A note for all the out of shapers

Occasionally I think to myself "I should really start working out." That thought is most often followed by the most exercise I'm likely to get: walking from my room to the kitchen. It's sad, I know. Well, I finally broke the cycle and started "exercising." I figured there had to be others out there in similar circumstances and so I'm going to give you my non expert work out advice. *If anyone that is actually knowledgeable about this type of stuff reads this, please let me know if I'm doing something that is actually going to end up causing injury.

I think I can officially say that I do not like gyms. Maybe I'm just paranoid but it's embarrassing (to say the least) when I start struggling to breathe after less than a minute of a work out and see other people stylishly sweating and breathing like it's no problem! No thank you. I'd rather keep that to the confines of my room. The perk to at-home work outs is that you can get creative with what you use for weights. I've done reps with bottles of vinegar, irons, shoes...one day I hope to be able to weight lift my sewing machine! That thing it pretty heavy. It may seem weird at first but it gives you something to laugh at which makes for a more fun work out.

I've started working out, if you can call it that, every other day. On the days that I don't do this I have a solid stretch session (out of necessity). First thing's first, I open up my Pandora and pump my 90s hits station. Say what you will about this music choice; the songs have a consistent beat and don't give me anxiety. I also start a stopwatch. I do a full minute of the following: high knees, jumping jacks, front kicks, more jumping jacks, combo of high knees and front kicks (alternating in counts of 8). This is followed by a mix of crunches. I don't time these, just go with the entirety of whatever song is on and change directions when I feel like I'm going to die in the first position. This is followed by what I thought was called a butterfly but, after an extensive youtube search, I don't think that is a real thing. Anyway, you lay down and criss cross your legs and raise them up and down at the same time. About the time I feel like my head is going to explode, I switch to leg raises (that might not be a real name either). Basically you raise and hold your legs at three points in the air, 90 degree angle, 45 degrees and just above the ground.

This is when the real humiliation starts. I roll over and do four reps of five of the closest thing to a push-up I can muster.

Then my arms get a beating. I do 30 seconds of the following: small circles forward, small circles backward, pulses forward, backward, upward and down. This is followed by a full song of brazeo and floreo (hand and arm circles) which kills my forearms. If you don't know Flamenco-y things, I don't know what to tell you. The end is a one minute plank. Every time I do these I think, "oh, this is no problem!" Then I push forward onto my toes like I'm supposed to, much different.

So there you go, my fellow lazies. If that doesn't get you going, maybe this will:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vjw92oUduEM

You win this time, Pinterest!

Pinterest has ruined me. I say this for a lot of reasons, one of them being the false confidence it has given me in my crafting abilities. Even the most complicated of projects looks so sleek and simple on Pinterest. Want to build an entire furniture set out of nothing but old pizza boxes? Look at these three simple pictures showing you how to do it! It looks so easy and so fun but I've learned the hard way that those pictures are very often a lie!

Recently I let Pinterest, once again, get the best of me and decided to experiment. I wanted to practice cutting a bottle. As usual, the pin made it look easy so I gathered all my supplies and got to work, before I lost the nerve.

Despite one failed attempt, it worked out pretty well and was actually fairly easy!  For those of you who haven't already seen this online, let me walk you through it. You'll need the following supplies: a bottle (for some reason it always says wine bottles but any will do, glass is glass), cotton twine, nail polish remover, a lighter/match and ice water. Wrap your twine around the bottle three of four times at the point you'd like it to break.

Once you measure out the string, slide that stuff off and soak it in nail polish remover. (Of course I decide to experiment with nail polish remover on the rare occasion my nails are actually painted.) Soak the string for a while, 10-20 seconds is good. Re-wrap the string on the bottle and light that baby on fire! Spin the bottle around while the string is burning. Once the flame goes out dip the bottle in ice water and POP! Off it goes.

Easy peasy! For once.

It's a clean break but it's still sharp so be careful. I didn't think this project entirely through because I was doubting Pinterest and figured I'd just end up getting frustrated and throwing the bottle away. When it actually worked I wasn't sure what to do with my finished product. Then I remembered another pin I had seen...

 I introduced that bottle to some glitter and Mod Podge. If you don't know, you can put Mod Podge on as a top layer over the glitter to keep it from falling off and getting on everything you own/touch. Here's a below average picture of the finished product:

Not too shabby.

Making Up For Lost Time

I've been in Little Rock for about seven months now. Crazy! Time has flown by and I've done a terrible job keeping people updated with what I've been up to. I spend most of my time here serving in a high school working with 9th graders on the ABCs (Attendance, Behavior, and Course Performance). My kids are hilarious and are fantastic to work with...most days. This job has been full of ups and downs but I am glad that I am where I am and have the students that I do.

Since I've been here for seven months already, I have a lot of catching up to do in this blog world. Here are a few highlights (in no particular order) from my time here:

Finding the Soup of the Day

 On one of our first night outings we met this guy who just happened to be none other than Lee Harris, the HR "person" for THE number one refrigerated trucking company. He went on to tell us about his history with this bar and how he used to come in every day for lunch and get the soup of the day. This conversation lasted quite a while. We thought he was full of it so it was a great discovery when we eventually found a menu and actually saw "Soup of the Day" on there!

Getting a trampoline!

This is the only thing resembling furniture in our living room. As you can see, the dinosaurs love it.

Getting to see my cousins!

Since Little Rock is much closer to Topeka than home, I was able to see my cousins for Thanksgiving! It was really nice to be with family over the holiday even if I didn't get to go home. Although I did find out that my cousins hated me along with the rest of the cousin clan for close to the entirety of their childhood.

Making these lil guys for my students!

I gave these out to students on the first day back to school after winter break. Although some kids rejected them and said things like "I don't eat things with eyes on it." Most students were really excited that I was giving them food and I was really excited that they were eating something other than Hot Cheetos and Takis.

Taking a ride on the Arkansas Queen!

From the moment I found out there was a riverboat here that does music cruises I was hooked. It was the only thing I wanted to do while in Little Rock and we did it! We went on an Old School Hip-Hop and Reggae Night. It was the best! We timed it just right because the Arkansas Queen is no longer servicing that area.

Living with these wonderful people!

I hit the jackpot and got the best roommates imaginable. Lots of good times at the unofficially named LOLiday Inn.

Last but certainly not least...

Dominating at the Arkansas State Fair!

Even though I went into this with nothing but funnel cake on my mind, what I got was more than I could have dreamed. That's right, I took on the Mega Corn Dog. What I'm pretty sure was no less than 2ft of battered goodness on a stick.

I think this is one of my proudest moments throughout my time here.