Hello, friends!
Yeah, it's been a minute since I've been here or on the socials so thank you for sticking it out with me. A touch of busy-ness has fallen upon us as a family and a couple of major life changes has taken place. So, I suppose the distance between me and this space has been for a good reason. But, much like in all things I try to embrace the change, lean into the uncertain, and at the end of the day realize that life happens!
So, what exactly has been going on?
We moved to San Diego!
Our move was relatively painless thanks to awesome movers. But, there's always something that goes wrong on any move and for us it was not anticipating the fact that our sofa (yeah the custom made sleeper sofa sectional we bought a few months ago) didn't fit in the door. We didn't realize the floorplan we have is different from the model apartment they showed us when we first visited (and our sofa being the most obvious decision maker in any apartment we move to). So, the entryway to our new apartment is one of those L shaped designs where there's this corner you go around before getting to the kitchen and living room. Yeah, that corner kept us from moving our sofa in (a.k.a. our bed as well) and we were devastated.
My husband and I love living minimally, so we opted to save money and purchased a custom sectional sofa that folds out into our bed at night. We've loved living this way and it was a huuuuge bummer that the floorplan didn't allow for us to move it in. However, the property manager is amazing and gave us storage for free in the building and so our sofa is all wrapped up and safely hanging out in storage. Glass half full, right?
Our roadblocks with childcare
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| Playing at our local children's museum! |
When we were preparing for our move, it didn't leave us with a ton of time to find a school for Greyson. I mean, we were moving in the middle of September and most school spots are already filled. Then there's the expense of it all! Some schools charge over 1k a month (a month!!) for parents to send their children to. I mean, I love these trendy schools that have organic snacks, but seriously.
Thankfully, and after a hundred emails and phone calls later, I was able to find a Monday, Wednesday, Friday class for him that fit with our budget. Even if it's part time, Greyson loves school and I am thankful for the break. Two year olds are exhausting!
Now that he's enjoying school and I have some child-free time, I am able to rededicate myself to this space, my teacher shop, and my lettering business. Also, I've been applying to a number of teaching job postings in hopes that I can resume teaching here soon or at the beginning of the new year. Fingers crossed!
I'm working on my CLAD certification
I'm continuing my online program to earn my English Language Learners certification for my California teaching credential. Out here it's a requirement for teachers to have considering the high demographic of ELL and bilingual students. I've opted to take the courses instead of the 3-part test and I've found that I'm really learning a lot! There's so much insight and enlightenment that I've experienced just in these first two classes that I know I will be taking a lot of what I'm learning and apply it in my future classroom. I'm learning new ways to celebrate the diversity while learning new ways to adapt my lessons to accommodate those who are learning English. I couldn't recommend this coursework enough and think every teacher could benefit!
The #MomHustle
One quality about myself is my creativity and the fact that I can't sit still for long. Knowing I was going to be home for a little while until I found work, I wanted to throw myself into being productive with my time. I continue to run both my teacher store as well as my lettering shop. I'm so thankful that I have these two outlets to share my work with others, but that I am learning all kinds of new skills being a small business owner.
I'm proud of the growth that my lettering shop has received this season. I re-launched it back in September before our move and I'm thankful I've been able to keep it up now being in San Diego. I'm always looking for new products to share, practice my lettering, and connect with others. It's truly been a blessing for me and I am thankful it's allowed me to channel this creative energy in a meaningful way.
If you're interested in checking it out or learning more about my shop, I'd love to have you pop on over to my shop's blog and Etsy page!
Again, thank you all for being so patient with me as I have transitioned into our new normal! I'm grateful that many of you still connect with me here, on Facebook, and over at my TpT shop! I look forward to creating some new teacher resources soon -- especially Eureka Math products!
xo Kelly
