A Fresh Start

Wow! It's been 2 years since I wrote on my old blog..and I have changed more in those two years than I ever thought possible. The last time I wrote, I was preparing to student teach (which I did in Frenship ISD) and had just left my wonderful job at the Texas Tech CDRC. I was unhappy about the way that I looked and unhappy with the direction that my life was going in. So what's changed since then?

Well, I'm getting ready to start my career. That's right..not a job, but a CAREER that I will have for the rest of my life. I'm so excited! There are currently 17 sweet little kindergarten babies enrolled in my class and I cannot wait to meet them all. I'll be teaching at McWhorter Elementary in Lubbock ISD and I love  my school family already. My team is wonderful and I know we're going to serve a student population that really needs us. I've also lost 40+ pounds! I'm not where I want to be yet, but I'm finally happy with the girl I see looking back at me in the mirror. I've taken up running (which I LOVE) and I feel better than I've felt in years. Here's a good before and during:

But perhaps the biggest change in my life is that I'm in love. Yes, head-over-heels in love with the man I'm going to spend the rest of my life. I feel so lucky! It's definitely not a feeling I ever thought I'd have..but now that I've found it I wouldn't trade it for anything. Grady is wonderful. He's everything I ever imagined for myself and so much more. He makes me happy, he makes me laugh, he listens to me..and he just loves me. He loves me unconditionally, despite all of my flaws (and there are many!) and I'm so thankful for him. God sure knew what he was doing when he chose him for me!

Not everything in my life is perfect. There are people in my family who make me feel inadequate and forgotten (family closer to me than you might think), I've lost touch with friends I thought I would treasure for a lifetime, and there are always those day-to-day worries that gnaw at my mind. But more than anything else...I'm blessed. Blessed to have the best friends in the world (my sister Kayla, my BFF since childhood Katie, my other "sister" Emma, Patrick, and Julia), blessed to have a new car and a job that enables me to have more than I need, blessed to be able to touch the lives of countless students and their families, blessed to be in love and loved by the man of my dreams, and blessed to be alive. It doesn't get much better than this!

There are, of course, details (wonderful details!) of what has happened in my life in the two years since I last wrote in a blog. Immediately springing to mind are: NKOTBSB, Backstreet Boys in Kansas City, NKOTB cruise, my year at Ramirez, LeakyCon 2011, just to name a few. But for the most part, the most important events are covered here.

I guess that's a good enough first entry, right? I should warn you now that I'm an incredibly opinionated person. Chances are you're going to see something here that you don't agree with..but that's just who I am! I say what I think and I speak from the heart.