Why wait for Thursday to be Thankful?...

I don't want to start off this post with the typical "Happy Memorial Day"...I think that's a little weird.  I don't know why, but that phrase hits me weird.  Yes, we should be happy that we have our freedoms, and I hope you all are having a happy day, but I feel weird saying I hope you have a happy day of remembering our fallen men and women who paid the ultimate price so I could have days and a life of freedom and happiness. 

Don't get me wrong, I myself have already been to the beach with friends and back today, and I am certainly happy, I hope all of you are having a great day as well, but I also hope you have taken time to say a quick prayer of gratitude for the many blessings we have in this incredibly country thanks to the sacrifices of the men and women we honor today.  Today is a day of remembrance and a good day to be thankful...and since I've missed a few Thankful Thursdays...why not take the opportunity today?

I am thankful for:

1. The men and women of our great nation, and their families who have paid the ultimate price for the freedoms and liberties of the people of our nation.  The husbands and wives who have laid down their spouse, and the children who have laid down their parents...Mothers and Fathers who have sacrificed their children, siblings who have laid down their brothers and sisters, and friends who have sacrificed friends for the unnamed millions who live here in this country, and for me.  So that I could be free...to live, and to pursue happiness.

2. I am thankful for the wonderful members of my family who have served.  Thankful and proud!

3. I am thankful for time, on a day like today and in times like these where friends and family are delivered into places of uncertainty, one realizes even more so the fleeting nature of time, and the unpredictability of life.

4. On a sillier note, I'm thankful that I escaped getting stung by a crazy bee that decided to fly in through the car window while we were driving to the beach...it scathed my shoulder and landed curled up in the car seat next to me...it was actually quite traumatizing...for one who is terrified of bees and whose immediate reaction is to run away, when you can't run away...it's a little scary....

5. Sunshine, sand, and water...yay beaches! (and the fact that I finally got to go!)

6. I am thankful for the most incredible friends in the world.

7.  I am thankful for the countless blessings I have been showered with lately.  For a job, in the district that I wanted, at the school that I wanted, at the grade level I wanted...and for the doors that God has been throwing open for me.

Those are just a few of the things I have remembered to be thankful for today....

What are you thankful for?

The Best Laid Plans (Jer. 29:11)

It's amazing how when things start falling into place in your life, everything just lines up...although it works equally just the same the other way around, you know the old adage, "When it rains...it pours."  Fortunately for the time being the stars are aligning quite nicely.

I am now blogging to you as a real 4th grade teacher!  I went for an interview this past weekend and was offered the job on the same day!  WOOHOO!!! I couldn't be more thrilled, it's the exact position I want at the exact school I want.  I have a feeling that as things progress this blog may evolve into something more about  my journey to becoming a teacher, and the first year of teaching, and living on my own FINALLY!

Here's a little recap of my journey to becoming a teacher....

Martha Crunch Math Boot Camp!

My first bulletin board! A geometric quilt the students made!

Read/Write/Think Aloud with one of my favorite books!

Outdoor Inspiration for our Haikus

Our trip to Jamestown!

Saying Goodbye...

Oh the journey it has been and it's only the beginning.  Now I am moving on to my very own class of 4th graders next year, and I am SO EXCITED!!!  It is amazing how richly blessed I am, and I thank God every day for leading me to my calling in his own perfect way.

Parting is such Sweet Sorrow

This week marks the end of an era for me.  On Weds. I completed my student teaching and my Master's program.  On Sunday I graduated with my Master's of Arts in Education.  It has been a long hard road that I'm not quite sure I would do quite the same way if I had to do it again, but the path has lead me to great places and thrown wide open doors of opportunity.

Weds. was a bitter sweet day as I said farewell to my very special class of fourth graders whom I have grown to love over the past year.  I baked and brought in cupcakes decorated in school colors. In addition to those I used up a majority of my stationary collection writing hand-written notes to each one of my students thanking them for being such wonderful members of the class and a special part of my first teaching experience, and encouraging them to continue to grow and learn.  I also wrote thank you notes to teachers and the principal who all had a great impact on my success this year.  While I am glad this stressful academic year is over, I was sad to depart from this wonderful group of people who have certainly touched my heart and life.

Sunday marked a monumental occasion for myself, my friends, and my family.  Sunday I graduated from the College of William & Mary with a Master's of Arts in Education which I completed in one year.  No small feat for anyone I dare say, especially from this establishment.  Last year I graduated in May with a Bachelor's of Music, and began this rigorous program in June...and now I have my second degree!  I am the first in my generation of the family ever to receive a Master's Degree, and the first to attend this university.  It was a beautiful day for graduation ceremonies, and I actually received my diploma that day, not just that little note that tells you it will be coming in the mail!  I am so relieved to have this degree under my belt and the student part of my life finished, because it was starting to get old.  I will however, dearly miss the girls I have come to love over the course of this year as we've struggled and shared the joys of teaching together, and I sincerely hope we all get jobs in areas near each other so that we don't actually have to say good bye.  As for me, I have received an offer that I have accepted from my top choice school district and I am thrilled!  Not only to have landed a job, and with my first choice district, but also to know that I will finally be moving out!!!  After living at home for a year....this is a MUCH NEEDED BREAKTHROUGH!

 The Fabulous Five! I will miss you girls!

 I've got looks with brains to match!

I can't believe it's finally here!  All the blood, sweat, and tears have paid off in full and God has been extremely good to me.  Congrats to the class of 2010, to my girls whom I love, WE DID IT!!!  We're teachers!!!!

Friday's a Good Day to Be Thankful Too!

Yeah, yeah, yeah...I didn't do a thankful thursday post...so here it is on Friday...Friday's just as good a day as any to be thankful.

I'm thankful for...

1. Being done with grad school!!!!

2. Being a teacher!!!!

3. Summer time!!!

4. An amazing group of ladies that share my love for teaching and know how to have a good time...I'm gonna miss you girls!

5. Parents that have given me everything and made my success possible!

6. Mountain Dew and coffee...for getting me through many days this past year. You've been good to me.

7. Dresses and ponytails...the best quick fix for bad hair days and days when you just don't feel pretty...throw on a dress and you're instantly cute...and ponytails fix everything.

Alrighty that's about all I got for now.  Enjoy, and I'll see you next week sometime, if not before then.

Counting My Blessings Again

1. Jobs
2. Special people in my life
3. All of my little angels
4. Change
5. A blessed calling
6. That I graduate in just over a week!
7. Opportunities to prove to myself and others I can do more than I give myself credit for...so, all thanks and glory to the one who really is behind everything!

Counting My Blessings

When you worry and you can't sleep...just count your blessings instead of sheep...

Yup folks, it's that time again! Thankful Thursday!!!

I'm thankful for open doors and second chances this week.  That's basically the theme of the week.  I know that only sounds like two things...but it's really a lot and I will fall asleep counting many blessings tonight!

One Sweet Love

So I've been doing a lot of thinking lately...and I just want to throw it all out there.  Thinking mostly about relationships, love, and life, as I am at that age where well...the clock's ticking, and patience becomes more and more difficult as Carrie Underwood says so beautifully, "The more guys I meet, the more I love my dog."  Some people may think my standards are too high, or that I'm just too picky...but I mean really, in the search for a LIFE mate...I don't think one can be too picky.  And also, is it really too much to ask for a man who has his life together, who wants marriage and a family, and who values the same things I do?  And then Sara Bareilles makes me wonder, "have I already tasted my piece of one sweet love?"

The thought absolutely kills me!  Yet it seems to be the theme in my thought world these days.  A few weeks ago mom brought up an ex of mine who had tried to reconnect with me...mom says she misses him, and was pressing me about him and why I won't give him a second chance...and then I get this spiel about how I'm wasting my energy on such high expectations and I'm never going to find mr. perfect.  Of all the people in the world...my own mother thinks my standards are too high?!?!?!  So then that had me doubting myself and most of my relational decisions.  Fortunately I definitely concluded that I was content with my decision to cut ties with that particular person...deal with it mom.  On the other hand, I find myself wondering these days about someone who I have no idea if I will ever meet again, and yet I know if I never do see this person again, I will ALWAYS wonder for the rest of my life what could have been, and I know that even if I meet someone else...I will always wonder about this one.  That's such an overwhelming thought, but it's what I live with currently.  As this thought circulates and stews in my mind, I wonder what it all means...is this it?   What is supposed to happen?  What role do I play in whatever is unfolding...or is there something unfolding? And most importantly, is all this on his mind too, or am I alone in this and just an idiot?

Fortunately, I now know that I am not just an idiot.  Unfortunately for both of us our story is filled with uncertainty, and the questions we have will only continue to persist and linger because neither of us knows if/when we will ever see each other again.  But, knowing what I think, and knowing what he's thinking, I have resolved that it HAS to happen, and we absolutely MUST see each other again, because to continue to go through life wondering these things would be hell on earth in my life.