Travels

Today is my last Monday of summer break.  Oh my.  I have mixed emotions about going back to work.  I am excited to see all my work friends on the regular again, and super pumped to see my kiddos from last year, who I really have missed!  I have even been dreaming about seeing them again, which is kind of odd. I am also anxious to meet this year's new class of kids, but I kind of feel like I won't like them as much as I liked last year's class.  I know I'm going to see all the second graders and be like, "No!  Come back to first grade!  I neeeeeeed youuuuu!"

Now don't get me wrong.  I am also super bummed that summer is over.  Like everything fun and carefree, it flew by.  We have been out of town SO MUCH over the past three weeks.  It was fun to travel and get away from the Texas heat, but I am also kind of bummed that I spent so many of my last lazy days packing, unpacking, packing again, driving, flying, and just generally not at home.  It's always fun to get away, but being back at home is pretty awesome too.  My plan for this last week of break: NOTHING.  Just me, sleeping in, floating at the pool and generally not doing anything.

Here's a quick rewind of where we have been over the past several weeks.  Just looking back through it all wears me out!

At the end of July, we jetted up to Pittsburg for Mark's college roommate's wedding.  It was fun and the weather was awesome, and got to see several of Mark's OSU friends, which is always a good time.  It was the babies' first official wedding and they seemed to enjoy the festivities.  I know I enjoyed the half glass of champagne I allowed myself for the toasts.

After Pittsburg, we came home and repacked our bags for a getaway to Colorado Springs.  We met my sister and brother-in-law up in CO and spent five days in the mountains, where it rained every afternoon and the highs were in the 80's.  It was heavenly.

Here we are at the top of Pike's Peak, 14,000+ feet up in the air.  We drove up the mountain in our little rental car, which was fun and also incredibly freaky.  I felt like we were going to fall of the edge of the road several times!

We took some pit stops on the way up the mountain and walked around.  I was super out of breath and had to take breaks as we climbed up some rocks on one of the stops, but the views up top were worth the panting and chilly temps.

Bros up top.  They dressed opposite that day, can you tell?

Here's my sister and I one evening after we walked around the lake at the Broadmoor, where we stayed.  Holy cow, I cannot recommend this place enough.  It was beautiful and the staff were so friendly and nice.  Behind us is the building we stayed in.

Here's the view we woke up to each morning at the Broadmoor.  I miss those mountains and that crystal blue lake.  Sigh.

We also ate awesome the entire time we were in Colorado Springs, and even hit up one breakfast diner twice while we were there, we loved it so much.  One day we hit up the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, which is a zoo on the mountain.  I don't know why my pictures didn't upload on my computer, but we got the FEED and PET giraffes!!!  It was the neatest thing ever, and I would totally recommend this zoo to everyone who travels to CO Springs.  We'll have to come back in a few (several) years with the kiddos.

Three days after getting back home from Colorado, we hit the road again, this time road-tripping it to Small Town, Kansas for a Mark's cousin's wedding.  The 17 hours in the car, there and back, were brutal on six-month pregnant me, but let it be known there were plenty of bathroom breaks and stops to get out and stretch.  The wedding was charming and sweet, the perfect little farm town shindig.  I haven't uploaded any pictures of the weekend yet, since we just got back last night, but picture sitting on hay bales while the bride and groom said their vows under a huge oak tree, and plenty of country music and cowboy boots at the reception.  I think it's safe to say that was our last big weekend out of town before the babies arrive, which is okay by me!

Dear Monday

Dear Monday,

So we meet again.

The temps fell substantially today, making it actually feel like Thanksgiving is just days away. {Also, wow, when did that happen?!}  Mark made the first fire in our fireplace tonight.  This is my first time having a wood burning fireplace and I was thinking I wouldn't like it, because I assumed it was going to smell like a camp fire.  But it actually doesn't smell at all!  Everything just wisps right up into the chimney like it's supposed to.  And since the homeowner before us left more firewood stacked up in the backyard than we could ever possibly use, we have some "free heat" for the cold weather.  Gus seems to like it too, even if he is a bit wary of the crackling flames.

I am really over grad school right now.  It's just something else I have to do every night, so I'm looking forward to the break during December.  If everything pans out right, this Spring will be my last semester of classes (yay!) and I will be a full-fledged, real teacher next fall. {But isn't that what I already am??}  I am really just trusting God that things will fall together (like they always seem to do) and I'll have a place next year.  Be where I'm supposed to be.  In the meantime, I try not to freak out about it all and really take it one day at a time.  Don't think about the paper due next week or the lesson plans for Thursday or the degree plan I need to get signed by my (mostly absent) advisor.  I just focus on what I have to do today, what I have to do right now.  I wonder, will life always be this busy?

Something else that happened - my birthday.  It was a nice day and a nice weekend with friends and family.  But then it came and went, and it was back to the regular days.  I'm trying hard not to stress out about... life.  Work and school, mainly.  I hate that feeling of always feeling like there's something you should be doing.  Reading. Homework. Studying. Paperwork for grad school. Figuring out where I'll be next year.  Taking state tests.  Signing up for them.  Reviewing for them.  Passing them.  Planning for school tomorrow.  Making everything I need at school.  Replying to emails.  Sleeping.  Treading water.. staying afloat.  One of the other teacher's put it well... you fake it 'til you make it.  Even if you don't know what the heck you're doing... fly by the seat of your pants.  Pretend you do.  Odds are, no one will notice.  Right?

Life is busy, but it's also really good.  Really, really good.  I try to remind myself everyday that I'm lucky to be where I am.  To not get swept up in the little things.  To not feel guilty when I just want to watch TV without also working on homework.  Or to read a book for fun, not because I have to for class or school.  Or to sleep late on the weekends.  Not do the laundry.  Leave the dirty dishes in the sink (cause really, that's where they always are!).

So Monday, I'll see you again next week.  And by the time you roll around, I'll have finished the homework that's due, turned in the paperwork, sent in the emails, even taken another one of those pesky state tests.  And I'll be one week closer to having it all figured out... for now.

so long sweet summer

Time did that thing it always does: fly. And here I am staring fall in the face, while still sweating in the 100 degree temps.  This weekend was a good chance to stop and put things on hold for a bit and I really tried not to worry about all the work I need to do for my classroom (we have parent night on Thursday, eek), all the reading I need to do for grad school (yeah, that started back up this week) and all the ‘stuff’ I always feel like I need to be doing (keeping the house clean, laundry, eating a halfway decent meal).  Mark and I went separate ways for the long weekend - he went to visit college friends at the lake, while I stayed home and hosted college friends who were visiting Dallas.  Two of my best girlfriends stayed with me for a night, and we got to all get ready for the night together {just like in the DG house}, catching up while we curled our hair and did our makeup, wondering aloud who would get married next, have kids next, or just stay the same.  On Saturday, we got to meet baby Hadley, and then watch the Texas game together on a {hot} patio.  But the best part was when we all stayed up until one in the morning, sipping wine, eating bon bons (literally) and just being together.  Times with friends like that are harder to come by these days, when we all live in different cities and have to, you know, go to work every day.

Now I have the Sunday Blues on a Monday night, anxious about a paper I need to write for grad school and a presentation I need to put together for parent night, and it reminds me of the same anxieties I would have at UT, when I was juggling classes and jobs and the social calendar of a college student.  It’s not that I’m worried I won’t get it all accomplished - I know it will all get done - but I still have that little nagging feeling that I should be reading or studying right now, not watching a game on TV or going out to dinner with Mark.  If I’m awake, I should be being productive, right?  At least folding some laundry or unloading the dishwasher?  But I tell myself it can wait until tomorrow.  For now, it’s all on hold.

Starting Fresh

Be brave this week, my friends.