Blessings!

What a week of blessings this has been! I have been in professional development all week long, and most teachers would say Yuck! But, I have to say, the ones I have been in have been so touching and motivating. I am so blessed to be working in a school district that is so in need of good teachers who have a heart for the kids that go to the schools there. I found out some statistics this week from the district and they are overwhelming. Sad, sad, sad stories of dropouts, failures, and other things that are heartbreaking. I am so glad to be a part of this district who is yearning to grow and I'm so excited about going back to the little boys and girls who need me so much. The most touching thing that I heard/saw this week was at new teacher orientation. They put us on a school bus (with no air) and took us to the neighborhoods where our students come from. Now, I've worked in Jackson schools and have seen some bad things. However, they did not even come close to what I saw in Canton. Some of the living conditions are absolutely heartbreaking and it opened my eyes and made me realized how INCREDIBLY blessed I am. Now, after experiencing this week, I'm sure of where my calling is!

Speaking of blessings, I've posted the following video. The youth drama team at our church did this last Sunday and it had me in tears. Watch first, and I'll explain my take on it:



As I watched this, I was reminded of the past few months I've had. Some of you know what I'm talking about. For others who don't, just trust me when I say that it's been no fun. How good Jesus is that he holds back all of the things that Satan uses to bring us down. I'm so thankful to have such a loving God who knows just when to come to my rescue. Even if I have to fall flat on my face to get it. I'm so excited about this year and all of the blessings that I know I will receieve. I'm going to have a class blog, but I don't have it completely set up yet. When I get it, I'll let everyone know! Have a great weekend!

Anniversaries and Broken Internets

Have you ever not been able to have your internet for days? It's no fun - especially when you're not on a trip or anything, you're in your own house, in front of the computer! For ONE WHOLE WEEK, our internet hasn't worked. And, for some reason, our internet provider (which shall remain nameless) didn't really care that it was broken and never showed up to fix it when they said they would. FINALLY, today we got it back! And you know what? It wasn't even their fault! Our virus protection somehow got messed with and blocked everything. So, I guess that's what I get for complaining. Anyway, it was no fun having to go to Jim's school to check my email, etc. But, now we're good!

Our one year anniversary was Monday! I can't believe it has already been a year. It has been SO WONDERFUL, and Jim is a saint - that's all I can say. Since he puts up with me on a daily basis, he will definitely have many jewels in his crown. Along with our internet being messed up, our camera also died - right before we were about to take our first anniversary picture! I'm a little upset that I have no pictures to share. We went to Char, ate our wedding cake (which was still VERY good), and watched our wedding - I've watched it several times, but you have to do it on your anniversary too, right? Since I have no anniversary pictures, I want to give the website for our wedding pictures (which I LOVE). Just click here and type in Tolbert-Peacock wedding under "Find your photos" and they should appear. You might have to scroll through a few other ones, but they're there! Please leave a comment and let me know what you think of them!

New and Exciting Things (and yes, Jenny, I'm finally updating)

I was informed by my sweet, sweet friend Jenny that she has been disappointed that, everytime she checks my blog, she finds nothing new. Well, here it is! The past month since I last blogged has been busy and somewhat of a roller coaster! We've been to the beach, visiting family, etc. Also, I had decided that I was going to try to switch careers for a year to evaluate if teaching is for me. So, for a couple of weeks, I set out on a mission to find a new job. After several weird things happening and doors shutting, I decided that God obviously didn't want me to do that. I was almost positive that He was telling me to branch out into other fields! Here was the catch - I never knew where to go or exactly what I wanted to do. I seriously applied to 30 jobs and I just couldn't understand why I wasn't hearing things back or why I wasn't getting any jobs! Well, my mom (you can always count on mom) lovingly explained to me why - in somewhat of a harsh voice, because she knew I wasn't listening. She simply said, "You have nothing to offer these people!" And that's when it hit me. I don't! The business world is not concerned with elementary teachers. They want people who can do business. Well, obviously, I can't! That's when I decided that it was MY will to do something else instead of HIS will. It's so hard to stomach the moment we realize OUR will isn't always HIS will. So, I decided to do some reading, soul-searching and praying hard - I asked specifically that if I was supposed to teach, then He would put this overwhelming passion for teaching back into my life (I have been lacking that for a little while). And before I knew it, I was so ready to jump back in full-force! But, I knew that I needed to go back to the inner-city kids. Some people reading this are probably going, "What? Are you crazy?" And, yes, I probably am. But, I know that's where my heart is. When I worked with them a few years ago, I felt as though my cup was so full. Lately, I've been feeling half-empty and I feel like God is putting me back there to do what he orginally wanted me to do. And I want to be where He wants me - that's where amazing things happen! I am so pumped about this year. I will be working at a great elementary school in Canton with either K or 1st grade. I want to re-vamp everything and do it as if I'm completely starting brand new. I'm up for a challenge and I'm convinced that this year is going to be wonderful! So, I ask that you pray for me as I start this new journey. Since I know I'm in God's perfect hands, I can do anything!

Jim's Dream Come True - Tiger Tour 2008

Because Jim is an LSU alum, he is a die-hard fan. One of his student's parents invited us to go to the LSU Tiger Tour 2008 last night here in Jackson. It was a banquet with coaches, the mascot, the National Championship trophy, etc. It was very fun, and not being a big LSU fan myself, it made me appreciate it a little more. Here are a few higlights:


Jim with the National Championship trophy - he wanted to kiss it, but we decided it wouldn't be a very appropriate thing to do since we were at the Jackson Country Club.


Us with Mike, the mascot.


Football coach, Les Miles, giving Jim his autograph.

I have been told that since I am married to a die-hard LSU fan, I must also become one. So, I guess I'll say (not so loudly) Geaux Tigers!

We're Back!

We're back from Disney World! It was such a great, great trip. We were gone for 8 days and spent 5 of those at Disney. We felt like little kids! Disney is a great place for all ages, I think. There were tons of older (like 60+) couples there by themselves enjoying all of the fun! Yes, we were there during Gay Days 2008 (I apologize if I offend anyone reading this). However, although we saw some interesting sites, it wasn't bad and we hardly saw any at all. We did come to one conclusion: one requistion for our kids to be able to go one day is that they WILL have to be able to walk. We saw little tiny babies there in the Florida heat. They looked as if they were about to die in their stroller (I'm sure I looked the same - without the stroller, of course). We definitely want to take our kids one day, but it was so fun with just the two of us. No agendas, no plans - it was great! Here are a few pictures to highlight our wonderful trip!


Of course, Cinderella's castle




Mickey, Minnie, and Dale entertaining us while waiting for Epcot to open



We were bored in a store - yes, that's Buzz Lightyear on my head and some sort of Mickey concoction on Jim's head


We ate at a restaurant called 50's Prime Time Cafe - great place! This was our table/booth. Every place to sit resembled a kitchen from the 50's era and a TV playing old TV shows in black and white. We loved it!


Because we were first in line for the Rockin' Roller Coaster one morning, we got these VIP tickets to this:

Fantasmic! THE BEST show at Disney! We got to sit in a VIP section of about 20 people in a 7,000 seat theatre (full, of course) and we got free coke! It was exciting because we never win anything.


Ok, this is in Animal Kingdom. It took me a minute to figure out what it was, but, alas, it is a frog. This frog was bigger than my face and I am not kidding. I had to take a picture of it because it was probably THE most disgusting thing I have ever seen!

As you can see, we had a great time! I have MANY more pictures, but it would take about 3 blog pages to post them all. We are glad to be back and can't wait to go again!

One Great Birthday! (Another long one, but worth it!)

Yesterday, I entered the "Quarter-century Club" (as one of my friends called it). It was such a wonderful birthday! First, Jim woke me up at 5:30 - yes you heard me right, 5:30 (we're still doing things in school time). He cooked breakfast and brought me my present. I got my "big" present last week. I got to go to O, Susanna (a really great store, but I cannot afford it outside of my birthday :)) to get a makeover and get all new makeup. Great present! And, yesterday, he got me a wallet I've been wanting. But, the best part, to me, was the card he got me. Let me give you a run-down of our story. We met at church and were pretty good friends for a long time. We started dating and in three months were engaged. Then, we were engaged for 5 months and got married. All of that in 8 months! I know it's fast, but hey - when ya know, ya know! I'm going to write what the card said, because it is TRULY our story, very neat. Here we go:

(First page)
Once there was this guy.
A nice guy, really.
And he met this girl.
An incredible girl - truly amazing.
So naturally the guy falls
head over heels in love with her,
and pretty soon they're picking out
china patterns and rings
and there's a wedding
and the starry-eyed couple
rides off into what will surely
be a rosy future.

(Second Page)
Okay, so now some time has passed
and the guy is living in that future.
He's still married to this girl,
but now their life includes a lot of stuff-
appliances and bills and loads of laundry
and home repair projects.
But between all the to-dos and have-tos
there are these moments
when the guy stops for a minute
and looks around him.

(Third Page)
He looks at his wife,
who is still truly amazing.
He looks at their life together,
all the ways and different
directions it's grown.
He looks at all
the responsibilities he's got,
and he thinks to himself,
"So, this is my life."
And then he thinks,
I am one lucky guy."
Happy Birthday, I love you.

(Followed by a sweet note).

I sat there and cried because how perfect is that card for us! From the "pretty soon" part to all of the responsibilities we now have (we just bought a house). I love this card. I will keep it forever. It was my favorite thing from yesterday. He's so thoughtful!

I went to eat lunch at Basil's (so good) with my cousin Melanie and then ran several fun errands because it was my birthday and I deserved to spend some money, right?Then, we went to Julep to eat dinner and watched several episodes of our favorite show, Family Guy. I know it's trashy - it's our guilty pleasure. It was a great day. My family comes tonight for another birthday party! I love birthdays!


This is us before we went to eat. Yes, I know it's off-centered. We were using the self-timer and couldn't ever get it right, so we finally just chose this one.

We're going to Disney tomorrow - so I won't post until we get back. But, I'm taking LOTS of pictures and will have lots of fun stories to tell, I'm sure (we will be there during Gay and Lesbian Pride week - not planned, I promise!). Have a wonderful week!

Side Note..

I was watching "Regis and Kelly" (which I haven't been able to watch in quite some time), and I was thinking about my previous post. I'm afraid I made my house sound like a complete pig sty (spelling?). It wasn't at all, I just wanted to clean extra, extra good. Please don't think we're filthy! Thanks...