30 things in my 30th year

Tomorrow, May 6th, marks my 30th birthday. My 20s were good to me: I visited Spain; graduated college; met, fell in love with, and married Amelia; got my first full-time job; moved to Kansas; got my Master’s degree; became a father; moved to Kansas City; and started a teaching job. I look back on the last decade and I see so much for which I am thankful.

As I look forward to my 30s I am inspired to do what one of my friends did: write a list of 30 things I’d like to accomplish in my 30th year of life. Though the list is roughly categorized it doesn’t follow any certain order:

1. Lose at least 30 pounds
2. Get back into a regular yoga practice
3. Try CrossFit
4. Exercise at least 3x per week
5. Run a half marathon
6. Walk my dogs more often
7. Buy a 2nd crash cymbal for my drum set
8. Sketch
9. Write a short story
10. Read at least 15 books
11. Read the Old Testament
12. Learn to cook at least 5 new things
13. Use the internet less
14. Get to know Kansas City better
15. Tour the Boulevard brewery
16. Attend a KC Symphony performance
17. Attend a KC Ballet performance
18. Try a new restaurant
19. Hang up pictures of my family in my classroom
20. Learn more ways of making Amelia feel special and do them
21. Meet the neighbors
22. Spend more time with friends
23. Visit family
24. Take a vacation to a place I’ve never been
25. Get another tattoo (sorry Mom!)
26. Pay off the credit card debt
27. Shop for and/or buy a house
28. Establish an efficient housework routine
29. Set up and follow a budget
30. Enjoy the first year of 30s even if I don’t accomplish everything on this list.

Here goes nothing. I’ll do my best to post about accomplishing the tasks as I complete them.

2012: A year in review

Inspired by a friend, I’ve decided to write a 2012 year in review post. First, some highlights of 2012.

Blogging dry spell – Upon logging in to this blog I realized that I did not post a single update in 2012. Will this year be different? By the time I publish this post, I’ll have more blog posts in 2013 than in 2012 so I’m off to a good start.

Lakewood Middle School – From January to March of 2012 I had my first paid teaching experience as a long-term substitute teaching Spanish at Lakewood Middle School in the Blue Valley school district. It was an eye-opening experience and gave me a great transition from student teaching to starting my career.

From “A total loss” to “swagger wagon” – In late January I was in a car accident that totaled our 2006 RAV4. In a way, it was a blessing. We were making two car payments at the time and when it came time to buy a replacement car, we made the choice to pay in cash. We ended up with a decent 2003 Odyssey that has had only minor problems and doesn’t require a monthly payment.

Job search – As school was coming to a close in April and May, I began my search for a full-time teaching job. My goal was Spanish or ESL in any district within a 40-minute drive radius.

JC Harmon High School – 3 interviews in 3 districts later, I received a call in late May from a Human Resources director in the Kansas City, Kansas school district. She was calling to offer me a job teaching ESL at JC Harmon High School, a job I gladly accepted. The first semester of teaching went great. It was overwhelming at first, as all jobs are, but I feel like I’ve been able to get my feet firmly planted and establish myself as a valuable asset to the school. Plus, my students are amazing. I learn from them everyday and am so honored that I get to be their teacher.

PDP Concept Series – Over the summer, my wife blessed me with “permission” to buy a new drum set. I ended up with a beautiful, 7-piece drum set from PDP. I love playing the drums and I love even more that Sam, my awesome toddler, loves to play them too.

6 years – In August, Amelia and I celebrated 6 years of marriage. It has been a wonderful 6 years and I’m excited for many more anniversaries.

2 years old – In October, my little boy turned 2 and sealed in his status as the coolest toddler ever. He loves trucks, elephants, balls/sports, blocks, trains, art, drums, play-doh, and many more things. He continues to be an amazing little guy.

2012 was a great year. There’s so much more that happened that I haven’t written about and I’m truly thankful for all the friends and family who have been there for me, Amelia, and Sam this year.

Last, some goals for 2013

Instagram a day – Today starts my 365 project on Instagram. My goal is one picture per day. You can follow along here.

Increased health, decreased weight – This year I will continue my commitment to my health and try to get back down to 180 pounds.

Yoga – In an effort to stop having to take anti-anxiety medication and really re-engage with life, I’ve made a goal to start up my yoga practice again.

Time – The biggest goal of 2013 is all about the balance of time. Work/life, chores/free-time, etc. I’m hoping to get closer to a balance that makes sense. I want the quality of my time to increase with my wife and my son.

Happy 2013 everyone.

And we’re back

After the huge success of my Warrior Dash post I had planned a series of posts about my journey into running and so on. However, life got in the way. At that time I was enrolled in 3 summer classes at KU to finish up the coursework for my Master’s degree. After summer ended I completed a 12 week student teaching internship at a local high school teaching Spanish and ESL. Student teaching was an absolute blast and I miss the students I taught. Once I was finished with student teaching I took the Master’s exam for my degree, which involved me writing nearly 40 pages of material to summarize my learning in three different areas of education. After the Master’s exam I completed the Kansas Performance Teaching Portfolio, a 35 page portfolio proving my ability to assess the learning environment of a school and plan lessons and assessments accordingly. In the last couple of weeks I have found out that I met all the requirements for the Portfolio and have passed my Master’s exam. At this point I am finished with grad school and am continually amazed that the journey I started two and a half years ago has come to a close.

Life continues to be very busy. I accepted a long-term substitute teaching position at a local middle school where I’ll teach 6-8th grade Spanish. I observed the teacher I’ll be subbing for and the students seem like they’ll be a lot of fun to work with. The assignment will end in March and I’ll continue to sub on an as-needed basis in the district and plan to also get on other school districts’ sub lists. I’ll also be keeping my eyes open for a full-time position to open up in a district in the Kansas City area.

I’m excited to get back into writing on this blog. I’m very much looking forward to all the opportunities that the next year will bring and I’ve been feeling an urge to get back into writing. My thinking lately has revolved around parenting, education, coffee, and food as well as new habits that I’d like to start in 2012. We’ll see where those thoughts take me on this blog.

Warrior Dash: My Couch to 5k Success Story

A little over two months ago, some friends approached me with an idea: get a group of guys together to run the Warrior Dash. At the time all I knew about this “Dash” was that it was a 5k with obstacles including, but not limited to: water, mud, jumping over cars, haybales, 14’ rope ladders, hurdles, barbed wire, and jumping over fire. After reading the Warrior Dash website I thought it sounded like a fun idea.

There was one problem though: I wasn’t a runner. I had tried running in the past to extremely limited success. Shin splints, doing too much too soon, and not really being motivated to push through were limitations I faced in the past.

Merrell Trail Gloves

A number of friends had told me about running ‘barefoot’ style using minimalist shoes like Vibram’s Five Fingers (VFFs). Given that the VFFs aren’t the most practical looking shoes, I decided to seek out an alternative while still maintaining the essence of bareform running. One Saturday morning when Amelia and I were strolling through downtown Lawrence we stopped in at Sunflower Outdoor and Bike shop and I saw the Merrell Trail Glove shoe. After conversing with the staff, I found out this was Merrell’s entry to the barefoot running craze. At that moment I knew this would be the shoe for me. Though it turned out that Sunflower didn’t have my size, Brown’s ShoeFit did so I made my purchase and promised myself they wouldn’t gather dust.

Though you can find out all about the benefits of barefoot (or bareform, which I prefer) running through a few quick searches, here’s the basics that attracted me to it.

1. Bareform running forces you to strike midfoot, ensuring that you land with your knee partially bent rather than striking heel-first with your knee completely straight. This slight change completely redefines how the body absorbs the shock of impact when running on any surface. This was really important to me because as a veteran of 7 years of marching band, my body was trained to heel-strike and I suffer shin splints as a result. Heel-striking while running was one of my biggest downfalls that always ensured that it would be weeks between each run because of the pain.
2. Bareform running helps you be more aware of the terrain on which you are running. Due to the fact that the Trail Glove shoes are so thin-soled, it is very easy to feel the changes in the terrain and it has made me more mindful of how I’m running and how my stride affects how I feel and how much impact I’m making.

Couch to 5k

Once I had the shoes figured out, I needed a plan that would work to get me trained for the running portion of the Warrior Dash. Luckily, I had heard many success stories about the Couch to 5k program. After downloading the plan and looking over it, I felt like it was the right one for me. The very next day was a Monday, and what better day to start than a Monday, right?

I followed the plan pretty much to a ‘t’ though there were some days when I slacked off because it was too hot or I didn’t wake up in time to run before work. I made excuses on these days and definitely paid for them when it came time for my next run. As my Dad, track coach of 30+ years says, “Skip one day, no one notices; Skip two days, you notice; Skip three days, everyone notices.” Overall, the training went very well and I was continually impressed with myself for keeping up with the demands of the training. Before I started Couch to 5k, the thought of running more than one mile without walking was daunting and seemingly out of reach.

The Warrior Dash

Fast forward to Sunday, July 31st, the day of the Warrior Dash. My training was complete and I was mentally psyched to finish the race, have fun, and not get hurt. Although two of the original 4 guys who registered were not able to participate, my friend Brian and I banded together and completed the Warrior Dash in just over an hour. I’m not particularly proud of the time that it took but there are few things to consider: Temps were in the triple-digits, the course was extremely hilly and very very muddy (we ended up having to walk a good 1/4 of the course due to mud) and we had 10 obstacles of varying difficulty to deal with. In the end though, Brian and I met our three goals:

1. We finished
2. We didn’t get hurt
3. We had fun

The Warrior Dash was physically one of the hardest things I’ve ever done but I’m so glad I did it. To complete a ‘bib race’ as Brian called it made me really feel like I’m a “runner.” If you had told me 6 months ago that I would complete a 3.10 mile course with hellish obstacles, I would have laughed at you and told you that I don’t run. Today I’m given the opportunity to look at my race bib and the “Warrior Dash 2011: I Survived” medal that are hanging on the wall behind my iMac. It’s an extremely proud moment in my life and I look forward to future 5ks, 10ks, and possibly a half or full marathon. Six months ago, thinking of running 2 miles was a laughing matter. Today, 13.1 miles sounds difficult, yet feasible.

Thank you to my wife who believed in me from day one and didn’t question my ability to train for or run the Warrior Dash. Thanks to all those who encouraged me along the way, even if you don’t know it. Thanks to Brian for keeping me going during the race. And thanks to Merrell for creating a shoe that lets me run in a way that I no longer have to worry about shin splints and debilitating pain that would normally keep me from running for weeks.

All these things plus a little determination and will power have taken me from my couch to the finish line of the Warrior Dash and beyond.

Mosquitoes bite in unfortunate places

The breeze from the sea. The lazy mornings, late lunches, siestas, and dinners at 9. Beer and wine that is cheaper than water. Streets teeming with people at all hours of the day and night. Tortilla española  and aceitunas. Bars that serve café con leche in the morning and kalimotxo in the evening.

To say that these are just memories of my trip to Spain 7 years ago wouldn’t do it justice. They are like puffy mosquito bites, oozing with temptation at every move. Though I can certainly relieve the itch by making my own versions of tortilla española and kalimotxo, it is only temporary. I must choose to either ignore it or distract myself from it until it goes away.

My seven-year itch to get back to Spain is at the strongest it has ever been. Perhaps it was the video I made for a class about tapas or the recent digital excavation of the pictures from my time in that beautiful country. My taste buds yearn for the rich food and drink, my tongue wants to dance along to the rhythm of the Spanish language, my eyes long to set their gaze on the Pyrenees and the sights found in the quotidian Spanish life and my body aches for a Quijote-esque adventure through La Mancha.

I know someday I’ll make it back, but for now….please pass the cortizone. I’ve got a mosquito bite on my thigh that’s driving me mad.