Keeping up.

This is how my life has felt lately, just trying to keep up with all the tasks each day brings me. I am not writing this blog to complain, because I love my life and am grateful for the position we are in, but I am writing to simply vent and be able to look back in months or years to come and see God's faithfulness.
Here is a list of things that are constantly on my "To Do List"
School:This is a very important time of year at school, as we are preparing for the Ohio Achievement Assessment Tests. These are the tests that sadly determine everything for the school: school rating, finances, administrative decisions and anything else that matters. I am in an especially tough position as last year was the first year that my school district ever made the 5th grade math test scores after moving the best math teacher in the district to 5th grade. I am filling very big shoes and have felt the pressure often. I was told in my interview process that they would not be afraid to move me or get rid of me if I don't make the grade. Now, I don't think they will fire me if I don't get the score, because this is a very rough class and the history of the test, but it still puts a great amount of pressure on me. I have been told my other teachers and the Principal that I am doing a great job and they are happy with me, but of course I am always a little concerned. All that being said, I am obviously doing everything I can for my students in planning and instructing the never ending concepts of 5th grade math. This makes my days go fast at school, but it is not always fun to come home with more school work. I do really like my job and enjoying doing it everyday, but from now until the last week of April when we take the tests, it is a bit stressful.
Parenthood: Like every first time parent, we can't remember what life was like without Zoe. She brings us so much joy and laughter it is unbelievable. Last week she had this rash that kept showing up at random times. We took her to the Doctor who just said she is having an allergic reaction to something and we should try and figure it out. We changed her juice and soap and haven't seen the rash since! We want to be the best parents we can and really give our best to her, but with so many other things to do it is hard to keep it all balanced. She is a very happy, healthy and we think smart girl, so I guess we are doing ok:)
Home: Thank God Tony has a job where he is home more often than most jobs and can get alot of the "domestic" chores done and he does a wonderful job with that. But there are just some things that I like to do and I need to do. I am grateful for the home that we have, but let's be honest, it's a 60 year old dorm, not the easiest or funnest place to keep clean, but we do our best.
Sleep: Tony slept 13 hours last night. For those of you who know Tony and how little of sleep he needs, that tells you are busy we have been. I try to make sure I get 6-7 hours of sleep every school night, but that is not always possible.
Future Decisions: We are in the midst of trying to decide when to begin our Master programs. We can both get our masters for half price at Malone, which we really want to take advantage of while we are here. As of now, it looks like Tony will begin his program of Organizational Leadership in the fall. This is a 16 month program if he goes straight through. I would love to start my program as soon as possible as I love school and will have to get it eventually anyway to keep to teachers license up to date, but because I graduated in South Dakota I am have issues with my license as it is. SD has very different standards and licensing formats than OH which means I may have to take 9 undergraduate classes in the next year to be "legal". So, we are weighing out our options.
Fun: Although this is not at the top of the list, I think it is important that we have fun in our lives as well. We often enjoy basketball games, playing cards or just watching Zoe develop. These are not big events, but they bring us joy and we are thankful for that. Next weekend we are planning on going a few hours South to a friends cabin they are letting us use for the weekend, it will be great to get of of campus for a couple days.
Faith: Last, but hopefully obviously not least, trying to be faithful to our loving savior in everything we do. We love and appreciate our church and small group which keep us focused. Tony and I have been going through a book as best we can and that has been great. At the moment we are both working on committing a scheduled, deliberate time to prayer daily. I am working on 5 minutes of prayer before I leave the house everyday. Doesn't seem like it should be that difficult and I now it will be well worth the time.
OK, that was way too long and if you are still reading, great job. I just wanted to get this all down as a way of processing my thought and like I said earlier, I know God will be faithful through all of this and in will be great to read in the future.
I haven't been very good at taking pictures lately, but here are a few.