August's Eight Great Goals

You guys almost had the pleasure of hearing the man behind the blog today.

I tried to get him to write a post because I didn't get to start writing until 10pm, but he plead a great case that he doesn't know how to write, or even read for that matter.

So instead of writing, I allowed him to take 100% control of August's Eight Great Goals and have to say I'm looking forward to what he's outlined for me.

1. Go See Something In Toronto

Cat's out of the bag! I'm heading back to Toronto for two weeks in August. This upcoming week I arrive mid-day Sunday and then the final week of August again, eh? 

Last time I was there this is one of the only non selfie/ non food photos I captured. At least the trip made for a decent rant. 

2. Have an Entire Week of Blogs Complete By Sunday Night (once)

What! Dan, I did a great job last month doing three blogs - I think he just likes me doing writing on the weekend so that I'm occupied and not whining about the golf addiction mentioned here.

**Also, does he realize that being done writing blogs is different than being done reading blogs? I don't know that he does.

3. Give Thanks Where Thanks are Due

I come home at night each day and feel like all of the work I'm doing is going un-thanked and unappreciated - so I can only imagine how my co-workers feel taking on all of my usual work on top of their own work the past few weeks.

I do thank them, but I probably don't do it nearly enough. I also don't thank Dan nearly enough for all of the things he helps me with at home

4. Don't Say the Word "Hate"

Yeah, this one is solid. I love to say the word 'hate'.

"I hate you", "I hate this", "You hate me", "Holly Hates us", "Everyone hates you". "I hate ice cream"

It's all in fun and always sarcastic, but saying 'hate' just projects negative energy and life's too good to be living so bad.

5. Get Home Before 7pm on Weeknights

Um, I really hope this means more date nights? And if not more date nights at least more wine nights? Let's discuss.

6. Run During the Work Day

I used to knock out so many miles in my previous job during the actual workday and it made life a lot easier for everyone. I'm not going to get in the same situation I did in July with having 46 miles in the last 6 day - there's got to be a better way to budget my time.

7. Say No

Ha-ha this vine clip below says it all.

Sadly the first things I've already said 'no' to that impact this month are Hood To Coast and Intramural League Softball. Next 'No' needs to be something that means more fun, not less fun.

8. Have Drinks with Friends 

This is a no-brainer. I used to do two or three nights out with ladies during the week, even karaoke on weeknights! I just can't party anymore like I used to, but that doesn't mean that I can't meet up for a Happy Hour after work at least once this upcoming month (even with only 14 days in the country).

There you have it. This is what I'm tracking to all month.

When you're ready come get it

July Summary

This month's over! *clap* *clap* *clap-clap-clap*!

What a crazy month it has been. I don't know where the time went and I definitely don't know what I put my energy toward but it feels like I've been sitting and spinning in circles trying to do my best at work to solve a country's problems.

You know what today means, don't you? It's time to look back at some wins (and even some losses) from the past month that you may have missed.

Might as well say it, I #Failedsohard.

Did I do a good job with all of the goals I put forth for the month of July?

Like hiking, watching the monkeys at the zoo, hitting a golf ball 100 yards or take one single day off from work?

That is OKAY - because what I was able to accomplish is nothing short of amazing.

Let's look at four of my best wins from this month.

Win #1. Put the ice cream down

I'm an ice cream / fro-yo addict okay, well actually I just pick the candy out and I successfully went 31 days without the stuff.

Dan has been so supportive this month, but I know that once we go to August there will be chocolate chip cookie dough and oreo birthday cake cartons in the freezer.

Paleo, give me strength. 

Win #2. 100 Miles despite everything else

My biggest accomplishment this month has been that I (later tonight) will actually finish my 100 mile goal, even if the last few miles looked like this:

As of Friday last week I still had 46 left and through some serious running, rest and recovery I was able to knock out 30 over the weekend and consecutively run after work this week to mark off the final miles. This makes 44 CONSECUTIVE Months of running 100+ Miles, never missing a beat. 

Win #3. Finally Scared Straight

In case you missed it, I was pulled over two weeks ago by a police officer who wanted to give me a 'friendly reminder' that I cannot use a phone while operating a vehicle. I was let off with just a warning.

Rest in Peace, shameless car selfie's:



Win #4. Paleo

Starting Paleo has been a great way to eat healthier, visibly reduce the way that stress is impacting my health and even makes running a little easier!!

There's so many amazing things to eat and I've only scratched the spicy sriracha lovin' surface.

For more Paleo eats (and NO car selfies) follow me on instagram



Come back tomorrow where Dan is going to set my Eight Great Goals for the month of August.

No pressure, Dan!

TED Tuesday: 5 Ways to Listen Better

Me: "Did you hear what I said?"

Dan: "What?"

Me: "Did you he__, you're a jerk."

DANGER: We are losing our listening!

Do you consider yourself a good listener, or feel like you actually retain what you hear?

We are often distracted by multiple sounds, multiple signals and competing 'noise' from all directions and on average only retain 25% of what we hear.

I for one have a problem focusing on just one thing at a time. I'm constantly juggling an iPhone in one hand, a laptop in front of me, people asking me questions and email noise popping in left and right. I think of myself as efficient, but if the reality is that I'm only retaining 25% maybe I'm living my life wrong.

Confession #1: Just last week I recorded a conference call so that I could replay it back because I knew I wasn't going to be able to give 100% attention - and truly didn't even give 40%! Playing it back on a run over the weekend allowed me to get caught up on the meeting that I physically attended but emotionally ignored.

Confession #2: This 7 minute video shared below about ways to listen better? Yeah, I had to watch it 2 and a half times to capture all of the notes for this post because I was distracted by kittens running around the house, a Say Yes to the Dress marathon and the bustling neighborhood. Seriously, I couldn't even actively listen to a video about active listening (which could also be attributed to point #2 about day drinking in yesterday's post).

Confession #3: If you want me to really listen more, say less. Tami wrote a great tutorial on How to (not) Write a Press Release last week and I'm talking about "Mistake #2".

Maybe you're better than me, so how about you give it a try. Watch the video, actively listen, and get on board with being able to understand the people around you better than ever before.

[ted id=1200]

What Happens When Men Golf All Weekend

Ladies, do you have a man in your life who likes to golf?

Mine is a golf-fanatic. When he's not playing golf, he's watching it, working two golf-related jobs, getting twitter notifications and following every bit of news in the industry.

If he had it his way, he would play 54 holes every weekend - exactly what he's done the past few days if we include his Monday night round. I haven't taken up a passion for the sport myself, so since we've been together I've suffered the pains of watching Dan spend his weekends with another woman on the golf course with his best buddies.

Doesn't he know how dangerous this could be? Leaving a 25 year old girl home alone on the weekend when there's Say Yes to the Dress marathons?!

Let's talk about what other trouble us ladies can get into when our guys are teeing it up.

We Watch 'Say Yes to The Dress" Marathons

Absolutely no shame, I spent more hours than I can count this weekend watching 'Say Yes to The Dress: Atlanta'. Now I have no idea what kind of dress I'd want, maybe one with pockets?

You can see how this could be dangerous for many reasons... I'm looking at dresses, thinking about my own future wedding (he hasn't even proposed), setting my own future wedding dress budget, thinking about colors, venue, setting, honeymoon, ring, future house, children's names, parenting style, how many children, saving for college.... see where I'm going. If he wasn't gone all day my mind would never go these places because quite frankly it all gives me a ton on anxiety to think about. Also, why are girls getting married at 17?? No.

Day Drinking

Oh yes, all by myself I had that last swig of Buffalo Trace. There's no better feeling than sipping whiskey in the afternoon (while blogging) and not having a care in the world. If man-friend was here there would be sharing - which is not allowed when it comes to the last few sips of Buffalo Trace. He's going to come home, feel left out from the party and there's nothing left for him to enjoy.

Not sorry.

We Work Out

Other than day drinking and lounging, boy being gone means the perfect excuse to get a long run in.

Definitely a good thing, but he pays for it double-time when I beg for a massage at night because I don't have the courage to bring out the torture tube foam roll to do it myself.

This is really your own doing, Dan guys.

We Shop, DIY, Browse Pinterest and Pamper Ourselves

What do we do when our guys are out of the house? We turn to what we know - shopping, blogs, pinterest and mani-pedi's. 

Actually not mani-pedi's because Dan likes those more than I do, but definitely internet shopping.

Now that I have a brand new shiny Amazon Prime account I spent way too much time this weekend browsing for everything from Paleo Cookbooks to fall booties.


Basically we internet creep while being fabulous.



We also get nails done, hair did, DIY Glitter projects half-way done and future tattoo's planned out.

We Nap All Day

You wake me up early for your tee time, you bet that I'm going to nap all day. Then after I nap all day, I'm not going to be ready to go to bed at 9pm like you are, and you will face the wrath of me in bed on my iPhone, sharing funny instagram videos, pictures of #instacute puppies, kittens and definitely some Jenna Marbles videos.

Okay, so you may not feel the same way I do and you actually go golfing with the boys like Brooke, but I just don't get it.

Linking up with fun ladies who had better weekends than I did!

Paleo Plan to Lose Stress

Before we talk about stress and how I'm dealing with it, let's give a huge Happy Birthday, gurrrl to Babbling Brookelyn!

Last year I got you a West Elm cutting board, and this year Ryan Gosling? Yeah I know I've stepped up my game.

Anyway back to this little thing called 'stress'.

I'm always so careful about what I wear, what impression I'm making and how other people perceive me, but lately I've forgotten to take an inventory of how I feel.

Simply put, I've neglected to admit to myself for the past few months that I'm stressed out.

Stress damages relationships, puts personal goals on hold and takes a serious toll on health. Stress negatively impacts eating habits and often leaves me feeling like I have no control.

Now that I've disclosed my stress and am facing it head on, I'm actively seeking ways to suppress the way I'm feeling and handle it efficiently rather than stress even more over it. I've got the exercise part down, even though I have 46 miles remaining to run in the next 6 days so the next place for me to research is the foods I'm consuming. 

I began this path by googling (scientific research, I know) foods that reduce stress. Interestingly, most everything that came back all fell into a very distinct category and followed after a 'trend diet' I've heard and seen a lot about lately. 

Vegetables

|| Spinach | Carrots | Asparagus ||

Fruits

|| Citrus fruits | Avocados | Berries ||

Meats

|| Salmon | Turkey | Grass Fed Beef ||

Nuts & Seeds

|| Almonds | Walnuts | Sunflower seeds ||

Immediately I was sold on going the route of clean and natural with the Paleo diet, so get outta my cart, cereal!

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Sorry I'm not sorry if you follow me on instagram and you've seen the beautiful foods I've been nomming for two weeks. 

Do I feel like it's worked? Heck yes I do! Reaching for fruits and vegetables when I'm hungry wakes me up and doesn't give me the crash that sugary crap does.

In fact, it's been more difficult to teach Dan what Paleo is than it has been to follow the rules. Just the past week he brought me home a latte, prepared a salmon burger with pepperjack cheese, reminded me that I didn't use my rice from our take-out stir fry, set out yogurt and granola bars for my lunch, asked if I wanted pizza for dinner, asked if i wanted a bowl of dry cereal... (ALL AMAZINGLY NICE THINGS). If you're like him and don't exactly know the rules, you'll probably learn a thing or two from Cats showing us how to do Paleo.

Some great places on the internet that have me headed in the right direction:

The Beginner's Guide to Paleo

15 Mouthwatering No Bread Sandwiches

NomNomPaleo

A Day of Simple Paleo Meals

Thank you for your support as I try to use the way I treat my body to reduce the stress I subject it to.

Ready for the weekend?

FRANKIE SAYS RELAX

And Somehow He Still Loves Me

Normally on Thursdays we throw it back and I talk about something that's going on in my world today (usually work) that sounds a lot like little Jessi and I include a cute photo from the 90's.

Today we're not going down memory lane, but instead we're going to talk about my guy.

...Actually, before we talk about him I'd like to paint the picture of what the past 4 months has looked like for 'us'.

Starting in April, my job got really serious really quickly. Like, knock me on my face and sit me in front of a computer for 12 hours a day serious. From training new co-workers to taking on more responsibilities that anyone would ever entrust in a 25 year old, my "life" outside of work is really just repairing from all of the hard work I'm putting in and churning out.

We 'used to'...

We used to carpool, we used to run together, we used to head to the coast for the weekend and we used to actually have conversations with each other. We even used to show affection toward one another rather than a kiss on the forehead in passing.

Nowadays, I get home from a 12-14 hour work day (plus up to 2 hours total commute) and can't think to do a single thing.

I don't have the energy to feed the cat, to do laundry, dishes, not even cut an avocado for the smallest portion of our dinners (the dinners that he's prepped over the weekend).

My guy does it all, doesn't complain about it and only asks me for help when he really needs it, because he knows how much I've been through day in and day out and wants to help me... just because he cares.

After all he does for me, I still somehow find it necessary to gripe every single weekend about the amount of time he spends playing golf and working his second job at a golf course. Forgetting about all the time I'm away from him either working or running.

I throw a toddler fit for two reasons: 1. I love spending time with him. 2. I miss laughing every day with my best friend.

Our relationship has had setbacks at the hand of my career this spring and summer - and he has been the most supportive, caring, wonderful guy through all of it.

Tuesday night this week I finally cracked.

Since last week's trip to Canada, I've been low on sleep, developed a twitchy eye (don't lie and tell me it's not noticeable, please tell it how it is and say I look like shit), and was at work with back and forth emails and reports until 9pm Tuesday.

I drove home exhausted - which is probably the equivalent of buzzed - and walked in the door to flowers and candles on the table, a dinner that never happened and shoe boxes stacked up on the side table.

As if the tears I shed on the drive home weren't enough, I dramatically dropped all of my bags onto the floor, wrapped my arms around him and did my worst best ugly cry for 15 minutes straight,  repeating between shuffled breaths how much I love him.

Wouldn't you love him too?

For a guy who does everything and asks for absolutely nothing in return - I can't believe he's still in love with me too.

Dan, you're my everything. Let's have more fun together, please? 

Hi, My Name is Jessi

Hello and welcome back!

It feels weird sometimes to be a 'blogger' and try to understand where all of the new readers are coming from, but it's been seriously fun to watch my blog growing over the past few weeks and making new friends along the way. I attribute it all to commenting within the community, making my posts worth reading and keeping the conversations going even after the post (twitter, instagram). You'll see some of my daily reads in the right border --> and hopefully adding more soon (since Wordpress.com doesn't allow ads... and I'm not code savvy for .org and can't imagine merging over to Blogger).

Even though most everyone in blog-land is a lurker at heart, I'll save you the trouble of digging into the archives and re-introduce myself.

Hi, my name is Jessi.

I was born and raised in Portland, OR and have lived within the same 25 mile radius my entire life. My family lives close, I work for the #1 sports brand in the world and I have an amazing boyfriend - all factors that keep my heart in the Pacific Northwest.

I grew up very active in sports and eventually turned my passion and skill as a softball pitcher into a full scholarship to Portland State University. At that same time, I made the most of my education to earn three different degrees - Major in Management, Major in Marketing and Minor in Spanish. After all - you don't just go from high school valedictorian to C level college student, even if you do have so many other things going on.

Blogging...I started this blog-thing as a way to convince myself that I needed a fancy DSLR camera, as a creative outlet for my crazy thoughts and as a way to fill up my days last year when work wasn't as demanding as it is today. I get my inspiration for blogging from the things I'm passionate about, learning more about myself through writing and expression - and lately drawing off of the hilarious and insightful posts I read from other bloggers out there in the community. I'd like to also point out that Buzzfeed articles and perfect sloth GIFs inspire much of my content as well.

^ Also because this is how I look when I've had one too many, and that girl's name is Kitty ^

No, I'm not perfect. I've had my hiccups in my personal life through the years. Self-image insecurity and toxic people around that I couldn't get out of my life really took a toll on me. Angry, misunderstood and victimized shouldn't be how one should describe ages 18-22, but I thank Linkin Park and my discovery of distance running to get me through the rough times. And my family... my family is my rock.

The highest highs and the lowest lows have all shaped who I am today.

The girl you see today is strong, resilient, confident and composed. She's witty and friendly, she's loyal and caring, she's smart and focused and she has the whole beautiful world in front of her to look forward to.

Want some from the archives? Here's some of my greatest hits to know more:

Boyfriend:

|| The Truth about Cohabitation

|| He's the bravest guy I know

Career:

|| I'm a hard worker

|| Where it all changed

Lifestyle:

|| I'm a mother of a furry daughter and a fishy son

|| Running is my jam

|| I'm an Introvert - are you?

Thanks for being my new Internet friends and thanks to those who have been reading all along.

What else would you like to know about JumpingJE?

Linking up today with Sarah and Helene

TED Tuesday: Where Real Work Happens

How many of you think that your place of work is where you feel the most creative and productive?

Nobody? Yeah me either.

The conversation today is about why we can't get real work done at work.

This is something that plagues me daily. If I was in a closed room, a music playlist already set for me, unlimited bottled water and some amazing fresh and healthy snacks - I truly think I'd be the most productive human being alive.

Reality? I work in an open-space environment and share about 60 square feet with 12 people and NO walls. Is a wall too much to ask for?

But seriously, people in the corporate world know the two most common killers of productivity very well. They're M&M's... Managers and Meetings. Thankfully for me, I have an amazing manager that isn't a helicopter dad and let's me and my co-workers run our own show. But meetings, interruptions and being accountable for any and every conversation in earshot can get incredibly exhausting.

Everyday (including yesterday) I'm at the office from 6am to 6pm and honestly my most productive hours are 6-8am and 4-6pm. This shouldn't be the case.

Those hours are my best and brightest because I'm able to have my headphones completely over my ears, emails aren't bouncing back and forth yet and there's so much more concentration to knock out the daily work. Once other people start showing up, I have to either take my headphones all the way off or can only have them over one ear when just in case somebody has a question or needs something.

Also in the past two years I've been told to pick up the phone when I need someone to do something for me but I agree with Jason Fried in the TED Talk below - a phone call in the middle of some serious brain waves can completely derail productivity. For me, a phone ringing makes me instantly sigh and worry about how long I'm going to be tied up on the line. Send me an email or an instant message and allow me to respond on my own time, I promise I'll get back to you!

Where I work, we have a beautiful campus complete with cafeterias, fitness centers, a hair and nail salon, a daycare and a beautiful running track where us employees can truly stay the entire day and love every minute of it. Those amenities are amazing and I need to take more advantage of them, but feel like my entire day is shot the minute the first person (after me) walks into the office.

What do you think, how can you make your place of work more productive and allow you to get actual work done during your assigned work hours?

And p.s. I don't have much time for it in my day job but I agree with Jason Fried that interacting with today's modern forms of Social Media at work IS equivalent to a smoke break you've never been able to take advantage of. 

Enjoy today's TED Talk!

[ted id=1014]

Lazy Sunday

After my rant on Friday I did everything I could to promote the most stress-free weekend I could manage. No, this doesn't mean glass after glass of wine (why not?), it meant clearing my schedule and doing what I wanted to do, not what I was obligated to do.

A weekend with no alarms. Lazy mornings snuggling with little Holly. Pre-writing posts for the week. Catching up on some running. Spending time with Dan. Well - spending time with him when he wasn't working at the golf course, playing golf or watching golf.

Other than lazy all weekend, Dan and I went to mom and dad's for dinner Sunday night and I got to spend time with my cousins who were staying over for the weekend. It was fun as always to see the golden retriever sisters and especially to see them being cuddly with an eight month old baby.

Sticking true to doing only what I wanted to do this weekend, I didn't do laundry and I haven't yet unpacked for my trip.

I didn't make a stop at Costco and I didn't do my normal food prep for the week. Those things can wait.

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Since there's not much to share from the weekend, let's wrap up how last week went.

If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen that I chose the comfortable outfit rather than the dressy outfit. I also snapped a selfie before leaving the country.

Compression pants, sneakers and a button up cardigan (what?)

I was one phone call away from getting asked to stay another week in Canada but when it came down to it we decided that my ongoing work would be much more productive from Oregon. I was working 14-15 hour days there and even though I had a great short term solution, the long term solutions are going to take some more focus and attention. It's more than just a job for Super Jessi!

It took a lot to get out of bed and come into work today, but being at my regular desk with my big-screen monitor and my noise cancelling headphones will get me through the day.

Linking up today with my weekend shenanigans! 

Rant-astic Friday

First let me start this post with a #Humblebrag:

It's the 19th and I'm still 100% successful with my no ice cream in July goal!! Even in the sweltering muggy heat of Toronto in July.

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Before we get into the rest of this post, please let me warn you of the sarcasm and ranting you're going to experience through the next few scrolls on your laptop.

Enjoy.

I only ran ONE measly mile this week. One. And it was muggy. Aspirations of the hotel gym, running, swimming, hot tubbing and relaxing turned into late late nights and early mornings. So late and so early that I left a light on in the bathroom to avoid falling into a deep sleep. I've run 41 miles this month and have a lot to catch up on.

Frustrated much?

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Next - hotel refrigerator. You had ONE Job. Why on earth, hotel, would you have a refrigerator in the room that is not *Actually* a refrigerator at all and says that 'perishable items will spoil'. That would have been a wonderful thing to realize before I got a week's worth of groceries on Monday and have had to keep everything constantly on melting ice all week. 

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Hey Subway guy, why did you have so much attitude last night? It was 10pm, I just did a 1 mile run, I was hungry, you were grouchy, you berated me for not telling you I only had an American Express card and you didn't even offer me the sandwich that I walked out of the restaurant without. It just sat there in the bag at the cash register. I hope you ate it, and in hindsight it was okay anyway because you were really cheap on the lunch meats. I wasn't happy.

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Today I'll be carrying a 40 pound bag home that I barely utilized because I WAY overpacked with the rumor that I was going to stay two weeks, but now I have that endless dilemma of what to wear to the airport. Maxi Dress and flats or compression tights and sneakers? Either way I'm going to get crampy on the plane and probably going to spill coffee all over it so what's the point?

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One final note before I board the plane - not getting an aisle seat on any flight longer than 1 hour then the person in the aisle seat doesn't need to get up once is just bad luck. Forrest says it all.

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Ok done complaining - gotta go!

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Throwback Thursday: Always on Offense

I know you're all dying to know how I'm doing in my work travels across the border. While I haven't seen much of the city and can't tell you much about what there is to do around here, I'd like to give you some insight into my work-life and all the crazy things that seem like a pain for anyone but can be a thrill to me.

My official job code is a 'business analyst', but it's so much more than that. Analyst and number cruncher one moment, charismatic and confident speaker the next. I go from cross eyed over spreadsheets to storytelling and influencing at a moment's notice.

As an analyst, a big part of my job is running reports and presenting information on a daily and consistent schedule, one that demands quick action and often needed before anyone else can begin their day's work. The other side of the reports that I run are fly-by or special requests from people much higher than me in pay grade and status. For them I'm expected to drop everything and dish the numbers on a beautiful garnished platter, along with the story behind all of the details that I'm summarizing at the highest level.

Does that sound terrifying or stressful to you?

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Something that makes me successful in my job and has ultimately saved me time and time again is preparing myself for the follow up questions that I know I'll get. Rather than doing the minimum to satisfy the request, I do my best to look at it the same way my audience will and begin to think of other avenues I can explore before preparing a story behind the numbers.

While having the great power and responsibility to pull the information, I can't drag these higher up's down into the swampy data weeds with me. I have to give them a clear breakdown at a very high level, calling out exceptions, making it visually pleasing and of course presenting it in a way that they can either print and bring into a meeting or that they can click the 'forward' button and begin to delegate action.

In addition, thanks to the digital age where iPhones and iPads are regulars at meetings, I also have be sensitive to the time and the possible location of the report's audience. Essentially this means that anything I send must be iPhone ready for people to review with their idle hands when they're trying to look busy in a meeting or are no longer interested in the topic. I can't even tell you how many times making something iPhone ready has saved me from re-explaining something to people.

Thinking one step ahead of the game, being prepared and doing my homework aren't foreign to me and my extensive time playing sports growing up is a key reason I possess these critical skills.

Today's Throwback Thursday is brought to you by a young woman who always read the game one pitch ahead and always will.