them.

my home church is pretty awesome. we aren't perfect, but we're so darn close! they honored us last week for pastor appreciation day (more on that later), but they never had to do that. we are blessed to be their pastors. i look forward to every time we meet because everyone is so encouraging. thank you, God, for solid rock church and all of those wonderful people.

school had been so hard but so worth it for me. i feel as though God has really blessed me in this area. i got a great school to student teach at, two wonderful and positive cooperating teachers, and an encouraging supervisor. it hasn't been a piece of cake, but i can feel God literally giving me strength as i walk through the doors every morning (at 7 am! this is so not right...). student teaching has been such a huge blessing to me in so many ways, and there is no way i could explain it well on a blog right now. and speaking of student teaching...

I'M GRADUATING NEXT MONTH! i spent part of this evening putting my invitations together and starting to address them (i need your address-you know who you are). as i was folding them and putting them in envelopes, i was reminded of my freshman year as a music major. and as i think of my college career, there is a common threa in all of them: God's faithfulness.

and really, isn't that what this is all about? God has been so faithful to me that i still can't completely comprehend it. but i'm grateful. i'm grateful that He chose to send His son to die for my sins so that i could have a relationship with Him. wow...

thank you, Jesus, for everything you've done for me. thank you for my family, my friends, my church, and my education. your goodness and faithfulness overwhelm me. i love you.

today

today was the craziest day of school that i've had so far-and i've had some pretty crazy ones.

my teacher has been at a conference the past three days, so i've had the class to myself (love it, love it, love it). i mean, i really like my teacher. but i really, really like being the only one in charge. well, next to the sub. anyway, today we had a turkey lunch with all the fixins'. IT WAS WONDERFUL! of course, i'm happy to eat anything except sandwiches, but it was definitely great. since every student's family is invited, this thing is huge. super huge. like 1,000 people. and because the parents were there, they just took their kids home with them. i had 9 left by the end of the day. 9 out of 21. those 9 played on the computer or played other games for 1 1/2 hours before they went home.

nice.

and now, i get a whole week off. and when we go back,

ONLY TWO MORE WEEKS!

i think i'll go celebrate with a dr. pepper...

hair

i have an autistic boy in my room. i had seen him around the school before i started in 4th grade, but didn't know he would be in my 4th grade room. at first i was really nervous, but it's proved to be a great experience. he's extremeley bright, enough to know what is appropriate and inappropriate at school. so when he says or does something just to get a reaction, i just look the other way. but what i love is how the rest of the class takes care of him. they don't want him getting in trouble. they always make sure he has his books and other things he needs for school.

as he walked into the classroom yesterday morning, one of the girls went up to him and said, "hey, did you get a haircut?" his response was,

"no, i washed it."

her eyes wide, she looked at me and whispered, "has he really not been washing his hair this whole time?"

"don't worry-he has" i whispered back.

and then i went to my desk and laughed. hard.

i just love that boy.

check out the bottom of my page

you like?

yeehaw

the information for my graduation ceremony just came in.

it's getting closer...

one week!

one week until we're out for thanksgiving break...

get ready for some major blog updation (is that even a word?!) but so that i don't forget what i want to update ya'll on, here's a list:

• good enough
• pastor appreciation day
• old friends (yes, again)
• back in the day
• God's call on my life

and so much more...

and sorry, no pictures until my computer gets fixed :(

long overdue

today i got something that i needed loooong ago.

a haircut.

the last time i had my haircut was....may. yes, you read it right-may. i'm so ashamed. my hair grows fast, so in june i was needing a trim. but did i get one? no, apparently i like to go around looking like a ragamuffin.

anyway, i was so excited about getting my haircut. i love getting it done, mostly because cathy (the lady who does my hair) is the best. i made the appointment on monday, and it was quite literally the only thing i could think of this week.

monday i was teaching reading, and while the students were reading, i was thinking,"how am i going to get my hair done?"

tuesday i had to teach all day. i wondered if i should get bangs or not.

wednesday night i was looking at my schedule for when i could go back to get it trimmed (right before graduation, of course)

today we took a field trip to paint rock to look at the indian pictographs. it was very interesting, and while i was looking at them i thought, "what an amazing part of our history! how much should i cut off? an inch? more? do i really want a huge haircut or just a trim?"

um, yeah. just a little obsessed. so after all of that, i decided to go with long bangs, lots of layers, and a trim. well, if you call cutting an inch off the bottom a trim. but the ends of my hair were so bad, they definitely needed to be cut at least an inch.

so there ya go. a fabulous day in the life of ms. hernandez.

wow.

okay, okay

obviously it's been more than a couple of days. i'm sorry. really i am. but i just can't make the story work. so the story will come, just not any time soon.

is that okay with you?

coming soon

i got an idea for a post while i was at school today. i don't have time to write it now, but it will come in the next couple of days. the story involves personification, so if you don't know what that means, you have time to look it up before i write it! go on...look it up!

i love this game

today, my life became about 100 times better.

cornerstone started their basketball season, and i got to watch my brother and cousin play. not that i'm biased or anything, but they are definitely the best ones out there! i didn't get any pictures because i was too busy cheering, but i'll get some soon. well, i did get one of all the dads standing against the wall, but it didn't turn out too well. i'm pretty sure i'll have a chance to get another one =)

i had been looking forward to this night all week, and it was so much fun. it started out with a lasagna dinner from the ccs seniors (it was a fundraiser). after we finished stuffing ourselves, we walked over to the gym to watch the first basketball game of the season. i love this. i love the game of basketball, but it is so much more special when i get to watch my family play.

i love this game.

ace of cakes, san angelo style

in case you haven't heard yet, the food network's ace of cakes is my new favorite show. i absolutely love it. i am completely glued to the television when it comes on (new episodes every thursday at 9 p.m. don't call me at that time-i won't answer). i not-so-secretly wanted him to do my graduation cake, but there are a couple of minor problem...his bakery is based in maryland, and i have a hunch that it's pretty pricey.

darn it.

but have you seen his cakes? oh my word-there is no way i could describe it on here. you just need to watch if you've never seen it. the cakes are amazing.

but tonight, my cousin edward just gave me my graduation gift early-the lady who did his and theresa's wedding cake is going to do my graduation cake. WONDERFUL!!!!!!! her cakes are gorgeous and very, very good. i'm so excited! she is excellent, and i can't wait to see how my cake turns out.

did i mention that you're invited?!

thanks, edward and theresa, for a great gift! i love ya'll!

my adyson

her top says "born to shop"-she is definitely my cousin

adyson with her big sister hannah-beauty obviously runs in the family

pretty pretty

her daddy makes her laugh

the joys of teaching

i know i've said this before, but i am so blessed to be where i am. today i heard some stories from other student teachers who do NOT have it as good as i do. both the teachers that i've had are doing everything they can to help me out. i told kelli the other day that if it wasn't for the encouragement that i get from my university supervisor, the principal and my teachers, i would feel like student teaching was kicking my butt. i'm still a little overwhelmed, especially with making the jump from kindergarten to 4th grade, but i feel like i can do it. i have confidence in myself because my superiors have confidence in me.

and it hit me the other day that this is why i want to be a teacher. i want my students to be confident to try anything and to do anything because ms. hernandez really believes that they can.

i was feeling sorry for myself a few weeks ago because i'm not as involved in ch. 1 as i would like to be. i really miss being able to talk to everyone and plan fun stuff like we did all summer long. i felt like wasn't even making a difference in anyone's life. but then i saw the faces of 21 kindergarteners and 21 fourth graders who depend on me to teach them, to be their mentor, to be their encouragement.

this is teaching.

pray for me.

4th graders

are awesome. i love the class i'm in. the teacher is great. the students are sweet. and THEY CAN DO STUFF ON THEIR OWN!

don't get me wrong, i still love my kindergarteners. and i miss them so very much. i saw them in the hall today, and i just wanted to cry. i love how when they see me, they act like they haven't seen me in years. the reality was that they saw me in the hall the day before, but who am i to take their joy away?

but what i love about 4th grade is all the reading that they do. it sounds nerdy, i know. but i just know that i'm going to have so much fun with them for the next few weeks.

yes, they have already mentioned my lack of height. like i didn't know that was coming.

and i was also informed that i look like i'm a teenager-19 to be exact. so how on earth could i be old enough to teach 4th grade?

4th graders...

before and after student teaching

before:
-i got plenty of sleep almost every night. if i didn't get enough sleep, i took a nap the next day.
-i never woke up before 8:00 a.m.
-i blogged every day, sometimes twice a day
-i talked to my friends on a daily basis
-i made plans every weekend, whether is was family or friends
-i was 75% sure that i wanted to be a teacher

after:
-i haven't gotten a decent night's sleep since the night of august 26th. not one.
-my alarm is set for 5 a.m. not that i get up at that time, but it's still set nonetheless
-the last time i blogged was sunday, and that doesn't really count. i still haven't updated you on the fun trip to san antonio.
-i'm doing good if i talk to my friends twice a week. this is killing me.
-my plans for every weekend (except this past one) include lesson plans and sleep. that is all.
-i am no longer 75% sure that i want to be a teacher. it's 100%.

it was...

-great
-wonderful
-fun
-amazing
-relaxing

and now i'm sick.

lovely.

go spurs go

not that i've been great at keeping up with blogging, especially since my internet went down at home, but i will NOT be available this weekend.

I'M GOING TO SAN ANTONIO!!!!!

i am going to a spurs game with some friends, and i absolutely cannot wait. CANNOT WAIT!!!!!!

i love san antonio.

i love the spurs.

i love dr. pepper.

(hey, how'd that one sneak in?)

it's over

my 7 1/2 week stint with kindergarten is over.

i think i'm about to cry.

i had a great day, the best yet of student teaching. because it was my last day, a mom baked cupcakes for the class (confetti...yummmmmm). then all of them made me a card. it was funny watching them try to write my incredibly long name (thanks, mom and dad). i love love love those kids. they wanted to make them special for me. one little boy came up to me and told me he wasn't finished with my card because he couldn't find enough heart stickers to put on it. it just melts my heart.

so on monday-fourth grade.

i wonder if they like singing silly songs on the carpet.

and for the record

my internet is still down.

blah.

chivalry at its best

today i took some library books back that needed to be checked in. i was probably carrying about 10-12 books, which were a little heavy. when i walked into the back building, i had to go through two sets of double doors. the first one was kinda heavy. as i reached for the second one, i noticed an arm sticking out to open the door for me. when i turned, i saw a cute little 3rd grade boy. apparently when i opened the first door, he saw me struggling so he opened the second door for me. i wanted to tell him, "don't ever stop doing that! you will have lots of girls around you if you keep a gentleman!"

but i didn't want him to think that i was a weirdie, so i didn't. i just smiled and thanked him and went on my merry way. doesn't that just warm your heart?

i love student teaching.

this is it

my last week in kindergarten. i didn't think it would go so fast, but it did. i only hope that the next 7 weeks are just as great...and go just as fast =)

this morning, my teacher announced to the kids that i would be going to another class next week. one sweet girl looked at me and stuck out her lower lip. i'm with you on that one, babe.

i can't believe how much i've grown to love these cute little ones. they are, quite literally at this time, my world. they are constantly coming up with ways to make me laugh. the other day as they were writing stories about their dad, one told me, "i'm gonna draw a picture of my mom and my dad wrestling!"

um...okay =) maybe they really were wrestling (yeah right)

little kindergarteners-gotta love 'em.

losing control

today i lost it.

absolutely, incontrollably, pee-in-your-pants lost it.

right in front of the kids.

when we came in from recess after lunch, the kids went to the carpet so we could do some math stuff. i was about to open my mouth to tell them we were going to start when someone (a little boy of course) let one go. i mean, really let it go. there was no hiding it. when i looked at him, his eyes were huge. poor guy-i think he was really embarrassed and he thought i was going to say something. so the whole time i'm looking at him, i'm trying my hardest not to laugh or even crack a smile. his expression was just adorable and trust me, it was a HUGE internal fight not to laugh. i finally had myself under control when the girl next to him looked at him and said,

"EW, THAT WAS A WET ONE!"

oh my stars-there was no holding back. i just couldn't help myself. when the kids saw me laughing, they started laughing too. and that cute little boy just laughed along. he wasn't embarrassed anymore once he saw that he got a laugh out of everyone, including the teacher.

so it took me a good 2-3 minutes to get control of the class again, but it was worth it.

if this happens again, i'm in trouble. they know what to do to get ms. hernandez laughing now.

beth=add

i'm sitting in a quiet computer lab doing lesson plans. i figured i would get less distracted here than at my parents house (still no internet at home....grrrr).

ha.

the plan was to do five lesson plans, and i've been here since 4. it is now 5:23, and i have 2 completed.

i'm going home.

i'm adopting this boy

yesterday in school, we made a list of words that start with the letter "t." the kids were calling them out and i was listing them on the board. one boy called out, "tall!" and then looked straight at me.

i thought to myself, "oh no, here it comes..."

i was in for a surprise. he followed that with, "ms. hernandez, you're tall!" a couple of other kids chimed in and agreed with him. i heard, "yeah, she's tall" and "she's really tall."

God bless those little kindergarteners.

but really-the two other adults in the room did NOT have to laugh. let me have my moment.

to the right, to the left.....

for the past four weeks, the kindergarten classes have been preparing a musical performance. they had two today, one for their parents and again for the whole school. it was stinkin' cute. they sang a song, played recorders and bells, and then danced.

oh my goodness.

the shyest kid in the class sure can dance! i just sat there in amazement as this sweet boy who hardly talks in class danced his little heart out. it was so much fun watching him and the others as they performed for everyone. the coolest thing was seeing the whole school clap and cheer loudly for the kindergartners.

i love it.

thank you

words can't even express the gratitude i feel right now.

this past sunday at church, i asked for prayer because i knew that this was going to be a hard week for me.

boy, does prayer work.

-i expected to be completely stressed out and high-strung, but i'm not.
-despite getting less than 6 hours of sleep every night this week, i'm not totally worn out. that in itself is a miracle.
-i've been having great days. the kids, while they aren't perfect, are at least trying to behave. well, 19 out of 21 isn't bad.
-in the weeks that i've been student teaching, i've never felt better. that is in no way an exaggeration.

i should be tired. i should be cranky. i should be ready to kill for a dr. pepper right now. but i'm not. well, 2 out of 3 isn't bad.

so to my amazing church family, thank you for praying for me this week! i'm going into the weekend knowing that i have had an amazingly productive week, and i know that it's because of your prayers. ya'll are awesome!

one more thing: could you keep praying for me? i just need it overall. (i know you know that, but still-at least act surprised.)

happy (belated) birthday, mac!

this past sunday was my good friend mac's birthday. that's not really her name, but i wasn't sure if she wanted her name on here on not.

i had planned to write this really nice blog about her but, well, you know what happened.

so here's the short version:

mac is incredible. we finally got to see each other a couple of months ago for the first time in about 3 years. it was so great to see her. and we saw each other 2 weekends in a row! woo hoo!

we've known each other since we were in the 2nd grade, and she has always been amazingly self-disciplined. she told me what time she gets up so she can be at work early (holy cow! super early!), and i just know that when her alarm clock goes off, she actually gets out of bed. i, on the other hand, turn my alarm off, contemplate the necessity of my involvement in the day, and then roll out of bed.

back to mac.

she's has been a great encourager to me. in high school, i could always talk to her knowing that she would support me no matter what. she was my rock in 10th grade. (remember that tumultuous year, mac?)

so, mac, happy belated birthday! i'm so happy that everything is going well in yours and josh's life. thanks for being a great friend to me, even if we don't get to see each other all the time. i love you.

i'm still alive!

oh my gosh.

i hate not having the internet at my house. really, really hate it.

i finally couldn't take it anymore. i'm sitting in a computer lab at asu with...freshmen. haha! just kidding. i have no clue who's a freshmen in here or not. but whatever. i can blog to my heart's content.

quick update on my life: nothing.

i'm serious. nothing incredibly new has happened. i'm still student teaching. still loving it. still exhausted.

see what i mean?

so i'm sorry, all you blog readers, that i haven't had anything new or exciting happen to me. not only has the past week not been blog-worthy, i'm super busy. i probably wouldn't even had time to blog even if i did have the internet at home.

but here's hoping the next few weeks are better.

bethany and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad night

okay, it wasn't that bad. it just didn't start out great.

here's the story: all week long, i had worked very hard on my lesson plans. i specifically planned it so that i would have most of the lesson plans done by thursday night so i wouldn't be at the computer all day. my bedtime goal was (don't laugh at me): 9:00 p.m. i was so excited. i left school yesterday thrilled because i only had 3 lesson plans to do and i knew it wasn't going to take long. i, for once in my life, had not procrastinated and the payoff was gonna be great. here's the breakdown of my so-called relaxation night:

4:30-completed 1 lesson plan

4:45-fell asleep

5:20-ran errands

5:45-started dinner

5:48-power goes out but i finish cooking in the dark. we have no candles or flashlights...surprise, surprise
6:15-kelli and i eat dinner in the dark

6:45-we go to my parents house to see my mom and brother who had been out of town all week

8:00-mom takes me home because kelli took her car to study and alas, i was carless

8:01-power comes back on

8:02-turn on computer, pull up the internet to finish my lesson plans (i'm going to bed early, tonight!!!!!!!)

8:03-internet doesn't work

8:04-try to diagnose the problem, but i have no idea what the heck i'm doing

8:05-try again

8:06-try again

8:07-try again, yell at the computer, call it stupid, all those good things

8:18-finally break down and call my dad-he can fix this!

8:30-he can't fix it. i call suddenlink. i'm on hold. (great...)

8:35-still on hold (i don't think i'm gonna make my 9:00 bedtime)

8:40-still on hold (it's getting closer)

8:45-still on hold (closer....)

8:50-someone answers!!!!!!!

9:00-lady can't figure it out (I SHOULD BE IN BED RIGHT NOW!!!!)

9:30-lady tells me that she can't fix the problem. i have to call someone else. (WHAT?????)

9:45-call my dad; he tells me to go over there to finish my lesson plans

10:00-i gather up my things and drive over there

10:40-i have finally finished. it normally doesn't take me this long to do 2 lesson plans, but i was tiiiired.

11:00-drive home, wash my face, brush my teeth and set the coffee maker for the next morning. priorities....

11:15-go to bed

oh no, it doesn't stop there. when my alarm clock went off this morning, i turned it off and slept another 45 minutes. when i finally got out of bed, i walked into the bathroom and washed my face. then i brushed my teeth. but i couldn't figure out why i didn't have the minty freshness in my mouth. usually, it starts working right away. when i spit it out, i found out why.

i brushed my teeth with my face wash.

i had thoughts of that children's book, alexander and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. if you've never read the book, you need to. it's funny.

fortunately, my day went much better than alexander's day. the kids were hyper, but not horrible.

at least my teeth were exfoliated today.

thank you, Jesus, for a good day!

those amazing spanish speaking skills again

okay, this story is a year old, but it's still really funny-

one of the other kindergarten teachers was telling me that she uses some spanish words when she's talking to her students. while she was trying to get some boys to finish up in the bathroom, she told them "vamenos" which means "let's go."

(right, daddy?)

anyway, as two boys were walking away, one whispered to the other,

"why is she calling us envelopes?"

i almost spit out my lunch because i was laughing so hard.

great afternoon

after about a month and a half, the radio in my car is finally fixed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i'm excited, can you tell?

procrastination in progress

i'm working on lesson plans, promise.

but i have my blogger window open and minimized for quick viewing.

i just don't learn, do i?

terrific tuesday

i had a great day today. marvelous. wonderful. a perfect 10.

well, not exactly perfect, but close enough.

i did have someone ask me why i left my curly that one day (like 2 weeks ago, gosh! they can't remember what i told them 5 minutes ago, but they remember that. sheesh). when i told her that i just wanted to leave it curly, she said, "well, i don't really like it curly. i like it better the way you have it now."

does this ever end?

but back to my great day. i'm celebrating with-yeah, you guessed it-chick-fil-a!!!!!

but i'll still go with you on saturday, pauline. i'll sacrifice if i need to =)

a couple of things

i have no funny stories today. i'm sorry. maybe tomorrow.
*******************************************
i forgot to mention that ryan's team won the cross country meet. silly me. a post complete with a slideshow, and i didn't even mention how they did. just blame it on the exhaustion.
*******************************************
i cleaned my house for an hour today after school, and it looks the same as it did before. i quit.
*******************************************
i'm tired of eating sandwiches for lunch. yes, i said sandwiches. since i've started student teaching, i've finished 2 packages of lunch meat. somebody be proud of me. i'm insanely proud of myself. this calls for chick-fil-a, don't you think?
*******************************************
i actually did lesson plans yesterday. and guess what i'm doing after i post this? you guessed it, more lesson plans. yippee.
*******************************************
i guess that was more than a couple of things, huh? yeah, i like to talk...

one of these days

one of these days, i'll look in the mirror and not see these huge, dark circles under my eyes.





right?

bow to me!

as most of you know, my dad is a pastor AND a choir teacher. i read his school blog this morning and laughed because the latest post is so true.

if you've have no prior experience in an organized choir, consider this your introductory lesson. and stay tuned for the next three posts.

by the way, i'm a soprano.

=)

my true gift

procrastination. i am so good at this.

this morning at the cross country meet, i saw a boy wearing a shirt that said "procrastinators unite tomorrow." it cracked me up.

you need evidence? i was supposed to work on lesson plans at some point today, but i didn't. i took a nap. i took a shower. i went to dinner with some friends. i went back to my friend's house and chatted a bit. i left and got a refill on my dr. pepper at chick-fil-a (new person working-grrrrr), went to pick up roddick from my parents, came home and decided to change my blog template.

now i'm ready for bed.

i'll do lesson plans tomorrow.

cross country

this morning, i went to see my little brother ryan run cross country in mertzon. this is his 2nd year running, and only my 2nd time to see him (hey, he runs really early on saturday mornings!). but he really is good.

last week, he came in 4th out of 124 runners. this week, they divided the boys between the 7th and 8th graders. last year, ryan ran with the 7th graders even though he was in the 6th grade, and he won 1st place. this year, the coach asked him if he would consider running with the 8th graders even though he was in 7th grade. he wanted him to do that so that the 8th grade boys would have a chance to win 1st place as a team. so instead of choosing to defend his title, he chose to help out his team. i'm so proud.

one of his teammates came in first, and ryan came in 3rd. by the way, he would have won the 7th grade race, hands down. but i'm not biased at all...

inspired

instead of having to be in the classroom today, all of the student teachers had to attend a class at ASU all day. at first, i wasn't thrilled about it, but i was excited about the possibility of getting to sleep an extra hour!

but instead of having to sit in a boring lecture (which is what i thought it would be), we got to attend a women's conference that one of the education professors put together. the name of the conference was discovering your greatness. it wasn't just for teachers, but for working women in general. and it was W-O-N-D-E-R-F-U-L.

*on a side note, the male student teachers just loved it. i could totally see the excitement in their expressions. hahahahahaha*

my favorite speaker was the texas education agency's secondary teacher of the year, nika maples. words can't even begin to describe what an amazing person she is. i sat in awe through two of her speeches (she also spoke exclusively to the student teachers after the conference was over). needless to say, she got a standing ovation twice.

she made us cry (if you know me at all, it doesn't take much for me to cry), and she made us laugh (even less). but most of all she inspired us. she spoke of being the kind of teacher that students come back to visit. she had one former student, a marine, who came to visit her after he found out that he was going to iraq. he went to see her because he wanted one last hug from her. in case you're wondering, that's where i started crying.

she admonished us to live the life that we have now, even if the life we have is not exactly how we want it. after all, she never wanted to be diagnosed with systemic lupus. but do you see that holding her back?

i left today wanting to maximize the rest of the weeks i have left in student teaching.

oh God, help me.

it happened

i knew this would happen. kylah warned me.

today i leaned over a table to help a girl with her paper. my id badge was hanging over her head, so she grabbed it and said, "you look really pretty. i like this picture."

the boy next to her looked up from his paper and said,

"yeah, you don't look like that today."

why thank you, sweetheart. you're such a dear.

kj

i miss you. i miss you dearly.

today, the reading practicum students start in the schools. and i woke up this morning thinking about last fall when i was at your school. remember that? that was fun. some people were hard to take (and i'm not talking about the kids), but at least the rest was a good experience.

i hope you're doing well in san antonio. have i mentioned that i miss you yet? cause i do. a whole lot.

i love the school where i am. the principal is amazing. the teachers, besides being friendly and encouraging, are awesome. the students, well....they're only 5 and it's only the 4th week of school! they're still learning :)

for instance, they're still learning that's it's not appropriate to flip your teacher off, even if you're just "showing" her the bad finger. running and yelling in the hallway is not allowed, not even a little bit. there is no playing in the bathroom. and that includes peeing on your friend's chest (still haven't gotten all the details on that one, but i'm working on it. i wasn't there at the time. maybe i should have been). no one likes to be pushed, and when you push someone five minutes after you've been told not to, you're going to get in trouble. you cannot ask to go to the bathroom five times in a ten minute period. you just HAD a bathroom break, for pete's sake. telling the teacher no is a BIG no-no. you can't have attitude with me. just because i'm not your "real" teacher doesn't mean that i'm a pushover. have you met my sister? ATTITUDE. she was apparently my training for being a teacher.

but i love it. my heart melts when a student finally gets a concept. a little boy actually understood the point of one story (the point was implied, not directly stated!) and i just wanted to dance around the room. every time they use their manners, especially when they don't know i'm listening, i'm so proud. and i know this is sad, but i get really happy when they compliment my picture on my badge. sad, sad, sad...

but still, i miss you. i want to hear your stories. i wish i could just take lunch over there and we could chat. sheesh.

but i gotta go. have you seen the time of this post? yeah...

love you,
beth

p.s. could you text me your e-mail address? i'm guessing your saisd one doesn't work anymore :)

tgif

i'm so excited that it's friday. i'm celebrating with a super long nap here in a little while :)

i keep thinking that maybe one of these days i won't be surprised at what kids say, but today is definitely not that day.

when i take the girls to the restroom, they know that they have to sit in the hallway when they are finished. today i was the hallway with some of the girls, and they were counting with their fingers. out of the blue, one of the girls lifted her middle finger and said,

"hey ms. hernandez, this is the bad finger!"

holy cow.

thank goodness it's friday.

chelsey-

i left my hair curly today so i could sleep an extra 30 minutes. and i got the exact same question you did:

"what's wrong with your hair?"

right now

i'm eating chick-fil-a.

roddick is outside.

and he is very mad at me.

whoa

when teachers tell you to think twice about going into teaching, they're not kidding.

God, use me

i've come to realize that i'm very picky about what i put on this blog. i mean, there are some things that just shouldn't be there, but because i tend to be a private person, i won't put anything on here that i don't want people asking me about later.

there have been quite a few things that i have started to post and then haven't. i'm afraid that whatever i post, someone will call and ask me about it. i guess that's where a physical journal comes in. but then again, i'm scared someone will read that and find out how insecure i really am about some things. that's what it boils down to, really.

insecurity.

i'm scared i won't turn out to be a good teacher. i find my efforts toward being a good friend often miss the mark. i'm not the best daughter, sister, granddaughter. i don't have the best voice, the prettiest handwriting, the nicest car (still, as cars go, scooter's pretty nice-i love him). i'm not the best christian. sometimes, i don't even want to go to church.

but i have a lot. a whole lot. why is that not enough? why have i felt blue the past few days? why can i only dwell on my failures, the ones that i can no longer do anything about?

i don't have that answer. but a couple of days ago, i found a postcard that i had written a few weeks ago in our girls' small group. we had been studying the life and legacy of esther. and i'll be honest with you: i want to model my life-my spiritual life-after esther. the legacy that she left behind is beyond incredible. when we finished, we all wrote down ways that we wanted God to use us.

here's mine.

God, use me!

-use me-my personality, my passions-to draw others into a relationship with You.

-use me to heal hurts that plague many women today.

-use me as a positive role model for every age group.

-use me to bring my family closer to You.

-use my life as an encouragment to everyone that i have the privilege of knowing.

as i go over this, i'm tempted to be overwhelmed again with feelings of inadequacy. but i imagine this is what esther felt like. and as i've learned, it's in the hard situations that we see what God can really do.

finding and reading this postcard has put my insecurity in God's hands. there may be days that are tougher than others, but my priority is no longer myself. it's helping others. and allowing God to shine through my life, no matter how insufficient, will be a testimony for many.

what teachers are doing these days

today at lunchtime, the teacher gave one of the students lunch money that his mom had given her earlier that morning.

now this little boy knew that the money was from his mom. that's what makes this story so funny.

when the teacher gave the money to this little boy, another boy in front of him in line turned around and said, "hey, did she just give you that money?"

the first boy shrugged his shoulders and said, "yeah, i guess that's what they're doing now."

i had to turn around so they wouldn't see me laughing, but when i composed myself, i looked at him and said, "no, your mom gave you that money. she just gave it to your teacher to hold for you, remember?"

he looked at me like i had just ruined his little secret and said, "oh yeah."

sheesh. like teachers have money to give away...

*yawn*

when i met the principal of the school where i'm doing my student teaching, the first question she asked me was, "so do you go home every night and crash?" when i laughed and said yes, she told me that she remembers she could never get enough rest when she was student teaching. nice to know.

i can already tell that i'm gonna live for the weekends...so i can sleep. the first thing i did today was eat lunch. and the whole time i was yawning. afterwards i ran errands with kelli, joey and my parents. when i got home i fell asleep watching t.v.

and i was ready for bed at 9.

i seriously hope i don't fall asleep tomorrow in church.

kelli made dinner tonight...

...and i'm still alive!

perfection

today i fell in love all over again.

i went to spend time with my precious adyson. she's so beautiful. when i got there she was sleeping, but soon after she woke up. i got to see her beautiful blue eyes and stare at her perfect little face.

when i changed her diaper, she just looked around the room like a good little girl. edward says that she cries every time she gets her diaper changed, but she didn't cry with me! hmmm....what could that possibly mean, eddy?!

while i was holding her, i was reminded of a funny story. you see, i love babies. i love to hold them, rock them, feed them, whatever. when my mom had ryan (when i was 10), i loved to take care of him. the rule was that i could hold him when he was awake. so when my parents weren't paying attention (which was apparently a lot because i did this often), i would pick him up from his bassinet, take him to the restroom, and flick water on his face until he woke up. then i would take him to my parents and say,

"he woke up! i'll just hold him for a while."

don't worry, theresa. i won't do that with adyson. i'll just hold her all the time :)

she loves to eat

pretty mommy and pretty (hungry) baby

see what i mean? perfection...

oh man, i just realized that i don't think i actually told my parents that story about ryan. if you don't hear from me again, you know why.

this is so frustrating

i seriously had three funny stories from today. too bad i can't remember any of them. at all.

sheesh, my memory is already going.

lovely.

i'm supposed to be doing lesson plans

but i'm obviously not. go figure...

amanda's wedding

on saturday my best friend, amanda, got married. it was a beautiful wedding, fit for an incredibly beautiful woman. we've known each other since the third grade, and so of course are close. when i need to talk to someone, she's the first person to pop into my head to call. when we got to college, we didn't see each other as much as we thought we would, but when we did see each other, we picked up right where we left off. she's also been the type of friend to support me in the good and call me out when i'm making bad decisions. i love her, and i'm incredibly happy for her. she's deserves the best, and that's what she got! not only that, but she got some amazing in-laws. how lucky could she be?!

and for the record, i only cried once-when she was walking down the aisle. i think that's pretty good, don't you?

apparently i had a bad day

today at school i was helping a little boy write his name. every time that he's asked to write something, he says, "but i can't do it!" and bless his little heart, he really can't. so i told him that i would help him.

i showed him how to hold his pencil and then put my hand over his to write his name. it wasn't perfect, but at least it was readable. the little boy was not happy. he told me, "you're messing it up." before i could answer him, the girl on his left looked at him and said:

"it's okay. she's having a bad day."

i love that these children can totally read my emotions better than i can. really.

there is something seriously wrong here...

i feel really sorry for kelli's future kids. really sorry.

the most exciting news of the day

edward and theresa had their little girl today! her name is adyson emma, and she is beautiful. i'm incredibly excited for them. when i get more pictures, i'll post them.

by the way, i introduced myself as her favorite cousin. i just thought she should know. haha...

sorry

i know, i know.

it's been a while since i've blogged. it's just that i'm so exhausted....(and all the school teachers out there are now laughing at me).

i have so many stories from the past few days that i could post about school only for weeks and still not run out. the problem is that i won't remember them all.

do i tell the story about the incredibly hyper boy who cries hysterically when you take something away from him? what about the kid who quite calmly informed me that he would soon be taller than me? or better yet, what about the third-grader who told me, "so, i guess you've pretty much figured out that you don't want to be a kindergarten teacher, huh?"

let's just say that my new heroes are kindergarten teachers!

but the past few days, exhaustion and hunger aside (i don't care what anyone says, 30 minutes is not enough for lunch), have been so educational. the teacher that i'm with is amazing, and the rest of the kindergarten teachers are great as well. i sat in on a meeting with them, and i can just tell that i'm going to learn so much this semester.

but i still hope it goes by quickly.

i hate it when...

guys have prettier hair than i do. that's just not right.

what?

so i found out my assignments today:

7 weeks in a kindergarten classroom

7 weeks in a 4th grade classroom

i was a bit shocked because all of my experience thus far has been in a 1st grade classroom. but i'm sure it will be fine. one of the girls who sat by me in orientation today told me that she's worked in a kindergarten class and she loved it. and i heard from 3 people (parents and former student teachers) that the school where i'm assigned is a great school. thank God. i really have been praying about this for a long time.

and after today, i'm a whole lot calmer about the student teaching process. either that or sitting in a chair for 8 hours has numbed me. whatever.

only one more day of orientation. and then...i'm in a classroom. now i'm ready to get this show on the road so i can graduate. and after that, graduation party time!

you're all invited, by the way...

the "feeling"

you know that nervous feeling you get in your stomach?

multiply that by 10.

that's how i feel right now.

sweet 25

last night i got a call shortly after midnight. it was my friend mindy calling to tell me some exciting news.

SHE'S ENGAGED!!!!

kasey proposed to her at midnight, which happens to be her birthday as well. (oh yeah, happy birthday, mindy! 25 on the 25th...real cool!) the way he proposed is very romantic and i am so incredibly happy for her. kasey is a great, godly man and i know that he will be a great spiritual leader for her. wedding plans, here we come...

speaking of roddick...

this is why we don't clean anymore. ha!

sleepy roddick

this morning roddick did something that he RARELY does:

he walked himself into his crate and slept for 2 hours. this is big. really, really big. usually i have to fight him while he makes his body go limp so i can't put him in there. i guess he was really tired this morning.

oh the things wal-mart does to us

you know how weird it is when you go to wal-mart and things just start miraculously appearing in your basket? um, yeah...

that's all, folks

i know you're all sick of hearing it, but too bad.

today is my last day of work. i finished my last newsletter to those who support me last night.

my goal for today: get through the day without crying.

but still, i'm wearing waterproof mascara.

addiction no. 749

hilarious.

confirmation

today i found out that working with high schoolers is definitely NOT my calling.

i'm glad my degree only allows my certification to go up to the 4th grade.

thank you, Jesus.

ladies and gentlemen, i introduce to you...

after having my car for over 2 years, i have now decided to name my car. after much deliberation, i have finally settled on a name.

ladies and gentlemen, i introduce to you:

SCOOTER!!!

here he is in the snow-he wasn't a big fan.



i love scooter. he not only gets me where i need to go, but he gets me there in comfort. he's a blessing!


(i know, i know...i'm a weirdie. who else posts about their car?! leave me alone. i love scooter very much.)

reasoning with kelli

kelli is feeling much better. she's eating a lot better, and she only takes her pain medicine at night. but i know that she's feeling more like her old self because of what she said to me this morning.

most people know that if kelli can get out of doing something on her own, she will. i've never seen anyone try as hard as she does to get someone else to do something for her. it's a gift, i suppose.

anyway, this morning i was getting ready while she was still in bed. she woke up and we were talking for a few minutes when she put on her pathetic sick voice and said, "can you bring me the remote?"

i knew she wasn't really sick, so i told her to get it herself. her response was:

"but i have a canker sore and i can't get out of bed."

oh well, that changes everything!

so there you have it people-if you have a canker sore, then you can't get out of bed and therefore don't have to go to work. who knew?



(for the record, kelli is a hard worker. i thought i'd put that in there so kelli doesn't hurt me in my sleep or anything like that. but i know for a fact that the rest of my family is laughing because they know this story is true.)

it's official

i'm definitely student teaching this semester.

i got an e-mail from the school this morning saying that my application had been approved. i knew it was coming, but i was NOT expecting the emotions that took over in less than a second.

i'm incredibly sad. my college life will be over in a few months. everything that has been familiar, comfortable, and routine will no longer be there. i won't sit in the university center with the girls and talk about our schedules, our private lives, our not-so-private problems. i won't sit next to kasey in choir (why this hits me now instead of when she graduated is beyond me). i won't be able to see the basketball games for free. this is the last time i'll have an entire month off for christmas, unless i get a job right away. why, when i can see the light at the end of this really long tunnel called college, do i feel like crying?

i'm incredibly nervous. i know i've gone through field experiences before, but i'm pretty sure it's nothing like student teaching. what if i find out i'm not cut out for it? what if i'm the worst student teacher ever? what if something keeps me from graduating? or worse, what if i get into student teaching only to find out that i don't really like teaching? um.....

i'm incredibly excited. i finally graduate in december! i've been here for uh...awhile now, and it's time to move on. for a few months after changing my major, i was really mad at myself for not going into education right out of high school. but if i had done that, i wouldn't have the friends i have now. i never would have worked in the art & music department and met jaxine and dr. scott. i would be deprived of so many memories that i now hold dear. they are memories i will hold onto when i enter this new phase of my life. i have no clue what i will be doing, but i know that God will be by my side through it all.

update on kelli

thanks to everyone who has been praying for kelli. she had 8 (yes, 8!) teeth pulled yesterday. four were wisdom teeth, and the other four were just extras. i had the same surgery a couple of years ago. how on earth we managed to grow extra teeth is beyond me.

as i type this, she's in bed watching t.v. she just finished eating an omelet because she woke up hungry. she seems to be recovering well. the only thing that's not so great is the pain, but she just keeps popping those pain killers (that didn't sound good, did it?)

poor girl. she doesn't remember much after the surgery, but she swears she heard the nurse say that she could eat a hamburger today. um...i don't think so, kel.

so please keep praying for her. thanks!

first day of school

today cornerstone started their school year (on a wednesday! i gotta be honest with you-that kinda bugs me. it seems to me that school should always start on a monday, but i think that's just my personality). i was there with my camera, of course, because it was a big day for the hernandez family:

-today begins joey's senior year

-my cousin/goddaughter started k-4; she looked cute in her uniform!

-two other kids from our church started school at cornerstone today, one in k-4 (jonah)and one in k-5 (alyssa).

-this is hannah and kandra's first day of middle school.

-my mom has her own homeroom class this year. she's gonna do great!

tonight is the annual hernandez dinner so all the cousins can talk about their first day of school. i'll post pictures later when i get camera back. joey borrowed it for the day, i guess to document his first day of 12th grade.

on a side note, i saw parents crying as they dropped their kids off. i'm not even a parent, but i wanted to cry when i saw my cousins and kids from church go into the building. i just know that when i take my little kid to school for the first time, i'm gonna be inconsolable. oh, the things i have to look forward to...

simply beautiful

when i got back to work from my orthodontist appointment, i saw these:

they're from my uncle noe-he knows how much i love to get flowers! kelli got some today at work also, but she wasn't there. she was busy getting her wisdom teeth pulled :( but i picked them up for her today.

and as luck would have it, my arrangement looks short and stout compared to her arrangement. go ahead and laugh.

thank you for my pretty roses, uncle noe! i love you!

yuck

i'll spare you the details of my orthodontist visit today. i even managed to gross myself out. but i got good news: i don't have to wear my rubber bands as much anymore. and that makes it a whole lot easier to eat :)

now please pray that these huge gaps hurry up and close so i can get these braces off....

dad's post-sermon routine

some pastors like to rest after preaching a sermon. they will read, sleep or do something relaxing. not my dad.

welcome back, mr. coffee

ever since kelli and i moved into our small (teeny-tiny but cute!) apartment, i have become addicted to coffee. i drink at least one cup every single day while i'm getting ready for the day. it's wonderful....

but sadly, my coffee drinking days came to an abrupt end about two weeks ago when kelli accidently broke the coffee pot while she was washing dishes. i wasn't mad at all because i always, i mean ALWAYS drop things (my middle name is grace...go figure). but i was very sad. i didn't have coffee for two weeks. and it was especially sad on sundays, because those are my big coffee days. i drink one cup and then put some more in a travel mug and take it to church. it's a great routine.

now my no coffee days are over!!!!! kelli and i just bought a new coffee maker since the one we had was so old. that and because we couldn't find a coffee pot like the one we had (probably because it was so old). i loooooooooooove it. and it makes more cups of coffee! woo hoo! so i had my daily dose of coffee. DELICIOUS.

welcome back, mr. coffee. i missed you.

two weeks

two weeks. that's all i have left of my fabulous job.

i feel like i'm losing a part of myself. this has been an amazing job with a great boss. and it's ending. next week marks 3 years that kelli and i have been coming to ch. 1/chi alpha. they've been an incredible 3 years. i know that i'm just student teaching, but i'm scared that once i graduate, nothing will be the same. i hope that i'll be able to at least come on monday nights, but not being able to be involved as usual will just kill me. i want to teach a small group; i want to go on the retreats; i want to hang out at starbucks until two hours after they close (theoretically, of course!). we have amazing outreaches planned, but i won't be on campus. i'll be out molding young minds...scary, i know.

but at the same time, i know that this semester marks the beginning of something wonderful. i'll be able to use my education (the one that took a little longer than i planned), and after this semester i'll have, as my dad calls it, a real job. i won't be a broke college student anymore. i'll just be a broke teacher :) actually, i think "broke teacher" is redundant. but i'll have a chance to teach children how to read, write, and form great habits that will hopefully carry them through a successful life.

i just wish it didn't have to come at the expense of my current job which i love so much. but maybe, just maybe student teaching won't be as bad as i've heard and i'll be able to attend some ch. 1 stuff.

i don't think a dr. pepper is gonna make me feel better this time...

(but i'll still try)

oh, to be kids again

tonight we went to eat at ihop after church. i think kelli and olivia got a little bored waiting for their food :)

and has anyone else noticed how gorgeous olivia's hair is? stunning...

me and joey

he's chick-fil-a guy. it was hard to go to chick-fil-a while he was gone, but i managed...twice.

i've got the fire

you know how i told you that my dad and joey went to indianapolis this past week? well, i forgot to tell you why. (but really, you should be reading my mind by now.) this was the 52nd general council of the Assemblies of God. the national fine arts was held in conjucntion with that. joey made it to nationals for the 2nd or 3rd time (sorry joe, i don't remember), and so he went to compete and my dad went to judge. it's a big deal. huge. i mean, i didn't even make it to the national level until i was a senior in high school, and i had been participating since i was in the 7th grade. so joey, of course, did a wonderful job!

but joey, being the sweet brother that he is (when he want to be...come on, you know it's the truth), got me the fire Bible. it was just released at general council. joey bought himself one and then got another one for free, so he gave it to me! i'm excited about it. i started reading it last night with roddick, but he wasn't impressed. he fell asleep. he has a hard heart, as kelli says.

so i'm clearly thrilled with my new fire Bible. thank you, joey!



p.s. have you noticed that joey always buys me things? he's a good brother. i'm a lucky girl :)

today

today, two of my good friends graduated from asu. i'd have their pictures on here, but yours truly, being the smart person that she is, didn't take her camera with her to the graduation. smart girl...

i started college with jenna; we were both music majors together. she was another girl that i became close friends because we came from similar backgrounds. we still have things in common, like changing our major. i'm so stinkin' proud of her. (and i'm proud of the outfit she picked out for today. super cute.) i have seen how she and her family have struggled through different issues-extremely hard circumstances-but they have never wavered in their faith. She is so encouraging to me. my favorite memory of her was when we went on a trip to houston with some other vocal majors. we knew only each other and i was scared out of my mind. it was great to have jenna there with me. we had fun, but we also had a great talk in which shared with one another our desires to serve God in the ministry. by the way, she's doing what she love to do-lead worship at her church. and i know she's doing a phenomenal job. i love you, jenna.

then there's mari. i haven't known her very long, but she is one cool person...and smart, too! she is wise beyond her years. it must have something to do with being a pastor's kid :) she's taking over my job when i start student teaching, and i know she will do a great job. i have loved getting to know her better these past few weeks. she amazes me.

as i was sitting at graduation, i thought to myself, "i can't wait until i graduate."

then it hit me:

I GRADUATE IN DECEMBER!!!!

yesssssssssssssss