Ah, hello blogosphere! It’s been a while.
Since my last post six months ago, I’ve moved to a bigger room in my house, gotten a[nother]new housemate (the fourth in the course of the year…hoping the current peeps stick around for a bit ’cause house mate searching is stressful), said goodbye to my first fourth grade class as an assistant teacher, spent a lot of summer time at the pool, wrote 8,000+ words in what I hope will become a novel (and logged many hours at local coffee shops in the process), said hello to my second group of fourth graders as an assistant teacher, and started grad school. I also got to celebrate my grandparent’s 60th anniversary over Labor Day weekend in September in Iowa with my mom’s side of the family. It was incredibly special, and I feel very fortunate to have been able to travel across the country to spend time with my family during such a momentous occasion. It’s all been very good, and I’m very happy where I’m at right now, but it’s also been a challenge. Learning to balance working full time with school and school work has been a learning curve.
I’m in a two year elementary education and licensure program, and this year is what I like to think of as my “chill” year. I have six credits across two classes each semester. Each class meets once a week, so that’s two evenings a week that I spend in class after work. They’re long days, but also satisfying. I know I’m in the right profession, because I actually get excited about my homework. I don’t always want to do it, but I usually enjoy it once I get into it. While my life certainly isn’t chill between working full time and taking six grad school credits, I know next year will be way busier when I transition to becoming a full time student. I’ll have to quit my full time job to focus on internships, and I’ll have classes four nights a week in the fall.
I continue to rely on yoga to keep me sane, and I work to find joy in the little things. My mom came to visit me a few weeks ago, which was a much needed break from school and work. I’m coming to the close of my first semester of grad school and have a research paper and a couple other assignments to finish up. Thanksgiving will be spent in DC so I can focus on school, but I’m looking forward to my one month break between semesters and my two week break from work over the holidays. I’ll be heading to Minnesota to spend some much needed time with family and friends in the frigid North, along with a healthy dose of relaxation. And Christmas cookies. Definitely Christmas cookies.
Now, I should probably get back to that research paper I need to get done by mid-December. Wish me luck as I finish up this semester!
It's a Britta Bottle! 
Not sure how I missed this update but here we are.
Thrilled to hear that you’re in the process of writing a novel. Amazing, really, given you are teaching and in grad school. I smiled when reading that you get excited about your homework.
Love the family pic ✌️🐰✌️
How are you keeping sane, healthy and safe in the time of coronavirus?
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Eh, life is busy. It’s easy to miss blog posts sometimes. 🙂
Well, I haven’t touched my novel since summer…but thank you! I thought I’d might get some done during this period of social distancing (and DC declared Stay at Home Orders last night), but so far grad school and online teaching have been keeping me busy. I still have plenty of time, though, so maybe I’ll revisit it one of these days.
Social distancing is pretty easy for me as an introvert. Admittedly, I actually kind of like it. For the first time in my life, I don’t feel pressure from myself or others to go out into the world and make plans, and that’s a lovely bit I’m taking with me in these challenging times. Granted, I miss the freedom of not being confined to home, and I do need to be vigilant about reaching out to people or I’ll get lonely. I also hate being so sedentary and have been trying to hard to combat that. And I try to stay away from the news, which is so stressful and anxiety inducing. Overall, though, I’m trying to make the most of this unfortunate global situation and take it as time to regroup, reflect, and rest. How are you doing?
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I love your introverts take on social distancing! And I think that the ways you are trying to make the most of the situation are spot on! We are healthy and safe and staying sane by keeping in touch with friends and family virtually, writing, reading for pleasure and trying to limit media access. I too am enjoying the down time from travel (full time travel can compelling yet exhausting) But I need to get outside more.
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Great to come back here and see what you’ve been up to, and that you’re still writing. I hope you are … any plans to get back going in 2020? You have such talent for this!
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Hi Eli,
Nice to hear from you. Not planning on getting super back into blogging, other than to post occasional updates here and–I’m busy with work and life, and I also want to focus more on my creative writing off the blog in the hopes of getting published someday. That said, this online space has been an incredible place for me to learn and grow in the last few years, and its not going anywhere. I don’t plan on utilizing it as much as I once did though.
Hope you are well.
Britta
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