The Universe Has Spoken.....

People have often asked me what led to my moving to Alaska for 3 years. There's an explination that I normally give but the truth is a little more in depth. Yes, the economy and possibly losing my job was part of that but there's a bigger picture, maybe even a simpler answer: something wasn't working for me, so I had to change it. (In this case, the Californian economy and my personal life.)

Selfie in Akiak, AK

See, if something isn't working in my life, I can't just ignore it or wallow in it. I have to try to change it (okay, this does not apply to my weight, that is a code I can't crack just yet). I am not one to sit around and let things continue to be difficult. I have to reflect on what isn't working and is there something that I can do to change it.

Sometimes, the change has to be big, like it's time to move on, or the change might be something more subtle. When I first moved to Alaska, village life wasn't working for me. I didn't want to quit but I knew I had to make some changes, so I made a list of everything that was bothering me. Then next to that list, I brainstormed some things that I could do to help make it better. A simple thing was that I was frustrated that I wasn't getting my mail. So, I decided to make it a priority to leave work earlier to make sure I was able to get my mail. Then what happened was that once the postal worker got to know you and other teachers, other people could pick up your mail and bring it to you. So, not only was I able to change that one aspect but it also fixed itself in the long run. 

As a teacher, I reflect and make changes all the time. Sometimes, it's in the moment. Like my kids are looking at me blankly, so I need to change my wording, or give another example. Sometimes, it takes more planning and brainstorming. 

If there is something that I can do to improve a situation, then I want to find the solution and implement it. 

hint....

It's harder when the problem is bigger than you or that there seems to be nothing that I can do to change anything. I hate feeling helpless. Or when the solution involves me confronting someone that I don't trust. 

And last week, some of those bigger problems hit me head on. Oh, they've been there...growing....festering...until they exploded and brought me down. I was feeling completely overwhelmed and that things were getting out of control. 

Ironically, other issues I have been working on were improving. In many ways, things overall were getting better. But there are some toxic elements in my life right now that I just can't get under control. 

Fortunately, one of my coworkers saw me out of sorts and came to check in on me. Instead of pretending that I was fine, I decided to be honest. No, I was not fine. And I told her what I was feeling. 

Sometimes, we all need help. We can't function in isolation. It helps to have someone looking at a bigger picture when you are just focusing on the details. I felt ten times better and thought things were looking up.

Until the next day, when a misunderstanding about a parent complaint left me feeling crushed. Turns out, it wasn't even a complaint and I wasn't even the teacher it was directed at in the first place.  

But the damage was done. 

Ka'anapali Beach 2010

I texted a friend/coworker that something had happened and she came to check in on me. She helped talk me off the ledge of my career, so to speak, and calmed me down. But I had told her, "I just want to take some time off and sit on a beach for a couple of days. Maybe I should just, like, go to Hawaii."

I had reached out to my friends and feeling like I just need to weather the storm but I would be okay.

Then the day after that changed things for me.

On the third day of darkness, my credit card company (I have the Alaskan Airlines card) emailed me to let me know that I had earned a free ticket to Hawaii. 

I mean, it was just a ticket TO Hawaii, I'd have to get my own ticket back, and hotel, and rent a car and everything....

But as my friend said, "You just said yesterday that you should just go to Hawaii! Normally, I'd say save your money but not this time. You HAVE to go!"

So, to make a long story short (haha), I'm going to Maui for Spring Break!

I'm going to Hawaii!!

My sister-in-law is coming with me. I'm not renting a car because I am literally going to do nothing but sit on a beach for two days straight. (I have travel days, don't worry.) I'm not going to check out the sights. 

I've been to Maui before. I'm staying at a great hotel, in a great location (walking distance to stores & restaurants, etc) and for a good price. I'm going to rent a cabana and take naps on the beach, maybe reread a favorite book, and connect with the Earth. 

The universe is really listening. This is one of those times.

Proud Book Worm

I love to read. It's really a love of stories because I also love movies & television. But the fact I read so much seems to make me stand out from your average reader. I think it's also the fact that I am also a fast reader. I have a hard time putting books down because I know I can finish it if I read just a bit more.

Last year, I set the goal of reading 37 books. I ended up reading 52. Granted, it was actually 50 traditional books. I read some graphic novels and listened to a couple of audiobooks. So maybe some hardcore readers might not count my 52 as real books. I don't count re-reads. If Goodreads doesn't count them, then neither do I. 

I would argue that setting a high goal of reading new books takes away from the joy of re-reading some classic favorites. There's something very comforting and fun in a favorite book.

This year, I was debating how many books I wanted to read. I set a goal of 50 but I wasn't really feeling inspired by a reading challenge goal. Then I was poking around Pintrest when I found this gem:

I liked this idea. Not only are there 50 books on this list, but it was also about finding these books to cross off my list. Some of these would be easy to find. Others would not. A book that takes place in my hometown? My hometown is small....but guess what? Someone DID write a book about it. It's a non-fiction book about the town during the Prohibition Era. Who knew!?!

I became excited looking over the list. There's only one book I was supposed to read in high school but never finished (okay, there were two but I read The Great Gatsby last year) and that is The Scarlet Letter, so that's one to cross off my list. 

The book with bad reviews is throwing me off a bit. Even a Justin Beiber biography had 4 stars on Goodreads. I'm thinking of reading Fifty Shades of Grey because those bad reviews made me laugh really hard. But the thing with books is that one person loves it and the next might hate it. 

But the challenge is making me think more about what I am going to read. I've already crossed two of the categories off my list, but they could have gone in another category just as easily. 

It's fun to be excited about my reading this year. Even if I don't cross off every book in the challenge (who am I kidding, I totally will!) I will still have fun with it!

Wishing you a Happy 2015 and good luck with your challenges, reading or otherwise!!!

Back to School & a Twitter Challenge

My week of trying to eat healthy had it's good days and it's bad. But since I had mostly good days of avoiding soda & sugar, I am feeling rather positive about my week. I have done some research about replacement meal shakes and I have ordered a shake to try. I have The Virgin Diet shake mix but I am so hungry after a couple of hours despite adding fruits, coconut milk, & flax seed meal.....so I think the idea is good but it doesn't fill me up. My friend recommended Shakeology, so I will give that a try.

The stupidest thing I am doing lately is a Twitter Challenge that I made up for myself. I follow all these celebrities and I notice some of them respond to their fans. So I wondered if any would respond to me. Then I thought about it. Doesn't the law of averages say that if I send out enough tweets to celebrities then at least one would respond back? Now, I know that these celebrities must get thousands of tweets and they'd pretty much have to be on Twitter the same time I am to see my tweet. But I figure it's like hunting with shotgun pellets, if you shoot enough times, you are bound to hit something. So, the question then becomes: Who is going to be My Celebrity Tweet? Because it will happen. May the odds be ever in my favor. 

Thus far I have tweeted 15 celebrities, all well known in different genres and no responses. One of my tweets was favorited and I have several new followers thanks to my reaching out. I am not discouraged. This is gonna be awesome!

Here are the celebrities I have tweeted (just something nice & how much I appreciate what they do.):

George Takei
Dolph Ziggler
Derek Hough
Alan Tudyk
Kevin McKidd (hollywood crush)
William Shatner
Blake Shelton
Danny DeVito
The Rock
Neil Gaiman
Nathan Fillion
Levar Burton
Jimmy Fallon
John Stamos
Brent Spiner

Please note that I hold nothing against these guys (wow, no ladies ~ I will have to fix that) because I know what I am doing is stupid and they are busy.

And lastly, this week saw the start of my 9th year teaching. I am teaching Kindergarten. My students are so stinking cute and very sweet, when they aren't screaming for their mothers. But there's only a couple of them who are doing that and I think/hope/pray to god they will stop that soon.

Camping among the Giant Redwoods

My summer was a good one. I read lots of books, I took my lil teardrop trailer camping, and I went to a couple of conferences.

At National Conference

My first conference was to the Thirty-One National Conference in Denver, Colorado. I had never been to Denver before and honestly, after growing up visiting San Francisco, I am a bit spoiled. Denver really did nothing for me. 

Downtown Denver

The Conference however was so much fun! I became an Independent Consultant for Thirty-One Gifts back in March but I had never met my team before. They are from North Dakota/Minnesota and that was our first time meeting.

National Conference

It was truly amazing to be in the presence of such positive women. There is no competition, only support. The women were fun & friendly and if you saw a lady wearing anything Thirty-One, you'd act like you were seeing a friend. Smiles, waves, and even a few cheers were to be had on the streets of Downtown Denver.

Hard Rock Cafe, Denver

Once, my team went to the Hard Rock Cafe. There were lots of other consultants & leaders there and some other patrons as well. One of the servers went up and said to another server, "Hey! Yell 31!" He did and the place erupted in cheers. The other patrons looked around like we were crazy....cause we were!

I started selling Thirty-One because I loved the products and I needed something to bring me out of my house. Of course, life doesn't always work the way you think it will because my business is mostly online but whatever, I just made over $150 from the last couple of weeks and I have so much free product that I think I am going to have an awesome Christmas Cash & Carry Sale to get rid of my extra stuff. 

But the conference was fun and I roomed with women I had never met (totally out of my comfort zone) but I had a blast & had no regrets. Plus, the speakers were really amazing.

I made a friend! Thirty-One supports Ronald McDonald House.

At UCLA

Santa Monica Pier

My next conference took me to UCLA. That campus is gorgeous. That was a teacher conference. I learned a lot and I got to go to the Santa Monica Pier for the first time. It was a fun week, but the drive was 7+ hours to get home. I could have done without the drive. But I was listening to a great book on tape, so my body was tired but time seemed to fly by.


There was an earthquake that rocked me out of bed last night. There's not much for me to tell. The screen door was banging & it sounded like someone was pounding on it, which got Dakota barking up a storm. I knew it was a large earthquake but my power stayed on and nothing even fell off my shelf. I was safe & sound in my little house with my furbabies. They were shaken up, but I was fine. I jumped on Facebook and found most of my friends were on there. That was a comfort. :)

Until next time friends! 

Had me a blast!

30 Day Challenge ~ Exercise Edition

I am sore from yesterday's workout. But it's a good sore.

Today, I wanted to talk about what I am doing for exercise. I have tried so many things but I really like what I am doing now. 

Back in December, a friend of mine suggested I try Crossfit. She thought it would be a good match for me. It was hard core and the people there are very supportive. I liked the idea of doing something physically hard and challenging, so I signed up for the beginning lessons. I went to Crossfit707 in Benicia. They didn't have a group beginning program going on (called On Ramp), so I took some private lessons.

And I loved it! My trainer, Justin, was so amazing. It was hard, so very hard, but I was amazed at how strong I really was. My "I can't do this!" were turning into "I can do more...." and after each session, I felt empowered and so much stronger than I thought possible. 



I loved that Justin was so proper with me but one time, he wasn't and I will treasure that moment. I was attempting to do a modified box jump and it was so hard, I was jumping and Justin was cheering me on so hard & loud, he started shouting, "Go baby! You got this sh*t!" And then I almost threw up, but I loved it.

My two weeks were finished and I completed my personal On Ramp program. I was ready to join the main group for workouts. And that's when I had problems. Crossfit is a super supportive group, if you aren't finished working and are struggling, they will cheer you on until you finish your set. I fell behind running and three people turned around to run with me. You are part of a team and they will be there for you.

And that was my problem. I actually needed to walk because the running was too much for me. I felt like I stood out too much. I had 7 or 8 people come up to me to tell me I was doing great. And that is so kind but I needed to be invisible. I was too self-consious about myself to attract that much attention. I wanted/needed to blend in. I started to get anxious about attending classes and I just stopped going. 

I know there are some Crossfit haters out there, but I am not one of them. In fact, my brother is interested in trying Crossfit and I think he would do very well. It's not for everyone but if you like being strong and working with a group, then Crossfit707 is a great place for you! I have a friend who started going and he completely transformed himself: mind, body, & soul. I have nothing bad to say about Crossfit, it just wasn't for me.

So, I struggled....I bought some equipment to use at home, seeing as the group thing and working out in front of people didn't work for me. 

Then another friend asked me to be her workout buddy and take classes at Training Loft 714 in Benicia. They offer cardio kickboxing classes, sculpting classes, TRX classes, and yoga classes. At first, I said that I didn't want to take classes. But she asked me to just stop by and see the place with her. So I did and I met Denise. 

One thing that really impressed me in talking with Denise is that she knew her stuff. She has worked with several very overweight women who have transformed themselves with her. Her classes are tough, and they will kick your butt. But I thought I would go ahead and give a class a try. The first class was free to check out and I have always wanted to take a kickboxing class. 

I am not a big sweater. I will sweat when I workout but nothing too bad. Let me tell you, in Denise's classes, I sweat more than I thought was possible. After the first class, my legs & arms were sweating....I didn't know legs & arms sweat! I had sweat dripping off my face onto the ground, and when I was doing some ab exercises, some sweat ran into my ear. Ewww!

The studio is designed for working out barefoot. And I have always loved working out barefoot but the DVDs always say you need comfortable shoes. So I love that these workouts are on mats so shoes aren't necessary. 

I have only done the hour Cardio Kickboxing class and the Sculpt Fusion class. The sculpting one is a half hour of cardio and then a half hour of sculpting with hand weights. 

And I blend in! Everyone is so busy trying to keep up and focus on their form that no one is watching me! There are people of all sizes working out. I do notice smaller women struggle to keep up just as much as I do (some worse than me, I am lucky my dance experience helps me keep the rhythm a little easier at times). 

I love it when I go but I still struggle with the showing up part of it. Once I show up, everything's good  but I have to push myself to show up. My workout buddy can't make it as often as I would like so I have to push myself harder. But that's why I put it into my 30 Day Challenge....and Day 1 went great and Day 2 is looking to be the same!

30 Day Challenge

I am going to be frightfully honest right now: I don't have a support system for my weight loss goals. I can stuff my face and ditch the gym and I will not hear a single word about it. 

Don't get me wrong, I have people who will tell me "Good job!" when I am on track. But my problem is that I am rarely on track. And that is what I really need to work on: how can I stay on track?

So I have to look at myself, my strengths and weaknesses. If I try to do something that is not in my nature, like an online support group, as great as that group may be, it's not going to work for me.

So, that being said, what are some things I thrive on? Doing something "crazy" that not a lot of other people would enjoy ~ yes. Publicly challenging myself ~ I was very successful when I attempted a 28 day food challenge. 

And so I have decided to challenge myself for 30 days and blog about it. Because I need to be successful and I feel this plays to my strengths (vanity a strength? when you need to lose weight, it is!)

I have weighed and measured myself (which I am NOT posting online) but here are the rules of my challenge, keeping in mind that I have a camping trip and a trip to a Thirty-One Conference in Denver planned.

30 Day Challenge ~ Phase 1

* Exercise Every Day: When I am home, this means attending my gym (killer cardio kickboxing classes!) 5x a week and doing yoga 2x a week. When I am traveling: I can hike or use the pool/gym at the hotel. 

* No fast food, and no ordering pizza! I will allow myself a few slices when I am at a pizza parlor as long as I have a salad as well. When I am traveling, I will either pre-plan my snacks and/or choose healthy options like fruit, nuts, or protein bars if needed.

* No soda. I will replace soda with iced tea and crystal light. I will get my caffeine from tea and not soda or Starbucks (not that I drink a lot of coffee but when I do, it's loaded with bad stuff)

* No candy bars, cookies, or cupcakes. I will allow myself a reasonable dessert (paying attention to portion size & calories) but those big 3 items I tend to eat when I am not hungry and they are just bad.

* Water ~ I will drink a minimum of 3 bottles a day (I have several different types, it doesn't matter to me what type but I have to go through 3.)

Since I don't really have issues with bread or chips (as long as I don't buy them, I don't crave them), I didn't feel the need to put them into the challenge. I am attempting to eat cleaner and make healthier choices but this is my challenge. 

I intend to post updates regularly about how the challenge is going, especially when I am traveling. At the end of 30 days, I will post how many pounds & inches I have lost. 

Day 1 Starts Today!