Blonde Story Short

During my work day I find myself getting up to go to the restroom, stopping to do something productive on the way back to my office (check my mail box, tell a colleague something, things of that nature) then deciding since I'm up I might as well just go to the bathroom again.  Lord knows it'll only be a matter of minutes anyway. I could literally spend all day just being pregnant. There was probably (okay definitely ) a time when I would have responded to someone saying something like this with some cynicism like... I dunno..."Oh BOOHOO."  If that's your response right now...just wait. You'll find the Third Tri is a real kick in the pants. I tend to put a decent amount of pressure on myself to be good at life; send Thank you cards in a timely manner, take vitamins, stuff like that. What I want more than anything right now is to be good at being pregnant.  My Doctor (and husband too) would probably say I'm doing aight, but I could REALLY *show 'em ...

They say all pregnancies are different.  I don't know who "they" are.  But if "they" are Doctors, I believe it. If not, I'll be asking my OBGYN at my next visit.  I listen to everything my OBGYN says.  What other source would I trust?  Some sort of online forum?  I don't think so. As far as this pregnancy is concerned, "morning sickness,"  translates to day-long-nausea, and reared its ugly head on Easter Sunday (5.5 weeks along).  From that sacred day on, I have felt sick every day at various times throughout the day.  Ironically enough, evenings are the worst. When my breathing starts to slow and a look of utter seriousness appears, it's pretty clear we're "workin' through some things."  My household knows what this means.  If uncertain sometimes the husband will ask, "You okay honey?  Just working through some things?"  Yep. I pride myself on having limited the use of official "Sick days" to a mer...

One of my mottos in life ("mantras" if your verbiage is cooler than mine) is Make it Work .  I attribute this one to my mother, who is the ultimate make-it-worker. As a single mom she did just this! I spent a lot of time, especially in high school, doing a LOT of stuff.  Most if not all of my activities made my mom's time, money and "rides" a must. Side note: Now that I have teens, it is very apparent to me that they never   say "Can you drive me..." they always  say "Can I get a ride ..."  "Heidi needs a ride ..." "Can we give Nick a ride ...." (profound observation from yours truly.  Another quasi obvious one: they say "I was all like" every time they quote themselves) More on teenagers later...and I used to think I wanted to write a book on being a bridesmaid. This material grows by the day! Making it work means being flexible and staying positive. If you went to PLNU or perhaps another institution that fo...

Alright this just got real. It's March. As of last week I skied for the last time this season and Winter is officially over. So is not being in shape because it's cold outside.  Between you and me it's really only been cold like twice. I will readily admit that the only way I work out regularly (which I should do  every month, not just March through November) is if I can get it done in the morning before  work.  After work I have this total distraction called a family that I want to spend every possible moment with...plus it's dark and scary  outside! Even though 2014 is the year I become a "Morning Person," I still struggle to get out of bed an hour early to exercise. We're only a quarter way through the year right? This morning I got to work at 7:15 to get in a pre-work-work-out. Much like I've confessed that I'm not a style blogger, before taking this any further I'd like to also say that I don't think I'm a fitness blogger.  T...

This is what I should say as we set out on our running adventure, at 7:30 Saturday morning. The good 'ol "Orange" team (bragging) and I hit the 4 mile mark this morning. Kind of a milestone in my running career I think. That is definitely the furthest I've ever run. Let me remind you...I am NOT a runner! Naturally I was the sweaty girl in the back. A celebratory Berrie smoothie and 10 minute stare-into-space-sesh on the couch was much needed afterward. In my usual before 9am haze (not to be confused with purple haze, the much slower team in our running group) I showed up seconds before the group's jont. I feel no need to arrive early and socialize. I tried chatting it up the first day with the pacing exercise small talk and was shut down! So lame. Now, I'm what we call an iPoder. Call me anti-social but a techno remix and some Snoop-Dawg whispering in my ear is basically all I need. Since I start out toward the back of the herd, and stay there, I am ab...

In an effort to start running, I hear it gets you in shape or something like that, I've decided to run the Carlsbad 1/2 marathon. Knowing myself pretty well, I am very aware that I have the ability to find every possible excuse NOT to run. "Serving on a beach is like running, I mean think of all the calories I burn carrying mai-tais through sand!" or "I don't need to run today...I skipped lunch!" So, to keep myself accountable, and so as not to keel over in public on the day of the shweaty event, I joined a running group. We meet on Saturday mornings at 7:30. Feel free to let out a gasp...that's right, 7:30...a.m. I played with the idea of raising my hand the first day and asking (in front of the 60 person crowd) "Does anyone else feel the need to push this thing back about 3 hours? Cuz I'm thinkin' 10:30ish would work out really nicely for me." Instead, I conformed to the social norm of getting up early...it's a fad I'll...

I've been dancing all week, four hours a day. I have the sore body and bruises to prove it. It's amazing to me how there are certain things in life that make us (or at least make me) utterly focused. Dance is one of those things. I don't dance often enough, but every time I do, I say to myself, "Why don't I do this more?!" It's sort of like cooking for me. For some reason my brain tells me it's more fun to go out to eat. Then, I take the time to cook, go through the process, put on the cute apron blah blah blah...and realize cooking is great and just like dancing, I should do it more often! Today as I sat (perched rather) in an awkward break-dancing position, this is where the bruises come from, it made me really think. Now normally, I don't need help thinking, this analytical-beyond-over-thinker has enough thoughts on her own. However, dancing takes away the wheels on the bus going round and round type thinking and all the sudden turns me into ...

I am extremely sore and joyfully exhausted. This week has been fantastic...and it's only Wednesday. After a day of cardio hip hop, break dancing and learning incredible choreographed routines I went home to hit the shower. That's how you know I got worked. Normally after a hard workout, I'm all about hitting the errands sans an in-between shower. These days though, the dancin madness has got me resorting to cleanliness! I've been sweating like a man...more than an average man probably.  After a shower and Advil I was ready to conquer my to-do list of errands. I started out picking up my bartending paycheck. I just love having two jobs...it makes it seem like there's always someone paying me! My manager (the "mo-fo" abolitionist) had left a message for me earlier asking if I could work on Saturday morning. Let me just say that Saturday is my ONLY day off. In a given week I work forty hours teaching and two nights mixin' 'dem drinks (ok...

This week we represent the HIPPI -HOP kids! I have the privilege of working at a school that is legit...too legit to quit (hey hey!) I came from a previous job that couldn't be more opposite than the current. My principal micro-managed her staff, and not to mention, the children (which bothered me most!) They are human beings, not robots. They are full of quirks and craziness, embrace it! Basically the last place was not a fit for me, and I was not at all a fit for them...too wild. I think my boss considered me an untamed horse...with too many clothes.Side note: The principal at my current school, which we call a "director" asked me what my last name was this morning. Awesome. My current job allows me to have the most amazing next month ever. For the next two weeks I am heading up one of our "Intersession" teams with another hip hop enthusiast. We are taking a group of 27 students to an incredible dance studio to dance for the next 5 days from 1...

Last Monday at this time I was feeling like death...and lookin' like it too! This Monday begins a new week and a new and hopefully improved blonde. I started the day off with 45 minutes of cardio and some squats. My fantastic roomate (who has no morning commitments but still wants to get up at 6:30am to be my work-out buddy) and I have commited to getting our Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays started just like this morning, with an energetic workout. We'll change it up...doing things like swimming, walking, running and maybe taking a class at the gym. I figure not only will this help me feel good in my oh so silky bridesmaid dresses, but it might even put me in a better mood before work, making me like junior highers a little more perhaps? Oh did I mention my free weights had dust bunnies all over them? (there's my confession for the day!) This week I return to bartending on Monday nights. There's nothing I hate more than feeling enslaved to my frenemies Sallie ...

Today has the potential to be possibly a perfect day. Started out the morning by waking up on my own instead of to the deafening sound of my alarm clock...which is strategically placed on the furthest part of my night stand making it necessary for me to get out of bed to turn it off. On a usual day when I have to be woken by the beast of beeping I am immediately a little irritated, more so than the normal irritated state I'm in when being forced to leave my slumber! I lied in my cozy bed for a while, thinking, in and out of REM and then got up before 9:00am, quite impressive on my day off I thought. I hit the gym to make it to the 9:30 Turbo Kick Boxing class. Oh my release! I love pretending to kick and knee and punch someone (kinda creepy, we all have our quirks). Then did some legit arm exercises and finished up by getting in my zen, stretching in the quiet dark room downstairs. Of course there was the standard trainer stretching her client and making small talk, but I was a...

I said I was an "avid journaler." Even more, I am an avid DANCER...and I don't mean the really good kind...I mean the really insane kind. It all started with 5th grade jazz routine to Gloria Estephan's Turn the Beat Around . The pics below are from celebrating my 24th birthday with friends, one night downtown and the next in OB at my favorite beachy bar spot. Neither one of these places are known for their dancing but I was not afraid to bring it and YOU shouldn't be either. A bouncer walking past me whispering with a sarcastic tone, "Excuse me JLO" didn't discourage me from gettin my grove on ;) Give me some tunes and a little alcohol (although the latter is not necessary...okay sometimes the former isn't either!) and I'll dance all night, and/or day I suppose. Good friends know what to expect, generally causing pictures like these to come into existence. Most of my besties join in on the idiocy themselves. With all that being said, I write...