All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go...

It seems to be a trend in my life to move frequently. I have blogged before about how I have moved 5 times since I graduated from college and by the end of this summer it'll be seven.

Seven times in 2 years!

There are times that I love the wandering lifestyle. I have made many great friends along the way and have experienced things that I wouldn't trade for the world. The Lord has led me out into the desert and has drawn me back to himself. It has been good--very good.

But also very exhausting.

I am tired of moving. I absolutely HATE packing and I hate even more saying goodbye to people. I have been told that when I make a friend I make them my instant best friend. I am all in. This is a quality that I like because I really have some deep friendships, but I hate because I continue to have to tell them goodbye. It is so hard.

And although this is a good move I still find myself asking the Lord why. Why do I have to move again?? Why do I have to say goodbye? Why? Why? Why?

He continues to say, "Just follow Me. I have never let you down. Why would I start now? I will take care of you."

So alas...here I go again. I am currently sitting at my desk on my last day of school (a workday for teachers--no children) with nothing to do because I am not coming back here next year. My car is packed to the brim (literally) and my bikes are loaded on the top--yes I am scared to death to drive 7 hours with them on top of my car without Sarah in case of a crisis again! I am going to make the drive to Lafayette for the summer to plan our wedding and then will move to Boone, NC at the beginning of August. I did get a teaching job (PTL) in Lenoir, NC teaching physical science and physics to juniors and seniors which is a HUGE blessing as well as a huge load off my back.

I am ready to be somewhere for a while. I am ready to really settle. To nest. I always thought I was the wandering type, but I think I am ready for a break. I am ready to be somewhere and not have in the back of my mind when I am going to move or where I am going to get a job next. I would LOVE to teach at this school for at least two years. But I am going to continue to follow Him (along with Joe's leadership) wherever He takes us (at least I pray that I will).

So, to all of my DFW friends--I love you and I will miss you terribly. You guys have been so consistent with me even though I have been all over the place. Thank you for your friendship. I hate that some friendships are just for a season, but that just the way it goes, right? We will stay in touch--I promise.

Much Love, CB

The Future Mrs. Joey Walker!!! AAAHHH!!!

Well readers (if there are any more of you left out there), I have some news for you.

Are you ready?

Are you sure?

Okay--here goes....

I am currently the future Mrs. Joey Walker!!!!

That's right! Joey asked me to be his wife on Saturday. Wow--just writing that makes my heart race!! I, of course, said yes! I cannot believe that I get to be his wife!!!

So...here's the story--

He was coming in to visit and he told me that he missed his connecting flight and that his phone was almost dead and that he had left his phone charger at home. I was immediatly frustrated with him and didn't know when he was going to be in and had no way to find out. So, I went to the Vierlings house to lay out by the pool and cool off.

About an hour or so later, my friend Sarah Seifipour called me and told me that she needed me to come to my house. She said that she and her husband got in a fight and she was at my house and needed someone to talk to. I got in my car and rushed home to help "a friend in need". As soon as I pulled up, this is what I found...

I yelled, "I am supposed to be mad at you!" And then walked up to him. I couldn't believe what was happening!! He started singing "I wanna grow old with you" from The Wedding Singer. It was so funny and so sweet!!

After the song was over he told me to stand up and he asked me if I would be his wife! I was speechless--yes, weird for me! I mustered up a "YES" and then started freaking out!

I then realized that Sarah was there taking pictures the whole time! She was so stealth.

I was beyond excited! I am beyond blessed!

The ring is soooooo perfect! He did such a great job!

Joey Walker is my best friend and I cannot wait to be his wife. I feel so honored to get to spend the rest of my life with him and I cannot wait for forever to start!!

If I Wasn't a Celebrity...

For those of you who don't know, I am a Chemistry teacher at The Academy of Irving ISD. At The Academy there are a number of specialities that students can choose from and take classes in. One of those specialities is Media Technology. In Media Tech, students learn all about video stuff--from cameras, to news casting, to editing--the whole thing! Part of the speciality includes a weekly live broadcast of ANN--Academy News Now--and a weekly airing of "School'd"--an in house game show. Normally students are the anchors and weather people and contestants on ANN and School'd, but this week was an exception--the teachers took over!

I was asked about a month and a half ago to represent the 3rd floor on School'd along with another 3rd floor teacher (we competed against the 1st and 2nd floors). Of course I said yes--any excuse to be in front of a camera I will accept. However, I usually hate the end result!

I'm not going to tell you if we won--you'll have to see for yourself!

Two weeks ago, I was asked to try out to be an anchor for the teacher ANN episode. I didn't want to because I had already done the School'd episode, but I was forced--literally! I auditioned but was hoping not to get the spot, but much to my dismay I got it. So, on Wednesday during homeroom I was the ANN anchor...LIVE. I was so nervous!!!!!!

Here I am anchoring ANN. It's no "Heather with the weather", but I did okay!

But, here's the clencher--they were both aired on the same day. At 8:40am they aired my School'd episode and at about 9:10am they aired ANN live. The whole reason why I didn't want to be on ANN was because I had already done School'd. It was as though it was "The Ms. Borne Show". Since Wednesday (today is Friday), I have been getting comments by every student that walks by my classroom. Comments from, "I saw you on T.V. today Miss." to "Hey Miss, next time try decaf!" Seriously, I feel like a celebrity! It's so funny.

So, there you go...I have officially been at this school for about 6 months and already everyone knows who I am--for better or worse!

Ridin' and Rockin' (cheezy title, I know)

Thirteen thousand riders.

One hundred and fifty miles.

All riding to find a cure.

There are no words to describe how cool last weekend was.

There was a 15-20 mph head wind almost the entire 150 miles. There were some nice hills. It was hard. But it was so much fun! I love riding my bike and I love Rachel and her family so it was just perfect. My mom added some nice cajun flare to the weekend. She came complete with some boudain and some butter rum cake--no one ever said she lacked hospitality skills!

Here are a few pictures of our weekend.

Rachie and Me getting at the starting line--before our butts were sore!!

Team Yags (almost all of us) at lunch on day 1 with Yags (Rachel's mom) and Renee (my mom).

Day 2 lunch. "The Cupid Shuffle" came on so I had to show everyone the dance!!

Rachie coming into the finish line at the Texas State Capital in Austin. If you can't tell by it's length--that's my arm in the back!

I quickly shifted gears (no pun intended) and had to get back some energy to enjoy a night out with the girls! On Monday night I joined some girl friends at a Bon Jovi concert at American Airlines Center. We bought the tickets months ago and were so excited about the concert. (Those of you who know me well, also know of my love for Bon Jovi. Needless to say, even though I was painfully tired, I was beside myself.) The concert was all that I hoped for-and more! It was truly amazing! I got goosebumps when the entire crowd sang "You give love a bad name" without Bon Jovi singing or playing at all. Truly amazing! Here's some pictures for your viewing pleasure...

Daughtry opened for them. Seriously--how in the world did Taylor Hicks win that year of American Idol?? I am still baffled.

Oh Oh...We're halfway there. OOOOOOH Livin' on a Prayer!!

It seriously looked like I was watching the making of a bad 80's music video. Hilarious!

Not even kidding. Amazing!

"Raise Your Hands!"

The spirit fingers were alive!

"These five words I swear to you...I'll be there for you!"

His moves are still living in 1984!

That vest with no shirt just about killed me!

So there you have it. A great few days indeed! Gillman family--I'm ready for next year! Anne--we must do this again!!

one hundered and fifty

Multiple sclerosis (MS) usually strikes adults in the prime of life - between the ages of 20 and 50. It is a chronic disease of the central nervous system affecting the brain and spinal cord. One new case of MS is diagnosed every hour. It comes and goes unpredictably, leaving people to wonder, "Will I become paralyzed, blind or have trouble walking? Will I be able to raise my family and continue my career?"


My dear friend, Rachel's mom was diagnosed with MS in 1990. Last year, while we were roommates, she asked me if I wanted to ride in the MS 150 with her--a 150 mile bike ride from Houston to Austin to raise money to find a cure for MS. The race was in about one month and I didn't even have a bike, but I agreed. It seemed like a good cause and I'm always up for a new adventure.

I found a bike, trained for a few weeks, and then headed down to Houston with Rachel's family. It turned out to be one of the greatest, most rewarding weekends of my life. Rachel's mom, Denyse, is such an inspiration and it was a pleasure and a joy to ride my bike for her and for all other fighting MS.


So, this weekend I will once again, head down to Houston, get on my bike, and--over a course of 2 days--will ride my bike to Austin. And, this year, my mom will be hanging out with Denyse and driving one of the chase cars. I can't wait!!

Rachel's siblings have started their own MS 150 team called "Team Yags" (Denyse's nickname) and I'm excited and honored to be a part of their team once again. Our website is www.teamyags.com where you can see bios of all of us and donate if you would like.

Please pray for our safety this weekend. There are thousands of riders and it can get dangerous on the roads with that many people out there. I'll post pictures of this year's ride next week!

Oh...and P.S.

While my trip to Italy was absolutely fabulous, my trip back to DFW from Italy was not so fabulous.

I woke up early (4:30am Italy time) on Saturday morning. I got dressed, and Sarah called a cab to take me to the airport.

The cab picked me up at 5:00am and I told Sarah, "Ciao" and was on my way. After a 20 minute silent cab ride, I was at the airport ready to head back to the ol' U.S. of A. Lufthansa apparently wasn't so ready for me to return!

I was greeted by a very long line at the Florence line, which I waited in patiently. (I, of course, made some friends from the Dallas area. The daughter of the family actually goes to LSU, so that was fun!) It was finally my turn to the ticket lady--WAHOO!! She checked my bags and gave me my boarding pass and then said the following words: "Your plane did not land in Florence last night, it was diverted to Bologna. You are going to take a bus to Bologna and leave for Frankfurt from there."

WHAT??

My idiotic response was: "Just me? Or the whole plane?"

I know...dumb. But to my defense, I was shocked! Have you ever heard of this? Is this a joke? I couldn't believe it.

So...we all headed to the gate and waited and waited and waited. The plane was supposed to leave Florence at 6:55am. It was 7:15 and we still hadn't gotten on the bus to drive the 1.5 hours to Bologna! At 7:30 our bus left. We were all thinking that the bus was going to drive straight to the plane for us to get to Frankfurt asap. Well...Italians do not believe in haste apparently!

When we got to the airport, we had to grab our own bags from below the bus and re-check them at the Bologna airport--seriously, at this point I think I am in a dream!! We all checked in and the plane did not end of taking off until 10:15am--the same time that my flight to Frankfurt was leaving for DFW!!

So, we got to Frankfurt around noon-ish and I ran to the ticket lady. I told her my situation and waited for her to check her system for any flights to DFW. She looked up at me and said the dreaded words: "I'm sorry. There are no more flights leaving today." I immediately started crying. I know, pathetic, but I was tired and sick and it was the LAST think I wanted to hear.

She gave me some tissue, booked me on a flight home the next day at 10:15am, gave me an overnight kit (complete with an XL t-shirt, a toothbrush, and some deoderant), booked me in a hotel room, and told me that I could make ONE phone call.

I felt like I was in jail.

I made my phone call and headed to the bus that would take me to my hotel. The hotel was very nice and Lufthansa also paid for me to get a yummy dinner and breakfast a the hotel restaurant--probably the best buffet in town!

I got to my hotel room at about 1:30pm and didn't know what to do. First of all, there was a double bed with a twin-size comforter and one flat pillow. WHAT???? I turned on the T.V., but of course everything was in German! So, I put on my XL t-shirt, turned on figure skating, and read my "Fried Green Tomatoes" book.

I got even more sick that night and didn't really sleep because my sneezing kept waking me up. I got out of bed the next morning, enjoyed my delicious free breakfast (complete with cappuccino), and headed back to the Frankfurt airport.

This is when I decided to use my misfortune and sickness to my advantage. I went to the gate lady and told her of my woes, coughed a few times, and even managed a sneeze and asked for an upgrade.

IT WORKED!!!!

I got a business class seat on the way back to DFW!!!! I am pretty sure that is what made this story in the end a success! The flight was fabulous. My seat laid all the way down, I had a massage on my chair, my own personal T.V. with like 20 movie choices, a menu to choose my dinner... I mean the works! THIS, my friends, is the way to travel overseas!!!

I realize that this story was waaaaay long, and if you stuck with me--CONGRATS!! The situation was no fun at the time, but it made for a great story--and I'm always up for a great story!

Lufthansa, you are very strange in putting me on a bus when I paid for a plane ticket, but I salute you for making it up to me in the end!!!!!

Ciao! Grazie!

(NOTE: There's going to be a bunch of pictures...so get ready!!!)

So I made my journey to Florence, Italy last Friday and began a whirlwind Spring Break Trip. I arrived in Florence on Saturday afternoon and Sarah immediately began the "Keep Claire Awake" campaign. We went on a nice stroll around Florence which ended at the David statue. Here's a picture of the David replica--the real David is even bigger!



The next morning we got up and I got on my very first train and went to Pisa. Now, when I think about Pisa, all I can think about is Pauly Shore saying, "Look...it's the leaning tower of cheesa!" on Son In Law. Anybody? Anybody? Beuller? Sarah and I took our obligatory holding up the tower pictures. I took it one step further and went ahead and hugged the statue.





We then got on another train and headed to Lucca--a very quaint fortified city near Pisa. The city is very small (only 2.5 miles in perimeter) and the wall is so thick that you can drive a car on it. We rented bikes and rode around on top of the wall. We had a blast!



And watched the sunset from the top of the wall...



The next day, Hayley joined us from the States and we began operation "Keep Hayley Awake". Due to the lack of showering on all of our parts, I am going to refrain from putting up any pictures from that day!! We strolled around Florence and Hay and I each bought a genuine Italian leather bag!

The next day was Roma!! We spent the entire day in Rome and did EVERYTHING. Here's just a few shots of our nonstop day.

In front of St. Peter's Basilica:



The Coliseum:



Trevi Fountain:



The next day was the day I was looking forward to the most--biking through Tuscany. We rode a total of about 12 miles, but went to Machiavelli's vineyard (remember "The Prince"??), had a fabulous dinner, and enjoyed the Tuscan hills. Here's one for your enjoyment. (Click on the picture to enlarge for your enjoyment.)



The next day we were off to The Cinque Terra (The 5 Lands). We took a train to the first city and hiked to the fourth city along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. We spent the night in an apartment with a fabulous view and then took a train to the 5th city and headed back to Florence that night. Here's a few pics from the trip--I'm going to try to limit it to just a few...

The view from our balcony:



The girls on a bridge:



All of us in the fourth city--Vernaza:



We headed back to Florence for my last night there. Sarah took us to a restaurant called Za Za's where I proceeded to have the best steak I have ever head in my entire life. It was covered in cognac sauce with peppercorns on it--absolutely fabulous!! Here's Sarah and I enjoying our steak--my last meal in Italia!!



So, the trip was a success. We made our rounds and had a blast! Thanks, Bunkmate, for being such a great tour guide. Thanks Emily and Kelly for letting me stay at your apartment. Thanks Hayley for being a fabulous travel companion. A great Spring Break INDEED!!