The End of an Era

How do you say goodbye to something you have done for seven years? This past week has been one of mixed emotions for me. I said goodbye to Mrs. Wilson the teacher and hello to being a full-time Mom to my girls. Don't get me wrong, I am super excited to stay home and be a mom and face all of the adventures that await me there, but it was a little hard to let go of something I have done for so long.

I think my love of teaching really started at a young age. I always loved all of my teachers and wanted to be just like them. Being the oldest child in my family helped to as I was always bossing my siblings around and playing school with them. In high school I started to volunteer in classrooms and found I had a talent for teaching. I love teaching and getting that feeling of satisfaction and success when a child really understood something I taught them. There was nothing better than to see their understanding and their face light up. After high school it was off to Utah State University where I knew I would be trained by the best as they were ranked among the top ten education schools in the nation. I loved my college years filled with observations and student teaching. When it was time to graduate I interviewed for teaching jobs everywhere and finally chose to come to Utah County and teach at Freedom Elementary in Highland. And that is where I have stayed for my entire teaching career. It has been 7 years of fun, frustration, laughing, singing, heartache, and joy. Alot of happy things happened while teaching there, I got married and had my first little girl just to name a few. I met wonderful lifelong friends and hopefully changed some of my students lives. I always expected great things out of them and they rose to the challenge! I changed classrooms 4 times in seven years so I am now a pro at moving! I taught 4th grade for 4 years, 5th grade for 2 years and computers/technology for one year. I can honestly say I had the best principal and fellow teachers anywhere in the world. That is why I probably never moved schools and kept making the 40 minute round trip commute from Orem to Highland every day.

I will no longer be seeing this everyday...

or these wonderful friends...

But I will be molding the future in a new and exciting way, by striving the be the best Mother I can be. I will draw on my teaching experience to help me teach and nurture my girls. I am grateful for the experiences I had that have helped to make me who I am today. I am grateful that I now get the chance to stay home. I pray each day for patience and the ability to raise these children. I am sure many fun adventures await me on this new path, but I have waited a long time to be at this point in my life. So...here is to my new adventure of full time motherhood!!!