What's Next Around Here?

A few days ago I bared my bloggy soul and explained a bit about why this little corner of the internet has been sorely neglected. Thank you SO much to everyone who reached out with kindness and understanding. It felt great to be back in touch. One sweet reader told me that SunnyDays was the first teacher blog she ever read and she was glad to see me back. That was touching. And it inspired me to continue on with my ideas for the future of this blog.

So what lies ahead? I've toyed with the idea of removing the "Second Grade" part of the title and just making it The SunnyDays Blog. That would kind of remove the expectation that every post would be teaching related. My problem with that is most posts would surely be teaching related. And if I'm not going to write about teaching what will I write about? This is the struggle. I don't want to lose my identity as a teacher blogger, but I want to write about things other than just teaching.

I certainly don't fit the mold of a "lifestyle blogger" or social media influencer. I'm not an outfit of the day girl, I have selfie-phobia, I don't have my own children to dress in coordinating outfits with ruffly butts and big ol' bows, which I think is too stinkin' cute, btw. My house is cozy, but very lived in. However, I do have a Rae Dunn mug that someone gifted me which makes me feel super trendy!

So if I'm not those things, what am I? I don't think there's a title for what I want to be, other than just myself. I just want to be a teacher who sometimes shares craft projects, book reviews, gift ideas, life advice, funny stories, my Teachers Pay Teachers products, and other teaching tips.

When I'm blogging regularly, I'm often asked to review products and share my thoughts with my readers. In the past, I would turn down many of these offers because they didn't fit my blog. But often that meant I was turning down the chance to try out a cool product, give one away, or at the very least offer a decent coupon code.  You'll notice that I don't have ads on my blog and I never have. Again, I just didn't feel it was right for my blog even though they never bothered me on other blogs.

So really, I just want to break free of the self-imposed restrictions surrounding my blog content. I want to be an unofficial lifestyle blogger and unsolicited advice giver. I want to share my love-language of gift giving. I want to bring you along on my quest to find the perfect sweet tea and French macaron. I want to tell funny stories about my class and write about things that make me feel all the feels.

I also want to represent products that I believe in, from educational games and teacher tools to comfy shoes and jewelry. I just want to be me and chat with you, like I would with a friend. I'd love to know what else you'd like to read about. I've got a lot of life experience. I've faced loss and learned how to move forward. I have 25 years of teaching experience across different grade levels and special programs. I've been married to the love of my life for almost 20 years. I'm a sister, a friend, an aunt, a daughter without parents. I'm a class pet advocate -  I'm crazy in love with a guinea pig, which was a totally unsuspected twist of fate. I have a little hamster too. And hermit crabs are moving in soon. (I can't help it! #smallanimalsareunderrated) I'm a crafter. I even used to have an ETSY shop. I do a lot of online shopping to find cute-ish clothes to fit my short and curvy plus size self. The point is, I'm more than just teaching ideas and I'd love to share all of me with you here through this blog and social media.

Tomorrow will be my first foray into this new territory as I share something that is very personal to me - how to help a friend who has a loved one in hospice care. It's a topic that is very personal to me, but I didn't necessarily feel it belonged on my teaching blog.  You can see that this is like nothing I've written about before but it's something that unfortunately many of us will face at some point.

I'd love to really connect though comments here or on Instagram or Facebook. Shortcuts to find me are to the right, just above the four pictures that fall into the teeny tiny category of "photos that don't make me cringe". Let me know what you think about all of this. I'm open to ideas and suggestions and I'm so motivated to get back to blogging!