Under Construction

Some new changes will be coming to my blog shortly!

I'm in the process of making my own backgrounds, sidebars, etc. and could use all of the advice that you have to offer! I've currently changed a few things and although they are not quite to my perfection, they will have to work for now! 

Happy Friday Friends!

Home Again, Home Again.

Jiggity Jig.

First ten minutes in Meridian, I pass a Dollar General and want to cry.

Normally I would be passing Super Target.

I'm trying to be positive, I'm trying to be positive, I'm trying to be positive.

I'm blessed to have a business to come back to but I just don't think I'm ready to take on Meridian quite yet.

Good thing I kept my apartment in Birmingham!

First day of work tomorrow!

Happy Birthday!

Happy (I can't tell you how old she is) Birthday to my mom!!

Hope you've had a wonderful day!

What a fun last weekend it was here in the 'ham! I spent last Friday at the pool, my friend and her husband just bought a home here in the neighborhood so she took me on a tour of it, and I spent Friday night out with a friend.  I ran a 5k on Saturday, went to a cookout at a friends, and proceeded to go downtown later that night.  Yesterday, I spent the majority of the day cooking and picked a friend up at the airport later last night.     

I had a baby shower this morning, I'm about to go visit my old co-workers at Dawson and am headed to dinner with a friend and drinks with another friend shortly after that.

Moving tomorrow, more fun with friends tomorrow night, and back to Meridian on Wednesday.  

As my time here in Birmingham comes to a close, I'm beginning to get a few butterflies.  I've enjoyed my time here, and I'm moving onto better career opportunities; however, those opportunities are in a city where not many opportunities exist.  I can't even begin to count everything I'm going to miss about living in a bigger city; I'm most definitely a city girl and am sad to leave it.  Living in B'ham is most fun in the summer months and of course that's right when I'm leaving, there is so much coming up that I really don't want to miss!  I've second guessed myself on my decision 1,000 times since I've made it.

I've mentioned once that before making my decision my dad constantly called wanting me to come back.  Well guess what? Now he calls telling me that he and my mom are constantly looking for somewhere for me to live and that he's really concerned that I'm not going to enjoy Meridian being that I'm 23 and single and that there isn't much to do there.  He has told me for the past two days now that if I decide I want to leave when I get here that he's totally okay with that decision. 

As I sit in a room filled with nothing but boxes I can't even begin describe the emotions running through my head.  On one hand it's a better career opportunity that I will eventually take but I honestly am not the least bit excited to move back just yet.  Meridian is a great city if you're married with children and will one day be a great place to move back to, but until then it's not exactly high on my list of places to live.

Until next time,

Rain, Rain

First Friday off of work and what do I do? 

Wake up at 8:00, my how times have changed!

Have you ever created your own blog header from scratch?

As in, without a template?

I create all of my current headers in ScrapBlog but I'm hoping to create my own here very soon.  As in, make it from a blank page on PhotoShop.  Ultimately, I would love to create my own website all together-background, photos, and all.  We will see how far I get.

Onto other topics, tomorrow I'm supposed to be running my first 5k!

Did I mention the weather is calling for rain?

I'm secretly hoping for rain...in hopes that I won't have to participate!
Sugar melts you know.

Only kidding, but considering I've been unable to run for two weeks-I'm not looking too forward to it!

Here goes nothing!

Duke just took a beating.

My bracket was doing so well.  Until Pittsburgh, Notre Dame, AND Duke all lost.  Don't ask.  I didn't pick them-my friends did! 

On a more positive note, today was my last day at work!! And what a day it was indeed..a good day to exit that is! Audit decided to come today.

My boss' words were pretty priceless:

Boss: "Michelle, today is a great day (referring to my last day)-one that you should always remember.  As in, it will be just as great as the day of your wedding and also the birth of your first child." 

I'd say I was pretty excited to say the least.

As I was on my 45 minute commute back home tonight, aka rush hour traffic on I-65, I got to thinking.

I'm thankful for the opportunity that I have been given with my current employer.  I am blessed to have worked with so many amazing individuals and I will miss my co-workers when I leave but I feel as if I'm not in unfamiliar territory.  I'm leaving with confidence knowing that God will always provide, he has always provided and he will continue to provide.  As my time here in Birmingham is coming to an end, the harsh reality of moving back to Meridian is beginning to set in.  Do I really want to move back? Absolutely not.  Do I really want to work for my dad? Why of course I do.  Would I love to move to Dallas? I would move in the morning! What about the Baron's games that I will miss here this summer? And crawfish parties, Zac Brown concerts, and Brewfest? I failed to mention that I have new pool friends and how I would love to spend my days here at the pool this summer! We won't even mention my current residence.  Or the fact that Super Target, Sephora, Whole Foods, and Banana Republic don't exists within the Meridian city limits.  Ah, how bittersweet.

Tomorrow begins my six day pool binge (if it doesn't get rained out, that is) and I will be moving shortly after that. 

Happy Friday friends!

Weekend Updates!

I hope that you all had a wonderful weekend! The weather couldn't have made for a more perfect weekend here in the 'ham! I spent Saturday by the pool, Saturday night with one of my best friends, LK, and of course spent all of today poolside.  I've made lots of new fun friends at the pool and hope to see them more throughout the week! My last day of work will be Thursday and I'm looking forward to a six day pool binge after that!  I'm trying to enjoy my last week here in Birmingham; I'm excited about what is to come but it's so bittersweet considering that there is a lot that I will miss living in a bigger city.  

On another note, have you been keeping up with all of the madness that is March Madness?

I had to leave the pool early today to get back in time to watch the Ohio State game, so maybe it's safe to say that it is becoming a bit of an obsession.  I was doing so well (in my bracket, that is) until Pittsburgh lost.  It's a shame I didn't stick to my original picks.  Overall (excluding Pitt's loss), I would say that I'm doing pretty good considering that this is my first year to make a bracket.

And on the running scene, I'm supposed to be running a 5k on Saturday...for those of you who aren't mathematicians, that is approximately five days away. My knees are just now to the point that I'm able to walk without being in excruciating pain.  I'll admit that I'm a little hesitant to start running again but I'm going to give it a try tomorrow and see how it goes! If I have to walk all three miles, I will walk three miles.  I've come to learn that my knees really just aren't worth risking.

I've got a meeting tomorrow and Tuesday morning at work and it should (and I repeat should) be an easy week after that! Here's to hoping you all have a wonderful week!

Happy St. Patricks Day!

Happy St. Patricks Day! Hope that you all had a wonderful day! 

What a great week it has been! My boss has been out on vacation, my mom and sister came into town and we all went on a shopping spree, I celebrated St. Patricks Day tonight with good friends, and my sweet co-workers are throwing a going away party for me tomorrow! Did I mention I only have five business days left at work?! What a great week it has been indeed! Here's to hoping your week has been as good as mine!

Monday Night Recaps

Go Team Emily! So glad Reality Steve's original Bachelor picks were wrong!

And on another note, tomorrow begins March Madness!!

I'm not an avid basketball fan and especially if it isn't Mississippi State! But, my co-workers and I are in a bit of a competition as to who predicts the most accurate bracket!  When we arrived at work this morning, we received a bracket and had to turn it in by the time we left this afternoon.  Now for non-basketball fans such as myself, I wasn't left with much time to study up on which teams to pick.  So I had to use a few life-lines! Let's hope that their predictions are right!

And as for the running scene,

It's not going very well.  Apparently I've sustained quite the injury.  Here's to hoping it gets better because I'm bound and determined to run all three miles in 12 days!

Let the Countdown Begin..

Where do I even begin?

I hope that you all had a wonderful weekend!

I've been slacking in the blog department lately...maybe just the social network all together, considering I have 20 pending friend request on the Facebook..  

What a wonderful weekend here in B'ham it was!  I went to the pool all day on Saturday, went out Saturday night, and ran errands today trying to enjoy my last few weeks here in the 'ham.

Maybe I should back track just a little. 

I turned in my letter of resignation along with a two week notice to my current employer this past week and will be leaving Birmingham to return to Meridian where I will be working back in the family business.  

I've had many mixed emotions regarding the decision; on one hand
I want to help my dad in every way that I can, I absolutely love the retail industry and it will one day be a life-long career for me.  However, I really love living in a big city and don't think that I second guess the decision to move back to Meridian every day.  It's a wonderful city with so many wonderful people; if I were married with children there would be no question in the matter but considering that I'm 23 and single moving back is an extreme hesitancy for me.  So in the meantime, I'm living out of boxes and trying to make the most of my last few weeks in town! 

Did I mention the Bachelor finale is tomorrow?

And Reality Steve was wrong on his original Bachelor picks?

Team Emily all the way!

Until then,

18 Days and Counting

Do you know what I hate? I mean really hate?

Walking into the gym for the first time and running beside turbo-you know, the guy with his i-pod in running on speed 100 who has been running continuously for hours.

Or how about running next to the 65 year old woman. 

I just thought I had it easy-until her "warm-up" was speed 5 power walking and she broke out into a full run on speed 6.5 shortly there after.  

She. smoked. me.

She is 65. 

To make it worst, she was back in the gym tonight.

After running two and a half miles on the elliptical, I decided to attempt running my last 1/5 mile on the treadmill. Yes she joined in on the fun right next to me.  After briskly walking a few minutes I decide to up the ante and begin running..oh wait, that's when I find that my knee is aching so badly I can't even lightly jog.  And grandma, well...she's sprinting on speed 6 again.  Mortifying.  Just mortifying.

Here's to hoping your week has started better than mine!

I've got exciting news to share!

Oh the things I could blog about today! A lot has been going on the past few weeks and although my blog has become a bore, I've been really busy!

I stayed in B'ham this weekend and had a great time getting to catch up with Kayleigh and Justin! It was so great seeing them, now if only I had a few photos to document that they were actually in town!

There have been what seem to be torrential downpours here all weekend, and it has gotten really cold!

Thanks to everyone that did their rain dance, our crawfish/cookout got rained out last night and will have to be held at a later date and all attempts at running outside got thrown out the window!

My life has recently revolved around running.  I'm afraid I'm losing motivation and I'm losing it fast! 

There is just nothing (and I do stress nothing) that can get me to actually enjoy it.  Yes, you feel better when you do it but no it is not the least bit enjoyable.  Today, I was fortunate enough to run beside two very attractive guys but around mile 2 it just doesn't matter how attractive they might be-I'm ready to go home.  It does get better with each day but I'm pretty convinced that running on the treadmill just isn't cutting it.  I've built up the endurance to last the full three miles, but my my knees and shins tell me otherwise! When I started out, I got terrible shin splints.  Since then they've gotten a tiny bit better but it's killing my knees.  I used to just run on the elliptical (and it saved all of the above listed) but I've got 21 days until D-Day and until daylight savings time (when I can actually run in the daylight), I'm stuck on the treadmill.  Overall, if I had to run a 5k in the morning, I would be prepared.  I guess that's all that matters.

Happy Sunday to you all!

Day 2, Mile 3.

I've run three miles for two consecutive days! Now I must admit, that it's getting a tiny bit easier but still not very enjoyable! I mean lets be honest, who likes to sweat?
I surely know it's not me!

I've got a fun weekend ahead, more updates to come soon!

Happy Friday friends!