single in the city

Lately this place has been quiet. I've thought about posting, but then when I sit down to do it I just can't figure out what I want to say or share. 

October has been my favorite months for awhile. It always holds a fresh start (Fall) and lovely traditions. It also has a particular day that I look forward to every year in hope of something good occurring on it. (See here, here, here, and here.) But October has brought me only 2 things- one good and one terrible, horrible,  no good, very bad thing (I got that from this cute kid's book,fyi). 

Good- my little pup turned the big 1!! I can't believe she's not a puppy anymore!

Bad- Steven and I broke up. I'm still trying to put into words how I feel about this and I just can't seem to manage the appropriate ones. It's a difficult situation after a 3 1/2 year relationship. And while I am putting this factoid out there, I don't plan on discussing it here. But life will be extremely different and I guess that goes for this little blogger space too. 

Stay tuned......

-k

thoughts on finally being a teacher

Today while I was up at the white board teaching, I suddenly felt like I was back in time.  I remembered being back in elementary school, hanging out in my playroom, writing on my mini chalkboard, pretending to teach to my stuffed animals and for a minute I had to stop and smile. On a day like today, twenty years ago I was hanging out at home, pretending I was a teacher and so excited for the day when I finally would have my own classroom. And it finally happened. I finally have my own room. My own whiteboard. My own students (who aren't stuffed animals... although at least those guys didn't talk back or threaten me....). It hasn't been easy by any means, but I felt so content at the fact that I have finally achieved the goal I wanted and worked at for so long. I feel like a real grown up. It's a little scary....

An on another note.... today was that day, the day I look forward to every year, October 10 (10-10).
 (You can see previous posts (and explanations) here, here, and here.)
Yet it was nothing out the of extraordinary. It was a good day, don't get me wrong, but nothing like I've been hoping for). Maybe next year.

-k

52 lists in 52 weeks// week 19 (& the 10.10 annual post)

A couple of weeks ago the Sunday list was to list 8 stunning and beautiful things about yourself. The topic was one I found via this awesome lady and her amazing journals. Then this week I got to thinking about it again and my mind went in a different direction.... What I perhaps most about that list was that (for me at least) it forced me to look at only the positive and uplifting things about myself, which I tend to do very little of. However, the more I thought about myself via lists this week, I came to another conclusion. Maybe not everything about me is positive (shocker, right?) but some things just make me, me. They are the weird ans quirky things. The things we sometimes hide from others (at least in the beginning) because we're scared this odd thing about us may scare others off. But these things are also the things that make us so unique and awesome.

So, this week, our list is simply this:
"ME in a list....the good, the bad, the weird, the quirky."
The purpose of this list (however long or short you make it) is to open up and share things about us that make us individuals. It's silly to pretend we don't all have them and its even sillier to care if others will accept us for them or not (because the important people will). So spill!!

My list..... (ready or not):
1. i've worn glasses since i was in 3rd grade and contacts since 6th

2. i was grounded only once in my life and it was for a day

3. i use to put myself in time out when i was little (my boyfriend and his friends love these stories...apparently this isn't a normal thing kids do, haha)

4. sometimes i really wish my life were a musical, or at least it was for a day

5. i collect sock monkeys (and sock monkey anything, i have a hat and easter basket sock monkey as well)

6. i've lived in FL all my life

7. i've only broken 1 bone (middle finger) and it happened only 3 weeks ago

8. i've wanted to be a teacher since i was 5 years old

9. my mom is one of my best friends

10. i use to have an eating disorder (which only maybe 3 people know about...so sharing it here was something i honestly debated about)

11. i hated middle school more than anything...i cried at having to go it was so awful

12. i have wedding fever really badly (if youre friends with me on pinterest, you know this haha)

13. i have a major sweet tooth, cupcakes are my absolute favorite food, by the way

14. i dyed my blonde hair brown a few years back after a break up and i have LOVED it, but i also know that one of these days i'll be going back to it

15. for 10 years i've waited anxiously for october 10th (which i've talked about here and here) in hopes of something out of the ordinary would happen. however, nothing has happened (yet). part of me even thinks i'm crazy to be still hopeful each year for this date when for so long nothing has happened. .....what do you think? honestly.

Well, your turn for making a list. Can't wait to read them!!
our flickr group is here

xo
kellz

10.10.10

I've been looking forward to October 10th every year for the past 9 years. It seems pretty silly when I think about why.... and that I've been putting so much on this one day for almost a decade. Still, I think I was really hoping for something different today. However, I am ending this night thinking about all the many blessings I do have in my life. Maybe today wasn't anything extraordinary, but I still have a lot of amazing things going on and amazing people in my life. Maybe I there is nothing special about this date. Maybe it's just suppose to serve as a reminder that life is full of beautiful and memorable moments, we just need to take the time to savor them.

Here's an awesome post that my friend Mary showed me tonight. Same message (savor each moment). It's a pretty awesome story. Enjoy.
This is so enlightening.

************************************************
Washington Post Experiment In Washington , DC , at a Metro Station, on a cold January morning in 2007, this man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.
After about 3 minutes, a middle-aged man noticed that there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds, and then he hurried on to meet his schedule.

About 4 minutes later:
The violinist received his first dollar. A woman threw money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.

At 6 minutes:
A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

At 10 minutes:
A 3-year old boy stopped, but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head the whole time. This action was repeated by several other children, but every parent - without exception - forced their children to move on quickly.

At 45 minutes:
The musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped and listened for a short while. About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.

After 1 hour:
He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed and no one applauded. There was no recognition at all.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before, Joshua Bell sold-out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100 each to sit and listen to him play the same music.

Joshua Bell, playing incognito in the D.C. Metro Station, was organized by Gene Weingarten from the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people’s priorities. Weingarten won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for feature writing for his article on the experiment.

This experiment raised several questions:
*In a common-place environment, at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?
*If so, do we stop to appreciate it?
*Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this:
If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made … How many other things are we missing as we rush through life?

you can catch the video here
and the Washington Post article here

Anticipation leads to confusion

October 10 -- it is the day I look forward to every year. For no other reason than it was once in a dream I had. To explain, before anyone thinks I am crazy....
Six years ago (right after my Dad died) I had a dream that he wrote me a note. Kind of a goodbye note. In it was the date October 10. I don't remember if I ever saw the year, but the 10-10 stuck out and has yet to leave my mind, even this many years later. After I had the dream, I searched my diaries and devotionals thinking maybe something HAD happened on one of these days-- but I couldn't find anything that made much sense. Therefore, I have come to the conclusion that on this day --October 10, one year something amazing will happen.
This year though, I was left in confusion. Today was a good day, don't get my wrong, but nothing out of the ordinary happened. Nothing spectacular.
Perhaps it is crazy to believe so much in dreams and their meanings- but I am not the only one...read the Bible.
I think that if we pay attention to our dreams, they will help us to figure out what is haunting us and perhaps even give us a solution. We just have to be willing to listen... but there is the common problem with anything -- willing to listen.