It's June! It's Time!

Hey!   LOOK! It's June!  I'm going to have a baby this month!  Wait!  I'm having a baby tomorrow!

Since officially starting my maternity leave (yesterday) I have felt a huge amount of relief, and focus.  While the end of the performance season was wonderful and tiring.  Going to work everyday through the end of this pregnancy was the best choice for me.  I have felt powerful and content knowing that I can accomplish my job, while growing a small human.  When it comes to teaching students (specifically my senior girls) it became important for me to be an example of what a woman can do, in life and the workplace.  It doesn't' have to be a choice...

When I was pregnant with my son (7 years ago) I was discouraged with my profession.  I didn't just become a stay at home mom when Max was born, I decided to walk away from my dreams of working professionally in theater.  I had just begun working with Broadway designers, learning new tasks and taking on new responsibilities, and taking work very seriously.  Work was my priority, always placed ahead of my relationships.  I did not know how to set boundaries.  This caused issues in my life, that I still regret.

However, this time around I feel like I have finally found a balance, between work and home.  The most important part of my life is my family, and realizing this has been a life changing lesson.  Teaching my son responsibility, the love of learning, and to be kind has brought out the teacher in me.  My son has given me the opportunity to realize the world needs me, just maybe not in the way I originally thought.

I love being a mother, now I just happen to be more of a mom than I ever could have imagined.  Many of my students call me mom, I feed them, help them, and give them a safe space to come to when needed.  I try to teach them responsibility, the love of learning, and to be kind.... Maybe even that they can do these things through ART!

Being a working mom, while carrying a little girl is even more fulfilling.  Knowing that this little girl I will meet tomorrow, will have a strong woman to watch as she grows up, is even more powerful of a feeling.  I watched my mother and father work everyday while I was growing up.  From them I learned responsibility and to keep going, no matter what.  I thank them everyday for the lessons they taught me.

So, here's to tomorrow... The day is almost here... the future is female... my journal told me so!

A Year with a Bullet

One year ago I started to Bullet Journal...

As I begin to layout my 3rd volume (the start of my second year) I find I have grown in my abilities to organize thoughts and have found new ways to manage my time.  I have learned a few things about myself; I need help prioritizing and finding balance between work and life.  I have also found taking the time to layout each week brings a level of focus and intention to my days, where I am able to reflect on the week that has passed and prepare for the next.

The last 2 months have gotten away from me.  TODAY is the official start of my Maternity Leave and so far I feel like super mom!  I have gone to and made doctors appointments, collected forms, paid bills, budgeted for the month and now, will write this blog post.

Baby Girl is due to arrive Wednesday, and I am trying up as many loose ends while striving to move forward.  I don't think I'd be this calm if I didn't have a system in place for keeping my notes and thoughts in line.

 It's amazing to see how much a layout can change from Month to Month, Week to Week, and Year to Year.  Today I havev decided to feature a few of my layout changes over the past month.  Since I missed posting in April and May, due to super hectic work schedule and baby brain.  I think the changes have made me better organized.

Week to Week- May started out simple and I found I needed to track a bit more, but not spend more time in layout.

Looking back to previous month it was helpful to have my timeline written out, however I didn't need to track additional information, nor did I have the time this month for that layout...

So Simplify.   At the top of each day I broke out the day by appointment/task time.  This helped me keep track where I needed to be each day, without taking up too much space and time.

I usually enjoy using stickers and images in my layouts.  This month was packed with Doctor appointments, work assignments, baseball games, yoga, and more.  So time was sparse.

 I do love my monthly layout.  I've found a way to incorporate my work schedule and overall events into 2 quick layouts.  This overview really helps me focus on the month, I've stopped copying my work schedule, and instead scaled down the schedule I send to my boss.  It fits perfectly into my bullet journal pages.  As I'm now on my 3rd volume, I have found there are several layouts that I re-draw every layout. So, I'm starting to play around with creating some excel forms (because I love excel) that I can easily print off each month and reuse.  With a baby coming... I need to save some time...

One NEW LAYOUT I have really enjoyed is my Yoga Schedule Layout.  This month classes changed and I wanted to make the best use of my class cards.  I have been taking 2-4 yoga classes a week and find it a wonderful addition to my routine.  Sad that I will have the next month off, to recoup.  However, this last month having the schedule handy was super beneficial to finding a time to squeeze in a class.  PS- Favorite teachers are Kami and Doreen if your looking for a new class!

I've come a long way in a year!  Looking back to May of last year and the beginning of this process has been quite interesting.  If you would like to look back with me, feel free to check out these old posts...  May 2017 bullet journal layouts!