Hoping for a stressLESS end to the summer this year!

Do you ever think back on something and think how in the world did I do that or make it through that?  As I have worked in my classroom off and on this week and gotten TONS done in just a few short hours here or there I can't help but to think back to this time last year... I knew I was getting married October 2, moving to Starkville (at some point) and thought I was teaching first grade in Memphis (for my fourth year) with the hopes of getting a job in Starkville at some point, even if just subbing at first.  All of that changed within hours of each other and everything in my world, as I knew it, changed.  "They" say the most stressful events in a lifetime are (these are not listed in any kind of order):
* a death
* a new job
* getting married
* moving
* a divorce

Chad and I had the first four of these happen within weeks of each other, so you could say, we were stressed.  Chad and I were at his parents' house for his grandfather's funeral the week before inservice started in Memphis when I received a phone call about a job opening in Starkville.  I got this call the day Chad and I were planning on leaving Missouri and my interview was scheduled for the next day, a Friday.  So, we left Missouri and drove to Memphis, picked up clothes for my interview, and headed to Starkville.  We got to Starkville late that night and I was a little nervous about the interview.  I went for the interview the next day and felt great about it and was told they would get in touch with me the first of the week.  I went back to Memphis, went to inservice that Monday at Southwind, and got a phone call during a meeting and stepped outside to take it.  I was offered the job at Sudduth.  I went back into our meeting and nodded at my principal and mouthed "I got the job."  She smiled at me and made an announcement to the faculty, that I had just accepted a new position that went along with me getting married and was a job that we had been praying about since last spring.  She looked at me and said into the mircophone that I was making the right decision in taking the job and that I was free to pack my room and shortly my friends/colleagues would come help me.  Her encouragment was so appreciated.  After two of my best "teacher" friends in the world and I cried for awhile, I went to my room, looked around one last time, and then just started taking things down, cleaning out cabinets and my desk, after calling my mom and telling her.  She sprang into action and rented a U-Haul and met me at school where we loaded everything up and said my good-byes with more tears.  I drove to Starkville that night with a bag of clothes that would last me the first week of school and would get more things that next weekend when Chad and I went back to Memphis for a wedding shower.  I got to Starkville late that night and started at Sudduth the next morning.  We had inservice that day, and my parents met me at school later that afternoon to work in my room and then Open House was the next day where I tried to work in my room, along with my parents and Chad, in between meeting students' parents.  As luck would have it (sarcasm), school started the very next day and my room still felt half done.  It was ready for my students, but didn't feel like I had it how I would ideally would have.  School started and then that Friday, after school, Chad and I went back to Memphis for our Around the Clock shower that Saturday night.  We drove back to Starkville early Sunday morning, and then I worked on school stuff until way after midnight that night. 

The next few weeks flew by in a blur as I was still trying to get my room how I wanted it, teaching a new grade, a new school, trying to meet people, missing my Memphis friends and my "teacher friends" that I was used to working with and being close to, get adjusted to moving in a rush to Starkville, and still finishing any wedding details that was fast approaching and going to Memphis or St. Louis every weekend for showers.  So, our life was insane at the time.  Don't get me wrong, I was and am very thankful for my job, but at the time, my life seemed upside down and the wedding was at the top of my list, rightfully so.  We couldn't wait until October came and we were married, our Mexican honeymoon was here and we could just relax, and the thought of life's pace slowing down seemed like an unimaginary thought at the time, but we dreamt about it. 

So, just sitting here tonight, I already feel "ahead of the game" being able to get into my classroom before my students.  We are not planning a wedding, getting settled into a new apartment in a new town, both of us starting brand new jobs, leaving our families and best friends, and not moving with a minute's notice without it sinking in what was happening.  I was prepared to move in October, but once school had started, the idea of actually getting a job seemed so small.  This time of year got me thinking about all of those things and how out the five most stressful events in a person's life, we accomplished four of them within WEEKS and some MINUTES of each other. I feel that Chad and I are prepared for the upcoming school year and are ready to take it on!  We are hoping for a stressLESS end of the summer and fall this year!