I Jumped Out of a Plane

"If it scares you, it might be a good thing to try." - Seth Godin

No, really. I literally jumped out of a plane. For my birthday I took the entire week off. I mean, I didn't exactly do it in the way that it sounds. My manager had the week off already and it just seemed easy enough to match my vacation to her week off and the timing just happened to be perfect. I had a staycation where everyday this week I did something different to fully enjoy my time off. I'm not going to go through all of it but I was blessed enough to have family from Charlotte come surprise me. I was so, so happy.

My big moment was going skydiving. I've been thinking about this and planning this for a while. I mentioned it to a friend I made through work a couple months ago and he was all about it. I purposely waited until I made my deposit before letting my mom know. Once I did, she FREAKED and rightfully so. I'm actually petrified of heights (mainly the free fall) to the point that I can't go near the railing at the mall.

The desire to do this stems from my desire for "more" and "adventure". I haven't traveled (without the purpose of visiting family or a bachelorette party) in I don't even know how long. I don't do anything super exciting with my life and that makes me sad. I had a moment where I thought, if (God forbid) something happens to me right now, would I be happy with the way I've lived my life? I need to fill my life with more excitement, adventure, and happiness. So since I promised to make 27 my best year yet, this was how I wanted to start. Skydiving celebrated four things for me: my birthday, facing my fear of heights, crossing an item off my 30 Before 30 list, and new beginnings and adventure.

I can't even begin to explain how amazing the experience was. I think it's important to try something that really pushes you out of your comfort zone. The freefall was a rush of adrenaline like no other, and the parachute down was just breathtaking. I was able to look around and see perfectly blue skies, gorgeous green mountains and grass, and my surroundings in a way that can't be explained. 

I will definitely be skydiving again. I even want to try it in another country like New Zealand or Dubai (UAE). I dare you to try something new, to step outside your comfort zone and follow the quote, "Life begins at the end of your comfort zone." This experience made me realize that that quote is more true than one would think. Until next time, take a risk. :)

I Ran My First 5K!

Hi Everyone!

Guess what.. I'm back! I don't want to sit here any promise that I'm going to get better at posting, I'll let my actual posts do the talking. So let's dive in!

I've crossed thing the first thing off my 30 Before 30 bucket list for 2014. I ran The Color Run DC! It was a great first 5K for a few different reasons. First, it was fun! The colors made each kilometer go by faster. Second, it's great for beginners. It's not timed so there's no worry about crossing that finish line as fast as you can. Third, it's something that everyone can participate in. There were people of all ages, people running alone, in partners, in families. My favorite were the moms with their running strollers.

I will admit, I took the longest shower of my life after this race. It wasn't easy to wash everything off. There was definitely scrubbing involved. It was totally worth it though! Here are some of my favorite pictures from the race:

Now that I've gotten my first race out of the way, I'm definitely going to do another. Except for the next one, I'll actually train beforehand. 

I definitely recommend that everyone do at least one 5k at some point. Even if you're not a runner, there are 5ks that are for walkers. They're a great way to go outside and be active with friends. Any bit of exercise you do is better than none! :)

Talk to you all soon!

Belated Happy Holidays

Hi! I hope everyone had a WONDERFUL Christmas and holiday, I know I did. Gosh, I really got wrapped up in the holidays and went MIA on blogging even though my plan was to blog more! But even more than that, a lot has happened in my life this month.

Let's start with Christmas!

This is our happy little tree. You may have seen it on my IG if you follow me. My boyfriend and I don't live together but he has the basement to himself so we set up out tree and put all our presents underneath it. This is our third year using this tree and it is just so stinkin' cute.

And here we are in front of his parents' tree. Our Christmas involved balancing my family and his. We're getting better at it every year so that's good. We just can't wait until we have our own place. -- I wish we would have taken more pictures, but that's ok. We had a great Christmas this year and I hope you all did too!

Big life news!

As I previously mentioned, I got a new job. I am beyond thrilled. I started the second week of December and it has been amazing so far. Everyone has been so welcoming and helpful. This company is just beyond amazing and I am so blessed and honored to be given this opportunity and I'm finally able to get my career started. This is officially the first thing I get to scratch off my 30 Before 30 list!

I also get to scratch off a second thing. I bought a new car! A BRAND-SPANKEN-NEW car. I am so happy and excited! I had been saving and waiting to start my new job so I would be able to do this and it finally happened. I'll have to take a picture and post it but weeee, making big girl moves. This is awesome! 

I can't wait to be able to cross more off my list. I'm planning to do a couple more things in the next few months so I'm really excited.

Anyway, I am going to head off for now and go read up on others' amazing holiday posts. Talk to you all soon!