Cha cha changes!

Ever had one of those days where you're embracing change in all different aspects of your life? For me it seems like its everywhere in my life.

De-cluttering: My lease is up in a month and I've slowly started the moving process already- constantly putting yourself in that 'spring clean' frame of mind on what can stay and what can go.

My room was a disaster zone for hours while sifting through everything

 I've officially taken over 9 huge bags to good will--- man does that feel good.  (this is just round 1)

Roommate: With this new move I will have a brand new roommate, Leah. Although my current roommate, Krista, and I get along just fine, she was looking for something in a different area, and I wanted to stay close to work. Up until about 3 weeks ago I didn't have a plan. I was freaking out a little bit about where I was going to live and if I would be able to find a roommate. In my part of town its easy to spend $1000 / month on rent and utilties if you're on your own, however with a roommate you're looking at about $600 with everything. Although I can afford the $1000/ mo, I really want to focus on saving as my 50 state quest is nearing an end and thus my need for a roommate. I couldn't find anything on Craigslist, so I decided to write my own ad and within two days Leah responded. She's my age, a physical therapist, runner, triathathlete, and beer enthusiast. Apparently she goes to the same Monday night running group I go to but we never knew one another. Aside from being cool as all get out shes is FAST. Her last 1/2 was a 1:27 and I've ran that race before, it is HARD. I already asked her if she'd helped me get faster--- she claims she doesn't know how to do that, but I think me just running with her will do the trick. So excited to learn from her!!

Work: We FINALLY hired a replacement for some of the duties I had been carrying out for the last 4 months even though my role changed. Luckily she starts today so I get to train her all week. Now that those duties are off my plate coupled with some of the accounts I work on announcing termination, I got asked to switch what I do and start on a completely 'new to me' area at work. I'm actually pretty pumped as it will expose me to so many different parts of the company as well as allow interaction with more colleagues that up until now, wouldn't have needed to work with. I'll continue carrying on my current role till fall along with the new role as I'm able-,after that I'm not sure if i'll get a different title or if there will be new accounts to work on etc. I'm just thrilled to have my plate full again because I was going a little stir crazy.

Faith: Rarely will you catch me in an open conversation about religion. These days you never know who you are going to offend, so I've always been more of a private person on this topic. Because of this, a long time ago I didn't see the need to go to church. I kept the philosophy that God doesn't judge on how often you walk in and out of a building, but more so on how you live your life and the example you set. I still firmly believe that, however someone finally gave me the nudge that I needed to find a church that is right for me  so I can have more people in my life that will continue to encourage my development in God. No worries, I'm still a private person and won't blog about it, but this is a huge shift for me. 

Men: I was 'dating' one of my good friends and somewhere along the lines he had a change of heart but neglected to inform me of this. I won't go into all the back and forths that ensued, but the aftermath left me completely torn. Something about the way things were handled / said left me feeling like I "wasn't good enough" and that everything I was doing was constantly being judged. In addition to that I had never had someone have the power to make me feel so unattractive and 'manly'. As I write this he sounds like an awful person haha, but I can assure you he is not and we are still good friends despite the change in hearts. Last weekend everything was still fresh and I was confiding in another guy friend about all that had happened etc and later that night he sent me the nicest text that kind of changed my whole attitude around...

"Remember... you past does not define you... your ability to face the obstacles in life define you. You are one of the most awesome persons I know, do not let ANYONE dictate your happiness. You are smart, intelligent, beautiful, and truly a great person, you will prevail. Believe in yourself, because I do"

Too often I do place too much power on men determining my happiness. Maybe its the curse of the eternally single girl? I have finally, finally FINALLY at the age of almost 29 decided that whoever Mr. Right is will be so incredible that there won't be a shadow of doubt when I meet him that he will be the one for me and all the heartache I've had to endure up until that point will all be worth it in the end. Until that happens, I'm going to embrace who I am and just be HAPPY!

Hair: For those that know me outside of my racing pony tail, I have fairly long hair. Once I hit puberty it turned curly and for years I didn't know what to do with it. In highschool I was able to manage it by waking up at 5am every day to take a shower and make sure the curls were fresh, but once I entered the real world- college and later, that was no longer feasible. I was ALWAYS self conscious about my hair because I felt that curly hair was unattractive (yeah I know I sound like I have the confidence of a gnat in this post, I promise I don't)  At some point I invested in a CHI straightner and pretty much straightened my hair everyday out of convenience as well as a way to 'fit in' with what is normal. This backstory has a point, I promise... basically my long, "straight" hair is a crutch- its something I always wanted as a teen so I've always kept it as an adult. On thursday I was watching a recent episode of MTV's AWKWARD and one of the main character's who had gorgeous long hair cut it short... and it looked good. So I thought, 'screw it- I want short hair too!' 

So I went from this...

To 8 inches lighter on Saturday!

I have to admit, it was a challenge getting it into a pony tail for yesterday's run, for now I'll call it a 'nub' until it hits pony tail status

But for now, I embrace the shortness, no more hiding behind my hair and now I can wear things that show my back- I feel strong when my back is exposed for some reason and strong is the new sexy! Time to go be sexy! 

Any changes going on in your life?!?