First week of school

So, my classes started on Monday and I am already in full swing of homework and studying. Right now my main focus is passing the Praxis. I have the study cards but they are so overwhelming that I think I'm going to order a book instead. I only have 3 more chances to pass it if I want to intern in the spring. Pray for me! This week is going well. I am staying at my mom's house which is nice but I miss Josh SO much! It's so hard to be away from eachother. I can't wait to go home tomorrow and hug him to pieces! Classes are going to be hard but I can do it. I'm ready to get it over with! Next semester is coming fast and I will be done with all of my classes! It's not going to be long. I can't wait. I will post further details about my crazy new classes later.

I got in! I got in!

Yesterday morning was the last day of Add/Drop for the Fall semester. If you are a devout follower of my blog then you already know that I have been seriously stressed for the past few weeks because I have to take 7 classes this fall in order to intern in the spring and there was one class that I needed that overlapped with another class I was already in. I needed my professor to send permission to the registrar's office for me to be enrolled in the class. I have been freaking out for the last few weeks because I sent him several e-mails and left several voice mails and I still had not heard back from him. I am sure that he thought I was a little crazy because I even had the registrar to e-mail him for me. Well, anyway, FINALLY, yesterday morning I got an e-mail from him saying that he had been out of the office all summer but he sent permission for me to enroll to the registrar's office...Then I had an e-mail from the registrar's office saying that I was enrolled! When I checked my schedule I was in! Whew! All of the stress and freaking out...and I finally got it! I was beginning to believe that I wouldn't get in and I was so down about it. When I registered for my internship, one of the possibilities was West Blocton Middle School (where I worked last year) and the interning teacher that I would be working with if I get that school is Mrs. Wilson. She teaches 7th grade Civics. I am really praying for that because that would mean that I would get to work with my babies from last year. I got so attached to them that it would just be such a blessing to be back in the classroom with them for another semseter. Also I already know all of the teachers and administrators there and I know that I would just be so comfortable there. Unfortunately, I failed the Praxis...AGAIN! I am registering to take it again September 12. I am going to go by the bookstore today and try to find a good study guide. I keep missing it by about 10 points. I've just GOT to pass it this time. Anyway, I'm SO happy and relieved that I got in the class. Now I've just got to get through 7 Senior killer Upper level history classes and the Praxis and then I'm done! F-O-R-E-V-E-R!! Or until I enroll in the Master's program... But, believe me...I am going to take a nice long break from college before I go back! I certainly learned a HUGE lesson about waiting on God's perfect timing and trusting that he is in control. I tried not to doubt him and just to pray for his will in this situation but I was really struggling because I just want to be done with school so bad...Now, I know that God was testing my trust in him and I am feeling so amazingly blessed by his goodness and mercy.

No News Update

I don't really have too much to say tonight but I thought I would give a quick update on my school situation. The truth is that there's really nothing to report. I have been waiting for about a week now for my professor to give the OK for me to enroll in that last class and I still haven't heard from him. I think he is out of the office because I have been calling him and he's never there. I'm frustrated but still praying hard and trusting that it will work out. I have had an amazing week of rest at home in my clean house. I have basically done nothing all week and I am loving it. I get bored and lonely fast though so I know I will be glad when school starts back. (At least for the first day or two) I am dreading leaving home 3 nights a week but since I have decided to stay with my parents Josh is getting to come with me and that makes all the difference in the world. Tomorrow I'm going to spend the day with mom and Olivia. I have promised to play Polly Pockets and watch Coraline so I have a busy day of fun ahead of me. She's excited! She is so funny and she's growing so fast it amazes me! She will be 5 years old next month. She says the craziest things that really crack us all up all the time! She is the smartest kid I have ever known. She is certainly her own little person. But, anyway, I am going to try to talk Josh into going to bed. He's such a late-nighter!

Window Markers

It has been a rather hectic week at the Odom residence. I officially finished my 21 hour summer semester. It was killer but totally worth it. I am registered for 18 hours for the fall and waiting for my overload application to process so that I can register for the last class. (EVER!!) Wow, that sounds amazing....Josh's union at AT&T has been planning to go on strike for about a week now and we were really starting to worry about it but we prayed about it and sent out a few prayer requests to the family, and God took care of it. They were supposed to start Monday morning and one of Josh's co-workers called a few minutes ago and said that the strike is cancelled. That was great news. I am currently waiting for my professor to tell me if I can take my last class for next semester because one of the days that the class is on I am already registered for another class. I don't want to get into all of the gory details but let's just say I have an entire army of believers praying that he says that he will work with me and I can take the class anyway. I would appreciate any prayers from my blog followers as well. It is a trying event in the life of the Odoms but we have placed it in God's hands and we know that he is taking care of us. Tomorrow morning we are joining First Baptist Church of Tuscaloosa. We really love it there and Josh has been playing the drums for a while. We are ready. Wendy and Jackson are coming with us and then we will all go out to eat for lunch. Then, tomorrow night all of our friends are coming over to wish farewell to our dear friend Jonathan who is moving away to Arizona. Josh and I have spent two days doing yard work and cleaning house and now we are oficially done and my house looks so amazing I seriously considered taking pitcures. haha We have started a new thing at our house that I love so far, I bought window markers (Crayola) and they are just like regular markers, they just write on windows and mirrors. So, each week Josh and I are picking a new bible verse that we like and I am writing it on our bathroom mirror. In our guest bathroom (the one that everyone uses, we are sticking with our favorite, "As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD" Joshua 24:10. I really like it. It's a nice way to start the day...with God's word on our hearts. Right now in our private bathroom we have Psalms 32:10. I don't know why that one stuck out to me. I just liked it. Well, I have to get up bright and early in the morning for church so I am going to bed.

Current Events in the Odom House

I haven't posted in about a month...I have been SO busy with this 21 hour summer semester. But...drumroll please....I am one week away from being officially done! I will get 2 whole weeks of down time before I have to start back. Josh and I have been making some pretty major decisions lately about the immediate future. First of all, I had to take several finals this past week so I stayed in a hotel in Athens Thursday nigh...It was aweful...the hotel was nice but I was alone and scared and cold...I just wanted to be home with him...So, we decided that I am not going to be staying at the Extended-Stay hotel in the fall. I am just going to stay with my parents and he is going to stay a couple of the nights with me each week. It's only three nights a week and I will feel so much better to be with my mom and dad than with creepy strangers....The second thing is that I am not going to get a job. With me not staying in the hotel we will not need for me to get a job and that is a huge relief because I barely survived this two-month semester without a job. I am so thankful that I have a husband that loves me and wants whats best for me. It's amazing...The third thing is that we are going to join First Baptist next week. We just know that it is the right place for us and we are so excited about it.

Monday I am going to six flags with Tiffany, my mom, and my dad. Yep...that's right...My mom and my dad... I cannot believe that we are going somewhere with our original (if you will) family. ha We have NEVER done anything like this since my parents divorced when I was 8 years old. They are both remarried and everything...It's nothing wierd or anything. Tiffany just get tired of having to choose a parent to take on trips so we invited both of them and they are both going. They get along great so that's never an issue and we always have fun when they are together. I guess they have been divorced for long enough that the akward tension is gone and now they can just be friends. It's much better for us that way for sure!

Josh and I got a new 55 gallon fish tank. It's really georgous. It's right inside the front entrance to our house in the forier (or however you spell that). We got all of the supplies for it today and set it up. It sprang a leak, but with some minor adjustments and help from Tiffany we fixed it and now it looks georgous. I've got to get some plants to go under it on the bottom shelf of the stand but I'm really proud of the way it looks.

I got my new pink laptop and I LOVE it. It is kinda huge because I wanted the biggest screen that they had but I am glad that I got it. It is perfect for me because I can do my school work on the couch. I know that makes me sound lazy but the chair in the office just hurts my back! Anyway, I've only had it for a couple of weeks but there is this wierd light running across the middle of the screen so we are going to have to call about it because I am afraid that something is wrong with it...I hope not!!

We talked to Wendy tonight about Disney World. I am SO excited about it. We are still in the planning phase, working out all of the details. It is really hard to get our whole family together because we are all in school (Me-Athens, Jake-Auburn, Heidi and Mallory-Montevallo) and with Josh's job we just have to go on whatever vacation week he can get. But, we have chosen a week-The week before Thanksgiving. (We went last time during thanksgiving and the crowd was unreal!) We think it will be a really good time to go. Jake, Heidi, and Mallory might only get to come for the second half of the week but Jackson's birthday is on that Wednesday so they are trying to wait to suprise him with the tickets when it gets close. He's been wanting to go really bad so he will be thrilled. (Not as thrilled as me...I'm sure) But, Josh and I LOVE Disney World and we have been wanting to get back there one more time before we have a baby. I know it sounds crazy but it's important to us and we are not sure when we want to have a baby so we just wanted to go this year just in case...(We are in no hurry about the whole baby thing though...)

Well, now that I have written the longest post ever to make up for the lack there of recently... I think that I have just about given out all of the current events in the Odom house...Hope everyone has a great weekend!!