career change

It is official, I have been accepted into Denver Teaching Fellows as a Bilingual Elementary Ed teacher in the Denver Public Schools.  I am soooo excited!  This has been something that I have been passionate about pursuing over this past year.  Denver Teaching Fellows is a program specifically designed to train teachers to be effective at closing the achievement gap in high-needs schools in the Denver Public Schools, and the relentless pursuit of academic achievement for all students.  It begins with a summer Training Institute of six weeks starting June 5 - July 14.  Then I am placed into a high-needs school and start teaching full-time on my own this fall!  I will be teaching a Bilingual elementary class which means that all my students will be native Spanish-speaking kiddos.  I feel incredibly blessed by God to have been selected 1 of 50 for this program.  I am astounded at His love to grant me such a gift.  I can't wait to teach these little minds.  I want to make a difference in their lives and hearts and give them the tools to be successful in whatever they pursue.

To learn more of what Denver Teaching Fellows is all about and what I will be doing, you can go to their website at www.denverteachingfellows.org.  

A little bit o' Rockieness

A perfect date:  A Rockie's game on a spring night with my hunk of a hubby and a picnic dinner of sushi and dried mangos.  

4 lbs of strawberries + 24 oz of blackberries for $4.88 = springtime sweetness

HE HAS RISEN!

And I'm eternally grateful.

Cry, The Beloved Country

An impassioned novel about a black man's country under white man's law and the racial injustice suffered by both in the beloved country of South Africa in the 1940s. This is it's tragic history.

veganism

After much research and reading, I've (Naomi) decided to adopt the vegan diet (as much that is in my control, which means that when invited to people's homes, I will eat whatever they serve and Mom Heidi, I will GLADLY eat whatever you make while in Australia!). I read a book many months back that really influenced this decision. It's called Skinny Bitch (not so great name, but great book!). It goes into depth the sources of animal products and dairy products and what exactly is in them (added hormones, etc.). I'm becoming much more passionate about what I put into my body and what exactly is in the foods I consume. Being vegan means eating no animal products (dairy-eggs,butter,cheese,milk; meat and fish) and eating a plant based diet which is eating all fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. We eat very little meat and dairy as is, so I don't think this will be too bad (although, one thing I will do that is against the vegan diet, is continue to eat fish. I love tuna and salmon and believe the benefits of fish are great). As is, we drink soy milk (but I'm thinking of trying almond milk as there are some controversy over the benefits of soy), and eat lots of tofu (protein and calcium) and veggies. Whole grains are the number 1 staple in our house. My mom and twin sis being nurses, I know their first question (rightfully so) will be what about the nutrients in meat and dairy? I get all the nutrients found in dairy and meat already in vegetables and in the daily supplements we take (fish oil and flax seed oil = omega-3), and as for calcium, it is in a lot of vegetables and we take a calcium supplement that has 100%DV. Also, brocolli, brussel sprouts, and kale are huge sources of calcium. I love yogurt, so soy yogurt also provides calcium. Another concern about the vegan diet is the lack of iron, vitamin B-12 and riboflavin. The multi-vitamin we take has 100% of each. Some of the benefits to a vegan diet are lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol, and lower risk of many forms of cancer. Jason is super supportive of this (since he is the family cook, whatever he makes will be vegan for me), and he will eat anything I make or experiment with (bless him!). I get a lot of my recipes from http://www.fatfreevegan.com/ and the book mentioned above comes with a great simple recipe book too. If any of you have any suggestions or tips on vegan foods, etc. I'm all ears! I'll periodically post great recipes I find and try out too. :-)

Sweetly broken

To the cross I look,
to the cross I cling
Of its suffering I do drink
Of its work I do sing
For on it my Savior both bruised and crushed
Showed that God is love
And God is just

At the cross You beckon me
You draw me gently to my knees, and I am
Lost for words, so lost in love,
I’m sweetly broken, wholly surrendered

What a priceless gift, undeserved life
Have I been given
Through Christ crucified
You’ve called me out of death
You’ve called me into life
And I was under Your wrath
Now through the cross I’m reconciled

In awe of the cross I must confess
How wondrous Your redeeming love and
How great is Your faithfulness

~Jeremy Riddle