reflection

I’m Moving

May 13, 2022 by Alicia 2 Comments

If you read my Portugal recaps, the first one mentions how I got a job offer when I got to the airport. The story for this is pretty amazing with signs from the universe and the timing of everything.

I usually post something around my birthday each year, but I didn’t this year. Truthfully, my birthday week was emotional for me. There were definitely a couple reasons for that. Firstly, it was the one year mark of losing one of my friends unexpectedly. Last year on my birthday, I was putting together photos of her in a frame.

Secondly, I had hoped I would have a new job by the time of my birthday. I haven’t posted much on my blog over the last year and that’s because one of my main focuses was job searching. After finishing my MBA last May, I have been searching for a job in analytics to use my new skills. It has been a long year of applying to various jobs. Brian and I also talked about moving. My job search started in Texas, but eventually I switched gears to search in Philadelphia last Fall. A few reasons for this; Philadelphia is about a 3 hour drive from our current house, I had more connections there and I loved living in the Philadelphia suburbs from 2014-2016. Over the course of the job search, I looked into various analytic roles. Given my work experience in finance and accounting, I looked into Financial Analyst roles for something new. I’m very excited that this is the role I accepted.

About 8 months ago, I put down a deposit on the Portugal Yoga Retreat. I told my manager I needed coverage for my job. Over the last few years, I have strategically taken my vacations on the third week of the month, my least busy time, but I have no control over dates for a yoga retreat. The retreat being the last week of the month meant that I needed back up for my work before I returned for month end duties. The tricky thing was that my role has recently needed to be split between 2 people due to new segregation of duty rules. While I had coverage for half my role, I didn’t for the other half. March 1^st, we gained another person and I spent the majority of March training.

In the second week of April when my birthday came around, part of me felt like a failure on not having a new job. At this point, I had slowed down on applying to jobs, I had a phone screen interview coming up but not much else. I did have a wonderful birthday weekend with friends in town. It was nice to host my friends and have people to celebrate with after 2 years of quarantine birthdays.

birthday gathering — birthday weekend with friends

Tuesday April 12^th, I had texted a family friend thank you for a birthday card. She texted me back, I was afraid to open your text and thought you were going to say you were moving to Philadelphia. I replied, no, don’t have a new job yet.

Later that week, after the phone screen interview, I had 2 more companies that wanted to interview with me. It was a little tricky because I was heading out of the country the following week and it seemed they wanted to make decisions quickly. My interviews were scheduled for Tuesday April 19^th. Well, that morning we woke up to nearly 7 inches of heavy wet snow. It was just above freezing outside and the heavy snow took down trees and power lines. We had briefly lost power at our house, but by some miracle they re routed the power for my neighborhood. I worked from home, but many of my co workers couldn’t get into work due to roads with trees down and they couldn’t work from home because they didn’t have power. A state of emergency was later declared that morning although my office technically never closed. It was crazy.

So, on Tuesday I managed to do my interviews. The first company really liked me so they wanted to squeeze in a second interview before I left Thursday April 21^st. They managed to schedule a second interview for Wednesday April 20^th at 6pm.

By Wednesday the weather warmed up, snow was melting fast, and I was back in the office. When I left that day, my manager told me to have a great vacation and please come back. Meanwhile I was headed home to have dinner and then do an interview. The interview went well and then I was packing my bags for the yoga retreat.

Thursday morning, I headed to the airport. When I got to the airport, I had a call with the recruiter I was working with and he gave me the good news with the company’s offer. I told him I needed until Monday to make the decision given that I was heading out of the country without Brian and we needed to decide logistics since the job is in the Philadelphia suburbs.

I called Brian before my flight so he could start thinking it over and then I was off. It was a long 24 hours of travel between the plane and waiting and getting a ride to the lodge where I was staying. My phone was in airplane mode for the trip since I didn’t have an international plan but we could Facetime over WIFI. Although the WIFI wasn’t fast so it didn’t always work great, plus we had a 5 hour time difference to work with.

After Saturday night, I thought I wasn’t going to be able to take the job. Rent and houses are pricey everywhere but especially near cities. I know the job offer was made so quickly and it was hard to work out a decision while we were in separate places. But it was also wonderful that I was on a retreat as I processed everything. I was still trying to find a way to take the job because I just felt it was right.

On Sunday, Brian and I had some more time to talk. We got some advice from my dad via email and Brian brought up the idea of a studio apartment. I was totally on board and I could finally send an email to accept the job offer.

With the retreat I was on, it was also special because everyone had a connection to Philadelphia. That was also my connection to one of the yoga instructors that I did yoga teacher training with in Philadelphia back in 2014-2015. Many of the women still lived in the Philadelphia area and at the end of the week, a couple of them offered up places to me. Timing is everything.

Portugal — that beautiful view as I processed everything

While the last year was so hard in trying to find my next job, I tried to go into interviews with the mindset that the interview is good practice. I stopped trying to “study” for an interview with questions and decided to be myself.

My first day back to work after the retreat, I gave my two weeks’ notice. One thing that I felt good about though was that I had back up for my work while I was away. I didn’t need to put in a ton of overtime and fix a ton of things when I returned. Had I received a job offer sooner, I would not have had all the coverage I have right now because I did so much training in March.

When I left Philadelphia the first time, I always felt like I left a piece of my heart there. The first thing I did when I had moved there in 2014 was find a gym, a yoga studio and sign up for yoga teacher training. Now I have even more connections to yogis there from my recent yoga retreat. I may have been the youngest on the retreat, but I knew the women would leave me with more wisdom. Little did I know I would be making a big life decision while on the retreat as well.

2015 Philly — 2015 Philadelphia Art Museum

So here we are, last day of work at my current company and next stop Philadelphia suburbs. I am so excited for the new opportunity and meeting up for yoga around Philadelphia!

2019 Reflection

December 26, 2019 by Alicia Leave a Comment

Oh 2019, what a year!! Reflecting back on this year, I feel it was one of my most stressful years. I successfully completed 3 more semesters of my MBA program, bringing me to the halfway point which is a HUGE accomplishment. The summer and fall semesters were definitely really challenging and my weekends were mostly spent doing homework, giving me little free time to enjoy the summertime and fall. In the fall, I feel like I was better at enjoying the weekends until I hit October and then it was just getting through the semester. I know that I chose this and I still love the program, but I definitely need to work on some things as well and accept that this is just a phase in my life right now.

The start of 2019 I got into yoga practicing daily and I don’t remember when I exactly fell off that bandwagon, but I did and I need to get back. I was concentrating on school and my powerlifting meet I had in April, which did not go as planned for me. In the meantime, somewhere around March, it seemed my work department all came down with the plague of some sort. I managed to scoot by other than the first weekend in April when I found myself exhausted and not feeling great and spending the weekend on the couch. That later led to Brian mentioning a red spot on my back appearing. I didn’t think much of it until spots began to spread down my back and chest. Thinking I was dying (slight exaggeration but freaking out a bit as it spread), I went to the dermatologist towards the end of April and was diagnosed with Pityriasis rosea. Apparently it’s a viral thing that starts with a big patch and can also start with a fever which I might have had that one weekend. There is no treatment, it just takes about 10 weeks to go away. This was only slightly comforting considering I was getting married in less than a month from when this was diagnosed. It’s a good thing I wasn’t a bridezilla or anything. So yes, I still had spots on my back and stomach and even the tops of my thighs on my wedding day. Thankfully my friends tried to cover up the shoulder spots as much as possible and unless you look closely at the wedding photos, you don’t see them. The other interesting thing about this rosea was that it’s supposed to go away with no marks, but my back got a bit burned on our honeymoon and because the skin was already damaged from the rosea, the spots didn’t burn, but still show on my back maybe because I got burned around them? I really have no idea, but those areas are slightly lighter in color on my back so it did leave a scar basically. I will also say it definitely took the full 10 weeks for this to go away, but I was glad it wasn’t contagious or anything and it didn’t hurt.

pityriasis rosea — the white ovals on the right side are left from the healing of the rosea

In May, I finished my spring semester and we got MARRIED!! FINALLY!! I was so happy that everything came together as it should. I was only sad that the time with my friends was so short and busy. I had a wonderful 10 days off from work as we went to Charleston for our beach wedding and then flew to Atlanta for a day and then Aruba for our honeymoon. I learned that Aruba sun is NO JOKE and I thought Australia sun was no joke. As much as I tried to continuously put on sunscreen, I got pretty burned on our boat ride to snorkel and that burn bothered me for the end of the trip and Aruba Aloe Vera lotion was my BFF. You can check out wedding posts here, here and here. Aruba recaps are here and here.

Aruba was still amazing. I loved our Airbnb away from the crowds and tourist area. I enjoyed yoga at Rachel Brathen’s studio and Brian finished his scuba certification. I also enjoyed driving an ATV for the first time through the desert. Since our wedding and honeymoon was our main trip of the year, I am itching to travel again and hoping that 2020 will have a few trips, probably within the US though.

Summer semester kicked off while we were honeymooning so I started my reading and homework there. The summer semester is also 4 weeks shorter than a regular semester so it was constantly busy and it was the first time I had tests in each class and midterms and finals were on the same weekends. This is why summer flew by and we didn’t go hiking like we wanted or any mini trips. Then in August we had our reception at our house. The reception went great and Brian’s family did most of the food. I got a giant cookie cake from Wegmans which was a hit and I was surprised by how many family members were able to travel out to see us. I was thankful for that.

The wedding festivities didn’t end until Labor day weekend when we took a trip up to Tupper Lake and had a mini party there as well. That was fun since my only job was to show up and I had fun chatting and bringing my wedding album to show everyone.

September jumped right into the Fall semester and Economics was killing me. I did get to take a short trip to Chicago for a work conference and I LOVED it. I spent a day with my parents and then was able to enjoy beautiful 70 degree weather in Chicago and learn at the conference. It was a nice change of scenery from the office.

In October, the highlight of the month was going down to NYC and seeing Harry Potter on Broadway. The show was absolutely amazing and worth it. Brian and I also celebrated 10 years dating. So as we enter this new decade next year, we are officially married and only took us 10 years. We have grown so much and traveled to so many places. I’ll save it for another post about this last decade.

November was pretty much about getting through school. I was stressed for sure and there were lots of changes at work as well. Just a lot going on and I feel like at the end of December, things are finally beginning to settle into place.

As for December, I was happy to continue with making gingerbread cookies and counted down to my final exam and freedom for the holidays. December started out with a big snow storm that has already closed the schools for a day. I feel we are due for a bad winter and this is only the start. Every time it snows like crazy I question my car and want a new one, but I also need to save up for one and have had many big expenses/investments between a house, school and a wedding this past year. It makes it hard to save for travel currently, but I just have to work through this next year and a half to be on the other side of school.

I looked back on my reflection last year and my word of the year I chose was Growth. I think in some ways it was a major year of Growth. This was the first year that Brian was home the entire year and we were together. It was challenging figuring out routines together because we both are so used to separate routines. We also have different work schedules so there are still many things we have separate. In the beginning of the year I was strong with my powerlifting, but that kinda fell in the summer when school work picked up and I wasn’t into the mindset as much. I still went to the gym, but didn’t spend as much time at the gym. I have learned since October and hurting my shoulder that I need to step back and do workouts that take maybe 45 minutes instead of an hour and a half. I also need more yoga, because that has felt amazing lately and I need to stretch and foam roll more. Working on my recovery and my eating as well. There has been tremendous growth in my job since I got a new role recently. I hope in January, I can have more of a routine with this new role. While I didn’t hit all my points on Growth, I hit some major ones and we made it another year.

2019 was very challenging, but with big life events as well. I look forward leaving 2019 behind and moving forward to 2020.

OMG I ate a Poptart: TOL#49

June 2, 2016 by Alicia 10 Comments

It’s funny how my office just finished an 8 week biggest loser competition for getting in shape for summer and Tuesday someone brought in a box of smores poptarts. I never buy poptarts seeing as they aren’t that great for you and it’s just me so eventually I would end up eating the whole box sooner rather than later. However, I decided to go for a mid morning snack and open a packet and take 1 poptart. Well you would have thought that was a crime when one co worker said to me, “I can’t believe you are eating a pop tart”.

Can I just say I love poptarts, preferably the brown sugar kind. Sure a lot of people classify them as bad. Yes I do love my vegetables and my daily salads but I also love chocolate, cookies and the occasional pop tart.

Growing up, my parents didn’t buy pop tarts. Let me rephrase, my mom didn’t buy poptarts but my dad would hide a box in his office sometimes. It was a treat to get a poptart (as it should be, in my opinion).
It shouldn’t bother me but it really does bother me when people call me skinny or when someone tells me you can shop at that store and get loads of stuff because you are so small.

I know we all tend to judge and look only on the outside. There are all different shapes and sizes of bodies, but some people can’t help that they are thin, they may have fast metabolisms or it is in their genes, same goes for the opposite being on the heavier side. Note, I only said some, but you don’t know the person’s story or history.

I love how far I have come to loving my body and I have certainly put in work for it. I used to not exercise at all except for gym class. The summer before I joined the swim team my sophomore year of high school, I had to go to the doctor since it was required to be on a sport. My doctor basically told me I was really out of shape (I didn’t look it, by the way) after making me run up and down the hospital stairs. My interpretation from the doctor’s words was that maybe I shouldn’t be on the swim team. I left crying in the elevator with my dad and my dad started to bring me to the gym for the summer. We would work on some weight machines and the treadmill etc. I wasn’t that into working out at that point but enjoyed learning a bit. I know I was one of the slowest swimmers (thank goodness swimming was a no cut sport) but you know what? I showed up for practice everyday and I stuck it through the whole season. I left a better and stronger swimmer.

I discovered weight lifting in college and I have never looked back. I had no idea that the gym and fitness would become such a big hobby for me in the future. I then got into healthy eating only a few years ago but I still believe in moderation. One poptart isn’t going to kill me.

At this point in my life I am not training for anything specific that I need to have perfect macros or anything. In fact I am really proud of just how far I have come in the last year. I feel healthier, both mentally and physically.

I am still working on improving and finding balance as we always are but for now I am really happy where I am. I think I read on an Instagram feed one time, “you have to be happy with your body at every stage”. Do I want to have a flatter tummy? Sure, but right now I feel I am at a good place. I continue to remind myself that I am happy with my body and that is all that matters. Ignoring the comments and judgement is definitely hard, but I believe you also become a stronger person because of it. “Embrace and love your body, it is the most amazing thing you will ever own”. For me, sometimes that means I will eat a poptart and I don’t feel guilty or bad about it.

Thanks Amanda for letting me Think Out loud.

2 years in Philadelphia: TOL#45

April 28, 2016 by Alicia 2 Comments

On April 28, 2014 I arrived at my first apartment in the suburbs of Philadelphia around dinner time, but there was no time for eating dinner as I quickly got in and unpacked my car.

I have been trying to think of what to write today as I reflect on the last 2 years. This Tuesday April 26, I briefly looked at my Timehop and read my Instagram post from last year about how I was preparing for my yoga final exam and the previous year I was setting out to drive to Philadelphia. What a significant day that is for my life in the last 2 years.

Instagram post by me on April 26, 2015

“One year ago today I packed up my car and headed out for my drive towards Philadelphia, no job, just hopes of finding one and learning more about myself. On May 2, 2014 I went to a yoga studio that I had never been to before hoping to be accepted to their teacher training program. Today I have my yoga teacher training final. It has been an incredible journey. Not only have I grown from setting out on an adventure on my own in a completely new place, but also the last 6 months I have dived deeper into myself through yoga teacher training. There is still so much more to learn but I am incredibly thankful for this experience. Today is an emotional day as we take our final but hopefully we all graduate and see each other one last time all together on Friday May 1. Almost exactly 1 year after I met two of my fellow yogi trainees in our meeting. I couldn’t have gotten this far without them and also without the wonderful yoga community here on Instagram. Spending a moment by the river this morning feeling the warm sun and reflecting. Thank you to everyone who supports me and wish me good luck today.”

Maybe this is why I have had cravings this week, experiencing emotion. I am not even in my PMS week and I actually am lucky I don’t experience too many whirlwind of emotions during that time but this week, Monday I really craved carbs. I kept guzzling water thinking maybe I was thirsty but then it just wasn’t working. I decided to have a bowl of Arctic Zero ice cream (which you must try if you haven’t, OMG so good) maybe that would help. It was delicious but I was still antsy and craving carbs. I know I am going low carb right now but I caved Monday, probably my highest about of grams of carbs in a day in two weeks. I had a few handfuls of granola and then finally I made some peppermint tea to wind down the night and that seemed to help.
Tuesday was primary voting day in PA and I drove to the polls at 6:45. I had google mapped the location to know exactly where I was going which was pretty much around the corner just to a building I hadn’t noticed before. It happened to be next to dunkin donuts and all I was thinking about was an unsweetened iced tea. After finally getting into the building to vote at 7am (turned out a few of us where waiting at the wrong entrance but a gentleman let us in and walk through to the correct location). Voting was quick and I headed home and walked to the train. Once I got to the city I stopped for that iced tea finally. I couldn’t get it off my mind. I will tell you I fully enjoyed every sip too. That’s the benefit to treats from time to time is that you enjoy them more.

iced tea treat — I take awesome photos while walking…

Anyway 2 years…I really can’t believe it has been that long already. Starting from nothing, no job, not even any furniture and now in less than 2 months I will have been at my company for 2 years. A lot has changed there as the company is growing and I have certainly had my fair share of being involved in many departments. It wasn’t long after I started working that I dove into yoga teacher training (which I actually researched before moving, gyms and yoga studios were top priority). To have graduated yoga training a year ago feels so unreal. After a bit of a break from yoga I found my way back and started teaching in January. While I know my teaching has a long way to go I am finally less nervous and enjoying it more.

During the last year, I also found my way back into weight training beginning in April last year with aid from Susie. However it wasn’t until May/June time that I finally established a better routine going to workout at 5am some days each week. It’s a time that no one can mess up except me if I don’t get out of bed or if my tires on my car have issues, but that is another story. The workout may be short but I have become stronger over time (HELLO! I can finally do a pull up without assistance!!). It starts my day off right. I feel better getting a workout done early and relaxing/blogging in the evening. I’ve been working on myself a lot this past year and figuring out what truly makes me happy while also trying my best to live in the present and really have a positive mind. Be more thankful for what I do have and continue to work towards my life goals.

I do not feel there is ever really an end to this kind of work on myself. It is continuous as not everyday is a good day but I feel a little bit closer to those life goals I have.

I still believe this move I took 2 years ago was one of the best decisions of my life even if everything hasn’t gone perfectly. I’ve grown to be even more independent. I have had more time to reflect on myself, my needs and my goals.

It also helped my relationship with Brian because as I worked on myself, I realized how negative I was and now I am constantly striving to be more positive, to have an open mind and believe that things will work out. I know Brian has seen that and it’s part of the reason he finally proposed, seeing a life with me, a positive me. It requires hard work, but in these two years I know I have improved both physically and mentally. I hope to continue down this path of improvement with myself and surrounding myself with positive people (even if that refers to many positive bloggers <– seriously you guys get me through my days sometimes).

I’m so glad I started this little space on the internet to recap as I went through yoga training and also just all the changes in my life. There are still so many more changes I know will come and that’s why this space is called “Bridges through Life” because if you don’t change, life would be boring. You need to cross a bridge multiple times in life and this blog follows my journey through it. One of my favorite quotes I remember from my college orientation is “Life is a journey, not a guided tour.”