just randa

I hope that you recognize where the title of this post comes from, or we may not be able to be friends.  (only kind of kidding)

Marriage may be what brings us together, but it most definitely is what separates the men from the women.

Allow me to explain...
This morning I had an interesting conversation with my dear friend Kandy via text message.  The conversation somehow turned to the topic of getting married and being single.  We discussed the default answer to the question "why are you still single?" (which is a question I despise with every ounce of my being, in case you were wondering)  We determined that the dude default answer is "I'm never getting married" and the chick default answer is "I am just waiting for the right guy to come along".  Is there anything wrong with both of these answers...not really, but why do they differ so much?
My answer to the why do they differ question was girls say they are waiting for the right guy because they basically have been planning their wedding since they were 5 and are determined that they are going to get married so they can plan the wedding of their dreams.  They are not ready to give up that dream!  They refuse to let all those slumber parties that you spent hours looking through Bride Magazine be wasted.  Or as it is today, they refuse to let all those perfectly good pins on their secret wedding board go unused!  The question was also posed during this discussion, "what if the girl never gets married?"  Which I see as a valid question and the answer was "she was still looking for Mr. Right..." (there is much truth in that).

Now the boys/gentlemen/dudes (which ever you prefer)...
Why is their default answer "I'm never getting married"?!  Do they give up that easily?  I think not, I have meet many a guy that is not willing to give up on ANYTHING that easily.  Is it just easier to tell themselves they aren't getting married and go about their marry way?  Do they even consider other responses?  Is it easier to say that than to appear to be a "girly man"?  What if a girl comes along and "changes their mind"?  Is she really changing his mind or is she changing what he verbalizes?  Do guys actually think about their weddings? (doubt it, but stranger things have happened).  Boys are just a strange set of humans...

I feel like I just did a bunch of rambling.  I apologize for that.  If you are a dude and are reading this, help a sister out!  Help me understand(isn)...I can't promise that I will fully understand, but you can explain it anyway.

The title of this post is pretty straight forward...shopping and dating.  There is no need to beat around the bush here, let's just get straight to the point shall we.

Today I went shopping.  I had two specific things in mind that I "had" to have to complete two separate outfits.  These two items were a navy blue shirt and a black and white polka dot shirt, seems simple enough.  So my first stop was GAP outlet...surely they will have both of these items and I can go home and do nothing for the rest of the night.  As I browse through the store, I come across about 7 different types of navy blue shirts.  Which one is going to work best with the outfit I have picked out?  Which one will I wear again?  Decisions, decisions, decisions... (side note:  I don't do well with decisions)  I finally choose a soft cotton one that has a modest neckline (don't want to get too crazy) and seems to be long enough (because nothing is worse than a shirt that is too short...ugh!).  Polka dot shirt was a no go at GAP so on to the next store I go...Macy's.  I stroll around Macy's for a good hour looking at the exact same things 27 times.  I tried on a few items, they weren't polka dot, but I thought they could work.  I was wrong.  I considered buying a new purse, because YOLO (yes I said it), but I resisted.  No polka dot shirt was to be found, so I took a nice leisurely stroll through the shoes.  I spotted the perfect pair...a pair of denim-esq flats with white stars on them.  I had to have them.  They would go perfectly with the outfit that was in my brain already anyway.  I bought them.  But still no polka dot shirt.  So off to Target I go...my last resort.  They had t-shirts on sale...bonus!!!  But guess what they didn't have...polka dots!  So after much debate, I decided to change the outfit in my brain and go a different direction.  I bought a black t-shirt.  I know, very original...deal with it!  So long story short, I have a navy blue shirt, new star flats and a new black t-shirt...close to the original plan.

You are probably asking, what does this have to do with dating, and you have a valid point.  Let me help you out.  In my brain I have a picture of the man I am going to marry.  I have a very good idea of what I want him to look like, how I want him to act, how much money he should make, and what sports he should enjoy (baseball, obviously).  This picture in my brain has been there for a while and has probably kept me from having a very nice friendship/relationship with some guys.  Many times when I am shopping I have an idea of what I want in my brain and rarely do I find it or anything else for that matter.  I am too focused on what I want and not taking the time to see what is actually out there.  I need to apply this to dating.  I need to stop being Charlie Mackenzie and actually give guys a chance.  I need to stop being so wrapped up in my world that I don't see what is actually out there.  What have I already missed because I was too busy finding flaws to actually see the positive?  

I realize there were a lot of "I"'s in that last portion...maybe that is part of the problem too.  But that is for a different day.

I love my church, I really do!  Right now we are focusing our attention on the book of Mark.  As our pastor put it, Mark is the twitter version of the gospel.  Mark is to the point.  He is not going to sugar coat anything, he is not going to add fluff to make us feel good about ourselves...he means says what he means and means what he says.  Today in church the sermon was over Mark 10: 17-31.  If you are not familiar with this passage it is the passage in which Jesus speaks to the rich young man.  Jesus gives the rich young man 4 instructions: 

1. Go
2. Sell everything you have
3. Give to the poor
4. Come, follow me

That is all.  Seems simple enough right?  Why did Jesus not just tell the rich young man to "come follow me"...just skip all the other stuff and get right down to what He really wanted?  Jesus knew that the rich young man was attached to his wealth and social status...He needed the man to get all of that "stuff" out of the way so that he could give Jesus his full allegiance.  In verse 22 of the passage it says "At this the man's face fell.  He went away sad, because he had great wealth".  Did he ever come and follow Jesus?  We don't know.  But one thing we do know is what is happening in our own life. 

We may not see ourselves as a "rich young ruler" or as wealthy by any means.  We may even sit back and compare ourselves to celebrities and those that we consider wealthy.  We dream of having the wealth that they have, we wish that we could just know what it is like to be that rich for one day.  We can't be content with what we have, because we continually compare ourselves to those that we will never be.  My pastor told us this morning that 50% of the world's population lives on about $2.50 a day...to those people we are who they aspire to be.  Let me give that a second to sink in...

Humbling isn't it?  To half of the world's population, we are the wealthy, and we are never satisfied with what we have.  I would venture to say that if you are reading this, you have a roof over your head, you have clothes to put on, you have the ability to wash said clothes, you have some form of transportation, you have food in your shelter (it may not be the food you want, but you have food), and you obviously have some means of connecting to the internet (computer, iPad, smart phone, etc).  Ladies and gentlemen, that list of things is more than half the world will ever have!  And yet we complain (myself included) that our car isn't nice enough, our internet isn't fast enough, the clothes we have aren't good enough.  As we are sitting in our air conditioned/heated houses watching celebrities on our TV and thinking "must be nice to be them..." there are many in the world today looking at us and thinking the exact same thing about us. 

Jesus knew that the rich young ruler needed to give up his possessions and his wealth before he could give Jesus his full allegiance.  What is it in your life that you need to give up in order to give Jesus your full allegiance? 

***In case you are wondering, this blog was not written to condemn or judge anyone...I am reading this and looking at myself in the mirror as well...***

This past summer, my friends and I decided to take a little trip.  We took a trip to Chicago.  Many memories were made in Chicago...some good and some bad, but memories none the less.  Along with the memories, many new phrases were added to our "phrase bank".  Some of the phrases were:  "mojo goes Midwest", "Target miracle", "Are you sick?", "Here is what I'm saying, I have nothing to say", and "Bringing it back to me...".  The last phrase, "bringing it back to me" is one that has been popping up in my brain a lot lately.  And every time it does, I think "I need to write about that".  I have wrestled with what to write and have finally determined what I want to say (I think), so here it goes...

We are all born with a selfish desire.  We all have the desire to make things about us, to be selfish.  Some of us out grow this, some of us never quite do.  This brings up the question, when do we out grow this?  I think that as a Christian, when you make the decision to follow Christ, that selfish desire is one that starts to fade, or at least it should.  We start to realize that there is a bigger picture and that there is so much more that is so much bigger than us!  And then we get comfortable.  We want to focus on the bigger picture, but our comfort level leads us to say "bringing it back to me".  We start doing things because it will benefit us or because we know that if we do something else it might push us to a place that we don't want to go.  There is a point in which we have to step back and ask ourselves, "why am I doing this?"  Am I saying that you shouldn't take time for you, not at all!  I am saying that once every decision is based on if it benefits us personally or not, we have lost focus and need to reevaluate some things in our lives.  We are not the ones that need to be saying "bringing it back to me..." but we should be listening to God say "bringing it back to me..." because if we are doing things for the right reasons, they will be bringing it all back to Him! 

I thought that now would be a good time to write a blog entry.  Why now...well, I am avoiding doing lesson plans, avoiding going to bed, and avoiding many other things...so why not blog. 

This summer was a whirlwind of excitement.  I worked at that zoo again this summer.  Teaching kids about animals is always a good time, especially when I don't have to come up with the lesson plans and don't have to grade any papers.  But not only did this summer involve me working but it also involved a little travel.  I got to go to Austin for a few days and then Chicago for almost a week.  Austin was for a conference, but it was fun.  Chicago was for fun...and clearly by fun I mean baseball!  My friends and I decided that we would travel to Chicago this summer and the time that we picked just so happened to be when the Rangers were playing the White Sox in Chicago.  I will say, the White Sox field is not the happiest place on Earth.  We were miserable the whole time we were there, and it didn't help that the Rangers lost.  We did get to experience other Chicago landmarks, like the Bean, the Field museum, the art institute and other various locations.  We encountered some interesting people, made some interesting lasting memories, and sweated enough to fill up several water bottles.  Next summer perhaps we will go see Joe. 

But as this summer comes to an end, another school year begins.  This year I will be teaching 8th grade, which in all honesty scares me a little.  I will have some of the same kids as last year and will have some new students.  But no matter who is in my classroom, I know that they have been put there for a reason.  Things don't just happen by accident.  Now I just need to keep in mind that I have been put in that classroom for reason as well.  Maybe I have been put in that students life to be a mentor to them.  Maybe I have been put in their life to be a shoulder to cry on.  Maybe I have been put in their life to be a person to hug them (I hope that isn't the reason, but if it is I guess I can do it).  I don't know what my student's summers looked like, I don't know if they ate everyday.  I don't know if their electricity got shut off in the middle of July when it was 103!  But I do know they are in my class and in it for a reason.  My prayer as I enter into this school year is that God would soften my heart to hear what my students are and are not saying and that He would give the wisdom and compassion to respond in a way that would reflect Him in my life. 

To all of you starting a new school year: the best of luck to you! It will be over before we know it...make the most of it!

It is the end of the school year!  This is a time of year I both love and hate.  I love it because it means that it is almost summer but I hate it because the kids are a little more insane than their normal 7th grade selves.  So knowing that the students are going to be a slightly more antsy version of themselves, we typically plan sex ed for the end of the year.  More specifically, we plan our abstinence lessons.  We can always count on the kids being engaged during these lessons.  This is the third year third year I have taught this and each and every year my kids manage to amaze me. 

This year they have been particularly concerned with how they can contract STDs.  I would be lying if I said that this didn't concern me slightly.  These kids are in 7th grade...why is this something they are concerned about?  I mean let's get real for a second, half of these kids aren't even certain why girls have a period.  They also still think the baby grows in the stomach. 

Every class period during these lessons I give each student an index card.  At the end of the class period I instruct them that on one side they are to write something they have learned and on the other side they are to write any questions they have.  This activity alone produces some very entertaining material.  Let me share some items with you...

My favorite  from last year:
     What I learned--Having sex is not wuz up!
      Questions--None!  I've seen enough!

Things learned from this year:

• If you take out your fertilizer so you won't get pregnant can you put it back in?
  **For the record, I have no idea what this actually means!
• I learned how sex can be affective to pregnancy. 
• I learned that sex is not a good thing and its a risk.
• That people can have things tie or cut off to not have any more kids.
• Allot.  Everything waz helpful!
• Buy flowers for the wife!
• ***Drum roll please*** My personal favorite one from this year:  Teens are more foolish than I thought!

I really do enjoy my job and I really do enjoy teaching sex ed.  It is always such a comical way of ending the year!

I decided to wait until today to write part 2 of this post, because with the new timeline on facebook if I waited until today I could easily look back by month and see what went down.  So picking up where I left off...here we go!

JULY
Oh July...you bring hot temperatures, fireworks, cookouts and my birthday!  Also, in 2011 you brought these things...

My birthday at the ballpark.  And for every one's viewing pleasure I will go ahead and leave this picture this size.  Originally when the Rangers schedule came out they were not playing on my birthday, which in all honesty made me sad.  But in May, the same day I had jury duty, they got rained out and they rescheduled the game for July 7th!  This brought a great deal of pleasure to my life!  Since the game was a make up game, there was no one there, so we were able to score these seats, and this view of 1st base.  This day was a bit bittersweet however, as it was also the game that the fan fell from the stands and later died. 

On that note, July 2011 also brought this...

My near and dear friend Kandy got to come visit me and we went with our friend Beth to Painting with a Twist.  We got to paint the adorable little fella on the left.  I have a feeling that we will be doing this again in 2012!




This also happened...



Yes folks, that is right, the Rangers beat the Twins 20-6 and I got to be at the game.  If I have to choose a 2nd favorite team it would have to be the Twins.  The main reason for that choice is #7-Joe Mauer.  I did wear my Joe Mauer shirt to this game, but also had on my Rangers hat.  This is also the game that my dear friend Suzi choked on a peanut and I failed to come to her rescue.  I thought she finished coughing because she finished, not because she couldn't breathe!  Oops!







Also, this happened...




 As I said, August brings the start of school and with that comes much preparation and much excitement. 
The Rangers became the AL West champs for the second year in a row!!!!!  Amber and I were at the ballpark at midnight to get our shirts!  Aren't they cute!?

Also this happened...

Suzi, Amber, and I showing off our AL chamsp shirts that we stood in line for with hundreds of other crazy folks!

This is truly one of my favorite places on the planet!

The baseball gals fresh off a World Series domination by none other than Derek Holland!!!

Speaking of Derek Holland, we got to meet his family!  We were hanging out before game 4 and they came up to us and requested a photograph...they were delightful indiviuals.

Watching game 6 of the WS at Painting with a Twist.  This was probably my least favorite painting...could it be because I was a little distracted!?

I think the sign says it all!

NOVEMBER
November, dear sweet November.  You bring unwanted poundage to our hips and stomach regions, but you also bring cooler temperatures and lots of family time. 

You also brought this...

I got a new dog!  This is Starla.  I don't know what kind of dog she is, but I like to call her my pygmy golden retriever.

We are clearly too cool for school!

The new Muppet movie came out!  My dear friend Loni had a birthday and since the theme of her parties is usually a kid party what better way to celebrate than with the Muppets!?  We went to the show at midnight.  Please note my outfit and my friend Amber's outfit (she is the one laying in the front).  You should be able to spot some similarities...oh wait.  Our outfits are exactly the same!!!!  Totally not planned!

DECEMBER
Oh December, I think we all know what you bring...lots of joy, lots of presents, lots of people at the mall!  But for me in 2011 you also brought this...

One of my former students signed to play basketball at the University of Texas and myself and several collegues were fortunate enough to be able to attend the signing. 

This also happened...

Nothing says Christmas quite like jazz hands!  We are adorable, we know! 

This also showed up on my plate at one point...
I got a new nephew.  Jenson Douglas Wooten joined the family on 12/13/11.  Even though sister dosen't look excited in this photo, she actually is very excited to be a big sister! 

And finally, I ended 2011 with this...


A New Year's eve party.  It was quite a good time had by all, and I even dressed up! 

I hope you have enjoyed my year in review.  I will try my very best to keep up with all the happenings this year as they actually happen, then I won't have to spend as long reviewing at the end! 

I wish all of you the very best in 2012!  And GO RANGERS!!!!