Family is Fun

What I love about my family is we can get together and not need anything to entertain us. We're perfectly content to visit with one another and share stories or just shot the breeze. Last night we went over to my Aunt Cindy & Uncle Joe's house in Long Beach to celebrate my Grandpa & Grammy's wedding anniversary and eat some cake!

After spending about a hour of talking, we opted to bust out a game. It was a blast! Have I mentioned how much I love my family?

Tripoly!!! Have you played it? It's a mix up of poker and hearts.

We started off with a game of 7 people until it came down to the final 4. Our hands all had the nasty stench of penny germs afterward. I think we all agree the stank was worth it.

This is my cute cousin Sarah. She's an engineering sophomore at CSULB. Can you tell? Check out her pennies!

It was a fabulous night. We ended up staying until 11pm. (Now, this is late for us because we all get up around 6am in the morning.) Plus, we had church the next morning. I think God appreciated our family fellowship... even if we were tired for church.

Fruit Syrup Recipe

Saturday mornings I try to make a hearty breakfast if I can for Anthony and I. Usually it consists of any combination of pancakes, eggs, toast, and bacon. This morning we were running low on supplies, so I was just making pancakes. However, I realized I didn't have any more maple syrup. (I know I need to go grocery shopping.)

I decided to make some blueberry syrup from scratch. I had a bowl of frozen blueberries in the frig that I had thawed and thought, whatthehey, I could figure it out.

Here's the recipe:

Blueberry Syrup
1 cup blueberries (or any seasonal fruit will do)
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup water

Put the fruit into the food processor and blend it up for a solid minute. You'll want the end product to be as close to juice as possible.

After this, run the fruit juice through a strainer to separate all the pulp. (Note: for fruit without skin, i.e.-strawberries) you can skip this step.

Transfer juice into a saucepan and combine sugar well into the mixture. (Note: Do not turn on heat until after sugar and juice are combined well.)

Turn to medium heat and boil juice for 15-20 minutes. You'll want to see small bubbles coming up from the center of the juice and mix frequently to avoid burning.

After 15-20 minutes the juice should be thicker, but still not a syrup consistency. Turn heat off and let stand for 3-5 minutes. Syrup will thicken into a nice viscosity for pouring over pancakes.

Valleys of Sorrow to Rivers of Joy

I have had a rough couple of days. I feel blessed to have a husband who said to me last night, "You should take tomorrow off." I'll admit it was probably exactly what I wanted to do, but wouldn't have done unless suggested. So, now I'm very grateful to be home for the day in order to process all that has happened this week. Here's a recap.

Lesson #1 - Unruly 8th Graders
This week I was called to substitute for a two day job on Wednesday and Thursday. It was at a middle school that I have been to several times and despite the subjects being Science and Math (least favorite for an English teacher) I accepted and was excited about seeing the same kids for more than one day. However, one particular group of children (that were with me twice a day) were just not the pick of the litter. They were challenging everything I said and just not staying on task at all. Finally, by the last period of the second day I had to give it up to the Lord and just say, "Alright God, I can't do this." It was a very difficult thing to admit, because I like to think that I am capable all the time (ha!)

Lesson #2 - Fraudulent Bank Charge
On Wednesday, (after coming home from the first day of crazy 8th graders) Anthony was checking our bank statement online and noticed a charge that looked suspicious. He called me to investigate and sure enough, it was a fraudulent charge. Granted, it was only for like $4.50, but the feeling that someone could possibly have access to your bank information is very scary! Thankfully, it was only "in process" and this morning it disappeared on our statement. Thank you Jesus!

Lesson #3 - Email Hacked
As if my bank account weren't enough, I came home on Thursday to find an email sent out from my junk email address to everyone in my contacts list. Yeah, if you got an email from "Chanell Eustice" with no subject and an email link--delete it! At this point I was feeling so out of control of my life and really just at the point of tears.

Needless to say, I have been going through some trials right now and would appreciate prayer if possible. I know that this all will pass and God has some character building badge to put on my Brownie sash, but at this time I'm just dragging my feet through this valley looking forward to the other side.

'Tis the Season

I am thankful for November. The holiday seasons are so much more enjoyable than any other time of the year. I love the cooler weather and new wardrobe changes (even though today is supposed to be 91 degrees...bah!) I'm also excited to be hosting Thanksgiving at our house this year. It's such a grown up thing to do and there is still some part of me that hasn't quite caught up with the reality that I am indeed a grown up.

Today is also election day. I haven't voted yet, though I plan to in the upcoming hours. I'm going to ride my bike over to the local church (my designated polling place) and then I think peddle over to the library to pick up a Francine Rivers book. I've finally decided to start reading the Mark of the Lion series. We'll see how it goes.

This is a picture of my table setting in honor of the autumn season.

Friendship is Grand

This weekend we hosted Jenna's 23rd birthday party. I'll have to admit, as Anthony and I were spending the entire Saturday morning cleaning and preparing for our 3pm guests, I was a little more exhausted than excited to see all of our friends. Don't judge me too harshly. We spent the previous weekend all over town and had not had the opportunity to "rest" since. However, when my friends arrived and after the food had been set out, I had an internal moment where I quietly looked around my room and my heart was filled with joy. I truly am blessed.

My friends are beautiful people and we're currently in one of the best stages of our lives. We're finishing school, starting our careers and beginning to find our mates. Some people could feel overwhelmed during this time, but I have this calming feeling that my friends will always be this steady rock that I can turn back to for relief from life's pressures. I love them. This video is a medley of our fun from that day.

Long Term Sub Coming to Close

I just learned last week that my time with my students is coming to a close. It is bitter sweet news, because I'm very happy their regular teacher has healed up from her injury and the kids will be reunited with her, but I'm also sad to say goodbye. I have grown so fond of them over the past five weeks and wish I could be with them for the rest of the school year. Despite the behavioral issues and lack of motivation, many of the students have etched their way into a special place in my heart.

However, I do look forward to the adventures to come as a NLMSD substitute. I'm sure their will be good days and bad days, good classes and bad classes. I'm still overjoyed with the blessing to have been hired into the district as a substitute in this especially difficult economy and have hopes that next year I'll be able to secure my own classroom.

Answered Prayer

Blessings, blessings, blessings! It's been a wonderful week! After making a hard decision to turn down a potential teaching job, which would have required Anthony and I to move to Tulare, CA, I received a fabulous phone call on Tuesday. A principal from a Norwalk-La Mirada middle school called BIOLA and asked my new favorite person, Kathy Granados, if she had a recommendation for a Middle School English teacher. And guess who she recommended... me! This might be one of those moments that I will look back on and thank God forever for!

Needless to say, Kathy called me, I called the principal and he asked me to come in that day for an interview. The interview was one of the things that made me feel that this may be the job God had for me. Instead of all the other interviews I had been through, which included very formal and rigid questions, this one was just a casual conversation with the principal. It was wonderful! Mr. Easton is a BIOLA graduate and seems to me to be a wonderful man!

Well, how did I get the job... apparently, there was a teacher who broke her tailbone and they need a replacement for however long she will be out. Neither the principal or I know how long the job will be for, but I'm guessing the tailbone doesn't heal quickly. And even if the teacher comes back after a week, I got into the Norwalk-La Mirada sub pool, so more day jobs will hopefully come!

Another perk of the job is that there is an English teacher is retiring next year and the principal said there will be a position opening up that I may qualify for. So... for the next X weeks, I am planning on making a good impression and really praying that this is the place I'm meant to be!

Wish me luck!