Bittersweet Goodbyes

While I am excited to begin my new journey into grad school, and I know it is the right thing for me to do, I am also really sad about leaving the place that has been my second home for the lst 2 years. Today is my second to last day at work, I already said goodbye to some of my coworkers that are currently on vacation. I know tomorrow I am going to get emotional when saying goodbye to everyone. When you spend 40 hours a week at a job the people you work with become your family, you see them more than anyone else day in and day out. They're the people you can rely on to help you. I work with a group of GREAT people, everyone has a wonderful work ethic and is so helpful. I hope nothing for the best for all of my coworkers and my soon to be former employer. The excitement of vacation in California is shadowed by the sadness of knowing this will likely be the last time I see any of these people. Nevermore will I get to be bombarded and barked at by our mascot Chaucer, a 205lb English Mastiff.

I know once I am done saying my goodbyes I will feel happy and relieved to be moving forward towards my career goals. I am just dreading the goodbyes the way I was dreading telling my boss I am leaving, I hate to dissapoint people.

So farewell Latitudes, I will always think of you fondly and be greatful for the lessons I have learn and the confidence I have gained while working here. And thank you to all my fabulous co-workers for lifting me up when I have stumbled, your patience is a virtue. I wish the best of luck to you all.

Return to the Run

Running is NOT my favorite activity. Growing up with athsma I had always tried to avoid running so my relationship with the pavement has only been going on for about 5 years. I run about a 10 minute mile which I consider to be slow since my BFF and running partner is like a gazelle. I enjoy running with her because while she is faster than me she forces me to push the pace and challenge myself. At the same time it is very disheartening to always be behind and know that I will never catch up to her.

In April I trained for and ran my first half-marathon with her. I had told myself I wouldn't enter a half-marathon unless I knew I could run the entire length so it was quite a challenge. Below is a picture of us at the finish of 13.1 miles.

After the race I was completely burnt out on running and my body was starting to rebel with these stabbing pains in my knees everytime I tried to walk up or down the stairs for about a week after the race. I put my running shoes aside and started focusing on my Bikram Yoga practice, one of my favorite activities but that is for a later blog. This past weekend after a 2 month hiatus I decided to pull my running shoes out of the back of my closet, dig my ultra bounce proof sports bra out of the drawer (seriously, this thing holds the girls in place), and strap on my Nike+ to go for a brief run while the weather was still cooperating. I set my goal for 30 minutes and took off. Things were going well for the first 10 minutes when my knee started bothering me again. Not being one to give up on a goal I pushed through the pain and felt pretty good at the end, although I was disapointed in the decline of my stamina. I suppose I will have to keep an eye on my knee and slowly work back into it, one 30 minute jog at a time.

Pros and Cons of running:
Pros

• More or less it's free. All you need is a pair of sneakers (preferably Nike's but I'm biased being from the Northwest)
• You can do it anywhere. Rain or shine (although shine is preferred), in California or New York, morning or evening; you can always find a place to hit the pavement for a short amount of time. Even if you just end up running around the block several times.
• Great cardiovascular workout. Helps get your blood pumping and gives you a runners 'high' that leads to better choices throughout your day.
• I have a friend who swears that after trying everything the only way she could minimize her booty was by running, she says she literally ran her butt off.

Cons

• The constant pounding on the pavement is really hard on your joints, especially knees.
• It can be very repetitive. If you don't have something to distract yourself with you can burn out easily.
• Since it is usually an individual activity there is no one else to hold you accountable for your workout and it is easy to cheat; not go as fast/hard as you can, run for a shorter distance.
• Weather can be inclimental and often an excuse for not completing a planned workout

Cooking

I am going to attempt to be a better cook! I am challenged in the kitchen, not exactly a sought after quality in a woman. Baking I can do, following a recipie I can do, but when I have to wing it I meltdown. I once went grocery shopping planning to buy ingredients for a Jerk Chicken recipie and ended up having a breakdown in the spice aisle, literally, I began crying because I couldn't find the spice I needed and I had no idea what to use instead. Cooking = Stress

9 Dessert Recipes for Weight Loss this will be icing on the cake if you will (hardee har, pun intended).

Summer Plans

I have given notice at work that I am going to be going back to school in September to get my MBA in Sports Business from the University of Oregon (go ducks!). I kept feeling the pang of guilt when my boss was talking about all these future plans with me in them and I knew I had to come clean. Since I am taking an extended vacation at the end of June/early July to visit my man I figured it would be good to have someone trained to take over, so this is when I will be stepping down.

While I am not looking forward to being without a steady paycheck and paying for my health insurance for the next 2 months, I am looking forward to the fact that I will once again have a 'summer' if the weather ever decides to warm up here in PDX. I have saved up some $ and will be working part time as promotional spokesmodel to make ends meet, but for the most part I will have lots of free time to hit the trails, the pool, the beach and enjoy summer in all it's glory.Being the neurotic planner that I am I have once again put the cart before the horse and started making plans. Here are the exciting things I have planned so far.

Events

• Road trip to Cali with BFF for wedding, hanging out with my man, bacholrette party and wedding day for mi amiga, beach with the crew for 4th of July
• End of July BEER FEST http://www.oregonbrewfest.com/, planning on going for opening day, yes we will be drinking beer starting at noon on Thursday as part of our early retirment party, celebrating being unemployed by choice, Matisyahu is playing at the Zoo later that night so my guess is we will drag our drunk asses over there for the show
• One of my sorirty sistsers wedding at Ponzi Vineyards http://ponziwines.com/ on July 30th, bachelorette party the preceeding weekend
• August 20th another sorority sister getting hitched http://www.joelmertz.net/joellovesfallon/ at the Resort at the Mountain
• 2 week retreat at the end of August to Maui with my mans' sista, she has a friend who lives there so we are going to be beach bums

Stuff to Accomplish

• Complete my online MBA math program, yikes!
• Go through all my childhood stuff at my dad's house and donate a heap of stuff to Goodwill, I am more of a spring clean kind of gal than a pack rat
• Go to IKEA to buy stuff to decorate our new apt in Eugene, I have already picked out everything online I just need to go pick it up (read, neurotic planner lol)
• Buy a new laptop, so far MacBook Pro with my student discount looks like the best option but I am open to suggestions
• Enjoy lots of outdoor runs and hikes, maybe make friends with someone who has a boat :)
• BLOG MORE, and find some people who actualy want to read my blog

Zumba

So I have been slacking on my workouts lately. I have been super tired and am going to the Dr. on Monday to have my iron levels tested :( Last night I motivated myself to go to the Diva Den for Zumba. It was a nice suprise that the one and only original Zumba-er Gina Grant was teaching the class. I had taken my first class from her at 24hr in the Pearl and fell in LOVE with Zumba. I rave to all my friends about it but unless you've taken her class you won't understand what all the craze is about. She is a Zumba goddesss! I left exhausted and high on latino music.

To Blog Again?

Recently some of my friends and co-workers have started blogging and quite frankly I am jealous. I mean my life is just as exciting as thiers. As I poured through endless photos, literally L.O.L.-ed at my fellow bloggers wit, and marveled at thier enthusiasm for life the question remained; what should I blog about and who would want to read about it?

To be honest this is not my first experience blogging. In college I studied 'abroad' in Morelia, Mexico. Needless to say my family was beyond freaked out that I would end up being a victim of the endless war between the drug cartels and they would read about me in the news ("American College Student Slain while Sunbathing on the Beach" or something along those lines). I wasn't exactly involved in any high risk activities while I was there besides taking public transportation to and from our private school but I decided to indulge them by reporting my daily activities where thier inquiring minds could see there was nothing they needed to worry about. This was easier than sending out email blasts and I would even get a few comments here and there, although mostly from my Grandma reminding me not to drink the water. Having lost my blogging virginity I want to make sure that my second attempt is noteworthy.

Over the past 5 or so years I have learned a lot about myself and honed in on the things that are important to me. I have taken an honest look at my life, evaluated where I hope to see myself in the future, and started to make necessary improvements. Here goes nothing and everything at the same time!