Artsy Fartsy

Spring break = craft time. And naps. And also, I ate an entire can of black beans today. Just the black beans, no other food.

I'm a weird spring breaker.

But I did do something productive! I made an art. I will now add this to my "Things Laura Can Do" website. (That is a whole other blog.)

First, the materials:

• 12" x 12" canvas
• acrylic paint
• brushes
• wooden letter
• brand new hot glue gun from your in-laws!

Step 1: Draw your design. I like things to be as close to paint by number as possible.

Step Two: Start painting.

Step Three: Keep painting.

Step Four: Put a second layer of paint on your art because that's what you do on walls. Then hot glue your wooden letter (which you also painted) right in the middle.

Viola! This is my art. And in Nashville, you are not allowed to criticize anyone's art. One of the perks of Nashville.

The Last Picture is the Best

"Lord have mercy on me."

We sang these words at tonight's Tenebrae service. So true. For always, but especially these past few months. When I first started the blog, Chris had one rule: No blogging about unkind things. That included whining or going in-depth about difficult situations I find myself in. Those conversations are meant for "Lifetime chats" over coffee.

So...I'd really love to have coffee with any of you. I have some complaints. God has been testing my patience and perseverance daily. But He's also been doing some really cool things--showing me He's still Boss, but He's also on my side. He wouldn't have died for me then let me drown.

Let's chat about that sometime.

Aside from some crazy hard life deals so far this year, Chris and I have been chugging through this adventure in Nashville. Chris will finish his 2nd year of physical therapy school in May and then begin a year of clinicals. We are pretty excited about his first two placements and are praying that he gets Nashville-area placements for spring 2014.

We haven't had much snow this year. Actually, this is the most snow we had. Sad times, but Itchy got to experience some snow for the first time. He clearly loves it.

Chris and I went to our first Predators hockey game. This is where all the sporty Nashville people have been hiding. It was actually kind of nice to have a conversation with someone from Nashville that didn't involve coffee shops or artistic endeavors.

Last year, Chris' family came to Nashville for a fun "Nashville-y" weekend. I hated Nashville at that point, so I pretended to be sick the whole time and we never left the house. -- Just kidding, I really was sick and felt bad that they didn't see anything. So we had a "Nashville Extravaganza" redo weekend and it was awesome!

Waiting in line at the American Pickers store...

Mother and Son looking adorable.

Sarah and I looking adorable.

O'Briens at a St. Patrick's Day Festival. So excited to finally have my own day to be celebrated for all my gingerness.


This week is my spring break, so I have high hopes for a great week of doing nothing. Really, I couldn't be more excited. This has been a rough couple of months.

In fact, I found a picture on my computer today that both sums up these past few months and makes me laugh so hard I forget about the last few months.

I have no explanation.

My Double Life

Secret's out. I have a double life.*

Most of you know either one or the other. Chris knows both and is most likely scared.

The first is school-year Laura. School-year Laura exists 10 months out of the year. She doesn't blog. She is always tired. She has no friends. We don't like school-year Laura.

The second is cool, fun, no-school Laura. We like her a lot!

She is crafty.

For my mother-in-law. Mississippi State wreath.

She can knit.

My first blanket. Currently working on blanket #2.

She makes delicious Shepherd's Pie for this little Irish family on New Year's Day.

What's luckier on New Year's Day than a traditional Irish dish. It might be touched by leprechauns.

She gives herself awesome manicures.

No stickers. Just paint. I always wanted to work in a nail salon.

She goes out to dinner with friends.

Sunset Grill, Nashville, New Year's Eve

She stays up after midnight.

New Year's Eve at Tyler and Emilee's!

Tomorrow, school-year Laura must return. She'll be here until May 29. I think I'll miss my friends and family the most, but duty calls. I'm still working on how to fuse school-year Laura and no-school Laura, but no such luck. They are divided by a great canyon called room 201. 

*I promise I'm not bi-polar, nor do I have multiple personality disorder.

Also, happy new year! Blah, blah, blah...2012 has some memories. Looking forward to the promises of 2013...blah blah. All major events will be documented on the blog.

Percocets and Milkshakes

I had my wisdom teeth taken out on Thursday. Let's all take a moment and give God a high five for only giving me 2 wisdom teeth on the top! I have been completely grossed out by teeth since my own baby teeth starting getting loose. My dentist actually had to pull some of my baby teeth because I was too grossed out to do it. So, huzzah! for only having two wisdom teeth!

I went to bed on Wednesday night and woke up on Friday. But Chris tells me everything went well. No "David After Dentist" stories, but I did make demands for pizza, Sonic, Mountain Dew, and queso on the drive home. Sounds about right. When Chris told me I couldn't have queso, I apparently just sobbed until we got home. Also sounds about right. Later, he informed me that we went to the pharmacy while I was crying about being denied queso. That's a little embarrassing...

I also decided to be left handed after we got home. I have no explanation for that.

On Friday, I woke up feeling much better. I had intentions to go to my school's fall festival Friday night, so I took a nap to rest up. Then it was Saturday. Weird.

My biggest fear throughout this whole thing has been dry socket. I understand it's rare on the top teeth, but I don't take chances. I've had 6 milkshakes, 5 pudding cups, mashed potatoes, and spoon fulls of peanut butter. You know, for protein. I think I got diabetes Saturday night, but then I found some thin-sliced deli meat in our fridge. That was a lifesaver.

Overall, no crazy swelling. (Just one minor chipmunk cheek on the left.) Barely any pain. Lots of milkshakes. And a Percocet/anesthesia combo that was quite wonderful for 2 days.

O'Brien Remedy for Wisdom Teeth Surgery:

• Ice. Don't fall asleep with the ice on one cheek. The other cheek WILL swell by itself.
• Milkshakes. 4 times a day.
• Rest. If you wake up, time for another Percocet/Phenergan combo pack!
• Peppermint tea bags. Stops the bleeding, and makes your breath smell all pepperminty!
• Wiener dog. For cuddling.
• Mashed potatoes. BreakfastLunchAndDinner.
• Turkey sandwich meat. To stave off the diabetes.
• Pajamas. I'm really gonna hate putting real pants on tomorrow.

Thank you to Chris, my mom, and everyone who called or texted to check on me! Also to Itchy, who was determined to cuddle, even when I didn't want to anymore.

Losing the Waiting Game

I'm blogging during the Tennessee-Alabama game. Things are not going well. But to be fair, the only teams we have lost to are top ten teams. Tough break when your conferences is exclusively top ten teams.

I could draw a giant metaphor between my life and the Tennessee football team right now, but I won't. I'm not sure if my readers have crossover interests between football and emotional things. I'm not sure I have readers.

I'll just say that I'm up against a lot right now.

I've been playing the Waiting Game for quite a while now, and I'm pretty sure I'm losing. I didn't realize you could lose the Waiting Game until now, but you can. My patience is very short. I've waited, and it should be my turn now. But it's not.

What makes this ridiculous is that I actually know when the Waiting Game will be over, and I'm still losing. ?!  Chris will graduate in 2014. Then we'll be FREEEeeeEEE!  (That's how you type words that you sing, right?) I should start a countdown. Every time that number gets smaller, I can metaphorically punch the Waiting Game in the face. (I told you...my patience is very thin.)

So things are not great, but just like how those refs gave Tennessee a huuuuge break by calling back a Bama touchdown, there have been some wins recently. (Sorry, I made the metaphor. You'll have to learn about football now.) Chris' summer semester will be starting a week later in 2013, so we get 4 WHOLE DAYS between my school ending and his beginning. Vay-cay!

We have had the chance to go to Knoxville a few times this fall. Our friends Adam and Megan got married last weekend, and it was a gorgeous fall wedding!

My roommates from college (and beyond) had a Nashville reunion weekend! We shopped, ate good food, and saw a movie about a college a capella group. Sounds about right.

Catherine left too early for pictures. Boo vet school.

So I'm trying to focus on those small victories and forget about the big picture for a while. Random cheesecakes delivered to my door could help. Just sayin.

Derek Dooley Gets Pumpkin Roll'd!

It's been quite a while since my last blog, mostly because I've been awake for 34 days straight. The 2012-2013 school year has started; therefore, my 2012-2013 life has ended. Except for an obscene amount of testing, the school year has been pretty good. There are challenges to any job, but I am very grateful to have a job at all. God continues to provide for Chris and I in the midst of a very challenging season of our life.

This week is fall break, hence the blogging.

I'm very grateful that my school system gives us a week off in the fall. I can't tell you how much we need it. Chris and I have not been on a vacation since our honeymoon 2 1/2 years ago. So these breaks are my chance to pretend I'm on vacation. Every morning, I wake up and put sunscreen on. Then I turn off the a/c and pretend I'm at the beach.

I'm just kidding.

But I seriously have been enjoying sleeping again...and baking...and doing dishes...and hanging out with long-lost friends. I even had lunch with a new friend today! I'm so jealous of people that get to meet friends for lunch. But that is neither here nor there...

Let's catch up for a bit. Chris and I went to Knoxville in September for the UT-Florida game. We didn't quite pull that game off, but it was so great to see our friends and be on campus again.

We had lunch at the UC. Petros are the bomb. (Excuse the college lingo from my era.)

ESPN's College Gameday was on campus for all the excitement. This is the back of the setup.

We found Elvols. I think he had been at Gameday. He was sweaty.

We went to the Vol Walk and cheered on Coach Dooley. We were also right behind one of the Orange Men. Awkward....

We couldn't get into the game, mostly because tickets were $300...each. So we watched it from the strip. We were fairly happy with that decision.

This fall break, I have gotten back in touch with my womanizing roots. (That doesn't sound right. Oh well.) I actually made plans for meals and went grocery shopping for all the applicable items. 

I did get one item that was not on my list.

You buy the cookies, and they will GIVE you free Pizza Rolls. FAT. KID. WIN.

I MADE A PUMPKIN ROLL FROM SCRATCH. And so many of you worried I would never be able to make anything except frozen chicken tenders...

I also have time to make all the recipes on Pinterest that I've been saving since July. These are healthy cheeseburgers! We don't have a grill, so we haven't had homemade cheeseburgers since...ever. But these taste exactly like cheeseburgers, except they are grilled on a George Foreman in a tortilla. You can get the recipe HERE.

When we pulled out our old, rusty George Foreman, we found this note inside it. I don't even know the story behind this anymore, but it takes me back to Chris's Head Resident days during college. Obviously, we haven't used it since then.

So that's my fall break so far. I'm looking forward to hanging out with more friends tomorrow and most of my FELLOWSHIP HOUSE girls this weekend! THAT surely beats the mean old beach any day. Unless we were on the beach, and then THAT would be the bomb. ....dot com.

Begin Again

As a rule, I don't talk much about school. ("As a rule"...get it? And I rhymed. I'm an awesome teacher.)

I had so much to say before this new school year started. Then the new school year started, and I barely had time to sleep, eat, or think. If you know a teacher who is starting school right now, give him or her a hug. Like a long one. They need it.

I was so hopeful to start this school year, and I still am. I think every teacher is hopeful and excited right now. (Contrary to popular belief, we do NOT spend our whole summer just laying by the pool. We actually do a ton of work preparing for the next year.) We are hopeful that this will be the best year we've ever had. We are hopeful that our past experience will make this year smoother and better than before. We are hopeful that we'll get more sleep, eat better, and be a positive force in our students' lives. At least for me, I'm always hopeful that at least one child will completely change for the better while they're in my class. I'm completely aware that it's not always my doing that causes the change, but I still love to see it happen.

This year, I'm excited that I have things a little more figured out at my new school. I wasn't a brand new teacher last year, but being in a new school, new grade level, and new school system sure make you feel completely lost. We have new standards this year, which will change what we teach, but it's nice to know where the music room is--rather than sending the kids down the hallway and hoping they remember.

In the short time we've already been at school, I've realize I'm going to learn a lot this year. A new group of kids can be daunting, but I'm excited to think about how different they'll (hopefully) be by the end of this year. 

I do have a few requests on behalf of teachers everywhere right now:

• Pray for us. I, especially, need prayer for wisdom and patience.
• Pray for our students. A lot is asked of them these days. 
• Pray for their parents. They are in a precarious position of advocating for the BEST for their child and also understanding that their child is not perfect and is one of MANY in a classroom.
• Pray for our school leaders. They are under tremendous regulations and requirements, while also trying to give their schools what they need. A decision from up-top is never as easy as it sounds.
• Give what you can. We desperately need supplies and time. I would estimate that every teacher in America has spent about $300 so far this year. SO FAR. When was the last time you spent that much of your own money without completing an expense report? What kind of time can you give? Pay attention to school board meetings. Vote for the right people. Spend a day with your niece, nephew, cousin, friend's child--every positive adult in their life makes a difference. 

Even if you don't have kids, they need you. Not to be cliche, but they will be in charge of you someday.

Go Timberwolves.