November Favorites

1) Pleated Skater Skirt – This is the same skirt I wore in our holiday photos, only mine is a plum color. I love these kinds of skirts for fall and winter; they go perfectly with a pair of tights or leggings.

2) Orange is the New Black book – I started reading this back in July after I finished watching seasons 1 and 2. Life got busy between August-October, but now I’m reading the book again. If you love the TV show like me, you’ll appreciate the book. It definitely doesn’t go into as much detail as the show, but it’s still fun to compare the book v. TV show differences.

3) Inspirational Beyonce Mug – I bought this at the beginning of the month because I knew I wanted to focus on my time management in November. This mug is currently sitting on my desk and being used as a pen/pencil holder. It stares me in the face whenever I work on my desktop computer and serves as a good daily reminder to make progress on my personal goals and get shit done.

4) Buttoned Split Turtleneck Tunic Sweater – I absolutely adore this sweater. I wear it to work and I wear it on the weekends. Not to mention it’s super warm and cozy, too.

5) Textured Pointed Toe Flat – A pair of good, basic flats are so hard to find. Can I get an amen? Whenever I go shopping for basic flats, I always get so frustrated because all the flats I seem to find are either too narrow (I have wide feet) or they have some kind of embellishment on them (bows, studs, etc.). So when I found these gems at Express, I literally thought, “Where have you been all my life?!” and swooped up the last pair in my size. They are wide, without foo-foo embellishments, and they have the perfect amount of “point.” I love them so much, I bought one pair in black and one in cognac.

What are some of your November favorites?

*THIS POST CONTAINS NO AFFILIATE LINKS.

Our 2014 Holiday Photos

If you know me at all, you know that I love sending mail, specifically greetings cards. I send birthday cards, thank you cards, Valentine’s Day cards– you name it, I send it. In fact, I’m so on top of sending greeting cards that some of my friends refer to me as “The Queen of Cards.” So it should be no surprise to anyone who knows this about me that I started thinking about what I was going to do for our Christmas card around the end of October. I’m sure that sounds obnoxiously early, but that’s just how Christmas Card Crazies think.

I wasn’t entirely sure what I wanted to do for our Christmas card, all I knew was that I wanted to use Minted this year instead of Shutterfly and I wanted to make sure we had a nice picture for the card as well. Last year, I put our cards together last minute and ended up using some crappy picture we had taken with my old Android phone. Even though I put our cards together last minute, I was still able to get them sent out before Christmas, but I wasn’t 100% happy with them.

This year, I started planning early and it paid off. I have a few photographer friends here in Sac and in the Bay Area, and I noticed via social media that they were all offering mini portrait sessions for couples/families in early November so said couples/families could have photos to use specifically for their holiday greeting cards. I price shopped and compared the photographers’ availability to our own, and I ended up choosing Lisa Bardot from The Goodness to take our holiday photos, and it was a great choice indeed! Not only do I love Lisa’s style of photography, but we have been acquantainces for a while because we have a lot of mutual friends. Scheduling a mini portrait session with her was a great way to get to know her better and finally call her a friend, while also walking away with some awesome portraits!

We got our portraits back yesterday and I am so happy with them! We got them taken on a Sunday afternoon at Capitol Park in Downtown Sacramento. I love all the greenery surrounding us in the photos and how the colors really pop. And of course, I love any photo of me with my husband (good or bad). In addition to using these photos for our Christmas card, I plan to print and frame a few for our apartment. I also plan to use the headshots taken of me for my blog and my social media sites.

Now that we have more than enough pictures to choose from to use for our Christmas card, I need to start working on choosing a design from Minted, buy some holiday stamps, and maybe even order a custom holiday return address label. Yes, I know I spend way too much time and money on our Christmas cards, but I told you I’m the Queen of Cards, and that’s just how I roll.

{Currently} November

Loving that I am FINALLY making good money at my restaurant job again. I recently went from only working 3 nights a week to 5 nights a week. And not only am I working more, I’m working more dinner shifts rather than happy hour shifts. (Servers make way more money during dinner shifts.) You guys, I’M SO HAPPY I’M MAKING MONEY AGAIN. Summer was rough financially because of my drop in restaurant job income. I’ve really been looking forward to the holidays since August and now they’re here, which means more money in savings and bigger chunks of money to put toward my debt.

Loathing clique-y co-workers, people who spread rumors, gossip, and a toxic work environment.

Reading WordPress To Go and teaching myself how to move my domain from WordPress.com to WordPress.org. I’m planning on making the switch this weekend and I’m nervous! I’m worried I’m going to mess up my blog or something. I could probably just hire someone to help me do it, but that would cost money. Plus, I want to make myself do it on my own because I feel like this is general knowledge I should have as a blogger. Fellow bloggers: any tips on how to make the transition?

Feeling really good since I’ve been going to yoga again these past two weeks. I love that yoga not only makes me feel good physically, but it makes me feel good mentally, too. Now if I could only get back on track with running; I haven’t ran in almost two weeks! I blame the cold weather for deterring me from getting out of bed early in the morning.

Planning Thanksgiving dinner at my dad’s house. We are having our Thanksgiving dinner the Saturday after Thanksgiving because I, along with some of my other family members, have to work on Thanksgiving Day. Chris and I also thought about hosting a Friendsgiving dinner at our place again this year, but we decided against it. Since August-October were so busy, we’re trying to keep November pretty low-key, so that means only planning ONE Thanksgiving dinner instead of two. Less commitments = less stress.

Working on blogging more, reading more, job searching more, and exercising more. These are my main priorities whenever I get free time these days.

Wishing that I get an interview for a particular job I applied for recently, or even better, the job itself.

Looking forward to seeing the new Hunger Games movie this weekend, running a 10K on Thanksgiving, and Black Friday sales!

What are you currently up to?

My Running Faves

Running is known as a cheap form of exercise, but if you want to start running seriously and even train for a half marathon, you’ll need to invest in the right gear. Over the summer, I acquired a lot of new running gear that I’ve been loving and thought I’d share here for anyone who is in the market for a new armbelt, workout tank, or all of the above!

1) Garmin Forerunner 10 GPS Watch – When I first started my half marathon training, I used the Nike Plus App as a cheap way to track my runs. Then right before Nike, I decided to buy a Garmin GPS watch to track my time, distance, and pace during the half marathon instead so I didn’t drain my phone battery by using the app. (I had to make sure my phone didn’t die before I got to the finish line so I could take post-race pictures!) I love the watch and the fact that it saves your run history, tracks your records, and has run options like interval training. Plus nothing says “I’m a real runner” better than wearing a Garmin watch around your wrist.

2) Apple iPod Nano (6th Generation) – This is the one item I didn’t have to buy when I started running. I bought my iPod nano in 2012 to use during my workouts and it’s the best. I love that it’s super small and I can just clip it to my shorts when I’m working out. And in addition to syncing your own music onto the iPod nano, you can sync podcasts, too. My particular iPod model has actually been discontinued, but you can click on the link to get a used one, or you can wait until Apple releases their 8th generation iPod Nano any day now.

3) Nathan Quickdraw Plus Handheld Bottle Carrier – This water bottle saved me during my runs. The water bottle I had before was super heavy and really annoying to carry with me during my runs. This Nathan water bottle is much lighter and easier to carry thanks to the hand strap. I also love that it has a little zipper pouch for me to carry little items in, like my Body Glide, shot bloks, and house key.

4) Tune Belt Armband for iPhone – This also saved me during my runs. Life before owning a Tune Belt: I carried my phone in my hand and it was annoying. Life after owning a Tune Belt: I didn’t have to carry my phone anymore and my runs got exponentially better because I had one less thing to carry. I should also mention that I was skeptical about buying an armband at first because I figured my phone would end up sliding down my arm all the time, but it doesn’t. It stays in one place the whole time I run, which is exactly what I want.

5) On Wednesdays We Wear Pink Workout Tank – In case you couldn’t tell by my graphic, my favorite color is pink. So of course I had to have this tank top to wear when I go running on Wednesdays.

6) Nike Zoom Pegasus 31 Running Shoes – If you’ve owned a pair of running shoes before, you probably already know that running shoes are not always the most fashionable shoes. What I love about the Nike Pegasus is that they are not only comfortable, but they look good, too. In fact, I love the style so much, I plan on getting the same pair again when it comes time to buy new running shoes, only in a different color just to switch things up a bit.

What are some of your workout faves?

*This post contains no affiliate links.

Five on Friday v42

1) In an effort to stay in shape and keep my stress level low during the holidays, I signed up for a membership at my favorite yoga studio. It’s been two years since I’ve had a membership at this particular studio and I’ve really missed it there. These past few months, I’ve noticed that my mind and my body have been craving yoga more than usual, so I decided to go ahead and bring it back into my life. I’m excited about this change and I’m looking forward to building up strength in my body again.

2) I forgot to mention last Friday that I signed up for my second half-marathon; I’ll be running the Shamrock’n Half Marathon in Sacramento on St. Patrick’s Day in March. This particular half marathon is going to be a lot less exciting than the Nike Women’s Half Marthon, but that’s okay. I actually kind of like the idea of way less crowds and the event being local so I don’t have to take time off work, travel, or book a hotel. All that aside, yay for my second half marthon coming up in four months!

3) Chris and I got holiday photos taken over the weekend. I saw that a local Sacramento photographer, who is also an acquaintence of ours, was giving a discount on portrait mini-sessions for the holidays, so I decided to take advantage of the deal. I’ve also been wanting to get some headshots taken for my blog and my social media sites, so I thought this would be a great opportunity to finally do so. I can’t wait to get them back and post them here!

4) Since I got some professional photos taken for my blog, I’ve been working on fixing up other areas of my blog as well. I’ve been using WordPress for four years now, so I’ve decided it’s about time I start learning how to do more with it. I plan to move my site from WordPress.com to WordPress.org so I can change my blog layout from a WordPress theme to a custom layout. I also want to buy a digital SLR camera so I can start taking better pictures for my blog and just get better at my photo skills in general. Expect to see a lot of exciting changes around here in the next couple months!

5) I have a pretty busy weekend ahead. Tomorrow, Chris and I are going to spend the afternoon at Apple Hill, then we’re having his cousin and cousin-in-law over for dinner. On Sunday, my family and I have lunch plans to celebrate my uncle’s birthday. On Friday and Sunday night, I’m working at my restaurant job. I’m starting to wonder if I’ll ever get a weekend where I have absolutely nothing planned? Probably not.

How was your week? What are your plans for the weekend?

Marriage Advice for Newlyweds: What I’ve Learned About Marriage In Two Years

Photo by Emily Takes Photos

Chris and I celebrated two years of marriage on October 26th. Two years! I can’t believe we’re officially not newlyweds anymore. It seems like just yesterday we were saying “I do” at San Francisco City Hall.

The reason it’s taken me over two weeks to crank out this post is because I’ve been thinking a lot about what I want/have to say about two short years of marriage. Should I recap what we did on our anniversary? Nah, I did that last year. Should I talk about how much I love Chris? Nah, I’ve done that before, too. (Many times!) So this year, I thought I’d share some good ol’ marriage advice– stuff I’ve learned about love and commitment in the last two years that can be applied to not only a new marriage, but any long-term serious relationship.

I’ve learned a lot about marriage in the last couple years, but I decided to stick with the top six pieces of advice I would give to anyone who is about to get hitched or any newlyweds who don’t have kids yet:

Make Date Night a Priority

You may or may not know this already, but I’m all about date nights. I’m a firm believer that date nights are an important part of any relationship because it gives the couple a chance to do something fun together, and more importantly, spend quality time together. Chris and I try to have a date night once a week; that may seem like a lot, but when you you’re married-without-kids, it’s easier to carve out time for just the two of you. You might also be thinking, “Doesn’t four dates a month get kind of expensive?” Well, we’re actually pretty good about keeping our date nights cheap. I get weekly emails from Groupon, and whenever I see a good deal for a local restaurant, I’ll buy it and save it for a date night. There have also been times when I’ve won a restaurant gift card in a contest or one of us gets a giftcard as a birthday/Christmas present. BOOM. Cheap date night.

*One more note on this whole date night thing: take turns planning the dates, or plan them together. It’s no fun to feel like you’re the only one in the marriage who’s always doing all the planning.

Go On Double Dates with Other Married Couples

Not only should you continue to date your spouse after you’re married, you two should make an effort to go on double dates with other married couples. This is important for many reasons: it’s healthy for you and your spouse to have mutual friends and hang out with other people rather than just the two of you all the time. Plus, hanging out with other married couples is fun. Chris and I have become friends with some other newlywed couples these last couple years and we love hanging out with them because we all have so much in common thanks to the fact we’re all in the same life stage: in our late 20’s/early 30’s, married-without-kids, and career-focused.

Be Together, But Also Apart

While it’s definitely important in a marriage to spend a lot of quality time together and have mutual friends, it’s equally important to remember that you’re still your own person, and even though your spouse is your best friend, you two don’t HAVE to do EVERYTHING together. As hard as it might be, remember that you once had a life before your spouse came into the picture, and keep living that life. Make time to meet your single girlfriends for brunch. Keep up with your girly hobbies, like yoga and blogging. Accomplish your goal of running a half marathon. Continuing to live your own life after you’re married will help you to maintain a certain independence that many people lose touch with after they tie the knot. Added bonus: doing this also gives you and your spouse more to talk about over dinner or on the phone.

Learn Your Spouse’s Primary Love Language and Speak It to Him/Her Fluently

A few months ago, a friend of mine (who recently got divorced) advised me to read The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman. She had me convinced I needed to read it when she mentioned that she wished that she had read it before she got divorced and had even sent a copy to her ex-husband. So I read the book, and it really opened up my eyes on how Chris and I currently show love for each other vs how we should show love for each other. Now that we understand each other’s primary love language (mine is receiving gifts, his is physical touch), we are both working on speaking those languages to each other fluently.

Your Spouse > Your Smart Phone

This is a big one for us Millennials. We are a generation that can’t seem to put down our smart phones, but just because we’re addicted to our phones doesn’t mean our spouses should suffer. When you’re out to dinner with your husband, put your phone away and have dinner with your husband. When your wife is trying to talk to you about her day, put your phone down and listen to her. Be present, especially around your spouse.

Don’t Get Lazy

I think anyone who is married or has been in a long-term relationship can agree that after a while, you start to get comfortable– sometimes a little too comfortable. Ladies, maybe you stop dressing up for him and start resorting to yoga pants and messy buns 75% of the time. Maybe you stop initiating sex. Maybe you gain some weight. Guys, maybe you stop taking her out on dates. Maybe you don’t do anything special for her birthday. Maybe you resort to only buying her flowers on your anniversary and Valentine’s Day. All of the above is called, “getting lazy” in a marriage/relationship and I highly advise against it. If you’re married without kids, you have no excuse to be lazy. Keep pursuing each other. Keep romancing each other. Keep getting dressed up for one another, because once kids come along, it’s going to be a whole lot harder to look good for your spouse, plan date nights, and get it on.

What marriage or relationship advice would you add to this list?

Five on Friday v41

1) Chris and I ended up having a fun Halloween with our friends at the Halloween Ball in Downtown Sacramento. I do have to say, though, that going out to parties/clubs these days can seem like so much work: it’s loud, it’s crowded, it’s late, drinks are super expensive, etc. Even though it was a fun outing and I’m glad we did it, part of me wished we would have just stayed at home, watched movies, and ordered a pizza. But the thing is we have the rest of our lives to stay home, especially once we have kids! I guess these conflicting feelings are just the kind of feelings you get when you’re pushing 30.

2) The highlight of my week was making some extra money thanks to selling old stuff I don’t use anymore on Craigslist; I sold my point-and-shoot camera for $50 since I take all my pictures on my iPhone, and I sold my Kindle since I read all my books on my iPad. Between the two, I made $100! I’ve also sold some clothes to a consignment store (made $27) and got a $100 refund on some shuttle tickets I bought during the Nike Women’s Half Marathon weekend. Extra money in my pocket, oh yeah!

3) I’ve had some extra time this last week and I’ve been using it to cook more, which is making me really happy. I don’t cook very often these days because I work 3-5 nights a week at my restaurant job, so most of the time I’m not around to cook dinner for Chris and I just end up eating family meal at work; when I DO get a night off, I get lazy and say, “Let’s get takeout so I don’t have to do anything on my night off.” Well, in an attempt to save money and eat healthier, I’m forcing myself to cook on my nights off. Yes, it means less time for me to chill and relax on my night off, but I really love the feeling of having dinner on the table for my husband when he gets home from work. I know that sounds very 1950’s, but somehow, it makes me feel like a good wife when I do that. It’s also nice for Chris and I to have a home-cooked, sit-down dinner a few times a week where we just catch up and chat about our days.

4) I realized this week that around this time last year, I became unemployed for the first time since I was 16 years old. It’s kinda crazy to think about that part of my life– a time when I was bored, broke, and miserable about it all. All I have to say about that time now is I am so glad it was over in 2 1/2 months and I’ve been working ever since. I know my job situation now is still not ideal, but I will take it any day over being broke and unemployed.

5) I’m super stoked for this weekend-of-having-very-little-planned. Aside from working tonight and tomorrow night at my restaurant job, all I have planned is a portrait session on Sunday afternoon and maybe dinner with my father-in-law on Sunday night. That’s it! Bring on the chill and relaxation.

How was your week? What are your plans for the weekend?

Five on Friday v40

1) I’ve been getting into the Halloween spirit all week long. On Sunday, Chris and I went to a pumpkin patch and picked out pumpkins to carve later in the week. I got my costume together, which I’m pretty excited about: instead of spending $50+ on a new costume, I decided to dig through my costume box and be a 1920’s flapper for Halloween. The great thing is I’ve never actually been a flapper for Halloween; the reason I have a flapper dress is because I bought one at Goodwill last summer for a Gatsby-esque party for Midtown Cocktail Week. I’m looking forward to wearing the dress again and going full-on flapper this time by wearing more accessories. I already have the gloves, pearl necklace, and cigarette holder, so all I needed to buy was a boa, a headband, and fishnet tights to complete my costume. Luckily, I found all three for only $12. Another fun Halloween activity I did this week was bake pumpkin bread and cookies. Forget candy, I’ll be snacking on pumpkin baked goods tonight!

2) I’m starting to get back into the money-saving mentality again. I passed up buying a new Halloween costume this year which saved me about $50. My work pants were falling apart in a couple different areas so I hemmed them myself instead of buying a whole new pair ($25-$50 saved). I’m also in the process of getting rid of stuff in the apartment and selling it for some extra cash. I don’t have a lot planned for November, so I’m hoping I’ll be able to just focus on working, saving, and paying off my credit card debt again.

3) I love not having the Facebook app on my phone anymore. I feel like I’ve gotten so much on my to-do list done this week because I haven’t been wasting time on Facebook. I’ve also started carrying around my Kindle with me so I can read when I’m in a situation where I have to wait (e.g. in line, waiting room) instead of skimming through my FB feed on my phone. I’m really looking forward to more free time and positivity in my life thanks to way less Facebook.

4) Chris and I are ALMOST done redecorating and reorganzing our apartment. It has seriously been like a month-long process, but it’s been worth it. We’ve replaced some of our furniture and gotten rid of a lot of clutter. I think this was a good alternative instead of moving: we saved money and our apartment looks the best it’s ever looked since we moved in two years ago.

5) I have a semi-chill weekend ahead! Tonight, Chris and I are going to a Halloween Ball downtown with another married-with-no-kids couple. This will be the first time Chris and I do something fun for Halloween in the 3 1/2 years we’ve been together, so I’m sure I’ll be taking lots of pictures. On Saturday night, I plan to volunteer at a cancer walk, and on Sunday night, I’ll be working at my restaurant job. In my down time, I plan to exercise, read, and apply for jobs. I can already tell it’s going to be a good weekend.

How was your week? What are your plans for Halloween weekend?

Less Time On Facebook, More Time for Me

Over the last few months, I’ve mentioned here once or twice that I’ve been feeling crazy busy lately. Between our Yosemite trip, New York trip, training for my half marathon, fundraising for LLS, working two jobs, and social obligations almost every weekend, I haven’t had much time for me. Instead, I’ve been feeling like a bit of a stress case who can’t even find a minute to effing BREATHE.

Novemember is almost here, and for me, that means a lot more free time ahead, and I can’t wait! No trips to plan, no training, no fundraising, and only a handful of social obligations to fulfill. However, I’ve been thinking a lot lately how I want to create even more free time in my life. More free time to blog, to blog consistently, and to blog well. More free time to work on my running and start attending yoga classes again. More free time to read (and finish!) all the books that I’ve downloaded on my Kindle this year. Blogging, running, yoga, and reading are my hobbies– they are activities that I love to do in my free time. And because they are my hobbies and I love them so, I want to make more of an effort to fit them into my life. This means something else in my life has got to go.

After realizing that I need to eliminate one or two things from my life in order to make time for my hobbies again, I started thinking about what I do when I’m not working, and I immediately came up with this: waste time on social media, specifically Facebook. This is how my days looked like until recently:

Wake up, check Facebook.
Get ready for work, check Facebook.
Go through the Starbucks drive-thru, check Facebook.
Log onto my work computer, check Facebook.
Work, check Facebook.
Get home from work, check Facebook.
Go to my second job, check Facebook on my break.
Get home from second job, check Facebook.
Get ready for bed, check Facebook.
Lay in bed, check Facebook.
Fall asleep. Wake up in the morning and do it all over again.

Kinda disgusting how much time I’d spend on Facebook, isn’t it? I was probably spending on average about two hours a day on Facebook, equaling 14 hours a week. Think of all the other things I could be doing with those 14 hours! It’s not even that I care that much about what my so-called “friends” are posting (more on that later), it’s just habit. A very, very bad habit that takes up a lot of my time. A habit that I should work on breaking.

Not only do I want to quit Facebook because it is such a huge time-suck, I want to quit it because it adds no enrichment to my life whatsoever. In fact, most of the time when I check Facebook, I get annoyed/angry at what people are posting: political rants, sports fans shit-talking other sports fans, “What kind of _____ are you?” quizzes, Candy Crush invites, etc. I see so much of this crap in my Facebook feed, it’s literally starting to look like clutter. And don’t even get me started on some of the stuff my FB friends post that make me feel shitty about my own life, causing me to start playing the comparison game. Essentially, if I don’t enjoy reading over half of the stuff posted in my feed, why should I spend two hours a day on Facebook?

So how am I quitting Facebook? I started by deleting the app from my phone and my iPad a couple days ago. This means I can only check Facebook if I’m at a desktop computer, which is either at my office job or at home in our office. This may not sound like a lot, but it really is! Yesterday, I didn’t check Facebook between 2pm when I left my office job to 8pm when I got home from my restaurant job. Six hours is a long time for a Facebook junkie to not check Facebook. And you know what? I don’t even miss it. Not once in the last couple days have I thought, “Am I missing anything interesting by not checking Facebook right now?” because I already know there’s not a whole lot of interesting stuff going on there. Just a bunch of political rants and Candy Crush invites.

You might be wondering if I plan on deleting my account altogether. The answer to that question is: for now, no. I actually need a Facebook account for my non-profit office job because I manage our campaign’s Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram profiles, so I kinda have to keep my account for the time being. You also might be wondering if I plan to delete any of my other social media accounts, and the answer to that is also not for now. I have Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest accounts, but I don’t spend a lot of time on any of those platforms. I do have an Instagram account that I use often (not nearly as often as FB), but I actually really enjoy Instagram; it’s made for a younger demographic which means my dad, relatives, and in-laws aren’t on it, and you can choose who you follow. I also like that Instagram is simpler and there’s way less clutter: you can’t “share” or “retweet,” and your feed doesn’t constantly tell you what other people “like” the way Facebook does.

I’m super excited about this change I’m making because I think it’ll be really healthy for me. I’m hoping that deleting the Facebook app will quickly help break my habit of checking it so much, and eventually I won’t feel the need to check my Facebook at my desktop computers, either. Less Facebook equals less negativity in my life and more time to be productive and do the things that make me happy.

If you’re on Facebook, how much time do you spend on it a day? Have you ever thought about deleting your account? How do you make time for your hobbies?

{Currently} October

Loving this runner’s high I’ve been on all week. I keep replaying last weekend over and over in my head and reminiscing about how awesome it was. I’ve also been researching future half marathons to sign up for early next year. I do have a 10K planned for November, but that’s about it. Time to fill up my race calendar!

Loathing that it’s still so warm and dry in Sacramento lately even though it’s officially fall. Even when I went to the Bay Area last weekend, it was pretty warm. It’s like Mother Nature refuses to acknowledge the fact that there’s a drought in California and we need rain. RUDE.

Watching nothing at the moment. Waiting for the last season of Glee to start up this fall. I do want to see Gone Girl in the theaters, but I’d like to read the book first. Not sure when I’ll have time to do that, so I might just skip the book for now and see the movie first.

Feeling kind of relieved that my half marathon is over. Don’t get me wrong, it was an amazing experience. But now that it’s over, I can focus my attention on other things in my life, like finding a new job and putting our apartment back together (it’s still a mess from replacing some of our furniture and reorganizing these last few weeks). Chris and I also want to start seriously searching for a pug to adopt; we’ve been wanting to get a dog for a while now, so it’s time to make it happen.

Planning for Halloween. Our friends invited me and Chris to a Halloween party happening in Downtown Sacramento, so that’s what we’ll be doing. I’m looking forward to actually doing something for Halloween this year because last year, Chris was sick, and the year before that, I had to work. As for my costume, I was going to be a panda bear, but instead, I’m just going to recycle an old costume in my costume box. Gotta save that money!

Working on applying for full-time jobs again. I applied for one last week that I actually qualify for, so hopefully I at least get an interview. I’m going to try to get some more job apps done over the weekend. I’m hopeful I can find something these next two months because during the holidays, most people tend to take a break from job-searching. Maybe this will give me an advantage during my job search and I’ll start 2015 with a full-time job.

Wishing cancer would stop affecting my family. I just found out that my cousins’ dad (formerly my uncle before he and my aunt got divorced) just found out he has stage 4 prostate cancer. I couldn’t believe it when I found out, and immediately felt for my cousins since I lost my mom to cancer. Stage 4 cancer is serious; I don’t even know if there’s anything he can do at this point but start chemo and hope for a miracle. Fucking cancer.

Looking forward to celebrating my and Chris’ 2-year wedding anniversary this Sunday. We actually don’t have anything super exciting planned since we are still recovering from spending a lot of money on our New York trip and buying some new furniture for our apartment. We did go out to a nice dinner at our favorite San Francisco restaurant last Sunday night. (This restaurant also happens to be the restaurant where we had our wedding reception.) As for this Sunday, we just plan to go out to brunch, carve pumpkins for Halloween, order a pizza, and watch movies. Should be a nice, low-key anniversary celebration with my love.

What are you currently up to?