Where to Begin?!

Hello! I can hardly believe it's been so long since my last post. As the school year came to a close, I found myself with multiplying to do lists, and editing photos and writing photos fell to the bottom of that list.

So...where to begin?
 
I can honestly say that this year has been filled with so many challenges, yet even more blessings. It's hard to put into words how much I grew professionally, spiritually and relationally. The challenges led me to trust in God and His plans, even when I could not always see or understand His purpose.

I know my struggles often come back to control - plans, reactions, events, circumstances, and, my own path. However, I could feel that God was trying to rid me of that burden, as it never really belonged to me to begin with. Though enormously difficult to do, especially at first, I felt more free with each baby step. I walked by faith and not by sight, and I felt more peace and perspective than I had in a long time.

Once I stopped waiting and longing for things on my time, my little family was overwhelmingly blessed. A year ago, John made an admirable and brave decision to leave dental school. He knew in his heart that a career in dentistry wouldn't fulfill him, and he decided to pursue a career he was passionate about. His perseverance and faith during that time is indescribable. Even when I struggled, he would remind me that he hadn't given up hope. And his faith was rewarded when in one week he was offered not one, but two positions in his field of choice - finance.

As we celebrated his accomplishments and diligence, I learned I was selected as an Education Policy and Advocacy Fellow through Leadership for Educational Equity. I was thrilled by this opportunity, but nervous as it meant I would spend the summer in Chicago without my little family. John's unwavering support and encouragement led me to accept the summer fellowship and venture back to the Windy City.

I had faith that my living arrangements would work out - as hard as it was for me to not return to worrying or fretting. God provided - again! - and an amazing opportunity from a generous friend brought me to one of the best addresses in Chicago.

I miss John and Hoosh terribly, but I was fortunate enough to see them both the last two nights, as John was in Chicago for some business meetings. I'll be able to see them every weekend until the end of my fellowship, and I know we will get through this short time apart. If we managed to date long-distance for two years, we can make it two months. When we have a lifetime together, eight weeks is but a blink.

I'm in my second week of the fellowship, and I am loving my work. I can't go into details just yet, but I can say that it combines my passion for education and my background in communications. I hope to share more as the summer progresses, but I have lots of other posts to catch up on before then - weddings, bachelorette parties, recipes, gift ideas and more!

Stay tuned, and, if you made it through this wordy post, thanks for reading!

Indy 500 Fun

Hey there, friends! It's almost the end of the school year, and I'm feeling my usual sadness at getting ready to say goodbye to my little ones. I have so many new posts and recipes to share, yet I am completely distracted by needing bid farewell to my students.  It still amazes me how each class is so different, yet beautiful in its own way.

Anyhoo...after an awesome field day, I came home and needed some quiet time to process. John graciously gave it to me, and I felt inspired to finally finish and publish a new post. So, here's a quick recap of our Indy 500 weekend!

Saturday began with a mini Alpha Phi reunion. Our dear friend and sorority sister, Annie, was in town from Colorado, and we all got together for a brunch that lasted until nearly 7 p.m.  It was just too hard to part sooner!

Ally, Rachael, Annie, Me, Swade and Linds

After our late brunch, John and I drove Annie back to the 500 lots, where she was camping out with her dad and older brothers. It was her dad's 50th race in a row (!), and we stayed to enjoy some quality time around their campfire. I hadn't been in that lot since I camped out for the 500 in 2006, when it was a record-high temperature and unbearably hot. This time I was able to enjoy the night and atmosphere!

Race day was cool, yet oh-so-refreshing! I spent time with John's family, as well as with Annie, and I couldn't have been happier.

It's "Christmas" for this handsome guy!

Annie and I for a mid-race meet up outside the Pagoda

Race fun

Kisses for my love

To top it off, our favorite driver, Tony Kanaan, won the race! Little bit of a "toot-toot", a couple years ago TK actually replied to some of my tweets! John was so impressed, and I think it earned me wife points for years to come. I dug through to find the tweets, and put the screen shots together as proof.

{My lawyer-filled family and justice-seeking first graders have clearly rubbed off on me.}

WIAW: Nearing the End

Haaaaaapy Wednesday! 

In case you missed it, my weekend updates included Couples Night Out (the ladies of WIAW Girls Dinner dragged the boys out!) and JB Graduates! 

It's official: Tomorrow is the last day of school. I am in such shock over this. Honestly this year has flown by, and I can't believe I only have one more day with my kiddos. I love those little ones so much!

Anyhoo, as has become typical, these are my Tuesday eats. I didn't really get the memo that it's about showing sensible snacking, so you're just in for some regular eats.  For more great posts, head over to Jenn's blog and check out all the other link ups!




Breakfast: I'm back to my favorite breakfast sandwich made by my wonderful hubby! Yesssss! On the sandwich: two slices 7-grain bread (toasted), one over-easy egg, one slice fontina, plus some organic reduced sugar raspberry preserves. In a word: YUM. It keeps me full all morning, and limits my dangerous snacking habit.

Lunch: Leftovers from last night! I made a new type of frittata (recipe coming tomorrow!) and I brought a slice for lunch. It includes lots of goodies, like spinach, zucchini, onion, tomato, bacon and parmesan. Ohhhh boy, is this delicious and super filling. I had some organic strawberries on the side, and I was a happy girl.

Just one slice for lunch! Couldn't decide on the picture, though ;)

Snack: I had half of a small pastry (I think it was cinnamon?) that was in the office (from Panera). It was super sugary, so I just had a couple bites. I also threw some almonds in there, as I got ready for my End of Year evaluation with the academic dean and head of school.

Woo hoo! My meeting went fantastically (is that even a word?)! I really am so blessed to work at my school, and I am so grateful for such a supportive administration. Yay for looking forward to another wonderful year at my school!

Once I got home, I planned to relax before heading to the eighth grade graduation. Welp, I fell asleep instead, and I woke up at 8 p.m. I think we'll mark that one as a bit of a fail. Oy vey.

Dinner: I had this one all planned out (score!). The delicious Crispy Salmon BLT Sliders with Chipotle Mayo (I had two, and made them with whole wheat slider buns this time), with a salad on the side. The salad included romaine, spinach, orange and yellow bell pepper, tomatoes, cucumber, pine nuts and fat free feta. The dressing was made using olive oil, white balsamic vinegar, minced garlic and dijon. Aaaaaamazing.

ONE MORE DAY OF SCHOOL! Eek!

Up for a Challenge

Happy Friday, friends!

I tell you what, I have been SO busy this week! Although, I guess I already mentioned that, huh?

Well, today is the last Friday with my sweet kiddos. It is very bittersweet. On the one hand, I'm feeling excited that we've almost finished the year. But then I remember it's my last time having these wonderful children in my class. I love the personality mashup we have going on in here, and I'm really going to miss them next year.

Field day was a hit yesterday! We had so many fun games, and some of them included a "musical hoola hoop" with a sideline dance party, and even the teachers playing tug-of-war with the kiddos - I played with both teams once against another teacher and my team won both times. Looks like that strength training is paying off ;)

I've got a packed weekend ahead of me, too. Tonight we have JB's high school graduation. I saw him graduate from 8th grade, too, so it's neat to see this one as well. Saturday we've got a little "couples dinner" going on, with the girls from my usual Girls Dinner crew and their significant others. We're heading to Adobo, and if we stay long enough we might wrangle the guys into some salsa dancing! (Any of you boys actually reading this? Did I just foil our plot?) Finally Sunday I'm heading to Northwest Indiana for a bridal shower for my good friend Katie.

Phew!

Anyhoo, before I got to rambling, the purpose of this post is to invite you to join me in Courtney's June Yoga Challenge!

Honestly, I've never been a huge yoga person. I've done it a few times, but I always find my mind wandering, which I'm pretty sure is the opposite of what's supposed to happen. Well, I decided that with summer and more time coming up, I could challenge myself to consistently incorporating yoga into my workouts. I know Jourdan is a huge fan, too. More encouragement to try, right?

My goal: Include Yoga in my workouts 1-2 a week for the month of June. 

I may or may not get that second one in each week, but something is better than nothing, right? I'm going to take advantage of my gym's yoga sessions and/or the ones on demand on Netflix. I'll keep you posted on my progress, and I hope you do the same!


Anyone care to join me?!

Heavy Heart

When I returned from New York City Sunday evening I was in such a wonderful mood. I spent time in one of my top three favorite cities, and I couldn't have been happier. While I was disappointed about leaving - I could stay there forever! - I was happy to be back home with the hubby and pup. I had plans to write several posts and was excited about it. Until Monday.

Monday morning I got to school and learned my student's family was involved in a tragic car accident, taking the life of my student's younger brother and seriously injuring my student and his mother. As a teacher, sometimes you begin to see the little ones as your own, and I ache for my student and his family, though I know I can never fully understand their pain.

Managing my emotions and feelings over this devastation is one thing, but being the leader of 15 beautiful little people is entirely another. It is difficult to help children struggling to understand, when as an adult I do not fully understand either. Their hearts are heavy, as is mine. And together we've trudged through this week, leaning on our school family and our faithful Lord.

It is times like this that I am so grateful to teach in a Christian school, where we can openly pray for healing and for strength. I cannot imagine how I would be working through this without our open faith and my wonderful colleagues, parents and students. I am reminded of how blessed I am to work here.

As I close, I would like to ask those of you of faith to keep my student's family and our school family in your prayers in the coming weeks. There are never enough prayers, and I know He is always listening.

Feeling the Love

Yesterday I finally started feeling better. I really needed a day where I felt like I was getting back to normal. I have had about enough of this cold. It's about time, too! It's kept me from the gym for most of the week, but I finally made it back yesterday for an awesome strength training workout. I am feeling the burn today - and loving it! Besides, I have a busy day planned tomorrow...I'll be in southern Indiana with John's family cheering on JB (John's brother) to a Regional Win! Go Park Tudor!

In addition to feeling like I was finally kicking this cold, I was really feeling the love from my kiddos. Maybe they sensed that I was starting to get better and wanted to help push me over the edge (in a good way!) because I was showered with pictures and notes. Here are just a few of them from yesterday...

Melt my heart, why don't you. I just love my students.
It is truly a blessing to be surrounded by such beautiful little people every day. :)

I hope you're feeling the love today, too. I'd love to hear about it if you are!