Exhausted

Wow! What a week it has been! Let's just say...I'm very tired and I think I will take a nice long nap when I get home from work today.

Since the cross country team had camp this week, Chad has been very busy with all that goes into that as well as trying to do their workouts for while he is gone and trying to get everything ready for his trip. I have tried to help him as much as I can this week, but I will be glad to have a weekend to rest soon.

I tried to get as much packed for him before last night as I could, but it obviously wasn't enough. We went bowling with the cross country team last night and did not get home until about 9:00 pm. Then, we stayed up until after 1:00 am packing all of his things, making sure skype was working, and taking care of some other logistics before he left. Then, we woke up about 5:00 am for me to get ready for school and Chad to pack the car and we left at 5:45 am. We made it to the airport and then I went straight to school.

I know Chad is so tired because he has not slept much at all this week and has been busy non-stop during the day. I am praying that he will be able to get some rest while he is in Colorado over the next few days before leaving for Japan. His flight is about 13 hours to Japan, so hopefully he can get some rest at least by then so that he can enjoy every minute of his trip and be at the top of his game.

By the way...I still don't believe this, but I got my laptop from school yesterday, Wednesday, the day before Chad left! Isn't God so faithful even in the little things?!? It just takes a while for us to realize that has a plan for everything, even something as silly as this. I wasn't really too worried about it because I had come to the conclusion that if I needed to, I would just go out and by a new one this weekend because I WILL be talking to my husband while he is away from me for a month. Well, I won't have to do that now and it's a good thing because that would not be good for our finances. God continues to teach me that He will take care of me in all situations, now if I would just learn the lesson and stop worrying that would be great!

Please pray for Chad and all the athletes and coaches as the travel alot over the next few days especially. Also, pray that he would get some rest and be given opportunities to share Christ with others that he comes in contact with. Thanks!

4 More Days...

until Chad leaves and I'm already sad and feel like I have not seen him enough. The Samford cross country runners are moving in to their dorms today. Chad has been at the school all day working and handing out dorm keys. Tomorrow at 3:00 pm they start their cross country camp and he will be busy pretty much 24/7 with the athletes until he leaves. The athletes will come over to our house on Tuesday night for dinner and games, so I have been cleaning today.

I will take Chad to the airport early Thursday morning, Aug. 21 and he will actually get back a day earlier than we originally thought, which will be Sept. 18th. Last night we set up a blog for him to write on while he is in Beijing. Check it out: it is on the top of my friends list in the left column. The site is http://www.frombirminghamtobeijing.blogspot.com/. He is going to try to keep it updated as much as possible while he is away.

I still can't get Skype to work on our desktop computer!!! It is so frustrating! We are actually borrowing an old CPU from Chad's parents and I can't even get the internet to work on it right now. Also, I can't get the webcam to work and I think I've figured out why. I think it's because the computer has a 1.0 USB port instead of a 2.0. I am supposed to get a laptop at school and was hoping to bring that home to use to talk to Chad, but we have not gotten them yet and I'm not sure we will soon enough. So, other than going out and buying a new desktop computer (which we know we need to do in the near future anyway), I'm not sure what other options I have. Why are computers so difficult?!?

School Begins...

TOMORROW! While I'm not ready for it to start because I LOVE not working, I'm also ready for it to start so that I can see how my new school works. We have had 3 teacher workdays now and the kids will be coming tomorrow. For the next few days I will be helping out in the office and anywhere else I am needed. On Friday we have a Title I meeting to learn more about our responsibilities this year. Next week we will look at data from our test scores last year to determine which children need our help the most. Then, we will go through the long and grueling process of making our schedules. I'm excited to begin working with the kids so that I can start seeing some results.

Chad leaves next Thursday, so it is getting closer and closer! He is very excited, but we still have alot to do and buy before he leaves. We have our skype accounts set up and Chad's webcam and headset are up and running, but we are still working on mine.

Shopping with Chad...

is SO DIFFICULT! Today we went shopping for some large picture frames for our study and bedroom. We are going to print some pictures that we have taken on some of our trips and frame them. I went the other day to one of my favorite stores-Hobby Lobby-and found the perfect frames for over our bed. Since we wanted 3 frames I was trying to find some for a decent price because I am the thrify one in the family. Well...today I took Chad there to make sure he liked them and decide which size would be best. Needless to say, he did not like anything that I had already picked out, but instead he wanted to get some frames that were twice the price!! Now, you might wonder if he really cares how I decorate our house. The answer is YES! He does not like when I buy things without his approval and alot of times I have to bring them home and make sure he likes them first and then I end up taking many things back because he doesn't like them. As I said on an earlier post, we are learning (or trying to learn) how to compromise. By the end of the day and after checking several stores, we found something we both love, even though I had to give in on the price!! Once we get the pictures printed, I will post pictures of the final product.

Just a side note...we got to have a lazy day today and watch many of the Olympic events on TV, besides our trip to purchase the picture frames, which ended up taking WAY longer than it should have. This will be our last free weekend before Chad leaves for Beijing. Next weekend the Samford Cross Country Team comes in town for Cross Country Camp. Even though they will be staying in Birmingham for camp this year, they will be very busy the whole week before Chad leaves, so I will not see him much that week. So, needless to say, we are having a nice weekend spending lots of time together!

Home Improvements

We finally planted some things in our front flower bed in June and just this past week we lined the flower bed with rocks. We are very proud of ourselves since this is the first large outdoor project we have tackled. The hardest part was deciding which plants to buy. For those of you that don't know... Chad and I seem to have completely different opinons on most everthing, which makes things really difficult, but we are learning to compromise. Also, notice the hanging plant and potted plant by the door. We have a few of those in the back as well, but you will not see pictures of the back for a while because we have alot of work to do. The challenge now is keeping the plants alive and I think we are doing a pretty good job so far. Only one thing has died so far and they were some white annuals, which are cheap, so I was glad it was those and not something else. Take a look at our results:

The second improvement we made last week was in our study. We ordered a desk and file cabinet from Home Decorators on-line. I would highly recommend this company! We ordered the furniture on a Sunday afternoon and it was on our doorstep the following Thursday. We had to put the file cabinet together, but it was pretty simple and we only had to put the legs on the desk. So, we now officially have a study and we love it already. There are still a few other things we would like to do in the room like paint the chandelier, hanging a picture above the desk, etc., but it looks much better already. (By the way...we have not gotten rid of the ugly blue couch yet because Chad just can't let it go. It is out in our garage until we can figure out what we are doing with it.) Check out our new study:

New Classroom

I went up to my classroom yesterday and I will go again tomorrow to try to finish unpacking all of my boxes and arranging my room. It is the perfect location because it is in the main building and basically just up the stairs from the office where I will sign in and out each morning and afternoon. Also, it is right across the hall from a teacher workroom that houses the only copier in the building and the only teacher restroom on that floor. I have enough space in my room to unpack all my things and put them in the cabinets and drawers. Also, I found a nice surprise of 2 brand new Dell desktop computers with flat panel monitors in my room when I arrived on Monday. I had heard that each room had 2 Dell computers already that were not that old and would be getting 2 more brand new ones. Also, each teacher is getting a laptop. Our principal e-mailed us and said they had been ordered. Well, I assumed I would only get the laptop since I would not have kids in my room, but as of now the computers are in my classroom, so we'll see how long they last in there. I'm hoping our laptops will be in soon since they were ordered at the same time. Also, I just recently found out that written into the contract with the newly renovated building was that each classroom would get a smart board. For those of you that don't know what that is it is an interactive whiteboard that you display in the front of the room, most likely by or on the dry-erase board or chalkboard. There is also a projector that is hooked up to your computer and you can either project something from the computer up on the screen or you can use a small hand-held "notepad" to write things up on the board. They are so cool!!! I am doubtful that I will actually have one in my room, but then again I would not use it much, but all of the regular classrooms will have one for me to borrow or use with the kids. I'm so excited about my new school. My old school was really nice and practically brand new when I started working there, so I was very spoiled. I'm glad to be at a new school that is almost just as nice and that has much more advanced technology!

Happy 30th Birthday Chad!!

Chad turned the big 3-0 on August 1st! I had a surprise birthday party for him on Saturday, August 2nd and it was a success! He had a great time and it was so good to see some people we had not seen in a while. Thanks for coming! For dessert we had banana splits, which we also had at our wedding in place of a groom's cake. We all went in together and I made a money tree for his present to start his TV fund. Of course we went shopping for a TV the next day, but we decided we should save up a little more money before purchasing one. Here are some pictures from the party:
Chad blowing out his 3-0 candles on his banana split.

Chad and Tommy. Do you like their birthday hats?

The money tree.

I thought I would share the funny story of me making the money tree. I was planning on making it the day before the party, but ran out of time. So, that night I had to wait for Chad to fall asleep and sneak out of our bedroom into the guest bedroom to make it. I then stayed up for 2 hours making it and snuck back into bed without him even knowing!

It's Over (almost)...

Well, the summer is coming to an end. I'm very sad because it always goes by way too fast and I never get all of my summer goals accomplished.

This past Monday I finally moved all of my classroom items into my new room. I have a really nice big room and I won't even have kids coming in there. I'm excited to be able to spread out and have a nice space of my own. I will go up next week and try to unpack and get organized. The teachers start school next Friday, Aug. 8th, and the kids start the following Wednesday, Aug. 13th.

This week is filled with trying to get some more things done around the house. Today cleaning is on the agenda and so far I have just spent time on the computer, so we'll see how that goes!

Hilton Head, South Carolina

We returned from our annual family trip to Hilton Head, South Carolina last Saturday. That was our last vacation/trip for the summer and it is very sad it has come to an end, but it was a good trip to end on. We always have such a great time with Chad's family in Hilton Head! Some of the fun things we did in Hilton Head include: bike riding on the island, playing boche on the beach, laying out and playing volleyball at the pool, shopping, and flying kites. Here are a few pictures from our vacation:

A beautiful sunset.

Palm trees.

The James'.

The whole family.

Look closely and you will see our kites flying in the sky.

July Fun

Well, as usual July has passed by way too fast. Here are a few updates from this month and what we have coming up:

For July 4th we went to visit my mom and Roland in Big Canoe. My mom, Chad, and I ran the Peachtree Road Race on the morning of the 4th. My mom only started running about a year and a half ago and her goal was the run the Peachtree this year. So, we went to run with her and had so much fun. Our goal was to run the whole thing without stopping and we did it! It was very, very crowded so we had to dodge people and run around people pretty much the whole time. We had a great time and hope to be able to do it every year.

Last week I baby-sat all week. Since I was a sophomore in college I have been baby-sitting for this family. They have 3 girls and when I started the youngest was 2 years old and now she is 11. It's really crazy to see how quickly they grow up. The oldest girl had a leadership conference to go to in the Boston area so the parents decided to take her early to look at colleges since she will be in 11th grade this year. So, that left me with the 11 and 13 year-old girls for the week. We really had a great time and I feel more like I am just hanging out with them than baby-sitting them.

This week has been filled with doctor's appointments and getting some things done around the house. Also, we have started packing for Hilton Head, our annual family trip with Chad's family. We are very excited! We leave this Saturday and come back the next Saturday.

The Monday after we get back from Hilton Head I will move into my new classroom. I have most of my things in my house right now and I'm ready to get them out!

For those of you that don't know...Chad will be a National Team Coach for the Paralympic Games in Beijing. He will be gone for about a month from Aug. 21st-Sept. 19th. This is such a great opportunity and we are both very excited that he gets to go!

Anniversary Trip to Gatlinburg

We went to Gatlinburg, Tennessee June 21st-24th to celebrate our one year aniversary. It was so good to get away, especially after having a rough last few months. Since we have not gotten to spend much quality time together lately, we needed this time to get away and just be together with no distractions. We had such a wonderful and relaxing time and it was definitely worth it! I know Chad is having a good time and is stress-free when he gets silly and he was very silly the entire trip. He needed to get away and not have to think about work for a while.

Gatlinburg is such a quaint little town and has some cute shops! We spent lots of time walking down the main strip and eating at several yummy restaurants there. Our cabin was perfect for just the 2 of us. It had a beautiful view, a hot tub on the balcony, and a pool table (let's just say that Chad was pretty impressed with my skills and he needs to practice alot before he plays me again). We tried to spend as much time there as possible so we could relax and enjoy the surroundings. One day we spent about 5 hours at Ober Gatlinburg and were able to do the Scenic Chair Lift, Alpine Slide (which I remember doing when I was a kid and was VERY excited to do again), bumper cars, and 2 different water rides. On our anniversary we went on a hike in the Smoky Mountains and got some beautiful pictures of the views. Here are some pictures of our trip. Sorry there are so many, I couldn't just pick a few.

Our little one-bedroom cabin.

The view from our cabin.
We ate at the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company one night.
Hiking in the Smokies.

Alum Cave Trail in the Smoky Mountains.
A beatiful view of the Smokies.
Another pretty view.

Wow! I think we'll have to hang this one in our house.
Riding on the Scenic Chair Lift.
The Alpine Slide.

Chad loved this ride!
He talked me into riding this one and promised I wouldn't get wet.
Wet Tara after riding the water ride.

New Design

I have been seeing all these cute backgrounds on other people's blogs, so I decided I should look into it. I found out you can get free designs on-line. There are some really cute ones, so it was hard to decide. I hope you like it!

1 year Anniversary

Wow! I can't believe it! Monday is our 1 year Anniversary. We are taking a mini-vacation this weekend to celebrate. We rented this log cabin in Gatlinburg, Tennessee from Saturday until Tuesday. We are very excited to get away and be alone for a few days since our lives have been extra stressful over the last 4 months. There are many things to do in the Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge area such as: horseback riding, whitewater rafting, shopping, mini-golf (which Chad LOVES), hiking, etc. We are currently working on the agenda for the trip and hope to get to do many of these fun things. We will be sure to post pictures after our trip.

Zac and Kristin's Wedding

Chad's cousin, Zac, got married to Kristin on May 24th. They started dating a few months before Chad and I did, so they dated for almost 7 years before getting married. Kristin and I have been "roommates" for the past 5 years on our annual Hilton Head trip with their family. We are both very excited to stay in the same room as our husbands this year! The wedding was outside in a garden and the reception was under a big white tent. It was beautiful and we were so glad to be there for it. Chad got to walk Zac's mom out after the ceremony, which was pretty special.

Memorial Day Fun

On Memorial Day we had our small group over for a hamburger cook-out and to play our Wii!! It was lots of fun. After we visited for a while we ate dinner and then the men played the Wii while the women visited a little longer. One couple in our small group, Adam and Karen, had their baby that day so we made a Wii character in honor of Baby Charlie.

A Birthday, Charlie, and Arkansas

My brother, sister, and I (and of course the 2 husbands) went in together to get my mom a Kitchenaid mixer for her birthday. She has been talking about how she wants one for about a year now and I thought it was time to get her one. She absolutely loved it! Here are some pictures of her opening her present.

A couple in our Core Group (small group), Adam and Karen, had a baby on May 26th. His name is Charlie and he is so cute. We brought them dinner about a week after he was born and I got to hold him right away. He was getting a little squirmy so I put him up on my shoulder and he fell asleep curled up in a ball. It was so sweet and I was in heaven!



June 4th-8th I went to Little Rock, Arkansas. My high school friends and I had a friend reunion. They were all a part of my wedding last summer and we realized how much we missed spending time together. We all live in different places now and don't get to see each other very often and have not all been together in several years until last summer. Sarah lives in Little Rock and her parents and 2 sisters live very close as well. She showed us where she works, hangs out. likes to eat, and all the hot spots around Little Rock. We climbed up Pinnacle Mountain to see a beautiful view and got to experience many of the cute shops and places around the city. We saw Rachel, Sarah's younger sister, who just had a baby in April. Rachel's baby, AnnMarie, is so sweet and calm and I got to hold her for about an hour the first night we were there and I loved every minute of it. On Saturday we went to visit Sarah's parents and her other sister, Rebekah, and her little girl, Elisabeth. It was so great to see them, we grew up hanging out at their house alot and we all feel like they are like our second family. Elisabeth is so precious! She was born almost 2 years ago and was only 2 pounds when she was born. It is amazing to see her now. Although she has grown alot, she is still small for her age, but is very mature and speaks well.

Christie, Me, and Amber on our first night together having cocktails (or "sipping cocktails" for some of us).














Suzanne and Sarah

















Me holding sweet AnnMarie.


















Precious AnnMarie!


















Sarah and Elisabeth-she loves her "la la".

A New School and a New Head Coach

We have some news to share for those of you that haven't heard yet. Both of our jobs are going to be quite different next year and we are excited to see what God will teach us through these new experiences.

I (Tara) got a new job at a new school for next year. I decided it would be the best for me to stay in the same school system so that I would still be tenured. There is another Jefferson County School about 10-15 minutes from our house called Gresham Elementary. I applied for a transfer, had an interview with the principal, and got a job offer all within about a month. I will be a Title I teacher, which is what I did my first year at Oak Grove. I will be a resource teacher who helps struggling students in targeted grade levels. I will probably be working with 2nd and 3rd grade or 3rd and 4th grade. While I'm very sad to leave my current school because I LOVE it and the people I work with, I'm also very excited about the challenges of a new job. God has made it very evident that this is where I need to be since it all worked out so perfectly and quickly.

For those that don't know, the Head Cross Country and Track Coach at Samford, Coach McWaters, was suspended back in the beginning of March and later let go. Samford is entering into a new conference next year and they said they wanted to go in a "different direction." We are VERY close with Coach McWaters and his wife because he was our coach at Samford and Chad's boss for the last 6 years. They will be missed very much, but we hope to still see them often.

Because of this, Chad has been the Interim Head Coach for the last few months and has been very busy! I have been helping out as much as I can and going to the meets on the weekends to help him out. He also had 2 former athletes helping out with the sprinters, which was wonderful. It has been very challenging, but we have grown closer through it all.

Earlier this week Samford hired a new Head Coach for next year and are currently in the process of hiring another assistant coach. So, if everything goes as planned there should be one head coach and three assistant coaches next year. This will be a huge help and hopefully will take some of the load off of Chad! Chad and Lauren Blankenship (the other assistant coach for next year who just graduated from Samford) will be in charge of the distance runners.

Chad's job will be very different next year, especially at first as he will be learning how to work with 3 different people. We are excited to see some of the good changes that will be made, but it will be sad to have some of our traditions change that have been around for the last 13 years. Please pray for Chad as he goes through some major transitions in his job next year.

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day Moms and Mema(w)s!!! We are so sorry we could not be with you today. Thank you for all you do for us and being so encouraging and supportive. We hope you had a great day today. We love you!

Baxter Warren Carroll

On Saturday I went to a baby shower for my friend Abbey and her son Baxter. Several people that I ran with at Samford were in town for the shower and it was so good to see all of them. On Saturday morning I ran with Jan and Alice (Abbey's twin sister) and we were able to catch up. The baby shower was that afternoon and I got to meet Baxter for the first time. He is so tiny and precious. Erin Giesa and her mom were also in town from Florida and it was good to see them there. That evening we met a group of people for dinner. It is so good to see friends and so crazy that most of us are married now and beginning to have babies. Alice will have her second (a boy) in September.

Abbey and Baxter

Alice and Emma Kate (cutie!)

Me holding Baxter (don't I look so natural)

Some girls at the shower-Erin, Christy, Jan, Me, Ashley, Alice, and Abbey

Chad and Tara with Baxter

Cinco de Mayo

We have been involved with a Core Group at our church this year. A Core Group is a small group of people from our Community Group (Sunday School Class) who meet every 2 weeks. We usually discuss the past 2 weeks sermons, but sometimes we just meet for dinner or hang out. We decided to celebrate Cinco de Mayo with our Core Group by going to eat Mexican food. We always have a really great time with them and God has blessed us with some really good friends that can challenge us in our faith and pray with us. It has been so nice to get to know some other young couples that are also newly married. One couple already has a 1-year old little boy who is precious! Two others have babies on the way. Here is a picture of our group:

Chris and Dana, us, Blake and Susan, Adam and Karen

Jimbo and Hayley had already left when we took our group picture because it was Carson's bed time.