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....