“You have a really beautiful smile!” a random stranger said to me this summer. It was at that moment I knew just how happy I currently was.
One of the perks of being a teacher is having summers off. Some schools actually are full time and get weeks off throughout the calendar year, rather than in bulk during June and July. For those of us that are lucky to June and July off, we work extremely hard fit 12 months of progress and learning into 10 months. Moreso, because of teachers are underpaid, some don’t take summers off, but rather take on second jobs: tutor, summer school, cashiers, waitress, sell resources online, and more. This summer I was one of the lucky ones that took it off completely.
If you read my June blog, thank you! If you didn’t, then you might not know that I finished up my school year, packed for a day, then flew to Salt Lake City, Utah to run in my first marathon! If you want to know more about it, I recommend you read my June 2023 blog! It was great experience worth reading in depth.
Unless you were one of the lucky ones, you likely don’t know what happened to the rest of my summer. I wanted to keep my summer a surprise until now. It was rather magical and memorable! Here’s why I had a Summertime Smile!
After the marathon my dad and I headed south to hike in the Utah wilderness! Over a few days, we explored many national parks including: Zion, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, and Arches National Park. Zion Park was brutal (for me) since we hiked some of it the day after my marathon. It was an opportunity of a life and I couldn’t say no, sorry legs. …Bryce and Arches are my favorites. The orange color surrounding your hike is something you really don’t see many places. Bryce had a lot of it, lots of mythical stories, and breathtaking views. And Arches…had arches. But the size and structure of each arch was so unique! One arch, the Landscape Arch, is the second largest arch in the world and on the verge of collapse. Having visited Utah a decade ago, it’s always been one of my favorite states, but now solidified itself even more!
After days hiking in Utah, my dad and I made an attempt to visit Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado. We made it to the park and saw some of the homes the Puebloans had built…but for a short time. We were rained out on a cliff with others. My dad darling navigated us back down to road level and we made it to our hotel safely.
With Mesa Verde washed out, we were ready to be home. The next morning, we made the ambitious decision to drive 14 hours straight home from the edge of Colorado to the eastern point of Nebraska. Driving through Alamosa and Pagosa Springs, Colorado brought back bad, but funny memories from over a decade ago. The pain still reigns to this day, but my dad and I love telling the stories. Luckily, we saw Colorado snow and rushing rivers to bring back happier memories. Colorado is another favorite state of mine because of the snowcapped mountains and nature all around you. But the truth is, my happiest memory the next day just after midnight when we made it home to the sight of my mom and childhood cat.
Over the next 2 weeks, I spent time with my parents, my siblings, grandma, aunts, uncles, my niece, and nephew. It felt refreshing to see them all again. It’s never something I take for granted living so far away and everyone getting older. It was a fun time! We didn’t do as much touristy things since we’ve done those things on my previous visits. But some things will never change. My mom and I always make it a point to watch scary movies together. My dad and I watch the Kansas City Royals lose ballgame after ballgame. We also did many other things like shopping for new clothes, going to a AAA baseball game, playing with my niece and nephew, going to the College World Series, and of course…eating at Raising Cane’s. It’s never so much about the activities, but rather the time and conversations with my family that I always cherish.
Leaving Nebraska gets harder every time. But now it was time to spend the next month in Florida. A day after landing back in Florida, I watched the Royals lose in person to the Tampa Bay Rays. I had great seats and the Rays really do a good job entertaining the fans.
With new clothes just unpacked from the trip, it was time to donate my old ones. I was clearly ready to because I donated a mountain (no exaggeration) of clothes. Then over the next days, I overhauled my apartment completely. I opened up every nook and cranny deciding what to keep or discard. I threw out or donated more items than I imagined. It felt like a fresh start.
Rewarding myself I made a trip to the beach, started reading a PD book a day for a week, and watching a movie a night for a few weeks. I even contacted my apartment complex for them to clean my living room windows that were barely visible out of. I kept my monthly race streak alive by running a brutally hot 10k in northern Florida. For a night, I visited many of my social media friends at a resort hotel, who were about to embark on an education cruise. It was great to see many of them again. I felt like a celebrity in their presence. A day later, I treated myself to a lunch at Carrabba's. I had a $50 gift card from a race to use up. It was a big step eating by myself at a sit-down restaurant. It was delicious and I’m proud of myself for doing it.
Then a week of planning and learning ensued. Yep, I was back at school to work on math and science plans with my favorite teammates for this coming school year. For one of the days, I was fortunate to go to a LEGO training. It was incredible! I’m excited to use Legos this year and the best part, they gave us our own kit! (One kit cost $500.)
Last but not least, my friend and I spent the week together. It was nothing but fun! A trip to the Clearwater beach, shopping at outlet malls, drinks at Bahama Breeze, getting rained on outside of Ikea, dinner and a card game at Bonefish Grill, movie marathons, and of course a full day at Magic Kingdom. The fun part about MK is that I’ve been there at night and in the morning (Disney half marathon), but never during the daylight. I even became a Disney Passholder! Spending time with your friends is fun. Spending time with your friends is the BEST! The day at Magic Kingdom was truly magical! I now own: a Monster Inc. Airpods case, 2 Disney hats, 3 Disney shirts, 3 Disney ties, a Disney lanyard, and a Buzz Lightyear action figure just like from the movies. Hey! It’s all for school…right?!
This past week I went to Epcot to ride the rides I hadn’t ridden, bought another hermit crab, and two more unique plants to help gear up for the BEST SCHOOL YEAR EVER! This summer I was nothing but a good time. Lots of laughs, good food, tall drinks, waves and water, sight-seeing in the wilderness, playing hide and seek with my niece and nephew, money spent on things for me (did I mention I have a new MacBook I’m typing this on?), and smiles, lots of smiles! It was nothing but a sweet Summertime! It’s a summer I’ll always remember!
Enjoy some photos from my summer!
