Reflections.

2011

We spent last New Year’s with Mike’s niece and nephew (who are now my niece and nephew, too). It was a very low-key, sweet time. 

Aaliyah



JD



I can’t  believe the year is over! So many wonderful things have happened this year. I can’t even explain how blessed I have been throughout the year. At the start of 2011, I was a graduate student, living in Louisiana, dating a Yankee.  Now as 2011 rolls to a close, I am a married, full-time teacher living in Pennsylvania. I started the year job hunting in Louisiana, and I am finishing the year house hunting in Pennsylvania. Wow. God is good and faithful!

January 2011: I got engaged to the man of my dreams. Mike is absolutely the most loving, caring, comforting man I ever dated. He is exciting, spontaneous, and passionate. I cannot imagine that I would be happier with anyone else in the world as my husband.

May 2011: I graduated with a Master of Arts in Teaching degree from LSU. After six years of hard work, I finished my last LSU degree with a 4.0. LSU was one of the best things to happen in my life. I made some wonderful friends and spent the whole six years growing mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

Me and Molly, one of my BFFs

June 2011: I spent the month of June at my favorite place in the entire world. King’s Camp is truly the most amazing place I have ever been. The Spirit, the people, the atmosphere, the love, the fellowship. It is all more than you could ever expect from one place. Unfortunately, I left camp this year with the knowledge that I would not likely be an employee of camp again in the near future. It broke my heart to leave, but I can only imagine that God has an even bigger season in store for camp, now that my season there is over.

July 2011: I moved to PA. This has been such a huge change. I absolutely love being here, where my sweet husband grew up. We are looking so forward to starting our family here. I was pretty skeptical at first, but PA is growing on me. As I continue to adjust, I am moving into a place where I have two homes: PA and LA. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to leave either one behind now.

August 2011: I got a job. I don’t know who was more excited about this: me, Mike, or Mom and Dad. When I took the job with The Cambridge School, I had no idea how perfect it would be. During the interview and training, the school seemed great. Now that I have been there for a semester, I can say that it is the perfect school for me. I love the students so much, and the faculty has been so wonderful welcoming me into the Cambridge family.

October 2011: I got married. Okay, this was obviously the #1 highlight of the year. Mike and I are so happy. We’ve been married for a whole two months now. It has been wonderful. Of course, it has been an adjustment to be so intimately connected to someone. It was scary and fun all at the same time. Marriage has been so perfectly phenomenal so far, and I can’t wait to spend the rest of our lives getting better at it!

As you can probably imagine from everything that happened in 2011, I have big expectation for 2012. I expect things to be more exciting and wonderful. Here’s to 2012!

Watson Version

Watson Christmas has now come and gone as well. Though the family actually celebrated on Christmas Day while we were in Louisiana, we had everyone at our house last night to exchange gifts and some delicious desserts. It was a blast.

I spent most of the day making a variety of goodies for everyone. Here are my creations:

Christmas Tree Brownies

Oreo Truffles & Reindeer Cookies

Santa's Surprise Cookies

White Cake, White Icing

Peppermint Punch

Then everyone came over to open their gifts. Mike and I got some great new additions to our kitchen from Jim & Co. Everyone else seemed to love the gifts we chose. Aaliyah loved her little huskie for her American Girl doll. JD would not stop playing with his new Hess truck and car. Grandmom and Grandpop LOVED their PSU tent from us, Mom & Dad Watson, and Jen. Probably the two highlights were Mom and Dad Watson’s gifts. Mom Watson was just complaining about not having an up-to-date calendar with pictures a couple of days ago when Mrs. Chris got a new one. She was a little embarrassed but SUPER excited when she opened her own new one. Dad Watson has been looking high and low for his “missing” hole-in-one score card. Little did he know (until he opened it), we had it framed in a shadow box, and we ordered a flag from the golf course to go with it. We were so glad everyone liked their gifts!

 

Back track a little….

Mom Watson took Jen, Aaliyah and I to NYC to see the Rockettes. It was a phenomenal trip! We went to the huge toys-r-us, the M&M store, had dinner, and saw the Empire State building and the tree in Rockefeller Center. I had an absolute blast! Here are some photos:

Sullivan Version

Christmas was absolutely wonderful in the Watson household! As a result, there will be two parts to this post: a Sullivan version and a Watson version.

Mike and I made the long drive to Louisiana and back. If 18 hours in a packed car aren’t a test to you marriage, I don’t know what would be. Nevertheless, we are home after a great trip, and we are still married.

These sweet ornaments are compliments of the Martin family.

The Martins and these ornaments are near and dear to my heart.

Our visit to Louisiana was a very short one, and it was extremely hard to get in a visit with everyone. Of course, we visited with Mom, Dad, Shasta, and Zeke.  Mike and I got to spend a wonderful evening of shopping with Mom to finish up some Christmas shopping. We had a great Mexican dinner with Dad and Zeke, and a fabulous lunch at Jehovah Java with Mom and Shasta. We got in a few others too though.

On Christmas Adam (which obviously comes the day before Christmas Eve), we exchanged gifts and fellowship with Aunt Cynthia & Co. It was so nice to have a visit that didn’t require me in a big white dress, Mike in a tux, and everyone rushing to say hello before the next thing on the agenda. Aunt Cynthia, Landon, Ashley, and Bubba all seem to be doing great. Mousey was a little ill, but she was still a joy! (Hope you’re feeling better, Mouse!) Now, sweet Paige and Reagan. Oh my goodness. Those girls (daughters of Bubba and Mousey) are the most precious girls I have ever been around. I told Bubba that I’ll have 100 daughters if I they’ll come out like his!

Paige had such a wonderful imagination playing with Zeke's old cars. I wish I could have taken a video.

Then we had some little visits with Nana. We spent the day with her on Thursday, as well as the evening on Friday. I was so glad we got to spend some relaxed time with her. It was nice to catch up.

Nana and Auntie Ruthie

On Christmas day, we were able to visit with more of Mom’s family. Papaw, Granny, and Aunts Ruthie, Debra, Lulu, and Carla and their families were all present for more food, fellowship and presents. It was so great to see everyone. I think I forget how much I miss them sometimes.

Papaw with his new Philadelphia mug.

Mike and I also really enjoyed getting to visit with Aunt Carla and her family for a little bit on Christmas Eve and Christmas day. We are still praying and believing in Christ for a full healing miracle in her life. In Jesus name, disease has no hold on her.

Ok. That was a short overview of things that happened on our little vacation. I just don’t know how much more I can say. I got to see so many friends from LP that made me feel so special, and it was really wonderful to experience it all with my husband. JOY…Lake Providence, friends, family, Mike Watson.

I thought this may be a funny fact to leave you with: I got 4 pairs of shoes for Christmas (and a receipt for one that is still in the mail).

More to come about our Watson Version of Christmas………..

The Holidays.

Merry Christmas. Happy Holidays.

Now that I no longer live in the Bible belt of the conservative, southern states, I have seen “Happy Holidays” from a new light. Teaching at a school with a large Jewish population (students and teachers) has made me realize that people didn’t just start saying “Happy Holidays” to be politically correct. It is a form of respect and understanding.

One of my students practices extremely orthodox Jewish beliefs. His mother did not want him exposed to Christmas at school. She said that religion is not a school matter; it is a home matter. Despite my very conservative, Christian views, I agree with her point of view. If my child was the student of a Jewish teacher, I would not want her to expose him/her to the traditions of Hanukkah before I explained religious differences in my home. It is the job of the parents to raise and direct their children in the way of the Lord.

I’m sure many of you are thinking that, as a Christian, I should want to show my students the love of the Lord, no matter what their beliefs. That is true, and it is needed in more places in this world that only school. I am 100% dedicated to glorifying God in my career. However, I think that I can show my faith in the one true God without shoving Christmas trees, red bows, and reindeer down my students’ throats. I think it is more important to show them the love, compassion, and faithfulness that the Father intended for us to exhibit as His children and heirs to the throne.

It’s not about “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Holidays.” It’s about a JOY that Jesus brings that shines through the holidays, the regular days, and all the time.  

Life.

Thanksgiving came and went with no post. I thought about writing some long, detailed explanations of the many things for which I am thankful this year. The truth is, if you’re enjoying life along the way (which has been my focus in this blog), everything is a blessing. Instead of a list of all those blessings, I will give you an update on what is going on in the Watson household.

I have jumped into a new class. The Cambridge School has a wonderful 4^th grade teacher who is going out on maternity leave in January. I have been chosen to try to fill her shoes. I am extremely excited to take on the challenge, but I am also nervous. As I said, Mary is a fantastic teacher, and I absolutely do not want her students to be dealt a disservice by inheriting me in her absence. Pray that God leads me in attitude, patience, creativity, and heart over the next few months as I learn the 4^th grade routines and become an integral part in executing them.

In other Cambridge news, my very favorite student is planning to transition into a new school soon. Keep my heart in your prayers, because I am seriously going to miss this kid.

In addition to some new beginnings at school, Mike and I are planning to open some new doors in our marriage. We are looking into purchasing a home within the next three or so months. Though we love our little rental condo, we think it is more logical in the long run for us to go ahead and buy now. Of course, it has made us much more aware of our future as a couple. We have had to already think about a school district for our children who do not exist yet. It’s kind of weird, but also very exciting. We are trusting God to open the door to the right home and provide stepping stones for us to follow to that door. So far, He has provided us with an excellent realtor and loan officer, who have both been very involved, understanding, and helpful.

It has been a while since I shared a prayer request with you, so I’ll toss another one in the mix of what I already wrote. I mentioned this adventure before, but just to remind you, my friends Lesley and Camille are teaching English in China this year. They graduated with me (twice) from LSU, and they are absolutely beautiful women inside and out. Please check out their blogs (by clicking their names above) and prayerfully support their journey in China.

Oh yeah, and Christmas is soon. That means that snow is probably coming soon…but we are not going to talk about that just yet. Instead, I’ll share some pictures of our decorations! We have our first Watson tree and our little condo is full of Christmas cheer.

This is our sweet Christmas tree. It was a unanimous #1...just like my LSU tigers!

I found this guy at the Christmas Store and fell in love.

My new Grandmom gave me this last summer. Now, I need to make cookies!

My gift wrapping scheme.

LOVE this wreath! It took me 3 tries, but it was so worth it!

 

I made these from burlap and cardstock, and I think they are adorable.

The wreath over our mantle. I'm less proud of it, but Mike loves it. He keeps saying, "Be merry" really randomly.

Full shot of the mantle, including our sweet reindeer stocking holders. We have ordered stockings from Etsy, but they have not come in, which is quite frustrating.

Bottom line: we're ready for Christmas! Oh, and GEAUX TIGERS! 13-0...sweet!