Hello Summer!

As I type this I’m sitting on my front porch with my puppy right by my side which means it’s officially summer break. Wahoo! Yesterday I finished my last final…finished packing up and cleaning my apartment…finished my last afternoon with my preschoolers for the semester. So I celebrated the first day of May by waking up in my own bed and heading out to the porch to soak it all in. Aaahhh…my heart is just so happy today.

Last day with my rambunctious three year olds! 

Now I’m back home where I get to start my mornings on the front porch with coffee and Jesus. I can hear the sound of the creek across the street flowing gently and see the green leaves rustle in the breeze. Do mornings get any better than that?

Here’s to a sweet summer, friends!

Finals

I have my first of four finals at 8am this morning. So in “honor” of finals week I wanted to give you a glimpse into what this time looks like at my apartment… :)

Late nights and make-up free faces.

Study breaks to take goofy pictures with the roomie. (Hi Becky!)

Late dinner breaks at 9pm to go get Mexican food. Yum!

Excessive amounts of snapchats  with my other roomie.

Hope your Thursday is filled with joy!

What My Loved Ones Say About Me

Good morning, friends! Over the past few days I’ve seen other bloggers have their loved ones write a few facts about them. I loved the idea because it may give you a different perspective of me than how I would describe myself. I recruited my mom and one of best friends to join in the fun and share a little of their perspectives of me…I added my comments in italics. The original link up for this blog can be found at From Mrs. to Mama…

First up is my mom:

-She has boxes and boxes of children's books that she's bought for her (one day) classroom.

-She laughs out loud when watching funny movies or TV shows.

-Turtles give her the heebie-jeebies. Complete truth right there.

-She spontaneously starts dancing in grocery store aisles.

-Her personality is a harmonious balance of "roots" and "wings."

Now my best friend:

-She has the best laugh. It's one of those laughs that makes you laugh, even if you didn't hear the joke.

-Samantha is super organized. I am not. I admire her for that.

-She has 200+ children's books. They're organized by category and size.

-She's a primper. Before getting out of the car, she brushes her hair and touches up her lipstick. It's why she always looks so good.

-I used to call her "Sam" but then she decided she liked "Samantha" better. I’ve always gone by Samantha…she called me Sam for a short time right after we met.

-She loves her school. She even did a dance about it one time. I don’t remember this dance, but I bet it was funny!

-She is basically the most feminine person I know.

-She has a "big band" station on her XM radio (for fun summer days).

-She is one of the Godliest women I've ever met. She encouraged me to seek our Father more, and I could not thank her enough for that.

-She is one of those friends that will never leave your life. Though we are in different states, our kindred hearts have not drawn apart.

-She recently discovered Snapchat, and I recently discovered how big her repertoire of silly faces is.

These make my heart happy. I encourage you to have your loved ones write about you too…so fun to see what they come up with!

As the sun goes down…

Oh, this weekend. I’m so thankful for this past weekend. It held moments of sweetness as I spent time with even sweeter friends. There were frozen yogurt and ice cream dates. A dinner date with a soul sister. Target adventures. Bathing suit shopping. Sleeping in. Studying at the park.

But one of my favorite things to do as the sun starts to go down is to roll the windows down in the car and sing loudly to the radio with one of my roomies. So much fun to have a jam session while our hair whips back and forth!

These moments are the best as I start to prepare for finals that start this week. My other favorite thing to do as the sun starts to go down is run around campus and the nearby neighborhoods.

I’m ready for a new week, friends! Hope you have lots of sunshine this week. :)

Dear…

Dear Vanessa (one of my best friends),

I’m incredibly thankful for our friendship and how you constantly encourage me to pursue Christ and His calling on my life. You know me so well because you sent me this yesterday and I couldn’t love it more! It’s so so true. And I think my future hubby needs this shirt… :)

Dear snapchat,

How was I missing out on you until this past week?! You’re too much fun.

Dear roomies,

You make studying and everything else much better. You make me laugh every single night. You’re the best!

Late night study break to take pictures. Oh! The boy doesn’t live with us if you were wondering…he’s one of my roomie’s boyfriend.

Dear preschoolers,

Let’s tackle this Friday head on without any meltdowns or tantrums, okay? You’ve thrown me through a loop this week and I’m constantly learning from you. Even though this semester has been tough, I’m so thankful for the opportunity to work with you.

Some funny moments and sayings from this week…

One of my girls looked up at me and whispered, “Miss Samantha, you’re just the sweetest!”

If you’re a teacher, you’ll know that kids LOVE to bring you flowers (a.k.a weeds) that they pick specially for you on the playground. I have a handful of “flowers” by the time we go inside everyday…I kind of love it.

Another one of my girls will start to break dance if you provide a beat or song for her. Too funny!

I tell my kids that they make my heart grow when they share (a HUGE issue for 3 year olds!) and they love it! Whenever they share they turn to me and say, “MISS SAMANTHA WE MADE YOUR HEART GROW!”

Dear snail mail,

You’re my favorite. I love checking my campus box to find sweet surprises and I’m pretty sure handwritten letters/cards are one of the ways to my heart.

Dear windows-open weather,

I can’t get enough of you! Being able to open the windows in my apartment and getting to roll the windows down in the car makes me one happy girl. Can you see the sunshine streaming through the window below? Happiness.

Here’s to a productive weekend before finals start next week! Much love to you, today.