Ah, its Thanksgiving break, which means a week in California with my family and a little free time to write down what we've been up to lately. The answer is A LOT. In the past six weeks, I ended one job, started a new one, traveled to North Carolina and Tennessee, moved into a new apartment, and hopped on a plane to California. 

I'll start with my job. When I first moved to Charleston, I had a difficult time finding a teaching position in Mt. Pleasant. So, I took on a fifth grade long term substitute position at a school in Goose Creek. This was a thirty minute commute each way and did not guarantee a secure position once my time was up. I kept checking for openings in Mt. P and sure enough, a fourth grade position was posted about six weeks into my time as a sub. The job was at Charles Pinckney Elementary, which happens to be 5 minutes from the apartment complex we just signed to live. This would be the PERFECT job! I applied for the job and got an interview! Before my interview, however, I came down with laryngitis and could not speak. It was awful. I had to whisper my whole interview. Oh I was sure I wasn't getting the job. I promise it was the worst interview of my life. But I guess it was meant to be because I was offered the job a few days later! 

Now I was faced with two very stressful tasks. First, plan out the next few weeks for the new sub who would be taking my place at Marrington. Second, set up my new classroom, learn fourth grade curriculum, and start creating lesson plans for my new job at Pinckney. I was hired because there were too many students per teacher and they needed to add a SIXTEENTH teacher to the fourth grade team. Yes, you heard me correctly, I am fourth grade teacher number sixteen. I started out with only fifteen students and am now up to ninteen. I am loving the challenges that come from uniting a class where all my students come from different classes and places in the curriculum. It has been very difficult but I am grateful to have this job.

I took a long weekend to go to the Smoky Mountains and see the fall colors! We were spoiled with some beautiful mountains and canyons in Utah and got used to enjoying the colors of the leaves changing every year. We loved being able to do some fun hikes and seeing some breathtaking views on our trip. We have so much fun exploring! 

We have been so lucky to have had the chance to stay with Stephanie here in Charleston. I loved getting to know the Morrow family better and being able to save some money. What an amazing family. Last month, we finally moved into our own place. Definitely bitter sweet. While we miss the fam, we are loving having our own space. We have been taking advantage of the mom swap and have been able to get amazing deals on some good quality used furniture. It's been fun to get our apartment all set up. We feel very hashtag blessed. 

One last story. What are the chances that one of my students is on the same flight as me to Orange County?! It gets crazier. What are the chances he is sitting in the same ROW as me?? So crazy that this happened yesterday! So fun. 

That was probably far too much to read, but that's what happens when I skip two months of posting.