Well it's no surprise that I have taken an obvious break from my blogging excursion. Yea, I know, I have a total of like 5 blog posts, so it has hardly been an excursion. Let's be honest, I have very little free time (ok, so I have NONE) and blogging is not at the forefront.
Right now - Sunday, November 15th at 11:38 pm - I cannot sleep. My mind is racing and my back aches. What is on my mind is nothing short of the typical - plans for the week, grocery list items, did I lock the back door?, did I open the kid's bedroom doors? And the list goes on and on. The first thought that came to my mind tonight was this, "was I born to teach ag?". If you have read any of my blog posts or maybe follow me on social media sites, you may already know that I resigned from teaching high school agriculture after eight years. I miss it. I miss my students. Honestly, up until the last couple months, I wasn't real sure I wanted to teach again. If you are familiar with public education at all (especially in Illinois), you probably know that it is not the students or the busy workload of an ag teacher and FFA advisor. It is, very simply, the crap that goes along with the profession. Forms, curriculum requirements, standardized testing, less than mediocre administrators getting paid three times too much, federal initiatives, common core and the list goes on. I have said for a long time - just let me teach! I will do my job and everything will be just peachy. Don't micromanage me and my students. Don't try to make us a sweet deal and have a hidden agenda lingering in the background. Just let me teach.
I never really thought I could be busier than I already was while I was teaching. Turns out, I can be! Go me! I have a lot more flexibility with my current job, but that's not all it's cracked up to be. I took a slight leap of faith last spring and applied for grad school. Right now, I am taking two courses through Iowa State University's online Agriculture Education & Studies graduate program. Whoa! Why on God's beautiful green Earth did I not just do this way back in 2005? Oh yes, that's right...I never had a desire and never ever thought I would really "need" my master's degree. Ha!
So here I am - raising two young children along side my husband (except sometimes I feel like he is 15 steps behind me), raising beef cattle, advocating for agriculture in every way possible, working full-time and of course, attempting to keep up with my laundry. Goals people, goals! Just go ahead and throw some luck at me too while you're at it!
Check out my "A Day in the Life" page to see some pictures of life on our farm!
-Alison
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