Wednesday, February 29, 2012

You Want to be a Teacher? WHYYYY?????

I've been inadvertantly reading some blogs about homeschooling lately.  They are really blogs about adoption, but apparently it is almost a pre-requesite that you are planning on homeschooling and/or at least be a stay at home mom in order to adopt.  Guess we're blowing that one out of the water.....

I work. A LOT.  I work at my full-time job and I also work on school.  I am sooooooo excited to say that I will graduate this summer. FINALLY!  (I wish I could add some kind of awesome music to play only when you read that line).



I'm going to be a teacher.  Not kindergarten or 2nd grade.  High School.  I'm jumping into the shark infested waters in August, or maybe December depending on if my life decides to slow down or not.  Teaching the big kids is basically baptism by fire.  No amount of training will ever prepare you for the job you are taking on.  I'm in my very last education course, and I'm fairly certain that I am more scared now than ever about being a teacher.  Don't take that as me saying that I'm not pumped about it.  I am SOOOO pumped!  I can't wait to be doing something I love.  But trying to instill a love for something (reading and writing and poetry and all the good stuff) that they have hated their entire lives is quite a challenge. 



We're learning about teaching THE CANNON.  I'm not going to lie, I kind of hate Shakespeare..... (I feel like I need to go wash my mouth out now).   Honestly, I'm not really a huge fan of a lot of "the Cannon"  unless it is paired with something newer that the kids and I can actually relate to.  Come on now..... wouldn't you rather read 1984 with something cool and hip like The Hunger Games or Feed or The Uglies?  I could go on and on, but I'll spare you.  I'll even break down and teach Twilight if it gets the kids reading and I can use it to introduce some of the themes found in the books that I'm actually supposed to be teaching.  Maybe, just maybe, they'll even like them..... But let's not get carried away.  After all, kids are supposed to come out of school hating everything they were ever "forced" to read, RIGHT?


Monday, February 27, 2012

February in Pictures

Layla being silly Sunday morning.
There's a great story that goes along with this one:  We went to get Fro-Yo one afternoon.  Someone (I won't mention any names) pooped all over themselves.  Apparently I forgot to pack an extra onesie..... my bad.  Result = Naked Baby in a carseat.  And we are now officially rednecks....
Layla, along with like 55,234 other babies in our church, getting dedicated!
My new Favorite obsession.  No lie, I wear these every single day.  Best shoes ever.
I got this outfit from an Etsy seller.  SO CUTE.  I can't wait  for spring so we can take some more pics!
Can you say circus clown? 
Mi Madre and Layla.
Exhausted after a long day of insanity.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Sexuary

Warning:  Post may be reference my sex life.  Mom and Dad, please feel free to NOT read this post......

This month (February) has been filled with a ton of failure.  Pretty much everything I touch right now seems to wither away and die. 

*Remember that February-Photo-A-Day thing I claimed I was going to do?  Yea.....I made it to like day 5.  I forgot two days and tried to make them up, but life happened and I just kept forgetting.  Now I'm like 14 days behind and have just thrown in the towel.

*Remember how we have a 7 month old daughter?  We still have her, but we aren't really looking to add any other younger children to our family through natural birth at this moment.  Birth Control is a must!  Birth Control (the cheap kind I can afford) is a once-a-day pill.  I'm not so great with once-a-day things.......(For all those people freaking out, No we're not pregnant.....for now....da da daaaaaaaa)

*Remember how we were participating in Sexuary?  You don't?  Oh, my bad!  I didn't tell anyone about it on purpose accident.  So we decided that we'd attempt to go 10 straight days.  I got sick....for 2 weeks.  Ryan got sick.  We all got sick.  We made it a total of like 3 days...?  Not our best work for sure.

So Sexuary hasn't really worked out as planned.  It was supposed to make me feel....Sexy.  Instead, I feel like an out of shape (thanks Bronchitis!) failure.  I'm about as far from "sexy" as I could possibly be.   Not feeling sexy has completely ruined sex, which in turn makes me feel unsexy.  Ugh....vicious cycles.... 

So I did what all wives should do and I told my husband before I end up a sobbing mess one night and he is wondering why a crazy woman is living in his wife's body.  I also got lucky and found a post that Christine wrote about Feeling Sexy Just The Way You Are.  There are some underlying issues that are causing my unsexiness.  I know this.  You know this.  A lot of these have to do with feeling like I'm a failure in this department and/or having little voices in my head telling me sex is sinful (Thanks Conservative Christian Culture!)  I think I need to find Christ in my sex life.  Man that sounds weird....

 God gave us sex for a reason, I just haven't found it yet.  I'm pretty sure I need a "sex mentor."  You read that right....  I need some super wise and super sexy woman of God to walk into my life and teach me how she's conquered her demons and determined she's sexy/beautiful.  Not really sure I have the guts to just walk up to women I look up to at church and ask them how their sex life is..... 

I had a hard time deciding whether to post this or not.  It's just a tad bit taboo to talk about sex unless you're an unbeliever that lives in Sodom or Gomorrah.  Personally, I think this should change.....

For clarification: my relationship with my husband is awesome.  I'm so glad God gave me a man that I can unashamedly talk to about this kind of stuff. 

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

5 Little Ladies: Fear and Chaos

Around two weeks ago, a friend of ours sent me an email.  There were 5 sisters who had recently been turned over to DSS and needed a home, a family. She said that she had been praying over it and felt God specifically telling her to pass the information along to me.  I stopped dead in my tracks.  Its strange how much more thought I'll put into things that seem absolutely ridiculous when someone mentions that God told them to tell me. 

My first thought was exactly the same as what you are thinking right now:  5!  HAHAHAHAHA!  There is NO way! 

5 Mexican girls + 1 Layla = 6 girls......

My brain, trying to process what that would look like, came up with this:
and got progressively worse........

which could turn into......


So I'm exagerating a bit.  But think about it!  It would be like living with "The View."  All 6 girls would be seperated by only 5 years......  That is a 16, 15,14,13, and two 12 years old girls all living under the same roof.  Ryan would have to be put in a mental hospital.

 Why would God want me to hear about this family of sisters?  Our new house doesnt even have a foundation yet, I'm not finished with school until August, and we are going to Europe for 2 weeks this summer.  There is no way we could take this on!  So I prayed.  And prayed.  And prayed some more.  And then I knew why I needed to know about this. 

So many times I talk the talk about orphan/ foster care.  I want these girls to have a home.  It may not be my home though.  Extra large families scare me.  The chaos of it is terrifying.  Two or three kids seem reasonable.....but not 6.  I can't keep 6 under control.  Maybe that's my problem.  I still want to be in control of what happens in my house.  Every time I think I've given control of my life and my future up to the One who is actually in control, I find that I'm still holding on to one last string, just in case. 

I know that we aren't the parents for these precious girls.  God has some special parents set aside for them.  He did point out to me how much of a hypocrite I really am.  Thankfully, that is what grace and forgiveness are for.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

February Photo A Day Challenge

So I stumbled across this Photo Challenge from Fat Mum Slim and decided that I'd give it a try.  I love my instagram, but all I've really been using it for is to take pics of Layla when my real camera isn't handy.  I'm hoping this challenge will help me think outside the box a bit.  If you have instagram, or just a camera that you carry around with all day, then you should join me!  I'll post the pics once a week, but you can check them out each day on instagram @ annashumpert.  Let me know if you're joining in so I can follow along!

Just a heads up:  We'll be having another giveaway soon.  For all you ladies that love handmade stuff (especially awesome jewelry), check back in a couple of days.  I think you'll be pleasantly surprised!