Author: Joanna

Rejoining the world of quick takers and following Jen and the lovely bunch for 7 quick ones!

This week we finally let the cat out of the bag and told our family, friends, and coworkers the news that we have been keeping secret these past couple of months. We are so happy to finally let people know and share in this joy with us. I still can’t believe that there is a little baby growing inside of me right now; I’m sure that will feel more real as the weeks progress. We are just so lucky and blessed to have such wonderful people surrounding us who are so excited for us.

🙂

Yesterday marked the end of our second week of the new school year. How two weeks can feel like two months, I will never know. The beginning of the year is always filled to the brim and I always feel like I can’t handle the constant movement – but I can, because I love it.

I was taking some time this morning to catch up on my blog reading and came across this post. That had a link to the following documentary series premier:

There have been moments these past two weeks where I have felt more tired, more challenged, and more drained than I did my first year teaching. I know that this is a common feeling in our school right now and my grade level isn’t dealing with half of the curriculum changes other grades are having to deal with. With everything that piles on my plate in August every year, I have never worked in an environment that keeps me more motivated or self reflecting. I am always learning something new about myself and being pushed to be more patient, kind, and caring. This year is going to be the best one yet, I can feel it. My kids are wonderful, my team is awesome, and I am ready to accept any and all new learning challenges that will make me a better teacher and person for these little people I get to work with every day.

Some snapshots from these past two weeks or so:

As I set out on this summer this past June I had a list of all the tasks I was unable to do/enjoy/participate fully in during the school year. I was going to have 2.5 months away from work with an abundance of time (thanks to a wonderful husband who told me to take a break and not teach summer school. He’s going to heaven.) – I could accomplish anything! Travels! Organization! Things! Right?

One of those goals was to read more. Inspired by my friend Caitlin’s post on her summer book obsession, I realized that while I may not have read in abundance – I can officially say that I did read one entire book, purely for the pleasure and wonder of reading, for. my. self.

 I read the historically fiction-based novel Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Ann Fowler by way of this lovely blog’s recommendation. It was a fabulous read for the summer and gave me a little insight into a time and lives that I haven’t really explored yet. It was nice to take time (almost) each day to sit down and take a break from the other tasks I was trying to accomplish. Something I need to do during the school year to keep me sane and energized.

One summer goal, knocked off the list!

This book highly recommended (especially if you are an F. Scott Fitgerald fan or thoroughly enjoyed the recent Gastby remake that came out earlier this year):

Hi again!

Didn’t I just (“just” is a very, very loose term…) post in April about taking an unexpected break from the blogging world? Life, why you always got to get the best of me and my time management!?

It has been a little over a year that I started this blog.
It has been a little over a year that we got married.
It has been a little over a long time since I really sat down and thought about sharing and blogging.

Maybe I’ll take another crack at it.

It’s funny how easy it is to lose track of time. To get so caught up in work and life that you forget to stop and take time for yourself. Am I saying anything new and profound here? No.

But I feel like that has been happening  a lot lately .
I have been overbooking myself left and right and instead of feeling more satisfied with all that I am doing…
I feel exhausted.

I have been living and breathing work these past few months. Activities, challenges, testing… (not to mention the regular classroom maintenance and grading;) I have been working every chance that I get. We are in the home stretch with a little less than two months to go and then my babies will be moving on to fourth grade. It’s so funny how they are growing and changing, learning in new ways. I can tell that most if not all of my kids are ready to move on, ready for summer, ready for their next step in life. I start getting nostalgic this time  of year. It’s when so many chapters end and the thrill of something new starts to sink in.

We have been talking about some changes that are hopefully going to happen in the nearish future. Where we want our life to go and how we want to use our time. Things that we want to work on and new challenges we want to undertake. It’s all so exciting. A little scary, but for the most part filling me with that thrill.

Print via ParadaCreations

Keeping this in mind today as we remember a great man and inaugurate our President. Praying for those who lead our great country and the decisions they make.

Enjoy this beautiful day y’all!

Because of my wee winter break hiatus of sorts/post winter break holy-cow-its-too-cray-to-do-anything-but -teach-eat-sleep (too many hyphens? never) hiatus… I haven’t posted any quick takes in quite a while! I’m also posting these not on Friday (rule breaker = me). BUT I did start them on Friday so it counts. So here we go. Joining Jen and some other lovely blogger ladies (bladies?)! Let’s do the         thing (family friendly? always).

1. First week back at school. Always a bit of a doooooozy but we made it. I can honestly say that reflecting back on this week compared to last semester that this week was the hardest one I have had so far this year. Seeing the glass half full (after a good few days of seeing it very, very empty and not filled with anything good), I’m grateful that this kind of week showed itself half way through the school year. Now moving on to the rest of the semester and resting assured that I am doing the absolute best I can with my kiddos and everyone involved in their educational success.

2. Quilting. So one of my sweet teammates at work is expecting a baby girl and I am going to make a baby quilt for this little bit! I took a few sewing classes growing up courtesy of a mother and grandmother who both saw sewing as a useful skill and now I’m going to try and put what was learned to good use! I’m secretly hoping that this might become a new hobby. We’ll see, check back later to see if I still have all of my fingers after using a rotary cutter (first go-round was a bit scary).

3. Sarah + Kelly wedding. Two of our very favorite people got married last week. This couple is such an amazing unit and to see them get married and be a part of their day/weekend was such an incredible experience. I’m still in a dreamy wedding haze from this celebration. When you see something good, it’s goooooood.

4. Winter break… I miss you. I wrote this one on Friday after having a tough couple of days at school. The weekend has helped significantly. I really miss the days that were the best mix of productive + lazy. I miss wearing stretchy pants for a large portion of the day and making up my own schedule…but honestly I think I’m good. Happy to be back to the regimented grind of sorts and having a schedule, and yes even wearing real pants.

5.Thankful for my job, friends, family, etc. It was really nice to come back to school knowing that I have a great group of people I work with. I was repeatedly reminded this week of how lucky I am to work with a team of creative, loving women on a daily basis. I don’t think a day goes by where I don’t grow or learn in some new way.

6. Resolutions….still coming. Maybe next year one of my resolutions will be to think of my resolutions further in advance… or maybe that can be this year. Some things on the list though are:
-healthier eating decisions/meal planning
-getting a decent amount of sleep/becoming a grown up
-making commitments and keeping them
-saying no to enjoy time rather than just fill up my schedule

Like I said…formal post to (hopefully) follow but I’m liking where it’s going so far.

7. WEEKEND. Almost over, but still enjoying it immensely. 🙂

Happy Sunday y’all!

print via Unraveled Designs

I found this etsy shop by way of a friend of mine.

Really trying to remind myself of that whole “Be Grateful” part of this print.

The whole message is a great reminder that I don’t think I hear often enough. One that is telling me to live life to the fullest and to not dwell on negatives that may come my way. 

Today was one of those days. Where things I could only see as negative were rolling in one after the other. Here’s this. Here’s this. Oh, and here’s this. It is hard for any human being to stand up and seek out positive feelings after one of those days. But I don’t want to waste time and I want to use the time I do have to appreciate this life. Not saying I’m about to bound off into a field of butterflies and unicorns, but I’m grateful for artists like this who provide a much needed reminder after a day like today.

I can’t believe that we are already two days into this glorious new year. I wanted to write a little something a few days ago to sum up 2012 but I just never got around to it with everything that was the end of the year. Not to dwell too much, because I definitely am ready to get this new year started off right, but 2012 was a fantastic year. I still can’t believe all of the changes, events, new friends, and good times that were had. This will forever be a year held close to my heart because it made me realize so much about myself and this beautiful life.

With that being said, I’m excited for 2013 to get in motion! I have yet to really plan out any resolution type goals. I am still thinking about how I can push myself in this next year. But I know that one of them is going to be to blog regularly. I want to see this space grow and to become a way to keep track of our little family and our adventures together.

I hope that everyone had a happy and safe celebration with loved ones! To a new year with new opportunities!