wake up

Well, fall is here and I have to say that I am enjoying it. Our summer here in Bend was VERY short...I mean, like two months! It never got hot until late June...you couldn't even wear shorts until then! When it finally turned to summer it did get HOT! I was outside all day every day LITERALLY!

The fall weather and the changing of the season has always been a bit hard for me. I mean, I love fall...the leaves changing, FOOTBALL, nice cool runs, sitting outside in the afternoon and not getting sweaty...it's nice...BUT it is really hard to get over summer-time weather and know deep down that winter is RIGHT AROUND the CORNER! This fall I plan to enjoy FALL...not worry about dumb ol' winter until it gets here! I will have my tea outside for as long as I can and ENJOY it!

Speaking of tea, I gave up coffee! If you know me then you know this is a MAJOR achievement in my life! I take after my moma when it comes to coffee...two pots a day, baby! I love it and I literally drink it all day! Now, I don't know that coffee is just super bad for you but I know that it can't be too good for you?? I switched to tea...green tea...which, I know, IS good for me! There haven't been too many adverse side effects...a slight headache...maybe? I have allergy problems so not sure if it is the lack of coffee or allergies?
I will have coffee some...I love it with my dessert at night (when I eat dessert). Everything in moderation!

A quick update on my vegan-goal...pretty good. NOT perfect...from craving certain foods (turkey) to not wanting to ask for my food any other way than how it is prepared by the chef (no dairy please) it is tough! I have cooked a few separate meals from Josh (his with meat mine without) and he actually made me some veggie chili while he had meaty chili! That is HUGE!!
Anyway, there are lots of things going on with my diet these days...mostly for my allergies but that is for another post! It will all come together one day (or not) !!

LOVE!

strivin' to be...

I was having a conversation with a friend a few days ago and it got me thinking. The conversation wasn't really that deep or anything...we were just talking. He said he had a friend that "claims" to be Buddhist but she likes to watch Sex and the City. I was like what does that matter. Well you can't be Buddhist if you like materialistic things was his response. I said well maybe she is striving to be a Buddhist. I asked if he thought he was a good person. Yeah of cousre. I said well is gossiping about your friend something a good person would do?? Are you now just "claiming" to be a good person?? I mean, just because you don't always live up to being a good person does that mean you are NEVER a good person?

Now, I don't talk religion with people...everyone believes what they believe and that's fine...I don't really even think the conversation was about religion, actually. OR I should say I took something different from it...striving to be...

It is so easy to get caught up in TRYING to be something that we forget to just be ourselves...we get so worked up trying to be something or do something that we forget to look at the path we are taking to get there. We are so worried abou at being something or reaching some goal that we forget where we are right now. We set a goal to run 100 miles a month that we forget to be excited about the 6 miles we are running every day! Oh poor me I still have soooo many more to go... I will never be a great runner...um yeah I am I just ran 6 miles that AWESOME!!

I set goals and try to attain them all the time...like becoming a vegan. I get so wrapped up in the fact that I want a turkey sandwich some days that I forget I haven't eaten meat in a week! I feel so upset with myself that I can't even see the good things I have done. I need to look at it like this...I am striving to be a vegan...I may have weaknesses but that is just for a moment, just for right now...push it aside and move on! Now, I know I can't eat meat AND be a vegan but I can strive to be a vegan and realize that I may not be perfect all the time...starting out...turkey is soooo good! On a side note, I have started imagining feathers being on my sandwich along with the turkey to keep me from eating a big ol' juicy turkey sandwich with mustard and pickles melty gooey cheese...wait wait wait...

Anyway....like my friend, I want to be a good person...I am striving to be a good person. I set goals for ME to reach...some, like not gossiping, help with the whole "good person" thing...some, like my mileage when running and being a vegan are just for me to feel better with myself...Now, will I veer off course from time to time? will I make mistakes? Um, YES SIR! Will I take a look at those mistakes, realize them, and then get over them...YES SIR!

I just want to be me...the best me...a happy me! That's what I am Strivin' to be right now...

snow what?

So, it took summer until July to get to Bend and now she is making an early exit in August! It is freaking SNOWING in AUGUST! Ok, so this is a fluke but still...snow!!! It was cold all last week...high 60's during the day and freezing at night/early morning!! It is supposed to get back up to the 80's later this week...that BETTER happen!

The hubby's parents are coming for a visit this week...I am sooooo excited! It is the first time for them to visit us here and the first time for anyone in our family to see the new house! It is so funny how most people in our family have no idea what goes on in our lives...
It's crazy! I think since we are out of sight we are also out of mind...Oregon is like another planet for most people in our families...

Anyway, it is a big deal to us that we have family coming for a visit...I can hardly wait! Oregon is beautiful, especially Bend and Sunriver. I never take for granted that I live in one of THE most wonderful places in the USA. I am so happy we get to show off our little town to our family! I hope they move here...I might have to get preggo for that to happen though! That's a whole other story though...ha ha!

Bona Fide is going GREAT! I usually am a behind-the-scenes member of the team but I had to meet with a potential client the other day...he knew his stuff! It went well and it felt great promoting something that is mine and that I 100% believe in!

bonafide

Well, I said I had big news...I am officially a small business owner! It has been such a whirlwind time the past couple of months but it has all been totally worth it...I have my very own (with two other partners) SEO company!



We are a very small group of people who work really well together...one of the partners has about 13 years of BIG TIME experience in the field and the other partner has about 20 years of BIG TIME experience in marketing...I feel so fortunate to be a part of our business.



Bend is a hub for SEO-type people for some reason...I mean, literally, there are two other businesses on MY BLOCK! The person who is credited as the "god father" of SEO lives here along with his son who is big in the business. I could go on and on!



Online marketing is expected to grow from about $9 BILLION per year to well over $13 BILLION per year by 2013...I want a piece of that PIE!! Think about it...do you shop online? I know I do and I know that when I GOOGLE the product I want I click on about the first 2 or 3 links...SEO helps you get ranked in those spots...



We are going to stay really small for a while...we have a small site...we are getting leads from other avenues right now and we are BUSY!



http://www.bonafidesearchgroup.com/

I will keep you updated on our progress as much as I can...

hips don't lie

Well, I am sitting in bed with my computer with a heating pad on my hip....I have done something to it and it is KILLING me! I was fine during my whole run yesterday but at mile 6 I noticed that my hip was hurting. I just thought I was tired or something so I just pushed through. When I got home I stretched it out and went about my day. I did take a couple of advil just in case I got sore.
No problem all day...at about 8 last night though...yam bam thank you ma'am....PAIN! I could hardly walk! It feels like the ball of my hip is rubbing right into the muscle or something. I slept with the heating pad and put ice on it this morning. I can hardly walk though!
Needless to say I am taking the day off from running...
Anyway, I am working on some SEO stuff...BIG news coming soon! I have to get all of the details hashed out but when I do it should be exciting!!
My class is over but I learned a lot which is good. I also got my first client. This has helped A LOT!
I need to put some pictures on here...maybe I will work on that for next time! For now it is time for ice!

chugging along...

Not too much going on around here...summer is in full swing and I am LOVING it! I literally have been outside from sun up to sun down everyday!
I have been trying to focus on living right now...I get caught up thinking about what is ABOUT to happen or what COULD happen or what SHOULD happen. Really, I need to just realize that I have a great husband, a wonderful dog, a nice house, and a great job that I love. I mean, come on, what else do I need?

I think sometimes Iget caught up in what I THINK people THINK I should be...I have a friend that always asks me "when are you going to get pregnant?" I have people in my family who say "you spent so much money getting a college degree why do you want to be a nanny?" This list could go on and on...Most of the time I just laugh it off, sometimes I feel bad for myself and think, yeah I should have a baby...yeah I should work full time and get a REAL job. I think though most of the time I just think to myself, why do these people care what I do???

I am lucky that I only have to work 20 hours a week...my husband takes career of me. I am lucky that when I want to go somewhere I don't have to find a baby sitter.
Life is great...why in the world do I let other people bring me down? My goal now is to remember that I am HAPPY because I like MY life!

On another NOTE, ha ha...I started my SEO class up at the college last week. It is very informative. The teacher is really good and funny! I am feeling better about the whole thing. Pretty soon I will be more confident with my SKILLS and I will be able to interview for more jobs!! Hopefully by September I will be ready and able to secure a job since the little kiddos will be in school...they are getting so big!

Oh, happy summer!!

not too much

This week has been so HOT! I love it! It got up to about 95 degrees every day and I soaked it all in!!! I do think that my new hanging basket suffered a bit though...it WAS big and luscious looking but now it is a little saggy looking! Hopefully it will perk back up when the temperatures get back down in the 80 degree range.

Not too much else going on around here. It has been nice sitting outside in the bright sunshine. I started reading these books by Diane Mott Davidson about a caterer named Goldy. They are like murder-mysteries. Not too thought provoking but better than staring at the TV all day. They are pretty funny and come with recipes from the catering events she does in the books. I thought that was interesting.

I also signed up for an SEO class at the college here in town. I think it will be very helpful. I stepped up my training and got a client...Pretty exciting stuff! The client is a friend of mine and I am using his website to practice. He is a VERY talented watchmaker (among other things). If you wanna check him out go to:

kmindependent.com

Anyway, so far so good with the new SEO skills...we shall see!