It has almost begun

Not sure if you can see this well, but here is the approximate map of where Laelia, my sister, and for a stretch, my dad, will be going. Crazy huh???

i'm starting to get very excited...

When I come back, I will devote some blog time to every city that we visit...unless I can figure out a way to do it on the road - i haven't decided if I'm bringing my computer...

But in the meantime, I'm getting gear for the trip (and am loving it since I'm a geologist at heart and therefore a gear-junky). The new REI has saved me from overspending at Summit Hut and it's been fun :)

Lemon Abbey blog

Laelia and I have started a blog for the band so people can follow when we actually are playing. The trip will be a performing hiatus, but hopefully a songwriting time....we'll see :)

here's the blog...

www.lemonabbey.blogspot.com

from the apple store

i'm sitting here at the apple store waiting to fix my computer.

even on a friday morning i still have to wait 2 hours to be seen - fun times....but in the meantime i can tell you all what's up :)

Laelia has once again decided to join my sister and I are our trip. The trip idea started with the intention of visiting Laelia's childhood house in Long Island, has since migrated and morphed, and now we are back to heading to New England and visiting Laelia's house.

The trip is turning into a nostalgic pilgrimage - a journey traveling through Laelia and my's past (weird grammer there...) and into the future with my sister, who has never been to New England. We're going to places new, places old, and all the while building on old relationships (my sis and I) and forming new ones (Laelia and my sis have never met). I am a very sentimental, nostagic person - my sister calls me a "dweller", so this trip brings up many longings and fuzzy things in my heart.

I'm very excited about this and how it feels very led and put into action by God. Laelia was praying about what to do next, thinking God would plop a job in her lap, and instead he tells her to go on this trip - which turns out to actually be better for her financially. Then with me, my sister and I have never "hung out" intentionally when we haven't been at home at the same time. My family isn't the type to spend quality time together, so the fact that my sister and I are doing this is rather huge.

We'll also be picking up my father in Houston, TX, on the way and dropping him off in Indy. So 15 hours in the car with my dad and Laelia speaks to Jesus's involvement, especially if you knew my dad and Laelia :)

so...please feel free to pray. Pray that I can be who I am really am in the midst of my family...that i can offer my true self to my sister, my dad...that the trip brings healing, growth, and unity for all three of us women...that we're safe the whole time....that we don't run out of gas....that visiting friends and family along the way is rich rather than tiring...and that we come back with a renewed relationship with Jesus, more intimate and more reliant upon him than before - thanks all.

PS - on the music side of things, i played the song that i wrote for my students at school. they were very cute and supportive :) but i decided to change the key so i worked on what key to put it in this morning. i also bought a hard case for my mandolin so i can take it on the trip! tiny cute stringed instrument - so fun!!!

the last day is over :)

It's official. School is over. The keys are in. And my classroom is now in my bedroom.

It's so hard to believe!!! And here's something funny to make us teachers feel better about life :)

High Paid Teachers?

Teachers' hefty salaries are driving up taxes, and they only work 9 or 10 months a year! It's time we put things in perspective and pay them for what they do - baby sit! We can get that for less than minimum wage. That's right....

Let's give them $3.00 an hour and only the hours they worked; not any of that silly planning time, or any time they spend before or after school. That would be $19.50 a day (7:45 to 3:00 PM with 45 min. off for lunch and plan -- that equals 6 1/2 hours).

Each parent should pay $19.50 a day for these teachers to baby-sit their children.

Now how many students do they teach in a day...maybe 30? So that's $19.50 x 30 = $585.00 a day.

However, remember they only work 180 days a year!!! I am not going to pay them for any vacations. LET'S SEE.... That's $585 X 180= $105,300 per year. (Hold on! My calculator needs new batteries).
What about those special education teachers and the ones with Master's degrees? Well, we could pay them minimum wage ($7.75), and just to be fair, round it off to $8.00 an hour. That would be $8 X 6 1/2 hours X 30 children X 180 days =$280,800 per year.

Wait a minute -- there's something wrong here!
There sure is! The average teacher's salary (nation wide) is $50,000. $50,000/180 days = $277.77/per day/30 students=$9.25/6.5 hours= $1.42 per hour per student--a very inexpensive baby-sitter and they even EDUCATE your kids!) WHAT A DEAL!!!!

Horse Feathers

played at Solar Culture last night - an amazing show!!! Utterly fabulous music and a very crowd :)

ode to kelsea

Kels - thanks for finding the cool new blog templates. I had been sad about my blog template for a while now (hence the attempt at changing up the font colors) - but this is way better!

A great many things that I love...

-coffee
-music on the iPod
-road trips essentials - maps, etc

And it is appropriately titled "After Work" - which is what I feel like my blog is...my life outside of work reflected online

Thanks again Kels!

harmonies - oh the beauty

As far as music goes, i've been playing my harmonica a lot these days, especially with my guitar. Along with that, i've been really trying to work on hearing harmonies. that is pretty crucial with the harmonica and vocally, and is something i'm not so great at...feel free to pray for God to give me an ability i don't have...

So here's a lovely song that i so greatly enjoy harmonizing with - and an amazing video of the two of them playing :)

and now a cheesy, cute youtube video :)

you'll have to forgive me - i just went with the roomie to see a sappy movie (actually at a theatre!)

flash mobs

Those some think "OK it's been done now"...i still think they're cool.

i mean the practice, the randomness...all equals much fun :)

Here's one from the new Ohio State union that my sis posted (she went there)

today's craziness

Not sure if you can tell what this is, but if you guessed a tiny, tiny mouse inside a Gatorade bottle - you were right!!! Only the red part is liquid, so don't worry, it's not drowning or anything...

We had dissections today, and sadly, the animals were old so they were all brown and partially dried out - SOOOOO GROSSSSS!!!! Then during 5th period this little guy appeared. So not only is half of my class dissecting sharks, clams, and starfish while the other half are "working" on their projects, but then a mouse shows up - yes, it was completely and utter anarchy!

But it was surprisingly very, very fun. And since I wasn't at school for Tuesday/Wednesday for meetings and whatnot, the kids kept telling me all day, "We missed you! Where were you???" I felt very loved and again was excited about my job :) Yeah!!!

birthday joys

My 24th birthday was yesterday and it was lovely :)

the kids were so cute!!! One of my seniors came to every single class to make the kids sing to me, and they got me muffins...they're just so dang cute :)

here's a song i'm working on covering...

joshua james

is awesome

wow is God freaking awesome

So I've been very broke these last few months...it's true - teachers get paid crap, but then add on student/car loans and labs for kids and your kinda screwed.

God graciously provided a way to get my credit card paid off this past week - WOW! And it was a lot...

Then! I've been thinking about joining a gym to deal with the stress in my life and he provided a FREE gym membership!!! Very, very cool.

thanks to cool heavenly Father :)

the countdown begins...

You may think I'm meaning to the end of school, but sorry no. This is a countdown to an event that happens just after school is over, so ok, in a way yes...but it's much more!

On June 2nd, I'm leaving in my fancy-pants new car to embark on a cross country road trip with my sister. WOOOOOOHOOOOO!!!!! I haven't taken a big road trip before, at least without a real reason to get somewhere, so I'm very excited. Also, I've not gone anywhere far in my new car, so this will be a fun excuse :)

I will be driving from here in Tucson to pick up my sister in Columbus, OH. We will spend the weekend there, then drive to PA, NYC, Boston, Hartford,CT, Maine!!!, Burlington,VT (where I used to live), Montreal, Quebec, and then back to good ol' Indiana. I will bum in IN with my family for a few days and head back to Tucson. All in all, around 6,000 miles!!! :) so dang exciting...we will be camping a lot, so that will be awesome. And if you know anyone who lives around any of those towns and wouldn't mind some house guests - let me know!

here are some pictures to remind me of why driving that far will be awesome...

burlington, vt waterfront (i used to hang out by these boats a lot and journal)

osu campus (the geology building in the background!)

trinity church in boston

lighthouse in portland, me

upstate ny countryside

cafe in montreal

in honor of her return...

I think this is the oldest picture of i have of Cori....

From when Coleen and I visited her two Octobers ago...note the vests in the pic...heck yes