Accidental Miles and a New Family Member

After our 80 degree day on Sunday, I woke up to 41 degrees and windy. Really, really windy. I was even wearing 3 layers at work. That being said, I was being a baby and decided that I would skip running in the 30mph freezing winds and stick to my dad's treadmill. I had a terrible night's sleep the night before resulting in about 4.5 hours of sleep so I thought my run would be terrible and said I only had to run 2 miles.

Well, I actually felt great and ended up doing a 5 mile progression run of sorts. I couldn't believe I actually ran 5 miles instead of 2 because my legs felt so great and the time flew by. I even stretched afterward. 

Then I returned to my home gym and pumped some iron. It was a good workout day. I love those. Boyfriend returned from his weekend away shortly after I was done and took me on a date to Phò. I got stir fry to refuel.

Speaking of boyfriend, he's been on a puppy kick. A few weeks ago he suddenly decided he needed a puppy. And then some of his family friends happened to have Border Collie puppies. Boyfriend visited them and fell in love with one of them. And brought one home last night.

As you know, I'm obsessed with dogs, but I'm a bit against this puppy. I may have to get a job out of the area and having three dogs is just not condusive to getting a rental. But the dog is so adorable I can't resist him.

No worries, though, Milo will forever be my favorite dog on the planet. Even more so than Moe. Wait. Am I supposed to say that?

This morning's run was a little harder, but runs are always harder at 5am, I think. I love the morning crowd at the gym. Everyone is so dedicated. There is this group of me. Who lift together at the same time I am lifting and they seem to be multiplying by the week. They all stand around and take turns watching each other lift. There are now 4 of them, but I bet by the time my 12 week student teaching placement is up and I no longer need to be at the gym that early, there will be even more.

My favorite part of Tuesdays and Thursdays is the drive home. Because it's gorgeous, but mostly because I know there is delicious food waiting for me at home.

Tomorrow, boyfriend has to return to work again and puppy has to go to his grandma's house because that's the deal I made with him. I can't believe it's already the middle of the week.

26.2 and I'm Spoiled

I keep track of my runs with the RunKeeper app on my phone. I am meticulous about this, adding in every little tenth of a mile. I was so excited today when I checked my mileage for the week.

That's right! I ran a marathon in a week! Do I get an award for the slowest marathon ever ran and most breaks taken??

Speaking if awards, on Thursday I got a special one from my administrator.

That's right! I had excellent attendance last year. Not perfect, mind you, because I missed one whole day for my sister's wedding, but excellent. I was one of 5 who got an attendance award and two of the others were my mentor teacher an my coworker. We are a classroom full of awesome! My work ethic is one part of me that I take pride in, so this was a fun pick-me-up.

Another fun pick me up is coming home to presents from boyfriend who has been at work for too long. I came home to this.

I am seriously the most spoiled person on the planet. I am so lucky to have him in my life.

In other news, I did squats yesterday and my legs are so sore today. I never fail to get DOMS after leg day.

I also have learned I really like working out early in the morning because no one is around to see me taking sweaty selfies and judge me. I have a blog, people, my readers sit and wait all day to see several pictures of me sweating! ;-)

Can you tell it's late (okay, 9:30) on a Friday night? This post is all over the place.

Any plans for the weekend?

What aspect of yourself do you pride yourself on?

Snippets Of My Labor Day Weekend

This weekend was wonderful, but I am sure you don't want to read every little detail of each day, so I won't bore you with those.  I would gladly write every single little detail because I am in serious homework avoidance mode and it's only the beginning of the second week.  This is going to be a long year.

Friday evening was spent with my beautiful friend who I had not seen in two very long months.  She had gone home to LA for the summer.  It is so good to have her back.

I was extremely tired from the week, so I just laid on the couch with her and Moe while the boys played Mario Kart.  Boys will never grow up.

Saturday was extra exciting.  I did homework.  Exercised for an hour and a half to avoid homework.  Then did homework again.

Boyfriend finally got off work (again!  He doesn't usually work Saturdays) and we were hanging around waiting to go to dinner.  We looked all over for Moe, and finally found him in his new favorite sleeping spot, inside the pillowcase.

I got rewarded for doing homework all day by going to eat at the new Vietnamese restaurant.  Now, I hope you are sitting down because what you see will shock you.  I did not order Pho.  I strayed.  I'm a cheater.

Then boyfriend and I went to our friend's CD release party where we danced for hours.  My favorite form of cardio.

Sunday, I forced myself out of bed for my long run.  I told myself I only had to go 5 miles.  I opted for the treadmill again (after hours of debate in my head the night before about running outside) because I truly am scared of getting hit by a car.  Well, I set my pace pretty slow for the first couple of miles, then ramped it up by the end.

I seriously could not believe I went 9 miles.  

We had plans to go to The Orchard for the night.  I decided to be incredibly fashionable.  Please notice the binder and books.  I pretend to be am a good student.  

Boyfriend told me that the hood with sunglasses should never happen.  It's probably a good thing he already loves me.  I didn't get any pictures at the river, but I did snap this on the way there.

After soaking up the sun completely off the grid for 24 hours, I got home and immediately stuffed my face with food jumped into my workout clothes for a run.

After the run and lifting, I went to my dad's for a belated family dinner.  Our Sunday dinners seem to be moving to Mondays.  I forgot my phone, so you don't get to see a picture of the delicious tuna my dad seared for us.  I know you had spent all weekend hoping to see that.  

Now I am in bed ready to sleep.  Tomorrow is another very long day.  But I do get kind of excited to be at the gym early in the morning.

How was your Labor Day?

When was the last time you branched out and didn't order your usual meal?

It Always Feels Better

Fridays are always hard when school is back in session. I am exhausted and the last thing I want to do is exercise at the end of my day.

Going home to workout is even worse, but I had begged boyfriend to run with me yesterday, so I had to go home. I slowly put on my exercise clothes while trying so hard to just not collapse in my bed.

I turned on my Garmin and tried not to sit down. Finally, boyfriend was ready and off we went. The first mile was painful. The second mile was okay and by the third mile all of my energy had returned.

I am almost certain that my splits were positive. But that doesn't matter. What matters is that I actually got my butt outside and ran when I really, really didn't want to. It helped that I was much faster than boyfriend.

After our run, I had the energy to do my shoulder routine and even some ab work. It's amazing how, once you get started, your energy comes back. The hardest part of a workout is getting into your workout clothes and out the door. Once you do that, you're golden.

Now I am going to crawl into bed at 7pm because my energy is gone again. And I have school bright and early. On a Saturday. I hope everyone's Friday was awesome!

The Way It Should Be

I am a firm believer that everything works out the way that it's supposed to. I was devastated back in May when I had to say goodbye to my classroom, my students, and my coworkers who felt more like family.

But, it opened up new doors. I got to experience other classrooms, adding more knowledge and to my new teacher repertoire. I even found a classroom that felt like a second home and I got toe student teach under her guidance this summer. I was planning on student teaching under her again at the beginning of the semester, but as I was waiting at the hospital for the baby to be born, I got a call from my administrator that the student had moved and I no longer had a job in that room.

I had a minor freak out about how I was supposed to make money and where I was supposed to do my first 12 weeks of student teaching. It didn't help when I showed up at school on Monday to see this:

Luckily, my administrator is amazing. She called me Tuesday to let me know that not only will I be able to student teach the first 12 weeks in my old classroom with my favorite coworkers and students, I also get to be paid as a sub.

I was ecstatic. I texted everyone in my family to let them know my good news. And today was my first day back in the classroom. And everything felt right.

My drive over the bridge felt like I had never stopped the drive. I saw the same cars commuting that I did for 5 years. And in the classroom, it was as if I never left. When I got to the gym at the hour I used to go, all of my gym best friends were there. The one girl who lifts weights that I try to smile at but she just glares at me. The man who wears inappropriate gym attire, but works his butt off. The old man who grunts really loudly and then wanders around for 20 minutes between sets. My world was right. And so was my run.

My lifts were even better. It was leg day, so deadlifts were a must.

As were squats. As you can tell, I got brave with the sweaty gym selfies. Probably because these people have seen me take months and months of selfies. I'm probably known as the weird girl who not-so-sneakily takes pictures of herself between sets.

I even got brave and finished a very intense lifting session with this:

My dinner routine even felt normal. I made an awesome chicken salad. I realized that I haven't cooked a meal since I've been home from the island.

It's funny how things fall into place and work out exactly how they should. If you're in a running slump, there's a reason for it. If you haven't found that perfect job, there's a reason for it. Just keep on reminding yourself of that when life feels so chaotic you can't breathe. That's what I have to do.

What has gone right in your world?

Tell me about a time you realized things happen for a reason. Do you believe that?

Great News, Great Run, and a Birthday

Today is my little brother's 22nd birthday. We have always gotten along and I have been really lucky to never really understand sibling rivalry.

I started my day at school, but I was lucky to have an hour and a half for lunch. I met my brother, cousin, and mom for his birthday lunch.

We had Chinese food, which used to be my favorite food until I was introduced to Phò, which now I cannot live without. I settled for chicken and veggies.

After school and learning how to create a good relationship with your administrator, I went to the gym for a quick workout before I had to decorate for the birthday party. While I was changing, I got a call from my superintendent telling me that a job opened up in the classroom I call home and I will be doing my first 12 weeks of student teaching in that classroom. I was so pumped and excited that my progression run felt super easy.

It's really amazing what a positive attitude can do for your run. A good mood really makes all of the difference. I did chest/tricep and then rushed home to decorate. My brother got to the house and we decorated him.

The boys also got into the decorating spirit.

My sister and the baby were there. Doesn't she just look so great for being the mom of a 5-day-old??

My best friend (who is due in November) came over and we had some good, much needed laughs. No matter how much time passes without seeing her, we can pick up right where we left off.

I'm so lucky. And I am so excited to get back into the swing of things with my coworkers who feel like family. It was a really great day.

Tell me about your day.

What was on your training schedule?

I'm Starting To Become a Grown-up

I put off getting my teaching credential for 2 years after I graduated from undergrad. There were a couple of reasons for this decision. One, I knew I was going to have my job in my favorite classroom for those two years (well, almost). And two, I just didn't feel like I was a responsible enough adult to have my own classroom.

I'm obviously mature.

Don't get me wrong, I am one of the most responsible people I know. I had the option of going with boyfriend tonight to his friend's house to watch them play music and be social. I didn't know what time we would be home, so I opted out in order to get to bed on time. Having your own classroom is a huge and scary responsibility.

Since I will be 26 in December, I decided I should probably get my credential so that I can be a real grown up with a real salary some day.

Once again, obviously mature.

Today, I embarked on the journey to become a teacher. We had our "base camp" today where we had an overview of the course and got to meet our mentor teachers. We have 3 placements, 12 weeks each during the course of the year. We are having a little snafu with where my first placement will be and I am having a miniature freak out since I am supposed to be there on Monday. But my other two mentor teachers seem incredibly nice. My favorite part of the day was the free Mexican food they fed us for lunch.

It was all local meat and vegetables. I love my town so much. The fact that this is really happening hasn't really hit me. Apparently we start applying for jobs in January. To say I am terrified is an understatement. I just have to believe in myself. I am a firm believer in positive energy. If we think we can do it, we can do it.

It is exactly the same situation as running. When times get hard, just keep pushing through and telling yourself you can do it. I have a lot of self doubt, but I always make it through my hard runs with positive thinking, so I know I can make it through this hard program the same way. I also know I will make a great teacher. I've already seen enormous growth in the students that I have taught. I just have to trust in myself. We all need to trust in ourselves.

I taught one of my students addition with carrying.  So that's something.

Teaching is a huge, scary grown up job, but I can't imagine doing anything else with my life. The reward of seeing a student's face light up when you enter the room and knowing that you have been a positive influence on them in some way is better than gift anyone would give me. Time for me to be a grown up.

What's your job? 

Do you love it?