new year, new hopes

my Christmas break was very successful! i got to spend time with my crazy family, which was much needed. it was hard to leave today. i was happy to go through all of our Christmas traditions with everyone at home together. the main (and newest) tradition is that of watching a movie called The Christmas Card. don't take this Hallmark move for granted...it is the BEST and although it's corny at times, it made me bawl at the end for the first time this Christmas. mainly because i was already emotional, but it is just so sweet! anyway, along with my family's traditions, i got to spend Christmas with Levi's family and was introduced to a few of their traditions. i think we made one up this year, which is playing spoons. Levi's family now knows of my extremely competitive side seeing as how I flung myself across the coffee table to wrestle for a spoon. oops. :)

the break was filled with all sorts of emotions and whatnot. i even got attacked by a 24 hour stomach bug that had me emptying my insides for a good 5 hours. but, other than that, it was a break that i definitely needed. i wish it wasn't over.

on the bright side, i start a new journey tomorrow that i'm pretty excited about. i start work as a gymnastics instructor at Metro Gymnastics. i'll be teaching preschoolers. i was a gymnast for about 7 years (off and on after that, too) and then taught preschoolers-high schoolers for about 5 years until my family moved to Cookson. i loved it then and i know i will love it now. i had been out of work for too long and that really stressed me out. i ran out of money multiple times and i hate nothing more than the loss of control of my bank account. then out of the blue, i found a job listing for Metro and sent in an application right away. i heard back from them the day after and they were so thrilled to interview me. everyone was very welcoming and excited that i was joining the team. their main philosophy is that no matter what, they want the kids to have FUN and also teach them practical life skills. i think it will be a nurturing place for me to work. the pay is very nice, too. yay for gas and mac and cheese!

along with all of that, i start my fourth year of college on the 12th. not looking too forward to that, but at least i am NOT taking 22 hours this time! (somehow managed to get all A's and B's with 22 hours...) i will be taking 16 hours instead. i'll be working at Metro monday-friday. mornings will be spent there, the afternoons spent in class, and then the evenings back at Metro. i'll still be pretty busy, but at least i shouldn't have a huge homework load and won't have SIX finals to go crazy over. i'm taking creative writing, psychology of grief, biology, darkroom photography, and digital photography. seems decent enough. i say that now, but we'll see! i'm at least excited about all except biology. i will have two semesters left after this one. so close....

well, i figured i would give those of you who read my blog a little update. this new year seems to be starting out really great and i've been very blessed by God with absolutely everything.



jrw