It’s that time again, when I think back on all that has happened over the year and look forward to the new year (and in this case, a new decade!). Despite reflecting on the past and looking towards the future, I remind myself to remain present in the moment, especially now with an infant. I take photos often, but I also take time to just observe. So many people say, “Cherish this time, it goes by so fast!” The time in the past 3 1/2 months seems to have passed very slowly in

I’m officially a mommy!! We welcomed our son, James, on September 12th at 6:26 am. The past few weeks have been a whirlwind, with emotions ranging from joy and excitement to anxiety and frustration. In this time, I have learned a lot about myself and my relationships. Andy and I have been working on our balancing act in parenthood, including communication with each other and dividing our various roles/responsibilities. I think we’re doing pretty well so far. I’ll admit, I’ve

I have to admit, it felt a little strange not going to work yesterday. My social media platforms were full of first-day-of-school posts and photos, and a part of me felt as though I was missing out… but then I thought about how I can sleep in, go to the bathroom whenever I want (which is quite frequently nowadays), run errands and get everything done around the house… so the feeling was somewhat temporary. I suppose most of it is due to the fact that I’m in a transitional pha

It’s been nearly a month since the school year ended, and about three months since my last blog post. I find it fascinating how time can seem to go by so slowly in some ways, and fly by in others. The past several months have been busy, full of change/growth (hence my last post), professional development, and travel. Here’s a brief photo recap: While many of my colleagues/fellow educators were counting down the final days of school, I found myself wanting to hold onto each da

Growth. It’s a topic with multiple meanings and contexts, which is why I find it so fascinating. I have been reflecting on the different aspects of growth in my life lately… Gardening has been a hobby of mine for years, thanks to my mom and grandma. Some of my fondest memories with my grandma were spending time in her garden. She had the most amazing flowers in the front of her house, where butterflies and moths would regularly congregate. I also remember picking cucumbers an

The previous post about organization (in the classroom) is from September of 2016. You can access that post here. I was recently inspired by the show Tidying Up on Netflix. I initially intended to watch something else, but that show just happened to turn on and start playing, so I tuned in. Was it a sign?? I finished watching the episode and reflected on my own life. Last night I decided to try out some of the strategies from the show. It started snowing earlier in the evenin

Writing has been one of my favorite hobbies since I was kid, and I consider it an important part of my life. I recently got back into daily journaling after purchasing a new notebook a week ago. The practice began with a routine adapted from the book The Artist’s Way, as previously mentioned in this post. Physically writing versus digitally blogging has a different creative process for me. For one thing, when I am writing in the journal, I’m often just recapping the day befor

Update on yesterday’s Art Teacher League Bowling game: I won the high score!! More specifically… the best score I have ever bowled in duckpin (or regular bowling for that matter)! I got to take home the trophy, which now looks like this: It’s gotten pretty heavy, so my plan is to add wheels and/or create a mini wagon to wheel it around. The other time I received the trophy, it just had the yellow and pink flashlights and paper umbrellas. I added the small black base and used

Today is Super Bowl Sunday. I’m mostly excited about the commercials and the halftime show.  I’m also excited to sit down and write for a bit this morning, especially since January seems to have come and gone in the blink of an eye.  Here are a few highlights: Andy & I rang in the new year with an amazing dinner at an Asian fusion restaurant, followed by a concert at the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC. We also stayed at a cool Air B&B with a dry erase wall made of plexiglass. I

At the beginning of the month, I participated in a Green Smoothie workshop, facilitated by health coach Stephanie Misanik. During the workshop, Stephanie asked each of us to explain why we chose to attend and what we hoped to gain/learn from the experience. It was inspiring to hear each participant’s reasons. Generally speaking, we all wanted to do something good for our bodies. Personally, I hoped to gain knowledge on how different foods impact my energy levels. During the s

Ah ha! I’ve had an ‘itch’ to write lately, and sure enough.. I am just about at the one-month marker. I’ve only written one post per month in 2017, and I hope to write more as the summer approaches. We have one full week and two half days left of the 2016-2017 school year. There have been times where it seemed like the year would never end… and now that it’s just about here, I feel like I don’t have enough time to get everything done! Lately I have been fascinated with growth

Ahhh… today was the first day back to school after spring break. Alas, I knew this day would come, but I am also incredibly grateful for the (much needed) opportunity to recharge last week. Andy and I went to Tamarindo, Costa Rica with my parents, who co-own a condominium right near the beach. Tamarindo is like a home away from home for me… we started going there about twelve years ago when our family friends (the other co-owners of the condo) suggested that we try a new vaca

The title for this post was inspired by a banner I saw downtown on Sunday. The past few weeks have been busy and full of energizing/inspiring events. As a result, my inner light has certainly been shining! Today is the first official snow day of the 2016-2017 school year. We had a 2-hour delay a little while back, but that was it. There was a point where I thought we wouldn’t have any snow days this year, based on the unusually warm weather we have had over the past month. Al