Soccer stole May

Well, soccer and remodeling. For the past month, we have been working our full-time jobs and either following Salem High girls' soccer games or working another few hours at the house! Overall, everything has been well worth it. The house is progressing nicely. I am about to head over and add the second coat of paint to the living room walls! Scott is taking off Friday to hopefully finish the moulding and to begin the floors!! :)

On another note, Salem did well with their season despite some injuries. BI, my running partner, now affectionately called my other little sister, and Allie were the main reasons we followed the team. They made it to the state semi-game for the 2nd year in a row! Congrats to all the girls!

My last day of school brought some realizations to the forefront of my mind. Being a teacher is what I do. It takes up so much of my time, my life, my heart, and sometimes my ability to be emotionally stable! haha. Teaching is my job. But it is also part of my heart. The students I had the privilege to share the last 10 months with were an incredible group. I think they will stay in my mind as my sweetest group. Don't get me wrong, it was an incredibly tough year for reasons that will remain unnamed, but the kids were the reasons I walked in the door every morning.

I had kids who despite the struggles life threw at them at the early year of fifth grade, persevered academically. Kids who had attitude problems that disappeared (for the most part) within the first few weeks. Children who embraced life and learning with a "don't give up" attitude. Kids who hugged me hello, offered to help constantly, fought but listened to me when I talked about being a family who works like a team, and basically just kids I hated to see walk out that door. My prayer for each of them is that they would see life as a gift and that hope would get them through the rough times that will come. It was an incredible year and I was truly blessed to both know them and to call them 'my kids' for a little while.