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As most of you know, I am a first year Director of Special Services in the district where I have been teaching for the last ten years. And it is almost Christmas break. In fact, our students finished today and tomorrow we'll have a day of professional development and then thirteen days off before we start back in for second semester in January. As I sat at my desk this afternoon wrapping up things for the first two quarters, I took a moment and looked around. I had a few thoughts running through my mind. "This is my office." "These are my responsibilities." "I have almost survived the first semester as a school administrator." And although I'm not quite there...I just ALMOST feel like I know what I'm doing. This week, on my Facebook memories, a status popped up from two years ago...  At the time, just two short years ago, I had no idea how the opportunities would play out to get me where I am today. Looking back, I can see the hand of God woven into the whole story...into the big moments and all the little details. We bought the farmhouse in July of 2017. We sold our home and started doing some updates to the farmhouse. School started in August of 2017 and we were moving full-speed ahead remodeling, moving, and of course...getting ready for the school year. When my boss asked me if I would be interested in a leadership position and encouraged me to go finish my certification, I wasn't thinking it would be anytime soon. In fact, I had told Mr. Farmhouse that I was thinking I would probably teach for another 8-10 years and move into administration for the last 3-5 years of my career. But during the craziness of moving a family of five during "back-to-school time", I got word that the Director of Special Services would be retiring and I was asked if I would be interested in the position.
"Where God guides, He provides." Isaiah 58:11
I have been stretched, I have been challenged, and I have been pushed out of my comfort zone. I've had to learn a lot in a short amount of time and I have made many mistakes. There are days that I want to cry over every little thing and days that I feel like I might just have this gig figured out. And through it all... through the frustrations and the calm... through the uncertainty and the moments of confidence, I've never wondered if this is the right place for me. God has brought guidance, and He is still providing. In the moment where I am feeling overwhelmed (like today!), the phone rings and a family has brought me a gift to thank me for my tiny part in the success of their babies. (Thanks, B family!) The second I start to feel worry, my heart fills with peace at the thought that God opened all of the doors necessary to get me to this place. When I walk down the hallway to bounce an idea off of the elementary principal, I find myself smiling at the thought that God has worked it out that my teaching partner and I have both ended up in leadership positions at the exact same time. These things are not accidental. What an encouragement to know that He cares for little ol' me. Resting in His providence here at the farmhouse, Hannah ❤️🏡❤️
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I have so many wonderful memories of Christmas morning as a child. There was the year that we woke up to 10-speed-bikes sitting in front of the tree, surrounding the rest of the gifts for my little brother and me. There was the year that it was snowy and cold and after all the gifts were opened, we both got carried outside with our eyes closed to find the playhouse they had ready for us. In fact, Mr. Farmhouse and I used that playhouse as our chicken coop until just last year when we moved to the farmhouse. There was the year that he and I peeked at our gifts and our two "big gifts" were missing on Christmas morning. My mom had saved them for last and had wrapped them up with our parents' names on the tags. We were trying to play it cool like we didn't know they were missing, because we didn't realize they knew we had sneaked out to the shop to look...lesson learned! Even into adulthood, we have always been provided with everything we ever dreamed of, so naturally I have wanted to provide the same feeling for my own girls. However, we have some financial goals that we are working towards to be able to provide for them later in life...in high school when they need a vehicle to drive, to help them with college expenses, and of course, when they get married and start having children. Going into debt or dipping into savings at Christmastime is tempting, but after working so hard for an entire year to save and work the debt snowball, we don't want to lose our progress at the end of the year because of gifts.
You guys.
I cannot even tell you how amazing the process has been. The girls couldn't even think of three items for each category. They were sitting together at the dining room table as they tried to think long and hard about what they truly needed and the conversation they were having warmed my heart. H: I can't think of anything for "something I need". I don't think I need anything. C: I put an electric toothbrush because mine broke a few weeks ago. H: You know, I will be needing a new softball glove this year. I'll put that on there. The girls are completely aware that we would buy toothbrushes or softball gloves during other times of the year, but instead of using that gift slot for something else, they both decided to use it to replace items that are worn out or too small. I was able to shop for the gifts without breaking the bank and literally all in one night (Black Friday with my sis-in-law!). They will each get stocking stuffers and one small gift from Santa and that is IT. The tree is still pretty. The farmhouse is still cozy. The magic of the season is all around us. With four gifts each. I can't wait to see their faces on Christmas morning. Happy December from the farmhouse, friends. ❤️🏡❤️ From the moment I stepped into the one and only bedroom upstairs in the farmhouse, I knew it was meant to be the Claire Bear's. It had a beautiful eastern view, where the sun would rise every morning for my sweet early-bird. It had two closet doors with a long closet that met in the middle...a "secret-passageway" as she says. And it had a little hatch that went into some attic storage that really made the oldest daughter nervous. "Who knows what might come out of there?" Harlee said that first day.
After the room was painted, we started to fit Claire's furniture in. She knew she wanted BOTH closet doors accessible, so that left ONE place for her bed. My mom had found an antique bedroom set at an auction that had "Claire" written all over it. There was a full bed and matching vanity. We fit those pieces in first and went from there. We covered the "creepy attic hatch" (as Harlee calls it) with her dresser and saved room for her desk by the window.
Since those pictures were taken back in July of 2017, we've gotten the windows in the farmhouse replaced and Claire Bear has her dream desk with her dream view. It's not perfect, but it's all Claire! I really can't wait to watch my sweet girl grow up in this bedroom. ❤️🏡❤️
 One of the things that really helps me to stay on track during the stress of the school year is trying to be productive early on each day. I'm not a good "sleeper-inner", but there are also mornings that I get up early and do more sitting and wasting time than doing my best work. Because of this, I've developed a morning routine that is built on habits and not a lot of random time-consuming choices. My morning routine really starts the night before when we lay clothes out and prepare for the next day (more on that coming in another post).
However, in August of this year, I decided to make my bed every single morning and build the habit. It stuck. I don't even think about it anymore and when I leave my bedroom, I've already got a little bit of productivity under my belt. I used to shower and get dressed & ready for the day right after that, but I have realized that in the wintertime especially, I love drinking my coffee and doing my morning Bible reading and prayer time in my warm and cozy jammies. I just have to be sure to set a timer or I would sit there all day!
I have found that taking a nice chunk of time each morning for my coffee, Bible study, prayer time, and running through my day BEFORE THE GIRLS GET UP really starts my day off on the right foot. I am usually going through a few Bible studies at the same time on my YouVersion Bible app. You can see the ones I was working on this morning in the images below.
I have found that I HAVE to set a timer during the morning to keep myself on track or I will get carried away reading or during my prayer time and before I know it...I have forgotten to get the girls up and we are running late.
So by 5:45, I like to have the girls up and going before I jump in the shower. I get dressed, fix my hair, and occasionally whip up some eggs. A lot of the time I don't even eat breakfast...fancy people call it "intermittent fasting" and I call it "I'm just not hungry yet." My girls always grab something to eat...they are breakfast people. We are...er, really try to be, out the door by 6:30. Once the girls are up and running, I know that my day won't be quiet again until they all climb into bed that night. This is why that morning time in the peace and quiet of the farmhouse seems so valuable to me. I'm working hard to be centered and intentional with my time and getting up early is just another piece of that puzzle for me. My morning routine helps me to be the best version of myself, for Mr. Farmhouse, my girls, the rest of my family, my staff, and my students. Trying to "rise & shine" from the farmhouse, Hannah ❤️🏡❤️ |
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