Moving Forward

Welp. The blog readers have spoken...through not speaking. I get it, yawn. I have bored y'all to tears.

I can take it. I'm a grown-up.

So, in the past weekend, I've put on my war paint, danced around to Shakira's Waka Waka, and sought the solace of Pinterest. So, at least there's that.

And then, I went to the mountain to talk to God.

Yes, I talk to God on my hikes. That's the place where I hear Him the best. I put on my headphones, listen to Matt Maher, John Michael Talbot, or even Rascal Flatts, pound the desert clay, and listen to the Amighty transcend my soul.

It looks like this.

The red highlights the trail, and that beauty in the middle of it all? Moi.

AND then there's the whole, only 10 people are in this massive park that spans 20 square miles because we're the only crazies who would hike in 100+ degree heat. So, lots of times, I look around and lift my hands in worship and sing aloud. It happens.

Other times. (as you can see emphasis on the boot-tay on the trail drawing)...I look around and shake my booty, and the best thing is...NOBODY KNOWS.

Well, okay, there was this mountain biker who caught me today and was like, What the? And I was like, what? WHAT?

In the end? I feel the peace of the Holy Spirit...and that was my prayer this Pentecost.

Lord, if you're not going to bless me with a husband, or if my cross and joy is to be alone...I NEED to feel YOUR HOLY PRESENCE, like, way more than normal people do. Here, on the trail, I do. Yes, Adoration is important. Yes, so is the Eucharist. But for me? He's ALSO profoundly here in the crunch, dirt, heat, and height of the mountain.

Moving forward, my hope is for my blog to be entertaining. No more sob stories about roommates-gone-bad. No lamentations. No rundown of what I do when I wait for my college adviser. YES, it's adviser, not advisor.

Maybe it will work! Maybe it won't. But, Bobby Brown sang it best, "That's my prerogative."

Cheers!

Thankful Thursdays

1. I'm officially on the summer break. What. What.

2. The sleeping in. The perks of teaching have arrived. The sleeping in will begin tomorrow morning. Then, there are three weeks in which I will pretend to work for a summer school paycheck.I will be going through the motions with a class size of about 10. Do-a-ble.

3. My sister is having a baby. A GIRL baby...the best kind. I get to visit them this summer vaca.

4. Austin. is. coming. soon. As in, the Schlitterbahn. More blog posts will be covering this excursion.

5. Loan FORGIVENESS! Five years in a Title 1 school, and it's starting to pay my loans down for me. Bam! Wiped out! Now, let me pile on some more debt with my second master's classes starting July 5th. he he he.

It's like a Jackson Pollock, Okay?

The Sunflower Diaries turned, as it seems in recent posts, essentially, into a series of Youtube videos.

Blog: Fail.

I thought it was the imminent end of the blog. So, DELETE.

Then, there were after-thoughts.

You see, blogging has unleashed my heart to be honest. I don't lie to myself anymore. I don't try to convince myself that I want something that someone else says I should have.

I've learned invaluable lessons through blogging...like these pearls of wisdom:

*Dieting/losing weight doesn't solve problems. It just makes you skinnier.

*Money doesn't solve problems, it just creates new bills, really.

*Friends are important. Be attuned to them. Ask questions. Be more than an acquaintance. It could save a life.

*Alone time is overrated.

*You are more than yourself, more than your choices. You're not an island. People need you. You need others. It's not weak to ask for help, it's weak not to ask.

*Your sisters are uber important, and they unlock keys to life that no one else can.

*Physical strength is overrated. It's amazing what you can do with only one arm.

*Physical health on the other hand is necessary. It's a direct effect of mental health.

*Give people second chances, never thirds.

*People come into your life for a reason, enjoy their presence even if your differences are greater than your commonalities.

*Education never stops.

*God doesn't want you/will not allow you to walk away from teaching. It is your vocation. Leaving would be akin to getting a divorce. God does want you to be a change agent in your field, in order to do that, God needs you to rely on the Eucharist and lead a healthy prayer life.

*God's command is to love your neighbor--so stop volunteering in so many different areas to earn Brownie points.

*God wants you to lead. God is giving you stressful, complex problems to teach you to speak up and stand your ground.

I'm not through with the blog yet, just know that my blog is a Jackson Pollock painting, in which I'm throwing emotion at the canvas of blogger with bright splotches of unscripted, unplanned, unorganized, messy, laughing so hard that you choke life.

That's me.

That's my blog.

I've brought back my original domain name, Song of a Sunflower, because, well, when you delete your blog and bring it back, you really have no choice.

How to End the School Year

Blog, I will so be dance bombing my students in our last two days of school.

How Shoes Become Footloose

One of my students had an accident in class today (in the fourth grade). Social embarrassment.

To rectify this situation, I pretended the class was in trouble, and had them put their heads down on their desks, eyes covered.

Then, I tapped my student on the shoulder and had her go to the nurse to change...with the rest of the class' heads down, no one noticed. The nurse keeps spare clothes, so she had a way of resolving the fiasco with a new pair of jeans. Still, my student came back without shoes, having wet them down to their core, and refused to entered the class.

I called a team teacher to watch my class while my student waited in the hall, and I ran out to my car, opened my gym bag and retrieved my running shoes. I swapped my shoes with my running shoes and let my student wear mine. Luckily, her feet are nearly my size, and wearing my shoes was enough of a solution for her to be able to enter the classroom again.

Classmates asked, "Why are you wearing Miss Katie's shoes?"

Her reply was smartly handled, "It's a tall girl thing."

End of discussion.

Our music class was canceled this afternoon. So, I taught my students how to dance to "Footloose."

My student who had the accident produced a smile and giggle along with the rest of them...as if nothing bad had happened...and that's how shoes become footloose.