Okay, so as many of you know, I love history. It is an intense passion of mine. Getting my degree in history was one of the best decisions I've ever made in my life. And I am currently looking to pursue graduate study in the subject as well. In particular, I'm interested in French history, specifically the years 1750-1870. I'm really looking forward to getting the chance to pursue my dreams.

In the meantime, I discovered something fascinating. Did you know that there are FREE distance learning courses that you can take online at colleges like Stanford, Yale, Carnegie Mellon, etc.? You don't receive course credit for these classes, so they won't be on your transcript, but the lecture materials are provided online. Several of them even provide video lectures, midterms, finals, essay questions, etc. Now, I know my inner dork is showing, but that's okay lol. If you're interested in looking at some courses, you should google free online classes or free online open courses and get started! For me, this was a great option since I'm thirsty for knowledge. The courses I'm taking are from Yale, Carnegie Mellon, and the Open University in the UK. It is absolutely mind blowing to be able to learn from so many different sources and utilize the knowledge they are offering for free! It's really expanding my horizons and I want to share it with all of you!

Anyway, the whole point of this blog post is to share a poem one of my history professors just shared in class. It really sums up my love for history and my desire to know the who, what, when, where, why...the particulars of history. The poem was written by Bertolt Brecht in 1935. I just wanted to share it with you :-)


"A Worker Reads History"

Who built the seven gates of Thebes?
The books are filled with the names of kings.
Was it kings who hauled the craggy blocks of stone?

And Babylon, so many times destroyed,
Who built the city up each time?

In which of Lima's houses, 
The city glittering with gold, live those who built it?

In the evening, when the Chinese wall was finished
Where did the masons go?

Imperial Rome is full of arcs of triumph.
Who reared them up?

Over whom did all the Caesers triumph?
Byzantium lives in song.
Were all he dwellings palaces?

And even in Atlantis, of the legend,
The night the seas rushed in,
The drowning men still bellowed for their slaves.

Young Alexander conquered Indai.
He alone?

Caesar beat the Gauls.
Was there not even a cook in his army?

Phillip of Spain wept as his fleet was sunk and destroyed.
Were there no other tears?

Frederick the Great triumphed in the Seven Years War.
Who triumphed with him?

Each page a victory, at whose expense was the victory ball?
Every ten years a great man.
Who paid the piper?
So many particulars...
So many questions...


And I'm on a mission to dive into the history of it all! The future looks amazingly bright :-)
~Pam ♥

So, it's been a LONG time since I've done a blog update but I figured now would be a good time to do so. Life has been pretty interesting this summer...I won't go into details about EVERYTHING, but I'll just say that there's been a good amount of stress. But, instead of writing pages and pages of high stress stories, I'm going to focus on one of the main reasons I hate summer: THE HEAT DOES CRAZY THINGS TO MY SKIN!

Okay, so for those of you who know me, you know that I have a few skin conditions, which go absolutely INSANE in the summertime. With one of my conditions, I break out into hives every time I exercise. Basically, my body responds to the temperature outside and the warming up of my body during exercise as an allergic reaction. I can usually stop this by taking an antihistamine prior to exercising, but in the summertime, it generally doesn't help. It's like, my body is fighting against the heat and losing miserably. Even when I exercise indoors, the hives are unbearable. Also, one of my other conditions causes me to get abscesses due to excessive sweat. And, of course, with it being sooooo hot, there's a lot of sweat to be had.  So, after several visits to my dermatologist, I have had to put off exercising for the summer...so I literally haven't worked out since the beginning of June after my first breakout. It has been pretty lame.

But, there is an upside to this sad tale...I haven't gained any weight!!! I realize that after all this time of trying to be healthy and eat healthy, perhaps I've finally learned what my body needs to prevent weight gain. It's been almost 3 months and I haven't gained any weight. Now, I haven't lost any either which, ya know, isn't all that great. But, I've kept off those 25 lbs, which is what matters most to me. So, even though I haven't been able to work out, my body is still doing just fine. I'm staying in out of the heat. I spend a little extra time walking my dog when it's time for her to go outside, so I get a little bit of exercise. But, I'm looking forward to fall, so I can get back out there and work it out again!

So, thanks for stopping by! Hopefully, my next update won't take 3 months to get around to lol.
 ~Pam ♥

Coping with an injury as an athlete is VERY difficult...I know the last time I blogged, I had run my second race and was preparing for my third, which was to be next Saturday. I joined a running club and was soooo pumped about getting the opportunity to train with other women & run a race. My goal was to run a faster 5k by the end of our 10 week clinic.

I was off to a wonderful start, I was motivated & I was pushing myself to get up at least 4 times a week to go run. As a beginning runner, I was doing a combination of walking & running.  And I felt great! The high point for me during my first month was when I stepped on the scale and saw that I had lost a total of 25 lbs!!!!!! I was ecstatic. I just couldn't believe that in a few short months of trying to get healthier, God had worked a miracle in my mindset & my body. I was enjoying my running...and I was getting better! I was ready for race day!

Then, in the 4th week of clinic, I was running with Gaia, my faithful running partner, and I suppose I stepped wrong or pushed myself too hard...I'm not sure what was happening. I just remember a pain shooting up my left leg. I stopped & stretched and decided to walk the rest of the way. When I walked, it felt better. I came home &decided to rest. A few days later, I tried to run again and the pain came back. I spoke with my running coach, and she suggested rest & ice it as well. So, I waited another few days and tried again...the same thing happened.

To make a super long, depressing story short, I had strained a tendon in my left leg. And since I kept trying to get back out & run, I kept re-injuring it. I've never been an athlete, so I didn't really understand what "rest" meant. My leg hurt so bad that I could barely walk at a leisurely pace for longer than a mile. I went from running, losing 25 lbs, & feeling great...to not even being able to power walk. I missed 4 weeks of clinic while trying to get my leg to heal...so I ended up having to drop out because I was so behind. And instead of preparing for my third race, I'm slowly but surely starting to run again. I was so down & hurt when it happened though...I just felt like I had failed myself because of this injury. I was disappointed...and honestly, angry. But, one of the best things I heard during this time was from my running coach's husband. He sent me an encouraging email with a lot of running advice. The best thing he told me was, "The real value is to be able to walk/run forever, not the distance." It meant so much to me when he said that. That is my goal...I want to run forever...I want to enjoy it forever. This pain was only temporary...it almost seems like it happened ages ago today. I'm already getting back out there, I'm just having to encourage myself to try again. 

So, that's my injury story...if you have any encouraging words, they're always appreciated. Thanks for reading :-)