...no, I didn't fall off the face of the earth
I know, I know. I promised I'd write more. Apparently I should stop making promises my busy schedule won't allow me to keep. Since coming home I've been settling in pretty well. Here's the Reader's Digest version of the past 2ish months:
- In a whirlwind of productivity, I unpacked everything from college, sorted out all the old junk that has been hiding in the dark recesses of my room, and deep cleaned the place. It looks a little more grown-up and homey now. Aside from a brief incident of unidentified bug bites, the move back has been smooth. I've been getting along fairly well with my family and living at home isn't perfect, but it does have its advantages.
- I'm working full time at Little Arrows Childcare again this summer. I'm the teacher for the Preschool 1 class (3-year-olds). They can be a handful at times, but they are so cute, it's hard to be frustrated for long! They are also teaching me a TON about my teaching style, classroom management, and other valuable lessons.
- Busy, busy, busy! Those are the three words that best describe my life as a teacher so far. Don't tell a teacher that she is lucky for having summers off--she's liable to punch you in the face for such an outrageous and idealistic idea. On top of getting my classroom in order, writing a letter to the 6th grade class, figuring out which novels to order for my class, inventing a LA curriculum for the 5th grade, and deciding on classroom procedures and all those other small details you have to establish as a teacher, I'm also working on mapping out curriculum for my 4 preps as a part of the re-accreditation process with ACSI. Oh, and did I mention I've read well over 2,000 pages of books my boss thinks are helpful for the staff? Good reading, but time-consuming!
- Other than that, I've been trying to balance all that stuff with having a little bit of fun and a social life over the summer. Been spending a lot of time hanging out w/ Dani & the M-town crowd. Also splitting my weekends between here & Holden, which makes me feel like a kid in joint custody. But it's all worth it to see Jay! My church's young adult Bible study just finished going through the book If you want to walk on water, you have to step out of the Boat and I'll be leading them through an inductive Bible study (IVers cheer) on the book of Joel. It should be interesting. Also, some of us girls are getting together to start a woman's Bible study using Beth Moore's Breaking Free study. I'm wicked excited about that!
- As far as the post-college transition goes, it's been fairly good. I'm thankful that I have understanding parents, good friends, and a supportive boyfriend to come home to. It's still hard though knowing I'm not going back to the dorm life, the amazing friendships I had right next door (or across the quad) and the awesome fellowship I had at IV. I've been listening to the Urbana worship CD in the car this week, which has made me wicked "homesick" for IV. I know that that chapter of my life is over and I am so excited as to what the future holds. But it's still hard saying goodbye.
