Day 137

I am thankful for the Pizza For The Gods

Season finales

Hipster Runnoff, my auditory inspiration

Day 136

Today I am very very thankful for my dear friend Lindsey, also known as little Lindsey! I am so thankful that I met Lindsey a few years ago as we both started the education program and we were able to grow and learn together. I am so fortunate to have Lindsey as a friend, she has been a crucial part of my past few years and I am glad we have been able to triumph bumps and come out of the Art Ed. program the super stars we are! I think I can say we are truly friends, we have had disagreements and come out on top standing together. If you ask me, that is the sign of a true, solid, hopefully life long friendship! Linds says that I sometimes ground her, help her feel calmed, rooted, and pulled back in! For me, she lightens my heart, brings sunshine and light to my life, keeps me free and blowing in the wind when I starts to get down! A perfect mach if you ask me! I am so thankful we have shared the past few years together and come to the end graduating together! XOXO

Day 135

Graduation!!! Cue the Pomp and Circumstance, I have officially graduated (again)!! No I did not walk, partake in that horribly painful and boarding right of passage we all have to endure. Been there, done that. But I did graduate once again, and yes I will be receiving another diploma to go with it!! And I couldn't be more thankful that I did! I love where I am at, where I am going and all the steps I have taken where I have been!

Day 134

I continue to be amazed and impressed by the new people I meet and get the opportunity to work with on a daily basis! I am thankful for the opportunities I have been given over the past semester to work with SO many great people. Not only have I had the opportunity to work with amazing art educators, but also amazing teachers across the board from all disciplines. And don't even get me started on the administrators I have been working with! All these individuals I have had the opportunity to work with area ll the most dedicated, educated, and passionate people I have come to know! I am so very thankful that this past semester has exposed me to all these wonderful individuals, that I have been able to "date" these schools short term before I commit myself and "go steady" in the fall with my DSST!

Day 133

I'm nearing the end. This finish line is rapidly approaching and I can see the red tape at the end of the path! I'm grateful I can see the red tape, and in a very odd way I am thankful I am feeling confused. Im a little unsure about what is in store for me. Confused in all the feelings I am feeling, all the uncertainty ahead of me, and the big steps I am about to take as I start teaching my own class. But I think this is all a good thing. It would be foolish to be ending this one chapter and starting the nest with too much certainty and confidence. It's ok to be confused, and unsure. I am sure there has been some time in your life you have benefit form this feeling, or begin in a situation and wavering a bit. These situations are the ones from which we grow, and move forward, as we search for stronger balance and assurance in our life.

Day 132

I am so thankful for awesome senior t-shirts. The cool kids that make them. And the fact that they perfectly match my awesome 80's fabulous sunglasses. How could you not be thankful for all that is creative, rocks, and is neon green!?


Thanks Linds for the sweet shades!

Day 131

I am thankful for time with friends, sweet potato fries (yes at Sputnik) Horse Feathers, and most importantly the enthusiasm, energy, and passion from my peers! Now that I am officially finished with school I see this ever present looming desire to crawl into a hole, become a hermit, and do nothing! But I can't! I know I can't! I have to avoid that call and pull, and my friends and peers are keeping me back. And for this, to them, I am thankful! Have you ever been pulled to, and called by that soft and inviting voice of hermitism? Enticing I know! But when that voice is calling after you have just graduated and there is little on the immediate "to do" list it can be a slippery slope! Thankfully I have some enthusiastic friends pulling me back and keeping me motivated!!

Day 130

I'm done! I'm done? I'm done. Today was the day I turned in my enormous document chronicling my main unit plan I taught, and summarizing the past four years of my education. All in one formal, qantitative document. Done. This document feels rather incongruous in keeping with the education I have just received, but it's what I gotta do. It's tough when you have to just do what your told, keep the status quo, jump the hoops to get to where you want to be. But some times you gotta do what you gotta do. I really think that in the end this document has made me stronger, wiser, and more analytically aware as a teacher. And in typical fashion, I ruffled the feathers of some quo keepers through the process. But, in the end my supervisor was amazing, stuck with me, lead me and followed me on this last step of an amazing journey.

Today I'm thankful I'm done with the beast of a document I just turned in, and I'm grateful for Miki the supervisor who stood beside me!

Day 129

Sung to the tune of happy birthday: happy mothers day to you, happy mothers day to you, happy mothers day dear moms, happy mothers day to you! Today I am thankful to all those good moms out there making awesome little people participating in our world. Notice the emphasis on good? Yes there is definitely a difference between good moms and, not so good moms. The good moms generally make good kids, the kids that teachers love. The, shall we say less good moms, make the less good kids. The kids that can make a teachers life. . . tiring. Don't get me wrong, there are exceptions to the rules, but generally. . .

I am also VERY grateful for my mom today. I literally would not be the person I am today if it was not for her! She has always been there for me through everything life has thrown my way. Always there cheering me on, pushing me forward, holding my hand, supporting my steps, what ever I need, she is there!! Like any good duo there have been up's and down's but I have always known through anything my mother was always there for me being the best possible mother imaginable! Thanks MOM!

Day 128

I am thankful for BBQ's. For veggie kabobs. Grilled pineapple. And feeling validated in the choice of my educational path.

I am going to "take the high road" here and not specify the reasons why I feel my education so much better than other options out there. To speak my mind may come off as rude. Just know, and my peers I know you know, the education I am finishing up here is incomparable!

Three cheers for grilled pineapple!!

Day 127

I feel so grown up. Like a real adult, a mature grownup like in the movies! And, for this I am thankful. It is so fun to feel like a grownup! I am grateful for new friends I am making these days, and that I am being invited to bar-b-q by candle light and enjoy delicious healthy food! To spend an evening having wonderful, and hilarious conversations, drinking wine around the table; nothing compares! While these feelings may not last for ever (maybe I will be ok if they don't, can't be an adult all the time!) I am enjoying begin an adult while it lasts!

Day 126

I love when I have a student SO excited and enthusiastic about a project they can hardly contain themselves! And, I am thankful when they share this enthusiasm with me. (Especially when it is a lesson I have made up!) One of my students in my Watercolor class is really excited (as in comes early, stays late, and is loving all things watercolor), and exciting me about his project! I can't wait to see it done, and see the result of all his hard work. When students are so excited, it makes me excited to be teaching them! I am grateful for this passion, and when my students are generous enough to share!

Day 125

Happy Birthday dear Daddy, Happy Birthday to you!! Thankful for my Daddy, and that we were able to celebrate his birthday today! His real birthday was last week, but today we were able to get together as an amended family to celebrate with him. At the ever delicious Interstate Kitchen and Bar. It was nice to get together with my dad, sister and hubby enjoying the company and food for a good night!

Day 124

Where does the time go? How do things happen to pass by so quickly? Today just happened in a bit of a daze. Tired, glazed over, and maybe still a little concerned from the ER events of the previous day this exact day just happened in a bit of a blur! But perhaps no big event is a good thing. A day that slides by can be a relief sometimes. No big things, but again many little things to be thankful for. Very grateful for little mini cupcakes. Vanilla cupcakes with a light chocolate ganache, a carmel cream icing with a small piece of carmel with a little pit of salt on top. Totally Amazing! Who cant love a salty sweet combo? Do you typically crave sweets? Salty perhaps? Maybe the savory? That is definitely more me. I love and crave savory. Thankfully. Because that is what I love to eat! Yep. Savory is a flavor. Don't believe me, you can look it up (my internet is just too slow apparently at the moment to actually look anything up before we all lose any patients we may have). So, what, I am thankful for delicious savory flavor combos, the cup cakes they come on, and that there were few to no major events for the day!

Day 123

1.2.3. Kind of cool number for a day! The 1-2-3 day of the year.

Today I am thankful to be back home sitting next to a snoring husband. This afternoon I had the unfortunate experience of having to leave school, and rush home to find a very, very sick Will whom I had to then rush to the ER! He had been so sick all morning, and unable to keep any liquid down, that he became severally dehydrated and all his muscles were spasming and cramping! Once we got to the ER and he was in with an IV things got a little better. 1 CAT scan, 2 doses of anti-nausea medicine, 2 pain drugs, a negative on kidney stones and a negative on appendicitis, and 7 hours later we are home! With mesenteric adenitis. What ever that really means? Im just thankful we are all well, feeling a little better, and home to rest and sleep in our own beds!

Things should be looking better tomorrow!

Day 122

I am so thankful for my new little nephew Jacob William Douglas! I am very very grateful that he was was born completely healthy, and that is mom (Meredith) is also healthy and doing well!


Here is Will with the little guy, he is definitely a proud uncle! Very exciting to have a new addition to our family, we are all so thankful, proud, and excited about everything the future holds for Jacob!

Day 121

Everyday we come into contact with beauty, light, and love. But too often we are caught up, or distracted, by the mundane details bickering and conflicts in our lives to notice. Today I am thankful I was abel to let go, notice and recognize this fact. Learning to recognize the insignificance of holding onto negativity, and opening my eyes to see all the beauty light and love that exists in this world. Thank you Nancy for helping me.

Day 120

Im grateful for Fridays. Easy days at the school. Free dinner with mom. And Summer. 500 days of her to be exact. These are all things I am thankful for today. These days I am finding it easier and easier to find little things to be thankful for. Not every day has to have some big event to be thankful for. Little things definitely add up, and I think it is important to look at and notice the little things! Keep an eye out, there all around!