So this thesis thing...

I had my final defense this afternoon. Basically, it's a presentation of everything that I've been working on for the last 5 or so years in front of a committee of my former professors (but it's actually open to anyone interested), and they have to decide if my work is good enough to be published and my degree granted.

I was really close to finishing before Brian and I got married. Like, I was done with all of my classes, but I still had writing to do. Well, obviously planning a wedding is a lot more fun than writing a thesis, so I took the 2010-2011 school year off to focus on wedding fun. I jumped back into it this last Fall, ready to be done once and for all.

I finished writing it last semester, and only needed to have it read by my adviser, make some edits, and them have my committee approve it. Easy. We all thought it would be done by January/February. Somehow, it still all got pushed to the last minute- like the deadline for submission is next FRIDAY! 

Believe it or not, 8 days early is actually pretty good for a master procrastinator like myself. That's assuming that my committee passed me, of course...

Well...

I PASSED!!! 

So that's all pretty much over! I was stressing about today too. I don't mind public speaking, but it's pretty intimidating to present years of work to professors in the field. Professors that hold my future in their hands. Professors that could potentially cost me more time and money if they make a lot of demands.

I spoke to quickly. I said "um" maybe 86 times. I stumbled over some words. I was dripping sweat.

But I was passionate about what I was talking about, I was able to give strong answers to each of their questions, and I had some pretty awesome visual aids. 

I am going to sleep well tonight!

30 Day Challenge: Day 7

A picture of someone/something that has the biggest impact on you...

In reality, Brian and my parents have the biggest impact on me. I'm not very good at making decisions and the three of them are definitely my go-to people for inspiration, support, and assistance. But I talk about them a lot, so I figured I would also write about some other people that have a pretty big impact on my daily life:

These goofballs are the girls on the softball team that I coach. In a nutshell, they are high school girls between the ages of 14 and 18, their biggest worries are acne-faced boys, they're hilarious, and they're pretty fantastic athletes.

I spend a ton of time with them. During the season, it's at least 2-3 hours everyday, all day on some Saturdays, and half of my spring break... like 96 straight hours. Because of all of this time, I get to know them pretty well, and likewise, they get to know me too. They were all very supportive of my wedding planning during the season and they even threw me a surprise bridal shower in the weight room- gifts and cake included!

We discuss boys, family, college, oh, and softball. I want to hear about their lives and they want to hear about mine. I feel like they're- dare I say- my friends. Of course, there's only so much you can have in common with someone half your age, but needless to say, these kids hold a special place in my heart.

I say they impact me for multiple reasons. One is very simple- the San Fernando Valley is a small place, and I'm guaranteed to see at least one of them, or a parent, or a sibling anywhere I go- the mall, a restaurant, movie theater, public restroom, driving in the car next to me. (No joke, this has really happened.) So I need to be on my best behavior in public!

But the more complex reason they impact me is by holding me accountable. They like the fact that if I give them hitting tips, I can go out there and actually do it myself. They want to know about what I'm studying in school and why I'm continuing my education. They want advice about boys and working out. I don't think they realize, but they might be teaching me more than I teach them because they force me to get introspective and think about what I do and why I do it- in all facets of life.

I won't lie, there have been times when I no longer want to coach. It takes up enormous amounts of my free time that I basically volunteer. Sometimes it's very hot outside. Sometimes it's freezing. Sometimes it snows.

Yeah, really, that happened too... in southern CA... in APRIL

Just when I feel like I've had enough and I'd rather be at home scrapbooking or cleaning the toilet, one of them will say something insightful, do something sweet, or tell a hilarious joke, and then I remember why I'm there. I think they help balance me. They give me a perspective from my 15-16 year old self. What I would have done or said back then, in more innocent (naive?) times. Sometimes it's helpful to think like a kid. Like someone who is old enough to understand something but hasn't been tainted by life. I know that makes me sound kind of emo, but it's kind of true.

If we lose a game when I know we could have done better, I continue to reflect on that game and I'll even discuss it with Brian. But if they're having fun, I'm having fun. If they're successful, I'm happy and surging with pride. And that's the story of the 12 munchkins that impact my behavior, my thoughts, and my frame of mind.

30 Day Challenge: Day 2

The meaning behind your blog name...

Once upon a time, I was an athlete.

I grew up playing softball and played through high school and even some at the junior college I went to. Oddly enough though, it wasn't until I transferred to the university and started studying Kinesiology that I really understood how to exercise properly and what my body needs this physical stimulation. I no longer played organized sports, and although I missed playing softball, not playing actually opened new doors for me...

I made friends with new and different interests. I played tackle football on the weekends. I began to go on hikes and take kickboxing classes. My new friends gave me the courage to learn how to surf, practice Jiu Jitsu, and even compete in races that I never would have signed up for otherwise. In 2009, I competed in my first triathlon and in early 2010 I finished a half marathon and then even a full marathon. I was having fun trying new activities and felt pretty fearless. I was willing to TRY all kinds of new activities because I was so proud of myself and what I could get my body to do... and I was in the best shape of my life.

Right after finishing the triathlon

Flash forward to slightly less than a year later when I decided to start this blog. Brian and I were falling more and more deeply in love and my attention starting turning away from all of my activities and more towards him and eventually, Kevin. There was no where that I would rather be than cuddling the two of them on the couch.

My exercise habits started to wane, the number on the scale began to rise, and I was so mad at myself for letting myself slip like that. It was around that time that I started the blog, because I wanted to get my old spirit back. I needed my TRY anything attitude.

The name The Try Athlete basically serves as a reminder of who I am and what I strive to be. I may not be on any particular team at this point in my "athletic career," but I am certainly going to try my best at everything I do and try as many activities as I can!

Turns out, this attitude has also helped me in my professional life. As a PE teacher, I have developed the philosophy that there is at least one physical activity that was meant for everyone, and it is my job to try to help kids find that activity and cultivate it. I try to steer away from typical PE units like basketball and teach new and exciting units like ultimate frisbee or team handball. (Ever played either of those? Because you should. They're awesome.) That led to my thesis project that I'm currently working on, which is creating an Outdoor Adventure curriculum, so I can introduce adventure activities (like rock climbing, kayaking, and surfing) to my students and give them an even broader understanding of all of the fun physical activities that they can do. ♥

ADD's and ABC's

I have been MIA for quite a while now, so I'm going to be jumping all over the place (hence the ADD)! But enough with the acronyms, I have exciting things to share!...

First of all, softball started and it has been COLD! It was supposed to snow yesterday, but it was a lot of hype for nothing. It really wasn't even that cold at all. In fact, I'm back in shorts right now. But during the week, I bundled myself up to brave the outdoors all day. Between the chilly breeze and my growing fear of UV rays (good luck with that, PE teacher!), I managed to create this monster:

Sorry for the bad quality... cell phone to email to blog... bad combo. Anyway, one of my 9th graders told me I look like an Antarctic gardener. I thought that was pretty hilarious.

Wedding Stuff
Moving on!... Biggest news... MY DRESS CAME IN! I'm going to go see it and try it on sometime next week... gotta get paid first!

I'm pretty sure I have my invites, rsvp cards, table numbers, escort cards designed, so my next step is to create some interesting and captivating programs. As far as I'm concerned, all the wedding stuff that I have left is all of the artsy-fartsy DIY stuff that I've been looking forward too. I think our last major task is to buy our rings.

Working Out & Eating Right?
So lately I've been working out more often than I was before (although if you follow this, you would realize that I've totally bailed on keeping a journal... I didn't mean too! I'll start again!), but it's still not as much as I used to. And that kinda really pisses me off. I mean, last year at this time, I had recently finished a half-marathon and was gearing up to run a full marathon. And now I'm scared to run even a mile because I'm worried I won't be able to and I don't want to find out. Blah. I've been doing my Turbo Kick, but I feel like I need more. With that being said, I just printed out my free 7 day pass to 24 Hour Fitness, and I'm planning on using all 7 days for group exercise classes. Effective tomorrow. I need to sweat and apparently I need extrinsic motivation. We'll see. I hope I like the classes, and I also hope I can talk the gym into giving me some sort of discount because $45 a month kinda blows.

I'm going to add another tab to the top and call it "Eating Right?" (...cue confused Ron Burgundy face)

I want to keep myself accountable for the food I eat (just like I'm not doing for my workouts. Ha!) Now if you know me, you know that my diet consists of chocolate, pepper jack cheese, Nutella, diet Coke, and currently, Girl Scout cookies. The plan is to actually eat more healthfully (healthily? healthy? healthier? Idk.)

I read a blog the other day where this girl lost 12 pounds for her wedding by going on the Paleo diet. She said she followed it very strictly and didn't even have to work out, and the pounds just melted off. (Nice, right??) I googled it. Apparently, you cannot eat any dairy products, any starchy products, any sugars, and it didn't say it specifically, but diet Coke and Nutella are probably off-limits too. Basically- it's all hunter-gatherer food, i.e. fruits, veggies, and lean meats. Hmmmphh. I don't think I'm strong enough for that business. But I would like to follow something that isn't too far off. (With maybe a cheat day for some cheese. And chocolate. And diet Coke.) We went to our favorite farmer's market today and got a bunch of fruit and vegetables. I'm going to make some chicken to put into salads for lunch this week. And I'm looking forward to it! And some thin mints!

So I know I won't be the epitome of a healthy eater over night, but I will be trying. And documenting!

*************************************************************************

ABC's
Like, every other blog I read is doing this, and it brings me back to the fun times of good ole Myspace shenanigans, so I'm jumping on the bandwagon. Here we go, the ABC's of me...
A.  Age:  27. Oof, that's like, almost 30.
B.  Bed size:  We were on a Queen, but it was like, the most uncomfortable bed ever, so we switched back to the double that we put in the guest room. And hopefully after the wedding, we'll graduate to a King!
C.  Chore you hate: I'm not really a fan of washing dishes. Luckily for me, Brian is!
D.  Dogs:  I love them! Especially yellow labs named Duke, Chloe, and Kevin!
E.  Essential start to your day:  Cuddle time. The best part of my morning is hitting snooze and cuddling in closer to Bri for 8 more minutes. And then again for 8 more minutes. And then again...
F.  Favorite color: Yellow, turquoise, pink... I kind of have a lot. ;-)
G.  Gold or silver:  White Gold... which is a silver color...
H.  Height: 5’5"ish
I.  Instruments you play:  Tambourine, maracas, and I play a mean triangle
J.  Job title: Physical Education Teacher and Assistant Varsity Softball Coach
K.  Kids:  Looking forward to having some someday!
L.  Live:  So Cal
M.  Mom’s name:  Darlene
N.  Nicknames:  K-Rod, Hot Rod, Rodzilla, Rodsky
O.  Overnight hospital stays:  I've never had one (knock on wood)
P.  Pet peeve: I guess right now it would be people who think they can be PE teachers when they don't know how to play any sports and then don't bother to show up to practice the teaching skills that they so desperately need to succeed in a career that they thought would be easy but apparently is just too difficult for their pea-sized brain to handle, and upon receiving suggestions from seasoned veterans for increasing their potential for success, they say, "No." Ugh.
Q.  Quote from a movie:  "Who wants a Mustache ride?"
R.  Righty or lefty:  Right
S.  Siblings:  Jeffers!
T.  Time you wake up:  Well. The alarm goes off at 5:00. I usually hit snooze for like, an hour and 15 minutes or so.
U.  Underwear: Under where?
V.  Vegetables you dislike:  I'm not really a fan of corn.
W.  What makes you run late:  Sleeping in... damn snooze button!
X.  X-rays you’ve had:  Teeth, my head (softball), probably a finger here or there
Y.  Yummy food you make:  I'm actually pretty good at cooking, but my favorite is lasagna!
Z.  Zoo animal favorite: MONKEYS!!!! And although they're not usually at zoos, I really enjoy sea otters! Brian has taken me to 2 aquariums to visit them and they're so cute and playful and fun to be around!

 

Exhaustion

I feel like this:

But a little bit chubbier and not as cute.

I don't know what it is, but lately I feel like I hit a brick wall. Like I just don't have energy. Like my legs are made of lead.

I'm yawning by 6:45 and I want to be asleep by 8:30....

I don't know why, but I don't like it one bit.

I've been managing to tough out some work outs anyway, and I'm hoping that eventually, my workouts will start to pay off- size-wise and energy-wise.

On a side note, I've determined that it may just be more work to have a student teacher than to not, and that the average person cannot be a PE teacher. Oh, and I should get paid more.

Off to research more honeymoon stuff!

Freshmen are dumb and channeling my inner Nick Nolte

Ahhhhh, I'm having way too much fun tonight!

But first things first... I'm going to start a new segment called 'Freshmen are Dumb'...because even the smart ones can be completely ridiculous at times! 14-15 is an awkward age. Period. They kind of remind me of dog Kevin... he's like, a full grown dog now, but I keep forgetting he's still a baby and he's still seeing and hearing new things every day. He tries to act tough, but he still looks to us to help him, he trusts us to do what's right for him, and he hides behind our legs when he's scared... that's exactly how my students are. They think they're these big important high school students, but really, they're just getting their feet wet in checking the temperature of the "real world."

Although the spread in my age difference has far expanded from theirs in the last 5 years that I've been teaching (I started when I was 22 and I had an 18 year old in my class... slightly awkward), they still feel comfortable enough with me to share their daily thoughts and pearls of freshmen wisdom. Because this is usually more entertaining than not, I'm going to start sharing them with you. Totally anonymously, of course.

Today's silliness came from one of my 4th period lovelies while we were doing this stretch:

I asked my class what muscles we were stretching and one of my boys yells out, "Your quadriceps!"

I told him well done and asked if anyone knew why this particular group is called the quadriceps. My same little Einstein says, "Because there's four of them."

I asked, "Four of what?" hoping for the simple answer of 'muscles.' His reply was, "Uh... um... ceps."

:)

SIDE NOTE: While I was looking for the picture above, I came across this one:

I think it's totally creepy, but it made me giggle because it reminded me of a fun little piece of photographic genius called The Timeless Art of Seduction a la Seinfeld...

Anyone else? Or is it just me?

**************************************************************************
I Turbo-Fired it up tonight with another kick boxing video. I love this stuff! But at the same time, it reminds me how out of shape I am because I used to teach it to people, like, in a real live gym (!) and now, it kinda kicks my ass! Oh well. I guess that means it's working?

Anywhay (cool wHip), I apparently worked so hard that by the time I was finished, I looked crazier and grungier than Nick Nolte after a drinking binge. Except he has a cooler shirt.

ME

HIM- I had to label it so you would know the difference

Am I right?? Okay, time for some syndicated Seinfeld. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for some more half nekkid Costanza? Shrinkage, maybe??

I was in the pool!!!!

'Night!

Someone has a case of the Mondays!

lol... His name is Brian!  ^

I had big shoes to fill today... literally. I left the house in my flip-flops. Because that's what I do. It makes my feet happy. For three reasons... 1, if I try to put shoes and socks on inside the house, Kevin tries to eat them. 2, When I take Kevin outside right before I leave, I will inevitably have to walk on wet grass, thereby wetting my shoes and soaking through to my socks, leaving me with soggy feet for the better part of the morning. No bueno. 3, One of the best feelings in the world after a long day standing up and chasing after kids is driving home with the air conditioning vents blasting on my tired, sweaty, flip-flopped feet. I know that sounds gross, but really, it feels awesome and it reminds me of summer. And anything that reminds me of summer in January is a-okay in my book. (Plus, driving with flip-flops is slightly more safe than driving barefoot. I think.)

Anyway, my Monday was actually pretty sweet, except for my royal f*ck up that began my morning...

Like I said, I left the house in my flip-flops. I triple checked to make sure I had my socks. I moved some shoes out of my way in the garage before getting in my car. I even picked up one of Brian's flip-flops that had escaped from the rest of the shoe convention. I'm pretty sure my hand must've grazed my tennis shoes in an OMG-our-hands-just-touched-in-the-popcorn-on-our-first-date kind of way.

Buuuuuuut, low and behold, when I got to work, I discovered that I failed to pack my shoes. I had socks. And flip-flops. Not a good situation for teaching PE. Way to set the example, Kristen.

Luckily for me, I was able to turn my case of the Mondays frown upside down because my silly old mentor is a hoarder, as evidenced here:

Yep, all 3 of these pictures are from within our office

Because of her "your trash is my treasure" mentality, there is a pair of shoes (albeit, a size and a half too big) that one of my former colleagues had left behind after she transferred to another school. FIVE years ago. I tried them on, and although they were not my size or really even my style (sorry, Melinda!) I wore them all day anyway.

White socks with black shoes... not feeling it.

I am not coach M...

But after that little hiccup, the rest of the day was great. I got to meet my student teacher and she seems like she has it pretty together. I got some wedding stuff taken care of. I took dog Kevin for a walk around campus in the evening while Brian and Human Kevin ran the track. And I did some Turbo Kickboxing and ab work. Not bad, not bad!

Weekend Recap
Brian and Kevin are falling asleep on the couch (dog Kevin, not human Kevin- although I wouldn't put it past them), so I'm gonna make this quick...

I feel like we knocked a lot of stuff out this weekend. We were definitely busy!

Saturday I was stuck working a snack bar for softball for most of the day, but then we celebrated Brian's dad's birthday. After that, Brian and I headed over to Rachael's house for a party for her brother, so we got to hang out with her and human Kevin for a bit.

On Sunday, we took dog Kevin for a mini hike on a local trail (2.5 miles), then we headed to Crate and Barrel to register. There are a lot of cute things there, but it's stuff you can get at Target for like, half the price. I can't justify spending more than necessary... even if I'm not actually the one spending it. So I think we'll end up really registering elsewhere. Oh, and I think we both decided we'll take the moms along next time, because quite frankly, I have no idea what a melamine reamer is (it sounds dirty. Maybe we should get one?) or if I'll ever really use a melon baller. (Hmm, that sounds dirty too. Perhaps there are more to these items than one would think, no?)

After our morning events, we did what all slightly overweight engaged couples dream of... we went to our first cake tasting! And believe it or not, I think we found our baker. Now I can breathe a little bit easier. But just a little. But we still might go to some other tastings. Because when else will we get the chance to? And we're fat like that.

We rounded out the night by meeting my parents for our traditional Chipotle Sunday dinner. (Our Mexicali version of Sunday Sauce... my Italian grandparents are probably rolling over in their graves right now.) Then it was back to the house where we researched some more honeymoon spots... which needs to be booked, like, yesterday.

We're looking into Sandals (which one, I have no idea...)or one of the Hawaiian islands. And of course, I'm still keeping my fingers crossed for Italy. Any suggestions or helpful hints?? :)

Okay, time to put these boys to bed! ♥

Save the Date Tutorial

My save the dates arrived in the mail today!!!

I had been looking at save the dates for months. Magnets are really popular. And I understand why...they're easy to hang on the fridge and you see them everyday. They look classy. They're super cute. But they're also really expensive. Like, over $100 expensive. Again, I have better things to spend my moolah on.

After some much debate discussion with my mom, I decided to make my own. And then I sort of drifted away from the magnet idea and towards post cards. They're also cute, and like, a novel idea. (And you can even save a little on postage. Double score!)

We had engagement pictures taken back in October, and they had an "Old Hollywood" theme to them.  I have a vintage vision for the wedding too, so I knew that I wanted the save the dates to be old fashioned looking. Through my previous web shopping, I noticed that photo strips are a popular trend right now, and a great way to showcase multiple pictures (because we're that into ourselves).

So I opened up power point and started to mess around.

The reason I chose pp was because I am computerly-challenged (yeah, I make up words- eat your heart out, Sarah Palin) and I have no idea how to use something cooler, like photoshop. Plus I had to make a five foot by four foot poster for one of my research classes last year and we learned how to create and resize slides, so  I was already familiar with this sort of thing.

And with that, I picked a picture to be my background...

 I liked this one because it's candid, there's enough room around me and Brian to write, it sets the tone, and it's just interesting to look at! I messed around with the color a bit and cropped a McDonalds out of the shot.

The Wiltern Theater

Next I googled "vintage photo strips" and found one like this:

Source

I added it on top of our background photo and rotated it a little bit so it looks like it was kind of just tossed onto the picture. I strategically placed the strip over that light post that was in the foreground. Then I layered some other shots from our engagement shoot over the strip, and changed those pics to a sepia tone so they blended better like this:

Then I added a text box at the top that said "Save the Date!" at the top. This was another strategic placing. I put it over the marquee so that the other words weren't a distraction, yet you could still tell a marquee was there and that we were at a theater.

Again, I am not the most computer savy person, so this is a very crude rendition of what could possibly be done with this project. Someone more in the know than myself could have created their own marquee like this:

Source

But again, I was playing with balls in college.

Not those balls, these balls!

Besides, there's no time for learning about computers when you have Kinesiology Majors Club Dodgeball Night!

Me and my bridesmaid Brigitte... we dominated that night, btw!

Back to the save the dates. Actually, before we do that, I need to talk about something... on wedding websites the The Knot and Wedding Bee, the girls are constantly writing in acronyms. Like, instead of fiance, they write FH for future husband. Or MOB for mother of the bride. The one that cracks me up the most- and I honestly don't get how these girls can write this all the time (unless I'm just that immature)- is STDs for save the dates... Maybe it's from the slide show I put together back when I taught health, but whenever I see this, I automatically picture a vagina full of herpes. No. Bueno.

Okay, nowwwww, back to save the dates... I added another text box to the bottom where I put the date. All of the other information is on the back, but I felt like the date should be on the front just in case someone wants to hang it up or something.

And voila...

You have the front of the postcard!

For the back, I googled 'save the date vintage postcard.' Originally, it was just to get ideas. Then I found this:

Source

Quite the little find! I made a text box with our return address to cover the fake one and then I made a text box to cover the fake info and add our real info. Closer to the finish...

I didn't want to print these myself because that seemed like a hassle, what with the double sides, all the ink, yada, yada. I researched the STD boards to see what others had done and the most reliable (cheapest!) source seemed to be Vistaprint.

Now to bring your work to any printer, whether it's in person or through the internet, you have to have your images saved as jpegs, so I had to learn how to convert a powerpoint and a word doc to a jpeg. Back to google. (Google is to me, what Windex is to Toula's Greek dad- solver of all problems!)

Source

To convert these files (for a mac, anyway), you have to save them as pdf documents. Once they're in pdf form, you can then re-save them as jpegs. So there's an extra step, and you end up with three forms of the same thing, but the end justifies the means, I suppose.

Besides, once they're in picture form, you can mess with the color a little more, blur the edges, and make it look even more vintage.

Then I added the back to my upload onto Vistaprint and bada-bing-

Ready to order!

I was a little skeptical at first, but my order arrived in about 2 weeks and they look great! Another item to check off the wedding to-do list!

Off to bed, good night!