Throwback Thursday: She Works Hard for the Money

So, what did you have for breakfast today?

Just kidding, I know that you chose something healthy, that you had a lots of protein, and you have water like it was your day job. Or like it was healthy or something?

No, today's not about breakfast. Today is about working hard for the money, so hard for the money.

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and for some reason I thought this song was about a certain profession? Wrong.

I've been hard at work since I can remember, even when earning green and stock options weren't part of the equation.

School, Little League fundraisers, softball, getting my brother in trouble - you name it!

Never though has my tenacity been more of an asset for me than it has in the last seven months of my job.

I wouldn't have any success without the support and encouragement from so many wonderful people around me, but I also wouldn't be able to put up with half of what comes my way if I wasn't a bit greedy when it comes to accepting a challenge.

Some may call it type A they're right while others admire my no-pain no-gain attitude.

Every day the bar gets set a little higher, the grind gets a little thicker...and I secretly love it.

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The thrill comes from the confidence people have in my work, the opportunity to flex my creative muscles and the exposure to people who know how to shake things up. 

The difficult part is 12 hour work days, pressure to maximize my free time and less social time with real life friends and family who I adore.

But remember, it's all about reframing your point of view isn't it?

Today's Throwback Thursday has been brought to you by a little girl who knows what it means to work hard and keeps her head down to do the job right. 

June Accountability Check

When we started this month I was high on life. We had just ended a successful 4th quarter, I met Dan's family and I was looking forward to getting after a lot of exciting work when life was supposed to slow down during the first quarter of our fiscal year.

Very quickly, I found out that the world doesn't always work the way you hope it will and that being open to change is an incredible asset to have.

That being said, June's Eight Great Goals are due for an accountability check...

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1. I've used up 4 of my 5 early work mornings (6am) and have done a great job at sticking to it even though work has required me to have a lot of tasks complete in just a short amount of time. 

2. My attempt at lifting weights hasn't gone any further than holding hand weights during some longer runs. Starting today (no, really - today!) I'm going to hit the gym and get in front of some iron. Then I'll pick it up, and I'll set it down. My muscles feel good coming off from Tough Mudder and I want them to continue to feel the burn.

3. I've hardly called any friends and really have only talked to family on the phone for Father's Day wishes. Work in progress.

4. No meal schedule for Dan and I - but I've been consistent with packing good lunches as always.

5. No, I'm such a snack fiend - more on that in tomorrow's post.

6. Only daily doubles I've completed this month were on weekends, but with a run completed this morning and weights (as mentioned in #2) this afternoon I'll be on a better schedule.

7. No time off has been scheduled and I don't know if I'll be able to make time this month.

8. I've been pretty good about eating lunch away from my desk, I just need to get better now about actually getting away from the office (conference rooms, etc) so that I can really clear my head.

Expectations lowered? Good!

I'm tracking to my running goals and I'm getting a lot of good sleep (from exhaustion, not relaxation!).

That counts, right?

February Summary

This month seemed to hit me like a ton of bricks so I'm happy to wrap this one up a day early - want to join in with me? In an effort to not interrupt my weekly favorite: Throwback Thursday you're going to re-live this short & crazy month through the highs and we can all agree to ignore the way lows? Good.

Rather than looking at all of February's goals that I failed (#2, #3, #4, #6) let's focus on the ones that I embraced and made a priority in my life.

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It was a great month for the Clean Breakfast challenge set out by Amanda from RunToTheFinish and I really don't feel like I had to work that hard at it. I have always felt that a good breakfast sets the tone for a good day, and certainly have never been one to think that means a muffin or something with the word glazed in the description. I even get upset with Dan when we sleep in on the weekend and before we know it - breakfast is really a brlunner (breakfast/lunch/dinner). Keys to accomplishing this goal were 1. Meal Prep 2. Instagram accountability checks 3. A community of like-minded bloggers and health enthusiasts sharing the same goal. Power in numbers!

I also happily encouraged Dan to play golf a few times and he only actually ended up going twice. I'm going to enjoy this summer when he gets up early for his summer weekend job and his early tee-times, he's a pretty bad influence on me when it comes to rise'n'shine and being productive on the weekends because there's nothing like staying in bed with no alarm to worry us. I'm proud of him for already being invited to represent his golf league in a tournament in April as tribute to his victory in September, 2012. C'mon baby!

I had great success at commenting on other blogger's posts and found myself paying more attention to what other ladies are writing about. It has also made me more aware of how I write and share information with you as my readers. It's an interesting phenomenon, this blogging world. I can read about the days and lives of people I've never met before and find myself feeling emotional attachments to them - getting excited about their engagements, feeling sympathy for their worries, anticipating their big news and drooling over their recipes - and have found myself caring more about what they have to say sometimes than keeping in touch with my real-life friends.  I'm sorry real friends - let's change that! Blogger friends, let's keep the conversation going!

I knocked out my four 10-mile runs early in the month as my mileage had to be earned mainly on the weekends. I was okay happy! with that because it turned out that we had excellent winter weather in the northwest where I was able to go glove-less and even wear shorts! As this posts, I have 13 miles remaining for the month and will easily be able to accomplish that with a long run this evening and a short one to wrap it up tomorrow. 

Great Memories:

• An amazing Valentine's Day with my sweetheart


• Adopting my new sister, Bella


• Hosting a Super Bowl party!

Yummy Eats:

• All of the Food Prep that's happening around here


• Tasty Taco Night


• Original Taco House in PDX


• So many good food photos here

Scary Self-Discovery

• When Opportunity Knocks and scares the heck out of me! 


• When your world turns Upside Down


• Sometimes to cope you have to allow yourself to smile

Thanks for sticking this month out with me - it really wasn't all that bad when I take a look back :)

<3 JE