My School Website Bio

Our school has a website and the teachers get to write a bio about themselves... Last year I never did it because I didn't know what to write- that isn't going to happen this year... So, here is what I have so far... Please tell me what you think... I don't want to sound dumb! Potential & current parents read this thing! hehe.

Casey Davis
Kindergarten

Good day!
My name is Casey Davis and it is a pleasure and blessing to begin my third year of teaching kindergarten and second to be here at Northwood Hills. The loving, supportive family like atmosphere here at NHE comes from the teachers, parents and children. I just love it and look forward to each day of work!

I was born in Denton, TX and moved to Wichita Falls, TX in elementary school. I graduated December 2005 with a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies (Early Childhood Education), certified general studies EC-4th grade and recently became certified in English as a Second Language. I also plan to become certified in a Gifted Talented program.

Last December (2007), I married my most fabulous husband, James Davis. He is a Texas A&M graduate and works as an IT Consultant. Together, we live here in north Dallas living life to the fullest child and pet free for a while! J

When we’re not working, we enjoy hanging out with friends, going to and serving at The Village Church, short traveling to visit family as well as long distance traveling (China, Jamaica, Mexico, and Las Vegas so far!), working out, Wii, watching movies, reading, and just living life serving our Lord, as He pleases.

I am looking forward to the 2008-2009 school year, my coworkers, the parents and most of all my new students! I have full faith and confidence that this will be the best year yet!

God Bless!!

You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them. ~Desmond Tutu

So, I've been writing a different blog, it's taking me a few days to finish and of course I am still pondering and praying about it all. So, in the mean time, I am going to write on another topic. I've done it before. I think it was for a college class but here and now, I am going to do it again because it is important to me.

My Granny: George Ann Haswell

She has been in my life since before the day I was born. As many of you know, my parents did not get married before I came along. They dated for a while and stuff (you can determine the stuff for yourself). So, somewhere in the beginning of my life, they, my parents decided to live together to raise me. They picked out a house and bought it together in Corinth, TX. It was close to their work and close enough to my granny and other family members. So, through the years I many hours, days, and weeks at Granny & Gramps' house. In the 4th grade we moved to Wichita Falls, TX. Hard move for me but I would like to say I got through it alright. It brought me to where I am now and I am pretty dang happy with that. My parents would take lots of time driving my sister and I down to Duncanville to see my granny- spend the day, a weekend, a week or more- however long she would put up with us. In the 7th grade Gramps went on home to be with Jesus. So, it was just Granny and Hope (her little dog that thought she was human!). We still continued to visit all the same.

Through my life, Granny and I have always had this special connection. She's always gotten me. She's been there for me, encouraged me, supported me, and disciplined me... and she took me to church while in town. Even living 2 hours away, I could get a phone call from Granny and she'd ask me, "Casey, is everything okay? I just had this feeling..." and most of the time, I was upset about something. She always just knew.

By the way, my Granny's Chocolate Chip Cookies trump your granny's chochips! I just had to throw that one in there- I know anyone in my family will stand behind me if you wanna take it outside. hehe. :-)

She is the center of our family. No one dare mess with her, or you're going to hear about it from someone if not everyone... not that she needs anyone to stand up for her- she's been around over a quarter of a century, has seen 2 husbands go to Jesus, raised 3 sons and help with 2 step daughters, be there for 4 grandsons, and 9 granddaughters... there is more, I guess I shall continue- 2 double step grandsons their wives and their kids, 1 great granddaughter with 2 more on the way (not from me- remember I'm EPT -). :-) My point- she can stand up for herself and she does.

At some point in college, I got caught up with myself. I didn't call her or go see her as much. As you will see in another blog I am working on, I'm selfish. Shortly after I moved down this way, I moved into an apt in Lewisville. My friend was over one morning, I decided not to take a subjob that day- praise His name- because my mom called. I answered, not wanting to for only the Lord knows why, and my mom told me dad was leaving work, stopping by the house only to get a sandwich to eat on the way to the hospital... Hospital?!!? WHY!?! Granny had a heart attack. She was in pain that morning and had called her friend Virgina to come get her and take her to the hospital because she was scared that if she called an ambulance they would let Hope out and she didn't want to have to worry about her dog while she was laying in the hospital bed. So, I left and turned a 45 minute drive probably into a 25 minute drive- I dared any officer to pull me over and see what happens. Virgina had Grannys cell phone and called my uncle Randy, who in turn called a few of the family members, my dad and their brother Lin. Everyone was on their way from Houston, Marshall, & Wichita Falls. Once I arrived at the hospital I got her phone called my 2 aunts Muriel and her family in Norman,OK- they're on their way now, and my cousin Lindsey who lives right there in Duncanville- I couldn't get a hold of her mom bc she was at work but I knew Lindsey would know how and did. Within a few hours, we were all there. Just waiting. I think Dad got there before anyone- he of course was talking to doctors and finding out everything he could. He can be pretty good at taking charge- and I think he feels pretty comfortable in hospital situations (prob not his favorite when he's there for his own mom though!) Anyway, she came through surgery fine, sore, but fine and recovered. That was about 3 years ago. For a really long time she wasn't herself fully. She seemed weak and in pain, and sick a lot. This year she had another surgery, not on her heart, and is much better. I think she feels better then she has in a long time. Anyway, when she had her heart attack I promised myself I would be more intentional. I wasn't though. Even for the year that I lived with her, I wasn't intentional. I feel like I kind of took it for granted. Granny is close to ALL of her grandkids, blood and step. But the Lord put me in her home for a year. How lucky am I? And I wasted a lot of that time with her. I love her. I love her a lot. Last week, I went down there, Andrew and all, and spent part of the day with her. It was wonderful. And yesterday, she came up to see our apartment, hang out on the couch and do nothing but take and sit. James came home and we had dinner and hung out. Granny doesn't feel safe driving in the dark, so she left a little before 7- after most of the traffic and home before dark- this is when she would have liked to see me home while I was living with her- but I am not sure if that happened even once. lol- Home before dark- that was difficult. James and I watched a movie. It made me cry because an older woman died and it made me think of Granny. I am not ready to miss her yet. I haven't had my time with her. I am ready to not take her for granted. I love her and I want to be the granddaughter she has helped raise. Not a selfish one but one that is loving and kind and giving. Did you know that without even looking she can tell you anyones birthday/anniversary from memory. She may go check herself but I've never seen her get it wrong... and she remembers to send a card. She is smart. She is beautiful. She has lived life. We don't always see eye to eye on religion but she loves Jesus. She has supported me in all my endeavours. And I want to be there for her. I want to love her and support her. I want to spend more time. Gas and time are NO excuse for me not to get in the car and drive my butt down there. So, this is my promise to my Granny- I will be the granddaughter you have raised. I want to be better at my job. I love you.

“The only reason why we ask other people how their weekend was is so we can tell them about our own weekend.” -Chuck Palahniuk

Our weekend was fun and continuous. Here are some pictorial updates:

I had Friday off so my weekend began early. I started with the gym of course and then hung some things on the walls. Well, to tell the truth, I hung some things on Thursday but my opinionated husband didn't like my work, so I was re-hanging things. :-) This is what it takes sometimes to make sure things are straight on the wall. Then I met up with my friend Amy at Northpark for some light shopping and a chat but before I got there, I had to sit in traffic. Dallasites don't know how to drive. At least in Houston traffic everyone is trying to drive fast and no one is just going slow because they suck at driving...

Friday night we went to see Hancock and then to dinner at BJ's in Addison. We don't have any pictures of those activities.

Saturday we went to transform and I'm trying to get a friend that was there taking pictures for the church to send me a couple that he took of us! So, hopefully I'll be able to post that soon! :-)

Then on the way home, James had the boat bug and so we stopped at West Marine. Here's our purchase:

James pretending to be behind a boat on the water. Next summer baby, I promise!

I put it to good use and took a quick nap, I really did fall asleep!
Saturday night James and I babysat for a family, 2 little girls to be exact. They are smart, cute, and full of spunk! :-) It was fun!

On Sunday we tried to sleep in. This is a difficult task though because a couple of weeks ago our curtains started to fall down so we just took them down and haven't put them back up. It's bright in the AM. We went to Wally World and for some reason J was just super tired so he rested while I worked out and stuff. Then it was church time. It was an excellent sermon. I'll be blogging about that itself later on. Afshin is such a good speaker. The Lord uses him in wonderful ways. After church we went to dinner with Brent, Dan, Jordan, and D. Here's what dinner produced:

If I get WiiFit, will I be able to move like that Brent???

Moldy Garlic

YEEEEEEEAAAAH!!!!!!!

For the past month or so there has been this smell in my kitchen, which if you've been here means a nasty smell in my kitchen, dining room, and living room! Ugh! And I feel this smell was causing gnats to sworm our home. We have tried EVERYTHING to get rid of the smell and the soon to be dead stupid annoying flying things. I took every single thing off the counter scrubbed it, windexed it, and then used a lysol wipe to disinfect it. Put ALL the fruit away, so that non of it out in the open. I would run HOT water down the disposal with a lemon cleaner. We bought a gnat killer thingy from Lowes and burned about a million candles trying to mask the small. Anyway, finally Sara was over yesterday and I used my sniffer to sniff around again and it wasn't from the sink, the dishwasher, oven, stove, but finally I felt like I knew it was coming from a certain cabinet so I began pulling out spice after spice. A plastic ziploc back with 2 garlic cloves sealed shut but with an awful stinch. Apparently you shouldn't seal a bag with garlic in it. It holds moisture and creats mold that smells! It now has been trashed and the smell is gone! The gnats are diminishing!

YEEEEEEEAAAAH!!!!!!!

We're Ready... or at least we look like it!

The DAVIS DUET

BRING IT!

Since I've never played a day of soccer in my life and James hasn't played since elementary school we had NO soccer equiptment. So, here we are 100 bucks later ready for practice! As you can see we don't have our team shirts yet so we just threw on some black ones... oh and my tennis shoes look STUPID (I know super trivial but that's what flex spending is for in our budget!) so I am going to get some black and white ones. :-) That way if I totally make a fool of myself, I'll look good doing it! haha. Hope we have a photographer! :-P

James dressing for his close up.

He's falling as I am taking the picture.

The business-professional soccer player.

He's ready for INDOOR soccer!

I think I look like a soccer player...
Not really. lol.
Shin guards and everything... go ahead try and kick me!

Random 4th of July Weekend Pictures

These first ones are from a wedding on Friday, July 4th! :-)

















James with the groom, Kent!














These are from July 3- watching the Addison fireworks from the roof of our apartment parking garage with most of our home group!

My Celebrity Morph

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebs

I got this from Brandi's page! How funny! :-) Who creates these things?!?!

I Kissed a Girl...

Okay, so I must admit I like dumb songs. I like good ones too but the ones I get stuck on and want to repeat over and over and over on my ipod are really dumb ones. The current one is Katy Perry's "I Kissed a Girl." I totally am not into kissing girls, I love kissing my husband but I really like the beat and voice of this song! It totally just gets stuck in my head!

Anway- enjoy the song:

A Circle Has No End...

I have a friend, I would say one of the best friends I've ever had- and I've had some good ones. She has this love for the Lord, is fun, energetic, honest, goofy most of the time, but serious when it is needed. I love being around her and just talking to her. She is the reason, mostly, why I keep AT&T instead of going to Verizon, what my husband has. (I talk to her on the phone way more then him.) About a year ago, she had a friend, a guy friend, that started to become more then that. He is a great guy, in fact James and I love him! He pursued her and was always honest with her about his intentions for their relationship. A few months after they officially began dating, his job would require him to leave the country for a number of months. My friend, has never met someone she would even consider saying the "L" word with let alone say the "M" word. She had met her match- as we sat on our couch giggling about our boys, we were both dropping the words left and right! Of course at the time, I was engaged to be Married to the one I will Love forever! He requested for her to look at some rings! She was nervous but so excited. Her nerves true to form because, wow, they had only been dating for a couple of months. I would be scared too, hell, I had been dating James for almost a year and a half and I was nervous! hehe. :-) Anyway, time came for him to actually leave and she couldn't do it. Seven to eight months is a long time. Could she do it? Was he really the one? How would she know if he's gone this whole time and they get married pretty dang close to the time he got back? So, she ended things. It was difficult. Very sad. But freeing. As time went by she went on dates. No one caught her attention really. A few "maybes" but no one was worth it. She kept going back to him in her mind. And they started talking online.... on the phone.... and her heart strings were pulling at her. It's been him all along. The Lord used this time apart to confirm everything. He is the one! He feels it, she feels it. She gets those silly butterflies when he calls... she gets upset when he doesn't...not like mad but ya know! We've been praying for him and them together! He has requested us to help him. One of my request has been to take her ring shopping. My first thought is "I've never been ring shopping! James did it all on his own. I was freaking out because I thought he hadn't been and he had the dang ring for a month and a half before he even proposed because he didn't know how to stinking do it!" Anyway, Robbin's Brothers is by our house and so yesterday my friend and I ventured on over that way. She doesn't know what she wants, what to look for, or have a clue as to where to begin. On top of all that- she is nervous as can me, scared to even try a ring on her finger (her excuse the whole time was "I think it's too small, I'm scared it's going to get stuck!") Drew, our fabulous salesman (James and I both bought our rings from him) wouldn't have it. He demanded she put out her hand and slipped several rings on her finger trying to find one that was just "okay". Drew says, "Okay isn't forever." My friend and I have very different taste. We respect the others likes and it's funny how one ring looks so fabulous on one girls hand and so blah on anothers. Who knew?!? She found one that she likes... and that's it. Drew and boyfriend have to take it from there. She wants to know nothing else from this point forward. Which is exciting! I will get to see her and be with her through this whole process. She was so goofy in the store starting with pulling into the parking garage. "where do I go? I park here? Oh my gosh, I can't believe I am doing this?" Walking up 2 flights of stairs to the actual store, she's joking about passing out, running back to the car and leaving me there, ect... Like I said, she had a hard time putting a ring on her finger just to see. I loved it all. Drew did a good job of diffusing her and calming her down and making her feel okay about everything. So anyway, please pray for my friends. Pray for a safe return home for our friend overseas. For my friend here, her family, and just for God to continue to bless and show His way for her. And for them, together. That it all be sanctioned by Him and they do have many blessings! Or if they are not meant to be together that He end it RIGHT NOW! That it be as obvious as the nose on their faces that they should not pursue another day! I will keep you all updated! :-)