The One Where I Turned 40

I started looking through pictures of this past year and forgot how truly amazing this year was. There was one theme. Travel.

January brought a few snow/ice days to NC. We had already decided to sneak away down to Great Wolf Lodge in Charlotte for a belated birthday trip for Mackenzie, but we ended up not having to "sneak" since it ended up being a snow day for school! Since this Great Wolf Lodge is so close, we took advantage and got almost 2 full days in the water park!

February allowed me to fly up to Maryland and visit my girls for a quick weekend away. I love when coworkers become family and am so happy that we keep in touch. We did a paint night and enjoyed a nice dinner out. Kyle was also happy with another Eagles Super Bowl win as we hosted another fun party.

March ended with chaperoning Mackenzie’s field trip to the Outer Banks. We spent a full 48 hours visiting Jeanette’s Pier, climbing to the top of Currituck Lighthouse and Jockey’s Ridge, seeing the Wright Brothers Memorial, and exploring the Lost Colony. It was fun just being a parent/chaperone and not being in charge of activities and other people!

April took us to Phoenix, Arizona for an anniversary getaway with my cousin and his wife. We played lots of golf, ate lots of food, and explored Sedona on a jeep tour. It even snowed while we were there!

May was pretty calm. No travels, but we did go to the ACC baseball championship game at the Durham Bulls stadium.

June carried us to our annual beach vacation to Ocean Isle Beach full of family, food, golf, and swimming! We also went to Busch Gardens with my childhood BFF and her kids.

July produced an epic road trip. The month started off with me sneaking away to Tennessee to play in a golf tournament and ended with a road trip from North Carolina to Ohio to Chicago then to Tennessee. Our trip to Chicago included marking off 3 more baseball stadiums from our list, including driving up to Milwaukee for the day. I ended the month by turning 40.

August brought about back to school season. I finally landed a job at the neighborhood school where the kids have gone the past 3 years. It immediately felt like home.

September we entered the baseball family life. Jackson joined a team for the first time and we enjoyed watching him learn and grow.

October stayed calm with a visit from my mom and some STEAM club projects.

November was filled with more travel. The fifth graders trekked up to Washington, D.C. for 36 hours of jam packed experiences. We visited Mount Vernon, DC monuments at night, Ford’s Theatre, Arlington National Cemetery, Pentagon 9/11 Memorial, Washington Monument, and Smithsonian museums. Kyle, the kids, and I then snuck off to Orlando. We spent Thanksgiving with Mickey at the Magic Kingdom and then fulfilled Jackson’s Lego dreams by hitting up Legoland. We also stopped by Savannah, Ga on our way back home to visit with my uncle.

December didn’t bring any travel, but we packed in some local fun. Family time at the Flyers-Hurricanes hockey game and a fun afternoon playing Top Golf. Our Christmas was spent in North Carolina with lots of family time.

I am truly so thankful for all of the amazing things that occurred this year. Turning 40 sounds scary, but honestly it hasn't been so bad. I feel like I'm hitting my groove with parenting, teaching, marriage, and life.

Can’t wait to see what 2026 brings!

One Word: Simplicity

I have never really been a big resolution person. Like most people, I make a list of things to accomplish and never reach them. (shout out to those who actually accomplish their goals!) However, over the past few years I have done the one word challenge to live by throughout the year.

This year I picked the word SIMPLICITY.

During winter break, I put the laptop away and truly focused on resting and relaxing. While doing this I was able to think about life: myself, my kids, my husband, our house, and work. As I was doing some cleaning before our guests arrived I started to focus on STUFF. Part of my anxiety deals with clutter. When there is STUFF everywhere I get overwhelmed and instead of being able to clean it up, I just shut down and leave it there. This triggers the anxiety of feeling like our house is cluttered. 

So I decided that this year I am going to focus more on living simple. I'm going to go through our house room by room and decide if the STUFF has a place and purpose, or is it just taking up space. I turned my closet hangers around like people suggest and anything that I haven't worn during this year is getting donated. Those pants that I keep holding onto because I am sure one day I will be back down to my pre-kid size, gone. 

I also felt this way as I sat and watched my kids open presents at Christmas. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love watching them open presents and will never take that way from them. But there were SO MANY! (our families are large and people enjoy buying them things) For birthdays we have already made the shift to just one or two gifts and focusing more on experiences, and I think I am ready for that to happen during Christmas as well. I think even the kids get overwhelmed with so many new things at once that they end up not playing with some of the things.

Honestly, one thing that sparked this idea of simplicity is the craze of people buying Stanley cups. I'm sure they are amazing cups, but I have a hard time paying that price for a cup when I already have a cabinet full of them. So I plan to carry this "simple life" over to purchasing items as well. Next time I want to click that Buy Now button on Amazon, fill up my Target cart and place a pick up order, or fill my cart with impulse buys at Walmart, I'm going to stop and think do I truly need this? Not only will this help with my desire to reduce clutter and simplify my life, it will also help save money in the long run! 

I decided that this idea of simplicity can also carry over to my school-life as well. I decided that I can be more intentional about the activities that I have my kids do. Less copies, more hands-on learning. Less busy work, more activities/practice games. Less focus on grades, more focus on feedback. Feedback is something that I struggle with sometimes and it goes back to that idea of anxiety/clutter. Sometimes I end up giving more assignments that require feedback than is truly needed. Then these assignments begin to pile up waiting for me to give them feedback. Instead of being able to tackle the pile, I put it off due to anxiety. Then I realize that it has piled up for so long that even if I did sit down and give them feedback it wouldn't be relevant to their current learning anymore. This is where the more intentional activities/assignments comes into play. Understanding that some activities are just practice and don't require feedback, while others can be used to assess learning and provide students with an idea of how they are doing.

We live in a world that is always on the go. We live in a world that loves material things. However, I am making the choice to slow down and live with less this year.

I always enjoy seeing what other people have picked for their one word for the year. So what is yours?

PS - this word also comes from a book that I read during 2020. Our local library was doing mystery bundles from the library where they would pick 3 random books for you to read since people could not go into the library to browse the shelves. The book is called 7 Days to Simplicity by Jen Hatmaker and it also really helps to put things into perspective.

Thankful.

Thankful.

That's my word for this year. As I sit here during the post-Christmas hangover, I was thinking about this past year and realized that so many things happened (both good and bad) and I'm just thankful to make it through another year.

This year we celebrated our 10 year anniversary by sneaking away for a quick weekend to Orlando and visited Universal Studios. We also spent a weekend with my cousin and his wife in New England. I'm thankful for family that is willing to watch our kiddos whenever we want to have a little adult time.

This year both of my grandmothers (ages 90 and 94) suffered strokes. I'm thankful that they are both strong, badass women who overcame their medical issues. Oh and they both still live in their homes by themselves. I've learned a lot from both of them.

This year we were able to pull off a surprise 80th birthday party for my mother-in-law in Pennsylvania. Seeing all of the people there to celebrate her was so amazing.

This year we had so many fun, family trips. We went to Nashville for my cousin's wedding. We went to Gatlinburg to spend time with my husband's family. We had our annual beach trip with my family. 

This year I found a new school that feels like home. Amazing people, awesome leadership, and just a fun atmosphere. Finding a place where you feel welcomed, celebrated, and trusted is not always easy to find.

This year my kids were able to go to the same school for the first time. While this may sound silly, you don't realize how hard it is to constantly be the new kid in a new school. I've enjoyed watching them make friendships, get invited to birthday parties, and participate in a school community that feels like family.

This year we got to celebrate Christmas in our home. When we lived in Maryland, we always traveled to either North Carolina or Pennsylvania to celebrate Christmas with family. Since this was our year in NC, we got to stay at our home. Again, sounds silly, but being able to wake up in your own bed and set up/play with presents in your own home is so relaxing.

Thankful for family and friends. Thankful for good health. Thankful for another year.

Teacher Discounts

This blog post is going to share some of the easy ways to get a discount for being a teacher outside of Teacher Appreciation Week!

First and foremost, ALWAYS check your school district's employee benefits page. I have been in 3 different counties now and they all offered something different, but they at least offered some type of discounts or offers for being an employee of that county.

My current county gives their employees access to a website called Tickets At Work which offers discounts on travel, tickets, and more at places around the country. Also, check with the state you teach in because some states (like North Carolina) teachers are considered state employees which can give you access to discounts as well. I haven't tried it, but someone told me that when you stay at hotels in North Carolina as a state employee you can receive a discount.

The next 2 websites I found because my husband is in the military, but they also have a sign up for teachers as well!

ID.me

This website is the first place I look whenever I am planning to travel or purchase something at a store. There are over 500 participating companies that offer discounts to teachers. You will need to sign up with your school email in order for them to prove your status.

Gov.x

This website is similar to id.me, but it also includes more opportunities to save on travel, sporting events, theme parks, and more! You will need to sign up with your school email. I also had to put in my teacher licence state and number so that it can look up your teaching status.

This is the website that I used to get free tickets to the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, NC for 2 years in a row now.

Retail Stores Offering Teacher Discounts: (links take you to the educator discount page)

Michael's - 15% discount

JoAnn's Fabric - 15% discount

Barnes & Noble - their Educator Discount ended in April 2023, but they are offering educators a free year of their Premium Membership which includes many discounts and perks. It will cost $39.99 per year after that free year so don't forget to cancel!

Target - if you have Target Circle, you can verify that you are a teacher and receive different discounts throughout the year (as of July 2023 there is a one time 20% off your entire purchase)

Loft - 15% discount

There are many other retail stores as well, I always carry my ID badge with me and always ask if they offer a teacher discount. The worst they can say is no :) Here is also a link to the NEA website which has a list of other places that offer discounts as well.

Utilities:

Check with your cell phone provider for a discount on your plan. I have used this with Verizon and am currently using it with AT&T. 

Electronics:

Some of the big tech companies will offer discounts throughout the year. 

Apple often has a back to school deal (I scored free Air Pods one year for purchasing a computer!)

Dell has an Educator Marketplace that looks to offer 10% off year round.

Lenovo - their discount sometimes changes throughout the year, but if you sign up for ID.me above you can access their discount

Books:

Scholastic has great deals throughout the year, especially if you use their book clubs. You earn points for all of the purchases for your classroom that you can redeem for a variety of items.

First Book Marketplace - if you work in a Title 1 school you are eligible for this book marketplace. They have many discounted books available for your classroom. They also have books for free at different times throughout the year when different companies sponsor them. Sign up for emails to stay up to date!

The following apps are not specific to teachers, but I wanted to include them as additional ways to save!

Upside - This app allows you to earn cash back at many gas stations across the country and even some restaurants and grocery stores. From someone who used to travel 45 minutes to and from work each day, it does add up. I just let the money sit there until it builds up and then you have the option of cashing out for a variety of gift cards or send the money directly to your bank account. Use this CODE (MK892) to earn an extra 20 cents/gallon cash back the first time you use the app!

Fetch - This app allows you to earn points every time you scan a receipt. I love this one because you don't have to look for the items you are going to buy ahead of time, you just scan your receipt and it looks for any special offers. Use this CODE (7V6P85) when you sign up to earn bonus points after you scan your first receipt!

Happy Saving!

Bittersweet

Yesterday I closed out my first year of teaching in North Carolina. The word I used to describe this year is bittersweet.

Last year when I accepted the job in Wake County, I had absolutely no idea where I would be living as I was moving from Maryland and we all know how crazy the housing market was/is. We closed on our house in June and I realized my school was going to be 45 minutes each way. Not great, but not terrible. I have been doing that drive for the past 9 years in Maryland. Plus traffic down here can't be worse than where I was coming from.

I loved my school and the drive wasn't so bad. However, the school hours were the complete opposite of my kids. They got on the bus at 6:55 am and my students didn't arrive until 8:45 am. I used the time in the morning to get things done, but this also meant that I didn't get off until 4:30, then had to drive. I was often picking the kids up from after care around 5:15-5:30ish. We got home, ate dinner, go ready for bed and then started all over the next day. The school district I worked for and where I lived also had completely different spring breaks and winter break was different.

Because of this, I knew by October that I was not going to stay there. Knowing this early was a blessing because it helped me focus on doing my job, learning everything I needed to know about North Carolina schools, without building strong relationships with people that I knew I was may or may not ever see again. The school was super supportive and I was open with my admin and co-workers as soon as I knew I wasn't going to stay.

So this school year was bittersweet. I met some awesome people, learned from an amazing school, and adjusted to live in the south!

I am super excited to join my new school though! I will be in Orange County, at a school that has the same hours as my kids, and is literally 15-20 minutes from my house!

I won't forget my year at Cedar Fork and thanks to everyone there that supported me along the way! I am going to miss those amazing sun lights in my room!

Writer's Block

I used to love blogging. I would have blog posts planned out a month or so in advance. I used it as a way to share ideas or resources I was using in my classroom, as well as, a way to decompress or get my thoughts out of my head.

However, this past year has brought about a huge writer's block. There have been times I have wanted to get my blog going again and I will make a post, then nothing for weeks. The main culprit is time. 

Since moving to a new state my schedule has been completely turned around. Unfortunately I have always worked in a different county than my kids. In Maryland my school hours were 7:30am-2:45pm and my kids did not get out of school until 4pm. I was able to get up and be out the door by myself and after school I had time to run errands or get things done before the kids got home off the bus. In North Carolina, we are the opposite. My school is 8:45-4:00pm, while my kids get on the bus by 6:55am each morning and get out at 2:45pm. They go to after care until I can pick them up around 5:15pm.

It is currently March and I still have not adjusted to this new schedule, haha! It has also prompted another big change for next year. While I currently love my school that I am teaching at, I have realized that I can't keep up with this type of schedule everyday. I accepted my current job before we bought a house, which is why I currently drive 45 minutes (sometimes more) each way. I am interested to see how next year will be while teaching in the same county as my kids for the first time ever. We will finally have the same breaks/days off!

I am using this post to get myself motivated and hold myself accountable. I am making a plan and can't wait to start blogging again. I do find that it is therapeutic for myself and hope that if this does reach anyone else out there that is in a writer's block or want to get started with blogging again, you can do it!

Subject to Change

I always love to reflect on the previous year. Some years are great and others not so much. This year brought about a lot of changes.

We made some huge life decisions like moving our family down to North Carolina. It was something we have been talking about doing, but different things came up health-wise that kept us in Maryland an extra year.

I found a job in Wake County after being at my previous school for 9 years. Change can be scary and leaving a place where I had met so many coworkers that became friends was hard. A place where I had made a name for myself. A place where families and students knew who I was and wanted to be in my class. A place where I was comfortable.

We then had the joy of looking for a new house in a housing market that was crazy. People were putting in contracts for way more than asking price, offering ridiculous cash offers, etc. We came down during spring break to look at houses and didn't see anything that sparked our interest. Literally the day after we left NC a house came on the market that we loved. We decided to put in an offer without seeing it (crazy right?!) and somehow our contract got picked! Buying a house can be stressful, but everything worked out.

Next up moving. The moving industry is corrupt and I hope I never have to do it again. Add on to the fact that it was the end of the school year. I had covid, then the rest of my family had covid. The moving company held our stuff for almost 14 days, so my poor husband was in our new house with one bed and an air mattress, a few toys, and grocery delivery through instacart!

While April through June was stressful, we spent the summer traveling. We visited family and friends, saw new states, new baseball stadiums, and had a blast!

September brought the new school year! My amazing daughter started her third school in three years. She handles every change that comes her way like a champ. She is doing amazing. My son started kindergarten and while I was not sure how he would do with school as he spent all summer saying "I not going", he absolutely loves it and asks every morning if it is a school day.

I started at my new school love it. It is a place where I am treated with respect and as a professional. However it is challenging being the new person again. Students don't know me. Staff members don't know me. I want to be the leader that I was in my previous school, but also learning to take a step back and just learn this year.

The theme for this year was change. One of my favorite music artist is Kelsea Ballerini. She came out with an album and song called Subject to Change and it just felt like the theme song for my year. I used to hate change. I was a planner who thought things out from short term to long term. If things didn't go as planned I would struggle. Having cancer changed that. I stopped looking into the future so much. I learned to enjoy the day to day life. Whatever happens, happens. So enjoy these lyrics from Kelsea's song. I am certainly taking them into 2023 with me!

If I'm honest
Growing up, it kind of hurts like hell
It's chaotic, ironic
But it's how I learn to find myself, yeah
Thank God, I don't know about tomorrow
Thank God, I take it day by day
Oh, I don't think about the chapters
It's all about turning the page

My Journey

This Friday I will get my port removed. I have had the order from my doctor to get it removed since October, but for some reason it just wasn't a priority at the time. I don't know how to explain it, but I felt some weird, emotional attachment to this thing in my body. I don't know if it is the fear of if I take it out, it will come back or if it is just another step in this journey that I am learning to process.

This January I got a new order from the doctor so that I could get the port removed. I tried calling 2 weeks later and could not get in touch with someone. I left a message and never got a call back. Took it as a sign to wait. At the end of February I tried calling again, this time I spoke with someone who was able to schedule my procedure. It is this Friday. Exactly a year from the date I got my port put in. This I decided was another sign. This is when I should get it removed.

As I reflect back on this year, I wanted to put all of my posts and stories in one place. Oddly enough in just the past 2 months I have shared my story with others who were getting ready to go through the same thing I did and it felt so good to share.

One More!

I usually post about education things on this blog, however, I have been wanting to share my journey and felt like this was the right place to do it. I mean, I am after all educating you about cancer, chemo, and all of the unknowns that go along with it.

One. More.

It is finally here. March 23 seems like so long ago. 15 chemotherapy treatments done. 1 more to go.

Here is an inside look at a treatment day... Vitals checked (temp, weight, blood pressure, pulse oxygen, heart rate), access my port, draw blood work and then wait and wait some more. Once blood work comes back, they determine if you get treatment that day or not. If yes, then they put in your orders to the pharmacy (this means even more waiting). First up is your pre-treatment medications. For me, this includes anti-nausea meds, Pepcid, steroids, fluids, and Benadryl. After you get all of these, then is time for your chemo bag(s). Each bag typically drips anywhere between 45 minutes to an hour and half. After the chemo is done, sometimes you get more fluids for another 15-45 minutes. Another vitals check, then they take out the needle from your port. My first 4 treatments took about 4-5 hours, my weekly treatments take about 2.5-3 hours.

This process started off very slow (probably because I started off with a harsher chemo drug, was getting 2 bags of chemo per treatment day, and had a week off.) However, the past 11 weeks have flown by.

I don't know if it has been my positive attitude, my younger age, a relatively healthy body, or a combination of all of them, but I tell everyone that I have been very lucky with this process. I have had very few side effects compared to the laundry list of things that COULD happen that I received in my chemotherapy class.

Speaking of side effects... they are weird. And as I have met different people throughout my journey, it is crazy how the same exact drug affects people so differently. 

I lost my hair after the second treatment. No big shocker there, pretty much everyone does at some point. What is weird is that I have not finished my treatment yet and it is already starting to grow back.

Most people have to take medications to help with nausea, aren't able to eat because they feel so sick to their stomach, and tend to lose weight, which is not always a good thing when your body is taking in these very serious drugs. I have not had to deal with any of this and for that I am VERY thankful.

Another weird side effect, is my fingernails have turned rigid, hard, and are attempting to fall off. You don't realize how much you use your thumbs, until your fingernail is in a lot of pain and it hurts to use them.

Fatigue. Yes, chemotherapy makes you very tired. Especially when you are getting it every week. Your body doesn't have as much time to recover between treatments, so the fatigue seems to build up. However, fun fact, on treatment days I get a bag of steroids. My body loves to become wired when given steroids. So while I am exhausted on Tuesdays, my body is like let's go, I'm wide awake!

One thing that not many people tell you about is the emotional/mental side of chemotherapy. I try to live my life as I normally would, but some days it is hard. The kids don't fully understand what all I am going through, so they don't always get it when mommy is tired. I am not always the best at asking for help or communicating my feelings, so I have had to focus on explaining to people how I feel or if I need help. Some days I just feel like doing absolutely nothing and others I feel perfectly normal. I have tried reading and some days it is hard. It is like my brain just can't handle it.

Every week I sit in a room with 3-5 other patients. I listen to their stories. I have seen people get frustrated because their blood count, platelets, etc. are too low and they can't receive treatment that day. I've seen people have to get blood transfusions rather than their chemo treatment because their numbers are too low. I have learned a lot about blood work and all of the different things that they measure. Again, I am so fortunate with this journey. My numbers have always been great. There have been weeks where my white blood count may be low, but the other numbers are high enough that it doesn't affect my treatment. I had a couple of weeks where one of my liver enzymes was high, but never enough that it prevented me from getting treatment. I am a checklist person. I loved being able to go each week and mark off another treatment. I can't imagine showing up and then finding out that you can't get treated.

On top of all of this is getting cancer in the middle of a pandemic. This means no visitors. Not only are you going to sit at a treatment center from anywhere to 3-8 hours, you have to do so by yourself. Luckily the nurses are absolutely amazing and make you feel like home, but it gets lonely. Many of us just choose to sleep or read or play on our phones. The people that I truly feel sorry for are those that need people there to help them understand the process, or what it means when things don't go as planned.

While I am SO thankful that I am going to be finished, I am going to miss all of the nurses and patients that I have made connections with over the past 4 months.

My chemotherapy journey is coming to an end, but I am not quite done yet. 

Next up is radiation therapy. 6 weeks, 1 session per day for a total of 30 sessions. Stay tuned!