teach.run.pray.

On May 20th, I was basking in the rays and enjoying my first trip to the beach in over a year. I pulled out my journal and started writing as everyone around me was oiled up, playing in the sand and water, and drinking really cold drinks. I was literally the only person on the beach with a journal and a pen. It felt pretty amazing. It was the end of a very long stressful work week. I needed some down time, but I really missed Matt. Other than that, it was a perfect trip with my mom and sister.  My mom picked me up around 2:00 on Friday, and we hit the road the Tybee Island. I had a book in hand and got a little reading done on the way. But, I guess some people aren't comfortable with silence, so there was a lot of random talking and questioning going on. So, I just put my book away and went with it. When we arrived to Tybee, the pirate parade had just ended and everyone was out and about for Beach Bum - lots of drunk people were out and about. Lots of drunk 20 somethings were...

May 24th is a special day. May 24th is Miles's birthday. He would be 38 years old today. It has been nearly 20 years since we've shared a birthday cake together (in person at least).  May 24th is a special day. May 24th is the day Matt proposed. Three years ago today, I said yes to my best friend. May 24th is a day my heart cries both from heartache and joy. I yearn to celebrate my birthday alongside Miles's. There were many things I "hated" my brother for growing up. I always hated sharing chocolate chip cookie dough with him and my girl friends. We clashed and brawled like WWF (or is it WWE these days?) wrestlers. We chased each other all around the yard, with sticks, all for the last piece of raw cookie dough. Did I mention we loved raw cookie dough? But, one thing is for certain, I never minded sharing a birthday cake with him.    As we aged, and as I flourished into a more mature little sister, we cultivated a deep rooted relationship. See, he was...

Today has been a very mediocre day. At the grocery store tonight, the clerk asked if I had been having a good day. Since I've been working on being more honest about life, I responded with an honest answer, "It's been ok. Could be a lot worse. Could be better. It's just ok." It seemed to satisfy her enough. See, since my alarm went off this morning, it's just been an 'eh' kind of day. I woke up in an 'eh' kind of mood, and the 'eh-ness' just followed me through. So, here we go, from the beginning. The alarm blared and startled me out of sleep. Immediately I thought, "I can only hit snooze once. I must shower. I have duty this morning. There's no time for two snoozes." I hit snooze, and I was out. Then, another alarm blared. It wasn't mine. It was Matt's. I sneaked a peek at my alarm and saw I had nearly four more whole minutes. I closed my eyes and within those four whole minutes I started drifting off again. The...

What a whirlwind life has been lately. So many thoughts and ideas are just backstroking in my mind. I've debated which one needs to be written about first, and I've decided to write about the one that keeps swimming to the forefront. Back in August, I signed up for an online class put together by Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat Pray Love . I've got one or two more lessons to do, but the last lesson I completed was the start of this crazy perpetual movement in my life. It was back in January and the going was beyond rough. My stress level was the through the roof with my health and my job. I was depressed and unhappy. I really didn't like where I was in life and felt this deep rooted yearning for change. The problem was - the change I salivated for filled my heart with guilt. Deep deep down, I knew the change had to come with my job. My job was causing 75% of my stress, and I didn't know how to handle it anymore. It felt like any day I would have a breakdown or la...

I've been really slack when it comes to blogging about the classroom. The thing is it's IEP season for me, and my daily class schedule and plans are revolving around scheduling IEP meetings, writing IEPs, and holding IEP meetings. My resource schedule has been off and the kids hate it as much as I do. Regardless, we've managed to have some fun. Learning should be engaging. Learning should involve play as much as possible. Learning should be hands on and involve problem solving and social interaction. Learning should be fun. So, my inclusion teachers and I have been working really hard to be creative in order to engage. I mean spring fever is in the air, and we've gotta stay on our toes. Kids need to be busy - not just to be busy - but to be engaged in meaningful busyness to keep them focused on the end goal: LEARNING IS A LIFELONG ENDEAVOR THAT NEVER ENDS.  Here comes the fun. Some of my younger students have been working on summarizing in their classrooms. ...

It's my first day of spring break. I've chosen to spend it by listening to my heart's desires. So, this morning, I got out of bed around 9:00, because I could. I brushed my oily unwashed hair, pulled it back into a ponytail, left my pajamas on, brushed my teeth, let the dogs out, and stood in the kitchen debating what I wanted for breakfast. I decided on a fried egg sandwich. So, I pulled out an egg, onions, tomato, spinach, cheese, mayo, spicy mustard, a deli roll, strawberries, and a banana. I decided to toast the deli roll, so I threw it in the toaster. I shaved some cheese from the sharp cheddar block. I diced up some onions and tomatoes. I heated the skillet. When it was warm enough to melt butter, I threw some butter down and tossed the tomatoes and onions until the onions were clear. By that time, the deli roll was toasted. So, I spread a thin layer of mayo and spicy mustard on the bottom half and threw the onions and tomatoes onto the roll. Then, I tossed some spina...

Let me start with a quick recap:  About five years ago, I started having chronic lower back and hip pain. Last year, it was at it's worst. There were days I could hardly walk. I blamed it on exercise and my running form (which definitely didn't help at all). After several years of chiropractic care, several visits to an orthopedic doctor and sports orthopedic doctor, physical therapy, massage therapy, and a running coach, things started to look up. I was having minimal pain in my lower back and hips for awhile - until it started again (much less invasive pain this time around). Without the help of my chiropractor and running coach, I wouldn't be running today. To them, I owe my deepest, most heartfelt gratitude. I promise I'm going somewhere with all this gibber jabber... For those of you who have been reading from the beginning, you know the past twelve months have not been the healthiest twelve months of my life. Last March, I was lucky enough to experience both...