The Giver

I'm not a reader and I never really have been. Then last year I became a 6th grade teacher and I had students that absolutely loved reading.  Every free minute that I gave them they would read.  I also had students that didn't enjoy reading and it was a constant battle to try to get them to crack open any book.  After a while that was a battle that I did not try to conquer and requested from my students that during silent read time the least that they could do was to look like they were reading.  I remember telling my students up front that not everyone enjoys reading.  I don't enjoy reading.  However, I tried to tell them that it doesn't matter what you read as long as you find something that interests you.  I gave them the example that it's difficult for me to get cozy and curl up with a book and read for hours on end like Chad.  If you give me a fitness, health or running magazine, however, I will be lost in the pages for a short period of time.  Chad enjoys reading, not me. 

Well, as a 6th grade teacher I felt it my responsibility to know what books my students were interested in.  At the beginning of the school year there was a big buzz about the Twilight series.  So...there I found myself one day at the Kirkland library checking out the Twilight series.  I read the entire series and realized reading wasn't so bad.  Maybe I had found something that I liked.  Throughout last year I read aloud various books to my students and I enjoyed seeing the curiosity on their faces of what was going to happen in the next paragraph, page, or chapter in the book.   One of my favorites that I read aloud was Danny, Champion of the World by Roald Dahl.  If you haven't read this, I highly recommend it.  I recommend any book by Roald Dahl actually.

I have a fairly large classroom library (thank you Mrs. Rice), but I have no idea what fills my shelves.  Throughout the school year my students organized my books and placed them in categories according to genre.  I'm trying to make it a goal to read through a fair amount of them this summer.  This is a huge and a bit daunting of a task, but I want to know, I need to know, what my students are reading.  I began with a historical fiction book about a young boy who goes off to fight in the Civil War.  It was okay, but I struggled to get through it.  This weekend I read through two books, both fiction.  One was a ghostly-murder-mystery type book (I can't remember the title) and it kept my interest, but I had bad dreams.  I don't do well with scary stories, movies, t.v. shows, etc.  The other book I read this weekend was The Giver. 

The Giver.  The Giver was an odd book, but I liked it.  I have a class set and would love to read it with  my class, but I don't think it is appropriate for a 6th grader.  The Giver is deep.  The Giver made me question what my life would be like without individuality?  What if I was told who I had to marry, how many kids I could have, or what occupation I would be given?  What if I had to wear the same clothes as everyone else?  What if my birthday was celebrated on the same day of everyone else that turned 32 this year?  What if I couldn't have feelings?  What if I didn't know where I was going after death?  What if I couldn't believe in Christ?  What if...

I know that I would not do very well in a society where I was told what and how to do everything. 

Go read The Giver by Lois Lowry.  It's a great book!  Then please explain the ending to me because I didn't get it.

Motivation for Second Half Marathon

It's official.  I'm hooked.  I don't know what it is nor can I describe it (because I've tried to to Chad) the excitement of waking up between 4:00-4:30 a.m. and heading to a foot race.  Whether I'm running a 5K, 10K, or half marathon, I get excited.  A rush of adrenaline (I suppose that's what it is) races through my body.  I can't sleep the night before because I'm so excited, or maybe anxious and nervous for the next day.  I'm not quite sure what the feeling is, but I do know that I'm completely hooked on running, I don't necessarily enjoy the training, but the race itself I absolutely love.  Which makes the training worth every minute in the end. 

Since February I have been training for my second half marathon.  I ran my first half marathon about a year ago and when I finished that race I told myself I would never do another one. I even made Chad promise me that he would not let me sign up for another half marathon.  I absolutely hated the way I felt after the race...I couldn't walk for about 3 days.  Seriously, I COULD NOT WALK!  Quite frankly that scared me...a lot.  I was content not ever running another half, although my fondness of running was still there. 

So, like I said, back in February, a friend of mine came to me and said something to the aspect of, "I need to get my life back on track and I want to do something for myself.  I want to run a half marathon.  Will you do it with me?"  Way to start small, was my first thought.  (Did I mention my friend is a high achiever, determined and maybe a bit stubborn?  All great qualities, of course.)  My friend, not being a runner nor having a runners physique (her words, not mine) I thought at the time was crazy.  (She's still kind of crazy, but that's why I love her.)  She continued to share with  me that I could say no, but honestly, how do you tell a dear friend "no" when they reach out to you?

There we began, back in February...running.  Mind you, I had not done very much running since the last half.  Or shall I say long distance running.  My runs consisted of 1 maybe 2 times a week and at the most 3 miles.  I began with interval running where I would walk 2 minutes, run 2 minutes, walk 2 minutes and so on and so forth.  I had to build up my stamina again.  The interval running changed a little bit and when I could run a 10 minute mile comfortably, I switched from interval running to timed running.  I would run non-stop beginning with 20 minutes, slowly working my strength and stamina upto 10 miles, as layed out in our half marathon training schedule.  Now my friend and I did not necessarily train together, rather we were accountability partners.  It was awesome and an excellent motivator.  However, every Sunday after church we would do our "long runs" together.  Our first long run consisted of 2 miles.  Oh how easy a 2 mile run is right now.

In the end, race day came and we both successfully completed the half marathon, my second and my friend's first.  The difference between last year and this year...I could walk after the race and I immediately wanted to sign up for another half marathon.  It's a rush, a high that I don't understand.  Quite frankly it's down right crazy.  I'm so INCREDIBLY PROUD of my friend for running her first half marathon. I know how challenging it was for her, both physically and mentally...although I doubt she would share or maybe even admit that, which is perfectly okay. 

My new motivation for running is my dear friend who was determined and she did it.  She ran her first half marathon.  I'm proud of her. 

Now, onto another friend...she will be running her first 5K before the summer is over with!

Hole, Rachel, Molly and A Little Bit of God Mixed In

I feel so blessed to have amazing friends in my life. I have friends all over the world and due to the wonderful world of Facebook and blogs, I'm able to connect, talk to them or "stalk" them on a regular basis. I feel like I have many "stages" of friends. The stages of friends represent the "stages" of my life. This kind of makes me sad (because life passes by so quickly), but at the same time extremely blessed to know that God has always surrounded me with people that love me, take care of me and know my heart. I get a little emotional just thinking about it (I know. Big surprise on the whole emotional thing. Maybe I should refer to it as passionate, rather than emotional.) I forget to thank God for the simple things in life. The love that He provides me and surrounds me with. The things that, all too easily, are taken for granted.

This post inspired me because from the previous post I had three close friends from different stages of my life share a comment. These three friends mean the absolute world to me. I would drop everything to be there for them and it makes me feel good to know, without doubt, they would do the same for me. The irony of it all, for me anyway, is that these three friends do not know each other.

Gina, "Hole", lives in northern Idaho and we first met in high school. I don't recall the details, but from what we've been told we got into a fight on the basketball court. Gina and I played on rival high school teams. God only knew that a few years down the road we would become sorority sisters, in each others weddings and honestly friends forever. I don't get to see or talk to Hole all that often, but when I do we pick up right where we left off. Hole and I have many fun memories together...beginning college memories. I love being with Hole because the friendship is simple yet so rewarding. She understands small town Idaho (Northern. There's a difference from southern.) I miss her and don't tell her enough how much her friendship means to me. Thank you, Hole. (Hug from afar.)

Rachel. Just thinking about Rachel makes me well up with happy tears. I met Rachel my last year at U of I. We were RA's together in the Tower. Actually, we were just on duty together one night a week. Looking back, it's amazing how God worked our worlds together, but He definitely knew that we were going to need one another. I don't recall the first time I met Rachel, but the two of us have shared and been through some difficult life challenges. A suicidal student, the death of a friend, bible studies and shared hearts, and the loss of our babies are just the beginning. Through Rachel's dedicated love and given heart to the Lord, she has inspired me to be more trusting in Him. Again, Rachel is another friend that I don't talk to on a regular basis, but when we do we are able to catch up right where we left off. I love that. Thank you, Rachel. Praying for you. (This pic I stole from Rachel's FB page. I do not have any pics of the two of us post-digital camera. This just means I need to come visit Rachel soon! Ben and Rachel are so cute!)

Molly. Molly makes my heart skip a beat. I know. Sounds corny, but it's true. Molly is my now-forever friend. Again, corny, but she is a friend that I see at least twice a week (okay, probably more and if I could I'd want to see her every day). The story of how the two of us met is a little bit longer, only because the details are fresher. I met Molly almost 7 years ago when Chad and I moved to the Seattle area. A young couple that lived next door to where we first lived invited us to attend their church. So we went along. I believe the first person I met at church was Michelle Harris, who happened to be the pastor's wife. The second person I was introduced to was AmandaVaughn because we both liked to scrapbook. The third......was Molly. It was a typical, awkward, churchy introduction; however, that next week we went out to dinner (boys included). To this day we still get a laugh at how the evening went at Belltown Pizza. Conversation was as follows (or there abouts) as we are looking over menus:

"So...um...how shall we order?"

"I don't know. What do you guys like?"

"Just about anything, but this and this (pointing to the menu) are really good."

"Alright, sounds good."

"Let's order a couple and share."

"So....um...what are you going to get to drink?"

"I was thinking a beer."

"They drink beer." (Followed by big sighs and much laughter.)

And thus led to a forever lasting friendship with the 4 of us.

I can't explain the friendship that Molly and I share, but it is one that I should thank God for daily. Honestly, I'm speechless about the friendship that we share. Laughs, tears, heartaches, life....we've been there for each other. I feel like I've known Molly forever, but it's only been 7 years. She means the world to me. Thank you, Molly. I love you.

Making A List and Checking it Once

Summer supposedly arrived yesterday, although the weather was questionable, and today is a beautiful day. Summer has arrived today.

There are many perks to being a teacher and one of those happens to be having a couple months off during the summer. Well, at least most teachers do and I happen to be one of them. I have a list of things I want to do this summer, both fun and not so fun, and I've made a list at the beginning of every summer for the past few years. This summer will be no different; however, I hope to check more of my items off of my lists.

Not so fun list:

• clean the carpets
• clean the front closet
• clean out Chad's closet
• clean out my closet
• organize the linen closet
• clean out our storage
• file all our personal paperwork in the bottom of Chad's closet
• clean out the kitchen cupboards

I'm sure there is more that I need to clean and organize...

The fun to do list:

• hike Mt. Si
• visit Mt. St. Helens
• take the ferry to the jetti
• visit Mt. Rainier
• hike the ice caves
• travel to Idaho
• get baptized
• see the fuss about Forks where Twilight was filmed
• go canoeing
• play with nieces and nephews
• go through all my classroom stuff and organize it
• walk Green Lake weekly
• go see the horse races
• go see the car races
• eat lunch at the new Hard Rock Cafe in Seattle
• GO TO THE ZOO! I LOVE THE ZOO!

I'm sure thare are many more fun things to add to my list, but for now this will do.

Happy summer everyone!

My Dad

In honor of Father's Day I thought I would write about my dad.

I love my dad. My dad and I haven't always had the relationship that we do now...one of love, forgiveness, laughter...but I'm thankful for all that we have gone through to have the kind of relationship that we do today.

When I think of my dad the first two things that come to mind are easy going and funny. I don't think my dad has always been easy going, but he has always been funny. He's fun to be around and I enjoy his company. I enjoy his "we'll get to it, when we get to it" kind of attitude, especially when we are with each other. He takes in the moments when we are together and I really like that. My dad likes to kid around. I love when I'm with my dad and he doesn't care what others think...he's always silly and I like that about him.

My dad is very generous and he always has been. He's generous of his time. He is very helpful and he will go out of his way to help others. My dad can also be a hard worker. I say can be because it depends on the circumstances and situations. He's worked for the same company for 30 years now...I'll just say he's getting the retirement itch and his hard working days are getting less and less.

I love my dad and wished we lived closer. When we are together people say we are just alike...we act alike, we talk alike, our mannerisms become one in the same...I'm a clone of my dad. Okay, not really, but we are very similar. I talk to my dad almost every day on the phone. I miss my dad. He's amazing and I'm thankful for him.