Secondly, I think of my husband. He believes in me like no one else. He loves me unconditionally and supports me in all that I do. We began dating almost 10 years ago and will celebrate 9 years of marriage in August. He pushes me to believe that I can teach at the level I am hoping to teach, encourages me to try and try again and cares for me really well! (Seriously, I rarely even have to put gas in my own car! ;) ) This relationship is positive in my life because I know that I can be myself with him, be an emotional wreck or silly as can be, without fear of rejection or being concerned with what he thinks of me. I know he loves me. It is as simple as that. We have developed our relationship by talking a lot. We talk about serious things, silly things, hard things and nothing at all. When we began dating, we lived in a small town about a mile from one another. This town did not even have a red light! We spent a lot of time sitting outside, looking at the stars and just talking. We also watched a TON of movies! We maintain our relationship by having a regular date night and continuing to talk to one another about all the things. We have a lot of things in common, such as our love for the Dallas Cowboys, coffee and movies. We have a dog named Suzie and two cats, Loretta and Conway. This picture of us was taken a few years ago and is one of my favorites!
I have several close girlfriends. We lovingly call ourselves a tribe. These girls and I have been through a lot together in the last few years. A new baby, buying and selling homes, husband drama, losing a dad and the ups and downs of life. We work hard to maintain our friendship by spending time together, encouraging each other and telling each other the truth. Not just the "that dress is not the one to wear cause it makes your hips look big" truth but the "you really overreacted in that situation and need to grow up in that area" truth. The hard things that most people don't want to talk about, that's what we talk about. We love each other fiercely and defend each other in that same way! We also make our relationships a priority. We celebrate each other and make it a point to schedule girl's night at least once a month to decompress together and laugh. Ya'll we laugh HARD!My family is also extremely important to me. In addition to my parents, I have two older brothers. We work to maintain our relationships with daily or weekly contact with one another and our own traditions such as football, speaking to each other in movie quotes and laughing at the same stories my dad tells every time he gets the chance. My family is another source of encouragement and support for me.
In my opinion, communication is vital to all relationships. Being honest with one another and trusting that each person is going to put in some effort to keep the relationship alive are other ways that contribute to maintaining relationships. As an educator I asked the children in my classroom what they thought about relationships and these kiddos have the right idea! "Be nice." "Don't take something someone else is using." "Just be nice and if you are not nice, say sorry." "Celebrate someone's birthday." and "Give people cupcakes." are some of the ideas they had!
One of the main challenges I have come to find is that I do not have to have close relationships with every person I meet. I can be friendly without being best friends with someone. There are the people in my life that know all the things and there are others who know none of the things. And that's okay. I believe we have to surround ourselves with those who bring joy in our lives, challenge us and stick with us when things get hard. Having a few people to share life with is much better in my opinion than knowing a ton of people who you don't feel you can trust with your dark, scary, or even hopeful truths.
I see my relationship with my husband as a partnership. As I stated earlier, we have been together 10 years. In that time, I have been working and going to school full time 75% of time. We share the responsibilities of the house, work together to solve problems and I believe we make a really good team. I think that team and partnership go hand in hand.
Relationships are the foundation of life. If I am able to build and maintain relationships in my career, I am able to give families the peace of mind needed to know that I want what is best for their child. They are then able to know that I will work hard to support and encourage them as parents, provide useful information about development and listen to their concerns with an open heart. Also, I don't think we ever know what the relationships we build will bring about in our lives. Networking occurs because of relationships, opportunities to grow in the field can come from relationships and more! Relationships are vitally important and my hope is that as a professional I am able to have working relationships with people who challenge me to be the best I can be in this field.
