sunday social: getting deep...

What is your ideal way to relax?

In my fleece pajamas and slippers, with a good book and a cup of tea.

Where is your favorite place to be?

I can't pick just one!  In terms of everyday places, my classroom.  That probably sounds really cheesy, but I spend more time there than in my actual house and I've made it my happy place.  I feel a burst of energy when I come in every morning and see student work on the walls, bright colors, and shelves covered with books, and I feel like it's showtime every day when students start to fill the hallways.  I am a big nerd and absolutely love my job.

Another place I love to be is the summer camp where I volunteer, where I worked for three summers and attended as a camper and teen counselor since the age of nine.  I have met a lot of my best friends in the world there, realized that I wanted to work with kids for the rest of my life, and found my confidence to try a lot of new things and be more outgoing.  On top of that, it's on a beautiful lake where I would be happy to spend all day floating in a kayak!  It's my happy place and my home away from home.

In terms of anywhere-in-the-world places, no place makes me feel quite so calm and relaxed as the Outer Banks of North Carolina - there's a reason Nicholas Sparks sets almost all his books there!

Who do you consider your biggest role model?

My mother.  I've written here a lot about how much she means to me.

What does your life look like in 3 years?

I would like for Mr. Q and I to own our own home (there's a picture of my dream house at that link - can you find it?) - close enough to still have easy commutes to work, but with a little bit of land and space to breathe.  Health-wise, I hope to have a regular exercise routine of some sort and be less prone to stress eating.  I want to have kicked my PCOS to the curb by then so that I can work on starting a family!  At work I'd like to be serving in a mentoring role either for new teachers or student teachers.  I'd also like to have a few different manuscripts for young adult novels ready to shop around to literary agents!

If you could go back and change one decision what would it be?

Sometimes, I wish I'd taken the elementary teaching job offer I got from New York City Department of Education, and had that adventure, but usually I'm glad I got a job in a small-town southwest Virginia middle school and started my adult life here instead.  I try to live my life without regrets as much as possible.

What is your biggest accomplishment in life thus far?

Earning my Master's of Teaching Degree in Education from the University of Virginia.  I was the first person in my family to go to a four-year college, so earning an advanced degree was an extra big deal.  Being a teacher was my dream since first grade and I never stopped working for it.