Movin' In! :)

Hello everyone! Well, I'm FINALLY updating this thing. Sorry it's taken so long. I won't usually be this absent, but moving was ridiculous! For a while there, it felt like everything was just harder and more difficult than what we had planned on.

BUT, it's okay because we're here, and we're living at our new place. We're ALMOST done with the apartment, and when we are, I PROMISE that I will post pics!

On that note, the reason we haven't posted pics is not just because we didn't have internet (even though we didn't have it for a while); we're also waiting on getting a new camera. It's really exciting! Stephen was able to get a really nice one because it's a graduation present from his grandparents. So, it's on order, and should be here soon! We can't wait! Once we get it, we'll have awesome pics to post on here!

In other news, Stephen and I saw WALL-E tonight. It's WONDERFUL, and everyone should go see it. We were especially impressed that the movie did such a good job of getting you to fall in love with the characters even though they hardly talked at all. It was greatness!

Well, we love ya'll and miss you greatly! We will post on here a lot more often now, so keep reading, and keep in touch! :)

Movin' Out!

Wow, it's been a whilrwind these past few days, but God is good, and we finally feel like we can take a small breath. Thanks to all who prayed for us!

So, I still don't have fun pictures to post yet, but I will soon! Until then, here are a few updates on the Bush life:

Transportation:
We finally sold our old crappy cars, and got a new one! It's a Toyota RAV4, and we love it! It's beautiful, spacious, and pretty gas efficient. Stephen just brought it home last night, and it looks great! We can't wait to show it off because it's the first major buy that we've made as a couple. Yay for milestones in life.

Moving:
We are officially moved out of our apartment in Waco. Sadly, there are still two more days of school, so we are still here in Waco, but that's ok, because we're DONE packing! yay! I have to share this, though, because it's been so typical of our moving experience: Last night at about 2am, Stephen was almost done packing and cleaning the apt. when the vaccuum died! It literally kicked the bucket half-way through cleaning the apt. Then, when he was about to leave, he happened to open a cabinet, and discovered that we had forgotten to pack it! So, we were up until 4am. INSANE! Oh well, it's makes for a funny story later. I hope moving IN won't be as hectic

Stephen's Thesis:
Keep praying; he's SOOOOO close to finishing! He can see the light at the end of the tunnel, but now it's all the nit-picky stuff that just drives him crazy. He still has time, but it sure would take a load off his back if he could print it off and be done!


Elizabeth:
I'm in my 7th month now, and she is offically hyper enough to keep me awake at night. But, it's fun because it just makes it all the more real to me! We are SO excited! And, on that note, we are also SO thankful because Allie, Steph, and Jen threw me the COOLEST baby shower EVER last weekend, and I was blown away! It was wonderful, and they're just the best!

School:
Last night we had "8th Grade Graduation," and although it was very cheezy and overly emotional, it was great to celebrate my kiddos. As crazy as they drove me all year, I will truly miss them! It's been a GREAT year of teaching!

Well, I better go! It's time for a special awards ceremony at the school! Love to you all!

-Jen

Life's Little Lessons

Stephen and I are getting ready for a "dollar movie date" tonight, and I'm excited because he's taking me to see Horton Hears a Who (which I haven't seen yet). As we are sitting here trying to catch our breaths from a crazy couple of weeks, I thought I'd send some lovin by way of the world wide web.

First off, for all those concerned, I'm still getting the hang of the whole blog situation, so I'm sorry that I haven't posted any cool pictures or anything, but I WILL get it figured out, and pictures will come soon. Promise!

Second, I just want to send a little shout out to my girlies in Plano. I am SO psyched about the shower this weekend, and I haven't looked more forward to something in a while. So, yea, ya'll rock!

Third, I thought I'd give some Praise to our awesome Father who has graciously showed me some really cool little lessons through the small things in life:

Lesson 1: God is awesome, and SO much smarter and better than we are. (He's got it figured out) -- Last weekend, I saw the movie Prince Caspian, and besides the fact that it was a great movie, the story and the characters literally moved me to tears when I thought about the symbolism hidden throughout. Everything in the movie just reminded me of how blessed we are to have such a great Savior who knows better, understands and sees everything, and loves us warts and all. He totally wins, and that makes me thankful. (BTW, if you haven't seen the movie, go see it!)
Lesson 2: No matter how mad you may get at someone, that person could still bless you if you chill out, let it happen, and pay attention -- This year at school has been amazing, and I have thoroughly enjoyed teaching, but I won't lie; junior highers can be BIG pains sometimes. Lately, especially, they have really been getting on my nerves as the school year comes to a close. However, something surprising happened today that really blessed me: Two of my girls threw me a surprise baby shower. It was totally student led with no help from the teachers, and it was a full on party with cute decorations, food, and even silly party games. (Honestly, I knew something was up a couple days ago, but I NEVER expected this.) They even got all the students to pitch in and buy us a whole basket-full of diapers! I was amazed and happy, and that just goes to show me to keep loving people, even when they annoy me....because you just never know when someone will surprise you.
Lesson 3: Encouraging others, encourages you! -- Today, I had the great honor and privilege of encouraging several people that I came in contact with. Please understand; this is not bragging about me. The people I encouraged just happened to need it, and God convicted me to do it. But, wow, it's so cool how energized and excited I was afterwards. I should know this already, but it was nice to be reminded to stop complaining about my own problems and help someone else.

In other news: please continue to keep us and our family in your prayers. A lot is going on, and not only is it stressful, it's also still very emotional as well. We've gotten to the point where we KNOW that God will provide and take care of us, but getting everything done is just HARD. Every prayer would be a blessing!

Time to wrap things up. My goal is to post on this thing more often, so keep checking!

Big Love to you from us Bushes!

An Update

Okay, those of you who are avid blog readers, I'm sorry that we haven't updated lately. We honestly haven't had the time, but I thought I'd give ya'll a quick update on us lately.

School:
- Stephen is feverishly trying to finish up his thesis, and basically spending every free minute working on it
- I am at the busiest time of the school year, and STILL trying to get the kids to care: let me tell you; it is tough! (But we all remember that feeling)

Moving:
Please be in prayer for us. We've hit a very emotional spot in our plans to move. We've reached the point that everyone eventually gets to where everything feels like a mountain, AND on top of the fact that we're stressed, I think our constant talk of the move is starting to annoy our family. I know that it is hard for them because we're leaving, and I also know that our plans have been very stressful, but it's hard because in a way, we feel like the gung-ho support we used to have from them is waning, and at times we even feel like they would be better off if we would just go ahead and get out of town. It's hard to need help and feel bad asking for it, and that's where we are. Please pray.

Elizabeth:
On a brighter note, we have been really getting excited about Elizabeth's appearance. She is starting to move so much now. She's a really hyper girl! And, we just had our first baby shower, and wow, we feel so loved. We are just amazed and thankful for everything we were given. So thanks to everyone! :)

Well, there ya go. A quick de-briefing on our life right now. There will be more later, I promise. We just need to figure out how to survive this month first!

Love you all!

Parenting 101

Okay, I know I'm not a parent yet, but since I am going to be one soon, AND I work with kids who have TERRIBLE parents, I've been thinking about it a lot.

So I've decided that every once in a while, I will share with you what I have learned about parenting so far. Sometimes it will be lessons learned while being a mom to Elizabeth, and sometimes it will be lessons learned from seeing bad parenting while interacting with my students.


So here it goes:

Parenting lesson #476 -- When you have decided to go out of town to see a Bon Jovi concert, make sure that you are back in time to TAKE YOUR KID TO SCHOOL! (And if you're not, don't make him lie to the principal and say that he was "sick," especially when the other kids have already told her that he wasn't.)


Gotta love it!

More to come!

So...I got in trouble

...for the last post. In case you didn't get it (which unless you know Perl, you probably didn't), it's a speech from Hamlet written in Perl. Yeah, I'm a nerd, and I certainly had nothing better to do on this fine Sunday afternoon.

In truth, the previous post was Jen's fault. Rather than tell me to post more, she commented on my first (and only post at the time) entry telling me I should post more. Hehe...oh well.

use Shakespeare::Hamlet

$question = qr/ ( b | [^b] ) {2} /;
switch( $mind =~ /nobler/ ) {
____case 0:
________foreach ($fortune->{OUTRAGEOUS}{SLINGS}) {
____________suffer($_); }
________foreach ($fortune->{OUTRAGEOUS}{ARROWS}) {
____________suffer($_); }
____case 1:
________if( split( $arms, $troubles->{C} ) ) {
____________undef( $troubles->{C} ); }
}

my $die = sub {
____undef $sleep;
____die(); }
my $sleep = sub {
____heart_ach->DESTROY {};
____shocks->DESTROY {};

____return rand();
}
________

__begin__

package heart_ache;
____sub new {}
____sub DESTROY {}

package shocks;
____my $natural;
____sub new {
________for( my $i = 0; $i < 1000; $i++ ) {
____________push( @{$natural}, $i ); } }
____sub DESTROY {}
________
package flesh;
____@ISA = qw( heart_ache shocks );
____sub new {}

__end__

if( eof() ) {
____if( rand() <>new(); } }

my $dream____
my $death = &$die();
my $perchance = &$sleep();
if( $perchance >= 0.50 ) { $dream = 1; }
else { $dream = 0; }

my $coil = ( MORTAL => flesh->new() );

$rub = grep { $death && shift( @{$coil} ) } $dream;
if($rub) { CORE::sleep(5); }

sub respect {
________$calamity = Life->long(); }
________
package life;
____sub long {
________bear_time();
________opressors();
________man();
________love();
________law();
________office();
________merit();
________return 1;
____}
____sub short {
________$bodkin = {};
________$quietus = $bodkin; }
____
____
____sub bear_time {
________foreach ($time->{SCORNS}) {
____________print "$_\n"; }
________foreach ($time->{WHIPS}) {
____________print "$_\n"; } }
________
____#sub oppressors { cout << "Hello World!"; }
____sub man { man(); }
____sub love {
________if(int(rand(2))) { return 0; }
________else { return 1; } }
____sub law {
________while( rand() < 0.90 ) {
____________CORE::sleep(2000); } }
____sub office {
________@args = ("shc","-f hamlet.pl";
________system(@args) == 0 or die(); }
____sub merit {
________while( 1 ) { sleep(2); } }

__end__

if( !($life =~ /death$/) ) {
____respect(); }
else( !($life =~ /death$/) ) {
____respect(); }
else { Life->short(); }
____
sub conscience {
____foreach $person ( @all ) {
________$person = $coward; }
____return $true; }
________
eval { concience(); }
if( !@_ ) {
____pack $thought, $resolution->{HUE};
____delete( $action->{NAME} ); }