State Fair!!!

I can not tell you how excited we are for the STATE FAIR OF TEXAS!!! This is a major tradition with my family. I need to start exercising more now because I just can't resist all of the good fair food. If you have never been, it really is a treat! Fortunately, teachers in Texas get free fair tickets! We highly recommend going. Here is a picture of us at last year's state fair.

Our First Year

This weekend marks one year since Evan and I met. It seems like so much longer! Just incase you don't know the story, here it is. I added the event "Colleyville YSA Conference" to my events on facebook. When I did, I noticed that there was an attractive guy who had said he was going as well. I thought "what the heck!" and I poked him. The next day, I got a message from Evan saying...

Shelbee, have we met? If not, nice to meet you, and if we have, what kind of jerk am I? :) haha. I just moved to the area a month ago, and am still getting to meet people around here. How long have you lived here in Texas?

Over the next few days, we messaged back and forth. Finally he asked me if we could have lunch on Saturday before the conference. We met at a gas station 5 star resteraunt (http://www.chefspointcafe.com/). After lunch, we went back to his apartment and watched Heros. That evening, instead of going to the conference like originally planned, we went to an Amos Lee concert. Evan says he knew from that first night that he loved me. For me, it was our 3rd date to an Italian resteraunt called Sardines. Here are a few pictures from when we started dating one year ago.

The Infinite Power of Hope

My friend Morgan posted this on her blog and it really touched me. I knew instantly that I wanted to share this with many of you. Like her, my favorite quote from the video is, "No matter how bleak the chapter of our lives may look today, because of the life and sacrifice of Jesus Christ, we may hope and be assured that the ending of the book of our lives will exceed our grandest expectations." President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

My Project was Funded!!

THANK YOU SONIC DRIVE IN!!!!!!! Sonic has decided to fund my classroom grant for a new document camera worth $400! In less than 3 weeks, my grant was written, posted, and funded! The staff at my school was great about collecting the peel offs from their drinks and in the end, my class recieved over 100 votes! The "Limeades for Learning" is not over yet though! If you are a teacher and want to get free stuff for your classroom, go to donorschoose.org and create a grant. Thanks for all of the support and for my new document camera!

Happy Birthday Evan

Evan turns 27 today!!! Happy Birthday Evan Keith Russell!!!!!!!

Dallas Symphony Visit and FREE Museum Entrance

Our friend Beau recently won concert tickets to see the Celtic Tenors preform with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra at the Meyerson and he couldn't go so he graciously gave them to us! It was fantastic! The Tenors were simply AMAZING! So good in fact, that Evan and I really want to go back to see Ben Folds preform with the symphony on the 30th. We also found out this weekend, about a cool program that Bank of America has. They have partnered with over 100 museums across the country to grant FREE admission twice a month with those who have an account with Bank of America. The first Saturday and Sunday of each month, if you show your Bank of America ATM or Credit Card and photo ID, you can get in free to several museums. The ones in Dallas include the Dallas Museum of Art and the Dallas Museum of Nature and Science. It also includes the Ft. Worth Museum of Science and History. I am all about the FREE! If you go to museums.bankofamerica.com you can get more info. I hope everyone had a good Labor Day weekend. We got some much needed sleep since we are both currently sick, Evan worse than I. We also both completed a few homework assignments for our classes. Kindof boring, but needed. Well, time for bed. Have a great 4 day week!

Limeades For Learning

Dear Friends and Family,
Sonic and DonorsChoose.org have an exciting new program called Limeades For Learning. With your help, I can get the funding I need to inspire my students to learn.
Your part is simple. Just order any drink* at Sonic during September to get a vote code, and then go to LimeadesForLearning.com to vote for my project. Sonic will donate more than half a million dollars to the projects that receive the most votes. But I need your help to make sure one’s mine!
Here’s the project I submitted:
Displaying Creativity and Imagination with ELMO (#309681)
My school is classified as having a high poverty population. I am a second grade ESL teacher with a wide array of students with various ability levels. I am limited in providing my students the visual instruction they desperately need to understand the curriculum across subject areas. My students are also lacking a way of displaying their authentic written accomplishments and illustrations to the class. This dilemma can be solved by the means of an innovative piece of technology. Through the use of a document camera, my students can not only understand concepts through visual learning, but also display their creativity to the world! With your vote, you will help ensure that my students gain knowledge and express their creativity in more ways than ever before!
Go to LimeadesForLearning.com to learn more about it. And don’t forget to buy a drink and vote. Thanks for your help!

Sincerely,
Mrs. Shelbee Russell