Back into the music world..

Many of my friends know that I've been attending my church again since we've moved home, and thankfully, I've been singing with the worship team as well. Well, I'm going to be singing alone in two weeks, up front, close and personal. I haven't done this at church for years. It doesn't matter how much I've performed for teachers, judges, or full audiences, I still get nervous for church. I'm going to try to think of it as a performance this time, instead of 'singing for church', and see how I feel. When I perform, I tend to get into a mindset, and I don't get as nervous. It's actually exhilarating.

Right now, the choice is between the following two songs, and there may be more after I go to music practice tonight. Which one should I do?? Hmmm... (I like the first one... she looks like Ingrid Michaelson!)

The Happiness Project

This morning I left for summer school feeling bitter and annoyed. Maybe I just woke up with an attitude of sorts, but I didn't feel right, and I wanted more from my summer.

So, why not read a good book? That's always a good cure for a bad mood.

It was the perfect time to pull out this book I bought two days ago: The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin.  I'm not depressed, and I'm not unhappy, most of the time. However, I enjoy psychology and evaluating people and actions, so this book really grabbed my attention. I've always said that if I ever write a book, it would likely be about real-life events or simply, people and personalities. My first interest of this book came from the awesome, colorful cover. Seriously, sometimes that's all it takes. I'm like a little dog -- "squirrel!" -- at the site of a beautiful book. The second aspect I grew interested in was that the author's background: lawyer, writer, analytical brain, 'weird' (a good thing), among other things. Because of this, I knew she and I would think similarly. The third reason was that I noticed it was in first-person, which is always my favorite. Even when I was little, I would read biographies and autobiographies for fun. Why? They account for reality, and people and events that actually happened.

I'll let you know how the book goes. It seems as though people have actually tried the actual project, and many have blogged about it. I don't plan on doing so, but if something hits home, I'm definitely going to write about it!

If you've read the book, I'd love to hear from you!

Enjoy summer days!

D

Big, big, big news: Justin got the job! He will now be a high school geometry teacher. We're both very excited and thankful for the opportunity. I have to say I'm very proud of him; I knew he could do it. I won't deny being a little frightful of the possibility of not finding a job -- especially since the teaching jobs seem scarcer every year. Luckily, math is a high-needs area, so they were happy to find a physics major -- certified in physics, and soon to be certified in math -- he takes the test on Saturday. We won't know how he did until later, but let's just say this: he's upstairs studying now! He should be golden for that test.

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In other news, we had a fun evening last night in celebration (unintentionally - we just planned it, and he happened to get the job the same day!) with some friends. There were three, yes, three kids in our house at once, and I think that's a record! It was pretty fun, actually. We had homemade pizza that was "built" by each person, peanut butter pie, and other goodies like eclairs. Oh man, I definitely went over my calorie count... yesterday and today for that matter. I'm about to drag J to the gym with me so I can work out for like... two hours!!

Summer school is going well. I have two days left with the high school students, and I'm trying to get them to finish up a paper... or get started, maybe? It's been pretty tough to teach students how to write an essay while they are also doing online work. I think it's good for them, though. They really need the practice. I start teaching middle school for two weeks starting Monday. It'll be different.

Hope you are having a great summer.

North Carolina Trip

This summer, J and I have been trying to make a few weekend trips since we hadn't planned any large trips - other than upstate to visit my family. Since we weren't sure of his job, we didn't want to spend too much money on travel.

So far, we've been to visit my aunt and uncle, which was great, and we've been to NC to visit friends. We've also had a friend visit for a few days, so that counts, too! In NC, we had some great food, enjoyed time with our friends, and we all visited a big music festival for the entire day on Saturday. After that, we had some amazing sushi at this super hip sushi bar. Overall, it was a great trip! What I love about weekend trips is that you aren't there long enough to have to get a house-sitter or pet-sitter, but it feels like a longer visit than it actually is, and you create the best memories!

By the way, the Scottish band that we all fell in love with was fantastic. Here's their website: http://www.saorpatrol.com/fr_aboutus.cfm

This was one of the owls at the animal display - so beautiful.

We went wading in the river - it felt great! It was SO hot that day.

Justin climbed a fake rock wall for the first time - he did a great job!

Check out this guy's back!!

They were.. AWESOME. The drum beats were insane.

I might have been obsessed with his tattoo..

Scottish guys weren't hot until I saw this band.

This was another band we saw playing, but I just thought her costume was great.

little secrets

 Justin discovered a few secrets hidden in our hanging plant  yesterday...

Nothing is finalized yet, and we still have some hurdles to get through, 

but things are looking up with Justin's job hunt. Yes!

Courtenay Rose - July 4th

4th of July was a great celebration for me this year. We were able to go to "the farm" to spend time with J's family. My sister-in-law and I began our day at the pool with a beer in hand, then we joined the family for a big cookout and firework display. It was great. One of the best parts, though, was taking pictures of my niece, Courtenay. She was just a charm for me, and I had to capture her throughout the night. The funny thing is that I hadn't planned on the shoot at all, and I think it's some of my best photos yet--even with the mud and chocolate smeared across her face and her messy hair. She's the best kind of girl! Happy summer, everyone.

Lens

I may have mentioned this already, but I got a new lens a few weeks ago. I spent entirely too much money on it, but it was worth it. I hope you will share with me the success of getting pictures that absorb natural light phenomenally, as well as crisply capture the moment--with a background of bokeh, of course. :)

It feels like so many things have happened since I last posted; I began summer school (day three tomorrow already), we met our new niece, Alaina, and we traveled out-of-state to see our friends. Everything was just lovely.

It's hard to completely enjoy everything after returning home when you have underlying worries. The above song really hit me when my grandfather passed away; I couldn't stop playing it. I listen to it now because J and I are waiting, waiting, waiting to hear back about a job.

Wish him luck.

Happy 4th of July, everyone!

Hope you had as much fun as we did.