Brandi & Luke

As another sweltering summer rolls on by, our one year mark as Alabama residents has come and gone and now we are looking forward to celebrating year number two of our marriage. Being away from family has been tough. I talk to my Mom every day but not having her here to help me plant my first rose bush or not being able to go visit my Grandmother in the hospital all emphasize how far an 8 hour trip to Louisiana is. Although, Luke and I have both had to absorb and adapt to these growing pains, our relationship would not be what it is today. We truly depend on each other emotionally, physically, and mentally as best-friends, room-mates, financial partners, and as husband and wife.

Things changed rapidly after January 1, 2009. (This fact is my total and complete excuse for why I have not given everyone a glimpse of Huntsville life on this site) We were mentally prepared to stay in our rent house for at least two more years, save up that infamous 20% or more and move in to our home eventually. That is all until President Barack Obama announced a stipend for first home buyers…. hello, $8,000 and Luke and Brandi’s first home! We didn’t have the 20, but we were close, and buying acreage meant two things: living in Tennessee (with an hour commute for Luke) or buying a 225 acre farm (in my best dreams and Luke’s worse bush-hogging nightmares). But a dream of a home? Yes. By working closely with the builder, we were able to personalize our home in the general theme of what I like to call “zen calmness”. We also bought wisely to where we were able to furnish the majority of the house (or what we cared to) and still have some of the $8,000 left over. The 8 hours listed above is a small price to pay, but now when visitors arrive, there is plenty of room in the house and on the back porch.

I am back on the job road. (Meaning, my temporary position as Counselor did not continue for the next school year) Some days it gets shaky, but I know that God has a purpose for me. My career direction is in our prayers, my families’ and friends’. I have been blessed with the opportunity of beginning the school year with a maternity leave. (not my own… just to avoid confusion) =) A new friend, who just recently moved to the area, and I are planning to volunteer with the National Children’s Advocacy Center here in Huntsville and then of course I have my running.

I reached 5 miles today. It was tough, my stamina is prone to attack by my mind at each second mile. I will admit, the first attack left me zero and my mind 1, but with Luke’s help, I won the war with the second and finish line victory! I have also taken up swimming with my “tri-athalon” friend Sarah. What started out as me supporting her turned into me completing her workout right along with her. I say with confidence that I swim a mile at least once, sometimes twice, a week. I love exercising without the sweat!!

As usual, when I find a television show or movie of interest, I totally immerse myself into it. I research “fun facts” about the actors/resses, I learn the history of the topic…. well, this summer, my favorite show is “Bones.” I will confess that until this summer, I had heard the term anthropologist but did not know what it meant. Now, I check out books dealing with history of lost civilizations, anthropology digs, and other related titles. It is so interesting. It is Psychology (one of my loves) but on a hard science level and instead of focusing on an individual, you focus on a whole culture.

My last paragraph for the day is a pre-considered rant… Teaching is a passion of mine. To teach is to touch a generation. I will admit that, although, as a child my summers were spent “teaching” invisible children out of my Mom’s old teacher edition textbooks, writing unanswered math problems on my chalkboard, and hanging displayed bulletin boards on my pin up board… with all of that, as a college student, I avoided it like the plague. I wanted to do something different than the rest of the women in my family, something flashy, something… something else. But, as life has a funny way of doing: working through man-made disasters and “up-righting” itself as mother nature intended, my desires and goals added up to one vocation – no matter how many times I assessed the situation, I craved, longed, and avidly welcomed my fate in the honorable profession of education. And in case, the obvious was not understood: I never thought, “oh I will be a teacher because that is easy… I’ll have summers off…” and this kind of thought infuriates me. So, so, so many people are going back to become teachers based on the above, bold thought. How do you know this, Brandi? They tell me!!! On a few occasions, I thought I might bite my tongue in two holding back responses. Now, I am not saying that everybody who goes back to be a teacher will be a lousy teacher or is attempting to shirk their end of the work deal, but I do implore that they talk to current and former teachers. Really analyze their decision. Becoming a teacher is an honor. An honor that you will not be financially rewarded for, in fact, parents will most likely call you (during class time) to tell you what they think you are doing wrong. It is an honor that will bring you late nights of grading, germy/sticky shirt fronts, and a craving for comfy shoes that will most definitely (women) cause you to be the focus of many a fashion faux pas. The rewards are internal, you may hear 20 years later what a difference you made, but for the most part it is a day in, day out experience..History classes should not be reserved to fulfill coaches’ teaching hours. For how else do we learn from the past than to LEARN THE PAST. English teachers should not include texting language into their class time and being a Kindergarten teacher could be the hardest position in the building (from my perspective). Write your past teachers a letter of praise, hug your parents for keeping you in school, and smack your kid for not completing their homework assignments. (woh, Brandi, settle down.. don’t smack your children-but sending them to school with an apple for the teacher could make them class leader for the day) =)

Luke told me something this morning as we ran (and I struggled not to quit) he said, “each day is a new beginning”. This is a quote that I have heard most of my life but at the time he said it, it was the mantra, the idea that allowed me to achieve my first goal of the morning. May you read this with an aire of amusement.  Today: be sure to laugh, say I’m sorry for words spoken in haste, and never go to sleep angry.

P.S. Pictures will come soon.

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 27th, 2009 at 1:22 pm and is filed under All. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.