I'm Back!

Hey there! I took a small (ok, 2 month) sabbatical from blogging. Life got a little hectic for awhile. But that’s the awesomeness of life, right? Well, here’s the thing, it was hard to think about blogging while things were so crazy. They’re still crazy now, but at least I’m used to the craziness. Here’s what I’ve been up to recently:

Cured Salmon - yes please!

 -I made pickles! They’ll be ready in 2 weeks and I cannot wait to try them.
-I made cured salmon!
-I made blueberry jam! We went to Portland to visit family and celebrate our 1 year anniversary. My father-in-law has a ton of blueberry bushes and right before we left for the airport, he loaded us up with 10 freezer bag pints of blueberries and 6 packages of smoked salmon (*in heaven!*).
-I passed my Psychology summer course! And I kicked its ass! It was quite intensive - 4 days a week of classes, plus reading and studying. Plus 2 volunteer jobs, plus working part time for my old job. Whew. No wonder I didn’t want to blog!

A tasty dinner with said salmon and psychology notes.

 -As mentioned before, I celebrated my 1 year wedding anniversary with R. First in Portland, then we had a weekend in Sonoma. We’ve never done that before, but he had a gift certificate from his former employer to a swanky hotel resort so I booked us a package that included a room, massages, a bottle of wine (but it sucked) and breakfast in bed. Then we woke up and did a HUGE bike ride in Sonoma. Well, at least if felt huge to me...
-I’ve been biking! A lot! I’ve done some big rides but I’ve also been doing a lot of time on the trainer. As I don’t have a gym membership anymore, my living room has become my gym! I’ve worked up to 45 minutes (what I call my “hour of power”) of interval training. I think I sweat out a pound every time I bike! It’s bloody awesome!

I made it to the top of Mt Tam! This was taken at the end of June.

 -I’ve started a regular yoga practice. Well, ok, I went for 2 weeks straight and took this week off (been fighting a cold and my schedule has been a tad wonky). But I got a 10 class package, so I at least feel like I’m starting a yoga practice! This place is absolutely wonderful. S, who is my awesome yoga instructor friend, introduced me to heated vinyasa yoga. And this place is it. And then some. LOVE IT.

L with the much needed Lemon Iced Tea (with plenty of sugar)!

 -Pig is almost here! I cannot wait to get Pig! The frame maker said it would be 1-2 weeks - but I’m erring on the side of 3-4. So at least Pig will be ready before the Gran Fondo.
-I have 18 days left of being 29! Yikes. But I have to say, I’m actually pretty excited for 30. It’s liberating to move out of your 20’s when life is so hectic, crazy and up in the air. I at least now know who I am, what I want out of life and things are more tangible. I’m now thinking of how my actions today impact what will happen tomorrow. In my 20’s I feel like I just went with the flow and only thought about today.

We're turning into biking twins! L will have a bike like Pig - her's will be called Blue Bike.

Blueberry bath.

-I started volunteering at a true hospital! And I love it. It’s been an incredible experience. Per hospital policy, I cannot publicly state which hospital it is that I’m volunteering at, but I can at least say that I’m really enjoying my volunteer work there. I spend 2 hours in the morning in oncology in-patient (i.e. what you normally think of a hospital) and 2 hours in out-patient (people receiving chemotherapy). What I love most about this work is the RN’s that I work with. They’re all incredible people. The work isn’t all that exciting, but being there and seeing what’s going on really cements this crazy notion that I’ve followed - I really need to be a nurse!

Aaaaand the making of jam!

 -I have surprisingly discovered that I may not be as interested in becoming a Nurse Practitioner (i.e. receive a master’s in nursing to treat and diagnose patients). After being in the hospital, I found that I’m really interested in bed side nursing. This is great because it means less schooling! :) But it’s hard because there is only 1 school in the Bay Area that has an accelerated course. This means that I’ll be applying all over the west coast - so who knows, we could live in another city for a year! But this finding is HUGE. It means I can focus my efforts on nursing specifically and becoming a RN. The pressure to get a master’s is off my shoulders and it opens up a lot more opportunity for schools. Besides, if I feel the need to become a NP, I can go to grad school later! And bonus, this means I’ll still take the GRE just in case, but I won’t spend a shit ton of moo-lah on a GRE prep course...
-I’ve started fall semester and I’m taking statistics. I may regret saying this later, but wow - it’s easy! My first class was almost laughable. R keeps asking me “when will I be taking statistics???” hehehe - maybe he won’t half to??? (Ok, back story here - he’s what got me through physics my senior year of college - it wasn’t pretty, but he got me through it).

-Lastly, I've just found out that S + N from Seattle are coming to SF for my birthday!!! I'm SUCH a lucky girl to have S, A + N all here for my big 30th! :)
And I think that’s about it! I'll try to be better about blogging more and about wholistic health/nutrition/cooking, but I'm not going to promise anything!

Be well!