Historical Facebook Profiles

Being a teacher is HILARIOUS. And I love it.

I went to a conference last week and left a simple sub plan as kind of a fun day. Kids read stories from the book How They Croaked: The Awful Ends of the Awfully Famous. It's a really well written, very entertaining book about how famous people died.

Here's an excerpt:
"In 1827, Beethoven got pneumonia, and he couldn't shake it. His stomach was killing him. He couldn't go to the bathroom (chamber pot); his skin was the color of a banana, and blood dripped out of his mouth. Then he got dropsy. That's when fluid inside your body that's supposed to get out, can't. Very quickly, Beethoven's body filled up with rotting fluid. He got huge. His stomach bloated, and the skin stretched across it tight as a balloon."

Knowing they'd love it, I had the kids read about a famous person and then create a Facebook profile for that person. 
And it was  a GREAT IDEA. 

Here are a few of my favorites. 

Elizabeth I

 Marie Antoinette

Marie Curie

Pocahontas

Julius Caesar

Mozart

King Henry VIII

Beethoven

Napoleon

Edgar Allan Poe

Boring Update

Being grateful for exercise and eating healthy is...going.

Wedensday morning, we didn't have milk for cereal (my favorite thing for breakfast, of course), so I stopped by Walmart for something sweet.

As I walked through the giant store I frequently accidentally confuse with McDonald's, I said to myself, "Make smart choices. Make smart choices, Natalie." I may have looked insane talking to myself, because I was talking to myself at a normal conversational volume.

"Make smart choices. Uh oh, I know the Pop Tarts are down this isle. I probably shouldn't buy those."

*Continues walking toward the Pop Tarts.

"But really. Don't do it."

*Stops in front of the Pop Tarts

"Well, maybe I can practice self control."

I walked out of there with Pop Tarts and Darigold chocolate milk. (mmmmmmmmmm)

Not the best choices, BUT I only ate one Pop Tart. Boom. Self control. (I ate the second one later that day, but I felt pretty good about my choice.)

On the exercise front, I have done some brief, but intense, workouts on the floor in front of the TV. You know, leg raises, etc... That's better than doing nothing, right? ;)

I Will Be Grateful For Exercise...

Let's talk adjectives.

Having a baby is: amazing, mind-blowing, incredible, strange, life-altering, emotional, rough, exhilarating, hard, painful, wonderful.
I am constantly in awe of the little person who came out of me. I mean, look at him!

I am also constantly noticing how my body has changed. Nothing drastic. I only gained 28 pounds, which is pretty great considering I was expecting to blow up like a balloon. I've already lost about 15-20 of those pounds, depending on how much ice cream I've eaten that day. But I'm just in a rut. I'm trying, guys. But having a healthy lifestyle is so hard. Losing any more weight just feels like so much effort.

I've never been a fan of exercising or eating right. Really anything that requires me to have self-control has always annoyed me. I want to watch 29 episodes of Parks and Rec in a row while eating an entire gallon of Tillamook Smore's ice cream. Okay?! Just, gosh! Be cool!

But

I really love how I feel when I am in control and when I feel strong. I love when picking up something heavy doesn't make me struggle, when going upstairs is invigorating, when I randomly feel like doing lunges in the hallway (that's a thing). I love the energy I have when I exercise everyday and don't eat a gallon of ice cream in one sitting...

But

Motivation!????
The knowledge that I can feel that good in like 3 months is not motivation enough. "3 months?!" my body says. "That's not worth it! Gimme that ice cream!"

I've tried incentives for myself.
This week I told myself that if I tracked what I ate all day the whole week, I would get a haircut. Looks like I'm not getting that haircut yet...

You know what I do like, though? I like writing. I like writing and when people read my writing and when they're like - you're a good writer! This was entertaining! That pumps me up. I'm not a great writer, but gimme that praise!

So

Challenge time! Let's say this is part of my happiness project. This month is Gratitude month, so I'm going to say my challenge is to learn to be grateful for exercise and healthy food. And I'm going to write about it, because here is a simple list of things I love: Challenges, writing, social media, people liking things I do.

You certainly don't have to read about it - because I can guarantee it will be pathetic. You'll be like, She is complaining about running less than a mile? 
She only has to lose 10 pounds?
She's not fat! (Awwww, thanks for thinking that.)

But you can follow my journey if you like. The more people who do, the more I'll feel like I should be writing about how I'm learning to be grateful for exercise.

Now, I did just spend about 20 minutes writing this when I could have been exercising...but...uhh... That's because it starts tomorrow? Yeah, that's why.