Exploring the City

It's Friday night so Stephen and I headed out for our usual date night. We started this fun tradition not long after we got married. We made a commitment that Friday night is date night. Period. No other plans except for extreme circumstances. So we went exploring to find a good place to eat for date night. I was in the mood for something New Orleans-like so we hunted for a good cajun/creole restaurant. The GPS got us lost, as usual, looking for several popular eating places here. I think we're just going to have to invest in a map of New Orleans. Eventually, we gave up and ended up at the Acme Oyster House not far from my work on Veterans Blvd. It was pretty good, but definitely a little over rated. Then we headed home and hit a TON of traffic on I-10 because tonight is a pre-season home game for the Saints. Traffic was horrible!! So we exited on Carrollton and made an attempt to find something interesting to look at downtown. We actually stumbled into the Garden District. It was really fun getting to look at all the beautiful houses and watch the trollies drive around. I definitely think a trolly tour is in order soon!

Making a House a Home

Stephen and I busied ourselves this weekend adding those simple touches to our apartment to make it look a little more like a home. We were fortunate to find some great little area rugs at Big Lots that have helped warm up our cold floor (both literally and figuratively!) We now have a nice brown area rug in our living room and a runner rug in our hallway. We also were able to hang most of our pictures this weekend...FINALLY!! Things are really coming together. Our small space is starting to feel like a home.
We went to First Baptist New Orleans for the second time this morning for church and this time stayed for Sunday School, they call it Bible study. They have a really great young married class with lots of couples, some with children, some without. The class is a good size, about 15 couples...lots of potential friends! :) We met one couple today who was also new to the seminary. Stephen invited them to lunch with us, so they accompanied us to Metairie and tried one of the BBQ places, Corky's, we'd been wanting to try. Corky's had a BBQ stuffed potato like the one at Jim & Nick's so I was happy! Overall, I would say it was a very productive and fun weekend! Back to the grind with the Redbirds tomorrow! :)

The Redbirds Have Landed!!!!

The schoolbell has rung and the Redbirds a.k.a. Mrs. Craver's kindergarteners have landed in their new nest! Each class has their own animal name, and our's just so happens to be the Redbirds. Yesterday was the very first day and boy did it start off chaotic!! I know from previous experiences that the first day tends to be a little hectic, but this year it threw me for a loop. I have very involved parents, which is wonderful, but because of that, every single one of my 23 student's parents were present on the first day of school. Do the math. It was A LOT of people in a very small space. They were all there seeing their kids off, taking pictures, etc, etc. After that, things calmed down a bit. However, having dealt with first graders so long, I am having to seriously adjust to how young my students are. They talk and interupt A LOT, but they are just trying to relate to whatever topic we're talking about and need constant redirection. They'll learn. Connie's been a superb helper because she walks around and gives them quiet reminders so I can actually teach! WONDERFUL!! We have had very few difficulties with students due to the fact that all of our students but two have been in the preschool program at the school and already kind of know the expectations. Our year has started off great so far. I had one really cute moment that happened this afternoon when we were dimissing. Most of my car riders had gone, so I only had about six students left to be called. We have been reading The Kissing Hand this week, which is about a little racoon who is scared to go off to his first day of school. His my kisses the palm of his hand and tells him all he has to do is put his hand to his face to feel his mother's love when he feels sad or scared. Well, anyway, we've been doing a lot of activities related to the book and one of my students grabbed my hand today and gave me a kiss on the palm of my hand and said, "There. Now you have a kissing hand from me. Now hold it to your heart." Precious! Then off course all the other kids wanted to do it, but it was really sweet. What a blessing!

Back to School

Preplanning has begun, and school will start soon. I've pretty much gotten everything together for my classroom. Lesson plans and open house packets are complete! Tomorrow is "Meet and Greet," which is what we in Georgia call open house. I get to meet all my little ones tomorrow! I've already met five of them, and they all seem really sweet. I've talked to the two four year old pre-K teachers, and they have been giving me the the "low down" on all of my kids. I now know who not to sit together, who talks a lot, and who has a hard time staying seated. Of course, all of that may change because every class is different! I'm really looking forward to getting the year started and getting into the routine of things. I feel a little scatterbrained right now just because I haven't taught in this setting yet. I'll feel more comfortable once things get going.

Stephen is really enjoying his job and gets along very well with the staff. In fact, tonight we are heading over to his boss Jim's house to eat dinner with his family and the family of Mrs. Priscilla, one of his co-workers. Everyone has been very welcoming to us, which has made the adjustment easier.

We are really enjoying life here so far. We miss home, but are becoming more comfortable here. The only thing that has been really annoying about our apartment is the fact that apparently we share a lease with a large family of beetles???? They are EVERYWHERE! They are teeny tiny flying brown beetles. Fairly harmless, but very annoying. One even flew at my head when we came home from Georgia over the weekend. I think he was having a party while we were gone and was mad that I was invading his space.

On that note, we had a very enjoyable weekend with family. We flew home to attend Stephen's Mamaw's wedding. It was a nice, although brief, visit. I was also happy to be temporarily reunited with our four-legged baby, Porthos. He seems to be very happy living in Grammy's backyard, but I do SO miss him! He turned 2 over the weekend, so I was glad his mommy was there to wish him a happy birthday. He is doing a good job of keeping Dixie, Stephen's childhood dog, company during her pregnancy (not by Porthos of course--he can't be a daddy if you catch my drift lol). He will have lots and lots of new friends in just a few weeks! Stephen and I also enjoyed eating at our favorite El Charro. We still haven't found a good Mexican restaurant to eat at here, but we will, don't you worry!

Well this has been an interesting mix of information. Such is the Craver life. More to come soon!

one week down...a lot more to go!

Well, we made it through our first week in New Orleans. It's been an emotional and physical adjustment, but I would say we have settled in pretty well for the first week. We went to an ice cream "freeze off" last night at the pool. It was basically a homemade ice cream contest. We got to sample all of the contestants entries...DELICIOUS! Stephen's boss, Jim, won with his ice cream peanut butter chocolate with butterfinger! YUM! (We voted for that one!)

We have not met too many young married couples WITHOUT kids yet, so that has been a little difficult. Not that we don't love people who have kids, it would just be nice to find some folks that are in our same "frame of life" right now. So prayers would be appreciated about that.

I've pretty much gotten settled in my classroom. Connie, my parapro, has been a HUGE help! All we have left to do now is move one table out of the room and do the "knitty gritty" stuff to get ready for the first day of school like putting name plates on, labeling the cubbies, decorating the door, etc. I also have got to make my lesson plans for the first two weeks of school sometime, but I'm hoping Connie can help me with that, too. The curriculum is spelled out for me, but I still need a little guidance to understand what kindergarten has done in the past. Everything was pretty much set up for me, which is great! We are the redbird kindergarten class. Every class has an animal name. So everything in our room has to do with redbirds. It's really cute. Not much else is new...more posts to come later!

We're Here!

Well, as of Friday, we are official residents of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. We arrived late Friday afternoon and began the unpacking process. When we arrived, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the paint color on all the walls was the exact same color as our house in Covington, so I knew that all of our things would match perfectly! The apartment is very small, but it works for us. It's really nice moving into a space that is brand new. I've never had all new appliances before which is wonderful! Stephen's family braved the long trip down to help get us settled. They were a HUGE help!! Thanks to them, we have our entire apartment set up. The only thing left for us to do is hang pictures and window treatments. They stayed the weekend with us and explored the city a little bit. It was nice to become acclimated with our new surroundings with a few familiar faces.

Homesickness has set in a little bit, at least for me anyway. Reality has began to sink in that we're not just on vacation and we're going to be here for a while. However, once school starts and life starts to get busy again, I'll have a lot to keep my mind occupied. Stephen urged me to attend a women's workout class tonight at the gym. It was a lot of fun getting to meet some new people and exercise at the same time. I hope to be able to do more things like that so I can get to know people here.

Stephen started his new job today, so while he was at work, I went to survey my classroom. I met my parapro, and she kind of showed the ropes of what they usually do at Memorial. I feel a little lost because Christian curriculum is a lot different than what I have been teaching, but I think I'll catch on. The curriculum tells you word by word what to say and what to do. After I talked with my parapro today, I made the drive back to the seminary. This was my first attempt driving around the city, so of course it was a little scary! I used the GPS to get to my school, but on the way back, I thought I didn't need it because I was just retracing my steps....WRONG! I missed my exit and ended up by the Super Dome. For those of you unfamiliar with the city of New Orleans, the Super Dome is not really anywhere near the seminary. It was quite scary, but as soon as I realized I was lost, I plugged the GPS back in and it took me where I needed to go. Needless to say, I will use the GPS from now on. At least until I get to know my way around here!

Thank you for all the prayers and support. We will need your continued prayers as we try to start our life here. It's going to be an adventure! I'm going to try to upload some pics. Please excuse the mess, we're still working on getting settled!!

We're Here!

Well, as of Friday, we are official residents of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. We arrived late Friday afternoon and began the unpacking process. When we arrived, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the paint color on all the walls was the exact same color as our house in Covington, so I knew that all of our things would match perfectly! The apartment is very small, but it works for us. It's really nice moving into a space that is brand new. I've never had all new appliances before which is wonderful!

Stephen's family braved the long trip down to help get us settled. They were a HUGE help!! Thanks to them, we have our entire apartment set up. The only thing left for us to do is hang pictures and window treatments. They stayed the weekend with us and explored the city a little bit. It was nice to become acclimated with our new surroundings with a few familiar faces.

Homesickness has set in a little bit, at least for me anyway. Reality has began to sink in that we're not just on vacation and we're going to be here for a while. However, once school starts and life starts to get busy again, I'll have a lot to keep my mind occupied. Stephen urged me to attend a women's workout class tonight at the gym. It was a lot of fun getting to meet some new people and exercise at the same time. I hope to be able to do more things like that so I can get to know people here.

Stephen started his new job today, so while he was at work, I went to survey my classroom. I met my parapro, and she kind of showed the ropes of what they usually do at Memorial. I feel a little lost because Christian curriculum is a lot different than what I have been teaching, but I think I'll catch on. The curriculum tells you word by word what to say and what to do. After I talked with my parapro today, I made the drive back to the seminary.

This was my first attempt driving around the city, so of course it was a little scary! I used the GPS to get to my school, but on the way back, I thought I didn't need it because I was just retracing my steps....WRONG! I missed my exit and ended up by the Super Dome. For those of you unfamiliar with the city of New Orleans, the Super Dome is not really anywhere near the seminary. It was quite scary, but as soon as I realized I was lost, I plugged the GPS back in and it took me where I needed to go. Needless to say, I will use the GPS from now on. At least until I get to know my way around here!

Thank you for all the prayers and support. We will need your continued prayers as we try to start our life here. It's going to be an adventure!