Birthday Business

My birthday was this week and it was absolutely splendid.  My students and co-teacher surprised me with a party complete with confetti, presents, and ice cream.  I was overjoyed and flattered that they put that much effort into something for my birthday.  I was standing in front of them opening my presents and shaking a little bit because I was in such blissful shock. That evening, the girls and I went out for Panera and then some dessert downtown.  In between, I received numerous texts, phone calls, and birthday cards.  It was the perfect birthday for being far from most of my friends and family.  We will be heading to Tampa this weekend to celebrate with everyone else in the program. 

Besides birthday celebrations this week, I had my class on my own for two days and many of you would probably roll your eyes.  Most people think I'm spoiled with having a co-teacher but the truth is, we both work hard with our students when we aren't teaching because they need extra help, support, and discipline at times. So when one of us is gone, that day seems extra long because we don't get a break at all.  I feel proud to say this time around I was able to handle the classroom, get everything accomplished, and even have a little fun with them without any other teachers coming into the room for support.  I love my students but they can definitely be a handful so having extra help definitely makes a difference in terms of their attitude and behavior. 

The weekend came and I knew I had a lot to get done.  Thank goodness it rained quite a bit this weekend so I was forced to stay in and get all my grading, cleaning, etc. done.  I hung out with my friend on Saturday and we had dinner in downtown Ft. Lauderdale which was fun.  I've also started planning and booking for our trip to Key West over Memorial Day weekend! We are very excited!

To end, I wanted to share a synopsis of the priest's homily from Mass.  Today in the Gospel, Jesus found his apostles and showed them His scars.  The priest proceeded to talk about how we all have struggles and scars in our lives.  No one gets through life without a few stumbles and falls but those scars and struggles are "foundational to who we are" as he put it.  I found this so wonderful because those moments do shape and mold us.  That doesn't mean we should fall down and lay victim to them but we can use those tough times as a way to help us.  Jesus has far more scars than we ever will but He conquered all of them and uses them to teach us.  Just a good thought for the week I thought. 

Happy 3rd Week of Easter!

Back to Reality

After a wonderful time on Spring Break back in Kansas, it was time to head back to Florida.  I was anticipating my students to be more unruly than they actually were today.  They greeted me with big hugs and smiles once they entered the classroom.  Their smiles and hugs are so genuine, especially when we've been separated for a period of time.  School was pretty good today, considering it was the first day back from our break.  It's time to buckle down and focus on this last month and a half of school.  I told my family that it will go fast and I'll be back in no time at all.

Speaking of time flying, it's my birthday tomorrow and that's just a bit strange.  I guess it's true that as you get older, the number isn't important and neither are the presents.  I just like to have time with the people I care about.  I would love nothing more than to spend time with every single friend and family member tomorrow but I will get to spend it with my students and my wonderful roommates which will be just perfect.  Each birthday brings new thoughts and ideas to my head and this year is no different. I could not be more grateful for the people that I am blessed to have in my life.  Going home reminded me of all the relationships that I will get to come home to but also that I will be leaving behind some very remarkable people that have greatly impacted my life forever.  This year has definitely been yet another turning point in my life and I will never regret having done this.  God always knows what He is doing and I'm so glad I had the courage to trust in Him.  Tonight I will be going to sleep with a smile on my face because I could not be feeling more blessed on the eve of my 23rd birthday.

Families

I spent the past week at a retreat down here in Miami with my fellow CVIF members.  It was a great retreat and there is lots to share but I think this post is meant to reflect on something else that is often on my mind.  Throughout my time down here, I have shared with many people how blessed I am to have a very supportive family back home in Kansas.  While there are a lot of them, cousins, aunts, uncles, not to mention my immediate family, I know that they will always be there for me regardless of the decisions I make in my life.  They truly mean the world to me and I love them dearly.  I have missed them so much this year and think about them constantly but their support is what gives me strength when I am feeling down.  I realize that not everyone has the same family situation which makes me love mine even more but I do think that everyone has a family or families that love them. 

The word "family", to me, no longer just means someone that is related to you by blood.  The older I have become (and I know I'm not that old) the more families I have been surrounded by.  When I was in college, I gained my Didde family because I needed a church family to cling to and help me grow. In Didde, I gained brothers and sisters that helped me grow as a person and in my relationship with God.  We even had a "mom" that watched over all of us students and took care of us whenever we needed a mother.  The bonds I formed there are some that I know will last for a long time as if sisters and brothers that have know each other all their lives.

In the summer of 2009, I gained another family in my life--my Camp Hyde family.  I remember my boss, Jon, telling us at the start of summer that we will be a family; we will have great laughs, fun times, and some arguments along the way but no matter what, we stick together.  I have always admired Jon for all the hard work he puts into camp each year and the time he invests in each person that works for him during the summers.  I have formed great memories at camp and am grateful that my friends have been very supportive of me moving down here for the year.  Their confidence in me made me feel stronger about moving away.  They were there with me on my last day in Kansas in July and some of the first people I saw when I came home at Christmas just like my blood family. 

This year I have gained another family in my life. I'm sure you can guess this is my CVIF family.  Spending the past week with these people has been nothing short of wonderful.  We have been through many struggles but also joyful moments thus far.  We started out the year with 14 in August, lost 5 along the way but gained 5 as of this past retreat.  This family is a group of people that I am able to relate to in a new way.  The experiences and emotions we have been through this year are those that not many others can relate to unless they have had a similar experience.  This is no one's fault but simply the product of our choices.  We had a speaker that talked to us about how to handle life after our service year which was a topic that had been occupying my mind lately.  We found out there are conferences in different parts of the country where we can share our experiences with others who have also been part of a volunteer program.  There were several of us that would like to attend one because while we love the families we left behind very much, it can be hard to relate to someone that does not see the same struggles and go through the same changes we have.  God has definitely sent me some amazing people to share my year of service with and I have no doubt that this is yet another family that will be part of my life for a very long time.  

I am headed home on Wednesday to see my other families and cannot wait! Each family that has become part of my life so far has had a unique and beautiful impact on my life and I am grateful to each one of them.  They have formed me and shaped me into the young woman I am today.  I love each member of my different families and am so blessed to have so many families in my life. 

For all you Kansans, see you in just 3 short days! I can't wait to be home!

Back to Normal

We finished assessments on Tuesday finally! On Wednesday, we were finally able to get back into our normal routine.  It was so nice to get back into a normal schedule so the class was calmer and knew what to do.  It also made my life easier because I could plan like normal instead of preparing them for everything on their assessments.  As much as I enjoyed doing whole group lessons with them, it was time to separate them again so they could learn according to their grade level.  We got out of school early on Friday so I spent the afternoon reading, relaxing, and getting a head start on grading.

That night I went to go see Hunger Games with my friend Kathryn who's read the books.  I didn't know much about the story line but after seeing it, I am definitely ready to read them.  So yes, I am jumping on the bandwagon but that's okay.  I am glad that I saw the movie first, though, so I was not disappointed because books are always better than the movies.

I laid by the pool for a few hours on Saturday and was rewarded with a sweet sunglasses mark because I didn't want to take them off.  Needless to say, I have raccoon eyes right now and my students will certainly give me a hard time tomorrow.  Good thing I will only be there for half a day.  More on that in a bit.  Due to my ridiculous burn, I chose to stay inside as much as possible so I graded and planned for the week since I will be gone.

This morning I went to Confession which felt really great.  I hadn't been in a long time so it was very relieving to go and feel so free afterwards.  I was listening to the Gospel during Mass and Father's homily talked about how Jesus had to let go of the good life He had for something more challenging--dying for us.  It made me reflect on how sometimes we have to let go of what's always come easy--good friends, family, a nice job, etc.--for something more difficult but more fulfilling.  I just think that holds so true and goes back to my feeling about mediocrity--how we shouldn't settle for the easy, comfortable road.  I also had the opportunity to be a Eucharistic Minister for the first time.  It was a really great experience; I felt much more connected to the Eucharist and to the Mass.

I stayed inside the rest of the day until Amanda and I had to go grocery shopping for our retreat this week.  We have a retreat this whole week down here in Miami and were asked to make dinner for everyone tomorrow night.  While on our excursion to get our ingredients for enchiladas, a man from Jerusalem insisted on telling me how much he has always wanted to go to Kansas.  He only knew I was from Kansas because I had to show my license when I was using my card to buy the groceries.  He also told me I looked like a basketball player.  He also asked if people from Kansas were racist because that's what he had heard.  I was a bit offended at this and assured him that was wrong.  Clearly, he was just trying to find a way to talk to me but Amanda found the whole situation hilarious.  I found it a bit uncomfortable but am laughing now.  I had a hat on and Amanda thinks that's what "won him over".

I am back in the comfort of the apartment again and prepping for dinner tomorrow night since I will be at school in the morning and packing once I get back.  As I mentioned, we have a week-long retreat down here and will be welcoming 5 new volunteers who will serve from March of this year to March of 2013.  We were informed that this will be a limited technology retreat, one day of which will be a silent retreat where we can't talk all day.  This means that I will not able to be on my phone as much while won't change a whole lot since it is off during the day anyway but I'm not sure if I can blog or not.  This is my warning though that if I don't call you back right away, I am just not allowed to.  If I am allowed on the computer after the day of silence is over, you can bet I will have something posted.  Imagine me not being able to talk for a day.  I'm sure you are laughing because I certainly am.  I know it will be good for me to sit and quiet myself for once.

Well I have to go finish the enchiladas but I hope you all have a great week! I will be back in Kansas in a week and a half! Once again, where has the time gone?

Start of Spring

The past week has been pretty steady with assessments.  My third graders are done but my second graders have one more day to go.  I'm so glad they are almost over because they really wear me out! I've been proctoring the 2nd grade ITBS and reading everything to them.  They must be tired of hearing my voice by now.  Today's and tomorrow's tests are definitely challenging so I've been saying extra prayers that my students don't lose patience with it.  Sometimes they get easily discouraged and frustrated.  It's almost over though! I'm definitely ready to have a normal day schedule again.

This past weekend, I did some relaxing and grading on Saturday and then the girls and I went to celebrate St. Patrick's Day in downtown Hollywood.  We got to hear a really good live band and see all sorts of people out.  Sunday morning I headed up to Jupiter to watch the Cardinals play the Marlins with dad's best friend Rusty and Doug.  They are down here to watch the games around the area so they've been driving a lot but thankfully Jupiter is only an hour away from us.  I was able to watch a little bit of pitching practice and then the players went inside before the game started.  We hung out in the parking lot and talked for the next few hours before the game. I really enjoyed just being able to sit and hang out with them.  Doug is a principal so I could talk school with him and Rusty has known me all my life so I could talk to him about anything.  Once again though, it was just so nice to have familiar faces from home down here.  There is such comfort in seeing people you love and spending time doing something you all enjoy. We were able to catch a great game even though it rained during the middle of it.  Freese hit a 3-run homer in the 8th inning to give the Cards their win against the Marlins.

I got a little too much sun and my students definitely noticed today.  I did notice my tan was starting to become a little more pronounced though! I got told I'm too white to have been living in Florida which is true.  ha ha.

Well I think it's time for me to put some aloe on and finish up some work for the night but hope you have had a great start to your week!

Mediocrity

Before I start, this week my students have their ITBS assessments so if you could send some prayers and positive thoughts their way, we would really appreciate it!

The longer I have been down here, the more I have noticed a change in myself.   I am aware that is supposed to happen but I guess I am just more aware of it personally instead of others having to point it out to me.  These past few days I have spent a lot of time at the beach and with different friends.  I was lucky enough to be able to spend some time with a friend from ESU on Friday and Saturday who has been nannying all week down here.  She transferred to a different college in Kansas and we were able to have a good conversation about the relationships that lasted despite the distance.  As we had this conversation, we both noticed how often people were content with settling for mediocrity.  She knew that she was not going to grow in the way she wanted to at ESU so she transferred and that has definitely been the best decision for her.  She was asking me questions about being down here for the year and I told her it all went back to a conference that I went to in Orlando where the theme was, "Made for More."  Ever since that conversation, I have been stuck on that theme that led me down here.

At that point in my life, I was very unsettled even though life was good.  I thought that God was calling me to do something greater, that it was time for me to stop settling for easy.  As I've been on the beach this weekend, I would go back and forth about how easy life would be if I could just lay on the beach all day.  Life would be so simple if all I had to do was listen to the waves and get a tan but where would the fun and challenge be in that? I think I've always known that I enjoy a challenge, even though it's hard.  That's part of the reason I wanted to leave is because I knew that I needed a challenge; it was time to stretch myself and not settle like I do often times.  As I finished walking on the beach today, I started thinking about how much more enriching life would be if no one settled and everyone truly challenged themselves.  I would rather know that I had tried and failed at something than never try at all.  God did not create us for mediocrity.  He made us to do great things.  John 10:10, the verse that my conference in Orlando revolved around, tells us, "I have come that you might have life and have it to the fullest." We were made for greatness!

As I start to think about the future, I have started to make new goals and dreams for myself.  I don't want this year to be the extent of my effort to do something great.  There is too much left to do in this world to stop trying now.  There's this quote from The Lorax on Pinterest that says, "Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better.  It's not."

Baptism

No school tomorrow! Well, the students do not have school--the teachers have a workday. But since we do not have school tomorrow, we had Mass today and got the privilege of watching 3 students get baptized into the Catholic faith during it.  It was a really beautiful sight to see and my class was very much engaged during the sacrament.  While watching it, I had a flashback to my Godson's baptism more than four years ago now.  My friend in Washington and I were talking about what an honor it is to be a Godmother and how much we miss our Godchildren being in different states.  I miss my little man very much and cannot believe how time has flown since he was born and then baptized.  I can't wait to see him when I am home for Spring Break!