Rekindle

Time to rekindle my spirit. I saw an article on Facebook a while back that struck a chord with me. It deals with the time of Lent when many Christians give up something that they normally enjoy as a means of clearing away worldly distractions and to drawing closer to God. Unfortunately, as this article states, "these things often have little impact on our life and our walk with Christ." In the past I've given up things like...peanut butter...Facebook....sometimes nothing at all. Most times it has done nothing to enhance my faith. I'm sure my attitude in doing so was the main issue, but this year I would like to try something new. I realize it is nowhere near time for Lent, but I would like to use this article more as a goal for the new year.

There are 40 topics on which to focus, one for each day of Lent. In my case, one for each....week? day? month? Not sure how I want to direct my energy at this point, but I know that these are all areas that could use some refining in my life...and probably in yours as well. If you're human, I bet you struggle with most of these just like I do.

Here are some examples: Focus on giving up.....fear of failure, your comfort zone, feelings of unworthiness, impatience, people pleasing, comparison, etc. The list goes on. I will post link at the bottom  of this post if you want to join me in giving up some of these evils that keep us from having joy in our lives. Its going to take effort for sure, but I'm willing to give it a shot.

I think I will start tomorrow.

Click HERE for the link.

Holiday Cheer and Happy 60th to Dad

This morning I woke up feeling thankful. I'm sipping an Arctic White hot chocolate Christmas gift from one of my students and realizing that I am off work until January 4th. Its going to be glorious. Reflecting on the last week of school, I am so grateful for all the sweet students we have and the relationships I have with the wonderful people I work with. Blessed for sure. Everyone has been so GIVING this season. I, on the other hand, have not been a very good steward of my time and have not done nearly as much as I would like to in terms of gift giving and holiday cheer. I'm going to play the "new house" card again and blame it on that. It really threw me off my routine and that's not good because I am a creature of habit. Must be the special ed teacher in me.

Today will be a great day for 2 reasons: A) I am finally getting back into my beloved yoga studio for a "Sanctify the Season" practice. It is a special yoga class " sprinkled with scripture, Christian meditative prayer, and plenty of sweat." Some of my favorite things all in one place. B) Its my dad's 60th birthday! Hard to believe...he sure doesn't seem 60. I wish you many, many, many more years of everything that makes you happy!

Before Christmas is over, I wanted to share some of my favorite door decorations from our school hallways. These made me laugh...If you notice, the sign 'Dancer' the reindeer is holding says, "watch me Nae Nae."

Help Fund My Class!

Hi Friends, 

Now through November 30th, any donation you make to my classroom project request on DonorsChoose.org will be doubled (up to $100). I need your help to get my students the materials they need to succeed! 

Here's the project: 

Laptop for Reading and Writing Support 

To have your donation matched, enter the promo code SPARK on the payment screen. This offer is good through November 30th! 

My students and I would be so grateful for your support! 

Caroline 

PS: After today, you can still donate up until March 31st, the donations just won't be matched. 

Homeowner

Hey blog world. I've been out of the loop for awhile now. So mad at myself for missing the month of October! I'm going to give myself an excuse though because that's the month I became a HOMEOWNER. My days were spent sifting through cardboard boxes, loading my car to capacity with stuff from my old place, and trying desperately to give all of my "stuff" a home in the new house. Now that November is almost over, I'm realizing that its going to take a LOOONNGGG time for everything to find a space here. I also realize that I need to get rid of a a few things. I'm also realizing that the office and my dining room table will be a catch-all at least until this summer. I'm going to have to be okay with that.

The first thing I wanted to do was put paint on the walls, so I got the foyer done as soon as I moved in. They went from this lovely shade of Butter Cream Yellow to a much more livable Revere Pewter. Now I'm at a dead standstill. 

The living room is some-what in place (other than the paint & the blinds/curtains ). Its turning out to be a cozy little home!

I'll post more as the projects continue!

I Know You Can Relate

When I came home from school today around 5:00, I decided to take a "quick nap." I set my alarm for an hour....that should leave me feeling refreshed....

Next thing I know, I'm waking up and my phone tells me its 8:15. Immediate freak out mode. My thought process went something like this: "I'm supposed to be covering a class for another teacher this morning!! It started at 7:55!!" My heart was pounding.

 I ran to the closet and pulled on some jeans (dress down Friday). I glanced at my phone and saw that there was a missed call and voicemail from school. I could not imagine how badly I must've thrown off the schedule today...they must've had to find someone to cover for the class that I was supposed to cover. A double cover! Everyone was going to be so irritated with me. I called the school and while it was ringing I tried to think of what I could say to sugar coat the issue. Nothing. My brain still wasn't firing on all cylinders. I hung up....walked around in circles.....called the school back. I was so flustered I didn't even know what to say. I hung up and went to call the assistant principal to beg for mercy and tell him I was on the way.

Then I realized.......What? PM! Oh dear God its PM. It was just a nap. Its not morning. I'm not in trouble.

 The missed call from school was only a routine call-out/recording from the secretary informing everyone about PTA next week. What a mess...I was really tired......

You can relate, right?

Yoga Beach Pics

Before the month of August slips away, I felt that I needed to squeeze in a blog post. I have yet to miss a month since I started back in 2011!

This month has been maxed out with to-do list check-offs since I started back to school. This year is 6th grade for me and I'm enjoying it way more than I thought possible. This class is so much sweeter than my last go-round in middle school. My friend, Kristi, and I traded off days with the 6th graders a couple years ago and we would lovingly say that we were about to enter "the shark tank" when it was our day to work with them.

To counteract some of the middle school hormones I come in contact with each day, I usually do some yoga when I get home. Find my zen. Center. You know how I am...

One of the teachers I work with does photography on the side and she was nice enough to take pictures of my sister and me doing some beach yoga earlier this month. I'm not exactly sure what I want to do with all the pictures, but I knew I wanted to have them taken for whenever I decide. Ideas welcome.

For now, I'll just share some of them here with you. There were lots of great ones, but these are a few of my favorites. Thank you, Julie Mayville. You did an awesome job capturing the moments!

Shine

Today was a day of inspiration and refreshment for my soul. This was partly due to the memorial service I attended for Robert Espinoza this morning. What a nice reminder of what it looks like to be a light in the community, spreading your passion, whatever it may be. I loved that everyone was encouraged to wear running gear in his honor. A very unique and personal touch.

Tomorrow, I'm looking forward to kicking my butt into gear with 6 miles at the Watermelon Crawl at Lake Mayer. I know many of the words spoken and stories told from the service today will inspire me to keep on going.

Lately, its been so brutally hot outside that I've found few indoor workouts to keep me on track. Besides p90x3, I've found a girl who does free yoga video's on YouTube (Lesley Fightmaster) and I've been treating myself to some at-home-yoga sessions. Tonight I waited until it was dark out, lit some candles, layed out my mat, put my laptop on the floor, and had my own little studio right in the middle of my living room. Lucky for me, with early birds getting ready for the 4th, I got to see fireworks across the river the whole time I was practicing. I tried to take a picture but the camera phone wasn't cutting it.

During the final resting pose on my yoga video tonight, Lesley read a quote that I felt completed the day perfectly:

"At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us."

-Albert Schweitzer