2011

This year has been pretty good to me. I thought 2010 was a really good year since I turned 21, the first part of student teaching ended, and I made some really fun friends in my geography class. But 2011 topped it, yeah there were some highs and lows but I wouldn't trade it for anything! I'll highlight some of my favorite parts of the year.

The year started with a bang at The Mansion with some of my friends. I had a great time and danced the night away. This was my favorite picture of the night :)

My first Nuggets game! Best part? It was against the Lakers so it was a really good game! Even though they lost it was really fun. A friend came with me but it was epic! The only bad part was that Birdman didn't play due to injuries. 

Random Boulder days with Tyler. He is someone who I need to visit more often! Tyler and I have been friends over three years now. We always got to the Med during happy hour and order too much food. It's the perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Student teaching was a huge part of the year! My whole last semester of college was spent in a second grade classroom. It wasn't a cake walk but worth every moment. I wouldn't trade anything of my experience for anything. I worked with an amazing teacher who helped me so much and encouraged me when I felt everything had collapsed. It was all worth it in the end. The kids were amazing and I miss them so much. I can't post pictures of the kids but the flowers were from different events throughout the year.

All the races I ran this year! I did four which is less then what I expected to do. Due to injuries and crappy training I didn't accomplish what I wanted. I ran two 5ks, a five mile run, and the Bolder Boulder 10k. I hope to get in more and try some races in Denver. I did PR in a 5k and was the 11th overall female finisher. Hopefully next year I'll get in more races!

Graduating college is another huge accomplishment I made this year! I not only had one but two graduations! One from the college of education and the big one for school. I loved every moment of it. It was bittersweet in the end. (I cried at dinner since I was sad about graduating). I miss all the friends I made and being in school. College was worth every penny. 

Some of the fun times from second semester! I got to experience being 21 to the fullest and having a fun time with all my friends. I went out a little too much but it was fun. 

Summer 2011 was probably one of the best summers ever! I didn't have a job but my lack of job gave me free time to run. Between all the roof top bars, Pinkberry runs, late nights, beer pong, concerts, sushi, Water World, Casa Bontia, movies, random nights, and bad reality tv nights with Arielle, I loved it. So much fun with everyone! These pictures cannot do justice for all the fun I had.

Miami was defiantly a blast! I had so much fun and never wanted to come home. It was the perfect way to end summer. The trip was my last "kid" trip. Right when I came back I got the job I have now.

The first picture was me celebrating getting a job. I work as a preschool teacher at a daycare. I love my kids and have so much with them. The last picture was Arielle's last night in Colorado before moving to NYC. I miss her tons she was my partner in crime this summer. 

My best friend Alyssa and I on my birthday! We went to the melting pot and ate of yummy food. We had a really fun server. A nice way to celebrate with my parents.

I have enjoyed this year and will be ending it Miami! I'm looking forward to my vacation and road trip with Jennifer.

Getting back into the game

As many of my friends and family know, I love to read. I love everything from the classics to beach trash. I love my guilty pleasure series like Pretty Little Lairs, Gossip Girl, and the Carrie Dairies. Lately I have been getting into running books.

I love a good inspirational sports movie but reading about a certain event or game is better. You can actually get into the person's head and go through the emotions they were feeling at the time. Over the summer I read Running with the Buffaloes which is about the CU mens cross country team winning the  1998 national title. Mainly the author focused on world class elite runner and national champion Adam Goucher (he is actually from Colorado Springs!).

Recently I stumbled across his wife, Kara's blog. On her blog she was promoting Adam's new book and there was a link to her book, Kara Goucher's Running for Women. Right away I reserved a copy of at the library. Once I started reading I couldn't stop. This book was exactly what I needed to get me out of my not wanting to exercise/run funk. What really hooked me in is how relatable she is. I couldn't believe the feelings she had before a race are similar to mine. You know, like getting nervous, worrying about times, and things that can go wrong. Also, we have had some of the same struggles such as injuries setting us back from achieving what we wanted (hers were definitely worse then mine).

Obviously we both different goals and athletic abilities, but this book inspired me to get excited about running. She said how running has been used as punishment and some people cannot like running for that reason. This was exactly my first thoughts on running. Sprints were not my favorite and timed miles were the death of me. I was happy to break a sub 8 so I could be on varsity for lacrosse.

Kara sharing her love of running got me remembering what made me love running.  Once lacrosse was over and I started college I did nothing. I ran maybe a mile or two on the treadmill and lifted weights. It wasn't until 2009 I decided to make some life changes. I made list of things I wanted to accomplish. On that list was the Bolder Boulder, a 10k race. Luckily I had the support of my dad and he wanted to race it with me. After that, I fell in love with running and racing.

This book gave me something the Victoria Secret Fashion Show couldn't, rediscover my love for running and working out. Hey, if I end up looking like Marissa Miller in the process I won't complain. Some how I feel motivated to run again and try for a half marathon in the upcoming year. Every year I say I will but back out, this year I'm really going to try. If I feel ready, then I'm going to sign right up.

So, needless to say, you can find me at the gym before getting in a good workout. It feels good rediscovering why I love running.

Christmas!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! I know I sure did! My family spoiled me well. My bathroom now looks like Sephora with all the makeup I was given. My nail polish shelf can no longer hold all my nail polish now! I think I need to figure out a better organizational with all my stuff.

I also got clothes and other fun things but spending the day talk to my relatives was my favorite part. My uncle has been in the hospital for awhile now so my aunt paid the wifi fee so we could skype with them. It was fun talking with everyone and seeing my grandma! My sister will be heading there on the 31st so hopefully I'll be able to skype them while she is there.

Overall a great Christmas and I'm ready for new years! I'm excited to see what the year has in store for me!

A bad blogger...

So work has been kicking my butt so I've been slacking big time. I moved rooms again and now I'm with one and two year olds. The kids are great though! They are much better then I expected. I hate the diapers part, but I love that they don't talk back to me. I close now, so I have different hours.

With my different hours I've been going to the gym before work. I can't sleep in, but it is nice starting my day off that way. Also, the TV hasn't been too shabby. I watched Clueless and Boy Meets World :) However, I have been slacking and loosing my motivation to work out. I guess having no races has been making me feel down.

But to brighten my spirits I'm going back to Miami to visit Jennifer! However I'm not flying back and I'm embarking on a road trip from Florida back to Colorado. Jennifer is moving back and needs to bring her car back so I'm making the drive with her. We are making stops along way. The first stop is Orlando or something around that area. Then we are in New Orleans and our last stop is Dallas before Colorado. Needless to say I'm excited. I love New Orleans and I've never been to Dallas. It's going to be a great adventure!

Inspired by Alyssa...

Alyssa has started her own blog so go check it out Alyssa's blog! But we were talking about blogging and things to write about. I realized my blog was about whatever I am feeling about writing about. For awhile it was about running and now it's just anything interesting to me. I guess my ADD tends to show :)

Anyways, we were talking about our three favorite movies and how they connect to your life. In some weird way, it shows what your suppose to do with your life. So here it goes! (This is if the whole teaching thing doesn't work out, I can only be a stripper paying for law school for so long ya know!)

Anyone knows this my go to movie, Breakfast at Tiffany's. To sum this movie up in a less then a sentence, it's about a call girl who finds love. So does this mean I should be a call girl? I like her little black dress with pearls look, and I would end up with a writer. However, she has a cat and I'm allergic to cats, so I'm back to square one again. (I totally want to act out the day they try things they've never done before)

13 going on 30 is in my top 3. It reminds me to enjoy life and not rush to be 30, flirty, and thriving  (but I do want her closet). She is a magazine editor and I always wanted to be Anna Wintor. You get free clothes and get to meet cool celebrities.  Maybe I do act like a kid sometimes but I work with kids so it's part of the job requirement (and changing diapers yuck!) Hey! This is leading onto something, I should work with kids and keep my young spirit with a razzle red tongue :)

The last movie I choose is...

16 Candles, Molly Ringwald, nuff said! This is probably one of favorite brat pack movies. In a sentence or less, this movie is about a girl who is in love with a senior and her parents forget her 16th birthday with funny moments. No one forgets my birthday since I always suggest items I want three months in advance. I do love how this movie ends perfectly and she gets with the ever so dreamy Jake Ryan. I think this movie brings out the hopeless romantic in me like Breakfast at Tiffany's. So maybe I should write a teen romance movie? I have no idea what this tells me but I do know I'll watch it again and again.

These are probably in my favorite lists but most likely won't lead me to a different career. I know I want to be a second grade teacher :)

Friday Five

Zobmondo These are "choice" questions. The rules of Zobmondo are that you have to choose one answer - you can't say "neither." You must also take the question as it is - no changing the questions! Would you rather have to suck all the ink out of a ballpoint pen or paint your tongue with Wite-Out? Probably paint my tongue with white-out.  Would you rather drink a gallon of used hot dog water or a shot glass of someone else's foot sweat? Hot dog water. Would you rather always wear shoes that are a half size too small or always have your underwear creeping up your butt? Shoes too small Would you rather always be nauseated or always have a headache? Headache Would you rather have to always eat standing up or always enter your car from the passenger door? Eating standing up, I stand all day anyways.