Great Idea...

This is why I love blogging:

Lyndsie from A Love Worth Waiting For posted a great idea today. Head over to her site to read about it and link up.....

Basically it is just a prayer request link up. You can put it in anonymously or you can add your blog to it so people can go to your site and pray for you. I constantly need prayer and it is nice to know someone, somewhere, near or far, might be praying for me for my specific need. Right now, my main prayer request deals with my kids at school. I am struggling to keep my head above water. I desperately want to reach these kids. I thank God everynight for this job and ask him to help me reach them. I know I am at this school for a reason and though it is VERY difficult at times, I know that's where I'm supposed to be. This is probably one of the hardest things I've gone through in my life. Everything about my job is different from last year. Change is good, but I have been dwelling on the past and asking God, "why" all the time and I have got to stop. I need to step back, look at my blessings around me and be content. I have a teachers devotional and it seems like everynight God tells me exactly what I need to hear. I wanted to share a couple of things that have touched me through this devotional...

"We, like our Savior, face trials that bring fear and trembling to the very depths of our soul, but like Christ, we, too, must seek God's will, not our own. When we learn to accept God's will without reservation, we experience the peace that He offers to wise believers who trust Him"

"Sometimes even the most devout Christians can become discouraged. Discouragement, however, is not God's way. He is a God of possibility not negativity. So today, let us count our blessings instead of hardships."

"When you are worried, anxious, or afraid, call upon Him and accept the touch of Hid comforting hand. Remember that God rules both mountainships and valleys-with limitless wisdom and love-now and forever."

I just love this devotional. And it is perfect for teachers even though not every day do they tie in something about the classroom. For any other teachers out there, it is called "A Journey with God - For Teachers" I was given the devotional when I graduated college so I'm not sure where it came from but I'm sure Lifeway or any other Christian bookstore (or maybe a regular one) might have it. It has been an amazing blessing in my life!

I hope everyone has had a GREAT Tuesday! Yay for Wednesday tomorrow! Going to run 28 minutes today - say a prayer for me....I am almost halfway to my goal. :)

A Win and A Giveaway!

The Alabama game was quite a thriller on Saturday. I was in a pretty bad mood the whole game. Screaming at the TV pretty much every play. I wanted to know who these players were and what they did to my National Championship team? Arkansas was doing everything right and we were doing everything wrong. I sure am glad they came back after half time ready to play. I must admit, I was preparing myself for a loss. I don't even remember what it felt like to not be #1!!! We were about to find out and I had to prepare myself! I was losing faith!!!

I had to leave with TWO minutes left to go to a wedding and I was slightly freaking out. I called Molly who was watching from Boston and made her give me the play by play until the game was over. I was slightly worried the game might not be over before the wedding started. Call me crazy, but I was not walking in the church until I knew we won the game. Our conversation was alot of this:

At this point, Arkansas had the ball with PLENTY of time to score....
"What yard are they on?"
"How much time is left?"
"What are they doing?"
"What down is it?"
then molly started screaming and I didn't know what she was screaming about....are they about to score? did they score? is our winning streak over? did we intercept the ball? is it over? did we win?

And finally I screamed, MOLLY!! What happened!!!!!! and finally, the words came through the phone, "INTERCEPTION!!!!!!!!!!!" ---ahhh, sweet words to my diehard Alabama fan ears. :)

We won! To a very very good team I might add. Their quarterback is very good. And kinda cute too. :) haha. Anyways, Sorry Arkansas, yall played one heck of a game! rammer jammer......

A sidenote about the game: During the game I heard the announcers say that we haven't lost a regular season game since the Auburn game in 2007. That game instantly caught my memory. That was the first time Ty and I hung out. :) I "met" him the day before when our parents hung out at his house. The whole car ride to Auburn that night I was all smiles. He was so handsome. Then, I later find out that his family is coming to Auburn as well to tailgate with us! Oh how so excited I was. The whole next day (the day of the game) our parents kept trying to get me to talk to him but I was too shy and anyone who knows Ty knows he is SO shy. So, needless to say, we tailgated all day, then watched the game at my sister's house in Auburn together, not saying more than 5 words the whole time. :) but I was so smitten with him. He did however talk to my sister, Anna most of the time! Haha, funny how things work out... ;)

Now for the giveaway:

Head over to LyndsieGivesAway for a GREAT giveaway!! These bags and totes are so cute! I have two market totes and use them all the time!! Go check out the giveaway here....

Oh and a *special* congrats to Molly who started her new job today! She is Boston's newest preschool teacher and I am so proud of her! Welcome to big girl world Molly!!! I love you and those sweet children are so blessed to have you as their teacher!!!!!

I love you Molly!

Hope everyone had a great Monday - I don't know about yall but I sure am glad Monday is over, 4 more days til the weekend... :)

26

I ran 26 minutes tonight. Some days I dominate, some days are a drag. Today was a drag. My legs hurt, I sweated more than normal, the air was so thick. Need I say more. I didn't have the best day at school and I couldn't get my mind out of "blah" mode. I am also SO incredibly tired today because I couldn't sleep last night. And then I locked myself out of my apartment when I went to run. So I had to walk all the way to the office to get the extra key, then back to the apartment, then back to the office, then I finally got to run. By then, I was over it. Anyways, tonight's run was a complete drag. I couldn't get my breathing right and the track smelled like horse poop. Yes, I said horse poop. I don't know why or how my apartment's track smells like that but it did. Everytime I rounded turn 1, I got a huge whiff of it. It was  not pleasant.

Let's hope Sunday's run is better. :)

Off to date night with my love. Maybe this will get me out of my Friday Funk.

Thank you Jesus...

For my health! I was thinking today about how around a year ago, is when I had all of my stomach issues that I thought would never end. Thankfully, it did end, without any reason. I am not complaining that we never found out what was wrong, but it still kinda bugs me that I went through all that and I never found out what was wrong!!!

About a year ago, I started having really bad cramps at random times during the day. Not like girl issue cramps but like stomach cramps. Now, the stomach bug was going around my school - all the teachers had it, and all the students had it. But I wasn't throwing up, it was just really bad cramping. I remember laying on my classroom floor curled up in the fetal position while my kids were at P.E. many days. I remember popping in a movie at the end of the day because I couldn't even stand up to teach from the pain. I remember being so irritable with my kids because I was in so much pain. I remember telling them that "Ms. Alfano's tummy hurt really bad". The cramps went on for WEEKS. They were so random, I tried to cut things out of my diet that I thought were causing it...I tried OTC medicine, everything I could to try to make it go away without going to the doctor. I hate the doctor. I never really have gone to the doctor for much of anything. I remember I got really sick (with a bad cold) in high school and I went and they terrorized me to get a strep test only to find out it came back negative. After that incident, I never went back. Mom never really took us to the doctor when we were growing up. We usually just stuck it out unless it was really bad. Anyways, I guess that's where I get my not wanting to go to the doctor from. Well, in this case, the doctor was necessary. I felt like I was depriving my sweet 1st graders from learning because I was in so much pain. Not to mention, I was in so much pain. So, I finally went to an Emergi-care place here in Tuscaloosa one day after school. He couldn't really decide what it could be so he gave me some medicine to try. Well, a few days later, it went from bad to worse. I started dry heaving which turned into throwing up every day for 6 days straight. At first I thought it might be the stomach bug and all the cramping from the previous weeks was just leading up to it. But then it went on, and on, and on. Everytime I thought I was getting better, I would go downhill again. I missed school that Friday, then thought I was better on Saturday but couldn't even make it out to the tailgate. Ty and my mom were making me eat so I wouldn't get dehydrated but eating was the LAST thing I wanted to do. I would cry everytime they made me eat. And they were making me eat PLAIN rice, PLAIN toast, and PLAIN baked potatoes - disgusting. Sunday rolled around and it still wasn't better so I decided to stay home from school again on Monday. Again, Monday came and I thought I felt better....then my head ended up in the toilet again. I tried to go to school Tuesday and was MISERABLE. I remember I go back from lunch and felt myself getting sick again. I ran across the hall and asked the teacher to watch my kids and I went to the bathroom - My principal sent me home and told me not to come back on Wednesday...lol. I FINALLY made another doctor's appointment on Wednesday in Birmingham. The doctor sent me to the hospital to get a sonogram done because they thought it could be a cyst on my ovaries. The test came back negative so he set me up with a stomach doctor who ran some tests weeks later (again, at the hospital) to see if I had a stomach ulcer, which also came back negative. By Thursday, I finally returned to school, VERY VERY weak but my head was out of the toilet. :) It took me probably a week or 2 of eating plain stuff to get my stomach back into the swing of things. I lost alot of weight because I didn't really eat a meal for a week straight. It was BY FAR, one of the worst weeks of my life and we never figured out what was wrong with me. I remember crying and crying to my mom and wondering why God was putting me through all this pain. I couldn't sleep, couldn't eat, couldn't stand up and walk for more than 5 minutes because I had NO energy because I wasn't eating anything and what little WAS going down, was coming right back up. All I could do was lay there and cry. And yes, I did throw myself a pity party. And I think I well deserved it. Now, you might be wondering why I am writing about this, well, its to say...THANK YOU JESUS FOR MY HEALTH! I am so thankful that I have been healthy since then and nothing came from that spell of stomach issues. I am so thankful I have been healthy this school year (so far) and pray I continue to be! Thank you Jesus!!!

Oh and I have 2 SWEET stories about two of my kids after I finally came back to school. I had a parent conference the day I got back and the mom said that her little boy was in the car one day that week after school and he put his head down and closed his eyes. When his mom asked him what he was doing, he said "I'm praying for Ms. Alfano, she doesn't feel good." (that makes my heart melt)

The other story was with another one of my sweet little boys. He came home from school that week that I was out and asked his mom where I lived. She said she didn't know and asked why he was asking and he replied, "Ms. Alfano doesn't feel good, we need to go to her house and check on her." (again, melt my heart)

I just LOVE the innocence and sweetness of little kids.....

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These pictures have ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with last year and my sickness....they are just some pictures from life recently!!! Enjoy...

my little sassy pants!

Ok, you know he looks like the Bear.....

My roommate, Brooke and I

My love!

I won!

I have been entering giveaways for a long time and I FINALLY won one from my blogging friend Lyndsie!! I am so excited! Now most of the giveaways I enter are for something for my sweet niece and nephew:

This giveaway that I won is for my NEW nephew! I am so excited! I won a bib and burp cloth from Sew Dressed  Up!! Now, the problem: Christen and Ryan haven't picked a name for my sweet little nephew so I can't put his name or a monogram on it! I think I am just going to put an "S" for Sparks (their last name) on the burp cloth with a little picture. I really want to put "Aunt Kat Loves Me" on the bib but I haven't talk to the lady yet so we'll see! Here are some choices....what do yall think? Which little cute design on the bib and burp cloth do yall like best? And yes, Christen, your vote counts the MOST! :)  I grabbed these off of her website.

So, whats your pick???

10k Update!

Yall thought I gave up on the 10k challenge like I did the p90x challenge didn't you? Well, shame on you for having no faith in me!!!! haha, jk...I have been known to give up on many work out challenges! I think I may have found my match though. I am dominating my runs! I am up to 22 minutes. I usually run every other day. I started out slow because I didn't want to overdo it so I ran 10 minutes for a couple days, then 12 minutes for a few days, then 14, 17, 19, and now I'm at 22! I am only about 1/3 of the way to the end result but if you know anything about me, this is already an accomplishment! I have NEVER been a runner! We always joke because we wonder where my little sister Jeri got her mad running skills because noone in our family can run long distances! Now, I am nowhere near the amazing runner that Jeri is (a 10k would be a warm up for her...lol) but I think I will make this goal I have set for myself! Everytime I run, I am more amazed that I can run that long. I have never been able to run more than a mile at a time. I cannot wait to accomplish this goal in November. I am about to have to step it up a little because the 10k is in 8 weeks!!! Stay tuned for more updates! :)

Friday and a Giveaway!

Thanks for all the lovin you left on my last post!!! And thank you for your prayers for me and my kids. It means alot to me!!

Happy Friday! I can't believe its already Friday! I had a pretty good day at school! Casey (my roommate/Ty's sister) came and surprised me today at school. She came to help out and brought me cookies!!!! She is so sweet! She helped me plan and grade papers! She also stayed there with me til 5 and helped me get everything ready for next week - I put her to work! haha!

So excited about tomorrow....Alabama plays Penn State and ESPN Gameday is here! I just LOVE football season!!!!!!!!

On a completely different note - Lyndsie Gives Away is hosting a really cute giveaway! It is hosted by Miss Lucy's Monograms and they have some really really cute things! Great gift ideas for birthdays or Christmas or to just treat yourself with! Head over to her blog to find out more!!

Happy Friday and Roll Tide!!!!! :)

‎"Be patient, bearing with one another in love." -Ephesians 4:2

my 100th post!

This is my 100th post! It only took me a little over a year! haha! This will not be a very exciting post but more of just a "thought for the day" (from my Max Lucado Calendar lol) :)

{The next time you hear a baby laugh or see an ocean wave, take note. Pause and listen as His Majesty whispers ever so gently, "I'm here."} - Max. Lucado

There really is nothing like a baby's laugh....

Old picture of Luke but look at that sweet baby's smile :)

And there really is nothing like hearing waves crashing!

Daytona Beach 2010

I love these "thoughts for the day". I love a good quote. I have been really stressed out and busy lately and I need to slow down and enjoy the little things. :)

And if you remember, say a prayer for me. I am in for a very challenging year. I have so much to give these kids if they'll just let me in. Let me into their lives, their problems, their issues, their struggles. I have so much to offer. I just need to get to them! This year is going to teach me SO much!!!

*In honor of my 100th post, leave me a comment - i know (or, i hope) people other than my sister read this...SOOO....come out of the no comment leavers closet and leave me some lovin!! :)

Have a GREAT Thursday! :)

one of the MANY reasons.....

I LOVE FALL!!!! Now, I know what you're thinking....its still so hot outside. Yes, I know. But football means fall. :)

This is me and my roommate of 4 years in college, Lauren. She is so wonderful! This will be our 6th season of tailgating and football together!!!

This is the new addition to Braynt-Denny. We now hold over 101,000 fans! :) It is so amazing! I will have to get a picture of the new outside of this endzone as well. It is stunning! 

This is.....

ALABAMA FOOTBALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I cant wait for food, fun, friends, football, saturdays, tailgating, the new stadium, bbq nachos, crazy bama fans, and the list goes on..........

CAN I GET A ROLL TIDE BABY???????????!!!!!!!!!

Princess...

I give you.....Princess Sassy Pants! (AKA, my sweet niece Aubrey)

I can't get enough of her!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!