HAPPY HALLOWEEN

Happy Halloween ghouls and goblins! I really do enjoy halloween and getting a chance to be someone or something else for a day. Unfortunately since I work in the public sector and have to be professional, I couldn't dress up today. I also didn't attend any halloween parties this year. But I did soak up halloween in my own way, and have been pretty crafty lately. What? Me? Yes, I've actually been getting my DIY on lately. I decided to do a sugar skull face tonight while handing out candy to the kids. And last weekend I painted pumpkins (instead of carving them), and I love the way they turned out. I really want to keep them year round because they are so pretty to me. I definitely want to incorporate more projects and DIY into my life. I definitely want to share the end products here.

Of course Disneyland was the icing on the cake for a great halloween. I've never been to disneyland when the park has been decorated for the holidays. The pumpkins and fall colors everywhere truly made the park that much more colorful! Not to mention that the haunted mansion being made into a nightmare before christmas edition was absolutely awesome! I think I need to go back for Christmas too.

ROUGH DAYS

These past two weeks have been rough. Nothing extremely horrible or anything, but just exhausting and draining. Last week, I woke up to a 'pins and needles' feeling in part of my leg. I thought for sure I had slept funny and somehow cut off my circulation. But as the day continued, the pain persisted and even spread. It went from one leg to both legs, from the tips of my toes to my butt. It felt like my whole entire lower body had shut down. This was weird and I knew I had to go to the doctor. Of course as guessed, my doctor didn't find anything after taking blood and running a series of test. So back home I went to rest. The next day I was at a conference and was able to take it easy all day, and half way through I finally took a advil to control the pain. My plan was to make an appointment for the next morning. But by the following morning, the pain had for the most part subsided. The remainder of the weekend I took it easy and it eventually went away. I have no idea what it was or what triggered two days of 'pins and needles' feeling through my lower body, but it was no fun. I will definitely be keeping an eye out if the symptoms start up again.

And this week, work got a little crazy. I worked over-time from Monday-Wednesday. I worked so much overtime that I only worked half a day on Thursday (and I had today off to).  So ready to relax the remainder of this weekend.  I'm leaving behind the past two weeks and am looking forward to organizing, cleaning, crafting, and of course disneyland!

BACHELORETTE LIFE

This week has truly been my off week and as a result I feel like I've been the epitome of a young bachelorette. I spent the past weekend in Vegas with my girlfriends dancing and drinking (but not staying out too late, because I am still a grandma). This week I've been sipping on champagne and eating incredibly fatty foods. For example, today I ordered pepperoni pizza and sipped on a glass of pink moscato. I've even neglected laundry and may have wore a pair of pants more than once without having laundered them first. I've even been slacking on working out and studying.

Who am I?

I think I have become a little stressed and tired this week. I am being the complete opposite of my usual motivated, high energy, and ordered self. And its definitely taking its toll on me. I need to get to bed early tonight and break this cycle. I believe starting off my day tired and with low energy is destroying my whole day. I need a cleanse this weekend! I just want to sleep in, work-out, have a clean home, and get lots of studying done. I am going to do exactly ALL of those things. I also think I've been feeling this way, because my weekends are so great. When its back to the work week I feel lonely and unsure about when I will have companionship again. I just need to stay focused, treat myself right (less fatty foods, more sleep, water, and working out), and keep my mind of what I am trying to accomplish here.

OUR GOD IS RE-AFFIRMING

I am the queen of planning, dreaming, and making things happen. All too often an idea gets planted in my head and then I run with it! I would like to think of myself as a pretty realistic person (more so than most people my age), therefore I think these ideas that I brew in my head are attainable with hard work and passion. But at the same time, I always feel like I need a second opinion. I need someone to verbally approve my ideas before I officially start to pursue them. Especially, in this day and age when so many young people are trying to accomplish similar things but are falling short.  Who am I to think that my plans shall succeed over someone else who is trying just as hard? I wish to share my "plan", but this just isn't the place. I just kept pondering if this plan is right, and had some feelings of doubt.

Let me start off my saying that God is re-affirming. I prayed to him about this "plan" of mine, wondering if this was right. I know he also has a plan for me and that his plan will always reign over any of mine. All I can hope is that what I desire in my heart is in alignment with what he has in store for me and my life. I can tell you that 24 hours after talking with him and praying on this matter, he answered in such a magnificent way. His answer to my plan was clearly "yes", as he directed me to a website that literally had to answer to my problem. Its so mind blowing how he works sometimes, but oh so magnificent!

"For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future" 

Jeremiah 29:11

On top of him re-affirming me (which was perfect enough), after disclosing the idea with close friends and family, I received even more support and approval. Our God is so good, and all we simply need to do is listen to him. Sometimes he will say yes to our prayers, other times no, and other times we just have to be patient. But sometimes, I hear of situations of people who have been struggling for long periods of time but praying like crazy.  And yet things continue to snowball around them. I wish those people would simply listen to him. Wait upon his signs. If things are still a struggle, maybe he is clearly showing you that you need to make a change in your life.  My belief is to ask, pray, and listen to what he has to say to you. It is not always what you want to hear, but what you need to prosper you.

OCTOBER

I really do like October although I don't really admit in. I guess in the past, October has always been a blur for me since I'm usually busy with school. But this is the second year now where I won't be nose deep in the books, and when I can actually celebrate and appreciate this month. To top it off I already have some exciting things planned and I am excited.  Somethings I am looking forward to :

1. Vegas with my friends
2. Disneyland during halloween time
3. A four day weekend in the middle of the month
4. My first professional conference
5. Decorating my apartment for fall/halloween
6. Joining a kickball league
7. Hot chocolate and warm drinks

ON TURNING 24!

Yesterday (September 26th) I celebrated my 24th birthday! It really was a lovely little day. I spent the first half of my day at work and had to do a (last minute) ride along with a doctor. He was very nice, and I was happy teach him about my career. He even treated me to a birthday lunch! I was able to get off of work early, so I packed my bags and headed down to SD. I already had an appointment to get my hair done. This time I had my stylist put in extensions and I was so happy with the way they turned out. They are clip-in, so I am hoping when its time for me to put them in myself that they look just as decent. The last part of the evening I was told to get dressed and ready for a surprise. I was treated by my sweet man to my favorite restaurant; The Prado in Balboa Park. It was the perfect evening!

My birthday celebrations will continue the remainder of the weekend. Today I went on a little shopping spree and spent a little too much money. But I must say it felt good to spoil myself since I've been very responsible this year. Tomorrow there is supposedly another surprise for me and then in the evening I'm meeting a few friends out to hit up the town. Its already been a great weekend, but I am looking forward to everything!

As I reflect and look back on being 23 and the past year, I've never felt so proud of myself. I accomplished a handful of major things this past year. I remember when I turned 23 I wrote down a list of goals I wanted to accomplish, and I did whatever it took to complete them. Getting my dream job, buying a new car, living on my own, running my first half marathon--I would have never thought at 23 I would accomplish all those things within a few months! This year was a huge year of growth and I plan on continuing to grow at age 24.

I am planning on writing on more detailed post on my goals for 24 and what I hope to accomplish this upcoming year.

FIRST HALF-MARATHON: GIRLS ON THE GO SAN DIMAS

I am officially a half-marathon runner. Earlier today I crossed the finish line and completed a huge goal for the year. The race started at 7:20am, and I had butterflies in my stomach all morning. It didn't help that I ended up leaving my house late so I was worried about making it there in time. I literally arrived 10 minutes before the race was about to start. So I drank some water, did some quick stretching, and got in line for the start.

The start was very simple. Someone did a small countdown on some loud speakers and then the race started. I placed my towards the back of the runners, since I wanted to pace myself and because I didn't want to get in anyones way. I started off with a very slow jog since there were so many runners. I would say the first half mile or so it was very slow because it was so crowded with runners, but after that people started breaking away. Everyone came to this random dirt hill and was unsure where to go, I saw some people turning around and saying go the other way. But 98% of the people decided to go down the dirt hill anyways. But apparently that wasn't the right way to go....but everyone forged ahead anyways until we found a paved road.

I saw women passing me up left and right and I kept telling myself "pace yourself, regardless of what speed other people are doing". I remember seeing the sign for the 1 mile marker and thinking to myself "WHAT?" I of course was tracking my run with the runkeeper app, and as I hit the 1 mile marker my runkeeper was telling me that I had already run close to 2 miles. Okay....

At about 3 miles we had to go down another deep hill which led to a creek bed. The only thing was that in order to cross the creek you had to step on a path of teeny tiny rocks. Of course this took some time, so there was a large back-up of people waiting to cross. I would say this took 3-4 minutes, which kind of sucked if you were going for a PR.

Unfortunately my phone battery died before the end of the race. But I crossed the finish line at 2:46! Which is a time I am actually proud of. Especially considering that I ran 14 miles! What you ask? Yes, remember I told you my app was telling me I was running a mile longer than the markers on the trail? It wasn't just a problem with my app, EVERYONE said we ran further than what we were supposed to. Apparently we ran extra because the trail wasn't properly marked, and we were given poor direction. Since this was my FIRST half-marathon I didn't know any better. But after reading reviews, people are pissed about how this event was organized. People were mad about running over 13.1 miles, about it not being completing safe, and about people cheating. I mean there are seriously people calling this the worst half marathon they've ever ran.

Like I said, I don't know any better. I do know that this was a great accomplishment for me. My longest run was 10 miles, so being able to run 14 miles today felt amazing! I feel like I can accomplish anything. I am looking forward to completing many more half-marathons throughout my life.