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

this isn't getting any better

i just got this text from a friend:

"i'm watching kutless LIVE!"

he knows i love kutless. he knows it very well. so what does he do? he texts me, for the sole reason of rubbing it in that he's watching kutless and i'm not.

jerk.

your day will come, beth, your day will come.

maybe a dr pepper will help me feel better...

they're back...in all their glory

it is true. my dad and brother are back from indianapolis safe and sound. they had a great time (of course). joey got to see superchick in concert. although i'm not a HUGE maniac fan, i do like their music. therefore i am extremely jealous. your day will come beth, your day will come...

seriously, this was a great week for joey and my dad. i'm glad that they had this opportunity to bond and well, whatever it is guys do. don't ask me, i dunno.

but i'm also thankful that they're back. it always feel a little off when someone in the family isn't around. ah, family....

roddick thinks he's hiding from us

boring

i know i keep apologizing for not updating this thing enough, but i'm boring. nothing really exciting has happened at all this week. maybe if i was in indianapolis i would have a whole more to write, but nooooooo. whatever. i'm not bitter.

all i did this week was work-seriously. it's 10 o'clock and i'm ready for bed. i haven't gotten a full night's rest in a long time. i'm totally looking forward to more than 8 hours in my bed tonight!

i think i'm addicted to sleep. is that even possible? oh well...

something is wrong

it is 12:25 a.m. and i am up-WORKING!

at least the dr. pepper i'm drinking is making me feel better...

odd?

i discovered something odd about myself recently.

when i cry, more tears come out of my right eye than my left eye. and having the type-a personality that i have, it really bothers me. i wish the same amount of tears would come out of both eyes.

now every time i cry this will annoy me.

great, just great...

my heart is full

something amazing happened tonight.

i was at my parents house earlier, and my dad got a call from my uncle saying that seth (my incredibly cute 5 year old cousin, remember?) wanted to talk to him. apparently when my aunt, uncle and cousins got home from supper tonight, seth started crying and told them that he wanted to pray to have Jesus in his heart. my aunt and uncle prayed with him right there. he then told them that he wanted to talk to uncle joe (my dad).

when my dad got the phone i heard him say, "you want to go to heaven? you can go to heaven because you prayed to accept Jesus in your heart! do you want me to pray with you too?"

apparently seth said yes because my dad started praying. seth also hung up on him during the prayer, but my dad's a pastor-he should be used to people tuning out when he prays! just kidding, daddy! i know seth didn't mean to hang up on him.

i had no idea my heart could be so full. every time i see seth, i'm reminded of the miracle that God performed on his behalf. seth is truly a gift from God.

excuse me, i'm going to go cry happy tears now.

seth-boy; isn't he cute?????

the happy hernandez family - my uncle benjy, seth, aunt anabel, micah, and hannah

ha

my cousin told me that she recently heard this statistic:

the average american eats about 200 sandwiches a year.

ha!

guess i'm not average.

(if you have no clue what i'm talking about, read this post)

tips from bethany

-do not ever, EVER buy the heb brand of trash bags. they are the cheapest things and they always break, usually while i'm carrying the bag out to the trash can.

-while burning yourself always hurts, it hurts even more so when you burn yourself on a previous scar. P-A-I-N

-when getting on the freeway, GO THE STINKIN' SPEED LIMIT! why on earth would you drive 35 in a 65 mph zone? seriously, people...

-a list for wal-mart is such a waste. don't bother making one. you're gonna end up buying half the store anyway.

-nothing beats a home-cooked meal. and you somehow appreciate it a whole lot more when you cook it yourself.

this deserves a post all its own

my meal at zentner's daughter. kelli and i shared it.

does it get any better than this? i think not.

(actually, it would have been better if i had been drinking dr. pepper, but whatever)

happy 25th anniversary!

last month, my uncle lionel and tia yaya celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary. because they live in the dallas area (coppell, to be exact. well, the coppell/lewisville area. it's confusing), we couldn't celebrate with everyone until last weekend. even then, the whole family wasn't there. i guess that's what happens when you're mexican.

but it was fun. we surprised them with dinner at zentner's daughter. the plan was to get a private room so that everyone could say how my aunt and uncle had blessed them. but we didn't get a private room, so we just settled for the dinner. oh, and we got them a suite at staybridge suites. but back to the dinner:

since joey couldn't be there (he had to work), we all headed to chick-fil-a to have dessert. since there was no one sitting at the tables outside, we decided to do the speeches there. it was great. and of course, with me being the big baby that i am, i cried all through my speech and everyone else's. i keep thinking that i'll outgrow all this emotionalism (is that even a word?!), but let's be realistic here.

the thing is this: my aunt and uncle are awesome. they don't have any children of their own, so they take care of us like we're their children. they take us shopping, buy us meals, give us money, i could go on and on...

but what means the most to me is that they, along with the rest of my aunts and uncles, are real spiritual leaders. no matter what i'm going through, i know beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are lifting me and the rest of my cousins up in prayer every day.

uncle lionel and tia yaya,

thank you for being great examples of Christ to us. as cheli said that night, your influence goes beyond our lives. the lives that you have touched will continue to trickle down to our friends. those we influence are because of you. you have been an incredible blessing to this family. i love you.

p.s. oh, and tia y, thanks for the money!

the family at zentner's daughter

uncle lionel and tia yaya listening to someone (i think it was ryan) give their speech

micah giving his speech while ryan gives his ice cream a thumbs up

my aunt and uncle with most of the hernandez cousins. i think we were missing three. and yes, i know i look hideous. stupid emotions...

last night

last night was supposed to be the night of updating my blog with pictures of my fabulous weekend.

but things change.

maybe tomorrow.

i wouldn't hold your breath though.