Life Updates

Long time no chat... it has literally been four months since I last sat down to publish a post. Definitely not my proudest blogging realization.  While the hiatus is not something I am proud of, I do have to say that sometimes something has to give in the height of a busy schedule.  While I have missed writing posts and interacting with each of you regularly, I honestly don't think my posts would have been the quality that I strive for.  Furthermore, I have realized the importance of taking a step back to give yourself some time to breathe. As you will soon read, life has been a little bit crazy lately.  Lots of life has happened since August, so today I wanted to hop on to share some life updates with you. 

Teaching Career
I'm still plugging away with grad school.  This past semester I decided to slow down to one class.  I knew that between the chaos of the start of the school year and coaching I wouldn't have enough time to dedicate to two classes. Taking one class was refreshing because I was able to really focus on applying what I was learning to my daily teaching practice. I also felt like I was able to be more engaged with the content because I wasn't balancing as big of a work load as I had the semester before. While slowing down means that I won't graduate as soon as I had hoped to, I'm realizing the importance of balance. I'm pretty sure I would be part of the new teacher burn out if I continued on the accelerate path I started with.

Speaking of teaching... this year I finally have a contract, which has brought me more confidence, stability, and freedom. While I am only in my second year, I have already learned so much. The first (almost) half of the year has taught me how to manage my time, speak up more, get creative, take the time to truly get to know my students, and has bettered my classroom management. I have also been lucky enough to enjoy some incredible professional development that has inspired me to change some things in my room as we embark on the new year. I'm thinking of sharing more teaching related posts in the new year to provide you with a more wholesome view of life.

December was a crazy month at school.  This year there was an extra week between Thanksgiving Break and Winter Break, which definitely put my classroom management strategies to the test.  It was a fun-filled month with lots of energy and excitement from the kids.  I think the only way I survived was with lots of coffee, a little medicine ball tea, advice from my mom, and my wonderful coworkers.

Coaching
One of the biggest reasons behind my blogging  hiatus was probably the time I spent coaching field hockey. I have been coaching for the past few years, but this season I stepped up from volunteering to an actual position.  I was fortunate enough to take a chance on a (new to me) program working with someone who I barely knew. As it turns out I traded in my alma mater team, but I have gained a new mentor that I love working with, an even better understanding of what it means to be a coach, and athletes who have restored my love of the game.This change came from a series of unexpected events, but looking back I can say with confidence that everything truly does happen for a reason. As I look ahead to 2019, I am excited for the growth we have planned for our team.

Wedding Planning
This week we officially hit the one year mark until our big day. Wedding planning has been one of the fun parts of life for me! The past month or so I was able to check off a few things from the list, but these will be shared in a post to come! Here's a sneak peak of a little something my mom and I have been working on.



New year, new home
The biggest update of all is that Todd and I have purchased our first home together.  We have been living in our hometown with our parents since we each graduated college. It was great to be able to establish ourselves professionally with the support and cushion of our parents being so close.  We are now both working in places we envision ourselves staying at for awhile. We were both making long commutes to and from work, so we began toying with the idea of buying a place this summer. One of the perks to spending time at home post college was that we were able to save up a good chunk of money. We figured we would move out within the next year, but we did not think it would happen this soon. We found a place online that was much closer to where we work and I coach. Back in October we went to look at it thinking nothing would come out of it... 24 hours later we put an offer in and it was accepted! Two weeks ago we made settlement, and we are still working to get everything organized and decorated. With the holidays, we have spent more nights not home than we have enjoying our new place. I am excited to share more about our new adventure in the future.




I'm looking forward to taking the day to finalize my reflections and set my intentions as we begin a new year.  I am thankful for the support and love from friends, family, and readers that I have had this year. I'm very much so looking forward to the fresh start to revive my blogging habits and get back to better routines.

See y'all next year!
XOXO