In Love with the Bling

And so it begins my goal for this Spring...the triple crown for completing 3 half marathons in 4 months. I am completing one every month for this year but I also am working towards completing several different races to recieve this extra medal. I don't know why but I will run anything for a medal especially a special medal. I guess it must be a competition thing but I just love knowing that I will have something shiny at the end of the race even if I am in a ton of pain it will take the edge off. 

This will be the first triple crown that I will attempt. Hopefully training will go well and in a few months this medal will be posted on this blog with my smiling face. :)

Book #5: The Reason I Jump

If I never accomplish my goal of reading 50 books this year or even if I do this will be one of my favorite reasons I chose this goal. This book blew my mind. It was written by a 13 year old boy who has autism who is nonverbal. In it he details his daily struggles, his dreams, his writing skills which are translated letter by letter by a teacher. This book was worth every minute not because I work with children who have autism but because my perception of children with autism has depeened. I used to work with a nonverbal student who I always knew was brighter than people had claimed she was and this book reaffirms what happens when we place judgments or biases on people regarding their IQ score or their communication level... Sometimes we are severely mistaken.... And, I am very grateful for that. 

Definitely worth a read even if you know no one with autism it will enlighten you.

Birch Box: January!

My January Birch Box has arrived! The box contained: tea bags, moisturizing lotion, dry shampoo, lip/cheek stain and a clarifying lotion. My favorite so far is the pink body butter. It smells delicious! I tried the dry shampoo but I felt like my hair was greasy all day so I might try it another time. The clarifying lotion is nice but it has foundation in it which I don't use very often at all.

I love my birch box. I have seen on Facebook that there are all kinds of boxes especially training/running boxes which I may try out soon.

Does anyone have any other boxes that they recieve regularly that they enjoy?

Inspiration for the Day

A Time for a Little Gratitude...

Thanksgiving is the time to be grateful for all the small things in our lives. 

Phil bought me this flower the other day just because (aww...he is awesome!)

"The best things in life are not things."

First and foremost, my family who has always support me through the silly and often stupid decisions that I made throughout my teenage/young adult life. They have always been there for me and I will always be grateful to the support family provides. 

The great state of North Carolina: it may be odd to be thankful for a state but this state has provided me with a happier life since moving away from Maine where I suffered from seasonally affective disorder. I have also found my passion for teaching here.

My Friends: This would thankfully take a long time of all the awesome people I have in my life but those people know who they are... I remark that they are awesome because of course they are. Each person has uniquely helped me through hard times and great times and we all share amazing memories. 

My Relationships: Old and new because they have taught me to learn from my mistakes and who I deserve to have in my life. I am grateful to have so many relationships that are meaningful that it would be difficult not to thank them.

My Students: They are awesome! If it weren't for my students the job would certainly not be worth it. They teach me patience, make me laugh, teach me things and allow me to open their mind to new things.

There are so many things to be grateful for and I hope that I continously live in the abundance of all the awesome things (people) in my life.

<3

Walk In for Public Education

Recently, we had a "walk in" protest where we peacefully worked with parents, students and other colleagues to bring to light the legislatures decisions to increase class sizes, decrease planning time and decrease allotted money for public schools. This event was a way for us to stand together as educators, parents, and students to collaborate on what is most important.... the education of our students.

Here are some photos of the "walk in" and a funny photo that Phil found about wearing Red for Ed on Wednesday. Which is something a lot of schools are doing to show support for public schools. If you would like to read books about support for public schools: read any of Diane Ravitch's books. She is a large supporter of public education. <3

Gratitude

Photos of some of my favorite things! :) 

As the weather begins to cool down and we enter into my favorite season Fall I am continuously in awe of all of the amazing things I have to be grateful for. I am incredibly blessed to care for some many people. I have two jobs that enjoy. I have students that are interesting and engaging. I have supportive friends who are funny and encouraging. I have a partner who is warm, friendly and kind. 

Couldn't ask for more. <3

What are you grateful for today?

Baby Z's Shower

Hay and I's gift for Baby Z. I wish I had snapped a few pictures of the rest of the gifts. 

A few weeks ago, Hayleigh and I threw a shower for Emily who is expecting a little girl in October. Hayleigh and I had been thinking of ideas ever since we saw the sonogram picture so it was great to see all of our ideas come to life. We had a great day and great help from Hayleigh's sister Whit and her mom who helped with the food. The food was delicious! I have a few pictures of it but definitely doesn't do the pizza bread any service. A huge shout out to Hay who hosted the event at her house. She has such a nice townhouse; it was perfect place to have an event!

Quotes

These quotes have helped me through a lot of hard times and I hope that other people will enjoy reading my small collection.

Quotes:

"Ruin is a gift. Ruin is the road to transformation." -Eat Pray Love

"God dwells within me, as me."

"Love yourself first and then everything will fall into line." - Lucille Ball

"The love you seek is seeking you this moment." - Deepak Chopra

"Your task is not to seek for Love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.”

- Rumi, thirteenth century Sufi poet

“Something inside you emerges….an innate, indwelling peace, stillness, aliveness. It is the unconditioned, who you are in your essence. It is what you had been looking for in the love object. It is yourself.”

- Eckhart Tolle

“Find the love you seek, by first finding the love within yourself. Learn to rest in that place within you that is your true home.”

- Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

True love is never associated with violence, deception, abuse (emotional, physical or verbal), constant sacrifice for the good of only one person, jealousy, fear or mistrust.

"True love always waits." And is patient, caring, kind, joyous and free!

“Do not get discouraged.

It is often the last key that opens the lock."

"most importantly you must always have faith in yourself." -Elle Woods

“When you judge another, you do not define them. You define yourself.” ~Wayne Dwyer

Gratitude list

When I have trouble remaining present I write gratitude lists: here are some that I have found in the past year:

Gratitude list: June 13th

Sunny days, pool time, besties, communication,  awesome jobs, humor, me, soda, cotton/poly blend shirts, fiat, yoga pants, Facebook friends, pictures, awesome supportive family, iPhone, Internet, bills paid! Grad school, summer opportunities, NCCAT, lots of social situations, runnerpeeps, races, nachos, early morning runs, Lydia, tv shows/movies, my extremely comfortable bed! Music, 

Gratitude list: July 1st:

Summer job, sound of fans, friends galore, dining out, exercise groups, movies, warm sunny days, my little garden, blogging, adventures, books books books, recipes, Facebook, no make up days, work out clothes, Star Wars marathons, meditation, cooking on my own, clean apartment, grocery shopping, wall of medals and bibs, dangly earrings, sonicare toothbrush, q tips, 

Gratitude list: August 15th:

Comfy pjs, VHS tapes, journaling, phone calls from bf, besties, sushi, love, family, blogging, Pinterest, new ideas, healthy eating, balanced life, end of summer, work, sound of birds, gardening, weekends, sound of fans, trail mix, artsy experiences, wine tastings, planning, beach trips, running, keeping track, hula hoop, motivational quotes.

Celebrations!

The trip to Maine is always a celebration. We are always excited to see one another and everything seems to be squished into a short trip. This time we were celebrating our family. 

I feel like my sister Sara says it best: "My family reminds me, by their very steadfastness, that truth, beauty and goodness exist in the world and that, no matter what there are and always will be people loving people through thick and thin."

I am honored to be a part of this family. They have been through so much in their lives and yet they always remain positive and constant. I can't imagine the impact that these people have had in shaping the person I am today but I am so grateful to be able to celebrate and honor them. 

My Uncle Pete gave a wonderful speech about my grandmother who is always kind and patient. It was so nice to see so many people gathered for such a wonderful person! In my family, you can always count on laughs. Watching my Aunt Kim start a fire, or literally not being able to find coffee for an hour, or sharing stories of when we were growing up...it is always entertaining!

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.