The End of Summer Is Here

Tomorrow begins my new school year with in-service, so that means that my summer vacation is nearing an end.  It has been such a fantastic summer, and I really wish that it wasn’t time for it all to end.  I enjoy being at home and having freedom in my schedule to travel when I would like.  Summer is really nice because Trent also has the same freedoms, so we then operate on our schedules with going to bed late and sleeping later.  That all changes tomorrow… 

Before I think about the new school year, I want to think back on this summer to all of the wonderful things we have been able to do together:

• We spent a week in Grand Junction, Colorado, visiting some of the hubby’s family.  It was a tradition in the past for Trent to go to the Juco World Series of baseball with his grandparents each year.  Two years ago we got married during the tournament and last year is when his grandpa was diagnosed with cancer.  It was tough to carry on this tradition this past year with his grandpa’s passing in January, but it was good for us all as a family to still experience the joys of the trip.  I know it’s what he would want us to do, so that was a neat experience to share with his family.
• A week-long trip to Walt Disney World in Orlando took us back to where we spent our honeymoon.  It was a great way to celebrate our 2nd anniversary!  We took in all of the rides and shows and sights that we possibly could and ate, slept, and breathed Disney for a week!  It was such an awesome trip with the two of us, and we also got to share a day with Trent’s cousin who was in the Orlando area doing an internship for the summer.
• We were able to spend a weekend with my brother and his family and also celebrate my nephew’s first birthday with him.  Since the birth of my brother’s first child a year ago, I have quickly learned what a blessing nieces and nephews are and I can’t wait until the day when God blesses us with the miracle of a child of our own! 
• Trent’s family had a great deal of visitors in the month of July, and we were able to spend nearly every day with them.  Family is a huge part of who we are, so we feel honored that we were able to see all of their visitors and spend quality time with them while their family was visiting from different states all over the US. 
• We went to KC to spend time with family and also catch up with friends.  It was so great to see people from high school and college that I hadn’t seen in a few years and hear how they are all doing.  Life has taken us all in different directions, but our roots and foundations still remain the same.  It was like we had never been apart a day since we said good-bye.
• My parents finally took the time to go on a family vacation again.  While my brother’s family wasn’t able to go, Trent and I were able to celebrate our birthdays as well as my parents’ anniversary with them in Colorado Springs.  We were able to take in many sights as well as stay up late laughing until we almost wet our pants playing Uno Attack.  These are the times that remind me how special our families are!

All of these things have taken place within the last three months, and that reminds me how blessed we are to be able to take some time out of our busy lives and soak up the enjoyment of being close to our family and friends.  We are so lucky to have had so many great experiences this summer, and I am very thankful for the time that we’ve had away from work to relax and get rejuvenated for another year of educating young lives.

Tomorrow I head back to work where we’ll have in-service all day.  I have the same on Tuesday and then half-day on Wednesday.  We’ll spend the afternoon Wednesday finishing up our rooms and getting ready for the students and parents to come in Wednesday night to see our classrooms and meet us.  I have tried to get a step ahead and have been visiting the homes of my students to introduce myself and give the parents information about 3rd grade.  I did this last year, and I got such positive feedback on it.  It really helps the kids and myself to meet in a non-threatening environment where they feel at ease.  Plus I am able to learn so much about my students ahead of time and get to visit with the parents.  It sounds like I am going to have some very challenging experiences this year with things I have never dealt with before; however, I am confident that I am being handed these challenges for a reason.  They’ll only help me to grow as a teacher and become better at what I do.  It does make me nervous as I look toward a new school year, but I am sure that things will all go well. 

With school starting again, that also means my grad classes are beginning.  It does make me feel sick to my stomach to think of spending another year juggling graduate classes as well as work, but I keep telling myself that I only have this one year left to go before I’ll be all done and won’t have to put myself through this again.  That is what will keep me going this year!  I can see the light at the end…  Hopefully things won’t be quite as fast and furious this year because I will be spending part of the time working on my online graduate portfolio to present at the very end in order to graduate, so at least that’ll be more of an ongoing project that I can work on here and there rather than being tied to a lot of work that is due within a week.  I know that I’ll make it through this semester all right and that I’ll do well, but I always get myself worked up and stressed ahead of time just thinking about the amount of work that I’ll have to put into it. 

I am going to try really hard this school year to be able to walk out of there in a more timely manner after school.  I know the first few weeks it always takes longer to get things ready, but I do hope to be able to use my planning period more effectively as well as take advantage of the fact that the school replaced our desktop computers with laptops that we can bring home to do work on so that I am able to spend more time here at home.  There are times that I get so wrapped up in what I am doing at school that I forget how much I really need time to be at home to be a wife and to relax a bit so that I don’t feel like my entire life is consumed by my job.  Teaching is important and does take a lot of time and dedication, but at the same time, it is still just a job.  I have to make sure I still put my family and myself first so that I keep my sanity and don’t allow it to make me extremely crabby due to high stress levels.  I have really noticed this summer how much my entire body is affected by stress, and I know that it’s not healthy for me.  I need to work on that this school year to de-stress my life a bit and know when I need to walk away and take some time for myself and my husband. 

Well, with having to head back to work tomorrow I am needing to think about getting to bed at a decent time.  I am finishing a few loads of laundry and balancing the checkbook so that I feel a little more caught up!  I best go work on some lesson plans while laundry finishes up!  I hope that you all have a blessed week!<

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