A Life Update

I've been thinking lately...since last school year at this time I have had the joy of adding an adorable dog to my home and fell in love with an amazing man and his dog...therein getting a life outside of school beyond just cleaning the apartment or the occasional social outing. :) This year for school I've also taken over Midweek at church, which is an hour-long class about the background knowledge the public school kiddos at school need for Confirmation (which the kiddos at our school get it at school during Bible class).  I have 3 5th grade girls, and it's a nice change from 16 kindergarteners. I love all of these changes!!! 

It's that time of year where my students and I have each other figured out pretty well, routines are mastered (or on the brink thereof), and I can try more and more new things with them as their independence continues to grow. In the past month I've seen an explosion of an interest in reading and especially in writing, and that makes me pretty excited! It honestly gets a bit more fun once those light bulbs start turning on because their enthusiasm increases as frustrations decrease. Those light bulb moments are what a teacher lives for.

Our Christmas program is just around the corner now, so our schedule goes out the window for a while, but I love all of the things we get to do around Thanksgiving and Christmas. I feel like this is a month of hard work, but it's also packed with fun. Then we get two weeks off to celebrate with our families, rest up, relax, and come back refreshed and ready to tackle all sorts of new things. 

Tim has been an absolutely amazing blessing, especially during the tough start to this school year where there were many days I'd come home and just cry my eyes out for a while. He's been my voice of reason encouraging me to take some time to slow down and relax, especially when I've been at my wit's end about one thing or another. He's my supporter, my helping hands, my adventurer, and my nurturer. He's my best friend and my love, and I love to think that it started out with him just being my neighbor. It's like part of my life is a fairy tale. (He's probably going to be blushing after he reads this...and yet he continues to put up with my antics!)

This coming weekend we get to go and see some old friends from college, and I'm SO excited for that. I'm even more excited to see one of them get MARRIED to an amazing woman! It's going to be fantastic! (I purposely picked "fantastic" for you, Nord.:P)

So things are good. No, wait. Things are great. 

I'm glad Thanksgiving gives us an annual pause to think about how much we've grown and the many, many ways we are blessed. It's hard not to smile thinking about so many wonderful things, big and small, in our lives, isn't it? And giving thanks makes a heart happy. 

Enjoy your time to pause on Thursday and think about all of the blessings in your life. Happy Thanksgiving!