Lessons Learned as a Working Mom
How quickly a school year goes by. Ten short months ago, I was preparing for the end of my maternity leave and getting ready to send Olivia off to daycare for the first time. Now, it’s already summer time again and we are back to having fun together everyday. Who knew how much of a whirlwind my first year as a working mother would be. From the constant sickness that comes with the transition to daycare, to rediscovering my teacher identity, to finding balance as a working mother, this year has taught me a lot about myself and about what matters. It also taught me a lot about finding balance…
Four Steps to Successfully Meal Plan & Prep
Sometimes the workweek feels like a marathon. That you have to sprint. While juggling. With your eyes closed. Ok. Maybe it’s not always that bad, but the Monday through Friday grind can definitely feel like a whirlwind. While I have not been to work outside of the home since December, I remember the feeling like it was yesterday. And, now that our family has grown, so have our responsibilities, so I can only imagine what it will feel like when I go back to school. I am working on trying to get back into some of the routines that we use throughout the school year. We have certain ways we run…
Friday SLAM #1
With my revamp, I am trying to get into the habit of posting on a regular basis, and one of my hopes for those posts is to include a weekly reflection every Friday of what I did this week for (S)elf Care, a new (L)earning or (L)ove, an (A)ction I took, and my favorite (M)om Moment of the week. Hence Friday SLAM. Here’s a look back at this past week. Self Care This past week I took some major steps in self-care. My mother in law was in town for a few days (I love when she comes to visit!), so I took advantage of the opportunity to get out of…
S I X M O N T H S
S I X M O N T H S. months have gone by since our sweet Olivia Marie arrived into this world. To say that this time has gone by quickly is an understatement. The transition to parenthood has been an abrupt (and happily welcomed) interruption to the life Brandon and I have built together over our five years of dating and subsequent five and a half years of marriage. This small human is everything we have waited for and has completed our family in a way that I didn’t even know we needed. She has brought us joy. She has challenged us. She has helped us grow. While I…
To Be Honest
It has been quite some time since I updated. I started this post over a month ago and am only now getting back to it. Over these past few months I have been reflecting a lot on purpose in my career and in myself as an individual. This school year has been a journey through which I have learned a lot about accepting limitations while still trying to improve. One practice that has helped me stay strong is my ability to accept vulnerability, but in other areas, I have struggled. This past week, my dear friend Michelle launched her new blog Naturally Ever After to help women work through things that…
How Vulnerability Can Save Your Career
If you’ve been reading, you know that his blog is about my journey to find balance in my life between my career and my life outside of school. Along this journey, there are obviously many parts of me that intersect. Whether I am at school or at home, I am who I am. Anyone who knows me might describe me as passionate and committed when speaking positively or as a worrier and high strung on the negative end of the spectrum. Only within the past year have I come to own and embrace all the parts of me. This year, I have been more honest about who I am, how…
New Year’s Teaching Resolutions
Every year I make a list of resolutions for myself. These are centered on my physical health, mental health, finances, and travel. At the end of the previous year/beginning of the New Year, my friend Mary and I share our personal resolutions as a way to encourage one another and to hold one another accountable. This tradition is something I so look forward to each year. While some people think that waiting for the New Year to set intentions or begin a habit is a bad idea, I am an individual who needs a reset every once in a while. The end of 2016 put a lot of things in…
When Life Doesn’t Go As Planned
The end of this year has been…rough to say the least. Right after my last post, in OCTOBER, I got sick. Really sick. Legs turning mottled and pain all over my body sick. I have been to many doctors and gone through many tests to finally know that I do not have cancer, I do not have an autoimmune disorder, and that no one is still quite sure what is wrong with me, but that I will supposedly begin to feel better soon. Anyone who knows me knows that I like to be in control. If there is a problem, I make a plan, and I fix it. Uncertainty is…
Time For Some Real Talk
Over the past few weeks, I haven’t written for a few reasons: The beginning of the school year can sometimes feel like chaos. 150 names to learn. 150 relationships to build. Schedules change. Students have bad days. We have bad days. A lot of things are unpredictable and take some time to settle down. My teaching load looks very different this year than it has in years past, so I have been feeling overwhelmed trying to figure all of it out and how to be the best teacher I can be for every student in my room. I have more accommodations to provide than ever before. It takes time to…
Why “Workxiety” is Real and What I’m Doing to Combat it This Year
Soooo it’s been a while since I’ve last written. There are so many reasons why. Mainly, I’ve been enjoying summer! We’ve been to California and back on a wonderful trip with my sister and brother-in-law. I’ve also been cooking up a few classroom projects that I will share soon. But for today, I want to focus on my current struggle—pre-school stress! I’ve got a nifty new phrase for it from my gal pal and teacher friend Patty—workxiety. Why is workxiety a thing for teachers even before school starts? I am not 100% sure about your school districts, but over here, things seem to be constantly in flux. We report for…
