The Duke...

If any of you all have seen the movie, Moulin Rouge, just imagine the part where Satine thinks Christian is the Duke, and the narrator (Christian) introduces 'The Duke".

Music and all.

This post has nothing to do with that movie. 

Just the narration and the song....

May I please introduce Steven, Bella, and my new family member:

Duke.

For the past while [long time], I have wanted another doggie.

A doggie to be my running partner and scare off mountain lions.

Steven wanted one too.

A doggie to be his. [Bella is mine]

Well, since our Buck went to heaven, just a little over a week ago, we decided we wanted a lab.

Craigslist, AZcenteral, humance society have been our favorite bookmarks and have been constantly been searching for him.

Yesterday, while on the way to get birthdee presents for Dr. Kleinman and Reagan B, we decided to stop at the Yavapai Humane Society just to check it out.

We looked at all the adoptable doggies and were not ready to committ.

BUT, before leaving, we were told that the intake building had adoptable doggies.

We went.

About halfway through, I found him. 

I stopped, starred, and nearly cried.

Steven was unsure.

He wanted a black lab just like Buck.

But we took him out in the part and played anyways.

Turns out, he is perfectly obiedience trained, house trained, and amazing all around.

We were sold.

We had to go convince my mom next.

We expressed to her our  need.

She said ok.

We got all of Buck's things too; kennel, food; bowels, ect.

Then it was time for Bella to meet him.

He just ignores her.

We took him to Petco and got him a collar, leash, and tag.

Ready to go home....

Bath time; yeah.

He would not sit in the sink so we just poured water all over him and soaked the garage.

Awesome.

But he smells good.

He slept all night on his bed right next to ours.

Today at church, I jokingly expressed my concern of him knocking down the doggie door while we were at church.

[the doggie door is Bella's.  Too small for his 80 pounds]

Turns out, he really did knock it down and pulled it off the porch.

Anyhew, his name is Duke Shepherd.

He will be 5 next month.

He even has a pedigree chart!
Even his name is perfect.

We love him and look forward to spending the rest of his life with us.

story(s)

What a flippin day.

First off, I had no students this morning.  

It was my scheduled prep day.

After I prepped, our technology lady came in to my office and noticed my dinosaur of a computer.

She gave me the okay to go get a flat screen moniter and new keyboard and trusted me to hook it up myself.  

No prob.

Right as I went to plug everything in, the power went out.

Long story short, I made the electricity in the entire school go out for almost 30 minutes.

Oops.  

Turns out I had a bad outlet in my office and plugging in that computer must have been the break.

Second, today was a super emotional day.

Well, just the afternoon. 

I had the opportunity and privelage to hold my first, childhood doggy as he was put to sleep. 

It was sad in the sense that he had to go.

And that it brought up my past experiences....

But it was actually quite peaceful.

He was a good old dog of 12 years and it was his time.

It was good to not feel him tremble and shake anymore.

And he left this word in his true fashion: he tooted and it stunk up the whole room.

I will miss you Brimhall's Big Bad Buck (that was his official name. we called him Buck)

Like I have said before, all doggies go to Heaven, or Heaven is not Heaven.

Thirdly, I still have a smile on my face.

As you can tell, I have not blogged in quite some time.

I now work full time at Washington Traditional School.

Half PE, half Title 1 Math.

I love it. 

I love my students, co-workers, and principal.  

I couldn't as for more. 

But it has been a big change.

I will do better at this blogging thing.

I'd like to recognize

ME.

Well, sort of.

You see, as the PE teacher, I get asked to do certain things like getting students prepared for a cross country meet, or get students siked about participating in events. 

Recently (yesterday), was a 'Walk to School Day' where parents dropped off kiddos at a certain spot, and we all walked, biked, or skate boarded to school!

It was my job to distribute and collect permission slips, make the school aware of the event and WHY it is important, and get them excited!!!

That is just what I did.

And it was fabulous. 

We even made the front page of the Prescott Courier.

You can check out the link, but I am so proud of my school, I am gonna post it:

Annual 'Walk to School' promotes healthy alternative for students

Washington students and parents begin the Walk to School from Ken Lindley Field Tuesday morning.

Les Stukenberg/The Daily CourierLisa Irish

The Daily Courier

As children played at Ken Lindley Field, Bruce Reynolds Jr., a kindergartner at Washington Traditional School, said he looked forward to seeing friends before the annual Walk to School on Tuesday morning.

Bruce's father, meanwhile, said he liked the event's goals.

"It's to encourage them to be more active by walking and biking to school more often and showing respect for our environment," said Bruce Reynolds Sr.

More than 60 Washington Traditional School students, their parents, and teachers walked, skateboarded, and biked to school in the event organized by Prescott Alternative Transportation that emphasizes the need for safe places to walk and bike, said Tracy Kwit, coordinator of the Safe Routes to Schools Program.

"The ultimate goal of Safe Routes to School is to get more students walking and riding their bikes to school," Kwit said.

Students at other schools will have their own walk-to-school events later this month: Taylor Hicks Elementary, Oct. 6; Miller Valley Elementary, Oct. 18; Prescott Mile High Middle School, Oct. 19; Mountain Oak Charter School, Oct. 20; Lincoln Elementary, Oct. 21; and Abia Judd Elementary and Granite Mountain Middle School, Oct. 27.

"I'm hoping to be a good example to my students, encouraging them to exercise and keep healthy," said Julie Shepherd, a physical education teacher at Washington Traditional School, who took part in the walk to school.

Shepherd, a recreational runner, said she wants students to see that she does what she teaches them and that she believes they will enjoy being more active, too.

"We like the kids to get out an exercise, and this was a good community thing to do," said Tina Herbert, whose son Aaron Herbert, a fourth-grader, rode his skateboard during the walk.

Alexus Sloggett, a fourth-grader, and her neighbor, Natalie Martinez, wore blue T-shirts that Prescott Alternative Transportation gave students for participating in the walk. Alexus' mother, Miranda Peugh, said her daughter has been in each Walk to School since they started.

Prescott police officers answered questions, motorcycle officer escorted walkers along the route to school, and officers also walked with the students.

"We always encourage children who walk and bike to school to take their time and be safe," said Sgt. Amy Bonney of the Community Services Section of the Prescott Police Department. "We remind them to walk on the sidewalk and obey all street signs when riding their bikes."

Alex Earnhardt, a fourth-grader, said the event helps us "get more exercise than we usually do."

Don't forget that I was quoted:)

And for the love of Pete, don't think I am being narcisistic!

I am just super proud of the event, the kiddos, and well, myself. 

Face it, being quoted and ackowledged as a first year teacher is pretty rad!

 

But the maddest of all props go out to the peeps at Prescott Alternative Transportation.

I was just the facilitator!

Check out their site and get un-lazy!

 

 

I am a robot.

Or have become one in recent times.

But good thing that is a [mostly] happy robot.

Here is my list of robotnessess:

I have been teaching/working, and the first quarter is almost over!

I got a new nephew.  His name is Rex Lee Foster Kleinman.  Check out Emily's blahg for more info on that bean head.  Crafts blog that is awesome.

new

While baby Rex was being borned, Steven and I got to be with Rodney. A lot.

Running has been excellent. 

The [mostly] happy stems from this topic; I was scheduled to run a half-marathon yesterday and was totally ready.  Except I got sick this past week and there was no way I could have ran it when I still can't breathe out of my nose, today.

There is always next month.

We's got our house painted.  Pics to come once next item of robotnessess is known.

I have been bugging the crap out of Steven about these gigantor trees outside our house.  I want them gone.  They basically cover the entire house and give is negative curb appeal. And now with the house painted, it is a necessity.  Well, Esteban got to work yesterday and made some progress...in preparation to chop them gone!  They look silly now, but just wait!

Pretty cool.

Life, that is. 



Today.

But this blog post is actually about yesterday.

Saturday was an excellent day.

I had this plan to connect trails (brownlow, jan alfano, embry riddle, and finally, willow lake) to make an approximate 8 mile run. 

Yes. 

8 mile(not the movie).

You see, I decided this week that I am going to run the Sedona half marathon in February, so I wanted to see how good I could do at 8.

And next Saturday might be 10.

I did a pretty good job with the connecting-of-the-trails, until the time came to find the Embry Riddle trail.

I am pretty sure it is nonexistant.

So, I turned around and came back after about 2.5 miles and found a connector back to the top of Brownlow and finished it out.

7 miles. 

And I didn't die.
And Monday, I am going to run willow lake and find that darn trail.

THEN, I went to get my hairs colored. 

My blondish hairs are gone.

Mostly.  (we left the ends kinda...)

This pic sucks.

THEN, Steven decided to mow the lawn.

For 5 minutes he was over in the corner making all these weird shapes or something.

I couldn't figure it out.

That is, until he called me over.

He had written my name in grass.

Yes, that is a backwards J, not on purpose.



Twas a good weekend.

Running: the process

Last week was a rough week in regards to my running.

My shoes died.

The soles went soft and my shins and calfs were cramping beyond control.

So I went and got new shoes:

My first run in them resulted in this:

An older blister rejuvinated.

Just what I wanted.

So I went to the store and bought this caca:

I wrapped her(my foot) up and went again the next day.

The left foot was great!

BUT, my right food was not so good.

That is the least gnarly pic.

Here is the process I now have to follow in order to run:

Yeah.

It blows.

And the run today smelled of blood.

My sockies soaked it all up.

Yuck.

I had to stop around halfway (mile 3) to re-wrap the footsies.

Let's not mention the stabbing pain that randomly came/comes.

I guess you could say I am getting pretty hardcore.

This only makes me more cool:

Look close and you can see my arm band tan-line.

So awesome.

I feel really awkward blogging about my awesomeness.

Belly's Birthday Party

Disclaimer:

First off, celebrating your dog's birthday is totally normal.

NOT.

But just keep in mind that I had two puggies go to heaven within 5 months of each other.

And neither of them made it past 2 years old.

Not to mention that Bella came in to my life just a week after my last puggy passed away.

So she is kinda my baby.

This past Friday, August 19th was Bella's day of birth.

Coincidentally, my brother, SIL, niece, nephew, and their puppy dog, Sam came to town.

So of course, my mom made a huge dinner.

As always, Emily and her gang, including Buddy, also joined the party.

I made cupcakes for humans and doggies to celebrate Bella's completion of her 2nd year of life, which became dessert.

SEE!!

I don't know who enjoyed them more:

Bella or Rodney?

And these are just pure cuteness.

I love my doggie!!

Going 'crazy'

Last night, Steven came home with a new 'toy' for Bella.

It was a laser pointer.

We discussed a word to call it (i.e. 'dog park', 'play').

It was decided to call it 'crazy'.

Look:

She ended up literally going crazy.
(If you can hear me in the video, I actually asked if this was going to make her crazy)
Like, we are not going to do that anymore with her.
She sat, waited, and searched obsessively for almost 30 minutes untill she, well, forgot.
Yeah.



Allergies and Running.

Last year, when I began student teaching, it was the first week of August.

I wasn't nervous.

I was excited.

Even anxious. 

But the first day came, and following the school day, I went to spinning class with my sister.

About 3/4 way through the class, my vision started blurring. 

I went home and this is what I had:

I ended up missing the 2nd day of school.

The joke was made that I was allergic to the kiddos.

It was a good joke.

Fast forward to this year.

Last week was the first week of school and of August.

Yes, I got a teaching job.

It is PE, and quite frankly, I love it.

Come Friday, I decided to go run after school.

Well, guess what??

Just as I reached the top of the trail where you turn around, my vision began to blur.

I kept trying to feel if my eye was swelling, and well, it was.

Big time.

I booked it home.

This is what I got:

Maybe it was no joke.

Maybe I am allergic to children...

On a running note, remember this??

go refresh yourself.

As of today:

Plus about 24 more miles.

(my chip broke)

So total? 264.69 miles.

That is pretty good I guess. 

K bye.

Rocks in my shoes.

So it's clear that I enjoy running.
Kind of like how I enjoy life.
It's fun, rewarding, and I find happiness in it.
Well every now and then, I get a rock or five in my shoes.
They are incredibly annoying and cause me agitation.
Not pain.
They are small, but just big enough to catch my attention.
They just get in my way and are annoying.
No matter how I move my feet around in my shoes, the rocks still find an uncomfortable place to reside!
You might think, "Julie, take your shoes off and dump out the rocks."
But that would imply me having to stop my running pace and ruin my time.
And heck, they're just teeny rocks!
I can handle that for just a bit longer until I am done.

Some might see me having rocks in my shoes be my own stupid fault for going out on the trail to run.
You might be right.

But either way, the rocks in my shoes need to make an exit at some point.
And when I am given a perfect opportunity to do so, believe me, I will take advantage of it!

Well folks, that is what I have done.
I have no more rocks in my shoes as of this point in my life.
I can run freely without the annoiance of rocks in my shoes!
Good riddance rocks!

A bunch of awesome pictures from my phone.

And before I begin my picture-journey with you folks, I thought I would let you know that this is my 101st post!!

Yay?

Whatever.

Be aware.

This blog post is pictures.

Maybe some captions.

I don't know if it is two guys, or a girl driving the guy. Either way, it is awesome.

Read close.  moron.

Nephews. and sisters.

Sundogs game= white trash. Sorry.

Don't wake me.

LEGIT

Mapril's birthday dindin

da truth. and awesome.

she had just taken a big dook

my mom and I.

unexpected kissies.

Almost as portly as Dewey.

walking to church from our casa.

Billius.

One reason I call her Belly.

Konrad with a bucket on his head.

I drew this when I subbed in 5th grade.

pure cuteness

Even more cuteness.

Reagan. wearing the outfit I got her. LOVE her.

even more cuteness

They have had a bromacne this summer.

my face rules. we was trying to take a nap

Driving my brand new car. oops.

couch potato?

patriotic belly

I love this one.

rodney. rodney's shirt (onsie), rodney trying to ride bella. win.

he was saying "diet coke", like " cheese"

My sunflowers. Only one has blossomed. yet.



And for all of you who care:

Bulletin board number 1



And my desk.





Bulletin board number 2



 AREN'T YOU GLAD YOU LURKED THIS?