Wednesday, September 29, 2010

CNN Hero

For those of you who do not already know, a really wonderful lady from Vicksburg is a Top 10 CNN Hero. Her name is Linda Fondren. You can vote for her to win this year's CNN Hero on cnnheroes.com. You can read her story and vote as many times as you like each day.
What makes her so wonderful? She is committed to making the residents of our town healthier and more in shape! You may recognize her name from Shape Up Sisters- the gym that she owns. She is also super involved in the community in anything related to staying healthy or in shape.
I have had the wonderful opportunity to work with her the past two weeks at our school. She has chosen the faculty and staff of Bowmar Elementary as a Shape Up Teachers pilot program. She comes to our school each Wednesday afternoon and does a workout with the teachers. She also gave each of us a FREE 10 week membership to Shape Up Sisters, as well as FREE access to a personal trainer for 1 hour a week. This is really awesome of her, and we really appreciate her effort and commitment.
You may be wondering what I'm doing in this program since I am pregnant- I am certainly not trying to lose weight just yet. But I felt that it was a great opportunity to work with someone who can tell me what I can do pregnant to stay healthy for myself and the baby.
At the meeting today, a nutritionist spoke about healthy eating. These talks always make me feel super unhealthy and like I may drop dead at the age of 25 from poor nutrition. The next step in this health quest is to begin keeping a food diary. We don't have to start until next week, but I wrote down all the things I ate today. It really isn't too bad- unless you count the 2 1/2 breakfasts I ate and the ENTIRE 3 Musketeers bar right before our "healthy" meeting. Oops... But I am really trying to eat more fruits and vegetables. You should all do the same!

So please, if you get a chance, vote for LINDA FONDREN at cnnheroes.com! She really deserves it!

Monday, September 13, 2010

Baby Bed: check

Disclaimer: Leslie Sadler, do not read this post. It might make you mad.

This past week, Rob and I picked up the baby bed we wanted in Jackson. The plan was to wait until the room is painted to put it together. Apparently, someone was too anxious for that to be possible. Instead, it was put together on Saturday. Don't worry, when we paint the room "we can just put some plastic over it to protect it"...right. Anyway- here is the bed. Please disregard the other stuff in the room. It will  most certainly be gone LONG, LONG before February (right Rob?).

Told you it wouldn't look as girly when I got it together. Just wait until you see it with bedding!

Anyway- the peanut butter and candy craving is back. What liar said you only have those cravings when pregnant with girls? Wrong. Thank you to my sister for bringing me candy last night. I'm sure I'll just blame you when I gain too much weight :)

Saturday, September 11, 2010

9/11

I hate to start of the weekend with a post of something sad. But really, I have to say something about 9/11. It's hard to believe that it has been 9 years. I know most of you know exactly where you were when you heard the news. I was in 10th grade Theology and we were watching TV (Big surprise at St. Al). Our teacher had a moment of sanity and told us we had to watch the news and not MTV. The second we turned to CNN the second plane hit the twin towers. At this point, none of us knew the back story. The more we watched, the more surreal it all became. The rest of the day the whole school watched as the sad story unfolded.
I was thinking about 9/11 yesterday, and I realized that none of the children in my class were even alive when it happened. That doesn't seem possible that they never lived in the same America we did. Because like it or not, everything changed that day. A lot of the changes were bad. But I think that it made a lot of us realize how wonderful it is to be an American. How privileged we are to have been born here. Instead of talking to my students about 9/11 and all the terrible things we saw (and were lucky enough not to see) that day, I decided to talk to them about what it means to be an American. Sure they all know we are free, they've heard it a million times. But what does being free really mean? It means that everyone has the right to an education. Everyone can pray however, and whenever they want. You can become absolutely anything you want as long as you put your heart in it. No one can silence your opinion or your voice. If my students take nothing else away from the 2nd grade, I want it to be the knowledge of what it means to be an American. I want them to have an appreciation of our country and what we stand for.
So today, when you think about 9/11 and you pray for the families and the victims of that tragic day, please pray for the children in our country. Pray that they will grow up knowing the America we all knew before 9/11. Pray that they will be proud of their country and they will appreciate the freedoms given to them at birth. But mostly, pray that as they grow older, they will instill what it means to be an American to the next generation.

**Drive past the Military park if you get a chance. Breathtaking.

Friday, September 10, 2010

Boy Oh Boy!

Yesterday was filled with wonderful news! First, Rob and I went to the Dr and found out we are having a boy! Rob's reaction to the news was priceless- he literally jumped out of his chair and shouted "All Right!". Ha- I think he scared the sonogram lady a little bit.
I had to buy a baby shower gift since we were in Jackson, so Rob and I went to Babies R Us and bought all kinds of blue clothes (as well as some Saints onesies for next season). Then when ran by and picked out the baby bed. I have been looking for months, and I am so excited that we found the bed I really wanted :) I don't think it's quite what Rob had in mind, but he was really sweet and agreed to get the one I had my heart set on.

(This picture makes the bed look really girly, but I promise with the right bedding it will be perfect for a boy. Also, I don't think we are going to use the canopy poles. So try to imagine it without those.)

Then, at 7, our family came over so we could announce the news. It was so nice to have our parents and siblings there. We were also glad that Rob's (and my) Aunt Judy and Uncle Richard were in town so they could be here for the announcement too. I had cakes made that were either pink or blue inside. When we cut into the blue cake everyone went crazy. I wish I had them on film! Perfect way to make the announcement :)

Another great thing happened yesterday- my Pepaw got news from his Dr that he doesn't have bone cancer. We have been really worried for over a month now, but we are SO excited to get this great news!!! Prayer really does work.

Thank you Lord for so much wonderful news!

Saturday, September 4, 2010

Just Like Christmas Morning

Merry Christmas football fans! The day is finally here. Football season 2010 (yes, I know it really began Thursday. But I don't count it until LSU game day.) Here are a couple of videos to get you even more excited than you already are. I have also included a little something for my MSU friends:

Turn up your volume. 1:27 Seconds is where it all begins.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiZoYQSqu-A

Only because I love my MS State friends:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wniNWNT3Zo