Summertime Maasen Style

It has been brought to my attention that I have not blogged in a long time - I do not really have a reason other than i just don't think about it.
As a teacher there are a few questions that I get asked VERY often:

1. What do you do ALL summer? 
2. When do you go back to work? 

To answer the first comon question, I will tell you what I have been up to this summer. Mostly I have been relaxing and just enjoying not having to do much. I tend to stay pretty busy and work several hours during my 9 months of the school year. So here is some random things that I have done this summer so far.

• going to the pool to work on my tan/even out my coaching tan lines (my feet are finally pretty tan) 
• went to a leadership training for work
• worked a softball camp for a few days
• drove to Ohio and back for about a week to visit my best friend
• went to Italy for 8 days - Florence, Venice, and Rome - so great I have posted pictures on facebook and I will be blogging on that trip soon 
• working out at the gym - i started a new workout program, I'm only on week 2 but it is pretty good so far
• house/dog sitting for a lady i work for
• tea time with Deann and Susan 
• spending some time with my Granny 
• going up north to hang out with my favorite mom (mine) 
• reading some books
• staying up way to late 
• sleeping in 
• watched my friends dog Coda at my apartment 
• drinking QT summer drinks - mostly the Mango Tea since I am not drinking pop right now
• 4th of July supper with the Johnson Family 
• a day of relaxing and flea market shopping with Angel 
• watching the ALL STAR Game 
• spending some time with my brother 
• eating home grown tomatoes from my dads huge garden 
• FaceTime with the TBlakes
• meeting with 12 high school girls for a Bible Study once a month

Alright now on to question 2: 

I have to go back to work on August 10th. Volleyball starts on August 15th and the first day of school with students is August 16th. I love my job and I don't mind going back to work - I really just miss my free time to do things for myself. 

coaching

It is spring - my season of full on coaching, lots of time spent with high school girls, updating stats, and just being outside on the diamond. Overall, we are having a pretty great season we are currently at 5-7 and I am pretty sure we have a few more wins in us. We have been hitting the ball really well this season which is a huge bonus from last year. We had a few games where we had some errors on defense and left a few people on base instead of scoring them - which kept us from winning those games. 

Also this semester I have been going through a book called InSideOut Coaching with my Coaches Bible Study on Wednesday mornings. It has been a great addition to my coaching principles and ideas. It encourages coaches to go inside their own lives to find out why we are coaching so that we can make sports a life changing experience. I have known for awhile that as a coach I have the potential to influence the lives of many, many children so I try to do it in a positive and uplifting way. This book and the Bible study have helped me enhance that ability to be uplifting coach and person to children.  One of the things that the author of this book challenges us to do is to write a mission statement. It is still a work in progress and I am sure it might change over the years as I learn more. 

"I am called to coach so that I can build long lasting relationships with my athletes. I use my compassion to stand by and encourage them as they journey to become honest and loyal women of God." 


I know that this might not happen with everyone I coach but it is at least my goal for them. 

The APT.

As most of my readers/followers know I moved into an apartment in December. I finally have it set up and cleaned up enough to post some pictures. The walls are still blank and super white and boring, but I am in the process of working on that as well. The apartment life is pretty okay, it is sometimes boring to live alone - but its okay, I am around people almost all day so it is a nice balance I guess. I do miss living with the TBlakes alot and just sharing our days/life together but I am pretty sure this is going to be a great season for all of us. I will post some more pictures when I have some things on the wall, so stay tuned.

 living room

 living room

 living room (the view from the couch)

 My bedroom

 bathroom

 kitchen and laundry room

(the far set of doors is the washer/dryer)

dining room

its about time

Its about time I posted...don't you think? I do not have any pictures for this post just words so hopefully you will stick it out and read.

Wrapping up 2011.....
The month of December went quickly and was jam packed with things.
I have been going to the Chiropractor since right before Thanksgiving (I am still currently going), I had some serious pain in my hip/leg/lower back, it is getting much better in fact it is pretty much back to where I was before the pain. The most annoying part of the injury was I unable to work out for about 6 weeks - this was super hard on me for several reasons but mostly because I enjoy exercising and I also have great alone time with G-d!! I chose to do an enzyme test with my Chiropractor, mostly because he felt that some of my muscle pain and issues was due to nutrition. So I did the test at the end of December and the test was hands on and I could tell a difference as the doctor went through the test which was confirmation for me as the patient. The results came in and I am super low in Vitamin C, and my body has difficult digesting carbohydrates and proteins. So I am eating slightly different - lean meats, lots of veggies, and no coke (Sad FACE) and I am taking some supplements. I get rechecked on Tuesday to make sure that the supplements are working correctly in my body.

I moved into an apartment in Peppertree (6806 Antioch Rd. #236) on December 18th. The move is good but it was sad to leave the TBlake home. The apartment is coming along, I still have some decorating to do - which will most likely be lots of my photos, the problem is deciding which ones and where to put them! I miss coming home to people especially fantastic people like Tom, Leah, and Cassidy. It was just nice to hear people say things when you came in and to hear about their day and share about my day. But with that said it is also nice (at times) to live by myself. I know that I am suppose to be living by myself for awhile so my heart feels good because I am doing what I am suppose to be doing. It is just a tad hard, but thankfully I see my roommates a lot still at least until February 15th. Then it will be super hard but thank the L-rd for Skype!! I also helps the TBlakes move their stuff to 2 locations and clean up 6860, it was lots of work but I enjoy work and it was quality time so I was in a good place. It also meant I got to hang out with the Franz clan which was a super time. They are such great people!

The year ended with a pretty great Family Christmas. I had a hard but good conversation with my dad. Then on my moms side of the family I got to speak good truth to my cousin Kyle. On my moms side we just enjoyed each other and good food! We took some family pictures, mostly because my grandma is going to be 88 and she has not been feeling so great - so we felt it was important to take a large group photo.

Okay I think that is all for the end of the year wrap up - I am sure I forgot something but oh well.

The beginning of 2012....
On New Years Day I went out to my Uncle Gary Maasens house for his 60th birthday. This is the first time I have seen any of the Maasen side of the family in 2 years. Since my grandma Maasen passed away we haven't really done any family things on that side (or at least that I know of). It was fun to see my cousins, aunts and uncles that showed up. Just like all Maasen events it was loud, crowded, and not everyone was there. Still is was great to see those who were there.

I have been doing more things to get settled in my apartment, which is a long and boring process. I have been trying to exercise on a more regular basis now that I am released to do so. I did play some soccer with the KL Kickers last week - found out my body is really not ready for that yet, i was really really sore! I have a freshman girls group that I am leading and we met just the other night, it was great! We are doing a study on Winning G-ds Way, it talks about still choosing G-d and His ways through athletics and high school situations. It is a great study for me as a coach as well as for them the athletes. I enjoy my time with them and I think that G-d is going to do great things with them and our group - I already have some 8th grade girls that are counting the days until they are not my students so that they can join the Bible Study group!

As far as the year of 2012 here is what is on my plate for it:

• spend lots of time with the TBlakes before the move
• Blog once a month or more
• get my body and nutrition figured out and stay on task
• spend lots more time reading His Word 
• More daily quality time with the L-rd
• Trip to see Yoh - maybe a few times 
• Trip to Italy this summer 
• softball season 
• a few coaching clinics
• photoshop class 
• learn more about photography before my trip to Italy 

What A Blessing

I was awarded the Excellence in Education Award in the Blue Valley School District for the month of November. I felt so honored to be chosen by my principal as the winner. I love my job almost everyday for several reasons, too many to really name. It is just an amazing feeling to be recognized for what I think is fun. I work in a great building full of wonderful teachers and students, it is truly G-d's work that I am even there to begin with. Many blessing have occurred in my life since He gave me that job. I love trying to be a righteous teacher for an Awesome G-d! 

Here are a few pictures from the night.

My certificate and my engraved school bell

My family

My Hero - Charlotte Marlin

My amazing mother who helped raised me right

My fantastic dad who helped raised me right

6860 REPRESENT

My principal

My brother 

My shortest roommate

Funny

A tragic example of an in-bread dog!

September Update

I am super behind on blogging and updating my photo of the day. I am sure I could come up with lots of reasons on my lack of blogging, but i won't bore you. Anyways here are some updates - in bullet form - to keep my readers happy!

• school is in full swing, progress reports go out Friday - which means that 1st quarter is almost over...FAST!! 
• I am coaching 8th grade girls volleyball right now, we are 1-1, we recently just beat up the Oxford Knights, my roommate Leah went to school at Oxford so it is ALWAYS fun to beat them. The girls like to beat them because Oxford also feeds into the same high school where my students will go...so they can rub it in for 4 years. :) 
• I help co-lead a group called FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) at my school. We meet on Friday mornings at 7AM. We have had 2 meetings and 50 kids have showed up both times. It is so fun to watch middle school kids talk about G-d! 
• I am going to a coaches Bible Study on Wednesday mornings at 6AM. It is a great way to fellowship with coaches around the district. It is early but always a great time. Tomorrow one of my new volleyball coaches is going to go. I am excited for that, plus that will bring the female number up to 4. There are usually more guys at coaching type functions in case you did not know this. 
• In the photo business: I have 3 family photo shoots lined up for October so that is fun and great news for the photography side of my life. I would like to do more but people just aren't signing up, which is fine. Whatever happens-happens.  
• I've been reading a few books lately: Covenant Relations and Captivating. I am doing a Bible Study with some freshman girls on Captivating - super great to be with them. Covenant Relations is a great book, if you haven't read it you should. 
• My roommates are going to Israel soon(ish) - most likely for 3 years! Whoa! I am excited to for them. BUT I will miss them all a TON. Skype is an amazing thing and I will be using that often. 
• I can get on blogger at work now - which is great news on days I don't have much planning to do or meetings. 
• I am still working out - however I am not doing as much as I was this summer. I am still not at my goal, however the lack of motivation is not as strong as it was this summer. I am hoping that changes soon.