It’s been awhile since I published anything! Life has been throwing me some curve balls but, I’ve been hitting them and life has been fabulous.

Last week, I spent 3 days in the mountains with some 6th graders. Having done something similar in the past I was expecting nothing but complaining. Inner city kids do not take kindly to mountain adventures. This group however, was pretty amazing! It snowed nearly 3 feet in the time we were up there and they never complained once! We were hiking and none of them had appropriate shoes because they didn’t think we were serious when we said “wear real snow boots/hiking boots.” It was cold, it was wet but they continued to be inquisitive and enjoy the experience! Needless to say after sleeping in a room with five 6th grade girls, I came home and slept nearly the entire weekend. It was exhausting but definitely an experience to remember.

Estes Park, CO

One thing I learned is that after being with 6th graders for three days, I really missed and appreciated being back with my 5th graders. This week has been great with them because I did miss their less dramatic personalities. I also had the opportunity to be a judge for our school’s talent show auditions this week. They were the cutest things ever. If I had my way they’d all be in it because they were adorable, unfortunately time and the other judges won’t allow it.

The saga of house buying is still continuing. The man working on our loan all but disappeared for 2 weeks which was not ideal but he did e-mail me and let me know his wife had just had their baby which is why he hasn’t been working. I’m happy for him! Since it is clear we won’t have a new house by then I’ll be moving out of my apartment into Jon’s townhouse while we wait. I really cannot wait for our new journey to begin together.

The other new piece of my life that just started was my new part-time job as a KEEP Collective designer! I started about a week ago and am very excited. Usually, I avoid multi-level marketing firms for a number of reasons. This one I couldn’t resist though because I love all of their pieces! They sell cute customizable jewelry, it’s dangerously cute. I’ve already created and purchased my first bracelet! www.keep-collective.com/with/jessicablake

Like I said life’s been very full lately and I’m very grateful! Hopefully I’ll find more time to write more blog posts soon!