Bert and Ernie =)

Mom and Dad Butts' Visit!

We had such a great time with Dustin's parents. I wish I would have taken more pictures. Well, I have this fun one on the bench next to... we still don't know who this guy is. No nice family photo to share... maybe next time.

Recent TX Trip =)

It was great to spend some time with my family on the recent trip to Houston for Trav's wedding. Dad was sporting a mustache! Nana is lovely as always!

Valentine's at CAL

Catching Up

*Thankfully, I am on the 2nd week of the final quarter of this school year! It has flown by! It is nice to have a fresh start with grades. Our Spring Break isn't until April 7, so I am looking forward to that! I will be teaching one final year at Christian Academy, Lord willing.

*Dustin is loving his classes and working really hard. He gets up pretty early with me and goes strong all day. We love our morning coffee, morning hugs and we're on a long-lasting blueberry bagel-with-cream cheese kick. One of the most interesting classes he is taking this go round is Christianity and Science Fiction, a brand new class at Southern. Besides the neat content, (which is really intersting and very relevant in a culture that takes many clues about God from what they read in books or see at the movies) it is also cool that he gets to read science fiction for class. Sometimes, he's even assigned movies to review. What a nice change of pace from his other classes! This summer, he'll be diving into his first Hebrew class. Whew!

*Mom and Dad Butts came last week for a visit. We had a great time. We visited The Louisville Slugger Museum, The Frazier Arms Museum (we saw a slave ship, fencing, and much more), and The Pie and Ice Cream Kitchen. We had a lot of yummy meals together... and we also took lots of driving and walking tours. Of course, it was also a great time to celebrate the Resurrection of the Savior! Oh, and we are the proud new owners of 2 plants, a Peace Lily and an ivy. We lovingly named them Bert and Ernie. They are doing well. They said to tell everyone hi. Pictures to come...

*I discovered that one of the greatest joys of teaching is not appreciated until at least a year in. It is one of my biggest day-brighteners to see my "old kids" in the hall. I had about 12 hugs yesterday from Conner, Lydia, Annie, Jessica, Rider, Nate, Chad, etc. It is incredibly fun to bump into them and catch up. They were a special group. Go... send a letter to an old teacher right now. They'll love it!

*My "new kids" are doing well too, despite their teacher. =) I'm currently teaching them how to research using the note card system. They are researching their assigned president. They are working really hard!

*It's still a tad chilly outside. We are really ready for spring. The other day, we had some nice weather and I just smiled all day long! Long winters here make spring seem extra wonderful. I can hardly wait!

*I was recently pointed to a great grocery store called Meijer. Their amazing produce is all from local farms and cheap. The only drawback is that it's kind of out of the way. It will be worth it to make the little trip from time to time. It's terrific. All of their generic grocery items are really good, too. Check it out, Louisvillians.

*Yesterday, a little boy at my school that I don't know at all said, "Hi, Mrs. Butts! Wow. That is a REALLY funny name" and he preceded to laugh out loud to himself as he walked off with a huge smile. Our name comes in handy... it makes people smile and it's a good conversation starter. Who knew?

PMS Advisory System =)

This is hilarious! It only takes a minute or so to view, but it's a perfect follow-up from Girl Talk's VERY helpful series on PMS!

New Cousin

On a lighter note, last weekend I skipped out on the weekend snow here and flew to Dallas and then drove with my family to sunny Houston, TX (their snow melted much faster than our 12 inches). I loved the weather!
Most of all, it was a joy to be there to celebrate the wedding of my dear cousin Travis and his beatiful bride (sorry I just have pics of their backsides). After the grading craziness of finish the 3rd quarter dies down, I hope to post a few more pics from the weekend. It was a nice time with family and friends.

Welcome to the family, Cori!

Ever Sinned? Ever Been Sinned Against?

Have you ever sinned?
Have you ever been sinned against?
(The answer, of course, that I'm look for is, "Yes... DUH!")

If so, (ha, that means all of you) you NEED to listen to this sermon called An Intoxicating Forgiveness. It is by Dave Harvey, author of When Sinners Say "I Do". It is written from the standpoint of forgiveness within marriage, but it applies to ANY and ALL relationships. He basically works through the parable of the unforgiving servant. Remember that one? The king forgives a MASSIVE, UNTHINKABLE debt of a servant, who turns around and chokes and puts in prison someone who owes him a debt that is incredibly small in comparison.

How can we forgive those who wrong us?
What if we say "I forgive you" but the pain remains?
How do we avoid getting bitter?
What gives us the motivation to forgive from the heart?
Is it really biblical to forgive and forget?

These kind of things are discussed and more. If I had read the sermon, rather than listened to it, my highlighter would have gone dry.

Please, please listen to this sermon if you have ever sinned against others (even in small ways) or had others sin against you. :)

It is incredibly helpful.

Pondering Homelessness Take 2

This is a shout out for my friends in the 'Ville.

I write this to simply help mobilize any of you Louivillians that happen to read this. From now until the end of the school year (end of May), you are welcome to bring any of the supplies listed to me or my apartment, and we'll get them to the shelter for you. My class is collecting them for a service project for a Missions in March program our school does. It seems like the travel items are especially easy to obtain because so many people have them just lying around. Granted, I'm sure your churches all do similar things, so don't feel any pressure. I just wanted to say that we will be making drop-off trips to take the items from my kids listed below, so if you want to donate something, please feel free! So, send them our way and we'll send them their way. Easy enough. Alright... that's it. Thanks.

NEED FOR TOILETRIES

Jefferson Street Baptist Center's website states that they are VERY LOW on the following toiletries. They have a need for the following items:

- Shampoo (travel size)

- Conditioner (travel size)

- Towels

- Washcloths

- Toothpaste

- Deodorant

- Razors

- Creamer for Coffee (I'm guessing the dry creamer would be better!)

Baby Neighbor!!

We already love our new little neighbor so much!! Congrats to the Blairs for their sweet little son, Jameson! Dustin and I got to go up and see the happy family and hold the baby for quite some time. Very special little guy! Praising God with you, neighbors, for this new little life. We're signing up for babysitting duty!!
Pictures are compliments of David Blair Photography... must be nice to be a photographer when you have a baby! =)