With Everything

Growing

2011-10-18T09:22:00.001-04:00

It's been a while since I wrote a post, it has been a whirlwind around here. We've been super busy just doing life & trying to figure out things since I am staying home. It's been a lot bigger of an adjustment than I thought it would be...not just because I'm not teaching or because we've gone from 2 incomes to 1.

I never thought it would be so hard to stay at home. I love, love, love my Laney and I am thankful to be staying at home with her. I look forward to teaching her new things & being around for all of her "firsts..." I've been doing the home school thing & the Mary Kay thing and they are both great...they give me something to do and keep me busy. But honestly, I miss teaching. I miss greeting my students, seeing them "get it," grading papers (I know...I'm weird), interacting with parents, and just allowing the Lord to work through me to minister to middle schoolers as I teach them English & History. I know that I could easily get a job teaching if I tried to go back right now, but the thought of putting Laney in daycare kills me. I have never felt so strongly about anything in my life. I know it's God's will for me to be staying home with my sweet girl. Matt & I both felt this calling back when we found out we were expecting a year ago. Sure, it's been a stretch for us but we both know I am supposed to stay home.
This is one of those times in life when I know God is teaching me & really stretching me.

I am so thankful that he's provided a way to stay home & a husband that is receptive to God's will. I've also been surrounded by a lot of great friends that have been home with their kids for a while & their stories of transitioning from work to staying home has been a great encouragement to me. It's so awesome to know I'm not the only one that's ever felt the way I do.

More to come later about what I'm learning...Laney's crying, nap time is over :)

ps- Gotta share a picture of my girl, I'm growing spiritually and she's growing physically!

Random Thoughts This Morning...

2011-09-07T10:02:00.000-04:00

I usually only write about 1 topic when I blog, but since this is my online journal I just want to share my thoughts this morning...

I'm feeling VERY encouraged this morning. I had a super turn out at my MK debut last night, 18 people came to show their support for me. Thanks to all who came! I booked 5 parties, possibly 6. I know a lot of you wanted to be here & couldn't. If you're interested in earning some free products, being entered to win a trip to NYC, ordering some skin care, or just hearing more about Mary Kay please let me know. I'm trying to meet a goal by next Wednesday, so if you want to order anything I'm placing an order before Friday. I'm so excited!

I'm feeling thankful this morning. I have a wonderful mother-in-law & sis-in-laws that came to my debut last night, but ended up taking care of my sick little girl for most of the party. I am so grateful for their support & for helping my Laney as she was dealing with some tummy issues. She's feeling a little better today & hopefully she will feel 100% soon. The awesome thing is my in-laws always help me with Laney, not just last night. I could not ask for a better family to be a part of. I love them.

Speaking of family...I haven't been HOME since June when my brother graduated from high school. I am so excited to be going to Kannapolis tomorrow to see my family and introduce Laney to a lot of people. Matt's going to a conference this weekend & will be joining us on Saturday night. Then we're going to my sis-in-law's bridal shower in Wingate, NC. I haven't spent 5 days in Kannapolis in probably over a year...so K-town people if you want to see Laney call me & we'll figure it out. I'll be around Thursday evening through Monday morning.

Fall is around the corner & I cannot wait to get out my fall decorations. I asked Matt if I could do it Labor Day and he told me "it is still summer." So I just had to look back at my blog to see when I got them out last year...it was September 25th that I wrote my fall post...so the leaves, sunflowers, acorns, & pumpkin spice candles are coming out soon! This fall will be a little different considering we don't have anyone to watch cheer or play football in Kannapolis, nor did we buy season tickets to ASU games. I'm sure we'll squeeze in some football some where. AND I know we'll be making the trip to the state fair come October. Ah...FALL!!!

Guess I better get to work & to packing. Happy Wednesday! :)

Mary Kay...Really?

2011-09-02T11:57:00.001-04:00

Yes...Mary Kay, really! I've recently begun a new journey as a Mary Kay consultant. I know a lot of you are thinking..."Really, Magan?" I don't see you selling anything & why Mary Kay? Well, I have to share the coolest story with you.

I have a really good friend, Beth Senseney, that has been selling Mary Kay for several years & she asked me if I would be interested back in April or May. I was kind of interested because I LOVE Mary Kay makeup/skin care, but I don't know a lot of people in the Raleigh area and I was afraid no one would be interested so I politely told her no. She asked me to attend a skin care class in June to be pampered one more time before Laney was born and I figured I didn't have anything to lose...so I went. That night she introduced me to the director that was leading the class & again I was asked what was holding me back from becoming a consultant...I told her the exact same thing I had told Beth back in the spring. She wasn't pushy & was supportive of the reasons I had given her. That was kind of the end of the "Mary Kay" talk in my life until....

Last weekend Matt & I were going over our finances & budget, not really worrying over the HUGE pay cut we had taken with us deciding for me to stay home because we know the Lord is going to provide...but we were simply just figuring out how things were going to look now that we only have his income (and the little bit I'm making from teaching home school classes once a week...which really hasn't panned out quite like I expected as far as the number of kids go...but at least I'm getting my teaching fix). Anyways...somehow Mary Kay came up & I mentioned to Matt that I'd really like to be a consultant but that I didn't know how successful I'd be because I don't know a lot of people. WELL...Beth was at a training over the weekend and had been praying that God would show her the person to call to invite to be on her team. That night she sat down with her director & my name came to her. She KNEW I was the person God wanted her director to call and talk to...so, they called. She explained that they were training & that her director wanted to ask me a few questions. She told me her story of how she became a consultant and it was pretty much MY SAME STORY! I knew right then God was calling me to become a consultant. It would provide a little extra money for our family & give me the opportunity to do something I love, help women feel good about themselves! Not to mention be a part of something God totally ordained.

So still...why Mary Kay over any other business? Well first of all, Mary Kay herself was a Christian. She believed in faith first, family second, and career third. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the product. The skin care line is cheaper than any other department store product and it actually works really well...not to mention the make-up is wonderful! Also, I get to pamper women & get to know some pretty awesome ladies.

I'm not going to lie...I'm nervous. I really have no idea what I'm doing & I'm still worried about the fact that I don't KNOW a ton of people in this area...and will people really buy the product? I mean, I love it and I know a lot of people that love it...but will people take me seriously? So many questions, but the good news is...God has all the answers. I'm excited...I really am, to see what God has for me through all of this newness in my life. So...if you are interested in getting some FREE pampering, get some girlfriends together & give me a call! :) In the meantime, check out my website www.marykay.com/magankeith

PS- If you book a party between now & December you could WIN a trip to NYC!

When All Else Fails...

2011-08-31T08:54:00.003-04:00

It's the end of the month & Matt and I have had sort of a game going to see if we could make it to the end without going to the grocery store. It's kinda gotten a little ridiculous, but it's been fun. We'd already reached our budgeted amount for the month, so we were trying to spend as little as possible...at first it wasn't a big deal and we had PLENTY of stuff so we didn't need to go to the grocery store for anything. And honestly, we could have gone to the store but it became more fun not to.

At the end of last week I ran out of milk for my coffee and lately I've needed my morning coffee. I went Sunday & Monday without, but yesterday I just HAD to have my coffee so Matt got up early and went to get some coffee for me. He was trying to be so good and surprise me, but he got coffee WITH no cream & sugar. He wasn't thinking about the fact that the reason he was going to get me coffee was because we didn't have milk, he was just thinking he was going to surprise me with coffee (which we have plenty of here). So he comes home to surprise me & I ask for the cream...which he forgot. So I politely tell him thanks and decide that I'll just drink it black....not a big deal (gross...but I was going to do it because he had been so sweet to go get me coffee). I then remembered we had this in the freezer:

Yep, Cool Whip. It's just whipped cream...so why not. I tried it & honestly, it wasn't bad. It almost made a cappuccino like drink for me to enjoy. I liked it so much that I'm drinking it again this morning. I will be heading to the store today & I will make sure that I get some milk for my coffee...but it sure is good to know that Cool Whip can save the day if I ever run out of milk again!

New Adventures

2011-08-24T09:48:00.002-04:00

I'm not sure how much I've written about my new job. Tomorrow I began a new adventure & I must say...I am REALLY REALLY nervous. Tomorrow I will begin teaching 2 classes at New Life Camp for homeschool students. I'm used to teaching over 100 students a day, every day of the week & I'm going to be teaching a class of 6 and a class of 3...1 day a week. In the past I haven't been able to share my faith with my students, in this job I get the privilege of leading students in devotions & have been asked to incorporate Jesus in every lesson I teach.

I worry, will I be good enough?...as if I don't know what I'm doing. I've been teaching for 4 years & I act like I've never taught before. I have jitters about dealing with homeschool parents vs. dealing with public school parents. Will my students out smart me? Will they think I'm a horrible teacher? Will I disappoint the New Life staff that hired me, the parents that have paid for me to teach their kids? Will I make a complete fool of myself? I am really struggling with all of this...

I plan to take today to just pray through this new adventure God has given me. Being a stay at home mommy & working 1 day a week has been a HUGE adjustment for me. I knew I would love it, but honestly...it's been hard. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE my Laney and we can't imagine life any other way now. But...I'm so used to working on school work all of the time & living my life with what's left over. Now I live my life & do school work in just a few hours a week. I'm being pretty vulnerable here...letting out my fears on the web. Will you pray with me? Pray that God will calm my nerves & give me the confidence I need to be the best I can be tomorrow & every Thursday for this school year. Pray that I will continue to adjust to being a stay at home mommy, that I will make the most of it & enjoy being home with my little Laney.

God has reminded me this week of why he put me at home & why I'm not returning to public school...I'm so thankful for the new adventures he has blessed us with, now to make the most if it!

We're Alive!

2011-08-18T12:30:00.004-04:00

Well...there's no need to explain why I haven't blogged in over a month...almost 2! On July 10th, 2011 our lives changed forever when we welcomed this sweet little girl into the world.

(Thanks to my wonderful sister-in-law for this great picture of the 3 of us...check out www.morgankeithphotography.com)

The past 5 weeks has been a blur & I think...fingers crossed, we're starting to get the hang of our new life. I have so many things going through my head that I don't even know where to start writing so stay posted for more fun & exciting posts about Miss Laney...including one about her dedication this coming weekend :)

(Another great one by my wonderful sister-in-law!)

Motivation?

2011-07-07T10:30:00.002-04:00

It seems that I've lost all motivation to do anything recently. I have a gazillion thank you cards to write for the wonderful shower gifts we've received for Laney & I have curriculum to write for the English class & College Prep class I'm teaching in the fall.

I almost feel like I lost so much rest during the school year & I'm not sleeping well at night that all I can seem to do is lay around...soooo bad. I know that once Laney gets here I will be going non-stop with her & writing cards and curriculum will be the least of my worries so I really need to get going now.

I know deep down somewhere in me is all the motivation to get this stuff done...hopefully I will find it today. My days are ticking away....Laney will be here any day! Pray I find it fast!

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-04T17:30:00.004-04:00

It's been a different 4th of July for me. I have so many memories of the 4th...Growing up we always got together with friends & family to celebrate, went to the beach, or the lake. I've spent two 4th of July's out of the country on missions and in college, I always worked at Caswell and we always found a special way to celebrate...whether it was a worship service, serving in Gulfport, Mississippi or watching fireworks at camp. The past few years Matt & I have celebrated at the beach with my family...but this year, we haven't really done anything "out of the ordinary." We knew we couldn't go to the beach this year because my due date is just 14 days away and for some reason we just didn't make plans with anyone.

So...when I woke up this morning, I was automatically in a bad mood...I'll have to admit these pregnancy hormones have gotten the best of me these days, everything upsets me & I'm waayyyy too sensitive. Poor Matt searched for quite sometime for something "fun" to do it the area...go to the lake, the pool, go downtown and none of it seemed to satisfy me. He felt helpless as I cried about how we had nothing to do and we were "boring." Basically, I rolled around in self pitty until about 2:00...lol, poor poor Matt. Finally we ended up laying around watching "Talladega Nights," (classy...I know) reminiscing & catching up on life. Sad, but we NEVER get to do stuff like this. It was so nice to just talk & laugh and spend time with my best friend.

Tonight I'm cooking dinner, like I had planned to do...barbeque chicken, homemade mac & cheese, and some fresh veggies that I got at the farmer's market (of course...Matt won't eat those veggies). It's an all-American meal & then Matt's parents and sister are bringing dessert. We watched fireworks last night, so we'll probably just hang out with them tonight.

Even though it's been a "different kind of 4th," it has turned out to be a great day around the house with my best friend. He's promised me we'll go to the beach when Laney gets here & we're settled...I'll get my beach vacation eventually!

(Matt & I last year on the 4th)

Happy 4th of July everyone, I hope your day has been just as great as mine!

No Longer Bored...Wasting Time...New Addiction

2011-06-30T14:11:00.003-04:00

My friend Sara & I are both avid blog readers, she writes more than I do...but I do like to write as well. About a month ago she wrote about a new website called pinterest, which looked really interesting to me but I haven't had time to check it out until this week...NOW I'm addicted.

The site has all kinds of ideas for craftiness, cooking, event planning, etc...all things I love & wish I had more time for. The way Sara describes it is best: It's basically a bulletin board where you can "pin up" ideas for later. You have to request a subscription, but you can still search the site & get great ideas while you wait for your subscription...then you can start your on "pin board."

I'm really excited about this new discovery...although, I might end up wasting A LOT of time that I could be using doing other things...at least I'll have new craft ideas & recipes! 0:) Happy Searching!

Waiting Game...

2011-06-29T10:03:00.003-04:00

My brother has graduated, pageant week is over (my sister did phenomenal) & all is quite around the Keith house. Next on our busy 2011 schedule is the birth of our sweet little Laney, and we're playing the waiting game...

I went to the doctor yesterday for my 37 week check up and he says Laney is head down & ready to come, I've dilated 1 cm and really she's on her own time now...so who knows she could come tomorrow...she could come around her due date (July 18th). This is probably the hardest thing for both Matt & I. We're both so anxious to meet that sweet little girl & I'm ready for my body to feel halfway normal again. I'd like to be able to wear my wedding band & be able to paint my toes :). We're both planning people & waiting...well we're learning some patience that's for sure!

Who knows when she'll arrive, but for now...I'm working on homeschool curriculum for the classes I'm teaching in the fall & writing some thank you cards. (And spending time with Molly, which is going to be one curious little dog very soon!) All of which can be done while sitting on the couch & resting. It's killing me to not be laying out in the sun or by the beach or pool somewhere. (For those of you that know me really well know I could LIVE at the beach in the summer.) Laney's room is ready, my bags are packed & we're as ready as we're gonna be! We know God has a perfect time for this precious gift to make her arrival and it will be soon.

Anyone want to take a guess? My mom swears Laney will have curly hair based on this ultrasound picture :)

3 Years Ago Today...

2011-06-21T12:30:00.004-04:00

3 years ago today, I married my best friend:
I cannot believe that 3 years have flown by so fast. Definitely the best day of my life! God has blessed us beyond belief & his love and mercy for us just blows me away. I cannot wait for the journey we have coming our way in the next few weeks!

Here's a few favorites from our special day:

I love you Matthew!

Laney's Room

2011-06-20T21:42:00.004-04:00

We have finally ALMOST finished Laney's room. I still have some organizing to do & a few more things to hang, but it's ready enough for her to come home when she's ready to make her appearance. When we first started planning her room, I DID NOT want something that was going to be pastel colors...like most baby stuff. It's just not us... So I started with her bedding & went from there. (For those of you that know me know that if I weren't in the teaching profession, I'd do interior design...I love to decorate & I love to find cheap ways to do it so making Laney's room cute was important to me.) I had a "garden" theme in my head...so I began gathering pots, colorful baskets, and flowers. I didn't exactly know what the finished product would look like, but I knew it would be colorful.

Here's a few pictures to kind of give you an idea of what it looks like.

(I love the way the lamp shade turned out. I bought a plain white one & decorated it with the ribbon to match the ribbon that I used to hang her name above the crib)I found this cute little sign in the garden decor at Michael's and I just had to have it. It matches perfectly!
I still need to figure out what to hang in the corner by my chair, but I have a few things in mind...so we'll see what we come up with. I can't take all the credit for this room...my wonderful husband put together ALL of Laney's furniture, painted her room, & hung everything. I just told him where to put stuff, decorated, & organized. Now...all we need is this sweet little girl to make her appearance sometime in the next 4 weeks. :)

Ah! I can't wait!

Happy Father's Day!

2011-06-19T09:01:00.003-04:00

Happy Father's Day to all of the wonderful dads in my life! Especially my wonderful husband, who I know will be a AMAZING daddy to little Laney in just a few weeks. He's had many wonderful examples in his life.

I pray as much as Laney will love her mommy and daddy that she will also be a daddy's girl...always! Matt, thank you for being a wonderful dad to Laney already. You've taken such good care of me over the past 8 months! I love you!

The Graduate

2011-06-14T09:48:00.004-04:00

This past weekend we celebrated my baby brother's high school graduation. It was an emotional time for all of us in that Luke is THE BABY...he's the last to graduate from high school. It was probably the best time I've had with my family in a really long time. There are so many of us, with so many different things going on that it's hard to get everyone together when I'm home. We were able to spend time together before & after graduation to celebrate Luke's success.

I know that Luke is going to be very successful as he begins his college journey at UNC Charlotte and hopefully headed to Carolina within the next year or so...he's a good kid, put's the Lord first in everything he does, and has his head on straight. I look forward to see how God works in his life.

We stay pretty busy and probably won't slow down much between now and Laney's arrival. I'm resting as much as I can between our adventures. Next up in our adventures...my sister competes for the title of Miss North Carolina next week. In the mean time, I'm re-cooperating from a VERY LONG and stressful school year, working on Baby Laney's room and counting the weeks until her arrival...around 5 weeks from now she will make her arrival and I am sooooo excited to meet our little girl! :)

No Time for Blogs...

2011-06-05T19:14:00.005-04:00

Obviously, I have neglected my blog for the past...almost 2 months, with the exception of my post of my friend Laura's new band (which you should totally check out, www.featherandbelle.com!) We have been super busy & all I've done is go to school, sleep, travel somewhere on the weekends, and repeat the next week...things will be slowing for a few weeks once my brother graduates Friday and we'll have time to rest (a little) before Miss NC at the end of June and Laney's arrival sometime in July.

To share a little of what we've been doing this month here's a little picture tour:

The 1st weekend in May we made the trip to Boone for Matt's sisters' graduation, both Megan & Morgan graduated from Appalachian State and we are so proud of them. Megan is going to be a Family & Consumer Sciences Teacher (fancy words for Home Ec. teacher) and Morgan is going to be a photographer (and she is very talented!). We had a great weekend with the Keith's just celebrating & relaxing.

The 2nd weekend in May we had our 1st baby shower at Matt's home church in Fuquay-Varina. It was so great to see a lot of people we haven't seen since we got married & celebrate with new friends...we were very blessed to get a lot of things we need for Laney.

The 3rd weekend in May was RIDICULOUS! We had something Friday, Saturday & Sunday. Friday night we celebrated my baby (not so small) brother's high school graduation with a graduation party. (For those of you that don't know him, he's the one in the khaki shirt) I can't believe he's going to college in the fall, I can't wait to see him walk across the stage Friday night!

Saturday we drove to Pickens, SC to celebrate the marriage of two really good friends from Caswell, Ashley Lark & Daniel Heath. Daniel played in our wedding & it was so awesome to see them begin a new life together. We can't wait to see what God has in store for them, they are such a sweet couple!

On Sunday we had our 2nd baby shower, this time in Kannapolis. By the end of the weekend we both looked terrible...notice the dark circles under our eyes, obviously from partying a little too much that weekend. I loved getting to see some very special people & celebrating our sweet Laney with them. I can't wait to introduce her to everyone in just a few weeks! We are very blessed to have such strong support not only here in Raleigh , but also in Kannapolis. Laney is going to be rotten and she's not even here yet.

Memorial Day weekend we celebrated the marriage of our good friends Sara & Todd, we also worked with them at Caswell. Sara is one of my very best friends and I was actually her RA at Appalachian State before we worked 2 summers together at Caswell. Todd also went to Appalachian & worked with us at Caswell. I was a bridesmaid in their wedding, so we were able to spend the entire weekend in South Charlotte and rested a little while we were there. Sara & Todd's wedding was beautiful & a lot of fun. We got to catch up with a lot of good friends & do a little dancing at the reception. It was a wonderful weekend!

I probably won't be back to the blogging world until school is over, which by the way...I only have 4 days with kids and 1 teacher workday left. I'm on my way to being a STAY AT HOME MOM! :) More on that next week!

Feather & Belle

2011-05-18T19:54:00.002-04:00

It's been WAY too long since I've blogged and I have so much I want to write about, but I don't know where to start. So I decided to start with this...

One of my very best friends from my Caswell days is a VERY talented musician & song writer, and you HAVE to check out her new music. She is in a new band called Feather & Belle and they are releasing their first album on June 21st. (Which also happens to be my 3rd wedding anniversary & the first day of summer)

I am so very proud of her accomplishments & the way the Lord is working in and through her in Nashville. Not only has she been touring with Owl City...she has played for Chris Tomlin & the Trans Siberian Orchestra this year. Check out her music here, you won't regret it!

Color

2011-04-12T16:39:00.004-04:00

We finally got our colors right for the paint in Laney's room.

When we finally get everything painted, I'll share the paint color names...for now, here's a sneak peak.

Spring break is next week...I look forward to finally having a little time to blog. I am swamped with school stuff right now and I'm so exhausted! Just 3 more days...I think I can, I think I can! :)

Laney's Room

2011-04-01T18:37:00.010-04:00

For those of you that know me, you probably know that I LOVE to decorate, but I like to see how much money I can save when I decorate. So I find creative ways to do things, shop at thrift stores, redo old things, and use what I have.

I am so excited about decorating Laney's nursery. I've never been a huge fan of "baby decor," but I don't really know anyone that has time to sew her bedding from scratch (which would be very ideal...maybe I'll learn to sew one day). I also wanted something that was gender neutral so that we could use it again, as we plan to have more kids in the future. I stumbled upon some bedding from Target online, unfortunately it was discontinued. So...I book marked it for inspiration and checked back often because I could not find anything else I liked. One day I clicked on the link to find it available AND on sale! I called Matt right away in excitement and we decided we should go ahead and get it...since I am SOOO picky AND I love it AND it was on sale. Once we got this in the mail:
I began brainstorming what I imagined Laney's room to look like. I've been back and forth on what color of baby furniture to register for, but I think I've finally settled on white. In my head, I see this brightly colored little nursery with a "garden" theme. Not many people "see" my vision and kind of look at me weird when I explain what I'm thinking, but I can't wait to see what the final product looks like. I've started a collection of fun little containers & decorative items that I've found on sale at various places. Items like:

Matt's experimenting with paint this weekend. I can't decide if I want to paint the room one color or two. I can't decide how bright I want things to be or if I want to go more neutral. I've never really stepped outside of the box with paint, but I want Laney's room to be different. I also want to make sure her room isn't too bright. Who knows what we'll come up with...here's what the experiment looks like right now:I'm not sold on the yellow, but I LOVE the teal. We're thinking about going a little lighter on the yellow and we'll probably have to prime. We'll see, we have plenty of time. I'll be 25 weeks on Monday!!

So Much Bigger Than the Bunny

2011-03-13T12:02:00.002-04:00

This post is WAY over due! My friend Tasha, wrote a devotional for families called "Bigger Than the Bunny." (Which you should totally check out on her website) We bought it for Laney, so we can teach her about the significance of Easter and what Jesus did for us but we thought it would be cool to do the devotional together this year.

Part of the devotion is to give up something for Lent, which I've never done before. Growing up in a Baptist church we never participated in Lent. In fact, I didn't know what Lent was until I was college. Matt & I both prayed and thought about it and both decided to give up facebook. I've had several people, even family members say to me, "why would you give up something, the sacrifice has already been made." But it's so much more than that, the reason for giving up something is to recenter yourself. To regain your focus on what this life is all about.

Facebook is kind of my "relaxation" when I come home in the afternoons, but it also serves as a great distraction when it comes to relationships and spending time on what's important in life. I knew giving it up would be HUGE for me because I spend so much time on it but I know that that's the idea of Lent. I hope that as I begin this Journey I can focus my attention on Jesus Christ and the sacrifice he was for me.

My Little Town

2011-03-03T19:51:00.008-05:00

It's been a busy week at school, so I haven't had a chance to blog at all. Kinda sad, every time I wanted to blog I had school work that had to be done first. Anyways in the middle of my teaching today I got an idea for a post and I was determined that before I went to bed tonight, I would blog about it.

This week we've been talking about the Industrial Revolution & the Progressive Era. Now, my curriculum covers not only American History but North Carolina History as well. A major part of North Carolina's past was the production of textiles, tobacco, & furniture. I always get excited when I get to teach about textiles & mill villages because my hometown used to be a mill village, in fact...it was from 1887-2003 when the mill went bankrupt. When I was teaching today, I was reminded of the sense of pride I've always had about being from Kannapolis. There really isn't anything hugely special about Kannapolis, except for I just love that little town.

This is Fieldcrest Cannon, the mill that the entire town of Kannapolis was built around. My grandmother & dad both worked there. It was demolished in August of 2006.

This is the Gem Theatre where you can pay $2.00 for a movie, $1.00 for popcorn, $1.00 for candy or a drink. It's awesome! Oh, What-a-burger...if you've been around me for any period of time, you've heard me talk about What-a-burger & cherry lemon sundrop. It's so bad for you, but oh so good. Definitely the best burger I've ever had. I've gotten Matt addicted too! And of course, the best part of Kannapolis...my family! This picture was taken at, my baby brother, Luke's last football game. He'll be the last one to graduate from A.L. Brown High School in June. (Everyone in my family went there but my dad, who went to a nearby rival high school.)

My childhood was phenomenial. I have great memories of going to Friday night football games with my grandparents (my grandmother worked in the mill before she retired), eating at little restaurants that you can't find anywhere else but Kannapolis, going to festivals & parades, making memories with my family (who all grew up in the area) and knowing everyone because the town is so small. I grew up in the same house my whole life, hung out with the same friends from birth till high school graduation, and spent a lot of time growing and learning at the same church until I was 18.

I almost started crying today as I thought about how special Kannapolis is. There isn't a lot left today, the mill is gone and the shopping area downtown is pretty empty. They've built the North Carolina Research Campus there and a lot of new things have been built outside of the downtown area. BUT, I still have family there and know a lot of special people that have made a huge impact on my life. Kannapolis will always be "small town" to me. I'm thankful to be a small town girl and sometimes I sure do miss that little place. I'm going home next weekend for an entire weekend, which hasn't happened in a while with Matt being on staff at church. I can't wait to see my family, eat at my favorite restaurants, visit friends, and go to my home church!

Baker or Chef?

2011-02-26T20:12:00.001-05:00

I'm having a 31 party tomorrow, so I was baking a few things this morning to have at the party. My friend Patience made these awesome Meringue cookies for our quad a few weeks ago and I've been waiting for a reason make some...so, this morning I pulled out everything I needed and got to it. I followed directions precisely knowing if I didn't do something right my cookies would not turn out right. I mean...I'm not by any means a perfected chef or baker, but I'm usually pretty good at trying new recipes or even making up my own. But... in this case...it was a disaster!

My cookies turned out to be flat egg/sugar somethings & they were so chewy it wasn't even funny. By the time I let them cool, they were stuck to the pan. This is what was left when I started trying to scrape them off, so I could at least salvage my pan:
Yeah, I don't know if I'll try these again for a while. I was a little bummed they didn't turn out like I had hoped, but I couldn't help but to laugh that it was SUCH a disaster. I've been wanting to get some new cookie sheets, guess I don't have a choice now...I still can't get the "meringues" off the pan! Matt even tried, so I guess I'll be shopping for those pans soon.

On the other hand, I made a very delicious dinner tonight. Saturday night has become our "at-home -date-night" in efforts to eat out less & spend some quality time together. Matt loves shrimp alfredo and I stumbled across a recipe for shrimp pasta earlier today on the KRAFT website. I decided to take the recipe, tweak it a little and attempt to make shrimp alfredo. I've never been a fan of mixing my 2 favorites together (pasta & seafood), but I guess the little one inside of me "encouraged" me to try it tonight...and it was delicious!
I've decided that if I had to choose, I'd be a chef and not a baker! I love sweets, but I'm so much better at making dishes, not desserts.

ps-Recipe for shrimp alfredo to come in another post. :)

My Secret

2011-02-26T16:44:00.000-05:00

I'm letting out a secret...I listen to rap music. Yep, that's right...every morning on the way to school & my husband does too (not on his way to school, but when he's at Journey by himself and there is no one else around). We listen to it in our house & Matt knows the words to a lot of rap songs. He's actually a pretty good rapper.

What kind of rap music you ask? The best kind...116 clique, it's Christian rap. LeCrae, Trip Lee, Tedashii, Flame are some of the artists...LeCrae is definitely my favorite. They aren't cheesy, like some Christian rap artists...but like my kids at school would say "they're legit." Their music really helps at 6:30 in the morning when I'm headed into "the battle field." It's also good workout music, cleaning house music, or "I need to get out my frustration music." I'll also admit, sometimes I turn it up so that if you pulled up beside me at a stoplight, you might say "that person's music is way too loud." Matt does it too...don't let him fool you.

We were introduced to LeCrae back when we worked at Caswell and have actually served at several events with him. He's such a real person & has such a passion for sharing Christ with people through his music.

My favorite song right now, comes from his latest album "Rehab," it's called "Walking on Water."

Check out the lyrics...it's good stuff!

Chorus:
So I'm walkin' on water (4x)

Verse 1:
Yeah, go 'head, ask me how I do it, bruh
The sky falling, but I'm still flyin' through-and-through
Hey this ain't willpower, it's wheel power
When God's at the wheel, yeah that's the real power
I feel power, so I'm gon' trust that
That's how I persevere, that's how I jump back
The hurricanes never go away
So I'mma stand firm, tell 'em all to blow away

Hook:
I bet 'cha never see me with my head hung low
I bet 'cha never see me with my eyes to the floor
I bet the boys skit, homie they ain't no more
Aint no lookin back, letting everything go
When I see a problem, when it get tough
I don't get soft, man, I ain't givin' up
There ain't turnin' back, man, I will stay strong
It's time to go hard or it's time to go home
So I'm walkin' on water, hey (4x)

Verse 2:
I know it's all good, when it's all bad
There's somethin' workin' in me
Hey what 'ya call that?
Some people call it perseverance

Some people say endurance
But I know for sure it
It's got me secure
Yeah, I got faith, that's why I hold on
'Cause I'm an alien, I'm 'bout to phone home
I'll be long gone, see you hard times
Have your boy, love peace, and a sound mind

Verse 3:
I spit the Word any time you hear ya boy flowin'
So please plagerize me, take my word for it
Hey I'm Lecrae, but you can call me "Crayola"
Not because I'm in the kitchen whippin' up the soda
But because I'm here to paint a vivid picture for 'ya
I know the truth's hittin' by the way I pitch it for 'ya
You're fightin' for attention, I've got the Ritalin
I've got the hope, boy, I'm the middle-man
Let me show you my Supply, yeah you need to know 'em
He got me walking on the water when the wind's blowin'
And when the storm's brewin', and when the tide's high
That's when I lean into the truth that I abide by

Bet ya never saw that one coming, did ya...:)

Ahh...Spring!

2011-02-24T16:21:00.000-05:00

I'm trying something new this week. When I actually have time to sit and blog, I'm doing it. Even if that means writing more than 1 blog a day....so, you may not be reading a post when I actually write it. I'm scheduling them to go out throughout the week, for the 5 people that actually read my blog.

When I was driving home from school this afternoon I heard Darius Rucker on the radio. Which automatically made me think of Charleston, SC (because that's where he's from)...which made me think of one of my favorite times of the year. SPRING! This post may be a little early, but I can't wait for:

The sun coming up before I leave for work at 6:30
Birds chirping in the morning
Flip flops
Cute spring dresses
Longer days
70 degree weather
Eating on my back porch
Driving around with my windows down & music loud
Spring break! (A perk of being a teacher)
My birthday
Weddings of several wonderful friends
Laney's baby showers
Graduation for my sister-in-laws (which also means a trip to BOONE)
Green trees, grass, & flowers

There are so many more wonderful things I could post about spring...I just can't wait!

Smelly Good...One of my Favorites!

2011-02-22T15:21:00.000-05:00

My sister is a big fan of these little car air fresheners that Bath & Body Works makes. I'm not a huge shopper at Bath & Body Works, but Anna convinced me to get one for my car and I love it!

They come in different scents and different designs (I just bought the turtle because it reminded me of the beach) These little things are called "Scentportables" and they are great! If you're interested check out this link OR just go to the mall. :)

Consignment Sale

2011-02-21T16:39:00.005-05:00

Growing up we always wore hand-me-downs, there were 4 of us...my mom was smart. Occasionally we got new outfits, especially if my Grandma Moon had say or if it was a special occasion, but a lot of times people gave us clothes. I'm so thankful that my mom taught me it's okay to wear 2nd hand clothes, shoot...I'd still do it today if I had someone to give me clothes.

Over the weekend my mother-in-law, sister-in-law, Matt's aunt and I set out on a little consignment shopping at a children's consignment sale at 1st United Methodist Church in Cary. I wasn't sure what we would find, although we had heard it would be a great sale. AND it was!

I got all of this...
for about $18. Yep...I spent less than $20. I don't think I did too bad for my first time and it was a smaller sale. My mother-in-law got a really nice pack-n-play, a bouncy seat, a baby bathtub, & some clothes for about $70 and I think Matt's aunt got a really really nice high chair for around $10.

I have a lot of friends that go to the BIG consignment sale at the fair grounds twice a year and they really rack up. I've always been amazed at the amount of money they save, I mean kids grow so fast and you can find really nice things that are gently used at these sales. I'm really looking forward to doing more consigning in the future...I've always liked to bargain shop. I can't tell you the last time I bought a pair of shoes or clothing full price. I like the challenge and I always like the feeling of accomplishment after I see how much I've saved. :)

He is Good!

2011-02-17T16:25:00.004-05:00

You know...it's so awesome to see God's relief & comfort at just the right time. I mean, I know he's with us all the time...but it just seems like when you can't take it anymore in difficult situations he always brings relief at just the right time.

I can't explain the whole situation, but I've been struggling through some pretty difficult things recently and we've been praying for God to do his will, regardless of whether or not it was exactly what we want or not. I've felt like no one understands and people don't really care when I share what I'm going through. I've even felt like people totally don't want to be around me because I've been so miserable. I am so thankful that I serve a God that totally understands what I've been through and will never "not want to around me" because of my circumstances." AND he brings relief. He's brought me relief, the pain & frustration I'm dealing with still exists but God's given me the relief I need in order to glorify him until the problem is resolved completely. And it's the little things that he uses to remind us that he is with us...like...
-My sister spoke at our winter sports award Tuesday night. It was so great to see my little sister talk about how God has brought her out of the self-esteem issues she had growing up. AND my mom surprised me by riding with Anna to Knightdale. They came all the way here from Charlotte and drove all the way back after the ceremony. JUST FOR ME!
-I've had 2 planning periods with NO meetings this week. Because of this, I've gotten a lot of work done so I haven't had to bring stuff home. I've been able to rest more and take care of the little one growing inside of me.
-AND today...a student brought me a whole bag of Ghiradelli dark chocolate (which is my favorite!)
-Not to mention...we have NO plans this weekend and the weather is going to be glorious!

God's love is so good and sometimes it just blows my mind. Romans 8:31-39 is a perfect picture of how NO matter what we go through, nothing...nothing will separate us from the love of Christ.

"What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Ahhh, Jesus is SO good!

Yummy Recipe

2011-02-07T19:43:00.003-05:00

I hate that I never blog anymore...if only I had more time.

Just wanted to share an easy recipe for a yummy fruit salad my mother-in-law shared with me.

Fruit Salad:

1 20 oz can of chunk pineapple (drain)
1 11 oz can of mandarin oranges
1-1/2 cups of seedless grapes (cut in half)
1 cup of mini-marshmellows
1 cup of coconut
1/2 cup of chopped walnuts
3/4 cup of sour cream or vanilla yogurt
1 tablespoon of sugar

Drain pineapple and oranges. Combine pineapple, oranges, grapes, marshmellows, coconut and walnuts. Mix sour cream (or yogurt) with sugar. Stir into fruit mixture and chill.

It's so yummy! Enjoy :)

Surrender

2011-01-23T10:12:00.003-05:00

I've been fortunate to not catch many of the many sicknesses going around my school, but I did wake up with a sore throat, stuffy head & aches this morning. For me this is the normal cold that usually leads to a sinus infection or allergy something...either way, it's not fun that I had to miss Journey Church this morning. Thankfully we have a live feed now and I was able to watch the service on my computer. Jimmy has been preaching a series called "LIFE" the past few weeks and today, he talked about surrender. Something that I think a lot of Christians struggle with. Too bad we can't all just be like Paul, he was the perfect example of how we SHOULD surrender to the Lord.

Jimmy mentioned that "Becoming like Jesus is not a deed, it's a death. It's not about trying it's about dying!!" What truth! Matt & I are preparing to enter a new phase of our life together as we will be welcoming our little girl into the world in July. (YES! OUR LITTLE GIRL, WE FOUND OUT YESTERDAY THANKS TO MY MOM'S OFFICE FOR DOING AN ULTRASOUND A FEW WEEKS EARLY) We've got a lot of adjustments to make as we prepare and we've been praying for God to show us what he wants us to do. It's so easy to say we've surrendered these "plans" to God, but I know that I still worry about how a lot of things will play out. Keep us in your prayers and that we would totally surrender to the Lord and let him work things out in HIS time, not ours...which is what we're struggling with.

Happy Sunday!

Magan

Ramblings of an Icy Day

2011-01-11T15:17:00.003-05:00

Well...we didn't get snow, but we did get ice. A lot of ice....(Not really a picture of ice in my backyard...but it's a pretty picture) I've been a picture taker slacker late. :)

This morning I actually woke up at the Uhler's house because we did a little emergency baby sitting of the twins last night. It was nice to wake up at 6:30 this morning to see that Wake County Schools were closed. I got up when I wanted, spent some time with two of our best friends, ate a wonderful breakfast, & enjoyed their sweet little babies. Once we actually were able to get out & head to our house I knew I needed to get some stuff done today. Unfortunately most of my day was spent doing school work, and I am no where near finished...but I did get some other things done as well. Finally got my everyday house decorations back out after putting up all of our Christmas stuff over the weekend, I cleaned my house, and got caught up on some reading in Genesis. Quad girls, I can't lie...I'll admit I got behind last week after our coffee date. School took all I had last week...NOT a good excuse, but I definitely won't be getting behind again once I get caught up. :)

Lately I've been really fatigued (1st trimester), but I'm coming out of it and headed into what everyone says will be a great 2nd trimester. I can feel my energy coming back and I'm soooo excited to actually get stuff accomplished.

As much as I hate making up snow days, today was very productive and honestly, I could use another day to get some other things done...maybe Saturday, I would prefer to NOT have to make up tomorrow as well.

Enough ramblings...I'm off to prepare myself to enjoy my Christmas present with my hubby & the Uhler's tonight. THE LION KING!!!!

I don't make New Year's Resolutions...

2011-01-03T19:19:00.004-05:00

I don't make New Year's Resolutions...I know, I'm a party pooper. I just always feel like I end up trying for a few days & never get very far. So I have a few things I'd like to do this year, but they goals for the year & I'm not going to try to do them all at once.

If you're interested...
1. I'd like to read through the bible this year. This is something I've never done. I'm in a triad (well...a quad) with women from my church & we're doing this together. I'm excited to get to know 3 other women that love Jesus and that I don't know very well. I am also excited to explore the bible in a new way and let God teach me as I go. I know this will be a great challenge for me. I've already learned something...did you know that Adam lived to be over 900 years old...WHOA! I can't imagine. Talk about seeing the Lord work!

2. I want to spend more time doing things I love to do around the house...cooking, baking, finding cheap ways to redecorate, cleaning (yes..I love to keep my house together. As a teacher, I don't get to do this very often. Matt does A LOT of house work), & being a wife. (And of course I'll get to learn to be a good mommy this year too!)

3. Make more time to relax. Our dear pastor's wife, Beverly, always gives me a hard time for not relaxing enough. Rightfully so, she knows best. I SHOULD take time to relax. I'm always on the go & I never take time to read, watch movies, take a bubble bath, drink a cup of coffee on the porch...all the stuff that I would like to do, but never take time to stop.

4. Be a better wife, a Godly wife. With Matt working a new job this year (or a different job with a VERY different schedule) I'm still learning how to be the best support that I can, I'm always looking for new ways to love him, and be the best wife I can be.

I know this kind of seems like a lot considering I just said I want to spend more time reading my bible & that I want to spend more time doing things around our house. I didn't say I want to be perfect at any of this, but I want to do better at all of them.

Goodbye 2010, Hello 2011

2010-12-31T08:51:00.003-05:00

2010 has brought many blessings for the Keith family. This year God opened many doors for us, including Matt going full time with Journey Church and me making the decision to continue teaching for another year. I was really thinking about leaving the teaching profession back in March, I thought I blogged about it...but I can't seem to find that post :) We've both grown a lot this year. I've been reminded many times that my timing is NOT God's timing. And sometimes he has a WAY better plan than we do for ourselves.

2011 will bring new joys to our family & extended family. Just to give you a sneak peak...

-In May Matt's twin sisters graduate from Appalachian. Megan with a degree in Family & Consumer Sciences Education & Morgan with a degree in photography.
-In June my baby brother graduates from high school...This is a pretty big deal, he's thinking about going to my alma mater..AppState. (fingers crossed he gets that acceptance letter at the end of January)
-Also in June my sister will be competing for the title of Miss NC here in Raleigh. This is something that has been her dream since she was a little girl and she feels that God can really use her to be an example of a Christian role model for youth across our state.
-BABY KEITH COMES!!!! in July. My due date is July 18th and we are THRILLED to become parents in 2011. I can't wait to meet our little one!
-Morgan (Matt's sister) gets married in November. We're gaining a wonderful brother-in-law and we are super excited about the plans for their special day.
-And finally...in December Anna (my sister) will graduate from UNC Charlotte with a degree in Elementary Education.

Many other wonderful things are happening in 2011...weddings of close friends, vacations, and of course many surprises and blessings from God. We can't wait for 2011...bring it on!

Merry Christmas! A few days late...

2010-12-30T08:20:00.005-05:00

Matt & I had a wonderful Christmas! We actually started last Wednesday (Dec 23rd) and had something every day through December 26th...sometimes something twice in one day. We celebrated Christmas 7 times, missing 1 family get together with my dad's side of the family. We traveled to Fuquay Varina, Sanford, and Kannapolis...by the time we got home I was exhausted and sick with either a major case of morning sickness or a nasty stomach bug.

Even though I was sick, we were able to enjoy our wonderful families and I was reminded once again, how blessed we are. God had given us such big families and we have a great time anytime we are together. It was great to stop from the busy month of December to celebrate the birth of our Savior and what that means for us. I was reminded as we drove around NC of how full I feel all the time because of the love, grace, & mercy of my Savior. I can't imagine celebrating Christmas just to celebrate Santa Clause & getting presents...what an empty reason to have a holiday. As Christians we get to celebrate the birth of the One who came just for us, and I can't think of any better reason to gather with my friends & family.

Matt & I scaled back on the amount of money we spent on each other this year, mainly because we just don't need anything...but as I shopped & as we opened gifts the theme of why we celebrate just continued to run through my mind. Every time we opened gifts with our family, I thought about how I had more than I need & the God of the universe came to be born in a stable...A STABLE! No heat, no nice hospital room...but a barn with animals and smells. Such a humbling thought. As we get ready to celebrate the new year, I've been reflecting on what this means & my prayer for the year is that I will come to know Jesus & fall in love with him even more than ever before. Matt & I have an exciting year ahead of us...(I'll save that for my new year's post) but without listing it all God is going to do HUGE things in our family. I want to make sure that through it all, people see Jesus in our family. After all, if you take everything in this world away...he's all that's left. He's all we need.

Anyways, I realize this blog probably doesn't make any sense...it's really just my ramblings of Christmas. Thanks for enduring it! I hope your family had a wonderful Christmas!

Our child got a lot of presents this year...you would thing he or she was already here. Our parents are going to spoil this kid rotten. Can't wait! :)
Aunt Megan couldn't resist when she bought this onesie! I think this was secretly Matt's favorite Christmas gift.
Molly enjoyed Christmas too, even though she has already chewed up (I mean bit the head off and ate it) one of her new toys...sorry Mr. Chicken.

Not Much Lately...

2010-12-16T16:32:00.002-05:00

Exactly what I've been doing...

Since I found that I'm pregnant, I've not really done a whole lot...except work & sleep. Of course this is a whole new experience for me, but I'm usually a go getter. Despite the fact that I don't get a lot of sleep as it is because my job is so demanding & I strive to have a life outside of working, I usually just go with the flow...sleep or no sleep, headache or feeling great. But I've experienced all of the 1st trimester goodness...nausea, vomiting, need for MORE sleep, headaches. I feel like I've been such a baby about it, but I've found myself sleeping or laying around any chance I get. For example, I was really planning to get a lot done since it's a snow day. I'm sooo behind on grading & other school responsibilities but when I woke up this morning, even after eating, taking nausea medicine, & showering I still felt like crap & my head was pounding. So what did I do today? Sleep & lay around & eat. It's killing me, this isn't the normal me.

People keep telling me that it will go away after my 1st trimester & I really hope it does. Of course I've also heard the horror stories of women being sick for 9 months. Regardless, I'm trying to make best of this time & I know that whether I feel like a million bucks or I just feel like crap & have to spend the next 7 months going to work, sleeping & eating...7 months from now I'll get to meet the little peanut inside of me that seems like it's growing like a weed because I can't get enough food in my body & that's also been making me so sick.

Matt has been amazing & has had to work WAY to hard recently. He's been doing the cleaning, laundry, & keeping up of the house. He did a lot of the decorating for Christmas (what got done this year...we didn't get everything out, which makes me sad but next year I'll have the energy to help). I've done good to get dinner cooked when I get home from school & keep the fridge stocked with food. Don't even get me started on Christmas shopping though, we have barely started. The goodies I usually bake won't be made this year either, Matt keeps telling me "it's okay," but it's my favorite time of the year & feel like I'm not making the most of it. He is such a wonderful husband & I know he'll make a great daddy. I just feel so bad that he has to take care of me, grab me a snack in the middle of the night, & take over a lot of the stuff that I normally do in the house.

Hope I haven't bored you, but I haven't written in a while & this is really all that's on my mind...and it's what I've been up to. Until next time, I have my saltine crackers & my gingerale! :)

A guy, a girl, a dog, and...

2010-12-04T21:07:00.002-05:00

Take a look at our latest blog post on our Matt & Magan site. www.mattandmagan.com

Exciting things to come in the Keith family! :)

Your's is the Victory

2010-11-10T17:04:00.003-05:00

I really can't write much about the situation, but just know...

Over the past 3 days I've seen the devil try to tear apart what is going to be a wonderful outlet for Jesus' name to be spread all over the Cabarrus County and North Carolina this year...but guess what...Jesus has already won the battle! It might be a long road of healing for the people involved in the situation, but I believe God is good and he will be glorified through all of this!

The power of death swallowed up in the hope of our Savior
All fear overcome in the light of Him
All of our sin covered up in the love of our Savior
Set free by your grace made alive in Your righteousness

At the cross where You took my place

Yours is the victory
Yours is the victory
Yours is the victory
Yours alone

The power of death swallowed up in the hope of our Savior
All fear overcome in the light of Him
All of our sin covered up in the love of our Savior
Set free by your grace made alive in Your righteousness

In Your power, You abandoned the grave

At the cross where You took my place
In Your power, You abandoned the grave

-NewSpring Church Worship

Babies, the BELL, a Championship, and a Crown

2010-11-07T07:53:00.006-05:00

I told Matt Friday afternoon, as we left Knightdale ,that this was going to be my blog title at the end of the weekend. I just knew that it was going to be an incredible weekend. I could write and write and write about it...but pictures are fun too!

On Friday morning, we woke up to a phone call from our friend Blake that his wife, Jacqui, was having their twins! They are some of our best friends, so this was pretty exciting for us. I was able to take a half of day and spend the afternoon with them and their precious babies since her family lives all the way in Indiana. Little AnnMarie & Aiden are just so precious and we are so excited that they are finally here.
Friday night we bared the rain to watch my brother's football team win a tradition that has been around for over 80 years...the battle of the bell game (and yes, Kannapolis has won this game more times that they've lost). This game is between A.L Brown High School and Concord. The Wonders were able to pull off a win, despite the downpours...bringing the bell back to Kannapolis and sealing the conference championship.To finish off our time at home, my sister accomplished a life long dream of becoming Miss Cabarrus County. She has competed in the pageant for 3 years and after many years of hard work, accomplished her dream. You can read more about her and her calling to participate in the Miss America System at this previous post. I know that I am biased, but Anna did an amazing job last night. I can't wait to see how the Lord uses her with this title to make him famous. She will now advance to the Miss North Carolina pageant in June. I am so proud of her!

To finish off this wonderful weekend, I better get off of here...I need to get ready worship at Journey this morning. We have so much to be thankful for today!

I Gotta Grade Essays...BUT

2010-11-04T18:00:00.004-04:00

I really need to go grade essays that my students did a week ago, but it's just been on my heart to share the message from this past Sunday at Journey. Jimmy spoke on the questions that so many people ask, believer and nonbelievers..."What does a Christian look like."

This sermon really meant a lot to me because I know a lot of people who have given up on Christianity and some that just do not believe because of the way Christians act. Jimmy reminded us that Christianity is not about rules, and it's not about religion. God didn't send his son to be the Savior of the world so that Christians could be "good people." He came so that we can glorify him with our lives. If we are following Jesus and have an authentic relationship with him, then we do good because it comes from the overflow of our hearts...not because in order to be a Christian you have to be a "good person." (1 Peter 2:11-12, Matthew 5:16)

I could say so many more things about this past weekend, but one thing that he said that remains in my mind is "The Christian life is not about obligation, it's about obedience." It's about bringing glory to Him. I love that. I know that I am not a perfect person, I don't always do "good," because I'm not perfect and I do mess up. Just like little children mess up and sometimes disobey their parents, so do Christians and God loves me even though I don't always make him proud. But one thing I do know is that I want to live my life so that I am transparent and others see Jesus in me. I want to be obedient. I don't want to be the stereotypical Christian. I want people who do not believe to see something different in me, and I want them to fall in love with him...not because of me, but because He is real!

If you have 30 minutes to spare, or even if you don't I highly suggest you listen to Jimmy's message from last weekend. You can watch it here: Sermon.

Now, I must go grade these Revolutionary War essays!

Luke

2010-11-01T18:09:00.004-04:00

Every once and a while I write a post about my family members. I've written before about my sister & brother, Andrew. This past weekend we celebrated senior night at the A.L. Brown football game for my baby brother Luke. (He's no baby at 6'2, 240 lbs.)I can't believe he is a senior in high school. It's so hard to believe that the last of the Seagroves children is finishing up at Brown. I'm so proud of the young man my brother has become. He loves Jesus, has good grades, he's a great athlete (football & swimming), and he has a great sense of humor...he's always keeping us laughing.

Good luck this week at Concord Luke...bring home that BELL!!! We love you!

And just for fun...here's a recent picture of Matt, myself, and my siblings.

It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown

2010-10-28T20:12:00.003-04:00

Tonight I didn't bring home any school work and Matt is at band rehearsal, so I had to decide what to do...finish the laundry, clean the house, bake. Nope, I'm relaxing on the couch with the Molly girl watching one of my childhood favorites, "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown."
I love fall & I love Charlie Brown...oh, and I'm learning to LOVE time to relax. One of my favorite women in the world tells me it's important. (Thanks Beverly!)

I Will

2010-10-24T07:54:00.004-04:00

Well...my posts have turned to weekends only. At least I'm still maintaining a blog.

Friday night we went to the NC State Fair and like always had a lot of fun and FOOD! But, we also went to the Chris Tomlin concert. We've heard him before in concert, so I knew we were in for more than a concert...we were in for a whole worship experience. The whole time I was thinking..."How cool is this? We get to experience the state fair and we get to worship at the same time." Tomlin is coming out with a new cd in November and he did a lot of new songs from his album Friday night. One song really stood out to me, it's called "I Will." This is really how I feel about my life. I've been so bogged down with so much junk lately (I'm not going to get into it again)...just read past posts. God has brought me to my face recently...I just want to make sure that whatever I am doing, I am allowing the Lord to use me and teach me something about him. No matter how overwhelmed I may become.

Where you go, I'll go
Where you stay, I'll stay
When you move, I'll move
I will follow...

All your ways are good
All your ways are sure
I will trust in you alone
Higher than my side
High above my life
I will trust in you alone

Where you go, I'll go
Where you stay, I'll stay
When you move, I'll move
I will follow you
Who you love, I'll love
How you serve I'll serve
If this life I lose, I will follow you
I will follow you

Light unto the world
Light unto my life
I will live for you alone
You're the one I seek
Knowing I will find
All I need in you alone, in you alone

In you there's life everlasting
In you there's freedom for my soul
In you there joy, unending joy
and I will follow

Weekends...

2010-10-18T20:41:00.003-04:00

I'd like to say that I've easily been able to create margin in my life...since that was what my last post was all about. But, unfortunately I haven't. My days consist of 5:30 wake up, school at 6:30 till 5:30, home to cook dinner, and school work until I go to bed. I haven't figured out how to create much margin, all this school work HAS to be done. There's just so much paper work these days. People always give me a hard time and tell me to give up something...to learn to say no, but really there is nothing I can say no to. If you talk to any public education school teacher they will tell you...we're swamped. Yes, I coach cheerleading but really it's 2 hours a day and it's something I enjoy about school.

So for now, I have to make the most of my weekends and any little free time that I get during the week. For example, tonight I have school work that needs to be done but I also had a blog post & some pictures that I wanted to get online...so I decided you know what, I'm doing it. I work all day & the school work will get done. I just NEED me time & I need Matt time. If I don't get those two things I know I'll end up sick in the bed and then school WILL suffer. I don't write all of this for people to feel sorry for me...remember, this is my online journal. If you don't like it, you don't have to read. :)

Now, on to the blog post I wanted to write... This weekend we spent the entire time with my family in Kannapolis. We went to my brother, Luke's, football game Friday night. It was homecoming & I went to Brown so it was fun to be there...although, I didn't really see anyone that I went to school with. If you're from Kannapolis or if you've known me long enough you know that I love Kannapolis football anyway. There's just something different about watching the Wonders play...it's not like normal high school football, it's not to me anyway.

I love my brothers! (And my sister, sad she couldn't be there...)

Saturday & Sunday I didn't do anything but eat & sleep. We slept in till 10:30 on both Saturday & Sunday and it was glorious. Usually I would feel bad for wasting my day away, but I don't because I needed that rest. We were also able to spend time with my Mom & Rusty, Dad & Teresa, Anna & Jeremy, Andrew & Chelsea, and Luke. Yes...this is just my immediate family...there's a lot of us. We're rather silly when we all get together too, but it makes things fun.

I've come to really value my weekends. I love spending time with Matt, catching up on housework, and worshiping at Journey. I especially love when we get to spend time with family. There's a lot more family weekends to come with Matt's mom's birthday this coming weekend, Luke's senior night & big rival football game, and Anna's pageant in November. Matt & I will also get to spend a little family time together in November when we head off for a long weekend vacation...we've decided that we need it and even though it's still a month away, I can't wait!

Off to tackle some of this school work and drink a cup of coffee to help me through, yes i know...it's already 9:00. :)

Creating Margin in my Life

2010-10-10T08:57:00.003-04:00

This has been the most overwhelming & stressful school year yet! I just can't seem to get a grip on my work & feel "caught up." There's more paperwork & more meetings than ever before and I've just had a hard time getting orgainzed...this isn't like me. I'm always "on top" of my job and I always have a plan...nope, not this year.

I am always stressed...which is not good for me. The picture above says it all...:) Matt & I have been trying to figure out how to create more margin in my life...I just haven't had time to do anything that is not school related lately, with the exception of going to watch my brother play football on a Friday night in Kannapolis. Obviously, I can't quit my job & I can't quit the meetings...so I've got some praying to do. Please pray with me for some relief, some margin, & some stinkin organization. I would really like to feel "on top of things" and not like I am drowning in work.

Something to Look Forward to...

2010-10-03T07:58:00.004-04:00

It has become our family tradition that we go see some kind of play around Christmas. I love any musical or ballet and love to go see a show anytime I get the chance. I'm not really sure how Matt feels about it, but he always seems to want to go. If he doesn't like it, he puts on a good face anyway. We've seen South Pacific, the Nutcracker, & A Christmas Carol. This year, we're going to forgo our traditional December performance for...

THE LION KING!!!

Matt was able to get tickets for us yesterday afternoon to see The Lion King at the DPAC in January. I have wanted to see this show since it came out probably 10 years ago. It was my dream to see it on Broadway in NYC...maybe one day I'll be able to check NYC off my list, but for now I'll settle for seeing it at the DPAC.

Fall!!!

2010-09-25T08:40:00.007-04:00

It's been almost another month of NO blog posts...really Magan? Geez...I've just had a hard time adjusting back to school life & we've had a lot going on. No one at school feels organized OR on top of things...we're all just taking it 1 day at a time. Anyway...I did not intend on talking about school in this post.

The weather has been atrocious! 95 at the end of September...and miserable. BUT the weatherman says the temperature will be dropping soon, at least it will be in the 70s, lower 80s. Not quite fall sweater weather...but at least it's a start. I'm longing for some pumpkin spice, apple fritter, & cute fall sweater days.

This picture makes me think of my ASU days & how beautiful Boone is in the fall. This morning I'll settle for this...
and pumpkin spice candles. I can't wait for fall mums, pumpkins on the front porch & cooler weather!

Whoa! A Month?

2010-09-06T15:59:00.002-04:00

It's been a month since I blogged last, but it has been a whirlwind of a month. Since then...
I've started back to school

We've moved into our new space at church

Been to Kannapolis for a few football games

Spent time with both sides of our family

Decorated my house for fall

Celebrated 3 friends engagements

and

SO

MUCH

MORE!

Needless to say, I haven't had time for blogging on this site, nor have we had time to update our Matt & Magan site. (It hasn't been updated since June...)

God's been teaching me about simplifying my life recently. Focusing more on him & his will than on material things & my life. I spend so much time on facebook and things that don't really matter than I do reflecting, reading & worshiping. This fall I want to shift my focus a little bit. Pray for me, hopefully I'll spend more time reflecting on the things that matter than wasting my time on things that really don't matter. I look forward to taking more time to rest & reflect on his work, my family, and building relationships. I'm not good at goal setting, because I'm a creature of habit...this is going to be a HUGE challenge for me, but I really feel led to make this change.

Summer is Almost Over

2010-08-12T10:29:00.002-04:00

Can you believe it!? Summer is almost over, well for teachers & students that is. I go back to work on Tuesday and students come back the next week. There is a lot to be done to get my classroom ready for kids, but I'm putting that work on hold for a few more days...

I'm about to take advantage of summer over the next few days...Kannapolis, beach, and spending as much time as I can with Matt. We have an exciting weekend ahead at Journey with the opening of our new space as well.

I promise I'll be posting some pictures of the fun to be had between today and Monday...and an NCCAT post in there as well!

2010-08-03T22:35:00.003-04:00

Tonight I was getting some things ready for a presentation I have to do tomorrow on a successful lesson I use. I didn't get a chance to use the lesson I'm presenting tomorrow last year because of certain circumstances. When watching over the example I'm going to share, I thought of this original post from last August....I thought I would share again. These kids are now sophomores in high school, but I still miss them and they hold a special place in my heart!

8.08.2009

Just Thinking This Morning...

We have a lot going on today...Matt is at a men's breakfast at church, I'm cleaning the house, got to go to the grocery store, and then head to Sanford this afternoon for Matt's cousin, Brandi's, wedding. While I was cleaning this morning I was thinking about my students from last year. It was a challenging year because I taught Language Arts and Social Studies, but I had the best group of kids. Yesterday I found out that the students (at the school that I was at last year) scored the 4th highest EOG scores of 30 middle schools in the county, with 90%! We were an honor school of excellence and we met our growth. Now to a lot of you, this means nothing, but to me it means a lot. I am so proud of the achievement of the students I worked with last year. I will miss them tremendously and they will always be a special group.

Below is a video of a Social Studies project they did the last week of school about the 1950s-2000s.

My "Kids" and Their Music Videos from Magan Seagroves Keith on Vimeo.

Posted by Magan Keith at 9:27 AM

NCCAT

2010-08-02T22:27:00.003-04:00

So...I'm here. I've made it to NCCAT, the week I've been waiting for since March. For those of you that don't have a clue what I'm talking about...I was accepted to attend a teaching "academy" at Ocracoke Island for a week. This is an all expense paid trip...food, lodging, materials, you name it. I'm super excited to be here and my first day was amazing! I am so excited to meet other teachers from North Carolina and share experiences.

I decided this evening that I'm going to make this trip more than just a time of renewal and preparation for the school year...academically. I want to allow the Lord to work on me this week as well. We have a lot of down time and of course I want to network with other teachers and explore the island...but I really want to spend a lot of time with the Lord as well. I have my own room and I brought my bible, journal and book along with me. I really want to allow God to prepare me for this mission I'm about to embark on...a new school year. If you know the situation of last year, you know that I was super close to quitting teaching all together. The Lord has really worked on me and completely changed my outlook on my job. I really believe that I am at Wendell Middle School to be used by him.

Please pray for me this week. Pray for a few things...first of all, and this is huge to me...I'm not scared to admit. I'm away from Matt with no cell phone signal. The devil could really use this as a distraction for me. I can't just text or call whenever I want. We have to plan to talk at certain times and it has to be limited. Pray that this is not a distraction and that when Matt and I do get to talk it's fruitful. Pray that I can learn a lot to take back to my classroom and also that the Lord will renew me and continue to give me the mindset and strength that he has for me. Pray that I do not miss opportunities this week to learn and grow in him. Also pray that I can share his love with the teachers here.

Pray for Matt. He is working hard this week to prepare the new space for our church so that we can begin services there on August 15th. Pray that he and the team can safely get the new space set up and with no major problems. Also pray for their energy. (They have A LOT TO DO)

I can't wait to share lots of pictures, stories, and probably even future posts very soon. Love you all!

Fairest Lord Jesus

2010-07-21T12:02:00.005-04:00

I've been studying God's sovereignty during my time with Jesus the past few mornings. This morning as I was reading about his sovereignty over Job during his suffering, I came across this verse "We cannot imagine the power of the Almighty, but even though he is just and righteous, he does not destroy us." (Job 37:23) This means that the Lord of the universe, no matter what we do or how we act still loves us. This just blows my mind! I am so not perfect, and no matter how hard I try...I'll never be perfect. BUT he is and he loves us, he wants to bless us. How can we not want to bless him back?

While I was thinking through and praying through this verse the hymn "Fairest Lord Jesus," came on Pandora. What a perfect song to go along with my time this morning...

Fairest Lord Jesus, ruler of all nature,
O thou of God and man the Son,
Thee will I cherish, Thee will I honor,
thou, my soul's glory, joy, and crown.

Fair are the meadows, fairer still the woodlands,
robed in the blooming garb of spring:
Jesus is fairer, Jesus is purer
who makes the woeful heart to sing.

Fair is the sunshine, fairer still the moonlight,
and all the twinkling starry host:
Jesus shines brighter, Jesus shines purer
than all the angels heaven can boast.

Beautiful Savior!  Lord of all the nations!
Son of God and Son of Man!
Glory and honor, praise, adoration,
now and forevermore be thine.


I just love old hymns, what a wonderful Creator we have!

Mom's 50th

2010-07-10T18:58:00.005-04:00

I've been putting off blogging about my mom's 50th birthday because we gave her a surprise birthday party last night. Her birthday was last Saturday and we celebrated with a weekend at the beach, but my sister and I also planned a surprise party for her. Here's a little recap of both events...

Our weekend at the beach was wonderful. This is the 2nd year in a row we've been down to the beach for mom's birthday, thanks to my Aunt Kim and Uncle Chuck, who have a beach house in North Myrtle. Since mom's birthday is July 3rd, we get to spend the 4th of July at the beach as well. Matt & I did a shrimp boil (which I will have to share the recipe for later, it was sooo good!) for my family and the Nicholsons to celebrate. Mom thought this was her party, we did gifts and cake and had a lot of laughs like always. We did some family pictures as well, mom always wants new ones for her house.

Anna and I have been talking about surprising mom on her 50th for a while. Growing up she always did surprise parties for us. We invited people from different walks of life to celebrate with us. It was so wonderful to see so many great people, some I've known my whole life. Anna was in charge of getting mom to the party and she was very tough to get there. She through a good fight when Anna insisted she stopped by their church on the way to dinner. Then she was really upset when Anna wanted her to come inside to see some "wedding decorations" that were in the family life center. She finally got her to come inside and she was totally surprised.

Mom would have killed us if we would have done an "over the hill" theme, so we stuck with a luau theme. Mom's best friend Donna loves to decorate, so we let her do her thing and we took care of the other details. We kept things simple with the food. We did BBQ and, of course, cake from the Party House in Kannapolis. If you live in the Charlotte area and ever need a cake, they have the best! We've had Party House cake for every occasion since I was a little girl and yes, they did my wedding cake!

Matt and I are leaving tomorrow after church for the beach for a week. We haven't been on a vacation for a week since our honeymoon. We are looking forward to relaxing, soaking up the sun, seeing some friends at Caswell, and enjoying our favorite place...the beach! I may or not post while we're gone...if not, have a great week and I'll be back after a wonderful and relaxing vacation. :)

Honduras

2010-07-10T18:32:00.004-04:00

This blog post is long overdue...and I will tell you now, words will never express this trip. They will never do it justice, but I will do my best.Honduras...wow! I don't even know where to begin because this is the 3rd mission trip I've been on out of the country. But I can't even begin to tell you how eye opening this mission was for me. The other out of country trips I've been on were Moldova and the Bahamas. The people we worked with in those countries were poor and we were able to share the word of God with them. Both trips included lots of opportunities to do bible teaching and work. Going to Honduras was different for me in that we were there to love on the people of Honduras, to show them God's love. Yes we did do bible stories through puppet shows but mostly we just loved on the people. We handed out clothes and toys to the adults and children in the villages we went to. I could share story after story with you, but to keep you from reading for days I'll just tell you this. If you were able to put a value on the beauty of Honduras, the people are richly blessed. Monetarily they have nothing, literally nothing. Some people had the clothes on their backs and huts for houses. It is so sad to see the villages and what very little the people in Honduras have. It is a slap in the face, however, to see how the Christians view their lives. They don't mope around about how they don't have anything, they are so happy and joyful for the blessings the Lord have given us. As an American, I feel like such a brat. The trip made me so thankful for what I have and it made me want to figure out how to live on less so that we can help people who have nothing.

We also loved on the missionaries that we were partnering with. Roger and Marilyn Reeck are good friends of our pastor and have been working in Honduras for many years. We were able to work on their house. We did some painting inside and put a roof on their terrace. Their family is such a wonderful group to be around. It is so obvious that the Lord is using them and working in them.I would love to post more, but I just can't put it into words. If you EVER get a chance to go on an overseas mission trip, you just HAVE to do it. The Lord will teach you things far beyond your belief and the people you come in contact with touch your heart more than you could ever imagine.

To see more of what we did....visit the website Matt did for people from Journey to follow while we were there. (www.takeajourney.org/honduras)

Crazy Summer!

2010-06-29T11:12:00.002-04:00

Just FYI...I am planning to write a post about Honduras soon. I am still processing our trip in my mind and heart and I'm just not ready to write yet. Stay tuned for pictures and a post soon!

I was looking forward to summer say...mid-February when my kids at school were just nuts. Little did I know that my summer would be jam packed! So far in just 2 weeks...I've been to the beach & on a mission trip to Honduras. In the month of July we have a lot more planned. We'll be at the beach twice and sometime I plan to visit my family in Kannapolis.

This morning I sat down to download some applications to my computer, since the hard drive crashed while we were in Honduras...as I was waiting on things to download I started processing everything there is to do before August 17th. Whoa! I am busy and I didn't even realize it. By the end of summer I will have been to the beach 4 times, Ocracoke Island for a teacher's academy, Honduras, and Kannapolis. I wonder if we'll finish our kitchen? Ha!

Enough rambling...I just needed to get it all out. Really...for my sake. Sorry I bored you. I have a real post coming soon!

For now, hope you are all having a wonderful summer!

Celebrating Our Anniversary

2010-06-18T08:26:00.003-04:00

Earlier this week I took off for North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina to surprise my brother for his 20th birthday. I had a great time laying on the beach with my mom & sister and being silly with my brothers, Andrew & Luke. Too bad I don't have any pictures to share, I left my camera in Raleigh and my sister hasn't uploaded her pictures yet...so I can't steal them from her.

I came home yesterday to have a little 2 year anniversary celebration with Matt. Our anniversary is actually Monday, but we'll be in Honduras. Last year we went all out to celebrate our 1st wedding anniversary by spending a weekend at the Biltmore House. This year was a bit more laid back. We had a nice dinner at 518 West Italian Cafe, took a walk down Fayetteville street in downtown Raleigh, and had a little Starbucks on our way home. If you live in Raleigh, love Italian, and don't mind spending a little money...518 West is great! We wouldn't normally spend a lot of money on eating out, but it was a nice treat.

I cannot believe we've been married for 2 years, the past two years have flown! Matt is my very best friend and I am so thankful for our marriage. God had blessed us in so many ways this year, and I cannot wait to see what he has in store for the next.
(Photo by Kate Ashbrook...the best wedding photographer in the Charlotte area! We miss you Kate.)

I'm looking forward to writing a blog post about the blessings we received while in Honduras over our anniversary. If you get a chance, take a look at our team's blog . We're not sure how often we'll be able to update, but we're hoping we have internet access so we can keep our friends and family updated while we're gone.

Blessings in Disguise

2010-06-13T09:50:00.003-04:00

I cannot explain the emotions I have felt this weekend thinking about the 2009-2010 school year. God grew me and stretched me far beyond my belief and I am so thankful that I serve a God that is bigger, far bigger than any problem I had this year. Consider this my disclaimer, this blog post is super long AND super personal. I'm completely opening up here, so be prepared and don't say I didn't warn you.

I started my school year as excited as I could be...a brand new classroom, a brand new school, a brand new staff, and some new kids. Little did I know what I was in for...

I cannot explain to you the type of kids I had this year, but I will say that they were different from anything I've ever had. (Now...I know what you are thinking, Magan you've only been teaching for 3 years and you were at the same school the whole time) But really from my experiences in Lenior, Boone, Cabarrus County, and Apex...it was just different! I had a hard time relating to them at first and they to me, a lot of the year. This made getting to them very difficult. There were many discipline problems, a lot of attitudes, and A LOT of students acting in defense mode ALL of the TIME! For example, if I called on a student many of them would react with "WHAT DO YOU WANT?" instead of answering a question or telling you why they raised their hand. I guess I say all of this to say, the culture of many of the students I taught this year was different from my culture or any culture I've been a part of.

On top of having student issues, we had some issues within our school...mainly because we are a new school...only 3 years old and this was the first year in a new building with 3 grades. There were and still will be next year, a lot of kinks to work through.

Many days I just wanted to quit, thinking these kids don't care and this school is a mess! I often thought, they don't care about me about social studies or THEIR education. So many days I reacted to situations any human would...before I finally realized I couldn't fix the problems in front of me and that I was making myself miserable. Back in March we had lunch with the wonderful Jimmy & Beverly Carroll to discuss the future of Matt's job with Journey and honestly, for me, to seek some Godly wisdom on my situation. (At the time I was seriously considering leaving the teaching profession all together.) Jimmy said something that day that has stuck with me and the Lord really spoke to my heart about my attitude. He told me that I had to pray that the Lord would change my attitude if I was as miserable as I was until I could get out. Or I needed to pray that he will change my attitude and my heart all together if I felt like this is where he is calling me to be." At the time...I thought I was supposed to leave WMS and teaching and work in full time ministry in the field of ministry. I've felt called to ministry for a long time. I kept fighting the idea of staying where I was and really allowing my mission field to be WMS. As I prayed for a changed attitude, the Lord did more than change my attitude...he changed my heart. I realized in March that WMS needs me...well WMS doesn't need me, they need Jesus. I realized that he wants to use me in this difficult situation to be that "something different" among the students and among the staff at WMS. The day I allowed the Lord to change my heart and my attitude, I realized what I had been missing all year. So many blessings and opportunities were missed because I acted "in the flesh."

I am not going to act like the last 3 months were a breeze or that I allowed the Lord to work through me everyday. There were many days that I know I was stubborn and I did not surrender my day to him. There were days that certain students drove me nuts because I did not allow the Lord to take control. I am staying at Wendell next year, no matter how hard it is for me, I am looking forward to it and looking forward to allowing the Holy Spirit to put me aside and pour into the lives of those I come in contact with. I pray that this summer I will allow him to renew me and remind me of how much I need to surrender everyday.

At Journey we at studying Proverbs this summer. Last night Smooth, our student pastor, preached about fearing the Lord. This is something I know I've struggled with for a long time. I always thought, "I'm not scared of God, he's good to me...I know this isn't the right type of fear the bible is talking about, it can't be....but what does it mean?" I realized last night that as a Christian, fearing God is revering him. Revering him so much that you don't care about what anyone else thinks. Proverbs 1:7 says "Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline." This made me think about my year at Wendell and what God has in store for me next year. I want people to look at me and say, "wow something is different about her." I want them to look at me and see Jesus, not Magan. I want my students to see something different in their teacher, something they've never experienced before.

As I finish this ridiculously long blog post, I continue to reflect on this past school year. I pray and I can only hope that the students I let go of last Thursday saw a spark, a tiny something of something different in me. I hope that they saw that I loved them for who there are because I love Jesus. I hope they know from my social studies lessons, that they know I love all people no matter where the person is from or what background they have because of Jesus. I'll never know the impact I had on those students or any staff member I worked with this year, I don't expect to, but I pray they saw Jesus in me. I pray that if they don't know Jesus that He will continue to show himself to them and that they will one day come to a relationship with him.

My Second Love, Planning & Decorating!

2010-06-05T09:44:00.008-04:00

I've always said if I wasn't a teacher I'd be an event planner, in fact I've looked for planning jobs several times. Over the past few weeks I've been able to put the two together, I planned the 8th grade semi-formal. I don't normally blog about school and I am not one to brag about what I do at school. What I do is for the kids, not for myself, but in this case...I'm proud of turn out and I have to share!

I was on a committee with two other teachers and with everything going on this time of the year...we had our hands full! I called a few parents that I knew I could rely on, told them the idea in my head and we ran with it. The theme: "An Evening in Paris." The budget: No money...

Here's what we came up with:The entrance: a welcome sign, a patio table, and the eiffel tower.

Students were welcomed into the dance by the eiffel tower and white pillars. We lined the cafeteria with a city scape that my students cut out. There were plants, Christmas lights and tule everywhere to make it seem like a garden in Paris.

The "terrace" where the kids enjoyed a sub dinner from the "Cafe." (Aka, a local deli) Thank goodness Mrs. Bolen and myself saved decorations from our weddings. She had fish bowls with flowers, I had tule and Christmas lights!
We had to hide the drink machines somehow. :)
We had a photo booth for the kids to get their picture made. Two of our very talented students painted this backdrop. It was beautiful!
Mrs Bolen, one of my fellow dance committee members, and myself. I think we had as much fun as the kids did.

Thankfully my best friend, Jenni, had an eiffel tower from the winter formal at Chowan University where she and her husband work. Everything turned out really well and for the first 8th grade dance at Wendell, I would say it went over very well! Thank you to all of the parents, teachers, and husbands for helping make the 1st ever Wendell Middle School 8th grade dance a success! The kids seemed to have had a good time and we were able to clean up, get the kids picked up, and out of there in 1 HOUR!

I'm off to enjoy some time at the pool with our friend Dave before he leaves for Caswell for the summer...4 more days of school this year and then let summer begin!

Blog Neglect

2010-05-28T19:16:00.003-04:00

I'll admit it...I'm a blog neglector(I created a new word). Actually, like always, school has been so crazy busy that I haven't had the time or energy to bust out a great blog post. I don't even want to go there...after this week, I don't even want to think about school right now. So...I'm not and that's why I'm blogging.

The past two weekends have been filled with some old school BDT goodness. (BDT was the ministry team I was on for 4 summers at Fort Caswell.) Two of my very dear friends from my wonderful summers at Caswell got married, not to each other, they didn't break contract like so many of us did. :) Sorry Merrie, God does crazy things sometimes.

The first weekend was spend in Kannapolis with my family. We had a great time of laughter and eating...like we always do when we go home. Gotta make a stop at either Gary' Barbecue, What-a-burger, or Stag & Doe every time I go home, yum! Anyway, Lindsay's wedding was at the Cliff's at Keowee Vineyards. It was one of the most beautiful weddings I've been to, and Lindsay was a gorgeous bride. We had the most fun hanging out with friends and dancing the night away to a live band.

Last weekend Matt & I decided to get a condo at Carolina Beach with our friends, Dave & Laura. It was a wonderful weekend and a much needed beach getaway. We started the weekend by eating at Provisions Co., the best seafood restaurant in Southport, NC. It's on the Cape Fear River and their shrimp is the best! Saturday we laid on the beach for most of the day and attended Matt Holland's wedding in the evening. His wedding was at Scott's Hill Baptist, where he works and where his beautiful bride, Liz, grew up. It was a sweet wedding and the reception was at an Art Museum. Of course we ate Britt's doughnuts twice in one weekend and enjoyed ourselves very much!

This weekend we are just resting at home and I'm excited about finally being back at Journey. I've missed my 2nd graders and of course some great worship & preaching. I'll probably end up doing some kind of school work, but we are planning on just doing some things around the house and probably start thinking about our trip to Honduras in a few weeks. Yes, we are going to Honduras. We're going to be doing construction on a missionary's house and hanging out in the schools with local children. This is our first mission trip with our church and as a married couple. We're excited to see what the Lord is going to do while we're there.

Have a great Memorial Day weekend! I'll be back soon, hopefully before the school year ends...if not, see you after June 10th!

The World's Best Mom

2010-05-09T08:19:00.004-04:00

Everyone thinks their mom is the best, but I will argue...my mom really is the world's best mom. Most of you know my story and the things I've been through, my mom has been there for me through it all. Since I was a little girl she's made sacrifices for me and my siblings that no one should have to make. She has been there for me no matter what I needed to talk about, she has encouraged, she has listened, she has laughed with me and cried with me. She has been an example of a strong woman who has faith in God, she has taught me how to be Jesus to others when I didn't feel like it, and she's looked to the Lord to provide finances, encouragement, and comfort,when she didn't know how. She has shown me love and has supported me no matter my endeavor. There aren't enough words to describe how great my mom is and how thankful I am for her. I pray that one day I am the mom that she's been to me to my children. She's a very special woman and what I love the most about her is that no matter her circumstance, she has shown me how to trust in the one has our plan already worked out, Jesus Christ!

Mom, I'm celebrating you from Raleigh today. I wish I could be there to celebrate with the family, but I promise next week when I'm home we will celebrate you! I love you!!!

I have another special mom in my life, Darlene. Some people don't get along with their mother-in-law. But let me tell you, she is the best. She is my other mom and I am so thankful that when I married Matt, I was blessed to get her too! Darlene, thanks for always being there and treating me just like another daughter!

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms in my life. Many of you are special to me, and I'm thinking of you today!

Kitchen Remodel Reveal

2010-04-23T17:14:00.007-04:00

I posted a few months ago that we were going to remodel our kitchen and I also promised to keep you updated, but I never did write a blog post. We did post facebook pictures, so I didn't do too bad. We are in the home stretch of finishing up our kitchen. We still need to get our new stove & dishwasher, give the walls a fresh coat of paint & do our tile back splash. However, The big tasks of replacing countertops & painting the cabinets are finished. Before I show you the new kitchen, take a look at our kitchen before.

And the new, almost finished kitchen.

We felt like the kitchen was really dark and I'm all about lightening up things a bit, so we painted our cabinets antique white, got a smaller cafe table, added the island back in for more counter/cabinet space, got a new sink/faucet, & replaced the counter tops with a more neutral color. I'm proud of the way things turned out. Like I said, it's not finished but we've come a long way. AND the thing is, we did everything ourselves except install the counter tops. Matt & his dad ripped the old ones out and did the plumbing. We are proud of ourselves considering neither one of us are really do-it-yourselfers. We'll be posting soon with the finished product!

When you get a chance, take a look at our "family" website. Matt's going to post about our project outside....

Prom?!?!!!

2010-04-18T16:56:00.003-04:00

Today is my 25th birthday and as I began to think about all the many blessings that God has given me over the years, I could not help but to continue to just be amazed that my baby brother went to his junior prom yesterday. It seems like just yesterday he was coming home from the hospital and we were all taking turns "babysitting" him...aka...playing rough while our mom cooked dinner. I remember once we were playing house and my other brother, Andrew, stabbed Luke in the eye with a chair...mom had to rush him to the emergency room because we cut his eye open. Ok, so anyway...I thought I would share a few pictures from yesterday.

I am so proud of all of my siblings, and I am proud of the man my little brother is becoming. He is so handsome! He has big dreams of playing football in college and would love to go to Carolina. He is such a smart boy, loves Jesus, and does such a good job of trying to take care of my momma. Although, he is the baby and he is SPOILED ROTTEN!

Sara Caulder, I promise a sneak peak of the kitchen improvements is coming this week! It's not done, but the cabinets are back in 1 piece, we have a new kitchen table, & new counter tops.

The Occasional Blogger?

2010-04-01T15:01:00.003-04:00

Matt's blog is titled "the occasional blogger." I'm starting to wonder if I should rename my blog "the occasional blogger too." Life has just been really really busy this winter.

Our kitchen is still not finished and my spring break is halfway over. I was really hoping it would be completely finished by now...but it's not. We still have no cabinet doors & the counter tops have not been changed...they have been ordered though. We are aiming to have the kitchen completely finished by summer now. Ha! The cabinets should be back to normal within the next few weeks, but we still have the daunting task of painting the kitchen (and the living room since they are pretty much only separated by a half wall).

I promised to write a good blog post over my spring break, but honestly, I haven't stopped long enough to sit down and write. Monday I had to teach, to make up a snow day. Tuesday I went shopping and used some gift cards from Christmas & yesterday I don't really know what I did besides have lunch with my friend Rachel. Today I began a little spring cleaning, but I won't finish before we leave for Kannapolis tonight. Not that any of you care what I've been doing over spring break....

Maybe I'll have a good post coming up soon...something a little more profound that what I'm up to. For now, love you all!

Wow...it's been a while

2010-03-10T15:38:00.003-05:00

I think I'm breaking back into my old habit, I have not written a post in a month! No, really the past month has been in the word's of a former assistant principal "Absolutely ridiculous!"

God is doing something in the lives of Matt & I. I can't really share online right now, but I know that in the end God will work everything out. And NO, I'm not pregnant! Pray for clarity & peace, I have no clue what's going to happen....I just know that when everything calms in the "storm" I'm struggling through right now, the outcome is going to be all worth it.

I don't know when I'll have a chance to blog again, maybe Spring break. I have two more weeks of teaching before I get a four day break and I cannot wait. Next week will be great though...I get to visit Apex Middle for their production of High School Musical & see some old teaching friends that I miss so much...hopefully I'll get to see some former students as well! Oh how I miss them too!

The Kichen

2010-02-16T16:35:00.003-05:00

I haven't blogged in quite a few weeks...we've been up to a new project around the Keith house. We are in the process of remodeling our kitchen. We've been painting cabinets for the past two weeks and are about halfway done. It takes a lot more than we thought it would to make them look nice. We're painting them "antique white," a cream color. We are going to use our tax refund to get new countertops, oven, dishwasher, and a smaller kitchen table. We're going for the "cafe" look, modern but not way out there. I'll post pictures soon of the progress of the cabinets, for now here's a few pictures of what our kitchen looked like before.

Snow Days are OVER!

2010-02-03T20:49:00.002-05:00

Well it's been nice to blog two days in a row, but it looks like I'm heading back to work tomorrow. We are on a 1 hour delay and I have a game tomorrow night...well WMS does. Matt's meeting with a client and I'll be getting home late. Back to the real world...it sure has been fun to get up when I want, drink coffee in my pjs, spend extra time with God, do some blogging, and do a little creative planning for our kitchen remodel. Speaking of....stay tuned, we are using our tax refund to remodel our kitchen. I am super excited and will definitely post pictures. We are beginning this weekend. Hooray!

Thought for Today...

2010-02-02T13:15:00.003-05:00

"When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers—
the moon and the stars you set in place—
what are mere mortals that you should think about them,
human beings that you should care for them?
Yet you made them only a little lower than God
and crowned them with glory and honor.
You gave them charge of everything you made,
putting all things under their authority—
the flocks and the herds
and all the wild animals,
the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea,
and everything that swims the ocean currents.
O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!"
~ Psalm 8:3-9

So powerful! He created us a little lower than himself, and crowned us with glory & honor. How humbling! The God of the universe created us and made us right below himself, we should worship him and our lives should reflect this daily. Definitely something to think about today!

Hope you're enjoying your day, whether your snowed in like me or working. The roads around here are looking a little better. Guess we'll see what Wake County decides to do about school tomorrow. If we're off, I'm going to have to get out of this house. I did at least get out of my pjs today! :)

JUMP!

2010-02-01T11:10:00.006-05:00

Wow! It's been a while since I blogged. Life, like always, has just been busy. I'll just warn you before you start reading...this blog post was a way for me to get my thoughts out on what the Lord is teaching me and I wrote a lot!

Right now our current series at Journey is called "Jump." We are learning about faith and Pastor Jimmy is challenging us to "jump" and take a leap of faith to the next step in our journey with Christ. I've blogged before about the fact that Matt and I feel called to working in full time ministry together somewhere in the future. Who knows what that looks like, or when it will be. God has taught me recently that I don't know when that "future" is going to be. He's taught me to be content where he has placed me in life and to seek him as I daily try to make an impact at Wendell. It's so easy to get caught up in the negative, frustrating aspects of my job....the kids don't listen, they are disrespectful, some of my colleagues complain, and I'm always being asked to do more. He's showed me that I must seek to live in him daily, to take it day by day and to let him move as he has planned...even if that means I teach for the next 5 years and Matt continues at his job.

Part of my "jump" (being content where God has placed me and allowing him to use me at Wendell) has been to really seek the Lord on a daily basis in reading my bible & praying. I've always had a hard time with finding quiet moments to seek God on a daily basis. Mainly because I always claim that I am "too busy," which is true...I am busy, but I can make time for God. I mean, after all he certainly makes time for me. I've really tried to do this recently. I've started reading in Psalms. In the past I've always read in the New Testament...people say it's easier for us to relate to. I was inspired by a friend to read through Psalms. I've never read through it completely and I really felt called to start reading there. I have been so blessed to see David and other Psalmist cry out to God in happiness and despair. They are real, they share their true thoughts there. Today I was reminded that God knows our hearts & our minds, even when we don't speak it. Because of this, I am challenged to glorify God in all that I do, speak, and THINK. Even when a student drives me absolutely crazy and I want to kill them...I must learn to think about them the way God would. What would he say to them? What would he think about them?

No matter where I am in my life, I must learn to live in the moment. To let the God of the universe, the one who created me work in me the way HE wants to. Not the way Matt & Magan want. If it was up to us, we'd be packing up to move somewhere where we could work full time in ministry together. We may be in the house another 5 years doing the same jobs at Wendell Middle School and S&A Cherokee, but whatever God's plan is we have to enjoy where he has us and allow him to work in and through us. My prayer as I finish this blog post is that I am allowing God to work through me everyday, whether I'm at school or home on a weekend. I have so much I need to grow and to learn. I pray that he continues to teach me and that I never go back to being frustrated at where I am in life, but that I continue to allow him to use me where I am!

Molly's Favorite Christmas Present

2010-01-18T10:13:00.003-05:00

I wanted to blog today since it's my day off. I've spent my morning working on school work and I don't really have anything profound to blog about...no new favorites or cool things happening.. However, I have not shared Molly's favorite Christmas present with you...

Yes...Molly has a snuggie and believe it or not, she LOVES her snuggie! How do I know? She doesn't fight me when I try to put it on her and she will actually run and play in it, unlike any other piece of clothing she has received. She's such a great pup, and she is spoiled rotten by EVERYONE!

Enjoy your MLK day whether you are off or at work! And if you're off, take some time to enjoy this rare spring weather. It thundered last night, wonder if we'll get snow in 10 days???

New Year Resolutions?

2010-01-06T16:39:00.006-05:00

I am sitting on the couch in my sweat pants after what was a pretty good day at school. I've been reading some blogs, facebooking, and just hanging out. I don't usually have time for this and I don't usually set New Years resolutions because no one ever keeps them...but I've changed my mind this year? This year I really want to focus on being who God created me to be. I wanted to strive to be the best woman of God, wife, daughter, friend, teacher, and coach that I can be.

Right now I am thinking a lot about my job and I spend a lot of time letting it control me instead of God. Matt and I know that in the future God has something big for us, something that involves us possibly stepping out of our comfort zone and maybe even working together. However, right now I know that no matter what I think I am where God wants me to be. The past few months I have spent a lot of time wondering why in the world I am at Wendell Middle. My students don't really seem to appreciate my work and half the time they don't do what they are supposed to. In fact, I have caught myself saying..."I am going back to Apex where my kids enjoy school." I get so tired of people making excusing for things and my philosophy has so easily become "I can only do so much." This week, as I've started back to school, I've kind of changed my mentality. There really is only so much I can do and I can't get my entire emotion involved my job or I will wear quickly...but I can be the best that I can for these kids. So many of my students are struggling with things I would have never had dreamed of as a middle school student and I am the only person that may pray for them. I may be the only person that smiles at the, I may be the only person that tries to be patient with them. My prayer for the rest of this year is that no matter how many times a student refuses to do their work or tells me that they don't have to listen me because I am a white woman (and yes this has happened a few times), I am a missionary sent by the Lord to set an example for these kids.

I feel like if I really focus on what God has called me to be and I stop dwelling on "why in the world am I teaching at this school, with these crazy kids" I will be the effective woman of God, wife, daughter, friend, teacher, and coach that I am called to be. We'll see how I do, but my prayer is that I let God lead and that I don't try to do it by myself....cause if I do, this resolution won't last!

2009, the End of a Decade!

2009-12-31T09:54:00.002-05:00

I remember where I was when 2000 began. I was at the Winter Extreme Youth Conference in Gatlinburg, TN with my youth group from Blackwelder Park Baptist Church. I was in the 10th grade and Newsong was in concert, with Josh McDowell speaking. We stayed across the street from the conference sight and Bryan Rogers was our youth minister. We had a huge youth group and we were having the time of our lives bringing in the new year. At the time, I had no idea what the next ten years would mean for me. God had done so much in my life and in the lives of the people around me.

This week Matt & I have been reminiscing of what the past decade meant to us. I thought it would be cool to see what I can remember from 2000-2009. I'm thinking this will be an ongoing list as we reminisce about the last 10 years. Enjoy!

Y2K
Youth group days
1st boyfriend
Bahamas mission trip
Parents Divorce
9/11 Tragedy
Death of Grandma & Grandpa Moon
Last dance recital, after 15 years
High School Graduation
Mission trip to Moldolva
Beginning college at ASU
Meeting Matt
Working 4 summers at Camp Caswell
Changing my major
Buying my 1st car
Dating Matt
Hurricane Katrina
Getting Engaged
Graduating from Appalachian State
Getting Married
Moving away from Kannapolis
Paying off my 1st car
Beginning my teaching career at Apex Middle School
Joining a new church in Raleigh, Journey Church
Buying our 1st house
Changing jobs, move to Wendell Middle School
Coaching cheerleading
Getting my 1st dog

Happy New Year! 2010 is sure to be another year full of precious memories!

Christmas 2009

2009-12-22T09:23:00.003-05:00

I've been wanting to write this post since the beginning of the month. My work has kept me so busy that I haven't found a minute to sit and blog...

One of my most favorite things to do is create things. If you've been reading my blogs for long, you know that I love to decorate. I love to take what I have and see what I can come up with, I'm not about buying new things to decorate with every holiday. I just like to see what I can do without spending a lot of money. This year, I knew exactly how I wanted my mantle to look. Basically, I wanted to do the exact same thing from last year but add more candles and Molly's stocking. (Last year, I did the traditional garland with berries) This year, my new mantle at our new house just wasn't wide enough to do what I wanted. I ended up breaking 2 stocking holders and had to start all over with my decorating scheme. I knew that if I didn't use garland on the mantle, I couldn't go with my traditional theme everywhere else, my house is just too small. I know this sounds silly, but decorating has become my hobby so just let me be... As I pulled out all the globes & extra stuff that I had stored away in my attic, I remembered that I had seen a display in a store with Christmas ornaments. It was very modern looking, but I liked it. So I took what I saw and ran with it...here's what I came up with:
The only thing I had to buy that I didn't already have was the blue ornaments. I was hesitant at first because blue is not a traditional Christmas color, but it fit perfectly with the colors in our living room.
I was also excited to find a place to put my willow tree angel nativity set. I'm still collecting some of the pieces, but I absolutely love it!
In my kitchen last year, I had placemats that match my Christmas dishes, but they had mooses on them and they just didn't go with my scheme. So, I pulled out a table runner that I had bought the year before we got married and added some beaded fruit. It went perfect with my "modern" Christmas.
Hope you all have a Merry Christmas! Check out the Keith Family blog sometime this week for Christmas pictures of our house & of our crazy dachshund Molly.

Life Lately...

2009-11-11T09:28:00.009-05:00

I haven't had the time to blog recently. In fact, I've been waiting for Veterans day so that I could have some time to spend blogging. I apologize if this blog post is way too long. God has blessed Matt & I with many opportunities this fall. From ASU football and NASCAR races (definitely an experience) to great family time with each other and our families. We've spent many of weekends on the road, but have also been able to make some great memories at home as well. The easiest way to sum up our fall is to share some pictures...Enjoy!

The state fair is always an exciting time for us. We always spend the majority of our time eating when we go to the fair, Matt says he will never ride a fair ride because he doesn't want to die at the fair. We enjoyed corn on the cob, some yummy ribbon fries, and hotdogs. We ended our time there with funnel cakes.

Matt has always been a Nascar fan and he loves going to races. His dad has always given me a hard time for living in Kannapolis and not being interested in Nascar. For our anniversary I decided that I would go with Matt to a race. It was definitely an experience and I am not going to lie, I told Matt that he can go to a race any time he wants...as long as I can stay home :).

One of my very best friends got married in October, Miss Emily Roberts...of course now she is Mrs. Emily Ondish but her wedding was one of the sweetest weddings I've attended in quite some time. She is an amazing friend and I am so excited that she now gets to experience the blessing of being married. Her Matt is a great guy as well, Matt and I wish you the best Ems! We love you!
The same weekend we went to Emily's wedding was Chowan University's homecoming. We go to a lot of ASU games, so we try every year to make it to at least one Chowan game since Matt went to school there. Thankfully my best friend Jenni and her wonderful husband Craig work at Chowan. We were able to actually see Chowan win a game and spend some time with great friends. Jenni and Craig, you need to move to Raleigh :).
We were able to spend Halloween at home this year. We carved a pumpkin and dressed our "child." We also handed out candy to a billion trick-or-treaters in our neighborhood. It was great to relax at home on a Saturday night and see all the cute kids dressed up. I haven't carved a pumpkin since I was a child and I haven't handed out candy since high school. We had a great time and Molly was precious in her princess costume!
My last blog post was about my wonderful "little" sister Anna. She was amazing at the Miss Cabarrus County pageant last weekend. She won several awards including 2nd runner up. I totally believe that it was not the Lord's will to win Cabarrus, but that he has super plans for her ahead. She stood out among the ladies in the pageant and I totally believe that it was not the Lord's will for her to win Cabarrus. I believe he has a bigger task for her in her future. Anna doesn't know what proliminary pageants she will do for Miss NC in the future, but I know that if it is God's will Anna will be Miss North Carolina one day. She definitely has what it takes and I know that God could use her to make such a difference in this state. Below are two pictures from the pageant. If you want to see more, check out www.pageantpics.com and select "Miss NC Prelims" and "Miss Cabarrus County" as your event. Please continue to pray for her and encourage her along this journey.

We are looking forward to the holiday season...spending time with family and friends, food, decorating and all of the other fun festivities. I promise though, I'll blog again before then!

My Precious Sister

2009-10-22T18:23:00.005-04:00

I've been blogging a lot about my life lately, so this time I thought I would share a little about what's going on in the life of my family...

My precious little sister, not so little anymore, is preparing to compete for the title of Miss Cabarrus County. She has done pageants before, and was Teen Miss Cabarrus County about 6 or 7 years ago. She enjoyed it and competed a few years ago in the miss division. For a few years Anna felt like she was done with pageants, but this summer she felt called to do them...for a different reason. Anna's testimony is about how God has taught her to find her self worth in him and has become a very confident young woman. She's learned that she is beautiful because she has Jesus. This summer by working on the bedotell team, God used her to share her testimony to help young girls struggling with self-esteem issues.

Anna feels called to work with young students that struggle with self-esteem to acheive great things in life. She believes that by winning a title like Miss Cabarrus County, she can reach many students living in the Cabarrus/Rowan county area. She would also be able to compete for the title of Miss North Carolina and have the possibility of sharing her testimony with people all over North Carolina.

Everything has fallen into place for Anna...from finding the perfect wardrobe to finding the funds to pay for everything. I truly believe that God has his hand in this and that Anna can win on November 7th, God will use her to make a difference in the lives of students. Please join me in praying for her and this huge opportunity in front of her.

I am so proud of my sister, it is so evident that she is listening to the voice of the Lord. I can't wait to see what he does!

Great Weekend!

2009-10-11T21:14:00.003-04:00

Matt and I sat down at the end of the summer and planned our calendar for the fall. We were determined to have some weekends at home working in our yard or just relaxing...unfortunately we didn't get as many weekends at home as we wanted. Our fall has been booked with ASU football games, trips home to watch my brother play football, watching Anna compete in Miss Cabarrus County, and other misc. things...state fair, the race (Matt's anniversary gift...I'm only going for him...not because I want to but that's another blog post for another time) Chowan homecoming, and weddings of good friends. We are busy busy to say the least...maybe we'll slow down in the winter.

This weekend was a great one! We started the weekend by watching Luke play football at A.L. Brown, they played against Cox Mill. He got to play the entire second half of the game and he did very well. They won 66-7, and we had a great time. He is so big! Take a look at this picture of us after the game...he was so sweaty and nasty. I asked for a picture with him and this is what I got.

We also got to see my cousin's daughter, Mary Beth, cheer for Cox Mill. She's Luke's age and this is her first year cheering. She's really good.

On Saturday we headed to Boone for some ASU football. It was homecoming and I got to see a lot of people I graduated with. Matt and I spent the day with his sisters, Megan and Morgan. We watched the parade, enjoyed some King Street shopping, and of course watched the Moutaineers play some football. Although they played horrible, they still beat NC Central 55-21. It rained most of the day, but thankful cleared up for the game. We had a great time, I love and miss Boone a lot!

Until next weekend, have a great week! Hopefully it will fly...next weekend, state fair and the Charlotte race!

For Mom...Fall Time!

2009-10-04T18:26:00.007-04:00

My mom always wants to know what my home decor looks like. She's always been a great decorator and she's taught me how to decorate using what I have or buying cheap and doing it myself. I enjoy decorating and like to do decorate by season...just like my mom. So, this blog post is for my mom. This weekend Matt and I were able to continue working on our house. He worked in the yard and I did some work inside.

The people that lived here before we did were horrible at keeping up the yard. Matt has done a great job at getting rid of weeds, clearing out flower beds, and getting rid of dead stuff. This past weekend Matt and his dad spend all day Saturday working in the huge bed in our front yard. They disposed of a whole trailer full of dead weeds, trees, and junk. Our yard looks ten times better than it did before we moved in, but we still have a long way to go. I did the normal cleaning this weekend, but I also did some fall decorating. A few weeks ago I did a little fall decorating, but this weekend I finished my task. I decorated the mantle and made a wreath for our front door. I used stuff that I bought last year and a wreath that I got at Hobby Lobby for $2.50. I made the wreath for about $12 total. (Including some apples & pears I bought at TJ Max for $3 and some leaf garland from Hobby Lobby) I was proud, those things sell in the stores for anywhere from $20 to $100!

Take a look at some pictures from the weekend, so excited about fall!

Time Management

2009-09-16T19:36:00.003-04:00

Ok teacher friends...this blog post is for you. Especially those of you that are experienced! I've gotten really good at doing school work every night...you know grading papers, working on lesson plans, changing lesson plans, there's always something. I really want to work on time management this school year, even more this year than ever since I've taught NC History before and I already have the base plans that I need. It's been a big adjustment being at a new school, with a different demographic of kids, and also coaching.

I'm thinking maybe my IGP (for all you non-teachers out there, this is a growth plan that teachers have to do every year.) this year will focus on time management. When I do manage my time, I'm more focused and feel more "on top of things" in my classroom....this includes behavior, planning, everything. I'm always good at planning ahead, I mean it's not like I make lesson plans the night before or anything or have issues with behavior because I'm not organized....I just want to have more time for spending time in God's word, hanging out with Matt, playing with our puppy, and not always having school work to do. Last year I said "next year will be easier to be able to make time for intentional God time, spending time with Matt, working around the house, because I won't be teaching 2 subjects." Today on the way to work, I realized this statement is not true. We only make time for things if we really want to...ya know, I'm a lot less busy this year but I just can't seem to make the time for things that I said I was going to this school year.

Any thoughts? Teacher friends & non-teacher friends...I need your suggestions. What can I do? What can I fix? How can I be more efficient with my time?

Prayer

2009-09-03T20:27:00.002-04:00

I've had to pray my way through the past 2 weeks of school. My new school is great, I love the faculty, and the atmosphere is wonderful but the kids have been a challenge. I've never worked with kids that were in my face the first week of school, the kids at my former school were so well behaved. God's strength has been the only way I've made it through the past two weeks. Please pray for me as I get used to working with a different dynamic of kids, that God will use me to somehow make a difference in their lives and that it would be more than punishing them for yelling out, disrespecting, and not doing work. Pray that I can show them God's love and that I can teach them what they need to know about North Carolina's history...and that they would care, right now I don't feel that they do because a lot of them have put no effort into their work.

On the other hand, I have just completed my first cheerleading tryout and it was very successful. I have chosen a squad of 12 girls and I think they have a lot of potential. I'm excited because this is the first year my school has really had a squad. We'll see what the future holds.

For now, I have 1 more day this week and I'm praying I can make it through the day so I can rest this weekend. It's now 8:30 pm and I'm going to BED!

Classroom Pictures

2009-08-24T18:06:00.005-04:00

Well, I took pictures of my classroom on Friday but I forgot my camera at school. I'm super excited that after 3 years of teaching, I finally get to have my room set the way I want it when classes start. We go back tomorrow, and I pray it's a good year. I always get excited when kids return, this year I'm a bit anxious since I don't know the kids at Wendell like I did at Apex. My prayer is that God uses me to be a positive influence on their lives.

Below are pictures of my classroom, and all it's new technology. I have a mounted projector, 2 computer jacks (one of them I can use to plug my ipod into the surround sound in my room), and a dvd/vcr player. The little box on the wall controls what is projected on the screen.

Wendell Middle School

2009-08-18T20:52:00.003-04:00

Well, I've survived 2 days of work this week. I am so tired already though, summer flew by! I'm really enjoying my new school, it seems like a great place to work. Very organized, but laid back. We do have a lot of chaos right now though, trying to unpack and open a new school. We've done a lot of team building already, but I feel like I still haven't met many people, I'm sure it will get better. It took me 2 years to really get acquainted at Apex, so I'm sure it will take time at WMS as well.

Today I was able to get some stuff done in my classroom. My new room is beautiful and the technology is amazing. I hooked up the DVD player to my projector today and the room has surround-sound!!! My kids are going to love it! I really want to post pictures so stay tuned, I'll try to get some tomorrow....for now, I'm getting off the computer and spending some time with Matt. I'll probably go to bed early...I'm exhausted!

A Great Reunion

2009-08-16T20:39:00.003-04:00

It's been a few days since I've blogged. I've had a lot going on to prepare for a bachlorette party I hosted this weekend.

One of my greatest friends from the BDT (Praise & Worship Team) days is getting married on October 23rd. We've started a tradition of having bachlorette weekends whenever someone gets married. Jenni was the first, she threw one for me, and I threw one for Emily. We decided to have it in Raleigh because Emily lives in Wilmington, so it was a nice get away for her. I hosted the party at my house and there were 6 of us here...Sara, Shannon, & Abby we missed you!

Friday night, we just relaxed, caught up and went to bed early. Saturday, we went shopping at the Smithfield Outlets, had a nice dinner, and did "bachlorette stuff." We surprised Emily on Saturday afternoon with something special. Our friend Laura lives in Nashville and plays the violin for a living. She tours with bands and plays at local places when she's home. Laura flew in and surprised Emily Saturday afternoon, Emily was so excited that she cried.

We had a great time catching up and just being girls. It's really great how we can all live so far apart and have different lives but come back together and it's like we're living at Caswell again. These girls are definitely lifelong friends and I so very thankful for them. God is so good!

Pretty girls all dressed up for dinner!

Stay posted this week, I'm going back to work tomorrow and I'll post pictures of my brand new school. I am super excited about the new opportunities at Wendell Middle School...Apex friends, I'll miss you!

The Sickness Within...

2009-08-10T09:34:00.002-04:00

Pastor Jimmy started a new series yesterday at church called "The Sickness Within," and it was amazing. Not amazing as in, so encouraging that I left church throwing a party...but amazing as in it really triggered a self-check up for me. He talked about how as Christians we aren't slaves to sin, however we submit to it all too often. We let bitterness & hatred take over our lives instead of producing the fruit that we should. We are all guilty of this, I know I am. He continued his sermon with discussing the fact that when people hurt us, we hurt back instead of dealing with it the way we should. (You can listen to Jimmy's message here and other series as well.)

This morning in my time with the Lord, I read Galatians 5:16-26. In this passage Paul talks about how we should let the Holy Spirit guide our lives. We should produce love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. How intestering! This goes along with exactly what Jimmy was talking about yesterday. It made me think of how easy it is to go day today, living without even thinking of God's purpose for me on earth.

I know I'm not perfect, I get upset at the littlest things sometimes and I have along way to go. However, becoming aware of my "sickness within" helps me to be aware of the areas in my life I need to ask God to help me change on a daily basis. I pray that God continues to mold me into the woman he wants me to be and that I continue to become aware of the change I must allow him to make!

Just Thinking This Morning...

2009-08-08T09:27:00.004-04:00

My "Kids" and Their Music Videos from Magan Seagroves Keith on Vimeo.

Change...Not Always a Bad Thing

2009-08-05T21:53:00.003-04:00

The past 2 years has been full of changes for me...get engaged, move to Raleigh after living in Kannapolis my whole life, begin a teaching career, get married, teach 2 new subjects, join a new church after 18 years, make new friends, buy a house, move, and guess what...we're still changing.

God has been teaching Matt and I a lot lately about really learning to depend on him. We moved to Knightdale because we wanted to be closer to our church, but really had to trust in him for a job out this way for me. With budget cuts and school system cuts I though I would just be blessed to still have a job in Wake County. God had bigger plans for me though, I've been blessed to be given the opportunity to help start a new 8th grade this school year at Wendell Middle School. WMS is 5 minutes from our house and I'm going to be teaching just 8th grade Social Studies. (My dream job since I was in the 8th grade) I'm also blessed with what really seems to be like a tight knit faculty and a great administration. Not to mention, my new classroom is beautiful with state-of-the-art technology. I have a mounted projector, wall mount with a switch board to change from dvd player, computer, etc. No more cords stretching across my classroom. I feel so blessed to be given this opportunity. I liked my job at Apex, but I really didn't feel like I was being used to the potential I should be. I'm also going to be coaching the cheerleading squad. (Also something I've always wanted to do)

I am just in awe at what the Lord has blessed me with. I never in a million years thought I would be where I am. Not to mention Matt and I have been blessed with an amazing church, where we are both beginning to plug in. More changes for us...we've always been so involved with the BeDoTell team that we haven't plugged into Journey the way we should. Matt is working with the tech team now & I am going to step out to something new...the children's ministry. We have loved working BeDoTell and have made so many life long friends, but we feel like God is calling us to plug into a new ministry. It's really bittersweet for us, but we know God has bigger plans that we will ever imagine.

Of course all these changes come with hard challenges...stepping out of my comfort zone, trying new things, and making new friends (which has been the hardest thing for me, especially coming from Kannapolis where I knew EVERYONE).

So many changes, so many blessings...we serve a GOOD God and I am just amazed at what he is doing! I love being a part of God's work, even when he gives us new challenges and new adventures that require change!

A New Favorite

2009-08-03T10:34:00.006-04:00

I've tried to get off caffine for quite sometime, I can't. Quitting soft drinks was pretty simple for me once I moved to Raleigh because they don't sell Cherry Lemon Sundrop around here. I've learned to deal without Sundrop, although I do drink it occasionally. But I just can't get off coffee. I love it, I drink a cup every morning. If I don't have coffee in the morning, it's not a good thing. I get cranky and I just can't get going. I've even tried to start drinking decaf, but it's just not the same. I figure if I only drink 1 cup a day then I've come a long way in my caffine drinking because I've always been so addicted to Sundrop (My sister can attest to this and if you know her, she has it BAD, but she lives in Ktown where EVERYONE drinks Sundrop.)

Anyways I've recently grown to love drinking Dunkin Donuts coffee and I hate to say this, but I love it more than Starbucks coffee. It's also cheaper!

When I go to Starbucks I like to get a Carmel Macchiato, but it's not a good habit to get into it because it is so expensive. The other day, I was at the grocery store and I found this...

(If you can't tell, it's Caramel Macchiato creamer from International Delight) Now I don't usually like creamer because it's so sweet, but my sister taught me a trick. You put the creamer in with a little milk and you don't add sugar. Works like a charm and it's tastes great!

So, if you like coffee and you like Carmel go to the grocery store and get Carmel Macchiato Creamer from International Delight and try Dunkin Donuts coffee, it's so good!

ps- Now that I'm done with my advertisement, go read our family blog. We have a video from our Washington trip up!

Free! Warning...this blog post might make you think, cause I did

2009-07-31T12:00:00.005-04:00

About a month and a half ago, I met with our next steps director at church to talk about getting plugged in at Journey. We ended up discussing spending time with God and reading the bible. Lisa challenged me to not just have a quiet time, (which I've struggled with for quite sometime...I'm a time hog and I don't make the time for God that I should.) but to take some time to read God's word and use that as a tool for my time with him. I've done many bible studies, read many great books, but I've come to believe that God has so much more for us than just the Christian resources out there. Of course they are great sources in helping you grow in a relationship with Christ, but reading straight from his word and really studying the meaning of scripture has really opened my eyes.

In Lisa's challenge, she told me to begin by picking a book of the bible that I've read before and really read it word for word and pray for understanding from God. It doesn't matter where you start, God has a new challenge for us daily. I began with Galatians, it's taken me most of the summer to read. God has shown me the challenge Paul is writing about to the churches of Galatia and it's relation to where I am in life right now.

This morning I read Galatians 6:21-30, in this passage Paul is comparing Abraham's wives (the slave wife, Hagar & Sarah, his wife) He uses this as an illustration of freedom in Christ vs. slavery of the law. I can relate to this today. There are so many people in life that try to get you to live by the laws of Christianity, you know...the ones so many church goers have made up. As Christians, we are not bound to a law. We are set free in Christ, to serve him & to live our lives for him. We were made to worship him with our lives, not to follow some rules. Christians are free, guys WE ARE FREE IN CHRIST. Of course we aren't perfect, Christians aren't called to be perfect but...WE ARE FREE because of what HE DID FOR US! Our lives should be more than just going to church, trying to be perfect (newsflash...we never will be, only he is), and occasionally sharing the gospel. Our lives are meant to love God and share God's love with people. (Matt. 22:37-29)

Matt and I have been really praying about how we can do this in our new area...I could write a whole other blog post on this. Maybe I will, but by reading Galatians this summer I've learned a lot about my freedom as a Christian. I am so thankful for the loving God who gave his life for me. To call me his daughter and give me a life on this earth...the same man that conquered the grave, lives in me. I can't even imagine his greatness, he is so great. I have such a long way to go & to grow. I pray that I am not bound by the law, the rules people make up, but that I continue to strive to live my life free in Christ, giving him my all daily!

Real Case of the Lazies

2009-07-29T13:01:00.002-04:00

So, it's been a week. I've had my wisdom teeth out (wasn't too bad, except day of), gone on vacation to Washington, D.C., and moved into my new classroom (which is AMAZING!). I really want to write a blog post on these things, well...D.C. and my new classroom, but I've been bitten by the case of the lazies and just don't feel like it. Our house is a wreck, I need to clean, and I just don't feel like doing anything...

Hopefully, I'll regain my will to do something productive today...hopefully :)

ps- Did I mention the new Krispy Kreme opened in Knightdale today, oh yeah!!!

Blah! Wisdom Teeth

2009-07-19T21:24:00.003-04:00

Well as my grandpa would say, hopefully I won't lose my wisdom with my teeth tomorrow. (That is supposed to be a joke from him, my dad said the same thing to me...oh the Seagroves men, always have a smart comment)I've been dreading and putting off having my wisdom teeth for quite some time now, but my dentist demanded last Christmas that I have them removed and I told him I was waiting till the summer to do it because I am a teacher...the summer is here and tomorrow they come out.

Like most people, I hate pain. I also hate being forced to lay around the house. Prayers would be appreciated tomorrow and over the next few days. I'm very thankful I have a great husband that will take care of me tomorrow and is able to do his job from home!

Stay tuned, on a brighter note...we leave for Washington, D.C. on Friday and thanks to our great friend John Astle we have a great trip and a tour of the capital building lined up. Who knows who we'll run into!

LONG TIME, no post but I'm working on it...

2009-07-16T12:07:00.000-04:00

So a year ago, I began blogging again but school overcame my life (literally) and I didn't blog very long. Matt and I are really working on trying to make time for ourselves to relax, intentionally spending time with the Lord, making that a desire of our hearts, and not letting work overcome our lives again...I'd love to spend more time blogging! Here's a blog I began writing last year and I wanted to post it because it's true. I really look up to Shannon for being able to post almost daily like she does. What a wonderful way to document life!

I've had a blog for a long time, probably since Matt and I began dating in o5, but I haven't really kept it up. I always Shannon White's blog (www.chasingpaperstars.com) and think...wow, I really wish I blogged. She always has something cool to read, whether it be something God is teaching her or something silly like Shannon's "things to do at dinner while you are waiting on your food" list. I love that she can let out her mind for the world to see...

Thankful This Morning!

2009-07-16T10:27:00.000-04:00

I've been reading through Galatians this summer, taking it a few verses at a time and really breaking it apart. This morning I woke up feeling really thankful, so I decided to begin my Jesus time by reading through some scripture about thankfulness. The book of Psalms is filled with verses on thankfulness, but this morning I found a verse in Hebrews that really stood out to me. Hebrews 12:28-29 says "Since we are receiving a kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God by worshiping him with holy fear and awe. Our God is a devouring fire."

In Galatians I've been reminded of the freedom that we have in Christ when we become Christians. This means we are not bound by law, how AMAZING! I've also been reminded that as Christians, he is our father and that means we are heirs to THE THRONE OF GOD. This is what Hebrews 12:29 is talking about. We have been promised the unshakable kingdom. Can you imagine what God's love is like for us? He has given us the freedom to live in him and made us his children.

We should be thankful and worship our God for what he has done for us...the amazing love he has for us! We should want to wake up every morning and say PRAISE GOD for what he has done, he has given us another day to live, and so many wonderful blessings. Why would we not want to spend time with him...he gave us life and made us who we are.

The last part of Hebrews 12 says "He is a devouring fire." Think about a fire that is taking over a house or a building. It is massive. God's love is like that for us, but he is so holy that he destroys everything that is not holy like a fire destroys a house. Sometimes it is so hard to fathom the greatness of our God.

This morning all I can do is worship, I thank God for ALL that he has done for me. I thank him for letting me be a part of his kingdom, a heir to the throne. I thank him for being who he is and pray that he helps me, little ole me, to strive to be the person he has called me to be and bring glory to HIS name!

Decorating Help!

2009-07-14T16:23:00.003-04:00

My summer project has become decorating the interior of our house, but doing it as cost effective as possible. I've spent a lot of time looking at Homegoods, Ross, and even Walmart for cheap but great decorating pieces for our house. Once school starts back, I'm not going to have a lot of time to work on things. I need a little help though, I don't know what to do in the corner of our living room. Our tv has to go where it is and we aren't looking to buy a new tv stand right now. Any ideas on how I can decorate around it. I feel like this corner of our house is blah...

Walmart is Rediculous!

2009-07-09T14:11:00.002-04:00

I'm not usually the person to get all upset when I have to wait forever when my car is getting worked on. I've come along way in learning patience and today as I sat in the Walmart Tire and Lube waiting area for my car to be fixed, God tested me.

Matt has been doing a lot of extra freelance lately and hasn't had time to take either of our cars to get the tires rotated and balanced. We have been traveling quite a bit lately and both cars have needed this done for a while. We are leaving Saturday to go to Boone for a wedding and to D.C. in a few weeks, so I decided today to help him out and take my car to Walmart to get the tires done. We both have a warranty on tires from Walmart, so we take our cars there to get tires done. The Walmart in Knightdale is super ghetto and doesn't have a tire center anymore, so the closest Walmart that has a tire center is the one on 64 in Raleigh near the beltline. I don't particularly love this Walmart, but I thought I would be brave (of course after Matt promised me several times that I would be ok, no one was going to get me) and I went.

When I pulled into the tire center, there were no other cars there...so I thought, "sweet, this will take no time." The guy came out and asked me why I needed him, I told him and after explaining what I needed several times, he finally said ok, gave me a little ticket, and told me he would page me when he was done. I walked around Walmart for a few minutes, felt unconfortable for many reasons and decided to go have a seat in the tire center waiting area. After about 30 minutes of waiting the same guy came back, mumbled something to me about how I needed to replace a tire on the right passenger side, and told me that I probably wanted to get it fixed. I called Matt out of frusteration...now, I know I'm a girl and I don't know a lot about cars but I've learned pretty well from my dad when my tires need to be changed. Matt told me that since I haven't had new tires in a few years maybe the guy was right, and so I told the guy to go ahead with it. (Matt couldn't really tell me one way or the other, he was at work and already feeling sorry for me for having to go to THIS Walmart, he just wanted me out of there) The guy got a bit of an attitude about having to re-enter my transaction and walked away. By now, 45 minutes had passed and my car still hadn't been touched. I was starting to get a little frusterated by now because other cars that came in after mine were getting worked on...I didn't say anything and patiently waited. The guy came 5 minutes later and said he was going to lunch, I asked when my car was going to be ready and he said "I don't know, I'm going to eat...somone else will take you car." I figured someone else was taking over my car right then...

Well, after an hour and a half my car was still sitting and several other cars had been worked on, including some cars that needed tires. Finally, I got up told the guy at the counter I had to leave and asked for my keys. Now, I was hoping they would ask why, start working on my cars...someithing! No one volunteered to go ahead and work on my car or anything...no one even apoligized, they just told me what I already knew...the guy working on my car went to lunch and they didn't know when he would be back.

I got my keys and I left Walmart without having my tires done, I patiently got in my car and left. Although I was pretty proud of myself for not getting all upset over my tires not getting fixed, I wasted about two hours driving all the way to Walmart and sitting there. I do know one thing, we will NEVER go to that Walmart to get our cars worked on again!

Summertime

2009-07-06T12:27:00.000-04:00

I am a horrible blogger, I know that, but I am enjoying my summer so I thought I would post about the wonderful things I've been able to do while I've been enjoying my summer break. I finished at Apex Middle on June 11th. I haven't wasted anytime since. Last summer I was bored out of my mind and I was determined that this summer would be different. Bare with me, this post may be a little long...

The first week of my break, I went to Myrtle Beach with my mom, surprised Anna at Caswell, and took them to Provisions. We enjoyed ourselves thoroughly and my mom loved eating at Provisions.The last part of that week, I spent in Asheville with Matt celebrating our 1st Wedding Anniversary. We stayed in a Bed & Breakfast in Asheville, ate dinner at a great Italian resturant, visited the Biltmore, and took a spontaneous trip to Boone. We really had a great time relaxing. I was excited for Matt to stop work for a few days, he needed a vacation. I can't believe we've been married for a year, what a blessing it has been! Here's a few pictures from our anniversary trip weekend.

The second week of my break, I ended going to a workshop in Chapel Hill for my new school. It was on classroom management, actually pretty worth my while, and it lasted all week. Hopefully I'll be able to use some of the stuff I learned with my new students in the fall. I'm pretty pumped about it.

The end of my 2nd week through the end of my 3rd week of summer break has to be by far my favorite so far. The weekend began with a surprise 50th birthday party for Merrie Johnson (our camp director from Caswell/good friend) and a wedding for a great college friend. Matt and I had a great time celebrating these events and I was able to stay at Caswell through Wednesday. During this time God reveled a lot to me. Matt and I both are learning a lot about what it means to worship God with our marriage, but also to worship God with our individual lives. We've learned that there is no way we can worship God with our marriage if we don't spend time alone with God daily. We've both known this, but last week while we were away from each other it became so evident that we need to work on this. God is so good, Afshin reminded me that as a child of God I must love him with all of my soul...which means giving him EVERYTHING daily. It was awesome to come home from Caswell and learn that Matt was learning the same thing. Anyways, may have to do another blog post on this later...I could go on and on. My sister, Anna, is having a wonderful summer and I was able to spend some sister time with her and hear about what God is teaching her this summer at Caswell. At the end of the week we celebrated my mom's birthday and the 4th of July at my Aunt Kim's beach house in Myrtle Beach. We had a great time and Matt even got to do a little surfing. I love my family!

There is so much more of my summer left and more adventures to blog about. This weekend we are headed to Boone for another wedding. My roommate/friend from college, Allison, is getting married. Can't wait to see great friends from ASU and enjoy some mountain weather!

My "Kids"

2009-01-21T21:18:00.000-05:00

I updated our mattandmagan.com website today, but thanks to the Nelson Family I realized that I haven't updated my own blog since November. Since I'm in the updating mood. I'll give this one a go as well...

I talked a lot in my post on our website about my 60 kids at school. Well, over the past few days I've been thinking about how they really are my kids. You know, I see the more than their parents do during the day and my heart has really been burdened for them lately. Some of them have great home lives, some of them don't. Last week they wrote problem/solution papers and I let them write about any problem they have. One of my kids, who I will call "O," since I can't tell you his real name wrote about his parents being divorced and how he really wants to go live with his dad in NY, but his mom has raised him. His dad lives in Brooklyn & it would not be a good thing for "O" to go live with them. I've been praying for him since I helped him write his paper. Yes, I had to help him. He reads on about a 5th grade level & I know I'm doing good when I get him to sit down with me to actually put something on paper. My heart just breaks for him, because his family life is not great and he can easily get into trouble at school. But, there is just something about "O" and when he's in my class, he doesn't misbehave. I love this kid!

I have so many other great kids at my school. I'm going to be sad to see them go in June because I've taught some of them since last December when I started at Apex Middle.

Speaking of the spring, keep us in your prayers. We are thinking about buying a house when our lease runs out. We want to live closer to our friends & church in North Raleigh. But this also means I would need to think about looking for a new school, Apex would be about a 45-50 minute drive for me everyday. Who knows, so much to think about. The cool thing is, God is in control and we don't have to worry about all of this craziness!

So, What's Up With Magan Keith?

2008-11-03T16:44:00.000-05:00

Ok, so I had a blog a while back. Matt created it for me right after we started dating and I never did a great job of keeping it up. And then we created our own "website" for our friends and family to keep up with us...that hasn't worked too well for us either. This past weekend we saw Sara Caulder and she mentioned that she would love for us to keep up with our website so that she could keep up with us...I then realized that I'd created my own new blog back over the summer and I was determined to keep it up. Did I? Nope, I didn't even make a first post...so why I am trying now?

I've been really busy with school this semester. It's basically been a first year teachers nightmare (Even though this isn't really my first year of teaching), because I've been teaching 2 subjects & I was asked to do it the 3rd week of school. I spend a lot of my time working on school work, keeping up our house, and trying to spend time with Matt. I don't really ever make time to just "chill." So I'm giving this blog thing another try. Matt & I are going to try to give our website another try as well...just for you Sara!

Like I said, school has been a little hectic this year. I've really been praying that God would just show me his plan for me. All my life I've never wanted to do anything but teach. Recently I've been thinking about whether or not God has something else for me. Maybe not right now, maybe not even in the next few years, but one day. Who knows what God's plan is, but I would really love to be a part of something huge. Something dealing with youth and ministry. (Maybe something like what I did my last summer of camp for Merrie) Who knows what His plan is, but I have learned the hard way that right now God's plan for me is to teach and to be my best at it. I have students that need their lives changed and the least I can do is be an example for them.

Other than being busy with school, we've enjoyed married life this fall by going to ASU football games, hanging out at the state fair, visiting family, and joining our first church together! We recently joined Journey Church in Raleigh and have enjoyed every minute of it so far.

So, there ya go. That's what's happening with me.

Life as a New Teacher

2008-01-31T11:21:00.000-05:00

I know it's been a while since I've posted and last time I promised to keep my blog updated....I'm sorry. Last semester was a blur and student teacher was very busy, however, not as busy as life is now in the real world, or maybe not as hard as it is, I'm not sure which I would say. I began teaching the day after I graduated from college, literally, and have only stopped since then because I've been sick twice.

I've been learning a lot about God's soverignty lately. He has completely rocked my world over the past 4 months. So much that I can't explain everything, but I can give you a glimpse of just a few things; Matt got a really great job, I got a really great job, Matt's parents were a blessing enough to let me live with them for free so that we could have money for "us" when we are married, and wedding stuff is falling right into place. I also believe that God is on the brink of doing something huge in my dad's life, something I've been praying for since I was sixteen. I don't know what yet, but our God is huge and he can do anything.

So while I'm on the subject of talking about God doing huge things, I've been out of school sick for 5 days out of the month that I've been teaching. I've had strep throat and the flu and out of all of this, I've been praying "God what are you trying to teach me from this." Not that he is trying to show me something extraordinary by allowing me to pick up everything the snotty nosed kids bring in,but I've been in bed for 3 days this time and I think this was God's way of getting my attention to give him some of my time. I've never admitted it, but spending an hour or even thirty minutes a day in the real world, is so much harder than being in the Caswell bubble. Not that I don't want to take time to spend time with the Lord and learn, I just don't find time. I don't make time, I know I don't and I want to change. I have just began reading a book that my good friend Sarah Caulder recommended a few months ago, Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World. I really hope this book helps me to learn to set aside time as I grow to desire God's word and time with him daily!

Another thing I'd like to do is take time to update you all on my life, to blog or journal a few times a week, geez or more than once every 6 months. We'll see how I do, stay posted and keep praying that God will continue to reveal himself to me daily as I begin this journey to be transformed into the Mary in this Martha world that he wants me to be!

ps- Matt is in the process of making a mattandmagan.com site for us to keep all of our friends and family updated on our lives as we plan for the wedding and then to use for people to keep up with us as we begin our lives together as "The Keiths," hopefully it will be up soon as well!

Guess It's About Time

2007-07-06T16:04:00.000-04:00

Well. It's been a LONG LONG time since I've updated my blog. A lot has happened since then. God's done a lot in my life, it would take me a long time to explain, but it's so wonderful to know that I am His child. I've also gotten engaged, which most of you know because I was so excited when it happened that I think I called everyone I know....and I think everyone Matt knows.

I'm at camp right now. We are actually in the mountains of NC right now at the Nantahala Village. We have been here a week and we have 1 more week here, then we'll be back at Caswell for another 4 weeks. Now that I've changed my blog around a bit, I'm gonna try to keep it updated, so stay posted for what I'm learning and what God's doing at camp!

Blessings-Nashville

2006-11-08T21:33:00.000-05:00

We'll to be honest, I'm sick and I don't feel like updating my blog. My wonderful boyfriend decided to mention my trip to Nashville in his blog and put a link...so I had to update. I guess it was about time, it's been a while.

I've been in my internship for 2 weeks now, and it's been lots of fun. I'm at Abby Hinton's middle school in Lenoir working with a 6th grade Social Studies class. I will be there until Dec. 5th so that means I'm not in classes all day learning, but I still have have lots of homework to finish before the end of the semester. I've been meaning to write about what God has been doing in my life recently, but I've been so busy I haven't. This is a perfect opportunity to share, because it has to do with my trip to the National Middle School Conference in Nashville, TN.

About 2 months ago, I was given the opportunity to go to the NMSA National Conference in Nashville, the only problem was that I knew I couldn't afford it. Most of you know my financial situation and know there is no way my mom could help me. I began praying that if it was God's will that he would provide a way for me to go. I'd heard so many wonderful things from my professors about this conference and I really wanted to go. I asked my dad to help me, but he ended up not being able to pay for me to go. Matt wanted to pay for me to go, but of course I wouldn't let him. I just figured it wasn't God's will for me to go. So, I just stopped praying and tried to move on. (pretty much everyone in my block classes were going and it was really hard for me) The week after the registration fee was due, my mom received a phone call from her best friend Patti Hartness. Momma told her about the conference and how I really wanted to go. She told mom for me to give her a call because her and her husband Randy wanted to pay for me to go. I told mom that it was too late and I left Patti messages to call me. I signed up for a fall retreat at Caswell and knew I would be able to make some money for Christmas and spend time with friends.

The next week, I was asked by a girl in my internship class if I would go to the conference if it was paid for. I told her I didn't know because I had signed up to go to camp. She had already paid the registration fee and raised $100 to pay for her hotel ($82) and food. She knew my situation and wanted to me to take her place because she couldn't go. I told her I would think about it and preceded to the bookstore. When I came back, after calling mom and Matt and asking them to pray, Kourtney was looking for me and wanted me to know that the department was paying the registration and the hotel fee...meaning I had $100 for food and other travel expenses. I knew this was an answer to my prayer and told her I would go. 20 minutes later, Patti called me and asked me to go to dinner with her. SHE WAS IN TOWN! I went to dinner with her and she told me she had something for me. Patti gave me a gift of $200 and told me she wanted to help with my trip. (She didn't know it was too late or anything!) Later that night, I got another call from AE , where I worked in high school and during the holidays at home. They wanted me to work floorset over my fall break. So..not only did my trip get paid for, I received extra money for food and travel, and I earned extra money at American Eagle for Christmas presents! God is amazing!!!!!!!!! It is amazing what he does for his children when we are obedient.

Nashville was so much fun. It was in the Grand Ole Opry Hotel and Convention Center.
(The picture is from the inside) GORGEOUS! I want to go back one day and take Matt.
I received all kinds of teaching materials and new ideas. I even got a job offer at South Charlotte Middle School. The principal told me to call her when I graduated. I got to see Laura when I was in Nashville and spend some quality catching up time with her. I also met her good friend Mark, who is amazing..but that is another story. All I have to say is that the Lord is faithful and when you put him first in your life and really let him take over, he can do some amazing things!

For this weekend, I am going to Fuquay to spend some time with Matt and his family. I haven't seen him in a few weeks, and I know it's going to be so much fun! As for now...as Matt would say...later

Football Traditions!

2006-10-03T19:16:00.000-04:00

Well...It's been a while once again..I've been really bad with this blog thing. I've been extremely busy with Block II classes and getting things situated since I'm not student teaching next semester. I've been doing rediculous amounts of lesson plans and group projects...most of them I will probably never use again..but its ok..one day I will be a teacher I will give assignments!
Matt experienced his first K-town football game fireworks and all a few weeks ago. This past weekend, it was Appalachian's homecoming and Matt made the treck up the mountain to experience ASU football. Matt experienced his first ASU football game...he says its way different from Chowan. We had lots of fun with a pep rally, lipsync, and ofcourse CRU tailgate and a football game! I've carried on the tradition of going to a school with a really good football team. Here are some pictures from the game. The first one is Matt and I with my family at the A.L. Brown game, then Matt and I at the ASU Homecoming game, and then Katie, Sara, Keara, and I at tailgate...

Hopefully I'll be able to post again soon, until then, I'll continue watching ASU on their way to another National Championship!

It's been a while!

2006-08-20T22:47:00.000-04:00

So its been a while since I've updated my blog! And...a lot has happened. I am back in Boone now in my new apartment! It's the first time in my life that I've had my own bedroom and it is wonderful! God did so many amazing things this summer and it would take me all day to type it all. I wish I had time to write a lot of stuff but I have so much to do before the first day of classes on Tuesday. I will post another update soon when I have more time.

Sweet Summer Time!

2006-05-22T18:38:00.000-04:00

Well its been 2 months since I last updated my blog. I have been quiet a busy girl since March. With exams, major projects, camp stuff underway, and closing Gardner Hall there was no time for blogging. If I tried to tell you everything I've done since then you would be reading for days.

Since I've been home I've been traveling...big surprise! I was home for a few days when I got home at the beginning of May and I was able to spend some time with my family. I left again on May 12th for Matt's graduation. After graduation we headed to the beach for the week to celebrate my birthday (late) and rest before we start working hard at camp. Plus..we needed to be a normal couple for once. We had lots of fun..you know me...I layed on the beach a lot, soaked up some sun, played putt-putt....did all that stuff you do when you go to Myrtle Beach. We were down there when it was biker week and we actually saw Dave's parents! We came back to Kannapolis for a day to see Luke's baseball game and headed to Fuquay to celebrate his parents 25th wedding anniversary. I finally made it back to Kannapolis yesterday and I'm packing again to leave for Rachel's wedding on Thursday with the girls and finally to Caswell for the summer. I'll be there till August 12th...and I'll be in Ktown for about 3 days! I know God's got big plans for Caswell this summer and I can't wait to share with you what he does.

Life is so busy, but I love it! I just miss seeing my friends and family in Kannapolis. Summer time is one of my favorite times of the year. For the past 2 summer, now 3 I've been able to live at the beach and do God's work...can't get any better than that! If you come to the beach this summer come visit me at Caswell!!

Once Again I've Become Slack!

2006-03-22T21:25:00.000-05:00

I'm getting pretty horrible at updating my blog...Matt has reminded me of that for the past few days. I told him to do it for me but he wouldn't. If you ever want to know what I'm up to..just read his because we usually write about the same thing. Anyways...

The last time I updated I'd been to West Virginia with the Praise and Worship Team. Since then I've done a lot! The weekend after that,
I got to spend some time with my long lost friend Jenni, ofcourse Craig, and Matt. We just did a little skiing at Sugar and spend some lazy time in Shelby. The week after that was pretty crazy with lots of work and preperation for spring break. Really...that week was a blur because I was so excited about the warm weather we had and the fact that spring break was right around the corner.

Spring break was wonderful! I spent it all over the Carolinas like I do every year. The first part of my break Matt and I went to Charleston to spend time with my dad and just relax. Matt had never been to Charleston so we had fun just walking around the downtown area and enjoying the sun. On Tuesday we headed back to Kannapolis and I just spent some time observing at Kannapolis Middle School, visiting grandparents, and spending just a little time with my mom and siblings. I would have liked to be able to spend more time with my family and visit Matt's family...but I would have needed another week to do all that.

On Friday I headed to Cary for rehearsal with the 2006 Praise and Worship Team. We spent time doing a lot of brainstorming, working with our teams, and getting to know each other. It was a great weekend of seeing some of my best friends, making new ones, and getting a lot done. I topped off my spring break by spending a few hours with Matt's family after we were done with worship on Sunday afternoon. It was really good to see them, but I had to force myself to get in the car and drive back to Boone. They are like my second family and once I was there I wanted to stay a few days.

I'm back in Boone now working hard and trying to get through the next 5 weeks of class. Between now and exams I have a million projects to complete and lots of duty to cover. I've had a hard time getting adjusted to this weather again because it was in the 80s last week and the past two days it has been 30 and snowing! Thats about it for now...I'll try to do better at updating this thing more frequently and if I don't, I know atleast 1 person will give me a hard time for not doing it!

ps- 26 days till my 21st birthday!

Long Weekends With the Pdubs...

2006-02-27T21:43:00.000-05:00

So I know...Its been a few weeks since I've updated but I've been really busy with school work unlike some people I know who get to work on websites and cool media presentations all day long. I've been given a hard time about not updating my blog so I figured it was about time.

If I tried to update you on everything that I've done within the last few weeks, it would take all day for you to read. BUT! This past weekend was a blast. I headed up to West Virginia on Friday with the PWT for a little skiing and to do a retreat with 1200 youth from North Carolina. Friday night we went skiing at Winterplace and it was great. The snow is so much different there than it is at Sugar...I felt like I was skiing on sugar but the slopes are great. I was extremely sore when I woke up Saturday though!

After skiing on Friday we did some pretty hard work on Saturday...well atleast the guys did. For some reason everytime we go on a retreat the sound and light people always think that girls can't handle unloading equipment, so we always end up helping get things off the truck and then hanging out with Merrie. After lunch on Saturday all of us girls went back to the hotel to sit in the hot tub and relax (we were all so sore from skiing) We also took a nap and just chilled out a little bit before the concert. Audio Adreniline did their concert on Saturday night and I helped sell a little bit of merchandise and took some pictures for Matt. After the concert we had to pack up Audio A and unload all of our PWT equipment. Ofcourse the girls didn't really do much but run from the crazy janitor man while we loaded tshirts in the back of Jason's truck as fast as we could so he wouldn't get mad at us. We finally got everything unpacked and ready for worship about 2 am. Sunday our band played...well attemped to...but John couldn't play anything in key or sing the songs the way they were supposed to...and I messed up the powerpoint because I couldn't keep up with John. Needless to say we were all pretty tired! After the service was over we all packed up and headed back to NC. I rode back with Matt and it was good to spend some time with him after a long and tiring weekend.

As for this week, not much going on except for some research and reading I'm doing for a big advocacy project I'm working on. I'm really just looking forward to this weekend. I get to spend some time with my Matt and my long lost bestfriend Jenni and ofcourse Craig...