creating eunoia: Summer Smorgasbord

I apologize in advance for the following verbal vomit I must commit on this blog post. I will try my best to keep it short. I guess that's what happens when you put off blogging for more than a month.

School Year 2012-13:

Although there were a lot of changes this year and many things I wish I could have done better, I also feel like I have grown as a teacher, learned a lot more, appreciated and relied upon others, and even trusted my own judgement. That being said I am really excited about starting my 6th year (can you believe that?!) of teaching and I am determined to do better for my kids, collaborate with my peers, and better myself.

Highlight: Getting nominated by my peers as runner up STAR teacher
Low point: Not being diligent in grading
Bittersweet: My first year kiddos left the nest and graduated as 6th graders to become middle school teens ),:

One of my lovely students tearing up and of course making me tear up. I miss them so much!!!

I wish them all the joy, all the blessings, and amazing opportunities life has to offer them. I will forever remember my "lovelys", my first year crew.

Summer Concert: Hillsong United

My friend invited me to go to a concert in June for Hillsong. I was excited because although I've heard their music and have their CDs, it was my first time seeing them live and experiencing it live. It was SUCH an amazing atmosphere. The concert was being recorded and photographed for promotional purposes so they went all out with pyrotechnics and fog machines. It was pretty great. But I think the greatest thing about the concert was the passion and love, that was so palpable in the whole building. We were praising God and it felt so good to praise like that because it's been a while since I've done that.

Summer Style

So I was pretty much sick of my hair; it was just a long, limp, devoid of any style hair.

So I decided to go red. And I have to say I am loving it. Although, I am not really loving the roots.

Yea, it's a bit red.

Summer! Road Trip!

It isn't summer without throwing in a road trip! I was helping my friend Ari move from Dallas to St. Louis.

I'm glad I was there to help any way I could, and I think it also helped me ease into saying goodbye to my friend. There was laughter and tears and cat freak outs, but all went well.

I'm also happy to add another state to my travel belt and hopefully I can go back!

Summer Eats

If you know me well, you know, I love food. If you don't really know me well, you'd probably know it too.

One of the things I LOVE about summer is, I can do what I love, which is cook, bake, and critique new places to eat. This is a true smorgasbord of the food I've had this summer:

Korean food at its finest!

Photos Courtesy of lavenderandpink.weebly.com

Home made treats:

Trying to eat healthy!

And new eateries!

@buzzbrews

@internationalbakery

Yummy desserts @internationalbakery

SO delicious @theboilingcrab

This reminds me of yin/yang @littlesheephotpot

@littlesheephotpot

And of course there's nothing like summer than boba tea. :)

@bobaland

Summer Shape Up

Okay, so I've been paying for a gym membership I haven't used for about, oh, 1.5 years. So I am making up for it now by using it as much as possible. My friend Cynthia printed out a workout calendar for us to follow for the rest of this year, and it is hardcore. I am feeling muscles I didn't know I had. But it has been so fun working out with a friend and actually having time to enjoy working out in my free time. At the same time, I know that even when I start working in August, I need to MAKE time to work out. And meet friends. Have a personal life. That's what I struggled with this past school year. I let work consume me and I got very stressed. So my goal is to continue to work out and eat healthy and also to go to English service on a regular basis. No more excuses!

Summer so far has been such a much needed break for me and I am really enjoying it. And yet a tiny part of me (or bigger than that) misses seeing all my kiddos and teaching. Is that crazy? I'm sure by the end of August, I'll be wishing for summer, but there's something about teaching that is so rewarding. And being in my 6th year, I want it to be better. I want to be better and just be a great teacher. I know it will be hard, but I am up for the challenge.

Hope it wasn't too long! I am now off to read two books I bought today: