Rachael Turns Pages is 5 years old

2017 has been an amazing year for sure. I'm excited to recap everything that has happened over that last year. I love looking at these posts and looking at what happened over the past year. Rachael Turns Pages is officially 5 years old. I haven't blogged as much for 3 years now and there have been times where I have thought that maybe I need to quit blogging, but I usually have renewed energy in the new year and I love to keep track of my reading progress through the blog. It gives me the opportunity to create posts that I couldn't create through goodreads.

First the update on my little cousins. My cousin Dylan is officially 5 years old. I started my blog the night he was born. Dylan is quite the chatterbox, he is polite, and fun to be around. His siblings the twins, Sydney and Cameron are 3 years old. They are working on potty training. Cameron got glasses this year and they are so cute. He is coming out of his shell more. Sydney is still the social butterfly and has a great laugh.

My graduation cap

Jill's kids are Emma who is now 5 years old. She started kindergarten in August and loves school. She is very talkative. Allianna is 4 and will be 5 in August. She is quiet, but sneaky. She is still very petite. Beckett is the youngest and he is two years old. It is fun to see his personality developing. Jill had another baby in November just a few days before Thanksgiving. We got to meet Maddox John on Thanksgiving day. 

In January for 2017 I started my special education student teaching placement. I saw the pros and cons of special education, but I really enjoyed the small group environment. I really enjoyed my 5th/6th grade placement. It felt very safe since I had been at the school so long and I was really seeing

progress with the students. It was interesting to switch roles from being the lead teacher to being the special education teacher in the same classroom. The school where I student taught was a full inclusion school for special education, so no pull out services were provided. I was nervous to move to high school special education in March. I had many struggles in high school especially with the students, but my mentor teacher was my favorite of the four and I really did feel like I could explore my teaching style during this placement. I finished up student teaching at the beginning of May. 


On March 22, 2017 Taytum Carter was born. She was 9 lbs and 10 oz and 20 inches long. She is absolutely beautiful and has such a great personality. I haven't seen her as much as I would like since I live so far away, but I'm so proud of my friend Rachel and her husband Levi for being such great parents. They do such a great job balancing all of it. 

In May 2017 I graduated from college. I can't describe what this felt like. It was so exciting yet scary to be starting this adult journey. At this point I had been to several interviews, but I had not yet found a job. At this point the openings for positions had slowed down dramitically and I was afraid that I wouldn't find a job for the upcoming school year.  

             At the end of May I finally had the interview that landed me the job. I had the interview the day before and I thought that I wasn't going to get the job. I was over the moon to recieve the job. I was offered the position to teach K-5 special education in the district that I graduated from. Many teachers that I had don't work in the district anymore. I still know many teachers in the district. I have embraced this journey. 

I returned to my daycare job for the summer in May. I got the school kids that were going into kindergarten this year. It was a challenging summer with a class of 8 boys and 2 girls, but it was fun to be able to take the kids places in town and I so enjoyed the people I worked with over the summer. 

In July I watched two of my friends from college get married. My sister went with me for the two weddings. They were on back to back weekends. Both of my friends made beautiful brides and I'm so happy for them and wish them well. 

In August we took our annual family vacation. This year we decided to make the long drive to go to Nashville, Tennesee. It was a 16 hour car ride. The first night we drove 6 hours to Kansas City and then did the rest the next day. We went to Dollywood Theme Park in Peigon Forge, TN, Country Music Hall of Fame, Grand Ole Opry, Picker's store, and Elvis's house in Memphis, TN. It was a great vacation and we really had a good time. 

My classroom. Dr. Suess Theme

When we got back from vacation I started teacher in service. It was pretty boring when it was just the new teachers, but it got better once there were more teachers to talk to. At the beginning of the school year it was hard to get into the swing of things and figure out how to best serve the students. I'm now feeling confident with what I do. The behaviors are hard, but I'm learning my way through the behaviors and I'm hoping that throughout the year there will be less behaviors. It's now December and I have made it halfway through my first year of teaching. It is crazy to think last year that I was just finishing up my 5th grade placement at this time. 

November was a huge concert month. My sister and I went to Dan and Shay at the beginning of November and then my mom and I went to Disney on Ice and last, but not least my sister and I went to Thomas Rhett in her college town. 

2017 has been a year of so many changes in my life. I now have an adult job and some adult responsibilities. I'm looking at moving out of my parents house within the next year. My brother is graduating high school and going away to college. My sister is going to finish up her sophomore year of college. 2017 flew by and I'm glad for all the experiences I have had and got to share with you in this blog. I love making these posts because they are so fun to look back on in coming years and remember the big events that happened.