A Post

Hello and hugs to all!

It has been too long since I posted, I don't even know where to start.  I feel like I constantly go through cycles in my life where I get too insanely busy and then I go through a recovery period and then I get busy again.  I feel like I'm in recovery period now.  I need to learn how to balance busyness...this is something I'm working on.  But enough of that.  Here I am.

I thought I'd post a picture of myself since it's been awhile since I've put one of myself on here or on facebook.  I'm just chilling on the couch this Sunday afternoon with Beatrix while Justin goes for a run.  I love a quiet house on a Sunday afternoon.

The picture on the wall behind me was new this summer.  I got a groupon for a 2x3 foot canvas photo, it was $50 instead of $300 and I had birthday money to use.   The picture is one  I took of a volcano near my house in the Philippines.  I'd been wanting to do this for a while, but it was out of my price range.  I am so happy with the results.  The first time I saw it I got all choked up because it was such a beautiful reminder of my childhood in the Philippines.  

I just finished reading all of your lovely posts.  Becca I want to especially thank you for your 'Morning' post and the verse from 2nd Corinthians.  Lately I've been getting very bogged down in the stresses and irritations that I sometimes forget that life is bigger than work.  The school I work for moved to a new location about a month ago (one reason for my busyness).  It has been super stressful for me because there were a lot of things not yet ready.  My classroom was missing a wall, so there'd be a lot of extra noise, and we didn't have proper erasers the first few days.   There are still some ongoing issues; the whiteboards still aren't working (they used a special paint), I started teaching a new class and have problems with errors in the material, I was given the use of an IPAD and am expected to use it for teaching (big learning curve), I've also been asked to maintain blogs for my classes and I've also been helping another teacher who is teaching the same grammar class as I do in the afternoon... and so I get a lot of questions during my breaks and lunch.  Plus there are some unpleasant office politics going on...  *sigh*  I don't want to complain, but after typing this all out, I can see that work has been a big drain.   

I snap alot at home and I get irritated easily.  I hate being this way and I want it to change.  I still love my actual work, being in the classroom with my students and talking about English is awesome, I just don't appreciate the extra stress around that lately. 

On a positive note, I had a great conversation at church today with a woman that was visiting (I had met her before, she knows Justin).  I was so blessed by our talk because when she realized that I was an MK, she totally got me.  We started talking about identity and she knew a lot about what it was like to have issues related to that.  Sometimes I still struggle talking about where I'm from.  A few weeks ago I was on a neighborhood tour with my school and our guide had everyone go around and say where we were from.  She accidentally missed me, but I was thankful because I had that indecision that I often get thinking about whether or not I should talk about the Philippines and try and explain myself or get away with saying Oakville.  Today I was so blessed to talk to someone who understood where I was from!  We talked about the missionary sub-culture too, it just felt so good. 

It also feels so good to be positing again.  I want to post more because I feel so much love and support from you ladies.  I love your understanding and that there is no pressure to post and that it's ok that I haven't posted in ages.  I love you guys!!!