One Year

"In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps."
Proverbs 16:9

 Oh hello little blog that I've obviously neglected!

Yesterday marked one year since my college graduation and what a year it has been. All of the changes, disappointments, friendships made and lost, and "come to Jesus" moments have made this year unforgettable.

One year ago I was happy to finally be graduating, 5 years of college is quite long enough. I was excited about the possibility of moving somewhere new and exciting if I got a teaching job, and a little naive to think it would just be handed to me because I deserved it. And a year later I'm subbing at my old high school, nannying a few days a week, and still living with my parents.
I am a firm believer in the fact that God has a plan for my life and that He is guiding my steps, even through this time when it doesn't feel like it. He thought I needed time at home, time without a teaching job, time to come back to Him daily through the trials of joblessness, illness, and severe anxiety. This year is definitely not what I would have chosen for myself. I would not have imagined being jobless, living with my parents again, and finally having to give in to a daily anti-anxiety medication. But because of it I have re-learned the values of daily prayer and leaning on Him for joy, healing, and anything else that I need. I have also been blessed to start a relationship with the cutest little family that I nanny for and who doesn't want to hold a newborn all day? Just look at this face:

I also met a new really good friend, who just so happens to have the best name (Brittany), she's new to the area because of a job and visited my church, which I believe was completely God, he made our paths cross so we could friends and support each other. We have also coerced each other into picking up a new fitness routine which includes my long lost love of yoga. We may have done a free trial at a gym just to learn how to use the machines and get a free yoga class. And meet some boys but that part didn't quite work out. ;)

I had enough free time to be able to volunteer myself to help with planning the youth camp at my church, and I am so excited to see how it impacts the lives of the middle and high school students that I have such a heart for.

And this time next week I will be in Boston with an old roommate visiting our other roommate while is she living there for nursing school! If I had a job I wouldn't have the opportunity to go see my friend and explore a city I've always wanted to see. :)

As I approach these next couple months of job applications and hopefully interviews I know that God will orchestrate everything to work out perfectly according to His plan and all I have to do is trust Him and work as hard as possible to convince the right school that they can't survive without me on their teaching staff! I have no idea where I'll be or what this next year will look like but He knows so that's all that matters. :)

~Brittany

Teacher Lady

Well the goal was to post once a week but obviously that already didn't happen. So in an attempt to make up for lost time I'll post multiple times in one day! :)

I've finally gotten started with Substitute Teaching and already have a few pretty good stories, middle school students never fail to bring hilarity and some "uh-oh" inducing moments into a classroom. I've only subbed one day so far but I am subbing tomorrow as well so maybe I'll have more stories!

First off, the school I am subbing in is the very small private Christian school that graduated from in 2008 and my sister also graduated from in 2013. That same building also houses the church I have attended since birth. So basically my entire life revolved around that one building for 18 years of my life. Going back to it as a teacher was strange, to say the least. It was exciting to see some of my old teachers that are still there and I actually already know a good portion of the kids from church and the school.

It was definitely an adventurous first day of subbing to say the least. The teacher I was subbing for was going on a field trip for the High School band so I was only taking over a few of classes in the middle of the day and I actually got instructions straight from him which was really helpful, I had a couple nightmare days last April involving missing plans and no plans and wound up 6th graders. Another post for another day. I was prepared to encounter an attempt to switch names between students as this group is famous for so I was surprised when my first class of the day seemed to be going pretty smoothly. It was a 9th grade History class and I knew a few of the girls which might have helped curb the name changing. But about 10 minutes into the class a secretary announced over the loud speaker for a student to come down to the office. My class erupted into giggles and smirks and I assumed that student had done something amusing but wrong earlier and was now getting into trouble for it. Until about 5 minutes later when one of my students got up and walked out the door with all of his stuff and one of the girls announced to me that he was the one that had been called to the office and was not supposed to be in our class. He had been impersonating an absent student. So 20 minutes into my first day I was initiated in by a prank. At least that part is over now.

The next hour was an 8th grade History class and they were taking a test so it was a pretty easy hour except when the students noticed that at the top of their test, the copier had messed up the word "Class" where they were supposed to write their hour, and had left out the first two letters leaving the word "a$$" right at the top of their test. I only had one smart-aleck student that filled in the blank with "wipe" so his test said "a$$wipe" right at the top.

My last hour of students started off with my whole class in the wrong classroom so I was alone in the correct classroom while there were about 20 sixth graders unattended in a band room. After a 10 minute delay, a run to the office and an announcement for them to go to the right room, I had lost any ounce of control and authority I might have had over them.

Hopefully tomorrow will be a good day as I teach middle school math! 

The life of a substitute is never easy or boring, that is for sure.

To Ski or Not to Ski

Winter sports.  Not really my thing.

However, partially inspired by the Winter Olympics I decided it was time to try skiing a few weeks ago. It looks pretty easy, except that it's not. A couple of friends and I headed out to Mt. Brighton in every borrowed piece of ski gear we could find and the best part of the day was that we were actually not cold, so yay for layers!
All three of us had never been skiing before so went straight to the conveyor belt bunny hill to test out our skills. We had watched YouTube "How to Ski" videos the night before in an attempt to look less inexperienced on the slopes. That didn't really work out. We all fell just trying to get on the conveyor belt to get to the top of the hill (or small mound as it should be called). Between the conveyor belt and the tow rope on the larger bunny hill we definitely had our share of falls. I fell while attempting to ski/walk across the flat ground and was stuck there for 5 minutes until I realized I could take my skis off so I could stand up. I'm sure the employees and veteran skiers got a few good laughs at our expense all day. The ski school full of small children were easily showing us up and after a few hours of different bunny hills and multiple falls and crashes, we took our lunch break and then basically decided we were done for the day. For a first time ski trip it was pretty successful, I eventually figured out how to stay upright and mastered the art of the "pizza".

That is me, caught in a rare moment of not being on the ground.

This is our biggest hill attempt, it actually is pretty steep, the picture doesn't quite do it justice.

 Lunch break! We were pretty much done by then. Once you take the ski boots off you really don't want to put them back on.

My favorite part of the day was watching a collegiate snowboard competition while sitting by a bonfire and watching little snowflakes like this one land on me. So little and intricate!

Our end of the day reward; Applebee's appetizers and dessert. I will never pass up cheesecake of any kind.
Skiing is definitely not one of my favorite activities but it was fun to try and hangout with new friends, maybe I'll go again and actually take a lesson. 

<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/11693487/?claim=tm5jfx522x8">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

2014 Goals

New Years Resolutions.

I don't usually make New Years Resolutions because I think it's silly to feel like you're forced to make changes in your life only because the calendar is changing. I can make a resolution any time of the year thank you very much.
This year I decided to make a list of 5 goals, some spiritual, some not. These 5 goals are parts of my life that I wanted to be able to look back on in a year and see how it changed, how I made a difference.

My list is essentially this:

1. Find a teaching job or figure out what it is that the Lord sees me doing instead.
2. Volunteer more often, find news ways to be consistently involved in serving others.
3. Be more outwardly loving and encouraging, build others up with my words and actions.
4. Get involved in my church and find my place there again.
5. Develop and deepen my prayer life, remember to bring every daily thing to Him in prayer.

Since moving home after graduation in April, I would say that these 5 areas are the ones that suffered most and impacted my spiritual life and relationships. In this first month of 2014 I have actually already seen a change, more than I thought I would actually accomplish. My spiritual and physical battle of the last few months is for another post but I can say that consciously focusing on these goals and letting go of where I thought I would be at this time in my life has improved my attitude and outlook on my life tremendously. God's plan is much better than mine and as this year unfolds I hope to see monumental changes and exciting things happening. :)

~Brittany

Cabin Fever

Cabin fever has definitely been setting in this month, I can't even believe the amount of snowstorms and cold days we've had that have made leaving the house incredibly difficult. Most days that I'm not nannying have been spent watching a lot of Netflix in my pajamas, because if you're not leaving the house or seeing anyone, who cares?

But finally, this has been a surprisingly exciting week!
Aside from my two days of nannying, I spent the coldest day of the week researching school districts pretty much all over the U.S. but especially in southern states like Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. I've wanted to move down there for awhile and this winter is not helping Michigan's case to make me stay and experience another one. Unfortunately, at least at this time of the school year, postings for full time teachers for next school year are few and far between, especially for Social Studies. I knew it was a popular major for teachers but I did not expect it to be this hard to find a job. But, I am choosing to believe that with prayer and a little hard work, the perfect door will swing wide open!

Too much free time is about to be a thing of the past! I got a chance to talk with the youth leader at my church and it looks like I will be helping out quite a bit with planning the summer youth camp, which I am so excited for. My teacher planning instincts have been dying for a project and I can't think of a better way to use them than to help plan camp! It was the highlight of my summer every year that I was a camper and counselor. I might also get the chance to go on their short term mission trip to West Virginia this summer! So many good things and ways to occupy my copious amounts of free time!

Lastly, one of my best friends moved down into the city of Detroit for an internship with a non-profit and to be more involved with the good things going on in the city. I drove down there to visit yesterday and we ate brunch at a cute little place called Brooklyn St. Local. The food was SO good, but really when is breakfast food ever not good? We decided to go wander around the DIA for a couple hours, I have not been there in years and was surprised by some of the art they actually have, like real Van Gogh original paintings and a section of a cathedral from Europe. How did Detroit get lucky enough to have such priceless items?! We had a little snack in the Kresge Court cafe which was a really cute spot, I would drive down just to sit and study in there, if I had anything to study. And then. The best part of the day. We found Michigan's largest rare and used book store. 4 floors. Never-ending shelves. SO good. I could have spent all day in there I'm pretty sure just looking for buried treasures. I did a buy a couple of things; pretty hardcover copies of Charlotte Bronte's Villette and Dickens' Oliver Twist, and I found a copy of the Seaside Library journal from 1882, my inner history nerd got just a little excited. Old bookstores have the best smell, they should make a candle out of it, I would definitely buy it. If you are ever in Detroit, you need to look up the John K. King bookstore on Lafayette, it is worth your time for sure.

Kresge Court

In true Michigan style it looks like another big snowstorm is headed our way tomorrow so the cabin fever will probably be back with a vengeance for a couple days. I'll just have to find some new Netflix series to check out! :)

~ Brittany
*Edit: I had my books mixed up with others, I changed the titles to reflect the Bronte and Dickens I actually bought.

Ready, Set, Blog!

Sippy cups, Frozen sing-alongs, coloring books, teaching job applications, and way too much free time. This is my life. Your 20s are supposed to be the most exciting years of your life, so why does it seem to be so stressful for most of us? My journey of the last 9 months since graduation and moving back home has brought many changes and a lot of uncertainty. But I have decided to take advantage of this transitional time and try to enjoy the slower pace and free time to explore new hobbies and interests so...Voila! That's where this blog comes in. 2014 feels like it will be an exciting year full of more experiences and changes for me and I wanted a way to chronicle all of the work God is and will be doing in my life through this year. I also wanted to be able to connect with others that might be experiencing the same! I'm hoping to blog about the daily ins and outs of being a part-time nanny, aspiring teacher, and the hobbies I pick up to fill my time.
I thought it might be a good idea to start off with a list of 10 "Get to know me" facts that I hope you enjoy reading!

1. I am a Michigander born and raised. I grew up in the Metro Detroit area, moved to Grand Rapids for school, and then moved back home after my graduation from Grand Valley State this past April.

My Grandma and I at my graduation.

2. I am currently a part-time nanny to a 4 and 1 year old, and substitute teacher. Hopefully by next school year I will be a full-time middle school teacher!
3. I love any and all card games. Euchre, hearts, spoons, rummy; they're about the only thing I actually get pretty competitive about.
4. One of my dreams is to move to a Southern state, lie near the coast, and own a plantation style house with a wrap-around porch and a long, tree-lined driveway. Why wasn't I born a Southern belle?

Something like this maybe? :)

5. I spent my last year of school student teaching in 7th and 8th grade Social Studies classrooms and I loved every minute of it. Oh the stories I could tell about the adventures of middle school. I can't wait to finally have my own classroom and group of students.
6. Any of my close friends will tell you that I am not a fan of running but I participated in the Color Run as my first 5K two years ago. I survived and it was so much fun!

7. My favorite Bible verse is Jeremiah 1:5, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."
8. My favorite book genre to read is Historical Fiction, which is, in my opinion, the best and most interesting way to learn more about history, much better than textbooks. :)
9. The best job I have ever had was a summer camp counselor at Camp O'Malley near Grand Rapids a few years ago. I would recommend being a camp counselor to everybody, it was the best and most rewarding experience of my life.

10. Since I moved back home, I still go to the church where I grew up and went to school from Preschool to graduation. My life revolved around that one building for 18 years and coming back 5 years later, it still felt like home.
Extra special bonus fact: My last two years in Grand Rapids I lived in the cutest blue house with the best roommates, I couldn't leave them out. :)

Thanks for reading my first post! As I get into blogging more often feel free to comment, I would love to hear from you!