Life – Page 33

All About the Fiancé and Me: TOL #38

March 3, 2016 by Alicia 8 Comments

Yes you did read that title correctly. I am engaged!

Being that today is the day for thinking out loud, I thought I would tell you a few facts about my relationship, because you know all the questions start as soon as you get engaged…

First things first, we have no idea when we will get married or where. But for the when, sometime in the next 1-2 years.

Now you will probably want to know how he proposed and I’m going to give you a heads up, it is not super romantic or anything.

We got engaged on Monday, Feb 29^th, yes leap day! I hear the girl is supposed to propose that day. I actually didn’t even know there was some sort of tradition thing around that day but it was in December that I gave Brian the idea, mentioning, hey, 2016 is a leap year, wouldn’t it be cool if we got engaged on leap day?!

Since it was a Monday, I had work. Made it through the day and came home to Brian cooking up some steak and roasting Brussel sprouts. OMG the Brussel sprouts he made were so delicious! I ate so many. There were no leftovers. He kept laughing saying how he didn’t put much effort into them, cut them in half, mixed them with some ghee (first time I have had that) and salt and popped them in the oven. I think I just need to buy fresh Brussel sprouts more, because they do get a crispier taste to them in the oven.

So we ate dinner and it was a normal evening. We put on 30 Rock on Netflix and enjoyed. I then cleaned up the kitchen (I can’t stand a messy kitchen and have to clean it up after dinner so that it is nice for morning). I came back into the living room and Brian was eating a ring pop. Sitting on the couch, he leans over with the ring pop and asks me will you marry me? I was kinda like ummm for this ring pop, I don’t know, it’s not even a great flavor (which was watermelon). I then took the ring pop from him and told him, that’s not how you propose. I got down on one knee with the ring pop and asked him to marry me. Then he pulled out the real ring from his pocket. I made him get down on one knee and he asked me to marry him.

Of course I said yes. It didn’t really feel real at first. I mean we have been together for a while and nothing really changes other than the ring on my finger.

After that I made a few phone calls, first to my sister, who insisted that I needed to give the ring back because it was leap day and he needed to propose tomorrow. I was like no, I like that it is leap day and that leap day only happens once every 4 years. Besides that though she was happy that finally we were engaged. Brian then called and told his parents who were very excited and then I called mine. Then I called my best friend Mercedes and she was very excited of course. I wish we lived closer to celebrate together.

Now for some random relationship facts…

We met in 2009, my second year at UB, in a math class
- My parents actually met in a math class (graduate school) at UB
- Neither one of them finished their graduate degrees, because they got married and moved to Chicago
  one of our first pictures together in Oct 2009
In the Fall 2010, Brian was into weightlifting and we worked out a lot together, my love of weightlifting was born
We were apart for 5 months while I was abroad in Australia in 2011, a true test of our relationship, literally I was on the other side of the world
Brian surprised me at the airport with my family when I returned from Australia
The first vacation I ever paid for with my own money was when Brian and I drove to Myrtle Beach for part of Spring Break in 2012
riding horses in Myrtle Beach
Brian also took me on basically my first camping experience in summer 2012. Brian laughed at how I could look at the stars forever. It is different growing up in the city…
The second best surprise Brian ever gave me was surprise flowers delivered to work on July 3, 2013 our 3 years 9 months together (not that we always counted…). First flowers from a boy.
I pressed the flowers in my math textbooks (I knew they were useful for something after college) and made this, which now hangs in our dining area
We took our first major vacation on our 4 year anniversary (Oct 2013) to Eleuthera, Bahamas. This was the perfect trip for us to really reconnect as I was living at home in Chicago and he was working in PA and NY so we rarely saw each other and it was hard
When I lost my job Feb 28, 2014, it was time to move closer to Brian. I picked out Philadelphia on the map (having never been there before) and took a one way flight there in March 2014. I set out to see apartments and meet up with recruiters and then Brian met up with me and we enjoyed vacationing in NYC, VA and Washington DC.
I eventually headed home and packed and moved out to the Philly area at the end of April 2014, still jobless, but with Brian’s help, got an apartment together and he purchased some furniture for us and we finally “lived” together. I only saw him about once a month.
That about brings us to today “living” together, seeing each other a bit more often now as Brian recently lost his job but we aren’t worried. I love what we have right now, we treasure the time we have together since it is not every day, but at the same time, we enjoy doing our own tasks and don’t have to be together all the time or doing something together all the time. Brian likes to research things on his laptop while I have time to write up blog posts for instance.

As I said in the beginning, nothing really changes now that we are engaged and that is the way it should be. Almost 6 and a half years later, I think we know each other pretty well. I am definitely not easy to get along with at times. For example, don’t ever let me get hungry…it is not pretty. Being tired…same thing, leave me alone and let me sleep.

I will let you know when wedding planning begins. Maybe we will have an idea by summer. We do know one thing, engagement pictures happening probably early summer, when the temps warm up but are not too hot. This gives both me and Brian time at the gym before picture time, plus I have been begging him for professional pictures for a while.

Penguins and Date Night: MIMM #54

January 18, 2016 by Alicia 1 Comment

Hello all!! Hope you had a great weekend. Some of you may be lucky and even have today off. Unfortunately I have to work today. My company gives us President’s day off in February instead of today. It is nice though since otherwise we wouldn’t have any days off in February and the office should be quiet today.

My weekend was pretty relaxing. Brian came down and Friday night we went to get Five Guys and watched 30 Rock.

Saturday was more exciting. I went to the gym in the morning and got a short weight workout in, which was nice after some much needed rest days this past week. I came home and made some protein pancakes so Brian and I enjoyed a nice brunch.

Around noon, we headed to New Jersey and went to the Adventure Aquarium. They recently got some Little Blue Penguins from Australia which were so cute. They even had little houses in some nice beach colors.

We also got a tour of the big tank filled with sharks, sting rays, turtles and a bunch of fish. They have volunteer divers to help keep up with the tank maintenance. I enjoyed seeing the big turtles swimming near the top.

And since it was 50 degrees outside, I took advantage of the weather and did a bridge with Philadelphia in the background.

We then walked around the malls around Cherry Hill for a couple hours before heading to Seasons 52 for dinner. This restaurant was so good. We enjoyed grilled artichoke, soup and salad for appetizers and then my main dish was filet mignon and Brian got the seabass and carmelized Brussel sprouts. We were planning to skip dessert but then the cutest little dessert cakes/mousse were brought over to us. I got the smores one and Brian got the peanut butter.

After dinner, our tummies were happy and full which was good since we headed to the grocery store afterwards. Much easier to shop with a full stomach so you don’t grab everything in sight.

Finally it was time to head home. We spent some time catching up with my sister on Skype and then relaxed on the couch for the evening.

Sunday was pretty laid back. Brian enjoyed the couch all day. I was attempting to make waffles for breakfast. The first one turned out terribly and stuck, but once I washed and regreased the waffle iron, I slowly got the hang of it and got 2 decent sized waffles. I worked on some blogging in the morning then I went to go teach my first Sunday yoga class at noon.

The class went well. Thanks to some inspiration from Yoga Girl on Thursday night. I had some fun with a bit of core work with them and it seemed that people enjoyed it. One guy even mentioned he doesn’t usually break a sweat in yoga, but he did in my class. I figured a Sunday noon class should have a bit of a workout and was glad I was able to do that and keep the balance of connecting to your breath and mind throughout practice.

When I got back home, it was time to eat some lunch and work on changing up my yoga sequence to prep for tonight’s class. It started snowing on my way home from the gym also. I think it was Philadelphia’s first snow of the season. I mean there was a bit of a dusting last week but none by my apartment and it actually continued to snow most of the afternoon, sticking to the grass.

In the evening I enjoyed working in the kitchen, making tofu stir fry for dinner and some dark chocolate almond butter cups for a sweet treat. I think yoga teaching is helping bring my creativity out again. It may be hard to brainstorm different sequences but I am glad my brain can be put to work a bit more.

Now it’s back to the work week. Hope everyone has a great week and if you have today off, enjoy!

Yoga Girl Event 1/14/16 Philadelphia

January 15, 2016 by Alicia Leave a Comment

In line with my post about facing fears speaking in front of people, here is another “scary” thing for me: attending an event alone. Like you mean I have to find my way there and back and sit there while everyone else talks to their friend and here I am looking around, who can I talk to? I am going to feel so alone. The thoughts that go through my head…

       Let me tell you, it’s not that bad. You know what is worse? Sitting around waiting for the right friend to come along who will go to events with you. I can’t tell you how many times I used to wait around for people and finally I decided I can’t wait anymore. Maybe you do have that friend but they live in another state and are unable to come. Maybe you haven’t found that friend that shares the same desire to attend the event you want to. Whatever the case, ask yourself this, do you want to go? Is the answer a definite YES that you would consider going alone? Because if you really don’t want to miss it, you will take that step to make it happen. That is what I believe.
      It was about 2 months ago, before thanksgiving, The Gratitude Tour was announced and the day tickets went on sale I will admit I was highly distracted at work purchasing my ticket. I debated should I go because I mean the cost was crazy for a yoga class and it was in a somewhat sketchy looking area ( I was “driving” around Google Maps) but I mean other yogis would be around so that might help. The event was also late in the evening which I wasn’t fond of but I was determined to make it work. OK ticket purchased. Now I didn’t have to worry about the transportation until January when the event was happening.
         I finally decided to give Uber a go and it worked. [Glad I made it home and didn’t go missing.] What worked out even better is that just a week before the event they announced they were overbooked and so they added another class earlier. I tried to switch my ticket but the ticket place wouldn’t let me, however someone saw my Facebook comment and contacted me and we emailed tickets and swapped. I am so glad that worked out!! I truly believe things happen for a reason.

I made it safely to the place. Rachel started the practice by drawing an Angel Card. The card read “You are loved.” I mean I almost had tears in my eyes as she read that, seeing as I was attending this event alone, it was a great card for the practice, reminding me that I am loved. I practiced yoga with some beautiful souls and Yoga Girl herself (Rachel Brathen). We had a short Q and A and then a time for hugging. She really spreads her love and shares her experiences. She is an amazing yoga teacher. All her words flowed. My pictures may be blurry from the lighting, she also doesn’t take selfies and I forgot my book for her to sign but I got a hug from her and I fully enjoyed the experience and that is what matters.

Every penny I spent between the ticket, the Uber rides, was all worth it for this one night. I am grateful that I attended by myself. The other thing with a yoga event, is that you are never truly alone. We leaned on one another through practice and it was beautiful. Just picture 200 people in tree pose, resting their hands on their neighbor’s shoulders, then we all in unison lean forward to warrior 3. Community is powerful and the practice was beautiful. It flew by in a blink, but I was glad I remained present throughout the practice and had time to stick around at the end.

I then treated myself to some dinner, because I was so hungry after. Potbelly’s for a quick dinner and then train ride home.

A wonderful evening and date night with myself. I think it’s important to do things on your own that you are interested in and take a night out with yourself.

When I got home, I looked up at the sky, such a clear night. I spotted the big dipper, maybe the little dipper too. I could stare at the stars for hours as I don’t see them often and I just thought, it truly was a beautiful evening. I then read my comments on yesterday’s post and I can’t thank you readers enough. Between Yoga Girl and this blog writing this week, my heart is so full.

My phrase for the year: Don’t let fear stop you!!

Have a great weekend!!

Facing Fears: Thinking Out Loud #33

January 14, 2016 by Alicia 11 Comments

The other day Susie wrote a great post about priorities vs goals. I have some goals in mind for this year, but I really liked Susie’s thinking about making things a priority. One thing I am making a priority this year is facing fears.

Let me give you a little background. I am not good at talking in front of people, especially people I don’t know. Yet, I will tell you that one of my goals in life is to get more into the fitness industry, perhaps personal training someday. The issue, this involves talking to strangers. Even if the strangers eventually end up to be my friend, I would still have to talk to them first and get to know them in order for that to happen. I like to keep to myself, I like to be independent, I like one on one working with a friend or person, but more than one person gets me more nervous. Somehow I have always found that when I tried to hang out in groups of people I end up in the back corner. That can definitely be hard, but I am slowly working my way out of the corner.

Last week I had my interview with my gym to teach yoga. Right after my yoga training ended last May, I wasn’t quite ready for that commitment to make classes and teach. I was just overwhelmed, having it all set in. To add to that I also moved right at the end of training and don’t live near a studio anymore. While I work in the city and there are plenty of studios around there, being paid for 1 hour of work and giving up about 3 hours of my night because of waiting for the train, etc, just wasn’t worth it to me. So I finally applied to my gym and a few weeks later received a call. I thought I would just be subbing at first, but they already had a Sunday class open and a few teachers were changing their schedules so I took a Monday evening class too. I had to wait until my pay rate was confirmed and I started teaching this week on Monday.

I felt I got some contradicting messages from my supervisor about yoga classes at the gym. I wish they had props but they don’t and apparently I am taking over “killer Katherine’s” class. Oh boy…I thought. As I explained above, I am kind of a shy, quiet person, though get to know me and I won’t stop talking… Anyway, even from yoga teacher training last year, I knew that I would be more comfortable teaching a somewhat slow yoga class. I do not consider myself to be a power yoga teacher, let’s put it that way. So I wasn’t sure how the class would respond, but there were a couple ladies that told me afterwards that they enjoyed my challenging balance sequence and the flow of the class. I was talking to Brian on the phone afterwards explaining to him, I can only be me. Maybe some people will stop taking this Monday night class because they don’t like me. Maybe some new people will show up because they hear my class is relaxing. I don’t really know what will happen, but I know that I can only be me. I can’t pretend to be a power yoga teacher, because that is just not me. Maybe when I get more experience and more comfortable I can, but for now, I am doing what is comfortable for me.

I am glad that over the last couple years I have really grown and have put aside what people might think of me. This has helped me in being prepared to teach. I was super nervous on Monday just waiting for the clock to reach 8pm, teach the class and be done. My sequence wasn’t really long enough, but I made up stuff on the fly to fill in the gaps and you know what? I think it turned out pretty well. I don’t think anyone really noticed too much and I know I will continue to improve my sequencing because I am teaching now.

Tuesday afternoon I get a call from my supervisor while I am at work. They need a sub for a 9pm class at a different location. 9pm??? That’s like the time I like to be in bed. I get up at 5am and I like my sleep. I somewhat felt like I had to take it. I felt like I had to show interest in teaching and help out and I knew I could practice the same sequence I already had prepared as I expected different people. I also added more breathing work in the beginning because it’s a 9pm class so I thought that would be soothing for people. I figured it out and I hope that slowly over time, the nerves I have before class go away as I get more comfortable teaching.

This is just the first step I am taking towards facing my fears and really going after goals. It certainly isn’t easy, especially sitting down after work to brainstorm a sequence, but it has given me a new challenge and you need to work your brain a bit.

Here’s to a New Year! Facing Fears, Challenges and Working towards future goals!!

Thank you Amanda for letting me think out loud.

« Previous Page