Oh Hey, Christmas Tree

So, Christmas was a while ago... but obviously if you follow my blog you will see that I'm very behind lately.  I have had trouble keeping up with everything that has happened—all blessings, but busy ones :)

Anyway, here are some pictures from our very first Christmas tree!

 And, of course, a picture of my wonderful hubs and me with our tree:

Merry ...er... Christmas

Friendships

A lot of difficult adjustments have been made over the past few months.  Sitting in my 3rd–going–on–4th month of marriage, my 1.5 month with my new job(s) and heaped in as much crazy as I can cram into my planner, it has been just as challenging as it has been exciting.

The biggest struggle is not really knowing anyone in the area.  When I moved in, I knew my husband, our landlords (who are great, by the way) and 10 people that Todd worked with (and only 4 by name).  Though the circle of my acquaintances has grown, deeper friendships have been slow to come.  But between our schedules—work, cross country, freelance, Todd's grad class and more cross country—there are not a lot of opportunities for us to spend time with people our own age.

The hard part is that even if we did have time, we don't have those friendships in place yet to even take advantage of...  Though I am getting to know the teachers who I work with, it is slow going.  I don't work very closely with any of them and my lunch hour is different every day (of my 3 days there) so I rarely see the same teachers each day.  However, I am getting to know them, slowly but surely!  And I have the most wonderful husband to spend time with—really, he has been an answer to even the smallest prayers in so many ways.  I depend upon him a lot, and I love him bunches.  I also love him enough not to expect him to fulfill all of my needs—even my people needs.  And I need more people than he does! lol

I would feel a lot more pathetic if it wasn't for the fact that these girls are really wonderful.  Above is a photo of some of the cross country girls and myself right before one of their races.  I love them, and will miss them a ton next year (those in the pictures are seniors this year).

Something New

I have officially started a new chapter.
A new step.
A new adventure.
A new blog.

Don't worry, this one will continue (and hopefully with more dedication than recent months...) but I have one specifically for my new adventure in teaching elementary art.

Yep, that's right—teaching.
Not what I was trained to do, or what I originally wanted to do, but I have completed my first week and I already love it.  I am only part time, which gives me some time to work with the freelance jobs that are continually making their way into my crazy new married life!

But there are many wonderful things about this new opportunity—like the fact that it is at the same school as my Superman, so we can ride together each day!  I also am able to continue working with the XC / track team that he coaches.  Because it is only part time, I can pursue my passions in the professional art field without the pressures of a corporate office job.  AND! I get to work with children each week!  There were other areas to weigh along with the above mentioned, but after a weekend of praying and talking it over, Todd and I decided that this position would be better than my other job prospects—at least for the time being.


So take a look at my new blog by clicking on this link: HERE, or by following the link I have posted in the tabs above :)