Life of a 1st grade teacher

To say that life is crazy right now would be an understatement.  I am working 40 hours a week and not getting paid for it (Internships are aweeessome). I am taking an online class. I work about 10 hours a week in the nursery at church. Yet with all of that, I am LOVING life. I wouldn't change a thing. As much as my 19 6-year-olds test my patience and make me want to pull my hair out, I love them all. They beg me to take them home with me, be their mom, tell me I'm the best teacher ever, and hug me non-stop. I love teaching them something new and seeing their improvements. I DON'T love all the unnecessary crap, and yes it is crap, that teachers have to do. Just let me teach. It is pretty ridiculous what they expect of teachers these days. I am learning a lot through my internship, but one of the the things I am almost sure of is that I don't want to teach in Gainesville. Alachua county has some interesting requirements for teachers that other counties do not have. But I may only get offered a job in Gainesville, which in that case I would take. But come April I will definitely be looking for jobs elsewhere :) I'm not thinking about that yet though because I can't even do anything until I graduate!

So teaching basically consumes my life right now. I come home and work on lesson plans, make smart-board lessons, or do homework for my class. Whenever I have free time on the weekends I am at the Gator football games or at church :) On my days off all I want to do is sit on my couch and relax! I am slowly gaining more energy though.  The first week of interning I went to bed by 8:45 every night! Now it's more like 9:30 ;) I also have a problem. I cannot sleep in anymore. On Saturdays I roll over to check the time on my phone and it's oh about 5:45 every time. I tell myself "you have got to be kidding me" So I toss around for a couple hours and am usually up by 7:30. It is really crappy. Oh well!! I usually get up and get stuff done around the house so I can relax later!

Another big thing that is happening in my life is weight watchers again! Round 2! I was trying to do it on my own, but it just wasn't working. I would lose like a pound here and then gain 3, lose .5...obviously not a good cycle. So I decided I needed more accountability and weight watchers worked well for me before so I was going to try again! I only got the online WW, so I don't go to meetings, but I do my own little weigh ins on Saturday's. I have been trying to work out more now that I am getting more energy and adjusting to my hours a little better. Now this will come as a real shocker to most of you, but I have actually gotten up at 5am and worked out before work. I know, mind-blowing. I am NOT a morning person AT ALL. When I wake up I don't want anyone talking to me for at least an hour! haha Seriously. BUT when you have to be bright and chipper with 6 year olds at 7:45 in the morning, you learn to become a morning person. So sometimes I just have to get the workout over in the morning. Hopefully I will stick to WW better this time because I am paying for it with my own money :) I also started reading this book called Made to Crave. It's about replacing your cravings for food with God. I am learning that I rely on food more than I rely on God. Food has been my comfort, joy, and reward. Instead of turning to food when I am stressed or sad, I should turn to God. Seems like a no-brainer, but sometime it really isn't. I never thought about it but the lady talks about how the devil uses food as a temptations for women. Look at the first sin, Eve ate what she wasn't supposed to eat. The devil used food to tempt her. He could have used anything else, but food is obviously something difficult for women. She could have had any other food she wanted in the garden but she wanted that apple. Sound like anything you've ever done? I want that chocolate chip cookie. It looks so good and I know it will just satisfy everything I am wanting right now. But clearly it is not good for me and the devil just twists my mind into thinking it will be okay if I eat it. The book suggests to pray whenever you have a craving for something you know you shouldn't eat. The other day I really wanted an Oreo. I had one on my desk during lunch and I sat and stared at it weighing my options to see if it was worth it or not. Finally I practically yelled at myself no and threw it in the trash! haha I threw it away and prayed for God to take away these cravings and prayed that I would crave to be with him more than I would crave that Oreo. It may seem silly to pray about not eating an Oreo, but it's sometime the little silly things that really work! Another thing I am learning from this book is to write scriptures on index cards and put them up all over my house and car and read them whenever I feel like giving in or giving up. One of my favorite is  "everything is permissible, but not everything is beneficial." It really helps to quote this to yourself when you want what you know you shouldn't have. Sure I could have that Oreo and I could think of a way that it would be permissible, but would it really benefit me? Is it good for my body? Will it satisfy my hunger? No and No. So yeah, basically I am learning a lot :)

This turned out to be WAY longer than I thought it would be and my roomie just asked "are you still blogging over there" I think that means it is time to sign off :) I am now going to go to bed at 8:30 :) Maybe a 5am workout! :) Have a great week ya'll :)