One of these things..

First things first, by the time this blog is published to the interweb for your enjoyment, I will have been alive for 12,783 days officially! I don't know if I've ever written a blog on my birthday, I'm certain that I've never started my birthday by writing one. It wasn't my original plan for this evening, but I came to my parent's dining room to work on some school stuff that I've been putting off until this week and decided to write the blog that's been in my head for two months, lol. Is 35 the year that I stop putting EVERYTHING off until the last minute...asking for a friend! This blog might be a bit of random things put together, but really haven't they all?

...is not like the other

Many of you know that I started working out with a personal trainer in March of this year and the way that I've shown my progress is my taking photos. The scale is a stupid way to decide whether or not you're making progress. So sometime before I came to Texas, one of the pictures in the collage at the left showed up on my Facebook memories and I started thinking about it. This seems appropriate to reflect on as my birthday starts. (I mean technically, my birthday started several hours ago in Japan...so)

So looking at those pictures now that I'm 35, there's really only one difference that I see right now. Only one of those people doesn't look at herself and only see her weight.
So lets start with the photo at the bottom left. That is Lizzy, she is 14 years old and on her way to her freshman formal. She doesn't feel good about the fact that she had to buy a size 12 dress because her best friend Jamie had to special order a size Zero dress. It may not look like it from that photo, but she is afraid of just about everything.
Next photo is top right. That is Yzzil, a 19 year old sophomore who is less afraid but very unsure of everything. She has this feeling that she doesn't really fit in, that is emphasized by her weight. Then there's top left, that's Elizabeth. She is 33 and has really started to find happiness in herself but is really not sure what that means.
Then, there's "present day" Elizabeth. Her weight is no longer the first thing that she sees. She is no longer hiding behind whatever it was that used to hold her back. I wish it would have taken less time to be able to recognize that people don't see my size, they see me as a person. I think there are lots of times that I feel like I'm still hiding behind something and people aren't actually seeing me for me.

Another one.
I'm doing something this next school year, that I've never done before, and I guess now that it is on the internet, there's no going back. I've decided to like decorate my classroom! Yeah, like with a theme and everything. My theme is "fiesta"...I think mostly to make up for how much I miss Mexican food in Japan, but also because I can mostly just use bright colors and it fits. But I've made a few things to hang up in my room for this next year. I was hoping to have more lessons and things figured out, but I'm having some sort of mental block. Maybe it has to do with my deep desire to only do things at the last minute! lol

The only one.
So, I wanted to take a brief moment to record this last school year. A year ago at this time, I was gearing up for another school year at Maxwell. I started one school year on August 7th or something and another school year like September 27th. I really had no idea what I was doing in that second start. I had no idea I was teaching at a school with a block schedule. I did just as many things wrong as I did that first year of teaching. It took a long time for me to get in the groove. It was full of disheartening moments that made me questions everything. There were lots of days that I felt like I had no clue what I was doing at all. I had to remind myself that struggles like this school year are how we grow. Maybe this school year is why I'm having a hard time coming up with like a lesson plan for this school year. Plus, I have to miss four days in the first week to come back to the US for a wedding.

One Day More.
As I prepare to start year 36 of the Elizabeth saga of life, I'm reminding myself of a few things that I've learned.

• Anything can happen For the last five years or so, I've imagined living in another country but wasn't sure I would be able to make it happen. Now I'm living in Tokyo, Japan and I'm incredibly happy doing so. 
• Timing is everything This December, one of the many great women role models that I've had in my life passed away while I was home for Christmas break. I am so grateful that I got to be with my family during that time. 
• Timing sucks too About two weeks after I got to Japan, my mother got sick. Her illness is her story, but being far away has been difficult to say the least. However, it has brought us closer together too. I start every school day with a Marco Polo video from my mom and end a lot of days with one from my dad since he usually gets up pretty early. 

One way or Another

I'm always preparing myself for the fact that I don't have any idea what this year is going to bring me. Here's hoping that whatever it is, my next year includes laughter, love, friends, family, wine and LOTS of ADVENTURES. I mean...I went whitewater rafting this year...who ever thought that would have happened! 

Until next time~

Also, I've decided that I'm not proofreading this...so forgive the grammar and errors that are sure to exist.