Friday, December 2, 2016

Life Lately

*ahem* Hello? Is this thing on? Holy moly, y’all… I swear that I’m alive, that things are fine. But at some point, blogging just wasn’t a priority. I’ve still done my races, had a blast, taken photos galore, but at some point, I’m just like Meh. That race recap isn’t important.


So here we are, it’s freaking December and I haven't really blogged about anything since what, June? Where have the last six months gone? Let me tell you.

1. Wedding Planning
We had all these grand intentions to knock out a whole bunch of important wedding things over the summer during the three weeks that we share as "down time" (and I use that term super loosely). We didn't get as much done as we could have, nor probably should have and now that we're like 106 days out, it's time to get cranking on things we haven't done yet (officiant, dessert, other relatively minor things) but it's time to be putting it all together! Holy cow! 

We did our engagement photos the weekend before Thanksgiving (you know, 9 months after we got engaged) and I'm just in LOVE. A drizzly, gray day at Disneyland but it made the colors and lighting and story just all that much better. We super lucked out with finding Brady and I can't wait to see what he does for our wedding! 


2. Still Running
I mean, you don't expect that to ever change, right? Since June, I've hopped around, running San Diego and Seattle half marathons, paced Ventura in September, ran the Long Beach Marathon in October, added a birthday race, went to a conference in Indiana and conveniently was there the same time as the Indianapolis Monumental race weekend so duh new state to cross off! Vegas was right after that with some of the best girlfriends ever to top it all off. Tomorrow, I'm headed up to Sacramento to run the California International Marathon (my original goal race for the year) and pending its result, maybe you'll actually hear all about it! 

This is how we roll. Rock 'n Roll Las Vegas 2016. 
3. Enjoying Family Time
My sister moved back to California from five years in New York in the middle of July and I am sooo happy to have her home! Not only is it great having her home for wedding planning, but it's pretty fantastic having my whole immediate family in one place. There are only four of us in my immediate family, so we are small, and it's awesome knowing that we can kinda see each other whenever. Lots of family time and I wouldn't have it any other way! 


4. #WorkLife
This summer was insane. I mean, summer always is and my running mileage takes a total nosedive, but that's expected. But we made it through another summer of orientation programming, insane schedules, ups and downs and a summer with these amazing 45 student leaders I get to call my team. They are ridiculous, spirited, genuine beautiful human beings and I am so grateful that I get to call it my job to work with them and watch them in action.


Scheedules this summer were just crazy, and that's an understatement to say the least, but nothing we couldn't handle! Next summer is already shaping up to be a little cray cray too, but that's the way it rolls in the world of higher education - you just about never know what you're going to get!

5. Health
Nothing major, to start. But a major struggle this year has been some health and wellness challenges that some days, just knock me on my butt. About 6 years ago, I did a sleep study that revealed nothing. Just last week (right before Thanksgiving), I did another and while results are pending, I am hopeful that it starts guiding my doctors to some answers. 

Can you sleep attached to that for a night?
My challenge is that I can sleep for hours - 5, 7, 10 - and I never feel rested. I never get to a point where I feel entirely alert. Any given day, I can take a nap on my office floor for an hour and be out (that's twice now), or I'm asleep in the car on the way home from Disneyland in 5 minutes flat. I am out cold - dead to the world - but still wake up feeling totally and completely exhausted. I've worn my Garmin to bed for the last three months to get an idea of my sleep habits and essentially, I never hit REM sleep, which is when your body ultimately settles down, recharges and rests. I never get there, which would explain why I can sleep 10 hours and feel just as tired as if I slept 5. My doctor mentioned a few ideas that he thinks may be the diagnosis, but I'll hold off until I actually find out what's up, hopefully in the next week or so. 

I like to think that this hasn't affected me day-to-day but in hindsight, it's totally dictated how some of my days, weeks, go and I hate it. Hate. It. 

So there you have it. It feels like a lot and then not a lot at all, but it all adds up, right? I'm hoping I can start getting on the blogging bandwagon again soon because I miss y'all! More soon. 

xoxo