Oh My, Oh May!

May is here! I love the month of May: it's my birthday, usually the weather becomes consistently nicer, Memorial Day weekend is usually a good time, and it means it's almost the end of the year! This year, there are a few added bonuses.

First, I turn 25 this year. I'm a quarter of a century old. Oddly, I like the feeling. This is the first year that I truly feel like an adult. I'm in my mid-twenties, I'm finishing up my first year in my career, and I'm getting married (well, okay, that's not till the end of the year technically). It's a good feeling, this whole stepping into adulthood and the big-kid phase of my life. But I feel like my 25th year is going to be a good one!

Memorial Day Weekend is going to be different for me this year. Normally, I go home to my parents' house for a cookout and bonfire and maybe some swimming, but this will be the first year I don't. H and I will be going that long weekend to go to Kalahari Resort in Sandusky. It's a huge indoor resort with a waterpark, spa, arcade, great restaurants, and African-themed rooms! It looks amazing, and we got a great deal--we've been saving since February for this, and I can't wait to go! It's going to be weird not going home, but it will be nice to have a little vacation somewhere fun, just us. We've never really done anything like this, and since he'll be in the Army next summer there's a 99.9% chance we won't get to do it next year, so we figure now's the time.

I get the "pleasure" of chaperoning prom this year, which is something new. It should be fun, and a great way to end out the year. The theme is "A Night in Paris" and we've ordered some really fun decorations. The kids are getting excited and already talking about their dresses and dates. The only reason I say "pleasure" like that is because when you're dealing with inner-city kids, most of your chaperoning at dances involves breaking up the overly-personal dancing these kids are doing. But it will be a fun end to the school year, and the kids are really excited so hopefully it will be fun.

And I'm sending up a million prayers that May will bring a second interview for a teaching job, or even a job offer!! I'm sending out applications weekly, jumping at every chance I find for an open position, and I'm waiting patiently to see what God sends my way for next year. Hopefully it involves advising a theater club or getting involved in another student organization. Whatever it is, I pray that it will be exactly what I need!

May is going to be a good month. As soon as all of this rain goes away...

Realizations of Me

For the past week I've been on spring break from work, and it has been delightful. Today is the first day that it hasn't rained, but I could totally handle the weather being crummy if it meant I didn't have to go to work for 9 days in a row. But being home all week has made me realize something: I like who I am when I'm not working there. I mean, technically I still work there. But having this whole week off without having to worry about what goes on at that school has given me a chance to get things done this week, reconnect with friends, and in general just be a happier person.

I don't think it's because I'm happier not working. In fact, I love being a teacher and being in the classroom. But I'm happy to be away from a stressful environment, even for this short time. It's also making me more excited for summer, which is only 6 more weeks away!

I know this is short, and it's just kind of a random blurb of an update, but it's been on my mind the past couple days and I wanted to get it in writing.

Hello, April!

Hello, beautiful April! Okay, so maybe it isn't beautiful yet. We're 4 days into April and it's been 3 days of cold and 1 day of rain. But I have faith that April will be a beautiful month.

I know it's been a month since I've posted--I can't believe how quickly March went by! It seemed like as soon as I got a minute to sit down and write, something else would come up and my minute would be gone. But I finally have a moment to breathe, and I feel like I need to write--even if it's just a short update on life.

March came and went quickly, especially with work (thank goodness!). We had a week of state testing, which meant no teaching for the week which was a nice little break. There were some rough patches at work, especially when a student stole my phone, but I'm going to stay positive and chalk it up to a learning experience. I saw a few weeks of sunshine and a week of actualy "warm" weather (okay, as warm as it gets in Ohio in March) which was such a pick-me-up for my mood. And I've been trying to focus more on better eating and working out--I even gave up pop and fast food for Lent. We started TurboFire for working out, too, which is a lot of fun but is making me very sore. Totally worth it, though, when I can fit into that size 8 wedding dress!

So what does April bring? First, April brings a visit from JP! He finally graduated Ranger School and is visiting this week. It's so great to have him around and actually be able to talk to him whenever I want. It also brings spring break, which is going to be a much-needed vacation. I'm going to visit my student teaching placement and see my kids there, hopefully going out to visit a few friends in the Sandusky-area, and of course going home for Easter to see the family. And (finally!) April means only 10 more weeks of school left! So beyond thankful to be almost completley done with my frist year of teaching. it's been quite and experience, but this summer is going to be such a wonderful (paid!) break.

So many blessings are headed our way this month, and I'm so thankful for what God continues to do in our lives. Bring it on, April!

Snow days and sunny days

We got a surprise snow day today. It rained a lot yesterday, but that was about it. Today, I woke up to a 2-hour delay and then a full day off. Apparently the rain turned to ice and froze up all of Northwest Ohio last night. My car windows look like stained glass right now. H seems to be under the (wrong) impression that I'm going to drive him to campus for his classes today. I told him goodluck getting the car cleaned off in time...haha

The winter blues are really not making my seasonal affective disorder (affectionately known as "s.a.d."--oh the irony...) very unhappy. I'm so blah and mopey, not because things in life are bad but because this weather just does it to me. To try and fix that, I've started planning a vacation for H and me this summer. Nothing major, but since it's our last Army-free summer I wanted to go on some kind of vacation since it's the last one we're guaranteed for a while. So we're planning 5 days at Put-In-Bay. We're going to lay by the pool, go wine tasting, rent jet skis, and just have fun together in the sunshine. Planning it is making me feel excited about summer, but it's not a total cure for the s.a.d. To do that, I need to go somewhere sunny now :)