I know I know - its been a long time...

Yes - I am a horrible blogger - it has been WAY TOO LONG since my last post. And I can't really say that nothing has been happening, because if you know me, you know that is not the case.

We started school on Monday and I am so excited to be back. I really am! I have most of my same kids again and I just love them. Its been so fun to catch up and not have to worry about building that rapport with them. (Did I spell that right? Oh well - I teach math, not english!) Plus - its just exciting to see how much they've grown and changed in just 3 months. This is going to be such a fun year - I really can't wait!

In my personal life, the Lord is really teaching me a lot - what most recently has been revealed is that band aids only work for so long. And if I really don't deal with the bruise, or cut, or scrape, or amputation, or whatever, but just put a bandaid on it, then all I'm doing is seeting myself up for some serious infection. (Like my analogy there? I thought so!) I have got to heal. And finally, I can see that I need to. Which is such a weird place for me. I think for so long I've felt like I'm healed enough or that I need to act on the 'now' and not worry about what has happened in the past, but because of this I've developed so much scar tissue that I think I'm starting to not feel. (I'm continuing with the anaolgy...) And I don't want that. I never thought I would be skeptical or hard, but that's where I'm heading right now and I don't like it.

I really can't wait for this semester - I can't wait to spend some serious quality time with my girls...middle school and adult. I don't know if its the 'back to school high' (which there has been some interesting smoke from the boys bathroom) or just me seeing what I need to focus on now - but whatever it is I can't wait!

So that's it for now - I promise it won't be long before the next post! Here are some pics to hold you over -

My favorite new students -



Me & Shane before he left - so sad!

8 Random Facts

I was tagged by my friend Lindsey B to give 8 random facts/habits about myself.

The Rules:

1. I have to post these rules before I give you the facts.
2. Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.
3. People who are tagged need to write their own blog (about their eight things) and post these rules. (**if you’re a non-blogger, you can email them!)
4. At the end of your blog, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
5. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

My eight random facts and/or habits:

1. I worked at Drug Emporium when I was in High School as a cashier. I hated it, yet loved it too - something about getting to handle all the money...

2. I used to have a huge thing for boy bands...and have met *NSYNC, BB Mak, Jordan Knight, Joey McIntyre (NKOTB), and the list goes on. Hey - don't judge - we had fun and I never did anything inappropriate to meet them.

3. I interend for 2 radio stations while in college and did voice commericals. Scary, I know.

4. When I was little I got a fake diamond stuck up my nose. Don't ask.

5. I'm deathly afraid of tornadoes. Blame it on Wizard of Oz - but I seriously am so scared of tornadoes.

6. I'm a dance extra in the Justin Timberlake video, 'Like I Love You'. Seriously, I'm in the video for 2 seconds...

7. If I could ask God for one talent it would be to be able to sing.

8. My favorite physical trait is a person's smile.

I tag Stephanie, Anne, Claire, Brooke...

Lesson #1 - People

So - I've now been home for a week and I'm getting to see that the Lord is not going to let me forget what He showed me in Asia.

This week's lesson - People and how I am not supposed to depend on them.

They are not my rock. They are not my purpose for being here. They are not my joy. Of course they are a great source of community and joy - but they are not what I can depend on. And He definitely made sure I realized it. Its funny, I really felt like while in Asia we had a really good understanding that I look to people way too much for affirmation and community. When really, all I need is Him. I felt like I listened as He just showed me areas that I struggle with that. I told Him I surrendered all areas and He could take who He wanted out of my life. You know when you say that and you think, 'Ok, since I surrendered, He's not going to take anyone, like you're doing it so that you can say you did it, when in reality, you're still kinda holding on?'. (Yeah, you may think I'm rambling and I kind of am, but these are just my thoughts.) So yeah, the surrender was put to the test. And He's good - I mean really good. Definitely had a relationship taken out of my life which was not at all what I was expecting. I'm not a fan as to how it was handled, I mean, honestly it hurt. But what I am a fan of...is how He walked through it with me. How He is just let me know that He was in control. That He is there and He's going to help me see the truth - not the lies that I felt Satan just trying to feed... God is so good in that He just kept telling me, 'Hollie, I am all you need. Let me be enough.' And the cool thing - HE IS!!!

So these are my thoughts - sometimes random, somethings rambling, but still my thoughts. Lesson #1 was a good one.