Birthday Week

This is a quote I had found in the middle of the week on someones Facebook wall and I set it as the background on my phone. I loved it because I feel like I never know how long or where I will be next. I know the Lord has me here in VA today, but who knows what these next couple of months will hold.

What a week it has been! We are having a big inspection this coming week at our center and it has been putting alot of pressure on our admin and therefor putting pressure on us as teachers. Kids are so aware of things like this and could feel it and knew something was different. The kids were on edge and teachers where frustrated so it made for a hard week. I tried to get up every morning and start fresh yet when I walked through the doors it was very hard to choose joy. This last week is behind me and I can't wait to start a new week and get this evaluation out of the way so things can settle back down. 

My birthday was on Wednesday and this year it was very different. I could not thank the people that sent me packages enough, they meant so much to me this year being so far from everyone. This picture is of a poster that one of my colleagues made for me ( I loved that she even put a bow on it). The grapes and the strawberries were a gift from another colleague because I am always snacking on fruit during the day.       

I wanted to get my birthday drink from Starbucks before work that day, but the Starbucks that is in the same building as my job was closed for renovations. I went after work to different one and got an iced salted caramel mocha! It was so good and after a long day at work it was so refreshing!

Coming home I was tired and exhausted, it did not really feel like a birthday and I was kinda sad. I walked into my apartment and this was on my table from Pastor and Peg! This was so sweet and made the day so much brighter.

I tried this chocolate at work this week and it was really yummy! Chocolate always helps everyone smile  a little bigger :)

On Saturday I went to the DMV to get my car title transferred and to change my license to a VA one. I wanted to knock it all out in one trip and I was able to do just that! It was a huge blessing because I did not have to wait as long as I thought and I had all the paperwork I needed. Joseph so willingly come over to help me get my old tags off and put my new ones on. We decided to go to McDonalds so we could just catch up and we talked for 2 hours. He has been a huge help whenever I need anything and he challenges me to love with a Christlike love. He could have chosen to not have a friendship with me because it was to hard or make others think badly of me because it did not work between us, but he has chosen to do the opposite. He and I are good friends and that has only been by the grace of our God. After I talked to Joe I went to a coffee shop to install some things on my laptop and to get some thank you cards written for the gifts! It was so relaxing and you can never go wrong with getting a cinnamon roll to help get things done :)

Because my birthday was so different I wanted to wait until this weekend to open my packages. With all the stress of everything at work I knew I would enjoy them more if I waited! These are the sweet gifts from Lolo, I loved everything she put in here and everything had a post-it note on it on why she was giving it to me. There were plate holders in here but they did not make it in the picture because I could not wait to get my plates set in them.

These are the gifts from Al and Sue (the couple I go out to lunch with every week after church). They are so sweet and this is a new favorite sent of mine! 

This was a sweet package from one of my great friends from my Northland days. She has never forgotten to send me something on my birthday...I hope I can go visit her someday. We will talk or text once in a while and it is so cool because I feel like our friendship will always be like that. We always pick right up and it is always so sweet when we get to catch up! I love the bow and the chocolates are delicious!

Saturday night I was called up to grab dinner...yeah they spoil me!!! It was so yummy!

Today I have felt under the weather, but I could net help notice the beautiful turn of the trees when I walked my trash out.

I feel like that was a super scattered post, but that is how my head feels right now. It was a hard week, but it is behind me now and I am ready for a brand new week! oh...one month from TODAY I will be seeing Lolo!!!!!  

Ready or not Monday, HERE I COME!!!

With a pinch of love,

Lil'Chef

Personal Blessings

I know I am chalenged every time I step into my work place to choose JOY! Joy is a hard thing to have all day, and on a Monday morning joy is hard to even find! Lets make this Monday a great one!

This last Monday was a staff training day and I became first aid and CPR certified! As I told you in my last blog post it was a super hero theme and I went as bat girl! Here is a picture of me in action and as you can tell in the second picture I made the best of it and made it fun. 

The class was really not that bad and the instructor was really good at keeping our attention. At the start of the class he said that there would be a 53 question test at the end and we had to score 98% or higher to pass. He gave us paper to take notes on and then split us into teams and the winning team would not have to take the test. You can imagine how competitive everyone got and how well we paid attention. At the end he passed out a sheet of paper that was facing writing side down and told us that we could keep our notes but we had to turn in our books. He said we could flip the paper over and start...we did and it was just a teacher evaluation sheet, there was no test! He tricked us all into listening and taking really good notes for nothing :) He got us all good! It was a long day of training but we all made it fun and endured the day off together!

On my walk into work I noticed this trees leaves changing, and thought it looked really cool how they were changing from the outside in. I love fall!

With this fall weather it has brought some storms in with it. I know it is not the country side, but the sky looked so cool! I am still getting use to the many cars, tall buildings, and power lines that end up in city pictures. It was always easy and quick to snap a sky picture in Georgia. I also miss seeing the stars shine bight across the hay fields in Georgia.

Well everyone I am about to tell you about two very big blessings that prove that the Lord knows the desires of our hearts! I had wanted to go see my family in VT for thanksgiving, but because of finances and the timing it was not going to happen. I was then praying that I would be able to go see them for Christmas and because of the extra time I had to put in a request to get work off I was hopeful that this may work. I prayed hard and waited to put in the form. Last Monday I went ahead and asked for the three days before Christmas Eve that way it would give me the whole week plus the weekends on both sides off. That Friday on my way into work I prayed that the Lord would just give me peace about it and that it was in His hands and timing. Sure enough that day my director come in and approved my time off! I just screamed, was so happy, and started to cry! I could not tell you how excited I was to be able to spend time with my family for Christmas! I will be road tripping it up there (it is about an 8 hour drive)! After hearing this news whenever I would tell people about being able to go see my family for Christmas I would say " I will not be able to go home for thanksgiving, but I will be thankful that I get to see them all at Christmas time". Well, Jesus had his own plan for thanksgiving that I did not even know yet! On Wednesday I bought a ticket to go visit Georgia for 4 full days! Yeah, totally did not know it would work or where I would get the money from, but He knew. I called my director before I got the ticket and she said I could get the time I needed off to make my flight. So where am I going to get the money from? Good question but I have already been blessed with people giving me money for it and my birthday money is going towards the ticket too. I know the Lord is going to provide for the ticket, I just know it!  I am writing it down to see how the Lord is going to work and to know that God will provide even for the little things that we enjoy. He is good and has always provided what I need and now He has given me something a desire!

It has been so neat to see since I have moved how evident the Lord has been in my life. I know I am were I am suppose to be because he has blessed me so much! It is so cool how we have a God that cares for us as individual people and knows what make me, Heather Thompson, feel loved. He knew how important it was to me to be able to be with my family for Christmas and go and see all my friends in Georgia. Thanksgiving and Christmas are two times of the year when not being with family or close friends is so hard. I am so thankful and blessed that I get to spend both of these holidays with loved ones. Some times are hard to be here and Satin knows what gets me discouraged and will try to get me to doubt why I am here. Things like these blessings give me reassurance that this is where I need to be.

On Saturday I got up and the weather was perfect for devotions, a cinnamon roll, and a cup of tea on the porch. 

On the weekends I try to not do to much work because my mind just needs a break. So I went on a 6.4 mile run, did laundry, made my meals for the week, hung out with some friends, and then I got to watch collage vball and Rio 2 with the Pastor and Peg. I love Saturdays that I can rest and get ready for the next week.

Today after church my sweet friend Barbara and her husband took me out to Ruby Tuesdays for my birthday. It was so much fun and so great to catch back up with her and also get to know her husband more. They are a sweet couple and mean so much to me, they are so encouraging and fun to be with. I am sad because I forgot to get a picture, sorry :(  

After lunch I met Elizabeth at Starbucks for a planning (we are both teachers) party! We actually got a good amount of work done and were able to do some talking here and there! It was nice to be doing it with someone else, and I hope we can do this again soon! 

When I got back home I took a walk to mail some letters and this is what was behind me! How beautiful is that, this is the first sun set that I have seen that is this vibrant since I moved here!

Well my friends I am falling asleep right here at my desk so I should get to bed here soon. I am ready to knock out another week and I am looking forward to seeing my kids tomorrow! You all have a wondurful week and remeber that we serve a God who knows out desires and desires them for us, we just have to obey!

With a pinch of love,

Lil'Chef

Taking Time to Pause

I feel like every week I am learning more about life and just why I am here in Virgina. This week my mind has been stuck on what my future holds. For the past couple weeks have been pushing it to the back burner because when I think about it I get overwhelmed. I had a great talk with Pastor and his wife a couple weeks ago and they both reminded me how hard it has been for me and all that I am truly dealing with. They said this all takes time and it is not typical that it would all happen overnight. Summing it all up to "It is ok to not be ok all the time". I always want to be the tough one, but dealing with it that way that does not always work. I know that is how I tend to deal with things and it does work sometimes, but talking with people and asking for help can always help to make the burden lighter.

On July 24th I packed all my belongings in my little car and moved to Virgina. I had visited Virgina twice before, but they were very short visits and I did not get to know a whole lot of people. When I moved Lolo was here for a day and then had to leave the next morning. I know I blogged about all of that, but the emotions of having a best friend now 12 hours from me is still hard now. There are days that I just miss being able to have coffee and talk about our week or just eat junk food together and watch a show because we both had hard weeks. It is not easy to miss out on the little things that happen that we forget to text about or that we don't tell the other person because we both are so busy. Distance is different and hard but the Lord has alot that He wants to do with us both so we just have to obey and follow Him. He won't forget about our friendship and I know that we will get to see each other again soon :)

Along these same lines of moving I want to tell you all about Joseph. I have prayed and really thought hard about when I would be ready to write all this down, as I have shared many times before with my writing I want to be honest and transparent...life is not always easy. After moving here I quickly was overwhelmed by many different things (my apartment, getting a job, making friends, dealing with a tight budget, and now living close to Joseph) and it all was so much to take in. We had been long distance our whole dating relationship (other then the three weeks we visited each other) so this was all new for both of us. I knew emotionally I was dealing with so much and it was hard to pinpoint where and why I was feeling the way I was. It was very hard to talk to people because I felt like no one really understood where I was coming from (I truly believe that is why Jesus gave me the friendship I have with Barbra). Only after being here a week and a half I felt like it was not fair nor did Joseph deserve to be on this crazy ride with me, I realized very quickly that I was simply not ready to be in a dating relationship. I talked with my Dad about ending the relationship and I knew that this was something I needed to do. Here I am in a place I don't know anything about and everyone that I did know was because of my relationship with Joseph and now I have to say that I can't continue in the relationship...yeah it scared me to death. I knew I would hurt him badly and I was so worried of what people would say and think of me, but is that worth holding on to something and forcing it to work because of that? It was not easy in anyway at all, but knowing I did the right thing came with so much peace and comfort. My mind was spinning though with do I still go to the same church? Will I still be able to stay in the Pastors basement? Can I still have those mutual friendships that I had made? Will I ever be able to talk to him as just a friend? Will the people at church not love me because I broke it off? All these where questions that were running in my mind, and the Lord has since answered every one of them! The one that has most recently been answered was the one about Joseph just being a friend and nothing more. There was a good amount of time that went by that it was awkward to see him at church and I did not know whether I needed to say something or he was going to. One week he came up to me and just asked how I had been doing and how I was liking my job. I asked him questions about his health and how school was going, and it was a great conversation. I was so glad the awkwardness was gone and I am happy that he can still be a friend and nothing more. The people at church never treated me any differently and I can't tell you how huge that has been for me. My church family encourages me every week and loves me for who I am and not because of a title I use to hold. Not every church would be able to do that so I am blessed forsure! I just wanted to share this with you because this is now a small part of who I am. I hope I won't have to go through something like this again, but if I do I know that God is sovereign and will never leave me nor forsake me.        

When you are in the Lords will, where you are suppose to be, and following what He has for you He will bless you. I got the biggest blessing yesterday at work, they approved my request for time off before Christmas!!!!!!! I will be able to go to Vermont and spend the whole WEEK with my family!!!!!!!! I have been praying and hoping that it would all work out and it has! I cant WAIT to see my family and be there during the Christmas season, it is one of the most special times to get to be with family! I will have to stay here in Virgina for Thanksgiving, but I will be thankful that Christmas will be spent with family. :) <3

On Friday night I came right home after work trying to beat the storm, but did not make it. The clouds were really neat looking and the breeze was so refreshing so it made the traffic not seem so bad.

When I got home Pastor was making his famous scrambled eggs for dinner. He invited me to come up and have dinner and watch a Hallmark movie with them. While I waited for dinner I went and sat on the front porch to relax and watch the rain and lightning. Dinner was delicious and it was so nice to just sit and watch a movie and have nothing on my mind and nowhere to go. Saturday morning I got up to get my clothes washed and all my meals cooked for this week! I got excited when I saw my apples were perfect to make some applesauce with! Applesauce is one of my favorite things to eat and make because it smells like fall while is simmers and tastes so yummy.

I also wanted to make some almond milk to use for my oatmeal! So I soaked my almonds overnight (before and after pic) and then blended them up with water the next day! As you can see in the picture I did not strain out the milk, since I am using it in oatmeal it will be just fine to keep the meal in it to get the extra texture.

Also on Saturday I went shopping for some things to make minion cupcakes for the Roundy's anniversary. I went at 4:00 to babysit their kiddos so they could have dinner and go to a movie. We had a ton of fun baking, decorating, blowing up balloons, and wrapping presents!

When cooking dinner for a bunch of growing boys (and one middle school girl)  you learn to make a good amount of Mac&Cheese :p 

The kids had so much fun with the cupcakes and I was really impressed at how well they all turned out.  

After everything was ready for them when they got home we did baths and then played games. Andrew (their 6 year old) played me in scrabble and beat me bad :) It was so interesting the way he would spell things because they made more sense then the way we actually spell things! He was so proud of himself as he kept track of our points as well. 

We had so much fun and the kids were so proud and excited when they got to show their parents all we had been working on while they were gone.

 It was such a great night! This family means so much to me, and I am so thankful that we were able to reconnect many years later! I always leave their house looking forward to the next time that I get to go and hang out.

I forgot to talk about my work week ;) It was a good one, we had a maxed out room all week until Friday. Friday I was alone with 4 kids and I don't mind that at all because it is so much quieter. Sadly I don't get tomorrow off because we has the first part of our CPR training, but hey looking on the bight side it is a super hero theme and I am going as Batgirl! I am going to make it fun and hey maybe it will make the day go by a little faster.

I better get ready for tomorrow because I get to have a phone date with Lolo tonight! I hope you all have a wonderful week and if you get tomorrow off enjoy it for me!

With a pinch of love,

Lil'Chef

Drip Drop

What a great week filled with kids, lessons learned and a whole lot of RAIN!

Sunday night while I was blogging Pastor knocked on my door with an ice cream sundae in his hand that he had gotten for me :) I mean...talk about getting your week started right :) Also that evening I went outside at 9 o'clock and started watching the lunar eclipse. I sat out with Pastor and Peg just talking as we enjoyed the cool weather and watched the moon slowly become covered by the earths shadow. We got to watch it turn red a little bit but it had gotten really cloudy so we had to give up and just enjoy pictures of it on facebook the next day! It was so beautiful and knowing that there will not be another blood moon until 2033 it was really cool to be able to see a little bit of it.

 

Tuesday was National Coffee Day!!!! I was sad because with traffic being bad I did not think I would be able to make it to DD to get a cup. Then I thought that during my break I could walked down to one that is about a mile from where I work. It was sprinkling but I power walked it and made it back to work in 30 min and beat all the rain. I got back to work with just enough time to finish my cup before I had to go back into the classroom. It was the best cup of free coffee ever :)

I have to admit that my commute has been hard to not get frustrated with this week. I spent much longer on the roads this week because of the weather and the accidents. It is hard because I feel like I could be doing better things or just the sheer feeling of just being home at the end of my day can get me wishing I was not stuck behind a million red lights...hey, that sounds like it could be lyrics to a song! I should make up one while I sit in DC traffic (hey, that could be the name) see already off to a good beginning! I just have to tell myself that I am blessed to have this job and I will get home someday! :)

This week there was a storm that had a potential to hit us and so we have had alot of rain, wind, and cooler temperatures these last few days. It was hard going into work on Friday because there was a good amount of water on the roads, but I canceled all my weekend plans so I could just stay home. I love fall weather so much yet the only thing that I don't like about it is I know winter is coming...and I am not a fan!

Friday I wore my UGA shirt to work because we played Alabama this weekend! This is a shirt that I was given by my Cartey family before I left GA, and it has become a favorite shirt of mine. I miss that family so much and hope I can go visit them soon!

Saturday morning I slept in and then bundled up to sit on the porch to do my devotions and read! The weather was so perfect for it, with a cup of tea in hand that is.

My co-teacher and director from the center have been talking about this show so much and said I would love it and need to watch it. This Saturday was the perfect time, so I started with season one and am already super addicted to it! I have watch many episodes this weekend and I am excited to have a show that I enjoy watching in my spare time. I have caught myself several times talking out loud during the show to no one but myself. It is so interesting and have become so curious on to how they fit characters together. I LOVE fairy tales!  

On rainy days I have always loved to bake and with it being fall I wanted to do something with pumpkin! One of my favorite things to make from scratch has been cinnamon rolls so I worked on my recipe with how to add pumpkin to it.  

I was not sure at all how they were going to taste or turn out but i was willing to give it a shot. I wanted to add pumpkin puree and all the pumpkin spices so here went nothing.

My dough felt great and looked like it doubled in size which means I did not kill my yeast :) I was starting off well!

The dough rolled out nicely and the cinnamon and sugar smelt to good, so at this point I was hopeful!

This is before then went into the fridge for the night and the picture on the right is after they came out of the oven this afternoon. I tried to be cool with the frosting but cut the bag hole to big (fail) so I ended up just spreading the frosting.

Sunday afternoon was the perfect weather to go on a run wearing a hoodie and sweatpants. I loved looking for trees that had already started changing colors and seeing what trees leaves were already gone. I really enjoy running in fall weather, but not a fan of the winter runs!

When I got back home it was time to put in the cinnamon rolls!! They smelt great while they were baking, but I was not so sure of how they would taste yet. When they came out I put the frosting on and served them up! Pastor, Peg, and I had a great conversation while we ate (I always enjoy the time I get to spend talking with them, they are both very wise). I thought that the cinnamon rolls were....DELICIOUS! I did not like the frosting/glaze I made, but the roll was so good! They turned out really moist and fluffy, Pastor had seconds and you know that is always a good sign!

Tomorrow is another start to a work week and I am excited because this month we are doing a fall theme in my classroom. Last week we did pumpkins and this week we are focusing on apples! We are doing this awesome apple art and I cant wait to see how it turns out.

My clothes are piled high in my room and are screaming to be put away, I think I will go do that and watch another episode of Once Upon a Time ;P

With a pinch of love,

Lil'Chef