I AM ENGAGED!

As of last night, Tuesday, March 13th, I am engaged to the love of my life, Derek Jordan Howard! I am the happiest girl in the world and am so excited to have the priviledge of spending the rest of my life with the man that I love!

Here is the story: Derek came over for supper, and then we discussed our plans for the evening. He wanted to do something, and not just stay in because it was a beautiful day out. I saw him go and talk to my dad. . . and then the thought crossed my mind, "hmmm, I know what they're talking about, but when will it happen? not tonight. It's a weeknight, and I don't think he even has the ring yet." With that, we got ready and headed down to South Street in Philly. We walked up and down and stopped at Cosi's, a cute little coffee shop. We enjoyed some desserts together and decided to walk around Penns Landing. It was getting pretty late at this point, and my feet were a bit tired from teaching all day and walking around all night. We sat down beside the river, looked at the lights on the boats and bridges and enjoyed the beautiful weather. After a little while, Derek asked me if I wanted gum. You're probably thinking, why is gum so important to this story, but you'll see why in a minute. Derek hands me the orbit gum pack. I open it up and it felt hard on the one side. I told him that there was something stuck in the pack. He looks in and realizes that the ring he tried to hide in the gum pack for me to find, I had got it stuck. Well, he got it out and got down on one knee and asked me to marry him! And of course I said yes:o)

We are getting married July 28, 2007. . . so save the date! Here are some pics of us last night and my ring!

the long awaited update

After the evening service last night, I went over to talk to some friends of whom I have not talked with in a long time. They complained that I have not updated my blog, since that is there source of information on the happenings of the world of Sharon. So here is my long awaited update, to keep my readers happy and entertained.

Since last posting, many things have happened, and I'll probably forget some of them in the midst of typing this post. Basketball season has ended, and I have notified the A.D. that I will not be able to coach next year. I have prayerfully thought this through, and I know that in order to put into teaching all that I wanted to and spend quality time in my relationships, I needed to let go of something. I will miss my cheerleaders and the fun times I had with them. I enjoyed getting to know each one of the girls, and see them grow through out the season.

Derek's family came for an 8 day visit, which went smoothly. His family met my family, and all seem to get along, which is great. I am glad that they had the opportunity to come up here to Pennsylvania from sunny florida.

My nephew, Luke Taylor, got saved, which is a huge blessing and answer to prayer! You can pray for Audrey, she has had some health issues come up, and the doctors are unsure of what is causing it. They thought it was some kind of seizure, but the tests were clear. She goes in for an MRI soon, and she has to be put under. It makes my sister a bit nervous for her 18 month old daughter to be put under, so I ask prayer for her as well.

Teaching has been going well. We started the looooooooooooooooong process of learning how to write a research report. . . You can pray for my sanity. From now until April 18th, that is all we are doing. . . learning the writing and researching process!!! At the end of it all, the effort is worth it, but in the midst of the storm it seems endless.

Well, that's a brief update on life for the past month or so. I hope that satisfies all curiousities:o)

The picture at the top is another one of Derek and myself after church one Sunday, and the picture on the bottom is of the flower Derek gave me for our 5 month anniversary. AND to answer all questions, no, we are not engaged. . . YET:o)

a scattering

Here is a little update since I am not so good at keeping my blog updated. Life has been crazy busy as usual. Between teaching, coaching and maintaining any kind of relationship outside of school, I have been completely overwhelmed at times with all that is on my plate. God has been showing me a lot of things recently. One, not to focus on my circumstances. When life seems to be overwhelming and I feel like giving up, God is always there. It's so easy to get caught up emotionally in all that is seemingly wrong in life, when I feel like there is no time to refocus. The only reason I feel like there is no time, is because I do not make the time.

Second, is learning to obey and respect those God has placed over me, when I feel like they single me out or "have it out to get you". God has people in my life where they need to be to teach me what I need to learn, I just have to trust that God knows in spite of how I feel towards them.

Life just keeps coming at me, but God knows what he is doing. He brings friends in to encourage you and His word to rebuke and exhort you. I just got to keep plodding along the path and look towards the goal, rather than the here and now.

I wanted to thank my friends for putting up with me these past couple weeks. I also wanted to thank Derek for being such a wonderful boyfriend in directing my focus back to where it needed to be!

On a lighter note, here are some pics!

This is a pic of Derek and Nathan eating ice cream at Coldstone for Luke Forman's Birthday!Look we match! Gray hoodies, and black shirts. . . we are also wearing blue jeans, but that didn't make the pic!

Derek needed assistance to reach the water fountain!Last, but not least, here is a picture of our "family". Derek and I decided we are going to adopt little "Ray-Ray" when we get married and move to Hawaii!

Christmas and New Years

It's been quite some time since I have been able to post anything here on my blog. So I decided to put off grading and post a little something.

I spent Christmas down in Florida with Derek's family where I met his family for the first time. We had a grand old time, and I enjoyed my first 83 degree Christmas! It definitely did not feel like Christmas, but it was enjoyable to see palm trees lit up with Christmas lights.

The picture to the right is on new years day about 5sh in the morning. . . we all stayed up til around 8 am playing games and cooking/eating breakfast at Jaimer's apartment. We brought in the new year down in Philadelphia watching the fireworks and Penns Landing. . . the first time I have ever done that, even though I've lived in this area my whole life!

While I was in Florida, I went with Derek and his family to Tarpon Springs, which is a little greek community on the bay. The picture to the left is Derek lifting a stingray out of the water at the aquarium in that town. . . which he got in trouble for because a little kid told on him. The picture to the right is of Derek "leap-frogging" over his brother Aaron. His dad is in the background with a concerned expression on his face.

Here is a pic of Derek's siblings and myself at the aquarium in front of the petting tank. From left to right: Aaron, Derek, me, Rachel, and Miriam.

The rest of the pictures are of Derek and myself at various places around the Tampa area. I really did enjoy meeting his family and having the time away from school.