I'm BACK!

It's #RedForEd rally day in Indiana, which seems like a perfect time to make a big announcement.

I'M BACK!!!

That's right, I have returned to the classroom after 5 years away! I want to share with you why I'm back and why I'm at the school I chose.



Why I'm Back
Trying not to sound boastful, but I am a really good teacher. I was an excellent middle school teacher and was our top trainer of new advisors. God has gifted me with the ability to connect with people and help them learn. It's really what I feel like I was born to do.

With full transparency, I'll admit that starting my own financial services practice was difficult. It was one of the hardest things I've ever accomplished. Fortunately, I'm able to retain my licenses there and keep my friends and family clients. This is move that will create more time with my family (I'm home every night now!!!).

Why I'm at DTSE
I am teaching 10-12 grade students at Decatur Township School for Excellence. Let me explain why I chose to work here, even if most teachers would not. DTSE is MSD Decatur's alternative high school. Students here came because they fell behind in middle school. Most have had attendance issues, struggled academically, and have difficult situations at home. These students don't have good relationships with school. They don't see value in education. They don't trust adults. They have been hurt. They have survived.

These are the students I want to work with. I didn't want to teach just any class. I wanted to go where most teachers don't dare. I wanted a challenge. I wanted this.

It is not easy. The students don't simply comply because they are supposed to. The students challenge me. Directly. To my face. They make me think about everything I do in the classroom and about education as a whole. The system wasn't built for these students.

But I am. I am built for this. I have the teaching experience and expertise to provide quality education. I have the mentality, built from adversity in my own life, to withstand behaviors that many teachers could not. I have the sight to see the students as the people they are and not the actions they do.

A #RedForEd Note
Teacher pay is not going to change things for these kids. These kids need support in things that are not traditionally academic. They need mental health professionals to help them sort out what is going on in their lives. They need food. They need clothing. They need consistent adults in their lives, investing themselves into these kids daily.

I'm back. 

I Did It! GORUCK Heavy Class 039

The Buddy Pass really is at fault here. My buddy, Jacob, and I split Buddy Passes so we could both do a Challenge and a Heavy this year. I saw the Chicago Heavy started on May 23, and would finish on the 24th, my birthday. What a cool way to spend my birthday!!!

I had done a Light last year, and I scheduled my first Challenge in Cincinnati, OH on March 21. It was awesome. Big Daddy was Cadre and he beat us. Our group was strong and he pushed us. I was definitely challenged.

As April became May, and the Chicago Heavy was coming, I became quite nervous about the event. I haven't been nervous about an event in a long while. But every time I thought about the Heavy, my stomach would turn a little bit and I kind of felt like I was going to poop my pants. Could I do it? 24 hours or more, over 30 miles??? That's insanity!

But I had people in my corner. Recently, Spartan Races posted a motivational meme that says "Every time I think about giving up, I think of all the mother******* I have to prove wrong." Not me. I have supporters, people who think I can do amazing things they themselves are incapable of doing. I wanted to prove them right.

So I showed up. There I was, just before 6pm on Friday, May 23 on the grass across from Soldier Field, waiting for the Cadre to enter. Soon enough we were getting started. My demons showed up on the 12 mile ruck march.

The Challenge in March really hurt my hips. I could hardly walk afterwards and every time I did anything longer than an hour they would flare up. Somewhere in that time frame I developed a (self-diagnosed) case of plantar fasciitis in my right heel. Both of these showed up during the ruck march. I thought to myself that if they hurt this much already, how bad would it be over the next 18+ hours? That thought was too much to handle. Thinking was the enemy.

Fortunately for me, I had two buddies with me. Bill and Jacob had done the Fugitive Run with me and Bill the SISU F.O.R.G.E. ruck (among a bunch of other events) with me. Having these two guys there with me kept me from quitting right there. If I were alone, I probably would have been done.

GORUCK Heavy Tip #1: Bring a friend! You need someone there to share the burden with. I can't imagine going it alone. I now know why the Buddy Pass was created.

From left to right: Andy Packard, Jacob Sipes, Bill Vernon, and me. This is before the Heavy began.

After a short break to eat and check on our feet, we got to business. The rest of the time was a mixture of crazy physical activities mixed with learning. It was incredible. Physically and mentally draining, but rewarding and fun. Yes, I said it, it was fun. So here are a few other tips:

GORUCK Heavy Tip #2: Live in the moment. Do not, I repeat: Do not, think ahead. Cadre Luke said "How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time." That's how you complete a GORUCK Heavy, one step at a time. If you think about how much more you'll do, it will overwhelm you.

GORUCK Heavy Tip #3: Don't worry about food. Apparently food is a crutch. The Cadre take it away sometimes and it messes with your head. Let me tell you this: you can survive a day with no food! I put it in my mind beforehand that I would be fine even if I never ate. During the event eating became a bonus and lifted my spirits. There were some among us that got really down without having any food. It's all mental, though.

GORUCK Heavy Tip #4: Get your head right. Here's the truth: you are going to mess up. You can try your best, but the Cadre will find something to make you "fail".  Just accept it and move on. This goes back to the "live in the moment" tip. You can't do a thing about what you did, just keep going and keep improving.

GORUCK Heavy Tip #5: Do your part. That "coupon" isn't going to carry itself, now is it? Does it suck? Yes. Are you tired? Yes. Do your feet hurt? Yes. Do your shoulders hurt? Yes. News flash: everyone else is in the same condition! You don't have to be Atlas and carry it for eternity. Get under the weight, pick out a point ahead of you, carry it to that point and call in a replacement. Then repeat. You will help your team and it probably won't be as bad as you think. Also, don't quit because you think you're holding the team back. That's weenie talk for "I quit." Battle through those thoughts, keep trying, and I promise nobody (that matters) will care that you went dark for a minute.

GORUCK Heavy Tip #6: Have fun! If you are out there to "prove those mother******* wrong" or trying to look like some bad mammajamma, you're not helping the team. Heavy is supposed to be hard, and it will be. Take pride in getting everyone to the finish line. We got 40 out of 42 (one was a med drop) to the finish. Smile and talk to people. Find out their name, ask them how they are doing. Ask them what they do, where they are from, anything! It will help get their mind right and will help them trust you. "Teamwork is key." Enjoy what you are doing because you can. Some day you won't be capable of doing this stuff so look around, take in a deep breath, and smile because you are doing something amazing.

GORUCK Heavy #039

GORUCK Heavy is not for everyone. If you think it's for you, sign up and come in with only one possible outcome: a patch. Do your best and enjoy yourself. Take it all in. That's what GORUCK is about.

GORUCK Challenge - Cincy (Class 953)

9pm- The last time I would know the time. The group meets at Fountain Square. There are 17 of us, 3 gals and 14 guys. Cadre "Big Daddy" (BD) John introduces us before electing one of the gals to be Team Leader. Cadre John is unlike anyone I have met previously. He always has a smile and positive attitude. He looks out for your best interests. He's got nearly every rank/certification a Marine can get. He will beat you down and make you enjoy it. After formalities of checking bricks, water, IDs, and cash, BD gives us the most important rule of the night: 

"Always stay within arm's reach of someone else."

We begin to form to columns and lose shoe privileges. Several of us violate the only rule and we have casualties. We march a short while carrying the casualties before we have to do bear crawls, crab walks, etc…

After a brief march we find ourselves past Paul Brown Stadium looking at the Ohio River. Air temp is in the mid sixties but water temp is only 45 degrees. Soon we are doing bottom samples for 5 and 10 second increments. Many couldn't stay under that long. I did and paid with an instant headache. (that went away nearly as quickly) We did some PT on the beach to warm us back up just so we could get back in. More bottom samples.

Hello log. It was really big. And heavy. Prior to the event I looked forward to the log carry. At Spartan races I typically excel in the sandbag/bucket carries. It's in my wheelhouse. This log nearly crushed my soul. There was a slight curve in the log (it was 15-20 feet long) that made it continuously shift on us. That gave each of us nice moments of bearing incredible amounts of weight. Fun times.

We carried that God-forsaken log over the bridge into Kentucky because BD had never been there. The sidewalk on the bridge was pretty narrow making it pretty difficult to navigate, but we finally made it. Then we carried it some more. And some more. I'm not sure how long we carried it or for how much distance, but it was longer than I (and anyone else) wanted. The log was winning when a drunk guy who pronounced his name as "Roomie" joined us for about an hour and helped lift our spirits (and the log).

Finally we were able to rid ourselves of the log. Unfortunately we didn't get to throw it in the river. We weren't free from burden, though. BD allowed us to trade the log for a pair of boards (Actually, we had to win a ball-in-cup game to do so). These new boards were about 18 inches wide, 3 inches thick, and probably 15 feet long. My guess is they were once used for scaffolding. They seemed so light compared to the log. That feeling was short-lived. Our shoulders ached so after a while we decided to carry it like a suitcase down at our sides. It was a great relief. And also short-lived. BD made us put four rucks on the board making it impossible to carry anywhere but on our shoulders again. Agony.

We went up some giant hill (I had no idea where we were basically the entire time, seeing how it was only my second time in Cincy as an adult). Once at our next checkpoint we got penalized again for violating the only rule, this time with 200 flutter kicks.

Finally we got to ditch the weight. Tired of being punished for violating the rule, we decided that each of us would hold the pack of the person in front of us so we couldn't get more than arm's length away. We headed towards the "Stairway to Heaven" or something like that. It was a giant set of stairs on Mt. Adams that lead to a beautiful church.

The only rule was violated again, so we tackled the stairs with one shoe and no straps. Fun times. Finally up the hill we navigated to a place we could refill our water. While we were at the church the sun rose. It was beautiful!

Our only task left was to return to Fountain Square, but with casualties. Four guys (including the biggest) were casualties. We rotated who carried the casualties, but with everyone beat down, it was short goings. We made it down into the city and I noticed Cadre John turn his back and pull the patches from his sweet java GR1. I knew the time was near.

Once at Fountain Square it was one more round of push-ups. Like always: Down- "Attention to detail!" Up- "Teamwork breeds success!". The BD changed it on us, Down- "GO!" Up- "TOUGH!" It echoed through the square. Moments later BD was shaking each of our hands and passing us our Tough patches. Mine immediately replaced the flag patch on my tac hat.

9am- To the minute, BD delivered the 12 hours he promised. I went back to my car, changed clothes, and headed to Chick-Fil-A. A quick stop at IKEA and I was on my way back to Indiana, tac hat riding shotgun, Tough patch right there, within arm's reach.

No is Easier than Not Anymore

Recently my wife and I had a discussion about appropriate swimwear for our daughters. We aren't afraid of either of them "looking too sexy" or anything; they are just 2 and 4. What we are doing is looking toward their future and what we think is appropriate as a teenager. Is it too early to worry about that? Nope. In fact, I think that decisions we make today will strongly impact our daughters when we need it the most.

Just today I watched this video about a young lady who is making a line of modest swimsuits. You should give it a watch and then come back and read the rest.




In our conversation, my wife brought up something I didn't even know: in her elementary school there are two dress codes. Younger students, and girls more than boys, have different dress rules than older students. She indicated that there is often difficulty getting the girls to comply after they have had a few years with more relaxed standards.

So that is it, in a nutshell: why say yes now to something I know for a fact I will say no to later? I understand that it is different for a 4-year old to wear a bikini than a 14-year old. If I don't want my 14-year old wearing one, it's easier to tell her a decade ahead of time than trying to reverse a decade of opposite standards.

Here's an example. My wife gets really frustrated that our 2-year old daughter pulls everything out of her hair if it is put up. Barrettes, hairbands, bobby pins, bows- she pulls them all out. Allison sees the hair in Gwen's eyes and thinks it must be bothersome. Gwen doesn't know any other way. Her hair has always (at least in her memory I would guess) been that way. If they only know one-piece swimsuits, we won't have to change it.

This isn't just about swimsuits, either. Let's talk about shorts for a minute. A while back I used to play a game when I was shopping with Allison where I would see if I could find shorts smaller than the distance from the tip of my thumb to the tip of my pinky. At the time, it was rare to find one, although many were close. These days I don't even play that game because most of the shorts are smaller than that distance, and these are for adults! (Which, FYI is about 9") Shopping for shorts for the girls has proven difficult, but we found some that are really cute and the girls feel comfortable wearing.

Pretty much everything looks cute on little kids!

I want my daughters to be modest. I want them to only know modesty. It starts right now.
 

Day Thirty! (Four)

As you may have read before, I'm doing a 90-day resolution that includes eating well, reading the bible in 90 days, doing P90X, and not spending money at restaurants. I was supposed to update at day 30 but it's now day 34. Close enough!

Bible: Failure. I was falling asleep and unable to read and have officially given up on this one. I'll try again someday.

Eating well: Pretty good! I have been best at eating more small meals throughout the day and have only eaten poorly a couple of times. I'm fine with this- I wasn't going for perfection, just dramatic improvement.

P90X: So far so good! Here are some stats for proof: Not including the weekly basketball I play, I have had 26 workout sessions totaling 19 hours 36 minutes and have burnt 14,605 calories! While I feel stronger and have more endurance (MUCH more endurance) the 30-day pictures that P90X ask for certainly demonstrated that I have work left. I might show those at the end, we'll see. That being said I have lost about 10 pounds, 2% body fat, 1.5 inches off my waist, and gained 1/2 inch on my biceps. I haven't missed a session yet (I trade the yoga on Thursdays with basketball) and honestly refuse to because I know I'll get off the whole program, much like I did with reading!

Spending money at restaurants: I have done well here too! As a family we cut our spending at restaurants by over 75% in January when compared to normal. Huge! I spent money twice, once to have dinner with tech people from around the state (I considered it an investment in networking for a future job, perhaps) and again at Chick-fil-a with my family for a fundraiser night for my wife's school.

I'm over a third of the way there and am feeling pretty successful. I knew my endeavor was going to be tough so I'm not worried about a little bit of failure. Now, time for dinner and some P90X Kenpo X!

90-Day Resolution: Day 10 Update

Day 10.

So far, I'm pretty pleased with what I've been able to accomplish. Here's a look at what I've done in the first ten days.

Exercise: I have now worked out every day since NYE. Including the 31st (which is when I actually started) I have worked out 10 times for a total of 7:05:51 and have burned 5688 calories.

Bible Reading: This is my worst area. Turns out it takes a long time to read each day's readings. I'm pretty busy with coaching and working out and I don't have a ton of time left over. I am struggling to stay awake throughout the readings. I had a bit of a head start and am currently on "Day 12" and finishing up Numbers. I am considering a holiday from social media to focus on this task.

Eating: Two thumbs up here! I've been using the MyFitnessPal app again (thanks for the reminder Seth Ponder!) and keeping to my calorie intake each day. I haven't had any pop or even sweet tea, just milk and water and one margarita! No desserts so far, but I did have some chicken wings and chips and queso for the BCS national championship game.

Spending money: I haven't spent a dime outside of necessities like gas, groceries, and bills. I did have to pony up for a couple of humidifiers for my girls. Turns out, Gwen REALLY needs the humidity in her room or she wakes up like this:

I'll keep you updated on my progress, but I can tell you that I feel great! I'm already able to work out harder and longer than just a few weeks ago. The bathroom scale has shown evidence of my work and eating habits improving.

How are your goals going???

My 90-day Resolution

Yup, you read that correctly- it's a 90-day resolution. I'm not really interested in (or capable of) committing an entire year to much of anything, so I'm keeping my resolution at a manageable timeframe. Here is my four-part plan:

1. Spiritual growth: I will be following YouVersion's Bible in 90 Days plan. I have never read every part of the Bible. Now is the time. It is a bit of a commitment, but on the flip side, it's only 90 days!
2. Physical growth: I'm 31 and I have a gut, my back hurts, and I get winded playing with my little girls. Not for long. Over the next 90 days I am committing to P90X. I have started it a couple of times, but only once with the plan of finishing it. (I tore my triceps on the first day so that didn't last long.) Again, this is a big commitment, but will only last 90 days.
3. Nutritional growth: I eat poorly. For the next 90 days I will not have soda or dessert. I will make healthy choices for meals. Only exception is for Colts games, when I will allow myself to eat whatever I choose. :-)
4. Financial growth: I have always been a spender and it's frustrating. For the next 90 days I will not spend on anything I don't need. No eating out except for gift cards or with my parents. I will not buy a funny t-shirt or even rent a RedBox.

The reward: Conveniently, the 90th day will be Monday, April 1st (no foolin'!). This is the beginning of an entire week off for Spring Break at my school. To reward myself, Allison and I will be going somewhere, just the two of us, to celebrate.

That's it. As Tony says in P90X- "Bring it."