Cafe Du Martin

hi blog!

Published on February 16, 2014 by Joanna2 Comments

Well a big woops on my part for a week-long unintentional break. I can honestly say that the break was somewhat needed though and that unfortunately life has been filled to the brim with things that either I shouldn’t blog about or am unsure of blogging about.

These past few weeks have just been tough.

Not to delve into too much unnecessary detail but…you know when you have those seasons in life where you feel that one area of your life is completely out of control but the others are somewhat tolerable (praise God!)? Yeah… that has not been the case over here lately and I have been feeling like every aspect of my life is completely out of control and somewhat of a downer in some regards. I have had a lot on my very tiny little plate and I didn’t feel it at first but boy am I now. Work, family, friends, home, pregnancy…life. everything. Sometimes it gets to be a little much and these are the times I wish I could invest some time on a private island far, far away and just to refocus and figure out what my priorities actually are instead of getting caught up in every little thing.

I realize that some of my overwhelmed feelings are stemming from the overly abundant and ever so present hormones running rampant in my 33 week pregnant body and that some of these emotions and stresses will hopefully calm down in the next few months. Aside from that, I just feel done in a lot of ways and that the amount of things I am having to deal with simultaneously is almost too much.

What did Mother Teresa say? “I know God won’t give me anything I can’t handle. I just wish he didn’t trust me so much.”

seven quick takes

Published on January 31, 2014March 17, 2014 by JoannaLeave a comment

Linking up with Jen & some other lovely ladies for some seven quick takes on this beautiful Friday afternoon (temps in the 70’s all weekend until Sunday when we are supposed to freeze and have ice pellets and the world will end – enjoying it while it lasts)!

1. While my sweet third grade cherubs have been getting along lately (what the what?) and I haven’t felt the need to intervene in any social/emotional ways, I think the next time I have to I am going to take after my teammate Heidi. She was struggling with some big bad word monsters in her class this week and really nipped it in the bud (I’ve always thought that phrase was kind of weird but it gets the job done) among her hoard of 8 year old teasers. Way to be awesome, Heidi!

2. While I feel that an entire post dedicated to the cravings of the tiny human in my womb might be a little excessive (or not, I mean you may really be dying to know and who am I to deprive you of such culinary inspiration? Future posts might happen…) it’s never too much for a take. Currently craving: Lemonade & marshmallows. To be even more specific: Diet Lemonade from Chick-fil-a and Kraft Jet Puffed Marshmallows. I am also lucky enough to work with some of the sweetest people and the teacher I am mentoring this year surprised me with a big bag of fluffy goodness this morning. Reallllly trying to not go through the ENTIRE bag today.

3. Happy Chinese New Year! Today we had a short mini lesson on the Chinese New Year traditions and then my kiddos wrote their name in Chinese and learned their Chinese zodiac sign – it was really awesome to see them so into another culture. I however do not appreciate the description of the dragon which is my sign… “big mouthed” gave all of my kids a pretty good laugh,..

4. In other teaching news, a coworker of mine posted this article about a super inspiring teacher. I stole the exercise she does with her class and did it today. I will say that the results were not a big surprise but it motivates me and opens my eyes to some of the cliques already starting with my class. While they may only be 8 years old, they are still so capable of some grown up and not so nice behaviors.

5. We have our first baby shower next weekend! It’s kind of crazy how fast things are sneaking up on me. We fly down to NOLA on Friday and besides the baby shower I think my only other concerns are devouring a pile of beignets and some Randazzo’s king cake.

6. Going to see Dallas Buyers Club tonight and really looking forward to a break from the massive amounts of school work I have been bringing home. Eric and I have been wanting to see it for a while and I want to soak up as much alone time (I always want to say one-on-one time a-la-the-Bachelor lingo) with him as possible before this little girl rocks our world.

7. Success of the week: finishing up our child rearing (I’m immature and the term rearing ALWAYS gets me) class this week and finally learning the appropriate baby burrito technique! It was the third and final portion of our child birth class and can I just say it is adorable how excited my husband is about this kid. I know that we both have our doubts and worries but his enthusiasm towards parenting makes me excited to go through this with him. He’s awesome.

Happy weekend people!

embracing motherhood: when I found out I was a mom

Published on January 31, 2014January 31, 2014 by Joanna1 Comment

One of the definitions of the word embrace is: accept or support (a belief, theory, or change) willingly and enthusiastically. These are a few thoughts on motherhood and how I am embracing it in my life or rather how it is embracing me.

We found out we were pregnant the day after getting home from a celebratory weekend honoring our one year anniversary. We stayed at a local historic hotel and ventured around the downtown/uptown area of our city. We went out to eat, walked, adventured, and even went on a brewery tour (perfect timing eh?;) to reminisce our first year in this crazy, wonderful sacrament. It was an absolutely perfect weekend and I think about it often.

But that weekend I was feeling a little funny, and the day we were leaving the hotel I knew something was wrong. We ventured down to the hotel restaurant to grab a bite before checking out. When I looked at my delicious breakfast that consisted of the two largest pieces of bacon I have ever laid eyes on (bacon is by far my favorite food group, close runners up are chocolate and diet coke, you can call me the queen of healthy)…and I couldn’t stand the thought of eating them. Let the red flags abound!

We had been talking about starting our family all summer and we were both open to the opportunity of a new life within the coming year. We thought it would be the perfect time – financially, emotionally, physically – we were as “ready” to enter into parenthood as we would ever be so…we went for it.

After tossing my beloved (yet at the time disgusting) bacon aside and finishing up breakfast we drove home. When we walked back into our little apartment, I had this tugging at my heart telling me I needed to take a pregnancy test. However, being the paranoid newly wed that I was I had a pretty good stockpile going because every month I just KNEW I was pregnant. As Eric was unloading the car I popped into the bathroom and humbled myself to the little stick. This time the feeling felt different. It wasn’t the. “I think I am, I think I am, I think I am…but I know I’m really not.” It was, “I don’t know if I am…what if I am? Is this it?”

So then I did it. I took the test. Turned it over so I wouldn’t peek and waited for what really was the longest 3 minutes of my life. I heard Eric come into our room while I was waiting and I just knew he was probably suspicious of what I was doing because I had been in there for an eternity (re: 1.5 minutes had passed by).

Then what do you know…an extra little blue line that had never been on any test I had taken before. Happy Anniversary mom and dad!

After I took 1 more test (I mean ClearBlue is pretty much fool proof – there are no lines to decode just prego or no) I came out of the bathroom to find Eric laying on our bed looking at his phone. Because of our recent baby talk I of course had been scheming of really obnoxiously cute and adorable ways to tell him there was a little resident in my womb – when the day came. Little did I know that my overly compulsive, word vommitting self would just not have cute and adorable that day because I blurted it out then and there that we had ourselves an anniversary present!

Those first few days, scheduling a doctors appointment, confirming the little blue lines, it was all so full of love and emotion and dear lord was it full of hormones. I just remember thinking – do I want this? yes. do I want this? I don’t know. can I handle this? absolutely not. do I want this? yes.

So here I am…on the verge of 31 weeks and still asking myself if I can handle this but my heart wants nothing more. There are days where I know my soul embraces motherhood full force, thinking about nothing else but the excitement I feel when I think about this girl. But there are days where I think… I can’t do this. I’m so young. What were we thinking? If I’m being completely honest with myself (and who ever deems this blog worthy reading material) today was a day that fell with the latter sentiment. After finishing up our birth and childcare class last night I left thinking – what. am. I. DOING? I can’t even swaddle a baby! How am I going to keep this tiny person alive for more than an hour by myself? How am I going to work and mother at the same time? Baby poop has the most variations of poops I have ever seen! Feeding times! Sleep times! Trying to get sleep yourself! HOLY. COW.

It’s days like today where I like thinking about the day I found out we were pregnant. A day where nothing else mattered but the love between God and my husband and me. A day that had it’s doubts and worries but above all else it was the day where I had to truly start embracing this whole mom thing…and to think, it’s only the beginning.

new week, new recipe

Published on January 29, 2014January 29, 2014 by JoannaLeave a comment

Last night we tried out the Lazy Bolognese by the brilliant folks over at Dinner a Love Story. I really can’t rave about their blog or cookbook enough. They are slowly but surely becoming one of my default resources when I meal plan for the week because their recipes are SO easy and never.ever.ever.fail. They speak my recipe love language and make things so easy to understand. Trust me. You’ll fall in love too.

Variations I made:

-I used rotini pasta because it was on sale

-I also added some oil flavored olives to the sauce because they were begging to be used in something and to get off the shelf of our fridge (non olive lovers rejoice – the original recipe does NOT call for them:)

-I ditched the fennel seeds because… I honestly couldn’t find them at the store and I have never cooked with them before and the recipe still turned out delish #rebel

Bumpdate: 30 weeks

Published on January 27, 2014January 27, 2014 by Joanna1 Comment

Well, there she is. Look at that bump in all it’s bumpy, preggo glory. Thirty weeks is no joke. This week was a doozy at work (understatement x10) and between that + lacking energy in every sense of the word = a very DONE lady when it came to this weekend. All I wanted to do was just be home and accomplish things around here (after multiple naps). Thankfully I’m feeling much better and I’m looking forward to this week. I have a few goals I want to accomplish and that always puts me in a better mood. I’m a big cross-off-the-list kind of gal. Goal 1: getting enough sleep and getting in bed by 10:30pm at the latest each night. Goal 2: Reading something for ME each day even if it is only a few pages of a book and I fall asleep in the process. I think it will be good.

Biggest realization this week: the relationship I am already starting with this little girl. I recently read this article, about how babies are known for “ruining bodies” and how negative our culture can be toward pregnancy in general. Saturday I found my first little stretch marks from this pregnancy. I’m definitely no stranger to the infamous white lines but in the past these marks have been the result of massive growth spurts (hello, 9th grade) or overindulgent weight gain (hello, cookie shop after school job in high school). Never have they been because of something so important.

I’m helping create a life.

This little girl inside of me, kicking, squirming, already waking me up in the middle of the night… I’m giving her life right now. Providing her with nutrients she needs to live and a safe space to grow and move (although the kicks to the bladder…those could calm down a bit).

I had a good idea going into this pregnancy knowing how my body would change. I knew stretchmarks were a possible if not probable part of the deal. But never did I think I would be so happy to find three little jagged lines on my side while putting on moisturizer. Normally, this discovery would have ended up in a meltdown of tears and self deprecating thoughts…not this time. These little marks made me feel like I was the most important person in the world, and I know they will serve as a reminder that what I’m doing, what’s happening with my body right now – while I may be uncomfortable and at times self conscious – it’s the most important thing that I could be doing and I’m so happy to be doing it.

Hopefully ten weeks until we meet this girl. I can’t wait!

“You can’t find information in books, you can only find it on the internet…”

Published on January 25, 2014January 26, 2014 by JoannaLeave a comment

How we were all feeling in classroom A122 yesterday.

This is what I heard from a student yesterday as we were continuing our research on planets for an informative project we are currently working on in writing.

We have already ventured to the library this week to learn about researching on our school iPads and the computer lab to use some kid friendly search engines. Everything has been going swimmingly and my kiddos (side note: I never thought I would be a person to use the word ‘kiddo’…until I became a teacher. I’m pretty sure only education related people use this phrase?) have been so excited and interested in this project. Teacher win! Enthusiasm about learning! Positive sentiments abound from my little brain!

Until yesterday.

When I brought out…

the books.

Our librarian pulled what I’m pretty sure is every planet and space book to ever exist in our school and is graciously letting our grade level hoard them until further notice. I gave my students copious amounts of time to continue their research and read about their planets and I thought everything was going to go just as fabulously as it had been the past week. Five minutes in. WRONG.

While only one student actually uttered the above phrase, many thoughts of similar meaning were shared. I love that my students are so adept in the use of technology. I love that they love using technology for learning. But my eyeballs almost rolled out of my head yesterday when multiple students came to me completely mystified – looking at the book, looking at me, looking at the book, looking at me – wondering how the heck they were supposed to use the words on the pages.

I can honestly say that yesterday was the first time in my teaching career that I felt completely and totally…old and lost. I had to walk my students through using a book, finding a fact, and taking a note. I was absolutely astounded at even having to think about teaching something like this in my class. Now I know that kids are in front of a screen more today than they have ever been in the past but a part of my hopelessly-romantic-teaching-philosophy heart hoped that books were not becoming lost and forgotten.

It definitely helped me gain some perspective and I’m interested in seeing how the rest of this project goes…because we are done researching on the computers and the books are pretty much all we have left! I hope we can hold it together. I may just be rocking their worlds a little *too* much.

Oh, and yesterday we had about 8.7 meltdowns in my classroom. Myself included. Thank God it’s the weekend!

clickity clack

Published on January 23, 2014 by Joanna1 Comment

a few posts or articles I stumbled upon this week that I enjoyed reading…

15 genius tips for living in small spaces: This has been on my mind A LOT lately with this little lady’s birthday fast approaching. I love our apartment and we have been living in this complex for the entirety of our almost 2 year married life. We even lived in separate apartments at the same complex while we were engaged – so we have literally tested out each floor plan our landlord has to offer…but I am craving more space. I look around sometimes and feel so ungrateful because all I can think about is how the heck are we going to fit another tiny human (with a ton of STUFF) in here??? These tips were a good read and put a few things into perspective for me. Also, reminding myself to simplify, simplify, simplify.

This delicious looking recipe is probably going to end up on our meal rotation next week. Eric gifted me with the Dinner a Love Story cookbook this year for Christmas and I haven’t really put it down yet – in the kitchen or outside of the kitchen. I would definitely say it is my favorite food blog by far and that most of my meal inspiration comes from them and their family’s dinner philosophy.

Priorities, productivity, parenting. This post has been on my mind a lot this week. While I am not a stay at home mom and I have yet to even push out our first born… I have had both priorities and productivity on the brain. In my classroom, at home, in my vocation, in where I am going in this little life. Sometimes I really want my head to just stop and that my brain had an off switch. Thinking can be the most bothersome sometimes.

And links I wish I had…cute maternity dresses. Currently searching for a couple for upcoming showers so that I feel at least a wee bit cute! Just having a hard time finding something at the moment.

Happy Wednesday!

new week, new recipe

Published on January 20, 2014January 20, 2014 by JoannaLeave a comment

Happy Monday!

For the past few months a little group of friends and myself have been meeting for brunch every month and every other month discussing a book together. It all started with Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers and then we moved on to A Voice in the Wind by the same author (admitting right now that this book is a beast and I’m still not finished). It’s been a great time to meet with some girls from our church and talk about faith, love, and usually towards the end we will talk about the book a little bit. (; These are all women that I have worked with in either youth ministry over the past few years or just recently through our young adult ministry at church and they couldn’t be more dear. This next round we are reading Style, Sex, and Substance – I’m so pumped!

I made the most adorable mini quiches yesterday and the recipe was pretty much the easiest thing. Sharing and saving for future reference!

Mini Biscuit Quiches

-2 rolls of mini frozen biscuits

-6 eggs

-your favorite cheese (I used a blend of cheddar and mozzarella because it’s what we had on hand)

-4 tbsp of milk

-salt & pepper

-any other mix-ins you may want to add (I added kale and ham to one batch and they were delish!)

1. Roll out the biscuits with a rolling pin until flat then put into bottom and sides of greased cupcake tins for the crust.

2. Whisk eggs, milk, salt and pepper together. Once well blended add cheese.

3. This is where if you wanted to get crazy you can add ham, bacon, kale, spinach, etc. I made half of my batch with just cheese and the other half with kale and ham.

4. Pour about 2tbsp of the egg mixture into each muffin tin and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Adapted from: http://www.weightwatchers.com/util/art/index_art.aspx?tabnum=1&art_id=90551

Delish! So super easy that I think I might add these to our weekday mornings. Have a happy Monday!

seven quick takes

Published on January 18, 2014January 20, 2014 by Joanna1 Comment

FRIDAY! Three day weekend! Halle-freaking-lujah! Aside from this week being exhausting in every sense of the word, it flew by which I always consider a good thing but boy am I ready to get to the weekend.

This is pretty much the constant state my desk was in this week:

So, usually when I type out my quick takes I just type a short little snippet by each number and then throughout the day I’ll add to the list as I have time. After typing out my list this morning I realized that the majority of my takes are super baby related – obviously where my brain is at these days. (;

1. Baby, baby, baby…SHOWERS! Holy cow do we have generous people in our lives. We have four baby showers on the horizon and it absolutely blows my mind how wonderful people are and how much they care about our family. Considering we are starting out with absolutely nothing in the baby department (I think that’s pretty normal for first timers right?) it is definitely easing my nerves knowing that we are about to be showered with more baby stuff than we could possibly imagine. I received the invite to our first shower which will be in NOLA in February and my super talented MIL designed these adorable invites!

2. Birthing, CPR, First Aid… we definitely had our fill of baby related classes this week. On Wednesday we had our birthing class and we were lucky enough to be the only couple there! The nurse leading our class is the absolute sweetest and makes all of this new and sometimes scary stuff seem not SO terrifying. Even though we were just in the labor and delivery unit last Friday after my little rendezvous with the floor, we still had our tour and got to check out our digs for our birthing stay. I would have to say that being completely traumatized from watching videos about every little thing your kid can eat, choke, and die on… our CPR class was all worth it to see my husband hold the baby mannequin like this the whole night.

3. Earlier this week I posted about Psalm 139:14 and my sweet friend Heidi wrote a post about a very similar topic. Especially applicable for those working in youth ministry or married to someone who is called to a vocation in ministry.

4. Funniest teaching moment of the week: I have been waiting for the fateful day when one of my students were to ask me how this baby was either made or how it is going to come out of my body. Well, today was the day. One of my kiddos asked me, “Mrs. Martin… if your baby is inside of you. How is it going to get out?” Thankfully my class was about to head on in to P.E. so it was by the grace of God’s sweet, sweet timing that I was able to say…”You should ask your mom about that and have fun playing in P.E. BYE!” Whew.

5. So… nursery? I have to admit that aside from random fits of deep cleaning around our apartment I haven’t really been in a nesting mood. But lately, all I can think about is nursery stuff and space. We are getting closer and closer to buying a house but we know that we are going to be here for the first few months of this little lady’s life and I’m trying to figure out in my head just where everything is going to go. I’ve been trying to keep most of this to myself but more than a few times this week I have caught myself thinking about nurseries and cribs and bouncers and STUFF. I know we are going to make it work it just tends to knot up my brain at times.

6. I have felt a wee bit guilty this week being so busy every night. Someone is turning into the neediest puppy in the WORLD. Yesterday we had time to play “fetch” with the frisbee for a little while (aka: I throw, she catches and runs away, I chase after her, she runs away, repeat, repeat, SQUIRREL, drop.) and I swear you would have thought this was the first time in the history of her short life that anyone human has ever paid attention to her. Poor girl.

7. Yummy recipe find of the week! I made these little oatmeal bites (ok they are really called oatmeal balls but… I’m immature and bites sounds better, yes?) I’m thinking they are going to become a part of our normal rotation. They were great for mornings and I would eat a few with my smoothie.

Recipe: Oatmeal Bites

1 c. rolled oats

1 c. nuts/shredded coconut (I’m not a huge fan so I opted for pecans)

1/2 c. carob chips

1/2c. peanut butter

1/2 c. flax seed

1/3 c. honey/agave

1 tsp vanilla

1. Mix all ingredients together (either with a spoon or the paddle attachment on your stand mixer – I used the latter)

2. Chill for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.

3. Take out scoop and make into little balls.

4. Enjoy!

Happy weekending!

Psalm 139:14

Published on January 15, 2014January 16, 2014 by Joanna3 Comments

“I praise you for I am wonderfully made; wonderful are your works!”

These were the words that I read during my planning period this morning and really, they could not have been better timed. I signed up for these fabulous emails by way of a post on Camp Patton (seriously, one of my favorite blogs – her kiddos are hilarious and they definitely get it from their mama). These little snippets in my inbox every morning have really been helping me make it through the day – especially this week which has been filled to the brim with conferences, trying to get ahead on lesson plans/work, and just not feeling so great in the pregnancy department (hello third trimester morning sickness – we meet at last!).

I know that I have said this before but I don’t think I can really say it enough – teaching is hard. It is by far one of the most satisfying things I have found in this life and I love the feeling I get when I see a child come alive in their learning abilities. However, this year. Oh, this year. This year has been my hardest year by far. I won’t delve into the gory details but I have read the statistics of how long a new teacher lasts in this profession and they aren’t pretty. Some say that 40-50% of new teachers will quite their jobs within the first five years of teaching, because they become so burned out and disheartened by their efforts in the classroom.

I am still maintaining my positive outlook aspirations for this semester, or at least trying to. I still love my school and my coworkers and my kiddos. But sometimes, when the going gets rougher than rough (like this week). I think to myself – what else would I do? What else CAN I do? These are the times when I doubt my abilities the most. Am I creative enough? Am I smart enough? Am I driven enough? What have I done wrong? My mind tells me: I must be the most broken and incompetent teacher out there. Give up.

Then come these words. The words at the top. God made me wonderfully. He made me in His image. I know this and I hear this often but really, HOW often do I let these words speak to my soul? He has given me this desire to teach for a reason. He has blessed me with the tools and opportunities that I need at this time in my life to grow and learn. He won’t give me more than I can handle – but I sure can overload myself and put more unnecessary worries into my life and job than needed. These challenges I am facing at work are teaching me and making me grow. The process isn’t necessarily fun but the outcomes will be great. I need to keep reminding myself of this Psalm on weeks and days where I start to feel so burned out. Because no matter all of the thoughts and doubts and hesitations that run through my mind – He is right there comforting me, consistently telling me that it’s ok. Really, He is telling me it’s more than ok.

It’s wonderful.

Happy Wednesday (: