Bummer!

Yesterday was my first day of my 2010 exercise plan in action. I went to the gym and did 40 minutes of weight lifting and then did some mat pilates while I watched TV with my husband. Normally, I would do the actual buns/thighs video, but it got late and I figured I could kill two birds...

There is a lovely soreness in my arms and legs today that makes me super duper proud of my get fit efforts yesterday.

I am so disappointed though, because despite my motivation to get this new workout plan going, I am feeling awful today! I had trouble sleeping last night and felt a cold coming on this morning. Today was one of those days when I was really glad to not be a classroom teacher because I had a big break in my schedule during which I went home and took a little snooze on the couch. Before I went back to school for my afternoon schedule, I took a day time Sudafed. During my 2:00 class I started to feel extremely sick/nauteous and literally thought, oh no, I am going to throw up in the classroom! (If you read one of my recent posts, you may remember my extreme displeasure for vomiting...did you know that there is actually a name for the fear of vomiting??? emetephobia. too funny!)

Anyway, I breathed my way through and left school right after my last class. I went home, ate some bread, sipped some water, and rested up. I am feeling better, but not in any way up for the biking/running on my exercise schedule.

Bummer!

Isn't that always the way...

Well, tomorrow is a national holiday in Germany, so both my husband and I have the day off. Good timing because I would hate to take a sick day two days in after a two week break. Hopefully, I am not sick and getting some rest will help.

On the bright side, my feeling icky results in hubby getting his own dinner and me not having to prepare something.

I heart Mem Fox

Today one of my friends read the story Koala Lou to me. Koala Lou is one of Mem Fox's books and I heart Mem Fox. I actually have not read a lot of her books, but judging from the two I have read,

I heart her.

Koala Lou is the story of a little Koala Bear in Australia who feels a little left out and sad once her mom has other babies. She thinks that her mama does not love her as much anymore because she no longer says it all the time like she used to..."Koala Lou, I DO love you." (we had a lot of fun repeating that and practicing the emphasis on the DO). Koala Lou decides to enter the Bush Olymics because she thinks that if she wins, her mother will lover her again. Koala Lou practices and trains, but it is Koala Klaws who wins the gum tree climb. Koala Lou cries her heart out, but the comfort she gets from her mama makes all the difference in the world and the story ends:

"Koala Lou, I DO love you! I always have, and I always will."

Since the story takes place in Australia, many of the animals pictured were unfamiliar to both of us, so I went online and printed colored photos of a few that were specifically mentioned; emu, kookaburra, platypus, koala, and kangaroo. I also found some animal information printouts at enchantedlearning.com The drawback for Enchanted Learning is that you have to pay for membership and membership is required in order to download most of their activities and worksheets. Luckily, my school has an account so I was able to do so. I am not going to lie, I don't really love the activities that come from this source, but I did find printable sheets that have the animals I wanted, with a labeled image of each. Each animal page contains information about that animal including its size, where it lives, what it eats, what its babies are called, and parts of its anatomy (labeled in the picture).

After we finish the story (the bell rang right when it was Koala Lou's turn to climb the gum tree leaving us with a dramatic cliffhanger!), I want to relate the book to some non-ficiton reading and writing with my little friend. I am going to have her read some descriptions of animals and then match the descriptions with the photos and animal names. Once we learn more about these strange and interesting animals, I want my friend to select her favorite and write a nice paragraph about that animal including a topic sentence and several details. Depending on how long that takes, we may choose more than one animal and make a book. I work with this friend twice a week for 50 minutes, so I always prepare too much and then just play it by ear. I also want to do a compare/contrast with another story we read that was also about animals competing in olympic games. I really want to get her to write as much as possible since she struggles with spelling/writing. I will probably have her do one or two writing activities based on the story as well such as a summary or a description of Koala Lou.

Before she read to me, this friend carefully examined all three books that I brought by looking at all the pictures in each one and she asked me what each one was about. I love that she is so invested in what she reads and wants to make sure she is interested in it. Since I do many follow up activities on any book we read, I am glad she takes the time to choose what she is interested in.

Back to the lovely Mem Fox...

Another one of her fantastic books is Wilfred Gordon McDonald Partridge. This is such a touching story about a little boy who lives next door to a nursing home. When he learns that Miss Nancy, one of the residents, has lost her memory, he sets out to ask some of the other residents what a memory is because he is unsure. Each person has a different explanation, so he collects items of his own that fit each description so he can show Miss Nancy and help her get her memory back.  This is quite a tear jerker if I do say so myself and a really fantastic book to help kids respect and value people who are older...like 96 year-old Miss Nancy!

Here are some more of the books she has authored:

Do you have an all-time favorite children's author?

I would love to hear who your favorites are!

PS You may notice some changes in my layout as I am attempting to make my page less cluttered. I removed all of my blog awards, but I just want to say that does not mean I am not extremely appreciative of having received them, I just want to make more space for content. I love getting awards, but I will just cherish them secretly from on! I thought if I removed everything from the right column that I would have more room for my posts, but that was not the case because my format is still set up for three. I am gearing up to do a real blog makeover with the help of the amazing Leslie, and I know she can fix it, but she is quite busy, so that might not be for awhile and I would love to fix it sooner.

Anyone know if changing from a three column format to just two is an easy fix for someone with zero formatting skills??

Friend Makin' Monday

Wow! The first Friend Makin' Monday of 2010!

Today's theme is favorite holiday pictures.

Check out more at Amber's blog!

I adore this picture of my husband and me with our almost one year old niece! He met her for the first time over Christmas and I got to see her for the third time. Not the most flattering picture of me, but it's all about the baby!

What happened to the Sneaker part of Sneakerteacher?

My intention was always to have my blog be more about teaching than fitness, but I always like to inject a little bit of health & wellness talk to inspire myself (and others?) to get fit and be healthy. Other health conscious bloggers like Kelly, Katie, Jenny, and Gina continuously inspire me to be a healthier, more fit, and happier me and I love having that connection to health/fitness conscious people because it brings with it a virtual support system and accountability to continue incorporating healthy eating and exercise in my life.

One of my goals for the new year is to get back on the exercise bandwagon and improve my strength and muscle tone. Last night I sat down and created a plan for myself which will hopefully help me stick with that goal and see results. For me, writing down a specific plan helps to motivate me and get me jumpstarted. The teacher in me knows that I would not begin my workweek without a plan of what to do with my students, so why should the health nut/exercise guru that I aspire to be set out without a plan? Rather than just have "exercise" on my daily agenda, I am going to try being more specific so that when it's time to work out, I have "lesson plans." My weekly schedule is as follows:

Monday- weight training & Windsor Pilates Buns/Thighs

Tuesday- recumbent bike (30 min) & run (20 min & build up)

Wednesday- weight training & Jackie Arms

Thursday- Run (20 minutes & build up) & Treadclimber (30-40 min)

Friday- weight training & Jackie Abs

Saturday- choice cardio (45 min)

Sunday- off

Weight training sessions include:

Machines

Inner thigh

Outer thigh

Hamstring curl

Leg press

Leg extension

Chest flies

Squats

Lunges

Free weights

Bicep curls

Tricep dips/overhead extensions

Lateral shoulder raises

Chest press

Bentover row

Abs

Plank (1 minute x 2)

Bicycles

Crunches

I have made many similar lists in the past and life always manages to get in the way of staying on perfect track, yet I still feel the need to outline and write down specifically what I want to do. I don't necessarily tend to get bored with the same workout routine done over and over, yet monotony in exercising does not create excellent results. Mixing it up and keeping your muscles on their toes makes for greater improvements. That is why I am mixing in a few workout videos each week that focus on specific areas. Of course each video indicates that it should be done 3-5 times a week for optimum results, but I need to let go of that and enjoy the fact that I will be challenging myself and my body in many different areas.

So, my challenge to myself is to give this new workout regimen a try and see what happens!

Is it really almost time to go back?

Do you ever feel like you need another vacation to compensate for vacation? We traveled to the US and then went to Berlin for New Year's and now I feel like I have a ton of "around the house" stuff to to do to make up for the time I was gone. I don't exactly feel relaxed and ready to go back to work.

The washing machine and dryer have been running all day. The cycles on our German washer/dryer take SO long that I can literally do laundry all day and not get it all done. Oh wait...we did wake up at 12:45 pm, so I guess I can't really say I have been doing laundry all day.

We went grocery shopping since we had literally nothing to eat. Ok, that is a lie. We had nothing healthy to eat. We loaded the cart with fruit, veges, and chicken and I am ready to resume eating healthfully. I am planning on making some good salads this week to detox from the holiday and travel eating.

I also need to get my butt to the gym and put an end to my lingering 500 km of biking goal. I joined in with Kelly and some other bloggers in setting a goal to bike a certain number of miles (in my case kilometers) before the end of 2009. I came super close and biked 455 of the necessary 500 kilometers, but I dropped the ball at the last minute and did not finish the last 45 km before the ball dropped on New Year's. Crap! Being the overachiever that I am, I set my goal high, which is fine, but I am bummed that I am the only one who participated in the challenge that did not meet her goal. Ugh. But, being the driven person that I am, I don't care if it is now 2010, if I said I would do it, I am going to follow through and meet my goal. I won't win Kelly's awesome Trader Joe's prize package, but that is probably a good thing for both of us because shipping to Germany would be a pain/expensive for her and I would probably have to pay a tax on the package once it arrived. If you are not familiar with Kelly's blog, check it out. Especially if you are looking for some inspiration in the fitness/get off your butt and get moving category. She is continuously challenging herself and others to get active which is a great source of motivation.

I said I would post some pics from our New Year's in Berlin, so here are a few for your viewing pleasure...

(I posted better ones on my other blog about our life in Germany. That blog is by invitation only since I am paranoid about posting photos of where we live etc, but I am happy to invite my readers if anyone is interested. If you email me, go to my profile page for the address, I can add you to the "approved readers" list. That sounds so snobby, but as soon as I had a creepy looking guy pop up on the followers list, I got nervous about having the content out there for anyone to read)

Happy New Year

We went to Berlin for two days to celebrate New Year's Eve. It was a lot of fun and once I upload all of my pictures, I will post some of them.

Like many others, for me the beginning of a new year marks a time to reflect and think about the past year as well as what I hope to accomplish/achieve in the year to come. On the drive home from Berlin, my husband and I were talking about all that we have done in not only the last year, but the past decade, since it's now 2010. We graduated high school, met each other in college and fell in love, graduated college, got our first place together, got real jobs, moved to Oregon, we both got our master's, got married, bought a house, and moved to Germany, and I started my doctorate (just to name a few things).

I wonder what I will have to say about our lives at the end of the next decade?

There are a few things that I have on my mind for 2010.

1. Get in better shape which includes eating a healthier diet and trying to cut out as many processed foods as I can. I want to do weight training at least 3 times a week and incorporate more running into my workout schedule. It's time to firm up the tush and get in on the skinny jeans action. I would like to see some "winter padding" shed and some inches lost, but I also just want to feel the benefits of being stronger and active in my daily life. Over the holidays I took a little hiatus from exercising and I started to feel awful, so I want to reap the physical and mental benefits of exercise. Hubby too!

2. Relax and go with the flow. I am not gonna lie, I can be really uptight sometimes. Wanting to be in control, not really being flexible and calm, and not liking situations that aren't planned out. But, I have realized recently, during my efforts to be more relaxed, that it is a lot more fun to just enjoy the moments that life has to offer without getting flustered and giving my sweet husband a hard time. When I am more chill, my husband and I get along better and I have a lot more fun. Not everything needs to be planned out and if plans change, sometimes it's for the better.

3. Make a quilt. I am so excited for this one! I met a nice woman here in Germany who is going to work with me and teach me how to make a quilt. When I was in the US over the holidays, my mom and I went to a fabric store and picked out some super cute fabric for my very first quilt. My grandmother makes beautiful quilts and I never learned from her, but I would like to acquire the skills, so that I can someday teach my daughter (or son) and carry on the tradition. I am going to make a baby quilt to start and I am so excited for the day I can bundle by baby in something that I made with my own hands during my time in Germany.

4. Think more about others and less about myself. I would like to make more of an effort to try and see situations from other perspectives and to be more sensitive to the needs/wants/ideas of others both in my professional life and in my personal life.

5. Read at least one book for pleasure each month. I read so much for my classes that it can leave little time for reading for fun. Even though reading for information is important, it's also important to take the time to read for relaxation and enjoyment. I got some new books when I was in the US and I already finished a couple of them. I read Precious and It's Not All Flowers and Sausages. I also bought The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and I am reading The Secret Lives of Bees right now.

I am excited to get started on all of these goals/resolutions.

Happy New Year everyone!