A little Fitness Motivation

So lately I have lacked motivation for working out, (scroll on down for a little biblical motovation) mostly because every time I do I have been having back problems. Plus I really ... really ... really just don't like running! I do enjoy exercise videos, but often my back pain will be just too much afterwards it's not worth it. Well fear not, joint-pain people! There is a solution!

SWIMMING!

We have a pool here at school, but I have never used it until this semester. I began just swimming laps around the pool, but this became boring after a while and I decided I wanted to do some aquatic work outs that were a little more interesting then swimming back-and-forth.
One of the best things I have found has been simple treading water-type of exercises. After talking with many people, one treading water exercise I do is simply treading water without using my arms. This give my legs QUITE the work out! Another treading water exercise I have found is making small circles with your arms, lifting one leg up about hip level and the other leg is left pointed straight down. This is great for strengthening my arms, without the back-straining of push-ups

Another exercise I do is on the wall. One exercise I do is propping shoulders and arms up on the wall, straightening my legs with one lower than the other. I do a "scissor" move (like in pilates) through the water, which creates a great resistance. I do about 50 reps, then relax, and do it again. Another wall exercise is great ab work. you keep your legs together, and in a continuous motion bring your knees into your chest, push them out straight in front of you, swing them left, swing them right, and bring them back in. I do about 10 reps of this, and I really start to feel it. This is a good alternative for crunches that doesn't cause back pain.
These are just a couple of things I do along with swimming down and back using the different swim strokes we all learned in swim lessons.

I found many of these excercises from http://www.livestrong.com/article/110713-swimming-exercises-flatten-belly/#ixzz2LUxid4T1, and this web site was SUPER helpful to me!I am no where close to an expert, but I'm just your average joe, trying to be fit even with back pain! Hope this is a little bit of an encouragement to those who struggle with any kind of joint pain! Look up some exercises yourself, ask your doctor of chiropractor for specific ideas that might help you even more personally!

Here comes a little biblical fitness motivation... 

Keep on striving to take care of your body! Remember we are "honoring God" with our bodies (1 Corinthians 6:20) and we should strive to take care of ourselves so that we can be able to go do God's kingdom work, which is what we're called to do!

Along with this, remember, above all else "physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come." 1 Timothy 4:8Keep striving to be the best you can be! 

Don't let the devil discourage you! God made you to be an active being so that we can ultimately serve and glorify Him!


And I just love this little fitness saying... 



So go ahead! Shut down this computer and get out there and move! - Liv

Love Your Pet Day!

So in honor of "Love your pet" day, I thought I'd share a little about my pet. 

His name is Opie and he is my sweet little beagle mutt. He is two now, and lives at home with my mom to keep her company while i'm away at school! (I'm the favorite of course :) ) 

 So here's my sweet little pups. (Photo credit to David Preamjaisanchat)

So happy love your pet day everyone! 

Hope to post some new crafty blogs soon! 

-Liv

Christmas Time is Here

So Christmas time is in full-swing by my standards! I'd just thought I'd share a few of the activities that I do that make it Christmas time to me!

The first is the Miller-Scott banquet at Johnson, which is our annual Christmas dinner at school where the professors and staff serve us dinner, everyone gets dressed up, and then we go to a show put on by the professors, which is usually hilarious. 

Here is the table I sat with!

My sweet friend Maria

And here's my fella!

This always makes me feel like it's Christmas time at school! Along with the end of school, comes finals, but after that it's break! Which means Christmas is definitely getting closer!

Another thing I love about Christmas is Christmas music, and the past two years Chad and I have enjoyed Christmas music by going to Dave Barnes's "A Very Merry Christmas." This year, Chad and I bought each other VIP tickets to go meet Dave Barnes, and get 3rd row seats! It was such a fun night!

We met Dave Barnes on our way into the auditorium! 

 the stage looked so great

Dave played a song to just the VIP people before everyone else entered the auditorium. Super fun!

 And then the actual show, which was phenomenal with so many super talented special guests!

My current Christmas music playlist includes "Let it snow, let it Reindeer" by Relient K, the Peanuts' Christmas, "A Very Merry Christmas" by Dave Barnes, the Beach Boy's Christmas album, the Michael Buble' Christmas album, and I've also included the Mumford and Sons new album "Bable" to remember the Advent and the story of God's people leading up to his birth and the fulfillment of prophecies! I've enjoyed listening to music in a different way this year to remember the story of God bringing his people back to him through the birth of his Son on this earth! What an incredible story that no one but God himself could have ever orchestrated! 

I now have almost all my Christmas shopping and wrapping done, mom and I have decided on a Christmas day menu, and we are ready to spend time with family and friends to celebrate our Lord's birth! 

I hope you have a very merry Christmas and I hope you remember the story of that baby in a stable who became the Savior of the World! Merry Christmas! 

-Liv

Door Decorating with Buddy the Elf

So my roommate and I decided to have a little Christmas fun! We're having a door decorating contest, and decided to use Buddy the Elf! Although it's not perfect, we had a blast! We just covered the door with wrapping paper (which looked super cute all alone!) Then we cut out the costume (making sure it would fit with our dry-erase board). We printed off a large picture of Buddy's face and added a hat! We added cotton balls to his costume and voila'!





Merry Christmas!
-Liv

Turkey Time in PreSchool

Hello friends!
So, I know it's a little late, but here is what I did for preschool art the week before Thanksgiving! The theme that day was turkey's, and there are TONS of turkey crafts out there! This one, I found out, the kids LOVED! And it was super easy!

Tie-Dye Turkey Craft

Materials:
- Coffee Filters
- Markers 
- Construction paper
- glue
- water sprayer
- small bucket or container (but big enough to sit the filter in)

Directions:
1. Let the students (or you can ahead of time) cut out the turkey body, and draw or glue on a beak and eyes
2. let the students color on the coffee filter. Encourage them to fill the whole filter with color
3. Place the filter in a bucket or other container
4. Have the student spray water all over the filter. The colors will begin to blend together
5. Let the filter dry! (Or the colors will bleed through the construction paper)
6. After it is completely dry, glue on the turkey body and you'r finished!

Happy Crafting!
-Liv

Knitting at Grandmas

    So recently I have been to grandma's for Thanksgiving, which means there was plenty of free time for crafting! I sucessfully knitted an infinity scarf and then created a head piece / ear cover. I loved the way they turned out, and others did too! So I got some more yarn and I'm thinking about selling them for about $10.
If you want to make your own, I would not be very good at explaining how to do it, but here's a link to the sites that I used as a general guideline (I did not follow them exactly) I used a thick yarn and a size K crochet needle. I also did less rows (width wise) so that it fit my little head better!

http://daperfectmix.blogspot.com/2010/10/easy-head-warmer-pattern.html (for the head piece)
http://heidibearscreative.blogspot.com/2011/04/knitting-and-crochet-blog-week-day-5.html (for the rose which isn't shown)

This is a picture of the two I have made so far, for my mom and I. I have added a cream rose to mine, but do not have a picture of it currently :)

If you'd like one, or have any questions just leave a comment :)
-Liv

Gifted:Nature or Nurture Survey Overview

For a project for my Gifted class, EDUC 4064,  I had a few people, mostly teachers, teacher education students, and parents take a survey on giftedness, and whether it was based on nature or nurture. I made a Wordle for the responses of the people who voted nurture, and one for the people who voted for nature.There are the key words used by the people's explanation for each side of the argument.
for nurture my results were...

For nature, my results were...

I made a chart of the results as well, which can help see how many teachers, students, and parents believe in nature or nurture. 

Overall, this survey has taught me many things. In many people who voted for nurture, they talked about how Giftedness came from the persons nature, but if it was not nurtured or encouraged it would not progress. I do feel like giftedness comes from a persons nature, and true giftedness cannot come about without this nature and genetic make-up, like many of the nature people stated. I do feel like giftedness should be encouraged, and many teachers stated that they did not feel like the school system did enough for these students. Many people who voted for nurture also discussed that they felt like the growth of a child would not continue if it wasn't encouraged, so the lack of encouragement at school could be a problem for gifted students today. Many also mentioned that giftedness should be encouraged in the home, and I totally agree with this! If the child who has the nature of being gifted is nurtured, then I feel like the child can reach their fill potential as a truely gifted individual. 

I am glad I got to do this report, because it was interesting to see different people's responses to giftedness! 

Olivia Morris

11/13/2012

EDUC 4064

Fuller

Assignment 10.1