Coffee CubBuster

This was the last picture I took with Pop when I last saw him in 2007. It is with a bittersweet tone that I say good-bye to my amazing great-grandfather Pop . He lived to be one hundred and five years old. He lived a grand life and saw many great things in our country from the span of 1905 to 2010. It's amazing that he passed away on Jesus's birthday too! I feel so blessed to have known him for so much of my life. I will never forget how he helped me with my high school history project. He spent more than an hour giving me the exact lineage as to my relation to Stone Wall Jackson himself. I will also never forget how he called me a hottie over the phone when he said that Matthew should take care of me since he was with a "hottie." I love you Pop. You will be dearly missed, but I know you are now resting with the Great One in heaven! It is with great joy that I announce the birth of my  nephew, Easton Kelly Shans! He arrived two days before Christmas surprising ...

Just a little over four months ago, some beautiful, wise, southern women took me under their precious wings and poured out love to me as if I had been in their family all my life. I've never met such women before, and I can only thank the Lord that such gracious, loving, and purely sweet women have given me the opportunity to share in God's blessings, grow in God's word, and gain invaluable wisdom from them. These women came together and threw me my first bridal shower during the busiest time of the year. How could I have felt more special! Apparently I am like a small child when I open presents. This I can only say has always been part of my character. Sometimes for the better, sometimes (with my non-stop questioning of " why ") for the worse. Either way, I had a wonderful time with my ladies small group sharing good food, good fun, and great fellowship. Thank you ladies for being such an amazing gift in my life. God bless each one of you! Su actually made co...

My dear friend Brooke, or B, is a speech therapist over at Roswell North elementary school. She works specifically with the pre-school special needs children, and she invited me to come and watch their holiday show this morning. Um..... okay.... 1. I got up before 7 am during my winter break. 2. It couldn't have been more worth it. 3. These children are God's gift to the world. 4. Now I can really remember what Christmas is all about. 5. I loved the "Feliz Navidad" piece where they all just shook their moraccas and their tiny little bodies with joy and jubilation. Thanks for spreading the cheer B! God bless us EVERYONE!!! ~Christmas CubBuster

Okay.... so if you haven't already checked it out, I couldn't help myself. Once a blogger, always a blogger. Check out Matthew's and my wedding website. It's the bare minimum folks, but it will give you the important info. blairandsmith.ourwedding.com I'm so happy to be on Christmas break. One of the main perks of being a teacher/student! We've already had some snow too!!! Not much, but still, it's promising to be a great Christmas! We are also practically done with the wedding planning stuff. Just some of the extra details left. It's been nice and simple, and I can't wait until May! Count down begins: 10 days until Jesus's Birthday 137 days until I'm Mrs. Smith CubBuster!

50 Christmas songs, 6 hours, 4 cups of coffee, 2 potty stops, and a partridge peach pie later, and  Matthew and I arrived in Memphis Tennessee! We packed in the weekend with as much time possible with dad, Kathy, Lindsey, and unexpectedly the awesome Margie Lott ! I'm sad to say that Lindsey Carter has developed some insane qualities since I last saw her. On 4 hours of sleep and a frozen dinner she rolled out of bed to run 13.1 miles FOR FUN , oh and for charity. I guess that's okay. I'm worried that it's something they put in the Ole Miss H2O because Margie drove over 6 hours to run in the same race. Its bordering on lunacy folks. I mean I'm all for a nice jog, but come on! We really did have a great time though minus the crazies; I just wish we had had MORE time. It was quick, but it was a true blessing for Matthew and I to spend some time with people we love and with whom we haven't seen in a very long time. God is good! Miss Memhpis already!  As Lindsey put...

I was planning to refresh my knowledge of Dickens' Great Expectations  as the high school I will be teaching at in the Spring plans to use this classic text with their 9th graders, and in looking at posted contexts surrounding the beloved and be-hated novel, I found an AWESOME word that I hope to use in my everyday vernacular from here on out. Trust me, you will sounds really smart it you too add this vocabulary to your next Christmas party convo.  bildungsroman: bil·dungs·ro·man   noun   \ ˈ bil-d u̇ ŋ(k)s-rō- ˌ män, -d u̇ ŋz-\ Definition of  BILDUNGSROMAN :  a novel about the moral and psychological growth of the main character Origin of  BILDUNGSROMAN German, from  Bildung  education +  Roman  novel First Known Use: 1910 Yeah it doesn't get much better than that!!! ~English TeacherBuster