dripping with passion

this morning i was looking for something in the archives of my blog and remembered this day – and how the mustard flowers were out in full brilliant bloom at a nature preserve near my house this time last year. i decided to take my sunday walk to that exact spot to see those cheery, sunny blossoms. as i walked, i remembered all the times i’d strolled down that same path holding hands with a boy i loved. i walked past specific places along the path that held beautiful memories of the miracle of that relationship. i ached and ached, realizing that the picture that reminded me of the march mustard flower bloom was from a devastatingly romantic twilight, when i was dizzy with affection. i tried to walk through it all, with a determination for resilience. but when i got to the spot where last year the yellow flowers were nearly overtaking the path, bright and hopeful and bursting, i saw only colorless tall weeds along the dusty trail. no yellow flowers this march. they’re gone. i turned ...

(i just couldn't leave anything out of the title!) i made dinner to share with friends and the missionaries a few weeks ago. i experimented by combining and tweaking a couple of recipes, and making up some add-ons, and it turned out super yummy! i want to keep a record of what i created, and i want to share this deliciousness! honey lime chicken burrito bowls with sweet potato black bean relish and a zesty yogurt dressing arrange the following in separate bowls for a tasty and pretty spread on the dining table to serve about six people: *recipe below -mixed greens -halved cherry tomatoes -avocado slices -chopped green onions -torn fresh cilantro -sliced honey mustard marinated chicken* -lime qunioa* -sweet potato black bean relish* -feta or cojita cheese -zesty yogurt dressing* for the honey mustard marinated chicken : place about 2 lbs. chicken tenderloins or breasts in a plastic bag, then add: -1/2 cup coconut oil -one 4 oz can of diced fire roasted gr...

well. i don't think i've ever been this tired before. i flew from bali to taiwan to san francisco and landed at 8pm on sunday night. after two hours of custom lines and baggage claim, i made it home by 11. the jetlag kept me up for a couple hours lesson planning. i woke up at 5:30 and got to school by 6:45. my eighth graders came in the classroom door at 8:25. they'd had a hard week with a sub while i was on the other side of the world, and all the change in their classroom put quite a kink in their (already quite difficult) behavior. several lessons hadn't been taught and due dates hadn't been communicated, there were stacks of ungraded worksheets lining my desk, and my body was telling me it was 3am. miraculously, we've made it through three days, those thirty-eight eighth graders and i. i've been working nearly non-stop from 6:00am to midnight (with a break for dinner and exercise). it has sure been a wild ride, and we're just barely, bare...

because i’m jetlagged and feel like it’s the middle of the day at 12:38am california time, here are some snapshots from the most marvelous week ever in bali with my parents and siblings. it was sublime. more to come. {these are the few pictures i took; there are many more on siblings’ cameras!}                  

i heard something in a talk i recently listened to that really resonated with me, and has kept ringing through my mind and spirit. we must seek to generate happiness, not consume  happiness. over the past few months i have been straining to consume happiness, when really i needed to generate it myself. and i've been thinking about how happiness just isn't something that we can be given or can take, it's something that we create. i was reminded of the happy things list i've been keeping since i was fourteen years old (yes, i was a list-making teenager), and decided it's about time generate some happiness around me by adding to it. shavasana at the end of a simultaneously challenging and relaxing yoga class retail therapy that is compounded by discounts (i don't mean to brag, but i got about $375 worth of clothes for $153 at the outlets yesterday) and the best shopping buddies the feeling of excitement - almost giddiness that makes me light on my f...

at the middle school where i work, we have just one eighth grade class. when the school started last year, the plan was to open with just sixth grade classes, and add a grade of students each year. but the parents that had earnestly petitioned our school leaders to start a charter middle school in the community of east san jose had children entering seventh grade that were struggling and falling behind in district schools. so one self-contained seventh grade class of thirty-eight students was formed, and that same group of kids now makes up one self-contained eighth grade class. and that eighth grade class's teacher is having a baby in the next few weeks. and on monday morning, march 24, i will be an eighth grade teacher. i am incredibly overwhelmed by this job transition and new mammoth responsibility. i have spent the past month arranging for all of the work that i have done and developed as a learning coach and blended learning specialist at my school to be done by others...