Slice of Life 8 (I guess?): On Setting Goals

 Well, it's March 8th and this is my fourth slice of life.  I set a goal to write daily in March and... I haven't met it.  To be honest, even typing that sentence kind of makes me upset with myself.  I told myself that I would write everyday in March, and I'm a week in and already failed?!  I am a goal oriented person, but sometimes feel tempted to just throw all plans to...

Slice of Life Three: When You Can't Eat...

 Tomorrow, I am getting my first ever colonoscopy.  Fun, right?  Although I am only 29, a bevy of stomach issues has caused me to reach out to my doctor.  Today is a "liquid only" diet, and I was really anxious how I would be able to get through the day without eating.  It reminded me of when I was in my early twenties, living in Shanghai, and did juice cleanses every once...

Slice of Life Two: Extra Recess

 We had our schedule changed around today because in science, students are working on their Rube Goldberg projects and needed more time.  (I have fond memories of completing a similar project when I was in science too!)  Because of this schedule, my last class was in my room for over two hours.  That is way too much time for students to be in the same room, and too much time for...

Slice of Life One: Hello, March!

 It's been a really, really long time since I've made a commitment to daily writing.  The last time I can really think I did it was when I was teaching in China and blogging daily.  Recently I've been thinking a lot about practicing what I preach, quite literally: as a reading and writing teacher, it is important to my students and also to my own practice that I read and write daily.For...

Thank you, Atlanta

I remember boarding the plane, leaving Shanghai back in May 2017 (how was that three years ago?!), thinking I would never love a place as much as I did in that moment.  I cried so much on that flight.  The truth was, I was leaving not by choice-- I was dealing with medical issues and needed to be home.  I remember thinking "there's no way I could love my life any more than I do living...

January Life Audit// 2020

There's something to be said about hobbies, and writing has always been one for me. SO although nobody but me will find this interesting, here it goes.. 600+ words on the status of my life thus far in 2020. January was rough.  I had really big intentions for 2020 and ideas about how I was going to make it so good and so much better, but I feel like it all kind of fell flat. I have big hopes...

Grief, 2.5 Months In.

When somebody dies, the first reaction is often that you don’t know what to do or say to help them.  My entire life changed the moment that my dad said “we lost him” and I found out my twenty-four year old brother died. I had just been called into my assistant principals office during open house, and was nervous that I was in trouble (if you know me you know I’m pretty much always anxious that...