A Year's Time

It's really amazing what a year can bring. As I sit here, I am thinking about where I was at this time last year, and where I might be a year from now. It's really mind boggling, in all honesty.

Last year, I had just graduated, driven to Arizona and back for my dear friend's wedding, flown to California for a whirlwind tour of San Fransisco and Sacramento, come home, and was anticipating the start of my first real job. About a week and three days, 4 tear-filled nights, 3 days of no lunch breaks, and a lot of careful thought later, I quit, and I could not be happier to have made that decision. Not long after that, I began writing, and I was lucky to receive many compliments, and eventually some freelance writing opportunities as a result. More wonderful opportunities fell into my lap, and I have been blessed with a job that changed my life, and my current job which is teaching me much about life, compassion, and hardship.


The year continued, and I began to forge my own way in the world. I've had many laughs, met some wonderful friends, and had a few rough days, but in all, it's been a year full of growth. I've learned a lot about myself, what I'm capable of, and about relationships with family, my boyfriend, and far-away friends.

As I look back now, I have a mixed feeling about whether time went quickly or at a snail's pace. On the one hand, June 2011 seems like it was an eternity ago, but then I think that I can almost feel that San Fransisco rain fall quietly on my hair. Strange, isn't it, how nostalgia brings everything back so easily, and yet, life changes so quickly?

Time will only tell where life's journey will take me until 2013, but I have a couple of ideas, and boy, am I excited.

Must...Keep...Walking

As part of the latest shenanigans at work, we have created a walking contest to encourage healthy lifestyles among the staff and their families. We got into teams of our choice and thanks to Kellogg, we have been using some donated pedometers to keep track of our steps for a little over a week now. My team is full of competitive people, and there are prizes on the line, albeit small ones (in fact, I'm not even sure what the prizes are), but prizes nonetheless!  So, we made an additional bet with another team. The team who loses must wash the cars of the winning team. Added bonus: they will do so in the parking lot at work so that everyone can see their defeat.

Needless to say, my competitive streak has kicked in and I have been really stepping up my game (see what I did there?). My calves are burning a little and frankly a 2 mile walk in heels with my team was not the greatest on my poor toes. All in the name of victory, right?

My team and I have been going on a walk each day at lunch, and it's been a great break from the norm. Often, it can be easy to forget to take a moment to breathe and relax at work. I am convinced I'm working harder simply because my concentration is better after taking a good walk.

In short, this is a great lesson in morale and health, as well as productivity. It's too easy to get caught in the daily paperwork drudgery and forget to enjoy life. How can people be expected to work without having a chance to enjoy the sunshine? There's far more to life than sitting behind a computer screen, and I'm determined to enjoy it.

Happy walking!

The Power of Ps and Qs...

Sometimes it astounds me at how often people leave out the phrases "please" and "thank you" from their conversations.  After leaving out this common courtesy, it amazes me further that those same people wonder why others are generally unmotivated to act quickly in order to appease them. I think it is fair to say that everyone deserves a certain level of respect and dignity, no matter their story or background. Using these phrases is a great way to incorporate both of those, along with a genuine smile.

Saying "please" and "thank you" are especially important when dealing with someone who is performing a service. Almost everyone can sniff out a less-than-genuine attitude from a mile away, and it is also important to note that it's typically easy to detect a sour attitude, even through texts, emails, or messages. Leaving out common courtesies can spell disaster for the project, not to mention frustration on the part of the person performing the service.

No one actually wants to be remembered as miserly or rude, so why is it that these words are so often forgotten? I've reached my limit on the lack of respect issue, have you?

Grinding My Gears

You know what really grinds my gears? People who insist on driving below the speed limit. I'm not talking about just hovering slightly below, I'm talking at least 5-10 miles an hour under the speed limit. Why? Why must you do this? There isn't even a traffic jam. There will be a handful of cars on the road, all simply inching along, killing me slowly with their determination to make me late.

I don't really speed. I kind of freak out if I discover I was accidentally going too fast. I'm just really not in the mood to get a ticket, and the idea of being pulled over makes my heart race; I'm quite sure I would instantly burst into tears if ever I was pulled over.

But I certainly do NOT go below the speed limit. There are a lot of things I want to do in my life, and frankly, waiting anxiously to pass the snail moving in front of me is not one of them. Yet, somehow, I seem to perpetually choose to live in locations where traffic moves slower than molasses in January...on the back of a mule....which is stuck in cement.

I have things to do, people, get out of the way! At the very least, do not block all four lanes with your crawling speeds. If you want to spend your life on the road, fine, but I want to accomplish some things.

Good News for the Plain Jane

For those of us who have been accused of being a Plain Jane by certain, ahem, others...there is good news.

I consider this a win. Even though I already found my prince :)