It’s been a long time since I’ve last written anything! A lot has happened. I’m, quite literally, in a totally different season in my life right now.
As a teacher, summer means relaxation. As a person with ADHD and executive function issues, relaxing is extremely difficult. I always feel like in the back of my mind I should be doing SOMETHING. I’ve been learning how to squash this and pay attention to my needs. This has been a really valuable time of letting that go and just embracing my need to relax and rest.
This need is amplified right now because I’m 24 weeks pregnant! (Yay!) After many struggles and two separate heartbreaks, we finally have a seemingly viable little baby girl growin’ inside me. After a terrible first trimester of constantly feeling the need to vomit, I am feeling much more alive and able to navigate the world in the second. Though clothes are hard to find and I tend to still need more naps, overall, I’m feeling pretty great! Even more so when I can feel my little girl kicking away. Such an incredible experience.
For the last week and a half or so we’ve been on vacation in BC. Mike had a race in Squamish, and we were able to soak up the dreamy landscape and laid back vibes of that beautiful city (when Mike wasn’t hobbling around in pain after his 23k mountain race). We then made our way up Highway 99 to Salmon Arm, another quaint little town I love dearly. We’ve been blessed with lots of pools and beaches this trip, and minimal sun burns!! Our final destination was Panorama, just outside of Invermere, BC. This is where I’m currently relaxing! We had some fire alarm drama last night after a big storm rolled through but other than that, this stay has been quite pleasant. I’m definitely ready to head home to Edmonton and get back into “normal life”.
After completing my first year of teaching, I’m feeling very torn about what I want to continue doing with my career. I’ll begin this school year as a substitute teacher, which is GREAT for flexibility with my appointments and such that are upcoming. I just don’t know if teaching is what I want to do long term. I’m playing around with all sorts of ideas as to how I should use my degrees and skills acquired so far, and I’ve yet to settle on anything. As anxious as I am to know the answer, I do have an entire maternity leave (1 year) to contemplate, most likely starting the beginning of December, depending on what baby decides to do.
I’ve been a part of a fabulous “Mommy Connections” group, where a bunch of us preggos get together once a week to learn from experts about nutrition, mental health, pelvic floor health, feeding, sleeping, etc. It’s been so great to connect with other moms-to-be and know that my experiences aren’t only mine! Sharing life and being vulnerable with people is so precious.
I’m so looking forward to choir starting up again this year! I’m taking a step back from my millions of choirs (okay, 3) and only joining 1 this year. It’s Belle Canto, a women’s choir a part of the Cantilon Choir Association that rehearses on Monday nights. I’m so excited to bring my baby into this awesome choral world and hopefully go on tour with these incredible humans. She’s gonna be dancin in my belly and getting an early taste of beautiful music!!
We’ve also started attending a new church! I’m a Mennonite now! At dinner with some friends of ours, we were told about this little church on the west end of the city that focuses a lot on social justice issues. Our ears perked up because we believe this is exactly what Jesus cares about! We went to check it out and immediately fell in love. We were very quickly connected with a (not-so) small group and became fast friends with these people. We had been yearning for so long for a Godly community and this fell into our laps after months of praying. We’re so excited to see what happens from here!
That’s all I can think of to write, for now! I hope the rest of August is quite enjoyable.
