Wild Weekend

We had a crazy and fun weekend!

Friday night, we got in my new (to me) car (more about that later) and headed to Jackson.  Jackie boy got to stay up late and go to the Mississippi State Fair with his Bella and Aunt Ansley.

Bech shared some of his cotton candy with Jack.

He was not a fan!

Bella wanted to take him on a ride, but the lines were too long, so she settled for a fair "happy."  He loved it!

We spent the night with my family at the King Ed, picked up Katy and Dave in the morning, then headed to Oxford bright and early for game day.  Of course we needed a stop at Cups first.

Oxford and the Grove were fun, but cold and rainy!  It started raining when we were walking to the Grove and continued to drizzle the rest of the afternoon.  Bech and I had thought about going into the game with Jack, but we ended up heading back to the apartment before kick off.  We hung out with Jack, put him to bed, then headed to bed early!

Jack with Colonel Reb.  Okay, so that's not really Colonel Reb.  It's just some creepy old guy who dresses up like him.  But I think he's hilarious.  We took a picture of Jack with him last year.

Jack wasn't so sure about the Colonel at first, but he warmed up to him.

Jack spent a lot of the afternoon in his Uncle Bubby's arms.  He loves his Bubby!

My good friend from Jr. High and High School, Fran, was there for the game.  She graduated from A&M and was there to cheer on her alma mater.  Elliot is 3 weeks younger than Jack, and they finally got to meet!

Sunday morning, Jack, Bech, my Dad, and I went to Bottletree Bakery for breakfast.  When Bech and I were in college, we had a breakfast date at Bottletree every Friday morning.  It was so special to bring Jack back to one of our favorite places.  

As a side note, Jack was a champ this weekend.  He barely cried or fussed, and he was amazing everywhere we went (and in the car rides--he spent 11 hours in the car this weekend!).

Then we headed over to Tupelo to see my Grandma Jean, Jack's great grandmother.  Jack is blessed to have four great grandparents.  He has met Grandma Jean once before, last year.  He has changed so much. He tried to knock over everything in the room, but I think she enjoyed seeing him.

Jack was sweet and shared some kisses with Grandma Jean.

We headed back to Jackson by way of the Natchez Trace, stopped at Keifers for lunch, then headed to Baton Rouge.  We've unpacked, Jack is asleep, and Bech and I are gearing up for the week ahead!

Life...

Whew...I need life to calm down!  We have had a busy couple of weeks and have a busy week coming up.

Here's what's been going on lately:

* This past week, school was busy!  The term is almost over (next week!) so I had several parents email me for conferences.  I also have tests and study guides I have been making and grading.

I was nervous for a couple of the conferences.  I think the relationship between parents and teachers has really changed in recent years.

Here's a good summary.  And I was definitely worried that the conferences would follow these lines.  But they were great!  The parents are totally on my side in how to deal with their kids, and I loved getting to talk to them!  What a blessing!

* This past weekend was Bech's 10th high school reunion.  We had fun.  I was surprised by how many of his classmates I knew.  I enjoyed meeting new ones, as well.  I don't want to do it every weekend, but it was enjoyable.

* We got to spend lots of time with Bech's family this past weekend.  We have seen his parents recently, but we also got to see his brothers, sister-in-law, and grandmother.  Jack LOVED the attention and did great the whole weekend.

* Speaking of my little man, he is getting his molars!  He has been sort of quiet and calm lately.  I was worried that he was getting sick, but I now know the culprit.

* Sunday, I went to Highlands, my childhood church, with my sister.  I love being back there--so many old friends and good memories.  Plus, it was a missions Sunday.  I always get so emotional at those, but I loved it.  Check out this video they made of some of their missionaries.  

The best part is the missionaries at the end--the Bonhams and Kines!  Nikki Travis Bonham and I grew up in youth group together.  The families left two weeks ago for Bogota, Columbia.  I am so excited for them and for their future work.

* Yesterday felt like fall here!  I LOVED it.  I ran by the store after work and grabbed some ingredients to make chili for dinner.  Bech and I ate chili while I burned an apple pie scented candle.  The perfect end to a fall day!

* This weekend, we are headed to God's country--Oxford, Mississippi.  I plan on seeing friends, spending time in the grove, eating Bottletree Bakery, and hanging out with my dad and sister.  To say I can't wait would be an understatement!  

Plus, it's going to be chilly Saturday night.  I plan on wearing some tights and boots to the grove!

That's what we've been up to.  Right now, I need to get to work on narratives for the end of the term.  Any other teachers have to do narratives for each student?

What I'm Looking Forward To...

Well this post is going to be all about food. So, if you don't like food or don't want to read about food, just stop now. But if not...

I will be home in less than 6 weeks. YAY! I can NOT wait! And of course, I am most excited about family and friends. I promise. I think about that way more.

But I also am missing some of my favorite restaurants in Jackson. There are some good places to eat here, but Jackson really has way better restaurants.

So in a very particular restaurant, here is what I want to eat when I get home!

5. Burgers and Blues

This is a new Jackson restaurant, but I went there a lot this past summer. It was a great lunch/dinner place for college students. If you are from Jackson and haven't been there, it's like Majestic Burger or Cool Al's. If you aren't from Jackson, it's a build your own burger restaurant. My favorite burger: the Sonic Boom with fried jalapenos on top!

4. Sal and Mookie's

Another amazing Jackson restaurant. We used to go here a bunch last year. It's a pizza place, but my favorite thing on the menu is the hummus. They serve it with the best herb bread...yum!

3. La Guadelupe

Oh my goodness...words cannot describe how good this restaurant is. It is a Taqueria, and it serves really authentic Mexican food. And the prices are great. I went so often last year that the owner knew me. I'm not even going to show you a picture of the front, because you need to see the goodness that is their food. The tortillas are made right there in front of you, and there is fresh lettuce, tomato, and avocado.

2. Julep

I could eat at Julep once a week and still love it just as much. I love the casual yet nice feel of the restaurant, and the amazing Southern food. My favorite thing on the menu: the friend green tomato appetizer. It's fried green tomatoes, with goat cheese and crab meat in between the layers. I'm also a fan of their sweet potato fries. I'm hoping for a dinner date here with the Dearman's!

1. Sakura Bana

This is hands down my favorite restaurant ever. It has been since 7th grade, and it will be until the day I die (I think). There are two locations in Jackson: Little Tokyo and Sakura Bana. I like Sakura Bana a little better, but they are both absolutely, ridiculously amazing. I could eat here every single day. Seriously. People that know me well know that I am not kidding in the slightest.

I want to eat here at least twice while I'm home. I need a dynamite roll, shrimp kodiak, and crunchy shrimp--don't worry, not all in the same meal!!!

Well, now you know what I am thinking about. But I have a Latin test on Monday, so that's what I probably should be thinking about. Hopefully this post will have gotten out all of those cravings, and I can focus on good ole Tacitus.

Last night, we had a bunch of people over for a game night. It was very impromptu, but it turned out to be very fun. Bech and I usually love to have people over. We had a good amount of people over while we were in Oxford. Then last year, we had people over all of the time. A lot of that was due to the fact that there is really nothing else to do in Malawi, but we really love to have guests over. We both like to cook for others and just try to create a fun experience.

Since we have been in Jackson, we haven't had very many people over. We have just been in a slump. I think part of it is that we made good friends last year then left them. So we aren't as energetic about making new friends. We also are just so busy. Last year, we could spend all afternoon getting dinner and our house ready. But I have so many MCF activities going on during the week so that makes having people over hard. I think, though, that we broke our slump last night. We played Taboo and Balderdash.

Bech is off work for the next two weeks, which we'll be fun. I still have work, but my First Pres job is only part time, so I will get to spend a lot of time with him. Last year, we worked together and got to spend lots of time together. Now, we have a lot less time together, and it's really hard. I am so excited to spend lots of time the next two weeks.

Christmas is almost here! I can't wait. I went to Brookhaven yesterday and wrapped presents all day. Only 6 more days!

p.s. Happy 27th Anniversary to my Parents :)

jackson

Bech and I have been enjoying living in Jackson. Belhaven is such a fun neighborhood and we are exploring places around it. One fun place we have found is Underground 119. It's actually downtown (so only about 5 minutes from our house). It's a jazz/blues bar. We went this past Thursday night and heard the Tiger Rogers Quartet...they were great.

I've been to the Thai house several times with students. This restaurant is amazing. So far, I've stuck with the coconut soup and pad thai, but next time I'm getting the red curry.

This has nothing to do with Jackson, but I just recently bought my first sewing machine. I know, its kinda dorky that it's the Project Runway edition, but I loved everything about this machine, including the price. Brothers are what they use on Project Runway, so they put the logo on the machine. But it works great...I just started working on my curtains. My moms machine just broke, so we are actually both part owners of this machine. He has been christened "Andre"...if you watched second season of PR, you'll know why!

Finally, Christmas is out at the stores! Well not all of them. But Hobby Lobby has all of their christmas stuff out (including fake trees and wreaths)...I had to resist buying ornaments today! Plus Bath and Body Works has tons of Christmas/Fall scented candles/soups/etc. I am loving it all!

This past week, I have been missing Malawi so much. I think it is because all of the new people are there, and school just started last Monday. Plus, I picked up the yearbook from the ABC office this past week (which, by the way, looks amazing! I am so happy with how it turned out!!!).

All of those things added together make me very homesick for Malawi. I am so glad to be in Jackson in my job right now, but I also wish I could see all of my students!

You all can be in prayer for all of the new teachers right now. I remember being so terrified those first few weeks, not sure what I was doing, still trying to remember every students name, on top of living in a brand new place with total strangers. Soon, in a few months or even weeks, the new missionaries will feel so comfortable and at ease, but the first little bit is hard.

My job is still going well. We had a retreat this weekend for the core group of Millsaps Christian Fellowship. It was great! I loved getting to know some of the girls, and am so excited to spend time with them in the future! We already have a girl’s night in the works. Our first MCF large group is on Tuesday night.

Bech is enjoying his job as well. It is tiring, but not boring at all. I will have to get him to post on here about all of the “Seedsters.”

If anyone from last year is reading this blog (the Robbins, the Hirotos, the Ketchums, Andy, Megan, Vicki?), we had people over last night and taught them the “paper game” (I think some people call it “paper gossip” or “paper telephone”). And one of the guys was a better drawer than Dan or Bech. I know, I know, I didn’t even think that was possible. But this guy’s drawings were absolutely amazing! We saved them, so maybe I can upload a picture of one or two of them. We had fun, but we missed playing the paper game over at Duplex 2.

We are about to go to a concert of “Elijah” by Mendelssohn that the First Pres choir is putting on tonight instead of a Sunday night service. I am sure it will be wonderful. First Pres has a great music program that we are enjoying.

as promised...

Our bedroom...we still have a few boxes in here to unpack, and we need to find a dresser for my side of the bed (the purple plastic drawers are hideous...they are even sparkly!). I am loving sleeping more than a foot off of the ground and minus a mosquito net.

The kitchen...we just added that metal rack, because we don't have much storage space. Please note the flame colored Le Creuset round dutch oven...just like Julia Childs! I totally did not plan that (but I love it!).

Here's a full view of the kitchen. It's not huge, but I like it.

Built-in's

Bech's mom gave us these chairs, but they were painted a yellowy-white. So I painted them chocolate brown and recovered them in a fun stripe.

settled in

We have a working computer!!! I picked it up today from the Apple store. Let me just say, I absolutely love the Apple store. First of all, it is just a really fun store to be in. I love being surrounded by all of the Macs (maybe that seems a little weird…I’m sure some of ya’ll understand what I mean). Second of all, everyone who works there is wonderful. Seriously, all of their employees are so helpful and so kind. My computer repair should have cost a LOT. It wasn’t cheap, but the guy who helped me figured out a way to make it a lot cheaper.

Alright, enough about my love for the Apple store. We are pretty much settled into our lives in Jackson. Bech started work Monday at the Mustard Seed. The Mustard Seed is a home and day center for mentally retarded adults. Bech works with the “seedsters” (their nickname, not mine), during the day. The great thing is that they sell painted pottery as a fundraiser, so Bech gets to help with that. It’s not full time ceramics or anything, but it is still some!

I am still really liking my job. The Millsaps students move in this weekend, and we have a core group retreat next weekend. I am excited for Millsaps Christian Fellowship to start up.

I also feel like we are starting to get settled in our church. We have been going to early church, which I enjoy. Ligon Duncan, the head preacher, is on sabbatical right now, so Derek Thomas has been preaching. Wow…that is a treat! Dr. Thomas is such an amazing preacher. Plus, he is from Wales so he has a great accent. Dr. Duncan will start preaching again in a few weeks (he also is a great speaker), and we’ll get to hear Dr. Thomas on Sunday nights.

Our house is almost unpacked. After living in the Boersma’s house (the house on campus we moved into in January), this house seems a little tiny. But we love it. It has wood floors (which is good…I hate carpet) and lots of old house character. Plus it has a gas fireplace. I will try to put some pictures up this week, if we get some paintings and prints hung.

I am missing Malawi a lot. I didn’t realize I would miss it this much. Mostly, I miss the people. I talked to Emily Ketchum Friday before they left (Josh and Emily are going back for another year). It made me so sad to not be going back with them. I know we made the right decision, but it is still hard.

You can be praying for all of the new people over there right now. I know they are dealing with so many emotions! I am sure they are freaking out in the grocery stores and crying when the power goes out, just like I was.

Alright, well I need to work on some other stuff. I will get the pictures up this week!

our plans for next year

we've had a lot of people ask us about our plans for next year. up until this week, we couldn't answer that question completely. but now we can!

we will be living in jackson (hopefully in this cute little house in belhaven), because i will be the girl college intern for 1st Presbyterian. i am so excited! i will be working with college students at Millsaps and any college students that attend 1st Pres.

we will get home on june 29th, and i start work july 1st. so come visit us! we want to see everyone! we are for sure making a trip up to oxford in july, so we will try to see everyone there then.