handwritten on November 5, 2022
It feels like forever in half that I blogged about anything and yet everything has happened! Here we are, and it is already November 4th! There is so much I want to say but that would not be easily explained through words, so I suppose I'll be be brief in saying that this has been a truly life changing year. There have been many shifts and turns, some heartbreaking moments and yet some moments that have also been some of the most beautiful. Lessons surrounding new life and a renewed perspective as we welcomed our littlest family member, new lessons inside a new classroom, new passions and interests that have risen again in the midst of life's busy nature. Life is never perfect but life...
handwritten on August 14, 2022
If you find yourself losing that spark
that sense of gratitude that used to leave you feeling blessed
thankful, full of pizzaz and spirit and whimsy and just a thirst and a passion
to spread joy and goodness and community
there is always a reason for the season
and I'm here to say that with adjustments and slight changes
that love comes flooding back
reminding you of your calling, your passions
and allowing you to experience authentic love and joy
this summer with
a little rest and endless creativity
and reconnecting with community
my heart felt like that of a child's
I feel unsure of the future but not lost
unsure but not isolated
unsure but not disheartened
unsure but not filled with...
handwritten on August 3, 2022
I've decided that as time goes on, I get more sentimental/emotional
I say this with a serious chuckle but honestly..
I look back on thirty years, and I think to myself...what a BEAUTIFUL
journey. Boy have I just been abundantly blessed with every experience I have been given and every relationship I have made. It's unbelievable.
I was sitting in Urban Impact today just contemplating how many years I've been volunteering
I believe my first year was in 2016 and the magic there never wears off
But as I was playing my flute, a student caught my eye (I'll spare his name here)
but I was vividly taken back to my first year volunteering where I had four solid flute students
and this student in...
handwritten on July 18, 2022
When the news that one of your former students has passed away at the age of 15 really sinks in, there is sadness but there is such joy in remembering a child, who you realize, was 100% an angel here on earth.
My first year of teaching (anyone's first year of teaching) is memorable for so many reasons. You don't know what you are doing, you are exhausted and yet there is such an innocence about that first year such that (in my opinion) I was my best ,most purest form of myself. There are no expectations and there isn't time for negativity and when that last day rolls around, if you have poured every ounce of your being into that group of students, you realize for the first time just how...
handwritten on June 25, 2022
Dear Hartwood Staff,
Before I begin, if you wouldn't mind, could you send me a picture of just you standing somewhere? (you can text it to me 724-816-2922) I have a gift that I am creating, and it will be done before the start of school, but I do need photos of every single one of you!
I hope all of you are enjoying your summer thus far and much deserved rest after this academic school year. Though many of you have certainly heard through the grapevine, I will not be returning to Hartwood next year. I have accepted a job at the Falk Laboratory School for the next two years and then will be moving out of state for one year to follow my husband for his fellowship. The hope is that we...
