Gearing up and Joys ending the week of August 29th

 After today, I have two more days of vacation and then school gets started. I'm ready but not ready. I'm ready because I really do better on a stricter schedule. I'm not ready, because I'm loving no schedule! LOL

This will be another interesting year, but the difference is that teachers have experienced the things that could happen last year. That part of it is no longer unknown. So, I prepare.... for what? Teaching music. I am starting my 30th year of teaching overall and my 26th at Pioneer Middle School. As far as teaching music? I am ready. For dealing with what is or could be happening(ie-masks, distancing, or fingers crossed this doesn't happen- remote or hybrid learning)? I am ready. 

So to school we go on Wednesday!

Here are my joys for the week:

1. I have a job I love

2. I have a home where I am safe and secure.

3. I was able to attend the interment of my aunt and uncle's ashes to their final resting place together.It was held on what would have been their 58th wedding anniversary.

4. Seeing family I hadn't seen in over a year.

5. Having the opportunity to rest before starting the school year.

Hope you can take a little time this week, and #findyourjoy!

Can you relate? and Joys ending the week of 8/22/21

 It's starting again. As we come closer to the start of school, the numbers that are creeping up with the virus, and the mask and vaccine debate..... people are getting very mean again. I could have pulled up a post from about a year ago and it would read the same. What is bothering me the most this time though, is not only am I surprised by some of the people that are being mean, but also how some of them are saying that people should have a choice, but if you don't follow their way of thinking or their choice, they are making "little" comments about your choice. If you say it's a choice, then leave it at that. I made my choice and you made yours. 

I'm just upset by the people I know who choose to be nasty to others on social media and in person just because their choice is different. I'm at a loss as to why people cannot be nice. 

A favorite band of mine just came out with a song that sums this up: Relate by For King and Country

I don't know what it's like to be you
You don't know what it's like to be me
What if we're all the same in different kinds of ways
Can you, can you relate?

We both know what it's like to be hurt
We both know what it's like to feel pain
But I think it's safe to say we're on to better days
Can you, can you relate?
Can you relate?

No matter what side of anything we are on, we have all felt pain and hurt. Those feelings are the same. The circumstances under which we came to those feelings may be different, but we've all felt them. So, we can relate to one another.... if we just take time to. We will be on to better days. 

So, this week, stop and think before you speak or write something on social media and decide... Is this hurtful? because I know what it is like to feel hurt by someone, and do I really want to do that?

By doing that, you will find Joy in things that are deep and real.

My Joys for the week:

1. I made a huge dent in cleaning my house. Having things in order for the start of the school year makes me happy.

2. Mark, Nate and I went to the Wyoming county fair and helped with a colonial cooking demonstration.

3. I went for my Mammogram. it was clear!!

4. Mark had a good appointment with the head and neck surgeon.

5. We had church outside today. It was beautiful weather for it!

Have a good week and I hope you can #findyourjoy

A very different week and joys ending 8/15

 It was a very different week. A week full of joys and sadness. A week where many young people I know, now are wrestling with mortality. Wrestling with things they said or didn't say. Saying goodbye to friends, family, and classmates. Getting ready to move on to the next chapter of their lives. 

My week was met with providing a listening ear, and I hope some comfort for those who needed it. By the end of the week, I was ready to take some time away. Mark and I went to Paige and Jared's on Thursday and stayed through today. The plans we had, weren't the plans that happened, but that was perfectly fine. I enjoyed everything we did, and everywhere we went. We also just hung out at their houses and laughed, and watched movies, and ate snacks! 

At any moment your life can be rocked by devastating news. Make sure you take time for yourself. Let yourself work through the feelings you have. Then move to the joys. They are there, waiting for you. 

My joys week ending 8/15:

1. Even under these horrible circumstances, being able to talk to some of my former show choir students, and help them make sense of this.

2. My school. Pioneer is a great place that cares about kids and rallies around them to be supportive in good times and bad.

3. Mark. He was great this week. He just listened and let me cry.

4. Paige and Jared. They opened their house to us. The visit was a lot of fun.

5. Nate- He held down the fort here so we could go.

A lesson and joys ending week of 8/8

 I should’ve wrote this post yesterday, but found myself very busy and decided to leave it for today. However, this morning I received some tragic news about two former students who were fatally injured in a car accident last night. I didn’t want to write this post on joys. Not when I’m grappling with this news. One of those students was a very special student to me. He was a member of my show choir the year I returned after 6 months of chemo and radiation. It was after that school year his mom was diagnosed and it was hard for him. He made through high school and graduated a couple of months ago. Shortly after that, his mom lost her battle with cancer. Now he’s gone too. His sister just graduated 8th grade and was part of the music department as well. My heart is breaking for her and her family. It’s breaking for the Pioneer community and the graduating class who are getting ready to leave for college. 

How can I even think about writing joys today. Ironic….. if I had written this yesterday, it would have been very different.

So now I have to fight hard for these joys of the past week as I think about this tragedy. Isn’t that what this is about though? Finding joys through the muck and mire of life? 

So, here we go:

1. Last week was restful. No go to sleep or wake up times

2. I have been cleaning and re-organizing 

3. I sang a song that Mark suggested in church yesterday. It felt good.

4. Mark actually sang with me.

5. We had our parents over for a wonderful dinner last night. 

I’m all about looking for lessons learned, and here’s what I take from this, and why it was necessary for me to write this post today instead of yesterday.

Hold on to your family tight. Solve those issues. Love each other, even through the muck and mire of life. 

Camping and Joys ending the week of August 1

 This post is very late because we went camping! We didn't camp at all last year, and it was long overdue. It was relaxing, except when you have to pack up and come home. We won't get another trip in this year because the campsites are really booked up. The weekend was crazy but Thursday and Sunday nights were fairly empty and quiet which is what Mark tolerates the best. I looked for sites we like all over the state for a week trip, but everything is booked. Maybe next year. 

It is August, and I'm finished teaching summer school so day trips and dr. appointments will be filling our time. I'm trying to not think about school(which is hard to do) and just enjoy every day as it comes.

Here's my joys for the week:

1. Camping- even the little bit of rain was welcomed. There is nothing like lying in your camper listening to the rain on the roof

2. Family reunions. We had two this weekend!

3. Finishing up summer school. The team I work with is awesome!

4. I'm still working on the ukulele. It's a lot of fun!

5. New products for Posh were released.

Hope you are enjoying your summer and as always #findyourjoy

Last week of July already and Joys for the week ending 7/25

 I saw a friend's facebook post about it being the last week of July and where summer had gone. I feel the same, but am determined to make August a great month! I have a few day trips planned and some other fun things, and some days of doing absolutely nothing. It's so important to have days where you do nothing. Well, it is for me anyway. As I get older, I think it takes me longer to re-charge! LOL!

Anyway, Here are my joys for the week:

1. Summer school is going well. 3 weeks down and 1 to go!

2. I am slowly getting better at the ukulele!

3. I had a great day playing Ukes with some of my colleagues!

4. The Olympics started. It's weird without people in the stands but still fun to watch the incredible athletes

5. Went to a graduation party today for the son of some dear friends. 

Hope you had a good week and remember to #findyourjoy

Opportunities and Joys ending the week of July 18

 Having an opportunity to share your story is an awesome experience. I had not shared my find your joy journey with anyone new in quite a while, but Wednesday night, an opportunity popped up unexpectedly. I could have not taken the opportunity, and just kept quiet, or gone about my day, but I didn't. I shared. I took 15 minutes out of my day, and I shared. 

This person knew about my cancer diagnosis and Mark's health issues, but not about the personal struggle and how we combated negativity with purposefully finding our joy. She had lost her only child, a daughter quite a few years ago. She was married and had a child (a girl) of her own. This loss has really affected them all. The most profound thing about this is... she told me she struggles because her daughter's name was ... Joy! She told me she struggles when she sees the name, and Christmas time is difficult because there are plaques and signs and cards that all talk about Joy or being Joyful. We talked, and parted ways.

Today at church, she stopped me, and told me I was such an inspiration to her, and that she will never look at seeing the name Joy again as a negative, but as a positive and as a little hug from her daughter in Heaven. She gave me a gift of an angel with the bible verse "For the joy of the Lord is your strength. Nehemiah 8:10.

Even though she kept telling me how big of a blessing I had been to her this week....it was her who blessed me. 

So, don't walk away from opportunities to share your story...you just might find yourself more blessed than ever.

Here's my joys for the week:

1. Sharing my joy journey

2. Receiving a gift that was so heartfelt

3. Finishing the 2nd week of summer school. Two more to go

4. Completing some household tasks that needed to be done

5. A short day date with Mark.(we have some others planned for August!)

I hope you can share your story and as always I hope you can #findyourjoy