Healthy Eating

I have been doing some research on healthy eating. I discovered this blog & was really intrigued w/ what was written. Lots of wonderful ideas! Jason and I have been talking a lot about healthy eating and what the benefits might be for us. I think we are going to be trying to go gluten free for a trial run- just to see if it is going to provide the health benefits we are looking for as well as be something that we can handle. Not eating gluten is a serious commitment- something that freaks me out a little!

All my favorite foods- not available to be eaten any more! Ahh! We shall see how this trial period goes!!! :) :)

Jason and I have had some great discussions lately, about a lot of really important topics for our future.

We like to talk and plan for our future so it only seems natural that the topic of kids would come up. Growing up as the oldest of 7, babysitting extensively, working for 3 years in a daycare, and now being a teacher, I have lots of experience with kids. Like a ton. Like I'm pretty sure I could have sextuplets and do a heck of a better job then Kate Gosselin! :) However, I won't be trying that just to prove a point. Lord knows I'd probably pull my own hair out!

Right now we are seeking God and trusting that he will lead us in the right direction. I know he has a plan for us and what our future entails, I Just wish I knew what it was!! :) :)

Running

I have truly been loving summer. I cannot believe how relaxing it is!!! I been keeping super busy w/ my massive to do lists, but loving not having to drive 2 hours/day. Sometimes I wonder how much longer I can do this drive w/o going crazy. I'm just trusting God that he will provide something else when the time is right. I try not to worry but it's hard because I like to plan and not knowing the future, well it makes planning hard!!! haha

I ran the Park 2 Park 5 Mile race on the 4th of July w/ a bunch of friends. It was amazingly HOT that day and incredibly humid. I stayed strong through the whole race and finished in 49 minutes, 38 seconds. In my age division, I came in 17th and overall came in 389th. There was about 600 people- a huge race that's for sure!

However, I learned two things during the race. 1- when you get goosebumps while running and you're sweating like a dog, it;s a precursor to heat stroke, so get some water! 2. When your foot is hurting and you keep running, don't be surprised when you take off your shoe and your entire sock is covered in blood!!!! Yucko!! Needless to say, it was quite exciting. Only weeks to the half marathon- I'm excited and terribly nervous. :)

Donors Choose

Two years ago I was introduced by another teacher to a website that has quite literally changed my teaching~
http://www.donorschoose.org/mrs.fehr

The above link is my homepage- where all my current projects needing funding are listed, completed projects, and pictures/thank you notes.

From Donors Choose: "Our mission is to improve public education by empowering every teacher to be a change-maker and enabling any citizen to be a philanthropist.Our vision is a nation where students in every community have the resources they need to learn."

As a teacher, creating a project is actually very simple

• Create a catchy title, something that will catch the reader's eyes and pique their interest
• Shop for the items that you wish to have in your project. I have had best luck with keeping my projects under $200- if they are any more then that, chances of being funded are less likely
• Now, write away! Tell about your students, the demographics of your school, why this project is important, the challenges as a teacher that you and your students are facing, and most of all, what you are going to do should you get these supplies! The more appealing you can make yourself be to the donors, the better off!
• Once you are done writing, there are a few other minor questions to answer and you are done. Your project will be posted soon and then you can compulsively check the website hoping to see donations..oh wait, is that just me?!? :)

I have received in the past two years over $2,500 worth of supplies and materials from generous donors from Donors Choose. Almost all of them were people I did not know, who were simply wanting to become a citizen philanthropist for schools in need.I am forever grateful to Donors Choose- they have made teaching for me ten times better and thus also benefiting my students as well! WE LOVE DONORS CHOOSE! :)

Running- A Chance at Humility

Our race on Saturday went ok. It never ceases to amaze me how HOT it can be on race day!! It was about 80 degrees at 7am and 2745% humidity!

Consequently,this greatly affected race time,with it only being 28 minutes, 1 minute WORSE then last time. Ouch. Talk about humble pie- especially because I have been running so consistently and I thought I'd do much better.
Oh well, I'm going to blame the insane humidity for this one! Hopefully by the time the real race hits in August, I will be well versed in heat running. I ran 5 1/2 miles this morning in 79 degree weather and 81% humidity. I also did it in 53 minutes- little over a 9 minute mile. I was pleased!

Summer truly is a lovely time. Sleeping in late (ok like 8:00 but compared to 5:30, it's majorally late), eating whatever I want whenever I feel like it, cleaning our house regularly so it's not a dump on the weekends, pool time, seeing friends & family more often, catching up on all the movie and TV shows I never have time for during the school year, no alarm clocks screaming at me ever ;even during naps I might want to take, working out and running in the morning when I'm fresh instead of after school and have no energy! Oh and one more great thing about summer, I can actually COOK real food!!! Ahh, I got so tired of eating grilled cheese and cereal every night.Poor Jason probbaly did too but he never complained! :) I'm trying THIS recipee tonight. We'll see how it goes!!

Running

My second 5K is this Saturday. Last one I did in 27 minutes- a 9 minute mile which is pretty good for me! After running this week, I'm hoping to do this one in sub 25 minutes. We shall see though. After running yesterday morning and then going to a total body conditioning class last night,my left ankle feels weird. I was telling a running friend that it doesn't hurt, it just feels weak. And not normal. That's the only way I know how to describe it- but hopefully resting today (cross training day) and tomorrow (no running the day before the race, just a nice long relaxing walk w/ the hubby!) will put me in good shape for the hot and humid race day on Saturday! Bring on that turkey trot race! :)

I've really been wanting THIS for some time now. With all my running lately, I think it would be a great help as I try to keep a good pace as well as my distance. The other day I thought I had been running 3.5 miles and turns out it was only 2.75! Not cool!

However, the prices is a bit steep. I'm going to keep thinking about it and maybe a bit later I'll take the plunge and spend almost half a paycheck on a small little device such as this! :)

Rain Rain Go Away...

I feel BLAH on day such as these! I despise rain and I can't go out and run so thus what do I do, lay on the couch! So far today I have caught up on the Bachelorette (Why do I get hooked into these scripted reality tv shows? I don't know, but I must watch every week!) and watched the :

It was a great movie, a classic that I apparently had been missing out on! I also spent a few hours researching stuff for school- I can't seem to get away from thinking about school!! I think I have a sickness- it's call obsessive compulsively wanting to always improve and try new things out! It's a very expensive sickness!! :)

As a way to be productive, I am attempting to complete our wedding scrapbook. It's been almost 3 years and I'm barely half-way there. It's driving me crazy to have an undone project!!!