Spring Break + I'm Getting Old

Spring Break
I look back into my high school days of spring break where groups of girls and guys would head down to Myrtle Beach for almost a week or close to that anyway. Spending time driving down the strip at 2mph, hanging out with friends from school that were also down there,  hanging out with guys/girls they had just met that they thought were attractive, and I don't even want to think about what else.  I was on the completely opposite end of that group.  I would go on spring break with my family and maybe see some of my friends down there to hang out with.  I was always the shy girl anyway and never really fit in in high school; I was never late to school or a class, always did my work (except my senior year), and my teachers liked me (I was almost "teachers pet" to some).
But this was my spring break from school from the kids, on the opposite end of the spectrum now.  Spring break as come a little more different at the age of 27.  But it was going to be nice to have a couple free days, and some turned into more lazy days than I had planned on them being.  My spring break started on the 25th and I headed to Charlotte for Easter weekend with a combo of  birthday celebrations.  My spring break wasn't that eventful.  I had to work Monday morning at the my other job which isn't normal for me.  It was nice to work in the morning and then have the rest of the day, but man did I underestimate how much working that morning and then going to workout would wear me out!  I was useless once I got home from the gym after work!  I mean I sat on my bed for a good 30min and then reluctantly got up and moved to my couch until after dinner.  And even fixing dinner was a struggle.  Tuesday was my normal afternoon shift but it was nice to have a relaxing morning and not have to pack stuff for all day.

Just beginning our hike.  He doesn't sit well for
pictures.

Wednesday I had the day off and I planned on enjoying it!  I had been dog sitting for the past week and it was my last day with Rigger, my friend's dog.  So because it was nice outside and I was only getting to take him on short walks I decided I was going hiking and he was coming with me.  I got up at my usual time to do my 5am swim.  I know what you're thinking, why not sleep in since I have the week off.  Well I wanted to go  hiking and didn't want to be out there too late when dinner rolled around so I got up early.  I normally swim 3000m but I decided to cut it down to 2500m since I was hiking and was going to do some hill sprints after swimming anyway.  The pool was amazingly quiet on Wednesday, some of the lanes were actually empty for once.  There was no dive training for the SF guys, no unit that came in to do pt, nothing! Swimmers heaven right there.  I just wish I would have pushed myself a little harder in the pool.  It was a lazy 2500m.  But I tried to cut myself a break after all the exercising I was going to be doing that day. 
I had friends that were suppose to come with me that day but last minute couldn't because work kept him too late.  I was leaving on 11am at the dot.  I went to pick up Rigger and off we went.  Windows rolled down, wind blowing our hair around.  He was the perfect car passenger.  Just sat by the window to laid in the back sit.  When we finally got to the park, he was extremely excited.  He jumped into the front floor board on the passenger side he was so ready to get out of the car.  So I grabbed the leash and my back pack (water and treats for him, hat for me) and off we went.

At the Overlook

Our hiked included a lot of back and forth and I was really just trying to waste some time since I wasn't just going to drive all the way out there and hike for an hour.  We started out by walking to the main trail and then hiking to the overlook passing some people and other dogs in the process.  Everyone kept telling me how pretty Rigger was.  Once we got to the Overlook, he got a water break and then back down the trail we went to go to Raven Rock.  Now this is where it gets exciting.  At the top of the stairs there was another family who had a dog, an Akita.  She didn't move that far away from the top of the stairs so I held Rigger close to me because I don't know how well he interacts with other dogs.  Sure enough he laid eyes on that Akita and lunged for him (not sure if it was a male or female though).  I quickly pulled him away, but him being the slick furry dog that he is slipped his head out of his collar and me doing a full 360 degree to try and catch him before he got to that dog...no hope!  He was standing on top of that dog with the Akita backed up against the railing.  I was scared to say the least.  But I grabbed him by a huge chunk of fur and skin on his neck and pulled him away.  I hooked him back up in his collar and I think I tightened it.  I apologized to the lady profusely and asked if everyone was okay.  Plus there was a little girl standing beside her but I just think she got scared.  After that we went down the steps and walked around Raven Rock for a bit.  We stayed away from the crowd after that.  After climbing

straight back up those stairs we went back to the overlook and gave Rigger another water break and we posed for a picture.  I still dream of having my little family (and by this right now I mean boyfriend) one day with dogs and all of us going hiking.  After that we hiked down to the Fish Trap and hung out on the rocks by the water for a couple minutes and took more pictures.  Last time I saw the fishing trap 2 years ago the water wasn't as high as it was that day.  We giant stepped back up the rocks and headed back toward the parking lot.  I had to hit the bathroom before we left and didn't want to put him in the car so in the bathroom he went with me.  Yes I said IN the bathroom!  After that we headed back into town.

Buffalo chicken wings.  Besides craving them I had
another reason for fixing them :)

I was looking forward to fixing dinner because I had planned on trying to make buffalo chicken wings for about a week at that point.  I went got all my ingredients (I only needed 2 things) to make some buffalo chicken wings and boy are those suckers good!  So along with the buffalo wings I made corn on the cob and had sweet potato hash browns.  The rest of the night was just relaxing on the couch.  And ever since I painted my nails for my pin-up shoot back in February it was weird not having anything on my toes so I decided to get some nail polish and paint my toes.  Now that's a complete shocker for anyone that knows me.  I haven't actually painted my toenails since middle school when each toenail a different color was a thing.  I don't even bother messing with my fingernails because let's face it.  Someone who lifts like I do and doing CrossFit, my hands ain't going to last long! I had to work again Thursday morning but I split up my workout that day and did part of it in the morning and part of it in the afternoon.  Friday was another day off and up early again for a workout so I could get to the DMV early to renew my drivers license which I stood there for 2.5 hours and I was even there early.  The guy at the counter that was renewing my license said that if everyone did the eye test and signs as fast as I did his day would go so much faster!  What can I say, I've got a good memory.  Other than that my only other plans for that day was to go see God's Not Dead 2.
It was great to be around other Christians who are strong in their faith and singing along to the songs at the end of the film and clapping.  That film inspires you, even if you're faith isn't as strong as others, to go out and not be afraid to stand up for what you believe in and not let what other people talk so distastefully about deter you from standing up for your beliefs. 


I'm Getting Old
So my mom complained two weeks ago that I'm hard to surprise because she never knows if what she wants to surprise me with is something that I'll like.  She claims I'm hard to please.  But I think my mom knows more than she thinks she does about me.  Granted I have gotten a little more girly over the years and like normal clothes too, but tend to go for more workout clothes and gear than anything.  I honestly would have been happy if she would have gotten me a gift card from Victoria's Secret haha.  And I make a gift list every year.  It's always a safe bet to surprise me with something off of that.  I had thought about taking a trip this year for the weekend to Raleigh or Asheville, but maybe another year I'll plan a trip like that. 
Instead of surprising me my mom treated me and Amber to breakfast and then took us to Kay Jeweler's to pick out something we liked.  She said we didn't have to get anything if we didn't find anything we absolutely loved. So instead we visited the Easter bunny, went to AC Moore and got me a antistress coloring book and some white chucks which I have been wanting for awhile now.  That night we went to my brother's house to have a semi easter and



I love some chucks haha

birthday celebration for my Mom.  I could have sworn was 54 this year but apparently she turned out to be a little older.  But I wouldn't complain if my child thought I was younger than I was, right?  Addi is always entertainment between making sure everyone has everything the need to eat including juice, cleaning dishes, and putting cake whipped frosting on our noses!  She was even sweet enough to share some of her Reese's pieces with me and the family.  They're both are favorite candy!  Sunday Mom and I went to see Miracles from Heaven and let me tell you, if you go see this movie...take some tissues.  I was wiping my tears on the sleeve of my hoodie.  It made me really think about how much I desire to spread God's and touch people with who have little to no belief in God.    

But I'm officially a year older and when I think about it I physically don't feel any older but man when I actually say my age I get a little sad about it.  I feel old when I say how old I am.  I try and treat myself to a little something every year for my birthday month and it can usually make it last all month. So I started my own personal celebration when I went hiking on Wednesday, fixed buffalo wings, and painted my toes.  Friday night  I went to see God's Not Dead 2.
God's Not Dead 2
It was great to be around other Christians who are strong in their faith and singing along to the songs at the end of the film and clapping.  That film inspires you, even if you're faith isn't as strong as others, to go out and not be afraid to stand up for what you believe in and not let what other people talk so distastefully about deter you from standing up for your beliefs.  It even inspires you to become stronger in your faith with God.  I felt like God's Not Dead (the first one) inspired you more throughout the movie, whereas this one did more toward the end of the movie.  It also shows that our smallest conversation or actions with someone who is a non-believer or has little faith can start to believe and grow in their relationship with Christ.

Purple + Burgundy hair for the win!

I got some money for my birthday when I was home for Easter and that was going toward another semi big present to myself! And part of treating myself involved coloring my hair.  I've had my hair it's natural color for most of my life, minus the red ombre last summer and blonde highlights during my high school days.  Well, I've wanted this burgundy + purple hair color for about a year now, but holy crap is getting your hair colored expensive!  So I found out what I needed and started saving.  And I set a date about a month out to get my hair done the Saturday before my birthday.  After months of tips and dog sitting I had what I needed.  So off to the salon I went after a quick sweat session at the gym.  My friend Ronnie did my hair.  We had to bleach my hair first, then the helmet of burgundy + purple and his pink fingernails later when he was washing my hair.  And all done!  My little rebellious stage of saying screw you to a whole lot of people.  It was time fore me to change and be a different for once.  To break out of my goodie-too-shoes lifestyle. 
It's funny how changing even the slightest bit in your appearance can boost your confidence so much.  Everything else that had been bothering me no longer mattered.  I had confidence in myself and felt like a complete badass just from changing my hair and my other hidden present to myself!  If you want to change something about your appearance that makes you feel like a badass or gives you even just the little bit of confidence, ABSOLUTELY do it!!  It can be something as simple as a new wardrobe that can make all the difference. Like I mentioned earlier, this is also my way of rebelling and saying F*** you to a lot of people who have screwed me over, haha.  I'm not sure why though or how it's saying that to those people.  My other way of rebelling is tattoos.  I remember when I used to think that having a lot of tattoos, for women, was gross.  My view has definitely changed on and I now find it beautiful.  It won't surprise me if I end up with more tattoos one day, but for now they are all ones that can be covered. up. 
Besides my hair, I invited some friends out for dinner Saturday night.  I've never been a big party person and am always scared to invite people because no one ever shows up and just end up with a couple people when I invited more.  So I invited some people I consider close friends to Latitude 35 and had dinner.  I got fish tacos which I had been craving for a while (specifically from Latitude) and chicken nachos as an appetizer.  After that we just hung out and socialized, catching up on each others lives. I'm not going to lie, I was pretty disappointed in some of my friends who didn't show up over some stupid excuses.  Latitude always has bands play on the weekends, and my favorite person was playing that night, Ethan Hanson.  His music has a easy flowing, Carribean feel to it.  We also met a group of people, Andrew and Angela, who were out celebrating Angela's birthday. They were very entertaining.  Andrew was making memes out of pictures he was taking that night, and he showed me these.  I started busting out laughing after I read them because the one about Andrew is true and he liked to point out that he misspelled ginger ale.  Enjoy!

 

 

So what this next year will bring I am not sure.  But after 2 full days it's going alright so far.  I've started some new programming and am going to spend some more time with friends and maybe a different career close to the one I have now though. But who knows what the future will bring but I won't get anywhere if I keep looking at my past and wishing I still had some of the things that I did. They are out of my life for a reason whether I have an understanding of that reason or not.  So here's to a whole new year for after getting another year older!

       ~God Bless

"Training strength and endurance mentally, physically, and spiritually."