Busy Bride-To-Be

I mentioned in my previous post that my students have been so funny over the last 6 days. Here's a few things they have said and done that just make me smile:

• Me: (At the end of 1st period on Thursday) "Does anyone notice something different about Ms. Griffith today?" (Two girls instantly raise their hands) Girls: "Yes! You're engaged!!!!" And then once I told the story 1st period, word spread like wild fire
• "Ms. Griffith, can we come to your wedding?"
• "Ms. Griffith, can I be a bridesmaid?"
• "How did your boyfriend engage you?" (instead of propose)
• A little girl drew me a picture of a bride with a green veil and blue dress (picture highlighter colors) and Joe's response was "I think we found our wedding colors!"
• I received a homemade card from a little girl that was addressed to "Ms. Griffith and Mr. Thompson" and on the inside, it said "Congrats on getting engaged. Mr. Thompson, I really like the way you proposed!"
• In the middle of a huge group of girls looking at my ring, one of my boys took my hand and inspected my ring and then said "Pret-ty Go-od"
• Girl: "Ms. Griffith, when you go to look at dresses, don't take too many people with you, because there will be too many opinions, and you'll get stressed out" Me: "Have you been watching Say Yes To The Dress??" Girl: "YES! I love that show!"
• "You're engagement story spread faster than the flu!" lol

I'm loving these priceless moments with my fabulous 6th graders. They make me happy. :)

I've already started my wedding binder, which is complete with tabs for each part of the wedding, and page protectors. I've browsed through 2 Bridal magazines over the weekend, which was so much fun! I went through and cut out things that I like, and filed them into the binder. We have tentatively picked a date, but it will ultimately depend on our venue. We're hoping for July 3rd, 2011. Our families agreed that it's a good weekend since family and friends will already be off on the 4th, so that makes things a little easier. And, venues are so much cheaper on a Sunday than on a Saturday. So, needless to say, we are super, super, super excited about picking a date! I'm so looking forward to all that the next few months hold for Joe and I!

THE Story

What an amazing week this has been!!! In case you've missed facebook, Joe and I are engaged!!! Some of you have been asking for the full story, so here it is. :)

On Sunday night, Joe invited me over to his apartment for dinner on Wednesday night. When he asked if I was available, I thought it was kinda odd for him to plan this a few days in advance, but he cooks for me every now and then on a week night, so it wasn't completely out of left field. I told my mom that I was slightly suspicious, but definitely not getting my hopes up about anything special occurring that night. Well, I arrived at Joe's on Wednesday night, and there was nothing that indicated that this would be a special night (i.e. no flowers, candles, etc). So, I told myself, "Ok, it's just dinner. No problem". We ate dinner while watching 50 First Dates (which was one of the first movies we every watched together), and dinner was fabulous! We were pretty stuffed, but when Joe asked if I wanted some dessert, I obliged. I never turn down sweets. He went to his kitchen and came back with ice cream from Yogurt Land, which is one of my absolute favorite frozen yogurt places. I was pumped! He had gone by there and gotten my favorite ice cream with all of my favorite toppings. Awesome! We started eating the ice cream, and after a few minutes, I saw something silver in my cup. I quickly said "What's that?" And he of course played it off like he had no idea what I was talking about... I dug the silver object out of the cup and realized it was a cheap ring... (Side story - A long time ago, when Joe and I were casually talking about proposals, I mentioned that I don't like when people put their ring in food because it's gross when you pull it out of there). So, I turned to him and again asked "What's this??" Joe said, "It looks like a cheap ugly ring to me..." I replied "Yeah, me too...." Then he said "Well, maybe you should have this one instead..." He reached under his coffee table and pulled out the box that contained the real ring. I was so surprised! He had me stand up and he got down on one knee and asked me to be his wife. I cried, of course, and said yes (although a few minutes later, he had me confirm that I said yes, because he wasn't sure that he heard it). LOL It was so perfect for us! We got to spend the rest of the night celebrating with my mom, Brian, Annie and Clay and calling all of our nearest and dearest. I could not have asked for a better night.

I am so blessed to have found someone who loves me unconditionally, and who sees marriage exactly the way that I do. A 100% commitment to one another forever. We are thrilled to begin this journey together, and looking forward to all that the next few months hold for our families and our relationships.

I have TONS of stories from school and how my students reacted to the news, but I'd hate for this entry to become a burden to my loyal readers. ;) So, I'll save those for a future post. Thanks for all of the sweet well wishes. I am overwhelmed with joy.

A piggy bank for our Honeymoon Fund :)

Back on Track

Tonight was the first night in at least 3 weeks that I got myself into the gym. Phew! It has been WAY too long! I have come up with every excuse in the book to not run, and I finally got real with myself this weekend. I realized that I feel so much better when I'm in the gym. Ok, maybe not when I'm IN the gym, but after I'm DONE with the gym. It's a neat feeling to know that I'm pushing myself and challenging myself in a personal way. It's something that no one can make me do. I have to take control and make myself do it. So, I had a "come to Jesus" talk with myself last night/this morning about getting back on track in my jogging journey.

All that being said, my time in the gym tonight was really good. I won't say great, but it was good. I jogged/walked 2.18 miles. I thought I was going to lose my dinner at one point, but that's to be expected when you haven't been running for the past 3 weeks. It was really cool, because in the heat of the hardest part of my jog, the song "I Will Rise" by Chris Tomlin came on, which was such an encouragement.

I will rise when He calls my name. No more sorrow. No more pain.

I will rise on eagles wings. Before my God, fall on my knees. And rise...

And I hear the voice of many angels sing, 'Worthy is the Lamb'.

And I hear the cry of every longing heart, 'Worth is the Lamb'.

Then after that, Mighty to Save came on, which was empowering. That was the song that Jenny's family adopted during her time in the hospital, and I can't hear it (or sing it at church) without thinking about her. I feel like God's reminding me to keep going. To never give up. To remember that He's fighting for me every day. I'm resting in God's faithfulness tonight.

Happy Friday

Ok, this is going to be a short one, but I've got to tell you what this sweet little girl said to me this afternoon before I forget. Two girls are talking at their desks, and I overhear one of them say, "Just tell her" and then this convo occurred.

Student: Hey Ms. Griffith....

Me: Yes, ma'am?

Student: You're beautiful.

Me: Aw!!! Thank you!

I saw her again after school and made sure to tell her that she totally made my day. The coolest part is that she's not even a student that I actually know very well yet. She's pretty quiet, and we haven't had a chance to talk much. She is quickly rising on my list of favorite students though! ;)

Joe and I are off to Marietta this evening to spend some time with his parents and Michelle (sister-in-law) and Gavin (nephew). We're looking forward to spending some quality time with Mr. Gavin! He's such a cutie! I'm also super excited about Sunday because my whole family is going to church at Highland Oaks and then we're having lunch together and taking a field trip to see Natalie (my cousin) and David's new townhome! Busy weekend, but I'm looking forward to all the family time! Happy Labor Day everyone!

From the Desk of Ms. Griffith

The beginning of the school year is so hectic! It's like I forget each year how stressful those first few weeks can be. Here's a short situation that happened last week that made me smile. I love how 6th graders think, and how middle school is literally a whole new world for them.

(End of the day on Wednesday - the first normal schedule day for our middle schoolers)

Ms. Griffith: Bye guys! Have a good afternoon. See you tomorrow!

*I walk out into the hallway to help with lockers and monitor the halls*

Student 1: Ms. Griffith, where do we go now?

Ms. Griffith: Um... you go home.

Student 2: Ms. Griffith, do we go home now?

Ms. Griffith: Yes, honey, it's 3:25 and it's time to go home.

Student 3: Ms. Griffith, what class do I go to now?

Ms. Griffith: You go home. You're done for the day.

LOL It's cute that they don't think all the way through their questions, and they're just so afraid of doing something wrong, that they don't even want to leave until they're 100% sure they're supposed to. I wish I could bottle up their innocence and sweetness, and keep them that way all through middle school. :)

So, overall, school's going great. Just trying to keep all my ducks in a row and I feel like I make tons of "to do" lists every day, and just try to tackle one at a time. I'm trying lots of new stuff in my classroom, so that's been an adventure. Lots of group collaboration, which requires a different kind of classroom management, so it's definitely a learning experience this year. Overall, I'm excited about the way things are going so far, and I'm looking forward to this year being really great!

A place to showcase students' work and then my blank word wall for vocabulary

A new strategy I'm trying this year to keep kids from saying "I don't know" when I ask them to answer a question.

A place to keep my sports calendars for the year.

Ready or Not!

I made sure to plan a fun, relaxing weekend so that I can really feel refreshed and ready for school to begin. Friday night, I got to eat dinner with my mom and Brian (and Mal of course) at Tillman's Roadhouse. It was fantastic! Then we went to a place called Barcadia and played their fun outside Jenga game.

LOVE them!

Mallory (aka Vanna White)

Bri - Bri did a good job!

And Mom was the unlucky one this time. :) We had so much fun!

Saturday was a perfect girly day. I got to spend the majority of my day with my awesome sister. We got a massage and then had a fantasy football draft at my apartment (for an all girls league of which I was the champion last year!). Then Saturday night I went to dinner at Abacus with Annie and Megan. It was so great to catch up with my girls.

Now it's Sunday, and I'm still not 100% convinced that I'm ready for our first day of school tomorrow. I guess we'll find out when my alarm goes off at 6 am. Good luck to all my teacher friends! I hope this next year is full of students ready to learn, and teachers willing to take some risks to become the best we can be for our students.

So Content

What a fabulous weekend I have had. Having such a great weekend makes me really grateful to be where I am in life. I have a wonderful boyfriend and family that I love spending time with. I'm very very blessed. Joe came home Friday night, so that was definitely a great way to begin the weekend. Saturday was a relaxing day at home just hanging out. Then, Joe and I went to Kelsey and Rebecca's house for dinner and to watch the Rangers game. Kelsey is one of Joe's friends from high school. He's just as much into cars as Joe is, which Joe loves and Rebecca and I get along really well, so it works out perfect. The Rangers lost, but overall, it was a really fun night.

Today, Joe and I went to North Park and saw Despicable Me. It was definitely the best 3-D movie I've seen in a while. It was hilarious and the theatre was packed with families and lots of kids, so I really enjoy that too. I love hearing the kids gasp as a weapon or character comes flying toward the audience. And who doesn't love popcorn and ICEE's for lunch!!! We had a great time!

Then, tonight, my sister came home! YAY!!!! I surprised her by being at my parents house when she got there, and we all had dinner. It feels good to have her home. I've totally been spoiled in the past, because I'm used to her being with me all summer. However, this summer, she's been working as an intern feeding baby deer in south Texas. It was a really good experience for her, and I'm proud of her for sticking it out and staying down there all summer. I definitely don't think I could have done it! I fully plan on spending as much time with Mal as possible this week before she heads back to Aggie Land next weekend.

I'm really glad I was able to have such a nice, relaxing, fun weekend, because tomorrow, it's back to reality. Teacher work week begins tomorrow at 8 am. I am looking forward to a new fresh year with my sweet 6th graders! I am not looking forward to waking up at 6:30! So long summer time!

"Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer." - Romans 12:11-12