Tuesday Tell-All

*I’ve got three words to describe the first day of school today: Considering. Early. Retirement. Here I am, only starting my second year, and I think I’m about to be defeated and driven to insanity by a handful of particularly rogue and rambunctious 12-year-olds. *Now I’m kinda starting to get why people are always telling me …

*I had hoped that by tomorrow, I could get my big post with all of my pics and thoughts on our Missouri trip up and running, but considering my huge mess-up with when my teaching orientations actually started, all you get today are these two pictures. Maybe I’ll be ready with the rest by Thursday …

A few things on my mind: *In about 17 hours, Matt and I will be on the road to Missouri to go visit my dad. In theory, I love the idea of a road trip–trekking across the country, stopping wherever looks interesting, finding awesome little hole-in-the-ground local eateries that blow your mind. In actuality, what …

*I have recently discovered two new walking trails, and I’m super stoked—our go-to place has always been the dam just up the street from us, but I’ve always been the type that needs a lot of novelty in my life, so I’ve just been itching to get back out on these beauties (for all you …

  *Some people wonder what I do with myself since I have the whole summer free from work. Two words: bake, and play. Of course, by play, that encompasses leisure in all its forms—reading, gardening, even cleaning (on occasion). And, as far as baking goes, you can find out more about that particular joy of mine when …

  *Can I brag for a minute? I’ll just have you know that I made the BEST banana cream pie of my life the other night—seriously, it was so creamy and delicious and banana-y that I just wanted to die. The secret? Homemade whipped cream in both the pudding/filling and as a thick topping. Ah-mazing. …

  *I always have such high hopes for summer (especially because my summers consist of me not having to work and still getting paid. Score!). I always think, “I’m going to have SOOOO much time to accomplish SOOO much.” And in some ways, that’s true—I DO have quite a bit of leisure time. However, I …

  *When the school year got over, I thought to myself, “YES! Weeks and weeks of leisure and relaxation time ahead of me.” Well, although I’ve definitely had more leisure time than usual, this summer has been busy, busy, busy–between youth conference and that family reunion this last weekend and other responsibilities going on, my …