Candidate Journals

How am I going to do all the daily physical requirements and get my work done? Even on these snow days, I'm spending hours doing requirements and I still have not done all my daily requirements. I think I'm just slow. Now I'm in the red in several areas. I'm going to have to do Burpees at the Do Jang, because they are too painful on hardwood floors. I still need a pull up bar. My brain is a sieve. Each night, I study the study guides and the next night it is like I've never seen the material before. Where are all those brain cells that got me through school?? I need to calm down and not panic. If others have done this, I can do It too. Stop whining! Good grief, get a grip, girl! I've gotten 2 essays written and a plan for 3 more. My heroine is...

Well I'm back from my 'run'. The side walk was so covered in ice, it was nearly impossible to distinguish it from an ice skating ring. Most of the time I wasn't even running, I was just walking at a fast pace while trying to keep my balance. Although I slipped several times, I only managed to fall once. No damaged muscles or bones, so that's good. I guess I'll do some studying then do the other requirement testing. I really don't want to put an 8+ time on my pretest, so I'll run when it's run-able out. 

It was a great day yesterday. I finished my assignments in the morning and then did my requirements by noon. Then went to play in the snow with my sisters and friends. We sled down the hill in our backyard and it was real fun. My friends and we spent probably an hour or so and drank hot chocolate. Then i went to help my dad shovel the drive way. It was really tough. In the afternoon i did my pre-test. My dad and mom recorded all my requirements. Last year when i did my pre-test i rushed through all my requirements. This time my focus was to get the technique right and do it in the right manner. Very excited for the Panthers game this evening!!!!!!!!

It is motivational to see all of the posts with the candidates pre-test results. Will do mine later this morning. Still don't think I can get my run in today. I will run, but not sure if I want to time my run on ice and snow. Then time to watch some FOOTBALL!

It was nice to get to sleep in this morning. I spent some time this afternoon working on a work issue that will need some more work on Monday, but I will need some help to solve this one. I did not venture outdoors today, but was hoping the snow / ice would go away so I can do my run tomorrow. It was kind of odd doing the physical part of the pretest alone. The cheering section is not very loud and there is no extra encouragement. I did better than I thought I would. Maybe some day pull-ups. I will work on being more diligent about logging in. 

Reality doesn't always become me. In fact, I'm not a big fan of it. But sometimes reality can be pretty amusing. Like when you show your kids how to ride a sled down a steep snowy hill standing up. In my head, I see this awesome surfing maneuver cruising down that hill and bringing the sled to a stop by turning it sideways and spraying all this snow at the bottom. In reality, I go about ten feet, then I'm airborne, as I see earth, sky, earth, sky in repeating order. Only to find me sprawled spread eagle at the bottom of the hill with a roar of laughter proceeding my demise. Needless to say, my kids were smart enough to stay in the seated position on the sled for the rest of the morning, not following their fathers phenomenal example. Following my spectacular performance, I came home, cleaned up, did...

Snow day. There are good and bad about snow days. The good is that I get to catch up on requirements and just play with my friends and hang out with family. The bad is that I have shovel the drive- way. It was ice I couldn't finish it all till it melts a little. Anyway today I did my requirements and plan on doing all my physical tommrow except for the running. Other than that had a great day. Hope everyone had a great snow day!

  It was friday morning and I looked outside and it was snow no school I thought to myself. The first thing I did was wake up my mom put on my clothes and opened the garage and I felt falling snow on my face I enjoyed the amazing snow. I have this big hill in the front of my house so I ran up it and when I got to the top I jumped,I started to get dizzy it was a terrible idea. So I did it again and I got dizzy but i didn't mind it.

It was fun to see the snow when we woke up yesterday. Played in the snow in the afternoon. I finished all my requirements by noon before i went out in the snow to play with my sister. Then it started snowing again in the evening. I am going to do my pre-test today except running. My dad and mom are going to time me on push-ups, sit- ups, vsitups, plank and pull ups!

Today was on the abnormal side. I went to work and saw a few people not have a good day likely because they weren't practicing patience. Very few people were in the office. I only stayed a few hours and then worked the rest from home. Time still gets away from me. I had a good conversation with Pam in that time too. I did some situps and kicks on that call. I look forward to training with her again. I finished reading my book tonight and should be able to take care of that essay this weekend. Looking forward to a good 8 hours of sleep in a row tonight. 

Bogged down with lots of Girl Scout Cookie orders today.  Got in some requirements early.  Had to make a decision on classes tomorrow in Lake Norman and then alert everyone to the cancellations.  Still working now on Girl Scout stuff. Will do physical test tomorrow with the family. 

I guess we are now the new owners of a cat it seems. This cat came out of the woods yesterday, meowing like crazy at me, like I was the focal point of all it's problems. I went inside the house hoping it would go away, but instead came to the front door and kept meowing. Katherine and the boys heard it and instantly wanted to feed it. I refused. That lasted for all about three minutes as I was quickly out voted, and next thing we know, my wife's friend is bringing over cat food. So, knowing I was defeated, I built it a box and put some blankets inside so it would stay warm. We fed it some left over scrapes from our pot roast and then some cat food. It ate as if it hadn't eaten in weeks. Now, the thing has me waiting on it hand and...

  On monday when we were out of school for martin luther king jr. I went to a museum based off of him. It first was talking about the war and then it was talking about what he did and when he was born/died. It was a cool museum it also had an old school car and they had a barber shop in there too. I think it was the best museum i have ever went to I had so much fun.

Snowing. Going to snow more. Hopefully more. I love the snow. The sad part is doing the driveway. Woke up today morning. Did some reuqments and played games with my friends. Then did more requirements and ate. After that I did some of the driveway and me and my sister did a snowball fight. Was pretty fun. I would say I won. :) Then went back inside watched a movie with family and then did some requirements. About to eat dinner. Hopefully everyone had a great snow day!

Perfect timing for a snow day. Got a lot of requirements done. Have so much more to go. Ran 1.4 miles in the house, to my pets' dismay. I may not run fast, but I can slowly cover some distance. I'd rather run than jump rope for 3 minutes. In fact I can jump for three minute better than I can jump rope. What happened? I would jump rope (even double dutch) when I was a child. Now I don't have the rhythm. So grateful that we can do the physical requirements on our own. I can pick a day that is not too cold for my run.  Hope we don't have too many snow days. If I don't work, I don't generate income. But the bills keep coming. My RN plans to go back to school, so I'm looking for a clinical person....plus it is a lot of work and time...

I did most of my requirements Yesterday. It was a beautiful afternoon yesterday, I went for a walk/run to get some sun. Was on the dojang in the evening and met with Master Randle, She is always so encouraging and inspiring. Was following news on snow storm for us and Blizzard ( actually a record breaking one) in DC. My husband is travelling this week and was expected to be home by Saturday morning, but all flights in and out of Charlotte are cancelled. I am worried about him. Today started with extra sleep in the morning and a very late brunch. Kids had fun in the snow for some time, I am trying to keep them creatively engaged so that they stay away from TV and other electronics. I did some requirements for today in the morning, I will finish the mile run/walk and post my results on FB by...

A really long day yesterday. Good day at school. We went to Tae Kwon Do straight from school as my sister had her testing. I led warm ups. It was a good group of kids who tested. From there we went to our swimming class. My master made us do a lot of laps and then we did IM (Individual Medley). We need to Butterfly, Breast, Back and Freestyle. I love doing IM.  I am very good in butterfly stroke. It gives you a lot of upper body strength and also breast stroke. We did the IM race with the other friends in class and it is always fun to compete with one guy who is part of the Junior Swim league. We both finish the race together. I finished all my requirements and went to bed. Just woke up this morning to see our entire backyard and driveway full of...

Nice day to get some requirements and some essays done. Hope I can survive with no bread and milk :-) Hope I have a jump rope at the house :-(

I had a productive day at work today and left a little early to help out with the early testing. A good group of kids. From there I went to the Lake Norman school for sparring class. I doubt sparring will ever be my thing, but so far I have enjoyed Marcus' classes. After class I worked out on the back mat. Thank you Leo for some self-defense and conversation. Also found out that CMS is closed tomorrow and so is my husband's work. My company is always open, so my office rarely closes. I won't know until the morning. I brought work home just in case. The call for freezing rain is the big threat. 

Don't you just love it when we get a snow system? Every reporters dream. They got every weather expert, road crew guys, government officials, and some guy missing half his teeth chatting up the TV screen. The world is going to end, details at 11. I better get to the store and buy up what ever bread and milk that's left. Or, we can just lay back, do school, and watch the madness unfold. The reality is tomorrow will come, and then the next tomorrow, and the tomorrow after that. But just in case, you guys can have my Chevy Uplander. What a thing of beauty.

Again. I went to school today. Had two quizzes and came back home. So happy that I have no school tomorrow because of a teacher workday. Then when my dad opens the door he tells me some bad news. My dads brother in law passed away (my uncle). It was the same disease that my dads cousin passed away from. The one that happened last week. Except this one was kind of expected. He was in the hospital ever since January 1, 2016. Really sad. He had two kids. One in college and one in 10th grade. The wife (my dad's sister) actually worked in Swiss. The dad and daughters moved to India for schooling. Really sad. Did my requirements trying to get my thought of of it. Didn't work really. Hoping for some snow tommorow. 

Despite my best laid plans, I feel like I'm losing ground. My niece spent MLK weekend with me and we had a good time. But I did not get any requirements done. I did not see patients in the office Tuesday, but I did a lot of administrative stuff. Classes were good. I can do my turning kicks, but I'm not as fast as the guy behind me and I feel like I need to get out of the way before I get kicked. Also, after a few fast turning kicks, I get dizzy. Saturday will be interesting.  Planned to help with testing tonight, but could not get back on this side of town in time....it is not even raining, but there were a ton of accidents. CMS closed schools for tomorrow and the governor has declared a state of emergency....so I suspect it will be bad. I cancelled my office....

Yesterday was a normal day, I did my requirements. Revised the study guides and got busy after 1:00pm. Was happy to see some light dusting of snow. I wish it was a little heavy and stayed a little longer. The forecast says we might have 'icy-rain" on friday and saturday. Hope it is not too bad on Saturday. Today started on a hectic note. I am hoping to finish my requirements and revising the study guides. 

Yesterday in regular class Master Evins was really mad at some of the folks who did not focus and practice. He made us do a lot of push ups. I was really focussed on getting my poomsae correct with all the new changes that i did not see who was messing up everytime. I got my push up requirement done in class because of this. In sparring we did punching and kicking drills with the foam pads and gloves. It was fun. I was really tired after the class. I also did my mentee session before Hyper.  It snowed a little and my dad said that it is going to be extremely cold tomorrow and possibly snow on saturday during our pre-test

While working on poomsaes tonight after learning of several things that need to be remembered differently last night in class, I had the most difficulty with pal chang. I guess it will take a while to get that again. I am hoping to get to the dojang tomorrow to help with testing. It has been a while since I have done that and it is a great change of pace. A few more things to finish up on before bed. 

That was a nice little frosting of snow today. Just enough for the kids to get excited, then nothing. I think nature is saving it up for Saturday morning when we do our precycle test. That will make it so much more fun. I'm looking forward to the test, but I know I need to pull out the books here tonight and start studying. A little procrastination on my part. Though I never have been a big reader. I wish I did get into books more often. I always have a hard time keeping with the story and my mind wonders off and I have no idea what I just read. My oldest, Connor, loves to read. I'm not sure where he got it from because my wife nor myself never sit down with a book. It makes me happy to see him read. I think it's a different outlet for...

Today I got to sleep in! My first class today didn't start until 11 so I had a great start to my day. It also started snowing! After class I went to King Tiger to help with a couple of classes before I went to crossfit. Death by thrusters was the WOD at crossfit and I will not be feeling my legs tomorrow, so that's exciting. After working out I went to tutor, which I do every Monday and Wednesday for two girls who are students at the Lake Norman school. Now, at 10:30pm, I am home and in the process of finishing engineering reading. This is part of my master procrastination technique that I'm pretty good at. I wish a great night for all those who are staying up late to read journals. See you soon. Natasya 

I woke up, went to school, came back because no classes. Did some homework, didn't finish. It was just page after page of reading. Absolutely ridiculous. I wanted to go for a run, but it was like snowing or something so i just sat around doing nothing the whole day. I resettled my horn lesson on Wednesday days so that I can attend class that day.

The (pre) testing is coming up. Hope everyone is practicing. Today I had a great day. Woke up and started snowing. Got really happy. Didn't snow much and went to school. Then when school ended started snowing again for like an hour. Some actually stuck! Did homework had studying for 2 quizzes I have tommorow. Then went to Sunday School (I do mine on Wenesday). Came back and started studying again. Ate dinner and coming back to studying. Also doing requirements in between for a break. Hope everyone had a great day!

Actually wasn't that bad. Warmed up with alternating Hand Stand Push Ups and weighted Plank Holds (35 lbs). Got my arms good and tired. Finished 9 rounds of EMOM  3 Burp 1 Thruster 3 Burp 2 Thruster 3 Burp 3 Thruster . . 3 Burp 9 Thruster = 27 Burpees and 45 Thrusters (95lbs) Lots of Poomse work with Master Evins Tiring day.

Helloooo, today I did my second mentee session with garret. We worked on His 2-step self defense because he hadn't learned it yet. I think I chose wisely on picking my mentee. This way I can mentor someone who needs to work on something and not someone who knows everything and needs to work on nothing. Today was a good day. I got in the 200's of pushups and sit ups and that got me excited. Also, today is my birth day! I'm so excited that i'm 12 now. Now, I can drink coffee!!!! Well, good night.

Yesterday went by so fast. I was busy all day and could not make to any of the classes in the evening. I did all my requirements except for my dearest (and most dreaded) push ups, I stopped after a poor 90. I am planning on starting my requirements with push ups, I tend to push them to the end and just slack in doing them. For the next three days my priority will be to get a thorough revision of the study guides and be ready for the pre test. Just three more days to go, with so much going on in my life, I am very nervous about the pre test. Hope all of you are ready and good luck with the preparation. Have a great day.

Yesterday was another good day. I finished all my requirements by lunch itself. Then played with my sister and watched a little bit of TV. My dad typed my second essay and uploaded to the drop box as well. In the evening we went to Tae Kwon Do. I helped out my sisters class and did my mentor session with Master Randle. Then I did my mentee session as well. Black Belt class was good. Master Evins showed us a few changes specially to the blocks and the way we should kick in one poomsae. Need to practice and get ready for pre-test in 3 days. Going to school now and have a long day ahead of me with Kumon, regular class, leadership and Hyper.

Not much requirements today. Barely made it to class tonight, worked with Master Tucker after class on self-defense then went home and got back online for more work. Wasn't planning on working more tonight, but it was necessary. It is my busiest time at work for the next 6 weeks or so. All in preparation for a meeting towards the end of February. I don't know how I will find time for everything. It gets frustrating after a while. 

Not sure why I titled it that, just one of my favorite movies I guess. The good would be getting in another couple of miles and good amount of requirements. The bad would be I have to relearn some pomsaes, but I'm sure it's not a big deal. The ugly would be my hook kicks. They are still my Achilles heel. I enjoyed the PMAA class tonight. It was action packed and we did some real eye opening drills with the knife. If I didn't know better, I would have thought Master Evins was trying to kill me. It's amazing how I can practice knife drills and self defense, but when someone is really coming at you hard and heavy with a knife, survival kicks in and you do what ever it takes not to get stabbed (much). It was a good wake up call. My kind of night. The good...

Ran quite a bit this morning. It was pretty cold, so cold in fact that I had to stop once in a while to warm my hands and ears. In retrospect, I should of worn more than a T-Shirt, undershirt and shorts. It was fun I guess. Spanish V midterm today. It's so long that our teacher had to split it, so I guess I just tested for the second half.

Normal day today. Nothing much. Went to school did my requirements and did homework. Actually had a an hour of homework to do. Then went to study for Sceince and went to BB class. Came home and about to eat dinner. After dinner going to do some more requirements after. After that have to study for science again. Hope everyone had a great day!

Hello,  sorry I forgot to journal these past few days. On monday, (Martin Luther King Jr. day) I was watching movies with my family. We watched Pixels and Tomorrowland. Me and my dad played catch with a foot ball on monday while my brother was making a nice warm fire. However, I may not have journaled but that didn't stop me from doing my requirements. I'm in the 3 thousands of pushups and sit ups but I think I might need to do 150 a day instead of 100 because I took some time off of life during winter break. Well, good night. 

yesterday i could do all my requirements. My sit up reps have improved, still struggling with push up reps. I have started including a couple of different types of sit ups like v-sit ups (I do not know the names of others). I can feel my abs getting worked. I am still struggling with push ups. I take a step forward and take at least half a step back. I see some progress but still a long way to go. Have a great day all.

The last few days have been really cold and I have not been able to go out for run with my dad. Yesterday was another long and cold day. I finished all my requirements by lunch. I went back to go thru all my study guides for the pre-test this week. In the afternoon my sister and i practiced her forms too. She is testing this week too. Then my sister and I played for a couple of hours and watched TV.  No school today as well but its cold outside now. Seems like it is 18 degrees. My dad said we can run later this week.

I sure hope it's not this cold on Saturday. I am amazed at the drastic difference there can be in the temperature from one day to the next. I had another long day at work today. When I left to go home it was dark and cold; very conducive to curling up with a hot drink and a good book. Neither was in the cards for me tonight. I am disappointed in the book I chose. I was and I guess still am hoping for some ideas that I will find helpful. About a third of the way through and I suppose I had different expectations for what the book would be like. It makes it tougher to get through to the end. I really didn't expect all 52 ideas to stick, but I hoped I would find at least one that I could apply by now. Hopefully before the end. 

Yes, I enjoy Kung Fu movie names. For those who were on the last cycle, good timing. Connor (my son) was on the last cycle and we ran together a lot. I don't remember any 34 degree days in his cycle. He looked at me when I came back from my 2 mile run today, shivering and blue, and asked "what's wrong?" I sent him to his room. Man it was chilly today. I guess I was hoping for a mild North Carolina winter. Even the cows didn't come out to watch this time. Time to toughen up a bit and pop that snot bubble. It's not going to change anytime soon. It seems the majority of hard things I've done in my life were always in the winter. Winter make you appreciate places like Florida or the sun. There's nothing like losing all the feeling in your fingers and toes...

Had a great Weekend in Atlanta for the AdvoNation Event.  Took almost 7 hours to get to Atlanta because of an ver-turned Tractor-Trailer.  But, time went by quickly with good company and conversation.  Seminar was great.  Had a good Sunday.  Birthday party at the school and then spent time with family.  My dad's 70th Birthday is next weekend and making it special for him is on my mind.  

Regular day today, I guess. I'm getting a bit behind in my requirments, which is bad. A bad habit to start. Last midterm tomorrow. I just realized that I missed class tonight. Today is just not going very well at all. It will be better tomorrow. I'll go for a run on the freeway which is quite a few miles. I'll have to get all the bars on green.

School tomorrow. I wish I had off. I have off on Friday instead. I wanted Tuesday thought so I can hangout with my friends. Played some video games with friends. Went out to eat and did my requirements after. Then finished up some homework which took 2 hours and then went to watch some videos. Did a bit of studying and went to a class. Now I am finishing up a movie with my family right now. Hope everyone had a great day! 

MLK Day at the box is always a joy Working off lots of bad eating from Panther Sunday Get back on track with 24 day challenge after a tough weekend.

I was not my 100% last week. I could not do as many requirements as I wanted to. But I could complete two of my essays. Yesterday I did my requirements and could do good number of sit ups and push ups. I hope to keep up the number on pushups and situps. Have a great day all.

We got home from the grocery store we turned on the tv and the panthers were up 31-0. I wasn't surprised the panthers are better than Seattle. They already won their first game against them so i knew they would beat them again. So then I saw the score again  it was 31-7, finally they scored. I was going for the panthers but if they lost 31-0 then i was going to brag. When we were watching the game we had wings,deviled eggs,and some ginger ale it was all so good. I had honey barbecue wing it sounds gross but its really good. We had a big tv so we could see everything. I had fun on sunday and a tasty one too.

I had a great day yesterday. Woke up early to get my requirements done before the Panthers game. Got everything done by noon and my dad and I watched the whole game. What a game by Netwon and the Panthers. Cardinals here we come! Saw the Bronco v Steelers game as well. Helped my dad in the morning when he was vaccuming the home. I dont have school today and tomorrow and my plan is to get most of my requirements done. I also wrote my Mission Statement essay which my dad is going to type in today and upload to dropbox.

It would be nice to make my workouts a Kung Fu movie. Not because my workouts are impressive, but because they fast forward the martial arts scene to make the action better. That way my requirements would only last ten minutes in Hollywood time. Instead, I tackle an item at a time over a two to three hour spans. And that's on a good night. I'm feeling the post sparring / Black Belt class workout today. It was hard sitting still in church today. Muscles kept cramping up. Even though God rested on the seventh day, I don't think I will get that luxury. Of course He's God. He's got the right to rest or kick Brian around for enjoyment. My wife kept giving me the Baptist eye while I was wiggling in my pew. That look usually in tells the "don't do anything stupid that would bring attention to me."...

I can't wait till tomorrow. We have off. So exited. Went to church today and watched the Panthers "destroy" the Seahawks during the first half. It was so hype! Then I did my requirements. Still have a bit to finish. Proably going to do them during the commercials of the Steelers gaming. Hope everyone had a good day!

Yesterday right after we came home from Black Belt Class my parents said we were leaving to Raleigh. Pretty much the entire day there and we came back home at 10.30pm. Luckily i finished all my requirements before i went to BB class and then in BB class Master Knight made us work out a lot. Especially the kicks where we had to hold our one leg out do different kicks each time rechambering them. I am all set for the Pathers v Seahawks game!! Go Cam and team!!!!

Quick weekend in Atlanta for the regional Advocare event. Always a good motivator for goal planning and no excuses work ethic. Almost 11 hours driving really hammered didn't do my body any favors. Got in good workouts Friday before we left, and able to get some pushups and situps in Saturday morning. Eating could have been better. Could have been worse.

Helped with Jr tigers this morning. What a big class! I think it was at least 20 kids. Several new ones too. Then helped with family class. I worked with a group on yi chang and had them do it with their eyes closed. They did quite well. You can really tell who knows their stuff when their eyes are closed. It was a really small black belt class so we worked on a lot of stick forms including double stick 1. We worked on some kicking combinations too. The second black belt class had several more people and we worked on poomsaes with switching spots with your partner. I think that is harder than doing poomsaes by yourself. We also worked on a lot of kicks and some self-defense. Great variety Master Knight! I reviewed study guide flashcards today and did several jump rope rounds. I wanted to get out...

This was a fun day. I finally got to sparring class and black belt class. Sparring is always a good time. It's like being a kid again and you are playing with your buddies, throwing each other around, making up super hero scenarios, and saving the day. And of course, you get to kick people. It's one of those "good sore feelings" when your done with sparring. You know you're going to feel it in the morning, but it was all worth it. It reminds me of the feeling I would get back in my Air Force days. Doing an all night mission, patching up the wounded, covering your buddies six. It's a feeling of comradery that words cannot explain. When your training with someone and suffering with someone, it builds a bond. Yeah, it's a little like that. Spar on Cycleillans!!!

Hello, just saw star wars last night for the second time. It was very good. I got some requirements done today. Well, good night.

Today was mostly about facing the truth. I faced it. I tried getting it of my mind and played some video games with my friends. Went to BB class and did review. I also did my requirements while watching YT because I got pretty bored. Any way about to go out and don't know what to time I am going to be coming back. I am going with my cousins and his parents somewhere while my mom and dad rest. They have had some rough days. Can't wait for Panthers vs Seahawks game either tommorow. Let's go Panthers! 

I am about to head out of the country for a couple days but yesterday was an unexpected day. I felt something weird with one of my teeth and went to the dentist. Turns out I needed a root canal immediately and I had to have one yesterday morning, go to work and then fly to Florida. Was a very long day and I have to leave soon. Going to try to read "The Art of War" on the boat

Finally the long weekend is here. Came back from school early as we had half day. Finished all my assignments so that I can focus on requirements alone this weekend and dont miss the Panthers game tomorrow. Thank you Ms. Evins for the dropbox. My dad typed the essay which i wrote in the December holidays on the "History of Kwans" . He uploaded that to dropbox along with the letters. I am still working on "Mission Statement". My dad asked me to write a few paragraphs which i will do today. Going through my color belt study guide as our Pre-Test is next saturday!!

Core is a little sore today. Not sure if it is the result of sparring class last night, or crud that is causing me to cough, or some of each. I don't have time for this so will fight it off as much as I can. Another long day at work, but a productive one at work so a good thing. Unfortunately it means less time for requirements. Time to rest.

I have to share this story, and the best part is, its got nothing to do with me. So Dr. Brandon and myself went over to help Master Knight with the testing prep class tonight. Dr. Brandon was working with a very young man, probably around 5. At the end of the class, the mom comes up and starts talking to Dr. Brandon. She recognizes her as the doctor who delivered her son that Dr. Brandon was helping in class. What a small world and such a cool connection. Makes me think of the lives we touch and never really realize it. It could be the car in front of you who you might be tail gating because they don't drive fast enough, or the mom bringing her crying kids on a airplane and you get up to help her with her luggage. What we do at that moment may set...

Finished week as a white belt. I liked teaching. It is amazing to work with these little kids. If you can get their attention and keep it, their minds are like sponges. It is fun to let them show you what they know. Small black belt class yesterday. I was grateful. I wasn't on the edge of the mat and we did not have to pause to back up in the middle of the poomsaes. Master Cavazos is a stickler, but I need that right now. I think I know my poomsaes, now I have to work on performance anxiety causing me to lose focus. At this point it is not a matter of knowing the poomsae, it is not getting distracted while performing them. I think I will approach it like a form of meditation.  Helped with the testing preparation class tonight. Teaching is hard work.  I'll have my niece...

Yesterday night we got a call from India. Saying that my uncle was in critical condition and was on life support. That shocked our whole family. My uncle was the one that helped out on everything. He would help whenever somebody need it. He was the one taking care of my grandma in India. He would look over my dad's land and all that in India. Then like 3-4 hours later they called saying he passed away. He spent his whole life helping, now he is enjoying life. He deserves it to. On top of that my dad got surgery on his teeth and cannot talk for a week or so. He would try saying some things but couldn't. It was very hard for me at school today. My uncle was very close to me. Sometimes you just got to face it. If your born, your going to have to die...

Well, I just woke up. Man, my dog gets on my nerves. He keeps on barking so loud to go out side it's like the world loudest fog horn! By far he's the most annoying dog in the world. The other one at the same time got his paw stuck in his collar. He was crying so hard. But fortunately I was there to save him. Well, good bye.

I always seem to oversleep the mornings after sparring classes. Also practiced a lot of jump turning kicks yesterday, so body must have needed extra rest. Nice to see students from other schools come in for class (Inst Dege :-) )

Today is half day and school is closed on monday and tuesday. Looong weekened.. Yesterday I had swimming class and i did a lot of laps. My instructor made us to the flip turns and I am now very good in that. After every lap i now flip turn to do the next lap. Kind of mastered it. At one point i was really struggling but i am very happy to have worked on it and learnt it. We had PE in school yesterday and got my requirements done pretty much in school. Bus comes at 7am and i need to get going. Got in a few sets of push ups and situps. Its an Indian festival today and my parents woke me up at 4.45am. 

Watched the movie The Revenant tonight. It's a good reminder how tough men and women were back then. Constantly dealing with freezing temperatures and doing what you must to survive. The movie was waaaaay to long but the story line was fascinating. And since it's based on a true story, it's really humbling. Unfortunately, it also meant not doing some of my requirements I wanted to do. But at least I can get this still in before it turns midnight. Watching that movie reminded me of the title I gave to this journal entry, "Hard like woodpecker lips." Now, I can say I have never kissed a woodpecker before, but we can imagine that they must be pretty tough lips to do all that pounding into the tree. I pray my fellow Cycleillians got more of your requirements than I did today. I was happy to go for a good three...

Feeling less that 100% today. Woke up stuffy.  Still did stuff,  still worked, just felt pouty about it.  Did a little of sparring class.  Gotta start checking out my competition....

Small class today for BBC. Only 5 people. We did poomsae and self- defense. Had a pretty chill day today. Did a test and then did worksheets and notes for the rest of the day for my other classes. Had to finish up some homework as well. Got my daily requirements done and I am also posting my extra credit for the Combative Seminar on Saturday. Had a great day! Hope everyone else had a great day!

Today i went to tkd and i learned I need to start working.  I still have homework and had a good day at school.

Good day at school yesterday. I finished all my homework in school except for 3 questions which I did this morning. Did 35 push ups and situps now. Yesterday we had a great class with Master Knight. I did leadership after that and mostly worked on the sticks with Instructor Weeks. He is a really funny guy but very focused to get the things done. I did sparring in Hyper and it was fun

A little better on requirements today, but still not everything. Today was a day of meetings at work. Unfortunately that kind of day never gives me a good feeling of accomplishment. I am trying to be more organized at work and so far it only lasts for a day or two. Thank you Neelima for posting the pushups video. I have started putting one foot on top of the other and I find it to be better for the core and lower back, but no better for the arms or wrists. I watched a different video that suggests turning your hands slightly in. That does help the wrists a little, but my arms tend to get wider apart with each pushup and that makes it worse after a few. I will probably always struggle with pushups.

Cold can be a motivator once your in it. The cold can also be a barrier to entry as your looking out the window from your nice warm house. I used to call myself a runner. That was only a year ago. Now I call myself a runaphobic. Yes, today's new made up word. There something about taking that first deep breathe in the 30 degree cold that make every part of your body say, "what the heck was that!" So, it's time to pop that snot bubble and get my south side out there and start putting on some miles. I think that's the only thing I miss living in a community like Highland Creek was the nice sidewalks all through the community as well as golf trails. Out where I live now, I have to run right on a busy road if I want to go more than a...

Took a few days but I can finally post in the journals and update my stuff! An outlet that I have to write about myself and/or what I did for the day? Oh this is going to be fun! I think the last time I actually wrote something that wasn't "work" related in a blog it was a few years ago, the topic? Is a Lepton matter or not? I can copy it here if anyone really really wants to be bored!  On a lighter side, I finally got to go to a regular class again. Has been a month and a half since the last time and I have significantly lost muscle mass (getting sick isn't fun, I wouldn't recommend anyone try it!) I got to break out my old white belt! It has been very long since I got to wear that! I guess no one outside Lake Norman...

Enjoyed being a white belt in the adult class tonight. Found a mentee. I think I will try to assist with the Wed adult class. I like teaching. Found my self giving the same pointers I've been given. Daddy always said, "You don't really know something until you can teach it" Working on perfecting my poomsaes. Ive got to study my my study guides. I won't get much done this weekend because I have my niece for the holiday weekend. 

2 more days till the weekend comes. I can't wait. I really need a break from school. Just finished a test today and have another one tommrow. Studying for that one right now as well. Finished up my readily requirements as well. Had a great day! Hope everyone else had a great day as well!

Man hitting yourself in the feet with a fast jumprope really hurts! Well, i'll get over it. But doing back rolls hurts my neck! Aye aye aye! Well, about to eat dinner soon. Bye!

Pullups and hollow rock/ superman.  30 Thrusters 180 Jump Rope 20 Thrusters 120 Jump Rope 10 Thrusters 60 Jump Rope Resumed a morning smoothie regimen today. Hadn't had one for months before today.

Cold and freezing day today. Thank you so much Master Chelley and Master Evins for the credits from the Kukkiwon cup last year. I helped out Junior Tigers yesterday and worked with Master Randle in my mentor session. I worked with Gregg who is my mentee and he is doing a great job. I am super excited for him to test for his Bo Cho Dan. Master Randle asked me to help a new Junior Tiger yesterday and it was fun. I still remember my first day with Master Randle.

I have much to be thankful for, and need to remember that more often. My glass is often half empty rather than half full. It is up to me to fill it up. I enjoyed spending some time with Matthew today and he even offered to attack for self-defense. I will take him up on that as often as he offers. He used to like red belt #1. Now that he is about my size, he doesn't like it as much, but I think he's perfect for me to practice self-defense with. Not to mention it beats the vacuum cleaner. I used to practice self-defense in front of the vacuum cleaner as my pretend partner. It helped me with distance and it doesn't flinch. Thank you Master Tucker for working with me before class. I enjoyed working with Dr Rochelle after class. Not as much requirements done today, but a good...

Yes, I was a former Trekie. But I think I'm cured as I haven't seen a Star Trek show in about four years. I guess I finally seen all the episodes and they all looked the same after awhile. Here's the thing that always amazed me. Your out in space stuck on a Federal Vessel which is a strict military, and there's no way to escape it. Someone is always giving you orders and there's nothing you can do about it unless you high jack a shuttle and go hide out at the nearest habitable planet where everything is trying to eat you or there's a bunch of dudes who don't show emotions. When I was in the military, during the day, someone was always giving us orders and we had to follow them. But then I got to go home and get away from that until the next day. On...

I have been studying so much today for my science test tomorrow. I really want to do good on it. I have had a pretty good day today. We had a pretty easy day at school except science because I was excepting a review for the test we have tomorrow but we did a lab instead. I did have a good amount of homework though. Manged to get my requirements done though, mostly. Went to BB class and had a Mentor session has well. Hope everyone has a good day!

I kind of like being a white belt. I needed a break down of the turning kicks and today as a white belt helped tremendously. I still struggle over left and right like the kids. In fact, I need to be taught like the little kids, because I am a child to Taekwondo.  Appreciated the mentoring session with Instructor Dege. Working on nailing down these turning kicks. My back and knees are complaining a lot today. Well, off to catch the rest of President Obama's State of the Union Address, then to bed. So proud of our country 

Today I started my white belt challenge. Only have to do it for a few more days. I miss being a Bo Cho Dan.I will be there again soon though. So, nothing to worry about there. My moms not feeling as bad today so hopefully this is a good sign. Well, good night.  

Hello. I kinda jumbled my stuff from yesterday and today, so today I didn't do leadership II, I did it yesterday. Anyhow, I guess I'll be doing kicks, poomsaes and self defenses right now. Gotta study for my midterms.

I could not do much on Sunday except for the run/walk. I was resting the whole day. The rest helped me recover from cold faster and Monday was very good as far as requirements was concerned. I am happy that I could do 160+ situps and progressing on my push ups. I plan on reaching 200 on each of them before next Monday. The rest of the day yesterday I spent with my kids who missed school because they both are still sick. We did a lot of Math and reading together and played some games on Wii. Have a great day all.

Yesterday was pretty good. Master Evins made us sweat a lot in Hyper. I was really tired and hit bed right after I came home. Did a little requirements in the morning and heading to school now. We have Fit Lab in school today and I will get most of my requirements done in school. I have my mentor and mentee session in the evening and then Black Belt class.

Or too much? Not satisfied with my eating at this time. Generally clean and healthy, but I think I am still eating too much. Got to start weighing portions again for a while, until I get a better visual idea of proper portion size. Want to get some more runs in this week.

The weekend went by fast, although no faster than any other weekend. When I left work on Friday I was feeling frustrated because something that should have been simple and straightforward was not. I left with that task unfinished. When I went in this morning and started back on my unfinished task, I was able to complete it pretty quickly. Sometimes getting a fresh perspective is enough to make a difference. I also realized that my extra long days seem to be the norm rather than the exception lately. I need to work more on the balance. I picked a book today so need to find time to read it and practice some of the ideas. I also need to brush up on the study guides

I'm not sure if the late night workouts are the best time-frame, but it is quiet and I seem to get more done. This will be a short one as I am ready to hit the rack here soon. I'm loving the new Do Jung. Having those two sides to workout on is nice and spacious. It was all well worth the Corvian place and the moving hassle. There is a lot of room for growth and the open atmosphere is great. It's especially nice because the temperature has been in the upper 60's instead of the 70's. Ok, I'm having to respell everything twice, which isn't completely unusual for me, but this time it's exhaustion setting in. Good night my fellow Cycleillians!!

Today starts the 2nd week of my 24 Day Challenge.  Lost 5.5 lbs in the 1st week...very happy with that!  Will be even happier if I lose another 5 in the 2nd week.  Crossfit this morning, but didn't get much done after that...will have to make up for it tomorrow.  Tired now and still have to write some Girl Scout emails.....

Woo hoo, I got to 100 sit up and 100 push ups in one day. There is no going back. On Mondays, I don't get home until 6:30 pm. Too dark to run outside, so I ran in the house. Whatever it takes....I want that black belt! This is something I'm doing for myself. Five years ago, I was on 5 different inhalers and steroids (inhaled, orally and IM) and still wheezing. My pulmonologist was taking about surgery on my lungs. That was my big wake up call. I made a lot of change and King Tiger Tae Kwon Do has helped me keep my promises to myself. No turning back...that path leads to no place good. Keep the faith folks...good night

I had a pretty easy day at school today. Didn't have much to do except study for test on Wenesday and Thursday. Did my requirements after school, well at least most of it. Then went to Hyper. Came back did some requirements and had a class to attend to. Then came and writing down this journal. About to finish up my requirements and read a good book. Hope everyone had a great day!

I can't believe today! It's very sad... Both of my parents are sick. I don't know who is going to take me to king tiger for classes! I really wish they weren't sick. Hopefully they get well soon. Well, good night.

Today is Monday, obviously. I would like to train for crew (rowing) so that I may join the team when I get to college. I'll have to fix my erg at home first. Midterms are 3/7ths done. The 5 to go are probably the hardest, so I better study even more. I hope everyone else is doing fairly well. Sam

Lots of snatches in today's workout. Shoulder was really tight to start, but loosened up. No real pain during workout. Starting week two of 24 day challenge. Hang Power Snatch Progression - 85lb-110lb 5 sets of 5 WOD 25 Wall Balls       x3 (20lbs) 20 T2B              x3 15 Power Snatch x3 (95lbs)

Yesterday was a good day. I finished all my requirements by lunch. Then my dad and I watched the NFL Wild Card for a while. I went through my study guides in the evening and then we had family time together. We watched The Worst Cooks in America and it was hilarious to see one lady who was scared of turning on the stove to cook. This morning I did a few of my requirements and now heading out to school.

Hello Cycleillians, For those of us who have kids, you can probably relate to this journal. Lately, I am becoming aware that my oldest son is coming to an age where he is able to beat me in certain things, and I don't know if my pride is ready for that. I played Connor in chess yesterday and he had me on the ropes for a good while. I had to resort to psychological trickery to change the outcome to my favor, but it was close. Not cheating, just commits to make him second guess himself. I'm sure that strategy will quickly be discovered and he will be poncing on me like a leopard on a three legged gazelle. He's already a much better speller than me and can remember any number he practically sees. I'm starting to use him like the reference section from the library. Since we do home...

The weekend is already over! It went by so quick. It feels like a Friday still. Can't believe it. Went to to church today then did some requirements. Ate lunch. Then went to a YFC meeting from 2:30- 5:00. Came back and finished my daily requirements. Watching a movie right now with my family about to go eat dinner. Hope everyone had a great day. Good luck to anyone with Finals this week. (I finished mine before break :) )

Well, hello. Yesterday I went to both of the PMAA classes. I learned how to do the normal Rotunda.(Really fun). In a few weeks I will know if I get to play the saxophone or not. I went on a run today. Then I went on a walk with my dog. As of now my parents are watching the GreenBay@Washington game. So far the score is 32(GB) to 18(WAS)Well, good night.