I can hardly believe that there are only 3 days left in October. Where has the time gone? I just looked back at the last time I posted and it was over a month ago! Unbelievable. Sorry about that! This last month has been insane. I feel as if I haven't had any time to breathe. My days are jam packed with work, prepping for work, grocery shopping, laundry, house cleaning...oh to live on your own. Sometimes it is so appealing, to have a place of one's own, but then the reality of life sets in and you realize that it is all your own, and you are responsible for it all. It's a good thing that I enjoy it (most of the time :) ) This past week I put in my two week's notice at the cafe at church. I have just been so exhausted and have been spreading myself so thin with too much on my plate. I think having Tuesday and Thursday mornings off I will be able to have so much more time to get housework done, spend a few hours with myself & God, and on some days, just sleep in. I will miss the free coffee though :)
The preschool has been teaching me so much patience lately. Now I understand why they cap each class off at ten kids! It's much different than nannying because I am their teacher and not just their nanny. I have to keep my distance, yet still discipline-and the only way we can really do that is with time outs, which don't always work. Despite the exhaustion of teaching my kids that we don't throw sand, we don't hit, and that yes, I am the boss of them (their favorite line..."but you're not the boss of me, my mom is!"), seeing their smiling faces and receiving such loving hugs and kisses every day makes up for it. Luckily children have short term memories; they could have been put in time out three times the day before, but the next morning they still love you to pieces. It's been a good teaching time for me. I'm learning a lot about other people, to say the least. It's been great in the class but because of certain circumstances, I'm not coming back next year. My passion for design and organization has been on my mind a lot lately, and that fire has definitely be re-ignited with designing my home & planning my wedding. I am looking into pursuing wedding planning. Actually,I have looked into it a bit and have contacted a few planning companies out here, and they have provided me with some great information. However, accreditation programs, supplies, etc are going to be thousands. There's always huge start up costs to everything. So for now, I'm sticking to learning the field through books, the internet, and helping friends who are engaged to plan their weddings. My sister and I would love to start a company together but because of the distance, it's not really possible right now. I think we will just be saving our pennies for now and really pour ourselves into it once Ryan & I are back in California. But for now, I'm not sure what I will do after this school year is done in May. I don't have any leads or direction yet. I've got some time to think about it, but I'm just really praying for direction cause I don't really know what I want. Your prayers for that would be greatly appreciated.
Speaking of Ryan, he left for Belize on Saturday! I am really excited for him. He is going back to the same place that he went last year. One of our dear friends out here just moved down there about a month ago to do a one year mission, so Ryan will get to see him. I think it will be not only a great growing time for him, but it will also give him a chance to just have some time away from the stress of his job here and to have some time alone with the Lord. I miss him already though :)
My mom & brother were out this weekend! It was a blast. But, as always, it was way too short! The weekends we have visitors always go too quickly. It gets easier each time they visit to say goodbye, but I still am not a fan of the fact that I'm not just down the street. I know we are out here for a reason, and I think God is blessing our time out here and it gives us time to work on our marriage alone, but it's still not my 1st choice. I know we will move back to Cali in a few years or so, so I'm trying to enjoy my time out here and not focus on the end point, but invest what I can while I can out here. The more time passes, the easier it gets. Maybe one day it will reach normalcy!
We got our wedding pictures from our photographer in this week! The pictures are amazing. If you'd like to see them, let me know and we can send you the kodakgallery "photo invite." (That's how kodakgallery allows you to share photos.) Now comes the hard part of choosing which pictures to print! It's going to be way too hard because I love them all!
The reason for the flower picture is that, well honestly, I just love peonies :) But also I'm going to make a garden this week! Well, as much of a garden as I can make in my 1'x5' row of dirt around my patio :) The weather is just so beautiful now and my plants won't scorch to death. I need some more flowers in my life! I need something other than cactus around my house! Also, it will be a nice surprise for Ryan to come home to, to see the patio finally finished! I'm on a search for a patio set too... :)
Well, I'm heading to bed. It's been a weekend full of sleepless nights...actually the last month has been! It's finally catching up with me. Better get a good night's sleep before another long week!
Blessings! Danielle
