Brief intro, because time is valuable

I am sitting here in the Crystal City metro station, and since I have a 5-minute wait I decided to be productive and write my first blog post. I have been putting it off for quite some time, because let's be honest, I have no exciting reasons for starting a blog, I don't want to write an "editorial" and a first post usually includes an explanation of the blog's name and I don't have one.

Background. I am currently doing student teaching to complete my degree in Elementary Education, and I chose to teach in an inner-city Washington DC school. The work is new and challenging, but I am starting to get in my groove and hopefully things will go up from here!

Other things about me...

I love fruit and working out, I think dishsoap (the machine kind) smells like paradise, and if I am angry/hungry, lonely, excited, etc. you will probably only know it if I play the piano. My pride and joy in life is my family - 9 amazing brothers, 3 soul sisters, and the best parents in the world, plus 2 wonderful sisters-in-law, a favorite brother-in-law, and super cute nieces and a nephew. I know, it is overwhelming just reading it, but if you are imagining scenes from 'Cheaper by the Dozen' with kids rappelling from rooftops and constant chaos running rampant through the house, know that it only happens that way about one day in...21. Maybe more. (We have actually never rappelled from the rooftop, although we did help shingle the roof when we built on to our house and it has become a favorite place to read and talk in the summertime.)

Another thing you should know right off the bat is that my faith plays a HUGE part in my life. Let me rephrase that: it IS my life. Everything I see and do is through the lens of my personal beliefs as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Nothing in life is as important as knowing my own standing with God and knowing that He is pleased with me.

So now that you know the most important things about me, let me tell you that I don't usually open up easily. I mean really open up. It takes me months of casual friendship to really trust a person, and it will likely be the same with this writing business. So if you are the type of person that flips ahead in a book to skip the preliminaries (and I feel sheepish to admit that I fall in this category), then maybe check back this summer for more interesting and personal stories.

Okay! I am almost to my destination now, so I will adjourn for the present. Buona giornata!