wE aRe WeaK, bUt yoU aRe sTroNg

confession...

i recently decided to do something i have never done before. i decided to give something up for lent.

i don't have a lot of fasting experience, but i decided to give it a go. when i originally decided to do it, it was for selfish reasons. my sweets binging was out of control. i thought this would be a healthy thing to do.

i didn't really understand fasting. obviously.

as the 40 days have passed me by i have learned a lot. and i wanted to share some of my heart with you.

you see, jesus saved me. he is ALL i need. i've always known that and i have always said that he is ALL i need.

but the past 40 days i have learned that i do not live my life that way.

i have absolutely no self control. i am not one of those motivated, driven, 'put your mind to it' kind of people. so giving things up doesn't usually go over so well for me.

for lent i gave up all desserts. in some ways it has been easier than i thought. i don't really crave sugar all the time like i thought i would. but i have learned just how weak i really am and just how often i rely on my own strength instead of my savior's.

i have failed. a lot.

every time i have eaten desserts in the past 37 days (with the exception of my birthday) i have felt like crap. the weird thing is, i have not given into any of my favorite things. i have given in under pressure. at the end of a crazy school day...kids screeching in my face...and a cookie cake at my fingertips. seriously...dang birthday treats.

the thing that really makes me so angry at myself is that i knew i was weak. i knew that i would not be able to do this on my own. i knew that i would have to rely on jesus.

did i?

did i ask christ for his strength when i felt like i was going to give in?

did i acknowlege that jesus was all i needed?

no.

none of my slacker like actions have made me feel this crappy.

but you know what i'm thankful for?

tomorrow is good friday. tomorrow is the day that my jesus died a horrible death that he didn't deserve.

for me.

to save me from my sins.

when he cried out for the last time on that cross, the temple curtain was ripped in two. and because of his sacrifice i can draw near to God with full assurance of my salvation.

so today i am grateful.

i have learned and i have grown. i have learned that i am weak, but thankfully the bible tells me that in my weakness, christ is strong.

so for now, i will finish off my last two days of lent strong. and i will pray that the Lord would continue to show me how to rely more on him each day.

mY aPoLogiEs

oh, please forgive me for my absence.

life is cRazY right now.

we are moved into our house...i promise to post pics soon.

school is insane. state assessments, parent conferences, field trips. is it may 27 yet?

so in conclusion...i promise to return soon with lots of pictures and lots of exciting posts.

i shall leave you with a picture from the weekend.

that's right. march 28 and it snows. part of our screened porch ripped.

let the home repairs begin.

a hoLe iN oNE

i once heard that no matter how bad of a golfer you are, it is an addicting sport. you can hit a hundred bad shots, but then...out of nowhere, you hit a tiger wood's shot. one amazing shot out of a hundred and you're hooked.

well, teaching has the same affect.

the past couple of weeks have been cRazY!! spring break is a week away and state assessments are two weeks away. basically that means lots of teaching and reviewing are being done and the kids are crazy!

so, i've had lots of exhausting, bad days. a hundred bad shots if you will.

but then you have a day like today...my tiger wood's, teacher of the year kind of day.

i absolutely love teaching social studies. i love getting the kids excited about history and i love not having the pressure of a state assessment. currently we are learning about the west african slave trade in the 1500's. the kids are hooked. they are having the best discussions, they are making incredible connections to our world today and they are basically hanging on every word i say. it's great.

at the end of our social studies time today, we were wrapping up and i was telling them what we would be focusing on next week and several of the kids starting going on about how they already knew and started telling me all about it. come to find out, a lot of them had read ahead in the book. they told me they just couldn't wait, they wanted to know what was going to happen.

they read ahead! it just made my heart smile. i love to see kids excited about learning. the thing is, i can have a hundred days where i say i am done with teaching, i have reached my limit and i can't do it anymore. but all it takes is one day to make me think i could teach forever.

thank you jesus. i really needed that hole in one.

mi ViDa LOcA!

that's right folks. our life has been rather crazy lately and it will for sure continue that way for the next month or so.

here's what has been going on.

our fabulous friends, the assuntos came to visit this past weekend. we had a blast. we shopped, ate some kc bbq, got totally caught up on each others lives and played a lot of guitar hero. it was so fun to be with them and we are so thankful they came to visit.

on tuesday, clay took the kansas bar exam. he luckily did not have to study as much for kansas as he did for missouri, but there were still some busy, study-filled days. so glad he is done with the tests and the results will be in sometime in april...not that i am at all worried about my mr. smarty pants.

things at school are pretty crazy right now. state assessments are coming up in a few weeks and we are preparing like crazy. i hate them. i hate and have always been against teaching to the test, but i have learned in the past couple weeks that with these stupid assessments, there is really no way to not teach to the test. so the next month or so will continue to be crazy at school.

but life is even more crazy right now because...















we bought a house!

we actually just closed this morning. we are so excited, but a little overwhelmed. we have a lot of painting and moving to do in the next couple of weeks. luckily my parents are coming in next weekend and lots of our wonderful friends have offered to help.

so, that's our crazy life right now. i won't complain too much though. our God has blessed us with good friends and family, we both have jobs and He has now given us a wonderful house to use for His glory!

mY vAleNtiNE

i realize i am two days late, but here are 14 reasons why i love this guy..

1. he is always first to apologize.

2. he can grow a mean beard in about 4 days (see above).

3. he is really smart.

4. he likes to surprise me.

5. kids LOVE him. seriously...babies stare at him, kids talk to him, emery is obsessed with his uncle clay. it is so stinkin' cute.

6. he is very disciplined...unlike me.

7. he is very wise with money...unlike me.

8. he challenges me to be better and holds me accountable.

9. he cares more about our family than his job.

10. he is really good at guitar hero.

11. he cooks for me a lot.

12. he believes in me and makes me feel good about myself.

13. he has the best ghetto voice ever. seriously, i laugh so hard every time he pulls it out.

and last, but certainly not least...

14. he is an incredible example of Christ to me every single day.

i love you clayton vaughan fulghum.

bEauTy scHooL dRopOuT

okay, not beauty school, but cake decorating school. my so sweet husband surprised me with cake decorating classes since i had been wanting to learn for so long. my friend heather decided to take it with me. oh, we were excited. we could just see our future...opening our own bakery, baking and designing the cutest, most delicious cakes you could ever imagine.

well, it hasn't exactly gone as planned. not only has it been quite a freak show (crazy teacher, melty frosting, too much corn starch, too many roses), we aren't exactly as fabulous as we imagined. this has been surprising to us. don't get me wrong...we know we aren't martha or anything, but we are both pretty crafty and have attempted this sort of thing before. we figured at least one of us would be good.

well, we're not. clay didn't believe me because i have a tendency to be a bit of a perfectionist and exaggerator at times, but not this time. seriously, out of about 20 peeps in the class...we are the worst. seriously the worst.

so, last week was officially our last week. no more wasted time here. don't worry, we aren't completely giving up. we are convinced that we have a small glimmer of hope. we will teach ourselves.

you should click here to read heather's perspective. She is a MUCH better writer than me and it is super funny!

25 tHinGs...

25 things about me from the facebook post that's going around.


1. clay likes to drink scotch. i HATE the way it smells.

2. i might be the messiest tooth brusher ever.

3. i love jesus.

4. i love to shop...for clothes, for shoes, for house stuff...anything.

5. i hate to cook. good thing i married someone who likes it.

6. i don't like to do something if i don't know i can do it well.

7. when making crafty things i take a REALLY long time and i really don't like to do it around other people...just in case it turns out ugly.

8. i used to hate dogs and now i want one...specifically a labradoodle.

9. my parents are cooler than me.

10. i am almost always singing one line from a song over and over in my head.

11. i love teaching, but i get frustrated really easily because i don't feel like i am the best teacher i could be.

12. i think teaching might possibly be the hardest job ever...don't argue if you've never tried it.

13. i am so thankful for the austin stone community church and for redeemer fellowship...the two churches that have helped me grow in my walk with Christ.

14. i don't like ice in my water.

15. my earring motto...the bigger the better.

16. i love to read, but i also love to own all the books i read.

17. sometimes i do judge a book by its cover...after all i want my bookshelf to look cute.

18. i could never have dreamed that my husband would fit in with my family as well as he does. i'm so blessed.

19. i might be a texas a&m 2 percenter, but i am still dang proud to be an aggie.

20. i love being from texas.

21. i have the cutest nephew you've ever seen and in june i will have two.

22. i have very little self control...especially when it comes to hot tamales.

23. i love to travel and would go absolutely anywhere.

24. i am taking a cake decorating class right now.

25. i have been blessed with amazing friends in every stage of my life.