Gone to Texas!

Hola a todos!!

I have kind of left this blog of mine be for a while and I hope to update it as part of my journey of teaching since I moved to Dallas, Texas.

Last fall my husband got a phone call from a company in Dallas asking if he was interested in a position that was opening up for them. After having grown up in Minnesota, met and married in Minnesota, and started a life there (not to mention most of our family and friends are there as well) we never considered moving....really...ever.  The job was something my husband was hoping to get into in maybe...10 years...he never imagined the opportunity would present itself now. We had to see what would happen. So "let's just see what they have to say" became "Holy cow! We're moving to Texas!" It was a shock to us and our families but we have always looked at it with a mindset of an adventure to grow and explore a new part of the country.

Keep in mind he got the first phone call in August during workshop week and the job was offered in October. He wouldn't start until right after the New Year in January of 2014. It was something he had to do but what was I supposed to do in the middle of a school year with all my Kinders? At first I felt like I wasn't allowed to leave my job in the middle of the year. I mean, who does that? I can't just leave them like that? It felt like it was only acceptable if you were on maternity leave, not just for a family move. My hubby knew how important my students were to me and supported me either way. We knew we had done long-distance before and we could do 6 months, right?

Wrong. I suddenly realized that I had a family now that I needed to be with. Yes it was just me and my husband but he needed me and I needed him. This would be big move for us and we needed to support each other through it all. I ended up putting in my resignation for the end of January and while Andy spent the weeks working in Dallas and the weekends in MN with me, we worked on selling our dear old house and packing up my classroom things, and getting ready for the big move.

The parents of my students were surprisingly supportive and my students didn't really know what was going on I think until the day I left. Then I realized...these kids are 5 years old. They will go through many changes and many teachers in their lives.  They will be JUST FINE without me. It was a big deal for me to realize this because as a Kindergarten teacher I kind of pride myself in giving my kiddos a great first start! They ended up doing just fine and the teacher that replaced me is a rockstar. They are so lucky!

In the end I miss my colleagues a ton and the sweet culture of the school I got my start in, but I am SO GLAD that I came here with my husband. I cannot imagine doing this big adventure without him or leaving him to do it himself. We are having a great time exploring the city and the surrounding area. We have visited some friends in the area and I am working on getting certified too (more on that in the next post).

We still love MN and miss our family, our friends, and the lakes but what's life without a little adventure, eh?

Salud!

Betsy