I think i'll move to Australia...

I had every intention of keeping my blog updated while I was in Australia but i'll be honest, I was enjoying myself to much to even think about it. I just got home last week from spending 3 and a half weeks in New South Whales, Australia. Everyone has asked, "How did you like your trip? What all did you do?"

Where do I even begin?! The trip was amazing! I was lucky enough to get to experience many different parts to Australia. A friend from college went with me and we were able to be tourist and see all the sights, but since I was visiting my cousins I was able to kind of live their life, meet their friends, go to their church etc. It was such a blessing to get to know my cousins better. My cousin Zach from my dads side of the family moved there almost 5 years ago and married Elisha who is from Australia. Zach and Elisha live on the Central Coast area which is about a hour north of Sydney by train. To spare you the hours I could spend talking, writing, and showing you hundreds of pictures about my trip I will narrow them down to 10 highlights from the trip (in no particular order). If you want to hear the entire saga and see all the pictures, come find me :-)

1. Touring the Sydney Opera House and getting to see the Sydney Symphony Orchestra Practice.
2. Going to the Blue Mountains with Zach/
3. Discovering pancakes with ice cream on top is super yummy at Pancakes on the Rocks.
4. Meeting and getting to know Elisha's amazing family!
5. Horseback riding at Glenworth Valley.
6. Learning how to use the train system...my favorite stop is Circular Quay because of the amazing views of the Sydney Harbor bridge and Opera House as soon as you get off.
7. Visiting some of the most beautiful beaches i've ever seen.
8. Going to Zach and Elisha's church and getting to know so many of their wonderful friends!
9. Dinner at the top of Centerpoint tower with some of the most amazing views of Sydney.
10. Getting to experience an Aussie winter.

So, I suppose talking about the trip is only a part of this blog update. For months i've been talking about my plan to move to Texas this summer after my trip. Well I should know better than to make a plan...the plan always seems to change. With lots of talking, praying, thinking etc. I've decided i'm still moving, but instead of Texas i'm moving to Australia. Yes...you read that correctly :-) Living overseas is something i've always wanted to do but never really thought I would or could do. I also never really found a place that I could see myself living, until I went to Australia. For so many months I've been praying for something different, ready for a big change and I feel like this is an answer to my prayers. I've been trying to get things in order since April to move to Dallas and search for a job but nothing has really happened and i've been very discouraged but now i'm thinking God shuts some doors but opens others. This could not happen at a more perfect time since i've decided to leave my job in Little Rock, moved out of my house, put everything I own in storage. I realize that to some of you this will seem completely insane, trust me i've had that same thought but it also feels so right. Life is about taking risks and i've never been a huge risk taker but sometime the scariest things end up being the most worthwhile. I know living there will not be exactly what its like when I was on vacation and there will be some days when I'm homesick. But, all in all, what is the worst that can happen? If it doesn't work out then I get on a plane and come home. I don't want to live with any regrets.

Of course making the decision was actually the easy part. Now I've got to figure out all the details. I'm in the process right now of applying for a visa and working on the job search. Please pray for me as I figure out all the details and work through everything. As much as i'm in a hurry to get there, I need to take this time to spend with my family and friends and work out everything here before I go. I'm going with the intentions of staying at least a year, but who knows the year could turn into longer. I'm so thankful to have a supportive family and friends who have made every step of this decision that much more exciting. Start saving so you can come visit me! Its a long trip, but worth every second!

Limbo

Well its June 4th and the last day of school. This is the day teachers secretly (or some not so secretly) wait for all year. Honestly in some ways I cant believe its the last day of school but in others, its been a long time coming! This school year sure has had its struggles but overall it was a ok year. As excited as I am for this to be the last day of school, I'm not going to lie i've cried at least once a day this whole week. This is my 3rd and last year at Chicot. This was my first "grown up" job and hands down the perfect place for me to be at this time in my life. Of course we've had our ups and downs but I have had the blessing of working with some of the most amazing people ever! I will miss them like crazy next year and they will always have a special place in my heart. Ok, I have to stop talking about leaving because I'll start to cry...again.

You may wonder why I titled this post "Limbo" well, i've decided thats my life right now, in limbo. For those of you who know me really well, I do not like change, I am a planner and yes, I like to have control (most of the time). In the last month I have: moved out of my house, put all of my things in storage, lived out of suitcases at my friends out, packed up my classroom, moved out of my classroom, continuing the job search in Dallas, oh and i'm going to Australia in 3 days! ahhh!

As for after my return from Australia, i'm not exactly sure what will be going on in my life. I will officially "move" to Dallas to live with friends until I find a job etc. My planner ends in July, so i've decided not to buy another one until I know whats going to be going on in my life after July (and yes, its kind of killing me) but whats the point?! Its just a leap of faith. I know things will work out, I just need to be patient and see what happens. In some ways its kind of exciting not knowing where I will be or what I will be doing in the next 3 months. So we shall see...

Catch up and Vacation

Once again I started to slack in the blogging. To play catch up...the last few months have been super busy! Up until last week we've been preparing our kids and cramming the last bit of information we could for testing. Thankfully testing is over!! Testing is a huge ordeal for our kids and for us, I'm just glad its over! I could go on and on about testing, but thankfully our kids did great and its over! Before testing was spring break. Which came at just the right time! I went down to Riviera Maya Mexico with some friends. I've traveled all over the world and been on a ton of amazing trips, but this one was in the top 5 for sure! The resort was amazing, the staff was extremely helpful, and it was the perfect place to sit by the pool with a good book and relax! Of course I couldn't sit on the beach forever so it was time to come back to reality. Work has been super crazy, the end of the year is here and we are finally on the downhill slide! We've got so much going on with field trips, field day, end of the year celebration etc that i'm sure the last few weeks will hurry on by.
Here are a few pictures from our amazing trip!

Exciting Day!

Last Thursday may have been the most exciting day so far in my professional career! For the last few months one of my fellow 1st grade teachers and myself have been piloting a new literacy program called Key Links. It is written by a lady named Jill Eggleton, who is a well know children's author from New Zealand. Through out the program we have met with people from the publishing company and talked about the program, apparently only a few schools across the US were picked to pilot it.

We had our final wrap up meeting last Thursday with the ladies from the publishing company and ladies from our school district. During our meeting we learned that not only are they using our feedback to use in their advertising of the product (which is a little intimidating!)we were also told that the author, Jill Eggleton is coming to our school!! I know, it may not sound like that big of a deal but we are super excited! My kids are excited because we have been reading her books for months, they talk about her like they know her! I'm just excited because its not everyday that an author flies half way across the world to come to Little Rock, Arkansas! It truly is a great honor that our school was picked to be the only one she visits with and we cannot wait! There will be pictures coming at the end of April!

Snowed in...again!

Remember those days when you were a kid and your mom would come wake you up and tell you school was cancelled because it has snowed the night before? Those mornings are just as much fun even when you're an adult...you know, minus my mom coming to wake me up. I'm pretty sure none of us in the Little Rock area were expecting it, so it was a pleasant surprise. I think total we got about 6 inches and this time it was all snow, none of that icy stuff like 2 weeks ago. It was so beautiful just to sit and watch the big snowflakes falling and fun to play in it! Although I do start to go a little stir crazy after being stuck at home after a day or so. Lets hope though that we don't have anymore snow days because I've got my trip planned for Australia in June right after school gets out, so I can't be stuck making up days!

Test worries...

Tomorrow I go to Arkadelphia to take my first of 2 exams to get my teaching license in Texas. To say the least I am very worried. First of all, Its been what...3 years since i've taken a test?! haha. Second, I keep hearing about how hard this test is. I'm sure I will do fine. I will just feel so much better when its all over. I have to take the second test on Wednesday, so after that it will be over! Then I just have to sit patiently and wait for my scores. Its such a scary thought that so much is riding on these test. I have to pass them in order to get my teaching license in Texas...in order to get a teaching job in Texas...in order to be able to move to Texas! Get the picture? :-)

Snowed In

Well, last week we had a little ice storm in Little Rock! I say little because people from the north would probably laugh at the amount of snow and ice we got. But it was enough to make the roads very icy and pretty much everything around here shut down, so we (Marley and I) stayed in from Thursday night until Sunday afternoon. Friday was great, no school, I stayed in my pjs all day and watched a ton of movies. Saturday morning was still ok. I cleaned and got a lot done from my to do list, but my Saturday afternoon I was going stir crazy. Luckily things started to melt Sunday morning and I was able to get out of the house. I had to add a picture of Marley, because he was just too darn cute in his little jacket.

As part of my new years resolutions this year was to keep up better with my blog. So I've decided to make some changes...or at least attempt to. I am not high-tech and not creative so we shall see. And with my changes, I've also decided to broaden my topics beyond "my teacher life". Although that is a huge part of it...its not all of it! So if you can stick with me while I'm figure it all out :-)