Oh Deer!

I left our home in Jackson Tuesday morning at 8am (central time) to begin my trek up North for my 2 weeks in Indiana. Little did I know that the most exciting leg of my adventure would happen just a mere 20 minutes later.

Being that it was bright and early, I was in a zone. You know, where you are well aware of everything in front of you so you won't hit anything, but not necessarily watching scenery to understand where you are. I was cruising along (thanks cruise control!) at 73 mph in our new car.

All of a sudden, I noticed just to the right of me that a doe (doe, a deer, a female deer. . . ) was bee-lining it straight towards my car. I noticed her in just enough time to slam on my brakes and swerve to the right (I was in the right lane with no cars around me. Although, there was a semi behind me, but I'll get to that. . . ). She was rather large (probably stood as tall as the car, or at least it seemed that way. It kind of all happened way too fast to take measurements).

We made contact, although it wasn't nearly as bad as it should have been. Luckily, she and I bobbed & weaved in unison & her rear end made contact with the front driver's side of my bumper. My car then locked up (remember, I'm slamming on my breaks. . . ) and I sort of fish-tailed. Luckily, I not only remained in my lane, but there wasn't another car to the left. However, there was a semi behind me). Had I hit the deer head on, the semi probably wouldn't have had time to slow or get around me, and he would have only had the option to hit me. However, this is a happy story, and we don't have to think about this scenario.

I do wonder if the semi driver saw the deer pop up in the field next to me & would love to hear the story from his perspective. However, I was in a sort of shock, and just continued to drive the car. I couldn't believe what had just occurred and didn't know "clipping-deer's-end-on-highway" protocol. I can say, that I was able to watch the deer's rear end (which looked in-tact) hide into the woods on the other side. (Keep in mind that we were on a divided highway and it made it across the West bound lanes, as well).

I called Steve (like any frantic wife would do). It took me a few rings to actually reach him. He knows I never call (always text!) and we had just said goodbye 45 min earlier. His immediate reaction was, "What's Wrong?!" I then proceeded to frantically tell what had just happened. I told him that I just kept on going. Should I have stopped? Do you call the police to report it? He responded with a simple, "Are you okay?" Upon my "yes", he just said, "keep on driving".

I had to stop for gas a few hours later, and hesitantly looked at the front of the car. Shockingly, it looked completely fine. Anyone I passed would be oblivious to my morning situation-- WHEW!!

I completed my journey to Indiana with no other issues. I didn't hit any traffic (except a couple of construction zones, but not too bad). I got to my parents' house and did a full investigation of the situation. I washed the front of the car and discovered a little paint chip on the hood. It looks as if someone jammed the hood with a writing pen -- no scratch, just a small paint chip:

(The paint chip is located in the middle of the picture just below my hand in the reflection)

As I was finishing up washing the car and drying it, I discovered that the bumper was cracked at the very bottom. The plastic sort of wraps under the car, and the damage was on the under part. By looking at the car straight on, you'd never notice it (which is how I missed it from the get-go).

The next morning, as I was headed to school to meet with the teacher I'll be replacing for the next 2 weeks, I noticed a screaching noise. It sounded like something was hanging under the car, but wasn't convinced at first. However, by the time I pulled into the school parking lot (which is literally a 1 min drive), I realized there was definitely something wrong. I pulled into a parking spot and did another brief investigation. There was definitely somthing hanging, but it was too dark (early in the morning) to tell what it was.

After school, I walked home and returned to the school with my dad. He crawled on the ground and looked under the car and discovered what the dragging piece was. It was the bracket that provided extra security in holding the bumper onto the car frame. He did a quick tape job so that I could drive it back to my parents' house.

(You can see the crack in the bumper, and the tape holding the bracket back onto the bumper).

My dad -- who is Mr. Fix-It, as well as just pure Awesome -- will be doing a full patch job before my return to Jackson (my parents are headed out of town for the next week).

I feel bad about the car, but know that things could have (as well as should have) been much worse. Colliding with a deer is just one of those freak situations that are sometimes impossible to avoid. I feel like the deer came out of no where. The sun was out, and the field had appeared empty. I'm just thankful for God's mercies in the situation. There were definitely many praises throughout the entire situation. Thankfully, we both (deer and myself) came out with minor bumps and bruises. Praise the Lord!

Indiana Girl

I grew up literally surrounded by corn fields. In fact, the house next to ours is an old farm house that used to have a huge barn and silo before it was destroyed due to tornadic winds. I walked to school, which had a corn field on 2 of its borders.

I have many memories of shucking corn in my parents' garage so that my mom could put up corn for the year. I think record years included 20+ dozen ears of corn. I always hated shucking the corn because of the bugs involved, but it usually went quick with 4+ kids working all day (we'd always convince friends or cousins to help out).

I grew up watching those green fields grow all summer & with the old saying, "knee high by the 4th of July". When Steve and I made the move down south, I wasn't prepared for the change of scenery. It was so bizarre last year when I started seeing fields of white, and it was too early for snow!

Cotton fields are still so strange for me. It's hard to wrap my head around the fact that the little white tuft on the plant will someday be something I can wear! While driving the other day, I made Steve stop and pull over so that I could investigate the cotton more closely.

After some research (and learning about Cotton at the Hermitage during our Nashville trip), I learned that the cotton plant actually blooms flowers over the summer, leaving behind a little pod. The plant dries out around September and by early October, the pod bursts open, revealing the fibrous cotton.

Here's a cotton plant in early September. You can see a flower bloom (white) in the center, and a little pod (light green) to the lower left.

The white tufts look and feel exactly like cotton balls. It's still really bizarre to me, even after knowing the process and seeing/feeling the plant. I guess I'm just an Indiana & corn girl at heart.

"Prime Opportunity"

The words "Prime Opportunity" keep popping up in my life. Two instances specifically pop into mind -- one has a negative connotation while the other is positive. I'll start off with the negative first in order to end the blog on a positive note ;-)

Negative "Prime Opportunity"

I subbed today at the same Middle School I subbed for a few weeks ago. In fact, it was for the same teacher. I've subbed at the school a total of 4 times, all in the same classroom, under 2 different teachers.

The morning started off with early morning bus duty (6:30!) followed by my first class consisting of 8th graders. All they had to do was sit quietly and watch Mary Poppins. What should have been a very normal, quiet class quickly turned into chaos. I saw two girls starting to get into an argument and before I could get them to stop (well, let's be honest, I was having a hard enough time trying to keep the whole class talking softly, that there really wasn't any chance of preventing what happened next. . . ) they turned on each other. In a blink of an eye, they stood up, threw chairs away, and started wailing on each other. And by wailing, I mean throwing punches, pulling hair, scratching, slapping -- you name it.

Being a pro at in-classroom fights (something I wish I couldn't claim), I quickly got students back, and sent for reinforcement. Realizing the girls were escalating in viciousness, I had to step in between the two - not a place I desired to be. I only intervened because another student had intervened and was pulling one girl away, allowing me to step in and push the other girl in the opposite direction. The girls were quickly separated (one in the room, the other out) and another teacher stepped in and got the rest of the class settled.

Later, I was informed by the school officer (that's right, there was an officer at the school -- all day long) that this was an issue that should have been settled long ago. Supposedly the two girls hadn't been getting along and instead of seeking help, they saw the sub (me) as a "prime opportunity" to beat the tar out of each other. (And by the swollen, puffy face of one of the girls, I'd say they tried their best).

Needless to say, I wanted to cry and go home. First off, being in that kind of a situation is scary, especially not knowing how far the two girls'll go or who's gonna step in and continue the beating. Second, it makes me feel like a failure as a teacher because I couldn't keep my class in control. I know I was just a victim of "prime opportunity" and it could have happened to anybody. It's just hard to realize that, when I was the "anybody".

Positive "Prime Opportunity"

About a month ago, I received a rather strange call from my teaching idol Mrs. Berry. She was my 7th grade Social Studies teacher and is the main reason I decided to go into education. We've kept in touch through the years via email, and the last time we talked was briefly at our wedding 2 years ago (this just sets up how strange getting the phone call was!).

She had a proposition for me. She will be out of town for 2.5 weeks and was panicking about who would cover her class. She has never missed more than 2 days in a row and couldn't just let any sub walk in and take over for two weeks. She asked me if I would be willing to at least "think" about filling her shoes while she was gone.

I went back and forth about what to do. I, without a doubt, wanted to jump at that opportunity. It has always been my dream to return and teach at my alma mater -- Western. However, life has taken a different route and that dream remained just that -- a dream. Before Mrs. Berry had called, I had been reading a book from one of my college classes (okay I admit, I was supposed to read the book freshman year and never even opened it once). Oddly enough, the book is called Inside Mrs. B's Classroom (an interesting read about an intern in a Teach for Chicago program), The last chapter I had read before my very own Mrs. B called me, was a chapter about coincidences; however, it explained that there are no coincidences, just markers on the path of life telling you you're in the right direction. I knew, right away, that Mrs. Berry calling me, and the opportunity to sub/teach at Western was just a marker on my journey.

It sounds crazy, but this "prime opportunity" means a whole lot more to me than just subbing or money. I took it as a great honor not only for Mrs. Berry to personally seek me out, but the fact that she went to the corporate office and had them approve me to take her place. The hardest part about accept the opportunity is the amount of time. It'll be hard to be away from Steve that way, but as they say, "absence makes the heart grow fonder". And on a plus side, fall break falls right in the middle of those 2.5 weeks. As of now, we're planning on meeting up in Lima to house hunt!

It seems crazy to be gone Oct 4-22, especially a midst a relocation. However, I made this commitment a month ago, and will see it through. Plus, God made it apparent to me that I needed to do this, and He knew the timing. After all, it's not a coincidence that this subbing opportunity falls right in the middle of relocation, it's just another marker on the path. I guess this is just one more thing to chalk up on the "Trusting God" list!

Congratulations Scott & Ashley

This past weekend, we met up with all of Steve's family in Cincinnati, OH in order to celebrate Ashley (Steve's sister) and Scott's wedding.

We left Jackson Thursday night and met up with our friends Jake & Jennifer in Kentucky. We had a lot of fun going to dinner and hanging out with them at their new house. We even stayed the night at their house -- Thanks Jake & Jennifer!!!

We met up in Cincinnati Friday afternoon where we picked up Steve's brother Ian and headed to meet the rest of the family at Scott & Ashley's house. We hung out there for a little while until it was time to head to the hotel and ready for the rehearsal and dinner.

The rehearsal went a little longer than expected, delaying dinner an hour. It was better to have it work out that way and everyone prepared for the wedding, than to cut rehearsal short (despite everyone being hungry!). At the dinner, the Ackerman family got to meet the O'Bryan family. There was plenty of time to interact and hang out with each other, especially since the dinner went longer than anticipated ;-). Salad was served around 8:30, and we didn't leave the restaurant until after 10:30!

The wedding wasn't until 6pm on Saturday. All morning we just hung out around the hotel, and got to sneak in both Dewey's & Graeter's visits! Dewey's is my favorite pizza place and is original to Cincinnati. Graeter's sells wonderful ice cream, chocolates, and bakery items that again originated in Cincinnati.

Steve's aunt Jill and myself were in charge of getting the bows tied to the chairs for the reception. Steve and Ian were ushers in the wedding, so we volunteered them to go to the Art Museum (reception location) with us in order to knock out the bows and head to the wedding together. We had a system with the bows, making the boys hold them still while we tied. Our team work got the job done quicker than expected, so we just headed to the church early and waited for the rest of the family to arrive.

The church was absolutely gorgeous. It had very ornate decorations, a huge pipe organ that served as the back drop for the alter, and huge stain glass windows. The wedding was very beautiful and truly showcased Scott and Ashley's love for each other and their commitment to each other through Christ.

We then headed to the Art Museum for a cocktail hour -- complete with hors d'oeuvers and jazz trio. The actual reception area was situated in a lobby in the middle of the museum, upon which had a balcony and winding stair cases that the wedding party, bride, and groom entered the room from. I wasn't sure exactly how the reception was going to work in an art museum but it was absolutely lovely. Ashley and Scott had specifically requested a "twilight" lighting on the ceiling which created an "under-the-sky" feeling -- a very romantic, intimate setting. The reception was filled with wonderful food, talk , laughter, dancing (who knew John was so crazy?), and most of all, a focus on Scott & Ashley's marriage.

Steve and I especially enjoyed being able to spend time with his family. We had a lot of fun hanging out and catching up with Aunt Jill; Uncle John; Uncle Barry, Naida, David, & Benjamin; Nanny & Poppy; and Doug, Trisha, & Ian! (And of course we can't forget Scott & Ashley!).

Congratulations Mr. & Mrs. Scott O'Bryan!!!

Lost In Middle America

This post is 5 months in the making. On April 5, we found out that P&G was selling Pringles to Diamond Food. We then found out that Steve had the option to stay with P&G, but had no idea when his transition would occur.

Well we don't have to wait any longer!! We found out earlier this week that Steve would no longer be reporting to Pringles as of December 1st. We weren't given any other information so we decided to just keep it ourselves and see what the week would produce. Steve had contacted the lady who had interviewed him for the Lima position over the summer and heard back from her today. She extended her previous offer and Steve quickly accepted!

We have no other info, except that we will be in Lima by December first. I'm a little stressed with the thought of finding a house and having it move-in-ready in 2.5 months. Oh well, we'll worry about that once we figure out the relocation process. For now we are celebrating and just praising God for His mercies during this process!

Girl Talk

I had the joy of being host to my friend Jennifer last week. (In case you've forgotten, she and her husband have sadly, for me, moved to Kentucky). Her husband had some business in Ohio and she was left behind. Instead of staying at their new house working the whole time, she decided to come hang out with me!

The week was full of chatting, Kardashians, HGTV, and shopping. She was only supposed to be around for 3 days, but her husband's trip got extended an extra day. That just meant she and I had another day to hang out .

The timing of her trip couldn't have worked out any better. Steve's project at work was implemented onto the line, meaning he had to monitor the line during second shift (2pm-midnight). So it worked out nicely to see him in the morning and to have Jennifer around to keep me company all afternoon/evening while Steve was away.

I'm so thankful to have been blessed with her friendship! Who knew a year ago she and I would be up to sleep overs and painting together? Luckily, we will be reunited yet again in a week. . .

A Furry Little Critter

Meet Ramses! He is Steve's and my new Robo-dwarf hamster. We had been throwing around the idea of buying a hamster, and pulled the plug today. He was very active while at the store. He was doing laps in his little bin; however, since getting him home and setting up his cage, he's been pretty skiddish and docile.

A Roborovsky (robo for short) hamster is known as a "Look but Don't Touch" pet. It's not because of their behavior, but because they're small and fast. He shouldn't bite (the store employee said they don't bite, and we've not had that issue yet). Steve held him while moving him from the store carton to the new cage, but it was only for a minute because the little guy was running up and down Steve's arm.

He's only 2" long, and probably won't grow anymore. You can see from the picture that he's smaller than his food dish. We'll see if he keeps up his docile act or goes back to running around like crazy. According to our reading material, it'll take a few days to get acclimated to our home. Ha ha... as nutty as it is here, he'll get acclomitaed just in time to move!