Coworkers.

There are a lot of scary things about starting a new job, but I can honestly say that one of the scariest is getting new coworkers. The people you work with really become your family because you see their faces for so many hours every day. They know what you go through and what a big chunk of your life is like.

I've been blessed with some pretty awesome coworkers in my life. I honestly think one reason God has had me at so many jobs was to bless me with awesome coworkers who became lifelong friends. It pretty much all started with my friend Sophie who was a coworker at the preschool I worked at in Prague. Sophie and I are so different in so many ways, but we were such good friends. I loved going to school every day to see her. We had some wonderful times, and she was a wonderful support system. After Sophie came Katie. We worked together for several months at my first job in D.C. Katie and I ran a (awesome!) blog together, and she is one of my dearest friends! Post-Katie was my best girl Colleen. Colleen and I met at my second job in D.C. and she is most definitely a life-long friend. In fact, I have boarded not one but TWO planes in order to visit Colleen over the past couple of years. Colleen is such a good friend. We text all the time, often in emoji-only speak. Colleen has been a solid friend through good times and not-so-good times. For that, I am always grateful. When I worked at the Huntington Museum of Art, I became really close with my coworker Cindy. She and I always worked on events together and ate lunch together, and she is probably the most positive person I ever met. Cindy was always happy, always brightening other people's days. When I moved to the magazine, I only had two coworkers. Luckily, Jenette, Crista, and I got along great. We supported each other and vented to each other, which was an absolute necessity. We had inside jokes and traditions we started. It was awesome! 

So when I started work at Our Lady of Fatima, I wasn't sure what to expect. Sure -- I knew a couple of the teachers because they had been my teachers, but they weren't in the middle school. I knew that another new female teacher had been hired, and I even "knew" her. I say "knew" because Sarah is quite a few years younger than me, but she danced at another local studio growing up and our dads used to work together and her mom was a teacher at the middle school I attended, but we hadn't seen each other in a gazillion years. Every day I went to Fatima to get my classroom together, hoping Sarah would be there. One day, I walked down the hallway and saw her door open in the light on. So I went in. "Hey Sarah!" -- effectively scaring the crap out of her and effectively starting our friendship. A friendship for which I am eternally grateful. On my way to Morgantown last weekend I had a lot of time to think, and I realized that Sarah being there has made this year a crazy fun adventure instead of a terrifying mess. We share all the same students. All. I see her before school, between every class, at lunch, and for hours after school. She knows my whole life because we spend our whole life at school. I have no idea what next year will bring for either of us, so I'm soaking up this year because it has been so great. God certainly had this one all planned out, and for that I am forever grateful.

Here's to you Sarah Hayes! :)