Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Another month...

My heart is a bit crushed right now. I had waited as long as I could to take a pregnancy test this month and just couldn't wait any longer. Well, I just took one this afternoon and it was negative. I really didn't think I was pregnant this month because I just didn't "feel" like I was. But I was so hopeful! Right before I tested I spent a long time in prayer just asking the Lord to give me peace no matter what the results were. Then once I saw that negative sign I broke down. But not for long. I was quickly reminded of my prayers. I know that the Lord will provide, in His timing.

So, now we start again. We wait on the Lord and remain confident in His plan for our lives.

Thank you all so much for your prayers and please keep praying! :)

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Friday is here! Well, almost...


Everytime I hear myself, or someone else, say "Yeah, it's Friday" I have this little voice inside that reminds me that looking forward to the weekends really isn't right. Why do we just want to rush through the weeks to get to the weekends? Aren't the week days just as important? Our lives are so short already. I mean, do the math...our lives consist of many more week days then weekends. I am so guilty of this! And the worst part is that I am teaching another generation, every day, to feel the same way as me. We make Friday a "fun" day and make the weekends seem like such a great thing. Of course, the weekends are wonderful and I am a HUGE fan...but I just need to take a step back and try to enjoy everyday!


So, here's to Friday....and Monday and Tuesday and...... :-)

Monday, February 18, 2008

3 day weekend = PERFECT!

I think that every weekend should be a 3 day one! Having Monday off is HUGE! These past 3 days have been so good. I got to spend all 3 days with Brian and we didn't have anything that we had to do. 3 whole days of rest and relaxation! Amazing! I really don't want to go back to work tomorrow. But, the good news is, it's only a 4 day week. Only one thing that I am not looking forward to is one more parent-teacher conference tomorrow morning. :-( Then the rest of the week should be pretty good.

On Friday we were told that we need to sign our contracts for next year. This was something I knew was coming, but didn't expect this soon. I wanted to be able to have a little more time to find out if we were going to get pregnant. I don't want to sign my contract and then possibly have to break it before the next school year starts. For those of you that don't know, I do not want to start a school year and then have to leave mid year if we have a baby. I would not just take a normal maternity leave because I wouldn't put my baby in daycare. So, if I get pregnant before the next school year begins, I will not be going back. So, that is the waiting game we are playing right now. We were really thinking that we would have had a positive pregnancy test by now, so this is all a little unexpected for us. We have learned more and more to rely on the Lord and to trust Him. He has this all planned out. So, we have to sign our contracts no later than the end of next week. I should also know by then if I am pregnant this month. My biggest prayer right now is for the Lord to bless us with a positive pregnancy test this month. I know that this might seem selfish and I question that myself, often. But I know that the Lord hears my prayers and will answer them in His time. If I am not pregnant this month, I will sign my contract and will continue to wait on the Lord. We will keep trying and if we are successful, I will have to break my contract. It's all in the Lord's hands!

Saturday, February 16, 2008

The Fight....

We just got home from church (we often go to the Saturday Night service) and I thought I would share what the Lord taught me tonight through His Word. Tonight's sermon was called, "The Fight" and I really think that the message is vital for our generation!

First is the fight for a slower pace. This is not simply referring to our hectic calendars but more so to our disordered hearts. In our lives we are so often seeking to find our self worth in what we do, instead of who we are. Who we are is found in Christ, which should be more than enough! We need to stop striving! We have the Lord's approval and that should be our highest delight. I know that I so often forget that I am special! Psalm 8:5 says, "Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor." I am important! Psalm 8:6-8 says, "You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas." The Lord gave us so much responsibility, which means that He thinks we are important, so why don't we agree? But the thing that I most often forget is that the Lord sees me as perfect! The blood of Christ makes me perfect. Even in spite of my sin, His blood makes me clean!

Next is the fight for simplicity. Simplicity does not necessarily mean shaving away possessions and responsibilies (though it often might), but it means putting those things into proper focus. Simplicity is the by-product of seeking the right things (God's kingdom and His righteousness) in order to be freed from dangerous things (personal possessions) so as to enjoy the best things (peace and contentment). We can't get caught up in the battle for more things! We need to get back to the basics and place our focus on what is truly important.

Finally, there is the fight for a single day's rest (the Sabbath). God designed us to spend one day a week resting, remembering the past, reevaluating the present, and planning the future. On the seventh day, the Lord rested from His work and spent the day reflecting on His work. We were created in His image, so we too should rest on the seventh day. Leviticus 23:3 says, "Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work. It is a Sabbath to the LORD in all your dwelling place."

This message was a great reminder for me that we all need to slow down and reevaluate our lives. Life is but a breath.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Happy Valentine's Day

I am so happy to be home right now. After a long week of parent-teacher conferences, leaving early today was a well deserved break! I just really wish that we didn't have to go to work tomorrow. But we do have a 3 day weekend!

So, it's Valentine's Day. A day full of heart shaped boxes of chocolates, red roses, little Valentine's Cards, and hugs and kisses. Being an elementary school teacher on a day like today is so much fun! Watching the kids pass out their little Valentine's cards is so precious! They are so innocent and adorable. I remember Valentine's Day being so much fun when I was in elementary school. The best part was reading the valentine's from the boys that I "liked". But now that I'm all grown up, Valentine's Day isn't nearly as exciting. I mean, every day is Valentine's with Brian! :-) haha (That was so cheesy!) If I see one more heart shaped box of chocolates I might scream! I can't even tell you how much candy I got today. Wow, so much! But the best part of the day was getting all those hugs from my little kiddies. They are so sweet on Valentine's Day.

I hope everyone has a great Valentine's Day, even if it is the same as every other. :-)

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

What's in a name?

So, I just did this on a website called blogthings.com. I thought it was pretty interesting and thought it would make an interesting post. What you do is type in your full name and it will tell you what your name means. Not sure where this information comes from exactly, but thought it was fun anyway. Read all this and see what you think. I have added my two cents in too (that's the writing that's in red). So, here goes:

What Sabrina Arlene Vaccaro Means

You are the total package - suave, sexy, smart, and strong. You have the whole world under your spell, and you can influence almost everyone you know. (I seriously doubt that!) You don't always resist your urges to crush the weak. (That sounds mean!) Just remember, they don't have as much going for them as you do. You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection. (I am definitely a perfectionist, but to a fault) You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive. (I don't think I am any of those things) You have the classic "Type A" personality. You are full of energy. You are spirited and boisterous. You are bold and daring. (YEA RIGHT!) You are willing to do some pretty outrageous things. Your high energy sometimes gets you in trouble. You can have a pretty bad temper at times. (That's really funny too!) You are wild, crazy, and a huge rebel. (Oh yes, little Miss Never been drunk and didn't have sex before marriage! Such a rebel!) You're always up to something. You have a ton of energy, and most people can't handle you. (Can you handle me?) You're very intense. You definitely are a handful, and you're likely to get in trouble. But your kind of trouble is a lot of fun. You tend to be pretty tightly wound. (Highly doubt it...I am so laid back!) It's easy to get you excited... which can be a good or bad thing. You have a lot of enthusiasm, but it fades rather quickly. You don't stick with any one thing for very long. You have the drive to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Your biggest problem is making sure you finish the projects you start. (Boy, that is definitely true!) You are very intuitive and wise. You understand the world better than most people. You also have a very active imagination. You often get carried away with your thoughts. You are prone to a little paranoia and jealousy. You sometimes go overboard in interpreting signals. You are relaxed, chill, and very likely to go with the flow. (Well, I definitely agree with that, but doesn't that contradict what this just said about me being tightly wound????) You are light hearted and accepting. You don't get worked up easily. (Definitely agree) Well adjusted and incredibly happy, many people wonder what your secret to life is. (It's Jesus!) :-) You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone. You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together. At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together. You are very hyper. You never slow down, even when it's killing you. (WOW, this thing keeps contradicting itself!) You're the type of person who can be a workaholic during the day... and still have the energy to party all night. (Haha, isn't that funny!) Your energy is definitely a magnet for those around you. People are addicted to your vibe. You are very open. You communicate well, and you connect with other people easily. You are a naturally creative person. Ideas just flow from your mind. A true chameleon, you are many things at different points in your life. You are very adaptable. You are well rounded, with a complete perspective on life. You are solid and dependable. You are loyal, and people can count on you. (I hope that one is true!) At times, you can be a bit too serious. You tend to put too much pressure on yourself.
Well, let me know what you think?

All grown up!


It is hard to believe that we have lived in our house for 6 1/2 months now. Time has flown by! Life is so much different now that we are home owners. There is still a part of me that misses the apartment life! We had so much more time on the weekends and if anything ever needed to be fixed, we just called the office and they came right down. Now we are stuck fixing everything. We are responsible for the whole house! That's a lot! We were so naive going into the whole thing. A few days before we closed on our house, I remember Brian saying, "Well, we should be able to knock out all the painting in the first weekend!" Are you kidding me? We are STILL painting! We were lucky to get the first room done in the first weekend. And the only reason we accomplished that was because we stayed up until 3 am several nights. We actually thought that we could tear down all this wallpaper and paint every wall in 2-3 days! WOW! Our painting total 6 1/2 months later is 2 bedrooms, the kitchen, the dining room, the laundry room, and 2 bathrooms. Only 5 rooms to go, plus the garage! Haha, so much for 2-3 days!

Growing up is hard to do! When we first moved into our house, I had a really hard time with it. I was very emotional for the first few weeks. I had moments where I truly thought that I would never feel comfortable in this house. I didn't want to grow up and be an "adult". I had to do some major soul searching and truly rely on the Lord for strength through the whole transition. I remember the first day in our house that I was home alone. My parents had just left and Brian had to go to work. I was in tears! I didn't want to be alone in this unfamiliar place. This wasn't my home. I was in a strangers house, but with all my stuff. That was very scary to me! I sat on the couch and spent more than an hour journaling and praying. I was desperate for the Lord to comfort me in such a scary time. I went through so many emotions during that afternoon. But after spending that time with the Lord, I had so much peace. That day was a turning point for me. Even though I still felt a little out of place in this big house, the Lord continued to give me peace and in many different ways he showed me that everything would be "okay". That experience taught me so much. I'm sure most people think that I'm crazy to be so upset about moving into a new house. Most people would be thrilled. But I think that being the "baby" of my family played a role too. I have always been the "baby" and really wasn't ready to give that up. (I'm still not willing to give that up!) Moving into a house made me finally feel like a grown up. Getting married wasn't even as big of a shock for me, for some reason. Don't get me wrong, I was so thankful that the Lord had provided us with a home, but I just wasn't prepared for the shock of it all.

Through this whole experience I have grown so much. My dependence on the Lord has grown so much. My relationship with Him has grown drastically and I can honestly say that moving into this house is the reason for this growth. For once in my life I can actually say that I am being consistent with my quiet times. Since moving into this house, I have actually spent time in the Word (almost) daily. But even if I miss a day here of there, I still think about it and get right back on track the next day. Before I would have just missed a day or two and then it would all go down hill from there.

Now I look back on that time in my life with a giggle. I love our house now and couldn't imagine living anywhere else. The Lord used this transition in my life to grow me in so many ways. For that, I am so thankful!

Monday, February 11, 2008

Parent-Teacher Conferences....

This week is every teacher's nightmare....parent/teacher conferences. Don't get me wrong, I think that some parent/teacher conferences are a good thing and necessary, however many are not. I just don't understand some parents. Why do the ones that have children that are exceeding have to ask SO many questions and be SO concerned, while the ones that have children who are failing rarely even show up. It is just so backwards! We really don't need to meet with you if your child is making excellent progress and is an overall great kid, so can you please just not come! Why do we need to waste your time and ours? You have a smart kid, so stop being so over concerned and being such a pain! haha

So, this week is going to be a crazy one, so I probably won't have very much extra time for writing. But if I come across any great stories or funny moments during our conferences, I will be sure to make a post. Today's conference were a big bore, so nothing to report. :-) But if you think about it, please pray for me and Suzanne this week. We really hate meeting with the parents...I mean that's why we got into teaching - to work with kids, not adults! We don't do well with adults! They scare us! haha

Love you all! Have a great week! (Hopefully a little better then mine)

Saturday, February 9, 2008

Saturday's are so sweet!


Why can't every day be Saturday? It truly is the perfect day. You get to sleep in, eat a real breakfast (not just a banana while running out the door for work), catch up on your chores, lay around and relax, and spend time with the most important people in your life. What could be better? The only negative thing about this Saturday would be all the basketball that's on tv. Brian is currently watching the Gators kick some Georgia butt, which is a GREAT thing, of course, but he is also dozing off in the chair. I just keep chuckling as I watch his little head bob side to side as he struggles to remian awake enough to claim that he is "watching the game". If I try to snatch the remote from his hand, he will wake up and say, "Hey, I was watching that, go back!" Then we will discuss how he was actually NOT watching, but was sleeping. He will then get offended that I won't just let him "watch". Is it really worth the discussion? Nah, I'll just keep the game on to make him happy.

So, we just got back from Sam's, which really is a great store! We don't go very often, but it just happens that we were there last weekend too. Everytime before we go, we make a list of some things that we might want to pick up there and the list is so short. But some how we manage to rack up a bill for at least $100 every time we go. Buying in bulk is definitely the way to go for most things, but it sure hurts to pay the price all up front. But now I have enough bathroom cups to last a life time and enough toothpaste to brush my teeth 5 million times. :-) And if you need any cottonelle wet wipes, come on over to my house. hehe (Gotta keep it clean, you know!) So, today when we were in Sam's we were walking down an aisle and this random guy came up behind us and said to Brian "Hey, your wife would be pretty good looking if she weren't wearing that awful shirt." I am wearing a GATOR shirt to show my Florida pride! He is a Bulldog fan and didn't appreciate my love of the best team around! He proceeded to tell us a story about a time that he was in Gainesville and he went into a Gator store. He asked the lady that worked there if they had any Georgia things for sale. She said, "Oh yea, come back here." She took him into a back room and handed him a roll of Bulldog toilet paper. They wipe themselves with the bulldogs! I thought that was pretty good and really am considering trying to find some of that toilet paper for my house! I would just love to invite over all my Georgia friends on the night of the FL/GA game and have them using the GA toilet paper. How great would that be! :-) I don't know where my deep hatred for the Bulldogs comes from, but it only started when I moved to ATL. I never even knew anything about the Bulldogs when I lived in FL. I used to despise the Seminoles and now I don't ever think about them. I guess my hatred has changed based on my location.

Alright, well now that I have surely offended half of the people that read this blog, I better go find something else to do. But I still love you girls even if you are GA or FL State fans. Some day the Lord will show you your sin. haha (Just kidding!)

Love you all!

Don't see "Firewall"


Okay, so it is 12:03am and I just had to make a post. We just finished watching the movie Firewall with Harrison Ford. DO NOT see this movie. It is awful. I mean, the premise of the movie is okay, but the acting is bad and it is so slow and unrealistic. We only spent $1 on it, so I guess that is good, but just don't waste the 2 hours of your life to watch it. These types of movies just make Brian and I mad because we really feel like they take hours of our lives that we can never get back. :-) Oh well, it's over now and I had to share it with you all. Goodnight!

Friday, February 8, 2008

Someone is actually reading this!!!!




I am so excited to see that several of my friends are reading my blog! That makes me want to write even more. Thanks girls!

So, here is a funny story from today at work (most of my funny stories happen in my classroom-I mean I work with 36 seven and eight year olds, what do you expect) So, today we were watching a movie (Arctic Tale) and this was a real treat for the kids because we rarely watch movies in school. But we have so much work to do for parent-teacher conferences, so we really needed them to be busy so we could work in peace. :-) Anyway, so the movie was on and I was out in the hallway reading one on one with one of my students. When we came back in, there was a walrus on the screen and it was making some very strange noises! The students were all giggling and once I realized what was happening, I blurted out, "Eww, is that walrus farting?" Oh my word, you would not believe the laughter that comment brought. To hear their teacher say the word "farting" was SO hilarious to them! And to top it off, the walrus was definitely farting for the next minute or so. It was truly disgusting! :-) (If you haven't seen that movie, you must now see it just for the laughs you will get from the farting walrus scene)

It is really so funny to work with young kids. They get the biggest kick out of the smallest things. Their ability to laugh at the most random things should be a lesson for us. Why can't we laugh, even at the most inappropriate times? Why are we all so serious? At what point in our lives do we lose our sense of humor? We just all need to let lose sometimes and laugh! Life is too short to take it SO seriously. I mean, I'm not saying that life isn't a serious thing or that there aren't very serious moments we must face as adults, but our lives would be so much more enjoyable if we would take some time to relax! So, the moral of this story is do something fun tonight! It's Friday! Have some fun! :-)

Thursday, February 7, 2008

My first try at blogging...

So, here goes. I have never blogged before, but found a friend's blog and thought it was a fun way to get my thoughts down. I highly doubt that anyone will ever spend their time reading my blog, but that's okay with me. My blog may completely stink or I may not keep up with it like I would like, but it's worth a try. My plans for this blog are to just write. Not necessarily a daily update, but just my thoughts at the moment. Maybe some funny stories or good pics, things that the Lord teaches me, my random thoughts on various topics, or basically whatever my mind is pondering at the moment.

So, where do I begin? I won't bore anyone with my life story. You can read my "about me" section if you want to know the basics. I feel like my first blog should be really something great, but I don't know what that would be right now. My life is fairly boring at the moment. Working and trying to start a family. There is nothing more that I want right now than to be a mother. So many people keep telling me that I am SO young to be thinking about babies. 25 isn't that young to me. I know, I know, anyone that is older than me just laughs when they hear me say that, but that's just how I feel. I feel that the Lord has been preparing me for motherhood for so long. I have wanted to be a mother for as long as I can remember. I just feel like I am putting off my "life calling" the longer I wait. So, now we don't want to wait anymore, but we are learning that babies don't just happen. This is completely out of our control and for one of the first times in my life I am truly forced to rely wholly on the Lord. That is really hard! But I know that He is using this experience to teach me so much. I just feel like everyone around me is popping out babies. After trying for so many months, I truly just don't understand these women that manage to get pregnant by accident. It seems to be such a small chance that everything will line up just right in order for a baby to be conceived. So how come there are so many "whoops" experiences out there? Even more then ever I am shown that the Lord has all of my life in His control. I truly have no say in when this will happen. I just need to let it go!