SOLD!

I'm a home owner! It feels GREAT accomplishing this goal. I wasn't sure if this day would ever come, since we had been searching for 6 months. We looked at MANY houses online and in person. Our Realtor was great with not pressuring us and giving great advice when we asked. (If you or someone you know is looking for one, I HIGHLY recommend ours - contact me for info.) My husband and I went through many phases where we were excited, picky, impatient, willing to compromise, frustrated, loosing hope, didn't think we had the funds, calm, patient, peaceful, confident, and thankful. Well, I can't really speak for my husband, but the phases are pretty much the cycle of my feelings through the process.

It's quite interesting looking back at my blog updates on finding a home.
January 4 - we began the process searching for a home
January 17 - approved with our chosen lender
February 1 - we met with our Realtor
February 14 - we were settling for a house we didn't love (thankfully didn't buy)
February 24 - I was encouraged by our Realtor
April 7 - the house market died

My updates on my blog then stopped. In April, I had a break down. I was doubting SO many things. I didn't think we could afford the type of house that we wanted, and I didn't think we would ever find it. And then, my focus changed. My mission trip to Africa was quickly approaching, and I didn't want to "miss" out on anything that God wanted to teach me. (and He did, you can read about it here ) It's hard to describe, but I felt this softness inside like God was saying just wait, I've got a house for you after Africa. I had this peace about all this searching. The funny thing is that even with this feeling, my husband and I still looked at a few houses here and there, and one by one it was a definite no. But it confirmed what I was "feeling."

Don't you know that 2 days after I left for Africa, the emails came pouring in of houses on the market. When I returned, I went through the emails, and compiled a list of houses that my husband and I wanted to see in person. The following week we set out to see 5 houses, and after the 2nd one, I didn't want to see any more. We had found "the one" and didn't have to compromise on anything we were searching for. It had it all - what an answered prayer! So we reacted fast. The next day we put in a bid. After a week of back and forth and a few complications, the owners accepted our bid. After another month of waiting - setting up inspections, appraisal, etc. aka a lot of waiting. We finally have the keys!

What a roller-coaster of a journey to look back on. I'm not the most patient person in the world, but I'm happy that I waited. I'm very thankful for the peace that God gave me. Looking back, I couldn't imagine being in the middle of purchasing a house while on the mission trip. I'm sure my focus would have been off some...ok maybe a lot. :) What's crazy, is that the house we bought, was put on the market in January - the exact time we began our search - but we didn't receive an email about the house until I left for Africa. Coincidence? I'll let you decide...

So I want to encourage all of you that are waiting for something big or even small in your life. Enjoy the roller-coaster of the journey! Even if you think you have it all together, don't miss what God wants to teach you during this time. As much as being patient sucks, I'm sure whatever you are waiting for, it is worth the wait.

I can't wait to see how God will use this house of ours...besides, He's the one that blessed us with it.
-Miche

Cupcakes!!!

I love baking cupcakes, and not the store bought icing and cake mix stuff. Lately I've been making everything from scratch. It's been fun expanding my horizons and baking skills. So for my husband's birthday, I made chocolate peanut butter cupcakes (or what I like to call Reese's cupcakes since I added Reese's cups and pieces to the recipe). I found the recipe randomly online and decided to give it a try. Well, they came out really good - not heavy. Since so many people raved about them, I decided to share them with the blogging world.

Ingredients for the cake:
1 2/3 cup flour
3/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup of sour cream (this keeps them moist!)
2 tsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
8 Tablespoon unsalted butter
1 1/2 cups of sugar
2 eggs
1 bag of miniature Reese's cups (optional)

Directions for cake:
Preheat over to 350. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Stir sour cream, milk, and vanilla in a measuring cup. Mix butter and sugar - beat on medium high. Then add eggs to butter mixture one by one. On low speed, add your dry and wet ingredients, alternating, and ending with the dry ingredients. Fill cupcake liners a little over 1/2 way. Bake for about 15 min. Check for doneness with toothpick - it should come out clean. Optional: After 10 min insert a miniature Reese's cup into each cupcake - the middle should be jelly-like. Finish baking for 5 min.



Ingredients for Icing:
8 oz cream cheese, softened
4 Tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup peanut butter, creamy
3 1/2 cups confection sugar
1 cup of frozen whipped topping
Reese's Pieces (optional)

Directions for Icing:
Combine cream cheese, butter, peanut butter with mixer. Slowly mix in confectioners sugar beating until smooth. Mix in whipped topping. Optional: Mash up Reese's Pieces and fold into the icing.



I hope you enjoy them as much as my friends did!
-Miche

Soaking it in...

As I sit here trying to find words to summarize my 2 week experience in Zambia, I'm speechless. It's very hard to put into words what an experience this was. You can find many details of the trip here.

This trip has really made, to me, a reality of how BIG the world is that we live in. This was the first time that I traveled across an ocean. I have been outside the country before, but only to different parts of Mexico. I really tried to soak in the culture as much as I could - I enjoyed the scenery for every long bus ride. Each time we passed a woman balancing goods on her head while having a child strapped to her back, I just stared in amazement. How do they do that? Seriously. THAT takes some skill. Skill that I'm pretty sure I do not have. Anyway, I also realized that being 9,000 miles away in a different continent/country/culture/language, people are all the same. We all have the same desires despite our circumstances and living conditions. I felt the same joy the children had. I felt the same hope that the sick had. I felt the same sorrow that a village had after losing a young man. I felt the same satisfaction from clean water. I felt the same encouragement a word from God gives. I felt the same love for a God who cares about people. It's incredibly hard to describe the feeling you get when you worship the same God with another culture. How awesome is that?! What a reminder of how big and great our God is! Check this out:



I learned some personal things during the 2 weeks, that I hope to make changes in my life. This trip has renewed my love for missions - unfortunately over the past few years, I began to loose my passion and selflessness.

I'm still soaking it all in...

Learning how to love one another all the same,
-Miche

Zambia Blog Spot

I am now less than 24 hours until departure! Nervousness has definitely set in. I will not be blogging on my site until I get back; however, you keep up with the teams trip through the Team's Zambia website here: www.renewzambia.blogspot.com

I will actually be the one updating the site, and I'm very excited about it!

Here's a few facts about Zambia:

There are about 11.5 million people that call Zambia home.

It is one of the world's poorest nations, but is rich in culture, traditions, crafts, and stories.

Victoria Falls (one of the 7 natural Wonders of the World) is located in Southern Zambia.

Life expectancy is 38 years - due to no access to clean water, hunger, Malaria, and AIDS.

Doctors in Zambia is 14,000 patients to 1 doctor, compared to 600 patients to 1 doctor in Europe and North America.

85% of Zambians are Christians - main branches being Catholic and Protestant.

Zambians are football (soccer) crazy! :)

Zambians, just like me and you, like movies, TV, radio, (these are more common in urban areas) and socializing in restaurants and family homes.

West Bank = Zambia?!?

During my preparations for Zambia, I have already learned something that I can take with me and apply it to my life now. Crazy to think that God would call me to go to Zambia, and before I even go there, He has already taught me something that I can use right here in New Orleans. Amazing.

This story begins 3 years ago. I was a recent graduate searching for THE career job. Unfortunately budget cuts were beginning - not as extreme as the current situation - so not many colleges were hiring. I was going to be married in a few months, and we had agreed upon moving to the New Orleans area. This decision was mainly based because of job opportunities. But deep down at this time, I really didn't want to move to New Orleans. Where I grew up (about 1 hour south west of New Orleans), all I knew of New Orleans was that it was a dirty place full of crime. This is all I heard on the news - nothing but negative. Yes, I did visit New Orleans every now and then with friends or family to either shop or to do touristy type stuff, but even through some of the fun stuff I would see the negative - homeless people, smells, dirty streets, etc. So I developed this negative judgment on the entire city. I'm very happy to say that after moving here, this judgment has begun to fade away. I now am beginning to see the beauty of this city, and wouldn't want to live anywhere else.

I applied for a teaching position at Delgado Community College. I had no idea that Delgado had 3 different campuses (actually more now). I thought I was applying for a City Park Campus position, when low and behold it was actually a West Bank position. Now this bayou girl, had only been to the West Bank once in her life - to go camping at Bayou Signet as a teenager. I had no idea what the West Bank was. Again, assumptions and judgments were told to me (before I even knew I got the job!), but this time, I decided to ignore them all and experience it for myself. I received a full time teaching position and was VERY excited about starting my dream career job. As Fall '08 quickly approached, I had set exceptions as a college teacher. I thought all my students would be so motivated to learn. After all, they are paying to learn and wanting to be here since they chose to come to college. Boy, did I have a wake up call. Was that the case? No. Or at least not for ALL of my students. I remember feeling a "culture shock." I knew this was different from what I experienced as a college and grad student. Whatever I was feeling I didn't let it get in my way of beginning my journey of being that teacher who cares about my students (or at least trying to be). Remember that teacher that had an impact on your life? That's my inspiration. Not much of this was accomplished my first semester, or first year for that matter. But I knew God was beginning to work in my heart and softened it for these students.

During these past three years, I've been slowly starting to let these expectations and assumptions of students (that I don't even know!) fade. Just like the judgments I had on the city. I've started to slowly let myself learn the culture of the area that I am teaching in, and the culture of my students. You see, in these past 3 years, I've had the opportunity to listen to a few of my students current story. And it's amazing. It's amazing that they are in school trying to receive an education, in order to provide more for their family despite all these obstacles in their life. To think about how much I tortured this one student about being late every now and then, only to find out that this student WALKED to school everyday (you know like the stories that your grandparents would tell?) - and THIS particular day it was raining. Sitting in my class, wet, and I complained that he was 10 min late? Now, I'm not saying that I let my students off the hook because of their current situations - I do hold them responsible for their work like every one else - but my heart was not in the right place. Am I being that teacher who inspires and cares?!

All this to say, as I am currently learning to not make assumptions of Zambia (a place I've never visited), and to be open and learn their culture so that we can meet their needs. - I realized, I should have done this all along with New Orleans. Yes, I did somewhat start this process slowly without realizing it.

But now I get it.
Now I can be more conscious of it.
Now I can make more of a point of understanding where my students are coming from in order to meet their needs.

How can one do all of this through teaching math? - By showing them love. By giving them encouragement. By showing them to have confidence in themselves.

So now I challenge you. Do you have assumptions made of a particular area or a person? I challenge you to learn their story or culture and see life through their eyes. - Not for you to change your own culture or feel sorry for someone, but to understand one another and maybe have the opportunity to share a little love.

Zambia is 10 days away for me. No telling what God has left to teach this little hard headed bayou girl, but I can tell you that I'm trying to be open to it.

-Miche

Thank you God for some encouragement

As the semester is slowly winding down and coming to a close in a couple of weeks, I've been spending the past week or two contemplating all the changes that I've made this semester and struggled through. Change is hard. Period. It's so hard to break away from any type of tradition, and I have concluded that I have somewhat accomplished this in 4 classes. Were they all successful? No. Do I still need to make changes? Definitely. It's a process. In my eyes, a good teacher is always trying to better (change) their class so that the students can not only be successful, but learn in the process. During this reflecting process, I began to think, is THIS worth it? Is it worth all of the change and hard work from a traditional lecture to an electronic type classroom? With an electronic class, a whole new slew of problems occur when using a computer, which I wouldn't have to deal with in a traditional class. I didn't have the answers to these questions until I surveyed my classes. Here are some of the responses I received:

“At the time I did not know I was enrolled in an electronic class, but I much prefer the electronic class over the traditional class.”

“I have learned more in this electronic class than the traditional class. There needs to be more electronic math classes.”

“You can work at your own pace, without feeling rushed or that you are just a slow learner.”

“The best part of this course for me is that I learned.”

“For once I feel I can succeed in a subject that I despise. It provides multiple ways to keep your grades up, even if you don’t do well on the test. Overall, this provides me with a glimpse of hope and positive moral to learn and succeed.”

“I really enjoyed the course, and I have nothing bad to say about it. I have struggled in math forever and this class has seemed to help me get through it better.”

WOW. I was speechless reading some the responses from my students. This was only a few from the bunch (and 1 response out of 7 questions). The positivity that I received back had me overwhelmed. I had the answer to my questions. I'm happy to report that I will continue teaching electronic classes this summer and coming fall. In fact, after this semester, I will be in charge of an electronic math course. I will be creating everything for other instructors across the college to use for this course. I'm very excited about this new method of teaching class and am looking forward in tweaking the course each semester.

Thank you God for a little bit of encouragement, because these little bits can go a long way and make a huge impact on me and the future of my students.

-Miche

MIA?

Hello again fellow bloggers/readers! Wow...it's been over a month since I've blogged. March was a very busy month for me. In the spring semester, March = Midterms = lots of grading! (especially when you have 8 classes) My best friend got married, and I was so honored to be her Maid of Honor. The wedding was a great celebration of their love and union. I couldn't be happier for the newly weds! I had a blast participating in all the wedding festivities. During the Mardi Gras holidays, I spent my time visiting family and working on school stuff. I also spent a little bit of time on my favorite hobby - scrap booking! Every weekend was booked with something, but it was all good, fun things - my mother's bday party, West Side Story, and a wedding shower to name a few.

HOUSE update: Well, to be honest with you, there is nothing to update. We are currently waiting for houses to come on the market. Although there have been some moments where we have felt impatient, I think I'm finally ok with the waiting. An advantage of waiting is that my trip to Africa is now 5 weeks away, and I couldn't imagine being in the middle of trying to purchase/move into a new home when I'll be gone for 2 weeks. So updates on the house I'm sure will come after my mission trip.

AFRICA update: 5 weeks and 1 day and counting. Last week was our first training. I must say, when I left the meeting I had a mix of emotions. I was refreshed with the sense of excitement, nervous about all the traveling, sad about re-realizing I'll be leaving my hubby for 2 weeks (we haven't been apart much since we are married), but SO happy to be a part of this amazing mission opportunity. As I sat at the table, I thought, wow...God called someone like me to travel to Africa to serve, pray, and encourage the people of Africa. What a privilege!

During worship time at church this past weekend, God brought to my mind Be Still. This semester has been the busiest and most trying semester since I've been teaching. I THOUGHT I was a flexible teacher, but I learned a whole new meaning to that word. I'm very grateful for this semester though, because now I know what I can handle and how to handle certain situations. It has definitely been a growing time in my professional world. I'm looking forward to this mission trip, just for the fact that I will be able to Be Still. I am not particularly looking forward to 16 hour plane rides and 8-12 hour bus rides, but what an opportunity for life to slow down. The semester will be over and work will not be on the brain. My prayer right now is that I use these opportune times to focus on God, take it all in, and grow as a person and spiritually.

Prayer request: The team continues to stay healthy and that our immune systems stay strong, the team continue to bond over our trainings, the families of the team members - give them peace while we are gone, that we would be sensitive about what God wants us to do.

Thank you for the prayers!
Miche