Friday, October 18, 2013

Projects & Pumpkins

Hey Slayers! Simone here, checking in with some fall updates!

I don't know about you, but I'm having a crazily busy fall so far. This is the first autumn in 18+ years that I haven't been going back to school full-time, and I naively thought I'd have more free time now. Ha!

There have been some fun new developments, though. First announcement: I'm stably employed! Hooray! My temporary position will officially become permanent on Monday. This is my first non-retail/non-temporary job ever, and I'm pretty psyched. Just in time for my student loan bills! Yay, adulthood!

Now that I officially have an office desk, I think it might be time to try making a terrarium to decorate!
My current desk decor could use a little help, don't you think?
Also, I gotta say, the 5k last weekend was a blast. My coworkers and I achieved our goal of not stopping to walk for the entire 3.1 mile course. I have never done that before! We had lovely weather and a really nice time. They might even be able to talk me into doing it next year... We'll see!

I've also been working on some other personal goals! My friends and I have added Monday as a third garage CrossFit day. It was originally intended for just our roommates, but quickly grew to include several Tuesday/Thursday regulars as well. I'm getting really close to strict and kipping pull-ups, and starting to tap into a more "can-do" mental state as well instead of telling everyone "I can't." It certainly makes for a more fun and rewarding workout experience. :)

I'm also going to do my first workout in a real CrossFit gym with my mom! I'm not sure if I can afford a membership yet, but I know having access to skilled coaches would probably double my progress. I'm also interested in being a coach someday, but I have a ways to go yet! My mom is a little apprehensive about the "hardcore" appearance of CrossFit, as I'm sure many people are (I was too!); I'm hoping to show her that it can be for everyone, and that at the right gym it's just a supportive community with a fun, dynamic, and challenging workout to get through together. Either way, we'll both be giving each other moral support! :)

In my copious remaining free time, I'm trying to teach myself Photoshop/Illustrator and basic web design. I have no background with this and never got the chance to take classes in college, but my own personal blog just turned 5 last week, and I'd like to refresh it a bit! I'm also working on my Lara costume little by little. Here's the first glimpse at my thigh holster -- it's still in progress, but hopefully I'll have more pictures after the weekend!

Last Friday night = National Treasure and crafting. No regrets!
Meal planning is still a struggle as always; I did well earlier this week and then had a (delicious) grilled cheese and two cupcakes for my coworker's birthday yesterday. But life goes on -- this weekend I will be sure to make meal planning a priority again. I'm also putting together an exciting nutrition challenge for my fellow garage crossfitters that I'm pretty excited about!

Speaking of meal planning and preparation, do these paleo pumpkin chocolate chip muffins from PaleOMG look great or what?! I sense baking in my weekend!


--Simone

2 comments:

  1. I want that pumpkin tea! Is it tea? I want it. ALSO! Grats on your 5k! So proud of you! Keep up all the good work! AND! Your holster is great! I have a suggestion (and you might already be planning this), but make sure you paint that orange tip on the plastic gun with some black acrylic so that it doesn't stand out as much. If you want to get crazy, you can do some dry brushing to weather the gun a little too, but I think you're trying to get the whole thing done by Halloween so that could wait for later if you wanted :)

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    1. It IS tea! So tasty!

      Orange tips are required (I think legally) on airsoft guns -- that one is functional though unloaded. For now, it's low priority for me to fix just for safety reasons, but if the whole costume really comes together and I want to cosplay somewhere, I'd either get a different con-approved prop or see about making that blend in better somehow. :) I'll definitely need to do some weathering on all my gear for sure!

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