Spartan Race 2014

Let's go WAY back to 7 days ago, yes one week. I get a text from Bobby saying a girl he works with has an extra entry ticket to the Spartan Sprint because her sister had to cancel last minute. When is the race? Sunday...as in 6 days from now. No wonder nobody in the office wanted to volunteer, but Bobby told her I had been wanting to do one (which is true) so after texting me and deciding why the heck not I agreed. Immediately I was thinking omg what did I just do, but I was super excited! Despite only having 6 days to "prepare" I was thankful I had been working my but off the last 6 weeks so I was at least in somewhat decent shape.
Well yesterday was race day. We had the open registration time slot so we didn't go until 1pm. We pull up and saw some of the big obstacles and were just overwhelmed with anxiety. I am so glad we didn't get there any earlier than we did because the anticipation of starting was the worst! I just wanted to GO! Finally 1 o'clock rolls around and we are off through the start line, only to then be corralled to the actual start line and get a pump up Spartan pep talk to get us off and running, and off we go AROO!

This was by FAR the hardest most challenging thing I have EVER done in my life. I have never had to mentally push myself so much as I did throughout this race, but never once did I even think about quitting. You do not quit this race. Once I got through the first couple of obstacles I was in the zone and all I could think about was the finish line. It was 4.3 miles long and there were 20 obstacles, with new obstacles never seen before on one of these races (although they were all new to me! lol). Everyone both racing and volunteers were SUPER encouraging and although we were racing individually there was always someone there pushing you and encouraging you and even giving an extra hand if needed. What an amazing experience this was. It truly showed me how to push past my limits and REALLY challenge myself. I thought I had challenged myself before, no way. You want to really push limits and challenge yourself not only physically but mentally, then get out there and sign up for one of these races!

Even though it was seriously hard I would do it again in a heart beat! I would even do one of the longer ones (super or beast) If I had some time to actually train for them! They're awesome events and you feel like a complete BA when you're done (rightfully so!). The girl I ran with ended up rolling her ankle pretty badly at the 4th to last obstacle and couldn't finish, I felt so bad for her but in my eyes she finished because she made it through all of the hardest stuff! So I had to finish on my own, but it was still the best experience of my life. I am SO glad I decided to be spontaneous and brave and sign up last minute I know I would have seriously regretted it had I not.

I am really sore today, have a good amount of cuts and bruises, but I feel on top of the world and get a huge smile when I go back and look at the pictures that my amazing husband took :) Hearing him tell me how proud he is of me is the cherry on top! <3

Before the race

If you couldn't complete the obstacle in ONE try you had to do 30 burpees, I had to do 90 (3 obstacles) One I was SO close. 2 were two of the last obstacles without my partner where everyone had help scaling the wall...was SO close! grr! The other was a rope climb...I had no chance lol SO hard!

I Just Couldn't Help Myself

When Bobby graduated in June I told him and myself I wouldn't be working anymore...well that last all of a few months, because as soon as we moved to Phoenix I ended up getting a VERY part time sitting job watching baby Jack two mornings a week, but that wasn't enough so I continued to search for a little over a month for the perfect second nanny job and I just found it!

I had talked to NUMEROUS people on care who had sent me messages and scoured the postings, but nothing stood out to me. I was being very selective and picky with who I would reach out to about their posting. I had one interview with a family with newborn twins, lost out to that job to a retired Pediatric nurse (really who can compete with that?) but I didn't let it get to me I knew the right one would come along and last week it did! :) I received a message from a nice lady looking for care for her almost 4 year old daughter. We chatted via email and she explained the job more to me and I got a good vibe talking with her so we decided to set up an interview/meeting for last Friday. It just so happened that I arrive at her gate right behind her (didn't know it at the time), her fob wasn't working so I punched in the code and drove to her house, when I noticed the car was following me I thought, "wouldn't that be funny if that we her" well sure enough it was! I pulled into her drive way and she pulled up past me and we were both laughing. When I got out of my car to greet her she greeted me with a hug!

The interview was SUPER casual and we chatted about ourselves and her daughter and about the job itself. Then her daughter wanted to show me her play room and bedroom as well as her outfit for her birthday which was the next day. Everything went GREAT and we both felt like it was a great fit so I was hired then and there. She was really nice, straight forward, and they seem like an amazing family to work for so I am really excited to start! I will officially start once I am back from Hawaii, but will be going over there Wednesday for a few hours and possibly one other time before I leave as a kind of "get to know each other" trial before I start my regular hours. I usually like to do this anyway, it always makes for a smooth transition for everyone.

I am really hopeful that this will turn into yet another great job working for great people. I am glad I stuck it out and was selective with who I reached out to, and am grateful that she actually reached out to me!

It was actually really funny because she had called me "Cassie" (which happens ALL of the time) so I corrected her and said my name was actually Casey and she was like wow, that is crazy...don't take this the wrong way, but our dog just past away (as she had told me earlier) and she said when they asked their daughter what she would want to name their new puppy if they got one their daughter replied with "Casey" which was odd because we don't know anyone named Casey so we don't know where she got the name from...kind of crazy how things work out! She then promised they wouldn't name their puppy Casey lol! Our husbands are both named Robert too...so meant to be ;)

So in short, I don't think I am cut out for the stay at home WIFE thing at least not full time. I will be happy to be out of the house more working and earning extra money which is always a good thing. Later on down the line when we have kids...I think that is when I will OFFICIALLY hang up my nanny hat...but until then....it is officially back on! ;)

xoxo

Did I say Hair Problems?

Man, I thought I had hair issues before...those were not REAL problems...me wanting to "change" my hair caused REAL problems! Somehow there was some miscommunication between my hair guy and me because I said I wanted a darker golden blonde and I ended up with DARK auburn hair. Like CRAZY! I didn't even look like myself and I nearly had a meltdown...I called later after my appt, after I went home and freaked out, calmed down, and told them that it was WAY too dark...so they had me come in the next day to "lighten it up".

This time I did what I clearly should have done the day before, I showed him photos of what I was actually originally wanting...yeah we definitely were not on the same page. But, the damage was done and going from basically platinum blonde to what I was at now, there was only so much he could do to lighten it up. He put some color remover, horrible smelling crap on my hair, then about 3 other things I don't know what to try to get as much of the color out as he could...he said it took half of it out but to me it looked exactly the same. From there he added highlights and that was all there could be done. My hair was the most fried it had ever been, and it wasn't even what I had originally wanted, not even close...but it was as good as it was going to get and it was still a million times better than it was to start.
I was also told that this color SHOULD fade/wash out of my hair since my hair was so light in about a month so I am hoping for that. I am still planning on getting more highlights put in (as many as possible as long as my hair doesn't fall out and also at a different salon) to get as blonde as I can before I go to Hawaii in 18 days. I am going to condition the crap out of my hair until then and hope the dark color continues to fade. My hair is pretty resilient and healthy so I think it will regain it's strength and moisture quickly and I know it can handle the massive amounts of bleach it still needs to it is just a matter of how blonde the next stylist can get me in one visit ;)

While everyone at the salon was nice, I can tell that this guy really didn't like "bleach" blonde hair...he kept making comments about it, and then at the very end I was asking how long I have to wait to get more highlights and he was like "you won't want to, besides, your hair was way too blonde before anyway"...uhm excuse me??? That pretty much hammered the last nail into his coffin for me. Who is he to say that I was "too blonde". He even had made a remark about how now my hair looked less "cheap"...I was annoyed to say the least at the end of that second appointment and knew I wasn't going back there. He may have not meant anything by it, but I thought it was incredibly rude and I didn't appreciate it so I will be taking my love for my bleach blonde hair elsewhere!

It will probably take a little bit to get back to as blonde as I was, but I will embrace the change for these next couple of weeks and see how it goes from here on out. I am sure I will be good as gold soon enough and I will NEVER ever again do a single color process or go into an appointment and not show pictures of exactly what I want.

Lesson learned!

Once a blonde always a blonde <3

First Day of Fall

Happy first day of Fall! It surely doesn't feel like Fall here in Arizona, but that's ok. It seems to always be summer her in Arizona ;) I am definitely ok with that though after spending months upon months in winter back in Rochester. I would choose an extended summer over extended winter any day! It wasn't as hot today as it has been though, about 90 degrees vs 105+ so even though we got a little bit of a late start today it was still great weather.

We decided to go on a hike today at the McDowell Sonoran Preserve which is about 15 minutes away from us. There are a bunch of different trails throughout the preserve so we just decided to go with one of the more popular ones that was just under 5 miles. I brought my new camera along to snap pics as we went, man do I love it! I just put it on auto and snapped away, I can't wait to actually learn how to take specific pictures and what settings to use, etc. All in good time.

The hike was great! We seemed to go the opposite way of most people, but we can always go the reverse way next time! Everyone on the trail was friendly, which is always nice ;) Pretty much everyone in Arizona in general is nice!

We didn't run into any rattle snakes or anything, just a couple lizards and road runners. I have been reading that these hikes are beautiful in the Spring time so I can't wait for that! I am sure by then we will have some favorite trails. There is also a mountain called Camelback which is supposed to have great hiking trails as well, it is about 30 minutes away so we will definitely be checking that out one of these weekends!

Now for some pics taken with my new camera! ;)

Makeover

You can probably tell that I did a little makeover on my blog. I felt it was time to update it a bit, so it is a work in progress. We will see how long I like this new look or see if I can find something better ;) My blog posts all summer have been few and far between but I am going to try to change that as well. Now that we are a little more settled into our new home in Arizona we are going to start exploring more and taking advantage of our time here.

Since I am not working full time I am wanting to start learning how to use my new toy that Bobby got me for our wedding. He surprised me BIG time with a Canon EOS Rebel T3i camera. I am ALWAYS taking pictures of everything on my phone and have been wanting a nice camera for a long time so when that delivery arrived in my bridal suite before the ceremony I was beyond surprised and SO excited to learn how to use it and get to snapping away! Bobby's brother Adam lent me a book to read to learn how to use it and I haven't had a change to dive in yet, but I have gotten through the basics. I really want to just get out and start taking pictures and figure it out as I go. That is what he suggested and I figure what better way to learn than by actually going out there and doing it. So, this weekend, probably tomorrow we are going to go on one the many hikes around here and I will bring my camera along with me!

Although I am not working full time, I did get a very part time nanny job watching a 4 month old boy named Jack. It will just be about 10-15 hours a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays plus an occasional date night once or twice a month. I have been so blessed with the families I have met and been able to become a part of and this family is no different. I feel beyond grateful to land great jobs with great people time and time again so I am really excited about this job and think it will be perfect for what is happening in our lives right now. It gives me time away from the house, I can earn a little extra money for extras/to travel/save, etc PLUS I get baby loves so what is better than that?!

I am still figuring out the whole stay at home wife thing, it is not for everyone and it seems everyone has their opinion on it, but it works for us, I love it and that is that. I haven't quite got everything balanced out and put in place perfectly, it is a work in progress, but I am enjoying every day and I LOVE being a wife...well really I love being Bobby's wife :)

Married life is wonderful...now to get my name changed!

First Weekend in AZ

Yep! We have actually been renting this apartment for almost a month exactly and this is our FIRST full weekend spending it here in AZ. Pretty crazy, but a lot happened in the last month...our wedding, our friend's wedding, and the passing of our grandma Dorthy. All of which took us away for the past 4 weekends...the weekend we moved in here the weekend before the wedding we literally drove stuff here, moved it in and then turned around and drove back to SoCal. It has been a crazy month to say the least, so I am happy that we finally are able to get settled in for real!

We had talked about going kayaking and going on a hike this weekend since it was our first weekend here, but when it came down to it we just wanted to do NOTHING because we have been doing SO much the last 4 weekends. We took the time to hang some pictures in our apartment, plan out meals for the week, do a little shopping for things for the apartment etc...get settled pretty much. Because life has been so crazy we have been haven't been eating that great or working out as much as we would like, so we are also figuring out a new schedule etc for that, hence the meal planning. I took some time today to cook up some sweet potatoes and chicken to have on hand. It is always so much easier to have that type of stuff that takes awhile to cook, prepared ahead of time. If I have it on hand I will eat it...if I don't I am much more likely to go to quick, usually less healthy options. I am not the greatest cook, at all, but I am trying to slowly learn some new recipes to implement into our meals for the week. My goal is to try something new each week.

I am not working at the moment so I have a lot more time on my hands. It is really nice to be able to take care of the errands during the week so we have our weekends available to enjoy together. I miss being around babies though so it didn't take me long to hop on care and start searching out a part time nanny job. I found one that is very nearby, about 7 minutes away, with one 4 month baby boy that will give me about 10-15 hours a week which I think will be perfect. I just wanted something to get me out of the house, earn me some extra cash, and give me my baby fix ;) I should probably be starting this week if not next. I am excited! :) It is just one baby so it definitely seems like a BREEZE after the twins, although I miss them SO much and all of their craziness...they turn ONE on Tuesday by the way...how CRAZY is that! I remember the day they were born like it was yesterday I just can't believe how fast time goes by.

That is pretty much the update here from the desert....still 100+ everyday...still getting settled, and still very much enjoying being husband and wife :) <3

Onto the Next Big Adventure

Well, it is official. We are on to our next big adventure, and no, I am not talking about marriage. Bobby officially accepted the position with American Express as Manager of the Merchant Processing Platform Strategy division. It is a new division of American express so it something new and exciting that he will be apart of. I am so beyond proud of him for sticking it out throughout this grueling job hunt and interview process. It has been a stressful few months, especially with the wedding coming up in 20 days! With the acceptance of this new job it means another relocation...next stop will be Phoenix/North Scottsdale, Arizona. His anticipated start date is August 26th, why yes, that is indeed 3 days after our wedding! Yipee! So that basically means we will be moving from Aliso Viejo to Scottsdale the week/end before the wedding. What bride wouldn't want to deal with that the week before her wedding?! Talk about overwhelming! Yes it is such a blessing and I am thrilled that we get to move to a new place and Bobby got a great job for a great company, but the timing could not be much worse.

We now have about two weeks to find a new place and move 5 hours away (could be worse) all while planning and worrying about the final details of the wedding. It is going to be pure insanity. I have been super stressed out this week for many reasons, this being one of them, but I am just trying to keep it together! I am so grateful that Bobby now has a secure job and that we can begin our married life off on the right foot. I know everything will work out, and this was just what was meant to be, but it definitely is not what I had imagined...things haven't exactly been going as I imagined these past few weeks in general, so I guess that's just life! I know that is how our lives go so I guess I should be pretty use to it.

It has been a roller coaster of emotions these last couple of weeks, and as excited as I am for the wedding and everything I really can't wait till it's over and we are moved and settled with our new lives in Scottsdale. I just have to make it through these final two weeks and our big day will finally be here and we can start our new journey.