Back in business

The last several years have been...well, BUSY. 

In a nutshell, I took some serious time away from creating to focus on being a teacher, a grade-level leader, a mother to a struggling reader, a wife to a stressed-out spouse, a pregnant lady moving across the country, and a supportive daughter. Those roles didn't define everything about me, but they took a lot out of me. They didn't leave much room for creativity.

And now? Now, I'm back. I've stepped out of the classroom to focus on being a mom to a baby, a time that I treasure as these little moments are fleeting. I get to be the ever-present being in my 3rd grader's life and pour into the humans that surround me. It's stressful at times, sure, but it's my life at this moment. And it gives me the opportunity to create without feeling bad that someone/something else isn't getting my best. 

I create because I care, and because it fulfills me. It helps me take all those little ideas that have been floating around in my head, you know those ideas that pop up in the middle of a lesson and you think "I should do that. I wish that existed. It would be so awesome if..., etc"; turn them into actual tangible things. They are the resources that would have saved me tons of time or helped my students better understand. They are the activities that would have spoken to my students' interests while giving me the insight to their learning. All the ideas that just sat in my head (and in my journal), waiting for me to turn on the computer and create. 

So here I am. Back at the computer. CREATING! Doing what makes me smile and knowing that one day, I'll put these creations to use when I go back to the classroom. I won't have to wonder...they'll be there, ready.