I've Got Sunshine On a Cloudy Day

Am I the only one? Thank God it's MONDAY! I admit it... I like Mondays better than I like Fridays. Ready? Here we go. When I wake up on Monday mornings I feel extremely refreshed after spending a day or two with only a few responsibilities to complete, none of which involve whining teenagers speaking incorrect grammar. Jumping out of bed early on Monday morning comes much easier than jumping out of bed on Thursday, Friday, or even early on a Saturday. After spending many, many hours with my students and coming up with engaging lessons to keep everyone challenged yet not overwhelmed on their particular academic level is downright exhausting, and that doesn't include the staff meetings, planning time, testing, grading, duties, on and on and on and on. By the time I get to Friday, all I can think about is my bed. The thought of happy hour with friends or co-workers comes to mind occasionally, but following that thought is the thought of my sweatpants and hot tea, which is much m...

Aside from optimism and positivity, a topic that I enjoy writing about is friendship. One of the most blessed gifts I have in my life is my friends. Near and dear and even far away, and as cliche as it sounds, my friends simply make my life. I am lucky enough to have friends that I adore, friends that have dreams of all sizes and hearts that are larger than life. A good, loyal, unconditionally loving friend is hard to find. I'm blessed to have had a small handful of them since my childhood, and even more blessed to have added to the group once I entered college. My first college friends were the ones that stuck around the longest, and will stick together for life. A revelation of just how luck I am came just ten days ago. My birthday was a surprisingly fun day this year, despite the fact that I wasn't exactly excited to turn 27. I kept it low key, spending a quiet night in with my best friend of all, and visiting friends in New York the next day. However, it turned into a fa...

The new year is upon us, January is here with a kind reminder of who she is, and my arms are already sore from shoveling. I am healthy, able, and willing to get outside, to turn my cheeks rosy and to clear the snow away. A snow day Friday is the best kind of snow day. Three holidays have gone by since my last post, the three biggest of the year perhaps. I was surrounded by loved ones, by new faces and old favorites, and even by some through the screen of my iPhone. It is indeed a crazy time of the year. I always believe I'm done with my Christmas shopping rather early, but alas, that's never the case and I'm running out into the wild with the other last minute shoppers. I made sure to take full advantage of my days off from work and spend a little time focusing on myself on the yoga mat. Through the craziness that is the holidays there is a place I can go for instant peace and quiet, for friendly faces and a reminder that it's okay to focus on me and do something sel...

Another thing that I am extremely grateful for, at this age and stage in my life, are my grandparents. Quite simply, I'm lucky to have them. Unfortunately, my mom's mom and my dad's dad passed away from different illnesses only a few years apart from each other when I was in elementary school. I do have fond, positive memories with both of them, and pictures to last a lifetime as well. But the years that followed are the ones that are fuzzy. Being a defiant pre-teen and eventually a moody teenager, I don't really recall ever being excited to spend time with my grandparents. They were at all the important celebrations and holidays, so I would talk and visit with them then. It kept me happy and we kept in touch. Then college came, and time with grandparents while I was home on breaks meant time away from my friends who were also home on break. I managed to see them for the holidays, and they did always bring that comforting smile of home back to my face. But I must admit,...

This kid gets it. He is the happiest, cutest, most inspirational little one out there. Check out the video below, which will definitely leave you smiling, and challenge yourself to say these things more! Kid President's 20 Things We Should Say More Often

According to the amazingly wonderful people at Soul Pancake , those of us who are the happiest in life are the ones who say thank you the most and show the most gratitude. As I just prepared myself to sit down and write tonight, I realized something. As a lover of writing, an English teacher, and a positive person, my favorite word has always been serendipity - making fortunate discoveries by accident. It's a beautiful word, it has a charming look to it, and it's most certainly fun to say. However, I just decided that serendipity is now tied with my second favorite word and I suddenly have two favorite words. Gratitude. There are many different definitions, all touching on the same idea but lining their words up in different poetic ways. For example, "an emotion expressing appreciation for what one has," " thankfulness, gratefulness, or appreciation, feeling or attitude in acknowledgment of a benefit that one has received or will receive," or simply, ...

Things I'm thankful for today: 1. Arriving home safely from NY last night 2. Waking up this morning 3. The sun rising on my way to work 4. The ability to see, smell, taste, feel, and hear. 5. The ability to breathe, think, and love. While driving to New York yesterday morning and back home last night, I found my mind wandering to a variety of locations. I was thinking about some of the things in life I'm most afraid of- what I worry about and show concern for on a pretty regular basis. I was thinking about how beautiful the trees looked as the sun shined through their yellow leaves as we are now in the second half of my favorite season. I was thinking about how lucky I am to have the ability to do so many things that really shouldn't be taken for granted- including the ability to drive, to move my muscles, to breathe, to think and understand, (or try to understand) to empathize, to wonder, to believe, to show faith, and the strongest of all, to love. Love is patie...