Definition of Teresa McConnell: Child of God; Roman Catholic... That's Me!

There is an exercise we did during this past year's "holy" hours with the student life team. During one of our Eucharistic Adoration times we were supposed to write down who we thought we were... If someone were to ask who we were how would we answer... Other than just our names that is. What makes us who we are... I ended up pulling this out from under my bed today. I totally forgot about that exercise until I read it. Here is what I wrote out:

I am Teresa Allison McConnell, a child of God. I am a Catholic. I am the daughter of Danny and Suzanne McConnell. I am both a younger sister and an older one. I am a grand daughter, niece, and cousin. I am an Aunt with four beautiful nephews. I am a friend. I am not at all perfect. I am a sinner with the goal of ending up somehow as a saint. I am a caregiver. I am a teacher. I am a musician. I am a writer and a thinker. I try to be a peacemaker within my group of family and friends, but sometimes it does not work out that way. I am a listener and a shoulder to cry on when need be. I am a fighter and lover. I am unique, one of a kind. I am me.

After writing this all down we were supposed to narrow it down. If something were to happen to us that would cause us to not be able to do any of the above... say a freak accident that causes someone to lose sight or not be able to walk, then what would truly define who we were... It made us think about how really at the end of the day the only person we have to rely on is God and our faith... Being Catholic and a child of God, more than anything else, should be enough of an introduction for people to realize who we are. It was a good reflective exercise I must say.

Exercising Is So Addictive!

Jogging... Pilates... Zumba class... Tae-bo... These are pretty much my main ways of working-out. I enjoy working-out. If I do not work-out for a couple of days I get so thrown off...I am not one for doing the same things over and over again. I get bored with it after awhile and search for something new to keep me entertained. Even now I look at that list and if someone were to ask me which one is your favorite I would not be able to answer. I tend to use them with my moods.

Jogging when I want to go by myself and have some reflection time. When a lot of things are going on in my life and I just want to take some time to myself I like to jog. I do not have to worry about anything else but taking the next step and breathing. It is a mental tug-of-war kind of game. My body will tell me do not take another step, and as soon as I listen to it I usually find myself defeated. I have to fight to ignore that little voice in my mind saying I can't go another yard. It is an exercise in a way that helps me also fight temptations from sin... I also tend to pray a lot while I jog. It is good one-on-one time with God.

Pilates I enjoy to keep my core strong. It is a pretty methodical exercise for those who have never done it. You have to breath just right while doing the different floor exercises. In some ways it can be the most awkward exercise I have ever done, aside from yoga. People tend to put yoga and pilates in the same kind of category, but they are so different from one another. I tend to do this on days when I have so many different things going on that I can only fit a shorter work-out in, and it totally does the trick.

Zumba is like a big dance party. I tend to always go with friends and it is a blast. Zumba is a mix of latin ball room dancing moves that really burn calories. You sweat like crazy while figuring out the different moves the instructors throw at you without too much warning. It is also very nice because all the people that go there are girls too so it is just some fun without worrying about looking cute for whatever guy may walk in. No worries there. I tend to really do zumba on days when I want to have a work-out that is fun. It lasts an hour, but it sure does not seem like it.

Tae-bo is the one I use when I am really angry, annoyed, frustrated, aggravated, hurt, so forth and so on. I get to let the steam out on a positive way. In my mind I can pretend that I am punching or kicking whatever is causing me frustration. Afterwords I feel so much better and not so angry anymore.

A Day Full Of Experimentations

Today was a day of many firsts for me... My first ever pizza with barbeque sauce on it and my first ever zumba class.

I am a huge fan of pizza I must say. In the past year or so I have become a little bit more, adventurous, from the normal types of pizza. I tried pineapple for the first time on my pizza and have become a huge fan, and today I thought I would do another variation... barbeque sause instead of the normal tomato sauce, and boy am I glad I tried it. After my first bite I kept wondering to myself "where has this been all my life, and why did it take so long for me to try it!?!?!" Needless to say I have a feeling I am going to be trying to convert some of my family members to the amazingness of barbeque pizza.

A couple friends and I decided we would try out a zumba class. I have heard a lot about it, and it sounded like it would be fun, and it was. It is a mix of latin dance moves along with some cardio moves. It was a blast and I cannot wait to go to another one.

I enjoy trying out new things. Granted it may take me a little bit to get there, but once I do I usually only regret taking so long to try them in the first place.... Well with the exception for rollercoasters. No matter which ones I go on, I do ALWAYS regret going on them.