A Glimpse of Our First Year...

Grateful for Military

Tonight, Chris and I enjoyed an hour of YouTube videos of surprise military homecomings.  We both cried through every video!  We are so grateful for the men and women who serve this great nation, and we are grateful for their families who support them day in and day out.

Blessings in Lessons

I don't even know how to express in words what I am thinking right now, other than, I am so glad I made the decision to leave a very toxic situation and return to teaching.  For the last 7 months, I've been working in a very different environment, with people who see a balanced perspective on life.  What teachers do is life altering and life changing, yet, it doesn't consume us.  Teachers understand that in order to be effective at what we do, and in order to help our students to the best of our abilities, we must first take care of ourselves, and help take care of each other.  With out that mindset and attitude, we would never survive a year of teaching 150 kids every day.  We are not only teaching content, we are teaching culture, appropriate manners/behavior, work habits...we are helping them deal with their different life circumstances, which are very different from student to student.  College coaching is not life altering or life changing.  It is important, however, because without college athletics, athletes would not have the opportunity to get a good education while doing something they love, and for many athletes, it pays for their education, so those who can not afford college have that door opened up to them.  But when it gets to a point where your job is expected to take precedence over your family, your personal life, and anything not related to it, it becomes unbalanced, toxic and dangerous.  I don't know if I would've realized what was happening if I hadn't had some sense of what my priorities are.  I'm grateful to my parents who taught me from an early age about what things in life are important, and what things in life are just....things.   I'm also grateful to an awesome life coach, who had worked with me during my last two years at GW.  She helped me keep a clear perspective, she helped me find ways to better handle the toxic environment, and she helped me give me the strength to stand up for myself in the times that were needed.

Spring Came and Went....

Baseball, Flat Stanley, teaching, soccer, emergency trip home for mom, moving....this has all happened in the last month!  Time has flown by.

Baseball ended last night.  The team made it to the A10 tournament just coming short of making it to the semi-final game.  For the first time in 10 years, the program recorded 31 wins.  Chris is still in shock mode of "is it really over?"  Thankfully, his boss gave him the day off today, so we were able to visit Arlington Cemetery where there are flags posted at every grave.  We both love going to Arlington to pay our respects and honor those men and women who have and do serve our country. Chris also enjoys taking pictures of the city views and also the different sites at Arlington.

We have moved and we love our new place!  We are still in Alexandria, but now in a townhome and our deck is right next to a little man-made lake.  It is so quiet and peaceful.  Chris loves to grill on a weekly (sometimes bi-weekly) basis.  We are still in the middle of unpacking, but slowly getting settled.  We decided to decorate our new place with the photographs Chris has taken.  Chris is especially excited about his mancave....yes, he has a mancave.  It's in the basement.  For his birthday, I got him a little mini-fridge to keep his treats in so he has something to snack on while in his man cave!  The weekend we moved, Chris was in Rhode Island with baseball, so I hired movers.  They were AWESOME.  I went with a company called Two Marines Moving.  Most of their employees are current members of the military or veterans.  They were excellent and efficient, and though it was weird not really helping move stuff, it was nice to have it done for us!

How could I forget the Cherry Blossoms?  Need these pictures need explanation?  Well, on one thing....yes.  Flat Stanley was visiting us from Tucson, AZ in April, so we took him along with us.  He was quite popular!

Finally, an update on my mom and my job.  My mom is doing much better.  Kevin flew in the night before I left and stayed with her through the weekend.  Doctors say she is healing really well and she is back to her normal activities.  The week I returned from helping my mom, I was so busy finishing packing for the move...and I was exhausted...but in all that craziness, my principal offered me a job to stay on at Twain next year.  I'll most likely be teaching a 7th/8th split schedule, meaning teaching English for both grade levels, which I am totally fine with.  It is a relief to have secured a job for next year!

It's been a crazy month, but things are slowing down.  Baseball is over, and my coaching ends in two weeks, and then school will be over shortly after that.  We will have a couple weeks with some downtime, then I'll start teaching summer school, and then Chris goes back to his regular work schedule.

The Whirlwind....

The last 36 hours have been a whirlwind.  Mom had surgery yesterday morning.  Doctors went in to remove a benign tumor from her parathyroid, but ended up finding a 2nd tumor!  It was "hidden" and so the doctors literally had to search for it to find it!

On Monday night, I called Mom to wish her luck and she was telling me in a little more detail what the doctors were going to do.  I said, "Mom, who is staying with you overnight after your surgery?"  And she said, "no one!  I'm going to take care of myself!"  Um....no.  I went into a slight panic. Being in Virginia, not having a ton of money to just buy a plane ticket on the fly, and no knowing whether or not I could get off work, I was a little stressed.

I decided to fast on Tuesday.  Fasting is something we are encouraged to do in the LDS Church to bring us closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.  We can fast for thanks, for answers to our questions or problems, for faith, to help someone in need, really we can fast...for anything!  I just prayed to know how Mom could get the help she needed in those couple of days after surgery!  She should not be by herself!

Tuesday morning, I was talking to a teacher about the situation and the thought came to mind, "I bet I could get a flight out to California today!  I wonder how much it would cost..."  I checked Southwest, $550.  Not bad.  Then I started thinking...what if I could find a flight using my miles and pay for half in miles and half in money...I think I could afford that.  I looked on United, and it would be 25,000-50,000 miles, depending on when I fly...but 2-3 stops!  EEK!  I looked on Delta.  Several flights for 25,000 miles!  I found one that would leave at 5:30pm on Tuesday (last night).  I booked it to stay through Thursday but was able to change it to stay until Friday.  I ran around during 1st period tracking down administrators to get permission to leave.  They didn't even hesitate..."Marla, just go.  Take care of your family...take the rest of the week."  So the rest of the morning was spent doing sub plans, paperwork, logistics, and grades were due!  I finally left school by 12:30pm.  I went home, cleaned our apartment (as much as I had time for), packed, and left for the airport.

At the airport, I bumped into the Lone Peak High School chamber singers...that is where I taught high school!  I saw one of my dear co-workers, Kathy Taylor.  It was a brief, but very fun 2-3 minutes that we had to quickly chat before she boarded her flight.

At the time my flight was supposed to board, an announcement came over the PA that there was a mechanical problem....every time I've been on a plane when there's a "mechanical problem," that flight never took off.   I looked at alternate flights in case we were delayed past my connection.  But the flights started disappearing...so I just decided to jump on another flight so I could get home.  At 5:45pm, I changed my flight to a 6pm flight to Atlanta, and then Atlanta to L.A.  Luckily the gate was right next to mine, and I walked to the counter, picked up my boarding pass and got on the plane.
In Atlanta, I found out that my mom was staying at the hospital...so I arrived at the hospital at 1:30am (4:30am Eastern time).  We are still at the hospital waiting for the doctor to come check to see how she is doing.

Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers...that is evident from this experience.  Everything fell into place and SO many people helped me be able to make the trip out here to help my mom.

Chris has been so amazing through this.  Yesterday morning I told him I was scared, and he just hugged me and told me it would be ok.  He is home getting some packing done, in the middle of baseball season, so we can be ready to move next weekend.  He has checked in with me...he's just been a sweetheart.  I'm so blessed!

My mom is supposed to rest her throat over the next couple of days.  You can email her and text her, but no phone calls until Friday, please!

Baseball, Photos, Projects!

Baseball is in full swing.  They are 7-5 overall, and still going strong with the beards. There was an article in the Washington Post about their beards....you can go to it here:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/dc-sports-bog/wp/2015/02/24/george-washington-baseball-team-embraced-no-shave-policy-during-the-offseason/

Chris is in California this week with the baseball team.  My mom went to their game against Long Beach State on Wednesday, and of course....Chris gets a goodie bag!!!! Yesterday the team went to the Santa Monica Pier and this weekend they are playing Cal State Northridge.  My brother, Scott, and his family went to the game today, and after the game, my nephew, Kaleb, ran to the fence and started calling out, "hey Uncle Chris!" to all the boys because they all have beards and all look alike right now!  Chris snuck up behind my family and surprised them!

Chris has taken his hobby of photography to new levels.  It has been so fun to watch him taking pictures, editing them posting them, and being so creative with all of this!  We created a website showcasing his pictures.  The link is ctdpix.com....check it out!  We have also made mini-dates watching sunsets, or stopping at the monuments before work on my snow days.  He also went to Arlington Cemetery while I was coaching, and during a snowstorm last week, Chris went down to the National Mall after work to take pictures!

Now on to projects....I'm making tshirt blankets!!!!!  SIX t-shirt blankets to be exact!  One from Utah State, one from LPHS (the high school where I taught English and coached soccer and track in Utah), one of my club and camps, and other random little things I did while I was in Utah, and two blankets from my travels.  I don't own a sewing machine, so I am looking into borrowing one, and I'm just doing this a little bit at a time.  My goal this weekend is to get the shirt squares cut so I have that done and I can free up some of this space that all these shirts are taking on the floor of our apartment!  I figured, since Chris is gone this week, it was the best week to make a mess and start to tackle this project!  I've wanted to do this for SO long!  I'll update as I move along!

Why I Really Left...

I read a great article today about a CEO of a company who just had her first child, and she realized that all of the judgements she had on mothers she worked with or interviewed, were in fact wrong.  Family didn't come first...why would it?  She was single.  But then she got married and had a child...and that changed everything.  She understood the adjustments her coworkers made to work a full day and be able to leave early enough to pick up their children, she came to understand why they didn't show up for happy hour, and she realized that mothers were the people getting it done.

It is called:  Female Company President:  I'm Sorry to All the Mothers I Worked With.

Even though I am not yet a mother, I left college coaching because I was basically told I had to make a decision between work and family.  I was asked to change the date of my wedding so I could recruit.   It was suggested I delay my honeymoon for 6-12 months so I could be in the office.    I was told that the expectations being set before me were "part of the job," but was it really?  Then the statement that put the nail in the coffin for me, "If there ever is a conflict between work and your personal life, work will always win regardless of the circumstances."  I asked what if my husband's mom passed away?  I will need to go with him to North Carolina to help with the funeral and to be there to support him. Or what if I had a sick child and Chris was on the road? Because my child can't go to day care sick, I would need to be at home to take care of my child.  The answer was the same...work will always come first regardless of the circumstances.   Then the question arose of whether or not this was the right place for me and maybe that was something we needed to revisit after season was over.

My answer was easy....it's not the right place for me if I am told that I have to make a decision between work and family.   That statement was my ticket out, and was also a good indicator that my values completely contradicted what was asked and expected of me, and because that was even an issue with my immediate supervisor, it was time to look for another job.   I stuck it out for that season due to my co-worker needing to quit due to a family emergency.  I wasn't about to leave the girls two weeks before season.  That was not right.  I assumed that finding a full time teaching job would not be in the cards in November.  I  applied for teaching jobs knowing that returning to teaching, though I didn't want to at the time, was the best decision I could make for the future of our family.  Chris was hesitant at first.  He wanted me to stay on since we worked at the same place and we loved that....but as time went on, he knew that my decision was the right move.  We began to plan financially since there was a liklihood that I would have to substitute teach until the end of the school year.  But Heavenly Father was watching over us.  When I interviewed at Twain, I was told it would be a full time position.  The principal told me that he wanted me on staff, asked when I could start, and told me that he respected my commitment to finish out the season with the team.  He was able to arrange with the district my start date to be after season was over.

I'm grateful to now be back in a profession that recognizes that family comes first.   Even those who are single don't question a woman who needs to take the day off to attend to her sick child, actually, come to think of it...no one questions anyone who takes a day off for being sick, to take a quick trip for a family emergency or just to get an early start on the road.  It is a relief and a breath of fresh air.

Eight is Great!

People are always asking me, "how's married life?"  The last eight months have been awesome....Chris and I are so blessed and grateful for our family and friends who have supported us.  This week has also been one of reflection as it marked the 49th wedding anniversary of Chris's parents, and the 9th anniversary of his father's passing.  For me, after watching my mom go through losing my dad, and seeing the struggles Chris's mom has gone through after losing her husband, I am constantly reminded not to take one day for granted.  Sometimes it is hard to remember with the 'in your face' wave of technology and social media always reaching out for our attention.  Sometimes I feel like we are bombarded with emails, twitter, facebook, and with Chris in season, players texting him sometimes in the late hours of the night wanting his attention, or my need to plan lessons or grade assignments.  Those couple of hours we have at home together each night go by so quickly, then it's time for bed, and we are up and at it the next day.  But every day, we know to say we love each other, even if we are upset or irritated, because we both have experienced, as many of you, that life is sometimes shorter than what we anticipate.  I'm grateful that Heavenly Father helped me find such a sweet man.  He may not be perfect in the world's eye, but he's perfect in mine.   Take some time to tell those you love, whether it be your spouse, parents, brother, sister, niece, nephew, or a friend, how much you love and appreciate them.  It doesn't have to be anything extravagent....a text, a phone call, a quick note, an email...however you do it, just make sure you do it!  Have a wonderful weekend!

  

Valentine's Day Weekend!

It was 30 degrees with a windchill down around 20....and opening day for GW Baseball moved forward as planned!  Here's the schedule if you're in the DC area or want to watch games that are streamed online: GW Baseball Schedule.  Chris watches the game vigilantly, running out on the field to treat injuries and to take the umpires water.  The team split their first two games against NJIT in a double header on Saturday.  The baseball guys and coaches love him!  We are excited for another GW Baseball season!

 
 

While the games were finishing up, I went home and made dinner for Chris, and surprised him with a little Valentine's Day set up and dinner with Martinelli's.  We had a relaxing night in, and it was perfect!  The heart made out of post-its is one of my Valentine's Day surprises to Chris!  But Valentine's Day came a day early for me.  I was having a crazy day at school.  During 5th period, one of our ESL kids who only speaks Arabic, had wandered somewhere and it was NOT to class.  So I was running around school looking for him and bumped into one of the ladies from the front office who was looking for me.  A box had been delivered to the school from Shari's Berries....which I had no idea what that company was. She told me I got some strawberries, and I thought someone had bought them for me via a school fundraiser.  When I opened the box, there was a sweet note from my sweet husband wishing me a Happy Valentine's Day.

On Sunday, I had quite the adventure at church.  Due to high winds and subzero windchills, the electricity at the church was out.  The generator was turned on, which gave the church partial electricity.  While the Sacrament was being passed, there was this odd smell in the chapel, and the chapel was getting a little foggy/smoky, but not enough to cause a panic.  After the Sacrament was passed, the leader conducting explained that the generator has/had a small fire and was smoking, so we were going to say a closing prayer and leave.  As we left, the firetrucks pulled up.  At first just a few, then more sirens....6 trucks plus two ladder trucks!  The police shut down the block of King St. that the church is on.  I snapped a picture from my car of the firetrucks in front of the church, and the one of the missionaries, Elder Severe, who we've been meeting for the last few months, took a picture with the firetruck behind him!

 

Sunday evening, Chris and I drove up to Mt. Airy to see his mom and celebrate Valentine's Day with her.  I love watching Chris with his mom.  He is such a sweetheart and loves his mom so much.  We enjoyed our visit with her!

Now we are enjoying the winter storm Octavia.  I have a snow day tomorrow, making my three day weekend a four day weekend!  We are expecting 4"-8" of snow tomorrow by tomorrow morning!!!!

Love....

It has been just three months and two days since I started teaching again.  Since it's Valentine's Day, I decided to list the things I LOVE about my new life!

*I love being back in the classroom.

*I love the collaborative atmosphere of teaching and working closely with other teachers.

*I love having a direct impact on students' lives and knowing that I am helping many of them (especially my ESL kids) get on the path towards a better future.

*In case you didn't hear, I'm team teaching 3 ESL classes....I love those kids.   Some days they try really hard to learn, other days...not so much, but all of us who work with them love them just the same.

*I love my nights and weekends (when I am not planning or grading).

*I love that I can put my marriage and family first without having to explain why and without having to constantly stand up for my beliefs in what is important in my life.

*I love having more time with my husband and continue to learn about him and love him more everyday.

*I love knowing that I can fully support Chris in baseball this year.

*I love being able to have a somewhat orderly apartment vs an apartment that looked like we just moved in yesterday!

*I love the opportunity to continue coaching at a youth level.  It is fun to stay connected with soccer, work with different age groups, and earn a little extra money for me and Chris.  :)

*I love feeling balanced!  Don't get me wrong, teaching and coaching on the side is busy and stressful at times, but nothing compared to how I've lived the last three years.

*I LOVE LOVE LOVE being able to go to all three hours of church every Sunday.  

*I love that I still bump into my GW soccer players when I'm on campus.  They are great young ladies and I miss working with them.

I LOVE that Heavenly Father has had His hand in where I am today.  I am so blessed.

The End of the Ultimate California Experience

This year, Chris got the ultimate California experience, minus Disneyland...we will hopefully do that next year!!  On the 29th, we went to Medieval Times with Tyler's family and had a blast!  We celebrated my nephew, Ben's, birthday and he was knighted before the tournament began.  We sat in the front row!  Our Knight didn't win, but my niece, Laura, was honored as our Knight's queen of the tournament.  

On New Years Eve, Chris and I said goodbye to the beach and rode the Amtrak train from Oceanside t Glendale.  We spent the evening with my two brothers' families ringing in the New Year banging pots and pans with the kids out in the front yard.  Chris took that tradition to a whole new level when he brought out the metal folding chair and started banging a pan lid against it!

Chris hadn't experienced any of Pasadena's Rose Parade/Rose Bowl activities before, so we took in as much as possible.  Chris had been asking me for months if we could go to the Rose Bowl.  I grew up 10minutes from the Rose Bowl, and to most natives, the Rose Bowl is a hassle.  Crowds, traffic...added to L.A.'s crowds and traffic!  I finally gave in the night before the college football playoff selection show.  Sure enough, Chris' favorite team, Florida State, was chosen to play in the Rose Bowl.  Despite the score, Chris loved every minute! It's an event he's always wanted to attend.  Because I knew the hassle with traffic, parking, etc, we bought parking ahead of time in Old Town Pasadena, just north of Colorado Blvd (the Rose Parade route).  After watching the Stealth Bomber fly over the house on its way to the Rose Parade, we got ready for the game.  I left my memory card at my mom's with the video of the Stealth, but that plane was a huge part of our family as my dad worked on it for years before and during its production.  We called it the 5th child of our family.  Chris and I arrived in Old Town Pasadena just as he parade was ending..perfect timing! We walked along the parade route so Chris could see it as we made our way to the Rose Bowl.  It was a 2 mile walk..because of our detour!  Upon arrival at the Rose Bowl...we just took it all in.  We walked around, bought Rose Bowl game gear, ate lunch, and took a lot of pictures!  We saw the Stealth fly over the Rose Bowl and enjoyed the game, sitting in an Oregon section, but people were good sports and nice to Chris, who was decked out in FSU gear!

On January 2nd, we went to lunch with my good friend Chris and his wife, Erica.  We enjoyed chatting with them and playing with their cute baby!  She loved Chris' beard!  After lunch, we decided to go see the Rose Parade Floats.  We loved it!  

We flew back to DC on the 3rd, with a layover in Salt Lake City long enough to visit with my brother, and friends Nicole and Ambree Bennett.  

It was a great trip and very hard to leave!!!  We can't wait to go back for another visit!