Ch ch ch changes...

The past few weeks have brought several changes to our home and life. A few weeks ago, I got a job doing a maternity leave for a sweet 1st grade class at a local primary school. After 2 weeks of that, a full time position opened up in 2nd grade after another teacher didn't return from maternity leave, so I interviewed and was hired for that!

Though I've had my doubts about teaching being a lifetime career for me, a few budget powwows showed us how much we really need me to work full time (at least for now) and if that's the case, I'd rather be teaching than doing many, many other things! It's been a challenge starting with a new class in March, especially one that's had sub after sub since January, but aside from the administrative work (grades, planning, etc.) that keeps me at school late and working until bedtime on some nights, I am truly loving this job. The school district is in the tiny town of Pea Ridge, the school is brand new and beautiful, there is a ton of collaboration and administrative support, and I'm working with kids who need me. The context is rural, rather than urban, but the issues these kids are up against are very similar to those I've worked with before, and I love knowing I'm providing a consistent and positive atmosphere for them. Also, for maybe the first time, I feel very confident in myself and my skills. I know that I'm doing a good job teaching these little ones and it feels really good.

Going back to full time teaching has meant changes for at home too. My baking, gardening, and cleaning routines have fallen apart a bit, but my husband is awesome and steps right in to take care of the things I can't. Also, thanks to Rusty and his dad, Randy, I now have two beautiful raised beds in the backyard, just waiting for soil and seedlings once it's warm enough. My seedlings are growing, growing, growing, and looking great (I think...). The homemade cleaning products have not gone so well, and at this point I'm too busy and tired to care, so I'll have to wait until summertime to perfect them and give them a shot again.

On another note, I've been accepted to Nazarene Theological Seminary in Kansas City. After a visit in February, I fell in love with it and decided that I am definitely going. My hope was to start commuting and taking classes a couple of days a week this fall, but with needing to work full time and taking a new job, I'll need to start with summer and online classes for now and work up to more later. So at some point, I'll be going back to school as a student!

The last piece of news is that we've gotten ourselves a second car. We've shared a car now for most of the past four years, and we've learned a lot of patience that way, but it has become increasingly difficult to do so here in Bentonville, especially when we're both working full time! So after a bit of looking, we picked up a cherry red Toyota Corolla Sport yesterday. We got a great deal at no interest, a wonderful warranty, and a car that is fuel efficient and will last a really long time, so we feel really good about our purchase.

New job, new garden, new car...it all seems very grown up. But since one of us turned 30 on March 12 (pictures to come), I guess that's a good thing. :)