Seasons

There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:
a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain, 
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace. 
Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Not only is the season literally changing, but I am feeling a change in the season of my life. It's not altogether a pleasant feeling at the moment, either. When seasons change, I tend to look eagerly at the next season, but part of me always is a little sad that the one season is over. For example, when summer turns into fall: I get excited when I start to see the leaves change, when college football starts, and when the hot summer air turns slightly cooler. I realize, though, that fall means busyness of school, fewer hours of sunlight, and colder weather on the horizon. There are positives and negatives to every season. And the seasons must change in order to experience those joys. I need to bear with the negatives if I want to revel in the positives.

And so it is with season changes in my life. Right now I'm feeling some of the negatives internally. I don't know exactly why I'm noticing this change right now, when it's been gradually happening for the past 2 years probably...but I do notice it. There's a point in your life when childhood friends lose touch, when high school friends grow apart, and when college friends cease to be a part of your daily life. It's as if two people, friends, who at one point in both of their lives fit together like puzzle pieces, perfectly matched for such a time. Life moves on, though, and people change or move or start other relationships and those puzzle pieces change slightly with time. Before you know it, they just don't fit anymore, or there's no room to stay attached. Each time I realize another person with whom I had one of those friendships has become a mismatched puzzle piece in my life, I get a little sad.

...a friend that I grew up with, the first guy I kissed, my college roommate, my best friends from middle school, my first friend in college, "my sophomore", even some of my Life Group girls from college...all these people were very important pieces of my life at one point, and are now gone/gradually fading...it's time for seasons to change, I suppose. I know there are other people in my life that are more of a fit right now, but part of me will still miss those friendships lost over time and distance.

25 things...

Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it's because I want to know more about you.

1. I hate making decisions, especially big ones.
2. I rarely become stressed out, but when I do, I almost become paralyzed by the weight of everything that needs to be done.
3. I am a sucker for sappy movies and lyrics.
4. Most of my friends in high school were guys.
5. Most of my friends in college were girls.
6. I watch entirely too much TV.
7. Money stresses me out (see #2)
8. I wish I had a personal finance class in high school. Now I'm teaching one.
9. I wish that I prayed more than I do.
10. I don't really know what it's like to "date"
11. I talk to myself all the time.
12. When I'm driving in the car, I like to try to sign along with the songs that are on the radio in a way that is conceptually accurate (and no, that's not supposed to say "sing")
13. I'm really excited for some of my friends to come visit this summer.
14. I really feel connected to people when I get to spend some one-on-one time with them.
15. Half of my belongings are still in Illinois, and I keep thinking of things that are sitting in my parents' garage that I wish were here.
16. The city of Chicago is one of my favorite places in the world.
17. One of my favorite songs right now is called, "Boys with Girlfriends" by Meiko. It's funny.
18. I have my old license plate nailed to the wall above my bed.
19. I got a "You Might Be a Redneck If..." page-a-day calendar for Christmas this year from one of my best friends. (I guess he thinks I moved to the backwoods or something...)
20. I want to be a better teacher than I am.
21. I would love to take a ballroom dance class, or a swing class (just need to find the right partner!)
22. I wake up 1 1/2 hours before I need to leave my house because I like to take my time and read while I eat breakfast in the morning before school.
23. I eat entirely too much fast food.
24. I want to be more organized at school and at home.
25. I always wear a ring on my right hand ring finger that says "Trust in the Lord with all your hear and lean not on your own understanding" in Hebrew (but I can't actually read Hebrew to make sure). I lost my Celtic knot ring that I used to wear on my left hand middle finger. :-(

There you go! That was harder than I thought it would be, but made for a good break from my planning work. Toodles. :-)

5 things

This looked like fun. :-)

5 things I was doing 10 years ago:

• Learning music for the Blue Lake International Symphony Band
• being a typical 8th grader ;-)
• learning Algebra
  
• growing up fast through friends' suicidal thoughts
• being boycrazy
  

5 things on my To Do list tomorrow:

• Ask a couple of teachers questions about a specific student
• Make a study guide about writing equations in slope intercept form
• Update IEP progress
• Find a recycling drop-off center
• Make a list of addresses for Christmas cards
  

5 snacks I like:

• Apples with caramel
• chips and salsa
• fruit snacks
• Cheez-its
• chips and dip
  

5 things I would do if I was a millionaire

• pay off my debt
• buy a house
• give to people who need it
• save some
• go back to school?
  

5 places I have lived:

• Orland Park, IL
• Bloomington, IL
  
• East Lansing, MI
• Swartz Creek, MI
• Staunton, VA
  

5 jobs I have had:

• Quinlan & Fabish Music Co (stocking shelves, organizing, etc)
• Dr. Jerry Chow, M.D. (personal assistant for the nurse manager/filing)
• Math grader/tutor
• Babysitter
• Virginia School for the Deaf (HS Math teacher)
  

funny

I'm home. :-) Finally.

All in all it was a good trip. See Facebook for pictures later this week, I think.

Something random that I came across while googling my name (every once-in-awhile you should do this, see what you come up with...especially if you're a teacher...)

www.brtva.org

it has NOTHING to do with anyone I'm related to. That's the funny part. My name can be an acronym. Who knew?