The Y Guy

Sunday night was Wool E Bull's birthday! To celebrate, he had all of his mascot friends come to his birthday party. Well, Stephen got to be the representative for the YMCA and accompany Wool E at his birthday party as the Y Guy!

 He had a blast! The heat around here has been scorching lately. So, they moved the game from 5pm to 7pm. The Y Guy and all the other mascots had their picture made with Wool E before the game started. (Which, I don't have a copy of) The Bulls' staff began printing them immediately and the mascots got to sign them all for the kids to have. Then, the mascots got to greet guests at the gate. Several people The Y Guy knew came through, including one of the YMCA's campers!

I was told I would get a free t-shirt for being The Y Guy's guide. He has a hard time seeing and an even harder time knowing how wide his Y is. He hit several people in the head with the top of his Y as well as got stuck in several hallways. Anyway, I wore khaki shorts to look somewhat professional and the shirt I would wear to the game as a spectator (the blue one in the picture). Well, no free shirt was there so I walked around in this outfit all night. No big deal, except for the fact that every Durham Bulls employee wears a blue Durham Bulls shirt and khaki shorts. So, people came up to me all night long asking questions. At first, I tried to explain I didn't really work there, but that got complicated. So then I just started answering questions like I knew what I was doing. Other than a few eye rolls when I didn't know the answer, I did a good job fooling people.

The Y Guy also got to play in a game of tug of war. Of course the birthday boy's team won!

The mascots were divided into teams for all the activities to make sure they had plenty of breaks. Other mascots did a dizzy bat race and another group ran in the base race against Wool E. Finally, Wool E won a race! Usually he runs against kids and those small children always beat him, but tonight he took the victory and out ran all of his mascot friends!

During the breaks, we helped ourselves to a lot of Rita's frozen ice! And, as you can see Stephen was drenched...this picture was after being out for the first round of greetings. By the end of the night, everything on him was soaked with sweat. But, it was well worth it and I think he'd do it again anytime the Y Guy is needed to make an appearance!

Then, all of the mascots lined up in the main plaza to greet fans and take pictures. Look at this line...

Thankfully a storm was rolling in and there was a breeze accompanied by some sprinkles. So, greeting everyone in line wasn't too miserable.

Then, we got to enjoy the rest of the game as regular spectators. We had a great time! And, the Bulls won!

Overall, I think Wool E had a GrEaT birthday! Happy birthday, Wool E!

Bachelorette Weekend

This past weekend I got to go to the beach with almost all of my bridesmaids. There is nothing better than spending a weekend at the beach with all of your best girl friends. The only thing I knew going into the weekend was that we were going to the beach and leaving Friday morning. I did not know that they were going to break into my apartment at 6:30 in the morning and wake me up. Luckily, they had Chick-Fil-A breakfast with them, which made being up that early a little easier. Knowing we were headed for the beach made it a lot easier to get up. We loaded up and headed out and got to the beach around 11:30. We literally dropped everything inside and headed straight for the beach. It was a beautiful weekend. The temperature was only in the 80s and there was a nice cool breeze the whole time. I don't even think I broke a sweat. I got a little pink, but not fried like I occasionally do. Friday night we cooked dinner in and had an evening full of games and presents. The surprises kept coming from there. My friend Kelly made a cake, I got some lovely lingerie, and we played an Almost Newlywed Game, which I was not very good at. Saturday we slept in, had a little breakfast, and spent the rest of the day on the beach; it was another gorgeous day. We went out to dinner Saturday night in Morehead City to the Sanitary Fish Market and walked around down town. We were very over dressed for the area, but proudly strutted ourselves around in our cute dresses. Sunday was pack up and head out day, but not without one last walk on the beach. My girls put so much thought and planning into this weekend...I really don't think I could have planned a better weekend for myself. They're the best! And, here are a few pictures from the weekend...

Me with my lovely bridesmaids

If only I could jump without my mouth being wide open...

This was only jump attempt number 207, but it was worth it!

laying on the beach in dresses + camera + flip flops as a tripod + self timer = priceless photography

My favorite past time!

With the mermaid dude...please notice Laura's hand :)

Beautiful Sunset

10 days...

Tea, Anyone?

Thanks to a glitch in the registry at Belk, we received 5 tea pitchers this past weekend. After the third one, we decided we had one for sweet tea, one for lemonade, and one for unsweet tea. I'm not sure what the other two can be used for... ?? I'm pretty sure they will all be turned into something completely different real soon. Off to Belk we go...

Showered with Love

I wasted no time beginning my summer break and adjusting to a schedule of nothingness. I have spent a lot of time sleeping, organizing, cleaning, marking things off the wedding to do list, laying by the pool, traveling to see friends, and working when I feel like it. Being a teacher is AwEsOmE! :) They say this is the time of year when you remember why you went into teaching and why you love it. I am definitely loving it!

Stephen and I have been thrown two wonderful showers. Our first shower was about a month ago up at my Grandma's church. Small town churches are awesome and are always quick to show their love and give. We had a great time celebrating with them and were so grateful for all the gifts we got. My Grandma and aunt did a wonderful job organizing and throwing this shower!

The Great Hostesses

I would like to say he is sharing words of wisdom, but knowing him he's probably just telling a joke! :)

Present time!

Goodies to go in the pantry!

This past weekend these lovely ladies did another amazing job of shower throwing.

We could not have asked for more from them. They went above and beyond any expectation we ever had. Our church family and friends showered us with lots of gifts, but more importantly reminded us how much we are loved. It was a whirlwind of an afternoon. Opening that many presents takes longer than you think.

Our Guests

Presents galore!

Our youth children!

Wonderful Friends

Me and some of my amazing bridesmaids

The Groom with his soon to be bride and the two Michaels

Mother and Son

One of my beautiful flower girls!

Ally Poo! (Best Maid of Honor EVER!)

Padres!

Andy and Faith...It was Andy's birthday and he had to let me open all of the presents. He was a good sport about it. :)

 We had a great time celebrating and can not wait for July 30th to get here!

33 days and counting...

Brutally Honest

On the day before the last day of school:
"Ms. Hemric, have you been getting enough sleep lately because you are starting to get bags under your eyes."
Thanks??

On the last day of school:
"I wish you good luck on your honeymoon!"

Board Love

I usually don't let my students write on the board for fun, but on the last day of school it was free reign on the whiteboard. Here's what they had to say...

My favorite was written in my year book. It said,
"Dear Ms. Hemric,
Even though you called my mom like 1000 times this summer, you're still my favorite teacher."

Lessons Learned

I entered this year a little nervous about classroom management, but not too nervous because I had years of experience from being a camp counselor. What I didn’t realize was how tough the switch from camp counselor to teacher would be. You see in the summer, all I had to do was hang out with kids and make sure they didn’t die or kill each other. I could joke around with them and be their friend. Yes, I had to keep my students alive this year and make sure they didn’t kill each other, but I was not at school to hang out with them. I was there to teach them, which totally changed the dynamic of my relationship with them. This was a tough switch for me that led to some bumps in the road with classroom management. I knew I wasn’t there to be their friend. And, I knew I wasn’t supposed to care if they liked me or not. But…(shh don’t tell anyone)…I really wanted them to like me. So, I didn’t crack down on students at the beginning of the year like I should have. I took care of “major” issues, but smaller things like talking and joking around I didn’t. Eventually, we got a handle on these things, but it took some work.

Here’s what I learned:

They’re going to like you.

Some of them won’t like you no matter what you do.

You won’t like some of them.

Making an example of someone (aka following through with threats) shows you mean business.

They want rules to follow.

Some of them are still going to be bad no matter what you do.

Middle schoolers get over things in 5 minutes. So, even if you make them mad, they’ll love you again in 5 minutes.

So, next year I’ll be entering my classroom as a teacher. Not as a teacher trying to be a camp counselor.

I’m still learning this last lesson. I’m a people pleaser and a rule follower. I am a hard worker and have always been a good student. Teachers and bosses have always liked me and praised my hard work. I’m used to receiving praise for my work. I didn’t realize how much I had come to rely on this praise for my sense of approval until this year. I was not the shining star of Carrington and I had to learn that my approval and self-worth does not come from other people; it comes from God. My purpose is to bring glory to Him in all that I do whether or not people are singing my praises. I’m not here to please other people or even to be praised by them. 

It has been so humbling to learn this because I have missed and craved that praise from my administration this school year on many occasions. Yes, I have a lot of room for improvement, but overall I feel like I did a good job this school year. So, I had to learn to find my satisfaction from the Lord and learn to only be concerned about pleasing Him and not other people. I also had to learn that not getting praised by my administration didn’t mean I wasn’t doing a good job. That was probably the hardest part of all because I had gotten so used to being told on a regular basis how good I was. I know that sounds arrogant, but I say it to say that in all of the craziness of this year, the most valuable lesson I learned was humility. And, like I said, I’m still learning. I still have days when I really wish one of my principals would say to me individually that I’m doing a good job with my students. I think I will probably always have those days, but I’m learning to not depend on those praises for approval.

“For am I now trying to win the favor of people, or God? Or am I striving to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a slave of Christ.” Galatians 1:10

“Don’t work only while being watched, in order to please men, but as slaves of Christ, do God’s will from your heart. Render service with a good attitude as to the Lord and not to men…” Ephesians 6:6