The OK Adventures of Peppersloth and Annie

I’m a few days early, but I am VERY excited about life right now!!

Work: Work is BANANAS! Seriously, it’s crazy. The school FINALLY hired another teacher’s aide, and she is WONDERFUL! She is super high energy, but also great with the kids. It is going to take me some time to adjust to having a consistent person in the room that is also reliable! She is constantly saying, ‘Annie, what do you need? Annie! I’ve got your back! Let me help! Don’t be afraid to boss me around!’ I’m so thankful to have her! I have also had some higher ups in and out of my room recently. I have asked every single one of them, ‘What can I do to make this easier?’ And they all would tell me is that I’m doing great. This is nice and encouraging, but not helpful! Hopefully, my lead will be back full time within the next few weeks, and the three of us can crush it!

Certification: I RETOOK MY TEST! I finally did it! And I feel really good about it. Did I answer every question correctly? Probably not. But I probably got more right than last year! And I definitely wrote a better essay! But, honestly, pass or fail, I’m okay. I’m not worried. I have a good job, in a good district. Life is good. Not just okay, but good! I have my next test scheduled for the end of March. Who studies over spring break?? THIS nerd! The hope is that I will be able to start applying for a full time teaching position in May. Happy Birthday to me!

Life: I made the decision to go ahead and sign a six month lease on my current apartment. I don’t know what the fall is going to look like, and I’m just not ready to leave the south side yet. I love my church, and most of my friends are on this side of town as well. I went over to a friend’s house the other night. She and her husband have three girls, and a newborn baby boy. They are such a sweet family! And they have loved on me ever since I moved out here. One of the girls blew a raspberry on my face, and so that started a back and forth raspberry blowing contest. When we sat down for dinner, she said, ‘Can we play the fart game?’ I’ve definitely started something that I probably shouldn’t have! Speaking of friends…I have a NEW ONE! He is sweet and kind and is all things that I could ask for, and all things I didn’t know I needed. He prays for me, encourages me, and makes me laugh. He is, as I like to call him, my man!

A friend of mine and I were talking about how far I’ve come in the last eight months. It’s still so weird to look back and think about. Last January, I was just thankful to be out of 2019! As difficult as 2020 was, I would STILL take it over 2019. By February, I was trying to study for my next test and applying for jobs left and right in Oklahoma. At that point, I still had no idea what I was doing. I just knew I had to keep moving forward. In March, I found out that I had PASSED my first test!! At that point, nothing else mattered! I felt fully confident that I was moving in the right direction. I felt like a bull, fully charging towards the goal. I think it was also in March that some of the drama from 2019 reared its ugly head. The world was also in full COVID mode, and I was laid off. Honestly, my job was terrible, so it wasn’t a great loss. April found me still hoping and praying for a job. May was BIRTHDAY MONTH!! And the start of saying goodbye to people. I also traveled some. I went to Nashville and to Oklahoma City. I knew Nashville wasn’t where I wanted to be. The minute I drove into the state of Tennessee, I KNEW I didn’t belong there. Verses, the minute I drove into Oklahoma, I knew I wanted to be there! God was TRULY at work!

I’m starting to feel like these posts are harder and harder to write every month. There ARE things happening, for sure. But I feel very settled here. This is my home, this is my life. It’s a good OK life! I’ll still continue to write every month…more, if I feel like I have something interesting to say. But just know that I have finally come to a place where I am truly okay.