One Year Later...& Happily Ever After

Hey y'all!  I haven't blogged on here in over a year...which is sad.  I had gotten a teaching job in Hattiesburg, MS last school year, and I moved four hours away from my family and friends. 

This was really hard to write...

The truth is that last year was the worst year of my life.  Not only was I far away from my family and friends, I was tested  with my strength, my values, my beliefs, and my faith.  I lived through a year of hell, but I never gave up.  I can't go in detail....but it was really bad!  After a month of living there I wanted to quit.  If I did I would have lost my teaching certificate that I worked so hard for.  I didn't--I finished out the year, and I was SO proud of myself for not giving up!  I don't have a teaching job this year...



My Mom went with me to adopt a cat about a month after moving, which I named Louella Mae.  A lot of people think I'm a crazy cat lady now, and that's ok.  I thought I was saving her, but she really saved me!  She's my funny girl, and I don't know what I would have done without her!

Louella Mae's first birthday!

At the beginning of November 2012 I had one of the worst days.  I remember leaving school and feeling defeated.  I couldn't believe that God had given me a job that I hated so much.  I couldn't believe I had waited for a whole school year for a job, and ended up living through this nightmare.  Everyone said I was there for a reason, but I had no idea why.  I had thought that the job was the answer to my prayers, and that I had finally gotten what I had worked and prayed so hard for!
I was so discouraged and defeated.  I wanted to give up and move back home.  I remember crying out to God one night early in November, and being so angry with what I was living through.  I asked him why He had brought me here, and given me a heart for teaching and then bring me to a place that I had so much adversity.  He told me that I was there to become stronger and that He wanted me to wait and not give up, the best hadn't come.  I've never heard God so clearly, but that wasn't the answer I wanted. 
I didn't know then that at the beginning of November a set of troops had been deployed to Hattiesburg...

In January I went to an Emerson Drive concert and a college basketball game with a friend I worked with and her husband.  That was the night that I met Jon...an Army guy from Chicago....

We went out a few days later, and after that we saw each other pretty much every day!  In March of 2013 I wiped a tear from a student's face...and I got mono from doing that.  {I don't recommend doing that now!}  That was the test of all tests....my face swelled up like a chipmunk and my eyes were almost swollen shut for a few weeks.  My whole body hurt, and I kept falling asleep every time I sat down.  There is no medicine to get over mono.  You just have to get a lot of rest and can take Tylenol for the pain.  Jon kept bringing me dinner, Tylenol, and Coca-Cola Icees.  He didn't leave me, he took care of me.  I knew that he was the one--and he wasn't going to leave if something bad happened.

In May, after school got out for the summer, Jon and I went to Orange Beach for the day.  It was my birthday weekend.  He was acting weird, and I had decided he was going to break up with me!  Instead, he told me he loved me {which he hadn't said before} and proposed!  I said YES!!! 

We got married on November 16, 2013...about a year after God had told me to not give up yet...

I think I made a difference in a lot of my student's lives last year.  Some had never been told they were loved--but they knew I loved them.  Others came in to my class hungry, and I gave out snacks all through out the day.  Others came needing a listening ear, and I gave them that.  Others needed encouragement. 
I needed to know that I was STRONG.  I needed to know that I could stand up for myself, and not let someone break my spirit.  I needed to know that when my values were tested, I knew what I stood for and I wouldn't compromise them.  I needed to know that I could teach my heart out, and sometimes that wouldn't be enough.  I needed to know that I could adapt with the adversity and battles that I faced everyday.  I didn't know I was as strong as I was.  I cried out every tear in my body because I haven't cried in over a year!  I cried every day after school, and some nights I'd cry myself to sleep.  I don't cry now{I didn't even cry when we got engaged or on our wedding day!  Jon did though!}God stood with me, and with every battle and struggle I faced daily He gave me the words to say and the courage to continue on.  He blessed me with a wonderful, thoughtful, man from Chicago!

One of my favorites!  I'll post some more pictures soon!

Our wedding was a shabby chic, country barn wedding and we had a lot of his family and friends from Chicago come to the wedding!  We have been married for two months today!  I can't wait to see what God has in store for us!  We both said we'd never move back to Mississippi....but we are moving back there on Saturday.  Never say never, right?!? 
I have days were I miss teaching, and then I have days where I think I'll never go back.  For now I'm praying for God to show me what he wants me to do whether it's teaching again or doing something else.  I have another blog about married life, that I've been writing on lately.  I've missed blogging on here...stop by our other blog and say hey!

XoXo,

Ashlee 

More than "just" a teacher.

So many people think we went into this profession for the weekends off, summers off, and leaving work at 3:15.  I've heard it so many times...oh "just" a  teacher.  "Those who can't teach." It always bothered me when I would hear that. We are more than "just" a teacher.  I'm a nurse, counselor, mom/dad, custodian, mentor, an encourager, an interpreter, a referee, an investigator, a warm smile, and a safety net.  I never felt like I was "just" a teacher.  It was "just a teacher" that led many fourth graders to a safe place and gave them crayons and paper to keep quiet.  It was "just" a teacher that locked her students safely in a bathroom and told them how much she loved them so they wouldn't be scared.  It was "just" a teacher that had her kids  sing Christmas carols to take their mind off of what was happening in the school.  It was "just" a teacher that shielded her kids and gave her life for them.  It was "just" a teacher that sacrificed not that day but everyday.   I've never been more proud to say that I'm a teacher.  I'll admit I was uneasy about going to school today, and did not know what to say to my seventeen first graders about what happened.  I didn't know if they knew of what had happened at Sandy Hook, or if they would even understand.  I gave my kids a bigger hug as they came in and left today, and I was thankful for their talkative little personalities!  I like to think I would know and have the courage to do what the three teachers at Sandy Hook did on Friday, December 14, 2012.  "God is their refuge and strength, a present help in time of trouble."  Psalms 46

My Heart Breaks for Sandy Hook Elementary

 

A Little Therapeutic Therapy...

I'm back linking up for Teacher Week over at Blog Hoppin'.  I have learned how to de-stress very well as some may say!  Here is a peak at how I unwind after a *long* day at school!

A number 5 eight count with a Dr. Pepper and extra Polynesian and Chick-fil-A Sauce always makes this girl happy!

Reese's Peanut Butter Cups...and yes...I have been known to eat a whole pack in ONE sitting!

 

Hanson!  I know, I know...Hanson!  MMM Bop is STILL my all time favorite song!  Whenever I am sad or stressed I just pull out my Hanson CD {circa 1997} and I sing along and it puts me in a better mood!

My favorite shows...Pretty Little Liars and 90210.

Thrifiting...I like to turn trash into unique, one-of-a-kind treasures!

My newly adopted cat, Louella Mae.

My super awesome friend Heather that just *happened* to move to Mississippi the same time I did!  It's always good when you have a friend from home to talk to!  {I'm the one on the right.}

I'm off to see what everyone else does to unwind...go link up if you haven't!  Happy Long Weekend Ya'll!!!

Where It All Goes Down...

Hey ya'll!  I can't believe it's been almost a month since I blogged!  That has got to change!  Yesterday was a month that we have been in school.  Here in Mississippi we are waiting for Hurricane Issac to make his mark.  In order for people to evacute, school is closed today and tomorrow.  I know many of my students moved here from New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, so needless to say I had *a few* tears yesterday.  They were babies when Katrina hit, but I guess they have heard stories from their families.  So I'm using today to play catch up on putting in grades, lesson plans, and centers...and watching my newly adopted cat Louella Mae swing on the curtains of course!  Before I get started on school stuff, I need to  catch up in Blog Land-- seeing as how I totally missed Blog Hoppin's Teacher Week!  Total sadness!  I'm going to start off with Where I Teach Wednesday.  I love looking in to everyone else's classrooms. 
My very, very, very organized and leveled classroom library!  I think this is my favorite part of my classroom!




Here is the area above the board.  I have added a multiplication and division sign up there, and a math focus bulletin board since then.


My small group area...I love small group time!


My reading center area....I don't teach reading but they still get to pick out a book to read if they finish their work early.  The window is my Wishing Well (more on that later).




My Rick Morris Behavior Clip Chart...Hollywood style.  Please excuse the mess, my friend Heather took these pictures when she was helping me get my classroom together.  :)



If you haven't linked up yet, go and join the party!

Currently....

It's that time again...time for Farley's Currently Linky!  For once, I'm joining kind of early!  I can't believe that school starts tomorrow!  I *wigged out* and spent $20.00 on copies...yes...copies.  So after a few whole bag of Reese's and $20 bucks later, I feel much more prepared for the first day of school!

A Freebie for You....and Ryan Lochte Too :)

Hey ya'll!!!  Of course I had to stay up and watch the Olympics last night and today,  I always get so excited when it comes on.  So my sweet thirdsters will be having all kinds of Olympic fun in my classroom when school starts.  I've got lots of ideas, more on that later!  :)  I went to school super early this morning for a School Wide Work Day.  Well, I was hoping to meet some more of the teachers I'd be working with...but they weren't there.  I spray painted paw prints again....and ptl that all the halls are finished!  Then I watched the guy's swim meet.  I mean... Ryan Lochte is super cute....and could possibly be my future hubby!  HA!  ;)  It only helps that I was a fan before he won gold!  Swoon...So anyways back to why I'm posting... while I was doing that I finished these multiplication and division key words to go along with my addition and subtraction key words I got from The Teacher Wife.  I got some poster board and made a big multiplication and division symbol, then cut out the words.   Hope some of ya'll can use them!  Click *HERE* to download.

 Who else is excited about the Olympics?  And I leave you with this...   :)