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! 

Going for the Goals, Week 2

Wow, first of all, I did an absolutely terrible job of updating my blog last week. Yikes. Maybe I need to add that to this week's list?

Anyway, I have to admit, I did pretty well during Week 1! There were a few slip-ups but otherwise, I'd like to give myself a solid B for this week--not too shabby, eh? 

Last Week's Goals:

Workout 5 out of 7 days this week. Knocked this one out of the park! I did something active every. single. day! My co-workers and I did Insanity Monday-Thursday (I LOVED IT! We are continuing this week!), Friday I went on a 3 mile morning walk before work, Saturday I ran in a 5K (and won my age group!), and then last night after a nice (and way too indulgent) Father's Day dinner, I went on another 3 mile walk. I'm definitely proud of my progress! 

EAT HEALTHY! Alright. I did really, REALLY well on this during the actual work week. I made healthy decisions and no chocolate/cookies/cakes period! However.... the weekend. Yeah, it wasn't so kind. I didn't do TERRIBLE but I definitely could have eaten better. No worries. Everyone needs to indulge a little, right?! :) And umm, hello. Who can pass up chocolate pie? Not this kid. ;)

Cook a meal for myself. Do sandwiches count? This one didn't happen.. period. ha. Oh well. 

Do something creative. At first, I thought I epically failed on this one too. But then I realized I spent my ENTIRE weekend being creative! One of my hidden (very hidden) talents is cake decorating! My mom and dad own a couple of Dairy Queen's (cool, right?!) and Father's Day is a HUGE weekend for ice cream cake so my mom asked if I could help out and of course I obliged.

Now onto this week's goals--


1. Eat Healthy! I think this is a good one to repeat. I'm going to try, try, try again. It will be made slightly more difficult thanks to a short vacation to San Antonio with my sister Wednesday-Sunday but I'll see what I can do.
2. Exercise 5 of 7 days. Again no need to stop the momentum. And plus, I get a sick joy out of exercising on vacation. It makes me feel even more accomplished, ya know? I plan on doing Insanity today and tomorrow and then will be resorting to running/Nike Training Club the rest of the week. 
3. PACK!!! I'm moving out of my apartment and into a new one next MONDAY and umm, yeah.I've not packed a single thing. Whoops. 
4. Try something new. Can be anything--food, activity, color... I just want to be adventurous. Bring it on San Antonio.
5. Write Peter a letter. My goal over the course of the summer is to get something in the mail to him each week. Last week I sent him a sappy card. :)


There you have it. Not overly ambitious for the most part right now but definitely goals I will have to make a conscious effort to reach. 


Anyone else have similar goals to mine? 


Have a wonderful week everyone! :)


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

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