What’s Up December

       Happy Friday, Y'all

Today, I'm joining Shay and Sheaffer for December’s What's Up Wednesday link-up. However, I’m posting this on Friday night since both Wednesday and Thursday were full of family Christmas events and I focused more on that and less on here…

Every month we answer the same list of questions based on how things are currently going in our lives.

So let's get started...

What am I eating?

I had Greek food delivered for my mom’s and my dinner the day before we left for our Christmas travels. The Simple Greek in Mobile is so good. If you’re in the area, check it out!

What am I reminiscing about?

Memories with my nieces… I’ve loved spending time with them over the holidays, hearing about their lives at the moment, chatting about all sorts of things, and doing some of the things they love to do. God gave me the greatest blessing ever by allowing my the opportunity to be Zizzie to these two little ladies. That is for sure!

 What am I loving?

Spending Christmas with my people 🩷

What have I been up to?

Enjoying being on Christmas Break and not having a 5am wake up call every day.

What am I dreading?

Nothing, really.

What am I working on?

Getting unpacked and making this home my mom & I are sharing an awesome place to live

 What am I excited about?

This car that my mom is “modeling.” While I have been extremely grateful to our family friend for letting me borrow a vehicle for the past 6 months, I am also ready to not be borrowing something belonging to someone else. And considering how God worked out the purchase of this car, I’m even more thankful.

What am I watching?

I realize the lighting isn’t the best in this picture, but I love it. I love watching my mom and her sister together. It’s the sweetest, hearing them talking and laughing with each other, reminiscing about days gone by, and just enjoying each other’s company.

What am I reading?

Nothing lately. But I do have a few books waiting for me to read before starting back to work next week.

What am I listening to?

I’m still listening to all the Christmas music. I recognize Christmas is over. But I’m not ready to stop listening to the good ones just yet 🙂

What am I wearing?

I work all sorts of Christmas shirts and accessories for our staff dress-up version of the 12 Days of Christmas. It was fun (and comfy)!

 What am I doing this weekend?

At this point, I’m planning to just take it easy this weekend. Relaxing, happily NOT driving anywhere after having to be running up and down the road so much over the Break, and just enjoying my time at home.

What am I looking forward to next month?

My mom’s birthday is in January. And since I haven’t been able to celebrate (in person) with her in a long, long time, I’m looking forward to that. 

Past that, I’m looking forward to incorporating some new strategies and scheduling in my classroom to hopefully make 2nd semester a bit easier on my brain than 1st semester. We’ll see how it goes 😜

Favorite recent Amazon find?

I was able to find the converse shoes my nieces both wanted for Christmas on Amazon. Yay for Amazon helping Santa out this year 🙂

What's new this month?

My brother and his wife were amazing and helped to move my mom down to live with me. It’s so great having my mom living with me and I’m looking forward to this new chance at spending time with her again, after living so far from each other for so many years.

And that's what I'm up to this month.

What about you?

What are YOU up to this month? 

What’s Up November

       Happy Wednesday, Y'all

Today, I'm joining Shay and Sheaffer for October’s What's Up Wednesday link-up. 

Every month we answer the same list of questions based on how things are currently going in our lives.

So let's get started...

What am I eating?

My mom and I went to Salad Station the other night. Their salad buffet is always so fresh and delicious. I love it! 

Want to know what I’m NOT eating? Y’all… I love most southern delicacies. But chicken gizzards and chitterlings (“chitlins”) will never ever be on my plate. 

What am I reminiscing about?

I’ve been looking through some old pictures while at my mom’s house. So I’ve been reminiscing about all sorts of memories from years gone by… Oh, and look at that cute little girl in that picture. Who’d ever think she’d be turning 40 in less than a year? :)

 What am I loving?

I loved having time with my mom the last couple weeks. It was needed and has been so very nice.

What have I been up to?

Packing at my mom’s house. The plan is for me to take some stuff back with me when I go back home this weekend. Then the goal is for her to be moved down with the rest at Christmas Break. I’m so ready!

What am I dreading?

Nothing really

What am I working on?

A bit of lesson prep (which also includes prep for Christmas/winter crafts) for the next few weeks before Christmas Break.

 What am I excited about?

I get to celebrate Thanksgiving with my family this year! This is the first time since 2015 that I’m in the States for Thanksgiving. And I am loving it! 

What am I watching?

At the moment? The Price is Right :)

What am I reading?

Nothing at the moment… I have a couple books sitting in my Amazon cart at the moment, though, trying to decide if I want to buy them or not. Anyone have a book suggestion for me? I’m not too terribly picky. I’m not really a fan of love stories/“chick flick” types of books. But past that, I’d probably be interested…

What am I listening to?

Christmas music, of course :)

What am I wearing?

All the warm clothes I can. 

 What am I doing this weekend?

Thursday, my mom and I are going to my aunt’s house and having Thanksgiving dinner with her family. Then Friday, we’re getting together with my brother’s family and celebrating with them. Then Saturday, I’ll be packing some more. And on Sunday morning, I’ll head back home, stopping by my classroom first to print off my lesson/activity materials first before heading to my house.

What am I looking forward to next month?

Christmas

Favorite recent Amazon find?

I’m ordering a felt Christmas tree for my classroom, in an effort to find a tree my people can interact/play with and not break ;)

What's new this month?

This month, I realized how much I love the iced pumpkin cream chai latte. …which is sad since it’ll be going away soon. 

And that's what I'm up to this month.

What about you?

What are YOU up to this month? 

Hello Monday

      Happy Monday Y’all

Can you believe we’re already in November? I feel like if I blink, it’ll be Christmas already. 

Anywho, on to today’s post…

Today I'm joining Holly and Sarah, and a few other bloggers, for today's Hello Monday link-up, where we say Hello to Monday with a look at what's going on in our lives at the moment.

 So what's on my mind?

A lot. But 'tis the norm with me, I suppose.

Things like...

Daily Morning Photos - I’m still taking them. And every now and then, I get lucky and get to see a view like this one I saw just before walking into work one day last week.

Cute Crafts - One of the perks of teaching little ones again is getting to do cute crafts like these…

Friends - I got to see these guys this weekend while they were in town visiting for a bit. It was so nice to sit and reminisce/catch up. One of the things I’ve missed the most since leaving Senegal has been the friendships and the time spent hanging out with people, going out to eat, doing life together, or even just sitting together and chatting. I don’t have that here and it’s been taking its toll on my mind/heart. So yeah… This weekend’s meet up was so very nice :)

Time Change - Time changed this past weekend. After not living in a country that did that for over a decade, I think it’s going to take some getting used to. It’s so dark when I leave and if I stay after school and work or stop by the store on the way home, it’ll probably also be dark when I get home too. The perk, though? I’m waking up naturally, before my alarm and able to get more stuff done then. And as someone who’s definitely a morning person and thus, far more productive in the mornings, I do like that part of it :)

Halloween - I could live my life without it. But I do enjoy the cuteness that is little kids in their costumes. And I may or may not have worn this fun shirt on the day of to school too. So there’s that, as well ;)

Greek Food - I got some delivered a couple weeks ago. Y’all… It was so so good! And it was already pretty affordable, but then because the portion sizes were so big, I was able to enjoy the leftovers at 2 other mealtimes. So that made the price even better! I’ll definitely be getting it again one day.

Paperwork - It’s a seemingly never ending part of my job. Every time I think I’m even somewhat caught up, there’s something else that comes along. Prepping, forms to fill out, data to keep, paperwork to print, copies to make, etc. It’s a lot for all teachers and even more so for Special Ed Teachers. But yeah… It’s the part of my job that I can’t really do during the day (because I’m actually teaching) and since I only get a 30 minute planning period (which I often lose because of meetings and other responsibilities) and since I don’t get a prep-free lunch (because I’m with my kids), it’s why I spend time either before or after school and also on the weekends working. I don’t mind putting in the extra hours. I really and truly don’t. It’s part of the job of course and I am more than happy to do it. But if a non-teacher tells me how nice it must be to only work 7:30 to 3:30, this is what I think of ;)

Family - I’ll get to see them this upcoming weekend. Yay! Thanks to us having a 3 day weekend due to Veterans Day, I’m driving up to my mom’s after work on Friday. The plans are to help her pack and to also finally sort through and pack all of my own stuff that’s been in storage for a while too. Then hopefully we’ll be able to finish packing when I come back again the week of Thanksgiving. Then she’ll be able to move down here with me. I can’t wait!

And that’s about it for my scattered brain today. 

What about you?

 What’s on your mind today?  

Hello Monday

      Happy Monday

Today I'm joining Holly and Sarah, and a few other bloggers, for today's Hello Monday link-up, where we say Hello to the week with a look at what's going on in our lives at the moment.

 So what's on my mind?

A lot. But 'tis the norm with me, I suppose.

Things like...

Mornings - The mornings have been a little chilly lately. It doesn’t stay that way all day, but I’ve definitely needed my sweater most mornings. And before anyone from here says anything, just remember… I’ve been living in a place where I rarely ever needed to where a sweater/jacket for the ENTIRE YEAR. So yeah… To me, it’s chilly :)

Chips and Salsa - Is there anything better? ;)

Vehicle - I’m searching for a vehicle. Know of one for sale? Or know of someone who wants to just give one away to bless someone else. I’d be fine with that too ;) Honestly, I’ve been blessed this far, as the vehicle I’m driving was loaned to me to use as long as I needed it. And while I wish I could just buy it since it’s such a great vehicle, that’s not an option. So I’m looking for something…

Apple Tasting - We did this with our students last week. It was fun seeing their reactions as their either tried each item or as they strongly refused to try them due to their seemingly “yuck” factor :)

Almost Move-in Time - I still can’t believe it’s about to happen. The plan is to move in this upcoming weekend. I won’t have a lot in terms of furniture/decor. That’ll come in late November or early December when my mom and I have finished packing up her place and moved her down here with me. But I’ve got enough for what I need between the little I’ve bought and the little friends have given me. So yay!

I’m tired. - A friend shared this on social media on Friday and I reshared it because boy oh boy, is it true for me. Y’all, Friday was tough. I’m not going to lie. So I was exhausted by the time I finally got home. And after running some errands Saturday and having a full Sunday as well between church and going to do lesson prep, I still feel a little tired. I also think one of my students shared their cold with me. So that’s adding to the “tired” feeling. But yeah… Teaching is hard work, y’all.

Church - Yesterday evening I went to Knollwood Church’s Made to Thrive Ladies Conference. It was such a nice service with a timely message on always trusting God. I visited this church last week as well and loved it then too. I’ve been visiting so many different churches since getting down here in July, and have been so ready to find THE one and settle in. And I must say… It feels like I found it.

Reminders - I looked down while sitting at a red light the other day and saw my new keychain through the steering wheel. All I could read was the part of the verse that says, “with you always,” but I realized in that moment, that was the reminder I needed. I’ve been a fairly open book on here. My transition in moving back to the US, leaving Senegal, and starting a new job that I love but is far more difficult than I ever imagined… All of that has been challenging, to say the least, and I’ve been struggling and feeling like God had forgotten me. Was that true? No, of course it wasn’t. I knew He hadn’t. But it’s just where my mind kept going… So when I saw this keychain for sale a week or two ago, I bought it. And then the other day as I looked at that part of the verse - “with you always” - I smiled. I’m thankful that God loves me and is patient with stubborn, thick headed self, and waits for me to remember that He truly is with me always…

And that’s about it for my scattered brain today. 

What about you?

 What’s on your mind today?