west philadephia born and raised....

First stop: PHILADELPHIA

Allison and I wanted to do another big trip this summer. We were planning on Espana. Then I screwed it up and decided I would be moving during our trip window. SORRY Allison! Anyway after considering a few options we both thought it was about time we traveled to Philly. Both of our grandparents on my dad’s side were from west Philadelphia and they have been telling stories about boathouse row, the Scanlin Tavern, and the special stairs at west catholic high for AGES. Also, our Dad’s much loved cousins still live the area and we have wanted to see them for awhile now.

2 big bags + our back packs, a one way ticket, and we were ready to go!

Day 1 = check out historic Philadelphia + reunion dinner with cousins!

We saw the Liberty Bell, parts of Independence Hall, Betsy Ross’ house, the meeting spaces reserved by the founding fathers, Christ Church, Ben Franklin’s grave,and my personal favorite part CITY TAVERN! We consumed the same beers, in the same location as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin. Definitely my kind of history.

Me, Jimmy and Allison

We also ate philly cheesesteaks on South Street!

Diane and Jimmy planned a dinner in Manayunk at this awesome CAJUN place! Loved it!

Day 2 = the Scanlin historical site tour + Valley Forge

We saw all the places where Black Jack and the fam grew up! It’s crazy to think it wasn’t that long ago he was there growing up, being a kid, dating granny annie, rowing the river and running the rocky steps! We saw the famous Scanlin tavern and ventured into some graveyards – including the one where Jimmy figured out what part of Ireland we are from! Jimmy was an AMAZING tour guide. We ended our tour having a Hykel’s hoagies. Darn good sandwich, I’d go back in a second!

Scanlin Tavern

We also checked out the BEAUTIFUL valley forge. I would have loved to go on a run there. Big gorgeous park, great day, very little humidity! Nice documentary in the visitor area if you ever head out…

scenic Valley Forge

Day 3 = finish up historic Philadelphia + night out on the town!

Back downtown to actually go in independence hall - we missed the memo about needing time stamped tickets on day one. Jimmy also helped us finish out our must consume list by providing us with awesome soft pretzels and birch beer. YUM.

soft pretzels outside of Independence Hall

We went to few other places namely to run up the ROCKY STEPS at the museum of art and for a closer look at the individual boat houses. Turns out grandpa and his brothers did not all row for the same houses – kind of reminded me of fraternities a little.

Then we met up with Diane and took a bus back downtown to drink at the top of a hotel! Then we continued our crawl to an irish pub where a bluegrass group (The Keystone Mountain Boys ) were playing. They were AWESOME. Great night!

Allison, Diane, and me out on the town!

Day 4 = Chinatown bus to DC!

Diane dropped us off and we enjoyed a nice 2 and half hour bus ride to DC. Thank god for AC!
Can’t say enough nice things about our lovely hosts Jimmy Scanlin and Diane Bones! Love you guys! Thank you for a wonderful visit!!!! I hope to see you both again now that I am so close!

Why DC?

Having lived on the west coast pretty much my whole life (ok, well, not for college, but anyway…) I also thought I needed a change in scenery. So at first I thought wouldn’t it be awesome to move somewhere tropical and warm like HAWAII! Great idea right?! NOPE, apparently the school system is no bueno and it would limit easy travel options to only the other islands….oh yeah and one other glaring issue…I don’t know anyone in Hawaii…. Scary, although I didn’t know anyone in Iowa either and that turned out alright. Anyway, Hawaii was out before I even finished working on my resume.

So next brilliant idea was to look for locations that aren’t too far (read short plane ride) from WA. After studying the map I decided Colorado seemed like a good idea, lots of high school and college friends, Denver seemed like a rad place to live – not too big to overwhelm me, not in the middle of suburbia either. Beautiful place, lots of sports teams, proximity to other rad places…. Wait, why didn’t I end up here?! Oh that’s right, I almost did… The school that I thought I was gonna love didn’t turn out to be the place for me and I turned it down.

Good thing by then I already had opened up the search to include DC because once I started looking at charter schools, my searches kept turning up interesting schools in DC. Which I started to rationalize the long plane ride against the major pluses: friends, proximity to fun places (I seriously can’t wait to explore more of the east coast), and the city is not too big. Even though I was (ahem, still am) second guessing my willingness to switch coasts and leave all of my family in WA… I think it is (will be) a great decision.

Everything lined up. Stars aligned. I’m here. Keep your fingers crossed it all works out. :)

WHY?

The most asked question since this winter when I found out I passed my national boards….
Well, in case you didn’t already hear the answer (or if I gave you the short version), the reasons were MANY. One, why not?! I am only 27! Also, I had been teaching in the same school (despite 3 different classrooms), at the same grade for 6 years. Which by itself is great because each year has brought new challenges, I still don’t think I have mastered it….but it was getting comfortable…. a little too comfortable. Like I could easily keep doing it until I turn 85. And last summer I finished my master’s program, in November I finally got my results from boards and passed (THANK GOD), and therefore had nothing left to juggle and keep me busy. I mean who am I if don’t have TOO much on plate. (Turns out A LOT more social than the last 5 years – hahaha).

Anyway, it was time for a change. Time to get out of my comfort zone. Time to shake it up.