Freedom

All of you must know what is going on in Egypt right now...unless you live under a rock. The Egyptian people are standing up for their basic human rights, their liberty, their freedom. They have been living under a dictator for 30 years, and they have finally had enough.

I am not Egyptian, but Egypt is close to my heart. Many of my closest friends are Egyptian, and I spent the summer of 2009 living in the crowded city of Cairo. I loved my experiences there, and it breaks my heart to think of the city in shambles.

Even if you have no ties to the country or its people, you should identify with their struggle. They are people standing up for their rights. As Americans, we stand for freedom. It is not fair if we pick and choose whose freedom is more important, but we must want freedom for all.

مصر، انا معكم. الدنيا معكم

Half Marathon Here I Come!

I have registered for Boston's Run to Remember, which will take place on May 29th!

This will be my first half marathon, and I am very excited for it! I started running regularly about 2 years ago, and I've done it as a way to exercise since then. During these last two years, I have only competed in 2 races, both of which were only 5k's. I decided to push myself into a half marathon this fall when I ran 9 miles one day instead of my usual 3. I figured if I could run 9 miles without training, I could do 13 if I trained. So I looked up training schedules and set my start date for February 1st. So on Tuesday, training begins!

I will be using a training schedule I found online, which basically has me running 5 days a week. I rest the other 2 days. The mileage starts off pretty low and increases each week. I am very excited to begin training, but bummed that my first month or so will be spent running on a treadmill =( It is January in Massachusetts and snow has engulfed our state, making it dangerous in many ways to run outside. The streets in my neighborhood do not have sidewalks, so I usually run on the road...but I cannot do that now because the roads are extremely narrow due to the huge snow piles on each side. I do not want to risk being hit by a car...so I will retreat into the warm, snowless gym and run on a treadmill. I am going to have to make some amazing playlists to keep myself from going insane! I just hate the monotony of the belt moving and the numbers changing! I have to cover up the display when I run or I drive myself crazy!

I will be updating you on my training progress, and hopefully come May I will be posting pictures of me crossing the finish line!!

13.1 miles, you don't scare me!

Here it goes...

I have been thinking about starting a blog for a while now, but I feared that I would not be interesting enough for anyone to want to read! I have decided to throw caution to the wind and just do it. So here it goes...
I am 21 years old and I have recently graduated from college. I now teach 2nd grade at an Islamic school. I have 22 little kiddies who I absolutely adore! Teaching is one of my passions and cooking and baking is my other. I love making people happy through food. Watching people enjoy my food makes me happier than even eating myself!  I hope to share my passion for cooking, my knowledge, and any techniques I can through this blog.
Thanks for embarking on this journey with me!
-Yasmin ياسمين