sunset in beautiful florida

sunset from the porch
Originally uploaded by jenandmark710.

so this morning i got up to take the dog out and i'm pretty sure that jack frost bit my nose. i know it probably wasn't jack frost, but it definitely was cold. i told my class this morning that all i have are summer clothes and shoes and one coat. i told them that i'm going to die this winter. and i probably will. i can hear the death march. other than that life is great. today has been much better than previously. and i get to see sharon today!!! i'm excited. have a wonderful sunshiney cool day.

An entry at last!!!

well - i know that my posts have been few and far between. but we really have been busy. mark has been coaching volleyball which makes life busy plus church. but we finally made it to the weekend and got a little rest. i've been learning a lot. my first year of teaching was hard. i had a difficult class that took a lot of energy. then last year my class was pretty good even in the midst of all that happened at the school with the hurricane. this year i have 11 students and there are a lot of difficult situations. and i've had to be reminded to rely on God. i have this quote on my desk:

A little rain can straighten a flower stem.
A little love can change a life.
-Max Lucado

this statement has done a lot to remind me of why i teach. its not for the money or for the status. its to change lives (or at least to encourage strongly to change). and when i'm struggling or depressed i must remember that God has put me in this particular situation to influence lives. am i taking advantage of such a high calling? i hope that i am. and i hope that i've encouraged all of you teachers out there. God has a perfect plan, and he will give you the strength to do the best that you can.

this verse is on the other side of that piece of paper.

Galations 1:15-16
But when God had set me apart even from my mother's womb and called me through his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that i might preach Him among the Gentiles.

now i know all you Bible majors and pastors are probably all upset that i took this verse out of context, but it encourages me that God planned this for me from the very beginning. He set me apart and called me to preach Him among the Gentiles (6th grade students :) )

so - yes i did have a difficult day today. Mondays i have zero breaks so i spend a LONG time with these kids and its easy to lose focus. but God is good and gracious and gives strength to the weary!!! i hope that God blesses you all - have a wonderful evening - i will try to post some pictures eventually.

school has begun!!!

well - school has started and i have 12 students in my 6th grade class. it has been interesting being at a new school. there are so many things that come up that i don't know what i'm supposed to do. so i just wing it. it has been exciting. my feet hurt so badly and my voice is getting scratchy. so the week is almost over - thank goodness. i could definitely use the week about now. and to top starting a new school year charlie has started limping around. hopefully its nothing serious!!! we'll have to wait and see! hope that you've had a wonderful day!

summer jobs...

daycamp kids
Originally uploaded by jenandmark710.

well these are some kids from the daycamp that i've been working at this summer. from the left its amara, luka, chinasa, disha, larry, and nitya. all of them are 4 except for chinasa who is 6 (she is also luka's sister). you can kinda tell from the picture that luka is having a bad day. (like most days) well to say the least its been an interesting summer. luckily i only have 3 days left. the countdown begins.

florida girls

the girls 2
Originally uploaded by jenandmark710.

well - i thought that it would be nice to mention the girls that we spent a lot of time with while we were in florida. from left christy (mark's older sister - now living in west virginia) sarah (working at bju in greenville, sc) fritzie (working on becoming a flight attendent) and rachel (working on getting her nursing degree while living in greenville, sc). and then me. these girls were really an encouragement to me. we really pulled together after the hurricane (wilma) hit our school. we would spend tuesday nights together for dinner and gilmore girls and amazing race (before they changed the time). it was a lot of fun and i miss them. i also miss playing tennis all year round with fritzie and rachel. we had some good times and i hope that God continues to work in your lives!!!

from the missing friend

well - mark and i took the week off partly to help christy move and then my mom decided to make up for our lack of a family vacation, by planning these events for this weekend. we were going to go to hershey park, but we took into consideration my dad's recent hip replacement and thought better of it. so instead we went water skiing yesterday and all except for mark and steph got sunburned. and today we are going to a reading phillies game. so needless to say i have been without internet all week. soooo....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHRISTINA!!!!!! i think that i deserve the props for calling her first. i accidentally called at 3:30 in the morning. and i thought that it was the wrong day. i can never remember what the time difference is and i was so0oooo bored in the rental truck full of christy stuff. so i thought that i would call....next time i will rethink it.

anyway chris - i love you and miss you and i wish that we were there to spend your birthday with you! it looks like you had plenty of fun. and i really wish that i was there with you after i saw on your blog what you got to do! lucky!

anyway- i hope that the rest of you are doing well! it was good to hear from the long lost friend keara!!! miss you all

so what's up?

well - i'm sitting at work and i'm looking at all of the blogs and there is nothing new... i'm so bored just sitting around watching the kids so you funny ones post something!!! hey and where is our long lost friend keara. i've been wondering what she's up to as well as the rest of you. so help me out and write something!!! love to you all - have a wonderful weekend.

jen and steph

jen and steph
Originally uploaded by jenandmark710.

so this is a picture of my wonderful sister steph. she just got back from visiting her fiance in alaska. that's right i am going to be related to an alaskan. and that alaskan is jonathon hamilton. so i wanted to blog about her because she is one of my closest friends and in a year she will be far away - cause they are moving to the great beyond of alaska. anyway - this picture does show a lot of her personality for those of you who know her you can agree.

so nothing else much is knew. we are just hanging out and preparing for a big weekend of helping christy move. i hope that all of you are having a wonderful day!!

another day in the "exciting" life of the corbins

jen and mark new years 2
Originally uploaded by jenandmark710.

well - this photo was taken new years eve. yup a long, long time ago. but i'm a little slow at uploading pictures. this weekend mark and i are hanging out with his parents. we're going to go to shady maple of course and then go to the outlets!! that's the best part. although i know some people would beg to differ.

mark and i have been learning a lot lately. well me (jen) especially. last night i was reading in my devotions and i was reminded that our God has everything at HIs fingertips. it is easy to think in human terms and see the small picture. but God has the larger view and i need to remember that. life may seem difficult and we may go through hard times, but God has a perfect purpose for it. i can trust my life to him.

well school is rapidly approaching. no matter how long of a summer i think that i have, it never seems long enough. people keep talking to me about school and asking if my classroom is ready or telling me "wonderful" stories about my future students and i just want to climb back into my summer vacation hole and live there forever (but of course get paid for it :) )

anyway - i'd better go! we have to get an early start tomorrow morning! have a wonderful evening

the newest addition to the corbin family!!!

pose for the camera
Originally uploaded by jenandmark710.

yes this is our puppy charlie. he is a chocolate lab and almost 16 weeks old. we got him a little over a month ago. time flies!!! i was a little worried for awhile because he would just lay on the carpet! i know some of you are thinking - well what's the problem with that? i know i'm wondering now why i was worried. anyway - he seems to have adjusted well to his new home. he is finally getting housebroken. now that i say that he will probably pee 3 times on the carpet tonight. ugh!!! we bought a crate for him (its kind of like a cage, but nicer :) ) its his little home/den whatever. that has helped a lot with the house breaking. he does some of the cutest things. he started hiding behind our couch that is against the wall as well as climbing into the middle shelf of our end table. but one of his most favorite things to do is go to my parents house and play with their fluffy white samoyed keesha. (that is their dog) keesha isn't really friendly, but charlie doesn't really seem to mind. he just keeps bugging her until she gives in. she's pretty old and is grumpy and cranky. anyway- he has been a lot of fun. and i'm sure that i will have many stories to come.

Welcome to our Blog!!!

hey all - yes we finally did it. mark and i started a blog. of course, it will be just me most of the time. mark isn't much of a writer. so not much is new or exciting or adventurous in the corbin life. we are working on getting settled into our new apartment of which there will be pictures to follow. now i must tell you that part of my hesitation of starting one of these is that i usually have nothing funny to say or an interesting way to say it. so don't expect awe from my blog. we thought this would be a good way to keep in touch with family and friends. well - i promise that i will write more later! love to you all!