Week One Report

Well, I did cross fit for a whole three days before I decided to switch it up a bit. I went on my first run since March! In early April I ended up spraining my ankle, then broke my toe, and then had some other foot injuries. So... after weeks of recovery I was finally able to go for a run! It was a rather pathetic run. I only made it 2.5 miles, but I did it in 27 minutes in 80 degree weather. Not too shabby considering the shape I'm in now. I'll have to keep working at it if I'm going to reach my goal of finishing a half marathon this fall, though.

Also this week I started looking for internships. Am I old enough for that already? Guess so! As of right now I'm thinking I want to be a manager of programs that focus on adolescent substance abuse prevention and recovery as well as programs that teach parents how to help their children overcome addiction, depression, etc. I'd like to do an internship working with smoking cessation or other addictive behaviors. I'm also considering coordinating with a professor to do mentored research. I think it'd be way awesome to be able to do research with people who are really experienced and hopefully find new information that would help us to better serve the community. So many new and exciting things are ahead! I honestly don't know where life is taking me these next few months, but I'm excited to find out!

Lifestyle Intervention

My roommates and co-workers have heard me say over and over for awhile now that I'm starting my "lifestyle intervention." Unfortunately I've had a hard time actually following through with it. It's funny because as part of my major we study quite a bit about behavior change. I know dozens of behavior change theories, how to coach people to be able to make lifestyle changes, reasons for positive changes, etc. I'm now learning it's much more difficult to MAKE lifestyle changes than it is to simply coach others into doing it.

Well, my most recent attempt at my lifestyle intervention started this morning and might actually prove successful, thanks to my roommate, Reilly. We are becoming cross-fitters and I'm training for a half-marathon . I also refrained from buying cookies, ice cream, and my other usual unhealthy snack foods.

So... to help myself feel "accountable" for how well I work on my lifestyle intervention, I will be posting my successes and things I need to improve each week. We'll see how it goes! Here's to positive lifestyle changes!

Growing Up

I just realized that in a few short months, all my guy friends from high school will be home from their missions. Also, I'm graduating with a bachelor's degree in less one year. ONE. One is not a very big number. You know what this means? I'm growing up. I'm going to be a real adult soon. Yeah, I've been a "legal" adult for a few years now but it's really not the same. I've still only been working part time jobs, am on my parents' insurance plans, and just going to school with a bunch of other undergraduate students. In just one year I will have taken the GRE, have finished my bachelor's degree and be finishing up my internship. At this point I will have to decide if I'm going to get a full time job working in my chosen field or go on to graduate school right away. The skills I've learned in college will no longer be applied to random case studies with text book answers. Instead, I'll be using them to help REAL people in REAL life situations. Yes,  I will be helping change people's lives. Weird.

New year, new semester.

What am I supposed to be doing right now? Writing a paper. That doesn't sound very fun so I'm going to sit here in my room typing so that my roommates think I'm being a good student :)

Life is so great right now. I know I say that all the time, but it truly is. I couldn't be happier! I had a wonderful Christmas. I got to spend three whole weeks at home with my family and friends. I had so many fun lunch dates with old friends and got to see my returned missionary buddies. Can't believe they're all home!! Oh, and even got to have my old job back for those three weeks. SO grateful for that. Yay for making money and seeing my old work buddies again!

A new semester has started and I'm definitely struggling to get back into my studious routine. It's so much more fun to hang out with my friends, meet new people, waste time on Pinterest, etc. I am really enjoying my classes, though. I love being in upper-division classes and learning the things I actually WANT to learn. It's the best. Yes, the classes are hard and will be pretty demanding as the semester goes on, but I am so excited for it all. I recently changed my emphasis to environmental/occupational health to health promotion and I couldn't be more excited. I love that I've found something that will lead me to a career that I'm passionate about and will enjoy completely. No, I won't be making as much money as I would have been as a PA, but I know I will enjoy this much more. It's a perfect fit :)

Since it's the new year, I've set some goals for myself so I can grow and improve. I'm excited because in my pathophysiology class, we have the opportunity to make a healthy change in our life for a whole month. We're required to write about our experiences in a daily journal and at the end, write an evaluation. My goal is to exercise for at least thirty minutes five days a week. Believe it or not, I haven't been doing well with exercising since high school. It'll be good for me to get back in shape. Can't wait!

Also... I have a new room-roommate since my cute Becca is leaving on a mission in a couple of weeks. My new roommate's name is Lexi. I adore that girl. Seriously.  Nobody could ever truly replace Becca, but Lexi is super duper great. We hit it off so well, and she's quickly become one of my best friends. She's so sweet, fun, and just all-around wonderful. I just love her and am so grateful for that girl!

Obviously, my other roommates are still fantastic :) They're so patient with me and I love them! Couldn't ask for better roommates. Love you, Sarah and Whit!

While I'm listing the roommates I'm grateful for, I might as well give a shout out to our "fifth roommate," Alex. He's our FHE brother and comes over all the time. We've loved having him around to fix things, tell us stories, give advice, watch YouTube videos, and just have a good time. He's definitely taken the "big brother" role for the apartment and we're grateful for him.

Other exciting news... my family is coming down this weekend to visit and go to my cousin's mission farewell! I can't wait to see them!

Well, that's all I have for now. Sorry this post is so random (okay, all my posts are super random).

Until next time...