remember me?

hiya friends! 

It has been a long, long time since I last blogged but I figured it was time for me to get back into blogging. I was really excited all week and spent a couple days revamping my blog only to do something really horrible. You guys, I accidentally deleted ALL my previous blog posts. I almost cried while frantically trying to figure out if there was a way for me to retrieve all my content. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to undo the huge mistake I made and it makes me really sad. I lost everything! Literally! I had so many memories posted up in my blog and now they're all gone :( BUT...I'm just going to try to get over it and move right along. So here's to new beginnings!

A lot has happened in the last year. Lots and lots of exciting stuff. I got to visit my older sister in Dubai that I hadn't seen in 6 years! We moved to a new house! We went on a pilgrimage to Mecca! We explored Istanbul and now, here I am, a week out from starting my first big girl job as a fourth grade teacher! I really wanted to blog about all my experiences last year but honestly, I just needed a break to get my life together. There was way too much going on and it was hard for me to keep up with everything. After I decided I wanted to pursue teaching as a career, I really put my heart and soul into getting to where I'm at right now while trying to cater to everybody and everything else. Finishing my course was pretty much a slow death for me but once I was done with that, I attempted to study for my exam about a billion times before I would get distracted and would have to start all over again. It wasn't until March of this year that I got so fed up and registered for my exam. I gave myself a month to study and get it all together. Setting the date really made it real for me and I knew that I had to get my priorities straight. I sacrificed all my weekend plans and spent hours and hours studying (especially the last two and a half weeks leading up to my exam). I remember about 3 days before my exam, I had a slew of emotions take control of me. I wasn't sure if I was ready to take the exam, but lets be real, would I ever feel like I'm ready? I contemplated postponing my exam but in the end I decided that I would just take my darn exam and get it over with. I remember walking out of my 5 hour exam feeling defeated. Literally. The whole week after my exam I spent worrying and then it was Friday, the day I got my score back. I was subbing a 4th grade class while anxiously checking my e-mail every 10 minutes. I was terrified. I knew it was either going to be one the happiest days of my life or the saddest. At about 10 am, I logged into my portal and there it was, my score report that I was so afraid to click. I said a little prayer and found the courage to hit "view result." It read PASSED. I couldn't believe it. I kept refreshing the browser thinking, "Is this real life? Does it really say PASSED? What! Omg!" I had tears trickling down my cheeks. I felt SO grateful. My hard work had finally paid off. Then summer rolled around and I realized that passing my exam was only half the battle. I still had the other half to fight- finding a job as a Teacher. It was challenging. I spent my entire summer stressing out applying to schools like crazy. I was at the brink of losing all hope! The day after my 29th birthday, I checked my e-mail as per usual. Except this time, hidden amongst all the spam mail I receive daily, I found an e-mail that held some value. Actually, a lot of value. It was an invitation for an interview for a fourth grade teaching position. I immediately accepted it.  I spent the rest of the day preparing for my interview, nervous but grateful for the opportunity. Going into the interview the next morning, I said a little prayer for everything to go smoothly which it did. I walked out of the interview feeling so happy and confident, it was almost unreal! I remember pulling into my neighborhood after the interview and while waiting for the gate to open, I check my e-mail. To my surprise, I had ANOTHER invitation for an interview from another school. Ecstatic, I accepted it. Later that evening I got a call from the school I had interviewed at. They extended me an offer which I was absolutely thrilled about but I had to ask them to give me a day to give them my final answer. Had I not accepted an invitation for another interview, I know my answer would have been an immediate yes. However, that wasn't the case. I really wasn't anticipating another interview so fast. All I knew at this point was that there was a reason behind the timing of everything! The next morning I went to my other interview. I wasn't nervous because I knew I practically had a job lined up for me regardless of the outcome of this interview. I was just "exploring" my options, you know? Besides, I knew they wouldn't get back to me immediately and I needed to give an answer to the other school that same day. My interview went well. The AP gave me a tour of the school (which meant that she really liked me, right?) The AP told me she has some interviews lined up and that I should hear something by the end of the week. I got in my car and I knew I couldn't take the risk. I had made up my mind that I would accept the first offer I had gotten the day before. I was driving home ready to make a call to the other school right when I got home when I received a call from the school I had interviewed at a few hours earlier, extending me an offer. I lost it y'all. I completely lost it. I was so so SO excited and beyond grateful for everything while stressing out about which offer to accept. It was a good type of a stress though. I pulled out my dry erase board and quickly listed all the pros and cons of both situations. I consulted a few of my teacher friends and finally came to a conclusion that I was going to accept the offer of the second school I had interviewed at. I made the most dreadful phone call to the first school I interviewed at to let them know I accepted another offer. I felt terrible especially because they were so kind to me. The guilt was eating me away because  I knew they were so excited for me to be a part of their team. But in the end, I had to do what was best for me! I called the AP back from the second school I had interviewed at and told her I accept her offer. I could hear the excitement in her voice! After that I cried a few happy tears and realized God really is great! Just when I was losing all hope, He opened several doors for me. This whole experience has really helped me grow and I will forever be grateful for that. I learned a lot of valuable lessons along the way which I will hold close to my heart for the years to come. I know my first year will be the hardest (or so they say) but I am so very excited. I can't wait to meet all my kiddos soon! 

If there is one piece of advice I can give anyone from my experience is to always do what makes YOU happy! I've always had a "thing" for teaching but it took me a few desk jobs to finally discover my passion and I couldn't be happier! 



p.s. For those of you that don't know me, my bio pretty much sums me up in two sentences ;)