What goes around comes around...

Dear Ms. Hartwig,

Remember when I was in third grade and I had a favorite teacher whose name was Ms. Reed? Remember? She was soooooo cool!! She had the "IT" factor without even knowing she had it...She made learning fun and she wore such cool clothes. She was so chill. On casual Fridays, she'd wear overalls. And on one of those Fridays, there was in grasshopper in the room and she didn't freak out about it. She didn't kill it either. Instead, she caught it with her BARE hands and then released it to the outdoors where it belonged. I thought - WOW, I really want to be like her!!

And then...well, I'm not sure what the circumstances were (except that you were new to town from Iowa), but you took over. And you were completely different from her. You wore skirt suits. You wore hose. You always wore heels! And...You never DARED to wear a pair of overalls. I hated that! I thought you were too uptight and I thought you wore too much make-up! And I made fun of your hair that didn't seem too move...

Yeah...that was my perspective as a third grader. But now that I'm in your shoes, I just want to say I'm so sorry for giving you hell. I remember the torture I caused you! I remember you asking me to go back to my seat so nicely and my stubborn self decided: I think I'll just stay here...on the floor and I will not move! Remember? I do! You literally had to drag me by the arm to my seat. And I remember the entire class gave you such a difficult time that you had us eat a silent lunch in the classroom with the Assistant Principal standing beside you! There was no escaping! I don't remember when I started to take you seriously, but I do remember I did end up liking you.

I've been thinking a lot about you! I've been wondering if we wore you out so bad that you took naps as soon as you got home? Did you wonder if you were going to make it? Did you talk so horribly about me to your whoever your go-to person was? Did you see any progress in our (okay...MY) behavior? Did your third grade team give you suggestions on how to handle us? I hope I didn't lead you to cynicism.

Thanks for being a brave soul to take a class mid-year. Thanks for having the patience (even if it was just surface level) for me. And thanks for putting me in my place. I really appreciate it...now more than ever.

Your fellow colleague,
Ms. Márquez

P.S. YES...I still wonder about your hair, but I'll cut you some slack because it was the EIGHTIES!

The First Day...2.5 weeks later

So, I started working as a teacher February 10. And, the day before that I was a nervous wreck. Sort of...Okay, I'll be honest and say I had trouble sitting still that day and trouble sleeping that night. Nonetheless, I woke up at the crack of dawn...I got ready for the day and started driving to my first job as a TEACHER!!

I got there an hour early, so I got back into my car in search for breakfast. Once I got back to the school, I went straight to the front office to wait for direction. I waited there for what seemed like an eternity. I was waiting for someone to tell me where to go...

While I waited, a hall monitor came in to talk to the AP about a kid in the hall and while I'm not entirely sure what this hall monitor said, I'm certain the response from the AP was "OH REALLY?!" The AP walked out into the hallway and marched this kid into the office to call this kid's parents to pick him up. He asked this kid to sit down and his response was repetitive: "I AIN'T GONNA SIT DOWN, CAUSE I DON'T WANNA SIT DOWN!" This kid got suspended from school.

I thought to myself, "Wow!! Whoever has this student really has their hands full!"

OH THE IRONY! Welcome, Miss Marquez to your first day of teaching! Meet YOUR first grade student!! You WILL have your hands full!! But we wish you the best! GOOD LUCK!!

I'm still laughing!

HIP HIP HOORAY!!!

(me and the contract!)

I am officially an elementary teacher in the 7th largest district of the United States! My first day is this coming Wednesday! Pray for me because this girl is going to need it!

BUT RIGHT NOW LET'S CELEBRATE BECAUSE THE LORD HAS RESPONDED FAVORABLY TO THE DESIRES OF MY HEART!!!!

I'm feeling a bit like this:

HAHAHA! My cup overflows!

Just when I think...

...that there's no way I'm going to survive this year financially, I'm reminded of Him who is in control of it all. Just when I start to believe that I really screwed myself over, there is HOPE!

September 11, I left a decent job. Did I LOVE it? No. Actually not at all. (Well, if we're talking the last 1.5 years of 3). I learned how to do the work by doing it with some but little training, and did it well. I learned a lot about working under pressure and producing the impossible with an amazing team (OMG - Looking back, how we did it is beyond me!!). I learned how to ask questions (I ask more questions than I did even then). I learned that I do indeed have a back bone (at one point I thought back bone days were over).

But I left. I left for MANY reasons, but mostly to pursue my dreams of becoming a teacher. I would leave most nights with the sun setting on the horizon (I'm not making this gushy - I'm being honest). Looking into the sunset on a daily basis made me think of myself in my 60's, 70's, 80's. I imagined myself sitting on a porch in a rocking chair chatting with people I love with the sun setting looking back at what my life is like RIGHT NOW and wondered if I'd be happy knowing that although I felt like I had a decent job that my dreams were going down the toilet. Would I be okay looking back on the years of my prime? The answer was always: No. These thoughts are haunting! Seriously haunting.

A bit over four months later, I'm here. Sometimes I wonder if I made the right decision (Oh Doubt, how you get the better of me at times!). Some may say it was a dumb choice because of the economic crisis, etc. But I was made to teach. I know that I know that I know! I know it to my core! I know it in my BONES! I have lots to learn even as a teacher but I know that I was made for this and wasting precious time was not longer an option for me. When I start getting into a funk I remember that although it may not exactly be my timing, I will be just fine.

I am "employed." However, I'm not working every day and each day that I don't get to work I wonder if I'm going to make it. But one thing is for sure. I am happier. I am happy to know that I'm pursuing the dreams from the age of SEVEN!

So...I'm saying hold on tight. And let your time with Jesus be sweet! These are the times that grow our relationship with Him.

I am still waiting. I am still hopeful!

"You have listened to fears, Child," said Aslan. "Come, let me breathe on you. Forget them. Are you brave again?" --Aslan to Susan, Prince Caspian, C.S. Lewis

"I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread. They are always generous and lend freely; their children will be blessed." --Psalms 37:25-26.

JANUARY

1. I cannot, absolutely not, believe that there are only ten days left to the first month of the year!
2. This girl has been working on her fitness and has reached her first goal! Can I get a WOOT WOOT?! Gonna keep at it!
   
3. Kids keep me on my toes! You get kids in space, kids smack talking to each other, and kids kissing...As a teacher (or substitute teacher) you have to have what we call WITHITNESS! Alertness beyond measure. Discernment to figure out their next move before they take it. An OCEAN of compassion...that and patience! All that while TEACHING a concept! Prayer: Dear God, I cannot teach without your help! Please be near!
   
4. My feet have been begging for mercy. I hope that their cuteness doesn't go away because I'm not being very nice. Just say no to SHOES that hurt!!
   
5. I've socialized quite a bit, I've also rested a ton more than I imagined. It's pretty sad that despite the rest, I've managed to get sick again!! I'm a'ight! I'm a'ight!
6. The Chevron Houston Marathon is one of my favorite things (as a spectator of course!!). I got to cheer on my friend Jeannie who ran her second marathon. KUDOS!!
7. I haven't been GeoCaching yet this month. I need to make some time for it!!
8. Uhm...The reading is going strong! A list for the month will follow.
9. The next ten days are full!
   
10. THE END!

P.S. I know I'm a bit early with the Valentine's header, but can I just say that I really like hearts, and red, and pink, and stickers, and GLITTER!! HA HA! I am indeed a GIRL!

P.S.S. Chivalry is INDEED ALIVE and well. I just wanted to give kudos to the dudes that practice it and hope to the girls that desire it!

Oooooh, And one more thing! My friend Laurie shared this on her blog and I can't help but share the wealth! (haha!)

2010 - The Year of Conquering

The year of the Learning Curve (2009) was just that...A lot of learning and starting from ZERO! But it's been amazing nonetheless and 2010 can only get better!! I'm VERY excited about start of this new year. Excitement ABOUNDS!!

Theme verse for 2010:
"...in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us."
Romans 8:37

Theme picture for 2010:
(yes...Aslan!!)
Theme song for 2010: I haven't picked one. ;o)
(2009 was Jon Foreman's Your Love is Strong)

Goals for 2010:

1. Continue Reading
   I love it! I remember having a conversation YEARS AGO with someone about books. I told her that I really like them, but never seemed to have time for them. She answered, "Well, we all have 24 hours in a day and I read every night. You make time for it." And I am thankful she said that because back then I didn't think it was that easy. It's true for a lot of things!
   
2. Teach
   I'm really close I can taste it. I have LOVED every minute of the time I've had off. I can't say it enough. You couldn't pay me to go back to where I was. I'm in a much happier, healthier state and I'm more than ready to teach!!
3. Geocache
   Back in August, I saw a group of boy scouts geocaching and I loved it. I said I'd do it but I haven't. So I promised a cousin of mine that I'd go on a bear hunt once a month and keep my geocaching profile updated.
   
4. Go on a Mission Trip
   My dreams have always been to teach and use the summers for mission trips. So, why not start this year. I'll have more information on this soon.
   
5. Lose Weight
   It's on "the list" every year...and I wouldn't have it any other way! I've recently made some progress and hope to continue into the next. I feel GREAT!! Thanks to the Wii Fit Plus, I am tracking the progress daily and it's ADDICTING!!
   

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Imogene had the baby doll but she wasn't carrying it in the way she was supposed to, cradled in her arms. She had it slung up over her shoulder, and before she put it in the manger she thumped it twice on the back.
I heard Alice gasp and she poked me. "I don't think it's very nice to burp the baby Jesus," she whispered, "as if he had colic." Then she poked me again. "Do you supposed he could have had colic?"
I said, "I don't know why not," and I didn't. He could have had colic, or been fussy, or hungry like any other baby. After all, that was the whole point of Jesus - the he didn't come down on a cloud like something out of "Amazing Comics," but that he was born and lived...a real person.

-Barbara Robinson
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever