We had a great visit with Mom J. on October 24th. Mom was able to arrange her return flights from Uruguay to include a several-hour layover in Dallas. We enjoyed spending the day with her and visiting the Dallas Arboretum.

This summer we got to meet and spend time with Dan’s fiancée, Isabelle during two meals at Jon and Ashleigh’s. (Dan got engaged in May and the wedding date is set for December 19th, 2009.) Jon and Ashleigh had us all over for dinner to celebrate our birthdays. Ashleigh made my family’s traditional watermelon basket (which my mom used to make for my July birthday). It was good to spend time with both my brothers and sisters-in-law (one future).

Mom J also made me a watermelon basket — and right now I’m using the gift Dad&Mom J got me/us!

In other news . . .according to BabyCenter.com, little baby J is now the size of a turnip!

In July between my 2nd and 3rd classes, we had a Jensen family weekend. Friday night we went to an Italian restaurant and had some amazing stuffed pizza and then attended the BJU summer play in Performance Hall.

On Saturday we went to Mount Mitchell, North Carolina. (Mt. Mitchell is the highest point east of the Mississippi.) We had grilled hotdogs for lunch and then went on some hikes around the area (I will admit that since I was in my first trimester, the hiking really wore me out . . . at one point I didn’t think I could go on much longer and was glad that my husband gave me a piggyback ride so I could have a short rest!).

And that pretty much sums up our summer in review. The rest of the time was spent in class and (for me) in studying/researching and (for Josh) working. Our road trip home was fun – we headed up to PA/NJ to visit my parents, grandma, and great grandma and then took three days driving from PA to TX. We were delighted to make it home safe and sound!

This past June, we celebrated our first wedding anniversary. And yes, this picture is actually from this summer.  Mom J needed a picture to match with the other siblings’ wedding shots on the wall, so we got dressed up again and had a mini photo shoot – it was fun to be in our wedding clothes again! Our anniversary fell on a Sunday before one of my mid-term exams, so instead of a big to-do, we celebrated that day rather simply by going to church and exchanging cards.

After school was over we got away for our wedding anniversary celebration for two nights at a bed and breakfast in Spartanburg —  The Inn on Main. We had a wonderful time relaxing and enjoying a break after our very busy summer. When we arrived, the owner upgraded our room to the best in the house — the bridal suite — since the air conditioning was out on the bottom floor (where our reserved room was), and the wedding couple who had reserved the bridal suite decided they wanted a smaller room. We were delighted by our upgrade.

My parents send us some little hats for Baby J (due February 18th). Now we have officially starting our baby’s wardrobe. It’s so neat to think that these little hats are going to fit on a little head that will join our family. Just to get used to it, I’m practicing with our little panther.

Last week, both Josh and I started school. We have a busy semester ahead of us. My teaching schedule is much better than last year. This year I’ll be seeing every class (32 altogether) once a week, instead of for a whole week every six weeks. Josh is teaching a class on MW nights and taking classes on TTH afternoons. We’re looking forward to a good semester.

According to BabyCenter.com, this week Baby Jensen is about the size of a lemon! (Surprise!) But he’s a lot cuter than a lemon!

After our visit with Grandma Martin, we headed to NC to spend the rest of the week with my parents and sister at Canaan Land. We enjoyed our week relaxing in the mountains of NC and the time we were able to spend with my family. We spent most of our week hiking around the mountains and waterfalls. It was nice to be away from the busyness of technology and school life. A great break before my summer classes.

We had a lovely time visiting with Grandma Martin in Atlanta, GA (June 14-16). It was good to be able to spend time with her, instead of arriving at the “Martin Hotel” late at night and then heading out early the next morning (as we’ve done in the past).  Our visit included trimming some hedges, eating at Ted’s Montana Grill, and playing a couple rounds of Rook. 

We’re home to our apartment after 8 weeks away! We arrived yesterday evening at 7 pm CT. It’s so good to be home after two months away. Our apartment is bigger than I remember!

Total miles traveled: 4,800

Route (major destinations bold): Texas – Louisiana – Mississippi – Alabama – Georgia – South Carolina – North Carolina – South Carolina – North Carolina – Virginia – West Virginia – Maryland – Pennsylvania – New Jersey – Pennsylvania – Maryland – West Virginia – Kentucky – Tennessee – Mississippi – Arkansas – Texas

Total states: 15

Oldest person visited: Great-Grandma Hanyen (100 years old in May)

Places slept:

• Staybridge Suites, Jackson MS (credit card points)
• Grandma Martin’s, Atlanta GA
• Canaanland, Toxaway NC
• Mom and Dad Jensen, Greenville SC (6 weeks!)
• The Inn on Main, Spartanburg SC (anniversary)
• Mom and Dad Sutter, Dover PA
• Michael and Erin Lyons, Louisville KY
• Holiday Inn Express & Suites, Olive Branch MS (credit card points)

A great big thank-you to friends and family who put us up and fed us! More pictures to come at a later time.

Credit hours earned: 9 (my last three classes!)

Oral Comprehensive Exam: Passed!

Groceries from Grandma Sutter:

Last night we had our friend, Yi Ling, over for dinner. Yi Ling is from Taiwan and has been attending our church since the fall. We’ve enjoyed getting to know her. After dinner we played Jenga and Uno.

I’ve been planning to blog about Josh’s birthday for a while, but teaching and studying have delayed my blogging plans.  For Josh’s birthday I took him on a surprise adventure to a special hamburger restaurant. I was so pleased with myself for planning the surprise trip…of course, I wasn’t so pleased with myself when my Google Map directions took us to the middle of a development, instead of to the restaurant. (Josh thought I was planning him a surprise birthday party and was just trying to throw him off track.) We enjoyed the restaurant (once we got there) and the hamburgers were a success!

Since Josh’s birthday was right before my comprehensive exam, we decided to wait until after the exam to celebrate with his traditional strawberry cake. Mom J. sent the recipe and it turned out great! And in case you’re wondering what I gave Josh for his birthday…..click here to see…

Nancy Jane Cochran Elementary School is officially out for the summer! My last day of teaching was Wednesday, and there was a faculty work-day on Thursday to close out the year. On Thursday, I packed my room up, stored all my valuable instruments in the main building, enjoyed our end of the year luncheon, and drove off for the summer. I really enjoyed my first year of teaching. Being a music teacher is the world’s greatest (paying) job! I learned more each week and by the end of the school year I felt like I was finally getting the hang of things. I’m looking forward to next year!

To celebrate the end of the school year, Josh and I went out to eat at Olive Garden and then went for a walk at a park. It’s nice to have a break from the pressures of teaching and lesson-plan writing! In two weeks, I’ll be starting six weeks of summer courses – fun – fun! But for now … I’m going to enjoy being off from school and I’ll be studying for my oral comprehensive exam which will take place some time during summer school.

(Oh, and we had a lovely 11-month anniversary a week ago. Almost 1 year!)

Last Saturday night we had my friend Ms.  Carter over for dinner.  I was excited for Josh to meet one of my coworkers.  Ms. Carter is a 4th grade math teacher at school and has made me feel a part of the Cochran faculty.  I’ve enjoyed getting to know her and visiting her classroom this year.

During Spring Break, Josh and I took a “break” from our studying and spent an evening in Forth Worth. We visited the Barnes and Noble, and Josh read Poe’s The Black Cat to me. Afterwards we enjoyed a dinner of Mexican food and walking around downtown Fort Worth.  While walking around, we met the most interesting man. His job was to walk around town and scare all the birds away by either shining a red light into their eyes or by startling them with his large clapper. He told us that if we walked further down the road we would find all the noisy birds. We decided to test his word and just as he said, a couple blocks down the road there were hundreds of birds filling the trees.

Today is our 10 month wedding anniversary. It’s hard to believe how quickly our first year is passing. Marriage is wonderful – I am married to the dearest sweetest man in the world.

Last Friday I took the written part of my doctoral comprehensive exam. My questions were:

1. Discuss the role of a Christian teacher in a public school setting. What are some of the issues of concern that a Christian teacher must address in the current public school setting?

2. How can popular music meet the National Standards of Music in a middle school general music curriculum? What pedagogical or curriculum problems can occur from an “overuse” of popular music in this curriculum?

3. How do the learning theories of Vygotsky and Piaget apply to the elementary music classroom? Which theory is more applicable in the elementary music classroom?

I spent over eight hours writing my responses and felt like my brain was fried by the end of the day. Josh made me a delicious spaghetti dinner to celebrate. And I’m currently enjoying not having the pressure of the exam weighing on me.

I took Thursday (the day before the exam) off from school to review for the exam. While I was home studying, the FedEx lady delivered fresh flowers that Dad and Mom Jensen sent to encourage me on my final day of studying.

It will be at least another week before I hear back from my committee concerning my results. After I hear back from them, we will set up a time for the oral half of my exam.

Today I decided to experiment with making soup using our leftover chicken and chicken broth from Tuesday night’s meal (Tuesday I made a whole chicken in the crockpot). I thought I would document my first soup making experience. Mmmm – mmmmm – good!