WE ARE DONE!!!

Happy Holidays, friends! We are officially on Winter Break and couldn't be more excited about it! It has been a whirlwind of a week between administering exams, grading exams, two school Christmas parties, and some final Christmas shopping (did I say final? Hmm...I have a feeling I will still be keeping my eyes open until the stores close on Christmas Eve :-). We love this time of year.

We head to Louisville to see my family tomorrow--be back with the blog upon our return! Good times to come--New Year's Resolutions (I love them!) and surely lots of pics from Christmas. Speaking of Christmas, Clay and I exchanged this morning because my gift was non-transportable. Clay wrote me a sonnet (it's becoming a tradition--I cherish it) and gave me dance lessons (yee-haw!) and I refashioned his work desk, decopaging (sp?) his favorite poems on its surface as inspirtation for his own writing. A little Panera bread, hummus, and a hike with Camdawg rounded out our sweet, sweet Sunday!

Here are some (funny) highlights from this week:

Clay's desk

Nick, Ashley, Erin, Sara, and Clay at the M faculty "Vintage Christmas Party." We are all a little tired from grading non-stop...can you tell?


I'm not sure what is going on here. I think someone told me to "be a tree." Like my dress? I bet the Goodwill closest to you has another one--just $4.99. A steal, huh? WOW. Remember, it was a Vintage Christmas Party.

Again, not sure....

This is me and my new good friend, Kat--at the Division I AA Football Championships in Chattanooga last Friday night. How did we get tickets to the showdown between the Montana "Grizz" and the Richmond Spiders? Well, Kat is big time. I feel lucky to know her (seriously). We had a blast--and the Spiders won! Go Virginia team!

Signs of VACATION!! We took Cam-dawg for a hike at Cloudland Canyon Park today in an effort to get outside after what has seemed like weeks and weeks of rain. We had fun the first couple hours of the hike...and then it got plain cold. Clay and Camden still had a blast, but Sara Jenney was pretty darn excited to get back to the warm car and even warmer home.

Pretty incredible waterfall. Like Clay's beard? It definitely kept him warm today! :-)

This was before it got cold...

WOW! WE ARE ON CHRISTMAS BREAK!! WAHOO!!

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas!

Cookies are EVERYWHERE! Have we ever told you about the insane deal that our school parents give us every holiday season? As a treat for the teachers, all of the parents of students at the "G" bake bake bake so that we can come to school one day, receive a bag, and be told to pick out "48 of our favorite cookies" from the loooooong table of homemade baked goods in our theatre. It's crazy. The funny thing is that the very next week, the parents of students at the "M" (what we are calling our schools so that our blog doesn't come up when our schools are Googled) do the EXACT SAME THING. What does that mean? Yes, 100 frickin' cookies in our apartment. GET THEM OUT or I will eat them all! So...what do we do? We feed Clay's advisees, we host a dinner party, we hand them our to our students...and we might just freeze one or two as a treat for later. Gotta love Christmas time!

So...this week has been busy with lots of grading and exam preparation, but this week is a short one for both of us as we head into exams and have a break from teaching for 3 weeks. It's amazing what this long of a break can do for us professionally (and personally). Teaching can be exhausting, so standing up in front of high schools for 5 periods a day, 5 days a week can really begin to make your head spin. But give us a few days to sleep in, read, and reflect, and we are good to go. Lucky for us, we get three whole weeks to do all that--and we can't wait to take advantage of it! Louisville, here we come! and then it's Blair's wedding in Chicago--beautiful!

Thursday night, Clay and I took his wonderful advisees out to Crust Pizza and then to Walmart so we could buy a 10 year old girl some Hannah Montana and High School Musical 3 stuff for Christmas. Seeing the guys play with all of the toys was pretty cute. And man, can they shop. They are in and out in less than 10 minutes flat. Wow. They know how to do it.

Friday night we hosted four dear friends for dinner--our first dinner party in our new apartment and with our new furniture. It went well, but I have to say that I have yet to master the art of dinner parties. Although I thought I had prepped a fair amount the night before and that afternoon, I still found myself in our tiny kitchen throughout the entire cocktail hour. One day I will learn how to host gracefully and actually be relaxed at our own functions. That said, our black bean and mango salsa, Valencia Shrimp and Scallops, green beans with roasted vegetables, fresh bread, pear and blue cheese salad, and fruit cobbler with vanilla ice cream went over pretty well, I think. Clay and I definitely had to take Camden for a walk when it was all said and done--we were stuffed.

Saturday brought more cookies! (See above). We went to church to help bake cookies for the caroling at nursing homes that the YAM's (Young Adult Ministries) did today. We couldn't actually sing due to the M football banquet this afternoon, but we had fun baking with some new friends.

The football banquet was very classy and touching--way to go, Clay, for two undefeated seasons in a row! After that, I headed to a new yoga studio in town for a free (holiday special) Yoga for Athletes class that was glorious. I have been trying to keep up my running even though its gotten colder outside and the CC season is over, so it feels good to stretch out my hips and hamstrings and spend some time really stretching. Love Yoga. I always feel so calm and centered when its over.

We had the dorm Christmas party tonight, and now Clay and I are going to watch another episode of the Office (Season 4--thank you, Brittany! We are LOVING watching an episode every night before bed!) and then head into our last week with the students before 2009! Awesome!

I'll leave you with a cute pic of the Cam-dawg:

So Many Books, So Little Time...Hmm, which one should I choose?

Is this our dog or what? :-)

So many thoughts...but first, so many papers!

I promise we haven't forgetten about our blog--but it is exam and final paper time in Chattavegas, so my mind is currently swimming with media analyses and final portfolios. This weekend will provide a bit of a breather, though, so check back soon! Lots of funness to report...including our friends Mary and Jamie's AMAZING marathon times. They are rockstars in every sense of the word.

We'll be back as soon as I can see past this stack of papers :-)

Givingthanks

I know it has almost been a week since Thanksgiving, but I can't stop thinking about all of the sweet blessings in my life for which I am grateful. Therefore, I decided to stop prepping for classes for a minute in order to say thanks for "the little things":



I am thankful for...

...the fact that as soon as I realized I locked my keys in my car yesterday at the post office, a policeman walked by and kindly helped me break into my own car. 15 minutes later, I was good to go. And a little package was in the mail to my marathon buddies :-).
...an email from my aunt that made my week.
...articles about the future of education (check out this week's Time cover story) and stories of teachers who, as cheesy as it sounds, really did make a difference.
...fun Christmas cards! Sending them and receiving them! LOVE pictures...
...a husband who is my best friend. His wisdom and steady care for others inspires me.
...teacher friends who email me materials "just because." You know who you are.
...Christmas. Everything about it.
...emails from my mom and dad. So faithful. So thoughtful.
...House Hunters every night at 10:00 p.m. I'm addicted.
...nights with absolutely no grading to do! glorious!
...Clay's chicken noodle soup. Simply the best.
...students who make me laugh even when I am teaching grammar.
...the moments when Camden falls asleep on my lap.
...good runs.
...warm showers on cold days.
...the times when the perfect song comes on the radio.
...my awesome colleagues. I work with some pretty amazing and wonderful people.
...blogs! I love reading--and writing--them!
...a good night's sleep
...days when magazines come in the mail (Tuesdays: Newsweek; Fridays: People; Monthly: Harper's, Cooking Light, and Cuisine at Home). It's like receiving a present every time.
...our new dining room set. I love it.
...the fact that we get to live in a healthy, vibrant community for free. How did we get so lucky?
...freshly washed sheets.
...clementines! yum!
...the cross country team.
...finding good things on sale!
...smoothies!
...people who take the time to read our blog! Thank YOU!

Deck The Halls!

Hooray! It's December! Can you all believe it? How is it really December already? But we LOVE December because that means Christmas, family, and vacation. Merry Merry indeed :-). To get in the spirit, we pulled out the Christmas tree (thanks, Mom and Dad!) and all of the gorgeous ornaments we received from a Christmas wedding shower our dear friends Liz and Jody hosted for us two years ago, turned on the holiday carols, and got this dorm apartment looking festive! A whole month of coming home to a decked hall--gotta love it. Bring on the holidays!




Speaking of holidays, we just enjoyed the most wonderful visit to Driftwood, Texas to see Clay's parents and sister. John is in Azerbaijan with the Peace Corps for the next two years (umm, yeah, he rocks), and we missed his fun sense of humor and big hugs tremendously as we feasted on Kay's to-die-for cornbread dressing, turkey, southern-style green beans, homemade cranberry sauce, hot rolls (you know I love those!), corn pudding, and yes--a chocolate bourbon pecan pie.

I didn't want to move for hours...but we did as Clay and I made our way to the famous Broken Spoke on Thanksgiving evening to see Jesse Dayton (a great country singer who performed at Nick and Ashley's wedding!) and do a little Texas two-step.



Did Clay and I know what we were doing? No. Were we the only ones in the whole place who didn't know what they were doing? Heck yes. But we laughed our way through a couple of sets and then admired the footwork (and, we have to admit, the tight jeans and cowboy boots) of the other patrons.

A little (or a lot) outlet mall shopping, some workouts around the Sierra West neighborhoods, some yummy Mama Gahan meals, a James Bond flick, the celebration of Kay and Pat's 33rd wedding anniversary (awesome), and lots of reading happily filled up our short time in the Lonestar state. We always love going to see them. Life is happy, the food is the best, the weather is always warm, and the time with family simply can't be more fun or special. Thanks for a great visit, Pat and Kay! We can't wait to see you up here in February!


Happy Holidays to you all!

Refining and Refinishing

Yup, this weekend we refinished our dining room chairs. Love the new green fabric on the antique chairs that have hosted Hume family members for generations. And we are talking GENERATIONS--the insides of the old seat cushions hid 3 layers of fabric, old burlap, and horsehair. You should have seen us tearing them up--tacks and fibers and threads were everywhere; Camden was having a field day (don't worry, though--we kept him at a safe distance). But I have to admit that it was so therapeutic to do something with my hands (other than grade--ha!) and be creative again. It's been too long since we have tackled a creative project and made something totally unique! 1 chair down, 5 to go, but no matter how long it takes me to grade those Lord of the Flies passage analyses tests tonight and prep for this week, I have a feeling the end of the evening will find me on the floor with the trusty staple gun. I just love this too much!

What I don't love is the Tennessee process for becoming a state certified school bus driver. Yes, ladies and gentlement, Sara Gahan is now an official, legal school bus driver. OH BOY. On Saturday morning at 7:30 a.m., I met the manager of the Hamilton County school transportation depot and for the next two hours proceeded to identify over 75 parts of a school bus (catalytic converter anyone?), drive the bus backwards through cones, and do a speed-limit-only tour of Chattanooga in a bright blue GPS bus. Covered in grease (from sliding underneath the bus to point out the steering, suspension, exhaust, and shock systems--I'm not kidding) and soaking wet from the rain, I found myself asking, "Now, why am I here again? Is THIS why I got a master's degree? However, after three months of various testing (this was only the last step), a medical physical to ensure I am healthy enough to drive (again, not kidding), and five tutorial systems with a CDL tutor (??!!**), I passed the final inspection and can now drive the same mini-bus that I drove for the past 4 years at Saint James. Don't ask; I still don't know why I had to go through all of this. But now I can drive the Cross Country team to our practices and various meets. It's a good thing, too--the season just ended. Ah, gotta love it.

But in all seriousness :-) and with the exception of the early morning driving test, we had a great weekend. Sara went to the McC headmaster's house on Friday night for some fun time with the McWomen and then together we made shrimp creole and relaxed at home with Cam-dawg. Clay volunteered with our young adult church group (called the YAMs) at the Community Kitchen on Saturday morning while I was at the bus depot, and then we hosted two of our new friends to brunch at the dining hall--they loved it. I mean, what's not to love? Jello, soft-serve ice cream, and rice krispies at every meal. Heaven. We worked out at the gym, took a glorious nap on Saturday afternoon, and then browsed the beautiful fabrics at one of my students' family fabric store before picking up a pizza and a bottle of wine and heading home to cheer on the Tide.

Our Sunday School class continues to roll on, and today we had a great group of 12 people who were all enthusiastically involved. YAY. Unfortunately, I haven't figured out the trick to not working the entire rest of the day on Sundays (Mary, how do you do it?), but we did manage to get in a long walk along the ridge with Camden.




This week brings a baby shower for a co-worker, the second meeting of the literary society, duty, book club, and the cross country banquet and slide show (which I am in charge of making--yikes). It will be a long week, but we are always trying to squeeze in moments together and some down time.

We love you all!

We Love This Time of Year!

What an exciting week it has been! From Obama's election to state football playoffs to a half-marathon this morning, we have been taking advantage of all of the neat things happening in our community and in the nation. It's also fall--and in Chattanooga, that means BEAUTY. Man, the trees on this campus are stunning...and I am not one who usually stops to marvel at the changing colors. But WOW. It's tough not to notice how gorgeous this time of year is on Missionary Ridge. Here are some cute pictures of Clay and Camden as we head down to the track for Clay's workout this afternoon:











I was more than happy to cheer Clay on during his Crossfit workout (check it out--it's this online workout phenomenon that Clay has been following religiously since Spring: www.crossfit.com. It's all about maximizing your workout in a short amount of time. It's pretty hard core.). Clay was the rockstar cheerleader this morning as I ran the Chickamauga Half-Marathon. I have been looking forward to this race for weeks, viewing it as my opportunity to put all of the CC workouts to the test. I felt good throughout the whole race and finished in 1:51 (8:31/mile pace). My goal was under 2:00, so I was pretty pumped. But I was most pumped about a crew of girls who surprised me and showed up to cheer me and our head coach on--the CC team! They brought out their bikes and faithfully biked all over the course, cheering us on to the point where another runner looked at me and said, "I think you have the best fans out here." SO TRUE. I didn't know they were coming, but I smiled throughout the whole race and felt so blessed to know a group of girls this special. Coaching can be exhausting at times, but there is simply nothing else I have found that provides quite as much depth of emotion and connection with kids. There is something about working together to achieve a goal and pushing yourself to the limit day in and day out that makes you feel an extra close connection with your teammates. Coaching and being a part of team is such a dynamic, exhilarating, all-encompassing experience...and I feel so grateful to have coached this special group of girls this year. They have brought so much joy to my life this fall.

Tuesday night we were on duty in the dorm, so we hosted an election night party for the boys and were with them with Obama was declared President. At that moment, all loyalties and opinions were pushed aside as realized we were watching history unfold. Clay and I stayed up to watch McCain's concession speech and Obama's acceptance speech, both of which we thought were pretty impressive pieces of rhetoric. Now if only I can figure out how to weave them into my courses...

Wednesday and Thursday nights were big work nights for us (grades due Monday), but we of course took a break to watch The Office, our favorite. Last night Clay headed to Nashville to watch the Big Blue battle Ensworth. Unfortunately, it was the end of the road for the Blue Tornado as they lost 34-17. I stayed home, ate pasta, graded papers, and went to bed early in anticipation for the race this morning.

Today, after picking up my favorite Apple Cinnamon bread from The Bread Basket and a Caribbean Way smoothie from Smoothie King (yum) on the way home from the race, we enjoyed a relaxing afternoon. We met our friends Adam, Whitney, and Erin for dinner at Jet Stream Grill (yes, I'm not joking--everything on the menu is named after weather patterns. Mom would love it) and then went to GPS to watch the fall production of To Kill a Mockingbird. It was very well done. What a great, great story.

Tomorrow is Sunday School and Church and then a long day of grading, but its been a great week so far, so we can't complain. And when you have a dog as cute as Camden, life is just always good :-).

Love to you all!

CC State

After five months of training, countless miles run, dozens of workouts in the weight room, several inspirational talks, and a pretty awesome pasta dinner at the home of one of our runners on Halloween, our team traveled to Nashville's Percy Warner Park for State today. We were expecting to come in third, we were hoping to come in second, and we thought with a miracle we could win it all. We came in sixth. Needless to say, it was a disappointing day. But our team is composed of some incredible young women, and after some tears and reflection, we rallied to take some pictures of the team before we headed home.

It's been a great season.

Happy Halloween!

We had a great Halloween with the adorable kiddos on campus--and look at the fabulous pumpkins that the boys in our dorm carved! Go Blue Tornado!