Book Review: Burning Sky

   

     "Burning Sky" written by Lori Benton is one of the best books of its type that I have read in a good long while. It is the story of a young woman on the frontier who is returning to her home after having spent many years living with the Mohawks who had captured her. She meets (and helps) a wounded man near the border of her property. There is much tension in this story between herself and some of the townspeople who want her land and/or do not trust her after her time with the Mohawk who she grew to love. There is also tension between the man she nursed back to health and Mohawk man who comes to her aid as they both are attracted to her.
    The author does a great job of telling the story in such a way that make you want to keep reading. She is also able to keep the reader guessing to an extent (i.e. the story is not overly predictable). Her language/style is quite beautiful in many places as is the love story she creates.
     You can access the first chapter of the book by going to http://waterbrookmultnomah.com/sneak-peek-burning-sky-by-lori-benton. You can find out more about its author, Lori Benton, by going to her website at http://www.loribenton.blogspot.com/


**I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for this review

Book Review: Forever Friday

   

  I recently read the book "Forever Friday" written by Timothy Lewis. Overall I really enjoyed this book. It is the tale of a man who has a job running estate sales. He finds a book of postcards. These postcards were all written one week apart and spanned several years. This man, Adam Colby, has just suffered the end of his own marriage and wonders how this marriage depicted in the postcards could have endured and lasted so long. The story goes back and forth between the story of the two who loved each other and him searching for their story and for the answer to a long-lasting, loving marriage.
    One thing that I enjoyed about this book was that it depicted romantic scenes without becoming too detailed. The reader can tell that the people are very much in love without reading inappropriate depictions. I also enjoyed that the relationship between the couple, while still seeming somewhat "more perfect than normal" still had it's rocky points so that it was more believable.
     If you the romance genre without the "too inappropriate to read" scene depictions and are looking for a fairly easy read, you might enjoy this book. I loved the thought/idea of the husband sending his wife weekly post-cards for their whole marriage, and the book even includes some examples. If you would like to see a book trailer, click here. You can also read the first chapter here.

**I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for this review

Big Change

There has been a fairly big change in my life since I last posted. Most of you know what it is. I got a job teaching 4th grade at the same school that I student taught at! We are over a month into the school year now, and I am feeling quite exhausted most of the time, haha. Everyone talks about the first year of teaching being tough, and they are right! There is just so much to keep up with, do, and remember to do. There are many good things about it as well, thankfully. I am in a great school and there are a whole lot of people who are very supportive and helpful to me and the other new teachers in the school.

We have departmentalized in 4th grade. This means that the students switch from class to class throughout the day. I teach reading to my homeroom and three blocks of writing. While it does make for more students to keep track of and more writing to grade, at least I do not have to plan for all the subjects!

On an unrelated note; I am glad that it is finally turning towards fall! I am really looking forward to Thanksgiving, and even more so to Christmas (and not just because of the two week break, haha). I love this time of year.

Cuan Grande Es Dios!

How great is our God! Just returned from a two week trip to Rancho 3M in Guadalupe, Mexico. My church, Redeemer Church, was able to send two teams down there on consecutive weeks, and some of us were able to stay for both weeks! So thankful that God provided me with the needed resources and time to be able to take this trip to serve the children at the Ranch.  The children are so precious and I got to interact with some awesome people from my church and among the interns and staff. It's pretty difficult to summarize two full week into one blog post, but I will try by describing some of the things we did while we were there as well as sharing some of the highlights.

Projects

One thing that we did every day was organized crafts and activities with the kids. Melissa did a great job heading this up with a different craft for each day, and the kids loved it! The rest of us, who didn't have a work project on a given day, took turns helping with the crafts and just spending time with the kids. There was quite a few work projects that were completed between the two weeks. These included: taking down some interior walls that were dividing classrooms (while conserving the materials), cleaning some of the outer walls of the school, putting up fencing around the school, cleaning, sheet-rocking the rooms of the new middle school building, painting playground roofs and picnic tables (the kids use these tables to do their homework on during the school year), and cutting and stacking wood to be used in the wood burning stoves to provide heat in the winter.

Highlights

On this trip (at least for me) there were no "earth shattering/life changing/sky opening up" moments, and, just like with almost anything, there were things that were difficult. However, there are several things that stick out to me as highlights even beyond the fun of hanging out with the kids each and every night (which was awesome). I will share some of those here.

Walks to the cross: On both weeks we were able to walk up to the cross on a nearby hill with all the kids. The view of God's creations is quite amazing from up there.

Worship Night: The interns who worked at the Ranch this summer were some pretty awesome people. One night they invited our team to join them in a worship night so several of us did. It was a really refreshing night of worship, and it was also really cool because one of the Mexican staff members joined us so there was worship in both Spanish and English at the same time.

Del Rio: Once we all go to go to the local "Del Rio" (similar to a 7-11) and buy some sodas and snacks.

Church: Each Sunday we attended the church service in the chapel located on the Ranch.

Now I will post a few more pictures of our time at Rancho 3M. If you would like to see them all, check out my facebook page!

Closing a Chapter and Beginning a New

My last day of student teaching was last Friday and graduation is this weekend. I am DONE with school! At the beginning the semester (January) this day seemed so far away, but now when I look back the time has really flown by! There were many hard, difficult days, but I have learned so much about teaching, and it has been a great experience! I could not imagine beginning a teaching career without having student teaching to prepare me. It really helped that I was placed at a great school with a great teacher.

On my last day all the kids gave me some hand made cards (complete with pictures), and wanted me to read them aloud right then and there. They were all very sweet. I sure am going to miss those kids, and hope to be able to drop in for a visit :). Some of the kids even brought in some gifts, and my teacher also gave me a gift of some school supplies and a flash drive (pre-loaded with some of her great resources).

I don't think that being completely done with school has really sunk in yet. Now begins the scary process of entering the "real adult world." I need to continue to work on finding a full time job! I am also hoping to find some work over the summer to make some money for basic needs as well as for traveling to Rancho 3M at the end of July (for more information on that or on how you can pray and help see my blog post below this one).

The chapter of full time college has come to a close. The chapter of working full time as a teacher is, Lord willing, about to begin! Please be praying for me as I search for a job. I would love to get a job for the next school year in a good school! I also would love your prayers that whenever I do get my first teaching job that it would go well, and that I would work diligently. The first year of teaching can be very tough!

Thanks for reading!

Summer and Rancho 3M

Dear family and friends,

            This summer we (Natasha, Alexandra, and Moriah) will be traveling with a group from our home church (Sovereign Grace Church, Chesapeake) to the Rancho 3M orphanage in school in Guadalupe, Mexico. Natasha and Alexandra have been on previous years, but this will be the first time for Moriah to go.  We will be traveling there at the end of July, and will all be there from July 22^nd-29^th, but Natasha and Alexandra are also hoping to be there the week prior as well.

While there we will be doing various projects around the "ranch" that are needed for its upkeep and improvement. Past projects have included painting, bathroom renovation, fencing, and much more. We also like to spend time with the children playing, talking, and showing them the love of Jesus. This is a Christian run orphanage and school, and the ranch relies a lot on short-term missions trips getting these projects done as well as assisting the staff in ministering to these kids.

We are writing to ask you to be praying for us, and the rest of the team, as we travel to Rancho 3M. Specific things you could pray for include safety (both from dangers of traveling internationally, safe traveling, as well as safety while working and protection from illness), as well as that we will be able to serve the orphanage well and demonstrate the love of Christ.

In addition we are asking that you prayerfully consider supporting us financially. The trip will cost about $800 (totaling $2400) each plus potentially some additional travel costs, such as for luggage. The first deposit of $200 each is due on April 14^th. The next deposit, of $300 each is due on May 26^th, and the final deposit of and additional $300 (each) will be due by June 23^rd. Your donation is tax deductible if you make the check out to Sovereign Grace Church with “Short-Term Mission Fund” written in the memo field or a cash donation with an adult donor’s name.

To ensure that the donation is applied to our account you may send it to our home address (even with check made out to the church) [please contact me for address, just don't want to post it online :) ]. If you would prefer to send it directly to the church, please ensure you include our name with the donation and mail it to Sovereign Grace Church 508 N. Centerville Turnpike Chesapeake, VA 23320

Even if you are not able to contribute financially please still keep us, and the rest of the team in your prayers. If you would like to learn more about Rancho 3M you can go to their website www.rancho3m.com or find their page on Facebook.

Spring Break

My spring break has finally arrived! Because of student teaching, and the fact that my break goes by the public school schedule rather than ODU's schedule, it is a bit later than usual this year. So far I have mostly been relaxing and getting a few things done that get pushed aside during the school week. I definitely feel that this week will help me return to school refreshed and re-energized for the last few weeks of student teaching.

Here are some pictures from my classroom...

The first picture is a "game" I found to help students practice working with prefixes and suffixes. They sort the flies onto the various frogs, and then they have to write the words down in the correct category along with the meaning of the word.

Lastly, here is a picture of the classroom. I wish I could post a picture of the sweet kids, but for privacy reasons, I can't. I'm going to be happy to finally complete my student teaching and my degree, but I sure will miss this class!

Halfway Point

I have reached the mid-way point for my student teaching internship! By now I am teaching pretty much the whole day (with assistance from the teacher). It is going pretty well, but is crazy busy and my tendency to procrastinate is not helping me any! My Comprehensive Exam (required for my degree) is complete, and I am just awaiting results. I now have to focus on completing my Professional Portfolio in addition to all the requirements the teaching part of student teaching brings. Busy, busy, busy!

One of the things that I had to do as part of my student teaching requirements was to create some sort of behavior plan. I decided to create a tree on poster board and cut out lots of leaves from green paper. When I want to reward a student for good behavior, I give them a leaf with their name and a short description written on it (examples include, "good behavior in the hall" and "clean desk award"). The leaf is then taped on the tree. Once all the leaves are on the tree, the whole class will get a reward! The plan right now is to allow them to eat their lunch in the classroom while watching a movie (and I will probably bring in some cookies or something as well). You can see a picture of my tree, that I took before any leaves were added, below. If you can't see it, the writing says, "Together we're growing in GREAT BEHAVIOR!"

Miss = Lady

A week or so ago the kids in my classroom took a reading test, and part of the test assessed prefixes and suffixes. On the test the students were given a word that had a prefix, and the were required to write what the base word was as well as the meaning of the whole word. One of those words was "Misspell." Now many of the kids were getting mixed up, and writing the prefix instead of the base word and/or giving the meaning of the prefix instead of the meaning of the whole word. The correct answer should be: Base word-Spell, Meaning-To spell incorrectly. I burst out laughing while grading the tests when I came across one which said: Base word: Miss, Meaning: A lady

 Oh, if only I could give points for making me laugh :)

First Week Student Teaching and More

This past week was my first week in the classroom as a student teacher! I was placed in a 3rd grade classroom in Norfolk. I really like my teacher, and the kids are great. This past week I have done a lot of observing, helping with managing behavior, working one-on-one with a couple of kids, and, of course, grading and entering grades into the computer (and on progress reports). As the weeks progress, I will take over more and more responsibility for the classroom. Overall, it was a great week even though it was very tiring (though I'm sure that will slightly ease once I am more used to it).

In other news, our family now has a new dog! We found her on Craig's List for a great price. She is an almost one year old Labradoodle, and we have named her Sophie. She is great, likes to play, and is good with the little kids. She really enjoyed the snow we had today.

2013

Happy (belated) New Year! In case you have not noticed, I have added a page on the right where I will be keeping track of the books that I read this year. If you are interested please take a look throughout the year.