2016 Resolutions

I'm not one to really make resolutions...or at least not making practical ones. I thought I'd link up with Diana from My Day in K and Jayme from Teach Talk Inspire for my hopeful resolutions!

This is a big one. As a new teacher (although I'm in my 4th year...I'm still new, people) you constantly feel like you have to say yes to everything. Although I'm not sure I'll be able to say no to things, I have taken 2 big things off my plate.

For awhile, I've been considering resigning from coaching. At the begin of November, I put in my resignation letter. It was a very hard decision, but I'm looking forward to having my nights November-February back. It's a lot of work for just one person, when you have 5 squads. There's a game every night and when there's not...there's practice...from November to February.

IT. DRAINS. ME. So, after 5 years of coaching cheerleading, and 4 years coaching at MY OWN high school, I've decided to resign.

Another thing I decided, that was also very hard, was to take a hiatus from blog designing. I started L. Paull Designs for All a year and half ago, and have designed over 150 blogs. I just did the math on that and that is a new blog every 3.5 days! That's a lot folks. I'm also super cheap compared to other designers, and I create custom clipart for almost all of my designs. I just need time to find my passion for it again. I can't say for sure...but I don't think it is a permanent hiatus.

I think we all have been here. Winter Break started off rough for me, as my family and I mourned the loss of our 3 month old niece. The next day I attended 2 students' (1 current, 1 previous) fathers' funeral. Then had to do the happy holidays. Let's just say that was hard. So last Sunday, I took a whole day for me. I stayed in my pajamas and netflixed Grey's Anatomy all day. I drank several Diet Cokes, and ate chocolate. No regrets.

I need to do this more often. I often feel like if I'm not doing something, I must be lazy. NO! I need to take time for myself. So I'm going to do something for ME each month. Whether that is a massage (I scheduled a couple's massage for my hubby and I later this month), or going to Starbuck's and browsing Target, or taking a day to read a book. I can't tell you the last I time I read a book for me. It's been year, people! I'm going to blog about what I do for ME each month. Maybe it will inspire you to do the same. Which brings me to...

And I don't mean linking up to Currently. Nope. I want at least 1 of these posts to be classroom content, 1 post to be what I did for me, and the 3rd may be a craft that I do for my house, or classroom, or maybe another classroom idea, or anything else...just can't be Currently. That's too easy!!

I'm already doing better at this by cutting back on things. I'm resigning from coaching, taking a break from designing, and focusing on me!

This may sound crazy to you....since I took a break from designing, but doing DIY printables, and a few vinyl projects seems a lot less stressful than designing right now. I had to wait awhile to take a break from designing. I had one of my January clients sign up in July for her design. I can hit "out of stock" on the expansion ideas at any time :) Check me out on Facebook!

I survived my first semester! I will graduate May 2017, and I cannot wait! HA! I'm pretty proud to say that I'm still holdin onto that 4.0! Let's see how long that lasts!

I'm hoping by cutting back some, I can focus a bit more on creating quality products, and get myself to that first milestone! Here's to hoping!

This is my year! Sorry, All Time Low....I've got this!