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Sooooooooooo BIG things have been happening here at the Miller household. Not really, we have just been super busy :) School workshops started last week and I am a nerd and totally was excited to get back into my real job but I knew I would miss Syd and Wy too. Well Thursday I got to meet my new crew and holy buckets are there a lot of them (28 at last call) and are there some doosies! One kid walked in, looked at me, and said "gosh this room is a better place now that I am here. . . " Yeah first impressions are always interesting. I also had one that told me that he did not have to do what I said and that he was going to do his worst work all year. Friday then took us down to the cities for a weekend of fun. We went to the twins game Friday even though it was COLD and when we got home we found Tim and Danielle (Thad and Dar) at my parents house. Saturday we went to the fair and saw more than anyone would ever care to see (think full moon. . . Ryan has the pictures on his phone) and ate a ton. Sunday we went to church and then the girls shopped and the boys golfed. We had family pictures taken Sunday night and then Nannie and Papa came over for dinners and some fun games. Monday took everyone home and although we were sad to go, we know that we will all be together at Christmas for a few days.
Tuesday took me back to school and back to the reality of no snacking, going to the bathroom only at specific times, parent emails, parent phone calls, and of course student compliments like "Mrs. Miller, I like your green shirt, you look like a Christmas tree. . . " It sure will be an interesting year but I can already tell you that I am excited for the impact I will get to have on a few students lives as I have already watched them open up in the past four days. Pray that I find a way to manage all 28 and connect with them each individually each day as that has been my struggle in the last four days.
Ryan is good too, busy at work (not really but he pretends well) he did not want to be mentioned in this post so we will leave him at that . .

Beth Moore

My sister gave me a book for my birthday called So Long Insecurity You've Been A Bad Friend To Us by Beth Moore. I was reading it last week Thursday during my quiet time and let me tell you, I was rocked! With all that has happened in the last 2 years with Ryan and I trying to get jobs in the same place and trusting that God has a plan and will bring it all together in his time, this passage just hit me really hard. You see, I had a job interview on Thursday for a job at Glyndon-Felton Elementary (10 min Fargo/Moorhead), the same district I student taught in. I was not sure I even wanted the job knowing that we had just moved and seemed to have everything falling into place for another year in Fergus. Trusting that God had presented this opportunity for a reason, we decided that I needed to interview and see what came. Well, I did not get the job and was told that I interviewed really well and that the principal wants to hold onto my contact information because she wants to work with me in the future. . . We will just continue to see where God leads us and if it is there, great and if not, we are excited for what he has in store! Even so I truly felt that I needed to share what Beth wrote. . .

Lord, help me to learn how to hang on tight to You when my life is rocked by dramatic change. Empower me to trust You and not to panic or fight for control. Help me to stop confusing a change in my circumstances with a change in my security status. You are my security, O God. You are the one sure thing. When everything around me shakes, You are unshakable. Nothing has the propensity to reveal false gods to me like a sudden change in my circumstances. Help me to see them and surrender them instantaneously. Use change to provoke what needs changing in me, Lord and to increase my appreciation of the only One who is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Paula Deen

I LOVE Paula Deen! She reminds me of Tennessee, Mrs. Millie, Mrs. Vicki, MeeMaw, and she says ool instead of oil. Not to mention that she loves butter and I just find that funny. SO I was watching her show the other day and she made a really cool trifle that I tried today for dinner with our friends here is the recipe. . .

First you bake a pound cake with almond extract and I LOVE almond extract. . .

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
3 cups sugar
5 eggs
3 cups cake flour
1 cup milk
2 teaspoons lemon extract or almond extract or orange zest or rum nip

Grease and flour a 10-inch bundt pan.
In a large bowl, using a hand mixer, combine the butter and sugar until creamy. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the flour and milk alternately, beginning and ending with the flour. Stir in the lemon extract. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan.
Place pan in a cold oven and heat oven to 325˚F. Bake cake for 1 hour.
Increase the oven temperature to 350˚F and bake 30 minutes more.
Cook’s Note: Do not open the oven door while baking.
Cool the cake in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool. Serve garnished with berries and a scoop of vanilla ice cream alongside

Then you start the trifle with this. . .

by mixing it with 1/2 cup sugar and about 4 cups strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, or raspberries or any combination. . .

Then you cut the pound cake into squares and lay them over the bottom of the trifle bowl and spoon 1/2 of the berries over the top like this:

Then you cover with 1/2 of the cool whip and repeat the process until it looks like this.

Very fun. . . Can't wait to try it tonight!!

One Year. . .

A year ago today this was us
it is this hot and humid again today
We have no big plans today, just enjoying being together and dreaming of the things we will do "someday." We are amazed at how much we have learned and grown in the past year and can't wait to see what God has in store for us while we continue our journey together.

The Zoo!

Sydney, Wyatt, and I went to the Red River Zoo yesterday. While it is not the greatest zoo I have ever been to, we had a blast! We fed the horseAnd the cow. . .
found a llama for Kim that needed some braces
played on the playground
and just chilled!

Please excuse me

for a while so I can tackle this. . .

and Ryan can tackle the 8 inch grass. . .

Much Needed Update

So being that I am a teacher and I have the summer off, my dad would say that is a cush perk and that I do nothing. . . Contrary to popular belief and the evidence of this blog not being updated in a month, I have been very busy so here are updates in no particular order. . .

1. We will not be homeless as of Sunday! We rented a cute little yellow house (look for pics another time) here in Fergus and are excited to see where God leads us in the next year.

2. Aimee and I successfully attended the Kornowicz family reunion where we were able to meet two of the cutest kids I have ever seen, spend time with family, and even dealt with a plane snafu on our own! It was a short trip and boy two mornings up at 4am is no longer my style (and yes our bags made it! Ask me for the full story. . . )

3. I am still loving my nanny kids! I am so thankful that God provided the opportunity for me to work with/for them and continue to move down the road to a debt free life faster.

4. We saw Ryan's aunt, uncle, and cousins from Oregon and had so much fun including TWO fish frys in one week (Grandpa is the best fish frier-upper man I have ever met, good thing he had enough fish, right Grandma?? :-) )

5. I attended my classroom of the future training and am SUPER excited to see how I can use the laptops to extend the learning of my kids, which believe it or not, I am excited to meet.

6. We are in the stages of packing and holy moly do we have a lot of things! If anyone wants to come help this Saturday, you are more than welcome. (Kim and Tristen, count this your personal invitation :-) )

7. We attended a wedding last weekend and had a super-fun time seeing not only

Old, dear, (what am I 80?!?) great college friends but also Eric and Mel who let us stay at their house and we miss them and wish they lived closer!

8. What's on tap?: Well moving, packing, cleaning, nannying, a little school work, more reading, unpacking, maybe another wedding, our anniversary, going to the cities for labor day, you know, the boring life of us!

Needless to say we have been super busy and I wish you could see my hubby right now as he stands in the kitchen wearing red shorts, an orange t-shirt, holding his binoculars with the backpack carrier thing just trying it out. . . Super funny! He's fashionable, what can I say. . .