Mrs. Cranky Pants

So do you ever have days where you are just totally CRANKY.  I mean Thursday and especially Friday night, I felt like I was going to lose my mind and knock someone's head off.  I haven't felt this irritable in a long time!  I chalk it up to my subbing job this week because I seriously think the class used up every ounce of patience I could possibly have in 2 days.  I love kiddos, that's why I am in the education field but in the past I've always dealt with classes where the kids knew how to listen.  I just feel like between writing papers all of last weekend and then going straight into a stressful subbing job caused me to lose my mind temporarily. I am really hoping a weekend of fun and relaxation with my husband will cure me of this cranky feeling.  Which will allow me to face this coming week head on....3 days of subbing and my FINAL week of classes for this term. 

xoxo, 

Sarah P. 

Ahh...

I've been so busy lately with subbing, which is fabulous but exhausting. I have 4 days this week and so far 3 next week! My first round of classes is almost over and I can't believe it.  I handed in this big Lit Review this past weekend and I am so nervous to get my grade back, blah.  I just started this degree but I decided I want to also add on to it.  Since my degree is a form of a counseling degree, I can take a few more classes and add some more hours, etc and get my masters in LPC, aka licensed professional counseling.  This would open up more doors for me as far as jobs.  Right now thinking of all this schooling exhausts me but I know it will be so worth it. 

On another note, a few posts ago I talked to you about the new Proactiv Plus that I purchased--I can see a change in my skin, it really looks so much better BUT just like the regular Proactiv, it did start to dry my skin out after a few days. I was using 2x a day, morning and night BUT I wasn't using any moisturizer, which I normally always do. SO I highly recommend to make sure you are using lots of it while using this product, so your skin does not dry out!!! Right now I am giving my skin a break from Proactiv Plus until I can get my skin back to normal! 

xoxo,

Sarah P.  

Everyone needs a pep talk now and then. "Don't stop believing... unless your dream is stupid"..

So whenever I jumped on FB for a second today, I saw 2 people shared this video called "A Pep Talk from Kid President to You." At first, I wasn't going to watch it but then I thought well what the heck. I smiled the whole way through it, it was the cutest thing ever!!!! Watch it below!! If this doesn't put a smile on your face, I am not sure what will!!! 

xoxo, 

Sarah P.

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Extended Weekend

So, I made it through my first week of grad school ALIVE! I really forgot how much I hated writing papers on useless mindless topics. I enjoy projects where I can apply what I'm learning to real life and hopefully I will have some of those in this 8 week semester! Yes, I take classes every 8 weeks instead of 16 weeks! I love it, it's not as overwhelming because I can take 2 classes for 8 weeks, have a week break, then take 2 more classes for 8 weeks! So, I'm still taking a full time load, just breaking it up a little! It's amazing how many other military spouses or military members are taking these classes online as well! I love Liberty, they offer so many amazing programs for people who can't take classes on a campus! Some people are just too busy, have families or they are military so online classes is the perfect solution! 

My online classes require us to post on a discussion board each week, this past week we just had introductions. I found a few other students who are also pursuing the School Counseling degree, so that was nice! What I enjoyed the most from these introductions, was the stories people shared about their lives and about what made them choose the path they are on now. (e.g. why they decided to switch from the business world and become a teacher or why they chose to become a counselor) You meet people from all different walks of life and the ages vary greatly!  

I shared my story of how I have come to be where I am....It took my husband(Boyfriend at the time) & I taking a break for me to realize I wasn't on the right career path. During that time I realized I wanted to go back to school for education, so I enrolled at Penn State for Elementary Education. I did a year of school there and I loved it but as luck would have it, during my first semester, we got back together. During my second semester, he found out he was coming back to US from Japan and had orders in CA. We knew we wanted to be together & eventually get married. So after some research and discussion I decided to switch to Liberty University Online to finish my Bachelors in Education. This meant I wouldn't have my teaching license but I could go back and get it through their MAT program when I was ready. We got married & then he left for Afghanistan. During that time  I finished my degree. I applied to grad school & got accepted but I decided I would take some time off from school before jumping back in. I was newly married, moving to CA and I wanted to enjoy it! Had it not been for all of those things playing out the way they did....I could of ended up going down the wrong career path...again!  

Why did I pick School Counseling?

Last year there was a discussion between my mom, my sister and I about some things that had happened with my sister over the years. She will probably hate me for sharing this but it's important. It started in Jr. High for her, she was bullied and picked on by some pretty nasty girls....then high school came and she still had problems with girls treating her badly. My sister was pretty shy and she's too nice to fight back, so it ate away at her. She ended up dropping out of high school to take classes online and finish that way. Well, she began to miss some of her friends and eventually she went back. The school counselors are suppose to be there to GUIDE YOU, support you and make transitions easier for you. My sister was having a hard enough time at that school and the counselors didn't make it any better for her. I remember her telling me that they LAUGHED AT HER! It still makes my heart ache thinking about how that must have made her feel. That is just cruel and unprofessional! After that, she dropped out of public school & never returned but she did finish high school online! I knew after that conversation, I wanted to be a school counselor. I know I can't change the world and that I can't help every student but I am sure going to try. A student should never be made to feel the way my sister felt and they should have gotten to know more about her situation so they could have helped her in any way possible. There are so many people working in the education field that should not be and honestly it's just a paycheck to them, they could care less about the well being of the students! It breaks my heart. 


On a better note.....

So my husband had an extended weekend for MLK Day(Fri-Mon off) and after the rough week I had he made sure he did everything he could to make me feel better! Friday night he took me to dinner & we were suppose to go to a movie with some friends but I just wasn't feeling up to it! He went with the guys and I went home, put my PJS on, ate some chocolate chip cookies and watched Say Yes to the Dress, my idea of a perfect Friday night :) (haha) 

Saturday wasn't anything too exciting, I did schoolwork most of the afternoon and we just chilled at home. Sunday, I finished up my paper and then my husband and I went out to dinner at his choice --Buffalo Wild Wings & then he took me to get Cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory! Yummy. 

Funniest thing, my husband has been wanting to check out this store called Trader Joes, it's got a lot of organic food & grass fed meat, etc etc. Well, here we were in Southern CA and we saw chicken from Mifflintown, PA, which is our hometown. We were shocked and all I can say is what a small world it is!!!

xoxo,

Sarah P.   

FAITH

 

I've been raised in the church since I was a baby, my parents took us to church every Sunday without fail. We were active in everything, Sunday School, Bible School, Youth Group, you name it, we were in it. I was raised in a Lutheran church for most of my life and then whenever I was in 9th grade my parents made the tough decision to look for another church to call home. Unfortunately, the one we were at was preaching things we did not agree with and there was no longer anything there for us as kids. I think it was during this time that my faith started to spiral downward and the older I got the more I got away from church and found excuses not to go. I had to work, I didn't feel good, I stayed at college that weekend, etc etc. We did find a new church whenever I was in 9th/10th grade, I can't remember exactly how old I was. It's a Baptist church and we have been there ever since and I absolutely love it there! Obviously this is back in PA and we are currently in CA so it's been many many months since I've been there. I believe in God and I have my whole life but my faith has definitely been tested over the years and it's not as strong as I would like it to be. 

Anybody who told you life was going to be easy was telling you a BIG FAT LIE! Life is not easy, it is full of ups and downs and sometimes I question why God puts me through some of the things he does. I ask What am I suppose to be learning from this and how is this helping me? I have to say that some of things I've gone through have made me a much stronger person and a more independent woman. I think back to when my husband (boyfriend at the time)& I broke up for a few months while he was in Japan...I thought my life was OVER, I didn't know what I was going to do. I mourned the loss of the relationship for awhile and then I got back up on my feet and said to myself...I am going to make something of myself, I am going to finish my Bachelors degree and by golly I did just that. I enrolled in classes at Penn State and got a new job to work while in school and I was so happy. I met so many amazing people during that time in my life and I made friends who I will never forget even though they are so incredibly far away from me right now, they are near and dear to my heart.  I experienced so much in those 2 years and I am forever grateful for that time and I have come to realize that out of bad situations come even greater ones. I learned so much about who I was and what I wanted in my life because I just focused on ME and nobody else for once. As the story goes...my husband and I got back together and ended up getting married a year later and we made it through another deployment only this time he wasn't in Japan, he was in Afghanistan. To this day, I really don't know how I made it through that deployment without completely losing my mind! I chalk it up to having a great job where I was surrounded by amazing women each and every day along with an amazing family. It also helped that I had school to distract me as well! 

I've had a job since I was 16 years old....and I haven't worked since we moved out here in May WELL..I have been substitute teaching but honestly that isn't doing it for me. You never know if you will have a job each week or how many days you will have, etc etc. It's frustrating. We live in the middle of nowhere...trust me Jcounty was the middle of nowhere but at least you could just hop on the highway and in 40 mins later you were in Harrisburg, out here it's not like that at all!! The more educated you are, the harder time you have finding a job. I've had some really low days, just down right frustrating because I am not working and I am not contributing to this marriage financially and that is REALLY a tough pill for me to swallow..I HATE IT! Okay, yeah I take care of the house....but sorry that doesn't pay me in cash and I would be doing that regardless. Thank goodness I started grad classes. I keep telling myself that something is bound to work out....until then I will just focus all my energy on doing well in school.

The whole point of all this babble is that I have come to realize even through the really bad times, something good is bound to come out of it and I could be much worse off than I am. I try to be thankful for all that I have and not focus on the things I do not have. I know God has a great plan for me.  Patience is not one of my strong points but I just have to have faith that he will answer my prayers soon. He does things a certain way for a reason and I just have to continue to have faith! 

xoxo, 

Sarah P.  

Hump Day

Wednesday already....superb! I started my first semester of grad school Monday, thankfully these are just online classes!! They are 8 week courses so I am only taking 2 at a time, I don't want to overwhelm myself. I am going to just ease into it! :) As much as I would like to pile on the classes and just get this degree done, I know that's not a good plan and honestly there is no rush! As long as I have it done in 3 years or less I will happy with that!! Sometimes you just need to enjoy life and put other things first! I always thought I was going to be all about my career and don't get me wrong, it's important to me but spending time with my husband and focusing on other things is my priority!



I hope that everyone is having a fantastic week so far and that you are making some fun weekend plans! As for me...who know what my weekend holds, hopefully something exciting!!! 

xoxo, 

Sarah P.  

Back Again

Well crap, I've fallen off the face of the earth again! Not too many new things going on here in SoCal besides the fact the temps have been warming up and it feels amazing here. I went out to lunch yesterday with a friend of mine out here and didn't have to wear a jacket of any kind, saaaawwweet! Anyways...I started substitute teaching back in December and that has been an eye opening experience for me. Don't get me wrong, I love kids and I have had my fair share of classroom/teaching experience but what I did find out is I do NOT like teaching anything younger than probably 2nd grade. I honestly prefer 4th-8th grade. Needless to say, I have been going back and forth between getting my Masters in Teaching Elementary Education or my Masters in Education in School Counseling and I am more now than ever leaning towards the School Counseling. I start classes for my Masters this coming Monday and I am really looking forward to it. 


The day after Christmas my husband and I went to San Fransisco for a couple days. We had such a wonderful time, the city was absolutely gorgeous and the food was yummy!  

 xoxo, 

Sarah P.
 

Where Does the Time Go...?

Well life has been super crazy...pretty much all year!!! I said I wanted to be busy because it would help this deployment go much quicker and IT HAS! At times though, I feel so overwhelmed with everything going on and then thinking about all the things to come. I am excited but at the same time I am nervous and scared about everything. I just hope that I have enough time to get everything done that I need to before moving to Cali. It's really hard having your husband & best friend so far away in a foreign country. He doesn't always have time to talk and it always seems to be that way when I really need him. There are days I just feel like I am gonna fall apart but somehow I push through. I am lucky to have such great family and friends in my life..that has made everything easier but ultimately at the end of the day...I just want my husband.

My field placement hours are going pretty well but slow at times. AS much as I love working with kids and I want to be a teacher..it can be soooo incredibly boring to be in the classroom when you aren't the one doing all the teaching! Thankfully on Monday I was able to get my feet a little wet. I was able to instruct the classes on the activity they were going to do that day and I also read a book to them AND I also did a group reading and discussion with some of the class, which was really great. I am now in the process of working on a lesson plan and will then have to teach it in the next couple weeks..I am pretty nervous about this but I think since I am the one coming up with it, I will know what I am talking about and wanting to do..so it will make it less nerve wracking..I HOPE!