Rainy Day Schedule: What Does The World Need From You?

Hello! I am so glad it's Thursday! I had a four day week, but I already need a weekend! Who's with me? This is the part of the school year that really exhausts teachers and students. I refer to it as the long haul. No breaks till spring break and then no breaks until summer. I watch my students gradually become zombies, while also weirdly honing their critical thinking skills... Critical Thinking Zombies, they should make a movie about that!

Anyways, while preparing for this zombie apocolypse, I've made a commitment to being constantly aware of my surroundings. Not because of potential Zombie attack, but to be intentionally looking for inspiration. 

Today at our teacher's devotion (I know, I work with people who do devotions before work, its like some kind of dream), our head of school told us about a study done on two kinds of people. I could Rachel 1 or Rachel 2 and could choose which one of those I wanted to be. R1 is the type who lets the pursuit of her own fame drive her and everything about her, her bank account is driven by what brings her glory...and ultimately never has enough. R2 is the type of person who asks "What does the world need from me?" "What does the world need? How can I help?" or from a more Christian perspective... "What does the world need, and how can I be in Jesus in that way?" And that's what drives everything they do.

I was so struck by the Holy Spirit in this devotion today. How can I be Jesus and really provide the needs of my students? I sincerely want them to achieve great things on this earth, because I dearly love them, and I want them to love Jesus. They are not mutually exclusive. I've actually completely changed my lesson plan for next week. Bringing the Gospel, SAT prep style! Will someone write a book about me? Probably not. I'm not doing anything glamorous or sexy (weird). But Which Rachel am I going to be? Which Rachel does the Lord want me to be? Who or what will drive everything I do, and how I can leave an impact? Do you think about things? Which version of yourself are you? I really had to think about it, and I would encourage you to do the same!

Not bad for a Thursday morning teacher's devotion! See you soon :)

Above All Else Love: Feature Post - Banner Apparel

Good Friday to you all!! What a crazy week this has been! VCS went through accreditation. It basically means we have to prove that we do all that we say we do. One this I learned through this process: No single person runs the whole show, and ultimately, if it's good, it's God that does it. It's been a long year of paperwork, committee meetings, and in-service days. The process began last spring, intensified through the school year, and is now over. WE did it. VCS is a fantastic place to work, and go to school. Being a teacher is such a labor of love.

Which actually brings me to my next thing, which I am beyond excited about! I have partnered with a great company called Banner Apparel as a brand ambassador! they're stuff caught my eyes a few months ago, and I've just fallen in love with their brand. Everything is based on scripture (which my being a Bible Teacher, you can imagine my delight). Their whole line and purpose for being is to glorify the Lord, and that is something I can totally get behind. Not to mention, this may be the softest tank top ever worn by mankind.

There are so many verses in Scripture that tell us to love above all other things. It's something we so easily let go of in the distractions of life. Even when we're doing something we love. As Christians it's so important that we remember why we love...at all! It's because of Jesus. The response to his love for us poured out on the cross. Our only response, our only WORTHY response is to love Jesus, try to be more like him, by loving those around us. It's not a ladder of love that we climb to Jesus, but the hub from which we operate. Because of Love, I do (enter your thing here). For me it's teaching, music, blogging, get coffee, wash the laundry... Because of the cross, I live, and I love.

Worm Farm

Hello Everyone! IT’s now Saturday, and it becoming frighteningly close to the end of spring break. I guess I shouldn’t get too tweaked considering Summer is coming up in 36 days. The real scare is graduation! Like I said I’m on the job hunt. I’ve put my resume into a few places and have made a few phone calls, but I’m still gonna apply to everything I can get my hands on. Being a music major, I’m trying to find jobs in the field, which are more than I thought, so that’s kind of cool.

Anyways, this is what I decided to wear today. I love the little bow at the neckline! For the past few weeks our weather has been less than stellar, (which I guess is to be expected considering 70 degree weather in the winter is totally abnormal) but since It’s warm, I’m gonna take advantage! I’ve had a few safety scares at our apartment these past few weeks, so I’ve decided to just take pictures on my back patio, which is sadly the least picturesque place in all time and history. 

 Our patio was totally and completely covered in leaves before took pictures. So I thought I woudl just casually sweep them away. Not thinking this completely through, it didn't occur to me that it was an entire winter's worth of wet soggy leaves... When I got down to the bottom of the leaf pile, it was a like a WORM FARM!! There were worms everywhere! GROSS. I'm not a bug person, so sorry all you green thumbs out there who are offended by my hatred for worms. But as you can see, I powered through, and eventually swept the whole patio.

 Today, I thought I would take the sock bun for a test run (learned all my rhyming skills from Dr. Seuss). My layers are a little crazy from growing out, but for the most part it totally worked! I did have to put in a few bobby pins, but hey! Better than back-combing the living day-lights out of my hair and breaking all the ends! We’ll see tonight what the end result is with the curls.  My hair kinks super easy when you put a hair band in it, so I’m thinking it won’t be that cute.

 I got these sunglasses when Nathan was in desperate need and we found a buy one get one free kiosk at Long Beach!

 Well everyone, that’s about it for me today! Enjoy the rest of your Saturday afternoon! We’re gonna go to our church’s Easter service tonight so that we can go home early tomorrow and spend Easter with our families a little bit longer. I love love love Easter. It’s literally the whole reason I believe anything I do, and have any hope for anything. Easter is the best! Jesus is the best! See you soon!

Your Heart Starts Beating Like a Big Brass Band

Hello Everyone!! I hope you're having a good morning, I know it's Monday, but I'm on an all-paid family vacay in Southern California for spring break so everyday is Saturday!! Here are some of the pictures I took from our one day of Disney yesterday. The first two are just pictures from the hotel. This post is seriously photo overload, I realize that, but my camera said I took 153 photos yesterday, so this is seriously just a small portion.

 I couldn't deny this dress. The Bows are too perfect.

 Brothers from Stockton

 What the...

 Hay Lay-DEES!

 So... We may or may not have access to Club 33, the secret club by the Blue Bayou... And we may or may not have had hands down the best food in our entire lives. Lordy... it was so good. Seriously... we may not EVER have this experience again in my whole entire life, so I geeked, and took a ton of pictures to share with you.

 Everything was so beautiful and delicious! It was so crazy fancy and wonderful. I couldn't have possibly imagined anything more perfectly great than our lunch at Club 33. We toasted to the major accomplishments of my brother and I graduating from College, my Parent's 30th wedding anniversary, My other brother's growing music career, and mine and nathan's growth, and Mandy's first year of College. Couldn't have been a better reward. Yes. That cupcake has glitter on it, and it tasted magical.

And then I walked out to this. I'm so glad I had sunglasses on, because maybe I started to tear up... I love Julie Andrews more than any other celeb, and while this isn't actually her, it was still really super wonderful. 

You're never too old to thoroughly indulge in the full magic if Disney.

Nathan and I got engaged at snowhite's wishing well...magic.

Well everyone, thats about it for me today. I hope you enjoyed my pictures, and a sneek peak into the secret world of Club 33. If you've never heard of it, you should look it up, it's like...every crazy Disney Person's Dream. Dreams really do come true at Disney! See you soon!

If you’ve got it, SING IT!

Hi Everyone! I hope your morning is going well! Mine's going well thus far! My husband has been sick as a dog these past few days, but he's doing much better now, which is really great. There's a really bad flu bug going around. Luckily I haven't gotten it (knock on wood right?). For the time being, I'm watching this great Boston Univeristy Master Class with Denyse Graves, its so informative! If you're into opera music, watch this! It's so great! Also Denyse Graves is basically all the woman I wanna be! Wildly talented, but also extremely gracious, and grounded. So great.

Anyways, this is what I decided to wear today. Basically this is a while T-Shirt and Jeans with a head scarf. I really like the idea of one thing being the star of the outfit, and in this outfit it's the scarf. It's such a great 50's look. Doesn't this remind you of the "We Can Do It!" Poster? I love it.

 I decided to take my pictures inside today. It was too cold! I'm such a baby! Once I feel the nice warmth of 75 degrees, basically anything lower than that is Antartica.

Well everyone, thats it for me today! I really have to continue watching this video, and actually pay attention to it! There's so much great stuff happening here! Here's the link to it if you want to watch it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAHp7hH_wLM, it's boring if you're not into vocal performance, and I don't slight you for that in the least. Anyways, It's supposed to be cold today, and warm tomorrow. 'Tis truly spring when the bi-polar weather comes around. See you soon!

It's Not That You Should Care, I Just Wanted You To Know

Hello everyone! I feel like it's been forever since I've posted anything. I know it's really just been a few days, but it feels like a long time to me! Anyways the reason for the little break has been because of two things: I have no clean clothes, and I have no time.
Life has just continued to get more crazy, and while I'm loving it, some things kind of have to be put further back on the shelf, and since this blog will not be a determining factor as to whether or not I'll be graduating from college, it's rank on the list of priorities is relatively low. Sorry.
I remember this time last spring semester school was unflinchingly crazy, so I'm not surprised, but I really do hate not having the time to blog and relax. blogging relaxes me! Any of you blogging peoples out there, do you relate?
Anyways, here's my outfit of the day. This sweater is actually in my shop right now for sale. The collar on this sweater is what really drew me to it. I love the peter-pan-ness of it, and the little rhinestones... they're cute and tasteful not crazy like a rock-of-love contestant.

 The dress under the sweater is such an old stand-by. It's strapless so it really does go under anything, and since it's smocked, I can totally adjust it to make it longer or shorter. And while I'm really not emotionally attached to my clothes, I got engaged in this dress at disneyland, so I really love it for that reason as well.

 Well you guys, thats about it for me today! Don't forget to stop by the shop and check out all the goodies, that are no 20% off with coupon! Also, if you're a current WJU student at the Rocklin Campus, your shipping is free!!

See you soon!!

O Pioneers!

Hello Everyone! Happy Thursday to you! I hope your week has been going well. Mine's been surprisingly low-key. One thing I really love about having 11.5 units my graduating semester is that I have hardly any homework! I mean, I do have internship stuff, but thats like...seriously nothing. So I have plenty of time to devote to my blog! Hooray! Actually... I do have to do housework as well. Darn.

Anyways! This is what I decided to wear today. Have you ever read any books by the author, Willa Cather? Her books are brilliant, and wayyy under-rated. She wrote my favoritist book of all time, O Pioneers! I know, I'm a pretty big user of exclamation points, but there actually is one in this title. Anyways, I feel like this dress would be something someone would wear in one of her books. It's kind of pioneery... I think it's the sleeves

 I really love the fishtale style of this skirt. The ruffle is so nice on it. It's so girly and summery. I can't wait until the weather really warms up and I won't have to wear tights on it!

 I'm not sure you can really tell, but I let my hair air dry today...that means it's huge and weair and wavy. So I kind of pinned it back. I think the hairstyle also lends to the pioneer-y way of this outfit.

 Isn't this print precious! It's little birdies!

Well everyone, thats about it for me today. Our music department is gearing up for the major fundraising dinner, we call it the "Night Of Classics", and the them this year is The magic of DISNEY!!! I am so excited! They are doing a gigantic Mary Poppins medley... What a way to finish your college career! No one on this earth loves Julie Andrews like I do,  I'm very excited about it! But I have to learn the songs like the back of my hand so I can audition for them! We'll see. Anyways, that's what I'll be doing!  See you soon!

I'm a professional. I've had three performances

Hello Everyone!! I hope you're all havign a great day! Hooray for Friday! The weather could not be more perfect I have to say! It's been really sunny and perfect this week...even for California. Being up in Northern California we do have mild season change, and February is usually our rainy month, but no this year I guess! Weird.

Anyways! This is what I decided to wear today. Sandals and Sleevless! Can you believe it?! I've been pretty loyal to my daily blog reading, and a few of the ladies that I follow show tons of snow in their photo backgrounds! I took these photos this morning, and I wasn't even cold...and I'm always cold!

This mustardy color isn't one that I typically wear. However, I really loved the filly neckline, and I figured that I would give this color a try. I thought that it might make my super pale skin look kind of jaundiced, but I was pleasantly suprised.

Here's a good example of second day hair. I'm becoming more and more inclined to wear it down. That just means I have to wash it.

I found these little beauties at Freestyle, and the girl who sold them told me that she couldn't find anything to wear them with! To that I simply replied with "Turquoise is a neutral! You could wear these with anything!" I firmly believe that of these sandals. Also. I'm extremely glad to be wearing sandals in February.

OKAY story time. So I was watching Parks and Rec like normal, and I don't normally pay attention to the million nic-nacs that Nathan and I have collected for our shelf while watching TV...but I felt something staring into my soul. When I looked up I noticed that one of my Madame Alexander McDonalds dolls was staring right at me!!!! How creepy right? I think Michael Jordan was holding her back...thats what the situation looks like on film atleast. Oh life.

 

Well everyone, thats about it for me today! Enjoy the rest of your Friday, and have a wonderful weekend!! See you soon!