Paper Anniversary - Continued

Best.  Anniversary.  Ever.  

In my last post I left you hanging, dear reader!  Joseph found all of the clue for his scavenger hunt: 

CLUE #1: check the blog for important info!  We both grew up in Virginia, and I have several stickers on my guitar case from... Virginia!  We spend the rest of the morning until brunch singing and playing guitar together; so much fun, so romantic, and certainly a core of our relationship!

CLUE #2: we'll go to brunch and then you'll see who has your clue #3... it was... wait for it... UNCLE BAYNE!!!

CLUE #3: for clue #4 we'll have to stop by your favorite store.  We arrived at the Charleston Beer Exchange whereupon I gave Joseph a hand made gift card (because it had to be paper!).  Oh, and gave him...

CLUE #4: We'll go back to our alma mater where we first met, but not the right department.  It is our PAPER ANNIVERSARY after all!

Lucky for us, the Halsey Institute had an exhibition as part of Spoleto that was sculptural art made from all sorts of books!  The above photo was taken at the Addlestone Library.  The work is interactive, and it is a book Zen garden.  Perhaps the exhibition was for Spoleto, but we liked to think that C of C put it all together for our first anniversary :)  And it was here that Joseph also received

CLUE #5: One more stop before we head home... but only because I need air for my tire!  I had originally intended for us to do the whole scavenger hunt by bicycle; unfortunately, the weather did not get on board with my plan and it kept raining intermittently throughout the day.  Anyway, the final stop was Affordabike, Joseph's favorite place to take his bike in for tune ups and to get neat gadgets and accoutrements for it.  Again, he received another little hand made gift card from me :)

When we got home, this is what I found waiting for me: 

Oh yes!  My dear husband had created a little scavenger hunt for me, too!  We went to my favorite store in Charleston, Anthropologie, and to my second favorite, HarrisTeeter!  However, we had to hurry home because time was running out for us to get ready for dinner at The Macintosh: 

Overall, an amazing day!  Tomorrow I will fill you in on our great adventures in Atlanta!  

xoxo

Paper Anniversary

To my amazing husband on our first anniversary.  I love you more today than ever.  And since this is our paper anniversary, I wanted to do something special and a little different.  So, in the vein of the main character of one of our favorite shows, I have created a little scavenger hunt for us today.  You can find the second clue where we both grew up.

I'll update the blog again tonight or early tomorrow morning for you, dear reader, to let you know all we did.  I know what you're thinking, too: "Gasp! THREE days in a row!?"  Yep, now that it's summer, I want to do this blog right.  Wish our valiant hero, ahem, my husband, the best of luck on his adventure today!

When are we moving?

For the last month, we've been telling the world that we'll be moving to Atlanta when our lease expires on July 9.  However, Joseph and I both received an email yesterday from the building manager asking if we were planning on renewing our lease, since we never responded to the letter they left at our door on the first of May.  We never received any such letter.  I visited the office and told them we never received the letter.  The receptionist looked in our file and told me that since they had put a copy in the file, we had to have received the letter.  She then told me that the building manager had also mailed us a copy.  We never received any such letter.  Unlike any other apartment building in the developed world, Sergeant Jasper requires 60 days notice of vacating the premises.  So now we are stuck here until the end of July.  This has made our plans slightly more difficult.  

As frustrated as we were, Joseph and I realized that this may actually be a good thing for multiple reasons.  We no longer have to rush to pack up the whole apartment during the middle two weeks of June.  We now have time to sell items on eBay.  We are going to team up with our friends Becca and Will who have a house in N. Charleston and have a yard sale for anything that is too good for the thrift store, but not good enough for eBay.  And we have more time to be with Papa, Aunt Beka, Uncle Bayne and Aunt Lynda and John.  We have more time to be with our friends.  And Joseph can work for another month.

Meanwhile, do you remember where you were a year ago today?  We do!

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!