Wishful Thinking

My new friend. Sort of.

2006-07-15T14:43:00.000-07:00

Dave Barry (as in "the Dave Barry") and me--he's as funny in person as he is in his writing. He told me that, since I received an "A" on a paper I wrote about him in college, this picture should bring me good luck :)

Happy Mother's Day, Mrs. Sebris!

2006-05-15T19:19:00.000-07:00

Mother-daughter luncheon.

2006-05-15T19:04:00.000-07:00

Luke was a cook/server at Saturday's mother-daughter luncheon. A couple of girls left him a nice "tip." TIP: Don't walk in front of a bus.

Take two.

2006-05-15T19:01:00.000-07:00

Same frog. Different angle.

I took this! I took this!

2006-05-12T16:09:00.000-07:00

I got "up close and personal" with this little frog last night when we got home from Pastor's house. It was nice of the frog to pose for me.

Home at last! Home at last!

2006-05-12T16:06:00.000-07:00

Kristen is home! We missed her (and her sisters!) this last semester while they were at BJ. Look out summer...here we come!

The reason we moved to Florida:

2006-04-19T18:41:00.000-07:00

Meet one of my sixth grade students who got saved this year. She was baptized this past Easter Sunday. She has been attending church faithfully with us for several months.

Here she is again!

2006-04-19T18:32:00.000-07:00

Destination: Islands of Adventure!

2006-04-01T21:13:00.000-08:00

This morning, Luke and I met Mom and Dad White, (along with the Seniors from Inter-City Baptist School), at Islands of Adventure in Orlando.

"The white T-shirt."

2006-04-01T21:05:00.000-08:00

The gates at Islands of Adventure were crowded with people, so Dad let me know (via the cell phone) that he would be wearing a white T-shirt. He further explained that he was wearing a T-shirt with the word "Hawaii" printed on the front. Needless to say, I recognized Dad even before I read his shirt!

Lizzy: up close and personal

2006-04-01T20:26:00.000-08:00

When she wasn't riding death-defying roller coasters or swinging from trees, Lizzy posed for pictures :) Way to go, Lizzy, for riding the Spider Man ride!

Lizzy and the Statue

2006-04-01T19:28:00.000-08:00

Lizzy assured me that this is what would happen if I made her ride a big roller coaster. (Why was this statue supposed to be appealing?)

2006-04-01T19:09:00.001-08:00

How could you turn down a face like this?

Cool candids.

2006-04-01T18:50:00.000-08:00

Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

2006-04-01T18:20:00.000-08:00

We spent the day with 3 lovely ladies from the class of 2006! *In this picture, Rachel is working overtime to keep her eyes OPEN for the picture!

My all-time favorite ride.

2006-04-01T18:19:00.000-08:00

No theme park is complete without this ride. I would stand in line for 48 hours to ride this masterpiece again.

The candy man.

2006-04-01T18:16:00.000-08:00

Friends forever.

2006-04-01T18:00:00.000-08:00

"A good friend is hard to find, hard to lose, and impossible to forget..."

The guy in spandex.

2006-04-01T17:59:00.000-08:00

When the guy in spandex wasn't looking, we used his motor bike for a prop. (What he doesn't know won't hurt him!)

Can you hear me now?

2006-04-01T17:55:00.000-08:00

Here Lizzy is talking to her mother. Is she: 1) Asking for money, 2) Threatening never to return home again, or 3) Talking about her fascinating experience on the cool Spider Man ride. You be the judge :)

The end.

2006-04-01T15:30:00.000-08:00

No day in Florida is complete without a sunset.

Date: Sea World!

2006-03-25T23:23:00.000-08:00

Whitewashing fences.

2006-03-25T21:09:00.000-08:00

Sea World has adopted one of Mark Twain's brilliant ideas from his book, Tom Sawyer. Sea World has convinced people that it is a good idea to spend 5 dollars a person to feed the dolphins. Yes. Spend 5 dollars to buy the food and do the job for the owners. Isn't that like convincing your friends to PAY you to white wash the fence?

The prop turtle.

2006-03-25T20:10:00.000-08:00

We were concerned that this turtle was dead because he didn't move once in the 20 minutes we stared at him. And his nose was stuck in the sand. Maybe he's just a prop.

Walking underwater.

2006-03-25T19:06:00.000-08:00

One of our favorite exhibits (yes, Mom, we did the "what was your favorite thing today?") was the walk-through aquarium. Guests literally walk through the aquarium--the fish swim over, around, and under the passage way. I never thought I was clostrophic until I had terrifying images of the glass shattering.

Springtime in Florida!

2006-03-25T18:10:00.000-08:00

The flowers are in bloom at Sea World!

Acting childish...

2006-03-25T18:09:00.000-08:00

Shamu is 35 and she still sticks her tongue out for the camera!

Shamu!!!

2006-03-25T18:06:00.000-08:00

What NOT to do while driving...

2006-03-25T18:01:00.000-08:00

More sunset pictures.

2006-03-25T16:14:00.000-08:00

Leaving the park.

More fun with color

2006-03-24T16:18:00.000-08:00

Angie and Jonas :)

Playing with color.

2006-03-24T13:34:00.000-08:00

I just discovered how to do this :) This picture was from the time Luke and I went to the Detroit Tigers game with Dad over Father's Day weekend.

You can take the man out of the woods...

2006-03-14T20:02:00.000-08:00

But you can't take the woods out of the man! :) (or hunter as the case might be!) Mom White, this is called a ".357." Luke wanted me to make this clear. Keep this in mind for Christmas, birthday, or St. Patrick's Day presents.

Got me a gator.

2006-03-14T19:56:00.000-08:00

Luke went out for his first air boat experience. Here he is with his first alligator catch since moving to Florida. This alligator provided a better photo opportunity than the 8-footer he saw a few minutes later. The tree (shown above) is a "ball cypress."

They (really do!) taste like chicken...

2006-03-14T19:53:00.000-08:00

Luke is enjoying a good snack. (Pardon the blurry picture!) Yes. These are real southern fried frog legs.

Cheap cell phone plan

2006-03-14T19:51:00.000-08:00

When the father of one of my students told his daughter that she could not have a cell phone, she made her own. I'm guessing the plan is cheap and comes with free nights and weekends.

Monday morning.

2006-03-14T19:49:00.000-08:00

This is how I feel every Monday morning when the alarm sounds.

Heaven.

2006-03-01T18:36:00.000-08:00

“I can safely say, on the authority of all that is revealed in the Word of God, that any man or woman on this earth who is bored and turned off by worship is not ready for Heaven.”

--A.W. Tozer

The Treasure Coast

2006-03-01T17:53:00.000-08:00

Luke and I went for a walk on the beach last night. :) It was very quiet. Most Floridians are still too cold to come outside. It was a cold 78 degrees.

Fresh air.

2006-03-01T17:41:00.000-08:00

27th Annual Greek Festival

2006-03-01T17:00:00.000-08:00

Kim Hibbard and I attended the Greek Festival over the weekend here in our home town! The Greek Orthodox community here had its beginning in the 1930's. The church we visited was opened in 1987 and is a beautiful building. The building is an 11th century model of the cruciform Byzantine church capped by a golden dome rising 55 feet to the sky.

Truth vs. Beauty.

2006-03-01T16:59:00.000-08:00

Matthew 23:27, "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness."

St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church

2006-03-01T16:57:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple of pictures I "snuck" inside.

The bottom line.

2006-02-23T08:25:00.000-08:00

This is, no doubt, the REAL reason people flock to Florida. You thought it was the weather. No. It's the architectural beauty. Detroit has NOTHING on us. :)

I've been everywhere, man!

2006-02-23T08:23:00.000-08:00

What? No palm trees?

2006-02-23T07:23:00.000-08:00

Over the weekend we traveled to the Carolinas to meet up with friends.

Christa and Aaron

2006-02-23T07:19:00.000-08:00

The happy couple!

Ain't she a lovely bride?

2006-02-23T06:58:00.000-08:00

Over last weekend, we traveled to Greenville, South Carolina, to surprise our "sister friend," Christa Alsup for her wedding shower. She was super-suprised.

The losing Rook team.

2006-02-22T08:17:00.000-08:00

Visiting the Moo-Maws.

2006-02-22T08:07:00.000-08:00

Ok. Actually their names are the Russells. But we visited them over the weekend. They are expecting their FIRST baby!

The "Special" Olympics

2006-02-17T05:51:00.000-08:00

All week in class we celebrated the "Special" Olympics in 6th grade. We had competitions in all of the subjects as well as cleanliness, neatness, and physical exercise. The students went all out--as you can see--demonstrated by changing the band colors on their braces and making unique hairbows. On Friday we had a huge medal ceremony in which gold, silver, and bronze medals were awarded in each activity.

The Lehmans: guest speakers

2006-02-14T09:57:00.000-08:00

"You teach what you know. You reproduce what you are."

"Don't confront until you are ready to forgive."

"Unfortunately our reputations are not built on what we say about ourselves."

"The penalty of my sin was paid for by His forgiveness."

My first bulletin board "from scratch!"

2006-02-14T09:51:00.000-08:00

I am so pumped about this bulletin board. But I'm not sure the students have even noticed it yet :)

Meet Pastor Sebris.

2006-02-14T09:39:00.000-08:00

Our mentor and friend!

Home Sweet (Possible) Home?

2006-02-14T09:32:00.000-08:00

Church picnic

2006-02-14T09:24:00.000-08:00

Here was the setting for our church picnic on Saturday. Beautiful blue skies :)

Blow Fish

2006-02-14T09:14:00.000-08:00

One of my students caught this blow fish with her hands during our picnic last Friday. We had a weekend of picnics with the school and church! What fun! The fish (above) actually blows out a cushion beneath his body to make him look more like a predator.

Valentine's Day

2006-02-14T09:08:00.000-08:00

Wow! It's been too long since I've posted on here. I'm going to try and get better at this again. We'll see! Here is a picture I took of our apartment last night during the sunset.

The ties that bind.

2006-01-04T14:22:00.000-08:00

New addition.

2006-01-04T14:19:00.000-08:00

After months of anticipation, Luke and I were finally able to meet the "latest and greatest" addition to our family. Our nephew! Welcome, Jonas Andrew!

Marcus Joel

2006-01-04T14:13:00.000-08:00

After not seeing my brother for awhile, it was good to spend 2 weeks with him!

Thanksgiving Day

2005-11-17T09:33:00.000-08:00

It was 80 degrees and beautiful.

Rodeo!

2005-11-10T08:04:00.000-08:00

Luke and I attended the rodeo recently. The room was a sea of Confederate t-shirts and coyboy hats. Someone really should've told us ahead of time not to wear our Wisconsin shirts.

Question of the day:

2005-10-31T06:45:00.000-08:00

"What is your New Year's resurrection this year?"

Darkness at noon.

2005-10-29T08:10:00.000-07:00

Kitty kept trying to see the Hurricane...she never did figure out that the windows were boarded up. We kept finding her like this...

Welcome, Wilma!

2005-10-27T08:13:00.000-07:00

We welcomed our first hurricane on Monday, October 24. These are a few pictures of our neighborhood.

Wilma II

2005-10-26T09:57:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday, Trisha!

2005-10-10T10:35:00.000-07:00

Thank you, Mom, Dad, and Luke for this incredible gift. This makes what...the second time in my life I've ever been speechless? :)

Rainy Day...

2005-09-20T06:25:00.000-07:00

How to crack a book:

2005-09-19T10:43:00.000-07:00

Here is the view from the local public library. Luke and I enjoy spending evenings here grading papers. It is a quiet get-away place (far from the parents and students who know our phone number!)

'Nough said

2005-09-19T07:34:00.000-07:00

Water water everywhere...

2005-09-16T07:20:00.000-07:00

...and not a drop to drink

(our pool!)

It's a bird! It's a plane!

2005-08-14T21:23:00.000-07:00

Tonight as Luke and I were pulling into the parking lot of our apartment, we noticed an usually-large rock in the middle of the driveway. Cautiously, we pulled closer and halted. Luke jumped out of the car and held this guy up to the headlights. Our "rock" was trying to get to the pond out back...we gave 'em a lift!

God's Paintbrush

2005-07-30T07:10:00.000-07:00

PSALM 19:1~ "The Heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth His handiwork."

(I took this picture one evening on the way home from church.)

Dream Home

2005-07-20T07:05:00.000-07:00

After deciding to buy a home--instead of throwing money into an apartment--we responded to an ad offering a "new home" and the "home of your dreams." The "pink stuff" you see in the picture above is the insulation that had fallen from the ceiling of our "dream home."

Needless to say, we didn't buy it.

Needed: doormat

2005-07-15T07:15:00.000-07:00

After considering 40+ apartments/homes, we settled on the Treasure Cay apartments. They are less than 1 year old and are nice. This picture was taken from the balcony of our home.

So long...farewell...

2005-07-10T06:58:00.000-07:00

On July 1, 2005, Luke and I pulled our little (and I do mean "little"!!!) Penske truck out of the driveway of our Wisconsin apartment. We then made the 20+ hour trip to Fort Pierce, Florida. What a joy it was to meet our new church family! As always, God is very good.