My List.

Yesterday, I kept (half) joking that I had started a “list” and this list was not something you wanted to be on. But instead of writing my “list” here, I will instead make a list of 10 people I thankful for.

I am thankful for…

1. My best friend, Courtney. She always answers the phone and listens to me complain. And she goes with me to Cedars Woodfire Grill whenever I want. She even told me she would rescue me if I ran out of gas this morning on the way to the gym. At 5:30am.

2. My crazy co-worker, Tim McAtee. He was my first friend at my new job this year and has, on so many occasions, helped me out of situations I didn’t know how to get out of. I am pretty sure I would have quit by now without him. 

3. My mom. Although we don’t talk as often as we used to anymore, I still loving picking up the phone and calling her in the mornings before work.

4. My workout friend, Teal. I am pretty sure I would have quit working out and definitely stopped running without her encouragement. AND she bought a swim suit and started swimming with me on Friday.  Yay for cross training.

5. My running partner, Heidi. I have to run on my own this weekend and even though I have done it before, the last two long runs have been so much easier with her by my side.

6. My friend, Kristin. She led HS bible study on Wednesday night so I could stay home and do homework for my Thursday night class.

7. My graduate school friends…pretty much it’s the only way I get through class most nights.  

8. My trainer, Will. He and I have been teaming up for 4 years now. He listens to me when I complain, and challenges me when I need it.

9. My friend, Heather. Without her help this year I am quite certain my students would not have learned anything. Some days she has single handedly kept me and my curriculum afloat.

10. My friend Lindsay. Our bi-montly phone call came this week and it is so good to talk to her and catch up on life. I love friends that you can just pick up where you left off after months and everything is good again. 

I am also thankful for jeans on Friday and the weekend. 

-Cynthia

Why we do what we do.

On Friday, two of my favorite former students (read that as, my favorite student, and his best friend) came to see me at work. They go to one of the other high schools in the district and they came all the way to my school to see me and another teacher they had in middle school.

The more I talked to them on Friday, the more I was blown away by the young men they have become. Saying, ma'am and sir to anyone they talked to. Shaking hands at an introduction. Talking about how they want to go to Duke or Baylor and become a surgeon and OSU or A&M to study aeronautical engineering. They told me about how they are going to go to junior college this summer to take government and economics dual credit so they can have room in their schedules to take 4 (yes, 4!) AP classes next year. They explained that they didn't hang out with certain people anymore because they do not have the same goals in life as them. They know their class rank and are doing everything they can to raise it in the next 1.5 years. They have already signed up to take the SAT twice before the end of their junior year. See? I was blown away. These are two students that don't come from the greatest home life, got in trouble in MS and have a hard road to travel. But they get it. And they get it as 17-year-old. They are special young men.

And I am just lucky enough that they feed me enough information about their lives to get to watch it all happen. Even from across town. They assured me I would get an invitation to their HS graduation next year and it wouldn't surprise me at all if in 5 years I get an invitation to their college graduations. And in 9 years, I expect to get an invitation to Ismael's med school graduation.

And I walked away remembering that THIS is why we do what we do. And my heart is full of joy.

-Cynthia

Scared and Excited.

My alarm goes off at 4:30am every week day morning. It's too early. And EVERY morning I have to decide whether or not I really am going to get out of bed. It's a decision I make EVERY DAY. And I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least a little bit tired because of it. And yet, almost every morning I make the decision to get up and go to the gym. Most mornings my friend Teal meets me at the gym. And it's at this gym, and with Teal by my side, that my running story begins...

Teal has been running half-marathon's for a little over a year now. She makes them look easy, even though I am sure they are not. But I have watched her suffer and train hard for what she wants. And I have decided that I want the same kind of satisfaction that comes from completing a half-marathon (I am not crazy enough to try a full one...yet). 

A little over a year ago I had foot surgery. It might have been the worst decision I have ever made. But it happened and for the past year I have been dealing with the pain of recovering from the original injury and then the surgery. My foot is finally starting to feel normal (which is different than the normal from 3 years ago, before the original injury) and I have decided that its now or never. So, I did it. I am signed up for the Dallas Rock 'n Roll half marathon on March 25th. I am scared and excited at the same time. And after only 2 weeks of training I have never been more aware of my tired legs as I am now. And I am on WEEK 2. See? That's where scared comes in. 

But I have decided I will make it all 13.1 miles, with my friend Heidi at my side, and we will complete it. One step at a time...

-Cynthia

The Beginning

I like to write. I really do. I just don't usually have anything interesting or fun to write about. But I have been reading lots of other blogs lately and I have decided that I, too, can blog. Maybe some weeks I will have nothing to say, and other weeks I will have so much I won't know where to start. But here it goes...one step at a time.

So, to begin here are 11 things about me (I was born on April 11th at 11:11pm...I like the number).

1. I am a Jesus follower. I try to live every day in worship to Him. I fail. A lot. But I am trying. 

2. I am a high school World Geography teacher. And I love it. Everyday is a new challenge and there are days that I would give anything to have an "easy" job, or a job where I walked in at 8 and out at 4, but when I think about it, I truly know I am called to do this job. 

3. I am a graduate student at UNT. I am working on my Masters of Education in Curriculum and Instruction. I am crossing my fingers I am done in the Spring of 2013. 

4. I am, and will always be, a Red Raider. GUNS UP!!

5. Sadly, I must admit that I am a cheerleading coach. Freshman Cheerleading to be exact. And some days I think it will be the death of me. 

6. I am becoming a runner and an athlete. I don't think I am there yet. But I think I will become one someday. 

7. NCIS is my favorite show on TV. It has been for the past 7 years. And I think I will cry the day it goes off the air. 

8. I like to read. But not books. I like to read magazines, newspaper articles, blogs, and the occassionally non-fiction book. 

9. I  have the best family. I mean, we have our problems, but who doesn't? In the end, I know they would drop everything to be there for me. 

10. I LOVE to shop. And at some point I will run out of room in my closet. 

11. I work with the youth at my church on Sunday evenings and lead a high school girls bible study on Wednesday nights. And the truth is, they teach me so much more that I will ever teach them. 

-Cynthia