verificación de la realidad .... mi niñita

So Mr. Trujillo is really into wanting us all to get to know each other.  What do you do? For work? For fun?  What is your greatest possession?  What makes you belly laugh?  What is your favorite movie? Favorite quote?  

I used to be cool, had a plethora of friends, and loved a night on the town.  Times have changed and here we are. My delusions of grandeur for the day, these notions swaying to at any moment, especially as a mother of four are a reality. So lets see, for fun today, I woke at 6am to let two dogs out, and then I cleaned up the remnants of a rug that a German shepherd had torn to one billion single threads.   Yay me!   Then I got all prettied up for the drive to school, lipstick, blush, and curling iron, ah…no, I put on a sweatshirt and running shoes. The three oldest kids were readied for school and delivered at that precise moment of tardy bell rings, “run, run, I love you, have a great day!”  I return home and wait for the maid to arrive.  Yep, no maid, I still can dream-  she will show up one day.  In the meantime, I am forced to remove the massive dust bunnies that constantly appear, one would assume my dogs were bald.  Oh, but the fun begins when my toddler rises.  She is the ruler of our castle, we merely reside and abide by her every need and desire and yes she still sleeps with Mommy and Daddy and yes, she is four years old.  Save the judgment, we let Nana have that joy.  “Pick your battIes” they say and I listen then respond, “well, we respect the toddler.”   After number four, I lose most battles as my passion to win is lost.  Just morning, it was going to happen, a cupcake for breakfast- so I put it on her plate.  She takes one bite and gives it to Gus, the stinky Basset Hound she likes to nap with. I do hope these deeply held convictions, her enthusiasm, and her persistence, for it all to remain intact at least until she graduates college and lands a great paying job so she can afford the facility she will have forced me in. The dynamics of large families are different, social norms are lost. There are 6 people living together under one roof; it’s like a boxing ring or roller derby maybe. Never a dull moment, I promise. Being a parent is my greatest possession, as well as my sense of humor.  The four best things to ever happen in my world, in my eyes each one is a gift from God.  My kids define me, even when their eyes shine green and their heads spin or when in the middle of a department store with great discernment, submitting to the urge,  “I poopied.” But there is a truth, bittersweet it is, that comes along with the last, the youngest.   Nadine is not a perfect child, she does not listen, she hates my taste I clothes, eats weird foods but she is a sweet snuggler, and says the warmest “I love you”s at just the most needed times.  If you have kids, want  kids, are amused by kids or come from a large family, I strongly suggest http://www.jimgaffigan.com .  oh, my favorite movie is Despicable Me!

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”
--Martin Luther King, Jr.

Hey Everyone!

I hope that everyone is able to take a break and get some ice cream! This is my godson Elijah and this picture has me dreaming of Spring Break because that's the next time I'm going to see him, He and his brother are the coolest, ever. I actually helped deliver both of them which is something I'll never forget and always treasure. By the way, this picture is extra awesome because this is him "not eating" his ice cream while his mom is helping get his younger brother situated.

Keep breathing, we're almost to spring break!

Meakin

This is a picture of Sammy the Seahawk and I in my sophomore year of the UNCW Pep Band. I have played the flute for 11 years and this year is bittersweet because it is my last year playing for a school setting. I am so excited that the band is able to travel with the men's and women's basketball teams as they travel to Maryland for the CAA tournament. I have always been a band geek and an avid sports fan so I love that I can put these two together and really have fun!

So if any of y'all come to the last few home games we have this weekend, give me wave up in the stands! :) 

This is a pictures of me taken at Silver Springs State Park near Ocala in north central Florida.  I was born in Ocala, and I used to go here all the time as a kid.  However, back then it was a "theme" park with rides and exhibits.  A few years ago, the state bought it, and it is now a state park.  I'm sitting on a twisty-curvy trunk of a palm tree that has been there for as long as I remember. Ocala and the surrounding area is known for their spring-fed rivers.  If you are a nature lover, you should check it out.  They're simply beautiful!

Also... fun fact for Walking Dead fans.....I just read that several scenes for this season will be filmed in Ocala.

u12blog4

I'm so ready for Spring. Listo para la primavera. I'm enjoying these days of mild weather. It's been raining a lot. I expect to see lots of flowers in my yard. Espero ver muchas flores en mi jardín.

Hola! Below is a picture of me in Haiti. We took this picture after I taught them how to jump rope with the ones we brought to donate to their school and church. I have been on two mission trips so far to Haiti and I've loved every sweaty second of it! It has had a great impact on my life and I am so grateful for everything I have. The people of Haiti are so very kind and loving. I can't wait to go back and continue to the help! -Kelly Kreuz

Hola,
I hope everyone's semester is going well...I can't believe Spring Break is already coming up. I have been having a lot of fun planning my Study Abroad, as I am hoping to go to a Spanish-speaking country for that. Until I do however, I have had the opportunity to teach in Tanzania and cannot wait to do some more travelling and make more valuable connections around the world. Also, my brother and I recently took my mom to the Raleigh Museum of Art to see the DaVinci exhibit. He really likes posing like the statues so I figured I'd post one of those.
Cheers,
Meakin

     This is a picture of me getting ready to launch a weather balloon at the National Weather Service station in Newport, North Carolina.  I took a weather class offered by the American Meteorological Society, and this was one of our "field trips".   I really enjoyed that class and learned a lot about el tiempo. Now I'm taking a "Climate" class from them. If anyone is interested, the classes are gratis (FREE!)) and you can earn tres horas of graduate credit.  Here's  the  link:
https://www2.ametsoc.org/ams/index.cfm/education-careers/education-program/k-12-teachers/datastreme-program/
   

This is a little letter sent by Ismael. I'm his Godfather. I'm proud to support him. I receive letters from him and I also send him letters. My parents have met him and he was elated about that. I will continue supporting him this year. This is some information about the place where he lives: Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos

Mi objectivo

The list is really endless.  I am getting of the age now, I need to start working on fulfilling my bucket list.  It is very disheartening when all of a sudden one realizes they are not young and hip any more, almost two decades not "hip" anymore.  There seems to be an ongoing theme of personal health and well-being with the students, running in particular.  If there is any advice to my peers is find something that you are able to do alone, anywhere, at anytime that is therapeutic to your soul.  I ran for years, had my kids, got out of the infant stages and started running again to find it to be even better than i found it before.  There is nothing more mind-clearing then to go out and run against the wind on the road or the highway, watching traffic, listening to your music, and realizing the world is yours.   No matter how terrible it seems the day I am having, I hit the road for one mile or 20, it is such a great feeling.  For those just starting out, or getting back, don't give up.  I loathe hearing  someone say they cannot run, or they only run when being chased, or the best "don't you like your knees."  It is all in the mind so don't give up.  Once you realize you are not going to pass out and that an 8 minute mile is the same as a 10 minute or a 12 minute mile, a mile is a mile.  The breathing will come, the time will level off, but the race should always be with yourself, and that is it, not a clock, another runner, just the thoughts in your own head.  The first race I ran, I stopped a hundred times because I did not think I could do it finally finishing it.  My goal this year is to complete a marathon and to attempt an ULTRA run.  The Tuna Run in the fall looks like so much fun, starting in Raleigh and ends on the Crystal Coast of NC.   As you can tell, running is a passion.   

Week goal for the weekend goals

Hola everyone!

This week my goal has been to actively search for a good place to volunteer at on the fines de semana (weekends), preferably working with the less fortunate. Please correo electrónico (email) me if you guys have a good idea for me, even if it is not with the less fortunate: djj5332@uncw.edu.

¡Hola clase!

¿Cómo están ustedes? I am really enjoying this weather...I'm working on getting back in shape and so it's allowing me to run Greenfield Lake with my pup-which is always awesome. I would also really like to do a meet-up salsa dancing night. It's usually at a bar and the first hour is the lesson and then it's an hour of attempting what you've learned and just having a good time. I've heard that they do them here, I went to a few in Portland when I lived there but I think that would be a really fun way to enrich this experience. Any takers? Also, I'm trying to take more of an advantage of all the free things to do in Wilmington. Anybody familiar with reoccurring activities downtown?

Hope all is well!
Meakin

P.S. This is my godson Davis realizing the snow melted in Chapel Hill so he couldn't go sledding.
This is also a face I feel when I missed part of an assignment lol.

Mi objetivo

I would like to run a 5K in under thirty minutes.  Even though I am a pretty fast sprinter, running long distances have always been difficult.  I always seem to get a stomach cramp or run out of breath, but a few years ago, I started running with my husband.  He's a former Marine, so he's been running as long as I've known him.

Another goal (el objetivo) I have is to be bilingual, which is why I'm taking  this clase.  I took a couple of years of high school Spanish, but I also study a little bit on my own.  Un nina I used  to work with told  me  that she learned to speak Spanish fluently just from listening to Spanish radio and television.  I'm not sure if that's true, but it probably helps, I suppose.  I feel that I'm learning more with each module and having to listen to myself say the words is helping with my pronunciation and fluency.  I would like to eventually take more clases de Espanol in the future.