30 Day Photo Challenge: I'm on Day 20

I have been doing this 30 Day Photo Challenge. I have been posting more than one photo per day, so it's not really going to be 30 days. But it will be 30 pictures. It's really fun and I enjoy finding a photo for each statement. See below for the album so far. :)

30 Day Photo Challenge

*Click each picture to see which statement I matched it to (it's written below each photograph).

Consistency: Yes. Excuses: No!

So here's what I have learned lately:

• I really need to try hard and stay consistent with my working out, otherwise it's almost as if I'm not doing anything. I can't expect to see results if I'm working out 4 times one week, and only once the next week.
  
• No excuses! I can take a nap and I can relax a little bit. But if I do, I still need to go and workout after. If I have time to nap, I have time to workout.
  
• Endorphins! I always feel really good after I workout, and I know that I'm doing the right thing so I try to keep that feeling in mind when I'm getting ready for the gym.
• Music is a big motivator! Take tonight for example...despite the setback of my Ipod not being charged, I made a new playlist to workout too, and while I'm waiting for it to charge, I did some cleaning around here. I'm not using it as an excuse to not workout. Instead, I'm just waiting (somewhat patiently) and going to the gym afterwards. Luckily, I have a half day tomorrow because of a doctor's appointment. So I can stay up a bit later tonight.
• When I take my vitamins I really do see a difference in both my results and energy level. I need to try and get past the yuckiness of them in the morning, because they do work!
• Water is wonderful! I am trying to drink a ton more lately, and although it does make me go to the bathroom more (obviously) it's great for my bladder condition, and it also fills me up! I've heard that sometimes when our brain is telling us we're hungry, we're actually thirsty. I think this is true! I've tried it a couple times lately: when I am hungry in between meals, I'll drink a bottle of water first and then if I'm still hungry I'll grab something small. But more often than not, I'm not as hungry anymore.

A 5K Weekend

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So on Saturday, I woke up at 6am to run a 5K early in the morning with Katie for a program called Girls on the Run which promotes healthy living and exercise for young girls, as well as self confidence and respect. Although I am not a fan of waking up so early on a weekend day, I did enjoy it! We did intervals the whole time...walking, jogging (with a soft j), and sprinting the whole time. We finished the 5K at 47 minutes and 18 seconds. Pretty good considering we were doing intervals.

Then, today I did another 5K for Great Strides, which raises money for a cure for Cystic Fibrosis. A former student of mine (from last year) has CF and so do two other kids who go to my school. It's an awful disease and I definitely wanted to help out. This 5K was more of a walk, thank goodness. My legs were still exhausted from yesterday's run so it was nice to just take a nice and leisurely walk. I saw a few work faces there, and they even had entertainment (Kangaroo Kids!! Can I just say that if I thought a 25 year old could join, I would TOTALLY do it!! It was my life goal to be a Kangaroo Kid when I was younger).

I love all of this exercise-for-charity stuff! It makes your body feel good for getting some great exercise and it makes you feel good for donating towards a good cause. :)

Speaking of which, I have another walk in June coming up for Breast Cancer! :) If you want to donate towards my team, that would be lovely! If you want to come and walk with us, that'd be cool too!

I'm off to bed! Night :)

Staying Busy

Since I was in high school, I have always been someone to load my social and professional calendars up to the brim with things that make me happy. In high school I: belonged to the drama club, the interact club, the french club, band, chorus, madrigals, I performed in plays and musicals, I was the field hockey manager, I babysat on the weekends and worked at Columbia Association on weeknights. On top of all that, I was always everywhere with my friends...out and about at the mall or other people's houses, random drama parties on the weekends, etc. I literally did not stop. I both hated and loved my passion for wanting to do everything so bad that it meant doing it all at once, even if it sacrificed my sanity.

I'm still pretty much the same way today, for better or worse. I am always busy with work in general; it's part of being a teacher. It's a very complex, tedious, and hard job where there is always more work to be done. To add to that, I have always made my students a priority and by that I mean that I always tell them that I am their #1 fan. So I try to make it to all of their chorus and band concerts, the enrichment fairs that show off their projects, plays, etc. Well, if I stay for those, I usually just stay right on through from the end of school by doing work until the show starts.

Then there's my social/personal loves...seeing my best friends at least a couple times a week, trying to stay on top of working out so that I can feel better about how I look, going on the computer late at night to facebook with other friends or just to check emails or blog, etc.

It's a lot, and I know it is. I know that I am always busy and it's not always easy for me to be spontaneous with much. But for some reason, there has always been a little voice in my head that tells me it's ok to be stressed out with all this, because it's all stuff I want to do really bad, so I'm just going to do it...even if I'm flat out exhausted by the end of the day and don't get to bed until late, only to wake up in the morning sleep-deprived.

I know this method of mine has many flaws, and even while writing this I know that I should probably slow down more often, and not jam pack my week nights and weekends. But it's just so hard for me to want to not have anything planned. I like knowing that something fun is coming up, and that I won't be just sitting around, even though sometimes I need that.

This week for instance:

Monday: Work, went to an outing with students after school, worked out for 1 1/2 hours

Tuesday: Field Trip at work, worked out with co-worker after school, ran errands, had dinner, went back to school for Strings Concert

Wednesday: Work, this is normally my babysit night but it was cancelled. I actually did relax a little this night. I didn't work out, even though I wanted to...I was so exhausted.

Thursday: Went to get bday gift for co-worker before work, early meeting at work, work all day, went and got bday gift for another co-worker, went home and did laundry, met up with Winky and helped take some stuff from the old place apart, got dinner and watched Grey's until 10, and of course now I'm blogging.

Tomorrow: Work all day of course, home to run errands/clean up, champps to meet up with co-workers, movie with co-workers and DW, sleepover

Saturday: Early morning 5K walk/run with KD to support "Girls on the Run." Plans to meet up with Daniel afterwards. Possible shoe shopping to look for wedding shoes. (B's wedding!)

Sunday: Sort-of early 5K walk to support research for Cystic Fibrosis. Get ready for Monday.

OY!

Lots to do...but I want to do all of it!! I'm crazy, I know. Gee, I wonder why my anxiety comes and goes...I know I do this to myself. And that's what's funny to me, is that I know it and still do it anyways because the pros of doing everything that makes me happy (and others happy too usually) completely outweigh the cons of not getting enough sleep, feeling rushed and/or stressed a lot of the time.

On that note, I'm going to put my laundry away and then try to get into bed before 11pm tonight!

Have a good one! :)

Feeling Productive & Happy

Today, I...

*Had a pretty good day at school. Got some things ready for lessons this week and next week ahead of time (which doesn't happen all the time, so that was nice).

*Went and got Mom a late Mother's Day gift (orange, yellow, and pink lilies). *She loved it :)

*Went grocery shopping - got lots of fresh fruit, granola bars, yogurts, and some things for lunches. (all things that encourage me to eat right!)

*Did the rest of my laundry and finished straightening up my room.

*Had a delicious dinner when I got home. I had a half hour or so to myself to just sit and relax.

*Saw the Chorus Concert at school (I always tell my kids that I'm their #1 fan, so I try to go to as many after school things like this as I can) :)

*Went to Target to get the things I forgot at the grocery store...and a shirt or two for work (not planned, but needed so I don't feel toooo guilty).

*Did P90X Plyometrics Workout DVD. HOLY SWEAT! There's no telling how many calories I burned, which is AWESOME...BUT my thighs are already killing me. I'm warning you now, there will definitely be whining tomorrow and especially the next day.


Now I'm off to take a long shower and then I'm going to jump in bed for some much needed rest. :)

Good night everyone!

The Waiting Game

My Must-Have-in-My-Life Check List:
Awesome boyfriend? Check.
Great Job? Check.
Great friends in close (enough) proximity? Check.
Family nearby? Check.
Awesome Boyfriend in close (enough) proximity? ...not yet.

So Dan has been trying so hard to get a job up here in Maryland, and hasn't heard much yet. (which I try to remind myself, it takes a while to land a government job, so it's not a bad thing). I feel myself getting so impatient with waiting...

I am so happy that the time where we will live together in the same house and same STATE (weeeee!!) is not a question of "if" now, but "when." However, waiting for that time and not having any control of where is starting to get to me!

I am a planner. I love having control and planning every last detail. It's one of the ways that I can keep my anxiety down. So you can only imagine how crazy my brain is right now, by thinking about where I will be in the next next month to six months of my life. I have no idea where I'll be living, if Dan will be in Maryland yet or not, and I have no idea what kind-of timeline I will have to get ready for such a big move.

He has literally applied ALL over the state, so I can't even start looking for rent pricing for one specific neighborhood, because I have no idea where he may get a job. Do you know how VASTLY different the rent is for towns in Maryland?! VERY. So there's no use in planning that. Also, I have to give my roomie (slash landlord-she owns the house) 2 months notice before I move out.

So I know that once he does find a job (which will be SO exciting for both of us) we will literally be on crunch time...We will be trying to find a place up here to live while he's still in VA, trying to move his stuff up here, moving my stuff to the new place, giving my roommate notice, breaking his lease, getting any other furniture/house stuff we need, purging stuff we have that we don't need, and taking care of all the other stresses of a big move.

So I think one of the reasons my brain is so impatient right now, is because I consider this time the calm before the storm. I am SO excited about moving and living together, but I am realistic and know that it will be a lot of work in a short amount of time. It's something that I really can't prepare for ahead of time and/or plan out, which DRIVES ME NUTS!

Annnnnnd to top it all off, two of my best friends just moved to B'more (which is great by the way because I love the city, but wouldn't want to live there personally so now I have a place to visit in the city all the time!). We went to IKEA tonight to help pick out some things for their new place. Umm, JEALOUS! I want to pick out cute lamps, soap dispensers, and book cases too! I flippin' love doing that kind-of stuff.

Ahhhh, patience. I have LOADS of patience... Helloooo, TEACHER here!

So some days, I'm good and I'm just happy and count my blessings...

Other days, I just want to start the apartment shopping and go to IKEA!

Today is one of those days.

I know it will come.* I just hope it will soon! :)





*that's what she said ;)