Relaxing Whirlwind Summer

As I write this on the eve of the first day of my new job, I am listening to Star94's 90's weekend (one of the top 5 reasons I am enjoying my time in ATL), drinking a glass of Trader Joe's wine, listening to Kate pound away as she hangs picture frames in her room and thinking about what a wonderful 3 month vacation I have been lucky enough to enjoy. There are two mindsets to take as a teacher in the summer: 1) work, work, work and essentially get paid double and make some spare cash or 2) relish in the luxury of vacation and convince yourself that since you are receiving a paycheck during the summer months, why work when you can do nothing?

Can you guess which option I choose? The latter, clearly...

While this mindset may not be the smartest decision from a fiscal standpoint, I am convinced it is the smartest decision for my emotional well being.

I have had a wonderful summer full of doing whatever I want. And you know what? I think that for all teachers, being a happy go lucky teacher for 9 months of the year deserves a 3 month vacay.

So now, as I nervously anticipate starting my brand new job tomorrow morning, I can't help but think about the fun that was this past summer. In addition to traveling to Vermont and Maine with my dad and Nancy, I got to spend time with co-workers from OCPS, have a giant yard sale, see old friends, meet new friends, travel to the beach, move to Atlanta, see Amy and Keith get hitched in Athens and welcome friends into our new apartment in Atlanta with a superbly fun housewarming party. How could I have possibly squeezed a side job into that mix of activities?

When I moved into our apartment, I was eager to come up with decorating ideas (again, the beauty of free time in the summer). I wanted to showcase the obsession that Kate and I have for pictures. I wanted our apartment to be colorful. I wanted it to feel homey. I wanted people to feel welcomed upon walking in the door. After spending countless hours on pinterest.com, I came up with some fun ideas.

First, the photograph obsession/friend obsession is very evident on our wall of pictures hanging above the TV. I started to think Kate and I were a little self-centered with all the pictures of ourselves. But you know what? Each picture contains an often hilarious memory that sparks conversation (and makes me wish I was 18 and headed off to college again).

Here is our picture wall:

After the picture wall, I found myself dying to find something to hang above the couch. Nancy helped me scour Craigslist for an old window frame. Well what do you know? A nice man (who I think might have been a hoarder trying to get rid of some of his hoarding items) was selling a window for $5!! I picked Kate's sisters up at the airport one day in early August and forced them along on a journey into the middle of nowhere ATL. After watching the Lifetime movie Craigslist Killer, I knew better than to go claim the window on my own.

Here is what the sad little window looked like when I picked it up:

And here is the finished product after a periwinkle paint job and going "Goodwill Hunting" for plates at Goodwill:

Needless to say, I am 100% obsessed with these projects. I have found myself just staring at the picture wall and the window wall on countless occasions.

I know I made the right decision in moving to ATL for a lot of reasons.

-I think I am about to be obsessed with my job (once I can get over my nervousness).

-I am living with one of my best friends.

-I love the location of our apartment (walkable to restaurants, coffee shop, bars, etc., etc.)

-And what I have deemed most important, is that I am close to my dad and Nancy. I don't think I realized how much I wanted to be able to live close to them. One major perk of this, aside from getting to see them, is that they came over to help us hang curtain rods, the window and Kate's infamous "W" shelf. The other major perk is that I get to enjoy the fruits of my dad's chef skills more frequently. Tonight, we had a healthy dinner followed by a not so healthy lemon soufflé dessert.

Look at how beautiful it was!!!

I am so thankful for my cozy, homey, comfy, welcoming apartment and the wonderful, motley crew of friends that filled it with fun this weekend.

Here's to starting a new job.....