Balancing the First Week

It has been one full week of school now and I made it! The first week of school has been pretty busy but everything is going swimmingly. I have 19 really great kids in my third grade class and a very helpful cooperating teacher. Getting started is sooo much routine, routine, routine! The kids need to get down that simple stuff right away. Unfortunately these routines that will be simple and quick, are a little lengthy in the beginning. We have a bright group and everyone seems to get along nicely.

The location of my first placement was very lucky only being about 1.5 miles away. With the nice fall weather we have been having in De Pere, I have been able to ride my bike to school a few times! Making practices and just for times sake in the morning, I haven't been able to bike everyday but I do enjoy it when I can!  My bike is almost 3 weeks old to me now and it is soooo much better than my mountain bike back home! Last night I ended up doing my mile repeat workout on this hybrid bike and I can only imagine how difficult that would have been on my mountain bike. After this bike workout I'm hoping my shins will be feeling better for the meet this weekend!

Balance-
Tonight after a delicious dinner at Phils with Emily and Kelsey for the first time in agessss, Kelsey and I decided to spruce up our locker room a bit. We found some pretty good quotes and I want to throw in this one:
"I think a lot of our team commitment is a silent understanding that each one of us has poured our life into what we're doing." -Claire Carver-Dias
Our coach has emphasized that whatever we are doing at a moment in time is our priority. This semester with student teaching and cross country, both are very important to me. This week was my first real adjusting week into how the rest of the season is going to look. With school starting at 7:30 and ending at 3:30 (at the earliest), I am not able to practice with the team very much. I am seeing that it is not the easiest but not continuing to run my senior year has never been an option. I absolutely love doing it and the people I have met so I am doing my best at managing both! This quote pinpoints my experience this season that my teammates hopefully understand that even though I am not around that I AM in fact giving this everything I have! I'm confident they have faith in me because of their captain votes and I'm also confident that they are working hard without me around. Our group this year has a special bond. Some of us have only known each other for a short time but I always feel a comfort whenever I'm with my teammates. Sometimes I have replayed my coach saying that whatever you are doing at that moment is your priority; too often in my life I have had a preoccupied mind. I have learned that I need to slow down and enjoy the moments I have at SNC and all of the little things in life! As a freshman it seems like you will be in college for a long time but here I am sitting wondering how I only have a few months left as an SNC student!!

I have been finding peace with all of the exciting things and changes happening in my life. I am very happy with how teaching is starting and the beginning of cross! This "trendy" blogging thing as my friend Kaylee Beck would say, is pretty neat! I'm kind of random but I'm hoping this will be a good way to look back and remember all of the exciting stuff happening at this busy time! 

"When all is said and done, it's not the shots that won the championship that you remember, but the friendships you made along the way." -Unknown

Yes I love quotes!!