Helping Haiti

My first graders never cease to amaze me. Not only do they come up with some of the craziest things, they also have some amazingly big hearts for 6 and 7 year olds! Haiti has been all over the news, and to my surprise my kiddos actually heard about the earthquake at home which started a long and interesting conversation in my classroom. (How can you explain earthquakes, devastation, etc to 6 year olds?!) Well at the same time my kids were talking about it, our school had decided we would raise money for 1 week to send to the Red Cross to help the people of Haiti. We talked about it today and we decided we would set our class goal at $50.00. That may not seem like a lot but it is to them, especially considering some of the homes they come from. It is so important for them to learn about helping people in need, even if they don't know them. I'm very proud for the huge hearts they have at such a young age and it really does help put things into perspective in my own life. Many of the things that frustrate or upset me today aren't going to matter tomorrow. I've always said my kids teach me more than I could ever teach them, and for that I'm grateful.

New Years Resolution

Well...I could say that I'm surprised that I've gotten this far behind on my blog but that wouldn't be true! But hopefully with a new year, comes new resolutions and keeping up with my blog is one of them. So much has happened since the last time I posted....where to begin?!

In August I started my 3rd year at Chicot as a first grade teacher. I cant believe it! This group of kids sure is different than last years! They are a hand full and we don't exactly mesh as well as my group from last year. But we're making it...only 5 more months :-) I spent a lot of time this fall traveling on the weekends. Visiting my family in Memphis, visiting my "other" family in Dallas, attending several weddings etc. I love to travel, but its also nice to come home and sleep in my own bed.

I was able to spend a week in Memphis during Christmas, which may be the longest I've visited in a while. It was good to spend time with my family and see old friends. And since being back in Little Rock I've kept myself busy with a long to do list and of course dreading going back to work on Monday. I've been making a lot of big decisions lately. One of the biggest being that I've decided to move to Dallas, TX once this school year is over! I'm very excited and of course nervous. Its still hard to say it out loud even though I am very excited and feel like this is the right decision, its still hard to leave my life in Little Rock. Little Rock has been my home for the last 3 years, it was the first "grown up" place I lived after Harding and I've made so many great friends and had so many wonderful memories here. But after doing a lot of thinking I think its time for me to move on. For years I've wanted to move to Dallas so now is my chance. I love my job and I work with some of the most amazing people but this school year has been very difficult in a lot of ways so I think its just time for a change. It is still so hard to walk into that school and teach my kids knowing that I wont see them next year, but I know I'm making the right decision and its time for me to do whats best for me. I will miss my Little Rock family more than I can even put into words, these people have helped make me into the person I am today. But I'm ready for a new adventure!

Speaking of new adventures, I have another big one planned for this summer (I know, besides moving what else could be so big!)
I'm going to Australia! This was actually part of my Christmas present from my parents. My cousin Zach and his wife (Elisha) live in Australia with his wife and I'm going to go stay with them and explore for a few weeks! I am so excited to visit this amazing place and get to spend time with family there. Elisha and I may have only met once, but we "talk" often on Facebook and she is so much fun! I only wish we lived closer than an ocean apart...but I have a feeling we might get into a lot of trouble if we lived on the same continent :-)

I am going to be better about writing....and hopefully better about posting pictures. We shall see!

Happy New Year!!