TTT

Yes folks it's Thursday....the day I allow myself to dump whatever randomness is on my mind and allow you to play along!  Enjoy!

Rising from Ashes...One thing that I don't talk much about on this blog is what I do for work...and even more so WHY I do it.  Long story short, I feel like I was one of those people who were born knowing what they wanted to do.  I am a teacher...but added to that, I am an ESL teacher.  For the first 11 years of my career I was my students' first American school experience.  Many had just arrived to the country a week before entering my class.  I have been so blessed by my students and learning so much about their cultures ranging from numerous Central and South American countries to Africa and Asia.  There certainly was never a dull moment!  The last 6 years before we moved, I was able to have a class comprised of about 80% refugee from Somalia, Sudan, and Burundi.  These children had struggled through so much and yet had such a light in their eyes that was infectious!  Yesterday a man came to our high school who had worked in Rwanda during the 90s.  He shared with us a movie clip about the Rwandan cycling team and I just needed to share!

Rising From Ashes from T.C. Johnstone on Vimeo.

Cue Happy Dance...Today I am proud to say that I have slipped on a pair of pre-pregnancy pants that are ALMOST the size I was before stretching my body out to a crazy size!!!  And....wearing them isn't offensive to anyone who sees me.  You know like the pants can button without me laying flat on the bed and I can sit down and breathe at the same time!  Now this isn't where I want to be and yes I still have a long way to go but I most certainly took a minute and did the happy dance in my bathroom this morning!!

Newport 10 Miler...This weekend I am headed to my hometown with my BRF Jill to run the inaugural

 

The race is to benefit the fort which I have a lot of great memories of!  We used to go there swimming and jumping off the cliffs (sorry mom) as well as enjoyed many years of festivals watching Indigo Girls and James Taylor!  Its a historic and sentimental site!  Plus the scenery of the route is not too shabby!

I'm excited to see Jill and give her a big hug since I haven't seen her since the bombings!  She was there at the finish and it took me several hours to hear from her that she was ok!  It should be a great day for a great run!!