Life on the Runn...

Ah, sweet, sweet summertime! After a whole lot of adulting on Saturday - furniture shopping and assembly - we woke up Sunday morning with the intention of enjoying the cooler temperatures and the ample sunshine; it was the perfect conditions for a Devil's Lake outing. There's a rule in our house that a day at The Lake doesn't count unless it includes a ride on the ferry, so take the ferry we did.  For being such a gorgeous morning, I was surprised at the relative emptiness of the parking lots and trails - and much like the unexpected conditions of the trails, the shifting weather was entirely unexpected.  It became cloudy and breezy, but better cool than sweltering - I had enough of that the previous week when I had to brave both the heat and intense humidity that left my hair looking something like a true natural disaster. After a few miles of hiking, via the West Bluff, we made our way home and to our dinner date with our cousins Mike, Christina, and little Tommy. ...

I do not think that it would have been possible to squeeze in more family time this past weekend, and I wouldn't have it any other way....well, unless we were all trekking through Europe together, then maybe. The family-packed weekend began with a Runnells family dinner followed by a trip to the Humboldt Park Beer Garden. While I am certainly lack in the 'beer drinking skills' department, I do my best to make up for it in the 'chat with everyone about everything' department, so our trip to the Beer Garden was not a wasted one.  It was filled with lots of catching up with not only my in-laws but extended family, too.  I got to hear about puppy parenthood, school years, and service work in Guatemala; and I got to reminisce about eating and drinking my way from Rome to Sorrento. On Saturday, after a quick trip to the gym, Brian and I headed to my parents' house for our second annual Unti Summer Gathering.  While we were missing a few of the crew, quite a ...

Somehow, another school year has come and gone.  And in those 180+ days that made up the now-finalized 2016-17 school year, I managed to keep my sanity intact and my passion for education and innovation alive - because keeping it the same ol' is boring.  And I believe I may have also managed to teach my students a thing or two.  There may be comma splices in their futures still, but I think, together, we learned enough about life and learning (I think...I hope...) to call this year a successful one! As I look back on what was a wonderful year and look ahead to the 2017-18 school year, a year that will bring more changes than any other before it, I am excited for all that will come my way!  And I do believe I finally feel like I know what the heck I'm doing. Education is hard work, and it's scary work sometimes; yet it's some of the most important work a person can do!  To think that I just wrapped up 10 years of teaching and learning is both unbelievable ...