India or BUST!!!:)

New Running Club out East!!!!!!!!!:):):)

2012-02-12T00:12:00.000+05:30

I think I've found my most FAVORITE running spot ever!!!!!!!! Granted it may take 1hr. 15 minutes to get there, but once there it is awesome!!!!:):) So gearing up for Grandma's Marathon in June, there needs to be some long runs involved!! Every Saturday starting last week I have been running out East towards Dhanaulti (Mussoorites will know what that means) and the same thing happened last week as well!!! I wake up around 7:30am and try to leave the house by 8am so I'm back around 11am!! Both last and this Saturday I have left the house around this time, which puts me in the same place at the same time!!:) Last Saturday, after an hour into the run out East (about mile 7) I notice village kids walking to school (yes Indian public schools have half day sessions on Saturdays)!!! As I pass them I start hearing footsteps running behind me!! Sure enough with no time at all I have 4 young village boys running, 2 on each side, laughing and giggling!! Impressively they were running in their nice black school shoes and backpacks saddled over one shoulder for at least 2-3 minutes!! At this point of the run it's a constant uphill run, so even more impressive these boys were staying at pace for so long!! But after those minutes past they were winded and couldn't keep up!! On my way back I passed by them and told them good job in Hindi!!!:):)

Sooooooo today left at 8am once again and started my long, long journey out East!!! At the SAME point as last Saturday I saw similar village school kids walking to school!! And almost on cue, as soon as I passed them I heard footsteps once again pick up pace!!!:) This time the boys were older, but still stayed in the same formation, 2 on right and 2 on left!! And being older they definitely stayed pace a lot longer!! It was VERY impressive!! They stayed on pace all the way to the ramp going down to their school, about 7-8 minutes!! Granted not all of them made it, only 2 of the 4 escorted me to their school ramp!!!:) Now today I added 10 minutes to my out and back checkpoint (+20 minutes over all time), and this time when I turned around at the checkpoint and started my downhill descent I passed some village kids walking to school from the other direction!! Sure enough, right after I passed them, AGAIN I heard footsteps pick up pace and again I had a mini-running club running and escorting me along my journey home!!!!:) This time there were only 2, but since we were going downhill they definitely kept pace easily, and even pushed me a little by staying 3-4 strides in front!! It was AWESOME!!!!:):) When we got to the school ramp again, from the other direction, they stopped and again I told these boys good job in Hindi!!!

I'm really tempted to make this a scheduled routine every Saturday and want to bring Bata running shoes on my run next time, give them to the boys, and see if the next time after that they'll be wearing them and ready to run!!!:):) That would be super cool!!! I really wish this wasn't such a far distance away so other Woodstockians could experience the awesomeness of this!!! And it's so cool that a simple thing like running can bring together two different speaking persons but both are on the same page of loving life and having fun!!!:):) WHICH is what life is all about!!! Finding the simple joys of it!!! I canNOT wait until next Saturday and spend some time with my other running club!!!!:):):):)

HAPPY SMILING AND RUNNING................BLOGGING UNIVERSE!!!!!!!!!:):):):)

IN-LAW-TASTIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:):):):):):)

2012-01-27T21:31:00.000+05:30

Okay, little more recent posts now!!!!!!!!!!!! So this winter break was AMAZING!!!:):) The biggest and most important part of break was Somya and finally getting to spend some time with Shubhra's parents!!! Nervous............. ummmmmmmmmmm YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Seeing their is no communication between her mom and I, since my Hindi is so AWESOME, and she only speaks Hindi!!!! Her dad and I could talk since he knows English so that wasn't as bad!!! But within the first day of being there I could feel the love from momma Chundawat!!! Which made the rest of the stay that more at ease!!!! What I was most worried about was at rest and beginning to enjoy was the next goal!!!! WHICH HAPPENED!!!!!!!:):):) 45kg's of oranges!!! That was the amount of oranges that were bought and carried over to the house the second day I was there!! There were 4 or 5 oranges and I had orange juice the first morning we arrived, that did it!!! Shubhra's mom saw that I loved orange juice and made sure there were enough oranges for the entire week!!!:):) Objective -- COMPLETE!!! Had maybe 3-4 glasses of orange juice every single day, which has carried over to arriving back in Mussoorie!!! Except we have eased off with the 45kg's and instead buy 3kg's, which lasts us 4-5 days!!!!!

Everyday in Somya though, there was a new person to meet!!! This one's brother's sister's cousin's son!! If you want confusing titles of relatives, I'm sorry come to India!! But all I was supposed to do is put on my jeans, a nice shirt, and smile!!! OBJECTIVE COMPLETE!!!!!!:):):) Shubhra's dad was also recovering from a surgery so the villagers were there as well to see how he was doing!! Needless to say it was a very busy time!!!:) Every morning I would go for a run while everyone was waking up!!! Cannot remember the last time I ran on so much flat ground before!!! It was a nice change!!! AND with a sunrise warming up the horizon and plains through the entire run!!!!:):):) After breakfast we would usually lounge around and relax, read a book, or go travel to one of the nearby larger towns!!! All the meals were always outside which was AWESOME, since it was the perfect temperature!!! Think of a Minnesota summer night, WITHOUT the millions of mosquitoes!!! Only a couple thousand we had to worry about!!!:) THEN the best part about Somya was the power going out at 9pm!! You basically had to go to sleep, no tv to keep you up or that book you have to read!!! Just plain, old simple BED TIME!!!!!!! That was awesome, and trying to get that going here in Mussoorie as well!!! Hasn't worked out yet, but come school time I think it should!!!

After Somya Shubhra and I traveled to Udaipur and Jodhpur!!! I call Udaipur a really hilly Minnesota!!! THEY HAVE LAKES THERE!!!!!!!!!!:):):) Granted only 2, BUT lakes none the less!!! The two days we were there, both mornings I ran around the lake, which was about a 5 mile distance!!! It was BEAUTIFUL!!! Especially to see the sun reflect off the water!! Something I am so ever looking forward to back in MINNE-FREAKIN-SOTA this summer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:):):):):):):):) After Jodhpur we continued our travels via bus (which sleeper buses are AWESOME by the way) and made it to Delhi safe and sound, which then we hopped on our final bus home and made it to Mussoorie just in time for SNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:):):):) On our taxi drive up from Dehradun it started to snow, and about 3km away from home the roads were too slippery and of course our taxi driver not being the Minnesotan snow driver, took one of the uphill curves to tight and slid right into the wall curve!!! I tried to guide him, just like Dave did with our taxi drive back 3 years ago on our way to Lake Dodital, and told him to accelerate slowly!!! Panic crept in every time which led to GUNNING it, which every time got him nowhere!! Finally I made the decision, before we all ended up over the cud, to get out, pack up, and walk the rest of the way!!!!!:):):)

We made it home safe and sound and my goodness it was GREAT to be home and have a very SUCCESSFUL trip overall!!!!!!!!!!!!!:):):):) HAPPY SMILING AND TOO ALL THOSE MEETING IN-LAWS FOR THE FIRST TIME GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:):):):):)

What runs (drives) us in life!!!!

2012-01-27T20:43:00.000+05:30

I guess it's been a while since I've written!!! Seems like that has been my starting sentence to the last 4 or 5 blog posts!!!! Again, don't even know if anyone even reads this blog anymore, since settling in India doesn't bring too many NEW and EXCITING posts like the first year always does!!!!! But then it's always nice to have a place to go and write your feelings, thoughts, ideas, whatever it is whenever you want!!! Thinking that someone out there is reading it and may actually think about your thoughts and change their life for the better!!!

For the first time in 4 years, I finished a run with the utmost excitement and pumpitude!!!! The reason being, for the first time in 4 years I ran a training run I had to fight through to finish!!!!! The previous day I ran a 2 hour 15 miler over the extreme hills of Mussoorie out East, and then today ran another 2 hour/15 mile run through the rolling hills of Mussoorie out West!!! When I came to the finish of the run, I stopped, bent over, took a breath of exhaustion and FREAKIN FIST PUMPED THE HECK OUT OF THE AIR!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I thought for a second, and really thought, when the last time I ran back-to-back15 milers................NEVER!!!! Even when training for my PB marathon back in 2008 I would run a 10-miler on Saturday and a longer run on Sunday, but never during the week would I run such extreme amounts, especially not back-to-back!!!!!!!!:)

Then I thought about what I just did and how this relates to the experience of life!!!! Sure I could stick to my old training ways, running maximum 10 miles through the week, ranging from 6-10 miles on those days, then a nice tempo run of 10 miles on Saturday, and long run on Sunday!! But that would be the easy and comfortable way out!! And what I want/are determined to do this Grandma's Marathon will be something I cannot prepare for with the "easy" and comfortable way!! No, this time I need to get back that "Eye of the Tiger" and train like I've never trained before......... with my heart and mind completely set on the hell I'm going to put my body through for the next 4 months, with that 1 shot I will have to qualify for a dream I've had since 10th grade: RUN BOSTON'S MARATHON!!!!!! The 1 true goal every marathon runner dreams of accomplishing before they retire the shoes!!!!

With that being said, I compare my new training schedule to my life now and realize they are one in the same!!! Being Head of Physical Education now, there is no way I can take the "easy" path and coast through this year after year!!! First, the students will gain NOTHING from that, and me being so passionate about living a healthy life, will completely demolish their desire to be active and fit!! Secondly, lead by example!! If I expect my students to bust their butt in class, then I better be busting my butt behind the desk in prep for the next day's teachings!!!

Now going back to my marathon training, if I want to truly accomplish this goal of qualifying for the Boston Marathon, then I need to intensify and increase what I love to do 10 fold!!!! You get in life EXACTLY what you put in to it!!! If I want to qualify for Boston, will that be accomplished by running 40-50 miles a week and not putting some 2-a days in there.........NO!!!!!!!!!! I'm not what you call a naturally "fast" runner, I've had to work at running my entire life, which has been a blessing!!!!! Because I know what hard work is and aren't scared to do it!!!!!! This relates exactly to people who complain and whine about their life because things aren't going their way and when will something good happen to them!!!! Well guess what, CUT THE WHINING OUT AND DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm so sick of talk, talk, talk, talk, talk and instead of wasting your breathe and taking up my oxygen I need to run, TAKE SOME DAMN ACTION!!!!!!

This world would be such an easier place to live in if people just shut-up and let their actions speak for themselves!!!!!!!! The people I respect the most are the quiet ones (a.k.a. non-whiners) who quite frankly focus all their energy and attention on their work!!!!!! People are so worried about what other people are thinking, or who's hanging out with who, that if they would just not care about that and focus on bettering themselves, they would find themselves SO much more happier in life!!!! And guess what, if EVERYONE did that then you would have no "gossip" and would have a pretty wonderful place to work at every single day!!!

All this being said, life comes down to one thing: hard work!!! Work hard for what you want and you will see results!!! Shubhra found a stat that states you need 10 years to become "good" at something!! Well that pretty much sums up that theory right there!!! You think for those 10 years, the "good at something people" sat around and just one day became good at it?!?! NO!!!!!!!!!! For 10 years they worked their butt off to finally have all that hard work pay off!!! Practice makes perfect indeed!!!!!;)

On an entirely separate note, CHARITY RUNNER IS A GO BABY!!!!!!!!!!!:):):) With Grandma's Marathon coming up in June, a tradition I've longed to do for so long is back!!! And that's run Grandma's Marathon as an ACS (American Cancer Society) Charity Runner!!!!!!! It's been 3 years now since I've run Grandma's and 3 years since I've ran for charity!! WELL now I can do both in the same race!!!! My goal, similar to the past goals, is $1,000!!!!!!! With an overall life goal of $50,000 for charity raised in my lifetime!!!! If you would like to help out and donate to this wonderful cause PLEASE click on the link below and help out!!!!! I and ACS would greatly appreciate it!!!!!!!

http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR?px=2564838&pg=personal&fr_id=42091&fl=en_US&et=htphZGVX-HgCurbiWPSc6A&s_tafId=896033

Thanks for reading and HAPPY SMILING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:):):):):):):):):):):):)

Goal time for Grandma's Marathon: 2 hours 50 minutes!!!!!!

THE WOODSTOCK R TEAM IS READY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:):)

2011-11-23T22:06:00.000+05:30

NEW DELHI HALF MARATHON: T-MINUS 3 DAYS 8 HOURS AND 32 MINUTES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Goal Time: 1 hour and 20-22 minutes!!!!!!!

However, this time it is not just 3 people from Woodstock going (1 runner and 2 spectators)!!!!!! WE HAVE AN ENTIRE RUNNING TEAM BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Made up of the most dedicated staff and student runners at Woodstock!!!!!!!! Who are they you ask?!?! What do they look like you ask?!?!? Do you maybe have a picture of them you ask?!?!?!? Well I'll answer your question with a question my friend: DO YOU WANT TO SEE THE SWEETEST PROMOTIONAL VIDEO EVER!!?!?!?!?!! This will answer all of your questions and more about WHO ARE ON THE WOODSTOCK RUNNING TEAM?!?!?

http://www.youtube.com/user/AnubUzirProdux?feature=mhee

In 3 days Woodstock, for the first time ever, will be sending a team to New Delhi to run either the New Delhi Half Marathon (21km) or The Great Delhi Run (6km)!!!!!!! AND WE ARE EXCITED AS EVER!!!!!!!!! Here is a link to the maps for both Half Marathon and Great Delhi Run routes, if you happen to be in the Delhi area and want something to do on Sunday!!! A.k.a. CHEER ON WOODSTOCK!!!!!!!!!

http://runinfinity.com/race/delhi-half-marathon

Hope to see you there cheering on your WOODSTOCK R-TEAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:):):) HAPPY SMILING AND MORE BLOG POSTS TO COME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh and on a side note, since my absence of posting blog updates I was made Head of Physical Education on November 9th!!!!!!!!! HAPPY SMILING AND HAPPY RUNNING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:):):):):):):)

Been a while here!!

2011-08-20T21:59:00.000+05:30

A friend told me, hey update your blog!!! I suppose it's been a while since I've updated it!!! I'm married!!! I don't know what I blogged about last time, don't really look back at old blogs a lot anymore!!! Currently watching Rocky III (that's right, in India!!), continuing motivation for New Delhi Half Marathon in end of November!!! Goal this time will be Top 75, and it won't be easy!!!! It seems everything in life right now isn't easy!! Everything you need to work your butt off!! But that wouldn't be life right?? What would life be like if it's easy, very boring and stagnant!! But it would be nice to catch a break every once in a while! Fall semester, in the beginning at least, always seems so chaotic and hectic crazy busy!! Training in the morning, teaching 5 out of 6 periods a day, cross country practice (if not raining) after school, then trying to spend time with Shubhra, which that isn't even easy to do, since there's no prep during the day so all planning has to happen after school!! Then on the weekends trying to start a Saturday morning fitness program for the kids who want to get some personal training and guidance in the fitness room!! I have one heck of a wife to put up with the busy-ness and crazyness that is my schedule!!! That's why I love her!!!:) As for school starting, it's started and man has it taken off!!! It is true when people say 1st year you are adjusting to a new school, 2nd year you kind of got the hang of things but are still trying to figure out your routine, 3rd year it's the golden year!! 3rd times a charm!!!:) I know the system, my lessons are more easier to prepare, and knowing the main core of the students who've been with me all 3 years are so fun to teach!!!!!!!!!:) Not this shy, new teacher vibe, but this veteran inside joke make fun of the new haircut how's the family type of vibe!!!!!!!!! And it helps that the student's at Woodstock are AMAZING!!!!!!!!!:):):):) Oh and not to mention Woodstock itself for another year has been voted #1 International School in all of India!!!!!! BAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:):) Mainly because of our rocking PE department!!! No big deal!!!!!!!!!!;) But we're kinda a big deal!!!!!!!!! Well that's about it for now!!! Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaave a great day blogging world!!!!!

BANDAR---------------> PUNCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:):):)

2011-06-14T16:45:00.002+05:30

17 DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
20,722 FEET!!!!!!!!
23 WS STAFF!!!!!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bandarpunch

For the next 17 days, starting tomorrow (Wednesday) at 12:30pm sharp it is TREK time!!! Destination is the mountain known as Bandarpunch!!!!!!!!:) 23 fellow Woodstockians (staff) and myself will head out tomorrow via jeep and our trek will begin!!!! No outside world communication for 17 days and nothing but nature and the peace that is the Himalayas!!!!!!!!!!! Of course I'll miss my Shuby and not being able to talk to family and friends for this period of time, but one of my goals is to do a 10+ day trek and I'm thinking this will take care of it!!!! Well at least start of something amazing!!!!! At 20,722 feet it will be the highest I will have ever dreamed of being and hopefully not the highest I will go in my life!!!!:) OH AND DID I FORGET TO MENTION: SNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOTS AND LOTS OF SNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! IT WILL BE AWESOME!!!! Temperatures around 10-20 degrees F and snow up to the knees hopefully, and then some!!!!!!!!:) Might be even colder at night, but I know it'll be like Minnesota winter all over again!!!! 2 winters in 1 year, HECK FREAKIN YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We will be returning to civilization July 3rd or 4th, so keep your eyes open at that time for a blog post to see how it went!!!!!!!!!!!! As for now HAPPY SMILING AND HAPPY SUMMER EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To my Shakopee Tennis Coaches back in Minnesota land, HAVE A FREAKIN FANTASTIC FIRST DAY OF TENNIS AND THE FIRST COUPLE OF WEEKS!!!!!!! 1 YEAR BABY AND WE'LL BE COMING HOME FOR A VISIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:):):):):) WACKY WEDNESDAY IS A GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:)):):):):):):):):):):)::):):):):):):):)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:):):):):):):0:):):):):):):):):)

BANDARPUNCH (aka Destination!!!!)!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The rest of OUR lives!!!!!:)

2011-04-18T10:44:00.003+05:30

Well planet earth, if you're not on facebook or attend Woodstock School you may not know the FANTASTIC events that have aspired these past couple of weeks!!!! Busy at it may be, the best event by far, and for the rest of my life was a certain question being asked, with a positive answer of "YES"!!!!!!!!!!:)

Shubhra and I are no longer boyfriend/girlfriend, but instead ENGAGED!!!!!!!!! I popped the question and she said YES!!!!!!!!!!!!! Pretty much making my life 1 gazillion times happier!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Then it already was before!!!!!!!!!!!!:):) Yes that is definitely possible!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know it's possible because I'm living it right now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Life in general has become so much more positive and happier!!! I mean don't get me wrong, when we were considered boyfriend/girlfriend life was amazing too, but there's something about being engaged that adds security and a future to the equation which, on all cylinders, is AWESOME!!!!!! A future with THE one person in your life that makes you the happiest and you love to the end of the world and back!!! I could not ask for more, and could not want anything more!!!!!! Shubhra makes my life complete and I am ready to start a brand new life with her at my side and me at hers!!!!!!!!!!!! There is no more, what future lies ahead for me?? Because it is now a we, us, or our type of question/response!!!!! What will the two of US do in a couple of years!?!?! When will WE start a family!?!??! Questions like these before dating Shubhra I could answer with I, me, etc.!! It feels amazing to have someone involved with these questions and to make decisions with!!!!!!!!!!:) I have that special person to rely on, and count on when things get bad!! And I'm ready to be there if things get bad for her as well!!!!!!!!!! You feel complete as an adult with this type of commitment, like the world is open to more opportunities, now that you have that other person to share it with!!! Your life isn't consumed with the worries of living alone forever, or spending time finding "the one"!! I definitely have that with Shubhra and I couldn't be happier!!!!!!! Yeah there will be ups and downs from now until forever, but there is no one I would rather have these ups and downs with than her!!! Mainly because I know at the end of the day, when it matters, she will always be there for me as I will be there for her!!!!!!!!!

So that's about it for now planet earth!!!!!!!!!! MARRIAGE AWAITS AND BRING ON THE FUTURE COMPANIONED AND TOGETHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LIFE IS STARTING TO SHAPE AMAZINGLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HAPPY SMILING AND LOVE LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:):):):):):):):):):)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

VICTORIES GALORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:):):):)

2011-04-10T09:37:00.000+05:30

HOLY FREAKIN VICTORY OVERLOAD BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Let's RECAP THIS WEEKEND WITH 2 SIMPLE SENTENCES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:):):):):):):)

WOODSTOCK SCHOOL = WIN MUMBY CHAMPS!!!!!!!!!

UMD BULLDOGS = NCAA MEN'S HOCKEY CHAMPS!!!!!!!!!!!

WHAT AN AWESOME WEEKEND!!!!!!!!!!!!:) Win Mumby was by far the highlight though of the entire 4-day weekend!!!! The students, holy gamoly!!!! The BEST cheering I've ever heard for ANY team, EVER!!!!! And this is beating my superfan days EASILY back in high school!!! Every single possession they had a cheer for our boys and the energy in the building was magical and intense!!!!!:) The students were really the 6th player out on that court last night!!!!!!!! I could tell the energy was feeding into our boys and keeping them going, which don't get me wrong they were playing fantastically all tourney and saved the best for last!!!!! THE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:) We've been trying to figure out when the last time Woodstock won Win Mumby and all the staff who've been here 6+ years couldn't even remember the exact time, so it has been longer than 6-7 years!!!!!!!!!!!!! BUT NOW WE RECLAIMED THAT TITLE AND THE GLORY THAT IS WIN MUMBY CHAMPIONS AND NORTHERN INDIA'S MOST PRESTIGIOUS TOURNAMENY (not my words, from the freakin newspaper baby!!!)!!! BUT IT TRULY IS THE MOST PRESTIGIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:):):) Well that's all for now!! More updates to come VERY, VERY SOON!!!!!!!!!!! HAPPY SMILING PLANET EARTH AND FOR NOW GOOOOOOOOOOOOOO TIGERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AND BULLDOGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:):):):)

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):)

WIN -- ---- ---- -- MUM- - -- -- --- --- --BY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:)

2011-04-06T11:27:00.000+05:30

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT'S APRIL SO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME OF MONTH THAT IS?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!?!?!

IT'S WIN MUMBY TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!:):):)

For those who don't know what Win Mumby is, FOR SHAME!!! And you call yourself a Woodstock Staff Blog Enthusiast!!!! Win Mumby is THE tournament Woodstock hosts every single year!! A tournament of class and fame!! We have teams from ALL OVER THE WORLD (specifically Delhi, DehraDun, and Mussoorie) to come play BASKETBALL FOR 4 DAYS!!!!!! Today is the opening rounds and ceremonies of Win Mumby!!!! Pep rally will get enthusiasm through the air and first games start at 7pm!!! Finishing on Saturday with the finals of both girls and boys in the afternoon!!! It is a time of FUN, FAN-ISM, AND FAWESOME!!!!!! Yes, fawesome is a real word!!! This brings me back to my days of Superfan at Shako, but now it is a time to be Superteacher and enjoy the students lead most of the cheers!!! Don't get me wrong, there will be some moments when the young, adolescent Superfan in me will do some things, but this is all about the students and their enjoyment/memories!!!!!

YOU KNOW IT BLOGGING WORLD!! YOU KNOW IT'S WIN MUMBY TIME!!!! GET YOUR GAME FACE READY!! YOUR BASKETBALL'S SHINED!! AND YOUR ENTHUSIASM TO REACH AN ALL TIME HIGH!!!!!!!!!!

IT'S GO TIME WOODSTOCK!!!! GOOOOO TIGERS!!!!!!!!!!:)

!!!!!!!!!!!:):):):):):):):):):)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:):):):):):):)

Win a Race???????!!!!!!!!!

2011-03-13T21:32:00.000+05:30

As I sit here, about to put in "Chariots of Fire" for the umteenth number of times, I'm thinking to myself...... I need an ultimate 5 year goal!!!!!! So a goal SO BIG, SO UNHEARD OF (for me) that I HAVE to dedicate my time and energy towards it!!!! I was thinking of this past November and the New Delhi Half Marathon!! Marathons are almost now a thing of the past, I will run one once a year, but half marathons have caught my eye, especially the New Delhi Half!!!! Mainly because it's 8 hours away and very convenient!!!! But also, because it's in India, a place I call home now, and where I have my career!!!! What would be more fitting to set my ultimate physical 5 year goal then....................

Finish Top 10 Overall at the New Delhi Half Marathon!!!!!!!!!!

Now this is no easy task!! Mainly because I have never finished Top 100 before in a major race, let alone Top 50!!!! So Top 10, well holy crap!!! BUT with the will and passion for running I do believe it can be done!!! "Born a Runner" my butt!!! More like "Born with Heart" is what makes someone accomplish their goals!!!!! And without heart, who would we be but scarecrows walking around on Earth!!!! So there you have it Planet Blog, for the next 5 years my mind, body, and mental focus will be on New Delhi and finishing Top 10 in the next 5 years!!! I would say by year 3 we'll see if Top 10 is realistic!!!! BRING IT ON 5 YEARS!!!!!!!! BRING IT ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For this to be accomplished here are some mini goals I will be achieving along the way:

Run a 2hr 45min marathon (qualify for Boston FINALLY)!!
Bring weight down to a balanced 175 (currently 182)
Body fat % down to 5 (currently 8.7)
Run New Delhi Half Marathon in 1hr 15min next year!!
Cut down on sugar and fats (especially on weekends!!)
Run, minimum, 6 days a week (at least 35 miles a week)!!
Continue to find time to have fun during the day!!!!:)
LOVE WHAT I DO, WHICH IS LIFE, RUNNING, AND EXERCISE!!!

That is all for tonight!!!!!!!! LET'S BEGIN TOMORROW MORNING FULL OF HEART, SWEAT, AND DETERMINATION!!!!!!!:)

EYE OF THE TIGER!!!!!!!!!!!:)

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:):):):):):):):):):):):):):)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:):):):):)

March Madness!!!!:)

2011-03-03T07:34:00.000+05:30

Well as you all might have realized it is the END of February and the beginning of a NEW month!!!!!:) As I wrote in February, I offered a challenge to the BLOG world to make new fitness goals for the end of February and then see you if accomplished them!!! IT is that time to look back at Feb and see if you did them or not, if not then maybe you worked really hard and could almost get there but need 1 more month to accomplish it!! Then heck repeat it for March!!! Whatever your active goals may be it is time to set NEW March Goals and see if you can keep up the hard work this month, like February!!! IT'S GOALS TIME!!!!:)

1. Be able to complete the "300" workout in 25 minutes with ALL reps completed
2. Have 2 Saturday workouts at the gym/home
3. Run at least 35 miles a week

Alright PLANET EARTH!!! IT's your turn to make your new goals this month and get active!!!!! HAPPY SMILING AND HAPPY ACTIVITY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:):):):):)

p.s. March is going to be a FANTASTIC MONTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:):):):):):):):):)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:):):):):):)

Just freakin do it!!!!!

2011-02-13T21:30:00.000+05:30

Sometimes too much knowledge can hurt a person!!!! Case in point, I'm trying to OVER think my training plan for this upcoming marathon season!!! I'm trying to think of the most intricate exercises on what days, when really I just need to go out, run, do my thing in the fitness room and continue for 4 1/2 months!!!!! Why is it that we try and over think things way too often?? When teaching, don't we try and teach in a way that is the most simple to understand for the student's sake, and our own!!! Yet, in everyday life we find ourselves trying to do more than we actually need to do!!!!! Just go out and freakin do it!!!!!!!!! You want student's to be active get them hooked on something they are interested in, it's NOT THAT HARD to figure out!!!!!!! Yet, we try and find all of these sources and different teaching methods to formulate a lesson that can be done just as well with enthusiasm, hands-on activity and passion from the teacher!!!! I know students get WAY more involved if they see the teacher truly loving what they do!!! Just like I LOVE freakin running when all I think about is doing a certain number of miles that day, some cross training routine in the fitness room and teach the heck out of the day!!! So like I said before JUST FREAKIN DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!:) Life is made to be simple and to the point, so go out there make it simple and to the point!!!!! We're become a society of too many road blocks and "what if" scenarios!!! Obesity is a problem and yet we overlook the most SIMPLE answer: THROW AWAY THE TV AND GET YOUR KIDS OUTSIDE!!!! Yes, I fight for PE in the schools, but do you honestly think 40 minutes, 2-3 times a week will make a difference in a student's sedentary lifestyle outside of school?? NO!!!! There has to be some point in which parents, both blood and dorm (if boarding), get their "kids" motivated to take part in an active lifestyle!!! Playgrounds, baseball fields, hockey rinks, backyards, sandboxes, etc. are all becoming extinct in a child's life!!! Why?? Because technology has taken over!! Yeah good for the Wii, they're making games where kids don't sit on the ground to play video games, they have to stand!!! Wow, that is pretty active.......lame!!!! Are they getting outside and getting dirty, breaking arms and being tough?? No!!! This next generation for the FIRST TIME is predicted to have a SHORTER life expectancy than their parents!!! That hasn't happened since the CIVIL freakin WAR era!!! And yes this is the USA I am primarily talking about, but I'm pretty sure other nations as well are catching up!!! The once active lifestyle of today's youth is sadly being taken away by computer games and video games!!!! It's going to be a painful "We (PE teachers) told you so" in about 20 years when people are too fat to even get around via walking, they need their segway's to get from their office desk to the copier!!! Operation "Fat Universe" is a go in 20 years, let this be a warning to all!!!!!!!!!! That is unless we JUST FREAKIN DO IT and be active!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I truly believe everyone should have achievable active goals EVERY month, not only to stay in shape but stay motivated!!!!!!!! Okay new thought!!!!!!!

BLOG WORLD!!!! I AM OFFICIALLY CHALLENGING YOU TO CHANGE YOUR WAYS!!!!! Here is the challenge:

STARTING TOMORROW (MONDAY) I CHALLENGE YOU TO SIT DOWN AND THINK OF 3 ACTIVE GOALS FOR THE MONTH OF FEBRUARY!!!!!!!!!!! Then when March comes around 3 NEW, HARDER GOALS for the month of March!!!!!!!!! THEN April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, and finishing with December!!!!!!! Then looking back at your year, see where you are in activity and overall health!!!!! New Year Resolutions fail because people don't know how to set realistic goals, AND don't know how to achieve their goals!!! These 3 goals you are setting should be something attainable and measurable!!! Walk 30 minutes everyday this month!! BAM 1 goal!! OR train for a 5k by looking online for a training program and sticking with it!!! BAM 2 goals!!!! So blogger world, let's reach our goals together!!!! Here will be my 3 active goals for the month of February and come March 1st I will blog if I reached them or not, THEN set 3 new goals, as well as you too!!!!!!

Goal 1: run at least 30 miles a week
Goal 2: 200 push-ups a day this week, 250 next week, and 300 by the end of February
Goal 3: at least a 2 hour hike every Saturday this month!!

There are my 3, what are your 3?!?!?! GET ACTIVE AND JUST FREAKIN DO IT........... PLANET EARTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:) TOGETHER WE CAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!:):):):)!:)!:!)!:!)!:!)!:!)!:!)!:)!:!)!:!)!:!)!:!)!:!)!:!)!:!)!:!)!:!)!:)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:)!:!)!:!)!:!)!:!)!:!)!:!)!:!)!:):):)

What is exercise??

2011-02-07T20:43:00.000+05:30

Wow, one post in January!!! I'm surprised if any of you will even read this!! I'm sure you've given up on my blog by now, but if not enjoy!!!:)

As I start another semester at Woodstock, which I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!, my attitude towards this semester is by far the most proactive one I've had so far!!!:) The first year here it was all about finding myself as a teacher and seeing what techniques work in the classroom; not to mention adapting to life in India and at Woodstock (which has turned out FANTASTICALLY!!!)!!!! Last semester was more about getting into basic routine; knowing what I needed to do to get ready and do it without being asked!! It was also exploring the wide world of Health as a health teacher, which was actually really, really fun!!!!!:) Now we come to the beginning of my 4th semester at Woodstock and this semesters theme is "Exercise!!!!!" I know my routine, I know and love life in India and Woodstock, now it's time to start bringing some personal changes and ideas to the table!!!!:) I am addicted and passionate about running, no surprise here!!!! It is time for students, those who want to, to find their passion for running (sprinting/long distance)!!! One way I know I will prevent myself from becoming stagnant at my job is really invest my time into the running club I am starting this semester!!! Also, to really put myself out there and help out those who want it in the fitness room!!! For some reason last semester I took a back seat and watched students do the same old routine day in and day out in the fitness room, and that's not who I am or want to be!!! I want to see student's doing new things every single day!! I want students coming up to me, begging me to stay after school and teach them a new shoulder workout, or ab routine!!! Following through for the students this semester is one of my ultimate goals as a teacher!! The more I put myself out there for them, the more they will respect what I have to teach them, both in the classroom and life outside of Woodstock!!! And the greatest thing about this new perspective this semester is I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!:) How many people can say, honestly, they go to their job every single day and are excited to see what new challenges await them!! That is what makes teaching so special!! EVERY SINGLE DAY is a new challenge or adventure!!! Yes, some may go day in and day out doing the same thing year in and year out, but who's fault is that!!! There are SO many methods to teaching, so many ideas to strive to get through to students with, why do the same old thing every year!!?!? You'll become such a bad teacher that way!!! Why?!? Because students will become turned off, because they see their teacher losing interest and "going through the motions with them!!!!" Creativity is a teachers best weapon!! And I am my most creative in the gym/fitness room!!!! It's my second home!!!!;)

In addition to motivating the students, the staff are also on my list of to do's!!!!!! A happy body makes a happy mind!!!!:) The more active we are as educators, the more energy we will have and the happier this school will become!!!! I think exercise is the most important part of life!!! The happiest people I see are the ones I run past in the mornings going for a walk!!!! 6am runs are by far the best!!!!:) Always welcoming with a smile and namaste!!!!!!:) That is why I'm so pumped to be a lot more involved with the staff this year in the fitness room!!! Especially those wanting to trek the Himalayas this summer!!! It's a WIN WIN situation really!!!! They get in shape and I get to help them get in shape and see the benefits hard work pays off!!!! Anyways what is exercise to me, a way of life!! A gateway to expressing myself in the simplest yet purest of forms!!!! A day starter and night ender!!!:) Exercise can only make you stronger both physically and mentally!!! Let the 6 months of training BEGIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:) Happy smiling and make it an ACTIVE 2011 PLANET EARTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:)

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:):):):):):):):):):):):):):)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Home Sweet Home!!!!!:)

2011-01-13T06:55:00.002+05:30

Before I left Mussoorie and India , I blogged the Top 12 things I was looking forward to in return to Minnesota!!! Here are the Top 12 things and if I did them or not!!!:)

12. DAVE AND BUSTER'S!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CHECK!!!!!!!
11. DRIVING!!!!!!!!!!!!! CHECK!!!!!!! CHECK!!!!!!! CHECK!!!!!!!
10. DULUTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CHECK!!!!!!!
9. LAKES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HALF CHECK!!!!!!! (Wanted to do Polar Plunge, but no opportunity!)
8. BAGELS, JAMBA JUICE, AND FRUIT YOGURT!!!!!!!!! CHECK!!!!!!!
7. A BILLION TYPE OF CEREAL AND FRUIT CHOICES AT CUB FOODS!!!!! CHECK!!!!!!!
6. FROZEN NOSTRILS AND SNOT OUTSIDE!!!!!!!! CHECK!!!!!!! CHECK!!!!!!! CHECK!!!!!!!
5. RUNNING 5K AND 10K RACES IN THE COLD WEATHER!!!!!!!!!!! CHECK!!!!!!!
4. MINNESOTA SCENERY/FLAT GROUND!!!!!!!!!! CHECK!!!!!!!
3. SNOW AND COLD FOR 5 WEEKS!!!!!!!!!! CHECK!!!!!!!
2. CHRISTMAS WITH REAL TREES AND LEFSE!!!!!!!!!!!!! CHECK!!!!!!!
1. FAMILY AND FRIENDS I HAVEN'T SEEN FOR 1 1/2 YEARS!!!!!! CHECK!!!!!!!

Now with that being said, there are a couple things I have really put in to perspective over break and probably the second most significant thing is where home is for me (the first significant thing stays with me)!!! With no doubt Minnesota will ALWAYS have a "home" spot in my heart!!! But as I've been home for 4 weeks now and lived the lifestyle of Minnesota and the US, I just don't fit in with it anymore!! Comparing that to Mussoorie's lifestyle of walking EVERYWHERE, not needing to drive unless going South, altitude training (BIG bonus), plethora of hiking opportunities right out my front door, a scenery no one can get sick of, friends living within walking distance, healthy eating up the wazoo, and the list goes on, being back here doesn't compare!!! I guess to truly understand this blog post you need to have lived in both worlds!! Living in both worlds for a significant amount of time (yes, 1 1/2 years in India to me is significant) and having no one back in Minnesota except those who used to work at Woodstock can even begin to understand what I am talking about, which really kind of stinks!!! Because you would DEFINITELY understand this post a lot more if you spent at least 2 weeks in Mussoorie!! I love love LOVE Minnesota winters, and if Mussoorie had winters like Minnesota I don't think I would EVER move back, not saying that I'm moving back anytime soon however!!!:) Before I left, I heard people say, "Oh I hated being back in the states and couldn't wait to come back to India!" Well I am in NO way saying I hated being back here!! I love being back!! But like I said before, this lifestyle just isn't the life for me anymore!!! I loved seeing family, friends, and old stomping grounds/running routes, but it's going to be GREAT to be back in Mussoorie!!:) Getting back into old routines and seeing familiar faces once again!!! YES, especially a certain someone who I've missed for 4 weeks now and counting!!!:) Which literally would be an entire post on it's own about how much I've missed SC!!!! Literally!!! But as for now home is Mussoorie, and how long will that be home I don't know!! Time will tell and it could be a 5 years or it could be 20+, I just don't know how the future will turn out!!!! All I know right now is it has been awesome to be back in Minnesota and really get a grip on what is important in my life, where I see the future heading, and of course to see FAMILY and FRIENDS!!!!!!!!!!:) I'm getting the same home sick type feelings in Mussoorie I had before I left for Minnesota, so that right there has been a BIG deciding factor on where true home is for me!!! Home is where you make it, and home right now is Mussoorie, India!!!!!:) We'll see where the next 10 years lead!!!! I know these past 10 have been incredible!!!!!!!!!! Gone from starting my high school career as a sophomore at Shako to currently a PE teacher/CC Coach at Woodstock!!! Can't get any better than that!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well it can, but that's for another time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:) HAPPY SMILING AND HOPE YOU ALL KNOW WHERE HOME IS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

IT'S BEEN FUN MINNESOTA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:):!)!:!)!:!)!:!)!:!)!:!)!:)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:)!:!)!:!)!:!)!:!)!:!)!:!):):):)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:):):):):)

12 Days 'til Return!!!!!!:)

2010-12-06T01:04:00.000+05:30

In honor of Christmas time and the infamous song "12 Days of Christmas" this is the 12 days until returning to Minnesooooooooooooota!!!!!!!!! It's more of the Top 12 things I'm looking forward to when returning!!!! With 1 being the # 1 THING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

12. DAVE AND BUSTER'S!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
11. DRIVING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
10. DULUTH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
9. LAKES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
8. BAGELS, JAMBA JUICE, AND FRUIT YOGURT!!!!!!!!!
7. A BILLION TYPE OF CEREAL AND FRUIT CHOICES AT CUB FOODS!!!!!!!!!!!
6. FROZEN NOSTRILS AND SNOT OUTSIDE!!!!!!!!
5. RUNNING 5K AND 10K RACES IN THE COLD WEATHER!!!!!!!!!!!
4. MINNESOTA SCENERY/FLAT GROUND!!!!!!!!!!
3. SNOW AND COLD FOR 5 WEEKS!!!!!!!!!!
2. CHRISTMAS WITH REAL TREES AND LEFSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
1. FAMILY AND FRIENDS I HAVEN'T SEEN FOR 1 1/2 YEARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:)

Now obviously there are a MILLION other little and big things I am excited for when returning, but these would have to be the top 12!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! No matter how much I think about it, or count down to the actual day, I think when that day actually comes and I'm in the site of family and friends at the airport my emotions will be out of control and tears will be flowing that a new lake will be made and words will be silenced for at least 5 minutes!!!!!! Lake Airport!!!!!!!!;) I mean I'm already stacking up on toilet paper!!!!!!!!!! In exactly 11 days from this minute, us leaving for the states will be in a KLM plane departing from New Delhi airport to Amsterdam, then splitting up and those going to Minnesota will be arriving in Minnesoooooooota 8 hours after departing from Amsterdam and arriving Friday December 17th at 12:15pm!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:) HOLY FREAKIN SCHNIKEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THIS IS GOING TO BE AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:)

Have a FANTASTIC Sunday everyone and to those at Woodstock, 9 MORE DAYS UNTIL STAFF MEETINGS ARE DONE WITH AND BREAK OFFICIALLY BEGINS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LET JUNIOR SCHOOL SPIRIT WEEK BEGIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!;) HAPPY SMILING, HAPPY LIVING, AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:)

!!!!!!!!:)!:!)!:!)!:!)!:):):):):):)!:)!:!)!!:!)!:!!)!:!)!:!)!:!)!:!!)!:!)!!:!!!!!!!!!!!:):):):):):)!:!!)!:!)!!:!)!!:!)!:):):):):)

heartbeat

2010-12-03T17:00:00.000+05:30

Today is the first day of winter break!! Now I say winter break, even though technically staff starts their winter break December 15th!!!! However, not having to teach every single day, for me, counts that as winter break!!! A break from teaching, which everyone needs once in a while!!!!!!! It was a very interesting ending to the semester yesterday, which I will leave at that!!! However, interesting as it was there was a part of that day that made me really cherish life and having the health that I do!! Some are not so lucky and would do anything to have that health, either again or for the first time!!! People look confused when I say "no" to getting a ride in a taxi when it's late at night or the night brings darkness and cold!!! It's not that confusing in my mind!! I was blessed with healthy legs, a strong love of being cold (thanks Minnesota), and the love of fresh air (even if it is through the bazaar and barely any fresh air to be had)!!!!!! Point is, even the most simple things that you love to do, you need to do them!! This is what I've found to bring someone true happiness!! If you love to walk/run places then do it!! If you love to ride your bike, then do it!!! The day I can't physically run anymore will be a depressing day, or at least until I find something else to love!!! The stares you get when you run the bazaar with a backpack on in the early parts of the night is trivial!!! Trivial to the people watching you!!! But the people that either crack a wise joke/start to laugh, or look at me weirdly tell me they have no passion to run, otherwise they would completely understand!!! The lightness you feel when you are on your toes like a butterfly on your finger is the best feeling in the world!! The wind breathes through your pores and face, rejuvenating a possibly stressful day or crabby mood!!!! The sounds your shoes make as it runs over puddles, leaves, snow is so calming and soothing!!! The hypnotic rhythm of your breath (once in the zone) is mesmerizing but cleansing!!! The peacefulness you feel out on the open road during the break of dawn is the best way imaginable to start the morning!!! The reflecting thoughts about the day before or the current day, if running at dusk, fill your head sometimes, only to get resolution and calm!!! All of these little bits and pieces of a run make for a magical, joyous passion for life!!! Life is simple when you look at it through the eyes of a child: do what makes you happy and the world will smile back at you!!!! We (adults) complicate life sometimes with too much work and not enough childish moments!!! It was Spirit Week for Senior School at Woodstock, and every day it was so much fun to dress as something ridiculous and fun!! Even if that meant wearing a Saree one of the days!!!! However, not everyone had the same fun thoughts as I did, and I'm not mad at that, but sorry they cannot have that joy out of the simple things in life!!! I've been called immature and childish so many times I've lost count, but you know what, if the price to pay to be called those names is to be happy and excited about making others smile, then please don't stop!!! Call me all the names you want to, because you aren't changing anything!!! Life is too short to be worried about others and their thoughts about you!!! Yes, you obviously care about what loved ones think, but as for the general public who cares!!! At the end of the day, you go home to the ones you love and hopefully love you back!! And that's what makes the day so special!! Because you have those people in your life, that know the true you, and love you for you!!! I know who those people are in my life, which is why I surround myself with them every single day!!!:) Which is why I run, every single day, if not physically then mentally!!! I do it because I want and love to!!! Having an entire day off today really made me, for the first time in a while, appreciate how life is turning out!! We get so caught up in the day to day, that we sometimes forget to take a step back and look at what blessed things we have in life!!! (Now it's time to brag, sorry) I have an amazing, wonderful, beautiful girlfriend!! Close friends that not only make me happy, but enjoy the stupid, goofy things that I do!!! Family/friends back at home, that in 14 days from now, will hopefully get to see a son/brother/friend that hasn't changed except maybe some bigger calf muscles from all the freakin hills around here!!!!;) An Indian family that I've grown so close to this semester!!! And of course the awesome Woodstock students that has to suffer from my teachings day in and day out!!!:) I was reading a book today (shocking), a book entitled heartbeat by Sharon Creech (thanks Jen)!!! And there was one single line out of the entire book that I will never forget!! And it reads:

Run for the pleasure of running.

A sentence so simple, yet in life it can get so hectic that we forget the simple things!!! Don't ever forget the simple things in life, the simple things that can make you so happy, or others around you so happy!!! It's those simple things, that at the end of the day, will leave you smiling and feeling like it was a GREAT day!!!!!! Also, using exclamation points helps too!!!!!!!!;) After yesterday, today is exactly what I needed to appreciate everything I have and hopefully can spread the appreciation to everyone else as well!!!!!!!!!!!! For all of you back in Minnesooooooooooooooooota 14 DAYS BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:) Everyone else here at Woodstock, LET THE WINTER BREAK BEGIN IN 12!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Happy running and HAPPY SMILING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:)

!!!!!!!!!!:):):!)!:):):):):):):):):)::)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:):):)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:)!:!):):!)!:!)!:!)!:!!)!:!)!:!)!!:!!)!:)

Giving of Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:)

2010-11-23T21:35:00.000+05:30

As this CRAZY busy semester comes to an end, not being able really to post that many blog entries this month, I do think it is VERY important to post about Thanksgiving and what I have to be thankful this year!!!!!:) It seems so weird that last year during this time I had been in India for only 3 months time, and now it'll be 17 months!!! I think back to last year and all the friends I grew extremely close to, now have gone back to the states!! Mostly not by choice at all, but because certain circumstances came up!!! But let's get started!!! THE LIST OF THINGS I AM THANKFUL FOR IN THE YEAR 2010!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Health (both physically and emotionally)!!!!!!
Family (both American AND Indian!!)!!!!!!!
S.C.!!!!:)!!!:)!!!!:)
Friends (both American and Woodstockian)!!!!!!!!!
GOING HOME FOR CHRISTMAS TO MINNESOOOOOOOOOOOTA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:)
Woodstock School (students, staff and of course the job)!!!!!!!!
Paavo Nurmi Marathon, New Delhi Half Marathon, and World Run Day 2010!!!!!!!!
Having a strong passion for life!!!!!!!
Skype (to of course stay in touch with everyone back home)!!!!!!!!!!!
Running (especially in the mornings during sunrise)!!!!!!!!!!!:)
Smiling!!!!!!
The look of friends and family after not seeing them for 1 1/2 years!!!!!!!!!
Some lengthy, overdue welcome back hugs at the airport December 17, 2010 at 12:25pm!!!!!!!!
The Peters (Indian Family; mentioned earlier!!!!)!!!!!!!
The Wiebe's, especially Cookie and her kicking butt of cancer!!!!! See you guys soon!!!!!:)
Walks in the moonlight and around Mussoorie!!!!!!;)
Enthusiasm towards things you love!!!!!!!!
"Glass always is and always will be half FULL" look on life!!!!!:)
The little things in life!!!!!!!
Thursday night yoga!!!!! AND SPECIAL FRIDAY NIGHT PRE-RACE SESSIONS!!!!!!
Having someone always there to help get through the rough patches in life!!!!
Bedtime prayers!!!!!
For having things to be thankful about!!!!!!!!!!
and of course.............EXCLAMATION POINTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:)

So granted some of these haven't even happened yet, HOWEVER, I know when they do happen I will be very, VERY thankful for those moments!!!!!!!!!! I can't say this enough, but I am SO VERY VERY VERY thankful for having such wonderful parents!!!!! Mom and Dad you are the greatest parents a son could ever ask for, and I know I don't say this enough or talk to you very often but I love you guys and there is not a day that goes by that I'm not thinking about all the things you've taught me to be in life!!!!! Not only through words but through your actions as well, which definitely spoke louder than words!!! Dad your passion for your job and always having such a positive look on life is one characteristic I am truly thankful for you having!!! And mom your caring and warmth you bring to everyone around you every single day has shown me how to open arms to everyone around!!!!!! And yes Nat don't think I forgot about you!!! You smell bad!!! Thank you for that!!!!:) That's older brother talk for I love you and thank you for all the support you have shown throughout all the years and even over here in India, with the COUCHSURFING.COM incident in Finland!!! I will always remember that!!! One of the sweetest acts ever!!!!!!:) I'll make it up to you someday, somehow!!! S.C. thank you for EVERYTHING these past 3 months and 5 days!!!! You not only have put even a BIGGER smile on my face every single day, but everything about you makes life worth waking up to, earlier and earlier just to see you or think about you!!!!!!!:) The little things you do make you such a special person and make my heart fill with warmth!!!!!! Now Dan, even though you're a HUGE jerkface, make my life a living hell, and constantly make fun of me, you are my best friend, will always be my best friend, and forever we will be united with all the memories in Shako, your basement playing video games, and those long tennis road trips to Hutch!!!! It won't be long my friend until we're back playing those video games and laughing at the most ridiculous moments ever!!!! AND my Shako Coaches don't think you're escaping this post without being mentioned!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The summer of 2009 will ALWAYS be in my most cherished memories!!!!:) What we did that summer can never be repeated, EXCEPT FOR THIS WINTER IN 2010-2011!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HECK YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:) Can someone say frozen campout in the tennis shed!!??!?:) It'll only be -30, no big deal!!!!!!!! Laughing, frozen feet, and movies!!!!! Sounds perfect!!!!!! And even though there are a BILLION more people I could go on and on about I have to mention The Peters!!!!! This past semester has been so wonderful getting to know you guys!!!! You have made me feel at home ever since Day 1!!!!!! The warmth and care your family has, not only for each other, but for others you bring into your home is something most families have lost!!!!! That is fantastic you guys!!!!! I feel like one of the fam every time I come over, and with being so far away from blood family, that means so much more to me than you can imagine!!!!!!!!!!!!! All of you I have mentioned AND of course everyone else in my life past, present and to come I cannot thank you enough for all of the memories and moments we have shared, sharing, and are going to share!!!!!!!!!!! Without you guys, I definitely wouldn't be the person I am today!!!!! I have all of you to thank for that!!!!!!!!!!:) I wish everyone (on Thursday) the HAPPIEST AND MOST SPECIAL THANKSGIVING YET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Everyone back in Minnesota I would proudly like to announce this very urgent news bulletin:

24 FREAKIN DAYS MINNESOOOOOOOOOOTA!!!!!!!!

You know it!!!!!!!!!!!! I miss you all sooooooooooooooo sooooooooooooo sooooooo very much!!!! Can't wait to see you!!!!!!!!!!!!! Everyone at Woodstock I WILL SEE YOU TOMORROW BABY!!!!!!!!!!!:) HECK YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HAPPY SMILING AND HAPPY GIVING OF THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!:):)!:!)!:!)!:!)!:!)!:!!)!:!)!:!)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:!)!:!)!:!!)!:!)!!:!)!:!)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:)!:!)!:!)!!:):):)

Let the sunshine in, and never let it go!!!!!!!!!!!

WORLD RUN DAY 2010!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:)

2010-11-07T18:42:00.000+05:30

GO OUT AND RUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHY?!?!?! BECAUSE TODAY IS WORLD RUN DAY 2010!!!!!!!!!!!!! The entire world is running!!!!!! Do you want to be the ONLY one that sits on their butt all day and doesn't enjoy the wonderful world that is THE OUTDOORS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You don't even have to run, the point of World Run Day is to be outside and be ACTIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Maybe this will spark a memory you have of how AWESOME it feels to be active again!!!!!!!!!!!!! Especially if you are a runner who is out of date in their runs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HAVE A FANTASTIC RUN TODAY!!!!!! HAPPY RUNNING AND HAPPY SMILING!!!!!!!!!!!!:)

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:)!:!)!:!)!:!)!:!)!:)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:)

ACTIVITY WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-10-24T18:26:00.000+05:30

Well everyone I would just like to bid you ADUE (or however the French spell it)!!!!!!!!!!! IT IS THE BEGINNING OF ACTIVITY WEEK AND I WILL BE AWAY FROM ALL TYPES OF COMMUNICATION/TECHNOLOGY FOR 1 WEEEEEEEEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HAVE A FANTASTICO WEEKEND AND WEEK EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!! FOR THE NEXT TIME I WILL MAKE CONTACT WITH YOU IT'LL BE 1 WEEK LATER!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeah that's 3rd grade math right there!! BAM!!!!! MATH SERVED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:) See you all in 1 WEEK AND HAPPY SMILING!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!:):!)!:!)!:!!):)!:!):):):)!!!!!!!!!!!!!:!)!:!)!:!)!:!)!:!)!!:!)!:!)!:!)!:!)!!:):):):)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:!)!:!):):)

p.s. BEST WAY TO START ACTIVITY WEEK EVER TONIGHT!!!!!!!!!!! YOU KNOW IT!!!!!!!!!!:)

Nothing but you and the ground beneath your feet!!!!!!!!:)

2010-10-17T15:16:00.000+05:30

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-7Vu7cqB20

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AN8kAjbuCIA

"And so........you just ran!"

Friday night it was exhaustion city over here!!! It has been a full week, 2 weeks, 3 MONTHS, of constant sports practices and preparations for Cross Country Inter House, Inter School, Sports Day Inter House, Inter School and it has either been practices up at the Chakkar or practices down at Hanson Field!! Either way it's an extreme UP or an extreme DOWN!!!! Plus prepping for Health and PE classes!!! Now this blog is not to moan or complain of all the work, in fact I love it, because it keeps me busy and motivated!!! Back to this weekend and my plans going in to it!!! It was basically going to be a relaxing, lazy, nothing but couch laying and a little work for Sports Day weekend!!! It really turned out to be the EXACT opposite of that!! Friday night was 4 loads of laundry, Saturday was running 12 miles in the morning, followed by a hike to Flag Hill with some sunset Yoga, Sunday was running 11 miles in the morning, followed by singing at church for staff choir and then lunch at Chardhukan!!!!!! But you know what, it WAS a relaxing weekend!! Why? Because I got to run, and I ran, and I ran far!!!!! There really are no words to describe the feeling you have when you run for so long except possibly peaceful, reflective, and at one with yourself!!! Those 2 links up above relate to a deep deep down dream and passion I have!!! One day, be in 5 years or 10 years I would love to just stop everything, run out the door and not stop for however long I feel like running!!! Granted if I have a family when I do it, they could come with and be my pit crew!!! But the feeling to have nothing but running on the mind and the sites and sceneries to be seen while running would be AMAZING!!!!!!!:) I keep coming back to my bigger years in 5th-10th grade and I'm fairly positive that's where the passion to run such long distances come from!!! I could NEVER run more than 1/2 a mile without stopping or getting completely winded!! And now any run under 5 miles feels like failure or not a good run!!!

"I just felt like running"

Another thing I love to combine with running is charity!!! And it would be such an added bonus if whilst running for such a long time it would be for charity!!! Like every mile I complete a person would donate $1 or something!!!! Of course ALL proceeds would go towards EDUCATION!!!!! Seeing around the world is a struggle for school funding!!!! Maybe its just crazy talk and could never happen, but what is life if deep deep down we don't have a passion or ambition to do something that one day could possibly come true!!!! If you have nothing to aim for, to strive for, then what are we???? Monkeys??? Its those crazy dreams and ambitions that keeps someone going!! Without them life would be lost and have no purpose!!!! Also running for me is equal to that of someone going to therapy!!!! Having such clarity in thinking while running is the best feeling ever!!! Your endorphines are pumping and your brain is working with precision!!!!! Who knows maybe one day I'll open the door, start running, and find myself 4000 miles away home after 2 years!!!!!:) Then again my life could be feeling complete and the need to run will be a little laid back and not so extreme!!!! Life is a journey so you may make the best out of it!!! BEST RUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:) Have a fantastic rest of the weekend everyone!!!!!!!!!!!! HAPPY SMILING AND HAPPY RUNNING ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!;)

6 WEEKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-10-10T21:44:00.003+05:30

IN 6 WEEKS THE NEW DELHI HALF MARATHON WILL BE SOUNDING THE STARTING PISTOL!!!!!!!! It's been 5 1/2 freakin years since I've ran a half and COULD NOT BE MORE EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!! It'll be very weird, just like the Paavo Nurmi Marathon to not have family there cheering me on!!!!! That's one thing that I found very special to me, is having those loved ones, even if you saw them for a couple of seconds maybe 3 or 4 times along the way, standing on the sidelines cheering their hearts out for you!!!!! Finishing the race is the a great memory, but the greatest of all is looking for family and finding them with a big smile on their faces because they are so proud of you!!!!!!:) Those looks will last a lifetime!!!!!!! For all those out there who have family come and watch you run, you know exactly what I'm talking about!!!! For all of those who still have that chance, live every second of that moment, because you don't know what you're missing until you move HALF WAY ACROSS THE WORLD and lose that opportunity!!!!!! I think that is one of the reasons I'm so pumped to run the Jolly 5k in December, not only to run it WITH MY DAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! But to see my family once again, on the route, cheering and showing me the love they have!!!!!!! It's truly special and I am so blessed to have such an amazing and loving family!!!!!!!! I miss you guys and I cannot WAIT to see you December 16th, 2010!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! As for now, my Woodstock family and I have a HALF MARATHON TO RUN/CHEER FOR ON NOVEMBER 21st!!!!!!!!!!!!:) BRING IT ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Goal time for Half: 1 hour 20 minutes!!!

We learn and grow from failure. What happened in Finland will never happen again. Its time to take what has been growing inside of me (determination) and let it ERUPT at the New Delhi Half Marathon!! I fear for all those running, because come November 21st, they will see a Flying Finn........determined.......fearless........and with that EYE OF THE TIGER that has been missing for so long!!!!! IT'S GO TIME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NO PAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NO PAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! NO PAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LET'S DO IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYt6ZQ70FTw

!!!!!!!!!!!!:):):):!!)!:!)!:!)!:!)!!:!)!:!)!:!)!:!)!:!)!:!)!:!)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:)

And we'll see you........tomorrow night!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-10-06T21:44:00.000+05:30

Ask any Minnesotan about this phrase and they will tell you EXACTLY what this means!!!!! For all you non-Twins fans please watch/even if you're a Twins fan PLEASE watch!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGktd6ymICA

"Into deep left center....for Mitchell......annnnnnnd we'll see you......tomorrow night" - Joe Buck

Now all your Kirby fanatics out there, I dare you to watch this the first time without shedding some tears/flowing some tears!!!!!:) Being in India the past 16 months has been fantastic!!! But for some reason, in the past month there has just been days like this where not being home in Minnesota right now is killing me!!! Like even watching this I have been balling my eyes out!!!! Mainly because Kirby was my childhood hero, like a lot of Minnesota kids!! Everyone wanted to be just like Kiiiiiiiiiirby Puckett!!! The way he played the game was inspirational and with heart and determination!!!!!! I think one of the saddest days of my childhood was hearing the retirement of Kirby Puckett!!! I know it sounds lame and stupid, but to look up to a guy so much and too see him in tears because he's being forced to leave the game that he loves for his entire life was so emotional!!!! This is a guy who went out every single game and played his heart out, "like it was his last game," and it was such an inspiration to watch!!!! For all that don't know Kirby died March 6th, 2006 and I can still remember that memorial service like it was yesterday. I was up at UMD during it, otherwise I would have definitely been there to pay my respects to the GREATEST Minnesota athlete of all time!!!! Thousands of Minnesotans and Twins were packed into the Dome to pay respect. They played this wonderful video with the song "What a Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong (Kirby's favorite song)!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXr5XZt5Arg

It's really tough being in India right now, with the Twins in the playoffs and not being able to watch it!!! I remember going to the games with my dad, keeping score on the scorecard, at the Dome!!! Or going to the games with friends in the $4 seats with $1 dome dog Wednesdays!!!!! Its those moments in life that you treasure for the rest of your life!! No matter what, memories like those last a life time!!! Which is why its so hard right now, so close to being home, so close to seeing friends and family again, so close to hugging the ones I've loved for my entire life and haven't been able to in the past 16 months, so close to flat out being a TRUE MINN-E-FREAKIN-SOTAN AGAIN!!!!!!!:) 2 MONTHS AND 10 DAYS!!!!! But I am so blessed to have my Woodstock family and friends who are there for me to help me realize home is where you make it, and without them what would this experience be!?!? Having a loving/amazing girlfriend, caring friends, wonderful students that make me smile every single day......it cannot get better than this!!! It definitely helps me through the tough times that will be the next 2 months!!! So wherever you are right now Kirby, probably at Heaven's stadium hitting some homeruns for the crowd, thank you for not only inspiring me to have the energy like you had every single game, but to do it with the BIGGEST smile around!!!!!:) To all those you touched when you were alive, we appreciate and miss the heck out of you!!! Rest in Peace Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiirby Puckett!!!!!! And for old times sake: TOUCH 'EM ALL KIRBY PUCKETT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:)

GOOD LUCK TWINKIES IN THE POSTSEASON!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MAKE KIRBY AND ALL OF US MINNESOTANS PROUD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!:):!)!:!)!:!)!:!)!:!)!:!)!!:):):):)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!;):):)!!:!)!:!)!!:!)!:!)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

p.s. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE BEAT THOSE FREAKIN YANKEES TO THE GROUND!!!!!!!!!!!!

The MUCH anticipated Quarter Break is now complete!!!!!! A 7 out of 10 experience!!!!!:)

2010-10-05T21:51:00.000+05:30

1:14 pm!!!!! 1 minute before the final bell of a quarter rings and quarter break officially starts!!!!!! 3..........2..........1............QUARTER BREAK (we all yell)!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HECK YES TO QUARTER BREAK STARTING AT 1:15pm Friday October 1st, 2010!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:) And the first thing I do on quarter break....... YELL AT ALL THE STUDENTS TO GO HOME AND GO ON BREAK!!!!! GYM CLOSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:) It was a joking type of a yell, cool out!!!!!!!!!!;) First thing after getting out of the school grounds was run home real quickly and get prepared for the weekend ahead!!! Packed up some minor clothes and other livable accessories and was back out the door to meet S and head for the buz!!!!!:) We head off and split our ways at the Clock Tower, because I had to start my run down to Rajpur to get some fresh OVEN BAKED PIZZA and she had to get some things in the bazaar!!!!! I made it down to Rajpur's Chaya in 1 hour 1 minute and 24 seconds!!!! Not too shabby with the MASSIVE amount of shrubbery and prickly bushes I had to chop through when I got to the nature trail!!! There were times when the path was LITERALLY covered and impossible to see!!! My legs are an unfortunate victim of the slashing and cutting that occurred!!!! Seriously they were burning and red all over!!!!:) But pain aside, arrived to Chaya, ordered a DELICIOUS chicken pizza and was back on my way within the hour!!!! Left Mussoorie at 3:05, arrived at Chaya at 4:06, and was on my stomach stuffed way by 5:06pm!!!! THANKFULLY S had to go to the bazaar, which pushed me to leave earlier, for the trip back up was, AGAIN, another cud climbing adventure and I needed all the light I could use!!!!:) Now there are 2 ways to get back up the path to civilization!! A right way and wrong way!! As you may guess what is coming, otherwise why would I go into detail about it, I accidentally missed my turn for the immediate up and correct path, and kept on going straight which of course is the WRONG and LOWER path!! My first red light should have been the lack of stone and gravel, because if I was on the right path I would have had a severe incline with plenty of loose gravel!! NOPE didn't see that, but assumed it was coming!!! Secondly, on the correct path there are these old cement steps in the ground when the British used to use this as their "highway"!!! NOPE didn't see that on this path!! Thirdly, and this was the final tell there is a left bend in the path that cuts through the hillside to go off to the right and up!!! If I was on the correct path, this bend that I saw would be cutting through the hillside.......NOPE no cut!! Just a CRAP load more of bushes and pricklies!!! Oh and another OBVIOUS give-away I should have realized back then is I went over 4 rock slides!! On my way down I went over 1 easy one!! 3 of these rock slides I came a foot away from sliding down the rocks and falling a pleasant 50 feet to probably a broken leg!! DON'T WORRY DIDN'T FALL!!! Expert hiker when getting lost!! Have lots of experience in this field!!!! So I get to this bend that should have cut through the hillside if I was on the right path and thought, crapola definitely on the lower path!! Luckily I knew EXACTLY where I needed to go: UP..............UP.................UP and away!!!!!! I had to cud climb!!!!! Now this may sound dangerous, but in reality you're going up a hill through bushes!! Not that hard!! Until you get to parts that freakin bushes are surrounding you and the only option is to army crawl on the ground up the hill, then it turns fun!! Which I only had to do 3 times!!!! So I climb up the cud (hillside) which takes about 6-7 minutes!!! Branches are poking me every which way, leaves are slapping my face around, and I'm pretty sure the prickly bushes saw me coming and uprooted and moved to my path because I was COVERED in the them!! SO comfortable when you're going commando and the friction of the legs are ever so frictiony!!!! I make it to the exact point I thought I would come out at, and climbed up the brick wall to VICTORY AND ANOTHER SUCCESSFUL DETOUR OF BUSHWHACKING!!!!!! GO TEAM TALISMAN!!!!!!!!!;) Meanwhile my goal of getting back to Mussoorie in 2 hours has now been put on sidetrack and my goal at this point was to make it to road before dark!!! I make it to civilization/cement just before the sun sets (which was covered with FOG AND CLOUDS)!!! The rest of the walk home was a piece of cake!! It was very peaceful and nice!!! These walks, stressful at points, are so nice to have in life!!! Think about anything and everything!!! Certain people, certain moments, or even the future!!! Whatever it is, it is your thoughts, the world, and quietness!!!!:) I stop over and hang out with S for a little bit to tell her my pleasant story/adventure!!!!! The next day we (S and I) planned for a nice RELAXING day!!! Basically lounging around, talking all day, ate some lunch, and did nothing!!! It was AWESOME!!!! From being on a schedule for 3 straight months (including weekends) having a Saturday of nothingness makes all that hard work pay off for that one day of relaxation!!!!!;) Also, BONUS, it was with S which you cannot go wrong there!!!!!:) We had some amazing talks all the way up to dinner time!!! Which we decided to go out to Rokeby for a lovely dinner!!! The walk up and back down was freakin spectacular!!!!! Talked about this, that, and others!!!!!! Sunday was another relaxing day!!!! Layed out in the sun having an ice cream picnic with S, R, and M!!!! With J in the chair being on "duty"!!!!!!!! And yes if I used their full names that would give away who I am dating, SO, again NOT going to mention any names!!! HAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAA!!! Hey I already gave you the first initial to either her first or last name!!! Go from there!!!!!!!!!!!:) Pretty soon it may be 2 letters!!!!!!! Then Monday came and this was Dehradun Monday, not only for S and I, but ALL OF WOODSTOCK it seemed!!!!! Everyone was down at Dehradun when we went!!! We were supposed to be mystery guests and critique FabIndia and how they helped us, knew their stuff, and the overall layout!! Needless to say it was a blast!!!! Got some Nehru jackets which one will be worn TOMORROW at Parent/Teacher conferences!!!!:) Along with some other things!!!! Then after Fab we headed to McD's for some lunch and then Nerula's for ICE CREAM!!!!!!! We were up in the air if we should go back up or do something else in Dehradun!!! Luckily S knew of this Tibetan temple (the largest Shupta in the world) and we decided to go there!! It was AWESOME!!!!! Very peaceful and had this beautiful banyan tree!!! Which I'm looking forward to seeing plenty of those this winter break!!!!!!;) We walked around and went inside the Shupta!! It was AMAZING!!!! So many intricate paintings along the walls and so many stories being told!!! There were two levels to it, bottom and top!! The bottom God looked very evil and angry, not very peaceful at all!! But the top floor had a more soothing and peaceful God!!!! An excellent place to relax and pray!!!!! After that we headed back up to Mussoorie to relax and talk some more!!!!!!!!:) Even on the ride up we told some really fun childhood stories!!!!! I think the coolest thing about dating someone is really getting to know everything about them, past, present and their future ambitions/goals!!!!! Today was laundry day and had some major dirty clothes pile-up in my room!!!! So did that, lounged around the house instead of going for a run!!! Hey it was still quarter break give ME a break dang it!!!!!!:) And then tonight went to the Opening Ceremonies of the Mussoorie Writer's Conference!!!! The GOVERNATOR OF UTTARKHAND was even here to begin the ceremonies!!! Except I must say, her entrance was very classy but dull!!! Kinda expecting her to ZIP LINE from the top balcony, whilst strobe lights and spotlights are going back and forth, all while Eye of the Tiger (our school song) is playing in the background!!!! And then her bodyguards would come via trampolines on stage doing all sorts of flips and log rolls!!!! Again though, she didn't and just walked in on a red carpet!!! Very 1945!!!!!! Oh AND there wasn't even a passing of a torch or a big gong to ring to open the festival!!!:( All this hype, build up, and talk around school of this GRAND opening ceremony involving lights, zip lines and 80's music was nothing but rumors!!!! Granted I may or may not started a few, but that is here nor there!!! IT COULD HAVE HAPPENED!!!! Anyways, all in all, it was a freakin AMAZING, STUPENDOUS, AWESOME, AND RELAXING quarter break!!!!!! Best one yet!!!!!!!:) And of course all thanks to S and being that special someone to join me for the ride!!!!!!!! HA ending the blog corny style!! IT'S HOW US MINNESOTANS DO IT!!! We love the corn!!!! Take that Nebraska!!!!!!!!!!!!:P So that is all in a nut shell Fall Quarter Break 2010!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There may or may not be more details to what was told, but you got the gist of it!!!!!!!!!!!;) Hope everyone's weekend was FAN-FREAKIN-TASTIC and remember all: HAPPY SMILING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!:):)!:!)!:!)!:!)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:)!:!)!:!)!:):):):):)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:):):):)

September troubles!!!!!!!!!:)

2010-09-27T20:16:00.000+05:30

What the heck is it with Mussoorie, September, and hikes going not as planned!!!!!:) Let's recap a certain hike from last year with Matt and myself!!!! We hike down to Thatyur in the early morning, get there around noon and decide we're big boys and can hike back up by ourselves!!!!! Long story short, we take a new way back, get completely lost, get stuck in the monsoon, stay at a nice couples place until monsoon is over, then see the lights of Mussoorie and return home around 9:45pm!!!! All in all an AWESOME hike now that's it is over with!!!!! Fast forward to yesterday!!!!!! Which is kind of a oximoron (I don't know what that means but it sounds good)!!! How do you fastFORWARD to a day that already happened previous to this day?!?!?! THINK ABOUT IT!!!!!!!!:) Anyways fast forwarding to yesterday, girlfriend (yes she will remain NAMELESS until I am positive everyone at Woodstock knows who, until that happens KEEP ON GUESSING) and I decided to go on a hike!! I picked out our destination and we left around 11am!!!! Had an amazing time heading towards our trailhead!! Trail head being a point where it goes from cement to NATURE!!!! Well we reach our trailhead after about 3 hours of walking!! Now you're wondering, holy crap how far did you go?!?! We went about 18.4 miles!!!! Okay not really, our destination could have been reached walking in about an hour!! BUT that is not our hiking style!! Which I love!!! We take our time and walk a wonderful strolling pace!! Let life slow down, take our time, and enjoy each others company!!!! No rushing here!!! Well we reach the trailhead, start walking through the forest and head for the ridgeline!!! All in all from trailhead to destination on the ridge is about a 20 minute walk mostly uphill!!! REMEMBER that!!!;) So we set up lunch, eat and then sit and talk for about 4 hours!!!!! Now we're heading into sunset and still talking away!!! It was a perfect night! Cold but perfect!!!! We talked about all sorts of stuff!!! Well now the sun was setting even more, but we were still talking away, when finally the sun has almost completely set and we decide to head out!!! Of course this being the night the moon decides to come out LATE!!! So now here we are with no flashlight and pitch black sky with a plethora of stars!!!! Now I've done this decent before, always daylight however and with contacts in!!! COMPLETELY different with no light and blind as a bat (no contacts)!!!!!! We start off, I'm leading the way and she's close behind!!! This is almost crawling speed, cause literally I was crawling to see the stupid path!!! We make it down the ridgeline in about 20 minutes!! In normal daylight would have taken probably 5!!! Now we get to a part where it looks to me like a dark yellow blur!! I ask "can you see a path??" She says Yes and takes lead!! THANKFULLY!!!:) Cause honestly I was struggling!! So she takes the lead, I'm holding her hand here cause I have no freakin clue what's ahead!! It's literally blind as a bat vision for me!!!! She does an amazing job finding the paths and giving me heads up about holes, rocks, and other various obstacles!!! Even though I was blind as a bat I still knew the general direction we had to go, that wasn't being affected!! So I kept pointing in that direction and she would find the best path to go!!! We're walking slow and safely but on the right path!!! Now there were 2 points of the walk that was really cool!! Both with the same occurance!!! There was one time when we were unsure of which path to take and at that EXACT moment a jeep would drive by on the road below and light up our options!!! THEN the same exact thing happened another time when we were stuck on a decision!! So that was really cool!! Oh might I mention too, taking a hike FULL of freakin stinging nettles in daylight turns into a BAD idea on the way back!!! Obviously every plant looks the same with no contacts and in pitch black!!! Wearing shorts on the way back, lets just say OUCH!!!! At least 4-5 different occasions got stung!!! And if you've never encountered a stinging nettle before, it does NOT take much when rubbing against it!! It could be a little brush of the tiniest part of the plant and BAM!! OOOOOOOOOUCH!!!! IT BURNS!!!!!!!!:) Anyways we're at a point now that we can CLEARLY see where we started and happy to be almost done and back on road!!! This after butt sliding down so many freakin mini hills to get to new paths!!! And let me tell you, butt sliding in dirt = dirt in the pants!!!! Continuing, not 50 feet before we reach the ending of the trail I step on an imaginary path (path not there) and FREAKIN FALL 30 FEET DOWN THE SIDE OF THE HILL!!! I go head over heels like 6 times!!! My face is all bloody, my arm is broken/shattered, and both ankles are mildy sprained!!!! Okay not really, we make it back to the road safe and sound and give a nice big hug of RELIEF!!!!!!!!!!!!!:) A hug similar to the hug Matt and I shared after we were lost, but obviously this one being WAY more special!!! Sorry Matt!!:) So after an HOUR of crawling speed down the ridgeline, which in daylight would have taken 15 minutes, we were headed back home via CEMENT road!!! Lesson to be learned?!?!?? Always remember to shower the night before a hike!! Cause if you do get lost or really slowed down, at least you'll smell good!!!!!;) Oh and probably also bring a torch (flashlight) no matter the time you leave for a hike and expect to be back around 4pm!!!!!!!!!!:) Sometimes time itself gets away from you!!! OKAY THAT'S ALL!! HAPPY SMILING EVERYONE!!!!!!! AND HAPPY SEEING!!!!!!

MINNESOTA COUNTDOWN: 2 MONTHS 20 DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:):)!:!)!:!)!:!)!:!)!!!!!:):):)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!;):)!:)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:):):):):):):)

Such a difference a year makes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:)

2010-09-23T20:38:00.000+05:30

I was looking and reading some of my older blog titles and its so weird to see the transition in the blogs from this year to last!!!!!! Last year at this time it was all about adjusting to the monsoon and being like a baby seeing the world for the first time!! Every and any new experience I would blog within a day!!!! Which, in India, there was SENSORY overload that first month or two!!!!! So there was a lot to blog about!!! Now I'm noticing a shift in blog content!!! It's gone from new experiences to a more personal life/settling in basis!!!! I think I'm finally settled in and ready to go for the long haul in India!!!!!!:) What were new experiences are now everyday life!!!! What was once a goal to do my 3 years single and loving life, has now changed to being in a relationship and loving life EVEN MORE!!! YES I SAID IT!!!!! I'M IN A RELATIONSHIP!!!!!!:) That last blog was true!!!!! Life is SOOOOOOO much more amazing when you have someone special to share it with!!!!! Someone who makes your already ginormous smile increase to a magnitude unheard of, for the sake of words though let's use VInormous!!!! I'm literally scared my jaw muscle will be able to eat metal because the strength it is at now with all the smiling!!!! Who it is though will still stay confidential because I know some of my students/coworkers read my blog from time to time and they're trying to figure out who!! So all you students and teachers out there, IN YOUR FACE!!!!!!!:) But getting back to the difference a year makes!!! It's amazing how you have these goals and thoughts in your mind when taking a new path/journey in life!!! When I signed the contract I thought, okay 3 years at Woodstock, single the entire time, come back retire in Shako teaching and coaching summer tennis of course!!! NOW, it's 6-7 years at Woodstock, not single, who the crap KNOWS where life will lead!!!!! However, that what makes life SOOOOOOOOOO awesome and interesting!!! One year ago I would never have dreamed this is where life would take me!!!! But on so many levels I am ECSTATIC to be at this point in life!!!!!! I am also very happy the USE OF !!!! HAS INCREASED 10-fold!!!!!!!!!:) I'm very nervous though I'm getting to a point where I'm going to need so many ! that it'll be like math and using a squared ! in my sentences!!!!!!! For now I'm hoping it doesn't break!!!!! ALSO its so nice to have a solid group of friends here!!! People you can feel comfortable with and know will probably be here in the long run!!!! I can see why the veteran teachers stay so close to one another, because its so hard to, every year, make new friends and then say goodbye a couple years later!!! Its exhausting!!! And this is only my second year!! I couldn't even imagine doing this for 5-6 years!!!! Of course it doesn't help HALF of the staff you arrived with left after a year!!!! Lame!!!! ON THE BRIGHT SIDE 3 MONTHS OF MONSOON IS DEFINITELY OVER WITH TOMORROW!!!! Looked at the forecast and I do believe it has SUN FOR FRIDAY!!! SUN FOR SATURDAY!!! SUN FOR SUNDAY!!!! SUN FOR MONDAY!!! SUN FOR TUESDAY!!! SUN FOR WEDNESDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! After 90 straight days of rain, IT IS OVER!!!! I'm predicting a sudden SHIFT in moods starting next Monday!!!!!!:) Good ol' Vitamin D is BACK and taking over!!!!!!!!!!! I'm not sure if my smile can get any bigger, or what will happen to it if it tries, but LOOK OUT WORLD WE HAVE A 150% CHANCE INCREASE IN SMILES!!!!!!!!!!!!!:) Did I mention I'm loving life right now!?!??!?!? If not, LOVING IT AND THE PEOPLE IN MY LIFE!!!!!!!!!!!!! HAPPY SMILING TO ALL AND TO ALL A FAN-FREAKIN-TASTIC NIGHT AND WEEKEND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:)

p.s. SECOND BEST STAFF TALENT SHOW I'VE EVER SEEN TONIGHT!!!!!!:) And yes this is my second one!!!!!!!!!!;) We'll see how we do TOMORROW NIGHT when the Senior School is attending!!!!! GOOOOOOOOOOOO TALENT!!!!!!!!!!!!:)

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:):)!:!)!:!)!:!)!:!)!:):):):)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!;);):))!!)!:!)!:!)!:!)!:):):):):)

What I never thought was missing.........was!!!!!!:)

2010-09-18T00:22:00.001+05:30

End of August and 2 weeks into September will be a time I will NEVER forget!!!!! Possibly because the future may be effected because of it!!!! The feelings you have when you're alone (single) in a place can be good and depressing at the same time!!! Good because you can do whatever you want, go wherever you want, fart whenever you want to, and not have anyone around that cares where you are!!! I mean obviously people care, but not in the relationship type of way!!! Well here's the catch side to being single!!! You don't have that one person that really cares about you at all times, to talk to whenever you're feeling down in the dumps, to look at across the room or hallway and feel a special bond!!! So yeah, of course being single would seem awesome and care free, but that's only because you are forgetting about the one true need every single human being needs: to feel cared about!!!! I believe that is one of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, in fact one of the necessary ones!!!! And once you get those feelings in side of you, those "care for someone" feelings, it feels like you're on top of the world again!!!!! I wouldn't trade that for anything, even if that means being single the rest of my life and being able to do anything whenever, without any objections!!!!!!! Because having feelings for someone, and I mean really having feelings for someone, is the greatest part of life!!!! When I arrived at Woodstock, I was so bent on living my years here single and free to do anything that I wanted to do, that I forgot one can do the same thing single or in a relationship!!!! However, in a relationship, while you have the freedom to do whatever, you also have someone that cares about you and you care about them!!!! That right there is one freakin spectacular feeling!!!:) And should NEVER be forgotten!!!! Being single for a long time makes you forget real quickly!!!! However, once you get it back it's like the sun is shining every single day, EVEN during monsoon!!!!! The way your eyes meet in the hallway makes the day 10,000 times better!!! Or their smile when looking across the room, lights up everything inside of you!!! Including your gallbladder!!! Yeah it's pretty much the most AMAZING feeling ever!!!!! Well there is a billion things more to be said, but I think that is a decent start for now!!!!!!:) Now you have to ask yourself, am I still single and reminiscing on the times of relationships OR have I found that special someone?!?!?! You can always ask me!!!!!!;) For now HAPPY SMILING AND NEVER FORGET TO FLOSS!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!:)!;)!!!!!!!!!!:):):)!!!!!!!!!!!!!;)!!!!!!!:):)!!!!!!!!!!!!;):):):)!!!!!!!:)!:)!:)!:!)!:!)!:!)!:!):):):):)

What is success these days???

2010-08-29T17:39:00.000+05:30

This weekend has been FANtastic!!!!!!!!! Not only has there been plenty of activities this weekend, BUT both Friday and Saturday night my friends and I (somewhat different group each night) stayed up until midnight talking about education and what we are seeing as the new generation of teachers!!! ESPECIALLY in India!!!! It felt like we were in college again!!! So yes students, your boring old teachers stay up until midnight talking about education!!!:) EXCITING!!!!! For us at least!!! Anyways, last night was the more intense conversation about education than Friday night, mainly because we were talking about expectations at Woodstock and our opinions on them!!! Now I'm not going to repeat these conversations because we know what we talked about and that is that nor am I going to mention names with their opinions!!!:) However, I wanted to share some thoughts on my experiences with education, both as a student and now as a teacher!!!!!!! Mostly from the teaching perspective!!! Which has a LONG, ELABORATE history I know!! A whole whopping 1 year and 1 month!!! But that is in formal education, I also have 7 years of teaching experience on the courts back in Shako, so it's not like I'm brand spanking new to this concept of pedagogy!!! As a student I won't lie I was one of the more "teacher's pets" you could say!!! ALWAYS excited to go to school and see my friends and goof around!! But when it came to the books I was above average!!! At least up to high school!! Then my easy ways of barely studying and just basically knowing was going down the pooper!! I actually had to study now!! And this is where a lot of students determine their path in education right here and there!!! They can either CARE about grades and their future, OR they can blow it off all together and go through the motions!! Well luckily I cared about my grades and future and I got down and dirty, not studying too hard but enough to get a 3.5GPA!!!:) On the ACT (similar to SAT's) I scored an 18 the first time and a whopping 22 the second time, out of 36 I think!! Needless to say aint going to Harvard!! But thankfully I had no ambition at ALL to go to an IVY league school or any of those "rich" schools!! My eyes were set on THE U of M (sorry Michigan, but we are THE U of M) or THE University of Minnesota Duluth!!! By 11th grade those were my 2 college choices and thanks to 5 years of teaching tennis at that point I knew EXACTLY what I wanted to be: a PHYSICAL EDUCATION TEACHER!!!!:) Senior year came by, I applied for both U of M and UMD and was accepted FIRST into UMD and from there the rest is history!!! I didn't need a campus visit, because I've been to Duluth so many times I knew I would love it there!!! College was AMAZING!! First year on academic probation (stupid lib eds!!) and again had a choice either shape up or give up!!! OH I SHAPED UP HARD AND FAST!!!! Got off of Academic Probation after my second semester of college and never looked back!!! I was motivated as all crap to get that Physical Education degree!! Because I knew there was nothing more that I wanted to be in life, or anything more meaningful!!! So going from a 2.2GPA after my first semester and graduating with a 3.14 wasn't too shabby!!! And yes comment all you want that it was only "UMD"!! No glamor school, no nationally known college, it was plain and simply my college and now my alma mater!!!:) And you know what, everyone else's opinion simply didn't matter!!! Why?!?! Because I was happy and proud to be a college grad and on track to teach Physical Education the rest of my life!!!!!!:) AND THAT IS WHAT MATTERS!!!!! Not the college you graduate from, not the grades/marks you receive, not how many extra-curricular activities you participate in!!! The one and only thing that I think matters in life is going after what you're passionate about!!! And the rest will fall into place!!!!:) I was passionate about teaching (specifically PE) and that passion turned my grades around in college and landed me a job at Woodstock!!! If interviews only went by grades and marks there was no way I would have landed this job!! However, interviews focus on one thing, that person's personality and character!! And Woodstock (I hoped) could see my passion for teaching and for Physical Education!!!!! THAT is what landed me my first dream job!!! And what a dream it has been so far!!!!:) I couldn't be happier, and this coming from a UMD grad, shocking right?!?! How could I ever be THIS happy without an IVY league degree, graduated with top marks in my class, or a big bank account?!?! Simply groundbreaking stuff right here!!!! Ooooooooooooooooh wait I think I know, it's because I am doing what I WANT AND LOVE TO DO!!!!!!!! A lot of this/most of this comes from my parents!!! My dad got into banking when he was 15 and loved it ever since!!! My mom got in to religion and has been the most passionate pastor I know ever since!!! When I told them I signed a contract to Woodstock School in India and then told them what I would be making, they were the happiest parents I knew!!! Why?!?! Because they know this is what I want to do, and this makes me happy!!!!!! They didn't care what I was making, or what school I was teaching at, all they care about is seeing their son happy and doing something he loves and is passionate for!!! Which brings me back to the perspective as a teacher!!! In a lot of ways we are parents to these kids, especially at Woodstock!!! If we show up to school everyday showing no enthusiasm or passion for what we do, how are we ever expecting our students to be excited about life?!?! You teach by example damn it!!! If I teach PE, you better believe I'm going to be active EVERY SINGLE DAY OF MY LIFE!!!! How can I preach the benefits of staying active if I'm a 100lb overweight lazy butt!?!?! How can I teach enthusiasm about life if I don't show it myself every single day!?!?!? How can I inspire students to do something they love, if I myself do not do something I love every single day?!?! In a perfect world every student would be in shape and going after what they love!!! Well real world says that aint gonna happen, and you know what that's okay!!! Why?!?! Because that is why we become teachers to take that head on and try to motivate and inspire!! If teaching was easy, EVERYONE would want to be a teacher!!! But it's not!!! That is why I will NEVER tell my students to stop doing what they love and focus on what will benefit them the most financially and what will look good on a resume!! Once we (teachers) start doing that we're not teachers anymore, we're everyday people who just tell someone younger than us what is the best thing to do.......a.k.a ADULTS!!!!!!!!!!! No, a teacher is someone who cares and believe in students!! A teacher is someone who will work that extra hour one on one with a student who is struggling and trying to find their place in life!!! A teacher is someone who WILL SHOW UP TO WORK DAY IN AND DAY OUT READY TO INSPIRE!!! A TEACHER IS SOMEONE WHO DOESN'T FOCUS ON RANK/GRADES BUT ON A STUDENT'S CHARACTER AND MORAL DECISIONS!!!!!!!! We are shaping the future teachers of the world, and if we do not lead by example then what becomes of this next generation?!!? Who are we but dust in the wind if we do not try to make a difference and impact on each student's life!!!!! Good college, big paycheck, nice car?!?! Those things come and go!!! Heart, passion, and character stick with someone forever!!! They are you, they are your soul!!! We cannot change their character, we can only inspire and lead by example!!!! To all those out their who strive to make change every single day in the classroom I solute you!! For those who go through the motions everyday cause it's giving you a paycheck get out now!!! You are doing no good for yourself and for your students!!!! Why does the system fail from time to time, because there are teacher's out there who don't care for the student's, only themselves and advancing in the paycheck ladder!!!! So what is success these days, I can't tell you what yours is but I know what mine is and I know I'm on the right path!!!!!!! There's my teaching philosophy!! And they say keep it under a paragraph!!!! RIGHT!!!!:) Hope everyone's weekend was FANTASTIC and HAVE A WONDERFUL SEPTEMBER!!!!!!!!!!!!

3 MONTHS AND 20 DAYS MINNESOTA/IOWA/KANSAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:)

"Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others, cannot keep it from themselves" -James Barrie

A unique experience??

2010-08-22T10:51:00.001+05:30

Well as of 12:35pm (Saturday, August 21, 2010) I said my 3 month and 28 days goodbye to the Wiebe's until I see them again in Kansas back in the states over break!!!!! But still that's 3 months and 28 days too long!!! As I took last night to kind of reflect on everything that has happen this past 1 1/2 months I realize I'm kind of in a unique predicament right now, comparing myself to the staff that I came over here with that is!! Let me explain:

-One of the few that came to Woodstock knowing NO ONE and left all friends/family behind
-The only one that has not gone home to see family and friends since arriving (going to be 1 1/2 years)
-Helped pack BOTH the Farley's and Wiebe's things before they left Woodstock for good (within a 1 1/2 month span)
-1/2 to 3/4th of the staff that I arrived with has either quit and gone somewhere else or had to go home before their 3 year contract was up (which will be end of next year)
-One of the few living alone (which I like)
-Have only been on 2 dates this entire time and have had NOOOOO relationships (good and bad)
-I've had to say goodbye to 4 really close friends (basically family over here, and within a 42 day span)
-And somehow through all of this, for the most part, managed to keep on smiling 9/10th of the time!!!:)

Now the point of this post is not for sympathy, please leave that for someone who really needs it!! I guess the point of this post is to open your eyes and see what your life is like and if you think you have it bad try walking in someone else's shoes or looking through their eyes (empathy)!! For example, I haven't seen family and friends for over a year now and won't for another 3 months and 26 days, BUT that's still not as bad as military who have 2-3 year campaigns and have to wait that entire time to see their family and friends again!! Sadly, God bless them, some don't even return for that moment when they get to hug their wife, husband, kids, father, mother, etc.!! So I'm thankful that I get to go home in 3 months and 26 days, and not have to wait another year or so!!! I'm thankful that I've made such close friends here this past year!!! I dearly miss the family and friends back at home like you have NO idea, but to fill that void Woodstock has such unique and wonderful people that if you put yourself out there and try to make close friends/family over here it is very very easy!!:) Because, they, like you for the most part are in the same boat!!! And we know how hard it is to leave everything we are comfortable with at home and go out on an adventure on our own not knowing what to expect!! I still revisit the quote Dave told me in my tennis goodbye video, "those who love you will still be here (Minnesota) and waiting for you when you return, so go out there and live life!" And that's so true!! Your family and close friends who really miss you will be waiting impatiently when you return and will be waiting with open arms!! Or some may have closed shivering arms if it's freakin -30 degrees and snowing when I return to Minnesota!!! CAN'T WAIT FOR THAT FINALLY!!! A TRUE WINTER!!!;) Life is full of lessons, hardships and a variety of get knocked down and get up and do it again scenarios!! What I've learned, and this is a definite life lesson, is no matter how much you may be feeling down in the dumps or sad because of something, there will always be someone there to pick you back up again!!! Like last night, definitely feeling sad and alone, but Jen and Shooby (yes your nickname from now on), invited me over for dinner and tried their very best to give me that sense of belonging!! I will never forget that night!!!:) If you are one of the few that have no one to help you through rough times, then I truly feel for you!! Because I don't know what I would have done yesterday if I didn't have my friends along for the ride!! To everyone out there that has helped me through rough patches of life I thank you from the bottom of my heart!! And to those who need some help getting through the rough times I will always be there for you, no matter if I'm in India or literally standing behind you ready to scare the crap out of you cause you think no one is behind you!! Those are always fun moments!!!;) Hope everyone's weekend was fun, happy and in NO way sad!!! 3 MONTHS AND 26 DAYS NOW MINNESOTA/IOWA/KANSAS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! TIME WILL FLY BY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:) HAPPY SMILING AND HERE'S LOOKING ON THE UP AND UP BRIGHT-SIDE!!!!!!!!!

God bless and safe travels home Wiebe's!!!:)

The Wiebe's

2010-08-18T22:49:00.003+05:30

Death. Cancer. Moving. Three words that come to mind about this past week and the past couple of weeks. It is truly a shame that all three words have to do with one fantastic caring person. About 2 weeks ago we (Woodstock) found out that Cookie Wiebe was diagnosed with cancer. Nothing deflates a happy bubble from summer break with news quite like that. Over these past couple of weeks there has been a lot of talk about death, not only at Woodstock but especially at Mt. Hermon. In all of this though, not surprisingly, Cookie has been strong as ever!! Also Dave as well, to be at her side and both staying so optimistic and strong!! Truly inspirational!! On coming up dooty with the students, some of us went to visit Cookie in the hospital and while we were there she was enthusiastic, light-hearted and plain old being Cookie!! It was truly remarkable that even at the darker moments of her life she can be so strong on the outside and be such an inspiration for all!! Since their return from Delhi and her first chemo session, the nights have been up and down. Some good and some bad. Whenever I have seen her though it always seems to be a good night. Again not surprising, seeing this is the Wiebe's we're talking about!! If there's one inspiring couple I want to emulate as I grow old this is definitely one!!:) Full of life, energy and a lifetime of stories!! Nothing seems to bring them down, hold them back, or make them give up!! I am truly blessed to know such an amazing couple and wonderful friends/family!! When this week started they were talking about leaving Woodstock to return to the states for the third (possibly second) round of chemo and another attempt at surgery to remove the cancer. First surgery the cancer was "frozen" and was too hard to remove, thus the chemo to try and weaken it as much as possible. I/we all had a gut feeling they would return home for this, it was just a matter of when?? Now I have to admit I was thinking, 2 or 3 weeks, maybe even a month down the road they would return home, sometime around middle of October. Tuesday morning was just another morning. Did my morning run, fitness room, and breakfast routine, then homeroom with 11th grade. First period flew by with energy in the air and feeling good......then 14 minutes into second period, while the students were doing group work, I happened to sit down for a second at my computer and noticed an e-mail from Cookie. An e-mail that would put the entire period on hold. The line that stood out when reading: "we will be leaving Woodstock on Saturday." I couldn't believe it was already happening. Needless to say that moment of maybe 10 seconds seemed like 10 minutes of just sitting there in disbelief and sadness. I think one of my students must have called out my name 3 or 4 times before I finally snapped out of it. Sucked it up for that period and finished class in a blur. Luckily it was tea time and 2 preps after that so there was some time to be alone and think/cry. Mostly cry. I was smart and chose the upstairs bathroom so there would be drains around and no flooding!!;) But they were a flowing and it felt good (after holding it in for the entire second period mostly). When I finally stopped, mostly dehydration, I needed to get some air and luckily ran into Kate who greeted me in open arms and gave me a wonderful hug, just what I needed. The rest of the day was a blur as well. Honestly, just wanted to get home and have some time alone. After getting most of the emotions out on Tuesday, waking up Wednesday was a lot better start. Started with another morning run, fitness room workout and a perfect morning hug from Shubhra that seemed to last forever. So everything was starting off right. Well except for breakfast which had NO eggs, don't get me started on that. After breakfast we headed up to the senior school for morning assembly. This is where it got rough/emotional again. Cookie was giving devotions today, and basically reading her 4 points to death speech and being okay and accepting death as a possibility. Her speech was perfect. Such heart, passion, and emotion was built into it. Her words were poetic yet picturesque. There was one line that I will never forget, and she said "What other life do you have to go all out?" That right there sums up not only Cookie but the heart and soul of the Wiebe's. At that point I could not hold back any longer, tears were streaming again and again it was going to be another emotional day. For the most part only the morning was rough, after lunch it brightened up with my fantastic 10th grade health class. Full of energy and pulled me right out of the emotional sadness that was my morning. I keep thinking about these past couple of days and admire the Wiebe's strength during all of this. Meanwhile the entire staff is breaking down left and right. I don't know what we would do if we saw them breakdown. They keep us strong. They keep us full of hope. Most importantly they keep us striving to live life to the fullest and NEVER let anything conquer you. Not even for a second. To the Wiebe's, my friends, my family, and my neighbors for the past year I wish you NOTHING but the best. You have inspired me in so many ways I can't thank you enough for that. I love you guys with all of my heart. I WILL see you in 4 months when I return to the states, so save a game of Settler's for me and a bowl of popcorn. Thank you for an unforgettable and magnificent 13 months 3 days and 22 hours!!!!!!!! May God bless you and be with you as you begin your next journey back in Kansas and the next stages of chemo!!!!

Much love and prayers!!!

Steven Mark Luukkonen

Thanks for the memories Wiebe's!!!!:)

Busy to the 10th degree!!!!!!:)

2010-08-11T21:44:00.000+05:30

An actual blog post IS coming I promise!!! However, waking up at 5am and not getting home until 8/9pm at night doesn't leave a lot of time!!! AND with the busy weekends both last and this weekend, it will be a hectic end to a hectic week!!!! BUT a busy week is definitely going to pay off in the long run when this SATURDAY US STAFF SHOW WOODSTOCK WHAT BOLLYWOOD DANCING IS ALL ABOUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:) STAFF STYLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There will definitely be a post about that AND the entire first 2 weeks of school!!!!! Hang in there and HAPPY SMILING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!;)

YEAR #2 AT WOODSTOCK OFFICIALLY BEGINS TOMORROW!!!!!!!!:)

2010-08-03T21:47:00.000+05:30

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THAT IS ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HAVE A FREAKIN SPECTACULAR REST OF THE WEEK....... PLANET EARTH!!!!!!!!!:)

I'd like a side order of AWESOME to go with those fries!!!

2010-07-26T23:39:00.000+05:30

Okay I know fries are usually a side order themselves, but this time lets give French fries there OWN main course feeling to them!!! If you don't like that, please consult my secretary Ms. Amani Dangi!!!!:) Also doing it this way you really have NO freakin clue what this post is going to be about!! So again FACIAL!!!!!!!!!!!:) Basically I just want to go into depth on how AWESOME it is to eat French fries and use a very clever analogy with French fries and work!!!! Okay ready: eating nice crispy fresh French fries is like working with an old friend again!!! Always delicious on the outside and very salty in the inside!!! Yeah that didn't work at all!!! Skip that, reverse that, cover it up with song..... OH YOU PRETTY CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG PRETTY CHITTY BANG BANG WE LOVE YOU!! AND OH PRETTY CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG PRETTY CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG WE LOVE YOU HI OH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:) Ha now you have no recollection at ALL what the subject was!!! But in all seriousness I really wanted to stress the awesomeness it is to work with someone you know FROM THE STATES AT WOODSTOCK!!!! Coming to Woodstock not knowing ANYONE turned out to be a blessing, cause the group I came with pretty much ROCKED Woodstock to pieces!! Buuuuuuuuuuut then half of the coolness decided to LEAVE after their first year, some not decided but had to, and then the worries came in about the next year and having the coolness still!!!! However, Woodstock being Woodstock picked right up where they left off and hired some sweet new staff this year including Stalky McStalk Stalk and L-Dizzle!!!! You know who you are, and are probably reading this right now creepers!!!:) Having not only a friend that you knew back in college come here, BUT be in the SAME department as you is freakin amazing!!!!!! The familiarness of a person can bring such new energy to a person its awesome!!! AND THE YEAR HASN'T EVEN STARTED YET!!!! Can't wait for that next Wednesday!!!!:) So I guess the whole point of this crazy rambling post is to hire people you know from years before!!!;) NOT just kidding!! Its definitely no matter how long its been since you've seen or talked to someone that friendship can come back SO quickly once you see each other again no matter the length of time!! And thats so important to have in life!! Reigniting those old friendships with friends you were so close with!!! Cause its sad how easy it is to lose touch with someone once you graduate from college, switch jobs/states, COUNTRY, etc.!!! Friendships are what make life so dang FUN!!! And without them, its a sad, cold, lonely world!!! Okay well thats all for tonight!!! Oh one more thing: CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:) HAPPY SMILING EVERYONE!!!!! AND TO ALL A GREAT NIGHT!!!!

FINLAND!!!! MARATHON!!! SWEDEN!!! LONDON!!!!!!!!!! TRIP!!!!!!:)

2010-07-25T12:51:00.000+05:30

Well I suppose it's time now, with most of my photos being uploaded, FINALLY, to tell all about my trip to Finland, Sweden, and London!!! First off IT WAS AMAZING!! And just TOO many things to go into detail about each one!! Soooooooo let's do it like this: BULLET POINT STYLE!!!

Finland (June 25 - July 3)

Helsinki (June 25)

Arriving in Helsinki had about 5 hours to tour Helsinki, so walked in ONE big circle around Helsinki, seeing these sites:

PAAVO NURMI STATUE (at the Helsinki Olympic Stadion)
Helsinki Olympic Stadion (and YES that is how Finns spell Stadium!!)
A number of beautiful cathedrals!! (pics on picasaweb, link will be below if you want to check those out)
Two or Three beautiful Government buildings

Like I said for Helsinki you just have to look at the pics to understand what I did and saw!! Words cannot describe the beauty of the city!!:)

Turku (June 26 - July 3)

Biked a LOT!! 4 out of the 8 days I was there was biking!! Now understanding that I had to rest up for my marathon, otherwise it definitely would have been 8 out of 8 days of biking!!
Saturday (First biking day) was really dissecting Turku which was basically going wherever, no goal or point of arrival set!! The best way I think to see a town!! Bike riding total = 9 hours!!
Found a REALLY REALLY REALLY AWESOME park that day!! Check the pics out!! You'll see!:)
Sunday (Second biking day) was along the North West shore of Turku following the river up to the most Northwestern point one could get without going to Ruissalo (the island)!! This was more industrial and some parts residential!! Bike riding total = 8 hours!!
Monday (Third biking day) was the North East and South East part of Turku which was more parks and residential!! Bike riding total = 10 hours!!
Tuesday (Fourth and last biking day before resting for the marathon) was the Islands!! In the morning was Ruissalo Island (Northwest) and in the afternoon was supposed to be Hirvensalo but missed my turn to the bridge and ended up just biking around random parts of the South West of Turku!! BEST missed turn outcome ever!! Found some beautiful cross country skiing trails and followed those!! Then around 8:30pm headed back out to conquer Hirvensalo, now that I had a map and knew where I was going!! Biking total = 15 hours!!:) And that was Tuesday, 4 days before the marathon!!;)
Wednesday - Friday up to the marathon (Saturday) were rest days!!
Wednesday I moved from my Hostel to Hotel Harriet (more downtown then along the shore) and vegged in my OWN room watching some tv!!
Thursday and Friday just walked around Turku and tried to hit places I didn't see on bike, and found a REALLY cool Renaissance type fair of Old School Finland!! Definitely check out the pics for that!!:)
Saturday was RACE!!! Paavo Nurmi Marathon was scheduled for a 1:20pm start which definitely was unique and played a big factor on how the marathon played out for me!! I ran a 4 hrs. 31 min. 24 sec marathon and was NOT happy when I crossed the finish line! My goal time was 3 hrs. 10-20 min. To put into perspective on how the first half went I ran a 1 hr. 40 min half!! Meaning the second half of the marathon was almost 3 HOURS!! Yeah ran out of steam at the 15-16 mile mark!!!
Sunday was transition day!!! Meaning goodbye Finland (sadly) and HELLO Sweden (happily)!! To make this transition a reality I rode Viking Ferry (a beautiful ship) from the Port of Turku to Åland Islands to the port of Stockholm, Sweden!! All in all a 15 hr. boat ride!!:)

Sweden (July 4 - July 11)

Stockholm (July 4 - July 11)

Monday (first biking day) was the first day back on the bike again after the marathon and I had no clue what to expect from my muscles, BUT everything felt GREAT and not too sore in the hammies!!:) Monday was South East Stockholm and about 6 hours total on the bike!!! South East Stockholm is mostly business, residential, and shopping!!
Tuesday (second biking day) was North East Stockholm and that was a lot different than Monday!! A lot more biking paths/trails and peaceful!! Very nice day it was!!!
Wednesday (third/last biking day) was South West and North West Stockholm!! This was a lot more residential and Churchish!!! A bunch of beautiful Cathedrals were tightly packed into this area!!
Thursday was KAYAKING all day!!!! The launching site was North West Stockholm and I got as far East as Old Stockholm Island, then kayaked South for about a mile, then headed West around Longest Bridge Island, then headed home!! All in all started at 10am and finished around 5:30pm!!! It was a FANTASTIC day!!:)
Friday was walking around Central Stockholm day!!! I covered All corners of Stockholm via bike, and planned to cover Central Stockholm which is cluttered with tourists, traffic, and businesses by walking!! Way to cluttered and frustrating to be on a bike during that time!! Visited 2 museums (one was a Viking's exhibit) and ate at Hard Rock Cafe: Stockholm!!!:)
Saturday was another traveling day!! Walked around Stockholm a little before getting on a bus to the Arlanda Airport in far North West Stockholm!! Waited around the airport for a couple of hours, slept, went online, THEN took off for London!! Arrival time in London was 8:55pm, we arrived around 8:45pm!! Another perfect flight!! I was going to just stay up all night at a local 24/7 cafe or something BUT could not find one and checked into a hotel instead!! Got the smallest and cheapest room available and that was still at 40 Euros ($70) for one night!! Ridiculous!!:)
Sunday was TOUR LONDON day!! Because I'm heading back there this next summer for WIMBLEDON and an Irish Marathon I didn't want to see too much of London, just the major sites in Central London: Big Ben, Parliament, Eye of London (didn't ride it though), Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace, and the several bridges!!! The rest of London/England is for next summer!!!:)
Sunday/Monday was the other MAIN traveling day!!! Departed Heathrow Airport (London) around 9:25pm and was heading to New Delhi airport non stop!! Arrived in New Delhi at 10:11am and thought there was still chance I could catch an earlier train out of Hizzmudin Train Station!! HOWEVER, there is only ONE train that departs for Dehra Dun and that was at 11:50pm (overnight)!! Soooooo I arrived at the train station at 11am and slept/ate/relaxed there for 12 hours!! Which anyone that has been to an Indian train station knows how LUXURIOUS that is!!!:) Train left at 11:50pm and I arrived in Dehra Dun at 6:10am and was out of there via taxi by 6:20am!!! Arrived HOME, IN MUSSOORIE, AT 7:30AM!!!! Took a nice 3 hour nap then SPENT THE REST OF THE DAY WITH THE FARLEY'S AND THEIR LAST DAY IN MUSSOORIE!!!

The End!!!!:)

If any of you want to check out the 3000 pics I took from this trip you can click on the link below to my Picasa Web Album!!! ENJOY!!!:)

http://picasaweb.google.co.in/MussoorieSteve

Year #2 in India begins in 2 days!!!!

2010-07-14T00:07:00.000+05:30

In 2 days (July 15th) it will be EXACTLY 1 year since I left for India and started this whole new adventure I call life!!! And how will I always know that date, cause its the freakin day after my birthday!! Ooooooooh Happy Birthday Steve, now BUH BYE have fun in India!!! See you in 1 1/2 years!!! Yeah that was special!!!:) Okay yes I brought that one on myself choosing to go to India!! So many memories, experiences, life changing events have happened this past year, ending with the most depressing, which was today!!! Today at 7:18pm (it was around that time, a more exact odd time always sounds better and more powerful!!) the Farley's left India for good, or most hopefully just a long vacation in the states!!! There are so many friends and close friends I have made this year here at Woodstock, but without a doubt Nicole and Chris are the closest I have!! Laundry/SVU nights!! Catch up on The Office nights!! Or just chill and play cards!! Whatever it was it felt like family for me, which coming over to India all alone was a blessing in disguise!!:) Nothing can ever replace true family back at home, but to have one over here and back home is freakin amazing!!! And to see them leave today, knowing they won't be here first day of school to start another year at Woodstock is starting to finally sink in. Luckily the goodbye today was upbeat and not full of tears, seeing we'll see each other in 6 months, but deep down there was plenty of sadness!! All in all Iowa is very lucky to be getting them back and Woodstock is very unfortunate to lose such positiveness and brightness with these two!! You guys know I wish you all the best, and for what its worth thanks for such a wonderful year in India!!!!!!:) Love you guys and all the best in IRELAND and Iowa!!!! SEE YOU IN 6 MONTHS!!!

As for Year #2 in India............ BRING IT ON BABY!!!!!!!!!!!! We will finally have somewhat of a strong PE department with Lauren coming this year, 4 would be ideal, but 3 aint too shabby!!!!! Feeling the groove now so I can focus on improving my teaching and adding some more creativity to it!! AND GOING TO TEACH HEALTH!!!!!!!! OH YES HEALTH BABY!!!!!!!!!!!:) Going to go out in the buz and buy me some suit and ties!!!! This PE teacher is going to look professional in a classroom setting!!! Well for the first week, then I'll realize WOW monsoon season is WAY too humid and sticky to be wearing freakin suits in a classroom, and then go back to shorts and a nice polo/tie!!!!;) BUT for that first week CLASSY!!!!!:) Or as the French would say Le CLASSAY!!!! Well that's all for tonight, officially turned 25 during this post!! FREAKIN quarter of a century years old!!! HA bet that makes you feel old mom and dad!! In your face!!!!:)

FINLAND!!!!! SWEDEN!!!!!!! PAAVO NURMI MARATHON!!!!!!

2010-06-24T12:46:00.000+05:30

I'M OUT!!!!!!!!!!! HAVE A FANTASTIC 2 1/2 WEEKS EVERYONE!!!! I'll be back and settled by July 13th and READY TO SHARE SOME STORIES!!!!!!!!!!!!

My short version of an itinerary!!!!!:

Finland: June 25 - July 4 (Paavo Nurmi Marathon July 3rd!!!!!)
Sweden: July 4 - July 10
London: July 10 - July 11
MUSSOORIE: JULY 12th early morning (7am)!!!!!!

HAPPY SMILING AND BUMBLEBEETUNA!!!!!!!!

ON YOUR MARKS........GET SET..........GO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-06-19T22:35:00.000+05:30

The start of the 34th Grandma's Marathon has begun!!!!!!!!!! And I'm half way across the world for it. I never really had a chance to really sit down and kinda reflect on this entire year!!! I'll be arriving home from Sweden when it's officially 1 year and probably won't have that much energy to write something!!! Today was a perfect day for just that!! After killing myself yesterday to the physical max (6th consecutive day), definitely needed a downer day before running my final long run tomorrow (13 miles) and taking it easy with medium sized runs until July 3rd!!! I think for this post gonna keep it debby downer!!:) Things I've missed this past year, compared to other training years and how good it's going to feel hugging my mom, dad and sister for the first time in a year and a half!!!! I was watching Saving Private Ryan tonight and there was a particular scene I could REALLY relate too!! It was one of the soldiers talking about his experiences as a kid and how his mom always worked late and slept through the day!! How sometimes his mom would get off early and come home and watch him sleep, however, he wouldn't be sleeping just keep his eyes closed like he was sleeping!! Then he goes on explaining how he didn't know why he never opened his eyes, cause all his mom wanted to do was talk and see how his day went!! But he never opened them and continued to sleep!! I think as kids all of us do that, I know I did when I would pretend to still be taking a nap after a long day and not want to talk to anyone. I also don't know why I did that, maybe it was just the actions of a stupid teenager!! Well I look back at those moments and regret keeping my eyes closed for both my mom and dad, sister no so much, and how I wish I would have opened them to talk!! Cause now I'm half way across the world and don't even get to physically talk to them for another 6 months!! Now to relate all of this to training and how this year has been different to past years!! During every training season I would always do some mini races (5/10k's) and of course my dad, mom, sister, and Cindy would all be there with cameras and cheering voices of support!! For the marathons, my mom would always have the bananas, strawberries, oranges or mini snicker bars, while my dad would be Mr. Road Map and make sure they hit ALL 5 points along the marathon route, while taking a MASSIVE amount of pictures!! Then there would be Dan (best friend) who would yell things of "YOU SUCK!!" , "Hey you're behind like 500 runners, pick it up!!", "I hate you, you'll never win this race!!"!! So Nicole, now do you see where I get my words of encouragement from!!!:) But you know what those "negative/hilarious" comments made me loosen up inside and probably were the best comments anyone could yell!! And of course my sister would have some kind of shirt with words of support on it, or a sign, or flat out just being there cheering her big brother on!!! All of these small little moments in life, are now HUGE moments I'm going to miss come 2 weeks at the Paavo Nurmi Marathon!! No food from mom, course mapping and checkpoints to look for the family compliments of my dad, no helpful words of discouragement from Dan, no encouragement from my sister!! This is where the one negative of being a teacher comes in, the money!! In a heartbeat I would fly all of my family and Dan over to Finland so I could be with them and run this race together!! Cause I would be no where without all of them there throughout my life supporting me as a I run!! They are my support crew, my family, and my concrete foundation!! This race IS for you guys!! Without you I wouldn't be where I am today!!! This is my 6th marathon, but really its my first all over again!! Have a great weekend all and Minnesota..........see you in 6 months from today!!!!:) Happy Smiling!!

It's finally sinking in.

2010-06-10T22:53:00.001+05:30

With school coming to an end OFFICIALLY AT 3PM TOMORROW (FRIDAY) AFTERNOON!!! What would be a normal routine on Monday is non-existent this year!! I think not being in Shakopee for the summer for the first time in 18 years is finally sinking in. I mean my "Monday: First Day of Summer Tennis Routine" has been solid the past 9 years as a coach. Here's what a normal "Monday: First Day of Summer Tennis Routine" would be:

Monday June 14th, 2010

Wake up around 5am
Boil eggs and put in refrigerator
Go for a light run (6-7 miles)
Come back home around 6am and eat boiled eggs
Hop on bike and bike over to Community Center
Hit the weights from 7-8am
8am BIKE OVER TO STANS TENNIS COURTS TO GET READY FOR THE FIRST DAY OF SUMMER TENNIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
8-9am teach 3-4th graders tennis
9-9:45am teach little hitters (yes the most adorable group EVER)
9:45-10am have a light snack while watching Dan swing on the swing set!!
10-11am teach 5-6th graders tennis
11-12pm teach 7-12th graders tennis
12-12:30pm HAVE LUNCH AND REFLECT ON HOW AWESOME SUMMER TENNIS IS!! Maybe throw some Office/Saved By the Bell quotes in there!! Then torment Jenny and poke the crap out of her!! Then make fun of Amy while she's sleeping for the 14th nap of the day and the day's not even half way over!! Have a little tickle fight, with Matt getting the worst of it!! Then of course making fun of Kayla and all of her pink girly accessories!! Yes, this is all in 30 minutes!!
12:30-2pm teach 12U and 14U Team Tennis!!!
2-3:30pm teach 18U Team Tennis!!!
3:30-4pm MUCH NEEDED BREAK before 1 1/2 hours of LITTLE HITTERS!! Yes this break was CRUCIAL!! Definitely nap time for most of us, or green Aloe for those who forgot sun tan on the first day of tennis and by now is burnt to a crisp!!!:)
4-5:30 teach another session of Little Hitters!!
5:30-6:30pm BREAK before Adults come!! All 3 of them usually!!! And this break would definitely be NAP and quick dinner!!
6:30-8pm ADULT tennis!!!
8-9:30pm basically become a zombie of exhaustion but have the feelings of HOLY CRAP THIS IS THE BEST SUMMER JOB EVER!!!!!!!!:) While working on a crap load of Shakopee Tennis paperwork/online webwork/administration work!! Something Jenny SHOULD be doing but is not for Dave!!!;)
10pm if lucky BEDTIME!!!! Cause 5am is coming and that means another GREAT day!!!!:)

Well Shakopee Summer Tennis this Monday you officially begin your journey without me...... hold on getting a little emotional (no sarcasm). For 18 years, not only have you been a second family for me in the summer time, but a place that I will ALWAYS call home, no matter how old I am or how hairy my face is!! I would not be the type of person I am today without all of you and the wonderful, fun, amazing, spectacular, outstanding, fantastic, heartwarming, caring, and PERFECT times we had!! I think back to our South Dakota trips (3), Detroit trip, Wisconsin trip, Duluth trip, South Dakota trips (1 more time) and can NOT think of a more perfect place to be in the summer time!! With friends that I love and a game I treasure!!! I think of all the friendships and faces that came and gone throughout the years I was with Shakopee (was with Shakopee, never thought I would ever be saying those words) and how close we got at some points!! All of the memories with those friendships: the annual coaches mac and cheese parties, Shakopee Inner House Tournament at the end of every summer, the parade that we dominated for years straight with best float, registration at the old log cabin, convincing Shakopee youth that tennis is the BEST sport ever at the annual Shakopee Showcase (where Tom "Bring Home the Bacon" Stenson stole me away from baseball 18 years ago and I never looked back!!:)), the special events at the Lynx game, downtown Minneapolis for Serve and Volley, TWINS GAME, trip to a certain cabin, shed sleepovers, late night movies, etc.!! For those that actually remember those they were the best!!!:) One day I will never forget out of those 18 years is July 13th, 2009........ my very last day to step on that court and teach the crap out of tennis. Not to mention the most memorable "farewell" party any human being could ask for.......... hold on again. You will always have a part of my heart Shakopee tennis, in fact the biggest part of my heart!!!! I hope nothing but the absolute BEST for Shakopee Tennis and I know it will only grow stronger and stronger during my minor leave of absence!! You have been left in amazing hands of the coaches and Dave-O and I have no doubt in my mind students will be enthused if not more enthused every day to come to play and learn for Shakopee Summer Tennis!!! I love all of you, and you have no idea how much I miss not being there!!! HAVE A FANTASTICO SUMMER (ESPECIALLY ON THOSE WACKY WEDNESDAYS)!!! MISS YOU GUYS!!!! AND MOST IMPORTANTLY HAVE SOME FREAKIN FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!:)

My only words left are............ Summer 2012!!!!!:)

Have a ROCKIN' summer Shakopee Tennis and THANKS for the memories!!!!!:)

What it takes!!!

2010-06-08T22:10:00.000+05:30

So sorry about this ahead of time but tonight's post is a little more semi-serious than watermelons or poop!! It's when a dear friend of mine, who shall remain nameless but I'm pretty sure will know who they are once/if they read this, asked me do you find it is harder for you to be empathetic with out of shape people, mainly because you do not realize how good of shape you are in?? And at first I kinda laughed with my very LARGE history and was kinda puzzled how could they ask this because they know I was bigger as a kid!! But then I began to think about it and thought this was actually a decent question!! I have been on this exercise drive now for 6-7 years and some parts of me are starting to forget what it's like to be "out of shape"!! NOT in any means am I saying that I'm the "perfect" specimen or anything, just not out of shape anymore!! Then I answered a little!! And the little part of me that has no empathy for out of shape people mostly comes from the freakin hardwork and dedication it takes to go from out of shape to in shape!! This is definitely the ONLY downside of being a PE teacher, and that is seeing lazyness from students day in and day out!! And this goes for ANY teacher!! Be lazyness studying for a test, or not finishing homework!! It's just not PE that teachers get frustrated with lazyness!! I guess for me lazyness has to be earned!! What did you do that day for you to be lazy?? Now for some people it may be walking up and down from school is there exercise!! For others it may be running 10 miles and hitting the weights hard for an hour!! Either way I see lazyness as a deserved gift/for a job well done that day!! Also, I take the blessed side as well!! When I see people taking a cab for a job that can easily be done by foot, or ordering groceries to be delivered that you can walk and carry with your feet and hands makes me sad!! There is one class that will ALWAYS inspire me and make me think about life in a whole new perspective!! And that's when I had a semester of Adapted PE!! You want brave, you want inspiration!! One semester with those awesome students will give you that and SO much more!! Do you know what those kids would give to be able to walk, or throw/catch a ball!! They will be in wheelchairs their entire LIFE!! Oh let's take a cab tonight, I'm too tired to walk!! It's called suck it up!! You NEED to live each day as it is your last!! Cause you have no idea what will happen the next, or the next, or the next!! One day you're walking, the next BAM, in a wheelchair the rest of your life!! Now what would you give to walk one more step again!! So now you know what I think about when I'm debating if I should work out today or not, I think back to those kids who would LOVE to do one push-up with 2 good arms, or run 10 feet with 2 good legs!! You also need heart to do it day in and day out!! If you're doing it just cause you like some boy or girl and they work out, or cause you're friends are doing it, quit wasting the weight machines or treadmills time!! DO IT FOR YOU AND ONLY YOU!!! Internal motivation needs to be strong in EVERY single person!! External can only take you so far, after they all have left and it's just you, then what!?!? Find a reason to do it!! Find a passion and stick to it!! Your character is not only summed up by what you do in the classroom, but on the court, or in the bazaar, or even at home!! Be true to yourself and others!! Don't waste their time if you're doing it for the wrong reasons!! Do it because YOU want to!! LIVE LIFE PASSIONATELY AND FULL OF HEART!!!:) That's enough for tonight!! It's bedtime!! Happy Smiling!!!

8th Grade Farewell banquet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:)

2010-06-05T22:57:00.001+05:30

This is the class!!!! '014!!!!! The class that I want/will stick around until they graduate!!!!:) There's something special about your first year as a teacher and the grade that you get to teach from middle school to high school!!! You get to see the maturity take place from 8th to 9th grade!!! You get to reminisce about those fond memories of middle school when they are seniors and about to graduate!!! Most importantly there is a special bond I feel with this year's 8th grade and the future seniors of 2014!!!! There is not one single student that doesn't bring a unique characteristic to the table!! Each one of them in their own way are SUCH a pleasure to teach it......is.....AWESOME!!! When I first applied to Woodstock and was told the student's were great, I didn't know what to expect!! Great can mean a lot of things in a lot of different ways!!! Sadly Woodstock prepped me with the wrong word for these student's!! They're not great.......they're AMAZING!!!! I am hesitant to full out announce my plan to stay until they graduate, mainly because I am sure they hear that often from their teacher's and most of them end up leaving after their contract!!! So who am I to be saying those exact words!!! Actions speak louder than words my friends!! And until I actually am there to see my 8th graders graduate and walk down that isle and collect their diploma, they have all the right to not believe me right now!! Sadly!! But if Woodstock extends my contract, I AM HERE FOR THAT DAY!!! Once I set my mind on something it is DONE!! OVER WITH!!! You don't run marathons with a weak and undetermined mind!! Something God has blessed me with is dedication!! And I truly want to be dedicated to this class!! However, the most AWESOME part of this whole thing is not only do I get to see 8th grade graduate, but I get to see my 9th graders (another FANTASTIC class), my 10th graders graduate (again a SPECTACULAR class) and if I'm here long enough (hopefully) I will get to see my new and upcoming 8th grade class the 7th grade class!!!!!:) I mean really it is a WIN WIN WIN situation!!! Woodstock has a part of my heart right now and I do NOT want to be in any other place!!!:) At least for another 6-7 years!!!!! There will be a time that I want to settle down and teach in the states, but for now that desire is a long, long, long ways away!!!! Thank you 8th grade for such a WONDERFUL night tonight!! I'm so proud of each and every one of you (if any of you even read this!!) this year and again it has been AMAZING teaching and getting to know you!!! This is my THANK YOU card to you!!!! '014 BABY!!!!!!! Oh p.s. you will make me feel EXTREMELY old when you graduate!! Cause I was proudly an '04 grad and that will have been 10 years ago at that time!!! NOT COOL '014!!!!!:) HAPPY SMILING EVERYONE!!! Hopefully you are doing something that you love!! If you're not, DO SOMETHING ELSE!!!!!!!!!

HAPPY JUNE 1st AND NATIONAL FOOT LONG WATERMELON DAY!!!!!!:)

2010-06-01T21:29:00.001+05:30

FOOT LONG!!!!!!!! GET YOUR FOOT LONG WATERMELON!!!!!!!!!!:) So today at lunch was the GREATEST LUNCH EVER!!!!!!!! We had watermelons that literally were the size of an adult's forearm!!! IT WAS AWESOME!!!!!!!!! Not only were we SUPER ecstatic about the foot long watermelons (some more than others) BUT it was the GOOFIEST, FUNNEST, MOST HILARIOUS lunch ever today!!!! There is something about foot long watermelons that make the day PERFECT and full of ENERGY!!!!!!!!!! You not only can eat your watermelon and spit out the seeds but also WAKKA WAKKA WAKKA WAKKA WAKKA Pacman it up!!!!!! That's right, watermelon skins, once cracked, make a perfect Ms. Pacman!!!!! ALSO if you eat it correctly they look like a GIANT toothbrush or comb!!!!! PLENTY OF LAUGHS!!!! It reminds me of Jr. High and my infamous sexy chicken dance with my roasted chicken breast!!!! That one goes out to all of my former 7th grade lunch homies (Eric, Jonathon, Cole, Aaron, Dan, and Philly!!!!) Great times had at lunch both past and present!!!!!! I'm telling you, you have not lived without making living objects out of your food!!! I feel bad for all those who just eat their food and go on their merry way!!! Sooooo borrrrrrrrring!!! SPICE IT UP PEOPLE!!!!!! Well that is all for tonight!! Can't believe it's June already!! HOLY SCHNIKEE!!! In 2 days it will be EXACTLY ONE MONTH UNTIL THE PAAVO NURMI MARATHON IN FINLAND!!!!!!!! YOU KNOW IT FRIENDS AND FAMILY!!!!!!!:) HAPPY SMILING TO ALL AND TO ALL HAPPY FOOT LONG WATERMELON DAY!!!!!!!!!!

What a GREEN weekend!!!!!!!!:)

2010-05-09T17:21:00.000+05:30

3................2...................1....................BALL GAME!!!!!!! STAFF WINS 40-35 TO SEAL UP AN AMAZING GAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:) Friday night we had Men Staff vs. Senior Boys play a friendly game of basketball!! Now the first time we got smoked by 15, NOT TONIGHT!!!!! One of our staff players, Mark Vignali, had his entire 5th grade class cheering him on, so there was no WAY we were going to let him and his students down!!!!!:) The difference between tonight and the last time we played the senior boys was strategy!! Last time we had a one-player focus!!! He was tall, could shoot from anywhere and usually make them and definitely drive to the lane!! Well unfortunately bad luck on us he was having an off night, BIG TIME!!! But we still went to him anyways cause we thought he would turn it around!! Well he didn't and we ended up losing!! However, this was last time!! Friday night we came out with a basic game plan, move the ball around, get it INSIDE to our big guys (Boven/Wiebe) and take smart shots!! Looks like our game plan was VICTORIOUS cause not only we stayed even with the senior boys the entire game, but they could barely get inside on our defense, which played a huge part as well!!!:) Overall an awesome way to end the basketball season, especially for those staff that are not returning next year!!! So that was a FREAKIN SWEET way to start the weekend!!! Won't lie though as much as I wanted to help out with Adopt a Tehri Road project on Saturday, Friday night I was feeling like a DAY OFF was needed!! The past 3 weekends have been constant activities and I just wanted a break!! But I'm SO glad I volunteered for the cleaning up on Saturday cause it was an AMAZING experience!!!:) For all those who didn't partake, you missed out big time!! We arrive at LCH, basically middle ground for our clean up project!! Hold on before I get to far ahead let me explain what the heck I'm talking about!! Daniel Swanson (HS Counselor) and the 10th grade class had ambitions to clean up Tehri Road and the hillside running up and down it!! Last weekend they started a small portion of the clean up by cleaning Tehri from Woodstock gate to the Tibetan flags, while also putting 5-6 steel trash bins along the way so people now have a place to throw their garbage instead of over the hillside, WHICH is very popular among tourists and the locals!! NOT ANYMORE HOPEFULLY!!!:) Saturday the plan was to go from Tibetan Flags all the way to the top of Mullingar Hill, about .5 miles in stretch!! Not a real long distance, but if you saw the garbage that would be enough distance for 1 day!!!:) Our plan was to connect ropes to the protective railings and have students and staff climb down the hillside and pick up all the trash thrown over the railings (there was a BUNCH)!!! Also, picking up all the garbage on and above the road as well!! The timing of this was to be from 10am-1pm!! Not a whole lot of time, but we were counting on a few hundred people to help out!! We show up around 9:45am and Suman and Titu are already setting up the ropes, while some 10th graders are handing out bags and plastic gloves to use while picking up the trash!!! At first there's about 30-40 people from 10-11am!! BUT as students start to wake-up we go from 30 to about 100 by 11am!!! This is including about 10-20 locals helping out too which was awesome!!:) 11:30 we had the most people I would say, topping off at about 175-200!!! CLEAN WAS IN ACTION AND KICKING BUTT!!! You could actually start to notice a small difference in the hillside, it was very gratifying and AWESOME!!! From 10-11am I was hard at work cleaning up a hill right next to the hospital, then from 11-12:30 I was runner!! Literally!! I ran full bags of garbage from pick-up spots to the dump zone!! Also ran empty bags and gloves to those who needed it!! We were a well oiled machine!! Now at first when everyone was breaking for lunch I figured we would eat lunch then continue until MS Open House which started at 4pm, so we had another 3 good hours to continue picking up!! Buuuuuuuut I guess not!! After lunch it was scheduled to be over, LAME!!!! I told Daniel we best have another clean-up day before school gets out, and this time we go for more then 3 hours!!! ALL-DAY BABY!!!!! The coolest part of the entire Clean up day would have to be the locals!! Those who worked with us, and those who looked very pleased we were doing this for OUR city!!!!:) Its acts like these that help build a strong community and bring together a good cause!!! I feel sad for those that missed out or chose not to help today!! With more people it would have been crazy to think how much more we would have accomplished!!!

I'm a Maniac!!!!!

2010-05-09T15:44:00.002+05:30

A little something us staff did for the Woodstock Staff Talent Show back in March!!! Yes, yes I know why wasn't this up sooner!! GIVE ME A BREAK!! I tried loading this video like a billion times and it never was successful............. UNTIL NOW!!!! Just click on the picture and it will take you to my Picassa link and view it from there!!!! ENJOY!!!:)

COUNT IT!!!!!!!!!

2010-04-30T23:55:00.002+05:30

HA 5 MORE MINUTES AND THIS POST WOULD HAVE BEEN IN MAY!!! IN YOUR FACE MAY 1st!! I BEAT YOU BY 5 MINUTES!!! Okay that's all, just wanted to get one more post in April before time ran out!!!!!!!! HAPPY SMILING!!!!!!!

HIGH SCHOOL ALL OVER AGAIN!!!!!!!!!

2010-04-24T22:46:00.003+05:30

Saturday night.....8:05pm........sitting on my couch after a long 3 days......high school Superfan symptoms are back once again:

-tired/exhausted
-no voice
-headache
-our teams have just lost big games
-received compliments on pumping up the crowd during the entire tournament:)

WHAT A FREAKIN WEEK IT HAS BEEN!! EXHAUSTING IS A WORD THAT ISN'T STRONG ENOUGH TO EXPLAIN THE WEEK IT HAS BEEN!!!!! Thus I'm forced to make a new word that is stronger than exhausting, which I will do right now: exhaustralescent poopedoutage!!!!! THAT is what is going through my voice and body right now!! However you ask, was it worth it?!?! ANSWER: HECK FREAKIN YES!!!!!!! It was like high school all over again!! White-Out Wednesday was the opening day of Woodstock's own Win Mumby Tournament and it was AWESOME!! At least 73.4% of the crowd was in white and the rest were either pooheads or other teams!!! WE had a Pep Rally at 4pm then our first of 3 games started at 7 and Woodstock's games were at 8pm (girls) and 9pm (boys)!!! We WON both to start the tourney on the right foot!!!!!!!!!:) Arrived home around 11pm and got to bed, after a late night snack, around midnight!!! Then Thursday there were day games, so while Ajay was down at Ridgewood and Hanson coaching/being head master of the tourney, I was teaching classed in the gym!! Then Thursday night we had 3 games again, one of which Woodstock played in (9pm, senior boys)!!! SOOOO again another late night!! However, Thursday night Woodstock lost which ended our 2 game winning streak!! Thus setting up a MUST win Friday night to advanced to the semi's on Saturday!! Our girls were rolling over the 2 days going 2-0 and into Friday night with a much lighter load of pressure, because win/lose they were in the semi's!! Friday night's game was for higher seeding in the semi's for the girls!! Let me back up the bus a little bit, BEEP BEEP BEEP, during ALL of these games the "retired Superfan" kind of came out of retirement!!!! Leading some cheers, bringing the WAVE to Woodstock, AND starting a NEW Woodstock halftime tradition: YMCA with dancing!!!!!:) IT WAS A BLAST!!!! I have video of YMCA/the Wave that I'll upload via picasa, so be patient there!!! Okay back to the tourney!! Soooooooo Wednesday and Thursday were late nights, staying up until 10-10:30 for the games and not getting to bed around midnight!!! Friday night came and the girls were playing first!!! This game got out of control fast and the crowd as well lost enthusiasm fast!! We were down by 20 by halftime and no upside in sight!! Not until 5 minutes to go left of the game we started a MASSIVE comeback and totally pulled within 9pts. with 1 1/2 minutes to go!!!!! CROWD WAS BACK IN IT AND WE HAD HOPE IN OUR EYES!!!!!! But during those last 10 minutes of the game they sped up the clock to not "embarrass" us any more!!! HOWEVER, with our comeback being smashed with NO time left, we could have used those minutes they shaved off!! SO that was lame!!!! BUT with that comeback came energy, which was a PERFECT prep for the boys game that was coming up next!!! Girls game ends and Eye of the Tiger starts playing on the speakers and the crowd is going crazy, full of energy!!! Boys enter the stadium and we WIN the GAME putting us into the semi's!!!!!! Yeah it was a one sided game so no real explanation needed!!! Now we were set for this morning (Saturday)!!! Both teams in the semi's and playing at 9 and 11am!!! Because we started the tourney off with a white-out it was only reasonable we ended with something special!! BLACK-OUT WAS A GO!!!!!!!! A color definitely favored by the student body!!!! About 90% of the Woodstockians that arrived at the game were blacked out!! It was awesome!! However, for the girls game there were only 4 students that showed up!! Literally, we counted and it was 4!! So that was sad!!!! And on a sadder note the girls lost by 40 and ended the journey for them!!! Next was the boys game at 11am and AGAIN not the type of attendance by Woodstock we expected!!! Stadium was about 80% filled and 90% were dressed in black!!! Energy was kinda there, but you could tell it has been a looooooooooong 3 days!! Also, energy never really came since we started the game off down 20-5 at one point!! So that stunk!! Boys lost as well by 30!!!! After the game Laura, Nan, and I went to Chardukan to relax and get some lunch!! I walked up in barefoot which seemed like a good idea at the time! HOWEVER, walking back down again.....PAINFUL/IDIOTIC!!!:) The Championship games were scheduled for 3:30 and 5pm!! Both games were kinda blow outs so no excitement there, and I was just dead to the world and sat there trying not to fall asleep!!!:) After the game slept walked home and relaxed on the couch!!! It was a 7:30am to 7pm day!!! ALTHOUGH WOODSTOCK DIDN'T GET EITHER CHAMPIONSHIP WIN IT WAS A FREAKIN BLAST!!!!!!!!!!:) CAN'T WAIT FOR NEXT YEAR AND YMCA/WAVE/NEW CHEERS/HALF TIME DANCING!!!!!!!!!!!! IT'S GOING TO BE AWESOME!!!!!

EGGS FOR BREAKFAST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-04-13T19:10:00.000+05:30

So one thing Nicole and I often discuss at breakfast time is EGGS!!!! And how much better our day starts when having EGGS FOR BREAKFAST!!!!! Thus the title EGGS FOR BREAKFAST!!!!! Let's give an example shall we!! Monday morning, had a nice 5 mile run and was hungry for breakfast like always!!!:) It was a low barometer type of day, meaning it was Monday, cloudy, energy was gonna be hard to find from the students, etc.!! Well I get to breakfast hoping for eggs to start this day off right, and BAM!!! In the two containers, where one is usually full of a beautiful type of egg (scrambled, hard boiled, fried, etc.) there were TWO types of potatoes!! Now I mean honestly!! Breakfast potatoes are fine, BUT, both options being potato!!! COME ON!! You're killing me Samals!!! NOW fast forward to this morning (Tuesday morning)!!!! Had a really intense workout this morning!! I mean sweat was dripping from ear to ear, nose to mouth, armpit to buttcrack, it was everywhere and it felt good!! Thinking about what was to come for breakfast I was praying for some eggs!! Yes, some people pray for world peace, others there friend to feel better, EGG is on my mind in the mornings!!! Get to breakfast, look into the two containers and sure enough FRIED EGGS were in one of them!!! THIS WAS HAPPY DANCE TIME!!! Energy and dance instantly fills the body and blood, Indian cooks are wondering what the heck is going on, and the breakfast crew just goes on eating normally cause this is nothing new to them!!! Even though I KNOW on the inside they dance whenever they see egg!!! Now that was ONE example of how eggs can make or break the beginning of a day!!! Multiply that example by like 50 and you have the entire year so far!!!!:) YOU BETTER BELIEVE EGGS ARE THAT IMPORTANT FOR BREAKFAST!!!!! Not to mention the AWESOME protein boost you get from them, AND the wonderful smelling farts!! Joely, Mikey, Matty (my roomies) ALL know my egg farts for 4 years of living together!! AND THEY ARE GLORIOUS!!!:) Also, thinking in deeper thought, eggs are kinda a home away from home comfort food!! Always made them for breakfast back in the states either at college or at home in the summer time!! It brings back GREAT memories, ESPECIALLY OUR 4 CHRISTMAS BREAKFAST'S AT UMD AND THE GOING AWAY BREAKFAST RIGHT BEFORE INDIA!!!! THE BEST BREAKFASTS EVER!!!!!!!!!:) Yes, they are way better than weekend breakfasts'!!!!! So how much do eggs for breakfast rock?!?! If you haven't figured out the importance of having eggs by now, then you need to move to Antarctica!!!! No eggs at all, except for penguin eggs, and those eggs will give you heartburn and indigestion!!! Also, the penguin moms will EAT you, for eating her young!!! That is all!!! I see Nicole is too cool to blog about eggs, even though she agreed with me that we should!! NOT CLASSY!!!! Well HAPPY SMILING AND HAPPY EGGING!!!!!:)

Round and Round it goes when we get off WE DON'T KNOW!!!!!:) PART 2!!!!

2010-04-11T18:08:00.000+05:30

We make it up to the hill and sure enough our same rickshaw drivers were there waiting for us!! Nicole, Kate and I headed up first to tell them we were coming, cause it was around 5:45 (15 minutes late) and didn't want them to wait any longer without knowing if we'd come or not!!! While we waited for the rest I decided to run back to the rickshaw place and let Dave and Cookie take mine, cause we were one short!! I took off running at a pretty good pace and never saw the rickshaw's once until I began my loop once I reached the place and they weren't there and headed back towards Happy Valley!! Well not 2 minutes into the retrace I see Nicole/Kate so I run beside them and we head back to the rickshaw station!! Everyone shows up and before we head back home some of us had this urge to ride the HUMAN POWERED FERRIS WHEEL!!!!! None of us have ever been on this before, but we have all seen it a million times!!!! They load us on one by one and mind you this is human powered, so to load us on they basically climb up the sides and step on the bars to put their weight on the axle so it would lower down!! After about 10 minutes they finally get us all loaded up and good to go!! Now unlike the American system where they get you loaded, have you go around a couple times, load someone else and by the 3rd person they load they unload you cause that's been enough, INDIA IS WAY MORE COOLER!! After everyone gets loaded that's when they begin your ride!!! Again to get it started two guys climb up the sides of the ferris wheel then come across on the same bar and let their weight take them down!! Then once the ferris wheel gets moving they stand in the middle of the entire ferris wheel and just walk from bar to bar as it comes to them!! IT was AMAZING!!! AND IT WENT WAY FASTER THAN MACHINE POWERED!!!!! So we go one direction for 5 minutes, THEN they switch up directions for another 5 minutes!! After that came the unloading process which again took like 10 minutes, and in random order!! We had no idea when we were getting off and how long it would take!! But they got us all off, and after all of it we definitely agreed that was totally worth only 20Rs (45 cents)!!!:) On the way home we stopped in several places, one including BASKIN ROBBINS for some DELICIOUS ice cream!!! While walking with our ice cream I mentioned to DC (Dave and Cookie) that today/tonight felt a lot like the State Fair!! You have your ferris wheel, ice cream, loud vendors trying to sell you stuff as you walk by, and of course a LOT of walking!!!:) Oh and all you Minnesotans, YES, there were gondolas we could have gone on if there was enough time!!!:) Our plan was to head back to the Farley's and watch a moooooovie, which one you ask West Side Story (NOT MY IDEA!!!!):) The Wiebe's head home along with Jennie so it's Laura, Kate, Nicole and myself that stayed and attempted to watch West Side Story!! We made some popcorn and got comfortable on the bed and popped in the movie!!! Yeah that is a freakin LONG movie, cause at 1hr. 20 minutes was HALF WAY!!! And at that point Laura and Kate were going downhill in energy FAST!!! Didn't help that Laura wasn't feeling good!!! However, after we stopped the movie we did have some reminiscing on youtube with Sesame Street!! Including Kate's own youtube version of Captain Vegetable!! OH MY GOSH HILARIOUS!!!! Especially when she has an awesome baritone voice!!!! Then of course Laura and I had our expected conversation about poop!! It never fails, whenever we are together POOP comes up, and we don't even try to talk about poop, it just comes out!!!:) So yeah after Sesame Street we headed home and that was that for an AMAZING DAY OF FUN, STATE FAIR TYPISH ATMOSPHERE AND POO TALK!!!!!! Oh and Nicole West Side Story will NEVER replace "Springtime For Hitler" (found in Mel Brook's "The Producers") as my favoritest musical of all time!!!! NEVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!:) AND I WILL TAKE THAT TO THE GRAVE WITH ME!!!!! HAPPY SMILING!!!!

Round and Round it goes when we get off WE DON'T KNOW!!!!!:)

2010-04-11T17:51:00.000+05:30

HOLY SCHNIKEE WAS SATURDAY EVER AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:) So earlier this week our plan for Saturday was to hike to Nag Tibba and be back Sunday by 1pm!! Well we found out in the middle of the week we couldn't leave for Nag Tibba until 1pm, which would give us basically 6 hours or so from Thatyur to reach Nag Tibba's peak!!! Instead of trying to rush the hike, we came up with another plan: HAPPY VALLEY!!!!:) Half of the crew has NEVER been to Happy Valley yet, and the other half hasn't been in a while!! Then there's me who's been there 4 times this year already!!! BUT I love it there and always something new to discover each time!!!!:) We head out from Woodstock around 1:20 with a 2 hour walk in front of us!! Heading all the way through the bazaar and past Picture Palace we come to the place where they offer bicycle rickshaw rides for tourists/lazy people!!;) If you don't know what a bicycle rickshaw is, picture a bicycle with a carriage attached to the back of it to pull people around!!! Well we haven't been on the bicycle rickshaw's before so we thought it'd be a fun experience to take them to Happy Valley!! Dave and I had ambitions to take that one step further!! We wanted to PEDDLE the gang around!!! In our fluent Hindi that we know, somehow Dave and I talked to our rickshaw drivers and let us PEDDLE THE RICKSHAW!!! It was awesome!! Well not the first minute of it, mostly because I started to peddle mine and totally took out this guy's shoe polish stand!! I mean honestly who sets up their stand right in front of my wheels!!!;) So that made the owner of the rickshaw so much more at ease!!! There were 4 rickshaws in total!! Dave was peddling Cookie and his owner around, Laura/Jennie were in another, Kate/Nicole in another, and I was going solo with my driver!! Won't lie Dave and I had this HUGE smile on the entire time, especially since the bicycles had little bells on it to tell people when you're behind them!! So we had fun with those!!! However, let me tell you how different those rickshaws are to what we thought they'd be!! When you sit down in them its exactly like sitting down on a bike, YET, the front wheels on these are freakin slanted towards the slant of the road!! So immediately when I started to peddle I thought I was going to tip the freakin thing!! After running over the guys shoe polish stand and peddling for a bit Dave and I got the hang of it and OFF we went!! Not gonna lie, unlike the usual stares we get for being white in India, these got us 4 times the stares, AND a lot of smiles!!!!:) Especially since the owners of the rickshaws were riding in back and they were talking to their friends as we biked by making jokes!!! We get to this one part where it's uphill and my owner starts yelling something that doesn't compute in my head, so I start slowing down like he wanted me to get off or something, then I realize he's yelling the Hindi translation of GO FASTER!!!! So I freakin put the peddle to the metal and start peddling up hill, which made him very pleased!! Along with the constant use of the bell!!! Well we arrive in Happy Valley in no time, I think around 15 minutes from Picture Palace!!;) First we visit the Tibetan Home School's art museum which was REALLY freakin sweet!! They had these oil paintings that were absolutely amazing!! And sure enough the ONE time I didn't bring my camera there were opportunities like this!!! But the REALLY cool thing about it is we can actually bring in pictures that we want turned in to an oil painting, and it only costs around 2000-4000Rs ($50-100)!!! And these are professionally done, or at least they appear to be professionally done!!!:) After the museum we head to the Temple and look around there for a bit!! Then we headed up to FlagHill and searched for this cave that Casey said was at the edge of the ridge!! Well after 20 minutes of walking, Kate and Nicole head back, so I turn around too while Jennie, Laura and Dave keep looking!! Kate, Nicole and I head to the Mess Hall where we said we'd all meet!! Cookie took a little path that she thought would take her right to the Mess Hall, 10 minutes later she shows up, while Laura, Dave and Jennie finally show up 20 minutes later!!! We order 49 mo-mo's, egg fried rice, 2 tingmos, and of course butter tea!!! Now Kate, Laura and Nicole have never had it, and again the expression on their face when tasting it for the first time was EXACTLY like everyone else's' I've seen!!! Like they just drank pure lemon juice!!! It was hilarious!! Needless to say when I offered them more they refused!!! After lunch/early dinner we decided it was time to head back to the top of the hill where our rickshaw's said they would be at 5:30 to take us back to Library bazaar!! MORE TO COME..........

TTC FAILED!!!!!!:(

2010-04-03T15:36:00.000+05:30

Saturday morning 4am, body felt destroyed and unable to get up and run to Nag Tibba!!! So went back to bed, got up naturally at 9:30am without any alarm and though I gotta run SOMEWHERE to make today not all a failure!! Decided to run to Pepper Pot which is about 10 miles total, down and back!!! That felt good!!!:)

Final numbers from this challenge!!!!:

Mt. Hermon to Binog Tibba Peak to Mt. Hermon: 4hours 51minutes 29seconds

Mt. Hermon to Top Tibba Peak to Mt. Hermon: 3hours 31minutes 41seconds

Mt. Hermon to Pepper Pot Peak to Mt. Hermon: 2hours 24minutes 38seconds

Feeling of failure: NONE!!!!:)

Yeah granted I didn't accomplish what I wanted to accomplish this challenge, but not only was this GREAT practice for the next time AND the Paavo Nurmi Marathon, it gave me a chance to get outside and away from everything!!! Nothing is honestly more relaxing then getting away from civilization by running to tops of Tibba's or smaller hills around here!! GREAT START TO A QUARTER BREAK!!!!!:) One thing I did learn for the next time I attempt this is to start with Top Tibba and end with Binog Tibba on day 1!!! Top is easier and Binog has such STEEP down and up that to start with that just exhausts a person!!! So next time the order will be Top-->Binog-->Nag Tibba!!! Oh and to put into perspective of all these runs with our hike times:

Binog Hike: Left Mt. Hermon at 11am and didn't get back until 8:30pm!!! (9 1/2hr hike)
Top Hike: Left Mt. Hermon 10am and returned at 4pm (6hr. hike)

So kinda shows the tempo I was at to almost split both of these hikes in half!!!:) Well that's about it!!!! Overall freakin GREAT EXPERIENCE!!! Shows me how much harder I have to work now and how out of shape I am!!! EYE OF THE TIGER BABY!!!!!!!:)

TTC WEEKEND BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:)

2010-04-01T16:11:00.000+05:30

WELL ITS FINALLY HERE!!!! TTC WEEKEND!!!!! TRI-TIBBA CHALLENGE WEEKEND TO BE EXACT!!!!!! Benog Tibba, Top Tibba, and Nag Tibba will ALL be conquered in a span of 2 days!!!!:) Benog Tibba's peak is at 7,835ft, Top Tibba's peak is at 8,536ft, and THE BIG BERTHA Nag Tibba is at 9,917ft!!! So not only is the distance TO them a challenge, but climbing all those peaks will be real fun!! LET'S GO OVER THE CHALLENGE AND RULES!!!!

TTC: To accomplish summit on all 3 peaks leaving from Mt. Hermon and arriving back at Mt. Hermon within 30 hours!!!

Rules:
-Challenge/clock begins when locking my door, standing up, and taking the FIRST step
-Must reach all 3 peaks and bring back an object proving success on each peak!!
-Can go ANY path to reach top of peaks
-Order of peaks can be any
-Only sleeping stops clock (cannot sleep for more than 8 hours)
-MUST run/hike/walk the entire Challenge (NO WHEELS)
-Challenge/clock stops once I reach my lock and insert key into key hole

Distances from Mt. Hermon to peaks (as the crow flies; meaning straight shot):
Mt. Hermon to Benog Tibba: 5.85 miles
Mt. Hermon to Top Tibba: 4.56 miles
Mt. Hermon to Nag Tibba: 9.52 miles

My order for this challenge will be Mt. Hermon --> Benog Tibba --> Top Tibba --> Mt. Hermon (sleep) --> Nag Tibba --> Mt. Hermon!!! I originally was planning doing Benog to Nag and then Top, buuuuuuut I don't know that route between Benog and Nag and I didn't feel like guessing in my first attempt at this challenge!!!:) And this way I can be home to sleep and don't have to run with a sleeping bag!! LESS WEIGHT!!! Also, ending with Nag I can practice when I go for the record from Woodstock to Nag Tibba as well!! Which Kleiner did back in '97 and he did it in 11hrs.!!! Now I'm pretty sure I won't do that on this one since it is considered practice, BUT to see how close I can get will be pretty sweet!!! If I do break it, ummmmm SURPRISING BUT AWESOME!!!! Well that's about all the info I have for these next 2 days!!!! So while other people are out relaxing in a national park or hiking to a hill a mile away during their quarter break, I'm freakin pushing myself to the physical limit!! OH THERE'S NO OTHER WAY TO DO A BREAK BABY!!!!!! YOU KNOW IT!!!!!!!:) Fresh air, sun, and sweat!! 3 combo's to an amazing break!!!!!! Granted Sunday and Monday I'll be dead to the world, but it'll be WORTH IT!!!!! HAPPY SMILING AND HAPPY BREAK EVERYONE!!!!!!

The perfect dream job..........

2010-03-20T22:14:00.001+05:30

WOODSTOCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So I've been asked a lot, "STEVE, how can you stay longer than 3 years, what about home and family and friends?!?!" Which got me thinking, why have I absolutely fell in love with Woodstock and Mussoorie, and India!?!??! And tonight, for the first time since I've been here, I have called Woodstock my TRUE home!! Everyone knows the phrase "home is where you make it," well Woodstock is my home now!! I went on the 5/6th grade retreat this weekend as some of you already know, and THIS weekend is what made me feel right at home!! I'm a big sucker for hugs.....those of you who really know me know this!!!:) And this weekend made me feel like I was back in Shako, teaching little hitters tennis all over again!!! Here's why!! Those who aren't teachers may know this, but if not I'll fill you in on a little secret: students between grades K-6 love to give hugs, especially the girls!! HOWEVER, they don't just give hugs to anyone, they give them to people they feel comfortable with/someone they trust!! You can say that for adults too, however, we are a little more hesitant (I don't know why) because our bubble is extra tough to break (wish it wasn't!!)!! Back to the 5/6th grade retreat last night and today!! I felt like I was back in Shako teaching tennis because I was bonding with the student's, JUST like I did with my Shako tennis crew!! We played goofy games, HAD RELAY RACES (WACKY ONES), and most importantly there were lots of hugs given at the beginning and at the end of the weekend!! Now beginning of the year, no hugs what-so-ever!! They started to come a little at the end of the semester, mostly at the goodbye banquet!! HOWEVER, for some reason the hug bug caught up to all of them over break, because it's been at least 4-5 hugs a day, 5-10 hugs a day at this past retreat!! And like I said before, for the FIRST time this weekend I felt like this was home!! I could feel the bond between the student's and myself, and a comfort level only a retreat like this could bring out!!:) You sadly don't find that back in the states, because once you are done teaching during the day you go home, have a weekend without students and return that Monday to teach again!! Here, its students almost 16 hours a day 6 days a week!! We do get a break on Sunday!!;) And sometimes on Saturday!! I think it's a real advantage for teachers here to see their students that much!! THOSE WHO ACTUALLY STAY LONGER THAN 1-2 YEARS!!!:) No offense to those who have no choice but to leave!! Not cool!! Anyways, what we talked about this past weekend were things I would not have imagined talking with my 5/6th grade students if I was back in the states!! I mean, teach PE, go home, come back the next day and teach it all over again!! At Woodstock, we REALLLLLLLLLLY get to bond with the students!! And that level of trust is built up SO strong, well those that stay!! Which is so hard because teachers leave so often for them!!! Now back to the purpose of this entire blog why Woodstock is finally feeling like home for me, and why it is the perfect dream job!!!:) First reason is the most obvious!! I can count on ONE hand the number of really bad days here!! And even then I struggle to come up with them, unless I reallllly reallllly think hard!! Now bad days mean bad days, not just really really tired and have no energy days, because those I have more of even though on the inside still loving the day although I may not be as enthusiastic on the outside!!!!;) Second reason is the opportunity to bond with the students, as mentioned above!! You canNOT be a great teacher unless you really get to know your students!! You just can't!! Asking them how are you everyday just doesn't cut it!! Because #1 response as you may know is: "good." Wow that gets pretty deep right there!!!:) You need to get personal and caring with your students!! Here we get that opportunity not only during the day, but sometimes on the weekends and for an entire week during activity week!!! You get to see how they live their life at home/dorms!!! Sometimes in the town having a bite to eat at Clock Tower!! Wherever it may be, we get to see our students for who they are outside the formal school setting, and that's just down right awesome!! Now yes, sometimes you just want to get away from them and not see ONE student, but for the most part it's very fun to see them and if they are the older ones get into some really good conversations!! Which is why I'm so excited for my 3rd and hopefully plus years here, because that is when my 7th/8th graders will start to mature into a mini-adult version of themselves before they go off to college!! CAN'T WAIT FOR THAT!!!:) Third reason is I GET TO TEACH PE EVERYDAY TO STUDENTS IN THE HIMALAYAN FOOTHILLS!!! I mean can it get any cooler than that?!?!?! I don't think so!!!! Our practices for cross country have the views of the actual Himalayan Mountains, can't say that too often/NEVER while running a practice back in the states!!!! Granted you have mountain ranges and cities that are high up, but the diversity you have here at Woodstock is amazing!! Student's from all over the world, for the most part, telling stories of back home!! Also, trying to figure out what they're saying half the time in their native tongue is fun too!!! I mean it can't get more fun then to blurt out something you thought they said and be COMPLETELY wrong!!! Or too try and learn their language and they have to repeat the sentence like 5 times cause you're totally massacring it!!:) And finally having an amazing teaching staff and dorm staff to work with makes life SO much easier and fun!!!! Even if HALF OF THEM ARE LEAVING AFTER THIS YEAR!!! Still not cool guys!!!:) But the relationships and bonding we do, even if it gets busy sometimes, cannot be beat by anything!!! Being a Christian school and all of us having that religious passion or backbone in ourselves gives us all this unspoken/thought of connection to each other even before we meet!!! That's just special right there!!! I can't remember the last time I've had so many consecutive amazing days in a row at work before!!!! Now summer tennis is a given you guys back in Shako, I'm no way saying you will ever be compared too!! Always #1 in my heart!! For almost a decade you were my backbone, heart, and passion in the summertime!! And that's only coaching!! 17 years you were my life/love in the summer!!!!:) But Woodstock as a career will definitely be up there in the long run and for now be #1 in careers!! And yes that may be an OBVIOUS statement seeing it's my first career job EVER, but cut me some slack I'm still a newbie at this career thing!!!:) I can't help it if I hit jackpot on the first try, so sue me!!! And sucks to be you, cause if you actually do you'll find working at Woodstock is definitely not about the money and you will get very little in that suing!!!:) For all of those who have read all of this, sorry it got so long, but for all of those who are thinking WOW this guy is such a phony and I'm full of donkey poop, well I just don't care!!!:) There are 2 people out there that will ever know if I'm being phony!! First is God, second is myself!! And I'm being true to myself, God knows this, and frankly maybe you're just a little upset that you don't have the passion for your job as I do for mine!! Maybe you should find a different career then!! I was very lucky to be born into a family that absolutely loves their jobs and frankly it makes them the best parents ever!!! Cause not only are they amazing at what they do, but they can bring that positive energy home and share it with everyone else!!! Making yourself complete and happy first is the ONLY way you can be the best you can be at everything else you do in life!! Yeah that sounds self-centered, but it's true!! How are you good to anyone around you if you mope and hate what you do day after day!!! Yeah you may be able to "shrug" it off every once in a while after work, but why put yourself through that!! WHEN, you can go home from a job you LOVE and LIVE FOR without complaints and take that positive energy into family, friendships and LIFE!!!!! I know my love for Woodstock has put a HUGE smile on my face day in and day out!!!:) I couldn't think of a better place to be at this point in time!! And THAT is why I would love to be here for the next 5-6 years (maybe even more)!!!!!!:) HAPPY SMILING AND HAPPY LIVING!!!!!!!

YA SURE YA BETCHA!!!!

2010-03-14T11:09:00.000+05:30

SO!!! We have 4 flags now!! Used to be 2: Finland/Sweden!! HOWEVER, talking to Kundy this past week via skype and talking about his summer plans there's been some POTENTIAL additions with my plans for summer and where I'll be!!!!:) More to come after my run!!!!! HAPPY SUNDAY EVERYONE!!!

Difference between long runs in Minnesota to Mussoorie!!:)

2010-03-07T22:04:00.000+05:30

Where do I even begin explaining the OBVIOUS differences between a Mussoorie long run and a Minnesota long run!! FIRST, I thought there were killer hills in Duluth, MN......theeeeeen I came to Mussoorie, where those hills back in Duluth would be considered speed bumps, not even joking!!! SECOND, I thought running from the beaches of Lake Superior to my house, a whole whopping 200ft. rise in elevation was "high altitude training!!"........ theeeeeeeen I came to Mussoorie, where a 200ft. rise is basically my walk home from school everyday!! I'm going on runs where it's nearly a 500-600ft. rise and we're already 6500ft. + in altitude!!! THIRD, I thought it was tough running 2+ hours without a water bottle and needing to stop at a gas station to get a free cup of water or drink from a drinking fountain, OR yes even running off the road to a ditch and putting my head in the side of the roads water!!!...... theeeeeeeen I came to Mussoorie, where today I ran for 2hrs. 46 minutes with NO water at all!! Cause you can't just pull over to a gas station and drink their "fountain" water without pooping for the next 24 hours straight!! And in NO WAY would I ever stick my head in the side of the roads drainage system here, unless I want to die!!!:) So those 3 main differences between a long run in Minnesota (primarily Duluth, where I trained for most of my marathons) and in Mussoorie have been really fun to think about!!! And I'm sure runners in Kenya think the same thing if they were to run here (Mussoorie), and how easy it is compared to back at home!!! NOW the mental differences between Duluth and Mussoorie!! I know, borrrrrrrrrring, but hey quit reading at anytime!!:) There aren't as many and I'm not going to go into listing order, but more describe what I feel during long runs here!! I guess the biggest mental road block I have while running my long runs here is if it's long enough!! Back in Duluth I could easily get 18-20 miles in within a 3 hour limit!! Here though, today I ran from Mt. Hermon to Everest House and back in about 2:46:38 (okay not about that was my actual time) and it was only 12-14 miles!!! Granted, as stated before, there was a 500-600ft. rise in altitude both up AND down during the run which may have a small part to play!!! But mentally I keep thinking, man is this enough!??! I know the hills play a huge factor, but on paper only being able to write down 12-14 miles for a long run, which I know for some of you that would seem extremely long, but for a marathon runner that's like a medium size run, and counting that as my "long run" is really scary, since I still have 12.6 more to go for a full marathon!!! HOWEVER, the GREATEST training motivation is fear while training!! Cause on my 4th and 5th marathon, I knew I could do one so that fear wasn't there, also a little burnout was there too, and I slacked off a little during the training!! But now that fear is back, it's keeping me on my toes, well for most of the runs;), and keeping that eye of the tiger inside running strong and determined!! Like most of you know Rocky 1-6, YES ALL 6, are my favorite movies of all time!! And in Rocky 6, Rocky says to Mason, who said he wasn't scared for the fight, "but fear is good, everyone gets scared, it's if you let fear take over that will cripple you." So right now still keeping the fear as a motivational tool and not as a crippling weapon!!:) In my heart I know, right now, I'm doing everything I can do get ready for the Paavo Nurmi marathon, and my heart has never lead me wrong yet, so why would it start now, even on the other half of the world, in a country where my heart can't understand half the conversations going on!!!:) And some of those are even in English too, stupid high school teachers and their big educated words!!;) So those are my thoughts, and as for the run today it went REALLY REALLY well!!! Everest House can now be crossed off of my list: Major Hills to Run to During Training!!! Now all that's left is Benog Tibba, Nag Tibba, Top Tibba, and Pepper Pot!! Pepper Pot is coming up next weekend, with Nag Tibba (the hardest one by far) will be in about 6-8 weeks!!!! BUT come time to run it BRING IT ON!!! Going for a Woodstock record!! Under 11 1/2 hours baby!!!! Kleiner, you got nothing!!!! HAVE A FREAKIN FANTASTIC WEEK EVERYONE AND HAPPY SMILING!!!:)

PICS FROM FREEFALLIN'!!!:)

2010-03-07T21:43:00.000+05:30

Backside of my left forearm!! Underneath were definite scratches!!:)

Obviously my backside, which again underneath the shirt were scratches all up and down my right side!!:)

My Right leg, which you can only see that scratch, BUT it was completely covered in dirt!!:)

Unfortunately the scratches on the body are way to X-rated for this blogging site!!!:) Okay just kidding but seriously I have one on my right butt cheek, pretty sure no one wants to see that!!;) EVER!!

And I'm falllllllllllllllllling, down a hill, don't know when I'll get up again!!!:)

2010-03-04T22:11:00.000+05:30

So not to freak anyone out with this post, but as you can see I am clearly alive!! Okay now with that being said it's time to recap the GREATEST RUN I'VE EVER HAD!!!!:) Sunday morning, 10am, beautiful sunny but a little chilly Sunday morning!! I have a lunch date with the Mark's and Farley's over at the Mark's at 12:30, so I wanted to get my long run and get back in time to shower!!!! Now before I went for a run I had this thought wouldn't it be ironic if I went for this run and didn't make it back in time for lunch!! I mean it's only my H.O.D. and Head of Middle/Elementary School, and friends lunch plans!! Well I leave my house at 10, thinking I'll be out for an hour and a half, come back, shower up, then head out to the Farley's to pick them up and all walk to the Mark's!! Simple enough right?!?! Obviously if this made the blog, not simple enough!!:) Today's run involved heading East on Tehri Rd. (Mussoorie's main road) and going as far as the Himalayan Weavers shop!! Which is about 3.5 miles away with a vertical climb of 500ft or so!! Not a piece of cake by any means!! And since it's Sunday and my longest run of the week I wanted to make half of it through the hills and trails to keep it easy on the joints, since most of the time they are either walking up or down hill!!!:) Well I head out East Tehri Rd. and get as far as the sharp turn with the beautiful overlook, which is about .25 miles away from the 5k Tea Shop!! At this sharp turn there is a path that leads up to the ridges overlooking Tehri Rd. and Southeast Mussoorie!! Been on this path at least 5-6 times, so it's not like I'm running in new territory!! However, to this point I still haven't found the one path that leads me up to the top of the ridges easily!! It's always been goat path after goat path!! I start my climb up the mini hill and get to level ground before it makes the first climb to the first part of the ridge!! Well this is where it got a little fun!!!:) So I'm running and I come to this very narrow goat path that is about a shoe's width and nothing more!! Now this is nothing new, deal with these small paths all the time!! I see some rocks on the path that look solid and can easily be stepped on and then move on to the next part!! Easier than it turns out!! The first rock I step on BAM!!! Down that rock goes, down goes my right leg, and down goes my right side of my body!! Now without hesitation I try and grab for a branch or something to bring me back on to the path and balanced!! Of course there's nothing around and here I go!!! DOWN....DOWN....DOWN!! My right foot goes first, followed by my left foot and now I'm full out falling down the hill!! In the first 5 feet I begin to start falling head over heel, however right before I begin that fall I look up and right as I look up I see this freakin huge branch, at least 3ft. in circumference, coming right at me!! Well sure enough I was on the war path and KABAM!!! Hit the branch with my chest (a couple more inches up and it would have hit my chin and probably knocked me out) and KERPLAMMY get flung straight back against the ground landing on my back!! I was very lucky to still be conscious at this point, so my first reaction was to STOP FALLING!! I dig my feet into the ground, grab anything I can with my hands and start to slow down a little!! And of course if nothing worse could happen now I see this tree coming right at the "groin" area!! I'm like oh for the love of all that is cheesey I need to stop RIGHT NOW!! I dig into the ground even harder now, and sure enough I come to a stop a couple feet before this tree made my voice a falsetto!!! I'm about 15 feet from where I was running on the path at this point!! I look up and just ask out loud "what the HECK was THAT all about?!?!" Any of you know "Black Sheep" you know that EXACT scene!!:) I gather my thoughts again and do the standard body analysis!! Wiggle my toes and fingers, bend the elbows and knees, and check for any major cuts!! Only a few scratches on the legs, a freakin thorn bush dug into my right shin (thanks for the added bonus right there landing!!), my back is all covered in dirt, and my backside of my left forearm is all dirty!! But other than those scratches and dirty spots I was good!! At this point now I have two possible extreme emotions to be feeling: crying or laughing!! Sure enough I just BURST out laughing for the next 2 minutes!! Couldn't believe what had just happened!! Well while I was laughing I got up and thought, okay I can either turn around and run on the road OR keep going to the top of the ridge and do my ridges run!! Just like any dedicated runner would do who didn't injure themselves after a fall, stuck with the original plan!!! I basically went STRAIGHT up the hillside and reached the first ridge in about 3 minutes!!:) After reaching the top, the "main" path was not far ahead and sure enough I was back on the right track and running at about 7,500ft. with a view that could see for miles!!! I run all the way to Himalayan Weavers via the trails, and then get back on the road again to finish the loop on some more solid and cement type ground!! I get home around 11:30 (still finished the run around 1hr. 30 minutes) and head straight to the Weibe's and tell them my story!! For the first time I roll up my left arm sleeve and of course my complete forearm was scratched up and red from the ground burn!!:) Cookie was all nervous when she heard my story, but of course Dave was all for it and loved it!! Any time I can impress him makes my day!!:) After my visit to the Weibe's I now do a body overview underneath the clothes and yeah, a LOT more scratches then meets the eye!! My back right of my back is completely scratched up, I feel some scratches on my right butt cheek, and of course my chest which probably got the worst of the blows was SCRATCHLESS!! NOTHING!! A couple pieces of dirt and that was it!! Couldn't believe it!! After burning in the shower for a painful 10 minutes, I got out and started replaying the fall in my head and came to this conclusion!! If not for the branch that I hit chest on, there was nothing else that would have stopped me from falling head over heels another 50ft. down the hill and onto the lovely cement!! I mean it was a straight shot down with only some minor small trees to grab!! So I figured that branch pretty much saved me from any major damage that could have occurred, AND I thank my push-ups and chest exercises!! Cause if it wasn't for the muscle there I could have easily bruised some ribs or even worse, the heart!! THANK YOU EXERCISE!!!! Can't wait for this Sunday's trail run and see what fall I can survive this time!!;) HAPPY SMILING AND HAPPY RUNNING EVERYONE!! Don't let obstacles run your life!! RUN THROUGH THEM!! Or SLIP down them!!!!!;)

Monday....5:45pm.....the next years are now changed forever....

2010-03-03T23:11:00.000+05:30

So it was a normal Monday at the school of Woodstock, nothing exciting happening at all.....NOT!!!! It was only the BIGGEST DAY IN THE HISTORY OF DAYS AT WOODSTOCK!!!! Well for 2 of my very close friends that is!!! They shall remain nameless for the duration of this post!!! Anyways it's Monday morning and at the breakfast table Nicole (oooops that one slipped, okay from now on it's annonymous!!) reminded me that TODAY was the day they were going to find out if they were staying for the next 2 years or leaving Woodstock after this year!!! Needless to say I had the balloons ready and streamers (toilet paper) ready to be flying when they met with our principal!!! Cause from the way they were talking over the weekend and last week it was looking up!! WELL lunch time comes and the energy is still there, wondering....waiting.....asking WELL WELL WELL anything yet?!?! Apparently they haven't talked to him yet, sooooo back to the waiting game!! 5th and 6th period go by and again NOTHING!!! No word from them!! No Nicole or Chris running up to the gym to tell me they are staying like I asked them too when they found out!! NOW getting a little confused and worried!! What the heck is going on!?!? I had to ref basketball that night from 4-6 and it was during that time I was on the court a very important e-mail was sent to me at 5:45pm!!! I get done reffing at 6 and get ready for staff night!! STILL no word from Nicole or Chris via person to person contact!! I sit down at my desk, open up my e-mail and there it is......."the message." I WAS sitting up in my chair, and in a matter of seconds I drooped down back into it and just sat there for a couple of minutes, staring at my computer and that e-mail. "Meeting didn't go as planned....very shocked....not returning." Couldn't believe my eyes. I thought this was a horrible dream and going through the stages of "people not returning to Woodstock" first one was denial!! I knew I have played my fair share of pranks and lies on Nicole over the days so I was thinking, hey what's a perfect way to get someone back, fake they're leaving!! So I respond thinking this is one SERIOUSLY EVIL joke!! Well staff night continues, I check my e-mail periodically throughout the night and no word from Nicole!! Now it's beginning to set in. This is no joke anymore, this is the real deal. I close the gym for the night, say my goodbye's to Balbil (our helper) and walk home. This was the LONGEST walk home ever. Of course I planned to stop by the Farley's to see what was up, but I knocked on their door several times and nothing. I figured they were probably skyping family in their bedroom or over at Megan/Jennie's!! I had my I-pod playing when I left their place and sure enough the song that came on at that EXACT moment as I was leaving was: "Silent Night" by Bon Jovi!! GREAT SONG......HORRIBLE TIMING!! These are some of the words sung by the Bon man: "...when the sun appears. And there's nothing left but goodbye's, we'll just turn and walk away. How could we let it end like this. Just turn and walk away." I was like seriously!! I hate you random shuffle on I-pod!! So that cheered me up BIG time!! I get home, sit on my couch, and stare at the wall with no emotion, blank stare, and just don't know what to think! The first feelings I felt was there goes family!! Second thought was holy crap how must Nicole and Chris be feeling right now! No good! Then won't lie started to hold back the tears a little. Finally I forced myself to pee so I couldn't produce any tears, which p.s. doesn't work at all!! I guess you need to not drink water for a day straight to not cry, cause that didn't work one bit! Stupid urine not being related to tears!! Plus side, I didn't have to pee the rest of the night!! But seriously Nicole and Chris wherever you are (okay I just had to say that cause don't you usually say that about someone you're going to miss, even though I know exactly where you are which is at home probably sleeping!!) you two are the best!! Laundry night next year won't be the same at all, probably non-existent, and everyone else I truly apologize for the horrid smell produced!! Blame Nicole and Chris!!;) And the 5th grade musical will completely be lame and way off key next year!! Might just have to turn it into a silent action musical!! With the star named (of course) BROCK HARDABS!!! That's right!! You see what you're missing!!:) Well that is enough Debby Downer, I promised you guys nothing BUT happy smiles until the very last day of school, then let the depression begin!! Until then this is going to be an AWESOME AMAZING 3 MONTHS!!!! Oh and for the record Grizzly Adams did have a beard!!!! GOOOOODNIGHT AND GOODLUCK!!!!:)

A SWEDEN HERE WE COME!!!!:)

2010-02-27T20:47:00.002+05:30

So I tried to keep this a surprise as long as possible, but getting in touch with some of you is freakin difficult with a 10 1/2 hour time difference and busy schedules as it is!! BUT I'm just gonna go ahead and say it anyways, enough waiting around!!! The Swedish flag on here represents SWEDEN and the country I am going to visit AFTER I get done with my Paavo Nurmi Marathon in Finland!!!!!!!!! It's only 10 euros by Viking Ferry to travel from Turku, Finland to Stockholm, Sweden!!! An opportunity I just can't pass up for such a great price!! AND as of Saturday I am officially booked for the "Best Hostel Old Town Skeppsbron" in Stockholm, Sweden for 5 nights!!!! SO IT'S HAPPENING!!! Seriously the idea of hostels is an amazing one!!! Makes traveling so much cheaper and that more fun!!! Get to meet new people and hear their stories while you try and get some sleep with 5 other people in the room!!!! THUS, overall my trip will officially now be from June 25th (Friday) to July 10th (Saturday)!!! I will be in Finland from June 25th - July 4th (taking a day ferry to Stockholm on July 4th) and then will be in Sweden from July 4th - July 10th (when I depart from the Stockholm airport)!!!:) And in ALL of that chaos I will be running a marathon on July 3rd!!!:) HECK YES TO THIS SUMMER!!!! I think the most exciting part (besides the marathon of course) will be the ability to rent a BICYCLE and bike around Finland and Sweden!!!! Cause both hostels come equipped with rent-able bikes!! Now in Sweden I'm not sure how much biking I will be doing on Monday and possibly Tuesday after just running a marathon, but definitely in Finland and the latter part of the week in Sweden it will be all biking!!:) Since I've had SO much opportunity to do it here so far!!! Which is one of my goals for next year is to either buy a bicycle overseas and ship it in, OR buy a bike from Dehradun!!! Either or I will be biking by next Spring!!! Well now you know why Sweden's flag was on my blog with ???????!!!:) This summer will be AMAZING!!! I don't know how the next summer will top that!!! Maybe a 2 week trek at 20,000ft in the Himalayas!!!! WHO KNOWS!!!!!! But for sure a marathon a summer will have to continue!! Not since 2006 have I not ran one in the summer!! And last summer it was 2, and as Jon said, NEVER doing that again so close together!!!:) OUCH!! Hope everyone has a FANTASTIC Sunday and HAPPY SMILING!!!!

I'm ROBERT GOOOOOOOOOOULET!!!!! WHAT??!! GOULET!!!

2010-02-21T12:55:00.000+05:30

I miss Robert Goulet!!! He just had to die and take that beautiful voice with him!!!! WHAT?!?! WHAT DID YOU SAY?!?! GOULET!!!!!!!:) Holy schnikee what a WEEK it has been!!! FIRST FULL WEEK OF SCHOOL!!!! Every morning (except Friday, I'll explain that shortly) I've been waking up at 5am ready to run my butt off getting ready for Finland!!! It truly is an energy boost and runners high after those runs!!! I HIGHLY suggest a nice morning run!!! ALSO, since breakfast is the BEST meal ever, it gives you that much more incentive to eat a crap load more of breakfast!!!:) Besides the running I'm finding that it is VERY true that once you've found a routine, after 2 months, to stay with that routine is quite easy!! I've always had problems of going about 1 1/2 months of AWESOME weight room/running, but then I stick with just the running and get out of the routine of weight room as well!! BUT, not this time!!! Got a wonderful routine of running from 5-6am, then 6:20-8am it's weight room!!!! Been doing that since the gym opened back in October!! Granted over break didn't get in the fitness room as much, but still did the push-ups and sit-ups at home or on the trail, in my plethora of hikes, since my MAIN one didn't work out!!! Which I've found a lot of staff around here who I didn't talk to about that have found out about the massive disappointment that was the Chadar Trek!!:) AWESOME!! Also, establishing a routine got me away from my up and down days which I had last semester or as Nicole wonderfully stated my "bi-polar" days!! THANK YOU FOR THAT!!:) My body has now adjusted to the crazy intense workout days, and the day after I have them there is no "let-down" in energy level!! The energy level is STILL THERE and it feels AMAZING!!!:) Granted I'm sore as crap but that's only my muscles!!!! I've also become very addicted to cross-training exercises!! Exercises that work out a numerous amount of muscles at the same time, AND adds cardio to it as well!!! I find weights are nice, but the cross-training exercises are far more oriented with life situations!! I tend to find I do a LOT more jumping around (on people sometimes) then I do sitting down pressing a weight with my legs!!:) Oh and if you're sick of most of my blogs this year (2010) being about exercising and running, well then I'd quit now cause this is basically my life, and what it will be for the next however long I have on this earth!!! Live what you teach, don't ever forget that!! Musicians talk about music, Englishians talk about books, scientistians talk about the earth and whatever else is scientific!! PEians talk about staying fit, healthy, and having a LIFEtime of fitness!!!:) Adding on to my very active week I took my very first TaeKwonDoe class Wednesday night for staff night!! Found out 2 things, you are CONSTANTLY flexing your abdominals the entire time, GREAT ab workout, and the second is I already have troubles understanding Hindi, add Japanese to that as well!! Mahinder, my friend/staff at Woodstock, TaeKwonDoe trainer is fluent in Hindi, knows little English!! WELL try taking a class that involves Hindi and Japanese!! FREAKIN CONFUSING!!:) Luckily I'm kinesthetic so I can pick up via watching and copying, but when he gives me the Japanese command I pretty much just guess!! 13% of the time ALL the time I'm right!!:) THEN after TaeKwonDoe there were still a couple of us around that we spent climbing on the climbing wall!!! Which of course lead into wheel barrow races, which lead into piggyback races in the main gym, which in fact lead to me wiping out face first on the floor and almost breaking my nose!!!:) It was an AWESOME night!! Hey Greg was on my back and we ALMOST had it, until I took one bad step which caused a lot more bad steps after that!! A smart person would have stopped and regained control, especially with someone like Greg on there back!! But no, I did the macho thing and kept going thinking I could regain control.....next thing I know my left leg gave out and like a tree being cut TIMBER!!! I head for the ground, luckily keeping my head back and up so I WOULDN'T land face first, and then laughed our butts off while Greg, who was on top of my still, and I crawled to the finish line WINNING by half the courts length!!!:) IN YOUR FACE LAURA AND MR. TANG!!!!:) THEN Friday morning, which I told you I would get back to (for shame you thought I would forget) for the first time in 7 months 13 days and at 2:07am my AA battery in my clock DIED!!! Rest in peace Duracell AA!!! Of course I was planning on waking up at 5am, THAT didn't happen!! I woke up in one of those PANIC awakenings at 7am and knew I missed my 6:30 shift at the gym, PLUS my morning exercise!! NOT COOL!!! BUT I did find out something amazing!! Usually when I do my runs/weight room mornings I am dead tired at school by 5pm!! WELL Friday, not doing my morning run obviously I was STILL dead tired by 5pm!! SO fact of the matter is I will be dead tired by 5pm, might as well wake up at 5am everyday anyways if I'm going to be tired at 5pm no matter what!!!:) EXPERIMENT COMPLETED!!!! Then on Saturday, being a B E AUTIFUL day out, went for a lovely 1hr 30min run around Mussoorie, came back and did some exercising on the Mt. Hermon lawn IN THE SUN!! Then stretched, which lead to an amazing hour nap in the sun on my towel on the lawn!!!! Can't beat that Saturday, OH WAIT YES YOU CAN!! THEN after awaking from my nap it was STAFF soccer time at 5pm!!!! We played for 2 1/2 hours of HARD NOSED soccer!! Needless to say we were ALL pooped like a chicken pooping an egg!! But I think that morning exercise had a little more effect on me than the others, cause we walked to the Farley's for dinner after that and I just crashed on the ground!!! Just laid there for a good 10 minutes, FELT really good!! THEN for dinner it was MEXICAN NIGHT!! YO QUIRO TORTILLAS AND FAJITAS!!!! WITH ALL AMERICAN INGREDIENTS FOR GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE (from my cousins for Christmas!!!)!!! AN AMAZING NIGHT!!! After dinner went back to laying on the floor for a while until the movie The Kid started playing!! HILARIOUS movie!!! Bruce Willis and that fat cute kid!!! Ironically stayed awake the entire time for it!! It was awesome!!!! Now on today, which will be consisted mostly in the bazaar, with the MAIN focus on BANK TRANSFERRING MONEY TO FINLAND FOR THE OFFICIAL SIGN UP OF THE PAVOO NURMI MARATHON!! HECK YES!!!!:) I hope everyone has a spectacularly AWESOME WEEKEND AND HAPPY SMILING!!!!:)

The trick of running at 5am!!!:)

2010-02-15T20:03:00.000+05:30

So today was my first day of training!!! Not pre-pre-training, not pre-training, BUT ACTUAL TRAINING!!! And I was a little worried that I spent ALL my energy last night getting pumped up for this day, that 5am would come by and I'd hit the snooze 14 times and wake up at 6:20 instead!! WELL THAT NEVER HAPPENED!! I actually was alive and ready to go at 4:45, but of course waited for my alarm to go off!! Who gets up before 5am when they don't have to, COME ON!!!:) 5am comes by, alarm beeps: BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP!! I shut it off, and wouldn't you know it took maybe 3-4 minutes once out of bed to be ready to run mentally, and another 10 minutes physically (breakfast, dressed, etc.)!!! AND HERE'S THE TRICK!! Be warmer then the bed!!!!;) Think about it for a second, IF you count on your bed to keep you warm, then what's to keep you from staying in it when the really early alarms go off?!? Cause you'll start to peel off the covers and layers of blankets and feel that cold air hit you and BAM you're right in bed and say the famous line "5 more minutes!!" Which as we ALL know means 30-45 more!! If you have that time to spare!!! Well last night for the first time this winter, and remember winter in Mussoorie is NOTHING like winter in Minnesota, BUT for Mussoorie it was quite chilly last night, and without central heating I guess it may be equal to a Minnesota winter!! Anyways for the first time last night I wore my thermal long underwear, pj's on top, socks, long sleeve t-shirt, and sweatshirt!!! I was hot!! Literally and not metaphorically!! So when I put on the sheet and my 3/4 inch blanket it was the perfect temp!! Now usually I sleep with just pj pants, long sleeve t-shirt, and sweatshirt!! However, those thermals made all the difference!! When I woke up my muscles were already warm, I took off my covers and BAM cold did not effect me AT all, and listening to a little "Final Countdown" on the old i-pod never hurts either!!!;) Now some of you may be thinking, but Steve I'm not an easily warm sleeper like you, SO PUT ON ANOTHER 5 LAYERS THEN!! Do whatever it takes to make you warmer than the bed!!! Because if you are training for something, or have to do something early everyday of the week, every little trick and cheat you can find to get going in the morning will make life that much easier, and if you're training save on your mental anguish you go through during the hell weeks of training (which are pretty much all except the week before the event!!!:) Oh also, going to bed at a decent time DEFINITELY helps too!!!;) Can't be going to bed at midnight and waking up at 5am and expect to have that last long!! Your body is a machine and you have to treat it like one!! You can't drive a car without gas, so why would you try training for anything without proper sleep!! Yes, it will definitely cut into your social time a bit, but that's where you need to decide what sacrifices are you going to make!?!? In the long run is it worth it, no pun intended!!:) Your friends will be there after the race, and for your friends that have run one before, may even be a little jealous of your dedication and wished they had the same dedication you had when they trained for something!!! Life is short, so go and live it people!! Don't let 5am or cold ruin what could possibly be the most gratifying thing you've done in your life up to this point, besides having a baby for those that are parents!!;) It's a LOT easier to enjoy life, when you're filling it up with experiences, challenges, and completed goals!!! Heck if it wasn't for loving marathons, I don't think I'd even think of traveling to Finland this summer!! So yeah, look at the small benefits of that!!! Someone asked me, "What time of day is your favorite time?" And I said 5-6:30am, why?!? That's usually around the time of sunrise, and it's the MOST peaceful time of the day!!! You can think and think and think for hours without anyone being around to disturb you AND you get to use your night vision while running, cause there aint no sun that early!!!! Well that's all for tonight, and Day 1 training is in the books!! A quite SUCCESSFUL day if I may say so myself!!!!!!:) BOO and YEAH!!!! HAPPY RUNNING!!!!

The FIRST official day of training begins!!!!!:) Eye of the Tiger baby!!

2010-02-14T20:59:00.000+05:30

Well I never thought this day would have came so quickly!! Training for an INTERNATIONAL marathon that is!!! The Paavo Nurmi Marathon in Turku, Finland will be my very first international marathon, and probably the most exciting one yet!! Besides my first Grandma's Marathon that is!! Nothing will EVER beat the sensation you get standing, waiting in anticipation of the starter's pistol to sound and BAM you start your very first marathon!! It was a combination of chills, goosebumps, anxiety, excitement, focus, nervousness, and a little gas mixed into one GREAT SENSATION!!!:) And I have a feeling, after not running a marathon in so long, that my first, especially being international, will revive those feelings once again!! Not that the marathons in Minnesota were getting dull, but they were all runs that I've seen before either via car, or out walking with a friend!! But NOW, a BRAND new setting, with probably 3/4th the field speaking to each other in Finnish!! That my friend will definitely bring the goosebumps back!! You could say the second to last marathon I ran in the states was my burnout marathon!! It was getting repetitive, the intensity and "eye of the tiger" was gone for that one!! Obviously my very last marathon in the states (GRANDMA'S!!) was full of fun and a different kind of energy!! But very little training for that one!!:) But now, the night before Day 1, as it begins ALL OVER AGAIN, the eye is back, anticipation is kicking in, and that thirst and hunger to do amazing at a marathon is back in the blood!! CAN YOU FEEL IT!!! WOOOOOOO!!!! IT'S BACK!!!!!:) YOU KNOW IT!!!!!!!!! And I have a feeling it will stay a lot LONGER this time!! Now that basically the entire world is open for options!! I can go West to Europe or Africa!! North to Russia, or East to Southeast Asia and Australia!! There will be a time when I go for 50 marathons in 50 states!! But for now, it's stamping up that passport and collecting those international finisher medals!!!:) Goals are amazing and powerful things to have!! I learned this Sophomore year of college when I trained for my very first long distance run: Grandma's Half Marathon!! After that I've been a goals oriented freak!! And you know what, it keeps you in shape, doesn't allow you to slack off, and keeps you on life's wonderful active track!!:) Of course assuming some of your goals are active ones!!! It's now time to tie up those shoe laces, strap on the watch, and squint those eyes ever so slightly in the mirror so it seems like you are one determined and TOUGH dude!!!:) Yeah, I know all of you have done that before!! Don't lie!! Hey it works!! Once you find your "Eye of the Tiger" you'll know exactly what I mean!! So let's begin this intense and hard working 18 week journey!!! Hope you enjoy reading about posts that have to do with a lot of running shout-outs!!! Cause I won't lie, life after tonight will be exactly that!! Live, breathe, do........RUNNING!!!!!:) HAPPY SMILING AND HAPPY EXERCISING EVERYONE!!!!!!! PAAVO NURMI MARATHON!!! JULY 3RD, 2010!!!! TURKU, FINLAND!!!! BRING......IT.....ON!!!!!:)

18 WEEKS BEGINS TOMORROW!!

My future for the next 5 years: WOODSTOCK!!!:) (Hopefully)

2010-02-11T21:55:00.002+05:30

I don't know why I haven't posted this earlier!! Maybe because I wasn't too certain of what my future would hold and where I wanted to go with it, the reactions of some people back home, or I was freakin busy with school prep!! Anyways I've been thinking a LOT about the future, where I want to be in 5 years, and what are my options!! Yes I just started at Woodstock, but let me tell you 3 years goes a LOT faster than one would think!! I mean if I was on a 2 year contract with Woodstock I would already have to think about renewing it next Fall already!! So thinking ahead 5 years is probably the best thing to do right now!! As I've been thinking I've also been seeing!! Seeing the effects short term teacher's at Woodstock have on the students!! Not only emotionally but psychologically as well!! Basically trust with a teacher, through a student's eyes, is non-existent at Woodstock and that's really really depressing to see!! You almost have to be there 10+ years to finally gain some trust!! But honestly I would be the same way if I was a student there and my teacher's left every 2 years for another teaching job!! I was talking to one of my classes at the end of last semester about teacher's leaving and I told them I have every intention of staying the 3 years!! What did I get in response, to my surprise BLANK STARES!! Thinking about it now, why would they be happy?! I'm not even done with 1 year, and they don't know if something will change in the next 1 or 2 years!! For example a PE teacher last year who I think had every intention in coming back to Woodstock after they left for summer, never came back the next year!! That was a single year with the students!! So again, when I briefly mentioned I was planning on staying my entire contract length (3 years) and their response was no emotion, I am not too shocked by that as this point!! Which brings me to the MAIN point of this entire blog!! Like I was mentioning in the beginning I have been thinking a LOT about the future and what it holds for me, and what I want to see out of it!! Well for those in Shako Tennis please don't kill me when I say this next bit, I plan on staying at Woodstock the 3 years PLUS 2 more (minimum)!! .................... Okay calmed down yet?!?!:) So yes that would put me for sure at 5 years minimum at Woodstock School, Mussoorie, INDIA!!! Now it's just not me saying oh I'm staying 5 years for the heck of it!! There are a PLETHORA of reasons!! Here are the top 5!!

Reason #1: STUDENTS/STAFF!! They desperately need staff retention, and even if a couple staff stay on for at least a couple years past their original 3 year contract that can bring some of the trust between teacher's and students back!! And the student's at Woodstock are AMAZING!!:) Why would you want to leave them after a short 1-2 years!!? Granted some may not have a choice, which is completely understandable!! Woodstock doesn't have the greatest paycheck, BUT if you're debt free and single it's the perfect place!!;) Thanks Dad and Mom, well for the debt free part not so much the single!!:) Also, from a PE perspective, we just built this INCREDIBLE gym and a re-building program with that, and since I LOVE being part of building a program (Shako Tennis:)) it's kinda my calling from God I believe to stay and help re-establish it with Ajay and see the kids grow with a growing PE program and curriculum!!! Lastly, the diversity at Woodstock is a reason in itself to stay!! I've learned so much just from talking to my student's about their home country, or city if they're from India!! The stories of travels makes me extremely jealous a 6th grader has traveled around the world more than I have, but still fun to hear!!:) And the cool words you get to learn from different languages!! I'm not even going to attempt to spell any of the Korean words I've learned!!;) Plus the staff is such a close FAMILY it is amazing!!! In the first 2 weeks, all the new staff seemed to gel and become this tight closed family instantly!! AWESOME!!:) The enthusiasm for activity here is mind-blowing from a PE teacher's perspective!! So enthused to organize staff vs. staff games or staff vs. student games, go on hikes, or work out in the fitness room!!!:)

Reason #2: TRAVELING!!! I won't lie, but the cheap traveling opportunities from India to any country, besides the US and Australia, is amazing!! For example, like I said earlier I'm flying to Finland this summer for HALF the price it would if I was flying from Minneapolis!! And it's almost 1/3 the price traveling to Asia then from the US!! Not to mention traveling internally, INDIA, is the cheapest of all!! From Mussoorie to the southern most tip of India would only be $150-200 flying!! Probably $100 by train/bus!!:) And it's only $25 from Mussoorie to the HIMALAYA'S!! Now you cannot tell me that's not awesome in itself right there!! A MAJOR mountain range, with the HIGHEST peak in the world, can be traveled to for under $50!! Yeah, eat your heart out Martha Stewart!! Oh and I'm SINGLE!! No lame boring wife to drag around from country to country or try and negotiate a country to visit over break!!:) And with that comment I aint getting married anytime soon!!;)

Reason #3: EXPERIENCE!!! Teaching in a foreign country with a culture you are not familiar with at all when you arrive can be overwhelming for some!! BUT once you get settled, in a routine, and used to monkey's crawling all over the place free ranged the experiences you gain from teaching at Woodstock is PRICELESS!!! Going on hiking adventures with the students, eating dinner with them sometimes down at dorms, building close relationships with the students and staff you would NEVER be able to do in public schools back in the states!! Take that Janet Reno!! Also, being in such a unique school, in relation to a perfect location for hiking, the outdoor experience alone will be life changing!!:) I can go a mile and already be engulfed in a freakin jungle!! It's awesome!!

Reason #4: FAMILY/FRIENDS BACK HOME!!! Yes, you guys are definitely a reason I am staying an additional 2+ years!! Without you guys being so understanding and patient has made this entire adventure so much easier!! I've heard stories from other staff members who's family is not taking it so well that their son or daughter is in India!! Been very very blessed with VERY VERY understanding and open minded parents!! AND bonus I made them very jealous when I told them I got a job in India and get to see the world!!:) In your face!! Love you guys!!:) Also, being competitive with the sister in traveling and seeing the world, she can't have all the fun always getting to go to these countries!! I need to stay ahead of her!!:) And added bonus get to rub in her face of my pictures of the Himalayas and the hikes!! HA!! POINT BIG BROTHER!! In addition, when I first got here I was thinking oh man I'm going to miss so much with my friends not being home!! BUT, then I really thought about it and realized, HEY, they're moving on too!! They always won't be a phone call away!! Some move to North Carolina for college, Rhode Island for a job, across the seas for patriotic duty, etc!! Then I'd be sitting at home jealous of all you guys thinking MAN how sweet that would be to travel the world!! Now granted some also are settling down and would be a phone call away, which is very nice to know that when I get back you'll be right there back in that phone call distance away and we can catch up!!:) So with that being said, it's all YOUR fault I'm staying an extra couple of years!!;) Just kidding, but seriously without family and friends (you guys) back home being so amazing and understanding this would not have been such an easy decision to make!!

REASON #5: SINGLE!!!!!!! This is an advanced warning that in no way am I bashing those who got married during/right after college!! With that being said, it is AWESOME BEING SINGLE AFTER COLLEGE!! The world is basically your oyster and you are the pearl!! I don't know if that's a real saying or not, BUT it is now!!:) I loved when I left that 95% of you said this exact phrase, "You're single, now's the perfect time to do it!" Haha and it's so TRUE!! Being in a serious relationship after college would have DEFINITELY made this decision harder, and if I was married even harder cause we both would have had to get jobs at the same school!! I guess though, since we're looking for a female PE teacher, that if I would have married one we both could have gotten a job!! Even though that may have been wife overload!! Yeah definitely not getting married now with that comment for another 10 years!! No rush!!!:) So being single now and seeing NO relationships developing in the future (since I'm not looking/trying to start one) the choice of staying at least 5 years has no effect on my significant other!! And I'm assuming if I do find someone over here that she'll also love to travel!! COUNT IT!!!:)

With all that being said, obviously that is IF Woodstock even keeps me on after my 3 years are up, nothing is certain in that aspect!! I just hope they decide to extend my contract!! That would be amazing!!!:) But yes those are my 5 top main reasons why I am definitely going to stay 5 years, maybe more, at Woodstock!! Granted if I have the choice of staying!!:) And don't get me wrong God is definitely a factor here, but it's kinda the obvious one that can go without saying!! Besides the big man knows he's #1!! These are my next 5 main reasons!! For those that figured I would do a quick 3 and out and punt myself home, ummmm yeah sorry this isn't football anymore!! We have gone cricket!! And if you know cricket those games last FOREVER!!:) Literally one cricket game can last for 2 days!! YEAH 2 WHOLE DAYS!!! It's crazy!! There you have it, my inner most thoughts about the future and my decisions made so far!!! Miss you all back in Minnesota, WE ARE ONLY 320 DAYS AWAY BABY!!!!!!:) GET THOSE MEATBALLS AND POTATOES READY!!!!! Have a SPECTACULAR WEEKEND EVERYONE!!!

The rest of the reasons (short version):
-staying active is extremely easy here
-marathons grow on trees over here and are very inexpensive to do
-skype/internet allows keeping in touch so much easier than 10 years ago would have been
-mail, being away from home half way across the world for some reason inspires people to send mail often!!
-sending postcards from half way across the world is fun!
-away from TV AND MOVIES AND BEING LAZY!!
-new/old staff at Woodstock are awesome and have similar interests in life!!:)
-makes going home every 18 months very special and makes you appreciate family and friends that much more!!
-fun to tell friends/people who are complaining about life in the states "HEY!! Live in India and then complain about your life!!"
-it's fun to confuse friends when you say "I MAKE 20,000Rs a month!!!" Then follow that up by saying that's about $400!!:)

HAPPY SMILING!!!!!!!!!!:)

This just in...........

2010-02-09T23:11:00.002+05:30

SCHOOL STARTS TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

THAT IS ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:)

BACK TO SCHOOL!! TO PROVE TO DAD I'M NOT A FOOL!!!!!!!:)

2010-02-08T18:40:00.000+05:30

IT'S THAT TIME AGAIN!!! Student's are arriving from a loooooooooong winter vacation today and tomorrow, teacher's have almost prepared their first 2 weeks of lessons, and the kitchen staff is ready for chaos once again, CAN YOU SMELL IT?!?! IT'S SCHOOL TIME!!!!:) Haven't been this excited to start school again since I arrived at Woodstock 6 months ago!! My lessons are almost all planned for the first 2 units, I've become more settled meaning I can relax and actually add some of my teaching personality into the lesson, AND going to give some devotions this year PLUS staff talent show!!! LOOK OUT WOODSTOCK!! Teacher's are ready to kick some major academia butt!!! Not to mention after the semester is over with a nice relaxing trip to FINLAND!!!!! These next 6 months are going to ROCK!!!! Oh and have I mentioned Woodstock's BIGGEST event is being hosted in April!! The Win Mumby Basketball Tournament!!! When I first looked over my job description it listed Win Mumby Tournament!! Now not being familiar with Win Mumby I interpreted it as win the Mumby tournament!! I was like, wow that's setting our goals kinda high!! No second place here!! AS IT TURNS OUT THOUGH, Win Mumby was a PE teacher back in the 40's and then worked for Coca Cola!!:) So that will be in April with 10 TEAMS visiting Woodstock and participating in our tournament!!! In addition to the Win Mumby Tourney, since I am assigned to Middle and Elementary school I will be in charge of the Elementary Sports Day!!! HECK YES TO THAT!!!:) Add some 3-legged races, shoe kicks, etc.!!! Oh and can't forget the EVER so important 7-legged staff races!! THAT'S RIGHT 7 LEGGED!!! 4 staff tied up together running 50 meters!! They are bound to fall and fail, which is why it will be so HI LARIOUS!!!:)

As for this past week at school it's been one common theme: MEETINGS, MEETINGS, and some MORE MEETINGS!!!:) We have BOTH our 5 year Strategic Master Plan and MSA process to finalize before this summer!!! MSA basically meaning our accreditation process as an international school!!! Also, add in some ITC (computer stuff) in betweens those 2!!! The ITC meetings have been VERY helpful!! And that's not sarcasm, they've had some pretty interesting stuff, like how Ubuntu is going to work (it's instead of Microsoft, rich jerks!!) and how to run a SMART board!!! IN ADDITION to the meetings this week was the first week of BACK INTO MARATHON TRAINING WEEK!!!! 6 out of the 7 days Mon-Fri and Sunday has been running, weight room, and Thursday/Sunday 2 hours of intense soccer!! Staff vs. Staff!!! Academia vs. Everyone Else!!! Not to BRAG or anything but Teacher's did come out with the "W" both times!! First night (Thur.) beating "The Others" 7-6!! And that was with a smaller bench!! OH YEAH!! And Sunday was complete destruction by the teacher's!! A BRUTAL 12-7 victory, and "The Other's" even had students who were VARSITY soccer players on their team!!! Not to mention we only had 1 SUB while "The Other's" had 3-4 at times!! Yeah teacher's are kinda amazing!!!:) So it's been a very ACTIVE/SITTING week!! A Ying/Yang week if you must!!! I'm thinking I would have gone crazy if I didn't have the runnings in the mornings!! One thing I can't stand is sitting!! I don't mind the content or discussion given, BUT the sitting!! OUCHERS!!!:) So that's about all I got for this posting!!! It's going to be a CARAZY couple of months coming up!!!! STAY TUNED!!!!!:)

p.s. today's picture themes are brought to you by Billy Madison (the creator of the song "Back to School") and the GREATEST MOTIVATOR OF MY GENERATION: Matt Foley!!!!!:)

Where Mussoorie is!!:)

2010-01-31T11:15:00.003+05:30

I borrowed this from the Endo's blog!! THANKS!! I don't think I ever showed you guys a map of where Mussoorie is located in India!! Well HERE we are, right above Dehradun!!!:) Click on the picture to make it bigger!!;)

WHAT A WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:) Can't believe it's Finnished already!!!;)

2010-01-30T12:17:00.000+05:30

HEI (hello in Finnish)!! If you'll notice the predominant theme for this blog already is FINNISH!!! Not only my last name BUT a destination I am trying to get to this summer to run the Paavo Nurmi Marathon in Turku, Finland!!!!! After the entire night and early this morning of researching prices, flights, hostel availabilities, and my budget........YEAH IT'S LOOKING LIKE A GO AT THIS POINT!!!!:) The flight is half the price it would be from the states to Finland, which better do it now cause I can't count on my dream job in Scandinavia after Woodstock!!! AND Finland will be amazing!!!! SO THAT BIG NEWS OUT OF THE WAY!!!!! What an AWESOME week at Woodstock!!! Went to the gym EVERY morning and worked out, played some soccer with the staff, and saw the amusement little children and big children can have in the gymnastics room once again!!!!! 8 weeks is a LONG time without any children around!!! It's TIME TO GET BACK AT IT!!!!! Heck that's the PRIORITY why we're here right, for the students!!! Wouldn't be here without them and the love to teach them PE!!!!! Like anyone who teach's PE knows, it's by far the GREATEST job in the world!! And it's only been my 4th month doing it!!! YAY!!!! For all you runners out there who is looking for a marathon this summer and want to do an international one LET ME KNOW!!! We can totally hostel it up together in Finland!! That would be AWESOME!!!:) Well that's about it for this blog, a nice short one but with giant news!!!! The only way to do it!!!;) HAVE A FANTASTIC WEEKEND EVERYONE!!!!!:)

All I can say is...........

2010-01-24T18:28:00.001+05:30

WE'RE COMING NEW ORLEANS!!!!!!!!

SKOL VIKES!!!!!!!!!!

BRING BACK THE PURPLE PEOPLE EATER'S AND CHOW DOWN ON SOME BLACK AND GOLD!!!!!!!!!

Next stop.........Miami or Minnesota???

Axe, sweat and heritage!!!!:)

2010-01-23T20:46:00.003+05:30

I don't know if it's all this talk about Vikings, or having heritage from Scandinavia but I've been thinking more and more lately about the future after Woodstock, after Europe if I get a job there and what my dream is looking like!!! For some reason I've always had this sensation for the simple life, which is a big reason I moved to India, can't get any simpler than that!! Well you can, but compared to the states it's simpleton!! There's something about chopping your own wood, being away from technology (as I type on my computer), building your own fire for heat in the winter, growing a beard and no one judging your professionalism with it, and being miles and miles away from civilization!!! I think another big reason I've been really thinking about the simple life is I recently watched the movie Inglourious Basterds with Brad Pitt and directed by Tarantino!! Anyways, the opening scene is a French man (dairy farmer) chopping wood in a WIDE open green field that you can see in the distance for miles upon miles!! He lives in a simple double room wooden house, with 3 daughters, and he's got the typical farmer's outfit on, well at least what they wore back in the 1940's during WWII, suspenders, wool pants, and white cotton shirt!!! The thought of having the manual labor chores everyday, getting up at 6am with a hard days work ahead is such a fulfilling thought!! Then either biking or running 4-5 miles to school everyday to get my teaching on!!! I think this might be a possibility if I ever got a job in a small country town in Sweden, Norway or Finland!! Granted I'll have to learn and become fluent in their language, which I'm not complaining over here!!:) That'd be awesome!! Jeg er sa glad to do that!!!:) Ja sure ya betcha it'd be swell to have such a simple life!! And the best part about the simple life, IT'S HARD WORK!!!! Don't have machines doing all the labor for you, you gots to go and do it yourself!! Chopping wood in the middle of the winter to stay warm, in the SNOW!!!!! Well those are my thoughts right now, thought I'd share them!!!:) HAPPY DREAMING!!!!!!!!:)

Live life to the fullest......everyday

2010-01-22T23:55:00.000+05:30

It's been 12 days since the death of a dear dear friend Mark Johnson. He considered me a brother in his eyes and I reciprocated similar feelings back. I don't know why it took me so long to finally talk about it fully; maybe the grieving I thought was over was still down deep inside and needed a little longer, or it was how he died and the ugly truth that was there I didn't want to face and move on. Either way I think it's time to finally get it out there and officially express my feelings about his death, who he was in my eyes and what powerful influences he will always have. How's that for a thesis statement all you English majors, haven't written one of those in about 2 years it seems. Anyways, let's get the ugly truth out there so we can end on more positive notes. Mark Johnson, for those who didn't know him, was Shakopee Tennis' Director of Tennis for 2 years ('07 and '08), a well known tennis pro in the cities, and friends to everyone he met! Prior to him being my boss for summer tennis, I took club lessons from him and Ron York my senior year of high school at Northwest Athletic Club in Burnsville. Won't lie, preferred Ron's coaching style to Mark's!:) And when I heard he was going to be director of tennis at Shakopee I had mixed emotions. All of those mixed emotions changed the very first day I re-met him. After our coach's meeting he sat down with me privately and we talked about the upcoming summer and him knowing about my involvement with Shakopee Tennis the past 17 years, and his assumptions about my feelings about him being there and the fears I would have. What he said next would change any thoughts I had about him immediately. He said (word for word): "Steve, I know you probably don't think to highly of me right now coming into Shakopee as the new director and your new boss thinking I'm going to change everything, but please don't think of me as a "boss," but as a partner. I know you're the big head honcho around here, I'm just here to make sure you stay on the right track and give advice when needed. The last thing I want is to change things and piss you off. You are the soul of Shakopee Tennis, I know this, the students know this, and the coaches know this. I'm here to help you man, so let's keep things out on the table, in the open. You got a problem, something pissing you off, you tell me, you say hey Mark I hate what you're doing man, let's change this. I'm a very open person, and I'm really looking forward to working with you this summer." Mark had this 6th sense of knowing what needs work and what should just be left alone and tweaked a little. Shakopee Tennis was Mark's tweaking!! With that being said it brings me to how he died and the frustrations we all have been dealing with since. Monday January 11, 2010 Mark committed suicide. Unfortunately that is my 4th suicide in my life I've had to deal with, 3 classmates and now Mark. However, none have been so close to me like Mark was. Which made how I dealt with it that much harder, but knew it had to be dealt with. I don't give respect to death by suicide, it's a selfish death, and makes all loved ones around them filled with anger and "what if's." What if I talked to them more, what if I called them before they did it, etc. I lose respect for that person, they become more distant to me, and cold as it may be, I grieve over their death a lot quicker. My opinion for grieving with suicide is 1 day and move on. He was a grown man and knew if he needed help he should have searched for it. What he did was unforgettable and HURT everyone around him. I love Mark like a brother and always will, but the respect I had for him will die more and more each day. You just don't do it, no matter what life throws at you. Life is hard, we all know this by now, you gotta push through it and if you struggle seek help. From family, friends, God, whoever you find comfort with you go there. I don't see the point in suicide, I don't see what good comes from it (NONE), and it hurts a heck of a lot more for those around you then a natural death. If you want to give up on life and end it, then why should loved ones sit around in the after math grieving for you, you should be grieving for us, doing that to everyone who's shown you nothing but love. Sounds cold but that's how I feel and deal with it. There's no one method in dealing with suicide, you just do what YOU feel you need to do to show what respect they deserve in the after life. I believe 1 day is enough, then move on. If you feel they deserve more, more power to you and your beliefs. I will not go into the issue of forgiveness with God, that belief will stay inside of me. Mark will be greatly missed. When he was on this Earth he brought smiles to everyone. The energy he possessed on and off the court was contagious. He was such an easy-going guy and one of the best mentor's I have had so far in life. Suicide will not change those feelings about him...ever! Tennis world has lost one heck of a coach and instructor, but most importantly we have lost one amazing friend. I will miss him greatly, along with everyone who knew him. Rest in peace Mark Johnson and your presence will forever surround the court.

"Take it easy, love you brother" -Mark Johnson

Binog Tibba Hike!!!!:) Part Deux!!!

2010-01-22T12:43:00.000+05:30

Making it to the bottom of the river valley took us a LITTLE longer than we were planning on!! It was now 2:30pm, when we expected to be on Binog by now!!!:) On our way to the base of Binog we passed this small little village and asked for a path to get us there, they pointed us in the correct direction and within 15 minutes we were on the base of Binog!! As seen in the picture on the base was this resort with a SWIMMING POOL!! It was cool to see such a random swimming pool, a NEATO one at that!!!:) I don't know how clean the water was, but definitely wanted to jump right in!! Even though it was around 50 degrees!! We reached the base of Binog at 2:45pm and asked one of the locals around how long it'd take to reach the peak!! He said about an hour, so that was nice to hear it was doable within an hour or so!! Now there were several paths that looked like it would take us to the top, again we asked the villagers which one was the best, they pointed to one and BAM we began our ascent!! The first half of the hike up was along goat paths and basically heading upward, so no real "official" path to follow!! Again, what do you expect with us by now!! Who needs nice and easy paths!!!:) At the first "fake" peak we find a real path for once, one with ARROWS guiding us in the wrong direction!! Well they point in the correct direction if we're heading down, but needless to see them told us we're good to go!! The last 300 feet up was through thick weeds and grass with no real path once again!! At this point we're at about 7,000ft, so similar to that of Mt. Hermon!! It was only a 7,400ft peak, BUT with a 350 degree view!! It would have been 350, but there were stupid trees for 10 degrees of it!!! We made it to the top and waiting for us was a lookout tower and a temple!! The time was 3:50pm!! Only 3 hours late of our hopeful arrival time!!:) Now our biggest concern was heading to civilization with SOME daylight still!! I say civilization meaning paved roads, if we got to that point with darkness just kicking in that'd be fine!! To travel on goat paths in the dark = not classy/good!!:) We spend about 15 minutes on the top eating linner (lunch/early dinner) and then begin our decent to the valley!! What took us 1hr 15 minutes to reach the top took maybe 30 to reach the valley!! So that was a plus, AND there was still a wee bit of sun left to guide our way to our original path to the little village!! Arriving at the village with almost no sun left anymore, we ask the locals what their path is to reach Happy Valley, cause as all experienced hikers know, where there is a village there is a path!! They have to walk on something!! So one of the villagers tells Suman where the path is and wouldn't you know it, it's the FREAKIN PATH WE SAW ON GOOGLE EARTH!!! And it's paved!! It was about a 1,000ft hike up the paved road and when we reached the top we were SOOOO annoyed!! When we descended earlier that day through the jungle, if we would have kept walking on that road maybe 50 more meters we would have hit that paved path, INSTEAD of bushwacking it down!! That easily would have saved us an hour or so!!! BUT what's a hike without some bushwacking and adventure!! I mean that would have been too easy I say!!;) Well it's about 7:30pm now, we stop at the Staff Mess one more time for some drinks (soda/pop) and then head back to Mussoorie!! On our way home we ate dinner at Clock Tower Cafe and showed Leroy some good CTC food!!! Walked through the buz and got home at 9:13pm!!! A nice 13 hour hike day!!!! AWESOME!!!!:) And that is how babies are born!!! Hope you enjoyed!!!!!;)

Binog Tibba Hike!!!!:)

2010-01-22T12:08:00.000+05:30

YOU KNOW IT BLOGGING WORLD!!! YOU KNOW THIS IS THE FINAL HIKE OF THE TRIFECTA OF TIBBA'S!!!!! COUNT IT!! Top Tibba (CHECK), Nag Tibba (CHECK) and now Binog Tibba (CHECK!!!)!!! Needless to say one of my goals for this break was to complete the trifecta!! HA, in your face all you non-believers!! Yeah I know who you are......TROY!!! *If there is a Troy out there who is reading this, know that I just made that name up and in no way are you a non-believer!! **If there is a Troy out there who IS a non-believer then that name stays true!!! So apparently the plan was to leave for Binog at 7:30am, yeah, never received that memo and Dave and Leroy showed up to my door at 7:45am asking "ready?!?"!! Mind you I set my alarm for 8am and was planning to leave at 8:30am, so my answer was "ummmm nooooooo!!" What a great start to the day!!! Then when we were ready to go we headed to pick up Suman who was also coming along!! However, he KNEW about the 7:30 departure and when he came to the door he was definitely in his boxers and just woke up!! Again, GREAT start!!:) FINALLY at 9:30am we were ALL ready and heading for Binog Tibba!!!:) Only 2 hours late, no big whoop!! Our plan was to hike through the bazaar, through Happy Valley and just drop off the hillside....literally!! We google earthed Binog Tibba and noticed through the valley between Binog and Happy is the quickest by far, AND we even saw a path so that was our plan!! Basically a b-line shot to Binog from Mt. Hermon!! Is the phrase b-line?!? That doesn't sound right or make sense!! Maybe I-line cause that's more straight! I don't know, whatever line we were going straight at it!! Well we make it to Happy Valley; quick sidenote Happy Valley is a Tibetan refugee camp where 95% of the population is Tibetan and they have AMAZING momo's at the Staff Mess Hall!!, and eat at the Staff Mess for lunch!! After lunch we head South towards the path we saw on Google Earth!! But, as all hikes go, we couldn't find the path that was so obvious on google!! We asked some locals (when I say we I mean Suman) about the jungle path down to the valley and they said "just go down the jungle"!! So we took that as make our own path down!!;) Typical hike for us!! Who needs real paths, it's all about improvision!! We head down the Tibetan village until it became jungle and from there kinda just followed goat paths and did some major bushwacking!! I thought it'd be easiest to follow a dry stream downward while everyone else followed paths North down the valley via steep grass slopes and rocks!! Well turns out my option took a LOT longer!!:) To get to the stream I literally had to hang on to trees while the slope is at an 85 degree angle and walk from tree to tree, hanging like a monkey with one arm!!:) It was awesome!! Oh not to mention the MASSIVE amount of stinging nettles around!! Yeah, arms and legs were definitely victims there!!;) FINALLY made it to the stream and of course that wasn't easy!! Oh forgot to mention, I just HAD to have my rucksack on that weighed about 35lbs that day, and was SO easy to carry around doing this monkey stuff!!:) While everyone else had their day backpacks which had a couple bottles of water and a sandwich, weighing at most 10lbs!!:) So get to the stream and it's all rocky and covered in moss, two points going down stream I literally threw my rucksack down so I had more agility in climbing down the 7-15ft drops!! That rucksack is pretty tough won't lie!!:) One thing that kinda stalled my decent was during minute 15 I heard this "UGH" in the distance and then "you okay?!?" haha apparently Suman had fallen!! It kinda made me smile a little, ONLY BECAUSE he is our rock climbing specialist and of all people he falls!!:) Bad luck he has on our hikes!! Our last one he tripped over a rock and banged his knee pretty bad!! But always did it with a smile on his face!! Love it!! Okay so here this UGH in the distance I yell "YOU GUYS OKAY!??" they respond, "yeah Suman just fell a little!!" I pause........laugh a little......then continue!!:) At about the 20th minute of my decent I hear Dave yell where am I, and I respond STILL DESCENDING!! They already have made the 500ft decent to the bottom of the valley, I still had about another 100ft or so, CHOSE THE RIGHT PATH IT SEEMS!!:) I get past the steep decent and reach a more level walking ground, but of course there is garbage ALL around!! AWESOME!! Hike through that, descend a little more, and FINALLY after the 30th minute at the bottom and regrouped with the rest of the crew!!:) Binog Tibba hike CONTINUED.........

Winter Break coming to an END!!! Say it aint so Joe!!!

2010-01-22T11:03:00.004+05:30

Well as winter break comes to an end it's always nice to review all the events that have happened in case you missed all 47 posts!!! Okay maybe not that many, BUT they were long, so it's understandable if you skipped over some!!!! Don't worry the review will be in bullet point so it's easy to read and not so wordy!!! We're taking the classy way in the year 2010 baby!!!!:) Oh and for those wondering WHERE is the Dodital Hike posts!! Well that is one adventure I am saving for my return to Minnesota and tell you myself!! HA!!!:) Cause I won't lie, there are some EXCITING things in that story that will literally blow your mind to pieces!!! I mean a billion pieces all over your newly washed floor, it'll be quite gross, but worth it!!! OKAY let's begin this review!!! All people who get jealous easy please close this blog........now!! Especially any teachers out there who only get 1 1/2 weeks of winter break and not 8, HA!!!! OKAY beginning:

2009/2010 Winter Break in Review:

-Dodital Lake 5-day Adventure

-Nag Tibba 2-Day Hike

-Top Tibba Day Hike

-Binog Tibba Day Hike (13 hours, so literally "DAY" hike)

-Christmas Dinner (WITH LEFSE)

-Failed Chadar Trek :)

-3 straight All Day Hikes during All Day Hike Week

-FIRST AND ONLY SNOW FALL IN MUSSOORIE (lasted 2 1/2 hours)

-Pepper Pot Hike

-New Years Eve FlagHill Hike (spent the New Year on a hill under the moon)

-Bear Hill Peak Run

-Reaching peaks of 12,500ft, 10,105ft, 9,915ft!!

-Completing ALL major local peaks (Flag, Bear, Witch's, Pepper Pot, Cloud's End, Everest House (Camel's Humps), Top Tibba, Binog Tibba, Nag Tibba!!)

-Pony tail in my goatee (if you're a woman you won't understand the awesomeness and success that is!!)

-BAKED MY FIRST LOAF OF BREAD!

-Rajpur Hike

-Won Settler's of Catan TWICE in one night!! And not just won, dominated!! (WHEAT AND ORE BABY!!)

I think that's it for now!!! Overall an AMAZING winter break!! So active and full of hike's up the wazoo!! Now for technicalities, Everest House and Cloud's End weren't during break, they were just as reference of hikes completed!!! I hope for all those who had 8 weeks had just as many adventures!!! Full of stories and amazing memories!! AND PICTURES!! Where are the pictures people, COME ON!!!!! Have an EXCELLENT rest of break Woodstockians!! For all those who didn't get 8 weeks off, hopefully your winter has been going wonderfully......WORKING or STUDYING!!!!!:)

What 2010 and the next decade will bring!!!:)

2010-01-06T23:50:00.003+05:30

Well it's that time of year to think, hmmmmm what kind of goals in 2010 do you want to achieve, and NOW since it's the turn of the decade what goals do you want to achieve in the next 10 years!!! Since we do it small then progress to large in India, we'll do: 2010 goals, what I achieved the past 10 years, and THEN the next 10 years!!!:) Hopefully all can be accomplished!!!

2010 Goals:
-Trek in Himalayas!!!!! (IN SNOW!!)
-Complete the TTC Challenge!!
*TTC- Tri-Tibba Challenege: basically we have 3 major hills around Mussoorie (Nag, Benog and Top Tibba) The challenge will be running to the peak of all 3 within 30 hours!! Doesn't matter order, just that I leave home and return home having been on all 3 peaks within 30 hours!!!:)
-Set the Woodstock record for hiking Nag Tibba!!
*current record hiking from Woodstock to Nag Tibba Peak back to Woodstock is 11 1/2 hours back in the 90's by Ralph Kliener!! My goal: 10 1/2 hrs.!! Show him what Generation Y is all about!!;)
-Run an Indian marathon!! (record a PB time)
-Run a Woodstock charity half/full marathon!!
-Memorize ALL of my student's names!!!
-Work-out 20/30 days and 2+ hours in each month!!
-100 consecutive push-ups!!
-25 consecutive pull-ups!!
-Send 50 things in the mail!! (mostly letters/postcards)
-RETURN TO MINNESOTA!!!!! (FOR CHRISTMAS AND THE JOLLY 5k!!)
-REUNITE WITH MY TENNIS COACHES!!!!!!!!:)
-See friends, family, anyone and everyone in the states when returning!!!!:)
-Have a New Years Eve date for the first time!!!
-Teach the CRAP out of PE this semester!! (can't really judge that, but hey it's a goal!!)
-Trek somewhere over summer!!
-more to come I'm sure...

Accomplishments the past 10 years:
-Graduated Shakopee Senior High School June 3rd, 2004!!
-Graduated THE University of Minnesota Duluth on May 16th with a degree in Physical Education!!
-Started my first job ever as Shakopee Tennis Coach in 2002!!
-Hired at Woodstock School in Mussoorie, India on January 31st, 2009 for PE Teacher AND first ever teaching JOB!!
-Ran my FIRST ever half marathon (Grandma's Half: June 17th, 2006; time: 2:02:03) and marathon (Grandma's Full: June 16th, 2007; time: 3:48:32) along with 4 others (Grandma's (3), TC Marathon (1), Minneapolis Marathon (1)!!
-Completed 15 5k's!!
-Hosted 5 straight Christmas Breakfast's!! Each year increasing in size both tree and people!!;)
-Had my first kiss/first date!!:)
-Was awarded Shakopee High School's 1st ever "Superfan Award" for being SHS's #1 Superfan!!! (Don't even know if they continued that!!)
-Received my driver's license (passed on the 1st try)!!
-Was accepted into the University of Minnesota Duluth March 26th, 2004!! (A day before they played the Gophers in the Frozen Four, that's how I'll always remember that date!! Quickly changed who I was rooting for!! GO BULLDOGS!! Who won by the way!!)
-Left Shakopee Summer Tennis (July 14th, 2009) as the longest member/working staff there!! (member: 17 years; coach: 8 years)!!
-Captain of Shakopee Tennis my senior year of tennis!! BRING HOME THE BACON TOMMY!!
-Moved to INDIA!!!:)

Goals for the NEXT 10 years of this journey called: "Life: A Steve Luukkonen Story ~ How will it go?/Who will be in it; will I ever eat a twinky again + do Snapple caps really know all?: By Steve Luukkonen Inc."
-GET MARRIED!! (Now granted if it's December 28th, 2019 and I'm not married probably not going to order one of those Russian Mail Order Brides!! Will wait for the next 10 years!!)
-Teach in Europe 2+ years!! (hopefully Sweden/Norway/Finland)
-Have kid(s)!! (Again if it's December 25th, 2019 and I don't have any, not gonna steal one!!)
-Get married on top of a mountain!!
-Visit 10+ countries!!
-Run marathons in 10 different countries!!! (hmmmm that may or may not go along with that last one!!)
-Run BOSTON MARATHON!!
-Settle down in the states in the final part of this decade!!
-Backpack Europe!!
-Compete in an Ironman Triathlon!!
-Learn REAL yoga and become fully spiritual with my inner self or something like that!!:)
-Hike mountain ranges in the states!!
-Get a Master's in PE!!
-Go to Shakopee High School 10 year reunion (2014) with the biggest and best beard known to man!!:)
-Run the Steamtown Marathon in SCRANTON, PA!!:)
-Participate in the 20 in 24 in Philadelphia!!! (A race seeing how many miles can you do in 24 hours?!?)
-Establish myself with a summer tennis program once again (Shako OR brand new one!!)
-more to come....

Well that's about it for this years goals!!!:) We'll see how many more I add for the decade!! I'm hoping there will be more, for both decade and this year!! HAVE AN AMAZING 2010 EVERYONE!! AND A FANTASTIC NEXT DECADE!!!!!

"Those who bring sunshine into the lives of others, cannot keep it from themselves" -James Barrie

Chadar Trek headed North but turned South REAL fast!!!:) Part 2!!

2010-01-06T19:13:00.001+05:30

Their response was, "Leh?? haha We can't drive to Leh, the road is closed!! It's closed 6 months of the year, from Oct-May!!" Now their are 2 major ways to drive to Leh, one from the South (Manali) and the other coming in from the West, and the West would have taken an extra 2-3 days of driving to do if we constantly road buses and not checked into hotels or anything!! We found out later (when we got home that the West route is also closed from Oct-May)!! SO BASICALLY we hear this news and get this gut feeling that this isn't gonna happen! Well we were tired and thought, hey these are only 2 guys, let's check into a room for a couple hours, get some sleep and then wake up with an optimistic attitude and ask other taxi drivers around town!! Coincidentally the taxi driver we asked about Leh was ALSO the hotel owner we got a room from!! Soooo at this point I was thinking, oh yeah he just said that so we would book a room from him, lame!! We check into the Kashyap Hotel and reserve a room until 9:30am!! Immediately we are out and don't wake up again until my alarm goes off at 9am!! Checked out and began our mission to find a taxi driver that would drive us to Leh!! We saw these group of taxi drivers and asked them if any of them would drive us to Leh?!!? A group response this time of: "HAHA Leh, that road is closed!! It's closed for 6 months!!" Now that gut feeling of this trek is not happening is a REALITY!! We ask if there is any way to rent a helicopter from here and fly to Leh, cause we heard a helicopter earlier fly by!! They said, no, but you can bus to a town about 10 hours West and fly out of their airport to Leh!! So at this point we're like okay, Manali isn't an option and decided to check the bus schedule back to Mandi, the main bus transfer point if we're going anywhere West!! Before we leave I decide to check out the flight schedule of this airport and make sure we can fly out when we arrive there!! So we head to one of the billions of travel agents there and ask about this flight!! Yeah, his exact words were "There's no direct flight from there to Leh, you'll have to go to Delhi and fly out from there." Now we're like OKAY CRAP!! This trek is definitely out of the question, can't drive there, and flying there would take another 2-3 days to arrange!! This was at 10:30am the decision of Chadar Trek was eliminated!!! I pull out the map and think of another trek we could do, which would be bus West to Pathankot or Nurpur and from there bus North to Tissa and do our own little trek to the Chandra River Valley!! It was doable!!:) Well we hop on the bus to Kullu at 1pm and arrive in Kullu around 3pm!!! There this is the time to make our decision about doing the Chandra River trek or not!! Well the decision was made for us, because we asked around and apparently ALL the roads were closed North of Pathankot ANYWAYS, soooo we couldn't even get to Tissa!! Not surprising seeing this is the theme of the trek up to this point!! Well we cancel out any trek's in Ladakh and decide to bus home!! To be THIS close to the Himalayas and have to pull out and head back South was sooooo disappointing/ANGERING!!! EVERYTIME we talked we could see our breathe, the air was SO fresh, JUST LIKE A MINNESOTA WINTER!!!!;) This is where I'm really missing Minnesota plows and the efficiency of them!! HEY you may think they do a bad job, but move to India and you'll appreciate them a LOT more!!;) We leave from Kullu at 3pm to ride to Mandi to transfer over to another bus that will take us back to Shimla!! Before leaving Kullu, Titu and I talk about other treks closer to Mussoorie that we could do leaving from Dehra Dun!! We come up with a couple and NOW our plan is to arrive in Dehra Dun and from there immediately start another trek a lot closer to Mussoorie!!:) Arrived at Mandi at 5pm, grabbed a quick dinner of bun omellete and chai then hooked up with the Shimla bus at 5:30pm!! (Total bus riding = 23 hours/36 total hrs.) At least the travel weather heading back was a LOT warmer then heading to Manali!! So that was pleasant!! It was 1am when we arrived in Shimla and found out the next bus to Dehra Dun was of course at 5am!!! NO other buses were available until then!! Thus, we put on some extra layers and literally camped out at the bus stop for 4 hours!!:) Met some interesting people while doing so!! There was this group of Indian labor workers that looked the same: long, tan potato sack coat, black trimmed beard, short black hair, and all looked they could break out in song at anytime!! But sadly no song!!:( Then I met William Cooker, assuming he was drunk cause there is no way an Indian native in Shimla would be named William Cooker!! But Bill and I talked for a while!! So that was nice!! We didn't sleep at all while at the bus station due to the fact all of our stuff was laying out and not that I don't trust Shimlaians, I just don't trust Indians!! NOR would I trust Americans if I was at a US bus stop, therefore not racist!! Just not trustworthy of bus people folk!!:) 5am comes around and we board, what is to be our FINAL bus ride!! Yeah during the time at the bus stop we talked about starting another trek right away, THAT to us was CRAZY!! Instead we plan on going to Dehra Dun and from there HOME!! Then start another trek next week sometime after getting some much needed rest!!:) During the trip home it was very clear so we saw some wonderful views of the hills at about 10,000ft!! Definitely above the clouds still!! Shimla to Dehra Dun went quickly LUCKILY!! We got dropped off near the Mussoorie bus stop at 3pm, where we planned on walking to the bus stop and find a taxi to drive us!!! Cause in NO WAY are we busing back up to Mussoorie!! Found a taxi to drive us, and on the way up, of course we couldn't drive up and arrive home and be done without anything else to slow us down, there was an accident!! Two cars collided when coming around a bend!! 2 were injured, NONE killed, and 2 cars in the middle of the road as a nice little road block!! Well knowing Mussoorie response time, this could be a 3-4 hour delay, aint happening!! One car could still drive so it drove off to the side, the other car was in no condition to drive, BUT was small and mini so 10 Indians and myself pushed that car off to the side of the road!! Don't worry it wasn't on fire, or gasoline leaking, it was simply demolished!! Accident out of the way, we finish up our trip home and arrive home at 5pm!!! THAT is how the Chadar Trek went!!:) No matter what I guess I was coming home with some stories!!;) This is Mussoorie from Mt. Hermon at sunset!! Looks like Lake Superior in the winter time when it's covered with fog/mist from the cold frozen ice chunks!!!:) That is Witch's Hill off to the far right!! It was completely cloudy and hazy in Dehra Dun!! Half way up to Mussoorie we broke through the clouds and had a beautiful sunny day!! The advantages of 7,000ft above sea level!!!:)

Final Numbers from the "Chadar Trek"

-35 out of a 52 hours on a bus/taxi!!!

-4 bus transfers

-200+ minor bus stops

-5 hours of decent sleep! (decent sleep = in a bed/sleeping bag)

-2 hours walking!!:) (an hour to the bus stop on Sunday, and an hour walking around the various towns)

-Stories from this trip = priceles!!! (Sorry couldn't resist!!:))

Chadar Trek headed North but turned South REAL fast!!!:)

2010-01-06T18:10:00.000+05:30

WELL for those that knew about my trek and the dates I would be gone, you would know that RIGHT NOW I should be on my Chadar trek in the Zanskar River Valley!!! HERE is my story on how that is not happening right now!!!:) As you can see in the picture this is ALL the food I am bringing for the 2 week trek (18-20 day total adventure)!!! It's a lot at first, but that's 14 days without any civilization except a couple villages along the way!!! So YEAH that's a LOT of bags of trail mix!! We planned on leaving Jan 3 (Sunday) at 4:30am from Hanifl Centre and walk from there to Picture Palace bus stop where there we would hook up with the bus going down to Dehra Dun (left at 5:30am)!! Surprisingly at 5:30am a LOT of people need to get to Dehra Dun, cause that bus was PACKED!! Every seat taken, plus some standing!!! We arrived at Dehra Dun bus station around 6:45am and had to wait for our connecting bus to Shimla, which departed at 8am!!! 8am comes and we board the Shimla bus, making 2 major stops (and I say MAJOR stops, cause we took about 30-40 minor stops to let people off and on)!! Oh yeah, in India when you bus somewhere, unless you take the expensive Greyhound type (which we didn't, PUBLIC all the way) you stop to pick up anyone or let anyone off who needs it!!! In NO way is that frustrating when trying to get to a destination!!:) That's like taking an elevator in the Empire State Building, and pressing EVERY floor button before reaching the top!!! Anyways, we reach Shimla around 5pm and check the bus schedule for Manali (our last bus stop before transferring to jeep to Leh, our trek depart city)!!! So unless we wanted to wait until morning to leave for Manali it had to be an overnight ride, WHICH it was!! We left Shimla at 7:15pm with a full bus once again!! Two things about Indian public buses you should know!! One: space in between seats is very limited!! Two: NO HEATING!! So put those two together and add our 60lb rucksacks (hiking backpack) and 20 degree traveling weather, makes a GREAT combination!!:) Oh and I guess you could add a 3rd and that's my 6' 2" height, can't really adjust that variable though!!!;) Sleeping on the bus though wasn't too bad, we luckily had the ENTIRE back seat to ourselves for most of the trip so we could spread out on that!! However, it was BUMPY!! Holy schnikee!! You know how back in elementary school you always sat in the BACK of the bus, so when you went over speed bumps your butt would go FLYING in the air!! WELL, we sat in the back and it was elementary school all over again, and it was NOT intentional!!! Very un-intentional!! Trying to sleep when half the time we're FLYING up out of our spot cause we go over meteor type pot holes or anaconda size speed bumps is a freakin hard thing to do!! Not to mention 4 or 5 people on the bus were always PUKING out the window due to motion sickness, so we had a cold breeze flowing through the bus every 5 minutes or so!!!:) A great experience, none-the-less!! We only had 3 major stops (20-25 minor), and the last major stop was in Kulu where we transferred buses!! Of course the bus we WERE riding was empty, and the one we were transferring too was FULL!! AWESOME!!:) However, it was only a 1 1/2 hr. bus ride from there to Manali, so not too bad!! Arrived in Manali at 4am (total hours in bus so far = 19 hours!! Out of 23 total hours of trip)!! Not 2 minutes there the entire attitude of the trip changed!! There were 2 guys (taxi drivers) asking Titu and I for rides and we asked what time is the earliest can we leave in a taxi for Leh?!? Their response...................

What's up doc?!?! The Past 2 months: SUMMARY STYLE!!:)

2010-01-06T17:33:00.000+05:30

HEY GUYS AND GIRLS!!!!! Sooooooooo it hasn't been too long since my last blog post!!! Only since November 27th, was my last post!! SO COOL IT!!!!:) For those who AREN'T teachers, here's a clue on what the last month of school is like before the end of a semester: HECTIC!!!!! You have grades, finals (for those who don't teach PE:)), comments, AND still try and teach a little before they completely tune out for winter/summer break!!!!!:) Month before summer break will be ridiculous!!! OKAY SO quick filler of the past 2 months that you've missed since I've been busy!! I found my dream job!!! That's announcing at any major sporting event!! We had Inter House Box Soccer and I got to be PA announcer for ALL the games!!! YEAH it was AMAZING!!!:) Think Harry Carey (Will Ferrell version) combined with THE Chris Farley's energy level!! A lot of DUMB comments but with lots of energy!!! MR. DANG NEEDS HIS TANG!! IF YOU FIND SOME TANG, PLEASE GIVE IT TO MR. DANG ASAP!!! Stuff like that!!:) So that was back in November!! After that things really quieted down with major sporting events and we could focus primarily on grading!! YAY!!! Every teacher's first LOVE!! That was pretty much until the end of the semester!! Once semester came to an end, we had banquet after banquet!!! First was Middle School Banquet Friday night before going down (when they travel down the hill to Dehra Dun and Delhi), then Elementary Banquet Saturday morning, THEN our final Staff Banquet that Tuesday!! Oh yeah you better belive the Tuba Quartet played AND the Staff Choir sang!!!:) If you have gmail and are NOT on my e-mail list to share pictures with, PLEASE let me know your address ASAP so you can be included in that, otherwise the albums will be LOCKED for you!! After all the banquets pretty much HALF the staff left that Wednesday or Thursday to begin their travels either home (most back to the states) or other countries to visit!!! Thus, for Christmas the hillside was very bare with barely anyone around!!!:) CHRISTMAS DINNER: at Mt. Hermon, at the Weibe's, amazing FOOD!!! OH AND YOU BEST BELIEVE LEFSE WAS THERE!!! The night before at Laura/Nan's we attemped Lefse for the FIRST time!! It turned out okay that night, BUT as any true Scandanavian knows, lefse is ALWAYS served at room temp/cold!! SO when we tried the lefse that night it was still somewhat hot!!! Not true lefse form!! WELL come Christmas dinner I left those babies out in a ziplock over night and when it came to eat them they were DELICIOUS!! Team Lefse NAILED IT!!!!:) And this was lefse made from the bare cooking materials!! No fancy lefse pan, blender to really get those potatoes smooth, AND even no patter masher!! Just a fork, and roller!!! Also, I made about 10 pounds of mashed potatoes that morning (30 potatoes) (both can be seen in above picture!!)!!!! Those turned out pretty good too, but more pleased with the lefse!! Grandma would be proud I think!!!;) No meatballs though, THAT will strictly be saved for the states!! Some things are just meant to be in the US!!! 12 Day Layer Countdown, Meatballs, AND goofy 5k's!!:) I'd say marathons but that one is definitely going to be open to countries!! A marathon in 26 different countries baby!! Why 26, ummm HELLO a marathon is 26.2 miles, I can't find .2 countries!!!:) Of course I could go metric and say 40 marathons (40km)!!!:) We'll see how the knees hold out!! ANYWAYS so Christmas went awesome!!! Oh before Christmas, all that week was the Hike To Christmas Countdown (this will strictly be India)!!! It's a day Hike starting the Monday before Christmas, and every day that week a day hike before Christmas Day!! We did 3 hikes!! With our longest hike to Nag Tibba 2 days after Christmas!!!:) It would have been 4 hikes, but come on we need that day before to make food!! ESPECIALLY LEFSE!! If you haven't noticed, we were VERY VERY excited about lefse!!;) Like jumping up and down when we finished the first one that had that lefse taste, okay maybe I was the only one jumping, BUT others were DEFINITELY jumping on the inside!!!:) So after Christmas week it was PLANNING/FINISH UP TRAINING FOR CHADAR TREK!!!:) We were leaving for the Chadar Trek January 3rd (Sunday)!!! Could NOT BE MORE EXCITED FOR THAT TREK!!!! A trek I've been training/looking forward to for 2 months and it's FINALLY HERE!!! (and yes we're going to pretend that I still haven't left for the trek yet!!) PLUS THERE'S GOING TO BE SNOW AND ICE!!! More ice really, but STILL, white ground, and 2 weeks of it!!! Also, at an altitude of 11,000ft in the valley, and peaks around us that are 18-20,000ft above sea level!!!:) AWESOME!! However, before I get to that trek, we had New Years as well!! Around 5pm we had a mini New Years Eve party at the Weibe's, playing Settler's of Catan and eating popcorn!!! THEN around 11pm we left for our First Annual New Year's Eve-New Year's Day Night Hike!! This time it was to FlagHill!! AND it was a full moon!! Talk about perfect!! The hike itself was only 30 minutes, so we had plenty of time to get there!! We hiked pretty much under moonlight the entire way, only a couple times did we have to turn on our head torches!! Made it to the top of Flaghill at 11:58pm!!! THEN COUNTED DOWN TO THE NEW YEAR AND DECADE!!! Started at 43 seconds!! HEY, India's unique like that!!:) The Wiebe's kissed, Darren and Cindy kissed, I thought about kissing Suman, but he probably wouldn't have liked that, so instead I kissed a rock!! It was a lovely rock, full of minerals and moss!!!!! I think I may have developed gingivitis from it!!!! WORTH IT THOUGH!!! And it's funny to think, STILL have not had a New Year's date/kiss yet!! I guess we'll save that for next year in the states, WHO WANTS TO BE IT?!?!:) Well I suppose what you've all been waiting for THE CHADAR TREK!!! Read that in the next post!!! Oh so fun!!:) IT'S GOOD TO BE BACK BLOGGING AGAIN!!!:)

What I wake up too every morning!!!!:)

2009-11-27T22:33:00.000+05:30

Now that I have a NEW CAMERA that I'm SO thankful for!!!! Here is my very first picture that I took with it!!! Not too shabby!!!! This was taken from Mt. Hermon (where I live) on the backside of the place facing North!!!! Yes, these are the Himalayas and they are even MORE stunning in person!!!!:) It really makes you think how much of life you miss out on if you don't travel at least one other place in the world and experience an ENTIRELY new surrounding and culture!!!! I never dreamed I would be teaching in India, let alone LIVING in for 3 years minimum!!!!!! But now that I am here I am SO very thankful I took that chance, leaving pretty much all of my family and friends 4000 miles away, and moved to India!!! Yes, I miss you all OH SO MUCH, and here's the but, BUT like Dave said it best, you will all still be there waiting for me when I return from this journey!!! However long that will be!!! Yes, I am contimplating staying longer than 3 years now!!! I have taken a shining to my 8th grade class and want to see them graduate in 2014, which would mean 5 years over here!!! And there are so MANY teachers who only stay 2-3 years at Woodstock, some even 1, that I do NOT want to be one that builds this awesome relationship with my students and before you know it I'm outta there, leaving them hanging!!! They have enough of that as it is, I feel they need some reliability in at least some of their teachers!! But that's not here nor there, that's in another 2 years for me to decide!!! And a LOT can happen in 2 years!!!;) Heck, so much has happened already and it's only 4 months!!!!! AND I'm not even sure they'll want me back!!! There's no guarantee I will be asked for another contract!!! So when that times come, I'll come back to this!! For now, it's time to continue living life in India, missing everyone in Minnesota, and teaching the BEST subject ever: PHYSICAL EDUCATION!!!!!!:) Also, discovering my dream job!!! THAT we will cover later!! For now it's bed time!! GOOOOOOOOOD NIGHT PLANET EARTH!!!!

"RANDOM WITHOUT WARNING PHOTO PICTURES" PICTURES!!!!!!:)

2009-11-14T18:52:00.001+05:30

Here are just a COUPLE of my RANDOM WITHOUT WARNING PHOTO PICTURES and the sweetness and realism they bring to the photo world!!!! ENJOY!!!!:)

Hey Laura nice face!!!! OH and you just got RANDOM PHOTO SHOTTED!!!!!!:)

Matt and I agreed that this was by far the BEST photo ever of him!!!:) Oh and by the way Matt YOU GOT RANDOM PHOTO SHOTTED!!!!

Hey NEW BEST FRIEND who I'm replacing Matt as your "rebound boyfriend" YOU JUST GOT RANDOM PHOTO SHOTTED!!!!!:)

OH THE HORROR OF BEING RANDOM PHOTO SHOTTED!!!!!!!! I got camera jacked....

Well I hope you understand now the seriousness and horror that is THE RANDOM WITHOUT WARNING PHOTO PICTURE!!!!!:) Look out and always be looking over your shoulder, they could hit at anytime.........

BRINNER!!! THE BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS!!!!:)

2009-11-14T18:10:00.000+05:30

First off I would just like to clarify something that has been bothering me for a while now!!!!! Is Lake Titicaca a REAL LAKE or a FAKE LAKE?!?! Your thoughts and insight would be MUCH appreciated at this point in time!!!! Okay back to mature world, HEY WELCOME TO BLOG POST NUMBER 100!!!!!! HECK YES IT'S NOT, but it's coming up soon I think?!?! Maybe 2011?!? WHO KNOWS!!! Well continuing from the ARRIVAL to Mussoorie from Activity Weekgot home and said my goodbyes to the students and Jennie and Aloke, THEN immediately headed to the bazaar for groceries and CLOCK TOWER CAFE!!!!! Got the egg fried rice and honey chicken!! Can't EVER have enough of that!!!:) YUMMY!!!!!! Walked home and as soon as I stepped in the house Dave and Cookie get home and we talk about this terrorist thing!! Sorry details of the convo, for security reasons, will be left between us!!! HEY you never know who reads these things!!! BUT I can talk about the pizza they ordered!!!! They just got home from their MONSTER TREK/HARDEST OUT OF ALL THE TREKS and were starving so was going to order some pizza!! Couldn't pass that up, so they ordered Dominoes and we ate and sat at their place talking about our activity weeks!!! Yeah their week sounded like HellO!!!!! Cold as heck, slept in places claustrophobic's would HATE, and couldn't even make it to their destination cause of 3-4ft snow drifts they would have had to walk through!! YEAH sounds REAL FUN compared to a week on the beach and sun!!!:) After pizza I was exhausted so went home and crashed until waking up 10am Sunday morning!!! THAT felt good to wake up with NO SCHEDULES OR STUDENTS!!!! Pretty much my entire Sunday consisted of playing Risk II on my computer and blogging/journaling until 3pm!!! THEN I heard word that the Boven's were throwing a "Goodbye Brinner" (brinner = breakfast for dinner) for Matt and Brady since it was their last night in Mussoorie, sad!!!:( I headed over to Jennie and Megan's to pick them up then we headed over to the Boven's for some DELICIOUS BRINNER!!! Got there and the smell was INTOXICATING!!! They had: crepe's, egg bake (haven't had egg bake since mom cooked it for me last, which I miss by the way mom, little note for when I return!!!!;)), pancakes, cinamon bread, biscuits, AND JUICE!!! SOOOOOO GOOD!!!:) We ate and talked about life!!! Oh and maybe a little RANDOM WITHOUT WARNING PHOTO PICTURES!!!!!!!!! Haven't done those since the couch days!!! And all you UMDnites out there know exactly what I'm talking about!! If you have NO clue what RANDOM WITHOUT WARNING PHOTO PICTURES are, it's basically when I take a picture without warning of someone's face REAL close!!! It's SO MUCH FUN!! TRY IT!!!:) We hung out at the Boven's for a couple of hours, THEN shifted the party to the Farley's because Matt and Brady had to do their laundry before they left, and HEY where better to do it then the Farley's right!!! haha I bet they deep down HATE IT!!:) OR love it!! Whichever!! Oh and you know what LAUNDRY night means: MENTALIST AND SVU AND SCRUBS AND OFFICE AND SOMETIMES MOVIE!!!!!! That night it was a Mentalist marathon!!! AWESOME!!:) After hours of the Mentalist it was time to head home and have only ONE more day of Bratt (Brady and Matt)!!! NOT COOL GUYS!!!

TERRORIZE THIS!!!!!!!!:)

2009-11-14T17:24:00.001+05:30

Well we reassured the students, on the ride home, that no terrorists are going to be attacking Rishikesh or Woodstock when we return!!!:) Some of the students were joking that each one of them would get personal body guards wherever they went, including the bathroom, and the guard would be set-up on the toilet paper holder with sand bags all around!!! So it was very comforting to know the light-hearted mood could still be had under a terrorist threat!!!:) Get back to camp, have some dinner and call it a night!! And what a night it was!!! In the morning (Friday), AGAIN, we wake up to terrorist talk, but only for the first 15 minutes or so!!! Now one thing I was REALLY looking forward to the entire trip was yoga!!! I really really really wanted to learn traditional Hindi yoga!!! So everyone is ready to go at 7am on the white mats they lay out for us over the sand!!! We see our yoga instructor walk up wearing jeans and a dark blue polo shirt!!! Not to be stereotypical of a yoga instructor, BUT when one thinks of yoga they think of loose, comfortable clothing, very NON-corportate, and long (possibly beard) hair!!! This guy was the COMPLETE opposite!! FIRST red flag!!! So he takes off his jeans, WEARING SHORTS UNDERNEATH, and begins by having us breath in and out slowly, then chanting ummmmmmmm!! Okay kinda off to a normal start!!! Fast forwarding through the entire LAME session, it was basically glorified stretching for an hour with elongated breathing mixed in!! NO explanation on why we breath like that, NO easy-flowing transitions from pose to pose!!! The guy couldn't even explain the poses correctly, and this was to 3 teachers as well, ONE being a freakin PE teacher who kinda specializes in that!!!! Not to mention he focused on our shoulders for like 45 freakin minutes!!! "STRETCH YOUR SHOULDERS" he kept yelling!! I just wanted to yell back, "I'LL STRETCH YOUR FACE!!!" Makes no sense, but just random enough he'd be thrown off by it!!!:) So yeah needless to say yoga was a HUGE disappointment!!! After yoga we had a nice 2 1/2 hour hike planned, along the river and through the woods to a peaceful little village we go!!!! Then to get back to the bus we TOTALLY had to FORD the river!! THAT'S RIGHT OREGON TRAIL STYLE!!! However, sadly, we didn't have any oxen or people with typhoid to ford across!!!:( If only we would have lost 34 pounds of food, 3 oxen, 2 wheels, Jimmy, and Bobby, while fording the river that would have been awesome!!!:) Not so much losing Jimmy and Bobby but you get the point!! A REAL LIFE Oregon Trail mishap!!! IN INDIA!! Eat that Richard Simmons!!!! So we FORDED across the river 3 times, each with a different load to ford, and walked .47km to the bus!!! Friday afternoon was nice and relaxing, BUT with a little RAPELLING thrown in there!!! Rapelling was AWESOME!! It was a 60ft flat cliff!! Just getting up to the starting point was a challenge!! Basically an 80 degree incline of rocks and trees to get to our starting point!! AWESOME!!:) There were 5 of us, Jennie (teacher), me, and 3 students!!! One of the students, Arit, was awesome at it!! We were jumping off the rock and landing back on our feet again, AND even running vertically on it!! Very very fun!! Did it 3 times, and each time used less rope for resistance so I could go down faster!!! Pretty soon it was basically a controlled fall with lots of jumping!! Needless to say Arit and I picked up on it very quickly and shook off the nerves we once had in the beginning!!;) Friday night had dinner by the campfire, then we agreed since it was their last night here they could stay up 'til 11pm!!! I stayed up with them until 10, listening to ghost stories, getting asked how strong/tall I was in high school, why did I grow my beard, what sports did I play, why did I come to India!! So basically the first 15 minutes of campfire was HEY let's ask Mr. Steve 50 questions about his life!! But I found it fun, especially when I told them I was 6ft tall in high school!! They were very jealous, cause apparently every Indian boy wants to be REAL tall, and 6'2" (what I am now) is the perfect height according to them!!!:) Then they began telling ghost stories which were quite impressive!!:) I couldn't stay up all night with them so I headed to bed around 10 and fell RIGHT to sleep!!!:) Saturday morning comes nice and fast and AGAIN it yoga time, yay....... Sure enough it was the same guy as before AND same as before showed up in his corporate attire!!! BLAH!!!! He did the SAME exercises for the first 30 minutes of our session!! Even "STRETCH YOUR SHOULDERS!!! COME ON!! STRETCH THEM!!!!!" At that point I got internally irate!!! This guy is being paid good money for a session I could have taught the students for free!!! AND with clarity and easy to understand instructions!!! BLAH!!! Sooooooo another hour wasted with a stupid yoga instructor, who I'm sure is very successful, so I don't feel bad I'm completely bashing him, cause he's probably in it for the money anyways!!! ON TO A MORE POSITIVE NOTE: BREAKFAST!!!!! Our last breakfast there and was it ever AWESOME!!! Fried eggs, toast, pourage, peanut butter/jam, AND of course chocolate milk!!! After breakfast was done we agreed that the students would clean their tents and pack first BEFORE having leisure time!! OH MY GARBAGE!!! Jennie and I walked around the tents to supervise!!!! Their tents (even the girls) were RIDICULOUSLY MESSY!!! Garbage on the floor, clothes on the floor, etc.!!! AFTER ONLY 5 FULL DAYS OF LIVING THERE!!!! I do NOT want to see their rooms at home!! And yes mom and dad, mine was just as bad in 10th grade, I KNOW, if not worse!!:) But holy crikey brought me back to the good ol' days!!!! So they cleaned and packed for an hour then had some leisure time!!! Had our LAST lunch then said our goodbyes!!! WHAT AN AMAZING ACTIVITY WEEK IT WAS!!!!:) AWESOME!!!!

ACTIVITY WEEK 2009 CONTINUED!!!! YOU KNOW IT!!!!!:)

2009-11-08T09:50:00.000+05:30

Ooooooooookay so kinda stopped writing my blog mid-week there last Sunday, SORRY about that!!! MY DEEPEST SINCEREST APOLOGIES!!! For punishment I made myself do push-ups until I could push no more!!! Now one would think that would be fun for me cause I love working out, BUT I had to do push-ups WHILE............WEARING JEANS!!!!!!!! Soooooo uncomfortable and constricting!!! I don't know how your normal people do it!!!!! So I did my push-ups and INSTANTLY when I was done I stripped down and got my pj's back on!! Sooooooooooo much relief it was amazing!!!!:) Okay enough about that BACK to activity week!!! Now I didn't look at my older post to see where I left off, and I'm too lazy to go back and check right now, SO I'm going to guess and assume I left off on Tuesday!!! NOW Tuesday was AMAZING!!! This was the LONGEST day of rafting out of the 4 rafting days!!! We rafted for 5 HOURS!!! It was tiring, beautiful, and relaxing ALL at once!! Oh and add freakin cold too when we jumped in the river!!!!:) BUT I suppose it wasn't as cold as the hikers who hiked the Himalayas during activity week or didn't poo all week cause they were too cold!!! Hmmmmmm wonder who that was!!!;) Don't worry $#%$% you'll remain nameless!!! Rafted for 5 hours and pulled out where we will begin tomorrow (Wednesday)!!! Afternoon back at camp was leisure time again and we kayaked and swam!!!! Had dinner by the campfire then ALL went to bed around 9pm, cause we were EXHAUSTED!!!:) Now Wednesday was by far the most EXCITING rafting day!! WE FACED "THE WALL"!!! A level 4- rapid, which is 2 levels under the highest (6)!!! Yeah it was intense!!!:) Unfortunately, to hear about "The Wall", you'll have to wait until I return, via skype or in person here in India!! That's one adventure that canNOT be told via blog!!! So HA and HA!!!!!:) SKIPPING ahead to Thursday!!! Getting a little time to sleep in, we put-in around 10pm from camp and then rafted to Rishikesh!! FACING 8 RAPIDS!!! The first 3 were intense and awesome!! About levels 3+, 3, and 3-!!! A lot of water coming right at us, FACIAL!!!!:) The last 5 rapids were minor rapids but still fun as HECK and we stood on the raft for 2, and ALL made it!! YEAH we gots good balance here in India!!! Thank you PE class!!!!;) Then we came to a cliff diving part of the rapid, where it was this 25 foot rock overhang!!! Now to make sure it wasn't too shallow one of our guides, Vijay's brother, jumped from the rock into the river first!! HE popped up and sure enough said "SAND HIT BUTT"!!! Soooo no go for cliff diving, kinda disappointing!!! So I decided to use that rock anyway and did some REAL rock climbing!! Granted half my body was in the water while the other half was climbing, using all upper body baby!! OH YEAH it was INTENSE, if I fell the drop would be DEADLY!!!! I might have gotten my hair/bandana wet from the massive 2 foot drop!!!!!!:) There was also a heated springs that we relaxed in!! Mostly heated because the sun shined on this very shallow stream, no lava or anything naturistic like that!!!;) Thursday night we actually went into Rishikesh and walked around for an hour looking at shops and such, THEN celebrated Dev Diwali!! A light celebration where Hindi's lit candles and let them float down the river!! It was to celebrate one of their lady goddess who was the protector of the river if I believe!! Anyways it was SUPER COOL to witness!!! A lot of SINGING AND A LOT OF LIGHTS!!:) Oh and while we were watching, their was this REALLY white guy there that was dancing all white guyish and laughing, and had basically no rhyme or reason why he was dancing but doing it just for the heck of it!! Yeah basically every Indian was looking at him with disgust, and NO IT WASN'T ME!!! I have a little more respect than that, thank you!!! So I slowly moved away from him not to be part of his little dance show!!!! We head back to the bus and during our walk back one of my student's gets a little phone call on her celly!!! Well GREAT NEWS was received, apparently in the newspaper today, 2 terrorists were caught in Chicago and mentioned the LeT's next target was Doon and Woodstock School in Northern India!! Ooooooooh that went over GREAT with the student, and of course she told EVERYONE!! So the entire bus ride home it was, are we going to be blown up when we get back, what's happening, etc. panic continued!!! Except it wasn't scared panic it was more joking around panic!!! Terrorist's cont..........

Rocky and Apollo!!!!

2009-11-08T09:30:00.000+05:30

You see we had dogs with us!!!! And you thought I was making all that stuff up!!! JERKS!!!:) Oh and Rocky is on the Left and Apollo is on the Right!!!!!!! How do I know?!? Because Rocky has a heart of the lion and that is OBVIOUSLY the left one!!!!:)

ACTIVITY WEEK 2009 BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-11-08T08:40:00.000+05:30

WHAT A WEEK IT HAS BEEN!!!!!!!!!!!! Going from CONSTANT sun in Mussoorie to CONSTANT sun AND 80+ degree weather everyday in Rishikesh!!!! It's a rough life sometimes!!!!!:) So as stated in my last blog we (3 staff (Jenny, Aloke, me) and 24 10th graders) left Sunday morning for Rishikesh at 9am and arrived at camp around 12ish!!!!!! As you can see from the picture THIS is home for the next week!!!! Everyone had their own tent (students had a roomie, some two!!!) and it was RIGHT on the Ganga!!!!! I mean you could basically do 18 cartwheels or 21 forward rolls or 7 running forward rolls from your tent to the Ganga and hit water!!!!! Not that I tried or anything just educated guesses!!!!!!!;) We had lunch when we got there then drove 45 minutes up stream and did the basic safety and intro rafting trip!!!! We had 4 raft guides throughout the 6 days we were there: Vijay (head guide), Ram (his bro), Phil (only white guy (besides Amon) on staff who loved going shirtless and doing crunches), and Small but VERY strong (that's what we called him I don't know his real name!!!!:) So they showed us the 4 proper safety rescue techniques: grab lifeline, paddle, throw rope bag, and kayak rescue!!!!:) All were very fun to watch being demonstrated on dry land!!!! We put-in 2 hours East of camp and encountered 3 rapids along the way plus a swimming rapid!!! The 3 rapids we CONQUERED were called 3-Blind Mice!! They were awesome!!! A very nice way to start off our trip, not too hard and overwhelming, but not wussy by any means!!! We lost NO ONE (and when I say lost I'm stressing overboard mostly, not died) in those!!!! Then we came to our swimming rapid which is basically a rapid we jump OUT of the raft in and just float the entire way through!!! Let me say one thing, the Ganga is freakin COLD, at first!!! Nothing like the Polar Plunge, but when the air temp is 80 degrees and you're going into a 40-45 degree river, yeah it's kinda cold at first!!!!! So we jump into the floating rapid and basically it lead us all the way back to camp!!!! Afternoons all week were pretty much leisure time!!! We had options to: rappel, kayak, swim, volleyball, badminton, frisbee, football (soccer), or lay in the sun and RELAX!!!!! Being the first day and our first chance to kayak or swim EVERYONE was in the water either kayaking or swimming in no time after we got back from rafting!!!:) Like I said once you warmed up to the water and moved around it was quite pleasant to be in!!! EXCEPT around 4pm!!! Because we're basically on flat ground in the river valley, once the sun goes behind the MASSIVE hill across the river from us, there is NO sun at all on the river and it's swimming in shade the rest of the day!!! The air temp at that point goes from 80 to 70 REAL fast, and that water is A LOT COLDER!!!!:) Dinners throughout the 6 days had a VERY common theme: CHICKEN AND RICE!!!!!!!! Every freakin night it was some variation of chicken and white rice, oh and can't forget the dal!!!! When we were there for lunches those were better: pasta, noodles, tuna, etc!!! VARIETY!!!!! Sunday night we chilled by the campfire, which started at 6:30pm cause it was BLACK as BLACK by 6-6:30 every night!!! It got dark REAL fast!!!!:) Oh and one thing we couldn't figure out is why all the tents and shelters were tied down with white rope ON WHITE SAND!!!!!!!!!! Whoever thought all tents and whatnot should be tied down with white rope while on the beach is a complete jerk!!!!!!:) It was constant tripping after tripping over ropes the entire week!!!! And at night time one would think the white ropes would be a little more visible in pitch black, YEAH NO, almost decapitated half of my students!!!!:) So we told them to ALWAYS walk around with a torch (flashlight)!!! Monday was no rafting but instead a 5 hour day hike through one of the North valleys, perpendicular to the Ganga!!! We hiked about 500-600 feet upwards throughout the day and had AMAZING views along the way, as seen here in this photogenic opportunity!!!!!! During our hike we added 2 black canine friends that tagged along the entire way!!! I named them Rocky and Apollo!!!!!:) There were a couple checkpoints that we passed throughout our hike, our first one was this little temple that was like any other temple we've passed!!! Then we came to this village that was on top of the highest peak we would climb throughout the hike!!! We got a FULL 360 degree view of the ENTIRE VALLEY!!!! IT WAS BEAUTIFUL!!!!:) Eating lunch in the village would just be rude, so we hiked a little bit past the village and ate lunch there!!! On our way back through the village, the local village dog (I called him Clubber Lang) was feeling VERY territorial that day towards Rocky and Apollo and TOTALLY got in with it with Rocky!!!! There was a 30 second scuffle, involving blood and Clubber RUNNING AWAY defeated!!! I was like heck yes Rocky and gave him some of my unfinished sandwhich in triumph!!!!! Then sang him Eye of the Tiger!!! We hiked back going basically 70 degrees downward and came to a river bed that was mostly dry, except during monsoon season, and enters into the Ganga!!!! It was obvious a day hike was NOT what the students had in mind for fun that day, BUT, barely little complaining and when they got back to camp it was history cause kayaks and water was waiting for them!!!!! ACTIVITY WEEK CONTINUED!!!!!!!!!!!...................

Part 2 of manure!!!!!:)

2009-10-31T17:33:00.000+05:30

I just need to say that this is not me, YET!!!!!:) I know there is a striking resemblence between Grizzly Adams and myself, and YES, Grizzly Adams did have a beard!!!!:) And he was a manly man!!!!! So all you ladies out there who "think" I need to shave my beard, ummmmmm let's just see who saves you when you're being attacked by a bear!!!!! Money is on the guy with the beard!!!! SO FACIAL!!!! And any guys out there who think the beard should go, well that's just flat out jealousy you can't grow one!!!!;) Okay ANYWAYS back to my week!!! Thursday night came along and you KNOW IT'S SVU NIGHT!! BUT WAIT........more like The Mentalist!!! OR as Megan pronounces it the "MentaLList"!!! Yeah real smooth Megan!!! And no Chris I have no manure for you!!!!:) SO it was laundry night, cause I didn't want to go into activity week smelling worst than usual and I didn't want to torture the students THAT much so soon!!!! Also, Matt came over for the first time and joined our laundry night/SVU/now The Mentalist night!!!! We ordered some Clock Tower Cafe delivery, and we pretty much made their quota for the month with our order!!!! Needless to say it was a LOT of food!!!:) Oh and a little sidenote, finished my entire two loads of laundry BEFORE 10:30pm!!! It was a record!!!! Friday was AWESOME!!! I wore my green tennis shirt all day, and definitely got some comments about that!!!:) i.e. "That beard doesn't go with that bright of shirt", "were you scared that you would get lost today and no one would find you?", "nice face does it come in stupid!!" Okay I made that last one up, but the students were very vocal about their opinions and my AWESOME bright green tennis Shako Sizzler shirt!!!:) Friday night was RELAXING night!!! Went straight home and got caught up in my journal, WHILE downloading the computer version of Risk II!!!! I missed that game too much!!! SOOOOOOOOOO after my journaling pretty much played Risk from 8pm-12pm!! HEY it's an awesome game back off or I will fight you!!!!!! Similar to Catan it's VERY addicting!! You just can't have enough of Yurtusk or Ural!!!!:) THIS MORNING (Saturday) woke up with NO alarm at 9am, always feels good to do that!!! Had my carbo breakfast and went on my nice relaxing 1 hour 32 minutes 14 second run!!! BEST part of the run BY FAR had to be running just past the Chai Tea Stop at the 5k mark, the EXACT turnaround spot for our very first hike that first weekend here!!!!:) I run past Chai and coming around the corner I come to the most AMAZING VIEW I have seen yet: at LEAST a 30 MILE STRETCH OF THE HIMALAYA'S!!!!! It was literally come around the corner and BAM!!!!! HELLO HIMALAYA'S!!!!!!!! It would have been a wider stretch but two hills were in the way on the right and left, but still seeing that much of the Himalaya's really puts into perspective the AWESOMENESS they are!!!!! They are sooooo TALL!!!!:) So I almost ran off the cud because of a trance at the view!!!! Stared at them the entire run down the hill towards Himalayan Weavers and back again to the Chai stop!!!!!:) Very AWESOME!!! And when I get my NEW CAMERA totally coming back and taking a picture!!!!:) And then saving that pic so NO ONE can see it until I get back to Minnesota, a little present for all of you, and to torture you!!!!:) After my run walked to Chardukan and had some apple/cinamon waffles and a nice relaxing afternoon!!!! NOW it's time to go and PACK FOR A WEEK OF FUN IN THE SUN!!!!! Oh and p.s. for all you Minnesotans out there, immediately after my run and before lunch I laid out in the SUN shirt off for a good 30 minutes in a beautiful 75 degree day!!!! AND THIS IS A DAY BEFORE NOVEMBER!!!!!!:) Can't find that anywhere in the midwest!!!!!;) Please don't be too jealous!!!! ALRIGHT UNTIL NEXT SUNDAY WHEN I RETURN FROM ACTIVITY WEEK HAVE AN AWESOME FANTASTIC AND AMAZING WEEK EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:) I'll be thinking about you all when I'm in Rishekesh and in 85 degree sunny weather RAFTING down the Ganges!!! Again try not to be too jealous!!!! I really miss the snow right now..............:) BUMBLEBEETUNA!!!!!

Was that real manure? NOOOOOOO!!:) But CATAN will have his revenge!!!!!

2009-10-31T14:56:00.000+05:30

Well I have to start this post with the EXCITEMENT OF ACTIVITY WEEK STARTING TOMORROW (SUNDAY)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:) Let's start off with MONDAY NIGHT = SETTLER OF CATAN TOURNEY!!!!!!! Freakin AMAZING!!!!! If you've never heard of Settlers of Catan (like me going into the tourney) it's basically a combination of Monopoly, Risk, and an entirely unique game in itself!! Google it, it's an awesome strategy game!!!! Sooooooo being huge nerds Monday night, we had 5 tables with 4-5 people at each one, with the winner of each table going into the championship round!!!! Sadly I came in a gentleman's 4th out of 4 at my table!! Table E (my table) was Greg, Joy, Nicole, and myself!!!! And holy schnikee did I see an entirely NEW side of all 3 of them!!! Sooooooooo competitive and cut throat, it was AWESOME!!!!:) I think Nicole may have been a little perturbed with me and my loudness whenever something good or bad happened!!!! AND then we even had CONTROVERSY at our table!!! So the objective is to get 10 victory points; you can accumulate points by either: building houses, settlements, longest road, largest army, and development cards that have victory points on them!!! WELL that last one is where "SETTLERS OF CATAN CONTROVERSY '09" comes in to play!!!!!! Greg had 9 points and ended his turn, not realizing he had a victory card in his possession, he clearly stated his turn was done and then BAM played the card and claimed victory!!! This would not have been a big deal if Nicole wasn't about to win it on her turn which was NEXT!!!! WELL the Dave's (Boven/Wiebe) and Greg discussed the ruling with Boven and Greg agreeing you can play the card WHENEVER, and that's how they interpreted it in the rules book!! However, Wiebe disagreed and said you can play as many victory cards as you want ON YOUR TURN!!! Well sad story for Nicole, the Bovenmeister made the final decision and declared Greg the winner, with Wiebe and Nicole not too happy!!!!:) I just got out of there as fast as possible cause I thought there was going to be a Settler's Masacre at hand!!!! OF course it didn't help that during the entire last 15 minutes of the game Matt was pushing Nicole's buttons and Greg and I formed an alliance against Nicole!!!:) So Team Ramrod (Greg and I) claimed a TEAM VICTORY when he won!!!!:) Well after that INTENSE ending I went and played in the consolation game, while Greg went on to the Championship table!!! Yeah I didn't deserve to be in the consolation game, but being addicted I quickly ran over and claimed my spot!!!;) OH on top of everything there was SOOOOO much food!! Like 10 pizza's, 8 of them home made YUM, fruit, vegetables, drinks (juice), ANNNNNNND BOVEN'S HOMEMADE COOKIES!!!! Yeah they could sell them, seriously, they are amazing!!!!!:) The whole tourney started at 6pm and the Championship/Consolation round didn't even get done until 10:45pm!! IT was an awesome night!!!!!:) On the way home we walked along the Eyebrow, and I've never walked it at night, and let me tell you the view at one point of the path was BREATHTAKING!!!! Could see for miles upon miles AND all of Dehradun was lit up and beautiful!!!!!:) Well besides Monday night, the entire week kind of FLEW by!!! Staff night on Wednesday was NO WHERE near as fun as last week's, mostly because everyone was at the Class of '74 dance at Hanifl Centre, so it was basically Dave, Joy, Scott and myself playing 2 on 2 basketball for an hour!!!!! MORE OF THIS WEEK CONT....

Oh Chitty you make my heart go wild!!!!:)

2009-10-25T13:29:00.000+05:30

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylNwSv6c7m0 WHO NEEDS A PICTURE WHEN YOU CAN START OFF WITH THIS!!!!!:) I forgot to mention that Woodstock was having a wedding reception in the afternoon on Saturday, meaning for lunch we got WEDDING FOOD, which was AMAZING!!!!:) If only there were weddings and events every weekend!!! After my NO go of finding a bike shop ANYWHERE on the Western part of Mussoorie, I headed back buying some random things here and there: mini notebooks to keep log of my workouts in, rope to climb trees, and lip balm!!! YEAH it's very dry and being 7000ft up kinda makes one lips extra chappy!!! MY LIPS HURT REAL BAD!! Oh and the rope, yeah not that random!! There are PLENTY of trees around Mussoorie, and besides giving us oxygen why can't we have a little fun with them and climb them!!!! Going to make a figure of 8 knot, throw it over a branch and start climbing!! An excellent upper body workout!!! And if I want to train old school, fill an old sack with rocks in it, throw that over the tree and start pulling it up!!! Excellent for the lats and tri's!!!:) WHAT I'M A PE TEACHER, what do you expect!!!! I'm going to go relax and read a book?!?! Come on!!! BORRRRRRRING!!!!:) So on the way home I decided to stop by the Farley's and wouldn't you know who was outside reading a book and looking like an old lady all wrapped up in her blanket!??! Megan!!! But on the plus side, after I told her she looked like an old lady all wrapped up in her blanket reading a book she invited me over for dinner and a movie with Jenny and her!!! I don't know how I still get invited over with all the stuff I harass her with!!:) Well we ate some delicious pasta and watched Pirates of the Carribean #1!!!!! AWESOME!!! Then we had Kate/Elsa's Halloween party later on so Megan and Jenny had to get their costumes ready for that!! For the first time in 5 years I had no costume or ambition to wear one!!! BUT when I get back to the states that will change, since Mussoorie doesn't really celebrate Halloween, don't worry for Christmas though it's on!!!!:) Jenny dressed up as your black ally cat with SHARPIED ON WHISKERS, tail, and all black outfit!!! Megan was your ridiculous pumpkin/jack-o-lantern!!!! Wore an orange Kurta, and taped a face on their including a SQUARE nose, who puts on a square nose for a lantern of jack?!?! COME ON!!!:) Well we were all ready to go, and before heading over to Kate's Jenny and Megan wanted to show off their costumes to some 5th graders that were sleeping over at the Farley's!!! Well they all loved Jenny's cute cat outfit!! Then Megan showed off her pumpkin and they didn't know WHAT she was right away, THEN one of the girls yelled out "she's a BUTTKIN!!!" haha YEAH they said buttkin!!! Even though Megan thought she heard pumpkin!!! Ummmm NO it was definitely BUTTKIN!!!!:) And being the nice friend I thought it would only be appropriate to let everyone know at the party about Megan's new nickname!!! Which held it's ground when I called her Buttkin and she turned her head to look at me!!!! POINT PROVEN!!!:) We hung out at the party for a couple of hours, Jenny made some freakin sweet finger cookies!! They were cookies that looked like fingers with jam at the end so it looked like it was cut-off, then almonds for finger nails!! Very clever!!!! I left around 11:30pm cause it was WAY past my bed time!!!:) This morning woke up at a wonderful 9am and made some breakfast!!!! Did some writing in my journal under a BEAUTIFUL blue and clear sunny sky!!!! WHICH this is my NEW journal now because my old one is all full with 100 DAYS OF INDIA IN THERE!!!! That's right on Thursday it was our 100th DAY IN INDIA!!!!! And my journal has EXACTLY 100 days in it, which is kinda cool!!! Now with my new one who knows how many days it will hold but I'm sure the next 100 are going to be JUST as awesome as the first 100!!!!:) Mostly because in these next 100 will be WINTER BREAK!!!!!:) TRAVEL TIME!!! After journal writing I am GOING to go on a nice little mini hike down the back hillside behind Mt. Hermon to Freezer's Point, or whatever it's called and relax there by CLIMBING SOME TREES WITH MY NEW ROPE!!!!!!!:) IT'S CLIMB TIME!!! If you don't hear from me next weekend, don't worry I didn't fall down the cud too far!!!;) HAVE AN AMAZING SUNDAY EVERYONE AND HAPPY PRAYING!!!!:)

OH YOU CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG!! CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG WE LOVE YOU!!! HI HO!!!!!

2009-10-25T12:59:00.000+05:30

Sooooooo writing in my journal this morning (Sunday morning) I look up and what do I happen to see, THE HIMALAYA'S!!!!! It is sooo clear and beautiful this morning!!! It makes me think, I could be living at Monte Cristo right now and looking at a giant cement building and some parts of Dehradun!!! WOW thats a hard choice in scenaray!! Not to mention being up 7000 ft. and having the cleanest air EVER at Mt. Hermon!!!!!! And now I bet you're wondering why the heck Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and where did that even come from!! WELL I'll tell you nosey Nancy!!! If you recall in the movie, they are flying, in Chitty, over and around the Swiss Alps!!! Seeing the Himalaya's this morning and the clarity of them made me think of that same view and how awesome it is!!! And how much I want a flying car so I can fly to them and climb them!!!:) SO THERE!! Not so random after all!!!!!!:) As for this week, it was another SPECTACULAR week, mostly because ALL major sporting events are OVER with for the rest of the semester!! Having 4 straight weeks of SOMETHING major on a Friday (InterHouse/School CC, InterHouse/School Sports Day) is freakin tiring!! Now it's all systems go for focusing on teaching and fitness plans!!! Let's start off the week in review on Wednesday night: STAFF NIGHT!!! And this is mainly for Nicole to read, cause she MISSED this staff night, so this is IN HER FACE!!!!!! So I don't know why we didn't do or think of this earlier in our previous staff nights, BUT after a good hour of climbing I got into cartwheel and forward roll mode, THEN thinking wait we have a GYMNASTICS room!!! Got the key, and from 8-9pm WE WERE 1st GRADERS AGAIN and went into our GYMNASTICS ROOM!!!! We had jumping over random objects contests using the mini trampolines!!! Which Laura was so good at!!!;) We turned the blue mats into a king of the hill ring!!!!! Some even set up obstacle courses!!!! IT WAS AWESOME!!!!:) Needless to say we were SOOOO sore the next day!! Waking up with stiff EVERYTHINGS: necks, shoulders, butts, and of course medula oblingota's!!!:) Friday was amazing as well since it was a Middle School hike day, AND I had to stay back and teach high school so half of my classes were cancelled due to NO students!!! A very NICE relaxing end to an amazing week of relaxation!! A double whammy!! OH NOT TO MENTION SVU NIGHT ON THURSDAY!!!! It's slowly becoming one of my favorite shows to watch here, not, of course, beating Mr. Bean animated!!!!!!;) Then yesterday was another fantastic Saturday!!! Waking up at 7am to workout in the fitness room ALL BY MYSELF!!!:) After our InterSchool Sports meeting went to meet Matt and Brady in the bazaar, but couldn't find them so walked ALL the way to The Mall on the very Western edge of Mussoorie and back again!! Tried to find a bike shop to buy a bicycle, BUT no luck!!! Chitty chitty continued...