Color Snap: Kayaking with Orcas

(Photo Credit: Live Naturally Tumblr)

This is going to be Matt and I next Saturday!!!

We are headed to Alaska for a 5 day adventure in the wilderness with Matt's Dad & his girlfriend! And yes, this will actually be us, as we will be on a sea-kayaking tour in the glacier fjords next Saturday.

The Ultimate Search for Balance

Ah, the quest for balance... for me, it's a battle between work and life. Although they are intertwined in my daily life, the root of my imbalance is the emotional and mental processing of work that seems to consume me. We've all been there, and I'd venture to say that a majority of my Gen Y peers are experiencing the same game of tug-o-war... (This article and this article prove we are.) We're working our way up the ladder of succes, worrying about covering our school loan debt and putting food on the table, fighting for promotions, raises and respect that comes with making it to that next step in our careers - all in the same breath as trying to learn who we are, have a decent social life, and venture into the domestic life a bit. It's a lot to handle, but Gen Y'ers are fighting this battle on a daily basis and seemingly have a never-ending supply of hope. Hope to make it, be successful, and have some balance in the process.

I found this great blog post, "9 Tips for Work-Life Balance" by Lindsay Olson, on U.S. News Careers Blog. I think these are all great ideas, worth noting and discussing:

1. Be 100 percent who you are. Deserving of the #1 spot, staying true to yourself is the most important step in maintaining or accomplishing balance. If you are finding yourself feeling disappointed in your decisions or actions in a day, than you're not being who you are and need to change things. Going hand in hand with this is that you need to do what you love. Coming home, day after day, feeling negative about your work is a message you need to hear - you're not loving what you're doing, and eventually, it's going to suck the life out of you. Do what you love. It makes work so much easier.

2. Be more organized at work. To-do lists, calendars and sticky notes are the epitomy of my organization at work. My to-do list and my calendar are truly my life-blood; if it's not on there, it's probably not going to get done, much less remembered. Keeping these updated and synched has proved very beneficial towards my organization. Unfortunately, I'm the ultimate procrastinator - partly because I simply work better and produce better results when I'm under pressure (I think). One of the ways I tackle my procrastination is I complete whatever project/task I'm least looking forward to first thing in the morning.

3. Find hobbies. I love this one - it's the "unknown" in the initial battle for balance and proves to make a big impact. For example, during my first 6 months in the "real world" I came to the realization that I had ZERO friends who lived the same rhythym as me - read: 9-to-5 and weekend warrior. I realized very quickly I needed to leverage the few hours I had after work during the week to participate in some hobbies that would help me meet some friends. You know my long-term love affair with volleyball, so I took a risk and attended a Free Agent Night for the local Parks & Rec teams. What a difference this made! Not only have a met a dozen amazing friends, but this is where I met Matt. Everytime I'm discussing "getting out there" and "finding balance" with my family & friends, I suggest a hobby because it truly does make a huge impact on your life.

4. Plan your week. This one is for those of us venturing into the unknown world of domestic life. How are we supposed to work full-time, keep a clean house, do laundry, cook dinner and maintain some sort of social life?! The chances of accomplishing everything on your list in a week ebs and flows, but you can increase your chance for success, and even better spread it over the whole week with just a little planning. I'll be the first to admit that I'm constantly struggling to "do it all", but this basic step has made a huge difference for me: Plan your food on the weekends. This means planning, shopping and cooking if you can. This will make a huge difference in your week, and give your daily schedule a little breathing room for some of the "fun stuff" you want to be doing.

5. Enjoy your family. Lindsay has it right on this one: with the hustle & bustle in a work week it's easy to forget (or forego) quality time with your family. Eating dinner together every night, spending an hour before bed reading together or taking the dog for a walk together have been the ways I've ensured I'm slowing down, and spending time with Matt without any other distractions.

6. Learn to say no. What? I don't understand what you're saying.... It's a cronic disease I've unfortunately caught, and man oh man is it a hard habit to break. Learning to say "no" is crucial for maintaining balance, whether it be at work or to the variety of social opportunities that come up. It's a hard one at first to say much less master, but being honest with people, and allowing them to do the same, releases a huge stress on yourself and your life.

7. Institute a digital-free zone. What did we do in the time before iPads, iPhones and the DVR? We actually talked to each other, played outside, and had hobbies. Work these days somewhat demands your attention (and dependence) on technology; but setting perameters around these objects is crucial. For me, as much I want to institute a digital-free zone, it's incredibly hard to do. While we don't have a TV in our bedroom, our waking up and going to bed rituals include spending 5-15 minutes perusing emails, the news and maybe a game or two. The one place I am VERY good about eliminating technology from is vacation. Vacation is sacred, and is to be enjoyed in the present without having to tend to every ding, buzz and beep.

8. Exercise. Exercise is essential to balance in your mind, body and soul. This isn't a yoga commercial, but I can say that scheduling in exercise on a regular basis has made a huge impact on how I feel at the end of the day and end of the week. For me, the "scheduling" of exercise becomes a struggle if I don't accomplish #4: Planning my week. It's incredibly difficult to get home from work at 6, exercise, hit the grocery store and cook dinner all so we're not eating dinner at 9:00. Planning my week allows me the opportunity to hit the gym or take Star for a walk along with making dinner and eating at a reasonable time.

9. Be selective with your errands. Lindsay has this right as well - sometimes our free time is consumed by errands and chores. While this is unavoidable at times (like leading up to vacation), it isn't sustainable. In my opinion, this is another one that goes hand-in-hand with planning your week. If you know you're going to be near a store you have to stop in, plan it into your schedule so you're not driving all over town. Another option is what Lindsay suggested, while being DIY'er is rewarding and usually budget-friendly, it's time consuming and it's worth asking yourself if the effort you're putting in is more valuable than just calling and paying a professional.

Color Snap: Darling Dahlias

Packin' a Punch.

(Photo Credit: Wendy Bevan)

Handling Stress, Conquering Stress, and Minimizing Stress has been my mantra over the past few weeks (okay, months.) It's why I haven't posted as much as I'd like, worked out like I would've liked, socialized as much as I would have liked..... but part of me is screaming saying that those things haven't happened because I'm making excuses. Procastinating even. Stress isn't something that out of the blue happened to me and no one else. It's something we all live with day in, and day out. There are women out there that seem to have it all in spite of the stress: the booming career, incredible family, home, garden, social life, skinny ass and probably a great sex life too. But that's all an assumption. All I need to worry about is my own level of stress, how to manage it, and how to feel WHOLE at the end of the day. I'm going to dedicate this week (it's a super stressful one) to working on my stress and posting about the progress. It's Monday, so I figured you could relate. Plus I can't be the only stressed out woman in the world - right?! Please, share with me how you deal with it!

Monday Medley: Spring Fever!

“It's spring fever.... You don't quite know what it is you DO want, but it just fairly makes your heart ache, you want it so!” - Mark Twain

With the weather a perfect 70 degrees it's easy to for Spring Fever to be at it's peak! Here are a few of my favorite Spring items - check out my whole collection on Pintrest!

1.  Springtime Color Palette - This beautiful painting encompasses all my favorite Spring colors!

2. Floral tops are a MUST! Check out the Coquette Blog to explore other great floral tops.

3. Peach Nails. Done and Done. Love the yellow, mint or nude look too!

4. Must have: Steven "France" Leather Tote  in bright yellow. Hello Spring!

5. I always get a fresh, cute (and cheap) pair of sunglasses for our Spring/Summer travels!

6. Pair them with skinny jeans or a cute dress, these wedges are perfect for Spring!

7. With all the world blooming it's so nice to have fresh cut flowers to bring Spring inside!

8. The warmer weather begs for me to enjoy a coctail on the deck after work - This recipe for Rubarbaritas sounds delicious!

9. Don't procrastinate! Get your Spring Cleaning done so you can enjoy the open windows and doors without choking on all the dust. Need some pointers? Martha Stewart knows how to get it done.

The Cold Case Served Hot

Life has been a bit crazy lately which is why my blogging has been on hold. In the meantime, my boyfriend Matt has agreed to be a guest blogger every once in a while! Matt can make me laugh like no other can - he is a great storyteller and is constantly bringing home snippets of his day working with the public. For those that don't know his "voice", here's a Cliff Notes on Matt:

 - Matt is an Astronomer and works for the University of Colorado's Fiske Planetarium. To say he loves the sun, moon, stars and everything in between is an understatement.
 - He was born in Los Angeles but he also has a deep love for Idaho where he spent many a vactions as a kid
 - Aside from astronomy, Matt is a big sports fan (Dodgers, Lakers & Broncos), an incredibly skilled skier, a pet lover, and any activity outdoors.

So without further adieu, Matt, take it away!

At work yesterday, I got a call from a gentlemen saying that he thought he had found a meteorite.  My first thought was, “alright, lets see how legitimate this is”.  I asked him his name (Jeff) and phone number in case we got disconnected.  He then began telling me how he came to find this specimen.  Jeff proceeded to launch into his story:

Jeff:  So I have been metal detecting for close to 30 years and I mostly look for jewelry and other lost trinkets.  I used to work for Burlington railroad and would travel all over Colorado, taking my metal detector with me everywhere I go.  I have found some interesting things over the years from watches, rings, etc…

I politely interrupted, as this story had the makings of a long one.  I asked Jeff, “where did you find this specimen?”

Jeff:  Between Sterling and Fort Morgan, you know off I-76. 

Me: I know where you are talking about.  (At least roughly.  I then asked where he specifically found it.)

Jeff:  On the north side of I-76 near a country road I can’t quite remember.  But I do recall that it was pretty much half way between Sterling and Fort Morgan.  It was in a park that had a pond, some swings and slides for kids and a track for jogging or walking dogs.

At this moment I opened Google maps and began looking for such a place between Sterling and Fort Morgan.

Jeff continued:  It was early in the morning and I began sweeping the park with my metal detector.  About 90 minutes in, my detector showed that there was something under the ground, so I began digging.  About 4-6 inches down was this massive hunk of metal about the size of a softball.  At first glance it appeared to be some old smelting slag.

Me: I am impressed you know what slag looks like because unfortunately most metallic meteor-wrongs are indeed slag.

Jeff continued: Recently, I have watched a bunch of episodes of the Discovery show “Meteorite Men” and I am convinced this is definitely a meteorite. 

 “What makes you think it’s a meteorite?” I asked, looking for more specific details.

Jeff said:  “Well I have seen almost all of these “Meteorite Men” episodes.  It was pretty clear to me.  It was super heavy, and black and a magnet would stick to it easily.

Not trying to judge or dismiss his claims, I said “Okay, Where is this specimen now?”

Jeff said:  I left it at the park.  It weighed close 20 pounds and it was too heavy for me to carry, so I discarded it on the shore of the pond near the kid’s swings.

Now I am finally thinking we are getting somewhere. I know the description and location of this specimen.  All that is left is to figure out when Jeff was exploring this park.  If it was a few week ago, there is a chance it is still there.

“So Jeff, when did you discover this specimen?”

Jeff calmly responded with, “I found it in July of 1985”.

My internal monolog said, “Are you *%^#ing kidding me? I had just had a 20-30 minute conversation that led to this?!”

Here I am listening to his story about a meteorite specimen and scouring satellite imagery on Google earth to try and find this park with a pond along I-76.  Perhaps I should have asked the “when” as one of my first questions. 

Without chuckling and/or patronizing the man, I said that there was little chance if any of finding this thing.   This specimen has likely been covered by a new park or a housing subdivision.  I would like to think there is a lesson to be had here, but like the specimen I am sure I am not going to find it.

 - Matt

Color Snap: Apple of My Eye

Valentine's Day is around the corner!

(Photo Credit: photographbykarina)