Twitter and Students

My students now follow me on Twitter (@sidannwest). That's fine, except when I want to post something about school. So, I guess this is where I shall do it. 

1. Have you ever stared at something and thought, "Wow, this is going to explode and make people cry, but I have to do it anyways..."? That's what state testing is like. - April 9, 2017

Lilacs and Love

"God is the best florist," was my constant thought while smelling lilacs and taking some cuttings for my apartment. "He knows how to arrange them in the perfect way," I thought to myself as I tried to arrange my cuttings into a vase.



I'm amazed by how God is so practically beautiful. Not only flowers show beauty, but they also bring a sweet fragrance. My heart is content. 

I really enjoy flowers, but I never buy them. Never. And, honestly, I never have them around my apartment (except the ones I'm growing). It wasn't until yesterday, when my mom told me where I could cut some, did I think of cutting them myself.

What a simple, practical, and lovely thing to do to bring happiness in your life! Jesus has made the flowers - we should take joy and enjoy them. 

Go cut some flowers for yourself and brighten up your home. 

Peace.

Also, if God takes care of the flowers of the field and dresses them, He can take care of you.

New Clothing Goal

I have a new goal! I'm really excited about my new goal. Like, really excited. Probably too excited. BUT. I want to just have enough clothes that I wear everything between loads of laundry/everything fits in the closet. 

Why am I so excited about this?

I think I'm too excited about this. But, oh my goodness, I have so many clothes. And I've been getting rid of them forever and forever. Well, for like the last two years. I found three more things to get rid of tonight (a pair of socks, a tank top, three t-shirts to repurpose [this counts as one]). I'm so excited. 

Anyways, I have to figure out a way to be more aware of what I like to wear and what I'm just holding onto. 

Maybe my goal will be that I eventually have a capsule wardrobe. But I think I like lots of colors too much for that. 

Maybe I'll make my goal to have under 100 articles of clothes (a pair of shoes counts as one!). I don't know.

There's my thoughts. I'm far too excited. I should probably be sleeping.

Peace.

Embrace Your Introvert

Y'all, I'm at a training today for educators and motivating to change - it's exhausting. No, not because of the information and, no, not because of the amount of information. Oh my goodness - there's so many people. It's exhausting.

I'm on break now. I'm drinking tea. By the fireplace. Listening to Ed Sheeran. Blogging. And avoiding conversation. 

I have to go back in six minutes. So. Many. People.

Anyways, this who like introvert, people tire me out, oh my gosh I need to leave for energy is the real deal. So I sat by the fireplace. It's lovely.

That was two hours ago. I had to go back to the meeting.

This is my thought -  for a long time, I didn't want to be someone who needed to get away from people to be rested. I got coffee with multiple people daily in college and talked to SO many people. I was tired...all of the time. 

That also might have been because I worked off of about five hours of sleep a night.

But I know it's important to take time for me. Like, not all the time. I would be a super cool hermit. Alone. But it's important to know my limits and stick to them. I know it's difficult to be in a big group of people for hours and hours. It's draining and exhausting. But, sometimes, it also has to be done. 

In those times, it's good to know that on breaks, I need to go sit somewhere by myself. And be solo.

I learned a bit back about things that fill my bucket and things that drain me. They need to BALANCE. 

Fillers:
- 1:1 intentional conversations (with certain people)
- reading a book
- doing art
- drinking coffee/tea
- decluttering items from my life
- Jesus

Drainers:
- big groups of people
- shopping for clothes
- getting together with new people (even 1:1)
- being in classes for entire days (without movement involved)

Therefore, if something drains me, I need to be filled with a filler. You can fill with something that drains. 

Know yourself. Take care of yourself.

Peace.

Oh! The training was about utilizing technology to enhance the learning of students. I think they're lovely ideas. I appreciate them AND I'm excited for the possibility of using technology in my classroom.

Life Joys

My favorite time of year has started - the time of year when you can lay outside and a nap. Hopefully intentional. I maybe took an unintentional nap at the park today. 

Then I walked to the coffee shop and got some free shots of espresso. They have posted on their Instagram that they have a special offer to get free coffee if you tell a fact they post. I thought they were all done. Nope. Free coffee and fizzy water for me. 

Yay.

Earlier today, I was checking out my plants that I have in the window. Look at how much they've grown! I got these pots at a 'Buy Nothing' swap, where I was able to grab random items that made my heart joyful. For free. I like free.

And the seeds were from somewhere...I think the swap, too! But look how they're growing. From nothing, it seems, comes something. From baby seeds come mighty trees. Except these aren't trees. Thank goodness.

Lastly, y'all, overalls. When I was in grade school, I wore overalls for three years straight. Not like hyperbole 'three years straight'. This is legit. Every day. I could probably count on my hands the amount of time I wore something besides overalls. 



As a side note, also, there's tons of different styles of overalls. 

But I got a new pair! It's been years. Someone gave them to me...randomly. The amount of joy I have from them is maybe I bit too much. Whatever. Overalls. I'm thankful.

Find joy in the simple things in life. Jesus provides those.

Peace.

Thank You

The radio says some really weird things. Usually, because of this, I zone them out. Or listen to really cool CDs. Like Hamilton. For hours on end. Hours. And hours. 

Here, learn a song from Hamilton. Here, listen to it.

I never thought I would find a use for this.

Anyways, I didn't listen to a CD or zone a couple weeks ago. It went into a segment where someone was talking and they had a REALLY good point. 

Instead of saying sorry, say thank you. 

Examples: 

Instead of saying, "Sorry for being late," say, "Thank you for waiting for me!"

Instead of saying, "Sorry for having to cancel," say, "Thank you for being understanding!"

Instead of saying, "Sorry I didn't explain that clearly," say, "Thank you for taking the time to understand what I was saying."

This does a couple things --> 
1. It takes the emphasis off the negative and turns it to a positive.
2. It takes the emphasis on the thing you did wrong and puts it on what the other person did right.
3. It makes both parties feel a little bit better about the situation.

This change has made life quite lovely the past couple of weeks. I still over-apologize, but I do so less. There are still times that we need to apologize and admit wrong. But, more than that, there are times where we need to thank the people around us for what they do.

Peace.

Produce Bags

I did another thing! So, I've been avoiding buying produce for a bit of time (well, produce that needs to be put in bags) because I didn't want to use a plastic bag. It just made me frustrated often that I would be putting more plastic into the environment. 

First one - handmade. Sewn by hand.

Y'all. I wanted kumquats for a year. I finally got them today. 

Why? How?

I made produce bags!

I have two right now, but I figure I'll make more. How did I do it?

Old pillowcase. Cut into three parts (when the pillowcase if facing horizontally). Then, I sewed up the sides, leaving the top (one of the smaller sides) open. I flipped the top over itself (like to make a place for a shoelace to go through). Literally, this doesn't make sense. Maybe someone has a way to do this online...

Here. Someone else wrote it. I don't feel bad about taking it.

Oh! But I'm also really thrilled because everything I'm using to make these bags is reused. Or repurposed. I didn't buy anything. Old pillowcase. Extra shoelaces. A sewing machine.

Second one - sewn with machine. Dang,
I need practice.

Anyways, I've been really thrilled because now I have produce bags! And, actually, I'm using making them as incentive to grade papers. Cool? I know. 

But that's a really practical change I've been able to make to help the environment and for me to be able to help my body.

Life is good. I hope this made sense.

Probably not. 

But whatever. I got kumquats. Apples. And broccoli. With zero-waste. 

Peace.