Alexi Murdoch

If you haven't seen Away We Go, you might want to - especially if you're a twenty-something on the verge of having kids and moving forward with the solidification of what will be your life for the rest of...well...your life.  Okay, so I understand that I'm doing this blog for my teenage students and you're definitely not on the verge of solidifying what the rest of your life will look like, in fact many of you have yet to figure out who you are, but the movie is amazing.  We watched it on our trip to Manzanita with Kevin and Michelle and it was a great mix of humor, awkwardness, and real, true, emotion.  AND it had an amazing soundtrack.  All of the songs are done by Alexi Murdoch, who is amazing.  I'm a little bit obsessed right now.  Honestly, I have a lot of music I want to buy currently.  This is on the softer side, but it's so good.  He writes the kind of music that soothes and draws out emotion at the same time.  Not exactly dance party material, but so good.

Manzanita

I'm sitting here thinking of what to write about the four-day trip to Manzanita, Oregon my husband and I just went on...for some reason I'm at a complete loss of words, yet I know clearly that I want to write about my trip.  I guess I just don't know where to start!  I could talk about the amazing beauty of the ocean and of the fog rolling over the mountains of the Oregon coast; or I could talk about the quaint town of artistic boutiques, coffee houses, and restaurants; or I could talk about the dead heron I almost stepped on twice (yes, twice) while I was walking on the beach...I guess as I think about it, what really sticks out to me isn't the location at all, though Manzanita is a beautiful coastal town, but rather the amazing friendship Ben and I are blessed to have with my cousin Kevin and his wife Michelle.
Kevin and Michelle are actually the reason Ben and I met.  Michelle suggested to Kevin  that they should get us together.  Kevin's response was, "But she's my cousin!"  I guess he couldn't imagine one of his best friends dating his family member, but Michelle had other plans.  In February of 2008 both Ben and I attended my cousin's 25th birthday party in Ballard at a little pub called the Lock and Keel.  Ben noticed me instantly, but it took me until the very end of the night to clue in to any hint of attraction on his part.  We went on our first date two weeks later (I was in grad school and had finals to take care of before we could go out) and packed three more dates into one week before he flew to Vietnam and Indonesia on a two-week mission trip.  The rest is history in the making!  But the role Kevin and Michelle have played in our relationship didn't stop there.
Kevin was Ben's best man in our wedding and Michelle was one of my bridesmaids.  They're two of our best friends, but they're also family.  Ben lived with Kevin and Michelle for four months before we got married, Michelle found the first apartment Ben and I lived in as a married couple, and they have supported us in so many other ways.  Mostly, though, they are so amazingly fun!  I guess that's why I was so excited to go on this little trip.  We've never gone on a trip with friends before (crazy, huh?) so I have to admit I was a little nervous.  I feel like married couples get set in their ways so quickly that if two couples kind of clash in living styles, vacationing together can be difficult.  Luckily, that wasn't the case for us.  We read, we played games, we ate great food, we walked on the beach, we drank coffee, we watched great movies...the list goes on and on and not once did anything go wrong!  I love trips like that.  I love to feel relaxed and have fun without any worries or stress (oh, did I mention I didn't bring any work with me???  That's rare...I'm almost always working on the weekends).  We were able to laugh and be crazy, but we also had some great deep talks as well.  It is a wonderful gift to have such close friends that you can go through anything together and come out the other end strengthened. 

ABRUPT INTERRUPTION: Gosh, I have to admit I feel like this is completely articulate and I don't know where I'm going with it, but I'm just going to leave it.  The reason I don't blog as much as I'd like to is because I'm always trying to perfect my writing instead of doing any more writing.  Ugh...I frustrate myself.  One last try at something descriptive.  I think I'll take a different route with this:

One other thing about Manzanita is that it's beautiful there.  We were lucky enough to have one sunny day in which we walked into town and walked to the beach, and it was perfect.  No block holds more than three or four little shops, all stacked one upon the other like colorful row-houses.  One main street runs from the edge of town straight to the beach and never guides more than a handful of cars down its path.  Every shop is picturesque with its perfectly-placed window displays and catchy beach-front names.  As you walk the ten or so blocks to the beach, the smell of every kind of food and treat wafts through the air along the way.  My favorite is the seafood, probably because Ben doesn't like it and I never eat it at home :).
Once down at the beach, the sand and waves run on for miles.  If you look to the left, it's as if you're viewing the end of the earth.  A white haze covers the distant edge of the land and water and fades into the sky.  If you look to the right, the beach curves abruptly as it meets the stiff ridges of the neighboring mountainside that seems to guard the ocean like the queen's army.  There's a little inlet at the end of the beach just before the cliffs and that's where our cabin sat.
Back at the cabin, the wall of glass windows stares out upon the green hillside, which is home for residents ranging from goats, to elk, to various avian wildlife that dart from tree to tree, shaking the rain from the branches.  On our second full day at the cabin we stayed inside and relaxed in our pajamas as the fog rolled in over the inlet.  The white mist sat on the trees like a bride's veil covering her beauty, yet adding to it through the mystery of the unknown.  It was the perfect circumstance for relaxing brainlessly with a good book and a cup of tea, which is exactly what we did.

Living Well

So, I chose my blog title based on a quote by Aristotle about the profession of teaching.  It states, "Those who educate children well are more to be honored than parents, for these only gave life,
those the art of living well."  It's not that I believe the quote is completely accurate, I would never belittle the role of a parent, but rather that I hope I can be a teacher who is honorable and respected based on my ability to teach and my relationship with my students.  I'm not searching for respect to get on any high-horse.  I'm saying I hope what I do on a daily basis and the effort I put into my job yields respect in a way that other professions don't have the ability to do.  I hope I do my job well.  I hope the amount of hours I put into teaching, planning, and grading is reflected in my classroom and in my students and I hope that through my teaching and our relationships that my students do at least get a glimpse into the art of living well.
I guess writing this on a blog that I'm writing based on an assignment I gave my students is a little weird...I know some of them will read it and it's not my goal to get the message across that they need to "respect me or else..."  It's just what's on my mind.  I guess it's always on my mind!  Am I impactful?  Am I effective?  Is my teaching worth the time?  What are they getting out of this?  Obviously, sometimes, the answer is "they're getting nothing out of this...this lesson sucks."  However, I hope and pray with all of my heart that that's not the majority.  I hope and pray with this assignment that that's not the truth!  I know it wasn't last year - I know many students who resented this assignment when we first started and grew to love it (and even to continue journaling after the assignment was over). 
Anyway, as a fairly new teacher I understand that I have a ton to learn.  There's no doubt in my mind that for years to come I will be adjusting and editing my lessons and my style in order to improve and accommodate the needs of my students.  Hopefully someday I truly will be able to teach my students the art of living well, whether it's a glimpse right now or completely non-existent.  I sure hope so, anyway!