Since when did I start doing gymnastics (of all things)

My new purse is a design of Jump From Paper

Good morning! How are you?

I was up at my usual 5am this morning despite the fact that it's a Saturday morning and I have been busy trying to catch up with a myriad of things that have escaped me this week including returning to this blog!

Yesterday was the last day of the first week of school and it also happened to be the day when all of my art supplies finally arrived from Dick Blick. *seriously?* My student aide helped me to start unpacking the mountain of boxes and though I made some progress checking things in, I will be headed back into my classroom either today or tomorrow to finish it out and put things away so that I'm not starting next week with this week's work spread out all over the studio classroom.

If it's not obvious enough, I have been buried by more than just my shipment of art supply boxes. That said, I am working on making changes so that I don't have to abandon this blog.


Here's the thing: I have been an avid blogger since early 2000s when blogging wasn't even a thing for anyone to be. It is so much a part of my life and I cannot even imagine it not being a part of my life. While I could take an even longer sabbatical than what I have in the past few months from blogging, I just don't want to and I don't think (even after much prayer and meditation) that I am supposed to be doing that. Still, if I want to this site to be useful to me or anybody else, I need to keep it up and not just when inspiration hits me and when I have the time (which I never do, let's be honest). But then I realize that I actually do have the time if I CREATE the time for it and so that's what I am working hard to figure out.

So, this is me saying thank you for being patient with me thus far with the serious lack of updates and fresh content and please keep being patient with me so that I can spend just a little more time figuring out how things should be done rather right and well vs. doing it as I have been which (in my opinion) is obviously subpar and hardly providing you with what I seek and strive for in the grand scheme of things. And just so you have a better understanding of what the grand scheme of things is that I am dealing with? Here is what it looks like for this year for me and it is way more than I have ever dreamed this year would be at this stage of my life:

• Consider this my official announcement of my promotion! Last year the school's superintendent appointed me Visual Arts department head. I was honored and floored by all that this sort of thing implies my job now is. If I thought I had a lot to do before? Well... this is a whole new ball game for me.
• My school is going through re-accreditation this year and this means all sorts of things that need to be done by every staff and faculty member across ALL campuses. We have working collectively since last year on this endeavor but this year is the big one that we have been waiting for!!
• I have become a bit of a creative "think tank-er" for my school and I have been working closely with communications and development in the central office in order to more creatively and beautifully carve out the niche, establish the identity, and propel the vision for my school. This means regularly occurring meetings with folks above me AND a professional development field trip that I pitched (and still can't believe was really approved!!) and am spearheading to happen for a handful of folks in both administration, academics, and operations.
• I am finishing my MEd over the next two months and I am praying that I can find the resources (read: money and time) to be able to "walk" and receive my degree at the end of next Spring when graduation ceremonies happen. I wouldn't do this but my daughter has been asking about it for weeks and she wants to see me do this. My husband and I both feel like I should do it if only to show my daughter how important it is to fully finish whatever your heart inspires you to start.
• I am still teaching full-time (though they did give me one extra planning period to lighten my load)
• I officially have a kindergartener and my husband is now working in administration (in the public school sector)
• Since my "boy doll" making happened this past summer, I have sold eight of the total 16 I designed and made and my Etsy shop is still open with the remaining nine that I think might sell by Christmas at the latest. Sales have slowed but it's happening that I am shipping off at least one every other week. Not bad.

So... obviously I have a lot going on. *shrug* This is my life and I have actually always been used to being so busy it's just that what I am busy with changes as I enter different stages of my life (and career for that matter). People ask me all the time how I do it and honestly? I don't know. What I do know is that I do not clean my house/car or do laundry or cook well-balanced meals for my family nearly as much or as best as I probably should. I mean, something's gotta give, right?

I think the real answer or "secret" to all that I do is the fact that I am a firm believer in a God who supernaturally gives me the energy, time, space, and inspiration to get any of it done. Seriously. In my own experience and understanding as a Christian, I believe that God is sovereign and knows NO bounds of what and how things should be done and this is what helps me to accomplish everything that I do and I mean EVERYTHING (Phillipians 4:13). This past week especially has proven to me that this Truth is the one and only thing I can rely on and fully believe more than anything else of this world.

So. Today I am doing MAJOR strategic planning about how to go about, well... everything. I have spent an immense amount of time studying scripture and praying lately and that has given me all sorts of peace and definitive understanding on different levels of how and what should happen to be a better "gymnastics" in and of what I have on my metaphorical plate. I am backlogged but then, I am always somehow backlogged and I am not stressing about it as much as I was two days ago and the two days before that when I was literally crying my own rivers of self-pity. What it comes down to for me is acceptance of mercy and grace (for myself) and being transparent about what is going on. That's the reason for this long posting and explanation.

If you have left a comment of this blog and I have not responded, thanks so much and I am working on getting through the last emails I have to write in order to respond to your comment more personally than I otherwise would. Also, if you have become a recent follower or visitor of this blog? Thanks so much for that! Your support means the world to me! I don't monetize this blog though I have gotten some unique sort of "kick backs" because of it (more of this in future blog postings).

From here on out I am thinking that I am going to adhere to a twice or thrice weekly update of this blog so that you all know what and when to expect content from me. I don't know about adhering to specific themes necessarily as I have seen some people do with their blogsites but I guess that's a possibility like anything else. I am sort of leaning away from it as I feel like the element of surprise is always kind of fun (in terms of content) and I also feel like not doing themes leaves the door open for me to be a little more personal and relational and that's something I strive for in all areas of my life.

And I guess that's it for now. Thanks so much for reading this far if you have and if you are the praying type, I would covet any and all the prayers you could say on my behalf. Know that I have been praying for and over all connections that I have been making by way of this blogsite (since it was started even!) and I am so grateful for the paths that have been carved because of it.

See you hopefully sooner rather than later! Hope your school year is kicking off just as beautifully as mine has so far.