Graduation for Grown-ups

This time of year is always bittersweet.  The students whom you've watched grow and mature throughout the year, or over the course of several years, have completed the necessary tasks to receive their high school diplomas.  They leave for their graduation parties, family vacations, beach week, and eventually, hopefully, college. This year's graduation exercises were especially poignant  because I felt like I was graduating along with the senior class.  Since starting high school, the chapters of my life have been written in four year increments.  Four years (essentially) at Christchurch School; four years of college, eventually graduating from the College of Charleston; four years at Charleston Collegiate.

One of the best pieces of career advice I have been given is that you know it is time to leave a place when you have either outgrown it or your vision and the institution's vision no longer coincide.  The last four years have taught me so much about who I am as an educator, a student, colleague, and friend.  They've taught me what I want in a supervisor, faculty, and in my students.  And these last four years have taught me exactly those characteristics that I do not want.  I am excited looking at what the future holds for Joseph and me as we begin a new chapter of our lives together; and I am heavy hearted when I think about the amazing people and town that we will be leaving behind.  Thank goodness for social media making the world a much smaller place!

Congratulations to all those who are graduating today, wherever you are!  You made it, you earned it, and you deserve it!

Happy Birthday, Hank!!

Happy 15th birthday to the sweetest brother I have!  This is going to be an amazing year for you!

My new way of being is of peace

 I recently reread my last blog post.  As I'm sure you are already aware, I did not post any of my deeper insights.  In all honesty, I didn't feel as though I had many deep insights over the last fourteen weeks.  I felt messy, unbalanced, often I felt crazy.  I stressed.  I stressed a lot.  And then I stressed some more.  I worried that yoga and this teacher training were not helping me become the calm, balanced, unflappable, peaceful person I wanted to be; instead, I felt like it was causing more pain, more unbalance, and more unrest.  In the midst of all this, I was offered a position teaching at a new school in a much bigger city in a new state.  I resigned from my current job.  My vacuum cleaner broke, our room was a mess, and Louis' ears are grosser than ever.  My iPhone shattered two months after I had gotten it repaired.  I had my final concert with the College of Charleston Flute Choir.  I was invited to play flute for Charleston Collegiate's Fine Arts Week.  I had five essays to write for my teacher training.  I was exhausted. I started eating whatever I wanted, and what I wanted was sugar, sugar, and more sugar.  And not the good kind, either.  And I blamed yoga.  I blamed teacher training.  I justified and rationalized until I was blue in the face and my tummy was uncomfortable and bloated.

And you know what?  I am so grateful for all of it.  I have a strong home practice, an amazing community at my studio, and best of all, I have an amazing husband and amazing family.  I could not have gotten through the last three months without all of you.  I am looking forward to working at Brandon Hall, which appears to be my dream job.  I will get to teach Spanish and French, assist music and theatre, and teach yoga!  I fixed the vacuum cleaner (and got a new "cat" out of it, haha!).  Our room is still a mess, but that will be fixed tonight!   My amazing husband found me a new iPhone the day mine broke, with a case, and the iCloud back everything up!  I played well for my final concert with the Flute Choir and Mom and e were both there to see it!!  I played the toughest movement from Bach's first Sonate for flute and harpsichord and almost nailed it (I have videos, but can't figure out how to upload them at the moment).  I got my five essays done and I am happy with them.  I'm still exhausted and still craving sugar, but I'm also craving healthy foods and am so happy I finally have more time and energy to cook weird meals like burritos, roasted brussels sprouts, and stuffed mushrooms.

As sad as it was telling my students last Friday that we're moving, their reactions were sweet.  My 8th graders were thrilled that I'd be teaching at a boarding school and began to imagine what boarding life would be like (I highly doubt any of them will actually attend, but it would be fun!).  My 7th graders were supposed to be texting in answers to check their homework, and instead texted in these responses:

Through this challenge of yoga teacher training, I have learned to compartmentalize my life.  A tough day at work doesn't mean a tough evening at home, and vice versa.  I give up self doubt and am ready for self acceptance, right now.  My new way of being is of peace.

Namaste.

Today is the day!

Today is January 25... I have been waiting for over a month for this day to arrive.  And at the same time, maybe just a very little bit, not wanting this day to arrive.  Big changes are afoot, and I'm sure all of them will be good.  Tonight at 5:45 p.m. EST I start my 200-hour yoga teacher training!!

***the crowd goes wild***

Yes, today IS the day and boy am I ever seizing it!  This is a 7-week program that will prepare me to begin teaching my very own yoga classes.  By completing this program, I will also be able to register with the Yoga Alliance for my RYT-200 certification... which will give me credit to teach yoga wherever I go.  

In case you're wondering if I'll be busy, the answer is yes.  Even though the program is only seven weeks (ha! only...), it runs every other weekend, starting tonight.  Here's a rough schedule:

Fridays 5:45 p.m. - 10:30 p.m.

Saturdays 7:30 a.m. - 7:30 p.m.

Sundays 7:30 a.m. - 7:30 p.m.

Since I'll be journaling as part of this journey, I may post a few of my better insights on here, so stay tuned!

Small Adventures

Tonight Joey and I rode our bikes to Waterfront Park for a little photography practice.  Although it was starting to get dark, it was still a great time to practice.  With the quickly fading light, I had to adjust the ISO and shutter speed frequently to adapt to the setting.  These are some of the better photos:

After a little while, we wandered over to the giant pineapple fountain.  The shutter speed was perfect at 2", but of course we could only get perfect images with a tripod... which we don't have.  However, Joey took this gorgeous shot (I have to admit, I am SUPER jealous...).
 ISO 100, shutter speed 2", f/ 2.8

 I have asked Joey if he will take some photos of me doing yoga so that I can create a business card once I become certified.  Tonight, however, I was more concerned with submitting a photo to Yoga Poses Around the World :)

 Oh yeah, in other news, we are now the proud new owners of a '73 Peugeot racing bike.  Unfortunately, the tire blew out just as we were about to set off on our adventure, so we had to content ourselves with riding our other two awesome bikes.

More photos, better photos!

I am so excited to be using my new camera!  Isabelle taught me the subtleties of ISO, f-stop, and shutter speed while she was in town, and I have been practicing LOTS.  To see more of Isabelle's awesome photography, you can go here.  She was also recently published in Vanity Fair magazine, so I am confident under her tutelage.

Of course, I think my cats are the best models.  What do you think?

Pinterest Party

I had a Pinterest party before Thanksgiving, but as is my wont, I neglected to post about it.  For those of you who do not know Pinterest, click here.  I suppose in the olden days, one might have referred to this type of party as a craft party.

I even cooked dinner from a recipe that I found on Pinterest!  You can find that recipe here.  We made salt dough ornaments that looked as though your preschooler made them, and we also opted for more grown up multi-media paintings that incorporated fabric, doilies, and of course, paint.

My painting is in the middle; Becca left before I could snag a picture of her masterpiece; my friend Jen's painting is on the left and my friend Austin's is on the right.  Austin is an art teacher, can you tell?