Long Time No See

Hey y'all! Sorry it has taken me so long to write again. I have been so incredibly busy! Thank You, Jesus, for these next 5 days off school!! I desperately needed them (and so did the students!). I have so many things on my mind right now. I feel like making a list. Lists calm me down and help me feel like I have slightly more control than I really do. 

• I love looking at stars and finding ones that I remember from taking astronomy in college. Tonight I found Venus and it comforted me. I guess it made me feel better because I know that I am not alone in this crazy universe. God created so much more than what we can see or even fathom. Here's the picture I took of Venus. 
  
• 3 years ago today I found my princess kitty. I can't believe that she is 4 years old! 
• We don't know Libby's or Barli's exact birth dates. I decided that the day I found Libby (November 26) would be her birthday. When we got Barli, we decided to make her birthday the same day as Libby's. We know Barli was born sometime in November, so November 26 sounded good! haha
• Teaching is the hardest thing I've ever done. Like ever. I don't know how people do it for 30+ years.
• I really, really, really love being married. It's like having a sleep over with my best friend every night. I am so glad that I found someone who I can share silence with.

Barli Bear: An Update

Our baby bear is back home! We picked her up yesterday morning. She was so excited to see us! I had a little bit of a hard time looking at her at first, but I got over myself and it wasn't so bad. She was a little scared on the ride home. Tom sat in the back seat and held her on the way home. Once we got home, she realized where she was and became her happy self. She has done so well. She hasn't really acknowledged that her leg is gone.She is running and jumping and even "boxing" again! I am in awe of how well she adapted in just 3 short days! God is so amazing and I know that He is why we have our precious Barli Bear! Here are a couple of pictures from yesterday.

Life Lately

Hi y'all! Sorry that I haven't written in what feels like 100 years! Did you know that having a full time job is not easy? I didn't know. I was definitely surprised. I honestly did not think it would be this hard. I hate feeling unprepared, but honestly, that's all I feel lately. I have such a great support system, though. I have really had to learn to rely on them and on God who is enough for me.  This morning while I was doing my Bible Study Fellowship lesson one question really stood out to me. It asked "What positive and/or negative thoughts does the word 'saved' bring to you? Why?" Here's my answer: "Rescue - I am completely helpless without God's gift of salvation. I NEED to be saved, rescued. It's not a matter of need versus want... It's not up for debate. I NEED a Savior." That's what I have realized over the past 4 weeks of school. I cannot do this without Him. I tried. Ask me how that went. The past 2 days where I've started my day with God, meeting Him in my kitchen before school, have been INCREDIBLY DIFFERENT than the other days I've been at school. I have had more patience, more empathy, the students have been better behaved. I know that it's God.  A little update on Barli: She had her leg amputated today. This was an extremely difficult decision to make. I posted my thoughts on it here. My super awesome, loving, caring, stud muffin husband dropped her off at the vet this morning. I am so thankful that he was able to do it so that I didn't have to. I am having a really hard time with this. I feel so silly for crying about it, but it literally makes me cry. We will pick her up either Friday evening or Saturday morning. What I keep thinking is that I'll never see my dog with all her limbs again. Please pray for me that I'll have peace with our decision and for Barli's recovery! 

Barli Bear

In case you don't know Barli's story, here you go: In February, my sister-in-law who volunteers at the humane society in Bryan texted Tom and told him about a brindle Boxer puppy at the shelter. She told us that the puppy had a broken leg. Tom told me about her and I was convinced that we had to save her. Tom was the first approved applicant, so the puppy was ours. 
We named her Barli (little bear) and she stole our hearts. Tom took her to a vet down here to have her leg looked at and the vet gave us two options: amputate or try to save the leg. We chose to try to save the leg, even though it was more expensive and not guaranteed to work. Barli had surgery to put pins in her leg. These pins were in there for about a month and a half. She couldn't be a normal puppy during this time. She couldn't run or jump. She cried a lot and was on constant medications. When her pins came out it was such a good day. We had a "normal" puppy. 
Fast forward to May. We had noticed that Barli isn't walking right. This has caused her to put pressure on her paw and the pads on the bottom of her paw were wearing away. We took her to the vet in Mansfield and he gave us some medicine to put on the pads. By June the problem hadn't gotten any better. We had an x-ray of her leg done and it seemed like the bone didn't heal correctly. This is what was (possibly) causing her to walk wrong. Dr. K told us we might have to amputate a toe. 
Fast forward to yesterday. The pads were STILL gone (think bloody paw prints everywhere) and an abscess had formed on the side of her foot, too. I took her to the vet in College Station today and he did an x-ray. He said that he thinks everything healed correctly, but that there has been nerve damage in her paw and that's why she walks wrong, twisting her foot with every step. He suggested we amputate the whole leg. He said that there's not going to be a way to save the foot. Of course, we are going to get a second opinion from Dr. K, but how do you look at your puppy that you've come to love so much and try to picture her with one less leg? 
How do you decide whether or not your dog gets to keep all her legs? How do you know if you're making the right decision? How do you make that decision knowing that you can't go back? I feel like this is so insignificant when compared to other people's problems, but she's my fur baby. She's the closest thing I have to a child and I want to protect her. I want to take the pain from her. I want to make it all go away. I want to have a "normal" 7 month old Boxer, who doesn't lay on the couch all day, not eating, not playing, because she's hurting. 
Please pray for us that we will have wisdom making this decision. My heart is hurting. 

Our Home

Remember this post? I spent the last month or so trying to find a place for me and Tom to live. I knew I wanted it to be close enough to family, but far enough away that we could be on our own. It's hard to find somewhere to live when you're searching from 3 hours away! I am so thankful that we have a real estate friend who was awesome enough to help us by sending daily emails with info on rent houses. 
That's how I found this super cute house in Mansfield. I knew it would go fast because it was such a good price, allowed pets, and was in a good area. I messaged my friend and set up a showing to see that house and a few others. When she was setting up the showings, she couldn't get the information for any of the other houses I had requested to see, except for the Mansfield house. God totally had His hand on the situation! I did get to look at 2 other houses when I drove up to see the Mansfield house, but they absolutely didn't compare! 
The house was everything we were looking for. It has a huge garage, a beautiful back porch, large backyard, and a skylight in the master bathroom! I knew that I wanted to apply for it, but I was in DFW and Tom was in College Station (and in class all day away from his phone). My real estate friend, my sister, and I went to the property management place and got to talk to the managers about what we needed to do to be in this house. They said that in order to be considered for this house, you had to fill out the application and pay the application fee and security deposit by cashiers check. That afternoon was so hectic. We drove all around Arlington getting everything needed to apply for the house. The company was nice enough to take just my application since Tom wasn't there to sign anything. They said we could email it in. So that's what we did! When I came back to College Station the next day, we filled out Tom's application, scanned it in, and emailed it to the property management company.   We got a call yesterday afternoon from the company saying that we had been approved and that we could move in August 1! We were ecstatic!! So now we are trying to figure out how we will move all of our stuff from College Station to Mansfield while Tom is in class. HAHAH I know that it will all work out in the end, though. I might just be sleeping on a blowup mattress for a little bit ;) Even if I am, I will be praising God for giving us this amazing opportunity to be in the town we love, near the people we care so much about! 
 I am so excited to be moving in to our home in just 11 days! 

Choosing to Laugh

I'm a mess, y'all... I have lost [and found] our marriage license TWICE in the past week... I can't make this up. I think that I have really bad wedding brain still. I also think that it has something to do with getting a job and filling out SO many papers. I usually don't mind paperwork, but it was a beat down for sure! I am really ready for the school year to start and for things to get back to normal. We don't know where we will be living in August which is really scary for me. I know that God will make sure that we have somewhere to stay [probably with one of our families for a month] and that I shouldn't worry about it, but I am SUCH a worrier. I keep this verse close to my heart at all times

I am a woman of God and I don't need to worry about the days to come!! I can focus on being a good homemaker and wifey right now! I don't need to let the worry of tomorrow overshadow today. This doesn't mean that we won't be working to save money [and maybe make a little money] these next 6 weeks, but that I won't be consumed by that worry. God has so much in store for us and I can't wait to see what happens in the coming months. I am thankful to have God's Word to comfort me when I worry. Thank You, Lord, for allowing me to laugh at the days to come!

My Hope is in Him

Remember this post? I know it wasn't posted all too long ago, but it is my most read post. I love that people have seen what I wrote about how God's will cannot be stopped! I have learned that so many times this past year.
It was almost exactly this time last year when I was offered the Dallas position. On Monday the 17th, I interviewed for a position at Hutcheson Junior High in Arlington. I initially was interviewing for a science position, but after talking with the principal for a while, we got to talking about how much I love math. I was able to change his mind about what position he was interviewing me for (which I think is cool) and he told me that he would be considering me for an 8th grade math position. I got a call Tuesday afternoon from the principal officially offering me the position! I cannot tell you how much of a relief it was to receive that call! The LORD was so there with me during the whole interview. I felt so calm and collected. I had been praying that He would give me the right words to help convey my points and help the interviewer understand where I was coming from. Obviously God was with me! I cannot believe that after a year of looking, God has found where He wants me to be.

I am beyond thrilled to be joining the staff at Hutch and I can't wait to see what God has in store for me this year! Please continue to pray for me as I start my first year of teaching. Pray that I have patience, that my students will know how much I care for them, that the staff will welcome me and be willing to help me when I need it, and that I will be a light for everyone that I meet! Thank you, LORD!!!

Choosing Happiness

I have been struggling with something for as long as I can remember. I have a really hard time being happy for people. Even people I want to be happy for, I have a super difficult time getting there. I know this stems from jealousy and jealousy stems from my own insecurities. I definitely am aware of my insecurities, and I think that knowing that they're there makes this a little bit easier to deal with. I want to be able to celebrate other peoples success without feeling like I'm a complete failure. I want to be happy for my friends who have things that I don't have without feeling like I need to have it first. I want to be happy for my sister who excels at most things she does. I have such a hard time with this! Why can't I just be happy for people that I genuinely love and care for? I need God to work on this in me. I want Him to bring to light my insecurities so I can face them and not feel jealous toward these people. I am praying for Him to show me how to be happy for others. I want Him to help me have better self confidence, so I don't constantly feel the need to compare myself to others. I love this quote:

I could not agree more. I need to stop feeling like I need to have what others have. I am so blessed and don't need to compare myself to others in order to know that. How often when I'm teaching/tutoring/subbing do I tell students, "you worry about you." Why can I not follow my own advice? This doesn't mean that I'm not going to care about other people, but I need to remember that my success isn't defined by what is going on in someone else's life.
 Lord, I'm asking you to please help me to only be concerned with me. Help me not to compare myself to others. Help me to be happy for other people in my life. I know that with Your help, I can do this.
If you think about me, please pray for me that I will be strong in my effort to be happy for others. I like to think that I am a happy person, but if I cannot be happy for others, then am I really happy? I want to be REALLY happy. I want REAL joy.

Cutest Animals EVER!

I just want everyone to see how adorable our sweet fur babies are!

 Barli when she was about 4 months old.

 All of the above pictures were taken by our sister-in-law, Leah Abernathy.

 This was taken yesterday. Barli is now about 6 months old! 

 Sleeping with her momma 

 Libby being a sassy kitty

 Sleepy girl

 my favorite paws 

We love our sweet animals! 

Changing My Name: How I Legally Became an Abernathy

Today I officially changed my last name to Abernathy. The process wasn't all too terrible. I didn't really know where to start, but a couple of pins on Pinterest helped me out. The one that I liked the most was from a lady in Kansas. They do things a little different here in Texas (DPS instead of DMV, anyone?), so I knew it wouldn't be the exact same. I looked at the SS website and they have a link that is just for how to change your name. It was so helpful! I found  this page about a week after the wedding. In order to change your name, you have to have a legal document (marriage license) proving that you need a name change. (I guess they got tired of people trying to come in and change their name to "Princess Banana Hammock" :D please tell me you know where that is from!)

How to Change Your Name:
1. Wait until you have your marriage license back (anywhere from a week to a month after the wedding)
2. Fill out the application for name change on the SSA website
3. Either go to your local Social Security office with a picture ID and proof of citizenship, along with your marriage license and completed application, or mail all of the above to the address listed on the website. [Here are all the specific types of documents you can bring]
4. Your new SS card will be mailed to you in about 2 weeks!

Since we didn't have our marriage license back until about 2 weeks after the wedding, I had to wait to do anything. I didn't want to mail all of my things, and I live close enough to the office to justify driving there. I waited less than an hour (not bad!) and the lady I worked with was so nice! I also decided to change my name on my drivers license while I was in the area and that was pretty easy also. They also just needed proof of my marriage in order to change my name on my license.

Now that those 2 major things are done, I can change my name on my bank account, resumes, and all my job applications. This part is probably going to be more tedious than legally changing my name. I thought about getting a new email address, but I have so many things linked to my current one. I hope that this was helpful to someone! Let me know if you have any questions.

His Perfect Will

If you don't know me in real life, let me tell you a little bit about me! I grew up in Mansfield, TX, a small (but fast growing) town outside of Fort Worth. I graduated from Mansfield High School in 2008 and started classes at Texas A&M University that fall. I graduated from A&M in May 2012 with a degree in Math and Science Education.

I, like most college grads, fully expected to have a job right out of college. I applied for countless numbers of jobs, and was severely disappointed when all my peers were receiving calls for interviews while I was still waiting to hear from one school. I finally received a call from a Dallas ISD school wanting me to interview for a 4th grade position. I was so nervous! My first interview went pretty well, I think. I don't remember much of it at all. I drove back down to College Station (I was living in CS for the summer) and sometime in the same week I received a call for another interview, this time in Red Oak. I drove back to DFW and interviewed for a 5/6th grade math position. This interview, I remember, went really well. So well that they had me interview with the curriculum director of the district. I went back to CS and sometime that week, I got a call from the Dallas school offering me the position. I didn't pray about it, I didn't talk to Tom about it, I just decided that the first job I got offered is the one I should take. To make this long story a little bit shorter, the entire thing fell through. It was really sketchy and I thank God every day that I did not end up at that school.

That doesn't mean that I didn't still want a classroom. I had 6 or so more interviews, which led to my tutoring position at Farrell Elementary in Arlington. This job was such a blessing. I was in 3rd grade (a little young for me) helping prep the kids for their upcoming STAAR test. I started at the end of October and finished at the end of April. I learned so incredibly much while working at Farrell. I learned all about Response To Intervention (RTI), strategies for teaching language arts and reading. I am so thankful for the team I worked with at Farrell. They helped me become a much better teacher and I don't know where I would be without them!

Now it's the end of the school year and I'm seeing all my peers from A&M talking about packing up their classrooms and how they feel about it being the end of the year and here I am, still jobless, not sure where I'll be next year, not knowing where Tom and I will be living. I am having to choose to think positively about this! I cannot let Satan get a grip on my mind and let me think that I am not good enough to be a teacher, that I won't get a job, that nobody wants me. I have to rely on my knowledge of God, that His perfect will cannot be thwarted, that He has a plan for me and it is far greater than anything I could ever imagine. I have to know that He is making me wait because there is something out there that is meant for me. I have to remember that God's timing is perfect. I have to continue to pray for His guidance, that He will lead me to the place that I am meant to be. My favorite verse that has helped me so much during this entire process is Exodus 14:14 "The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still." I find so much comfort in the fact that my God is bigger than anything in this world and that He fights for me every second of every day! Thank You, LORD, for Your amazing promise to fight for me!!

Summertime Cleaning

It's hot, y'all... Like really, really hot. Barli (our sweet Boxer puppy) has decided that the best way to beat the heat is to burrow underneath the storage shed in the backyard. I have no clue how she even figured out how to dig her way under there, but it is not a good thing! She gets so dirty and with the crazy speed at which she is growing, she could easily get stuck. Right now, she's passed out in front of a fan while Tom and I take a break from doing lots of chores around the house. So far we have sold some old video games and an old Xbox at the pawn shop, got Tom's free suit from Men's Wearhouse, started to clean off the back porch, done the dishes, and cleaned one bedroom. Tom's family is coming into town this weekend for a wedding in Katy, so I want the house to look awesome! We still need to do lots more cleaning, but getting started is the hardest part! Tonight I am taking a break from cooking and we are going to Chuy's for happy hour with my old roommate, Amber. I am excited to have a night off from doing dishes! haha I also think we have enough leftovers for me to not have to cook all weekend. I am proud of how much cooking I have done since we got married. If you know me, you know that I do not enjoy being in the kitchen, but recently I've discovered that I love doing wifey things for my hubby! I guess it was just the motivation I needed.

 A couple of the recipes that I've made recently are this pizza casserole and pasta with spinach and tomatoes. The recipe for the pasta is a little confusing, so here's what I did! Instead of using 8 oz of penne, I used the entire box (16 oz). The recipe calls for half a jar of spaghetti sauce, but the instructions say canned, diced tomatoes. I opted to use the diced tomatoes and since I did twice the amount of pasta, I used twice the amount of everything else.  

2 cans diced tomatoes

6 oz cream cheese (We used reduced fat)

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 tsp garlic powder (We used a lot more than that, but we like garlic!)

1 tsp dried basil (We used some Italian seasoning instead)

1 cup spinach leaves

We left out the Parmesan cheese (mostly because we didn't have any...) but followed the rest of the prep instructions. I hope that everyone enjoys it as much as Tom and I did! We had lots of leftovers and it tastes just as good reheated as it did the first night. 

New Beginnings

I honestly have no idea if anyone will actually read this, but hey! I have decided that I want to start writing down my thoughts and feelings since I've gotten married! I will probably write about how things are going in our marriage, recipes, and everyday things that are going on with us!

 I am so incredibly happy to [finally] be married to my best friend! These past 2 weeks have been so lazy and relaxing. I definitely needed it after the stress of the wedding. I don't remember much for our wedding day. I'm hoping the pictures help jog my memory!  When I get the pictures back from the photographer I will post my favorites here and on facebook! I really can't wait to see them. Hopefully only a couple more weeks!

Living in College Station for the summer in a house that isn't completely ours to decorate or rearrange is frustrating, but living here for free is worth it. I am anxious to have a place that is ours where we can decorate how we want, hang pictures on the walls, and not worry that someone will come walking in the door at all hours of the day.

Well, those are just some of my thoughts for today. I'm sure I'll write some more later this week! Libby is meowing for her dinner now <3

Jess