summer 2012

According to the regular calendar, summer will not end until the end of September, however, for a teacher it's pretty much over by now.  Each year I wonder where it goes.  At the beginning of this summer I made a long list of things I was going to commit to.  I've been pretty good, but there are a few things I have been lax on.  I'm not making excuses, but the entire month of June I was taking two classes, don't ask me why, that's a entirely different story.  Before I knew it, June was over!  As you can tell from previous posts, I am an extremely active person.  Rest assured, I have been very active this summer!  Keeping my "normal" or "abnormal" schedule to some, I have been getting up at my typical 4:30 a.m. out the door by 5 and on the tennis court by 6 a.m. I play for a couple of hours, mostly singles and then my workout begins.  It might be a run or bike, but what I have really been getting into this summer are these killer WODs that I learned when I was in crossfit.  WOD stands for workout of the day.  It is craziness!!  For example, today (after two hours of singles) my WOD partner and I did 3 rounds of 800 meter sprint, 40 push ups, 50 squat thrusters, and 150 sit ups, yes, we did that 3 times.  Then to conclude we get on the rotating stairmaster for 20 minutes.  There was not a dry spot on me, and I loved it!  Needless to say, tennis and training have not gone by the wayside.  What has gone by the wayside is my summer commitment to read for 30 minutes a day for enjoyment.  Don't get me wrong, I do like to read, it's just I can't seem to sit down long enough to do it or I think about things I should be doing in my house.  Again, June was really tough because I had a ton of work for these two crazy classes I was taking (I did get two As.) :) But now it is July 19th and I still haven't started reading every day!  I have a plan....

Now that's a long hike!

I found a great book the other day that is right up my alley.  It is titled wild. It is a true story about a women who had never been active in her life, but had a "calling" if you will to hike the Pacific Crest Trail, where she encounters just about everything possible, and during her journey "finds" herself.  I'm starting today, and I'm going to sit long enough to get into the book, and hopefully, I won't want to put it down!

I have also really been getting into my mod podging, collaging, and scrapbooking.  I'm pretty sure the employees at the local craft store are concerned about me, I'm there constantly.  They may even pretend to be busy when they see me coming.  I'm going to keep learning more and continue to get better at it.  I will post some of my creations soon!!  :)

I really went out on a limb... my husband and I have been to several National Parks.  I got this idea to purchase posters of the parks we have been to from an artist online.  They are beautiful, however, I have been putting off getting them framed because it is sooooo expensive.  Well, I decided to give it a try on my own.  Mind you, the posters are not the typical size of frames you can buy with matting and put them in and your done.  So I went back to the craft store and asked someone for help.  (She was very helpful.)  All I really had to do was purchase acid free paper backing to mount the posters on, cut the paper to fit the glass, and put the frame back together.  I was a little nervous about this, but thought I'd go for it.  I purchased rustic barnwood frames, and the rest of the necessary materials and I was on my way.  Here are the finished products, and I have to say I was very happy and somewhat surprised as to how they came out...

ran the marathon here

Well, according to my calculations I am 1,350 minutes behind in my reading for the summer so I best get going and begin my book!  There are a few other things that I want to accomplish this summer that is rapidly coming to an end.