Bloomsday 2015

Bloomsday: Success!

The course itself was a bit more of a challenge than I had expected.  My fast goal was to get 1:10, but realistically I thought 1:15 would be my actual time.  However, once the race started, the combination of trying to get around the slower crowds in the first mile (since I had no prior Bloomsday time, I was placed in the group behind where I probably otherwise should have started) and the dreaded Doomsday Hill (which turned out to be much harder than I was anticipating) made me think that I'd be lucky if I broke 1:20.  So despite the multiple hills and again, losing my stride here and there thanks to inconsiderate runners, I found a pace and just stuck with it.

I didn't time myself so I wasn't really sure of my official time until last night, which was 1:14:39.  I broke my 1:15 goal!  I feel that if I do more hill training, I could probably hit 1:10 next year.  But we'll think about that when the time is closer.  For now I'm just basking in the satisfaction of finishing the race strong.  And maybe looking at when my next race can be.  :)

Training for Bloomsday really was fun.  I mean, not the most exciting thing, of course.  But there really is something to be said for setting goals and meeting them each week.  For me every week of training was a huge accomplishment.  But to finish the race was an even bigger accomplishment.  I can see why people do these races over and over again.

I was exhausted... completely exhausted after that race.  Even today, I just feel like I got hit by a truck.  It amazes me because I've run almost that entire distance three different times in the past few weeks.  I wonder if part of it is the adrenaline of a race, and then the crash.  I'm just laying low today.  I've been cooking a bit since I'm starting a Whole10 to kind of clean up my eating.  Otherwise, just relaxing.  Maybe even a nap.

Food Pictures... Yum!

All through my Whole30 I meant to post photos of the delicious foods I was making and eating, but never got around to it.  So here are some lovely pictures of what I've been eating so far on my Whole10!  Keep in mind I'm not one much for editing photos.

West African Chicken Stew

This one is DELICIOUS, and includes sunflower seed butter.  Honestly, I am barely able to eat much of it at a time which really surprised me because I absolutely love how it tastes.  It's just incredibly rich.  Luckily it's pretty dense with chicken so you don't have to eat much to get your animal protein in.

Stuffed Acorn Squash

My favorite!!!  The stuffing includes lean ground beef (pasture-raised, grass-fed) and cauliflower rice. 

This is just the spinach, artichokes, and onions sauteeing for the spinach-artichoke turkey burgers. 

Olive Oil Mayonnaise

I don't ever see a reason to buy mayonnaise at the store again! 

Spinach-Artichoke Turkey Burgers

They taste better than they look, I promise!!! 

Garlic-Dijon Roasted Brussels Sprouts

My absolute FAVORITE vegetable dish so far. 

Breakfast Egg Bake

Bela made this one.  It has ground pork with sausage seasoning, bell peppers, mushrooms, onions, coconut milk, and of course eggs.  It's been great to have all made up and just heat it up quickly after a long night at work. 

Spaghetti Squash Pad Thai

I was actually surprised I liked this one so much.  I like spaghetti squash, but I don't love it.  But I definitely loved this dish and will make it regularly from here on out! 

And just some veggies I roasted up a few days ago.  Nothing like roasted veggies. 

And here is the turkey burger, bun excluded.  On it is the mayo, avocado mashed with lemon juice, unsweetened brown mustard and ketchup, and onions. 

In case you're tired of looking at food photos, I decided to post some from my hike on High Drive a few days ago.  Beautiful views!  And lots of uphill so it was a great workout!  I love where I live! 

^^^Spring is here!!^^^

Change

Well, it's official.  After what has been a CRAZY week, I have now officially moved to Spokane, Washington!  Bela and I flew to Florida last Monday, and spent the three days organizing, packing, and throwing out stuff in preparation for our drive across country (unfortunately I was only able to see a very few people while there, as there was just too much to do and not enough time).  This wasn't my first time doing a cross-country drive, but it was my first time doing the whole thing one day after another.  When we went to California we had a couple of day-long breaks in St. Louis and Colorado Springs.  This time, we did it in four days straight.

I have to admit, I was really scared about driving a moving truck across country.  Though in this day and age it's a lot safer than it once was with the technology we have, it's still an unnerving task for two women by themselves.  Not to mention we were hearing stories about snow being a possibility this time of year through some of the mountain passes in the north.  But-- thank goodness-- we did NOT deal with that!!  The truck we rented held up... and we had a blast through those four days singing at the top of our lungs, car-dancing, along with many long best-friend-heart-to-heart talks.  Bela has grown to be as close as a sister in the past year and I've been so grateful for her friendship in my life.  Of course I would never tell her that!  Kidding.

So we have moved everything into our apartment.  No internet yet at this time, so I am at Starbucks with a decaf Americano, just giving myself permission to turn my brain off for the night and relax.  I go back to work tomorrow night for a three-in-a-row.  I'll think then but for now, I've kind of reached my stopping point for the day.  Life has been insanely non-stop recently.  And I've loved it, but I'm also ready for  a bit of a break!!

I still can't believe I made this leap.  Yesterday I sat down on the floor of my living room, looked around at all my stuff... stuff that once sat in a little one-bedroom apartment in Jacksonville, FL.  And I realized, I live here now.  No move is ever permanent, but the travel nursing deal was definitely always incredibly temporary.  I definitely knew I was not going to go back to Florida, but there was never any sort of settledness about it.  But this... is different.  And for right now where I'm at in my life... it's what's right.  

Life has been so full and so good the last year and a half.  I've learned things about myself.  I've grown so much.  And there's so much more growing left to do.  So many more ups and downs.  I feel like I'm learning to see life always as first and foremost, an adventure.  I hope I'll never stop seeing it that way.  I hope I'll always tackle life and everything I do with passion.  I hope I don't become jaded because the truth is, it's so damn easy to be that way.  I've been there before... I could definitely be there again.

Anyway, I'm just excited for the future right now!

Changes

February 1st, 2014 was the day we drove fifteen hours from Castro Valley, California, all the way to Spokane, Washington.  I had never heard of Spokane before this assignment, but the thought of living in Washington State for eight weeks seemed pretty cool.  We drove in that first night, stayed at the Montvale downtown since we hadn't really found a place to live, and the solid inch of ice everywhere was already giving me second thoughts about being here.  I could barely walk anywhere in my TOMS.

A delicious breakfast at Frank's Diner while a couple of inches of snow fell the next morning did change my opinion somewhat of being here.  The people all seemed so warm and friendly, especially after three months of California's less friendly climate.  Within the first week here, we moved into a lovely condo in Rathdrum with even lovelier landlords, drove through our first snowstorm, and experienced our first negative temperature weather.  Not to mention we felt accepted very quickly into the fold at Deaconess with our 7 Tower co-workers.  Over and over again we both kept saying how this assignment felt like a dream compared to our last one.

So we renewed our contracts again, then again, and then one last time.  And as of this week, we have officially been hired on at Deaconess as permanent employees!  I am no longer a travel nurse... which is a little bittersweet.

What would possess me to move almost three thousand miles away from home?  I have a feeling there are many people, possibly in my own family even, that don't understand it.  There has been something about being out here, being away from all that is familiar, where culture and life are different, weather is different (I mean, I still don't even own an appropriate wardrobe for a real winter).  And I've never really been able to put into words why I love it out here so much.  I'm excited to be a bit settled for awhile, to have my furniture and my own things out here with me.  I'm excited to be living somewhere again instead of just staying somewhere.

I'm excited for this new chapter in my life!

Life as I see it

Well, I said I was going to keep this blog more faithfully.  And thanks to a foot injury that unfortunately kept me out of work tonight, resulting therefore in the inability to go anywhere at this time, I've got a little extra time on my hands tonight.

Yes, a foot injury.  Not exactly certain how serious at this point, but enough that it's difficult to walk.  But it is somewhat better than it was this time last night, so I'm hopeful that by tomorrow it might be even better.  No idea how it happened, though I suspect it's related to running.  Anyway, I'm not here to talk about my foot.

Actually, I'm not really here to talk about anything really.  I guess this is just one of those usual boring updates.

This week has been quite relaxing, honestly (minus said foot injury).  After working crazy overtime last week (which I'm so grateful now that I did!) I gave myself permission to just relax.  Didn't pressure myself to pick up extra this week.  I enjoyed each moment.  I did have some issues with my car registration.  For future reference to those of you out there... think very carefully about buying a car out of state, especially if that state is over three thousand miles from your home state!  That's all I have to say about that.  The issue is quite resolved at this point.  A couple of days ago, we drove out to Green Bluff to go berry picking.  Something I've never done before!  And I'm even more excited now, because come fall we can go apple picking, and pumpkin picking at the pumpkin patch!  Believe me, for Florida girls, this is a novelty!

I have to say, for the first time in my life... I'm happy and content with where I'm at.  Not that my life has been really hard in the past, but there's always been this very unsettled feeling deep down.  I've known pretty much since high school that Florida was not where I would live for the rest of my life.  And since nursing school, that itch to leave never went away.  Taking that leap back in October was the best thing I could have done.  Being in this part of the country somehow just feels right... and I love it!

That isn't to say that life is always just amazing.  But right now, I feel I can take a step back and simply appreciate where it's at.

Overdue Update

I have somehow managed to go all of June and all of July without one post.  This blog has definitely fallen to the wayside, which I hate as I would like for it to be a way for me to keep friends and family updated.  Although Facebook and instagram allow for that, I find that I love the idea of sitting down and taking the time to actually think about how I am doing, what I have been doing, what direction I am/would like to be going, etc.  A blog is just more personal.  And as most introverts tend to do, I just express myself best in writing.  Not to say I am a good writer.  Far from it, but I do enjoy it.

But when life gets full and busy, these things do take a back burner to the rest of it.  I don't even know if it's worth trying to give any sort of update, but in a nutshell, summer in Spokane has been awesome!  We found a place in town (we were previously living pretty far outside of town) back in June, and being close to work as well as just the rest of the city has been great.  Since May I've visited Montana, North Dakota, started dating an awesome guy (eventually perhaps you will find out more... but I like to keep things somewhat private), moved into Spokane, turned 27, taken a trip to Portland, highlighted my hair for the first time, (my hair actually has blonde in it now!) visited Silverwood Theme Park (largest theme park in the Northwest), biked the Route of the Hiawatha, worked A TON, and oh yeah... traded my car, Ron, in for a new Rav4!

So there you have it, a condensed version of my summer so far.  I'm still loving it out here in Washington.  A life of not dealing with humidity, constant (CONSTANT) oppressive heat, daily thunderstorms, or keeping one eye on the weather channel for hurricanes is quite foreign to me.  We have had a few weeks of surprisingly hot weather, but without the humidity it is still somewhat bearable.  Learning to live with it and not having central AC is another story!  I'm ready for some cooler temps, and soon!  Heat is 80% WHY I left Florida!

I will make attempts to actually keep up with this blog.  In the meantime, I'm really enjoying my time out here in the Northwest!

...and we're staying!!

Well, in this week's news, turns out we do get to renew here in Spokane!  A trip to FL is still in the works for this Friday since we bought our tickets home well before knowing we'd renew, but once we get back we will renew for another four weeks.  I had been so disappointed to have to move on, especially only getting to experience Spokane in the snow and ice.  Though I have enjoyed that aspect of it (seeing if I can really survive a deep north winter-- turns out I can!), I am definitely ready for spring and have heard so much about how beautiful Washington is this time of year.

I'm feeling in pretty good spirits right now after this news, plus having a really great and relaxing few days off work this week.  I feel like it is just a taste of what the last four weeks here will be like.  The weather today was beautiful.  We decided to do a little exploring and thanks to the awesome suggestion of our landlord, found ourselves at Lake Coeur d'Alene.  We ended up hiking one of the trails, then driving around for a good hour just enjoying the scenery.

Life...well it's pretty good right now.  There's something about being out here--exploring, experiencing new things... it just makes me feel so alive!  I'm still loving the running, and am now looking to train for a half marathon in the next few months.  See, now that I've written that down, I actually have to do it!  :)  However there is a part of me that is ready to visit home again, so this FL trip definitely is coming at a good time.  It will be good to re-connect with people, visit some of my old haunts, and just relax in the sun (haven't gotten a lot of that out here).  A beach trip has already been planned, and I'm sure a few more will be in the works before long.  Can't wait!

Tomorrow starts a busy week of working (with a farewell-turned-celebration potluck), packing, and traveling.  Looking forward to it!

some introspection on this tuesday night

I have had horrible writer's block lately.  Keep getting on here to write and while I feel like I have so much to say, I just can't get it out into words on the screen.  So here's trying again, hoping that something of substance materializes here tonight.

Spokane has been an awesome assignment.  AWESOME.  I am praying that we get asked to renew this contract, as I have just loved every aspect of it.  The actual assignment itself is a challenge, don't get me wrong.  The floor we work on is definitely a PCU and can be a huge challenge, though I still feel I've dealt with worse at my old job so I can't complain.

I can't believe we are half-way through this assignment.  Time has flown so fast, but it's like that when you're having fun I'm told.  We are living a ways outside of civilization (for me, anyway) so days off honestly aren't spent in an extremely exciting manner unless we take a trip into Spokane.  My focus has been hugely on my health and fitness, and I can honestly say I'm enjoying it (in the snow, rain, and ice, too)!  I've challenged myself in ways I haven't in years... and for once the focus is on rising to the challenge and pushing myself rather than just what size I am and whether I've gained weight or not. We love trips to Target and Trader Joe's.  We've decided Trader Joe's is a discovery of finding a new snack to enjoy each time we go.  So far, we've found a lot!  I love Trader Joe's!

We took a trip to Seattle last week, which was pretty awesome.  Honestly, Seattle just wasn't quite what I thought it would be.  I think the cold rain had a lot to do with my disappointment, so I'm hoping one day to give it another chance.  I think I could love Seattle (I mean, there are like 75 Starbucks in the downtown area alone... hello!) but that one weekend just wasn't quite enough.  I will say, however, that Cafe Nouveau had the absolute BEST croissant I've ever tasted... twice-baked almond!  We even went back on our way out of Seattle just for that.  I am still dreaming of that, still dreaming of it.

As for just this whole adventure of travel nursing... I'm SO glad that I decided to do this.  There has been something so incredibly liberating about just picking up and going across the country.  To the complete unknown, with nothing but a sense of adventure and a friend at my side.  Which is what makes it as awesome as it's been.

It isn't that I didn't know who I was before embarking on this... but I've learned SO much about myself and the world in the past four months.  Branching out and seeing that there are different cultures, different ways of life, different viewpoints, all of that... honestly nothing I believe or think has changed since leaving Florida.  But it has been re-affirmed again and again.  Let's be honest, I'm not quite the diligent, conservative girl who never questioned anything that I was just a few short years ago.  There's a lot about the south that I miss, don't get me wrong. (my family and friends, Chick Fil A, Publix, just to name a few...)

There's something about the Northwest.  I don't know what it is... I just feel that I've grown into myself out here.  I can't even express what I'm trying to say.  Just that this experience has been so amazing, and I am so incredibly grateful to God for giving it to me.  I think I might be able to better express these thoughts another time... I'll leave it at that for now.