"Redhead"

Kristi and I took advantage of our Vetrans Day off and began our Christmas shopping in Ontario. We were pleased to see that Bass Pro has a brand just for us! Redhead!!

We thought it was exciting anyways. :o) But we truly had a wonderful day. I am so thankful that my sister is so close so we can enjoy days like this together.

"When must we leave you?"

"When must we leave you Mrs. Burns?" is a phrase I have taught my little students at school, hoping it would help teach them a little life lesson, but recently I have been wondering if maybe the lesson was more for me.

I stole this concept from one of my amazing high school English teachers. The typical high school/junior high student's request to leave the class usually sounds like this:

"When do we get out of here?"

"How much longer do we have to be in here?"

"When do we leave?"

Those are all negative questions and obviously bring a sense of annoyance and boredom. So, in trying to build up the learning atmosphere to be as positive as possible, having the students ask when they must leave, makes it more pleasant. I will then respond with:
(with a smile and looking them straight in the eye)
"in about ten minutes Brandon and I hate to see you leave."

The students know not to ask the time in any other way, and it has been fun to hear them correct one another when they try, but oh how hard has it been to respond that way lately!!

This phrase also forces me to stay positive by insinuating a student(s) that I want them to stay longer, and I hate for class to end, but oh how this is so often not the case! (And I realize teaching, especially first year is not always going to be honkey-dorey.)


There are those students a teacher will always have that makes them want to pull their hair out-and I have some of those. Sometimes I wonder if they ask me this question to actually see how I will respond. A couple times a student has even said, "You don't mean that!" And even when they might be right :o/ I never want a student to think I may think this way of him or her. I truly love my students and have had to stop lately and remember there are so many reasons why, underneath the surface, this student is the way he or she is.


I have been convicted to stop and pray, remembering that I have no idea what is going on at home or in his or her heart, and maybe I need to stop and ask some questions. Oh what the Lord is teaching me this year! How wonderful and hard and overwhelming it has been.


I am thankful for this question for I believe the Lord has used it to help keep my heart focused on loving my students even in the hardest times.

Here are some teachers and I on Superhero Day!

Overall, I love teaching!!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

Love,

Brandon, Andrea, and Pumpkin

1 Year Wedding Anniversary!

We can not it has already been 1 year since we have been married!!! It has been the greatest year, and we have enjoyed every minute of being married. It was really neat being able to reflect this last week about all that God has taught us through the course of this year. We set some new goals for this next year, including loving God more than one another, and always keeping Him in front of all the decisions we make.

October 11, 2008

We were able to get away this weekend to San Diego to celebrate our anniversary and Kat's wedding!!

The wedding was so fun;Kat looked gorgeous, and it neat for us to be at a wedding when were were also there celebrating ours!

The next day we went to Balboa Park and enjoyed some neat museums and sights there.

My mom treated us to a wonderful breakfast in bed Sunday morning!

We happened to be at the park on a day where they were celebrating cultures from around the world, so we got to celebrate our own!

Then for our anniversary dinner we went to one of our favorite restaurants, Benihanas!! It was such a treat!

We were so blessed enjoy this much needed get away. Our schedules are crazy and we absolutely love the days where we do not have to leave each other's side!!

We can't wait for our next year!!

Birthday Celebration

I know this is a bit late, but I enjoyed such a great birthday(Sept. 22nd)!

My birthday was on a Tuesday, therefore I was at school. Well my students were the sweetest and totally made my day. I got sang "Happy Birthday" to every class and they wrote all over my board. I was so grateful for their kindness. I even got some treats!! Though it made for a crazy day, it was fun.



Brandon gave me specific instructions for when I got home from school. He set out 3 outfits and I was to pick one. :)

He took me out to Victoria Gardens and we enjoyed a great evening out and a fantastic dinner at P.F. Changs! One of my favorites!

Then we got to celebrate again on Sunday with my amazing in-laws. Paul made a fantastic dinner and Chase made me the sweetest cake!! It was very special and quite tasty!

Thank you for all your birthday wishes!

It finally happened!!

So the Hunt's, Holderman's and Rendel's and us Burns' have been talking about all going camping and getting to use all our camping stuff we got for our wedding since we have been married, so for about the past year now, and it finally happened!!

Labor Day weekend we went up by Big Bear and found a great camping spot at a campground called Barton Flatts. We only got to go Sunday through Monday but it was well worth it, and we can't wait to go again!!

Here are all our cute tents all lined up! Ours is the red one! (Thank you VanGroningen's!)

The guys being manly.

Ladder Ball was a hit! This is a game we borrowed from Brandon's family.

We had a tournament:

1st: Hunt's

2nd: Holderman's

3rd: Burns!!

4th: Rendel's


We went to the lake on Monday for just a little while. It was colder than we hoped, so we really just enjoyed the pretty view!!

We feel our camping trip was a success and we can't wait to go again. What a blessing it is to have these friends that we can share this time of life with. We are so thankful for them and all the fellowship we get to share with them!!

"I Believe"

One of the first writing activities I gave my students was to write at least 20 things that they believe. One of my very favorite English teachers in high school gave us this assignment and I really loved it so I thought my students might too and they seemed to. Through this assignment I was also able to find out more about them and some things they believe.

So here are some things they believe that I pulled from some of their papers that I thought were sweet or just made me laugh. :)
Enjoy:

I believe . . .

That girls should have long hair and boys short
That everyone should shave their legs
That flowers are the perfect way to get your mom not to be mad at you,
That it is essential to eat something sweet everyday,
That everyone should have a second chance,
That French toast is better than pancakes,
That old people should have to be healthy,
That monsters are real in your closet,
In going fishing at least 2 times a week,
That my sisters shouldn’t take so long to get ready to go places,
That everything God puts in my life is to make me stronger,
In diversity,
That Mrs. Burns looks like me,
That jamoca ice cream came from Heaven,
That boys can be as emotional as girls,
That being pure isn’t a fad but a life choice,
That when my parents tell me to do something it’s from God,
Nobody needs TV,
Mango are mangolicious.

I obviously have some silly students. :)