News worth sharing....

Even though the piggie flu has been running around at work, I've got other (more exciting!) news to share.

My friend Stephanie, my best Denton friend, is under contract to purchase a home in our neighborhood. Now, I completely understand the idea of becoming friends with your neighbor, but what about when your friend becomes your neighbor? Do I still take her a welcome basket like I do filled with cookies...you know, like the neighbors that I don't know? I do have an advantage because I know her favorite cookies as well as her food allergies...that's an advantage that I do not normally have when gifting treats to new neighbors. She's also gonna have an instant roommate, and I'm not referring to Macy or Josie who both love her, I'm talking about Liand. I'm excited about the new addition with both of them coming to our neighborhood. This makes block parties more fun to plan and ministry much easier knowing I have partners to share the load and join in prayer.

Here's her house:

Ironically, if you turned to the right after seeing her house...you'd see mine two doors down. I haven't taken a recent photo. But here it is, one year ago, in all her glory: Casa DeWoody. I can't believe we've been here for a year already.

No pigs allowed...

We've been experiencing a lot of illness with the students at the academy where I work. It just so happens that it is residential, so one sick kid really can infect the whole crowd...and that's pretty much how it happened. One day we were just throwing around the idea that we should begin to plan ahead for flu season and put together protocol for what we would do....not an hour later, it started. The flu, H1N1 and seasonal both, and also some strep thrown in the mix--they've got it all and they've got it bad. I pray that my co-workers and I make it through without getting sick. It's easier said, than done...we are still working with these kids, some delivering their food trays and taking temps, and still trying to make them feel like they are not lepers. I hope our residential environment becomes well soon. It is so sad to see so many of the kiddos so sick and many without their momma's to make it okay. Please pray for my students.

In other news, we had an awesome small group meeting at my house tonight. Stephanie, my bff, brought her crew over toward the end. We had 30+ college students in my living room and it was a lot of fun. I'll post pictures later when I can share more good news.

Have a great weekend! One more day of work...and then I get to rest, sleep, and see the hubbs. I've missed him this week! :)

love letters to the recipients who deserve them....

Dear University Parking Office,

While I absolutely love that you deduct money from my paycheck every month so that I can attempt to park in a specific color coded area on campus, I'd like a refund. I'm sick and tired of circling campus while people who have not paid a dime for parking are happily parking their cars in our spots and your staff is too busy chilling in the A/C to get out and write them tickets. However, I am certain that if I parked in an alternative zone, I would indeed be asked to pay more money for parking because you would give me a ticket. You.are.horrible. There, I said it.

Yours,
frustrated driver
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Dear PhD school,

I miss my husband. You are keeping him out three nights a week and I miss him. Please grant him a free phd with no more coursework so I can hopefully move out of Texas and somewhere closer to family.

Love,
the mrs.
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Dear neighbor,

Clean up your yard. You are not the proud owner of a jalopy version of the botanical gardens. The rest of us are working hard to keep our yards nice, and you just keep planting a random mess. Please take your giant satellite dish down from your roof and use it to collect all the random mess growing in your yard. These things belong out of site. If you wanna grow a mess, do so in your backyard or move to the country so we don't have to look at it everyday.

ps. if you see me tiptoeing in your front yard at 2am, i'm just "watering" the plants.

your friend and soon-to-be weedkiller,
the mrs.

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Dear president O,

I'm not interested in free and crappy healthcare or socialism for that matter. I'd prefer to continue to work and receive decent healthcare paid for by my employer. I have friends who are doctors and they would like to stay in their profession. Med school does not pay for itself. While you are at it, can we stop with the "cash for clunkers" and other incentives to fix the economy...I'm pretty sure we'll be paying those program bills when I'm 90. While I'm at it...not every single person in the world should go to college, either. If we all get a bachelor's degree, then it will become the requirement to wait tables at a restaurant. I work in higher ed and while we love to have strong enrollment, we don't need to over-saturate the market. Have you thought this through at all? Just curious.

XOXO,
Anonymous tax payer

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Dear Good Morning America,

I do not care about the latest update from the Michael Jackson case. I'm sorry he died, but you have completely run this into the ground. While your at it, we're sick of hearing about Teddy K, Jon & Kate, and other scandals that you like to repeat over and over, while leaning way to the left.

Thanks!
the mrs.

It begins...

School has started and the fall semester has once again reared it's ugly head! I haven't blogged in so long that I'm starting to wonder if I even have anything to say anymore?

Some kind of illness has camped out in my throat for the past 11 days and I think it has finally gone away (two antibiotics and a penicillin shot later...). The man has been very patient with my sickness, even though the hardwoods have collected dirt, the laundry has gone unfolded, and my house just looks like a bachelor pad--- sidenote: all of this does not make a girl feel energetic at the end of a long day at work. I hope to tackle that mess this week and get my house back in order!

I'm looking forward to the three-day weekend and so far we haven't made any solid plans. Is it weird that the thought of a weekend open thrills my soul? Yep, it does.

Alright, so this is all you get for now. I've taken some pictures of food--the moose--and other things, but I haven't uploaded them yet. I'll get to it this week and maybe there will be a second blog post!

Until then...

again....lyrics that touch my heart and move my spirit...

You bring restoration
You bring restoration
You bring restoration, to my soul.

You've taken my pain and You call me by a new name.
You've taken my shame and in its place, you give me joy.
You take my mourning, turn it into dancing.
You take my weeping, turn it into laughing.
You take my mourning, turn it into dancing.
You take my sadness, turn it into joy.

Hallelujah, Hallelujah, You make all things new, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, You make all things new, Hallelujah, Hallelujah, You make all things new, all things new. Hallelujah, Hallelujah, You make all things new.

You can hear it here, even though my favorite version is from our church, this is a video of David Brymer, who wrote it.

lyrics speak volumes when i have nothing to say...

I Need Words by The David Crowder Band

I need words
As wide as sky
I need language large as
This longing inside
And I need a voice
Bigger than mine
And I need a song to sing You
That I've yet to find
I need You,
Oh, I need You
I need You,
Oh, I need You
To be here now
To be here now
To hear me now
To hear me now

Got a lot on the old mind these days....and blogging just isn't one of them right now. No worries--I'm reading yours, I'm just not posting anything on mine right now. I'll be back...when I've got something to say.