Based On a True Story

"You're looking husky. Have you gained a few pounds?" That infamous phrase began my journey to weight loss. After the divorce, I had put on a mere 40 pounds. I was weighing in at a solid 180 pounds at my stout 5' 8". I didn't feel fat, I was just in denial of my thickness. I was down in Utah with my family. I took my shirt off at the swimming pool and my dad popped that nice phrase at me. Those simple 9 words created an intrinsic drive for change. It's funny how the little things can make the biggest difference. He didn't mean it in a malicious way, but I took it as a moment for change. Upon arriving home in Idaho, I found a copy of Insanity with Shaun T on Craigslist. They say the best things can be found on CL. If you don't know to what I'm referring...check out my very first blog post. I had seen the stupid infomercials on late night TV for Beachbody products like Insanity, P90X, and the Brazilian Butt Lift. I had seen all of the befo...

I swear I spend the majority of my time thinking of what will the title be and how will I start writing? I still can't believe people want to read this... If you were unaware, I am just about done with my Master's degree in Education Administration. The degree would allow me to become a principal. A few years ago, I had run out of excuses. Why shouldn't I go back and get a higher degree? Seemed like a perfectly logical thing to do after a few years of teaching. The first obstacle was the GRE. I hadn't taken a standardized test in a few years but was ready. I went to Barnes and Noble and purchased the official ETA Study Guide for the GRE (the new and improved). Ha! What a joke. I think I opened the book once. If you know of anyone needing to study for the GRE or would like a fancy book on their shelf, just let me know. I'm not going to lie, I fell asleep during the writing portion of the test. I had stayed up late "studying" for the test, oh I mean I wa...

"You are all fine athletes...thanks in most part...to me." -Big Red from Bring it On Four or five years ago, I saw a posting on District 91's website for an assistant cheerleading coach at Skyline High School. I thought it would be an excellent opportunity to have fun coaching something I did growing up and making some extra money. Ha,  the money...I'll get to that later. I applied for the job and met Paula Ashby for the very first time. She seemed excited to have someone with "my background." Then again, my background consisted of high school cheer, one year on a competitive all-star team, and a year on the Portland State Cheerleading team. After discussing it in depth, I decided it was not the best thing for me. So a few years passed and my interaction was minimal with the Skyline team. After my divorce, I thought..."why not?" I applied for the position again. Adjusting to the 6:30AM practice schedule did take some time and a mas...

Craigslist. Yes, we met on Craigslist. Many may wonder, how in the world did that work out? I've heard horror stories of people who have been killed over something on CL. That was not the case when I met Suzie (obviously, since we are both still alive and not in prison). I guess I need to start from the beginning. After the divorce, I had tried all sorts of ways to meet new people. It was definitely out of my comfort zone to initiate talking to a female. After several months, I eventually gave up on the paid dating sites. I cancelled my subscriptions and just walked away from it all.  I decided one night to try the personal section on CL. I clicked on "Strictly Platonic" then W4M. I started talking to a girl. She seemed nice and we even went to Dr. Slaughters (a Halloween attraction). We remained friends for a few weeks but nothing progressed past that. I found another ad on CL in the same section. As I read it, I thought, "why not?" It was a mother o...