Jubilant Defiance In The Face of a Rising River

Check out this great column about last night's game. One of the most epic nights of my life.

I wholeheartedly agree with Geoff Calkins in these sections:


"Now it was done. Now the epic was over. The Oklahoma City Thunder had defeated the Memphis Grizzlies in three overtimes, 133-123. So the fans stood and watched and cheered.
Yes, cheered. You couldn’t help but cheer. Cheer for the effort. Cheer for this game of games. Cheer for the privilege of being a witness, and a part of it all."

"It was jubilant defiance in the face of a rising river. It was Memphis at its absolute best." 

“The only thing I was waiting for was for Elvis to rise out of center court,” said Shane Battier. “Even that, I don’t think it would have surprised me at this point.”

I have lots of pictures and videos to post later, but I needed to document my excitement before I take a nap this afternoon.

Believe Memphis

There are lots of historic events going on in Memphis right now. The Mississippi River is flooding, I'm finished with my Capstone paper, and the Memphis Grizzlies are playing in the second round of the playoffs. This is the last few seconds of Game 6 when we beat the Spurs:

And in a couple of hours we will play game 3 against the OKC Thunder. We're 1-1 and about to play two games at home. I'm going to Game 4 on Monday, and I'll definitely be sporting my headband.

Go GRIZZLIES!

Where in the world is Callie?

My close friend Callie has been traveling around the world working for the University of Virginia's Study at Sea program this semester. I have really enjoyed all the postcards she has sent and the handful of phone calls from around the world. This map shows her route and that today they are between Hawaii and San Diego.

All of the postcards are on display in my apartment:

The postcards from China and Hawaii on the same day. I'm sure they were sent at least a week apart.

Counting Down

The last couple of weeks I have put a countdown on the board until the big End of Course tests that both my Algebra 1 and Algebra 2 students are taking at the beginning of May. We have some MTR professional development the week before the tests start, and I didn't realize until today that means that this week and next are the last two I will be teaching before this test! My own countdown didn't really sink in until today.

Life keeps getting busier and busier, but this realization today has shown me how close we are....

Thankfully we have time for dinner together occasionally!

Razorbacks in Memphis

A couple of weeks ago my Razorback baseball team played the University of Memphis at Autozone Park. The weather was perfect, and Sarah and I were not going to miss an opportunity to spend the evening outside.

Sydney is the reason I knew about the game and it was really fun to have a chance to see and visit with her! Sarah got to experience the calling of the hogs and we ended up with a 7-3 victory that night! Woo Pig Sooie!

Sarah looks good in an Arkansas shirt! 

Teachers Love Spring Break Too!

Before all the festivities for Kristi and Nate, I made a trip to Florida to see my sister Carolyn. I had not been since October of 2009, so it was definitely time to go again. She was not on Spring Break, so I got to entertain myself while she was at class and practice.

Elvis and I spent some time on the beach one afternoon.

And I spent some time in this place drooling with ideas for what I saw:

Carolyn had a little time during the day to take me to a place where we could paint pottery. I love that my sister knows me well!

And of course we spent some time on the softball field. Go Hatters!

Pardin Weddin'

Kristi and Nathaniel got married two weeks ago tonight! Before the wedding we had a fun girls night out eating sushi, taking a belly-dancing class, and celebrating St. Patrick's Day on Beale Street. The belly-dancing  was really fun. I'm not any good at it, so don't ask to see my moves...

Friday night we had the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner at the wonderful McEwen's. I took a break from my diet and really enjoyed some carbs and some wine. Everything was perfect, especially the company.

The big day finally arrived and all the details were amazing. I love all the textures! Kristi walked down the aisle to Bruno Mars' "Just the Way You Are" and we all walked out to Michael Franti's "Say Hey." The ceremony was sweet, especially when Kristi and Nate stood in a circle and prayed with their parents in the middle of the ceremony. That is when my tears escaped.

Kristi and I are kindred creative spirits. Together we put lots of our creative juices into this adorable cake-topper.