blessed.

The past month has been full of change. Summer is now officially over, despite the over 100 degree heat. It's back to work, routine, and lack of sleep. My students are precious, sweet, and for the most part calm (extremely calm compared to the kids I had the past two years). I've enjoyed them so much already and am looking forward to getting to know them better. Of course there are still stories and I catch myself laughing throughout the day. So much for "not smiling until Christmas." That's what we're told to do to keep the students from "running over" us.

My parents came through Birmingham and spent the night in town on their way to North Carolina for vacation. They traveled up to our favorite vacation spot, Black Mountain, and stayed at the Red Rocker Inn. They hiked some of my top picks of places to hike, Grandfather Mountain and Max Patch Bald. They're so cute!

Also, in August on the two hottest Saturdays, I learned how to roof. The GAP community group partnered with Mission Birmingham to work on a house in West End. We went thinking we would paint or clean, but the only thing to do was roof. We had the choice to lay tiles or remove old ones. The first Saturday I removed 4 layers of roofing and the next Saturday I layed roofing tiles and got to use a nailgun!

Shireen and Russell got hitched at Mountain Brook Community Church. Their wedding was perfect. Congratulations Russell and Shireen Wright!

Labor Day gives me a long 3-day weekend, so I made the trip to Jackson. This was the first trip to Jackson in a long time that I didn't have some sort of wedding or shower to attend. It is nice to come "home" to relax, catch up on sleep, and spend time with family. Claire and Charles invited us to dinner tonight. They served steak, potatoes, creamed spinach, and rolls. For dessert, we had brownies and homemade ice cream with fresh gound Costa Rican coffee. They pulled out the fine China and crystal for our dinner party. They are precious!

The Lord has blessed me with a wonderful family and great friends!