Happy 25th To Me!

And its been a good one! Well, other than my student trying to start a food fight in the lunch room and yelling "p*nis" in the hallway! What a silly day!

Though I may have not completed my 25 Before 25 list (update here), I've come to realize that (and this is really obvious) just writing goals isn't enough, you actually have to make plans to achieve them. Who woulda thought? I've very good at making goals, but the steps to make em happen, not so much. Hahha.

Justin read my blog on "Managing That Little Thing Called Time" and his response was "Your blog made me laugh... because what you 'feel' like doing always overrides your time and priorities.... It'll only work if you're disciplined enough. Lol."

He's totally right though! I told him, "I need discipline!" and so the whole rest of last night, he walked around yelling "priorities!" at me. It helped! In an almost too intense kind of way haha. I did everything I wanted to do (minus the towel laundry) last night! Despite doing everything I wanted to do out of order and trying to watch Sons of Anarchy.

I want to say that I'll do the towel laundry before Justin gets home, but then I'm like, it's my birthday! Do nothing! And then I'm like, it's just another day! Do everything!

Sighh. So I'm currently at home, watching Once Upon A Time while blogging and sitting in the AC doing nothing else. Oh well, more to do tomorrow then. It's my birthday!

Managing That Little Thing Called Time

Today I've spent my time thinking about blog post ideas. What the heck do I write about?! I scoured pinterest for ideas and though I found a few things, none really seemed to fit my "blog identity." And then I'm like, what the heck is my identity as a blogger??

Hobby Hopping Housewife is what I use to identify myself as a blogger, but I'm beginning to think that I use that as more of an excuse. In all honesty, I burn myself out on things. I find something that I really enjoy, become obsessed with it and then do it until I can't do it anymore. So I literally have to hop between hobbies because I burnt myself on the last one. And this continues until I've gone through all my current hobbies, then picked up a new one, before I circle back through them again.

Since I've written my last blog post, I've really tried hard with prioritizing things. Problem is, not all things I "consider" a priority. For example, doing the dishes or laundry. Do those things need to be done? Yes. Is it on my list of things I would like to get done? Of course. Will it be a priority above editing the photos from the wedding on Saturday? Definitely not.

I think the issue at hand is not just prioritizing, but also time management. And knowing that sometimes things need to be more of a priority (like the dishes that are still in the sink as I'm writing this), but if I manage my time, I can get through the things I really don't enjoy (but really need to get done because who really wants their house to be mess?) and get on to the things that I really do enjoy. But not just that, but also being able to blog and craft and watercolor and do photoshoots and sew, all in the same week.... all along with having a clean house... and doing my bible studies and devotions... and not feeling pressed for time.

I guess that all entails having some sort of schedule too.

And being adaptable.

And flexible.

Shoot, life is tough.

How do you guys prioritize, schedule and manage your time?

Getting My Priorities Straight

MI have not blogged a while a month. It's not that I didn't want to blog, but honestly, it just wasn't a priority.I started working longer days at work, eight hours to be exact. (and I'm not trying to make excuses, seriously, just trying to explain why it wasn't a priority...) And most of you are probably like eight hours?! That's what grownups work! Did I mention I work with kids with autism? (Also not an excuse) 

Anyways, my hours got bumped up (thanks to my own self), I figured I was already going to be there all day, why not be on the clock? Well, that was dumb. For a lot of reasons. Now don't get me wrong, I love my job. Seriously, the best and most rewarding job I have ever had. 

Just a little side note: I have always struggled with what I want to be when I "grow up". Problem being that I want to do everything and schooling just takes way too much time. Especially because I don't care about math or history or whatever. I just want to learn about the job and all it entails. And not even just learn, but do. Sometimes too much time is spent in the classroom and not enough actually doing the job. Also, school is a lot of money that I have never been able to afford and the idea of loans stress me out. I don't want to borrow money and then spend the rest of my life paying it off just to want to go to school for something else later. The list of things I've wanted to do is ridiculously long and I've been fortunate enough to have been able to try out most of them to some degree.

So because I haven't known what I wanted to do, I've done and tried lots of things. Though thing I seemed to love most was working with kids. And thanks to my husband and friend Casey, I got a job with the school district (have I told this story before? Oh well...) 

I'm currently employed as an IBIA, Intensive Behavioral Instruction Assistant. I work with kids who have developmental delays. Basically helping students with autism learn to learn. Their behaviors (and developmental delays) often interfere with their ability to learn and I help by targeting those behaviors and working with the student to reduce them.

Not gonna lie, it's a tough job. Not only is it physically exhausting but also emotionally. Which brings me to the eight hour days... There are a lot of people who work those hours and I honestly don't know how they do it! It was hard, because I love my job so much. And I just want to learn more and do more and because of that, I started to over work myself a little bit. I'd come home and be so exhausted! And just sit on the couch. And do nothing the rest of the night.

But I love working! Most of the people are just amazing and have hearts so big and the kids are awesome too (also not so awesome, but that comes with the job. I can't even tell you how many times I've been hit, kicked, pinched, spit on, had stuff thrown at me, diapers to change, clothes to change, running, some days are just filled with running and even hit with a stupid tennis ball.) There's just so many more things that make it rewarding though. Like when a student hasn't had a "tantrum" in over a month! Or another one who is non verbal tells you "No!" because he doesn't want his grapes. There is nothing as awesome and sweet and amazing as when those things, progress, happens. That's why I do what I do. And it may not seem like much to you, but it truly is.

And then there was the fact that Justin was getting off work earlier. Which meant that he had time to come home and relax and then I'd get off work and be way to tired. I was giving too much at work and not enough at home. And since I was tired all time, blogging was definitely not a priority. Neither were the dishes or vacuuming or making dinner. So we decided that I was working too much. And now that I've less hours to work, more time with my husband, and just about back to complete health after having the worst week of sickness of my life. I'm back at it again.