Here I lie, 19 days into my first summer break as a full-time salaried teacher… AND IT IS AMAZING! Seriously, having a summer break (even though I’m still working my second and third jobs) makes every stressful part of teaching worth it. I have done so many things in these short couple of weeks that I never found time to do during the school year. So far I have

1. Started working out 4-6 times a week. I am running the 5k Color Run with Brandon in August, which I will start training him for soon, and I have increased all of my weights at the gym!
2. Tried yoga for the second time in my life. The first time was with my roommates at Kent (shoutout to Kristen, Taylor and Micaela if you’re reading this, plus I think Dan went or someone else I can’t remember!) and it was very unsuccessful. I wore the wrong kind of clothes and was self-conscious the whole time, didn’t own any mats or equipment and was overall more stressed out after leaving. This time I bought a mat and weird gripping toe sock things, which might not be completely necessary, and tried it at my own pace using this YouTube video. I loved it and will definitely be continuing it. If you’re reading this and have any tips for me please help a sista out #yogafriends
3. Decided to embark on the 21 Day Fix diet. I will be starting this sometime within the next couple weeks and am very excited to track my progress. Expect a post or two about that journey!
4. Deep cleaned my room, re-organized my clothes, and donated a lot of clothes to Goodwill.
5. Started planning for the Summer Music Camp I am leading the next two weeks. My children’s ministry kids will be putting on the show “Herbie and the Good News Garden,” which is extremely adorable by the way.
6. Attended a school meeting to discuss discipline, procedures, and everything important for next school year. It was awesome to get to voice my opinion, hear other teachers’ and administrators’ opinions, get to know some of my coworkers on a more personal level, AND we got paid for it. Um, yes please.
7. Finished the book “Me Before You” in less than a week and am starting my new book “Helping Children Succeed” today.
8. Celebrated my birthday and watched the entirety of the NBA Finals GO CAVS!
9. Spent a lot of family time, which included visiting Coney Island and the Cincinnati Zoo.
10. Shopped way too much already. I realize now that working 40+ hours a week keeps me from splurging and that I really need to have more self control during my free time (whoops).
11. Started the 100 Happy Days challenge again on my personal Instagram. Follow me, if interested @chelseajhillard

Looking back on this list now, I cannot believe I have done all these things in just a matter of a couple weeks. I am so grateful to have a job that gives me (paid) time to recoup. I am so excited to see what the rest of the summer holds for me!