Chincoteague with littles.

Kids might as well be a rubik's cube to me between ages 5-12. I have no idea what they want. Too big to throw around, too young to have adult conversations. I surrender. Maybe that's why I teach middle school and not elementary? But kids UNDER 5 and OVER 12? Hilarious. Comical genius. Three of my four nieces are under 5 that live in Maryland right now. They are so cute and funny. Now, don't get me wrong out there Mom's...I know you've got it rough...there was a moment on this trip when I was stranded at a play ground with the oldest and youngest ones sobbing simultaneously, I had no idea how to fix it. No idea how to turn it off. I had lost the will to live.

Buuuut, then there are other times that make you forget about how you were drowning in the park an hour earlier. Like when they say really funny things like, "Come on in guys, the water's great!". Or, "Sometimes at night the humans are in their houses watching tv or eating".

What on earth?

And if you're lucky enough to be an Auntie they'll fight over who gets to sit next to you or in your lap, and then at the end of a full week of that, you might hear a little voice in the back seat say, "Who are you?"

..."Well kid, I'm you Auntie Carisse. I've been with you every minute for the last week and I was here at Christmas too. No? Don't remember? No recollection? ...It's cool."

All this to say I love my nieces and nephew and I love being an Aunt. I love cuddles and piggy back rides and having my hair brushed and I love giving your kids back to you when they freak out. 

On a boat looking for ponies!



and dolphins!

I'm doing my best to dive into this photography dream that I've had for about 10 years now. FINALLY, taking classes. FINALLY opening my wallet to some equipment. FINALLY getting up the gumption to ask my friends if I can shoot them knowing full well that they probably won't turn out that great. But if I don't practice, I'll never learn right? You can't learn to make a free-throw by reading books. Gotta get out there.

I've had the pleasure of following around TWO gorgeous photographers in the last week. Shaina Sheaff and Melissa Glynn. I learned so much from observing and asking questions. It's really nerve racking, shooting people...and I can't explain why. I guess I just want so badly for them to see the same image I see with my eyeballs, and most of the time I have difficulty converting that image on to the screen.

My brother let me photograph his family on vacation. It was really good practice, but a lot of pressure. Under 5yr old's have less attention spans than gnats, and we might as well have been beating them with sticks after 15 minutes of "sit here and smile". So it was good to shoot a family and I already feel more prepared for next time. Here's what came out...



Precious!



We got to go to a pony show!



The girls weren't scared of the ponies at all! They couldn't wait to touch them.



My brother and sister in law are excellent with the girls. I can't imagine the stress of three littles without cancer, let alone WITH cancer. They've done everything possible to keep life "normal" and they've done a great job. The girls loved the ponies, loved swimming, loved vacation. K would say, "I wish we could stay a little longer". I just love that family so much. Wish there was a way I could be near enough to drop in once in a while and still get to live here in Austin. Now that I'm older, I'm realizing how much I took my oldest niece and nephew for granted when they were little. Maggie and Carson were born when I was in college. And when I got out, I don't think family and hanging out with little kids were at the front of my mind. I was planning my next adventure, hanging out downtown, and trying to get dates all the time. I remember keeping Maggie with mom when I was home on spring break, and I had sleep overs with her a few times in my apartment. I took carson out to dinner and a movie that scared him once(Rango). I remember helping mom keep him when he was a baby. I'm sure I played with them on holidays and I remember when maggie would "Run like the wind" in her bee costume. But somewhere in there, they just grew up! And now Maggie is about to be in MIDDLE SCHOOL. My lands. On the one hand its like, AWESOME, I KNOW middle schoolers. And on the other hand its like, NOOOOOOOOOOOO where did that little girl go? Getting older makes me a lot more emotional, a lot more sentimental, and especially with all that's happened in the last year, I'm feeling more than ever the need to really love on my family while I've been given the opportunity to do so.

HTB and the KS, MO, NE roadtrip

The summer tradition of adding on an unplanned trip did not stop in 2013. I left Terry at the Myrtle Beach airport with tears in my eyes because I had no idea when I would get to see him again, and I knew he already had plans for his July and August time off. So, you can imagine my glee when he called me the next day in L.A., and asked me to fly to Kansas for his Grandma's 100th birthday party. A week surrounded by older people and Terry? Yes please :)

So after a flight delay and a second meltdown on my part, I spent 15hours in the Chicago airport waiting for my flight to Wichita, KS. Screw you windy city. Screw you. I got to meet his sweet parents, have dinner, and look for snakes. His Mom is afraid of snakes too, which somehow calms me down and makes me braver than normal.

The next day we drove to Table Rock Lake in MO to spend the 4th of July with Terry's friends he met in Africa. They were so fun! In related news, I've decided that a lake house is my dream house. When we got there we rode jetskis to dinner, set fireworks off of the doc, and went night swimming!

This is my new best friend Chester. I love his mustache a whole lot.

July 4th, 2013 goes down in history as the best 4th of July I've ever had. Now, I've had some pretty fun 4th of July's, and even seen better firework displays, but that day was wonderful from start to finish.

In the morning we went wakeboarding, rode some jet ski's to lunch, got caught in the rain together, jumped off a small cliff, switched jetskis in which I discovered Terry had been riding on a cloud all day whilst I was rough riding a water bronco, watched fireworks from a boat surrounded by the lights of all other boats, saw asian lanterns lift off, and finished with a little dancing in the living room! I loved that day and hope I can remember it forever.

Terry doesn't like dogs the way I do. So when I finished taking this picture he says, "This is your fantasy isn't it...?" Yep :) Sue and her fiance and their dog Sasha were so warm and welcoming.

We then went to Red Cloud, NE for Grandma's 100th birthday party! Let me tell you something, this lady is still sharp. She's a far better SkipBo player than I'll ever be, and gets around up and down steps with a walker. Amazing.

After church and lunch we left Nebraska. As soon as we rounded the corner Terry asked me to be his girlfriend. OF COURSE ARE YOU KIDDING. I've never met anyone like this guy, someone I have so much in common with and yet still challenges me regularly. In February, I was first drawn to his voice one dark night at the top of a high rise building under construction on a picnic with mutual friends. The next morning he showed up at church (he's a Christian?? that's like finding a unicorn these days) and I noticed he had brown eyes...my kryptonite. At lunch we discovered we had been to Costa Rica, Lao, Haiti, Alaska, Hawaii, and lived in Australia around similar times. INTERESTING. A few days later he helped me make cupcakes for Ginny's birthday party and I couldn't remember the last time I had laughed that hard. Doubled over. Crying laughing. A few days after that he kissed me on the dance floor at the Whitehorse, WHILE I HAD BRACES, and the rest is history. We've kept in touch and got to know each other better ever since.

I like him.

When I say that, I mean I like who he is. I like the person he is. I like learning about him. I like hearing his stories. I like listening to his voice. I like that he loves and serves God most of all. I like the freckles in his brown eyes and his big arms. I like how easy it is to spend time with him. I like that he marches to the beat of his own drum and doesn't apologise for it. I like his integrity, and his honesty allows me to trust him. I like that he challenges me without pressuring me. I like that my friends and my parents like him. I like that he travels. I like that he knows his Bible. I like that he's adventurous. I like that he's athletic. I like his work ethic. I like that he's responsible. I like that he's fluent in Spanish. I like how smart he is, that he researches and strategizes, and reads books. I like how funny and witty he is. I like that he knows lyrics to rap songs. I like how thoughtful he is, that he notices other's feelings. I like that he's polite and sweet to everyone. I like that he's affectionate. I like that he's easy going, spontaneous, and positive.

I'm choosing not to waste time worrying that things may be a little too good to be true and there has just got to be something about to hit the fan. Because I'm enjoying this ride. I'm enjoying and soaking up all of my moments with him. I'm enjoying our adventures together, and that's what I know.

We left Nebraska and stayed the night in Manhattan, KS with Shaster and Nick. I miss her. Australia to this day is still such a part of my daily life, which means Shasta is too.

Blindfold Mom! Not sure if you want to see this, but this is from the hitchrace about halfway down Rainbow Falls. I'm kissing a boy AND wearing a bikini...which can only mean one thing...I'm a hussy.

And now that I've finished this blog, I just realized that chronologically I have left out the entire week with my brothers family in June! No hard feelings. More to come. Just missing Terry today :)

L.A.

I'm not quite sure if this is my 7th or 8th time to visit Jane and Toby in L.A. but it's always a pleasure. FOUR of those times have been with Alayna DewLittle pictured below. I love her. We have so much fun together outside!







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Here's my cutie pie Dunkaroo! He's not even 2 years old yet so when he says Carisse it kind of sounds like "Star Fish". So now he calls me Auntie Star Fish and I love it.








Laying out in Hermosa Beach. No June gloom this time!!!

Jane is the best cook I know. I'm not exaggerating here. She makes meals like this every night after a long day at work and a toddler. She inspires me. She makes me want to feed myself and others better. When I get back I'm going to see if I can mimic her...now all I need is my Pioneer Woman kitchen!

I went and spent one night with Kellie in Venice Beach. We grew up together. She moved to Texas when we were in 3rd grade. She was the coolest most popular girl in our grade...and that lasted all the way through high school graduation. We have always been so different. I was always super conservative and nerdy and she went out of her way to be nice to me and invite me to things. I've always loved her for being so sweet to me, and it was fun to have another slumber party at her Nana's :)

Our first time laying out at Redondo beach....pretty and all...but we walked to Hermosa Beach everytime after this. NOTHING beats Hermosa Beach in the south bay in my opinion. NOTHING.

This is chicken John. He rides his bike around and says, "Hey Chickeeeeen" to all the ladies and asks them to take him swimming. A few years ago he asked me to take him swimming and I said okay! So he stripped down and held my hand and we went in the ocean. We only went about waist deep...thank goodness because it was arctic waters and I was really nervous the current would knock him over. But it didn't and we made it and dried out on the sand together. I don't know where he sleeps at night or what he eats for lunch, but I hope to find those things out the next time I come to Hermosa, and thank him for making a great memory with me.

So my new phone has a panorama option!!!

Sometimes Duncan swordfights with rhubarb, because he's both Toby AND Jane's kid.







Ladies night out!

This is how I woke up Monday morning :)

Locals Shmocals.

How many jumping pictures can I acquire in a lifetime?

The End.

Myrtle Beach

Again, out of order. Blogger. Grrr.

Here we are at the END of our stay in Myrtle Beach at Pirates Voyage. It's like Medieval Times but way better. Good food. Pirates dancing, diving, and singing. Sea Lions. Mermaid aerial acrobats. Dogs. Pyrotechnics. FUN.

Myrtle Beach was the magical land of everything went right. The 3 star hotel we got less expensive off hotwire had an ocean view, and came with a free day at a water park and free mini golf! I haven't been to a water park since I was 15, and I forgot how much I loved them a thousand times more than roller coaster parks. So after riding everything possible in a few hours and Wild Water and Wheels, Terry told me to close my eyes and we pulled up to a roller skating rink! He had bought socks!!

My reasons for that level of excitement are two fold. #1 I love surprises. #2 I'm mildly obsessed with the idea of roller derby. I own Whip It.  I've researched bootcamps and rec leagues of roller derby in Austin. I had a birthday party complete with a green skirt and unicorn roller skates when I was a kid. I went to a teacher training this year where I sat next two an actual ex-roller derby girl and I pounded her with questions for seven hours straight.
So roller skating was a good idea :)




I mean, they were from Food Lion...

Terry at Pirates Voyage. He's such a good sport with all of my pictures.

TURTLE TURTLE! Terry isn't afraid of animals and kind of has a way with them. He said turtles like their necks scratched and showed me how to do it. It was my favorite part of that day :)

More Pirates Voyage...

Our ocean view balcony with our Myrtle Beach hitch sign that we used for 18 minutes.

Enter: "Herping". I'm not a snake kind of girl. I'm not a cat kind of girl. I'm pretty much solely a puppy kind of girl. Always have been. Terry is a snake guy. Maybe I would think that was crazy if he didn't know so much about them. But if you look at my roster, I've always been attracted to smart guys. And since this snake thing is to the level that he knows Latin names, researched them in the Amazon, and can even in my ear correct the speaker lady at the Alligator Adventure...well it's just neat that he knows so much.




At Alligator Adventure scratching turtles.

Myrtle Beach ocean view room!

2nd place in the Girls ages sixteen and up race.

My parents live one hour from where the hitch race begins. Terry was dying to meet Sadie, as shown in the picture below.

Hitch race 9

More pictures to come soon but these phone pictures will do for now. It saddens me that often times my tiny little IPHONE camera contains better pictures than my $600 dslr...but whatever.

Remember a couple of years ago when I threw around phrases like, "Mom, I promise I will never go on the hitchhiking race again"? Well, I thought there was just an assumed clause in there that said something like, "Unless I meet a super hot guy that wants to go on the hitch race". So there you have it Mama. I promise to never do anything remotely scary again unless a super hot guy wants to go, in which case, I'm only human. 

So this was my team this year! I could NOT have asked for a better team. Jasmine is a beautiful woman with a sweet spirit who happens to speak Espanol and brought her own sign-making materials. She left precious notes for our drivers and worked the road for a solid 16 hours with me. I love her, and if I hadn't been so distracted with hot guy, I would know her entire life story by now and she would be my best friend. Our team name was "HTB and the Double V's". HTB is a evolved nickname for Terry. Before I knew him, I referred to him as "Hot Terry" to all my friends. Then Randy started calling him Terr Bear in order to publicly embarrass me with behind the back bear claw gestures at poetry slams. At some point it combined into Hot Terr Bear...and then eventually shortened to HTB. Randy has since decided to protect his lady card by dropping the "H" and simply referring to him as "TB". So there you have it. HTB and the Vagabonding Vixens. Or, HTB & VV's. Perhaps a one syllable word will suffice the next time I need a team name.

I would also like to take this time to point out the ATLANTA sign on the right...which I am over proud of.







 

And here we are in the back of Larry Angel's trucker cab...

This is the whole crazy hitching group at the bottom of Raging Rainbow Falls! This is where we camp for the rest of the week after a long day of hitching. Gorgeous! At Gorges State Park in North Carolina. Immediately after posting this picture, my Mommy dearest sent me several emails with links to modest one-piece swim suits...because she hasn't actually been swimming with me since I was 11 years old...

Sorry Mum. Agree to disagree. To which she replied "Whatever".

So with Terry's black lung cough all week, and my body a Thanksgiving meal for bugs in the forest...we made the decision to leave a day early. Got there Monday night and left Thursday afternoon. We had made record time with nice drivers hitching on Monday that I was SURE we had used all of our lucky juice for hitching to Myrtle Beach. But nope, nope. Chester and Edith pulled up to a stop sign on my corner, let us in, stopped by their house and got us a phone book to chase rental car companies. Terry scored us a car at the Asheville Airport and voila! No more hitching.

So, these pictures are out of order because that's what blogger does and I'm too lazy to fix it. Here's Jazzy!
(I hope she likes her nickname because I love to nickname everyone. I called one of my smaller male students "Baby Unicorn" for the better half of this school year. I can't always explain myself)

This picture has nothing to do with the hitch race at all. I try to make everything a surprise for Terry. EVERY. THING. And then I can hardly wait and I just want to tell him all about my surprises before they get here. Actual quote: "Carisse, if you tell me ahead of time then they aren't surprises. They're just plans."

Sooo...I googled snakes in Austin and found a Snake Farm in New Braunfels. He loved it! And then he put this lizard on my shoulder. Who is Terry you ask? Oh, just a hot guy with a golden heart that kissed me on the dance floor back in February and kept coming back ever since...

It was around this time Monday morning that my Mother began her prayer and fasting for my safety...

Here's all the crew with our pretty signs at the beginning of the race! Aaron's Mom's house inVan, TX. Let me say a few words about Aaron Bell. Aaron is my crazy friend, who is dating my crazy bestie Darby, and together they pressure me to do crazy things that I never regret. Like staying out past 9pm. Aaron encouraged me to put in my resume that led to my move to Austin, Aaron introduced me to Terry, Aaron made a phone call that got me a new job, and because of Aaron I've had the pleasure of experiencing hitchhiking, paddle boards, kayaks, canoes, jumping off stuff, mopeds, side cars, scuba diving...and a thousand other things I can't remember right now that make me feel like a kid again. And Darby does all of these PLUS decorates my house, prays with me, and talks me off the ledge 4 out of 7 days a week. Love them so much.

Terry and I on one of Aaron's scooters. This is Terry's impression of my scuba face.










Back to The Great Hitchhiking Race 9. This was our second ride, William, a roofer by day and MMA fighter by night that made us listen to podcasts about peace and harmony and UFO's...

WWIII

Byrd sent me this picture a long time ago and it cracked me up! But I'm not here to talk about monthlies today. If I could replace the word "uterus" with "brain" this picture would apply to my current professional school year. Life goes on around me...meanwhile back inside my brain is WORLD WAR THREE. Dramatic. I know. But there it is...everytime I have a long stoplight, everytime I have a waste-of-time meeting and space out, everytime I have a long drive to Dallas...the battle ensues inside my head.

I'm a worrier. I am my Mother's daughter. I don't WANT to be. Maybe that's why I make myself do things outside of my comfort zone?  Attempts to become a more laid-back person. But this is how I get with major life decisions. And I have one coming up. Should I stay or should I go? Risk is involved.

Close your eyes and imagine your workplace wherever that may be. Whether that's an office, or a classroom, or an oilfield...picture your workplace. Picture your workplace messy, at ALL times. Paper airplanes and scissors precariously dangling from the cieling, trash on the floor at all times, food stuck to tables, seats, and walls, graffiti on any surface that can hold ink. Trash overflowing.

Picture your bosses. A team of degree-holding, dillusional, peers who gave up a long time ago. They like things to be done the way they always have been so they are not required any extra work, even though those ways haven't worked in years. They believe everything is fine the way it is and that troubling occurences at work just cannot be helped, out of their hands. You go to them, with proof-documented working suggestions to make a better place. They listen to you, smile, and ignore you, until one of THEIR bosses tells them to implement a new plan. THEN they will change things at the drop of a hat, no matter who it affects.

Picture your customers/clients/students. They bring knives to the workplace and occasionally use them. Little to no consequences occur when this happens. They walk out of meetings, no consequences. They fail to turn in deadlined papers, no consequences. They curse you out on a daily basis, no consequences.

You want to grow in your profession. You got into it for a reason. You want to be the best in your field. Five years in, you should be able to do this job in your sleep. You should be so good at what you do that you are free from worry at this point. You were great at this position in a different location. You loved your job then. Now, you dread going to work every day. You've been counting down the hours for 38 weeks until your contract is up. With fifteen days left, you are so close to being done forever. But what if you quit...and no one else hires you next year? What will you do? How will you make money?



I was discussing this with a wise person recently who said, "Money is freedom". It's true. I remember what it was like to work by the hour on commission. I remember what it was like to have 3-4 jobs at a time in order to save up for the freedom of vacation. I also remember the day I got my first teaching job.  I couldn't believe they were going to give me TWICE as much money as I had been making. And I wouldnt have to work holidays, and I'd get a two month vacation in the summer. I was ecstatic. And I totally used all that time off and money for freedom. Since becoming a teacher I've had the luxury of easily affording experiences in Vegas twice, Guatemala, Hawaii, Laos, Thailand, Nashville, Malaysia, Bali, Mexico, California, the entire East Coast, and Key West. Money IS freedom. I love kids but I work to make money. I make money to enjoy the planet.

So the dilemma comes around July 12th. I have my application turned in to every school district within an hour radius of my apartment, plus a few private schools. So far I've had ONE private school interview that never called me back. I've had a neighboring district contact me for an interview, only to never respond to my replies. July 12th is the last day I can back out of my current contract with this hellacious school for the next year. Lots of districts hire in late July, even in August. But that's a risk to take. If I quit July 12th without another teaching job lined up, I'll be risking my freedom. I'll be chancing the possibility that I may not have to work at this place, but I may have to spend all my free time at 2 or 3 other jobs just to make the same amount of money I'm currently used to. Is my sanity and less stress worth leaving this place? Is it more important to me to leave this failing, stressful environment and take a risk? Or is it more important to know I will have my security and financial freedom next year? What would you do?

My poor friends and Mother. I've exhausted their ears to death on this matter. I've spent most of my 3 mile runs around Townlake hashing this out. I'll talk to anyone and everyone who will listen and give me advice. It's like I'm waiting for the right magical words that will give me an unwavering peace. Everytime I make my mind up to leave, I start to worry about financial freedom. Everytime decide it might not be the end of the world to stay at this job, something at work makes me so angry I grow a gray hair.

There's a battle going on inside my brain. Help me Lord. Please give me some direction and peace.

Daydreaming

I've really grown to LOVE smoothies in the morning. And coming up with recipes. This way I get all my fruit servings in the morning, salads give me all my vegetable servings for the day at lunch, which leaves me to eat whatever I want for dinner. I've lost 10lbs since I weighed myself in Dallas this time last year.

Take me here! Somebody!!!