RIP Philip Andrew Francis

you are gone too soon. i'm so angry with you. my heart hurts. i cannot believe this shit is happening.

A great day in History

Tuesday night was such an exhilarating night at our house and across the world. I am so ecstatic to say that Barack Obama is the leader of our nation. I truly feel like this is God's plan. I always respect the person in office (although it was hard with Bush, but I knew that God had a plan), I have so much respect for him. I just feel as though his values and policies coincide so much with the values I have. I am ready for a change with our economic crisis and something needs to be done about our health care system. I also like his mission to help the middle class, while still helping those who are struggling. As someone who grew up upper middle class, I witnessed (and right now witness) my parents struggle to pay bills. Finally, someone recognizes that we need help too!

I just feel that Obama represents the true American. Many people feel as though he's not American because of his middle name, but he truly is representative of what our nation is becoming. We're becoming less divided. There are more interracial children today, than when I was a child. I just think it's beautiful and something that will help our nation become more tolerant of others. Okay, so enough of my soap box.

So, I think I'm finally at a place where I can start doing more wedding stuff. Things are slowing down at work ( I hope). Uggh...work is such a pain right now. I hate doing paper work. I just want to TEACH! Okay, that's my vent of the night.

...4 1/2 weeks till the big day. I can not believe it. Well, I got the paper to make the invites. Tonight I cleaned, did laundry and then started cutting out the belly band for the invite. I also made a mock invite. It turned out really cute. Although, I think I'm going to have Kinko's cut the text sheet because I wasn't as straight as I'd like it.

Well, Murad and I made a big decision this week....well I did, because in his own words, "Ash, I'm not romantic and shit. I don't care." Thanks, babe. I decided that we are going to see each other before the wedding. At first I didn't want to, but once I started thinking about pictures, I realized I didn't want it to be too dark. Our wedding venue has a cool entrance that I thought would be perfect for wedding party pictures. Also, our venue has a rooftop view of the Dallas skyline. So, I was thinking that Murad and I could do a private photo session up there before doing our wedding pictures. So, it will still be a special moment, just not the traditional moment that most have at their wedding.

If anyone has $60 I could really use it. When I was home two weeks ago, my mom goes, "Ash, what if it's still cold in March. What will you wear to cover your little arms?" (my mom uses the adjective "little" a lot when describing my hands and arms because she's my mom and she thinks they're cute...everything but my feet and ass because she has tiny feet and no ass...but I digress) "I don't know, mom. Do you have any suggestions?" "No." End conversation. Tonight, I was stumbling around on the knot and I came across a girl's blog. Her colors are similar to mine and she is purchasing a custom Victorian shoulder wrap shrug. I instantly fell in love! Perfect for my little arms! I'm posting a picture. Tell me what you think! I'm thinking christmas present to myself! I'm so in love!

Fall

So, I'm a little excited because we finally have fall weather here in Texas. My dogs will finally stop shedding (which means I don't have to vacuum everyday or carry a lint roller with me at all times).

Last night was Halloween. It was a nice night for me. I came home, Murad and I voted, then we went to eat some yummy food at Black Eyed Pea (who by the way is catering our wedding!). I had cornbread fried chicken, brocoli rice casserole, mac n' cheese and state fair cookies for dessert (state fair cookies are friend oreos). Yummy! I didn't eat the cookies until I got home last night. After we ate, I proceeded to start cleaning our apartment, but then Melanie and Kelan called me from the bar, so I went and met up with them while Murad went to a movie. It was a very chill Halloween. Sadly, we didn't have any trick-or-treaters. That is one of the downfalls of living in an apartment complex. So, I have to prepare to take down my Halloween decorations today.

Well, Murad and I have had some changes in our lives. Murad was in a car accident two weeks ago and it was a total loss. We started looking around for cars, but kept getting discouraged because they wanted like $2500 down and $650/mo. for a 2008 car. NOT KIDDING. However, we were able to talk most of the guys down to less, but we still weren't happy with their service.

So, last Friday, just before we were getting ready to go out of town, we go to the local Ford dealership. The guy was so friendly and helpful. He knew we were on a tight budget and he really advised us well. At first we really wanted a Ford Edge, but knew we couldn't afford it. Then we thought maybe a Ford Escape, but the guy told us we'd be disappointed because the Edge (a crossover) drives like a car and the Escape is more like an SUV. So, he points us to a sedan called a Ford Fusion. We fell in love with it. It is the perfect car for Murad! It's so nice and roomy, so when we take the dogs in it, they can lounge around. The best part is that it is a brand new car! 2009 Ford Fusion! We didn't put any money down and his payments are low! So, anyways, buy a new car right now. Car companies are hurting badly right now. We were only the 2nd sale of the day at noon. And the only reason they accepted our offer was because they were hurting to sell a car that day.

We then proceeded to drive the car to Kansas. We stopped at my parents' house Friday night. My grandmother was there with all her crazy dogs, so it was nice to see her. Then on Saturday we headed to Meade to see Abby. My has she grown so much. Her two front teeth are finally in and she was wiggling another tooth while we were there (stacie texted me after we left and said Abby pulled it out). She is definitely our little big girl. I'm so excited to finally be her stepmom in less than five months.

Five months...crazy! I'm going to order my paper soon and start making my invitations. I already bought the backing, and the belly band paper. I just need the paper for the text, which is also the same paper I'm using for the programs, so I might as well order it all at once. Oh, and I also need to buy paper for the maps. Geez, tons to do!

So, maybe it's because one of my best friends at work is pregnant, but I've been having baby fever lately. Which is so not me. I always tell people that Murad and I are waiting a long time to have a baby. Now, I just really can not wait to be a mom. Jodi, my friend, is so beautiful as a pregnant woman and I know she and Andrew will be wonderful parents. I just want that so badly for Murad and me. I know it's not our time and the Lord will bless us when it's the right time. Murad last night was like, "Ash, we're not even married yet!" Yeah, I kind of forgot about that. That should be the first thing on our list. Murad has been really sweet about the whole baby thing though. He was like, "I will love any child God blesses us with." And he will. He will be the best parent if the baby is ours, adopted, developmentally disabled, etc. He already is a great father to Abby and of course to Maya and Sampson!

We did decide to start a little sooner on trying for kids. Originally we were going to wait four or five years, but I think we're going to start trying in two or three years. If we do that it means I'll still have to work because Murad will be in grad school and his tiny living stipend will not cover a growing family. However, I think I can do it. I've got some ideas in my head. One is still teach, but not volunteer for everything under the sun. Another is work as an elementary principal. That may be a stressful job for a first time mom and principal. And my other idea is teach at a community college. I think that could be a lot fun too. We'll see. I know the Lord will point us in the right direction as far as family, finances and career are concerned.

Well, this is a really long blog. I'm going to stop right here (I really should when a Pulitzer prize for this fine writing).

A favorite forward!

A little teacher humor and a true story... people seriously need to learn to decipher the English Language....especially if they are going to create names for their children.

This is priceless!!! Suppose a new student enrolls in your school. Her name is Le-a How would you pronounce the child's name?
Leah? NO
Lee-A? NOPE
Lay-a? NO
Lei? Guess Again.
It's pronounced 'Ledasha'

Oh, yes...you read it right. The dash is not silent.
This child attends a school in Livingston Parish, Louisiana.
Her mother is irate because so many faculty & staff are getting her name wrong. So, if you see something like this come across your desk, remember the mother's statement, "The dash don't be silent."

thankful

last night Murad called me in a panic. "Babe, I was in a car accident." He was really worried and upset. I mean who isn't when they've just been in a wreck. He was really upset because it was his fault. "Babe, I feel like such a failure." He's had a hard month. We both have and this is just one more thing that we don't need. However, I am thankful that he was okay. It could've been so much worse. I'm so thankful that he was able to call me and not the police officer or paramedic. It made all my problems so trivial. I guess things like this happen to put things in perspective. I don't know what will happen in the next couple of days (especially financially), but I'm so thankful I'm here to share the hard time with him.

Miserable

I've been thinking a lot lately about my spiritual gifts. I need to get a lot more involved in church, but I feel like I have no time. Thinking about this made me reexamine my career. This has been the worst year by far. I have work I should be doing right now, but I thought I better clear my head before I begin. I know the fall is always crazy, but seriously IT SUCKS! I'm seriously questioning whether or not I can stay in this profession. I just need some sort of reality check. Someone needs to say one of two things to me:
1. "Ashlea, you're an amazing teacher and you would be silly to leave this rewarding profession. Things WILL get better."
2. "Ashlea, you have so many other talents. Why aren't in another profession that can offer you so much more growth"

The question is, what can I do besides teach? I love teaching, but I do not love all the administrative stuff I have to do. Some of it is mandated by the state of Texas, so I can't not do it. I'm also questioning why I'm going to school to be an administrator. That would be such a stressful job. Even if I was an elementary school principal (which is what I would do), it would be stressful.

I don't know if I will leave the teaching profession, but it just felt good to get that off my chest. I just want things to get better. I want there to be a light at the end of this dark tunnel.

Texas State Fair

This is truly one of my favorite times of year and a great part about living in Dallas. Murad and I have had a rough couple of weeks at school and work, and we were able to set aside our worries and attend the Texas State Fair. We love the overpriced food and fried delicacies. We promptly arrived and grabbed hamburgers and something to drink. We then made our way around the fair, stopping to see all the attractions. We then found Fried Hostess Twinkies. We hadn't had those so we ordered them. It was like a sugar high. Delicious fried batter with sponge cake and cream inside....yummy! We then found my favorite....fried oreos! I could eat those every day! We also ate cotton candy and the classic funnel cake. Here are some of the other fried foods you can eat at the Texas State Fair:

fried peanut butter jelly sandwich

fried ice cream sundae

fried guacomole bites

fried cheesecake

fried coca-cola

chicken fried bacon

those are just some of the foods available....

We then made our way to the Latin American displays in Hall of State. We found the Dominican Republic display and talked to the couple running it for a while. The wife is from Santo Domingo, which is where Murad's grandmother grew up. It was fun to learn more about his heritage and answer some of the questions we both have. We're keeping our fingers crossed that we will be able to go to the Dominican Republic for our honeymoon in August!

Lastly, we made our way to the Auto show. We picked out all the new cars and the ones we're going to buy. Murad picked the Dodge Charger and I picked the Dodge Caliber. Not that we can afford to buy new cars, but we can dream, right?

Well, I've attached some pics. Enjoy!