Happy December!

Whew! It has been a hectic two months. Since I last posted, I taught my first History class. Having been the first class that I have taught, I spent a lot of time on prep work. It felt like the one class completely consumed me. I seemed to put everything else on hold. I really need to learn how to prioritize things. This module, I am working as the Student Success Coach. I will be working with the students who are on academic probation. I will also begin my student teaching in January. It has been five years in the making! Here is a glimpse of what my first class looked like.

Happy Birthday Adam!

Yesterday, October 16th was Adam's 3rd birthday. We had a fun-filled afternoon at the Pumpkin Patch with some friends and family. He received many great gifts, including the one thing that he had been asking for, the Big Buzz Lightyear! Today we made the trip down to Santa Ana for my little cousin Ella's birthday. Rod & Brad put together a very cute Snow White themed party for her. We all had a really nice time. Still can't believe my little one is 3. He is such a joy! Here are pics from his party and from Ella's.

October

Whew, busy weekend and last couple of days. World Mission Conference at church, truly awesome time. So far, teaching the career class has been going really well. Next module, I will be teaching History 10, yay! Loving that I have the opportunity to see my friends during the week. Adam & I have been able to hang out with all the friends and "baby Bea" twice. I keep telling him that Bea is the same age as him, but that seems to be what he likes to call her. Which brings up the fact that he will be 3 next week! Very crazy that time has call by so fast. He is a very smart little man who constantly makes me and Chris laugh on a daily basis. Here is a pic of Adam & Bea at one of our get-togethers.

Home

This last weekend was so nice. Saturday was test day and Chris and I headed up to Fresno. He hung around for a couple hours while I took the test. It was so nice to be done with it. It is kinda a tradition to go to dinner after and we normally go to Logan's or Chick-fil-a : ) While Chris was driving around he found a DiCiccio's, which was one of our favorites here in Visalia before it closed. So we got to have our favorite yummy pepperoni calzones. We then wen to Home Goods. I love that store, I love to just walk down each aisle and look at everything. All in all, it was a really nice day.
Monday was my first day home from work, and it was also really nice. Maybe it is because I feel this huge load off my shoulders. I'm happier now. I began my Monday by waking up early and going for a run with Elizabet. It is really beautiful early in the morning. I then made breakfast for Elizabeth and Adam. I want to get Adam on a daily schedule of the preschool curriculum that I bought. So we read several books, did a puzzle, some finger painting and some other crafts. We then met Gaby, Benji and Uriah at the gym. After we came home made lunch and then took a nap. After nap time, we watched the new Cat in the Hat cartoon-it is really cute. We then spent time outside for our "PE" time. Then it was dinner time. Chris brought me flowers-so sweet! Today was my first day of Instructor training, so I had to go into work for a couple of hours. I had to become familiar with the class and I learned how to upload my syllabus. Tomorrow is day 2 of training, so we will see how it goes.

"Here we come Visalia, another fabulous stylist has joined my team and wants to introduce you to the wonderful world of Stella & Dot! Welcome Desi Brantley, I can't wait to see all that Stella and Dot brings to you and all that you will bring to us! Woohoo!"
Yay! This was a Facebook post by my sponsor Jana today. I have officially signed up to be a stylist. I cannot wait to get all the jewelry that I ordered today! In other Brantley news, tomorrow is my last day in the office. Mixed emotions. I began cleaning out my cube earlier this week, I think the thing that gets me the most is leaving my friends, Jahaira & Tonya. They have been a blast to work with and I will miss seeing them everyday. : ( Ugh, I hope that I don't cry. I hate when I do that, I am such an emotional person and I can't tell if that is a good or bad thing, either way, its embarrassing. : / Will do my best to keep it together.

Busy Week

Ugh, I am tired and I feel like my head is going to explode. I don't think that I can cram anymore information into my brain. Saturday is my last CSET subtest and I am over studying. It feels like it is consuming my life. On top of working full time, and being a mom and having to worry about what is for dinner, it just is kinda crazy. Chris has been really great about taking Adam and leaving the house for a couple hours, which has been so helpful.
On a better note, this is my last week of being an Extern Coordinator at SJVC. I will start training for my Instructor position next week. My first class will be a CSS100, which is a Career Seminar class, so that should be interesting. I have to try to stay positive and not be discouraged this week. I have too much to look forward to, being at home with Adam, getting back to the gym, running again,and of course my new business. : ) So I am going to pray it up this week and remind myself that we are never given more than we can handle.

Stella & Dot

I am excited about my new endeavor. Anyone who knows me well, knows that I love jewelry. While I was at a craft show last year with our BB&H booth, I came across a table with beautiful jewelry. Some of the pieces had a vintage look, which I love. I booked a party with the stylist Julie and I was able to get a ton of free jewelry. I was impressed with the fact that the jewelry seemed to self itself and that she really didn't have to do any long speech or demonstration. She just set out her jewelry for a couple of hours and answered any questions that people had. So simple! I thought, "I can do that." It was appealing in the fact that I get to buy some beautiful pieces, be my own advertising by wearing it and make a little extra money. I met with my sponser Jana last week and I was further encouraged that this was something that I wanted to do. She is so supportive and helpful and I look forward to working with her.
My first launch party is September 24th!

Wow these last eight months have flown by! This has been a really great year for me, Chris & Adam. It has been a year of growth. This year, I have relied on God more than ever before, my faith has grown leaps and bounds. My job was extremely stressful for me. It was difficult to go to work everyday,but being the great God that he is, he placed amazing people around me that I was able to talk to and pray with. I began to realize that I was there for a reason and that I had to trust that God would place me where I needed to be. The position opened up doors to me and influenced my bold decisions, such as running a half marathon! Most importantly it helped me realize that I need to achieve my goal of completing my credential and that I need fulfill my purpose in teaching. The great thing is that I was able to obtain a position as a General Ed Instructor with the college and the even greater thing is that I get to teach from home. My plan is to finish the rest of my testing and to start student teaching in January. My new position gives me the ability to stay at home with Adam for a couple months and to teach and encourage college students. I don't think that I can fully explain how thankful and happy I am.
Adam has completely blossomed at daycare, it has been truly amazing to see how he has changed and how he has become so independent. Chris & I have mixed emotions about pulling him out for a couple of months, while it would save us a ton of money monthly, Chris is concerned that he will be missing out socially. I have to make an effort to continue to work with him daily like my cousin Amy was. I went out and bought a preschool curriculum book, just so that we can continue to give him what he needs.
Chris is taking fire prep classes in order to start the Fire Academy in January. I know that he has finally found something that will make him happy and I know that he will be amazing at it. He will get to be a modern day superhero : )
This year has been about realizing our goals and that with God nothing is impossible. I am looking forward to whatever the rest of the year holds : )

New Year, New Me

Yikes, has it been since October since I last posted? K, how to sum up a couple months? We had a very nice low-key Thanksgiving,Christmas and New Year. Watching Adam open presents this year was really fun and the best part. I know this coming Christmas will be even more exciting. The month of December was very busy for Blissful Bath. We had many orders to fulfill,plus last minute gift orders. It was a stressful yet great month for the business. We also went to Disneyland for Chris' birthday. It was so crowded but a lot of fun. Being a little older, Adam was able to appreciate it a lot more than the two previous times that he had gone.
Now we are in January. I am so excited for this new year. This is going to be my year to get into shape (have a personal trainer), and meet my goals physically and career wise. I have decided to get back into the Education field. Right now, I am tutoring part time but I am looking to go back to work full time. Plus I would like another baby this year(haven't thought about how that is going to fit in with working full time-but it will all work out). I also need to make a resolution to keep up with this blog. Many great things are happening and I need to write them down. Till next time!