How quickly time flies.....

Around this time every year, I get a little nostalgic thinking about the seniors leaving and another school year wrapping up. If you've worked in education, this is known as the "rejuvenation" phase---a.k.a. the time that makes us enjoy teaching enough to come back next fall. :-)

This year, I think it is hitting me even more than in the previous three years. Here are a few thoughts that have been spinning around in my head:

THEN: When we first moved to Adel, Brenna was was 3 weeks old. She was still sleeping in a bassinet. Lexi was almost 4 ready to start preschool in the fall. She had just moved into her twin sized bed and was excited to make some new friends in our new town.

NOW: Brenna is the age that Lexi was when we first moved here. She is starting preschool in the fall. Lexi is turning 8 this summer (I still can't believe she's almost 8 no matter how many times I say it).

REALIZATION: My baby is no longer my baby. I know I posted that a few months ago, but it still is hard to believe.

THEN: Chris was willing to move to where ever (as long as it was in a 30 mile or so radius of Ankeny.) He had a good job at John Deere even if it meant he would be a welder for the rest of his career.

NOW: Chris is now a Welding Engineer assistant (I don't know his 'official' title) at John Deere. While this job now entails traveling and being gone from us for long periods of time, I think he truly likes what he is doing. He feels important at his job, which I feel is essential in having a happy employee. Although the traveling part isn't my favorite, I am truly proud of him for all of his hard work.

REALIZATION: I have an amazing husband. :-) (I already knew that.)


THEN: I had just graduated from Simpson and had got my first job at ADM... all while having a baby and buying/moving into a new house. I don't remember much about that summer except being overwhelmed!

NOW: I'm still at ADM and have a hard time imagining working anywhere else. I'm a "hometown" type of girl--I like living where I work, and I like being involved with the place where my kids are going to grow up and go to school.

REALIZATION: I think Chris and I are Life-long ADELians. :-) I love everything about this town--the people, the size, the location to Des Moines, etc. I'm so lucky to have a job I love in the town I live in--I truly am blessed. While I haven't forgotten about my dream of getting my masters and teaching at local universities, it just isn't the right time yet.

THEN: When I starting coaching Speech, I had big dreams of all-state and a huge team. Our numbers weren't big that first year, but we had a lot of fun!

NOW: Our numbers still aren't huge, but they are definitely rising! (Up 8 people in Individuals this year!) This year, I am losing over 3/4 of my speech team to graduation. These are the kids who took the Reader's Theatre to all-state last year and won, the kids who got up early the morning of contest to be door greeters, and in the end, the kids I am going to miss the most next year.

REALIZATION: This kids are the reason my speech team has had such strong seasons the past 4 years. They are willing to go above and beyond what I ask of them. How do you say goodbye to that? I am not looking forward to graduation this year. The plus side: They are holding a 'camp' this summer to recruit more speech kids. Like I said..."above and beyond"

I could go on and on with all of the changes in the last four years. While change is difficult for me, I know that things have to change. And change isn't always a bad thing---Maybe in 4 years, I'll look back on this post and think, "Wow, look at how great everything turned out." :-)