Sonic Run

Here at ACSI, we are all about building bridges, making our work environment more enjoyable and introducing other employees to the delicious sugar high that is SONIC's Happy Hour. (Read: half priced slushies.) Earlier this week we took Heidi and Britta, who had never had a cherry limeade, to Sonic, got them on a sugar high and they loved it!

Britta raved about her new experience."I just want to take this opportunity to thank D'Arcy Maher for introducing me to the cherry limeade, which has been the best part of my day and the best part of my 2009. By the way, I just wanted to say thank you for educating me and inspiring me to be a Sonic-holic."

"When I drink Sonic in the afternoon it feels like a bright shiny rainbow in the middle of my day," Heidi told us.

There you have it friends! We are grateful for Sonic, friends and half-priced slushies.

Valentine Fairies

Sometimes we just like to be silly. Ok, most of the time. But this time we were aided in our silliness by Tom Maher. He thought we needed some fun Valentine paraphernalia to celebrate in the office. Along with our tiaras and magic wands, he gave us some candy hearts to hand out. I know what you're thinking. You want to know if I walked around the office with my tiara and candy necklace and bestowed a Happy Valentine's Day on people with my magic wand. As a matter of fact, I did! AND, our sparkly accessories did assist us in our brainstorming activities. Feeling like a princess helps a girl think better. Tell us about what Valentine's plans you have.

among friends

I'm pinching myself this morning because I'm overwhelmed that I have this opportunity to visit the ACSI office in Asia, enjoy 2 conferences, and visit a few programs along the way.

I expected to meet interesting people, I am overwhelmed to feel among friends.

Two of the delegates emailed me a poem about their time at the conference. Check them out:

I never thougt I could never be
somebody with such great ability,
to touch and direct lives with so much creativity.

I thank God for the oppurtunity
of making me realize how important
to somebody else's I could be...
by April Dumlao

I thank You, God

For Your goodness and love

For allowing me to gain new knowledge to share

That I may be

The best teacher for Thee

by Evangeline

Here's some more pictures: (1)the speaking team (I feel very tall here!) (2)remember Alice Foronda who attended our international conference? She now has long hair, but she has the same smile and the same warmth. (3) the staff of the host school. The director, Helen, is on the far left in a white blouse. On the far right is Dr. Tabitha Bullecer, the country director of the Philippines.

I expected the country to be beautiful; I am overwhelmed by the blue of the sea & sky.

I am grateful for the surprise of the unexpected. When did something unexpected become a surprise for you?

until next year...

...we wish you a MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I love the holidays and this year is no exception. But this year I ended up feeling overwhelmed so Tom sent out our Christmas greetings, decorated the house, and is currently wrapping all the gifts. It's the first time in a long time that I've just been able to enjoy the details instead of organizing everything...and it's invigorating!

This month has had a few great surprises.

Surprise #1: Julia's Pumpkin Bread

Julia makes the BEST banana bread...who knew that her pumpkin bread would be just as tasty? She toted her bread in the special Guatemaulan bread cloth that Mariellyn Hilgeman gave her last year. It inspired me to make and tote some bread. The closest I came was wrapping a loaf of french bread in my bread cloth (also from Mariellyn) that I purchased at the grocery store. But it was still festive!

Surpise #2: Taylor's Gift

Taylor is pretty much the best boss EVER...and we hope that we've conviced our readers of this fact. He's always a gentleman, always supportive, always laughs at our lame jokes. Taylor is also a master craftsman...he can fix anything (literally), and he whittled (or something along those lines) our names for us for Christmas! They are redwood, perfectly done - and he remembered my apostrophe! Since you're seeing our beautiful names, we have to ask: What did your boss MAKE for you?

For those of you who were trying to figure out the setting of the picture above, we stepped back to snap a pciture. Brooke's cubicle wall is our cozy little fireplace where we hang our stockings and hope that lumps of coal don't appear. And (to prove the point above), Taylor actually figured out how we could attach the chimney to the ceiling tiles. He really can do anything!

Surprise #3: Julia's Acceptance Speech

Julia has been with ACSI for 5 years and received her certificate this morning. Everyone knows that Jules has a cheerleader personality and I think they might have expected her to prepare a crazy acceptance speech. But Jules wasn't feeling well this morning (she even went home sick earlier today), so she was unprepared to 'steal the show' from Santa Ken. If she HAD been feeling better, I think her speech might have included this line: I love working in a department that values cute little dogs so much they have a Yorkie mascot. I'm just guessing...but I think that would have been the theme of her comments! Actually, we don't prepare speeches here, but it's nice to think of what she MIGHT have said! Julia has blessed me and ACSI for 5 years and I'm a better person for knowing her...and for that I'm grateful!

We hope that the next few weeks will be full of family, friends, food, and focusing on the adventures of faith God has waiting for you in 2009.

Grateful Dinner

This week was staff meetings. Early Education Assistant Directors, Regional Directors and Associate Directors flew to Colorado Springs for accreditation training. This training introduced everyone to the new tool: REACH. After hours of aquiring new information Pearson treated everyone to a lovely banquet. Here are a few highlights:

Our centerpieces were masterfully put together by our own Cindy Epp. She was inspired by a home magazine. I can't wait to see what inspires her next! By the way, that bottle is Sparkling Cider. I know some of you were worried.

Friends got together, old and new, during the banquet. Here is Brooke Hudgens and Olive Rubio hanging out at their table.




Taylor Smith, Vice President of Executive Support, was honored for his leadership in getting the new ACSI website launched, pioneering the way for online registrations and overseeing Early Education. Let's face the facts: We are a full time job!

Ken Smitherman, President, was also honored by our Early Ed team. This may be the last time they get to be with him before he retires, and as he put it, "enters his twilight years." (His wife said it was the Twilight Zone, but let's just keep that between us.) They gave him encouragement and compliments. Email Ken to find out why he's smiling so big.

I am grateful that everyone had a great time and enjoyed the evening together.

What are you grateful for this Christmas season?

Yay for the elves!

We here in the EE department are so eternally grateful for those sneaky-yet-jolly little cyberelves who periodically update our blog's graphics whilst we sleep.

We cannot express how talented and creative and gracious and good-looking those elves are.

How much do you love those little elves?

catching up

This U.S. holiday of 'Thanksgiving' is a good time to catch up on all my reasons to be grateful. We've been kind of busy in our team, and this blog has been pushed aside...but that doesn't mean we've not been thankful. I have a LOT to talk about tonight.





1. Great summer vacation!

























It's on my list to actually upload some vacation pics to my facebook account, so you can see the pictures that are worth all these words! I've included just a few. We joined my sister and brother-in-law on their annual trip to ride quads on the Oregon dunes and TENT CAMP. I know you're stunned...we were actually stunned that we survived. The Pacific Ocean is always a good idea and we enjoyed the intense and rugged beauty of the coast.



2. Catching a glimpse of the democratic process - up close.

We took the advice of John Holmes and attended a lunch at the Democratic National Convention sponsored by the First Five Years. Debby Carter was able to join Julia and me as we took the light rail right into the heart of the convention area in downtown Denver. The luncheon was quite interesting, the media was all around, and the lines to get into Invesco Field for Obama's final speech were crazy long. A good day!


3. An amazing anniversary trip: 15 years is something to celebrate!

Tom and I dashed to the U.K. in late September/early October to celebrate our 15 year milestone (which we passed in June - during staff meetings). Here we are in the Tower of London with the Tower Bridge behind us. We spent our layover in NYC in Times Square, then hopped over the pond to tour London, Oxford, and Dublin. I highly recommend this trip to EVERYONE!


We were privileged to have 17 places set at our table for Thanksgiving dinner. As I looked around the table and reflected on God's blessings in the lives of my friends, I realized that I am most thankful for the PEOPLE God has placed in my life - too many names to mention, but none are insignificant to me. My cup overflows.

So friend - if you could name just three people for whom you are grateful, what are their names?