thursday's ten: in transition (again)

if you follow me on twitter or pinterest, you may have clued in that my job title is switching...again.
after 5 years of nannying full or part time (the last 3.5 being for AMAZING and wonderful families who have loved me and i have adored right back) i'm entering a full-time role in a school setting.


it's SO not what i would have ever seen myself doing.
but it's exciting and just...so unexpected!


so in the form of a list, here's a little bit about what i will (and will not) be doing


i will be working FULL-TIME in one place, while teaching lessons on the side. no more waking up each day and reminding myself which "work" i'm driving to!


i will be following a schedule more true to my body clock (for the first time since...ever).  no more 6:30 am start times...my day will begin at 11:30.


i will not be spending one on one (or two) time with children of just one family. that part makes me quite sad, as i'm quite attached to said families!


but i will be able to invest in the lives of multiple children and families.


i will be a bit out of my comfort zone...my job will be supervisory and i'll be second in command which feels like a huge promotion (that i didn't seek out at ALL)


i will be able to complete grocery shopping, lawn & garden work, and other errands/tasks (including pool time!) before i even go in to work most days.


and i will be able to do all those things and still "sleep in" until 8 am or so (most days)


i will be spending more time at home simply going from 45/50 hours weekly (better than the 60 i was working a couple of months ago!) to 32.


because of the above, i will be able to invest more in my friends and actually visit my girlfriends more often :-)


i will earn paid time off, which means that my husband and i can actually take a vacation and not have to worry about lost income 


so, what am i going to be doing?
well...a few weeks ago i interviewed (after being contacted by them initially) with a preschool that is full-inclusion to "just be a sub a couple of days a week".
a week or so after that interview (in which i was told that i would definitely be hired) they called me and asked me to stop by to "discuss my schedule"
when i went in the next day, i was told about this position and tentatively offered it (with the potential starting of it starting in august)
the next day, i contacted them and told them if they offer was extended it would be accepted
and the next day, i was called and formally offered the job (with the new starting time of JUNE)


i'll be the "afternoon coordinator" at this school, which is why i come it at 11:30 and leave at 6(:05).  i'll be making sure staff is supported and on target, troubleshooting anything that comes up, structuring activities to be learning play time, and popping in classrooms every once in awhile myself to interact with the kids. 


i'm totally excited, quite nervous about the responsibility, and quite overwhelmed that my Papa has once again just handed me a job without me looking for it at.all.


the families i am currently working for are thrilled for me, sad to see me go, but completely blessing this in my life. that has been SUCH a gift. i plan to babysit often and even just visit...clients who have become friends are so precious.


there is so much more to the story, regarding connections from a previous unhealthy work environment that i was placed in for a reason and all sorts of other things...but in the interest of remaining professional and honoring even those who i haven't felt honored by...those stories are just not for this blog.


let me encourage you if you are not in this place of "good news" on the job front or anywhere else...He is still faithful. my story isn't all neat, perfect and pretty (as anyone who has read this blog for any length of time knows well)...but it is Glorious, because He has been the author of every page. this current page that looks so polished is a result of the smudges and dark blots on preceding ones...and i'm not naive enough to think that this page will remain as pretty as it is now :-) life is messy because humans are messy. and God chooses to work through us anyway? what an incredible honor, what lavish love He has for us.

recipe of the week: spanakopita quiche

spanakopita quiche

 

here’s the problem with this quiche. i usually just toss stuff in. so all measurements here are approximate, mmmkay?

here's our favorite (at the moment) quiche :-)

sprinkle of powdered (non-flavored) coffee creamer

olive oil

1 onion, diced

3 large handfuls of spinach leaves (this is approximately 4 cups loosely packed. i think. it'll come out to be about 1.5-2 cups when processed)

3 eggs

1 cup feta cheese (preferably with mediterranean herbs)

1 cup mozzarella

1 cup whipping cream

nutmeg, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper to taste

1 deep dish pie crust

secret to an awesome crust? poke holes in the bottom of your crust with a fork and sprinkle coffee creamer powder on it.  pop in the oven for 5-10 minutes. 

 meanwhile...

 heat oil on stove and saute onions for about 3 minutes.

throw spinach in the food processor and process into chopped spinach

mix with onions, add the spices, and saute until the spinach cooks down a bit. 3-5 minutes should do it.

 whisk eggs and then add cheeses.  

pour in the spinach-onion mixture and mix together.  

 pour entire mixture into pie crust.

 make whipped cream out of the whipping cream. once it’s ready, fold VERY carefully into the rest of the quiche.  you don’t want to mix too much just because the creaminess of the whipped cream is very important to the texture of this quiche.

 bake at 350 for as long as it takes…usually between 45 minutes to an hour.  you can tell it’s done with a toothpick comes out clean :-)

 enjoy!

thursday's ten or so: the summer bucket list

my friend angie posted on facebook the other day that she had created a summer bucket list. so being the amazing friend that i am, i decided to steal the idea :-)
(it's not REALLY stealing if i give you credit, right angie?!)


so here, in no particular order, are {some of} the things that i'd like to do at least once before summer is over!


go whitewater rafting
take a camping trip (i cannot believe this one is on here...i have NEVER been camping. but anthony loves it so i want to give it a try!)
visit holiday world (most likely with angie!)
see the ocean at least once...hopefully for a long weekend!
host a summer bash at our house just because
do at least one 5k even in the ridiculous tennessee summer heat
jump on a trampoline 
run through a sprinkler
harvest from the garden (hopefully this is ongoing...ha!)
set up the hammock and spend quality time there
hike radnor at least once a month
implement some fun summer pinterest ideas :-)


i'm sure the list will get longer as summer progresses.  but that's a good {fun} start :-)


what do you want to do this summer? anything i should add?

thursday's ten or so: in which i attempt to explain my absence

things i have been up to instead of blogging:

transitions. two jobs ending (one naturally because a child goes to school and another by choice to leave a very unhealthy environment) and two jobs beginning in place of them. the quite lovely thing is that i have been working at minimum 60 hours per week for the last...years? i totaled up the hours that i will be working now and it's almost normal--in the 40-50 hours range. i could cry with joy. for serious.

catching up on dvr'd shows. natasha and i have a weekly date to watch some of them, but the others are watched whenever a chance occurs.

pinning. like crazy!

paying it forward. we had so many people who were generous with time and resources during our wedding prep. i have two girlfriends getting married within a month of each other (last weekend and then in june) so i am trying to make myself as available to them as i can!

coming up with some jewelry design ideas. i would like to open my etsy store again, and am trying to come up with some new and different stuff. on that note, anything you would like to see?

organizing. from the pantry to my iPhoto libraries. i love it. but it is a bit time-consuming since, well, i'm me.  :-)

missing writing/blogging. i think about posts often.  they just never seem to materialize.  hopefully as transition continues to a more livable schedule, that will change. i miss this place!

working in the yard. since i actually enjoy mowing, that comes to me most weeks...plus i have a fledgling garden that i'm trying to protect from the neighborhood bunnies. anthony laughs at me constantly for being in battle with a bunny.  ha!

juicing.  i got a free juicer a few months ago and its definitely been appreciated and used! i'll post some of my favorites here soon.  :-)

monday's memory: april 366

366 project
my life in pictures, april