Oh Summer! Where have you gone???

This post is a bittersweet one...

Today is July 21, 2014--about nine days away from pre-planning, a day I have personally been looking forward to since I began my journey as a teacher. But with that comes the scary idea that "hey! I'm almost there and there is so much left for me to do". Only that thought is short lived considering I don't have much time to contemplate what is left and what not, I just have to keep doing, keep going.

For the past month, my home has become a temporary storage ground where as soon as I empty my space, thinking I am closer to the final product, it gets filled again. A lot of it is me just being me, a perfectionist in its purest form and OCD to the max. Teaching myself along the way that there is no perfect way of doing any one thing, just the best way that works for you. I am a pro at giving myself (and others) advice, my shortcoming is trying to follow that advice. But baby steps help win the race, right?

There are a few things I have learned over this past month:

1. The value of air conditioning haha--not having any is quite a challenge, but it takes me back to my 2006 summer in India. I was a champ, battling an Indian summer, creeping into the monsoon season (which for those of you who think you know what that means, you have no idea until you actually go to India). Even then, you realize how much strength it takes to complete the most minute task in heat. 
2. Inspiration comes from EVERYWHERE. We have probably heard this a trillion times, but it's so hard to understand until you take a step back and pull inspiration from the most random of objects (i.e., a dead patch of grass in your backyard or the HGTV channel). I have spent countless hours Googling, following blogs, clicking aimlessly and finding the most amazing articles to use in my home and classroom. It's a time consuming adventure, but well worth it, especially if you walk away with an entire bulletin board idea--not a bad trade-off by any means.
3. Last, but not least, when you are bed ridden from getting your wisdom teeth out, you are reminded of how valuable time really is. It's been a little over a week now and I still feel the affects of my surgery. There are days where I can't move from the couch because of massive headaches. At that point, you realize that you really need to take the time and heal or else it only makes things harder in the long run. Timing is impeccable and I am thankful for time to just sit back and realize that which surrounds me.

So, for my teacher friends who are dreading the countdown to when we go back to reality, enjoy your last 9 days of summer. For those of you who think teachers get summers off to do nothing, you need to befriend a teacher and see how much s(he) has done in the past two months--you may be shocked by what you find out. =)

Happy Monday!

My Mandir. My Home.

Woahhhh! The last 6 days have been quite an experience...

2 conventions: High school/college age & 2nd-8th graders

Over 1,000 delegates combined

One purpose.

One mission.

(Re)Connecting to our mandir. 

Sleepless nights.

Incredible sessions.

In depth discussion.

And a lifetime of memories.

My role: minimum, a mere facilitator of thoughts and discussion, providing a small avenue to help us connect to our Mandir, our Home. By the end of it all, I gained so much from simply being there. 

What is incredible about these conventions is that we gather individuals with much in common and with many differences. What we realize by the time we leave is that our commonalities exceed our differences. No matter what the age, we share so much that we are bound to learn from each other. It's a beautiful thing to see. 

My mandir is:

My solace.
My life.
My school.
My sanctuary.
My Home.

Pictures are always a fun way of sharing experiences. Enjoy these pictures!

When you learn together, you grow together. When you take a moment to appreciate all that you have been give in life, you align YOUR purpose with HIS purpose. Life doesn't get any better than that!

"I will always walk with you...You will never be alone."

Found: http://chermarie.buzznet.com/photos/inspirationalquotesb/?id=68511492

What would Maya Angelou do?

My heart aches today as we mourn the loss of an amazing woman, Maya Angelou. There are people in the world who have a way with words, a way with inspiring those around them through their natural beauty and wisdom. Maya Angelou was one such person. It is amazing to see how her words have touched the lives of so many. If you google her name, thousands of brilliant quotes pop up, all of which are applicable to all people. Her words reach our hearts and ignite a flame within us to have strength, to love, to take a risk, to avoid being normal, to be creative, and it goes on an on. As we remember Maya Angelou today, let's acknowledge the impact she has had on our lives.

Here are a few of my favorite bits of wisdom from Maya Angelou:

You can't use up creativity the more you use, the more you have.

The question is not how to survive, but how to thrive with passion, compassion, humor & style. 

If you are always trying to be normal, you will never know how amazing you can be. 

A little bit on the last quote. This notion of normalcy is quite interesting. I wonder at times if being normal is an excuse for our unwillingness to be unique. If we were all "normal" our lives would be rather boring. For as long as I can remember, I have never been normal. In fact, I don't even attract normal. My friends, my family, everyone I gravitate to is unique and amazing because they are not normal. I love that Maya Angelou too feels that being normal hinders us from showing our true personalities, the ones that amaze people and encourage people to be their true beings opposed to "normal".

In honor of Maya Angelou and all of her work, I challenge you to avoid being normal from here on out. Let your true self out and let your amazing self show.

April is MY Favorite

I love, love, love April.

It's a beautiful month; it's my birthday month (along with many other wonderful people, all of whom are my family and friends).

What is wonderful about April is that it comes with a lot of new beginnings. There is something about your birthday that just inspires you to do bigger, better things in your life. As I ponder on all that has happened in the past year, I am in awe of how much I have been given and blessed with. It is hard to imagine that a year ago, around this time, I was finishing my student teaching, I was planning a wedding, and I was reacquainting myself with all of my dreams and aspirations. A year later, I find myself here, ready to have my own classroom now more than ever and happy, happy with all that I have been blessed with and happy with all that I am learning.

To honor the happy moments in my life, I am starting the 100 Happy Days Challenge tomorrow. It's all about acknowledging the happy moments in your life and letting them define your day. We have so much happen in one day, yet we seldom take a moment to fully give credence to those happy moments. One bad decision, moment can change the course of our entire day and instead of appreciating the good moments, we define our day by the not so good moments. That's a shame, and we are all guilty of it. But with this challenge, I hope to change that! I'm going to be documenting my journey on my Instagram and will do some highlights on here, but I would love for all of you to join me in this. There is so much power in numbers!

Big things happen when you think outside of the box and give yourself the opportunity to do something meaningful in your life. If we never take a moment to do so, then when will we reach our highest potential? 

We are capable of so much, but being happy is something we too often sacrifice, and we aren't benefiting from it--not one bit. 

I am so excited to start this challenge, and I will do everything I can to complete it!

So not over this SNOW!

Here we are again, snow day #4, and to be honest, I'm not sad about it. I am thankful for days like these where we are able to catch up on life and where you are simply forced to relax and enjoy the day for what it is. It's a wonderful, blissful feeling to not be obligated to any one thing, yet we are all able to tackle that to-do list we tend to save for a rainy day.

As I sit here watching the snow fall on our porch, I am extremely in awe of nature and all things natural. While this weather upsets so many people, for me, this weather makes me extremely happy. When was the last time you saw this much snow? For us Georgians, this is a beauty we rarely get to experience. As 2014 continues, I am surprised to see how we sometimes take so much for granted and how seldom we take a moment to simply appreciate the small things. I would be a fool to want to trade this day for one without snow. =) I may be the only Georgian to say that.

So, let's keep this one short and sweet. With the snow falling outside, I think we should all take a moment to sit back, relax, and enjoy the snow...turn on that fireplace you never use, cuddle up on your couch with some hot chocolate, enjoy the Winter Olympics, and breathe. Who knows when you'll get this opportunity to enjoy a random Tuesday at home again...

Happy Snow Day #4!

All Aboard 2014!

Wow, can you believe it? We have entered 2014 full force and time is already starting to fly by. What is amazing about time is that it simply continues, regardless of how ready you are for it to move on, regardless of how much you are enjoying the present moment or not, time. always. moves. on. It's beautiful really, because if time stayed still for even a moment, we'd have to live through the most unpleasant moments as well as the good for that much longer. Human psyche tends to dwell in the negative unless we, ourselves make a more cautious effort to focus on the positive. Yet, that is a completely different topic, with much under its belt, maybe better to save for a later post...

Yet, here we are, January of 2014. How many times have you had to hit the backspace, erase, or cross out when you write the date? That always seems like the hardest adjustment. After 365 days of writing 2013, we are all of a sudden expected to write 2014 just as easily. It's rather difficult to switch from one to the other, yet exciting as well. Why is that? Why is it so exciting to move from 2013 to 2014 and being able to write it down on paper? I suppose it is due to the fact that we are constantly searching for the next best thing to happen. A good friend of mine is known to be one who always plots the next big thing in his mind. This man is brilliant, he has a heart of gold and tends to notice all that surrounds him. Yet as a silent planner, he too is in search for the next big thing to happen...aren't we all?

As 2013 came to an end, I asked myself what I expected from 2014. Every year we hear about making a better you in the new year, becoming healthier and happier, making new year resolutions with a set plan...making this year better than the last. But then I thought a little further and realized that how can I top 2013? This was my golden year, the year I finished my student teaching, got a long-term substitute job, GOT MARRIED, went on an amazing honeymoon, witnessed the marriage of many friends and family, and it goes on and on. I don't want to top that, I want to add on to that. This new year isn't about making it better than last year, it's about continuing the excitement and happiness of 2013 in 2014. This too is challenging because sometimes we become complacent and content with how things are going. It's okay to want to better yourself and become a better you, but it's always important to do it on your own terms, not ones determined by others.

With that said, I don't really believe in resolutions, I hate when I set them but can't live up to them. But I do enjoy setting goals and using these goals to better my experiences in 2014. While we rang in the new year with family, I began thinking of ways to make my 2014 live up to the amazing moments of 2013. Here are the goals, I came up with:

• Take time out to become the reader I have always dreamed of becoming. Reading is so important to me, not because I am a teacher, but because it is a way to keep your mind young and a way to decompress when you are overwhelmed by everything around you. 
• Become more spiritual. So that my new life as a wife and teacher matches with my personal beliefs and a continued feeling of harmony amongst all of the various facets of my life. Spirituality, satsang, is so important to maintain. When we enter new stages of our lives, we have to find a way to harmonize all aspects of our lives and align them with what is important to us. Sometimes this is harder than you would expect it to be, but this journey is extremely important, one you definitely have to take time out to enjoy and understand. 
• Become a teacher. While this year has been a blessing, I crave my own classroom and having students to call my own. This is a goal I hope to achieve gracefully this year. As everything begins to fall into place in my life, this is the one aspect that would help all of my dreams come true. 
• Be grateful. I want to appreciate all that surrounds me, it's that simple, really. 
• Live in the moment. Instead of always thinking of what will happen next, I want to be happy now, in this moment. 

So, as you begin 2014, what do you hope for? How do you plan to achieve a better you? Happy hunting, for so much lies in your favor if your intentions are genuine and your goals are achievable.