DOG FRIENDS

so the past month i have really
been missing my old dog, Jordan. She was the perfect dog....cute, full of energy, happy all the time, loved me, obeyed prefectly, could get away with sleeping in my bed, and had tons of puppies. She was awesome and i loved her a lot. But like most childhood dogs- she died! But i still think about her all the time and wish that i had enough time and enough room here in the cities to get a dog just like jordan. i tried to convince my dad the other week to get another dog; one just like Jordan (english springer spanial); but he wouldn't buckle. i even tired the pouty lips and sappy smile....nothing worked. but....


fortunatly i have a couple friends that have dogs that i can borrow, play with, run with and even pretend that there mine sometimes. Donta (aka - 'the roups"), since Jordan, has become my all time favorite dog. he is massive...but a complete puppy at heart. he and i go for lots of runs...and we love to pretent fight with each other. 'the roups' is owned by keith and allison anderson - but someday i think i might just have to take him off there hands! donta makes me smile and is a great pal.

i also just made a brand new friend this afternoon. Linus and I became fast friends. he is full of life and has the best hair! he and i took a long walk today. I needed to get outside and be in the sunlight after a hard days work and Linus decided to join me. john and celeste rundquist own linus and trusted me enough to take him for a couple hours. Linus made me laugh tonight...he got into my underwear and had a pair wrapped around his head....i wish i would have gotten that on camera. Linus and I have potential to become buddies. Simply...I miss having a dog around. The statment holds true; a dog really is a mans (or womens)best friend.

First Day of Teacher Workshops!!!

Back to school....after a much needed relaxing summer I am ready to get back into my school schedule. This will be my 5th year at North View Junior High School; a place that I have grown to love. This year brings a couple new changes for me. The biggest being I will be teaching four 9th grade physcial education classes and sharing a office space with Darci (you can see half of her in the pciture). This is my office....I have spent the last two days and a some hours last week getting my office set up and ready. I haven't taught phy ed classes for over seven years so I am looking forward to the new challenge and the new scenery!
This other picture is the way I am going to be spending the other two hours of my day...teaching 7th grade health class. The challenge of doing that this yeas is that my classroom moved to the sceince rooms and I will be sharing my space with another teacher. I guess that just gives me the chance to get to know other teachers- right! My passion has alwasy been teaching health class, so I am sure I will miss teaching all six classes of health! But my guess is that the day will not be boring and I will get my exercise running back and forth from the girls locker room to my science room. REGARDLESS of my set up of rooms I am ready to tackle the school year.

We had a motivational speaker talk to us on Monday morning and he had great things to say. He gave us three things to use during our days, months and year to keep our ATTITUDE positive. #1- to protect our ears...to really be careful at what we let ourselves hear and what we let pentatrate our mind. He gave us a saying to use whenver we feel like our attitude is starting to fade...."dont steal my joy"! He also gave us movement to do with it. I have already had to walk away from a teacher saying "dont steal my joy"....it might become my new favorite saying #2 - to protect our eyes...again, to be careful at what we let our eyes see. And to make sure that we are always seeing the positive in situations. #3 - to be careful what we say. and to say positive things more often; especially when we are proud of others...and for that matter proud of ourselves! The more positive things we say (to ourselves or to others) the better our atttidue will be. He was a great speaker and got us all fired up. Plus, after listening to him for about 5 minutes I knew he was a Christian...what a cool thing to have a Christain speaker speak 'truth" into over 1500 teachers...some of which I am sure aren't beleivers. I felt very blessed!

Go MOM!

so we (the family) were sitting around the table friday night eating burgers at ma and pa's house and Carey mentioned that she was running in the Mora 1/2 marathon saturday morning. FYI - Carey is an animal when it comes to running; she is fast and makes running look effortless; i wish i was her! Anyways- Carey also mentioned that there was a 5K run as well. So my mother - God Bless her- got this crazy idea that she wanted to run in the 5K. Now let me give you the DL (down low) on my mother. She hasnt ran a long distance in a very long time...but, is determined and when she gets an idea in her head it cant be changed. She also was dealing with a cut/sore on the top of her foot. So...after some converstation she convinced me to run it with her. It was a great time. Mom did awesome. She did the first whole mile with out walking at all, and did the last two with alot of heart. We finished in 40 minutes; with smiles on our faces. Mom ended up winning 2nd in her age group...go figure! I, on the other hand - did not win a thing, but it was well worth it to see my mom finished a 5K run! She tells me that she is going to stay motivated and run a bit more...and maybe prepared ahead of time for the 5k next year. Carey also won 2nd in her age group finishing her 1/2 in 1:44:37. She is awesome, like i said!!!!! Overall it was a good time. I am very proud of my mom- and even though it took us 40 minutes to finish she has motivated me to work a bit harded in my training for Tri's. OUT.

Camping in the back yard

So I remember when I was a kid camping was so much fun. Our faimly use to do a lot of it while I was growing up. Sometimes I miss being a kid. So this past week I headed north to ma and pa's house to spend a couple days and thought I'd bring the tent out and do some camping with my nephews (Matt is in the vikings shirt and Austin in the orange) and my neice (Emma). Kids are so much fun. No matter what you do, they love it. So, dad and I set up the tent in the back yard and the kids and I spent the night in it. We also made a little bon-fire and had smores. No matter how old a person gets smores will always taste great!
I also remember when I was a kid playing tons and tons of flash light tag...so, I taught the kids the rules and we played flash light tag in the dark for hours. It was so much fun! Man, these kids are not afraid of anything....especially the dark. As a 31 year old, sitting in the dark by myself was a little unnerving...not for the kids- they are fearless! Over all it was a great evening spent playing tag, a great night in the tent and a good time for me to remember how much fun my childhood was. I love my nephews and my neice....and man, are they fun! They wore me out big time and upon my return to the cities I took a much needed nap.

My Summer Appointment

My summer appointment everyday for the past couple of weeks has been my pool; located just down the road from my townhouse. It has been a haven for me as I get ready to wrap up my summer and tackle the kid-o's at school. I head down to the pool at about 12:30 - lay around for a spell and head home an hour or 2 later. I love it! Outside of catching many rays ( i think my skin is the tannist it's going to get- bummer!), i've read a couple very interesting books. One in which focus mostly on men and womens roles in dating...specificaly it focus on 'first date roles'. I learned a ton from it. I also am reading another book that focus on dating - but is bit more in depth! I think any and all single 30 somethings should read these books. "The Art of the First Date" (it's in a serious of books called A Marriable Book) is a quick and easy read. I highly suggest it to any of you out there that are struggling with dating! I have been doing many things wrong in the whole dating thing. I also took many much needed naps while laying at the pool. Naps are hard to come bye once school and basketball start so I will soak them up now...they are the best! I also did some day dreaming, some praying, some talking with kids playing at the pool ( kids are so fun to watch- always fun of energy), listening to some good music on my new ipod and of course taking a dip in the pool when I get to hot. I love my haven and will miss it when summer ends. But intil that happens- I will continue to enjoy my summer appointments.
NO WORRIES!

unexpected visitor!

So i woke up bright and early today and went straight to my computer to check my email, for no reason...just to check it. Vollie, a very good friend of mine from high school emailed me that she was free today and we should try to get together. I was over joyed, since this past week i have been a bit on the bored side. So...excitedly i went to the phone to call her. sure enough she was free and wanted a break from all the construction happening in her house, so she came over to mine for lunch. I love catching up with good friends. friends that will always be mine close friends no matter how often (or lack of) we see each other. we spent all morning chatting. she has so much going on her life; so much change! and she is doing it with grace and with energy. vollie is a spirit filled friend and i am so thankful for that; and so thankful for how open she is to share whats going on with her. today i was encouraged by her, and challenged.

on a complete different note i bought a new CD (i love buying new CD's!!!) the other day and am completely hooked. i need to share the words of one of the songs; it speaks life into me...especially when i start to feel sorry for myself, or when things aren't going the way i want them to, go when i get tired of 'storms'. So here is 'Praise you in the Storm' by Casting Crowns.

I was sure by now
That You would have reached down
And wiped our tears away
Stepped in and saved the day
But once again, I say Amen and it's still raining
As the Thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain
"I'm with you"
And as Your meary falls
I raise my hand and praise the God who gives
And takes away
(chorus) I'll praise You in this storm
And I will lift my hand
For You are who You are
No matter where I am
Every tear I've cried
You hold in Your hand
You never left my side
And though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm

I remember when
I stumbled in the wind
You heard my cry
You raised me up again
My strength is almost gone
How can I carry on
If I cant find You.
(chorus)

Mandi is in town!

i love it when my friend mandi is in town. she has lived in new york for the past 2 1/2 years...and it's so fun to have her in MN again. A bunch of us went out to celebrate her 30th bithday (it on the 11th) at the pizza factoy in friendly fridley last night. we had a great time catching up and laughing at each other. As you can tell our group is a bit crazy....Sunil is the dude in the back row not looking at the camera and of course being silly! Mary Jo is Mandi's mom who for sure was the life of the party and Jake added a whole new twist to the group... non of us had meet Jake before, except for Mary Jo! After we had pizza, with saurekraut on it (it is actually really good), we headed to a near by bar that had karaoke. nicki (she is in the black and white shirt) busted out a song for us. if you have never heard nicki sing before than by-golly you are missing out big time. she rocks my world! mandi got crazy and needed to sing 'islands in the streams' (with jake)...she is a dolly parton wanna be! it was a great time and i really miss seeing mandi on a regular basis. she is a good friend and i have come to love her very much! i just wish she could stay in MN longer than just a week. but i guess new york life is just to much fun for her.

on a complete different note, i finally got to go to church this morning. i have not been to MY church (Open Door in Maple Grove) since june 11th - too many vacations, to much running around like a crazy lady! i have missed church very much and realized it today as i worshiped with my community of believers and soaked in the message. I walked away feeling very happy and very energized! Today the message was about relationships and how we live life. The pastor used a line and a circle to illistrate how we live life! The line being a life in which we do a lot of comparing, competeing, judging others. the line has no center - no focus point. the circle being a life in which we can see others, relate to others, forgive others and are thankful for the place we are at in life; a place we can be real and be accepted. there is a center in a cirlce - a focal point; that center being Jesus. i was (am)challenged at how i live life...am i in a line or in a cicle? do i see other people or do i do a whole lot of judging? do i relate or compete? it was good. i missed church alot.

Baby Kaitlyn

my friends tammy sue and bart fischer from college had their
2nd baby about two weeks ago and man oh man is she a cute little lady. i went over there the other day to meet and greet her and to catch up with tammy sue. both mom and baby are well and looking very healthy. theres something very soothing and peaceful about holding a little tike like kaitlyn in your arms and just starring at her. although i am not a mother and have no idea what giving birth is all about - i can still say that i am so proud of (and in awe of) all the mothers out there. this past week, three of my good freinds gave birth and all had healthy baby miracles! some day...in the good Lords time, I will get to expereince that miracle. but til that time - i will enjoy those little tike around me! congrats tammy sue and bart! nice work.

CHISAGO LAKES TRI

What is satisfaction? I have been working hard on figuring out what that word means. I think I am a pretty competitive person and because of that I do a lot of comparing myself to others (in all areas of my life, not just in athletics) and usually fall short...and in turn I have a hard time feeling satisfied. But.. this past summer I have been challenged in how I look at satisfaction. I have been competing in Tri-Athlons and am enjoying the challenges they bring, both athleticlly and mentally! Usually I would think that the only way I am (was) successful, or felt satisfied, would be if I 'beat' people; wether in a game or in a race. But since my Tri's I am learning that beating people isn't the only way I can feel satisfied! This past Sunday I took part in my 1st OFFICIAL Tri-Athlon. It was in Chisago Lakes and consisted of 1/4 mile swim, 22 mile bike, and 3.2 mile run! I was soooo nervous! Over 1000 racers took part and it seemed overwhelming. The heat in-dex was high so I was nervous about that as well. And they changed the bike portion of the race from 15 miles to 22 miles due to construction - only in MN!!!! I had been training for 15 - not 22 so that made me the most nervous. My goal going into the race was to finished in 95 minutes. Of course, that goal was when I thought I was biking 15 miles, not 22. Well, as you can imigine I did not meet my 95 minute goal...but as I sat on the grass with my mom and dad and thought about my performance... I was actually satisfied! I didn't meet my goal, I didn't beat some people that I thought I should and I sure didn't finish at the top, but I still felt very satisfied! My finishing time was 2:13:48.8. Not the best time, but there was still something deep down inside me that was screaming 'good job'...I know that if my friend Linda or Sara or Chad were racing against me that they would have beat me and weird enough, I was ok with that thought; usually I would not be OK with that thought. I finished, I felt good and I really enjoyed the process! I felt like I did the best that I could, I tried and pushed hard, and I had fun! I know I have things that I NEED to get better at, like my running time, but still I felt satisfied! A SELF accomplishement!!!! I am digging these tri-athlons a lot! My brother Chris asked me why I enjoy punishing my body like that and the only answer I had for him was 'because it makes me feel satisfied'. I am sure I wont always feel this way, but I like the lesson that I am learning this summer about satisfication! oh yes...I look like I was in pain at the end of my race...right!!! cuz I was....my legs were dead!