teach.run.pray.

Last Sunday, my dear friend, Allie, ran her longest distance ever, 10 miles, in preparation for her first half marathon on Labor Day weekend. We decided to run a half together, along with my friend (who also happens to be my cousin), in memory of Allie's father who passed away last October. To say it's an honor to go on this journey with Allie is an understatement.  She spent the night at my house on Saturday, and my husband and I treated her to a home cooked, healthy meal. We popped out of bed bright and early Sunday morning, and I helped Allie prepare for the 10 miler. She was a trooper too. She agreed to take the hilly 10 mile route rather than the flat 10 mile route, because we agreed it would be better training for Shenandoah.  We ate protein bars. We had our hydration water. We hit up the bathroom. We gathered our run nutrition. We stretched and warmed up our bodies. And, we hit the pavement. Thirty seconds jogging. Thirty seconds walking. We stuck to these thirty...

Last night, my cousin sent me a link to a song that helped her push through an eight mile run. My husband and I were listening to it, and he made the comment, "She just likes that song because of the lyrics. I can't listen to the lyrics when I'm exercising." He's more of a music kind of person. I replied, "Really? When I'm exercising, the lyrics are more clear to me. I really hear them. When I listen to music in the car or other places, I'm really good at blocking everything out." I'm more of a lyrics kind of person. Lyrics move my soul. They speak to me spiritually in a way. This morning, I went for a run. It was a hilly run but relatively short. Around mile two, I started to feel a little uneasy. Heartburn started creeping in and a little nausea. So, of course, I decided to throw in three uphill sprints. Each sprint was about 150 meters. Yea, that made it way worse, and I thought I was going to vomit. The nausea didn't go away, but I ...

Yesterday, as I was driving to Hobby Lobby (that place is dangerous) to purchase things for my new classroom, I was listening to a podcast (I LOVE podcasts) and Oprah was interviewing Dr. Brenee Brown for Supersoul Sunday. I'm addicted to Brenee Brown, Liz Gilbert, Rob Bell, Cheryl Strayed, Glennon Doyle Melton...I just connect with these people when I hear them speak and read their writings. It's like I'm meant to be in their circle. They make me feel not so alone in this great big scary world. Anyway, this interview resonated with me. Dr. Brenee Brown has spent over a decade studying vulnerability and shame. Her research is fascinating and incredibly insightful. Since I was in the teacher frame of mind, I found a lot of this podcast resonating with me as a teacher, however, it will also be applied to my non-teacher life. “Perfectionism is a self destructive and addictive belief system that fuels this primary thought: If I look perfect, and do everything perfectly, I ...

August 2, 2017 marks our third anniversary. We arrived home from Canada this morning close to 1 a.m. It was one of the best trips we've taken. I'm not sure either of us expected the adventures we experienced, but often times, the unexpected adventures are the most memorable. When I met Matt the first time, I never expected to fall in love with him, but lord and behold, a year or so later we'd meet again, and he swept me off my feet. Ultimately, the unexpected is what life is all about. The unexpected is what fills life with life. It moves us out of habit into existence. The unexpected shapes us.  Day one in Canada can only be described as unexpected. We hit the road from Cochrane to Banff pretty early in the morning, after all, we were fresh and full of energy and ready to explore. We didn't have a specific plan other than to hike. I had a few print outs of scenic hikes, but we weren't really sure how to get to any of them. After entering the park, we passed the e...

Blog Challenge Day 5 What's your elevator pitch? A couple days ago I was listening to a podcast, The Minimalists, and they were discussing that question you get when you first meet someone, what do you do?  They got into a conversation about how people ask you this, most of the time, to start comparing you to them. For example, "Oh, she's a teacher. She doesn't make much money." I've never thought of it that way, and I ask this question all the time. But,  I ask this question because I genuinely want to hear the person's answer.  There are some incredible people doing some amazing things I never thought existed, so I learn from their answer. The Minimalists proceeded to discuss how they thought the wording of this question should be changed to, "What is your passion?" Now, I LOVE that question. Imagine the answers I'd get if I asked that instead. So, "What is your passion?" got me thinking, "What would I say?" I...

Blog Challenge Day 3:  (For Day 1 click here . For Day 2 click here .) What do people thank you for? When I first sat down to answer this question, it was difficult for me to write. I heard when people thanked me, but I couldn't name specific events they thanked me for. The deeper I dug and more reflective I became I realized the specific events or things didn't matter as much. What mattered most was the fact that people just appreciated my time.  People thank me for being there and actively listening. People thank me for encouraging and motivating them. People thank me for being a non-judgmental sound board for venting. People thank me for helping them in all sorts of of ways-for taking time from my day to be there for them. People thank me for sharing my story, opinions, ideas, thoughts, and passions-honestly and with rawness. People thank me for stepping outside myself to truly be there for them, not just on a physical level, but on an emotional level and a spiritual l...

It was another early morning for me. Monday is boot camp morning. The morning is still dark when I wake up and leave my house. It's dark when I arrive at the park, but the sun begins to rise during our workout, and I have seen some beautiful sunrises on these Monday and Wednesday mornings. Today's sunrise caught my eye as I was leaving the park. I was at the stoplight making a right turn. When I looked to the left to check for oncoming traffic, the sunrise caught my eye. A smile crept across my lips and almost instantly I let out a sigh of relief as if I had just recognized how lucky I was to be alive (and not only because I survived boot camp). How often do we remember to be grateful for the breath of life we take each morning when our alarm rudely awakes us from our peaceful slumber? How often do we wish we could ignore the alarm of life and continue to sleep? I take the sound of my alarm for granted on a daily basis-always wishing for more rest, more time in bed, more ti...