3 years and happy friday!

Today marks 3 years with my job. In the grand scheme of things, that's not long at all. BUT, seeing as this is my first "real" job after graduating college, I'm pretty impressed with myself.

I'm sure I've told you this before, but after I graduated in August of 2006, I couldn't find a job. Technically, it wasn't that big of a deal because I was living at my parent's vacation house in the mountains, which was 2 miles from the restaurant. I lived rent free and spent my tips on clothes, going out with friends, and fun stuff. Then in December, the restaurant owners decided to close. It was abrupt and happened quickly. I was at work on a Thursday, and the restaurant was closed by that Saturday.

At that point, I moved back down to the "city" with my parents. My mom had seen an ad in the AJC about an airline hiring flight attendants. She suggested I go check out the open house so I went out and bought a suit and new heels on a Monday, and left for the open house at 5:30 am on Tuesday morning, and by 1 pm of that same day I had a new job...as a flight attendant. I had never in my life thought that I'd be working in that field.

Training was one month long and by February of 2007, I was flying the friendly skies. That job was brutal. It was exhausting and not at all glamorous like some may think. Sure, I traveled to many places I never thought I'd get to see, I had a lot of adventures, and I got to skip the long security lines at airports.

That job was never for me. I never considered it a real job because I was just goofing off and getting paid for it (I mean, I worked hard, but I still didn't have any responsibilities like rent or bills). I worked as a flight attendant for about 7 months before I gave my two-weeks notice. My last day was October 9. I sold all of my designer clothes, purses, and shoes to fund my trip out to sunny California. The car was packed and ready to go the morning of October 25.

My mom and I drove cross country and we made it to Hollywood on October 30.

On October 31, I walked into a temp agency to look for work. I had my resume and the same suit I wore to my flight attendant open house. They took one look at me, called my current company, and I was told to head over and meet the boss. I did, and by 1 pm I was offered a job. I was given a cubicle and a stack of work to do. Now here I am, 3 years later and not much has changed except that I'm in an office now. I'm still working on that same stack of work (obviously not literally, just figuratively, seeing as my duties haven't changed).

I can't help wonder, is there going to be more to my career?

I really, really hope so.

But seriously, HAPPY FRIDAY! Who are you cheering for this Sunday? Personally, I don't have a preference and I think the teams are pretty equally matched. It should be a good game!

Thursday's Thoughts

Where to begin?

I'm so ready for this week to be over! No reason in particular, except I'm sick of hearing my alarm clock go off! Today, I hit the snooze button an impressive seven times. I barely got showered, dressed, and made up before I had to run out the door, and I was still 15 minutes late for work!

Do you read Barefoot in the Park? If you're not already, then you definitely should be! She's a newlywed interior designer who posts about her life with her husband {the Badger} and her dog {Pete}, as well as weekly menus, can't-miss bargains, and everything in between!

The reason I mention BitP is to let you know about the awesome week of giveaways that she is hosting! I know there is always some sort of giveaway going on in the blog world, but I'm pretty sure you'll want to check these out!

Giveaway #1 - Elizabeth McKay

you can win this shirt!

Giveaway #2 - EmersonMade

you can win this clutch!

Giveaway #3 - The Preppy Princess

you can win this lunch sack!

Giveaway #4 - Nico & LaLa

you can win this desk calendar!

See, I told you it was awesome! Hurry over because some of the giveaways end as early as tomorrow!

I really don't have anything else for today. This is about as much awesomeness as I can handle.

Have a happy Thursday, friends!

Jumping on the Fit Train - Week 5

Biggest Loser

Ugh. Don. Or is it Dan? They both suck so I guess it doesn't really matter. What a wasted opportunity - they cheated two people out of the chance to work at the Ranch and change their lives. They should be ashamed of themselves. And then Don took Irene down with him to "ensure" that he could go home! It's seriously incredibly mind-boggling.

Another thorn in my side? ARTHUR! He doesn't care...he doesn't want to be there. He is endangering Jessie at every weigh in. Arthur is huge! He should be losing 15+ pounds a week, just by being there at the Ranch. What is he doing?

I was so shocked at the difference in weight loss between "The Unknowns" and "The Originals." For instance, Justin and Rulon lost a combined total of 33 pounds in one week, which is over 1/2 of the TOTAL TEAM loss of "The Originals." Every single person on "The Unknowns" lost 9 pounds or more, women included. The only-woman team (team pink) of "The Unknowns" weigh 231 and 221, but lost 9 and 11 pounds, respectively. Olivia and Hannah (team purple) on "The Originals" weigh more than the pink team, but only lost 11 pounds combined. There were people on "The Originals" losing only 3 pounds...it's very strange. I know that it all depends on how big you are and how much you have to lose, but there are members of "The Originals" that have a long way to go, and still only lost 5, 6, or 7 pounds (I'm looking at you ARTHUR - he weighs 450+ pounds and only lost 9 pounds at weigh in...what???!!!). I'm at a loss as to why "The Unknowns" are losing so much more than "The Originals." I'm thinking it could be because "The Unknowns" have all of their meals prepared for them so they're not worried about counting calories, but I'm not sure that's still the case since moving back to the Ranch. It could be the trainers and their methods. Honestly, I think they are just more motivated (with the exception of the aqua team on "The Originals" no one else seems to really be stepping it up).

Angela

Still going to the gym and burning anywhere from 700-1000 calories per workout session. It's tough, but I look at it as a challenge that I am determined to conquer. I typically do an hour to an hour and a half on the elliptical (not the regular one, but the one where you can do three different types of movement - step, short stride, and long stride), weight machines (i.e., triceps, lateral pull, shoulder press, bicep curl, rowing), and 100-120 sit ups. I mix things up with spin class and on the weekends, hikes.

This is the machine I usually use:

I had a bad weekend eating wise, which carried over into Monday night (Chipotle burrito bowl) but as of Tuesday, I'm back to my strict calorie counting. I'm feeling bloated from the saltiness of the food. It's amazing how quickly you can go from feeling great to feeling bad (it just took one meal for me). I don't like feeling "fatty" and lethargic during the day so I know that those bad foods are definitely affecting me. When I put good things into my body, I feel good. Bottom line.

I weighed in on January 28 and had lost 2.5 pounds from my first weigh-in on January 22.

I'm hoping for a good week of sweating it out in the gym and consuming healthy meals. How are you guys doing with your fitness goals?

PS - Be sure to read my etsy post below this!

PPS - I'm back to updating my "Current Giveaways" Tab at the top of my blog...be sure to check it out to find some great giveaways going on right now!

Etsy Love

My best friend is having a baby!

I can't be at her shower, but I still wanted to do something. My other best friend is in charge of making the cupcakes so I decided that I would purchase the cupcake toppers from Etsy.

Unfortunately, due to a miscommunication, I found out that the shower is THIS Saturday, not March 5, like I initially thought. This immediately made me think that I wouldn't be able to get something ordered and shipped in time to arrive for the shower.

But I was wrong!

Luckily, I came across Rebekah from Blissful Nest Studio, and friends let me tell you, she is absolutely amazing! She had a cupcake topper that I was interested in, was able to customize the colors, and make it into a DIY Printable, all in less than 24 hours! She was so quick to respond to my messages and she never made it seem like I was annoying her, even though I knew I was :)

She's great, and I just wanted to make sure that I let everyone know.

I made the toppers last night, and shipped them overnight express so that they would arrive in time for the shower! Here's how they turned out...aren't they fantastic?!

I'll leave you with some items she has available in her shop right now, it's all so cute!

[thank you cards]

[valentine cupcake toppers]

[valentine cards]

Be sure to visit her shop here!

1 Month Down...11 to Go

As part of my goals for 2011, I took on the task of taking at least one picture a day. I've been posting my progress so far here.

Most, if not all, of my pictures are from my iPhone so quality isn't the best, but it has been fun documenting my life every day in the form of a picture. And honestly, most of my days are fairly boring because I'm either at work, the gym, the grocery store or sitting in front of the television so it has been a fun challenge to find something to take a picture of. I really hope I can continue throughout the year.

I just wanted to share some of my favorite photos from the month of January. Feel free to keep the comments to yourself about my amateur picture taking skills, I'm not even the slightest bit interested in improving them!

You can probably also tell that I enjoy Picnik a little too much.

Here's wishing each of you a very sweet February!