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...

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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.

Thanksgiving in Wilmington, NC

This past week has been quite a change from the normal routine, it being Thanksgiving and all. We were able to finish teaching on Tuesday, had Wednesday as a work day to catch up on things, and then we headed to Wilmington, NC just to get away for the holiday.

It was an unusual Thanksgiving, but an enjoyable one nonetheless. Celeste and I were about 3,000 miles and a $500 plane ticket away from our nearest family, so we decided to play it conservative and sit this one out on our own.

We woke up early Thanksgiving morning and went for a jog. We then went to the Wilmington disc golf course and played a little Frisbee golf, which was a lot of fun. From there we hit the beach and basked in the sunlight and in the 70-degree weather. Sure, we lost our Frisbee in the ocean after only 2 minutes of tossing it around, but it was still a lot of fun.

When we originally planned this little vacation, we had planned on eating our Thanksgiving dinner at a local restaurant, but one of our fellow Teach For America corps members happens to be from Wilmington, and when she found out that we were going to be there on vacation, she insisted that we have dinner with her and her family. Dinner was nice. It was a little fancier than we were used to. In place of corn on the cob there were stuffed mushrooms. In place of soda there was wine. But all in all it was a wonderful dinner and very satisfying to spend the evening with someone we knew, and to be surrounded by people that quickly became friends before the evening’s end.

So in the end, we enjoyed our time together in Wilmington. It wasn't like being home for the holidays, but we'll be there soon enough! In the meantime, enjoy these photos:

Disc golfing. On this hole we had to throw our frisbee while in mid-air. Result: awesome pictures.

Lost our frisbee in the ocean after only 2 minutes or so. I tried to get it back, but was unsuccessful.

Thanksgiving Day 2009

Orton Plantation near Wilmington

On the ferry to Bald Head Island, where the only legal transportation is in the form of golf carts and bicycles.

At the beach at Bald Head Island.

Getting around on Bald Head Island. Cute, huh?

"Old Baldy" the oldest standing lighthouse in North Carolina.

The Bridge to Wilmington, NC

Moore's Creek Bridge, the site of a pivotal Revolutionary War battle. It included soap, grease, kilts, bagpipes, trickery, and several men drowning in the creek.

Me and the bridge...and a "cool guy" pose.

The Week in Review

MONDAY

The phone rang.

It was about 6 p.m. The name on the caller ID was none other than my long-time friend and current rock 'n roller Evan Coulombe. I was expecting to hear from him this week, because he had told me that he and his band that he plays for (Joshua James and the Great North Platte) would be stopping in Chapel Hill on their east coast tour on November the 6th. Naturally, I assumed this was a confirmation call. And the answer would be "yes". Celeste and I could hardly wait to see Evan and hang out on a Friday night in Chapel Hill.

Evan: "Hey Jack, did you get my message?"

Me: "No. Was it about the show on Friday?"

Evan: "Uh...Friday? Did I say Friday?"

Me: "You most definitely said Friday. November 6th. Let me pull up the message and double check. Where are you right now?"

Evan: "Chapel Hill. We're playing tonight."

Me: (not available)

I've omitted the rest of the conversation for profanity's sake, but you can see where I'm going with this. Evan made a terrible scheduling error, leaving Celeste and I in a tight spot on a school night. The week had just begun. We were already tired, and Chapel Hill is a 45 minute drive from our apartment. To make matters worse, his band didn't start their set until 10:30. But heck, what are friends for?

So yes, this week started off with me getting 3 hours of sleep after going to a concert on a school night. Celeste elected not to join me as she requires a little more sleep than I do. She's a smart girl. But even though it was logically stupid for me to do what I did, it was totally worth it. It was great to see Evan again (it had been since my brother Clay's wedding in May) and the band played a great show.

Evan's the guy on the right, rocking out like a mad man.

TUESDAY

Aside from being really tired, it was a normal day of work for both of us ("normal" being a relative term).

WEDNESDAY

Last football game of the season for the Henderson Middle School Rams. Last year we went undefeated and became Conference Champs. This year we barely broke .500. But break it we did, and after struggling pretty much from day 1, our boys pulled out a solid 22-8 victory over the Jaguars of Cedar Creek Middle School.


Coaching has been a great experience. It allowed me to get to know my students better, throw the football around on a near-daily basis, and perhaps best of all, coaching has given me an added dose of "street cred" around the school, with both students and teachers. It's amazing the added amount of respect you get when you invest yourself into the lives of the kids OUTside the classroom.

THURSDAY

Every Thursday is like a mini-holiday. We call it "Friday Eve". It's a pretty big deal. Aside from being the day before the end of the week, it also means that our favorite TV shows are on (30 Rock and Community). This Thursday was a very enjoyable one.

In the classroom, things didn't go as well. I gave a test on post-Revolutionary America that my kids didn't do very well on, and Celeste gave her kids a lab on fossils, but they didn't seem to appreciate the material the way she had hoped. Sometimes (a lot of times, actually), our efforts fall on deaf ears and callous hearts. Sometimes it makes us wonder why we even try. Then we realize that the problem will grow even worse if someone's not trying, so just pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and try again the next day.

FRIDAY

We may have been as anxious as our kids were for the week to end (not uncommon among teachers). We went on a date and had dinner by candlelight at a Southern staple: the Cracker Barrell. It was delicious. We then went to the Northern Vance (Celeste's school) vs. Southern Vance football game. Northern got demolished and we left at halftime. I think their record for the season was 1-10.

We thought we were going to continue our date at home, where we had planned to watch the recently rented "Wall-E". I fell asleep 10 minutes into the movie. Celeste was down 4 minutes later.

SATURDAY

Aside from the usual Satruday activities (cleaning, laundry, etc.), we played tennis in the hot sun and enjoyed a day of 70-degree weather. We also watched many of my favorite college football teams bite the dust.

SUNDAY
(ALMOST THERE)

Today was our Primary Progam at church. Celeste teaches the Valiant kids (which in our small branch is any kid over the age of 7), and I'm the pianist, so we were both in the program. Celeste nailed her lines and I wowed the crowed with my primary s0ngs. The Branch President actually had to ask the congregation to stop throwing flowers on stage.

And now here we are, sitting comfortably in our Oxford apartment. It's 75 degrees outside, and we'll probably go for a walk later. For now we're waiting for dinner and trying to get a little extra school work done before the week begins anew.

Goodbye October!

This past week has really reminded us why we chose to live in North Carolina... it was 78 degrees on Halloween. While not every day has been so beautiful, on Saturday night we ate dinner outside and marveled at the stark contrast between a NC Halloween and a UT Halloween. In my childhood it was a rare occasion when you could actually trick or treat with your costume on and not have to cover it up with a snow suit.

In other news, this week has been great simply because Friday was our first full teacher workday after school started. Now most people I know dismiss teacher work days as a day for teachers to slack off, for first year teachers this is not the case. Jackson and I worked at least 8 hours on Friday, but we didn't have to be on our feet all day or use our tired voices. Most of the work was stuff that we just can't keep up with on a day to day basis. Ironically, neither of us had enough time on Friday to plan for Monday's lessons, but it was nice to catch up on some other important work.

We hope that all of you had a happy and safe Halloween and look forward to seeing any of your costume photos that you would like to send our way!