Go see this movie!!!!

So very, very well done. Good dialogue, smart, and with the indispensable dry British humor. It's worth the 10 bucks...the there's also some fun English folk music in it, which is an added bonus :)

home again

I'm headed back to the Midwest tomorrow. Emotions of both dread/terror and comfort/excitement are usually present...this year is no different. Each of my family members is going through some pretty rough stuff though, so this year I think will be a little different in that we are all much less put together. Hopefully we can be a comfort to each other in that, rather than another stress. But at least there are sugar cookies back home nonetheless :)

Two years ago we built this giant snowman-angel. It's about 7 feet tall. Hopefully they'll be enough snow for something similar this year so my bro, sis, and I can build another weird snow creature...

semester 1 COMPLETE

I can't believe it's already over! And I just have to say, I am so grateful to God for putting where he has. I absolutely love my job (minus some of the political crap), and I absolutely love my kids. Above is my 5th period class - check out the two guys on the left :) so funny...

Thanks SO MUCH to everybody who supported me, prayed for me, listened to me cry/vent, and helped me get through this. It wasn't even close to as difficult a semester as I thought it was going, and part of it is because of you! Thanks :)

grrr....

I'm sorry to any very nice people who disagree with me, but I really don't like John McCain...

An article in the Star...

Land swap opens door for massive copper mine near Superior

By Joan Lowy

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON — A Senate panel approved a compromise bill on Wednesday that gives the secretary of agriculture authority to approve a land exchange near Superior that could clear the way for North America’s largest copper mine.

The compromise would require an environmental study before Resolution Copper Co. could proceed, an element that conservation groups said was lacking in earlier versions of the bill.

The bill approved by the Energy and Natural Resources committee would give Resolution, a subsidiary of global mining giant Rio Tinto, three years to develop a mining plan.

The Department of Agriculture would then have three more years to conduct an environmental study before deciding whether to permit the land swap. The agriculture secretary would still have the discretion to accept or reject the swap.

If approved, subsidiary Resolution Copper Co. would get about 2,400 acres in the Oak Flat area of the Tonto National Forest in return for giving the government more than 5,500 acres of environmentally sensitive land throughout Arizona.

The agreement was reached in negotiations between the staffs of Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., the chairman of the committee, and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a member of the committee.

McCain and Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., had co-sponsored a bill that would have authorized the land swap to go forward without giving the secretary veto power. Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, D-Ariz., has introduced a similar bill in the House.

The proposed land exchange “presents a tremendous opportunity for land conservation and economic growth in Arizona,” McCain said in a statement. He said the copper mine offers the state “a long-term investment for generations to come.”

Opponents of the proposed mine said the compromise doesn’t allay their concerns because it puts a congressional stamp of approval on a deal before environmental assessments are done. The area is near a key birding area, sites sacred to the San Carlos Apache and Fort McDowell Yavapai Indian tribes and rock climbing spots.

“We have asked them to do an analysis before the bill goes forward,” said Sandy Bahr, director of the Sierra Club’s Grand Canyon Chapter. “In effect, (the bill) says we’re going to do the deal. You think that after three years of development and more time to study it that they’re going to stop the deal?”

Environmentalists said the mine could contaminate water supplies and damage pristine scenic areas. Tribal leaders have also said they fear sites containing religious and cultural artifacts will be damaged by mining operations. Supporters of the mine said the project will create hundreds of well-paying jobs.

McCain has been trying for several years to win approval for the swap, which is expected to generate tens of billions of dollars in income for the mining company over the life of the mine. Earlier this year he placed “holds” on several of President Barack Obama’s appointees to public lands posts in response to the administration’s refusal to endorse the swap.

Rep. Raul M. Grijalva, D-Ariz., said in a statement Wednesday that the Senate committee shouldn’t have approved the legislation without first investigating Rio Tinto’s human rights record. (They have a open-pit mine in Indonesia (Grasberg Mine) that is an open-pit mine on top of a moutain which dumps its slurry (waste) into nearby river systems...great....)

“This company has as bad a record as you’ll find anywhere in the world,” Grijalva said.

Associated Press Writer Bob Christie in Phoenix contributed to this story.

please vote

Ok so I'm not sure how many people will actually read this, but I need to decide on one black and white picture, and I'm having trouble....so we're gonna do this derby style.

Vote on your favorite! Just leave a comment telling me which you like and the winner will get printed :) Thanks all!


Photo 1


Photo 2


Photo 3


Photo 4


Photo 5


Photo 6


Photo 7

visiting student at the hospital - take 2

So this isn't my student's baby, but it's a dang cute picture and i couldn't find anything else...I went to the hospital again today to visit another student...and her new SON! He was so dang adorable and she was doing so great. Another thing I didn't think I would encounter this year, but wow I love my job. I got to hold a baby today that was 13 hours old, and has been in technically been in my classroom, but never breathing oxygen! ;) so crazy!!! God has brought so many unexpected things this year, and while many not so fun, many have been so good...

funny

i tried to make my kids take a class picture...didn't work out so well but funny nonetheless :)

peaceful...

i love paintings of trees. so does moriah. i love that they breath peace into life, like they just calm the world down. this week is looking to be very stressful and crazy, so i'm going to try to reflect on this painting and eric's talk of hope and anticipation and the peace that jesus brings to life this week. feel free to join me :)

ps - funny quote of the day: "he was the worst, non-boyfriend ever"...hahaha...oh fun roommate times

5 Glaciers to See Before They're Gone | Trails.com

5 Glaciers to See Before They're Gone | Trails.com

i love coffee

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/coffee

pictures discovered

while this isn't my photography, i found these pictures on my computer...talk about a break from the chaos :) My students discovered photo booth on my computer and apparently had a little break from their research...crazy kids

updates

well, my student john is doing much better, as in Jesus is a crazy miracle worker and John is fine (physically)...and to think 2 weeks ago they told he was going to die. WHAT???? I may even see him in class sometime soon!!! :) Praise God.

but another student was just in an accident. so now if you could pray for josue, i'd sure appreciate it. he was in a motorcycle accident (and doesn't even own a motorcycle), but since he doesn't have insurance, he has to pay out of pocket to have skin graphs on his legs. !!!!!!! I'm really worried about him and his family as he says they've been struggling a lot. :(

i agree with eric. if someone says they're not miserable, or that it isn't that bad here on earth, or that satan isn't real, give me 10 minutes...or have them just come here to school. you'll find life and i can see God's joy in the faces of my kids, but you'll also quickly find death. im glad that Jesus wins and in the end there's only life.

MST3000

so i watched mystery science theater 3000 as a kid. Emily and I just watched an episode...oh my GOSH! it's so dang funny...so I put a few on here if you're feeling like being distracted :)

post script

john is doing amazing. off pain meds, no longer has a feeding tube or breathing tube, just an iv for antibiotics.

PRAISE GOD!

so many people have been praying for him, and it's just so obvious that God saved his life. i was talking to him on monday and he was just amazed how many people care :) i love it!

so again, thanks, and if you still want to pray, he doesn't remember his accident but needs to process through it and his life, but at the same time it was pretty traumatic so i'm glad he doesn't remember...lots of mixed emotions, so i guess i'm just longing for God to heal him and for john to have Jesus in his life.

thanks again all

another fall picture

i really enjoy pictures of paths. maybe it's a namesake thing - get it - "layne" means "a quaint, narrow path" so some people in college used to call me narrow path (shout out to tim lin). anyways! here's to fall in arizona because it's already NOVEMBER (crazy) and it's still 90 degrees outside :(

YEAHHHH!!!!!!

Pardon the profanities, but this is kinda how feel looking back at my journal. I was writing all the these that happened this past week, 2 students in accidents, another student's brother died, life just being painful and broken...but God has blessed me so much! Why do I complain so much? So I just feel like I need to praise God for being so good...so VERY, VERY GOOD :)

I got to talk to John!!!! He was awake and looking SOO GOOD!! Two other teachers and myself made quesadillas and took them to his family at the hospital and we happened to show up when he was awake - AHHHHH!!!! YEAH!!! I'M SO HAPPY!!! And I have to admit, though it hits a little bit on my pride button, John's best friend told me as soon as I got there, "I'm so glad you're here! He was so mad he was asleep when you were here before. Let me go tell him (I need his approval to be in his room). " Then she comes back and says, "He just yelled at me for making you wait that long :) Of course, he says come in!" I love my students, and I love that my students love me...I'm sure there's some of my junk mixed up in that...but in the mean time, oh well. :) He looks sooo good, and the doctor's are weaning him off morphine so it's funny to watch him get pissy with the doctors. He reminds me of my grandpa when he was in the hospital - so very testy with the nurses and doctors. :) I am so thankful to Jesus because his dad said on Monday they told him to prepare because his son was going to die and now here he is, getting mad that he's not at school and getting scholarships to go to college.

I love the healing and redemption that only Jesus can bring...wow....thanks for praying everyone! I can see Jesus watching over his life, and could feel his Spirit protecting him in his hospital room :) YYYYEEEEEAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!

john

So this isn't a picture of my classroom, but Jack's over at Cienega. I realized I didn't have any pictures of the my classroom with the kids in it. :( But I wanted to post a picture of the classroom because I freaking love this kids so much and when anything happens to them, it rough i tell you....

But I just wanted to give an update on my student....

John was in a really bad accident and is currently in the ICU. As of Monday, they said he wasn't going to make it. Another teacher and I visited on Wednesday, talked to his dad, and he told us things didn't look good. As of yesterday, he's had 4 surgeries on his lungs and actually sat up! Occasionally, he opens his eyes and is conscience for a while! PRAISE GOD! I went to the hospital last night, praying that Jesus would soften his family's heart toward me and that John would be more healed...and guess what? His dad took me in to see him!!! And I talked to his best friend, and she said that she was able to joke around with John when he was awake :) I am so grateful that God so lovingly and wonderfully answered my prayers...and the prayers of many others. He is so dang good... Thanks for praying everybody!

pray for john

one of my students, whom i love dearly, is in the hospital. please pray for him...thanks all

fall on mt. lemmon

heck friggin yes

october is a month of poverty

please help by not letting me do anything/eat out anywhere...but we can eat rice at my house and play music with my newly fixed mandolin :)

officially an arizonan

ahhhhh life.....

so this week has seemed very emotional and stressful so far. people are breaking up, including teachers, family members, and students...my grandma's cancer may be back...i had to pay a big ticket and am now broke...and today i found out that i will be having to submit very thorough lesson plans for every single day of class, which equals an extra 5 hours of work every week, at least...BOOOOOOO!!!!!!! all in all, just very emotionally exhausting....

so i feel like God is asking me to trust that he will provide, he will be God and love, protect, and take care of me and those i love...which is what he was telling me when i wrote Deliver. So though I'm not going to post myself directly, here's a step of repentance and i'm posting a link to the last time we played the song at church :)

last week was homecoming week...

Remember how they have "50's Day" or "Crazy Hair Day"? Well this is me and one of my students on Nerd Day...taken with my computer so the picture is very low quality, but you get the idea :)

join me in celebrating tuesday with a beer

haha...it rhymes :) (with the previous day's title)

fall is almost here :)

i love autumn.  i always have, and will forever be sad about missing the leaves change and the air growing crisp back home.  however, now i supplement.  for example, i got these cute pumpkin peppers at trader joe's and set up with some acorn squash and our orange wall...so very fall-esqe - YEAH!!!

home sweet home

so i read this article today from the NY Times about water pollution in the US. HUGE article, and very shockingly depressing. they had a database of pollution reports for the whole country so i checked out tucson and my hometown area in indiana. for Nappanee, my hometown, there were many incidents of pollution documented by the Nappanee Sewage department, which is located at the end of this creek on the edge of town. there are now signs saying not to swim or go into the water in the creek...now i know why. articles like this, among other things, make me long for Jesus's return so we don't have to deal with broken, messed up things like this

it has begun

heck friggin ya. and was initiated by an afternoon at BW3's with Tracy. :)

this made me laugh so hard i cried

go natalie dee

roommate project

we've both had blank canvases for about 3 years.  so we decided to use our joint creativity and paint.  we have two other canvases that are currently in progress and are going to have favorite quotes on them. then there is this one that we finished. we both love trees so we decided to make this mysterious foggy tree painting from a photo we found online.  thanks dave gordon. 

my first time being sick as a real teacher

i want this to be me...just at home in bed reading instead of trying to talk to 180 students...ahhh the glory days of college where your existence was more or less arbitrary

hard to believe

I was talking to my Grandma today about Tucson.  Her parents lived here in the mid-60s to the mid-70s, which I greatly appreciate because it always makes me feel a little more at home here.  So we got to chatting, and started comparing her memory of Tucson with my current reality.

  WOW - was it crazy.  

My great-grandparents used to live out past A-Mountain, south of Gates Pass, just east of Golden Gate Mountain - if you know the Tucsons really well.  My grandma remembers tons of mountain goats on Golden Gate Mountain. She said they were everywhere. Of course, there were the usual coyotes, snakes, tarantulas, and scorpions as well.  She said there was the only mall in town on the east side of downtown. Gates Pass Road and Catalina Highway were dirt roads, and Gates Pass Road was only 1 lane!  She said it was the most terrifying thing to drive on those dirt roads as they were not well kept.  My Grandpa Jim would also take her to some festival where they would eat bear, snake, coyote, buffalo, etc.  She said maybe it's out on the Tohono O'otham reservation.  I wonder if it's still there...and he would drive around in the desert, just driving in his pick-up.  He would hang out with O'othams on the reservation (I have some of his carvings), and often go scavenging and find Native American pots, beads, and random things in the desert. I wish he was still here to take me!

My mom used to be on the National History Registry and my family has deep roots in South Bend, IN, so I have a deep nostalgic part of  me, and it was so sad to hear how things have changed from how they used to be.  Especially given the above picture. 

Can you guess what it is? Well friends, it's the Santa Cruz. Crazy huh???  The now crappy, cemented wash that we drive over on the west side of town once looked like that!!!!  This was the bridge at St. Mary's Rd in 1931.  While the sprinkle of rain today was nice, I wish we had the raging river instead :(  Thanks for letting me ramble about the Old Pueblo.

afternoon lighting

a familiar scene these days. the kittens playing in the afternoon light streaming in the doorway, as i sit here exhausted from the school day.  though the job is so tiring, i love having a job where i come home in the afternoon and can rest in my favorite time of the day. thanks God :)

Santa Cruz River Band

I found this on Tucson's Birthday page, even though Tucson was around long before white people discovered it, but whatever...a really beautiful song about the Old Pueblo

it is crucial for teachers to sleep

this is me today, complete with the sleepy look and fuzzy effect (except that's in my head)...the coffee is brewing in the back of my room :)

i miss this guy a lot

hope you're having fun in indy brother (and look! the old computer!)

oh roommates....all 4 of us :)

So to add to the adventures, and the craziness, we adopted another kitten :)  Basically, our reasoning is that Nia is CRAZY!  You can't walk anywhere in our house without her attacking your feet or your hands.  She is so playful, but so lonely, so when we come home she just goes nuts because she's been alone all day.  So after some talking, we decided to get her a little friend so she can have someone to play with.  This is her!  And we've named her Aftyn (like the Nickel Creek song Sweet Afton, but spelled different).  Yeah!  And ps - today feels like fall so here's a pic to spur on the goodness of fall coming as soon as possible 

my new fish is already dead

i got a new betta for my classroom and it's already dead. :(  discovered at lunch and had to tell 6th period...so sad.  our school hasn't started off too great

choosing

right now it is pouring. there is a flood warning issued for central tucson, and it hasn't rained in weeks.  While part of me thinks, "sure, it was bound to rain."  The other part of me believes "God has head me, and has chosen to bless me."  Right now I am struggling to believe that same thing - that God is my good father and chooses to bless me - in some other areas of my life that seem pretty impossible right now...but im attempting to choose to believe that he is faithful...in everything, not just rain :)

monsoon rains

i really, really, really love monsoon season. back in indiana, i used to run and walk a lot when it rained...anything to be outside. it just feels so comforting, so monsoons are a little gift from jesus here in the desert. well now it's the beginning of august and technically, monsoon season should still be alive and kickin. to cut monsoon season a break, it did start early this year, but still!  i want more thunderstorms! sure the humidity sucks, but with going back to school this week, it would be so nice if it would rain. so this week, i start my career as a teacher, my new roommate comes back, and i really, really, really hope that it rains....

hahahaha

i think is really funny b/c im fighting it being true about me

Isabella Layne - so cute!

pictures of katrina and jeff's beautiful baby girl :)

crazy cat lady

ok so this past year i gotta a little obsessed with gilmore girls - i know, its kind of a lame show, but i still love it. anyways, when i was working at the sage tonight for the last time, alone, on a saturday night, feeling a little lame about being single and working at the sage on a saturday night, this scene from gilmore girls totally came to mind. i often ask God what he's doing in the relationship category in my life, but i thought this was super funny way of looking at things considering my newly acquired pet :)

Social Justice Education

I just finished reading Kozol's book "Letters to a Young Teacher", which is simply letters written between him and a young teacher Francesca. It was such a phenomenal book. We studied another book by him, Savage Inequalities, in a class I took. I love how he faces the very scary, painful, and horrible truth that is going on these days in American schools (and which I am now experiencing at my Title 1 school).  And I love how passionate he is about the kids. He is one of the educator/writers who really inspire me to love the kids well.

Today I'm leaving to go to a conference with the Noyce Scholars, which along a similar vein as Kozol.  I'm SOOO excited!  So I had to give you all a sampler of the goodness :)

greenleaf vineyard church

kat and jeff go to a sweet church and i got to hang out with their friends today...so fun!  And their pastor even burned me a sweet david bazan cd.  HECK YES!  Anyway, check out their church here!

ya north carolina...

no baby yet...

and the doctor today said it doesn't look like she's coming quickly :(  however, mom has been taking lots of long naps allowing me play time :)  i went for a long walk under the Carolina oaks (gorgeous!) and was reading some of a book jeff's pastor roger gave him.  The Baby Owner's Manual.  It is hilarious!  and tonight - amazing chinese food - courtesy of katrina's mom who always takes the three of us out to chinese food when im home.  what a great trip so far!

off to chapel hill

katrina and i have been friends since we were 8, as she says when she was "fresh off the boat" from the philippines...yes, a terrible expression, but she said it. the above photo is of us going sledding at 11:30 pm on new year's eve for 2008. (i really like this picture b/c i can feel the stillness of a snowing, winter night by looking at the pic).

 we were always doing crazy things together, and we always so much fun. learned to play guitar together, worked at the factory together, went through break ups together, found Jesus together...a very awesome friendship.  her and her husband now live in chapel hill, and im headed there to see their place, hang out with my 9-mo pregnant friend, and hopefully meet their new baby - Isabella Layne - it's very strange to think there will be a person with the same name as you. but hopefully i will get to meet her, so my prayer is that that will happen while im there. feel free to join me in that prayer. :)

Moriah's here!!!!!!

Our first picture as new roomies!!! YAAAAAAA!!!!!  more to come, the others were scary :)

b/c i didn't know how to post a picture response

it fell asleep under my chin under a blanket. 

new housemate

so i was walking to take the trash out when all of my neighbors yell, "LAYNE!!!!! We're so glad to see you!!!"  It was the two single women who live nearby and a mom with her two kids. (They also have a dog named Bella).  well, as I walk up they start telling me how it's fate and I'm still confused at this point. as i get up there, i see the kitten pictured above.  AAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWW

ISN'T IT ADORABLE?!?!  Well, it's pretty dang lonely here this summer, and i grew up with cats and had been thinking about getting one.  but i had been praying, "well God, if you want me to have a cat, could bring me one?... otherwise i don't want to take on more expenses and im not sure." i didn't want to just fill my loneliness. but I thought a lot about Karen's story with her cat so here i am! And Moriah said she wanted a kitten but to not have to worry about it...perfect! 

The three kittens were trapped under my neighbors shed, stuck in thorns near a soccer ball.  So the kids (they're in middle school) and I were trying to think of names, and they suggested "Beckham" because they had heard of him...part of me likes it, but part of me thinks something Spanish or Mexican might be more appropriate...we'll see. Know any Mexican futbol players? 

Well in the mean time, I'm taking care of the McCulley's cat and now him/her, so I've officially become a cat sitter. Feel free to come over and see it!!!