Take Time to Do Something Real

Hi everyone from our place in the woods! How are you doing these days? I haven't written for a while, but wanted to get a word out to you this week, and keep in touch.. As you may know, I am a teacher, and am entering the crazy, crazy time of the year: JUNE! I sincerely apologize for not maintaining my regular writing schedule.

What about you? Is this a busy time of year for you, too? What season of life are you in right now?  Is your yearly cycle connected to the school year, with kids, or a business cycle?

Since we spoke last, about three weeks ago, summer seems to have arrived here in the boreal forest. I was so anxious for spring, but when it finally arrived, it seemed to skip almost straight into summer. The trees are now fully clothed again, wildflowers are covering the earth in careless beauty, and the beaches have opened up their sandy splendor.

The trees with all their covering, taken last summer. 

For those of us in the education field, this is the end of the year, and it is a time of intense pressure. The teachers and administrators have dozens of deadlines coming at them, all at the same time: report cards, end-of-year testing, finishing off the curriculum, planning for field trips and year-end celebrations. We feel the pressure to GET IT ALL DONE, while the kids are determined that THEY ARE FINISHED. LET'S GET ON TO SUMMER! The kids just wanna have fun, sparkly, crazy zany fun ... kind of like these eggs that they created for Easter earlier in the year:

Easter eggs made my Grade six class.

And no matter how much we push them to keep learning, many students have decided internally (perhaps, without even knowing they are deciding this) that they are DONE. They have been learning and working all year, and now, they feel, it is time to PLAY! They want something different and  unique, like this beauty created by one of several very talented artists in the class:

Sparkly egg created by an extra-talented student in the class. 

Can you relate? I sure can. For me, all of the intense pressure And it seems that the busier it gets, the more I want to slow down. My body, my whole self resists the intense pressure, and I have a desire simply to escape the insanity. Have you ever felt like that?

This year, I was blessed to be able to book a few days off, around the May long weekend, which led to a six-day weekend. in fact. But. in spite of the days off, I could not escape the feeling of pressure. I could barely relax: my body just knew that the pressure was still on.

The only thing that seemed to work to calm me down was a long walk on the beach, with a bit of a swim. The feel of the sand, sans shoes, is calming to the feet. And the soft lapping of the water overcomes the buzz of anxiety. I really do find that time spent on the beach is the most healing of times.



In this next pictures, I loved the monochromatic simplicity of sky, lake and stick. Something in my soul longed for such calm in my own life. To some it may be boring, but to me, it is sweet beautiful peace.  It is a feeling of blendedness and connectedness.  I love this. (This is the Instagram version, which is, of course, square. If you would like to follow me on Instagram, you can follow at Lifeinwoods, and let me know you came from the blog!

Time spent on the beach is the most healing of times. 

And this is a very similar view, but with less cropping. This beach is full of beautiful sticks and driftwood, perfect for throwing into the water, if you have a dog, or carving a coffee table if you have a saw. 

So, this weekend, walked and let my mind drift. And I got in the water, and almost swam. Which means I got in the water, up past my waist, and dunked my arms in the icy water, that only one month ago, was partially ice. And it felt amazing! I felt alive and completely in the moment.

And that is what I want to share with you today. If you are feeling pressure, intense pressure, take a bit of time to do something that makes you feel alive. For me, it is the feeling of fresh lake water rushing over my body. For you, it might be a ride on your motorcycle. Or an afternoon spent being silly with the kids and laughing at their corny jokes, housework be darned. Maybe it's getting your hands into the fresh soil of your garden. Whatever it is, do something real. Do something simple. And leave the pressure behind, just for a little bit. I guarantee all the work will still be there when you get back. But you will be just a bit different, a bit more alive, and bit more "you."

Take care, everyone. And I wanted to say a big thank you for the feedback I received about the free gift I want to offer. I can't promise it will be available until after June ends, but I want to reward my loyal readers with a beautiful print PDF, with a lovely quote on it. I hope to get it ready by July, at the latest. Have a wonderful June, everyone! Take care!

And one more thing: PLEASE, PLEASE COMMENT, if you liked the blog, and enjoyed it. (Or even if you didn't, or if you disagreed with something I said. I love to hear any feedback.)

I put a lot of work into these blog posts and your feedback, whatever it is, is gold to me. I find it hard to write without comments! So, if you are out there reading, please just drop me a line, and let me know you are reading, and how I can help you. I love engaging with people -- so I look forward to  hearing from you.


Love Sharilee. Hey thanks so much for reading. I would love to hear your comments and input in the space below. Also, if you like what you are reading, sign up through my Facebook page. or receive posts by e-mail byjoining here

Living In The In Between

Hey everyone! I hope you are having a good week. We have been getting spring here in the woods, but it's coming very slowly. After last week's meteoric temperatures, mother nature seemed to retreat back and decide not to get so crazy. It's been mild: not hot enough to bring on May flowers, but warm enough to make the ice on the lake finally break through.

This week, I spent a lot of time taking pics of the water from several different vantage points. I am loving the interplay between the old ice and snow of winter, and the fresh flowing water of spring. It makes for some really interesting, textured photos. This shot shows the ice floating on the water in beautiful s-curves:

Ice patch on the lake

And this the same area, from a different vantage point, you can really see the glass-like still quality of the water. I love the soft muted colours of this picture, You can also see a lot of rocks. In the early spring, the rocks tend to pile up on the shore. Later on, as the water goes down, much of this shoreline may turn to sandbar, and become a place suitable for swimming.

Ice on Lake Winnipeg

Lake Winnipeg shoreline

And in this scenic shot, you can see that there is unmelted snow in this secret little spot of wilderness, located only 1.5 hours from the city.

And so that is our life here in the woods: we are in the life of in-between right now: water flowing with life, but being impeded from full progress by the ice and snow of winter, who is not quite ready to give up his reign of this land.

It's sometimes depressing, as we long for green, and new life. But it's also beautiful -- it's the beauty of struggle, a picture of contrast and dynamic interplay of the elements.

We are living in a time of transition. And this reminds me so much of the transitions we often feel in our own personal lives. Sometimes we are trying to embark on a new venture, but it's just not quite time. We want everything to start blossoming, but we still have to take care of some business. And so we yearn for the new era and wish we were done with the old period.

But patient we must be to finish off what is in front of us, before we can fully embrace the new challenge.

I, too, am in a transition phase. At the end of the school year, I will be leaving my job to pursue full-time writing. My mind is pulsing right now with ideas for books and articles, but I cannot break through to the new phase until all the things are finished with my old assignment. But because I know it's close, I feel an urgency to get writing, and get things flowing. I can feel the excitement of my new adventure to come but it is not quite time to be set free.

Beautiful sunset off Lake Winnipeg

For the next two months, I live in the in-between. I love teaching, but I know that I must also prepare for my new life. So, I write and I teach, and it is exhausting. But it also beautiful -- the beauty of struggle. I am enjoying the last few months in the classroom, savouring each day with my students, but also knowing I will be walking away soon.

Are you living in a time of transition, and want things to be done now? Remember the lake which must slowly melt, and wait for all the snow to be gone, before it can flow comptely free. Remember the spring that comes slowly, and let the dream you are waiting for come to pass in its own time.

Dear reader, I would love to hear from you. Talk to me! Have you ever been been in a time of transition? How did you deal with it? Did you have any walks this week? What kind of views did you see? I would absolutely love to hear from you about this, or any other topic.

And finally, just to encourage you to get outdoors this week, I leave you with this information: a report by the  American Surgeon General found that walkers live longer than non-walkers. Sounds like a good bonus! Have a wonderful week!

Love Sharilee. Hey thanks so much for reading. I would love to hear your comments and input in the space below. Also, if you like what you are reading, sign up through my Facebook page. or receive posts by e-mail by joining here

I Am Not A Hockey Fan

Little kids playing hockey. (MorgueFile Photo)

Hi everyone! This next post is a bit different than my usual. It's more of an essay style. The other night, I went to a little hockey game in my community, and it had a profound effect on me. I wanted to share my feelings about the night with you.

First of all, I am not a hockey fan. Never have been. I don't care for the frigid arena where you freeze your buns off, in order to watch.  

Life Doesn't Have to Be Perfect. In Fact, it Never Will Be!

Hey, how is everyone? I know it's been a while since I posted, and I have lots to catch up on! By the way, spring is officially on its way, but you could never tell by looking at our front yard: 

About four feet of snow tell us spring is not quite here! 

But first, I wanted to share something that I have been learning lately. And it is this: 

Sometimes you have to just simply accept that perfect is never going to happen. And that's okay. 

Let me share an example from my own life. As a university student, my major was for teaching high school English. I loved to write, and high school English was where I felt very comfortable. 

And after graduating, I have taught high school English. For four out of the approximately ten years that I have taught.

The other years, I have taught E.S.L. to adults, grade two, alternative high school, junior high Social Studies, and substitute teaching, where you teach almost every class in the school (even gym -- groan.)

Do I wish I could teach high school English? Well, that is my ideal, yes. I absolutely love the deep discussions, love helping students communicate. I love literature. 

My ideal year of teaching was right before I met my gorgeous husband-to-be. It was the perfect set-up: teaching 100% English, with a shot of Drama the side. Perfecto.

But ... it wasn't meant to be. That blissful year came to an end, and as the newcomer to the division, the job went to someone else, who wanted to move up from teaching junior high English. 

Perfection came to an end, and I was moved down to teach grades five/six. I felt so out of my comfort zone, that I ended up leaving the division. And moving me and all my boxes across the country. 

This was my future husband helping me move across Canada

I kept searching for that ideal job, again, but alas, high school teaching jobs are at the top of the pyramid of teaching jobs. Those that have these jobs rarely leave them. 

Plus, the place where I had moved (for love -- read that story here), had worse employment rates than my home province. 

I did other things. Worked for Statistics Canada. Then taught alternative school. Started writing again. 

And then I taught grade six. Yes, if you remember, grade six was the level I had turned down before, because it was out of my comfort zone. 

And it still was. Out of my comfort zone, that is. But I worked really hard to learn the curriculum, to learn how to reach 11 and 12 year old kids. 

For two years. Then, I decided to go back to writing. I was just exhausted from stretching myself, feeling like it would never be good enough: my teaching, my classroom, me. 

I re-started this blog, printed up business cards, and started writing for the local paper. 

View of Lake Winnipeg, in the early morning. 

While covering the school's Christmas concert for the newspaper, my old principal asked me if I could come back and teach grade six, the job I had left. The other teacher had left. He was in a pinch. 

I did. Now, a two-month contract has stretched into six months. And I am looking at coming back next year. 

What changed? What changed was me. I finally saw that things don't have to be perfect. I stopped longing for that perfect job, and just started accepted the life that I have been given right now.

My house is not perfect. I am not perfect, and my classroom is not perfect. 

And that's okay. I will only do what I can. And it feels pretty good. I started to finally learn to live this verse:

 "...for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content."

--- Phillipians 4:11b

My kitty, Jo, demonstrating complete relaxation yesterday. 

And so I encourage you, today, to accept what life has given you. Life doesn't have to be perfect. It never will be. But do what you can, with what you have.

And remember: those things that are the hardest, will eventually become the things that make you the strong person for others who are walking the journey behind you. 

Love Sharilee. Hey thanks so much for reading. I would love to hear your comments and input in the space below. Also, if you like what you are reading, sign up through my Facebook page. or receive posts by e-mail by joining here

** All photos are property of the blog's author, and cannot be reproduced, without written permission from the author. 

Beautiful Wednesdays -- You Are Beautiful

The class had been having one of those days -- you know, when kids fight, and call each other insulting names, and everyone just gets mad at each other. Feelings were hurt, the drama was high, and I was frustrated with them (very!). We had had a discussion about classification, and how people can get classified according to characteristics. Body size came up, and it got ugly. (pun intended!)

Sensing the growing animosity in the room,  I decided to get real.

"I'm fat," I said. Their faces looked up at me in shock. Silence. One boy, bless his heart, said, "no, you're not." "Well," I said, "according to the charts, I have more fat than the norm. I have extra fat. It's part of my body."

"And that's okay. None of us are perfect. Take what you have, and look your best with what you have. None of us have perfect bodies, not even models."

"I've been slim, and I've been bigger, but it didn't make my life perfect, just because I was thinner. I was still the same person I am now. Just look your best, and feel good about how you are made. You are beautiful."

And then I showed them this video:

The video said it all. And they heard it. Smart kids.


Love Sharilee. If you like what you are reading, sign up for regular updates with Blogger or through my Facebook page.

Insecure Blogger Blogs Again!

This blogger is still alive! 

In case you have not noticed, I have not been around for a long time. It has been over three months since I touched this blog. Hi! To be honest, I have been scared of blogging, because of being really unsure of where to go next with this blog.

I started out on this blog writing focused almost exclusively on weight loss: my own weight loss journey, with its ups and downs. As I wrote about weight loss, I also started some other niche blogs: on teaching, on books, on Christianity, and on writing. 

I found that I had very little time for each blog, and so this year, I brought all of the blogs together, into this one. But after that, I rarely wrote. I think I felt self-conscious writing about weight loss to my writing contacts, and felt funny writing about writing to my weigh loss contacts, like I had abandoned them. And so, for the most part, I just stopped blogging. I still wrote in other places, but my blog sat there, almost dead. 

I started doing some research, looking for other bloggers who have done general blogs, and had some success. And so here I go again ... this is a general blog, and if people like it, they like it. I think I will just write about what I feel like writing about. 

This is the cabin where I have been staying

Truth be told, this is typical for me. I spend so much time  agonizing over what to write, that I do not write at all. I do the same thing in my life and it is why I have trouble getting things done: I worry so much about doing things the right way, that I often end up not doing it all. 

It is a way that I am insecure ... a big bag of insecurities, truth be told. But insecure or not, I will blog, I will blog, I will blog ... 

So, what I have been up to lately ... well, I have been teaching full-time, as I mentioned in a previous post. With the job, has come a big commute. 

To counteract the effects of the job, I have also been renting a cabin and staying there for part of the time during the week. I have fallen in love with Instagram. I have been losing at the weight loss game lately. And have managed to keep up with a bit of writing, on hubpages, and my own personal websites. 

And as I am busy teaching, I know that I miss writing full time. I feel more and more drawn to purse writing, and taking pictures, as more than simply hobbies, but as my life work. 

Love Sharilee. If you like what you are reading, sign up for regular updates with Blogger or through my Facebook page.

Back To Class!

I Missed Teaching! 

Well, I have finished my first day of work at the school where I will be teaching grade six. And it is: FANTASTIC! The staff was very nice and everyone helped out. I have tons of materials to start out the first few months, and it sounds like I am going to have a good class.

It just felt so good to be back in a school setting again, and talking about lesson plans, teaching strategies and  students. I think that teaching gets in your blood, and it becomes part of you, once you have taught before.

My wonderful husband is going out to help me set up classroom today. Did I mention how wonderful he is? I  have been trying to get it done all week but still have not finished. It looks like I will be going in on Labour Day Monday, too, in order to get everything done.

I  just wanted to thank everyone that was so supportive in my last post, too. I haven't blogged for a bit but I appreciated your kind comments.

This week, we start with the kids and the actual classes. Twenty busy eleven-year-old's will soon be looking up at me for knowledge and direction. Excited but scared, too! Have a good week, everyone!

Links for ESL Lesson on Cooking

Kitchen from Wikipedia Commons

Cooking is an essential skill for everyone and learning the language for cooking will help your ESL students feel more competent and able to take care of themselves. This is a great topic because cooking and food tie us together.

As a tutor, I am currently focusing on teaching cooking terms and vocabulary with my student who cooks everyday for her family. 

When planning a lesson on cooking, here are some links to help you out in your planning. Here is a place for conversation questions about food and eating in general. This is the way I usually start my tutoring sessions. Conversation at the beginning of a session helps everyone feel comfortable.

Here is a link to a worksheet from BusyTeacher. This sheet has a recipe for French Toast and asks you to match recipe steps with pictures.  This is good for reinforcing vocabulary already learned.

To use these worksheets, you do need to sign up for their service but it is a very quick signup and can be done through Facebook. They have a plethora of excellent worksheets for your perusal.

There are many picture dictionaries online but many are not really suitable for printing off. This list of kitchen pictures and words on cooking utensils has a few choices but it not really exhaustive. It's a good start, though!

This is an excellent resource that is designed for kids to learn about cooking but it is very suitable for ESL learners. It is a list of common cooking terms with great definitions.  

Here is a list from Squidoo that features over 100 words on cooking and food. This list looks like it would be more suitable for the more intermediate students.

Here is another ESL cooking resource that features a series of yes/no questions about cooking. These are good for reinforcing newly learned or slightly familiar vocabulary. 

This package of PowerPoints are a series that features cooking vocabulary. 

I also found some great re-usable photos on Free Digital Photos. I did a search for spices and found quite a few. These photos can be downloaded but be sure to read the terms of agreement that state you must give credit to the site.

And finally, some dialogues on the topic of making dinner. I usually feature one or two dialogues at the end of my beginner lessons because it gives the student a chance to practice what they have been learning.

See this article for more ESL teaching ideas. and check out this compilation of teaching articles by this same author.

Writing And Teaching Go Together ... Like a Horse and ...

Writing and teaching -- do they go together like a horse and carriage? Well, it would seem so. First of all, think of how many writers you know who were also teachers of some kind: C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien were two very famous writers who also happened to be professors. Coincidence? I think not.

A quick Google search for "teacher turned writer" brings up many results. There seem to be several people who straddle the line between teacher and writer. Writers who used to be teachers. Writers who still are teachers. Teachers who like to write "on the side." Beverley Lewis, the very well-known Amish writer comes to mind as a modern example.  She taught school for several years before becoming a full-time writer.

As well, I know that several writers on Hubpages, are talented teachers.  Writing and teaching go together so well because they are both cerebral pursuits. Writing is a form of teaching. I, myself, have always felt drawn between writing and teaching. I love both. And I think for many people who are like-minded to myself, the ideal life is when you can both write and teach, in some fashion.

Dialogues in ESL Teaching

Just an update. I am a certified educator who has gone from being in the classroom full-time to writing about teaching and several other topics. I am also involved in tutoring ESL students.  

I have started a business for tutoring students who want to improve their English by conversing with a Native speaker, and learning about grammar, vocabulary, and Canadian culture. I am available for teaching, online or in Winnipeg, MB, if you need a teacher.

As a teacher that is not presently in the classroom, I have started doing some ESL tutoring. I like to use drama in the classroom and it also works with ESL tutoring. To use a dialogue effectively, choose a script that relates to your learning goals for that day.

Practice the script by taking turns reading the parts. As the instructor, be sure to take turns reading so that your students have a chance to hear a role model of how the lines in the dialogue are supposed to sound. 

Dialogues are a good tool for teaching ESL

Dialogues are effective for EAL instruction because they provide a chance for your student to speak fluently, using typical English sentences. They show language in context, rather than simply isolated within exercises. And they are fun to do and can allow your student to relax. 

It is also a good idea to get  up and move around during the dialogue, mimicking actions that might occur during the dialogue. Adding some movement helps the student know the language with her whole body, not just her mind.

Here are some good links for ESL dialogues:

Free ESL Materials: This site has many links of dialogues to look through.

Beginner ESL Dialogues: This page has links to several beginner dialogues.

Communication Dialogues: This is a page with some great short dialogues for common English situations.

Articles are also another excellent method for teaching ESL. Here are some great tips for teaching ESL with articles.

For a complete list of teaching articles, see this list of teaching articles by this author.

You may also wish to check this very extensive list of teaching articles at Hubpages by several experienced educators.

From The Blog Roll

Well, I am somewhat back on my regular blog schedule and Saturday is usually the day when I put some link love out there, sharing some of the stuff I've come across in the last week that you might appreciate.

This weekend, my husband is working the night shift so I stayed up kind of late. (I tend to have a hard time sleeping when he's gone all night.) I stayed up kind of late last night and was thinking about my career plans. I tentatively decided that I think I want to go back to teaching, but this time in the TESOL field. (teaching English to non-native speakers.) This is a long term thing and I am looking at taking the course next September. I do miss the interaction of teaching but want a lower stress environment.

I left teaching mainly because of the stress of my last full-time job. It was a toxic environment, with a lot of stress, and after leaving,  I was nervous about getting back into the public school system. (Plus the fact that it's not easy to get a job in this field.) This year, I worked part time at a school for adults returning to school but the contract ran out and I've been off since June. Since then, I have been writing articles online and trying to figure out the whole online writing gig. There's a lot to learn! I enjoy the writing but miss interaction!

So without further adieu, here are some links from my blog roll and beyond.

Okay, this first post is from the blog, Two Years To Happy Weight After, written by Princess Dieter. She is talking about the frustration of not being able to budge on the scale and she mentions a very interesting book, The Smarter Science of Slim: What the Actual Experts Have Proven About Weight Loss, Dieting, & Exercise, Plus, The Harvard Medical School, Johns ... UCLA Endorsed Program To Burn Fat Permanently (This link goes to Amazon.)

I checked out this book yesterday through Google Books and it looks pretty interesting. The author Jonathan Bailor, has examined 100's of studies on weight loss and says that basically, our whole paradigm for weight loss is wrong. If you want to see what this guy has to say, he also has a website set up. I am going to see if my library has this book first, because I do think it's worth a read.

Okay, next. I am going to give a shout-out to a couple of excellent posts from Diane at Fit to Finish this week. Both posts received a lot of feedback and generated some interesting discussions. First, some tips on night-time eating and how to avoid it.  I know this is one of my biggest problems, too! Check out the comments for even more ideas.

And also from the same blog: a post on whether or not we accept ourselves as we are. I have been very passionate about this topic on my Beautiful Wednesdays feature because I believe that loving ourselves now can help to move forward and change.

And one more from a blogger most of you probably know: Lynn at Escape From Obesity. She has such a thoughtful post about how she is enjoying her new body, after losing, and not sure if she wants to keep trying to lose. I loved this post because of how she describes how it feels to be "not big" anymore.

Finally, to end things off, I am going to share a couple of mine own articles. I wrote one article about the smoothie that I try to eat in the mornings, that seems to help me in getting results. I add hemp, which is such a powerhouse ingredient! I am working right now to try to create a low-carb version of this recipe, because I know some of you are doing a low-carb diet.

As well, I wrote an article about losing weight with Sparkpeople. I mention and refer to tracking quite a bit in my blog. This is all done through Sparkpeople. I highly recommend this site for tracking your food, exercise and also for support. If you do sign up, you can put me in as your referrer. My name on there is 100togo100togo.

And finally, I also wrote an article on Beverly Lewis on there. This link is for one of my readers who mentioned on her blog that she adores Beverley Lewis books. This is an overview of this author.

So, that's the blogroll roundup for this week. I did notice that there were fewer readers this week. I know I was gone for a while but I hope to be back at it regularly. I don't know if it was just a slow week everywhere or if it was something about my blog, but I love getting readers. To those who read faithfully, thank you, thank you, thank you!

If you haven't already, consider signing up for the Facebook page. I don't have many on there, but it's a convenient way to get blog updates. Take care, everyone!

Is My Job Making Me Fat? Well, Actually, it's the Stress!

Well, I have been saying for years now that my job is making me fat. Sound crazy? Well, bear with me. It is a well-known fact in the fitness/nutrition world that too much stress creates an excess of cortisol, which in turn creates an excess of fat centered around the abdomen. It is true ... my job is making me fat! Well, unfortunately, I can't place the blame entirely on my job.

Other factors come to bear, as well, like overeating, of course, and not enough exercise (sigh!) But I do believe that stress is definitely a factor in my excessive weight gain. 

Teachers are known to have one of the most stressful jobs out there, and I am a teacher. So, what to do? Quit teaching? I have, a couple of time, exactly for the reasons that I have been describing. But I have an education degree, a passion for kids, and even what I believe is a calling on my life to teach. 

It's what I do, and love to do. But it cause me stress, and my body does not handle stress very well at all. My body, by all appearances, seems to go nuts with cortisol when I am stressed.

So, I have been constantly on the lookout for more information about how to stop this pattern. I found an interesting article that talks about the stress-cortisol-body fat connection that I would like to share:

http://www.elite-wellness-coaching.com/cortisol-belly-fat.html

This articles emphasizes the importance of de-stressing in different ways. As a Christan, I should not be so stressed. The Bible says to "fret not," but I do not obey that one. I do fret, a lot. 

And that is why I went back to teaching. I realized that the stress is primarily from my own lack of coping skills with life ... and that I need to overcome this, no matter what my profession. Yes, teaching is stressful, but so is being unemployed, or underemployed, or employed in a career that I despise.

So, I will continue to try to understand the whole process of how my body and mind work. And trying to get healthier, and thinner.