OMG... It's been FOREVER (and a day)

Why hello there... Let me introduce myself.  I'm Stephanie.  Mother, wife, teacher, photographer, and aspiring (slow) runner.  Put all of these together, and this is the reason I haven't written in FOREVER (and a day).

Nora and Mommy @ Great Grandma Mary's Birthday Lunch

Where have I been?  Well, since you ask, here's the gist of it all.

Being Nora Lane's mommy has taken the majority of my time.  Nora is getting dangerously close to being 2 1/2 years old (already)!  She's an amazing little girl, but boy oh boy, she keeps me busy, busy, busy!  Who would have thought that my child would be one who literally never (EVER) stops moving?!?  We've learned that her body actually craves and needs movement, so our little bean is constantly on the go.  It's all good though.  We've started to figure out what works for her, like her favorite, the trampoline!  One things for sure, no matter how crazy (or busy) the day, my heart constantly tells me that I'm the luckiest mommy in the whole world because I have the most AMAZING little girl.

RBES 5th Grade Teachers in Their "Nice List" Tees

One of My Amazing Students Hard At Work In Science Class

Another important part of my day to day life is teaching.  I'm in my 8th year of teaching fifth grade at RBES.  I consider myself to be a professional educator, so therefore I take my career and commitment to my students extremely seriously.  I read, I research, I constantly am striving to be better for my students.  My personality does not allow me to settle or get to "comfy".  Add in high (and always increasing) curriculum standards, evaluation demands, law and regulation changes, and all the regular teacher "stuff"... that means another huge chunk of my time and energy is gone with the wind.

Mommy and Daddy Enjoying Our "Date Day" in Ft. Walton Beach, Florida

Mommy, Daddy, and Nora Enjoying Family Time at the Park During Summer Break

Let's not forget about my darling husband, Dave.  Being a two teacher household gets a little crazy at times.  I know some people believe that we've got it made in the shade because of our "work hours".  Well, I'll tell you that we both are working everyday.  Sometimes I think we need days "off" work to actually get work done for when we are actually at work.  HaHa, does that make sense?  My husband is also a dedicated basketball coach, so when he's home with his girls, we love to spend our family time together doing a whole lot of nothing!  Some of my favorite family moments are those where we are playing and cuddling on the floor with our missy lou!  Thank goodness that Nora and I have our rock.  Even though I know he may not always feel it, he's the glue that holds our crazy together.

Mommy, Daddy, and Nora @ the Red Bud Parade

Nora's Face Says It All... "I LOVE Chick-Fil-A!"

One of the parts of my life that used to be take a lot of my time that I've recently put on the back burner is photography.  I knew at the end of the summer that it was time to give up shooting for others... at least for awhile.  My head was constantly spinning and the overwhelming feeling took over.  The craziness of life took over, and I just wasn't happy when I was shooting.  For my own happiness (and sanity), I decided it was time for a break.  Life is feeling much more settled now, so hopefully sometime I'll feel like it's the right decision to come back to shooting.

Nora Can Rock The Mohawk

Well that's all for now.  I can't believe how good it feels to blog again.  Maybe, just maybe, I'll be back soon to share.  For now it's time for N's bath, which always proves to be an excellent form of entertainment!

Peace, love, and blogging,