The goodbyes have begun

I hate saying goodbye to people. And the decision I made to move back to Santa Rosa is causing a lot of sad goodbyes for me. Don't misunderstand, I really am excited to move back to Santa Rosa. It will be nice to be home, but at the same time I am going to miss the people I have gotten to know in Santa Clarita.

Tonight I babysat for the Barczaks for the last time. I have been babysitting Weston and Ryan for almost 2 years now and I love watching them. We have such a great time and they are such well behaved little boys (4 and 2). Seriously, I would stop a movie and say it was time for bed and they would run to the bathroom to brush their teeth.

Anyway, when I was putting them to bed tonight Weston (4) looks at me and says, "Jamie, you know what is sad? When I go to college I will have to leave Ryan." So we talked about how that is sad, but he will have a fun time and he still has a long time until he goes to college. Then he says, "But you know what is happy? I will get to see you at college!" So sweet! I nearly broke down. (I have been extremely emotional when saying goodbye to people)

Jen (Weston and Ryan's mom) told me that she remembered the first time I babysat. They were going out with some friends to see a play. They got my number from someone who recommended me so I met them for the first time that night. When they got in the car with their friends they were asked who was watching the boys. "Jamie" was the response. "Jamie who?" Jen and Andy didn't even know my last name. :o) But it all turned out alright. Obviously, since it has been 2 years.

I will definitely miss this family.

The Tongue

Last year while I was still living in the dorms I was in a small group. In this group we were going through an Elizabeth George devotional on the book of James. We didn't get to finish it before school got out and I just picked it up this semester to continue going through it.

The last two lessons I've read were on the tongue. This always a hard thing for me. But Elizabeth George quoted something from the Life Application Bible that I thought was very encouraging.
So here you go!


"If no human being can control the tongue, why bother trying? Because even if we do not achieve perfect control of it in this life, we can still learn enough to control to reduce the damage it can do. It is better to fight a fire than to go around setting new ones! Remember that we are not fighting the tongue's fire in our own strength. The Holy Spirit will give us increasing power to monitor and control what we say. As Christians we are not perfect, but we should never stop growing.... God works to change us from the inside out. As the Holy Spirit purifies our hearts, He also gives us self-control so that we will speak words that please God."

Faith

Doubt sees the obstacles. Faith sees the way.

Doubt sees the darkest night. Faith sees the day.

Doubt dreads to take a step. Faith soars on high.

Doubt questions, "Who believes?" Faith answers, "I."

Very delayed

So my spring break was about a month ago
and I am just now posting about it.
Student teaching has been very busy.
It all started out with a bang as Michelle and I got pedicures! So fun!
The only dilemma was the tip.
We weren't sure what to do and so we just left.
Awkward! But we still had a good time. :o)

After a delicious meal with the Anthony family,
they drove me to the airport. We had a great time listening to
"Boyz in the Sink."Jack entertained by playing
the air bass and singing along.

Home was wonderful. I was definitely in need of some time off and time to spend with my family. Danika was the biggest perk, to be honest. She was adorable. Even when she cried. But I'm her aunt so I'm a tad biased. We did a lot of window shopping and just had a nice time. All of the girls in the fam went to Railroad Square in Santa Rosa just to look at Antique shops and we had such a nice time.

I loved making her smile. And I totally got her giggling really hard. (There is a video of it on my facebook)

I took Dani to the park for the first time (sorry for stealing that first Julie). She didn't really care about it, but it was still fun. Amazing how she didn't mind this swing, but when she is in the swing at home she can't stand it.

Julie and I took Danika over to see Lance and Jill Wallace. Gabe and Emma just wanted to hold her the whole time. We had such a nice time with them.

Julie and I have this silly tradition of taking pictures in the back seat of the car no matter where we are going. Good memories. :o)

It was hard to leave, but I had such a nice time.

So there is my spring break in a nut shell.