A North Carolina Snowstorm

We woke up early Saturday morning to the sound of sand-like snow pattering against our window. We had been told that it was expected to snow overnight, but laughed when the estimates got as lofty as 6-10 inches. Not here. This is North Carolina.

How wrong we were. We woke up to at least 6 inches of snow, not to mention the additional 2 inches that came sporadically throughout the remainder of the day. My hometeaching companion called me to cancel our visits, the Branch President called to inform us that church would be canceled. It was only a matter of time before we got word from our school district. It eventually came. No school tomorrow, and possibly Tuesday.

Celeste and I love to laugh at the common Southerner's reaction to a little snow, although we can't really blame them. It's a foreign concept and infrequent occurrence, so I guess their reaction is appropriate, albeit humorous.

What is their reaction, you ask? Well, at the sound of snow, my principal warned me to get to the grocery store, buy eggs, milk, and bread because it'd be gone soon. I thought he was joking, but as you can see from the pictures, he was being dead serious. People freak out down here, and figure that a snowstorm is a reason to cancel everything: school, work, shopping, living, etc. Seeing as we had all day to ourselves and we weren't really going to be doing much, Celeste and I thought it would be fun to take a drive to Wal-Mart, stock up on some goodies, and then watch movies under the cover of blankets. Below are some highlights from our trip to the store and back:

A barren, empty Wal-Mart (minus the Cherry Pepsi in the corner, of course)

These are homemade gators that Celeste made so her jeans wouldn't get wet walking through the parking lot. She's so cute.

See what I mean? People go CRAZY here at the rumor of inclement weather. But we're not complaining. Growing up in Canada, Colorado, and Utah prepared us for this kind of stuff. Now all we get to do is sit back, enjoy a day off of school, and watch the panic.

I Have a Dream...

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

January in North Carolina

This week was a little crazy. But really, what week isn't a little crazy in the life of a teacher. It was the last week before the end of the term, so students were restless, anxious, and raucous as ever. In fact, I had a student fly off the handle and tell me I had a "f***ing attitude" and that I could "f*** off". As you can imagine, by the end of the week we all needed a break - which is exactly what we're getting, thanks to Martin Luther King Jr. We don't have school tomorrow, and Tuesday and Wednesday are both teacher work days, so it's a 5-day weekend from our kids. Woo hoo!

In other news, we're loving January in North Carolina. It has reached the low 60's for the last 3 days, and Friday after school we dusted off the bikes we haven't used since moving here and took a nice little ride. It was beautiful.

This week was also exciting because we booked a couple of summer trips for ourselves. We had already booked a trip to Europe in June, and this week we added a 2-week trip to Utah in early July and a Boston/New England trip in August. We figure we ought to take advantage of these paid summer vacations (and the fact that we don't have children), because after teaching and after kids, things will just never be the same.

We love you all. See you next week!

The "Top 9 of 2009"

Apologies, apologies.

It's been a while, we know. Over the last month, we were both so swamped with schoolwork and getting ready for the final tests that our students would be taking before Christmas break that our Blog had to take the backseat for a month. But now we're back, and so is the blog. We hope you enjoy our first entry of the 2010, which, just like last go around, gives a highlight reel of the previous year. Here it is, the...

TOP 9 OF 2009:
(in chronological order)

1. Our beloved Grandpa Fory passes away – January
Fory was a good man. He made my grandmother happy, and that was no small task. Grandma B. was a demanding woman, but not in a hateful way. More like if she wanted a to replace her regular staircase with a spiral one, that’s what she was going to get, and with little debate. He never complained or balked at her many requests. He did things will a jolly spirit and a kind demeanor. He never showed discouragement or frustration. In all my years with him, I never saw him angry (except maybe when he missed a “gimme” putt on the golf course).

2. USU’s Men’s Basketball team repeats as WAC Champions – February
All the pain and misery the Aggie football team causes me and the rest of the Aggie faithful seems to dissipate in the icy cold winters of Logan when the basketball resurrects our spirits and our school’s reputation. We won the regular season and the conference tournament. We lost in the 1st round of the NCAA tournament by a single point. I became good friends with our team’s MVP, Gary Wilkinson, who is currently playing professionally in Korea.

3. We are accepted to and join Teach For America – April
This has to be the top story. The decision to join Teach For America has profoundly impacted our lives and consumes most of our waking thoughts and efforts. In the thick of it now, we sometimes wonder why we’re doing this to ourselves. We are confident, however, that by the end of this 2-year service experiment, we’ll be better people and grateful we paid the price and made the sacrifice (Sounds just like a missionary, don't it?)

4. College Graduation! – May

After 7 semesters (2 spent at the City College of New York), I finally received what we in the enlightened community call a Bachelor’s Degree. And I couldn’t have received such a wonderful gift from a finer institution. I will always love and cherish my time at Utah State University. (It didn’t make the list, but Celeste and I became “True Aggies” in February.)

5. Working for the late legend Senator Edward M. Kennedy – May-June
The “Last Lion of the Senate” was already in very poor health when I came aboard the Kennedy train, which resulted in me never being able to meet the man. I did, however, get to know his office, his staff, and his history on an intimate level. The internship lasted only 5 weeks, but it was a memorable experience that I will remember forever.

6. Celeste and I move to Chicago for the summer – June-August
This one is kind of linked to #3, but was really an experience all its own. We were in Chicago going through the training program for TFA, but at 4:00 every Friday, we became patrons of one of America’s greatest cities. Chicago, which neither of us had ever visited before, was so impressive that it made it into the #3 spot on my personal Greatest Cities in America list, just behind Washington, D.C., and Charleston, SC.

7. We officially move to North Carolina – August
After a somewhat anxious and stressful 2-month period of not knowing where we would be working or living, Celeste and I finally got placed in the Vance County School District just north of Durham, NC. We quickly found a nice little apartment in a quaint little Southern town called Oxford. While somewhat sleepy now, Oxford was home to some of the most volatile race riots, civil rights campaigns, and KKK "midnight rides" in all of the American South back in the 1960’s and 1970’s.

8. Spending our Anniversary in “The City of God” - August
Speaking of Charleston, it became the destination of our 2 year anniversary vacation. Just a 4½ hour drive from our new home in Oxford, we drove down and spent a week in the city I called home for 16 months of my 24-month mission. We did see a handful of members and converts (we spent the night at Felicia Morant’s new home in Columbus, SC, and then had dinner and went to church with Sarah Buggs), I felt that I owed Celeste more of a vacation than a mission reunion. We saw it all, played on the beach, shopped the market, and visited the Angel Oak. As expected, it renewed my love for that special place.



9. Home for the Holidays – December
What would a Top 9 list be without mentioning our recent 2-week vacation to Utah, where every day was spent in the company of our most beloved family, friends, and desserts. We loved every minute of it, except our flight home. We are so lucky to have so many wonderful people in our corner. We love you all!

Honorable Mention:
-“Save Higher Education in Utah” state-wide student rally at which Jackson spoke on the steps of the State Capitol in front of 500 people and several news cameras.
-Jackson playing in and finishing 3rd in his division at the National Collegiate Handball Tournament in Minneapolis, Minnesota.


-Jackson going on a fishing trip with his Uncle Terry and Aunt Maxine to Green River, UT.

-Seeing Counting Crows, Guster, and Buddy Guy perform live in Chicago.
-Seeing an Ohio State football game and visiting Sarah, Jason, and little Lynlee in Columbus, OH.
-Jackson beginning his illustrious Middle School Football coaching career.
-Spending Thanksgiving Break at the beach in Wilmington, North Carolina.
-Learning how to play Eric Clapton’s “Tears in Heaven” on the guitar.