One day down...179 more to go!

I SURVIVED THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!! WAHOO!! I'm absolutely exhausted but it was a good day. Most of my classes seem OK so far; there are a few poo-brains in a few of the classes but I think we can nip those in the bud. Maybe they were all just asleep or waiting to pull out all the stops tomorrow. Whatever the reason, I'm glad today is over and I can move on with something more exciting than disclosures and where the stapler is in the classroom!! :D It was fun to have Maddi stop by after her first day of school and hang out until she had to go to work. I think I'll be seeing a lot of her during my prep and that is TOTALLY fine with me!!!!!

The bright spot, naturally, was my Monday Morning Email!! Normally, the district blocks "Google Chat" but for a few minutes this morning, IT WORKED!!!! Sammi and I were able to chat a bit before she had to sign off and I had to get back to teaching. I have a WONDERFUL principal who believes that is extremely important and told me to do whatever I needed to do on Monday mornings because as he said, "For that one moment in time, you know she's absolutely safe. That's what carries you through the week until the next Monday." What a GREAT guy!! (Too bad he was home with the flu today and missed his first day of school!! Poor guy!!

Check out Sammi's blog for cute new pictures too. She LOVED her "Greenie box!"

Monday mail is AWESOME too!!

I was hoping I'd get a letter from President Hale today telling me Sammi arrived safe and sound (I knew that already :D ) and a picture of her with them. IT CAME!!! The letter from him made me cry (no big surprise there!! :D ). You can read it on Sammi's blog. Then, if that wasn't enough to put me over the edge, we got a letter from Sammi too!! She wrote it the day after she arrived (written on August 12). She sounds WONDERFUL and is in for some great experiences!! (I posted her letter to us on her blog as well.)

Monday morning emails are the BEST!!

I got my very first "Monday Morning Email" today!! I got online about 7:00 this morning and sat staring at my gmail and school accounts waiting for that email to pop through. At 8:17, I got one in gmail that said "Hello from Boca Raton" and "Are you on?" I immediately popped one back and said "YES!!!" We had a couple of "chat" moments but she was short on time today. (DANG IT!!) She had to set up a gmail account, send her Weekly Report to the President, and THEN she got to email us! It was short (posted on her blog) but she sounds GREAT! Being the Mommie and reading between some of the lines, I think she's a bit frustrated that she isn't as comfortable and experienced as her companion, but I also think she recognizes it will come in time. She was able to send five pictures...she had trouble uploading them one at a time so she'll send more. I sent her a "Greenie Box" this morning and included a new memory card and her jump drive so she can send her pictures home, I'll download them, and then send it back. It was so great to finally know where she is and who she is serving with!!

Dezi/Elder Swain and his "dork dot!" This was taken at dinner his first night after finding her!

Elder Swain and Sister Denson the night before she left the MTC. She said it was REALLY hard to say good-bye to him!

Sister Pirotta and Sister Denson--companions in Boca Raton West!!

Phone Call #2

Phone call #2 was even more amazing! She had a 2+ hour layover in Atlanta and then the plane was delayed which made for a GREAT 66 minute phone call. It was great to just "visit" and hear about her experiences in the MTC, hear about people she had met, and tell her about our boring lives without her. She's really been blessed while she was in the MTC. She's had amazing teachers who really want the missionaries to succeed, her testimony has grown even more than before, AND no one believes her when she told them she's shy! Can you believe that?? Going from our almost awkwardly shy little Sammi to someone others won't believe had problems is unbelievable!! We know how much she had changed between the time she started her papers until she spoke in Sacrament Meeting but evidently, she's grown MUCH more than that! It's AWESOME to hear!!

Now we can't wait for the email on Monday. All night last night, we kept wondering what she was doing, what she thought of President and Sister Hale, who her companion is, where she'll be assigned to work, etc. We're so excited to hear the details!

Check out her blog for more details of the phone call...

Phone Call #1

We got our phone call at 6:04am this morning. We'd been awake waiting for it since 5:00...talk about anxious!! She sounds WONDERFUL!!!!! She said they'd gotten to the airport kinda late, had to do a bit of rearranging on her luggage to even it out and get it under 50 lbs. per bag, found their gate, etc. Great news...our dear friends from across the street, the Millards, are on their way to Florida where they served their mission a year ago. Well...they're on the same flight as the missionaries going to Ft. Lauderdale! Again, what are the odds??!! Heavenly Father is really blessing us and giving Sammi opportunities to bless others lives and have them bless hers. Boy, do I wish I was in the Millards carry on luggage!!

Now, the wait until the phone call from Atlanta!!

A GREAT EMAIL TODAY!!

So I was sitting here, feeling sorry for myself, and missing Sammi terribly! I decided to check my email--nothing--went out and moved the water--came back checked my email--AN EMAIL!!!!! I had missed it coming in by three whole minutes!! I know, ridiculous, but when you're missing your baby like this, three minutes is HUGE!!

Anyway, her email was ADORABLE and sounded so much like our little Sammi-Sue. She's doing GREAT and is excited to get to Florida in four more days. Even better than that...WE GET TO TALK TO HER IN FOUR MORE DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We absolutely can't wait and from the sounds of it, she can't either! I know we'll all be mopey and depressed when we hang up but the idea of hearing her voice again makes me so excited!!

So, the BEST part of her email is telling us about running into Elder Dez Swain, Maddi's adorable boyfriend. He went into the MTC on Wednesday. Sammi had emailed us and told me to tell him she'd be wearing her lime green shirt that day and for him to look for her. Well, they were in the dinner line and he found her!!!! She said it was AWESOME to see him and they talked for a minute before he went to eat with his companion. While she was eating, she talked to her zone leaders who said the new district coming in was heading to Indiana. NO KIDDING!!!! Long story short, they are in the same zone which means they eat at the same time, have Sacrament Meeting together, zone activities, etc. She said there are over 100 zones down there and they end up in the same one!! The Lord works in mysteriously WONDERFUL ways!!! We've been worried about Dezi and how he was going to handle it...well, the Lord took care of that and put him with his "big sister" so she could keep an eye on him! Like she said, "WHAT ARE THE ODDS???"

Check out her blog for more details!