buyin' boots

After about 6 years (or more. . . who can really say?) of totally ignoring the fashion trend of boots, I finally jumped on the bandwagon and bought myself a pair.  While one might think skinny jeans are the next thing on my horizon, I am anticipating a winter filled with warm leggings, cute dresses, colorful scarves and cozy cardigans.   After all, there is no point in being a young teacher if I don't find excuses to dress like one!      

Tis the season for unbalanced meals and an abnormal consumption of snack food, candy and baked goods. Additionally, now the cold weather has come to stay, I am finding myself more enticed by the allure of couch time and crunchy snacks.  This enticement has reason, however, because I am pleased to report that my mom made me a giant batch of homemade chex mix over Thanksgiving break. Sometimes the best gifts are the ones that help you spoil your dinner 4 out of 5 nights in a row.  

Chex Mix: the dinner of champions! 

fighting the battle: germs!

Other than the obvious step of washing my hands compulsively at work, I have adopted some other steps into my routine during cold and flu season to fend off those pesky germs:  

step 1: never run out of pink-grapefruit airborne

step 2: drink tons of water! 

Step 3: keep frozen treats on hand to help sooth soar throats!

And of course, get LOTS of sleep.   This cold and flu season has not been very kind to me but at least I know how to fight it!  What do you do to keep germs at bay? 

sangria

In light of the upcoming holidays, I thought I would share my favorite sangria recipe with you.   After all, you can never go wrong when you beverage looks as festive as it tastes!

White Sangria

1 bottle white wine
1 cup orange juice
3/4 cup peach brandy (although I used peach schnapps because I'm more
likely to use that for other things)
1/2 can frozen lemonade concentrate
1/4 cup sugar
ginger ale
frozen peaches
green grapes
red grapes
lemon wedges
lime wedges

Mix wine, peach brandy/schnapps, lemonade and sugar until sugar dissolves.
Add orange juice
Add fruit
Add ginger ale (amount doesn't really matter - just fill to the top of
whatever type of pitcher you are using)

Juggling

Have you ever been through a season of life where your ability to juggle numerous details impacted the big picture of your daily living?  If I had to pin-point the essence of this school year thus far, I would define it in a similar manner: lots of juggling!   As with all things, there are both negatives and positives to what is quickly becoming my new norm.   One of the challenges I face on a day to day basis is simply having the mind-space and mental energy to keep track of everything I need to keep track of.   Tasks that were at one point simple, such as remembering to bring my lunch to work or unpacking my gym bag, sometimes get lost in the shuffle of thinking through the complexity of my upcoming day with my students and the events following my workday.   Throw the added challenge of fighting off all of the germs that my kiddos generously share with me and I'm left with dishes in the sink, emails unanswered and lots of canceled plans.   Even so, there are positives.   One positive is that I have had a lot of room to grow professionally.   I don't know how long I'll be a teacher, but if this same rate of growth continues from now until the end of my career I think I'll be incredibly effective at the end of it all!  Another positive is that living alone has created a great amount of rest in my life.   I'm a pretty firm believer that a road without obstacles probably won't get you anywhere worth going, so here are some highlights that have emerged from my obstacles this year:  


-My friend Nicole now freezer cooks with me once a month.  I cannot even tell you how supported and refreshed I feel by having a friend enter into such a meaningful part of my life. 
-I bought a new car.  After the intense search, the actual purchase and about a week of details following the purchase I can now say that I think this car will be one less thing I need to worry about on my plate. 
-I started a silent book club.   I need positive relationships at work and I need practice signing so I recruited some co-workers to be in an all signing book club with me.   We've only met once but I think this club (and my signing) has a bright future ahead of it.  
-my assistant principal asked me to mentor "the hardest kid in school".  It is truly my hearts desire to come alongside children who are otherwise considered unlovable and extend love to them.   This new little friend of mine is precious and I'm excited to get to know him better. 
-I made it through 2 out of 3 nights of my very first parent-teacher conferences.   Praise God! 

-I did three weeks worth of laundry despite being sick! 
-I continue to spend time at the gym and after a year of consistent use, part of me feels like I'm home when I'm there.  

I don't know what tomorrow will bring, but I do know that Jesus has a purpose for all of this, and that purpose is much bigger than I could ever anticipate.   So, tonight I am going to bed thankful that God is more powerful that all of my juggling.  

knitting

My first Christmas present of the season is complete!  Considering the fact that I usually start this process in July, I am b-e-h-i-n-d.   I have come to terms with the fact that life changes rapidly and there isn't always time for annual habits to carry over from year to year.  For as long as time allows, the knitting will continue! 

a sound mind

The older I get, the more I realize how important rest is to my well-being.   While there are plenty of jokes about the inevitable and very common state of sleep deprivation that bounce around social circles everywhere, I would like to advocate that rest is more important than the things preventing it.   I bring this up because I had a pretty intense week, followed by an even more disruptive weekend. which of course caused me to face all of the ugliness that unrest brings.   Rather than re-live all of my sleep-deprived related anxiety and emotions, I decided to start focusing on the positives of rest.  I mean, really, the advantages of being well-rested are almost limitless, maybe for no other reason than that rest nurtures a sound mind.   Balanced judgement and wise-decision making are two of my deepest values so I guess it makes sense that I do what I need to do to keep my head on straight! 

I have set this week aside as a "must rest" week which includes things like:
-spending time at the gym
-cooking dinner for myself and my friends (I have two friends coming over for dinner tomorrow and one coming over for dinner on Sunday.  I am so blessed to have friends in my life who like spending time with me in ways that are meaningful to me!)
-running errands that I don't usually make time for, such as getting my dress pants altered. 
-starting my Christmas crafting projects
-deciding which book is next up on my "must read" list.  
(last but not least)
-listening to Christmas music!

What are you going to do this week that creates space for rest in your life?