Over the past month...

Wow, have I really not posted in over a month? Well, to sum it up - I've been crazy busy. Got promoted to Marketing Coordinator and my job, so I am pretty excited about that as you can imagine.

Went up to the Bay Area this past weekend to see my family and some of my friends. I had an amazing time and am so sad how quickly it went.

The weekend prior headed to Long Beach for the first time since I was an infant. Matt and I met up with my bff Jess and her gorgeous family...I stole these photos from her blog (forgive me Jess, but you take such awesome photos!)

Still working towards my 5k on April 3rd....doing well so far. And looking forward to Vegas in 49 days...not that anyone is counting ;)

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New Years Resolutions: Twenty-Eleven

Ah, yes...it's that time of year again. What goal am I going to set for myself that I will inevitably end up forgetting about by Lent.

Actually, to give myself some credit, I didn't do too poorly last year sticking to my resolutions. At least I did better than I had previous years.

This year is simple: I want to focus on my health. My weight has been like a yo-yo all my life and, mark my words, this year, 2011, that stops. And I mean it. My boyfriend and I have decided to focus on our health together and hopefully we can support each other in reaching our individual goals. Tonight I am rejoining weight watchers as it has done wonders for me in the past. I lost over 55 lbs before and have managed to keep most of that off.

One goal I have set for myself is to run in a 10k by the end of the year. I have already registered for a 5k on April 3rd and I'm pretty excited about having something to work towards. I used to run a few times a week last year and a 5k would have been no worries....but that habit has fallen by the way side and I want to get back into it.

Next year I'd like to run in a half marathon....but right now I am focusing on my 5k in April and a 10k by the end of the year...baby steps.

I've also made a very hard decision that I think might be the best for me at the moment. I've been a vegetarian for 2 years now. I've loved it and it's been surprisingly easy. However, I have found that since my change of diet, I have been eating much more pasta and many more carbs (things that DO NOT agree with my body and weight loss goals). It's been especially hard living with my boyfriend (who loves meat) and coming up with things that we can both eat .... enter pasta. He's been such a good sport about eating my 'fake meat' (think sloppy joes with fake meat, chili with fake meat, chicken sandwiches with fake chicken) but it's definitely been hard. I'd like to focus more on eating "whole" foods. Say like veggies with grilled chicken. And I obviously can't do that sort of a thing if I'm not eating chicken. I know I could eat beans, or tofu to get protein, but I can't cook tofu for the life of me and I'm not a huge bean fan. I've tried using substitutes but I keep finding myself eating pasta....

So, with that being said, as of 1.1.11 this girl will no longer be a vegetarian. Trust me, I am a bit sad about this. I don't like the thought of eating animals and it's certainly going to be a bit of an adjustment. But I think this might help me achieve my goals and I can always go back to vegetarianism in the future. To be honest, I'm a bit nervous how my body might react-it's been two years and I'm afraid I might get sick or something.

What are your New Years Resolutions?

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I'm still here....promise. Just been crazy busy lately. Quite a lot has gone down actually....

Matt and I spent Thanksgiving up in Valencia with his family and had a really good time. (Photos here) I learned how to play poker, and I took all the winnings. No joke. Watch out Vegas.

Proof, in case you didn't believe me.

We will be heading up to The Bay for Christmas and I can't wait! I miss my family and friends and am absolutely ecstatic about spending the holiday with them.

Matt and I went down to the Hotel Del Coronado recently to partake in some holiday festivities. They have The Del all lit up in white holiday lights and during the holiday season they have an outdoor ice skating rink that overlooks the ocean. That's right, oceanside ice skating. This is why I love San Diego. The night we went they also had Santa there with his elves, an awesome fireworks show over the beach and THE BEST (complimentary) hot chocolate I have ever had in my entire life! I am serious-so thick and creamy...it couldn't have been good for me ;) More pics here.

Speaking of the holidays, Matt and I just competed in a bake-off for his work. One of my bffs made these SUPER CUTE cake pops for her son's birthday from Bakerella and I decided to give it my best shot. We made the reindeer cake pops and while it was fairly difficult, they were a HUGE hit and we only lost the cake-off by ONE VOTE and it was to an awesome hazelnut pavlova. (pics here of cake pops)

But probably one of the most interesting things that has most recently happened is work related. I've been working 30 hours a week at my HR firm. Someone just resigned (very sad about this) BUT that means that yours truly just got bumped up to full time and tons of extra responsibility. My boss and I are discussing all the details this Friday. I am SO EXCITED for this opportunity to prove what I am capable of and grow within the company. It's so funny how many things have finally fallen into place since I have moved to San Diego. I truly believe this was all meant to be.

Well, that about wraps it up. It's 3:30am and I can't sleep....my mind is too busy. Thank goodness for coffee :)

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GREAT news!

About a month and a half ago, I landed this awesome job at an HR firm. However, the position was through a temp agency and my contract is supposed to be up end of December. I was hoping that I could prove myself to be valuable enough that they would ask me to become a permenant employee. Well, after a number of shining moments this week, my boss pulled me into her office. I figured that she maybe wanted to go over the marketing strategies I had presenting in a meeting the day before, but.......to my surprise she asked if I would accept a permanent position and a raise. Of course I accepted. As of Monday I will be officially employed by my company and no longer working as a temp employee (and with a much nicer income).

I am super excited about this opportunity and that my value was so early on recognized by my employer.

With that, I'll leave you with this super cute pic of me and my bf from the other night :)

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A decade ago....

Yup. I'm 26. And when I look back at where I was a decade ago, it's pretty incredible. I don't really even recognize that girl anymore.

Matt & I on my surprise birthday San Diego Harbor Dinner Cruise

* * * *

Ten years ago I just gotten my license.

Ten years later and that license has cost me

hundreds in parking and speeding tickets.

Ten years ago I was at my first job.

Ten years later & I have worked in restaurants, retail,

management, offices, event planning & now a HR firm.

Ten years ago I was applying to colleges.

Ten years later and I have attended 4 different colleges.

Graduated from SFSU with my BA, studied abroad for a year

at Griffith Uni (Australia), started working towards my Masters at SJSU,

and tried to 'reinvent' my career path with a stint at CCSF.

Ten years ago I was living in the Sac area and had never left the country nor really cared to.

Ten years later and I have lived in the Bay Area for 8 years,

lived in Australia for a year, am currently living in San Diego

traveled all over Australia, Ireland & have my next trip in the works.

Ten years ago, I had never had a 'real' boyfriend

Ten years later, I find myself madly in love

and living with the most amazing guy I have ever met.

Ten years ago I had two best friends that I still have today.

Ten years later, I have given speeches at both of their weddings

and seen one of them bring two beautiful babies into the world.

Ten years ago I didn't give what I ate a second thought.

Ten years later, I am a vegetarian and

look at the food label of everything I eat.

What a difference a decade makes.

Wonder where I will be in a decade from now....

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Officially a SoCal Girl

It's been a little less than a week since Matt and I made the 9+ hour long drive down to San Diego to make me an official resident.

I absolutely love where we live. We have this cute little apartment on Coronado Island from which we can see the bay, the Downtown skyline, and even Seaworld's fireworks and I couldn't be happier. At 8am sharp, we can hear the horns sounding from the Navy base at the north end of the island. And at sunset, we can hear them again as they perform, what I imagine to be, the flag ceremony. Some people might find it annoying, but I really like it.

Matt surprised me with the cutest beach cruiser bike and I am absolutely loving riding it around everywhere. On this island I swear you can get anywhere on bike in 15 min and it's so fun to 'ride down to the store.' Coronado seems to embrace a similar 'no worries' attitude that I was so fond of Australia for. In other words, I am really happy. :)

Next week I have to try and get the classes I need to reapply to my radiation therapy program. (Since my dumb ass got disqualified I have to reapply and now complete the 2 additional pre reqs they have added). Unfortunately, it's gonna be a bit of a struggle since all the classes are full, wait lists are full and everyone and their mother apparently needs to take anatomy and physiology. I'm going to be as persistent as I can and the rest I leave to fate.

On a side note, I should mention that on the drive down, Matt and I stopped off in SB to see my best friend Jess, her hubby Chris and their beautiful babies....one of which (Jude) is just a few weeks old. Jude is absolutely beautiful and I can't believe how big Logan is getting. I love the age that Logan is at now...I think he actually recognizes and remembers me :) I loved seeing Matt interact with Logan. (Translation: boyfriend playing with babies=sexy as all hell!)

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Moving Day is HERE!

So it's actually here. Tomorrow at 6am I will be leaving my home for the past 8 years and starting a new chapter in San Diego.

I'm excited. I'm nervous. I can't wait.

I'm excited to start over somewhere new. Start over and meet new people. Be closer to my two best friends who both live in So Cal. Start a future with my amazing man.

I'm nervous to not understand the freeway system. To not have a job or school completely lined up. To not have my amazing circle of friends around. To not be as close to my family.

I can't wait for this new chapter to begin :)

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Moving. Boyfriend. Babies...OH MY!

I made it back from 2 weeks in Maui with one hell of a tan and a handful of stories only I would acquire. My brother got robbed at knife point, I sliced my foot open on the reef trying to kayak, I blew my eardrum out diving down too deep to tie the boat to the mooring, managed to gain like 5 lbs on vacation, and snorkeled at the same spot that someone disappeared from the next day (and was never found). That's just the cliffnotes version of course ;) I'll try to get together some pics for a future blog :)

So much has happened that I don't even know where to start. Let's backtrack a bit. I didn't get into the radiation therapy program due to my own stupidity. Funny how life works out though. If I want to reapply to the program, I have to wait an entire year. Which gives me an entire year to basically do whatever the hell I want.

So I thought to myself, Self-what have you always wanted to do but never had the 'time' or made the plans to do? Move to SAN DIEGO! So that's what I have decided to do, I am moving to San Diego, BECAUSE I CAN :) I have to take a couple of classes down there (because of course as my luck would have it the program I want to apply to has now added two more prereqs to apply to the program for 2011) but otherwise, it's gonna be amazing.

Now here is the best part and why I truly believe everything happens for a reason. Remember when I mentioned heading down to San Diego for a mini visit recently? Well it was during that very same visit that I met the MOST INCREDIBLE GUY EVER. I mean really. We have been inseparable ever since we have met (as in talking all day, everyday) and I am absolutely crazy about him. Ready for the SHOCKER??

I think I am gonna move in with him! :O I know, everyone thinks I am crazy, but it feels right and even though we've only been together for a few months, we've talked about ALOT of stuff and we definitely want to start building something together. I used to look at those people that get married just months after having met eachother and thought that they were completely NUTS, but now I get it. Not that we are getting married soon or anything (don't worry Mom & Dad!) but with him I feel like I just KNOW that it's right. This is what it's supposed to be and feel like. I've never felt that before and it's pretty damn exciting :)

I went down to Santa Barabara this weekend to see my best friend, Jess, and to attend her baby

shower. She is due in just a couple weeks and it was so great to spend time with her before she has her hands full with TWO boys. Her 20-month-old is the most adorable little boy ever. The kid even fist bumps, how awesome is that!

I gotta get back to packing, I've got 5 weeks to box up stuff, throw away crap and get it all down to SD all the while working 6 days a week. Wish me luck! xo

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Singles Awareness Day is Coming

Valentine's Day is rapidly and inevitably approach us....oooooh goody. 

In my 25 years of existence, I cannot recall having a single good, happy, romantic Valentine's Day. I've always either been single, in a long distance relationship, or dating someone who didn't understand the significance behind a sweet gesture.

I think the "best" Valentine's Day I had was in High School. It was my sophomore  year and school was cancelled for the day because of a power outage (awesome!) so a bunch of friends and I hung out. My boyfriend, who I had only been dating for like a week mind you, gave me a card and in it wrote, "I love you." I knew right then and there he was full of s#&! and I think we broke up not too long afterwards because he knew I was a good girl and wasn't going to give it up to him.

Or perhaps even better, was Valentine's Day 2006. I left for my year abroad in Australia on February 13th, and due to the time difference I landed on February 15th. V-day literally didn't exist for me that year. Brilliant planning on my part ;)

This year I really don't have any reason to believe it will be anything other than another day in February. Aside from the huge bowl of Sweethearts I will be devouring while watching some sappy love movie (Dear John or Valentine's Day anyone?). It's a tradition that I have really come to enjoy, especially those little white Sweethearts, they're my favorite ♥

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How to BE hard to get!

I saw this blog post on Yahoo! Shine and wanted to share it with all the ladies out there. Read on...it's worth it!

User post: Stop "Playing" Hard-to-Get and Actually Be Hard-to-Get: 3 Ways to Always Leave Him Wanting More! 

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Why I ♥ my boyfriend

As we drove up to the Indian reservation for a wedding this weekend, he turned to me and said....

"The Cullens don't come here."

Swoon!

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