I had a great time on spring break. It was so nice to be with mom and dad again and on Easter we all were able to be together. We had a family picture taken that I will hopefully post sometime in the near future.

Carrie, Craig and I
We matched :-)

On Saturday before I came back to Tennessee, I met JoHanna Tangeman and Erin Ruark in Dayton at a really nice mall called "The Green" We had the best time together and just had a good time catching up and just had some great fellowship. We went to the Cheesecake Factory and called our friend Kirk Kirkland because it is his favorite place and he ended up coming to meet us there and that was nice too. I am so thankful for these great friends that God has put in my life!

We met and had coffee first

This was the girl who served us and took our picture for us...very sweet girl

JoHanna and I

Our lettuce wraps we ordered at Cheesecake Factory! mmmmm!!!

I am now at home AGAIN!! Since last post I went to state competition with our Bible Quizzers and we got third place! I was so happy for them. We were the first team in our school to place at state, so...GREAT job guys, you did so well.

Now it is spring break and I am enjoying being with my mom and dad. I am milking cows twice a day for my mom since she is still not able to walk on her foot. She had surgery and is still recovering. I went to a funeral today for my mom's cousin and it made me so thankful for how my parents raised me. It was a Catholic funeral and I had never been in a Catholic church before. It was so sad and a lot of ceremony. They just say all these prayers and hope and just assume that God will allow them to go to heaven. So I am just so thankful that I know the Lord personally and that I know where I am going when I die and it will not only be a sad time, but a happy time because I will be with my Savior!

I went to church tonight and they have done so much there to improve the church. The main doors are new and SOO nice. The carpet is no longer RED!!! I am so glad and it is now mauve and the pews are recovered and it looks SOOO nice. I was so glad. I always said I would not get married in there until they changed the carpet and so everyone said.."Ok Cathy, we changed the carpet, now you can get married :-)" They are so funny.

This weekend I plan to spend some time with JoHanna and also I am going to get to see my sister. My family will all be together for a little bit this weekend and that is going to be so fun.

Well I guess that is all for now...hope to hear from you!

I guess it was the perfect weekend for me...I had the BEST time at home with my mom and dad. It is strange to go home and be the only one there. It was also strange that mom couldn't do anything. I think the best part about it was that we didn't go anywhere or really do anything, we just enjoyed each other's company. I really enjoyed milking a few times with dad too. I am sorry to say though, that I am not a morning person so I wasn't too talkative at 5 in the morning or even 6 for that matter. I'm sorry dad..maybe one day that will change :-)

I rode my brother's snowmobile before I left, I have never rode one before and I was shocked about how fast they go! It was fun. Then I made a few snowangels while I was all bundled up.

It was such a fun trip and I am so happy that I decided to make the trip. I am so grateful to God for working it all out for me too! He is always so good to me.

We were suprised on Wednesday night to hear that we would be getting out of school for Thursday and Friday due to the sickness of so many teachers in the Knox county area. Although it is due to many's discomfort and I am very sorry for that, I am so excited that we get the long weekend. Last Friday my mom had surgery on her foot and hasn't been able to do much since and so I got permission to come home and help my dad on the farm for a few days! I surprised my mom..she had no idea that I was coming! SO FUN!

Carrie and her new pet rabbit "Buckeye" what a great name!

Merry Christmas Snickers! She loved her new toy!
Snickers after a long day of opening gifts with the fam :-)
My sister and I both got Farmgirl tshirts...so fitting :-)
My brother was creative with his gifts this year and we all had to find them. Here are the clues that he gave us...One was a Christopher and Banks gift cert., one was a shovel, one was a Radar detector, and one was a Kohls gift card...he's so fun!
This is me with my grandparents. I have on an apron she made me...I guess she thinks that one of my resolutions is to cook more....good idea grandma!

Christmas was such a blessing this year. I enjoyed being with my family so very much. We had all of our family visit us on Thanksgiving so no one really came for Christmas. It was very relaxing although we did stay busy. I think the most exciting thing about the Christmas break was that a man in my home church that we have been praying for for years got baptized. He was gloriously saved about a month before. His daughter had grown up on my mom's bus route and he was always hard toward the gospel but we've been watching the Lord soften his heart and it was just so exciting and a huge answer to prayer!

Thanksgiving was so great this year. We had so much fun with family and Hannah came to my house with me and it was just so wonderful. The only bad part about it was that it was too short. I even enjoyed traveling with my brother in the car. Mostly because he drove part of the way..but thats still a good reason! :-) Here are some pics of our family over the break.

Carrie and I

Carrie, Craig, and Cathy

My beloved family...right before we left

Hannah Staples and I

My little cousin Seth..."Put 'em up mom and dad!"
My Uncle Casey and I...it was sooo good to see him

My adorable Grandparents!
My mom and her sister and brother

It was such a great week this week. We were back in the normal routine of things and it was just so nice. The Lord reminded me this week of His goodness and how I take so many things for grantid so often. It is so easy to get wrapped up in self and not see things as God does. He just proved Himself so much to me this week and I just want to praise Him for His love and compassion toward me!

On Friday night, Sarah and I went to get her hair cut and we went to the mall. Then we went downtown to the river and went to Calhouns on the river and just has a great time. What a blessing it is to have friends. I am so thankful for those wonderful friends that God has given to me. Sarah has been a constant friend to me for so long now. The thing I love the most about having a friend like her is that she encourages me in the Lord and encourages me to be a better Christian.

Saturday was a fun day as well. Mary, Sarah, and I got a "new-to-us" couch for our house and it looks so nice!! We absolutely love it. Sarah and I then took Stephanie and Michelle to Krispy Kreame and played some Jenga. We had everyone in the place watching us and it was pretty fun.

Right after school today I got a phone call from my aunt asking if I could do her a favor. Lacie French, her granddaughter, my cousin, was sick and needed to go to the hospital so she asked if I could watch Johnathan and I said SURE! So my precious friend Sarah went with me and we spent the afternoon and evening with him. We went to McDonalds and then came to the church to play on the playground! Lots of fun! Here are some pics of our fun evening...

It is amazing how busy I seem to be all the time and how little I can think of to blog about :-) I have had a great couple of weeks. We have been preparing for the missions conference at our church. It is such an exciting time for all of us! I love this time of the year! The conference, the weather, and the beautiful scenery.The weather has been so great lately. Such a welcome change from the extremely hot weather we've had since school started. The trees are just beginning to change and its so exciting. We got out some of our sweaters out already too.
So since my last post I have had a birthday...a quarter of a century! How depressing! My friends threw me a suprise party and it was so nice! Also I had a lot of parents come to school and brings me so many nice things! I am so blessed with people who love and care for me!
Also we went to Murfreesboro to the teachers convention which was helpful. It is always nice to have a little change from the normal schedule.
I also went to the Boys Ranch anniversary near Cleveland, TN with Sarah and Marys family which was really nice. I was able to see some family friends that I haven't seen in a really long time while I was there so that was really nice. Then we went to Gatlinburg and went shopping and that was also so fun. They are the sweetest family, esp. to invite me along with them everywhere.
This week I have a new student teacher and I am enjoying her already. She a great blessing.
Other than these few things... there is just not a lot to write about. I hope to do something exciting soon :-)

I woke up on Thursday morning with a sore throat...all throughout the day it just got worse and worse and I went home from school and just slept. I knew something was wrong. I looked and my throat with a flashlight and yep, you guessed it. I had strep thoat. I was just about sure of it. I thought about my class and how I HATE not being at school but Sarah told me I needed to call and let them know I could not come it on Friday. I couldn't be around the students because it is contagious. Otherwise I would have gone in anyway. Anyway, so I stayed in on Friday and went to the Doctor. After a swab test, she said, "well, you were right" it is strep and you will be contagious for 48 hours. Sooo. Now I cannot go anywhere today and I can't go on the bus or to my Sunday school class tomorrow. I think I a going to be SOOO bored by the end of today. I cann't wait until church tomorrow night! I was supposed to go to a football party today and also to a suprise birthday party but I'll have to cancel both. I guess I can stop having my pity party now :-)
Earlier this week, My brother and I were able to visit for a little while with my Aunt Tami and Uncle Rick from West VA and their family. We had such a nice time with them. So here is a picture of My brother and I with little Matt. He is Jessica's baby...sooooo cute!!

This is mommy and baby! Jess is my cousin.

Ok, one more thing. As many of you have already read on Sarah's blog...We were both treated to Tennessee football game last Saturday. It all happened so suddenly. We were both at home and going to go shopping when our friend Nick called and said he had 2 extra tickets!! We couldn't believe it. It was the first football game that either of us had been to. So we rushed around and finally got there. It was a blast! Here are some pics from that. Thanks Nick!!

So I doubt that anyone will actually be looking at my blog anymore, considering it has been about a month since I have posted, but I guess I have to start somewhere again! I feel so bad for not updating until now, I honestly just haven't been motivated. So a lot has happened since my last post. The most important thing is that another school year has started and we are already headed into the second week. Two weeks ago we stayed up very late in our classrooms getting ready for that first day. We were all so tired and so glad to see the end of that. We did have so many people that helped us and I am so glad that we did. We could never have done it without the help of many of our precious friends. This year I did a new theme...FARM! How fitting for me! I really liked my frog theme from the past two years but decided that it was time to begin a new theme anyway. I really am happy with how it turned out and I am so glad that the decorating part is over. My camera's batteries have been dead for a while now and I just now finally got to recharge them, so I will hopefully post a few pics this week of my classroom and of my new students. I miss my students last year so much! They are just so precious. However I am loving my new ones so much already. They are so much fun. It's funny how attached you get to your students and you feel like they are "yours." But the Lord just gives your grace for another year and He gives a great love in your heart for the new class that comes along. I am so glad that the Lord has allowed me to get to know so many families in our church through my classes. It has been such a huge blessing and I just thank the Lord for giving me the opportunities that He has given me the past 2 years since I graduated.
Today a lot of the college students were back and it was SOOO fun to see them all. I really missed them alot and I am just so glad they are back. In just a few days my brother will be here at college. It is so hard to believe that he is old enough. I am wondering what it will be like with him here. I am really excited about him coming and I know this church and Pastor Sexton will be a great influence on his life. I am glad he will be here. I am also excited about seeing my parents when he comes down too. I just love them so much and it will be a good time with them.
Tonight we had a suprise birthday party for my cousin Keith. He was really suprised and it really was such a nice party. It was also so nice to see little Avi. She is a wonderful little baby and so cute! A precious addition to the Henschen family.
Well I guess that is all for the moment. Hopefully I will post a few pics soon. Until then...I hope you are all having a wonderful, blessed day!

Well, thought that I would put up a few more pictures. Haven't really been up to much the past
couple of days. Just getting some stuff done that I need to do before I go back to school.


This is Jamie and Daniel Jones :-)

Aren't they so precious!

Beth Cuevas, JoHannah, Erin Ruark, and me...it was so good to see some friends that I had not seen in a long time!

This are my dogs back home...this was taken just before Dusty passed away...isn't it precious!!

Carrie, Craig, and I at a museum in St. Louis

Here we are showing off our muscles :-)

My wonderful mother and I..I love her so much!

Hello there everyone. It has been so long since I have done a post and I am sorry. I know you are all probably tired of checking it. I am now back in Tennessee so it will be so much easier to update it more often. I had a really great time at home in Ohio and I am really glad that i was able to go. I did so many things while I was there. I worked on the farm doing so many different things, I went golfing with my dad for the first time, I went to a race for the first time, we went to Missouri on vacation, started reroofing our house, went to a few weddings,and I am sure more that I can't remember. So anyway, here are some pictures...hope you enjoy!

The Saint Louis Arch

My family at the arch

This is my brother, sister,and I on the "Ducks"

and we have "quackers" in our mouths...fun times!

This is Pastor Boldman, the man who my parents were saved under.

We were able to visit with them when we went to Missouri. It was

so nice to spend some time with them.

This is farmhouse where my grandparents live

Me on the roof :-)

Me milking the cows...this picture is for Braden :-)

This is me golfing for the first time. It is dark outside

because it was almost dark before we finished :-)