Tag Archives: wedding

Life begins now

dsc_8521It seems like life has finally slowed down a bit. Since summer began, so many things have happened that weren’t just little. They were life changing. Back on Memorial Day weekend, I moved halfway across the United States to my new home in Hays, Kansas. Shortly there after, my boyfriend of seven years and I got married… at a Cincinnati Reds game (Best Day of My Life, by the way). Over the course of the next two months after that, I spend about seven weeks in California for work, which basically resulted in nothing getting done. Long story, but I met some great people and it showed me how ready I was to finally be with my family.

My Grandma Elsie at 91. She smile was infectious.

Once I got back to Kansas, there wasn’t much resting going on. About two weeks later, my grandmother, Elsie Mae Glassner, died at age 93. She lived a wonderful life, and even when we knew it was close to time for her to pass, she couldn’t figure out why nobody could make her feel better. She was convinced she would live forever. She was an amazing woman and tougher than nails. My grandfather died 19 years ago, and since then, she lived through 2 knee replacements, a hip replacement, a hole in her bowels which caused her to have to get a colostomy, breast cancer, chemotherapy and a mastectomy, multiple falls and congestive heart failure. Grandma was the sweetest woman you ever met, and her smile is something I will never forget.

The best part about grandma is that my mom is a lot like her: smiles like her, and is the toughest woman I’ve ever met. To know that I have that in my blood line is something that I don’t take lightly. I am sure that my grandpa was happy to finally have her back. They loved each other very much, and they are both missed.

We finally arrived back home to Kansas last Tuesday for what seems like it could be an extended period of time. I found myself saying, “Ok, what now?” Everything has been so busy the last few month. It’s hard to finally take a breath, look around and say, “Ok. I can get back to normal.” I haven’t had time to get into a routine, but that is definitely my goal over the next few weeks. I have been shuffling my time between work work and house work. It’s actually a really tough thing to do, because my office is on Pacific Time. I like working first thing in the morning, but then I find myself working till 8-9pm because they are still in the office until then! It seems like the balance is to switch back and forth between work stuff and home stuff. If someone has a better way, I would love to hear it!

Anyway, it’s nice to finally feel like our life can begin now. There will always be things popping up that knock us out of our “normal”, but a few weeks of calm are exciting to have in front of us.

When one door closes

mapWell, here I sit on my last night in my apartment in California. On my last night alone as a single person. Wow, what a weird thing to say. My last night living alone, hopefully forever.

I have this weird urge to cry, not because I’m sad, but because I sort of have graduation goggles. You know, like when you were finishing up high school, getting ready to graduate and you completely forget that you were picked on, beat up, or ignored completely every day for four straight years. My California experience has made me a richer, more well-rounded person. The naive little Midwestern girl has now be exposed to the real world, and I have made it through to the other side.

I moved out here for a lot of reasons, and I can’t help but think it was absolutely the right decision. I am coming out of this a better employee in a job that I enjoy so much. I have found so many strengths and turn weaknesses into things of the past. I have become  a reality show producer, an event planner, a photo editor. I have been involved in so many wonderful things over the past two years with Prep2Prep. I have dedicated my life to the brand. I love this company, I just know that something great is going to happen for us.

For years now I have worked like a dog. My career has always been number one. I am so excited to finally have a reason to make work number 2. Prep2Prep is allowing me the opportunity to do what I love, what I am good at, and take care of my family at the same time. I have sacrificed two years with my puppy dogs, and now, I get to work from home and stay with them all day long.

There is a lot going on, and I still have to make it through three days of work and a 24 hour road trip halfway across the United State, but moving out of my apartment is taking one step closer to my dream. The days to come will be so special, and I can’t wait for new challenges both personally and professionally.

Keep Moving Forward…

’14 is off to a start

Ok, ok. So it is 24 days into the new year, and I have yet to post. Well I have a good reason…

Ok, never mind. But I am posting now, so get over it. 

My 2014 has been a little different than most people’s. To start, work has been paying me a very large sum of money to do nothing but data entry since about December 1st. It completely sucks, but it is what has to be done. It hasn’t happened very often in this job, but my job satisfaction level is not very high right now. I mean, I am satisfied with my work, but not satisfied with the work I have to do. It’s kind of a bummer, but I know it will change before long.

I had the privilege of spending the first 8 days of the new year with Chas and my animals. I was working most of the time, but the feeling of what a normal day would be like, living back in Kansas of course, was spectacular. The only real problem with it all was that my day was starting at about 3:30 am. The races that I was preparing to run caused me to get up that early, so just as I trained for the races, I trained for the Rise and Shine too.

It went well, but once I was gone, and the dogs were still getting up that early, Chas didn’t appreciate it too much. Whoops!

I didn’t really set any resolutions this year. So many big things are happening to my life in 2014 that I assumed that would be enough for me to worry about… Running 48.6 miles, moving back to Kansas, getting married. I will also be lucky enough to see old friends and family, and spend the rest of my life with my best friend. Resolutions aren’t necessary for me to reach a level of happiness that I have ‘needed’ in past years.

I am planning on writing in more detail about the races, but will do that in a series of other posts over the next few weeks. Today’s post was just to catch myself up to speed on what my year has been like. I have decided to spend this weekend detailing my workout plan for February. After the races, I caught the flu and am still in recovery mode at this point. February is 28 days long, and the perfect amount of time to make some changes and start preparing my body for what I want it to look like in my wedding dress. 

I’m excited for new challenges and adventures this year, and I hope to post it all for you to see. It’s gonna be a great year…

Hind Sight is 20/20

Happy New Year everyone!

I just spent a few minutes reading my last post of 2012, the challenges I had listed for myself in 2013 and the struggles of the previous year. I don’t necessarily think that I became a better person in 2013, in fact, probably the opposite. It sounds awful to say that I feel like I have more hate in my heart that ever before. I am cynical and abrasive. I complain, and am often selfish.

And it feels like everyone around me is quite the opposite. This morning I started thinking about why 2014 will be a happier year for me. I figured if I posted my thoughts here, next year on this day, I will be able to reflect again on what they year has brought me.

My fiance is the most easy going, loving guy I’ve ever known. He is so happy and willing to take care of me, even when I am mean and in a bad mood. Sometimes I question why he would pick me. We have been through so much together over the past 7 years: deaths, births, sickness, financial issues, moves, controversy and baby puppies. We have made it through so much, and we finally get to be married in 2014. I couldn’t be happier and more excited for such a big life change.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I definitely don’t give my family the amount of time they deserve. We are spread out all over the country, so we never get to spend enough time together, but with the wedding fast approaching, everyone will get to be together in the same place for a few days, and besides the actual marriage part, I am so excited about this.

This sounds funny, but my life is my work most of the time. It’s really all I have in California. So over the next year, I think work deserves less of my time. I have devoted that last 2 years of my life to it, and I feel like it is finally time that other things become the priority.

I love running so much, but I know that my fitness can be better. With the wedding just 7 months away, I definitely have some work to do to make myself happy.  But don’t worry, running more is definitely on that list.

If I do nothing else, but complete the Dopey Challenge, get married, and make family more a priority in my life, I will consider it a successful 2014.  So Peace and Love to you all in 2014. I hope you take what life gives you and turn it into something amazing!