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9 years ago yesterday, my friend - Kevin Jay Lucas - passed away after a 3-year battle with cancer. I have posted about it before, but his absence still touches my heart deeply - especially as I remember his family who still misses him tremendously.

Below is a portion from this website (which also has a picture of him) that talks about Kevin - his life, struggle with Ewing's Sarcoma, and his death.

Kevin was born February 27, 1984. His two older sisters were delighted to have a baby brother, as were his parents. Kevin was an active boy who loved doing anything and everything with his dad, he loved to down hill ski, play soccer, baseball, basketball, hunting and sledding behind the four-wheeler and driving a four-wheeler through the mud. He struggled in school and needed extra help. He worked hard in school and got along with most everyone. He liked his teachers and his teachers cared about him. Kevin had many friends.

In June of 1996 Kevin didn’t feel well and his chest and back hurt when he breathed. Four days after taking him to the emergency room with the thought that he had pneumonia, Kevin was diagnosed with a rare type of cancer. Six months of treatment with high doses of Chemotherapy, radiation, surgery and a stem cell transplant left Kevin without an immune system to fight infections. With the help of our church and Dutton Christian, Kevin attended school through a tel-video system in our home. This helped Kevin stay in contact with his friends and classmates as well as the necessary schoolwork. He was able to go to the seventh grade with the rest of his class the following school year.

Although for over a year Kevin was cancer free, the cancer did return. Again radiation, surgery and an experimental drug was used to destroy the cancer. All through the three-year battle with cancer Kevin’s friends, family, school, church and many who didn’t know him, prayed for his healing. The Lord gave Kevin a strong faith. Kevin knew that Jesus loved him so much that He (Jesus) came to earth to live, went to the cross to die, and to heaven to prepare a place for those who love and believe what Jesus did for them.

Kevin went to heaven to live with Jesus on March 30, 1999. He is now healed of all diseases and pain.We miss Kevin so much but we find hope and assurance in what Jesus said to Martha and says to us in John 11:25, 26 I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?

Yes Lord, we believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God who came into the world so our sins can be forgiven and we can be with God for eternity!

I love you, Kevin, and will always miss you until I get to see you in eternity.
Your friend and classmate,
Shelly

Only one more week until Spring Break! I think I'm just as (or more) excited about it than the students. :) I'm really looking forward to a break where I can completely relax and get a few more things organized around the house...maybe get some fun reading done...maybe - MAYBE go running. Let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. :)

Thankfully the snow didn't stick around for long. It was around 50 degrees yesterday and sunny. We had burgers on the grill along with grilled veggies - it was delicious!

Oh, and I decided to go for a new look on my blog - what do you think? To go with the rest of the recent changes in my life, I figured a new look for my blog would do, too. I like it. :)

So I woke up this morning and saw this outside of our front window:


My reaction:
Brrr!!!Snow, snow, go away - go back again to Michigan (sorry fam!)...little Shelly wants to play. Snow, snow, go away!

It's March - almost April. It's Washington. And it's SNOWING! It's crazy.
It's time for spring break!

Enough said.

Ok...so it's my birthday today. I'm 23 - now just a little MORE older than my students (I realize I can't grammatically say more older...but it's my blog - I'm gonna do what I want...and it feels appropriate to do so in this case). I guess I was just getting to a point in my life where I needed a change and wanted to do something to set myself apart a little more from my students...so I decided that I was gonna chop my hair.

Here are the before pictures:



The first cut...I got 10" cut off and was able to donate my hair to Locks of Love. Thankfully my friend Laura was there for moral support - thanks, Laura!


My poor hair...buh-bye. :(
The new me:


Oh...and I got some new glasses - my first pair of plastic frames!

Me and Kent (who digs the new do...and so do I). :)

Or, I guess in WA, a tag is also called a Meme...whatever that means (crazy Washintonians! I mean that with love ;). Thanks, Becca!

Here are the rules:
A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning. (That would be right here, this is the beginning, and this is also the first rule apparently.)
B. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
C. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

What I was doing 10 years ago:
Hmm...10 years ago I was 13. I guess I was in 7th grade-ish. I had crooked front teeth (thanks, Dad), hair up to my chin and huge glasses that touched my cheeks when I smiled or laughed. I was also trying to figure out what group of friends I belonged with - the "popular" group, or the group of people that actually cared about me and liked hanging out with me - I ended up choosing the latter.

5 Things on my To Do List today:
1. Pro-D day (i.e. Professional Development class - learning about the concept "Learning by Design")
2. Sit at my computer and check up on blogs and update my own.
3. Go home and clean up the kitchen and living room from last night's Bible study while listening to David Crowder's new CD "Remedy" - it's amazing! I'll probably end up singing at the top of my lungs and dancin' around, too, for you visual people out there. ;)
4. Fret about the fact that I'm getting my hair chopped tomorrow!
5. Hang out with my hubby. :)

Snacks I Enjoy:
Hah! How is one supposed to limit the answers to this question?! All!
More specifically: ICE CREAM (again, all flavors, but I really love Moose Tracks and Mint Chocolate Chip...and Starbucks' Java Chip...and...);

Things I would do if I were a Billionaire:
I'd like to think that I wouldn't use all the money just for myself (and it's easier to say I would do a bunch of noble things with it, too, since there's like a .00000000001% chance that I'll ever become a billionaire)...BUT...this is what I hope I would do:
- tithe and use that money towards the church we attend and supporting local and global ministries (like the prison ministry in Guatemala and the kid's ministry in La limonada...) to help work against the injustice in our world
- get rid of our student debt
- buy a nice -but somewhat average - house
- buy a second car
- travel around the world (including a visit to my friends Helen in England and Jane in China)
- invest a good chunk of the money
- set up college funds for (Lord-willingly) our future kids
- give some to friends and family --- especially those with financial needs
- buy the gifts for people that I've always dreamed of giving but could never afford to do so before
- maybe adopt?
- get a puppy and a kitty :)
- etc, etc, etc...

Looking back at the list, I can tell that Kent and I have been talking about budgeting lately... :) I'd want to be wise with my money and take care of financial burdens/frustrations...but I'd also like to give a lot of it away to people who need it more than I do beacuse it's always better to give than to receive and it'd keep me humble.

3 of my Bad Habits:
I, like Becky, would like to say that I don't have any, but any member of my family - especially my husband - would attest otherwise.
1. Hitting the snooze option on my cell 1 (or 10) too many times
2. Bitting my nails
3. Not always being assertive...sometimes being too passive...(but, I'd like to point out that I've come leaps and bounds from where I used to be when Kent and I first started dating about 3 years ago)

5 places I have lived:
1. With my mom in MI
2. On 1st Bennink for 2 years (at Calvin College)
3. In the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico for 3 weeks for Interim at Calvin (in Merida w/ Lupita and Sergio and in Campeche w/ Graciela)
4. In a house with some girls from Calvin - just for 1 year because...let's just say it wasn't the best experience of my life
5. In Guatemala City for 6 weeks this past summer w/ Kent
(6. In WA for a teaching job in which I am currently employed)

5 Jobs I have had:
1. Retail @ Landscape Impressions - my uncle's business. I also weeded and drove a loader once!
2. Waitress @ Arnie's Restaurant - served a lot of Dutch people
3. Waitress @ Russ' Restaurant - served even more Dutch people
4. Worship Apprentice @ Calvin chapel - learned how to plan and lead worship services for a year
5. Research Assistant @ CICW (Calvin Institute of Christian Worship) - looked up stuff and organized stuff for people who got paid a lot more than me :)

Today - I'm a high school Spanish and Family Psychology teacher and love it!

Alright...now for my victims...I tag (or Meme?):
- my sister, Sonny - who's running the Irish Jig tomorrow - wohoo!! I'm so proud :)
- Michelle - expecting baby #4 very soon!
- Lia - living in Africa!
- Sara - in the middle of major transitions
- my husband, Kent - I kinda love this guy ;)

Alright fam - get started!!!

This morning, I decided that after my tea was made and I was ready to head to school that, instead of driving, I would walk. Our house is really close to the school and I've always had the thought of walking in the back of my mind, but you know our fast-paced culture...I always end up driving to save a few extra minutes and use those minutes towards my busy day (even when I don't have a lot to do that day, it always feels like I do).

Today was different. Thursdays are my easy teaching days (we have long periods on Wednesdays and Thursdays...basically I end up re-teaching what I taught on Wednesdays...), so it seemed like this would be the best time to do this. The walk was only a short 10 minutes and it was amazing how many different sounds I heard: the birds, water from the near-by creak, cars in the distance, the wind, and...silence. Also, there were so many things to see: the dawn, the water trickling over the rocks, the snow-covered mountains in the hazy distance...it was a beautiful morning. As I heard the birds sing and saw the mountains, I couldn't help but sing in my head, "The heavens declare you are God and the mountains rejoice! The oceans cry 'Hallelujah!' as we worship you, Lord..."

I think this will become more of a regular habit for me - at least once a week (it's good to start small with a goal - a goal that you know you can reach, right?). And besides the benefits of being a little more environmentally conscious, it makes me slow down and take in the world around me - to realize all the gifts God has given me - to be still and know that HE is God - to remember that I am just a small small part of this big big world...and that God still loves.

So yesterday we hit the mid-to-upper 50s with lots of warm sunshine - it was amazing! SO amazing, in fact, that I decided to actually go RUNNING (ask any of my family members or friends...this is not something that I am eager to do)! I jogged a distance that I was proud of for my first time of the year, but came home with hurting hears from the cold-ish wind - I get that from my mom - thanks, mom.

Today, the sun is shining again and it is in the mid-50s...I think I might just go jogging this afternoon, too! (By the way, this is probably one of the first times I've been glad I'm not in Michigan! :)

This past week was awesome. Kent and I hung out with friends and family in Michigan. It was incredibly refreshing for me to be around people with whom I have history. It was also SO good to spend time with my family without the distractions of the holidays. These are some pictures that comprise a lot of the memories that we made while away.


This is my nephew, Blake - now 4 months old! He's getting so big. Such a happy baby, too - smiles so quickly... what's not to love?!?


Here are two of my LOFT friends - Matt (L) and Kyle (R). It was great catching up with them at LOFT devos Wednesday evening. Kyle is getting married this summer - so excited for him!

My friend, Joel - he played bass for our wedding this past summer. I played with him in LOFT for 3 years.










Here's Lucy - my sister's new puppy. She's a fox terrier and is so cute! She's about 5 lbs and has a lot of puppy energy, but can be really cuddly, too. It was fun to play with her!





My niece, Faith (almost 6) being crazy like her mom and Aunt Shelly.








My other niece, Bella, joining in on the fun. :)








Me and my sister, Sonny. We hung out on Thursday for a whole day with our mom. We went out for coffee, did some shopping, had lunch at Applebees, and went to a book store.






When we're together, it's not long before we get crazy.








Notice the flared nostrils...nice, huh? :)









Faith and Bella...taking after their mom and Aunt Shelly.






















Jared looking dazed after his daddy - my brother, Chad - dropped a bean bag on him.





My dog, Shadow, with Lucy. This week, Lucy was like the annoying little sibling or kid to Shadow... literally biting her ankles and walking on her. Although annoyed, I think Shadow likes having a fellow canine around.








Me and my not-so-young puppy. Shadow is about 9 years old now and has been the best dog ever. I miss having her around.








This has been a great week. I already miss my family and friends...but it's good to be back, too. Kent starts his new job tomorrow - pray that all goes well for him and that my students aren't too crazy. :)

(On our way back from the airport, we listened to the girl's state basketball game - the Lyncs won 46-35. Go Lyncs!)

So, we made it back safely to WA after 5 hours of flying. Pretty uneventful flights, although I was annoyed by two people who had no problems complaining out loud for all of us to hear about their thoughts on the airline and overweight people...a very "fun" way to begin a 3-hr flight...

As we started driving back we, of course, were met with rain. Grr. I can't wait for spring!