Whoa.

Life around here is crazy ya'll.

In the past week I've spent time in San Antonio, moved into a new apartment, painted (okay, okay--I'm in the process of painting) my old one, took a quick trip to Greensboro, NC to play around on some top of the line fitness equipment for work (DREAM JOB!), and will be celebrating my best friend's BIRRRFDAY tonight with a round of karaoke.

Oh and it only gets better from there. But we'll start with a quick round up of this week's events first. ;)

Remembering the Alamo... of course.

Last Wednesday I traveled to San Antonio with my sister for her work conference. Boring for her, fun for me. :)

San Antonio isn't exactly my top choice for a mini vacation but it was fun to go to Texas. I can officially mark that state off of my list. :) We arrived Wednesday night LATE and never quit moving from there. I can say without a doubt that I've never done so much walking in my ENTIRE LIFE. Throw in some hardcore 4.30 mile treadmill interval workouts everyday and by the time Sunday rolled around... uhh, this kid was exhausted. But let's be honest--I had an awesome time. Besides walking a LOT (I can't reiterate this enough!), I lounged by the rooftop pool, shopped til I dropped, went hunting for ghosts, had the BEST Mexican food EVERRRRR, and got to spend time with my sister. :) Can't beat that, right?! 

We had a late flight on Sunday so my head didn't hit the pillow until around 1AM... I was exhausted! I'm not one to sleep on the flight.. period. BLAHHHH. Anyway, as soon as I woke up on Monday it was GO GO GO! Let's be honest here--I'm the world's biggest procrastinator. FOR REAL! I hadn't packed a THING yet! Luckily my mom came to the rescue and was AMAAAAAZING! By 3PM I was packed and ready to start moving! My dad and brother came over and moved the larger things and about 6 trips back and forth later, by 7:30PM I was completely moved in my new place! It was awesome! I have the absolute best family EVER. (And have come to the conclusion I'm never moving again! I HATE IT.)

Although I'm sad to leave our old house--my best friends and I spent our first year of post grad there!--I'm excited about the new place too! I will forever miss my turquoise room (and WILL have another turquoise room one day!) however I'm so ready to start decorating and crafting for the new one! (Thank God for Pinterest!)

My new duvet cover! Courtesy of Urban Outfitters! Seriously, I'm obsessed with this color!

NEW TV! :) And my signature colorful socks ;)

Slowly but surely getting unpacked :)

So yeah, I'm officially moved in but I still have TONS of work to do! Including LOADS of unpacking. Working + Moving = hard stuff. BLAH.

Oh and like I said, throw in a mid week trip to Greensboro, NC with my awesome coworkers and... yeah, that certainly doesn't help either. But the trip was oh so worth it. Whether I've mentioned it before or not, I work at a college as Assistant Director of Student Activities & Recreation (basically I have the coolest job ever) and my coworkers and I work in the college's student center. WELL, we recently received a LARGE donation to build on to our current fitness center so we're in the market for some amaaaazing exercise equipment and yesterday we got to go test it out and pick the pieces we want in our new gym. As a major gym rat, I was in HEAVEN. It was so much fun! I can't even begin to tell you all of the super cool things I got to test out. ;)

And that pretty much brings us to today. Today consists of work, a round of Insanity (still LOVE it), LOTS of painting (BLAHHHH), and hopefully getting done in time to go celebrate my best friend's birffffday with some karaoke. :) 

I'll be honest though.. as much as I'm looking forward to tonight and the weekend... what I'm really looking forward to is Monday. Why? I'll be seeing this guy. :)

Keeping it classy.

AHHHHHHHH. SO EXCITED! :) :) :) :) :) :) I'm so in love with that guy. ;)

Oh and if that wasn't good enough, check out this text I received from my mom earlier today....

Oh yeah. That just happened. BEACH NEXT WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm one tired but HAPPY camper. ;)

Until next time!

Sarah

PS-- Goal update sooooon! 

Summertime and the Livin's Easy... Sort of.

I love summer. It's always been my favorite season... ALWAYS. I love the heat, sunshine, afternoon thunderstorms, pool sittin'.. basically, if it were a man, I'd probably marry him. True story.

But... something's off this year. Or.. more like.. someone is missing.

Peter. :(

Dagger.

I won't lie, I've always been very, VERY independent. I like my alone time. I like venturing off to places on my own and figuring things out as I go. I've never been one to get tied down to something or get particularly attached to someone. But... he's different.

All of the sudden I find myself doing things while he's gone and thinking, "Man.. if Peter were here this would be so much better!" or going to Subway (our FAVORITE!) and thinking how much more enjoyable the food would be if he were sitting there with me.

Our "marriage" toast ;)

It kind of blows.

BUT that being said, I think yesterday I finally hit the point where the missing part is slowly but surely getting easier. I'm finding ways to fill up my time (I hate sitting around doing nothing anyway!), I have a move on the horizon, I'll be in San Antonio spending time with my sister starting tomorrow, I have my best friend's birffffday to look forward to next Thursday, and best of all... I'm going to visit him two weeks from today. :)

And you know what? All of this "alone" time really isn't that bad at all anymore. And I'll be honest, it's not really "alone"--that kind of makes me sound like I'm stuck in a cave with no communication to the outside world whatsoever. I promise I haven't QUITE gotten to that point yet! I'm working out (a LOT!), hanging out with coworkers/friends, planning fun trips, trying my hand at crafting, focusing on decorating my new room, finding new ways to get involved in the community, and just overall bettering myself. Because that's what ballers do.. ya know?

Won my age group!

When you lose your built-in best friend for a few months, you have to find ways to fill in the time you spent with him. :)

And you know what's really fun? Writing him letters. Letter writing is seriously a lost art form. We MAYBE get to talk 15-20 minutes via text at night when he's doing lights out rounds for campers and there's no cell service (we throw a call in when we can!) so letters are a good way to tell him all of the small, mundane things that are going on in my life that otherwise I'd rather not waste time talking to him about at night.

So.. maybe I'll survive summer 2012 after all. ;)

Sarah

Whoa.

I don't like to brag a WHOLE lot (ha, okay, it's my blog, I'm allowed to do what I want ;)) BUT....

THIS KID HAS LOST 16 POUNDS & 4% BODY FAT SINCE THE BEGINNING OF 2012! 

Not that I'm excited or anything, right?! 

Someone the other day asked me what my secret is. And you know what? Deep down that question bothered me.. a LOT. There is no secret. It's called hard work. One of my biggest pet peeves involves  people who try every trick in the book other than eating right and exercising to lose weight. Just do it. It'll make you a stronger person in the long run.. not to mention healthier too. 

Off my soap box now.

But that being said, I've hit a bit of a rut. I've got about 10 more pounds and 4% more body fat I'd like to lose and that's where my goals for the summer really kick into place. And adding on to my exercise goal, I'm going to do this June Ab challenge. Why? Well.. why not? 

Source

At first glance it looks pretty easy but jeeze.. just take a look at Day 30! Pretty excited to try this, not going to lie. My core is definitely something I'd like to improve upon over the summer. I'll keep you updated!

In other developments since we last spoke:

• I went to the casino last weekend. I won $150. My roommate won $550. Bitch. ;)
• Tonight I'm going to find out whether I'm going to be babysitting a niece or nephew in my very near future. (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) 
• I'm taking Peter to Louisville tomorrow to meet the rest of my crazy family. Oh and attend my cousin's (400 person) wedding. No big deal.
• Speaking of Peter, I have less than a week left with him until August 20th. Blahhhhh. :(
• My roommate and I might not be homeless after all! We (HOPEFULLY) found a place to live! Keep your fingers crossed!
• 90s pandora station is good..... Jimmy Buffet pandora station is BETTER.
• If we get the new place, I'm going to start biking to work! And clearly investing in a new seat pad. My ass HURTS from riding the past 2 days (TMI?)
• Saturday night (after getting back from the casino!) I went with my two BFF's to see Legally Blonde: The Musical. Two thumbs up fo'sho! 
• And now a collection of instagrams from the weekend (I'm obsessed! follow me @sarahc33!)

Time to go! My future niece or nephew is awaiting! :)

Sarah

Time Flies.

A year ago yesterday Peter & I started "talking". It doesn't seem like it's been that long. We'd been flirting back and forth for a while up until that point but finally the day after graduation I confessed that yes, I did in fact like him. And he's never let me live it down since. ;)

I'ts funny how things happen. I never thought that we'd be where we are today to be honest. Not because I didn't think I liked him that much but because I've never really been the relationship type. I think I even told him that at one point. But I stepped out of my comfort zone with Peter and it just.... worked. There's really no other way to explain it.

We continued "talking" for 3 months before we actually started our relationship. Not because we weren't ready but because Peter goes to camp every summer (counselor) so it kind of made it difficult. But in the end, I think that's really what helped us the most. We texted each other every chance we got and really got to know the other person before we just jumped right into something we weren't ready for. He helped me make it through those days when I really, REALLY hated the bank and I like to think I helped him make it through his day as well.

I'm not really sure what the point of this post is. To be honest, I always hated those people who flaunted their relationships on facebook and now look at me. But I guess what I'm saying is that stepping out of my comfort zone ended up being one of the best decisions I've made in the past year. Ok... and maybe that Peter is getting ready to  leave for camp again this summer and I'm starting to really dread it.

Is it August yet?

Sarah

One Year Ago.

Sometimes I look back at this time last year and wonder how I got so lucky to be where I'm at now. Does anyone else ever do this?

I was one of those people who thought life would never get any better than college. And I don't know, maybe it doesn't (the verdict is still out) but there are a few things I know to be true--life in the "real world" isn't really THAT bad and if I had the choice between me at this time last year or me RIGHT now... I'd choose right now in a heart beat. 

I'll be the first to admit that I absolutely LOVED college. I was that kid who joined every club, went Greek, knew everyone on campus, partied hard on the weekend, made straight A's, had a good reputation... living in what I thought was the perfect situation. And I guess in a way it was. In high school I was never that outgoing, I was  tomboy, I lived for sports... so getting to college and having people "know" me was a pretty sweet deal... ya know? I learned a lot about myself in college and who I really was on the inside--something that I'm forever grateful for. 

I also met my best friends in college. Not only the two girls who I know will be standing beside me at my wedding but also those that will be sitting right up front cheering me on when I say "I do" (and for the record, this is no time soon--totally theoretical!). Besides a degree, this is probably what I'm most thankful for about college. 

So I guess the question remains--how can waking up every morning at 6AM, working 8 hours a day (most days during the semester 10-12!), staying in on the weekends, being the "responsible" one REALLY be that much better?

I have no idea. 

What I do know is that I'm happier. I feel more fulfilled. I enjoy the little things in life. I have a better relationship with my family. I'm motivated more than I have ever been before. 

I just really like ME. (Not vain at all, right?!)

I think a lot of it has to do with Peter. I've never, EVER been one to completely and totally rely on a boy to make me feel happy or "complete"--I think this is something that you have to dig down deep inside of you to find... but I'd be lying if I said he wasn't a major part of the equation. I just feel.... better when I'm around him, ya know? And he's a big part of the reason I do have a better relationship with my family. He's the one who really encouraged me to take a chance on my dream job (thank goodness!) and was there supporting me the entire way. He's not afraid to be himself and doesn't constantly try to please other people--something I've learned to love and admire. And whatever comes of our relationship--I'll always be thankful for the time we spent together. 

And to think this time last year I had no idea where our friendship was going... hmm. ;)

Another major turning point for me? FINALLY fully dedicating myself to being healthy. I'm not saying I'm perfect because hello, I'm far from it. But for the first time in a LONG time, I feel like I'm doing something completely and totally for me--and no one else. My eating habits are better, I've pretty much completely cut out alcohol, I'm exercising 5-6 times a week, I signed up for my first half marathon in September (eek!), and I'm no longer using my weekends to be lazy--I'm staying active! It's fun. And you know what's even better? Getting compliments. ;) 

The final part of the equation? I finally feel like I have a purpose and direction in my life. This time last year I was totally lost and had no idea what the hell I was going to do with my life. I took a job at a bank on a whim and thought maybe I could be that corporate 9-5 person. And to be honest, the only reason I took it in the first place is because I needed something to prove to that I wasn't the flake who graduated college and never got a job. But GOD did I hate it. I remember texting Peter every night he was away and practically crying my eyes out because I was so miserable. And then all of the sudden, the job I never expected to open up... opened up. And I went for it..... and got it.... and LOVE it. I know now what I want to do with my life. I'm beginning to prepare for my Masters and planning my career path! It's honestly one of the absolute coolest feelings in the entire world. Not to mention a huge weight lifted off of my shoulders. 

So... maybe my life isn't quite as exciting as it was in college. Maybe I'm not the same person I was this time last year. But to be completely and TOTALLY 100% honest--I don't mind one bit. 

College isn't the best 4-5 years of your life. It may be some of the most fun and exciting but I'm telling you--it gets better. Trust me. :)

Sarah

Five Things Friday

God. I'm terrible at writing an actual post. Sometimes it's much easier to write random things going on in my life. Sue me.

So with that rant, let's begin.

1. TODAY = LAST DAY OF CLASSES! Whew. I made it my first full semester in my *new* (well, semi-new now I suppose) job! I don't even want to begin talking about all of the mistakes that were made and agents I frustrated with my lack of knowledge but it's been a great learning experience. And as many tears that were shed, in the end, I still LOVE my job. How many people can say that?



2. I'm running a 5K tomorrow. Have I trained for it? No. Have I ran in 3 months? No. Am I sick? Yes. Will I suffer terribly tomorrow morning? OH YEAH. My attitude? Bring it. I'm kind of marking tomorrow as the "unofficial" start to my half-marathon training. I need to get motivated to start my regular running routine again and what better way than signing up for a race, right? RIIIIIIIGHT. I'll just keep telling myself that. For those that don't know, I love running. Really... I do. But here lately I've loved strength training and cardio classes and boot camp waaaaay more. And to be honest, this is the fittest I've been... well, ever. BUT that being said, I need a lofty goal and something to do this summer while Peter is away so why not train for the longest race of my life? Let's do it.

Peter might disagree with this.. ha.

3. Speaking of Peter, I really like our adventures. Well, I like to deem them adventures... he probably refers to them as "Oh god, what is she making me do now?". ha. ;) Last weekend we helped my parents mulch (okay, maybe that's more like manual labor) and then did a little bit of hiking. I always like to stay active on the weekends and drag him along with me (deep down I know he's thrilled.... ;)) This weekend our plans include his fraternity formal, laying out by the pool and RELAXING (hopefully!), and an as-yet-to-be determined activity for Sunday.. and you better believe it'll be fitness related. :)

4. IT'S DERBY WEEKEND! You can generally only reallllly appreciate this if you're a Kentuckian.... or in my case, your parents are. Pretty much the entirety of my family lives in Louisville (aka, DERBY CENTRAL) so you can only imagine my excitement for Saturday. I've never been to the Derby (definitely on my bucket list... I want a FANCY HAT by god) but always catch it on TV. I don't think my friends really get it but I make/force them to watch anyway. 

5. I <3 Instagram. That's all.

Have a great, safe, active, relaxing.... FUN (!) weekend!

-SS