Slice of Life Day 4: An Inspiring Quote

To the team of Two Writing Teachers: thank you!

One of my sweet friends and mentee posted this quote on Facebook and it caught my attention right away. This reflection by Jac Vanek is at the core of what I believe this life is all about. I just couldn't have captured it the way she did. So I'd like to start my day with this and put it out there as a reminder of how every minute counts in life. Maybe somebody else will feel identified with this.

You are the books you read, the films you watch, the music you listen to, the people you meet, the dreams you have, the conversations you engage in. You are what you take from these. You are the sound of the ocean, the breath of fresh air, the brightest light and the darkest corner.

You are a collective of every experience you have had in your life. You are every single second of every single day. So drown yourself in a sea of knowledge and existence. Let the words run through your veins and let the colors fill your mind until there is nothing left to do but explode. There are no wrong answers. Inspiration is everything. Sit back, relax, and take it all in.
Now, go out and create something.-Jac Vanek 

P.S I had to google this person because honestly I've never heard of her before. This is what I found out. An entrepreneur in the making.

Slice of Life Challenge Day 3: This Weekend: A Post in List and in Photos

This past weekend we were supposed to have a snow storm here in Ohio. So, to prepare myself for this weather, I...

✔ went grocery shopping

✔ picked up movies from my local library

✔ had my books to be read on a pile by the couch

✔made sure I had some kind of chocolate in the house

But the snow storm never really came. It snowed. And it was pretty but it wasn't a storm. So the possibility of "snow days" was clearly out the window. However, I was in a relax mindset. Snow days usually do that to me. I love the fact that in snow days our world here in the States slows down. I know we all look at snow days differently. Some people like to make it a productive day and get things done. Some others like me like to pause, not chase time, and just be present so I can enjoy the quietness of it all. So yesterday I treated myself to life's little pleasure. I...

✔ made a special brunch: blueberries crepes 

✔ finished reading this book. I loved it and recommended! Great insights for embracing a simple yet intentional life.  

✔ I did some reflection from the month of February and some goal setting for the month of March!

Even though the snow storm never came and I didn't get to watch the movies I was planning to, Sunday's snow still gave me what I needed it: a day to move slowly, read, enjoy, sip coffee and reflect. Sometimes not driving anywhere is just fine with me. 

Thank you Two Writing Teachers team for the invitation to take a sweet, slow bite of life by inviting us to write every day in the month of March. 

Slice of Life Challenge March 2014 Day 2

Life. 
It's a twist and a turn at times. 
It's full of surprises and quiet moments. 
It has detours, uphills and downhills. 
Life. 
One life. 
My life. 

Last July, during our Choice Literacy Writing Retreat, our wonderful and giving editor Brenda Power gave all of us the book The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg. This book has been on my "TBR" pile f-o-r-e-v-e-r. I considered it a sign when she gave us this gift that it was time to dig deep into that book. I highly recommend this book for anyone trying to understand how our behaviors impact our actions, how to replace habits with new, better, healthier habits. It's a brilliant book. Since then, I've thought long and hard about my own habits...from my eating habits, to my habits as a teacher, my reading and writing habits, to my personal health habits. This book helped me understand process, behavior and mindset.

Ever since then this concept of replacing habits has stayed in my mind and I've been playing with it in my head. I know I wanted some permanent changes in my life in different areas but I didn't know which one to choose yet. I wanted to be successful at whatever journey I was going to embrace. If I chose too many goals, I wouldn't accomplish any of them. I savored, chewed, processed, thought and scribbled ideas in my head for a long time trying to figure out what life changes I can or should make. Starting small was also important to me.

So I tackled one small change last summer knowing that this would be a long journey for me. You see, I always struggled with soda. I loved drinking Coke. Loved the taste. Loved that it went so well with hot dogs and pizza. What a great combination. BUT I knew it's not good for my health and my body. But giving it up just seemed to hard for me to handle it. The book The Power of Habit taught me to think that an old habit can be replaced with a new habit. It takes time but it is possible. So, instead of giving up soda completely, I thought of something I could replace it with. That's when I started experimenting with green smoothies. And boy did I love those smoothies! Little by little, I was drinking  green smoothies 60 % of the time and had my occasional soda here and there. After months and months of drinking green smoothies, I realized that the percentage changed. Now I drink green smoothies with my meals 95% of the time and I have a glass of coke maybe twice a month.

The journey has taken me months and months. Months of trying and failing. Trying and failing. Trying and succeeding. Trying and feeling good. Feeling good and "sticking with it." As I'm working on replacing old habits with new ones, as I look for a healthier way of living, I keep reminding myself that...


Life. 
It's a twist and a turn at times. 
It's full of surprises and quiet moments. 
It has detours, uphills and downhills. 
Life. 
One life. 
My life. 

Let the daily pausing and reflection begin!

I gotta be honest with all of you. I hesitated to participate in Slice of Life this year. My hesitation stems from a place of concern. I was worried if I was going to be able to "stick with it." Let me explain. In November of last year, I decided to give P90X (the workout challenge) another try. I've done part of this workout challenge before but I can't say that I have completed the 90 days challenge. So, this time, I was determined to cross the finish line. I had many reasons in December for NOT to do this. I was traveling to South America, I was going to be with my family for 20 days eating everything I want and being completely spoiled by my parents. Food is one of our love languages, by the way. BUT....I told myself what Tony Horton (P90X coach trainer) says..."Try your best and forget the rest."

So, with that mindset, I packed the workout DVDs and traveled with them to South America. Out of the 20 days, I worked out 17 days. I was determined to "stick with it" this time. The food remained a challenge but I already made peace with the fact that I could tackle that part in January.
P90X is a 13-week challenge. I'm about to start week 12. Yes. I'm two weeks away from completing and crossing the finish line. I've kept a calendar (those a month-at-a glance ones) to keep track of my progress. I've set monthly goals for me to focus on so that I wouldn't become overwhelmed. So, can you see it now why I was worried about adding one more thing onto my plate? I've been working so hard on "sticking with it" that I don't want anything to jeopardize these efforts.

However, after more careful consideration, I realized that I was acting "about writing daily" like I did in December when I hesitated whether "December" was the right month to start a workout challenge because of my traveling. Excuses. Excuses. Excuses. So, I didn't want to create excuses for not writing. Writing has always been an outlet for me. It's my passport, my stamp of freedom. So my dear friends, like Tony taught me..."I will try my best and forget the rest." I will write every day in March. The writer in me will connect with other writers and we will let WORDS lead the way. Some days my SOL are going to be three words. two words. maybe even just one. But I guaranteed you that just like this workout challenge, I'm sure I will come out "transformed" because of this experience. I look forward to leaving words behind, soaking up your words and let it rumble inside! Happy Writing Journey!

Slice of Life Challenge March 2014 Edition

My dear friend Karen, over at a Literate Lives, said it so well, "There are probably a hundred reasons that I could use to excuse myself from posting daily..." And she is right. So many reasons. So many excuses. But we all have so much to say....we have unspoken words and untold stories waiting to be written. It doesn't matter if they are short or long. If it's one word or two. For me, it's about carving the time to breath out my thoughts, ideas, questions or observations. I know the writer inside of me has things to say but I'm guilty of finding other things to do instead of writing. So, wonderful team at Two Writing Teachers, thanks for the challenge, for the nudge and encouragement to carve out time to leave our marks behind. See you in a couple of days. 

Celebrations!!! and Welcome December!

Oh how I love joining Ruth Ayres' quest for slowing down and celebrating life...inside our classroom and outside of it as well.
So this week, I have several celebrations.

Celebration #1: A new series!

I was happily surprised to discover this new series of "Favorite Authors"at my local library. A Capstone Press publication now provides different authors' biographies that is written for children in mind. Love the accessible way that this book is written. The chapters are short but concise with great information. Words that are in bold print are explained and defined at the bottom of the page. The combination of photographs and illustrations is also another great layout of the book.  Each nonfiction book in the series is organized with a Table of Content, a timeline, glossary, a "read more"section, internet sites and Index. Biographies in this series include:
Barbara Park
Dav Pilkey
Grace Lin
Jeff Kinney
Mo Willems
Shel Silverstein.

What a wonderful resource to share with our students. It highlights the authors' journey, where they started and how they got to the place they stand. So important for our students to understand there is a life of trial and errors behind each author. So much to share and learn from each of them.

Celebration #2: Part of my #Nerdlution is to try something new each week. And to be honest with you...this is part of who I am...always in search of new things, new places and adventurous. Week #1 of #Nerdlution new thing includres trying a new restaurant in our awesome city of Columbus! Thanks to my adventurous food friends who wanted to join me in this quest. It helps to have great friends like Karen and Julie who are willing to take a chance with you. We were not disappointed. And now we all have something new to share with friends and family. Nerdlution made that happen...share your joys with others.

Celebration # 3
A snow day. On top of it...a Friday Snow Day. Seriously. What a gift. I couldn't have asked for anyting better! What did I do on this Snow Day? Sleep in, watch my favorite Holiday movie: Love Actually, Read, organize a couple of things around the house and more naps. I appreciate when life gives me a mandatory SLOW DOWN. Thank you snow...thank you winter...thank you season. Thank you.

Joining the Twitter Revolution: Nerdlution

The concept for TED is "Ideas Worth Spreading". Many times, that's how I feel about my amazing Twitter friends who come up with these brilliant ideas that are worth spreading. My friends know this about me: I live my life in a constant search for BALANCE. I believe that balance is one of the key ingredients to a happy life. I love the different communities that I belong to. I love my teaching community, my writing community, my Hispanic community and of course, my reading community. I also try to carefully decide to what things I say YES to because we all know that when we say YES to something, we're saying NO to something else.

However, certain YES's are worth saying them because they enhance us, challenge us or strengthen us. That's how I feel about all the brilliant minds that came up with #NERDLUTION.

If you would like to know how this #Nerdlution got started, then you need to head over Franki's blog and read the behind the scene story. I've been reading their tweets, pondering, considering HOW I am going to make this happen. I love the concept and actually BELIEVE in this idea so strongly. My fear? I'm leaving to go to Paraguay and I'll be out of the country for 16 days. Internet is limited...and let's face it: my family time is valuable. I didn't want to commit to anything that would jeopardize my time with them. But then, I started seeing how "flexible and open" people were with their #nerdlution and that's when it clicked! I can make this work, even when I'm away...even when I'm absorbed in a different world, and with limited Internet access. I can still make it happen. 

So...my #nerdlution include the following:

1. BE present in the moment. Any moment. Big or small. No multitasking...answering texts, or glancing over twitter. Be present. 

2. Document my next 50 days in the form of photos, notecards, memorabilia, journaling, polaroids, etc. I got the tools, I just need to use them. I'm interested to see what develops or emerge from all this documenting. 

3. Each new week between Dec. 2 and January 20th: I'll try something new...whether that is a new app, a new food, a new spot in town, a new genre of book, or a recipe. I'll try something NEW. 

Those are my nerdlutions. Simple but doable as I spend my next 50 days in two countries. Thank you Colby Sharp, Franki Sibberson, and all the other brilliant minds for this brilliant concept. Let the FUN begin.