As I'm looking at the category subtitle for this post "Outside the Neighborhood," I'm actually reminded of my post around this same time last year. I had attended a Mr. Roger's event at Ehrman Crest and the morning was filled with some intense reflection, attending awesome seminars and just reigniting my passion for both educating inside the school walls and outside the walls with my own little one. 

I very vividly remember sitting in on two chosen sessions. The first one was filled with the wonders of children's literature and a passionate librarian who brought everything good into the room. The second, I remember crafting a clay rose and then reflecting on how I had changed as an educator by stepping outside the classroom walls in order to raise my own little one. I was seeing more clearly-even though at the time I did not know what that truly meant. My passion for educating still remains, but is really full of much more hope than it used to be, and I find this to be both refreshing and hopeful. I will be embarking upon my first two grad school classes to become a school librarian in the next few days, I find my outlook on life to be one filled with so much more gratitude than pessimism, and I have a renewed energy inside my soul that I yearned to find after eight years within the classroom. I am an action ready to continue creating, learning, loving and growing, and being the best version of me! 

On this mother's day, I am filled with blessings and joy for the ability and privilege to still dream, for renewed optimism despite the sadness in the world that will always exist somewhere, the whimsy I feel when watching my Little Luna as a two year old see the world, hope for my newest little one who will be born in October and of course a journey towards home in just six short weeks. 

The winds of change can sometimes create a new sense of love but then again so can being a mother. Your world is turned upside down but in such a beautiful way. A child always reminds us to see the good in others, to make mistakes, to take risks and to love with our whole heart while eating the tastiest of snacks and playing in the sand or the dirt in the rain or sunshine. Little Luna has simply brought the light back into my being. She came at the most perfect time, and I believe her little brother will as well! Her presence has strengthened my patience, helped me choose the direction I wish to go with my vocation and taught me to love more fiercely, more humbly and with more faith. Childhood, if we allow it, allows us to see with clarity, the goodness that exists in everyone and in everything. Miracles are all around us. We just need to stop. And listen.

Motherhood has been the single most important event in my life-and it always will be. Cheers to all of the beautiful mothers who have mentored me and stood beside me, inspired me, walked with me, laughed and cried with me. It's one of the hardest journeys and yet easily the most rewarding. How bless am I. 

Filled with blessings on this Mother's Day Weekend. 

-2025