EISF, Peaches, School, and A Need to Run

My oh my!  Where has the time gone?  How is it already September?!
I am constantly amazed at how quickly the weeks fly by! Here are some highlights to keep you updated:

• I started my first week of school.  I can't believe this is my fourth year teaching!  I am finding that the work never gets easier, but it definitely gets to be more fun.  I am also finding that I love my kids easier and easier the more confident I feel.  My goal this year is to always remember an important lesson I have learned lately: "Our mistakes are not who we are.  The labels we are given are not what make us special.  We are all so much more than our immediate choices and actions.  We all have something to give the world that is more eternal and more important than we can even imagine."
• I went up to the Eastern Idaho State Fair this weekend.  I LOVE it.  I feel so comfortable, happy, and safe when I am doing things that remind me of the person I used to be.  The EISF is one of those places/events for me.  I am completely myself when I am enjoying the bounty of the fair.  I have so much love and passion for that annual event. I will do a whole post on that later.
• My family is going to be in town this week.  I am excited to have them here to see the life I have created for myself.  Sometimes its easy to feel like my daily life doesn't really matter, but when I start to think about the things I want to share with my family about who I am and what I do, I start to realize that I do make a difference, and I DO do important things.  
• I'm still doing art.  "Art-ing" as my roommate calls it, but I haven't had a lot of time to do too much of it lately.  I am going to have to figure out a way to fit that into my life more easily. 
• I have slacked so much on exercising.  I was so good this summer.  For 12 weeks I never missed my goal (4x a week) and usually exceeded it.  I need to get back into the groove of things so that I can keep feeling as good as I did this summer!  I was so stress-free this summer, partly because I was doing so much running!!!  I HAVE to resume that habit in my life!
• My new favorite food is peaches.  I can't get enough of them right now while they are in season here in Utah.  I just bought a half bushel today and intend to be eating a lot of good peach stuff.  Pies, cobblers, fresh peaches, jam, etc.  Hence the need to keep running! 
• I am so grateful for the good people in my life.  I am learning to appreciate them more and more.  I have been so lucky to remember that lately. 

I will be updating many of the points as I have time to do full posts and carry out the goals I have for my life over the next little bit.  Until then, Happy Fall!!!