the end of a better day

First of all, let me say that prayer is amazing. After I blogged that horribly depressing post earlier today (sorry! haha), I got into my car and started driving to the middle school with the most miserable feeling inside. These questions and more where going through my head "How am I going to wake up every morning knowing this is where I am going?" "Am I going to get fired for being so behind and overwhelmed?" "Would that be a good thing?" (I am laughing at that now, but it seriously went through my head!)

And then I began to think about all my dear friends and even people I don't know too well who were praying for me each day. I was amazed that I have so many people supporting me, not to mention a God who is so much bigger than any lesson plan, discipline problem, or lack of tables and chairs (I had to throw that one in there!) So I did something I have never really done before. I prayed in the car... out loud :-) It really helped me realize that God is so much closer to me than I seem to think sometimes. He was in that car with me, He was with me in the classroom, was always with me, and will always be with me. What an encouraging revelation :-) I recommend praying aloud by yourself to everyone!

The rest of the day went so much better than I could have imagined. I know that the strength I was given to take charge and lead the classroom was from God and God alone.

God knows His will for me, even when in times, like now, I don't know why.

Maybe its to teach me be in constant prayer, or to teach me to place my full trust in Him.

I have always said my favorite verse was 1 Peter 5:7 "Let the Lord have all your worries and cares, for He is always thinking about you and watching everything that concerns you."

Now is my chance to really live that out!

I want to end this post with a picture I had Greg take of me Monday morning that is dedicated to my mom! Every year since Kindergarden, my mom has taken my picture in front of the door on the first day of school. Yes, even my senior year of high school (and probably my freshman year of college!) So mom, here is a picture to add to the timeline:

My First Day of School- August 24, 2009

A Classroom in Progress

I have been MIA for the past week as in service has started and a new school year begins.... tomorrow...

I've already vented, cried, and expressed my anxiety to poor Greg to last a lifetime it seems, so I won't bother my blogger friends with any of that!

Instead, here are some pictures of my brand new classroom! Cy-Creek has undergone a MASSIVE "facelift" to say the least which has on one hand given all teachers MASSIVE headaches in return, but on the other hand has also given us some state of the art facilities. Oh the price of beauty...

I am going to show some before pictures I took on Monday first..

Only 3 sewing machines.... there are now 30!

The big pile of "stuff" stored in our classroom waiting to be moved... oh how clueless I was on what was to come...

The front of the classroom- Its huge! I also have 2 ceiling mounted projectors which is amazing! The right side is the "sewing lab" and the left is the "classroom" side

And now here are the pictures my mom took yesterday as we decorated what we could!

The much improved "sewing lab"

My "chic" posters from Hobs Lobs. (hobby lobby lol) As you can see, there is much white wall space and as a design teacher... this is not going to work! I think I am going to put up some fabric stretched canvases up to add some much needed color.

My little corner. Where I am sitting should be tables for the "instruction" side of the room. Except as of today at 12:00... no tables. We might all be sitting on the floor. seriously.

These are the decorative body forms.....just kidding. I am so used to seeing construction men from this week... they might as well be accessories in the classroom!

More body forms. Mom thought this was necessary to take a picture of...

Decorating a real body form.

So this week has been a nightmare I could have never seen coming, but I am hopeful and in constant prayer that this week as well as my first year teaching is.... survivable!

UCLA Squirrels

We were shown this video at the end of one of our meetings today at Cy-Creek and it is by far one of the best "youtube" videos I've seen!

It is guaranteed to make you smile! Enjoy!

back to school!

Well, my summer is officially over and I only have one more week until the first day of school...

So as I am making the preparations I also need to do a bit of house cleaning.

Knowing that the students I teach are very internet-savvy, I googled my name just to see what would come up. My facebook picture (the profile is private) was one of the links, and the other was my blog. My blog is not set to private, so all the world including my students would have access to my posts. This could be a bad move as I don't want these kids knowing anything too personal about me! Now, my profile is very clean (I blog about coupons for goodness sake! lol) but kids will dig and dig and dig until they find something. That something could be pictures of my house to my occasional political rants which could lead to a disaster. Could you imagine if a student brought up my political views in class? And I feel very strongly that it is not my place as a teacher in a classroom to express those kinds of opinions.

So with that being said, I feel like it is neccessary to make my blog as private as possible only allowing those I approve to read it.

If you would like to stay in my approved followers list, send me your email address to: savannah.mercer@yahoo.com, and I will send you an invite to my blog!

I will officially make it private on Sunday evening so make sure you email me!

Seth and Katie's Wedding

This weekend we celebrated the marriage of two good friends, Seth and Katie. Their wedding was absolutely BEAUTIFUL, and we are so excited for them both!

Here are some pictures!

The beautiful Houston Country Club!

The groom's cake! That is Seth's dog Jonah on top!

The Straw family! Poor Zach... covered up by Frankie...



Check out the floral arrangement! Gorgeous!


The guys wanted to sneak out onto the golf course... I followed, but scolded them for breaking rules! lol

The getaway car! How fun!

My graduation present from the Mercers was a beautiful Sam Houston frame to display my diploma. I put it on top of our desk today and....oh... it looks like mine is bigger.... ;-)

Rowdy's visit

Rowdy came to visit last week for a couple days and I am sure hims had a good time! :D

But this pooch can be a little sneak at times...

It all started one morning as Greg and I sat in the front room enjoying a Chuck Swindoll message...

Rowdy decided to join us, but he brought along a little friend.
This is "pig-pig" whom I have had since my 1st birthday!



At first I thought this was cute that Rowdy somehow found "pig-pig" until Greg told me not to believe his friendliness! Rowdy has a specific strategy when it comes to stuffed animal buddies... First he is nice to them, taking them everywhere with him, making them think he is their best friend..... until he unexpectedly sneaks up on them and tears them to shreds!

So upon hearing this I rushed "pig-pig" right back to where he belongs in my sewing room!

Well, he didn't stay there for long.

Later that day as I was bringing in some clothes for a load of laundry, Rowdy followed me into the hallway and I heard him walking around as I put the clothes in the washer.

As soon as I walked back into the living room... this is what I saw...




Does that dog look a little suspicious to you??

So once again, pig pig went back into the room and I shut the door!

The next day, my mom and sister came over and like usual, we found our way into the sewing room. Rowdy followed and went straight for....



Look at that sneaky paw!

So pig-pig is now sitting high on a shelf! Where he should have been all along!

I guess Rowdy moved on, because he immediately started getting real cozy with "Greg" the bear...



Greg the bear also went onto the high shelf as we knew better this time, but Rowdy had yet to give up on his search for a "friend"

A few minutes later, we all heard some rustling in this guest room next door. So I searched around and found the little sneak!






But what was he doing under the bed?







Caught red handed!!!


But how can you stay mad for long at this cute puppy???