and so it begins....

Our first day has come and gone - the anticipation was built up, the fear of what the year would bring, my overwhelmed feelings, my stressed out feelings, my denial feelings, yep - come and gone.  It's official - the year has kicked off to a great start!  But, I must admit, it came with much trepidation, support, and searching.

I'm not going to say that I have become over night religious that's for sure.  I've always had a soft spot for going to church and walking out feeling like a new person - ready to smile, take on the world, and 'give it to God and stop stressing about it' as one of my old friends used to say.  But, I never understood that last quote until this past weekend.

I've known since last year that I would have a class that would require more than academics, but I don't think it was what I had anticipated.  I thought it would be like my kids I've had in the past - but my thoughts were wrong.  Too many kids, not enough support - ain't that the truth?

But, after a few meltdowns, a few 'I can't do this', a few 'I'm not going to be able to do my best' I was snapped back into the reality.  Derrick really took charge and reminded me of some important things.  Like that whatever I set out to do, I always accomplish it 125%.  He also treated me to a special surprise - Vera Bradley lunch box of course! - a special dinner, and constant support.  Other friends reminded me that not all kids are ready for academic learning, they may need to just start with routines and social skills.

And then my epiphany came on Saturday night.  As I was lying in bed, trying to figure out how to take this off my mind I remembered what an old friends said, 'give it to God, he'll take care of it'.  And that I did.  Why should I stress out - it was out of my control.  God, or whoever you want to think, put these children in my classroom for a reason.  A reason that I may not know why yet, but they were put in there knowing I could handle it, I could support them, I could love them, and I could teach them... something.  Maybe not what I'm used to teaching them, but something.  And I 'gave it to God' to handle.  And wow could I feel the weight lifted off my shoulders.  It felt amazing.  I was no longer stressed - I was feeling at ease. 

I went to church on Sunday and they said a special prayer for educators, it spoke to me.  I came home, relaxed, and enjoyed my last night off. 

Today, I entered the classroom ready to face this battle.  And I came out winning:) It was  tiresome, tedious, exhausting, but what 1st day isn't?  It felt great to be back!  I end with a quote a friend had posted, or I should say a prayer, which also made me feel better and reminded me of the other reasons I am doing this profession - it's not to make genius's, it to make children feel proud of themselves.

Lord, let me be just what they need. If they need someone to trust, let me be trustworthy. If they need sympathy, let me sympathize. If they need love, (and they do need love), let me love in full measure. Let me not anger easily, Lord, but let me be just. Let my justice to be tempered in your mercy. When I stand before them, Lord, let me look strong & good & honest & loving and let me be as stron

g & good & honest & loving as I look to them. Help me to counsel the anxious, crack the covering of the shy and temper the rambunctious with a gentle attitude. Permit me to teach only the truth. Help me to inspire them so that learning will not cease at the classroom door. Let the lessons they learn make their lives fruitful and happy. And, Lord, let me bring them to You. Teach them through me to love You. Finally, permit me to learn the lessons they teach. 

 

So, remember educators and all of you out there - if you feel the burden, just know, someone -whether it be God or someone else - believed you could handle what you were given...

Summer in Austin part 3

• Finished up my final week of camp - Girls Only - full of girly things - papier mache princess heads, dress up, cupcake decorating, painting nails, a lemonade stand with all proceeds going to the local animal shelter, and a special spa day for them - complete with Carley Rae 'Call me Maybe' blasting the WHOLE 2 HOURS! 

 

Princess dress up plus cake decorating - yes please!

how cute are they!?! no wonder they raised $32 in 45 minutes!

• Squeezing in our last few 'summer moments' like out to lunch, ice cream evenings, and fancy drinks. 

My prickly pear margarita in San Antonio for the night visiting Derrick while he was working:)

never a bad idea for The Yogurt Spot

Love going out to lunch with mid afternoon drinks:)

cannot complain about this lunch view

Holy yum - no lie - be jealous if you have never had it

Summer has officially come to an end for me.  School starts with kids on Monday.  I do not know where my summer went but it was again another fabulous summer and I am soaking up every last second I have as I prepare for my 6th (yes... as in sixth) year teaching.

Summer in Austin - part 2

• We were able to complete our redecorating and finishing up everything in the apartment we wanted to finish:)

Bedroom completed with curtains and newly covered pillow - don't mind the clothes

the old curtains were moved upstairs... and downstairs was transformed...

...into these:) they brighten it up a ton!

our new bathroom - with the storage cabinet which saved us a ton of space!

our shelving unit finally organized:)

picture wall from 1 view

other view - still more to add

• My mom came to visit and we enjoyed an evening hike up Mt Bonnell, good eats, an afternoon drink at the Oasis on Lake Travis, hiking, and relaxation.

can't go wrong with TX BBQ

Oasis view of the Lake

hike view

Went water biking

holding my hat and trying to steer

on top of Mt Bonnell

Austin lovers

Summer in Austin - part 1

Summer in Austin was everything it should've been - hot, busy, relaxing, fun, enjoyable... my list could go on.

I'm going to sum it over a few posts to squeeze it all in and bring me up to date!!

June was crazy but once July arrived we were around the rest of the summer.  Summer breakdown:

• Every Monday was spent getting together with my girlfriends, watching the Bachelorette and seeing who would win our money pot from our bets - we all did love Jef the best (or as we called him, Jefe). On my night to host it was a GA theme (based off of the guy I picked you had to theme the food around their state) and I made a peach sangria.  Um... fabulous.

The fruit - grapes and nectarines

The mix ins - white whine, peach schnaaps, and frozen lemonade

All mixed together - pretty and toxic!!!

• This turned into even trashier Mondays when we decided to also watch the Bachelor Pad to continue our get togethers.
• Derrick and I spent 2 weekend in an indoor pool/classroom/and then the lake getting our scuba certification.  It was a fun time - I was very apprehensive at first but we went to Tom's Dive Shop and had a blast and I'm eager to get out into blue water... not murkey lake water:)

Practicing my snorkeling in the pool before our first class

Huge bottle of champagne to celebrate finishing:)

• My birthday came and went with lots of friends, birthday wishes, and some 2 step dance lessons that Derrick and I will enjoy sooner rather than later I hope!  Derrick also took me to a wonderful restaurant where they gave me a special menu and an autographed one by the head chef:) 

My special menu - it was amazing

out with friends downtown for my birthday - city view

Surprise birthday flowers... he gets me:)

• I hosted our Pirate themed summer camp for week #2.  It was a huge hit - mainly because of the truly life size cardboard box built pirate ship my co-camp-head-lady made during her spare time the weekend before!  Awesome!  We had a blast playing in that, making pirate costumes and painting beards on our faces, learning how to fence, and in the end going bowling to get out of the heat!

Yes... that is for real with a working drawbridge!

Matteo's Baptism

Matteo was baptized on July 1 - a special and memorable day for all of us.  9 years ago - this was the day my dad suddenly passed away from a massive heartache rocking all of our worlds and turning everything upside down.  But, as they say and you never believe, people heal over time.  And with that came finding comfort in July 1... a day that came full circle for us with Matteo's baptism:)

I was lucky to have been asked to be godmother :)  What a special blessing that is for me and ... for him - c'mon best godmother E-V-E-R!

I requested to buy his baptism outfit - a vision I've had in my mind since he was born.  A white bubble romper monogrammed with his initials of course.  And... after countless hours of searching and dollar signs later I found it and must say it was worth every penny.  It was beautiful.  Just like a christening outfit should be:)  Below are some pics from his special day in the Catholic church.

Delaware visit

My trip to Delaware was relaxing, refreshing, full of sunshine, and wonderful.  I couldn't have asked for a better vacation after a vacation.  I got to .. yes that's right I said 'got to' not 'had to' ... get up early and spend 3 days with Matteo.  All by myself:)

Day #1 was spent learning his routine and studying for my scuba certification class the following week (another post to come).  I was outside for a bit, came in to shower, and then waited on my sister to get home.  we dance, sang, boogied on down, and I may or may not have consumed a beer or 2 resulting my new name - Aunt Tipsy - hey, I didn't have a car and I was able to function just fine!!

Day #2 was actually spent going out for a the day!  We went up to visit my best friend/lifelong friend, Mary, in Smyrna about 45 minutes away.  She bought a house probably 3ish years ago and I had yet to see it so we ventured on up and visited with her.  We also went out to lunch for the classic chicken cheese steak that I dream about nightly still - some things just aren't better in TX - and Matteo was quite the popular kid in the lil' ol' place.  We then headed on back and visited my sister at work so everyone could see him and fall in love and get all oogly eyed over the cutest baby ever.

Day #3 he slept a ton - meaning I got a ton of sun time:)

Day #4 my mom arrived and we spent the day by the pool - as in all day - because mom just wanted to snuggle him.  We even ventured out at night with some whipped cream vodka sippin' and mom 'lifeguarding' just in case.

Day #5 we spent by the pool also and then got dressed and headed out for my birthday dinner at the beach.  Afterwards, I stayed with out with Mary and her husband at the beach for a bit.

Day #6 was spent celebrating Matteo and his baptism - another post completely on that.  It was a beautiful day and one to celebrate for sure!

I left bright and early ... like 3:30 I think... to head back to Austin and get my sweet Mia bug who I hadn't seen for over 2 weeks!!  She had been sent to the boarders for the first 4 days of our trip, then my friend picked her up and graciously watched her and our apt... and garden... and everything else... for a week... then Derrick came home while I was in Delaware... then he took her back to the boarders for 3 more days while he went to work.  Poor thing was exhausted but so happy to see me!!!


Below are some pics from my visit:)

Best friend of 28 years... almost crazy

I wish my pajamas were cool like Matteo's

True story kid

If you don't love a sleeping baby you must be crazy

Momma and baby

Are you in love yet?

Future cabana boy:)

And at this point it is July 1... my first month of summer consisted of nannying, tutoring, first week of camp, going to Spain, and vacationing in Delaware.  Whew wee!!!

Heading back to the States

We woke up and headed to the train station.  They have a train that is a fraction of the price that takes you to the airport so we totally opted for this.  Little did we know the train would take over an hour... we were a little stressed to the say the least.  Especially since when we arrived the lines were backed up to another universe - farther than I've ever seen.  Derrick walked up to the front and showed his badge, sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't.  Lucky for us - it did.  We got checked in for the flight to Newark, NJ but that was the flight that wasn't looking great - a lot of people were listed.  We had enough time to also go check in for the flight to Dulles, on the Irish airline, so we did.  During this time ALL of the computer systems shut down.... and the lines were re-donckey-lis.  Lucky for us our info was already put through so ours took a little longer than planned but we were at least checked in.  Not gonna lie, we did a little party dance in hopes that this delayed a lot of people and gave us better odds of getting on.

My sister was planning on picking me up somewhere, we didn't know where because I didn't where I was flying into nor how I was getting anywhere, so she was standing by for my call IF we even made it back to the US.  I was staying with her for another week to spend time with Matteo and be there for his baptism.  Needless, I wanted to get back, sleep, eat American food, and snuggle with Matteo.  I was beat and ready to come home.

We arrived at both gates, but the flights were delayed, big time.  Not looking good again.  An hour later they called our names .... FIRST CLASS on the Irish airline - say whatttttttt.  Holy cow - this vacation could not have worked out any better for us.  We were so lucky this whole trip and this was the icing on the cake.

We boarded the plane and were given our toiletry kit, seriously anything you could possibly need or want on a flight was in it - socks, toothbrush and toothpaste, contact holder, deodorant, the works!

 It was awesome.  We were also given our menus to make our selections with our 5 course meal and were greeted with our choice, champange or oj - hello is that a serious question? 

Enjoying the champagne

We experienced our firs time in Europe together

Derrick and I were the only 2 that opted for the champagne though so the flight attendant said, well you 2 can either finish the bottle before take off or we have to dump it out.  Seriously.... if that another question???  Yes, give give give:)  We then enjoyed our meal with a few glasses of red wine, and the funny part is that I didn't feel much of the affects - that's how much drinking we did in Spain my body was immune hahaha. 

Our seats were the kinds that lay flat into beds, and also adjust to tons of different positions so I layed down, turned out the lights which really makes it totally dark in the cabin, and watched a movie while snuggled in bed (oh yes... down comforters are also handed out).  We landed in Dulles after 8 hours refreshed and feeling good.  Sorry bout cha look coach cabin people - y'all looked rough:)

I rented a car in Dulles and drove to Annapolis which was a closer pick up for my sister and sat at a Dunkin Donuts for a while just playing on my phone being stared at by the owners... I bought a bottle of water to make it okay.  My sister arrived, headed back to her house, and Matteo and I bonded then I headed to bed. 

We never really felt jet lagged or bad from the time change, we actually don't feel like we ever adjusted.  Since dinner is so late there we were forced to stay up really late and sleep in because nothing really opens early so we kind of stayed on our original schedules.  Now I was in DE for the week, the longest time I've been back there since 2003 I think, which was crazy.  But here I was, ready for the dream that everyone always wants - a vacation after a vacation:)

Toledo - Day 8

We hadn't booked our tickets yet for Toledo because we weren't sure which train we were taking there.  We arrived at the station and only have 15 minutes until the one train left so we figured we'd take the one leaving in an hour.  Nope.  Apparently if you have more than 2 minutes to spare they will put you on the first one. 

Off we ran and made it on our train literally with 3 minutes to spare... not the best way to start our last day in Spain!  But off we went for the 1 hour train ride.

When we arrived the train station was beautiful. 

Inside of the station

I wanted to go to Toledo for many reason - 1. I have planned to study abroad there in college but never did 2. I went to University of Toledo in Oh and found this to be so funny...?  and 3. It was supposed to have great sites to see.

We took a cab into the center of town, which wasn't far but we were confused with where to go based on the map.  We opted to go to Alcazar first, which was my breaking point.  I was already exhausted and this place was completely not what I expected.  It was a museum dedicated to Spain's wars they had won and lost... no pictures allowed, and no joke we couldn't get out.  You had to keep following this terrible map that was so confusing to the next exhibit and go up and down then up and down stairs.  It was so unorganized and if someone stabbed me with one of the swords they had in there I would've said thank you.  I was driving Derrick nuts but I was in full on break down mode and wanted nothing to do with being there.

I'm smiling for camera, not for being happy about this place

So, how to solve my problem?  Eat of course!  We found a cute place for lunch and sangria.  Pricey, but good, and Toledo is so small there weren't many options.  At this point the temp was rising - over 100 - and we were just D.O.N.E.  But we wanted to see a bit more and the Cathedral didn't open for another hour.

Can't take my eyes off of the ice cold gelato

Street of Toledo - Cathedral straight ahead

We wandered around with my melting gelato and got to the cathedral early.  Guess what sign I saw when we arrived?  No shorts, skirts, or tank tops.  Guess what I was wearing... white jeans (perfect for the Cathedral) and a really cute halter top (not perfect).  Guess who almost had another meltdown... yep me.  I was bored and frustrated we came out here anyways and then to top it off I wasn't going to be able to get in!?!

Hang on... I looked around and saw all of these people purchasing their tickets in skimpier and well.. trashier... clothes than mine.  We watched  them get in with no problem.  Alright - let's do this.  We fell between the crowd, Derrick put his arm around me, and WE WERE IN!  Muahahahahaha!!!

University dorms

The Cathderal was so pretty and there was A/C - my stamina was returning.  We spent a long time in here, partly because our return train didn't leave for a long time. 

We loved this image - the light was coming through with the statues shadows also - it was beautiful

We laughed and said I was 'creepin' on Jesus... we were delusional apparently because it's not as funny as we thought it was

Well, after so long we hopped on the bus and headed towards the train station.  We sat at a bar for a long time reminiscing about our favorite parts - me naming my favorite sites and Derrick being sweet saying 'spending it with you'. 

Yep that's celsius - conversion is 105!!!

Cruz Campo baby beers - loved them

We headed back and went to.... big surprise... the tapas market.  I wasn't feeling great, dehydrated for sure, so just Derrick ate.  We then heard huge screaming and music - there was a HUGE parade led by the church and priests through the street right by where we were.  Again... I didn't have my camera because we were just eating dinner, but it was amazing,  I loved it.

We headed back and debated on how to get home.  Would we make it back tomorrow on the flights?  If not, we cleared it with the hostal to stay another night - he had space - and Derrick would stay because he would at least go out and about and enjoy another day where I would stay holed up in the room alone and worried I'd get lost.  We saw that the flight we wanted wasn't oversold but there were a lot of people listed, but to our surprise there was an Irish company that we could fly on through United that was WIDE open with no one listed!!  As in... first class was WIDE OPEN along with coach - what a dream that would be, we thought, to top off our trip and get first class home......