A Fresh Start

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I have always had a love/hate relationship with August... especially when I was a classroom teacher. August meant that the summer was over. August meant that I would spend a gazillion hours in my classroom getting prepared for the first day of school... mentally envisioning exactly how every moment of that first day would go and physically preparing myself for the intensity of the first few weeks until I'd gotten my little charges whipped into shape and drinking the "Miss Smith" kool-aid :)

The beautiful thing about the start of a new school year is that you start with a clean slate. You have a fresh start. I always liked to change the physical arrangement of my entire classroom around each summer so that every aide that worked in my room felt the difference and felt a little bit inspired to make a change too.

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As this August arrived, I was sad to see summer go... but as I have watched neighbors and friends start up the school year, I am excited for Andrew's first day of preschool... and I am mostly excited about this fresh start that we will both have.

Mine is a fresh start to be a better mom, a better friend, and a much better wife. A new chance to try and actually stick to a schedule, make my bed, and hang up my clothes and not just pile them in my closet. I am excited for an opportunity to start over again and make some rules, like: I only talk calmly in my house (don't yell), I only speak kind words, I laugh every day, and I do dishes more often than once a week ;) etc. etc. My lists are really really long...

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But my main goal for this new year is to focus on what is most important- my family, my faith, and my friends. As I have been thinking about a clean slate, I have thought a lot about what I aspire to be... and the self that I hated in the past was one who was so frantically busy that when it came to the important things, I was unavailable or not mentally present. I aspire to be present for the people that I love. I hope to find more ways to serve my family, friends, and people I don't know who will hopefully eventually be my friends. :)

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Life gets busier and busier and there are good things and bad things about every stage in life. This year I want to try harder to enjoy every stage. I don't know what lies ahead for my life, but I do know that right now I am really blessed. I need to cherish every minute.