Positive Positivity

Thrifting and new finds...

"Books may well be the only true magic." -Alice Huffman

This past weekend, I went thrifting for the first time ever and I scored some really awesome finds. I bought all books. I would have loved to pick up more but I feel like books are such a better investment. We started at Goodwill in Morrisville and I found:

The Blind Side by Michael Lewis (I own the movie and thought it might be a great read)

Everyone worth Knowing by Lauren Weisberger (She wrote the Devil Wears Prada which I read quite a few years ago and loved it!)

He's Just Not Into You by Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo (I also have this movie and my friend Beth says this is a must read)

The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle (I lent this book to a friend almost two years ago and miss having a copy) 

At the goodwill store, Dave and Phil decided it would be a genius idea to throw a thrift store themed party where all of the guests have to purchase their clothes at a thrift store. Dave and Phil had two great outfits of paisley working and Phil found me the most hideous pants I have ever seen. Even other shoppers thought they were hilariously hideous. :)

The second stop was Dorcas Mission store. Their books were 75 cents for hardcover! Yay! I bought:

The Five People you meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom (Tuesdays with Morrie was a wonderful book and I have heard great things about this book)

I Don't Know How She Does It by Allison Pearson (Just picked it up; no particular reason)

The Lovely Bones by Alice Seabold (I have never seen this movie but it is on my list and I always love to read a book before a movie)

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (A classic!)

My Horizontal Life by Chelsea Handler (this will probably be my first read; she is hilarious)

I also picked up a copy of Fight Club which I have always loved. I bought my brother a copy a few years ago and have wanted to buy it ever since.

The last stop was at an antique store near Dave's house in Raleigh. This had lots of cute finds and I almost was in tears with the beautiful collection of Nancy Drew books; the exact same as what I read from the Waterboro Public Library when I was a kid. These books were slightly more expensive but in excellent condition. I purchased:

Babar by Jean de Brunhoff (I watched Babar almost every day when I was a child)

Nancy Drew: The Secret of the Old Clock by Carolyn Keene (the first book in the series)

Teacher Man by Frank McCourt (This sounded really interesting especially with all of the difficulties facing teachers nowadays)

All in all a successful day! Definitely an interesting way to spend a Saturday. I really enjoyed just looking at all the things people have no need for anymore. I would definitely go again.

 

Goals, goals and more goals...

My fitness training has been curbed recently with my trip to NCCAT and the fact that I really wanted to sleep in. So, here are my goals for the next few months broken down for ease (my friend Rita will be cringing on the concept of goal making).

Short term goals:

1.) Be able to do 5 burpees without feeling like I am going to die (measure able :/)

2.) Do 1 real burpee

3.) Run for 2 miles straight

4.) 20 lunges without feeling like I am going to fall over

5.) Run and be able to tell a story without walking

6.) Try hot yoga

Long term goals:

1.) Drop mile time to 11 minutes/mike

2.) Run 5 miles without stopping

Ultimate goals:

1.) Weight down to 160 lbs.

2.) Be able to run a half marathon without walking

3.) Mile time below 10 minutes/mile

I am going to try to get myself more on a routine since I have been exhausted recently with traveling and I feel like if I wake up and go to bed at certain times I will be able to get more done with my day. Tomorrow I am going to wake up at 6 am to run and hopefully will feel a little bit more structure to my day. :)

Rally in Raleigh

 Today, I am going to march in Raleigh for educators. When I was leaving NCCAT I was teary eyed watching the building from the ferry. This is a place that I feel that I can go as an educator and be treated as a professional. Something unfortunately my state is slowly taking away from us.

Public School Educators are being attacked across the nation and I am really confused about why? Have we not done enough for your students? I graduated from a public high school, got into every college and every grad school I applied to. I have a Master's degree. Am, I not a good example of the future of America?

I work with a population of students that many people would be challenged with. I love my students. They are challenging but they are wonderful students who deserve the world. And, our country is not giving them the opportunities that they deserve. My students have intellectual disabilities and are more than likely not going to go to a 4 year college yet every year they are required to take the ACT. It breaks my heart that my students know that they can't go to a 4 year college yet they have to take a test that determine whether or not they could go. This test takes 4-7 hours of my instructional time with my students. And, they have to take the test with students who are going to go to college. I can only imagine how they feel. 

You can imagine the heart ache that teachers across America have. They care about these students, they want to nurture them and treat them with the respect that they deserve and they know that they deserve better but yet there is a new wave of making profit off of our students. Making money off of testing our students till they are miserable is not right. We were not educated that way and neither should they. 

I am fearful of a nation moving to only charter and private schools. My students especially will fall through the cracks and will end up in gangs, jail, or dead. Public Education allows them the opportunity to learn skills that they can use. A choice.

NCCAT

This past week I was able to go to NCCAT (North Carolina Center for Advancement of Teaching). This seminar was titled, "Is DNA your Destiny?" I had an excellent time and learned many new things that I will bring back to my classroom. I went to NCCAT last year for the beginning teacher's seminar and met amazing people that I still brainstorm with and keep in touch with. My favorite thing about NCCAT is that I everyone is treated like a professional that we all are in teaching for the same reason: the students. I feel safer there than I do in my own school to be creative and innovative and to ask question of people who actually work in the field. This past week we had a cell biology professor from ECU as one of our guest fellows and she was wonderfully informative. I feel like if teaching wasn't my calling that cell biology could be a potential love of mine. I feel like I deepened my knowledge base of genetics and was able to present my pedigree on my mutation which I always love getting the word out there and quite frankly my pedigree is pretty interesting. NCCAT is such a wonderful place to go as an educator; every time I go there it renews me. I have met many people that don't know if they want to continue in this profession and then they go to NCCAT and they continue in the field because of the way they are treated. Bottom line: NCCAT is amazing if you are a teacher, go!

Building a double helix.

Growing E. Coli cultures.

Training Week 2

                                    

   

                                                 (My new running shoes: they feel great!)

After an okay first week of training it felt great to get in the necessary amount of running/cardio in. 

Monday: 

I did water aerobics in the pool for about 45 minutes. It felt great! I love water aerobics especially the frog moves. Hayleigh and Emily taught me some new moves which were great and difficult at the same time. I also did planks and sit-ups for a core workout that I could feel the rest of the week.

Tuesday:

I had been frustrated with my running shoes fit since week one and it came to a full fit on Tuesday when mid run with Sue I popped off my shoes and decided to walk back with my very expensive Belega socks on. I don't think they are ruined, thankfully! We got in 2 miles of walk/run.

Wednesday:

Rest Day/I went in and traded in my running shoes and got the pair that I have now. They feel great! 

Thursday: 

4 mile walk/run with Sue which was super slow because of the 100% humidity. I swear that it feels like 150%. You would think running at 5:15 am it would be somewhat cool but it was brutal. 

Friday:

60 minutes on elliptical which was a blast. I love that machine. I bought a compact one a few months ago which doesn't have the arm things but it does help my abs by keeping me balanced on the machine. I also did a few arm workouts including tricep kickbacks.

Saturday:

I drank lots of water all day on Friday because I was really dehydrated on Thursday after my run. I ran 6 miles on the treadmill. Although, I would have preferred to have run outside I didn't want to run on the lake before the sun came up. And, the ultra benefit of the gym is that there is no humidity and I setthe temperature to 62 degrees. Ahh...nice cool running. 

Sunday: 

Rest Day

Good/bad: I certainly need to make sure I drink a lot of water! I felt great on Saturday even though usually I have slight soreness in my hips when I do over 6 miles. I think the training plan is working great for me and I am excited to see how much farther I can push myself. Excited for week 3! :) 

Is anyone training for a race or a big event? How is your training going?

Peaches!!

                                   

Rita and I went to the Farmer's Market in Raleigh to pick up some peaches. I decided after my quick run on Tuesday that I really wanted waffles so I decided that it would be a wonderful idea to make Peach Blackberry Compote instead of using syrup. It turned out delicious.

                                     

Peach Blackberry Compote Recipe
Ingredients:
2 peaches
2 tbsp. white sugar
6-7 blackberries
juice from 1/2 of a lemon

Directions:
Put all ingredients into small saucepan and cook on low while making your waffles. Stir occasionally. The longer you cook it the better the consistency is. I cooked mine for about 20 minutes and it was delicious and a great way to use fruit.

Today, I decided that I wanted to try making a peach crisp. I know cobbler is more southern but I grew up eating crisp everything. My Dad was also very good at mastering a graham cracker base and oatmeal top but I decided to keep it simple today. Last year when I went to IKEA (best store ever) I found this perfect casserole dish for just one person which is perfect for me. I have made personal size everything for myself which is great because I am not a big fan of leftovers.

                                      

       
Peach Crisp Recipe
Serving: 1-2

Ingredients:
2 peaches (peeled and cut into cubes)
¼ c. brown sugar
½ c. oats
2 pinches of white sugar
2 pinches or small shakes of cinnamon
1 tbsp. of butter (cut into small cubes)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Put peeled and cut peaches into baking dish. Mix together all the dry ingredients and butter and place evenly on top of peaches. Place in oven for 35-40 minutes or until the top looks brown. Serve with ice cream for an extra treat.

It was so delicious that I had it for dinner tonight. Enjoy!

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July! 

I woke up and did a short run with some runnerpeeps and Triangle Turtles. Thanks to Meredith for getting her Firecracker Run together. Both of us, ran 1 mile and walked 1 mile. Then, we went to Bruegger's, where they had red, white and blue bagels. Amazing! Hope everyone enjoys their day!

Picture of my bagel <3

3 Half Marathon Training begins....now!

I have somehow managed to sign myself up for three fall half marathons...yes, a combined total of 39.3 miles ran in 3 months of races as well as a swimming portion in a quick triathlon. You may think, I am insane....good point. However, this was just good budgeting skills. Let me explain this logic:

1.) I saved almost 50% off my second race on October 20th: Bull City Race Fest.

2.) That race also finishes with a food truck rodeo...which I might add is smart because I will go to the food truck rodeo hungry and in no worry about gaining weight. My parents may be there and maybe they will pay for me to stuff my face as I go from truck to truck.

3.) The first race, I signed up for is the Capital Run Raleigh at North Hills. I saved 10% off that race because I was one of the first fifty to receive the coupon code...now that just makes me feel special so of course I had to sign up for it.

4.) The last race I signed up for was the Richmond Half Marathon. I received no deal on this race except for being able to share a bed with Meredith during our weekend there. Why did I have to sign up for this one? Almost half of the runnerpeeps are going and well of course I couldn't be left out of all that excitement. I mean, there are planning meetings! Planning is my forte. How could I not be involved in a planning meeting? Well, of course I caved and signed up.

So that equals: one half marathon a month in the fall. I am looking forward to this endeavor and am super psyched to actually train for a half marathon. I usually just try to run/walk whatever I can but I am going to be doing a mixture of running, cardio and of course my least favorite core. 

Runnerpeeps is an awesome group and I am excited to see where I can go with the awesome coaching and support I receive. Some day, training for three large races will just be my training plan and not an excuse to hang out with peeps and plan. 

Well, I am off to begin my first day of training...

Watermelon Salsa Recipe

This is an easy and delicious recipe.

Prep time: 10 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups of watermelon, cut into small chunks

1/3 cup of red onion, chopped

10 leaves of cilantro

1 jalapeño

1 lime, juiced

Add all of the ingredients together and enjoy immediately. If you don't like spicy salsa I would suggest using less jalapeño. I also didn't add salt because the chips are already salty but you can add as needed. I buy the watermelon already cut which saves on prep time.