hey it’s may!

So i’m a little late for saying “hello” to May on my blog! It’s been eventful so far and will continue to be so until the end of the month… a couple First Communions, one of my best girlfriend’s wedding celebration is at the end of the month (and lots of other fun wedding stuff in between) and unfortunately a lot more people leaving where I work by the end of the month so lots of “goodbye” things too. Anyway, this past weekend was my niece Gracie’s First Communion. Since my sister and her family live in San Francisco, we journeyed over there to her celebration Mass and party–which was Cinco de Mayo themed!

Gracie’s special day!

Cousins!

Gracie with grandma & grandpa (my parents)

Getting party preparations done!

Gracie is quite the character and since she’s the “littlest” of all the “big” cousins, she stands out for me in a very special way…(sshh, don’t tell my other nieces and nephews–of course, they’re all special to me :P). As a baby, I was so gaga over her, it was ridiculous. Even to this day, I think we still have that relationship and her sweetness to me just makes me so happy. Well, it was so cute and I’m SO smitten over how that transpired to her and Will’s growing relationship on Saturday. I was so busy Saturday that I didn’t get a lot of time to sit down with her and play and do my auntie duties so she hung out with Will (of course until the other kids got to the party). He told me that she kept finding things for them to do…they played on the Wii, thumb and arm wrestled, played games, she even tried to teach him the “cup song” from Pitch Perfect (Anna Kendrick’s You’re Gonna Miss me”) and sang the whole song to him. I just thought it was the cutest thing! She would even tell her mom/my sister, “I’m spending time with Uncle Will” whenever she asked her to do something…lol. I even noticed it because they came into the kitchen for a snack together and she was waiting for him to get his plate together so they could go outside and eat. I even mentioned something along the lines of, “You guys are like BFFs now!” I didn’t know exactly they did while I was preoccupied so when he told me that story it made my heart melt because they are two of my favorite people in the world 🙂

Uncle Will & Gracie ❤

Saturday was so much fun getting to spend time with my family and the kids! It's so hard for us to get together like that all the time so I really cherish it when we do. Makes my heart happy!

Dear Boston

I don’t know about you, but I would love to run a marathon one day. As in all 26.2 miles. A medal as my reward. An item on my bucket list stricken out.

I’m sure a lot of people felt this way about Monday morning’s marathon in Boston, weeks/months/maybe years before in preparation or even just as a far-off wonderment, “my goal is Boston, one day.”

As the day went on and news of the bombing hit the West Coast, the devastation of it also hit. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing and hearing on the news. It seemed so surreal, like a scene from a blockbuster movie. Then sadness hit as I saw the aftermath…injuries, horror on people’s faces, the number of fatalities and injuries flashing on the TV screen. I was heartbroken for all the people there. Such innocence broken…a traditional, annual event on their beloved Patriot’s Day where the entire town pretty much came out to celebrate Marathon Monday. I don’t know much about Boston and the marathon but my heart goes out to them. To all the victims and their families. To the city who has been robbed of their calm and peace. I hope that restoration and healing can bring that back to the city and it’s people.

So in dedication, I’ve decided to honor Bostonians with the rest of my runs for this month. In every stride and step I take, I will hold in my heart those whose lives, whose running careers, whose families, have been affected by such a hateful and evil act.

Peace be with them and may God bring them comfort and strength at this difficult time.

hello april

I hope everyone had a great Easter weekend! I’ve been off since Friday (took my furlough day, thank you State of CA) and today is a holiday due to the observance of Cesar Chavez Day. It was a pretty productive weekend. I had early wake up calls every day and didn’t get to sleep in at all! And if you know me, I LOVE to sleep! Lol. Anyway, we did just a bunch of random stuff…workout, of course, go out to eat, a visit to the mall for shopping, lots of relaxing and today we saw G.I. Joe: Retaliation and it was SO good! I love and am so obsessed with Dwayne Johnson (aka The Rock)! Yesterday was Easter so I went to church with my parents and nieces then just had a get-together with extended family.

Happy Easter from me and Will!

Anyway, today was a great start to a new month. No April Fool’s here! Will and I hit our morning workout where I ran a 5K on the treadmill (did intervals and it KICKED my butt!). Here are summaries of running and cardio totals for the month of March. It was my best month for me so far since dealing with my sciatica stuff. Pretty happy with the results!

Also, I’m at a total weight loss of 7lbs for the year so far. My goal by my birthday is 27lbs total so I’m glad to be 7lbs into my goal! I am one for losing weight slowly and surely–it works best for me because I am able to successfully keep it off! I can’t wait to keep progressing.

blogging (& the lack thereof)

Ugh, let’s face it. I suck at blogging. I can’t believe how long it’s been since I wrote a post! I loved being able to post via my iPhone but unfortunately the WordPress.com app is one of the many apps my phone is hating on (Yelp, Google Chrome & Mail apps are amongst the others). And honestly the last thing I want to be in front of at home is a computer because all the day long I’m burning my retinas staring at my computer screen at work.

Speaking of work, the last time I wrote about anything, I talked about how I was applying for a manager position at work (actually the manager position my boss left 😦 ). I didn’t get it but I’m okay with that. I know I still have to build more experience and refine skills, but I was glad to learn that I did well during my interview. In the meantime, I’ve been “in charge” as sort of the acting manager over our unit and it has been pretty crazy. Honestly, if I ever posted something in the past it’s because I took my lunch break to do it; so basically no posts = no lunch. That’s kind of how the days have been around here. But enough work talk…

Lent is almost coming to a close as Easter is this weekend. I know I sort of fell through with my promise to post about my relationship with God and just things related to faith. But it’s not to say that I didn’t spend time in prayer, reflection and growing closer to Him. In fact one of my favorite things to do in the AM on the way to work and in the PM on my way home is listen to KLOVE on the radio. I love Christian music and how it makes me feel. I love the message the lyrics send and how uplifting the songs can be. This week is Holy Week so I decided to give up meat as another way of preparing for Easter.

My working out and eating has been pretty good lately. I fell off really hard when Girl Scout cookies season started. I can’t believe that I ate 5 boxes in less than a month! I don’t regret it though because they were AMAZING. I have one more box of Thin Mints and then that’s it! I plan on savoring that last box LOL.

I haven’t gotten to try anything different lately as far as exercises or recipes. I’m just glad that I’ll be ending March on a good note because for a while I was worried because I was feeling very stressed and tired so my eating healthy went out the window and it was such a challenge to get a workout in. I’m trying to switch it up little by little. Running has been the same…sciatica has sort of calmed since my last flare up and I make sure to watch it and ease into my workouts. Going all out, as much as I honestly love it, is not good for my body. Last Saturday, it was such a nice day out (a little windy though) I went for my usual run. I normally focus on my speed/pace, trying to beat myself everytime, but this time I wanted to focus on endurance. Even though I have been running for quite some time now, I still find it a challenge to run consistently without having to stop and walk for a little. Saturday was my first time running through a 5K without having to stop. I literally had to pause for about 5 seconds to adjust my arm band (note to self: purchase new arm band because the velcro is not sticking on the current one I have). I made good time too finishing it in about 36 minutes at an average pace of 11:37 per mile. I felt pretty good afterwards!

Well, my next event is coming up and it’s the Mud Factor event on April 6. I’m doing it with Will, a couple co-workers and a co-workers’ friends. I’m trying to prepare for it as much as possible. I love getting dirty in the mud and doing the obstacles.

That’s all for now. Let’s just hope that my post won’t be too long from now! Actually I already have an idea about what I want to write about next…:) I promise to put up some pictures too!

lenten season

I can’t believe Lent is already here. I wasn’t able to get my ashes today and I mindlessly ate 2 slices of bacon this morning for breakfast. I’ve been really busy and my brain has been super pre-occupied so it kind of slipped my mind. No excuse though and I feel bad 😦 Anyway, I’m not really giving up anything for 40 days or 40 nights. It’s so hard to find vices to give up since I really don’t have many when it comes to food, which is what most people give up–sweets, chocolate, fast food, etc. My nieces were joking that I should give up spinach and go back to eating bad…it actually made me chuckle, especially with them saying I’m too healthy now 🙂 oops I’m digressing…well, instead I’ve decided to dedicate blog posts to God—writing to Him, thanking him, prayers, experiences–basically anything related to Him. I’m going to try to pour my heart out so I may not be able to publish certain posts for public viewing. So here’s my first post to start this off with…

I love the scripture “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” -Phillippians 4:13. This scripture rings very true to my life, especially this last year and some months. I know I couldn’t have changed my lifestyle if it weren’t from the strength I asked for from God. He planted a dream in my heart and only because of Him was I able to even begin to try to work for it.

At first my doubts were strong, I was ready to face failure as I had in the past. If it wasn’t for my faith in God and myself, I would’ve quit but like the scripture, Matthew 19:26, “Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible,” I knew I could do it because I had Him by my side. I really do remember times where I was in the middle of a really hard workout (especially when I was doing CrossFit) and telling God in my heart, please just get me through this workout! Often when I go on runs, especially outside and in nature, I check in with God and it helps to clear my mind even more. I thank Him for my strength, the beautiful surroundings and the peace and serenity I get from running.

1 Corinthians 6:19 says, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own.” This means that my physical body has a sacred connection with God so I have to treat it well, nourish it and take care of it. I wasn’t honoring God by taking my body for granted, “poisoning” myself with junk, processed and disease-causing food and not exercising to better my health. God has blessed the earth with an abundance of delicious natural foods to nourish our bodies with and we ruin them by adding all kinda of preservatives and chemicals. I’m not a completely “clean” eater, not a vegan by any means, but for the most part I have taken the natural and organic path when it comes to what I eat, cook and even feed to others. Plus, he gave me a body that is capable of so much…I vowed to use this blessing to be as active as I could until I couldn’t be anymore.

Changing my habits that affected my health helped unfold so much more than just weight loss. I was able to gain confidence while challenging myself and inspiring others. I connected with many others through my lifestyle change which brought friendships into my life. Other areas also improved–my relationships with others, my attitude about life and really valuing the purpose of bettering my life.

Everyday I thank God for the amazing Gift of Life, especially mine which allows me to give to others, serve Him and embrace some wonderful opportunities and experiences. I not only express in words my gratitude, but make sure to take care of the life I have by staying healthy, active and in touch with my body.