It was only a matter of time.

Happy Hump Day, fools!

Good news: My Grammy had an uncomplicated surgery. They're keeping her in ICU for a couple of days just to monitor her (because she had a major surgery, she was sick when they did the surgery, and she's old--why that freaks my mom out, I don't know). But she should be good to go soon :) Thank you for the prayers and well thoughts.

Now for a Weigh-in Wednesday post....

I'm back to the weight I was before the holidays. I went up a few pounds and was horrified, so thank God. But I haven't been good about working out or running at all. Part of it is because I absolutely HATE how crowded the trail I run has gotten since the new year. I mean really...I had to snap a pic on Monday:

That's just one group of people. But they have taken over. The entire trail looks like that right now. And I went early on Monday!

Yesterday I didn't run because I needed to take the morning to prepare for my interview at work, but this morning I went. I haven't had a horrible workout in a long time. Like, since I still had my gym membership and would run on the treadmill (which I hate). Normally, when I run outside, and on this trail, it takes about a half a lap around the lake (about .4 miles) to get in my groove, and then I'm good to go. This morning was different. Let me list the things that irritated me to the point I stopped after 1 lap and called it a day:

1) I got a rock in my shoe before I even started
2) I thought maybe running in the direction opposite of the one most people go would alleviate having to dodge people, because I would just stay to the very far right of the trail. WRONG. There were STILL WALKERS WHO WERE JUST MEANDERING ALL OVER THE DAMN PLACE.
3) Piggy-backing off #2, the hills when I run in the direction I always do are steep and quick, then you gradually go back downhill. Well, I didn't think it would be any big deal to go the other way. Well it was. The gradual and long inclines killed me.
4) Pandora kept playing slow songs and I kept having to skip it.
5) It was DRY and breathing actually hurt.
6) It was hot. In fact it was about 10 degrees hotter than it's been, at least. I didn't think it would make a difference but I guess it makes sense since I've become a better runner in the last couple months, during which it has been a wee bit chilly by San Diego standards.
7) My boobs must be shrinking (again) because I wore my favorite Victoria's Secret bra which always does a great job holding them in, and today they were bouncing all over the place and I kept having to re-adjust so they didn't fly out and flash somebody.

Today just wasn't my day. I know it was just a bad day. But I really wish I had handled it different and just kept going, even if it meant just walking. Instead, I stopped after one lap and went straight to my car.

Eff.

I just feel a little defeated today. In all honesty though, I guess it was really only a matter of time before I had another bad run, since it's been so long.




I still have multiple interviews to get through in the next couple of days (for the internal job and the other one), so I really felt like exercising would help clear my mind. I've been feeling like I'm getting the flu or something because I've been extremely tired, achy, and I keep getting the chills. So maybe that had something to do with my funk today.

Anyhoo. Hopefully things will be changing rapidly in the next few weeks, and I can adjust to those changes without sacrificing my health. Luckily, I have been eating pretty well. Lots of Greek Yogurt, ground turkey, fish, chicken, etc. Also, Special K. I love that cereal.

In other news, I finally cleaned and organized by vanity area this weekend:

Impressive, right?

Ha.

OK, I hope y'all are having a great week. One of my friends posted on facebook this morning "Get the f*ck up and make Hump Day your bitch!" I LOLed.

Peace out, playas.

Prayers, please.

Hey fools. Sorry for my absense lately. Things have gotten a little cray cray.

The good stuff is: a position I have been wanting since I got to my current company (and have basicslly been groomed to take tover the last several months) has opened up. I am being looked at for it and I am hoping and praying I get an offer.

Also, another opportunity has come up at a different company so I'm also just praying that I can make  the best of both of these opportunities and that in the next few weeks I will be slightly less-broke and much more challenged at work.

The not-so-good news is that tomorrow my Grammy has a surgery to remove a growth on her thyroid. They originally thought it was on her sternum because she was havimg breathing problems, but the MRI showed that its actually on her thyroid. I'm just hoping the surgery doesn't 1) turn into a removal of her thyroid and/or 2) doesn't reveal that she has cancer.  My grammy had a stroke at the end of 2008 and has been in a nursing-type facility ever since, as she is permanently in a wheelchair now and has no mobility in her left arm and leg. I absolutely despise the joint, but my grammy refuses to leave because she has so many friemds there, if that gives you any insight into who she is. She is so strong and can find a reason to smile no matter what, and I need her to stick around for a while longer.

Please send up a quick prayer for my Grammy. You could throw me in there too that one of these jobs works out, but she's currently my top priority :)

Hpe yall are having a great week and I will be back to rgular posting once things calm down a bit.

Btw sorry for the typos, I am on my tablet and this droid keyboard sucks balls.

I'm a ginger.

Happy 2014 everybody! I can't believe it's here already. I'll turn 24 this year. WHAT!? I gotta get my shit together.

I wish I had some awesome pictures to share with you of my NYE celebration butttttttttttt we just had way too much fun and forgot to take any pictures. Oopsies. I can tell you it was a blast, though. Cassandra and I went to Double Deuce, one of my favorite places downtown, and had a great time.

On New Year's Day, my mom and I went to visit my aunt and uncle at their campsite on the beach:

Gorgeous.

In other news, my hair started turning a bluish green color in certain spots.Why, I do not know. Perhaps my hair just took the dye we used 4 weeks ago differently in those spots? There's not really anything I can think of as to why it happened in JUST those spots. But whatever. I went to a beauty supply store and the sweet ladies told me to get a semi-permanent light reddish-brown color to counteract the blue-green, and then when it fades out in about 3-4 weeks, I'll do a permanent color over it. It's too soon to use a permanent color right now. I'm thinking I MIGHT try to save up some doll-hairs and go to an actual hair-dresser to make sure those patches go away completely. Right now it just looks like I have a few darker brown patches compared to the rest of my hair. But I'm actually loving the reddish tint:

Filter used to bring out the color in the picture. 

What do you think? And if any of you have a background in hair-dressing, any clue as to the blue-green patches that just showed up? I've been using the Aveda Black Malva Conditioner every 3 washes or so, so that's a possibility I guess.

Anyhoo. I didn't go for a run on NYE morning, or any other day until today. My legs felt like jello. It was a hard run. It also could have seemed more difficult because of ALL THE FREAKING PEOPLE ON THE TRAIL!!!! I wanted to scream at someone. I mean seriously, how hard is it to stay to the right, just like when you're driving? And even if you didn't know that was just plain common courtesy, who taught these people is was polite for an entire group of 4-5 people to take up and entire trail that's used by hundreds of people for exercise!?!??

OK sorry, rant over.

Until tomorrow, probably.

I hope y'all had a wonderful New Year celebration last week, and I'll see y'all on Weigh In Wednesday!

Bye byeeeee 2013!!! Helloooooooooooo 2014!

Hey fools.

I decided to do a little reflective post (like anyone's going to read it anyway) on the last year. I started this blog at the very beginning of it, and it's crazy to me when I go back and look at old posts. I've definitely changed a lot, I think mostly in good ways.

This is the first full year I've been single the entire time since the beginning of college. That's insane to me. Yes, I've dated, multiple guys this year. But none of them turned into a relationship. The ex and I tried again, and as of right now it's not looking like we are ever going to work out. So there's that. But I'm pretty confident that I'm going to be ok :)

I won't lie. I want to be married and start having kids. Soon. I'm 23 years old, I don't think that means I'm a crazy person. I also want to get my career moving forward. And I feel like it has completely come to a standstill. So the one big thing I'm going to focus on in 2014 (specifically in the first half of the year) is finding another position, maybe it'll be in the Hospitality industry, maybe it won't be, that move my career forward towards ultimately being some sales or marketing executive. That's the ultimate direction I want to go. And if I can't make that happen by June, I'm going to commit to getting into OCS with the Navy. That's all there is to it.

Anyhoo. This year WAS a lot of fun. I went wine tasting a lot...





















And went to a lot of country concerts...











And I'm totally OK with having spent a lot of time doing those things :) I've realized who my real good friends here in San Diego are, and I'm so thankful to have such an amazing group of girlfriends in my life. I know a lot of girls don't have that. I'm also thankful for my friends back in Memphis that I still keep in touch with. Hopefully that's something else I'll be able to accomplish this year: Going back to Memphis! I have a sorority sister AND a best friend from Memphis getting married in April and May (respectively) so if I can make ends meet enough to afford a trip back there, I'm going to have to choose which one to go to.

Probably the biggest change that's happened this year has been in my health and fitness. As far as eating goes, I've learned how to cook healthy. I've also realized I struggle with self-control (in most areas of my life) and I think I may have finally had the come-to-Jesus-moment I needed on my 2.5 mile run last week that food just isn't as important to me as being strong and healthy. So from here on out, I'm going to really try to view food more as a fuel than anything else, and eat things that will make things like running, swimming, and other exercises continue to get easier and easier.

Of course I'd also love to do a 5k, and really get a handle on swimming (which, btw, Cassandra came and started working with me on on Saturday). One other goal I want to fulfill is starting school to get an MBA. Yes, I'm still doing that. Applications aren't due for a while and they're expensive, so I'm taking them one at a time.

Anyway. 2013 has been a good year. A year of self-realization, that's for certain. 2012 was a year of extreme ups and extreme downs, and 2013 has been, in general, pretty dang good. Of course I struggle every day with money, but I'm hopeful that this year, like I said, will be the year I get on my feet. I've been out of college for a year and a half. It's time.

Happy end-of-2013, everyone! And here's hoping 2014 is a great one for all of us :)

Well this could be an interesting turn of events!

Happy friday everyone!  I hope yall had a wonderful Christmas! We went to church on christmas eve, then to dinner with some old friends. On Christmas morning,  mom and I opened presents together, and I must say.....my parents got me some grest stuff! I know the gifts are totally not the point of Christmas,  but I have to show off a little bit....


So momma got me a monogrammed Marley Lilly clutch, which I'm OBSESSED WITH. And a pink rhinestoned flask and matching corkscrew :) She also got me the original Naked pallett. I honestly like the first one way more than Naked 2, and Naked 3 is pretty but I still wanted the original. I LOVE IT. She also got me that SpiBelt I asked for, which takes a wee bit of getting used to, but it's awesome. And yes, my mom also got me a Redneck Girl Wine Glass. I posted a more detailed picture of the paintings on it to my instragram. It's hilarious, and I can't wait to drink out of it. Ummm and it's kind of hidden but the best present she got me was the Garth Brooks "Blame It All On My Roots" box set!!!!! YAAAAAAAYYYY!!!! It's got a Greatest Hit CD (2 discs), and 2 CDs of Rock and Classic Country songs that influenced him. And a DVD of his Wynn Show. And a book. I. Freaking. Love. It.

And you can also see my dad and stepmom got me a Samsung Galaxy Tab :) I asked for the most basic kindle, since it's so cheap, but they decided to surprise me with a tablet. It's sooooo nice (although it's weird going back to a Droid system when I had one for so long and then have been an iPhone user for the last year and a half). The first thing I bought on it is...



Long Survivor, by Marcus Luttrell. I can't stop reading it. I love books like this, and I wanted to read the book before I see the movie (I WILL come out from under my rock and see that movie), so I need to read fast anyway :)

Anyhoo, after we opened presents and had breakfast, we went to visit my grandma at her nursimg home. I soooooo wish my mom and I could pick her up and take her places, like to my aimt amd uncles house where we went for dinner,  but we simply cannot do it. Her wheelchair is huge and clunky and complicated to work with. Then she also has to be picked up and placed on the toilet when she needs to go, and she is not a petite old lady. Also, houses in San Diego are hardly ever handicap accessible unless you make those changes yourself. Everthing is built into or on top of a hill so theres usually stairs required to go inside. The point is, we cant figure out how to take her anywhere. So we sat and nrought her gifts and visited for a while. She has been having breathing problems and they found some mass on her sternum, so theyre going to have to do an MRI to figure out what it is. So please say a little prayer for my grammy that it isnt anything serious.


I guess I should also update on my weight. I weighed myself after a run yesterday which is always a bad idea, and didn't like what I saw. I'm just going to pretend I didn't see it anyway. But I went for a 1.6 mile run yesterday and this morning decided to push another half-loop around the lake for 2 miles. I wound up getting to that 2 mile spot, and telling myself "just keep going for a full lap, dummy." So I kept going. It was HARD. But I made it. So my total distance was 2.4 technically, but let's just call it 2 and a half miles :) This is my longest run, AND I didn't stop except for 1 time when I was messing with my phone (because pandora SUCKS) and I missed the SpiBelt and dropped my phone onto the trail. So I stopped, picked it up, and kept going.

Imagine my disappointment when I clicked on my Nike Running App to see this:


That bitch just stopped recording my run at 1.9 miles. Thanks a lot! Oh well. I know I did it, and that's all that matters I guess.



Sooooooo on the whole topic of pushing yourself, I kind of had a breakthrough today. It stems from a conversation I had with my aunt and uncle at Christmas. See, my uncle was in the navy for 31 years. My aunt was enlisted for like 4 years and that's how they met. I have a ton of family who have also done careers or are doing careers in various military branches. I have definitely thought about the possibility of going to OCS (Officer Candidate School) and doing 4 or 6 years in the Navy. But we all know I have a long way to go physically if that were to ever happen. Anyway, I was talking to them about my current money issues and job frustrations, and my uncle said "why don't you join the Navy?" Like it was no big deal. At first I literally laughed at him. Then he explained how there's a whoel business side to the Navy, which is totally true. And the money is not only good, it's extremely steady and secure. I could also get to see some cool parts of the world. I'm not tied down to anything. I could TOTALLY DO IT. I can already DO the physical requirements (with the exception of swimming, which my friend is going to start teaching me tomorrow), just not in the time frames they require. So I'm seriously considering IF in the next 6 months I STILL haven't found anything better that will really boost my career in the direction I want it to go, I may just start full-on preparing to apply to Navy OCS. I'm sure y'all think I'm crazy, but whatever. I know I can do it. I ran 2.5 miles today without stopping and less than a month ago I couldn't go 2 miles without stopping. And as far as the mean instructors go, I am extremely gifted at blocking things out. Whether it's people or noise, I can block it out. I can literally just pretend I'm listening to someone and not actually be hearing them at all. So if I know I can do whatever it is they're telling me to do, it will not matter if they're screaming at me or calling me a fat lazy SOB or whatever. I know this about myself.

So anyhoo. sorry for the novel. I hope y'all had a great Christmas, and if anyone reads this...please tell me what you think of my crazy idea to possible join the military.

Merry Christmas!

Hey fools! Sorry for the silence lately. I don't know what happened!

My Christmas Pajama Party was soooooo fun!



I made all the treats I said I would, and the spiked hot chocolate. I then asked everyone to bring a bottle of wine to share since I don't have the money to provide everyone with alcohol beyond the spiked hot chocolate (which was amazing. Spiked with salted caramel vodka. Hello.), annnnnnnd the next day I counted 8 empty bottles of wine. EIGHT! Yep. Sooooooo you can all imagine how the night turned out :) It was awesome.

I also may have stolen the dirty santa gift that I bought. Don't judge me. I'm a good gift-picker ok?

Anyhoo. I've been running semi-regularly, but lessssbe honest. I've been eating horribly. We had our Secret Santa exchange and party in my office last Wednesday and there are STILL leftover treats. On the desk next to me, of course. Eff.

Funny running story though (which you've probably already seen if you follow me on IG)...So when I was a little girl, like 3 years old, I went to the park with my mom to feed ducks. Well, there were also geese, which are big and mean. The geese bullied the ducks and then chased after me when I refused to give them any of my bread. THEY CHASED ME. And I still wouldn't give the bread up. Luckily I got away, but the deep-rooted fear of geese has stuck with me. So I've been going to the lake by my house to run, and there's this little trail that goes down along the water at some points. I like to take it because it avoids a big unnecessary hill (yes, I just called a hill unnecessary) and I thought I was going to run through a group of harmless ducks. Well when I got close (like within a few feet close) one of them stood up and gave me a death stare and I realized it was a giant goose!


That big white one is the bitch that stared me down.

So, I screamed. Like, literally screamed, and ran in the other direction, up the unnecessary hill. Luckily the geese have been in the water the last few times I've gone. But that was terrifying.

Something else that's happened since I took an unexpected hiatus was this Phil Robertson-Duck-Dynasty mess. I'm sure you all can assume that I think it's a giant crock of shit and I hope A&E loses enough money to make it go belly-up altogether as a result of making the decision they did. I am currently boycotting the show, and I sure hope y'all are too.

But if you aren't, I still love you. Because just because you don't agree with a person's lifestyle or their views on things doesn't mean you can't love them, be friends with them, or anything else! IMAGINE THAT.


Amen, Pastor Warren.

Anyway, I can't believe it's already Christmas Eve. The holidays went by way too quickly this year. I'm exited to go to church tonight and then spend tomorrow with our family friends :) I hope y'all have a wonderful Christmas too, and please send up a prayer for our military men and women who won't get to be home this Christmas and New Years!






Merry Christmas, ya filthy animals!!!

tGIF!

Thank God it's Friday, fools! This has been a long week. Idk why. But I'm super happy it's Friday!! And because I'm feeling clever, as I TGIF, I will post some of my favorites gifs from this week :)

As Andy Cohen said on WWHL on Monday after the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Kim just gave too many gif opportunities to count:





And I just love Honey Boo Boo and Mama June. Hate all you want, but if more women could think like this, we would probably all be in a much better mental state:


All above courtesy of Reality TV Gifs

And some of my favorites from What Should We Call Me:

Every time I think I have my life together

When I realize next year is less than 3 weeks away


Annnnnnnd not what the blog used it for but how I feel about effing Kanye West after his whole "I put my life on the line every time I go onstage. I'm like a police officer or a soldier" comment:


Seriously. I have to get on my soapbox about Kanye. I cannot tell you how fucking insulting it is to have numerous family members and friends who actually DO and HAVE put their lives on the line every single day being in the military or police force, and have this delusional prick say something like this.

Moving on.



I want to tell y'all about my pre-work adventure yesterday. I decided not to include this story in yesterday's linkup post because, well, that was about Christmas and I didn't want to ruin the mood. So yesterday I went to the doctor before work to get my birth control prescription renewed. I thought I would just go in, get the prescription, and leave. Luckily I scheduled it 2 hours before I needed to be at work because my doctor said I was overdue for a pap smear (by ONE FREAKING MONTH) and she wanted to do a pelvic exam. And a breast exam. So before I knew what hit me I had my doctor all up in my business. It was not fun at all. THEN she proceeded to terrify me into getting the HPV shots. I had no idea that that shot is like the most painful shot known to man. I still feel like I got punched in the friggen arm a whole day later.

Anyway. Yesterday morning was not fun. But, better safe than sorry I guess.

This morning I got up and went to the lake by my house, knowing I would run it twice for 1.5 miles. It was perfect weather. I was fully planning on tracking it and timing it. And then I pulled up and immediately felt like I needed to go, if ya catch my drift. I decided to try and just get it done anyway, but I was scared because of all the horror stories I've read of having to go poo mid-run. I mean of course the park has a porta-potty, but ummmmm gross. And I bet there isn't toilet paper. So I decided to not track it just in case. Luckily I had no accidents, and I kind of wish I had tracked it because I think my mile time is slowly but surely improving. Oh well, there's always next time :)

Alright fools. Have a wonderful weekend. I promise to try to be a good blogger and takes lots of pictures of my Christmas Pajama Party tomorrow night!