Thankful30 || Day One: Seasons

Yesterday brought the first of November and with it a reminder that the season of Thanksgiving is upon us once more. So I have decided, once again, to attempt to write about something I am thankful for each day. Of course, I already missed the first day, and almost missed this second, but I here I am to catch up.

The first thing I am thankful for is the seasons. I love that I live in the Inland Northwest where we have four distinct seasons each year. Right now Autumn is waning and Winter is quickly approaching – a heard a rumor that snow is expected tomorrow! I love this time of year, when the days are pleasant and cool, the leaves turn colors and fall from the trees, and I am blessed to work with students who aren’t ashamed to jump into a leaf pile and make “angels”!

I also think about the seasons of life, and find that I am thankful for those as well. Right now my life seems to be in a bit of a Winter, a time of stress and ill health, of searching for respect and appreciation, a way to use my gifts and fulfill some greater purpose. It is a season of struggle to be sure, but I am in the midst of it knowing that I am not alone; God always has a Spring, a rebirth, a new beginning waiting for me on the other side and I am so looking forward to this one!

Thankful365 – Day 11: Teacher Clothes

Today (well, yesterday, but day 11) I went on a field trip with Fred to buy some “teacher clothes” for my upcoming student teaching experience. She gave me two pairs of dress slacks that she no longer wanted (one brown, one black), and I found two sweaters – one was black, more of a cardigan-type that stays open; the other was a light blue pullover, lightweight and soft. The latter will look nice with several of my skirts.

I also went solo and got two button-down-the-front shirts (one was a pretty blue cotton, the other an orange and tan plaid flannel), and two more pullover sweaters (dark gray, brown). They will all look nice under a vest I’m sure. I didn’t really need more clothes, but they will be helpful. Now all that’s left is my first pair of boots!

Travel Journal

“The weather is here, wish you were beautiful.”

I recently returned from an almost-two-week trip to California to visit my brother and his family. Before I left, I began a travel journal, to be completed upon my return.

This was a basic type of journal, using a small three-ring binder I had purchased at Michaels several months ago; it was intended to be a travel “smash book” of sorts, although I took out all of its pages and replaced them with my own. I also decided to use some page protectors from the “Project Life” collection.

There wasn’t much I could do ahead of time, since most of the contents would be photos and miscellany collected on my trip. As I was driving north to where I would leave my car, I thought about this project, specifically why people create travel journals and what purpose they serve. I came to the conclusion that there were two main reasons:  to remember the trip, and to share the memories with others. For me, it would be to enjoy making the book itself.

While I was gone I gathered bits and pieces and took photos (almost 400 just in one day at the San Francisco Zoo). Upon my return, as I was driving back from where I had left my car, I again thought about the purpose of a travel journal. And again, I came to the conclusion that for me personally, I would make it for the joy and relaxation of making something. But was that really enough? I could include photos and ephemera, and journal about my time, but who would read it?

The more I think about this project, the more my thoughts wander to the family I hope to one day have – a husband, children – and what I would like to share with them about my life and how I see the world. I haven’t started the journal process yet, and I’m not yet sure what I will say. But somehow having this idea about my future, that I will one day (hopefully soon) have a family of my own to share these thoughts and photos with, fills me with a quiet hope. I like that, very much!

Snapshot Saturday: Ellis in Winchester

This week I took my first field trip of the summer, to a small town in Idaho, about an hour or so southeast of here, called Winchester. This is hanging on a wire across one of the streets. Not the main street, although I’m not sure the town actually has a main street. In fact, it doesn’t even have all paved streets.

I went along with a friend of mine who was visiting family, and while they visited I was able to walk around and take pictures. I’ll be sharing more of them soon in a different post; for now, I want to focus on one particular aspect of this tiny little town:  a bird I met (whom I will call Ellis).



Here you see him with ruffled feathers. This was taken after he followed me for three or four blocks up a street, then back down. He was on the telephone wire, I was wearing my black Batman hoodie – perhaps he thought I was a threat, a giant black bird come to take his family away [smile]. Whatever the reason, he flew out from the wire, over my head (but not close to it, he stayed well up in the air), then back onto the wire. He was chattering at me the whole time, too!

Here he is perched atop the street sign (hence the name Ellis), very upset with me for taking his picture again (I took three or four). Or maybe just one final warning before I crossed the street. Either way, I was very pleasant to him, I even told him everything was fine! Obviously he didn’t believe me [smile]