Monday, April 29, 2013

I Will Mend!!!

Will 

I know this bad a@# biker named Will...

When I say bad a@#, I mean it.

He writes this awesome blog, and most of his post are about races that he do out in the woods somewhere.

Can you image someone biking 100 miles, on a mountain bike, in the woods, and in the rain?

Well....that is some of the s#$% that Will does, and every one of his post makes me want to push harder.

Will makes me feel as if I have not even tapped into my potential yet.

I read one of his blogs titled "I Will Mend," and it inspired me so much until I HAD to get permission to share it with my readers whom I know will appreciate it and be completely inspired.

Here it is.

Be inspired, My People!

"I WILL MEND!"


Sunday, April 28, 2013

Boston Strong!

I traveled to Boston this weekend, and I am happy to report that Boston is still STRONG!









Enjoy this day!!!

Friday, April 26, 2013

Two Whole Years of Working Out With The Greatest Trainer in the World: Berhane!!!


Today marks two years that I have been working out with The Greatest Trainer in the World, Berhane!



Yep, it's been two of the best years of my life, and I am planning to workout with him for the next 90 plus years.....



For this anniversary blog, I pondered what should I tell my readers that I did not tell you guys in my one year anniversary blog.




First, if you do anything over and over again, it will become a habit.

Every Saturday I get up early and do some type of exercise, and that's just what I do. Every Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, I workout with Berhane at 4PM, and that's just what I do. I prepare most of my meals at home, and that's just what I do. I make no excuses EVER!!!!!



During challenging workouts and eating things that are good for my body is what I do all the time; it's a habit!



I read a friend's post on Facebook, and she stated something about a "cheat day," a day where she eats whatever she wants. I chuckled to myself when I first read this, because I use to look forward to "cheat day" or "cheat meal," but I eventually realized that I was only cheating myself.

Why would anyone do something for a whole day that is not good for his/her body? I look forward to fresh fruit and vegetables, and I eat them over and over at home and at some of the best restaurants, and it has become a habit. There is nothing like kale, brussel sprouts, beans, peas. Cheating for me is putting extra peanut butter on my apple slices. (Yummy!) I consistently eat things that are good for my body, it has become a habit, and I am loving the results.



Second, I do not believe in diets AT ALL unless you are going to stay on that diet for the rest of your life. Why not eat things that are good for our bodies most of the time, and reap the benefits: good cholesterol, great blood pressure, no diabetes, lean and strong bodies etc? 

My diet is eating as much as I want of the things that God put on this earth for us, not foods that are processed by man.



Last, but not least, I want to encourage my readers to find a health partner, and you guys consistently encourage each other to not have a "cheat day" and to workout consistently and to your highest potential.

Berhane: The Greatest Trainer in the World!

Berhane is my health partner, and I never take for granted the privilege of working out with him. He use to care more about my health than I do (Now, I care just as much!), he never lets me use excuses to not workout or eat right, and he is always helping me to assess my diet in order to achieve new goals that we are always setting. I may be able to do this health journey by myself, but I do not want to. (People need other people, or at least I do for sure.)

What I know for sure is that you can start your health journey right now. Your age, weight, where you live, your children, your spouse, lack of time, all of that is NO EXCUSE!!!

If you want to be extremely happy, work on your health..........

Good Health is Priceless.

I love being a lean, strong, burning machine!

By the way, every exercise in this post was done in one session with The Greatest Trainer in the World, and sometimes...



Two of the Best Years of My Life, because I am getting younger, and younger, and younger..........

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO ME!!!!!





Wednesday, April 24, 2013

It's On Now!!




We, the ladies of Black Women Bike DC (BWBDC), received our new jerseys this week....

Look for us all over the place!!!

It's On Now......

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Sunday, April 21, 2013

Complete Happiness!

Shenandoah Valley


Shenandoah Valley with Good People!





Wine with Good People!






Biking with Good People!






Do the things that you love to do with Good People!

I'm completely happy today........

By the way, I'm absolutely loving Spring.

Friday, April 19, 2013

Discipline



In my many years of working with children, I have found one MAIN predictor of success: DISCIPLINE!

Being disciplined is fundamental, My people, and can be developed into a habit.....

"Develop good habits and become their slave!"


Wednesday, April 17, 2013

"I Need a Good Cry!"

“Yesterday, I cried.
I came home, went straight to my room,
sat on the edge of my bed,
kicked off my shoes, unhooked my bra,
and I had myself a good cry.” 
― Iyanla Vanzant, Yesterday, I Cried 


Today, I was mentally overloaded, and I thought about the above quote by Iyanla Vanzant. I could not wait to get home to take off my bra and get in the bed and have a really good cry....

I am not sad! No, that is not it at all!

It's just.......I can't find the exact words, but let me draw you a mental picture!

Since September, I have been on the grind mentally..I have read lots of short stories, poems, novels, essays, emails, and I have also read many, many books for pleasure. I've crammed a lot of knowledge into this brain.

In a given day, I make sooooo many decisions and not all of my decisions are good, but I have given up on being perfect. But, all those decisions, about and for children, will cause the brain's circuit breaker to come on and shut down the mental flow for a little while for preservation.

I'm not complaining, but after a day that started at 5am, because I need to do cardio before I go to work, writing two evaluations on students, teaching The Odyssey to two classes, listening and evaluating an AP student's presentation, planning for the day that I am taking off, and sitting through a presentation on how to fulfill the requirements for the new state evaluation system, my brain is on complete overload, and I feel the need to take off my bra and cry!

After a good cry, I will more than likely feel relieved, and my mental flow will start again, and I will laugh at myself real hard, and tomorrow I will attend to my tasks with joy.

So, I am off to cry, but.....Don't feel bad for me, because I am not sad; I just need a good cry!

Summer........where are you?

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

But Something Will be Different

Martin Richard: Killed at the Boston Marathon!

Every since that bomb went off at the Boston Marathon, my mind has been on that eight year old boy who was killed by that bomb.

At eight, Martin had not even gotten a glimpse of how good life is....

If you have ever been to a race before, you that atmosphere is typically festive. As a runner, the crowd is what gives me that lift that I need during a race.

Some random stranger saying "You are almost at the finish line," or "Keep up the good work," goes a long way when a person has ran many miles or have many miles to go.  

Being that the Boston Marathon is such a huge event, I know that the crowds were probably extremely festive.....

I experienced some of this festive feeling as I was doing a bike ride a few weekends ago, and we rode in the path of the Cherry Blossom race that attracts so many runners until there is a lottery drawn to determine who will run in this race. 


Cherry Blossom Race!

When I saw that flood of runners, my heart leaped, because I know how exciting it is to participate and finish a race with lots of people watching.

However, in Boston, many runners never got the opportunity to experience that feeling of joy of completing that famous Boston Marathon. Months and months of training, and no reward...........

But not only was there no reward, but there was no joy! 

How unfortunate that something that can make people, both participants and spectators, so happy, can end in total disaster.

I've been trying to find the light in this situation, and right now, I just can not find any.

I know that this tragedy in Boston will change races forever, but I hope that this does not change the excitement that surrounds races. 

I've been thinking about my next race, but now, I am thinking about it with caution.....

Boston will continue to be strong, the race will go on, the spectators will still come, but something will be different!

Join me in lifting up the injured, the families of the dead, and everyone who was there to witness what I know will change races forever.......



Sunday, April 14, 2013

Yep, that's The White House in the Background

(Lots of random thoughts again, because I feel the need to write.)

With friends at the White House!

It does not take much to make me extremely happy!

Something like a song that I really like randomly playing on Pandora is enough for me to stand in front of a full length mirror and dance, dance, dance.

Yesterday, I did this bike ride called The Hills of Anacostia with a local bike shopI contacted one of my cycling friends to see if she would do this ride with me. So, she and I and some other riders did this extremely, hilly ride, and all that I can say is that this ride made me so happy.

We rode all over DC, and ain't nothing like riding a bike through the streets of DC, and.....

It's Cherry Blossom season, and DC has this huge, annual Cherry Blossom Parade. Near the end of the bike ride, we rode in the area where people were getting ready to perform in the parade. It made me so happy to see the bands, the floats, the groups, all lined up in anticipation of this incredible parade. 

After that ride, my level of happiness and excitement was so high until I decided to use that energy to pull out my summer clothes and store away my winter clothes. 

When I walked into my house today, and my closets were neat and colorful, this made me smile to myself. Who doesn't love a organized, colorful closet?

Today, In church, I sat next to this elderly man who could have been my father's age, and I do not know why, but this made me happy.

The choir started singing this song that says "I surrender all," and that made me happy, because I really have surrendered my entire life to God, and it felt so good to sing those words today.

After church, I received a message from Gerald, who lives in New Jersey, and he called to say "Hi" and to let me know that he was in the area visiting his daughter who is a freshmen at a local college. To make a long story short, thanks to my friend Nancy,  Gerald and his daughter accompanied me to The White House Garden Show. Being on The White House Lawn, with friends, in the most pleasant weather, made me incredibly happy.

Yep, I was at The White House AGAIN.... FAVOR IS KNOCKING ME DOWN, and I like it!



The White House Garden!

Nothing life-altering happened this weekend, but quite a few small things happened that caused me to have little bouts of happiness, and I am planning to carry this happiness into next week.

I am grateful for happiness today!!!!!

Does anyone else get joy from being happy.......


Friday, April 12, 2013

Even Teachers Must Face Their Fears!



I absolutely love The Odyssey by Homer. I love the message that it gives of a person needing to take a journey and go through obstacles in order to find his/her way 'home.' I also love all of the fantasy and adventure that is in The Odyssey. The kid in me still loves adventure and loves to imagine.......

I normally teach The Odyssey to students whom I know will read it, and get it. However, after talking to others teachers, I decided to reluctantly teach The Odyssey to some of my more challenging classes, and boy has it been a very pleasant and rewarding experience.

With the more challenging students, I thought that teaching The Odyssey would be like pulling teeth without medication; I was quite sure that they would resist me and this text completely. However, I had forgotten that one of my gifts is making text accessible to students.

So, I did what I do to make students want to read a text: I presented the background knowledge in 'my love for literature kind of way' that is quite contagious, we discussed and wrote about heroes, we talked about life, and obstacles, and mid-life crisis, and after all of this, they were anxious to read about this man who is considered to be a hero by so many people.

The Odyssey has been completely entertaining and thought-provoking for my classes. The students and I have been able to create those vividly, written scenes in our minds, create cartoon strips to visually display what was in our minds as we read, and complete so many other thought provoking activities that surrounded this text.


Odysseus with the Cyclops!

The questions and ideas that this text has generated have been quite mind blowing as well. We discussed the idea that women seem to be a weakness for Odysseus, and we connected this to real life heroes. We discussed obstacles that people today may face that may lure us off of our paths. We talked about the idea of  being stuck between 'a rock and a hard place,' and how this phrase comes from The Odyssey and on and on and on....

Quite a few of the students told me that The Odyssey is one of their favorite stories that we have read this year. And to think that I was fearful about teaching this story, because I was afraid of the challenge. I guess that I had forgotten that teaching difficult text is my gift.

I would be lying if I stated that teaching The Odyssey has not been challenging, but it has also been rewarding for both the students and me......

Our "Giants" are not so big once we start to tackle them........

Challenge yourself by facing your fears, My People!







Thursday, April 11, 2013

Pride.....



I read this article by Joyce Meyer's, and I must share it.......

Do You Need to Get Over Yourself?
by Joyce Meyer
I want to love God and help people. That’s my goal in life each day. And when people ask me, “What’s your dream? What’s your vision?” I have one answer: I just want to help people.
If helping someone means teaching them the Word of God, then I want to teach the Word. If someone needs a hug, I want to give them a hug. If I can help someone by paying their rent for a month, I want to do that. Or if I can help people in India by going there and sharing the love of God, I want to go to India.
That’s what it means to walk in love—the God-kind of love. It’s about letting God use us however He wants to use us and knowing it’s all about Him. It’s about getting over ourselves and getting on with what God is calling us to do. Walking in love should be the number one goal of every Christian.

Deception That Can Trip You

There’s a deceptive sin that can keep us from walking in love: pride. It’s deceptive because when you have pride, you’re usually too proud to admit it. I know this because I used to have teachings on pride and they didn’t sell well.
We need to take this issue of pride seriously. Proverbs 16:5 (AMP) says, “Everyone proud and arrogant in heart is disgusting, hateful, and exceedingly offensive to the Lord….”
Pride is an independent, me-oriented spirit. It makes people arrogant, rude and hard to get along with. When our heart is prideful, we don’t give God the credit and we mistreat people, looking down on them and thinking we deserve what we have.

It’s Not About Us

“ Walking in love should be the number one goal of every Christian. ”
Sadly, the truth is, there aren’t many people who can be put in high positions who won’t start thinking highly of themselves.

God wants us to be dependent on Him rather than thinking we can do things ourselves and then take the credit when good things happen. It’s foolish for us to do this because the reality is our gifts, talents and abilities come from God. We can’t take credit for them.
My ability to communicate is a gift from God. I thank Him for it and want to use it for His service. Whatever you do well, realize that it’s not because of you – it’s because God has enabled you to do it well. It’s all about Him, not us.

Check Your Heart for Pride

I realize this is a hard message to hear. But we need to be honest about pride in our lives because if we aren’t, we will create a separation between us and God. And that’s the worst condition we can be in.
If you want to check your heart to see if you’re proud in an ungodly way, ask yourself:
  • How am I treating people?
  • How do I think about others?
  • Do I talk about myself more than I talk about God and what He’s done?
The good news is, we can humble ourselves and turn a bad situation around. Give God the glory for the good things in your life and show His righteousness by helping others—the poor, needy and oppressed. Make it all about Jesus.
Choose godly humility. With every success you have, tell the Lord, “I know I’m nothing without You. I can do nothing without You and I’m successful because of You.” When people compliment you, thank them and give them back to God. That’s where the glory really belongs. It’s all about Him.  (Source: http://www.joycemeyer.org/articles/ea.aspx?article=get_over_yourself)

Happy Thursday!
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