Wow. My last blog post was while waiting in the SW terminal of LAX and looking forward to my trip to Austin. I had a game plan for attacking my three days there and trying to be as healthy as possible. Awaking in gratitude. Exercising and moving daily. Getting some NIKE trophies. Eating queso.
And you know what? My trip was very eventful and successful. I did eat queso every day :) And was grateful for it. And I did move everyday, although I only hit up the gym twice in three days. And I won a NIKE trophy for my Fuel Band. And everything was good. Including the conference.
Then I came back to Pasadena. And I got the shit beat out of me. Returning to work on April 12th with a doctors appointment, scholarship reports to complete, scholarship reviews to write, grant selection committees to oversee, trainings, planning meetings, webinars, the whole gamut. From the rest of October until today, I really didn't feel like I was breathing at all. And add to this...I'm still training for a marathon and trying to become a good vegan. PHEW! Yeah, I had no extra energy for writing.
But that was then and this is now. Because with November here, that means I only really have sixty-ish more days of finding the path to Becoming My Best Self. Remember? That was my main goal for 2015. and I'm not kidding myself. I probably won't be there. There's more work to do. And I'm totally okay with that. Because if 2015 has taught me ANYTHING, it's taught me that life is nothing but a series of experiences, memories, relationships and the processing one must do to make sense of them all.
With that in mind, here's how I'm finally processing the month of October:
1. I'm Vegan. I'm not a perfect vegan. But I'm finally aligning my lifestyle with my values. And I genuinely like how that makes me feel.
2. I like talking about being Vegan. And training myself to not be preachy. Explain my thoughts if people ask. Be proactive in finding plant-based meals where they may not already exist.
3. Marathon Training is hard. And requires a lot of focus. Given what my academic calendar is shaping up to be, I should probably not choose races that require me to do serious training in the fall.
4. Sometimes I get very pissed off at work. Or my feelings get hurt. Or I feel offended by something. And I have amazing friends who help me think and talk through my feelings so I can move forward and get shit done. Tammy Gocial, my supervisor at Webster University, was totally correct: I need to get that feeling out of the way and then solve the problem. And everything will be okay. I should probably email her about that :)
5. Being a Swimmer's Wife (AKA, "Swim Widow", LOL) is awesome. I've said this before, but since Charles joined Golden Road Aquatics, he's a totally different man. And I'm COMPLETELY okay with that. I've never seen him this happy. It's such a blessing.
6. I feel confident enough that my plant-based lifestyle is going to yield amazing results, even when I slip up. So I'm not really weighing myself OR logging my food right now. And that feels pretty fucking awesome.
7. Queso has officially replaced macaroni and cheese, pizza, ice cream, and cheeseburgers as my favorite Comfort (AKA Cheat) Food. And do you know how many vegan queso recipes are out there? A Shit Ton! although, there are some days when I will forgive myself of being a bad vegan because White Trash Velveeta and Rotel still does make an awesome queso.
8. Thanks to Rich Roll and the RRP for introducing me to Allyson Melody and Suzy Hardy of the Food Heals Podcast. This podcast was the impetus of my vegan decision. I'm learning so much from these women!
9. I have a couple amazing ideas of what my goals for 2016 should be. It will be an epic year...
10...but I am also excited to debrief 2015 through blogging. I've learned so much :)
So - that's where October went. I'm a really happy girl right now!!
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