I Feel Too Christmas-y To Go To Work

For the last few weeks at work we have been moving our office, which means that everyone has been in jeans and sneakers and not much work has been done. Tomorrow is the first day that we will all be buckling down again, wearing office-y clothes, and trying to catch up. I'm hoping that wearing a dress and heels will be enough to get me in the buckle-down-and-work mood after the weirdness of the move and this glorious long weekend.

I am in the first week of a new course at school, and my last two courses have been a little off-kilter due to all of the visitors and traveling. I struggled to keep up, assignments were late, and I didn't get the best grades. So far I'm on track, even ahead, in this course. It's another thing to attack with a renewed sense of motivation.

Unfortunately, with Christmas coming and my excitement at our upcoming trip home, I am having a hard time being motivated to do anything besides bake Christmas cookies, decorate my house, and go to the gym so I look extra-great when I see family. And shop for presents, of course.

Catch Up Blogging

We have had a crazy year! Apparently so crazy that I have completely neglected my blog. A lot has happened in the last few months. I got a new job in the Intelligence Analysis Training Program section of Lockheed Martin, which means I am working in Levi's office now. I'm the Training Administrator for all of our courses. Levi is an instructor for the Analyst's Notebook Applied course, and he was recently promoted to Course Manager. Our office just moved closer to our house, and both Levi and I got our own offices with big windows. Windows + promotions = we like our jobs.

Levi went out of town for work/Army Reserves for the month of October, so naturally I booked a bunch of visitors and trips. It was so great to have everyone come visit. Grandma & Grandpa Averett, Mom, and Tobi and Brady, all within six weeks! I also got to visit my family in Southern Utah for a few days, which was fantastic. On top of all of that, as soon as Levi got back from his business trip, we jumped on a plane and flew to Manzanillo, Mexico for Ashley & Adil's wedding. That trip was so incredible that it gets its very own blog post.

I decided to relive my awkward pre-teen/teen years and get braces again. Here is a lesson for all of you kiddies out there - when you get your braces off and your orthodontist tells you to wear your retainer, DO IT! Otherwise you will be a 27-year-old metal mouth. I was really dreading getting them on, but it is not as bad as I thought. I mean, it sucks, but it is not the end of the world like I made it out to be.

So, that is what we have been up to lately. We have had such an incredible year; I'll try to post more good times before 2009 is over. Every time I tell my grandma about the fun things we are doing, she tells me that I really need to keep a journal. I always take a lot of photos and post things on Facebook, but I thought that updating my blog more than annually might also be a good thing to do. Happy Thanksgiving!

5K and 50 Miles in 30 Days

Regardless of the fact that I am online all day and part of every evening, I cannot seem to keep up a blog! Maybe there is some way to link it up to my Facebook since everyone knows I spend plenty of time there.

This spring/summer I ahve really been pushing myself to run as often as possible. I used to prefer weight training to cardio, but now that it is such a hassle for me to get to the gym after work, I would rather head out for a run and put off weights until the weekend.

One of the goals on my list is to run a 5K. Last weekend I decided to jump on a treadmill and see if I could make it all of the way to the end. Turns out, I can run over three miles without stopping now. I have come very far from my first 3/4 mile run last summer. After I ran three miles, I signed up for a 5K next Saturday in Alexandria. I am excited to accomplish taht goal and mark it off of my list.

I do not want to finish this 5K, then start slacking off on the running. I decided to challenge myself to run 50 miles in 30 days. I started on Saturday, June 13th and I will go until July 12th. That is somewhere between 1/5 and 2 miles each day. I am confident that I can make it, but it is going to be hard. What better way to push myself to keep running? I need to think of a fun reward if I do run the full 50. A massage? A small shopping spree? A day at an amusement park?

I have a few summer goals to keep me busy over the next few months. One of them is to sign up to finish school. I really really really need to just get it done. I told myself that if I got married and starting moving on with my life before I finished, I would never finish. I should have listened to myself! Now is the time, while we are living in one place and we do not have kids.

Anyone have their own exciting summer goal list?

Kittens Inspired By Kittens!

I am loving this video:

Happy Valentine's Day

Chinchilla valentine - by calidlee on Polyvore.com

Good News For the New Year

In my last post I complained that, despite my increased cardio stamina and decreased running times, I was not losing pounds. I decided to forget about the weight loss for the winter months and just concentrate on keeping up my new hobby.

Levi and I went home for Christmas, then we both came home sick, so it was hard to go to the gym. We managed to keep going at least once a week during that time. Now we are back to three times each week and cardio in between (when it is not too cold). Since the beginning of the year I have lost three pounds and I am well on my way to meeting my goal of losing four pounds by the end of January.

Because of the winter running lapse I am not doing as well with my endurance. I think I took a step back in that department, so I'll just have to keep at it. Again, I am more concerned with just keeping it going until it gets warm outside and running is fun again. I also cannot wait to take my bike down to the trail.

The dress goal is looking good. I went to Obama's Commander in Chief Inaugural Ball on Tuesday night. I wore a dress that was a size smaller than I would have a year ago!

Layoffs All Around

One of my favorite people at work was laid off, and today was her last day. It is so sad to see her go. She is not local, so I can't even take her out to lunch! All I can do is pay her early.

So many people are being laid off all over the country (and world) right now. Of course I am grateful that Levi and I still have our jobs, and a little worried about the future. Every time I hear a story about someone being laid off from their supposedly secure job, I get a little stab of worry. I guess all we can do is keep our resumes up to date and save as much money as possible.

Good luck to all of you out there. I hope your jobs are secure and you can weather the recession.