Guess What Today Is?

Guess what today is!

The camel's favorite day!

I for one haven't been feeling the benefits of hump day because I have lost track of time lately. Really it's only Wednesday? {sigh}

I am in early (5am conference call from home) and I can't remember the last time I was at the office for less than 12 hours - but this post isn't a complaint, it's a share of all the fun I get to have when I'm burning the candle at both ends.

Now let me assure you, all of these photos are from night time. No morning drinking has occurred (yet).

Most evenings right around 6:30pm when everyone is long gone for the day I've been known to strut around the corner to my boss's beer fridge (that I filled) and grab a cold one to enjoy while I work in peace and quiet. Nothing but the best. 

In addition, I have a back up meal in the fridge ready for when I may just have to eat at the desk for the third time in the day - paleo approved.

There should be no reason that I should be leaving work in the summer when it's DARK outside as you'll see above- but it happened... and I can see it happening again.

Simply put - now you understand why I've been a little quiet here on the blog and having WAY delayed comments to back-logged blogs out there that I haven't had a chance to read yet. I will have time again someday for all of the fun, but right now 80% of my day you can find me at work or pounding the pavement to get the remaining 50 miles in for the month ... By August 25th!

Cheers to work beer and hump day! 

Jessi

TED Tuesday: Born To Run

I really hope that what Christopher McDougall is saying in today's TED Talk is true - that we as human beings are designed to sweat and to run.

Not just run but to run long distances.

Why do I care?

This week I have to make good on my commitment to run 100 miles a month... only using up 12 days total.

If you're reading this when I am publishing on Tuesday morning, I have 57 miles left and 140 waking hours to do it in. Possible, right? Right!

Now obviously some of those hours I want to sleep, some of those hours I guess I have to work and some of the others I just plain want to relax, but mark my words - by Sunday when I get on a plane at midnight to return to Toronto I will be at 100 miles and no less.

Dedicating today's post to running is important to me as I had to drop out of my annual Hood to Coast fun that's this upcoming weekend as too much is happening at work and I wouldn't have had the chance to take Friday off. (Insert massive sigh here).

(Insert yet another massive sigh here)

I liked this talk as it inspired me to think of my running challenge this week as not an obstacle, but something that my body is designed to do.

Enjoy!

[ted id=1067]

One Year Anniversary

To be honest it feels like an eternity (in a good way) that my Daniel and I have been together.

Today, however, is what we have chosen to mark as our official one year, all thanks to a relationship status upgrade on our Facebook accounts (yes, seriously)

The two year courtship from Summer 2010 to Summer 2012 is what makes it hard to believe that we are officially celebrating a year, but August 19th is our special day because we shouted our togetherness to the world, a significant step in our time spent together.

If you haven't been around here for very long I recommend reading this post first - it gives you some context around our relationship before the blog.

Daniel,

Thank you for being my companion, my best friend and my love.. . I can't explain how the past three years of knowing you have changed my world.

You're my everything and I feel the same from you (except sometimes I think you like golf just a little bit more).

Every day you make me laugh, every day I love you more and every day I think of how much I'll never be satisfied with the time I'll have with you.

Thank you for always supporting my career, my blog, my dreams and my decisions. Thank you for being an amazing father to our water and fur children (Holly and Tiger).

I can't wait to make more memories with you for years and years Daniel <3

Phew, sorry for the sap-fest blogland - yes, you can vom a little. 

From the past year, here's a great dump of "us" photos - together, across from each other and drinking in "two's".

TED Tuesday: To Win or To Succeed

If given the option to either win or succeed, which would you choose?

If you're anything like me, your first reaction is to say 'win'. I'm a competitor at heart and if you have a game to play, I'm going to do anything I can to come out on top.

Pause: Career Chat ahead!

Even with all of the good things it seems like are happening at work, I'm non-stop behind and feel like I'm failing at every turn. Staying up late, 14 hours in the office yesterday, giving my everything just hasn't been cutting it - but seriously, by what standards?

The feeling of 'failure' comes from the high expectations placed upon me and just not enough time, not enough support and sometimes not enough energy to do a great job like I'm used to doing.

Jumping over hurdles that high isn't always possible. Unless you're this guy:

John Wooden defines Success as "Peace of mind attained only through self-satisfaction and knowing you made the effort to do the best of which you're capable."

Yes.

What I'm missing from my current state of being is having that peace of mind and self-satisfaction for all of the work I'm doing. As many of my co-workers know, I often strut around the office because I'm so smitten with everything our team does day in and day out for the business. Lately it's been a different Jessi - one who shows defeat on her face, doesn't walk as tall as she should and isn't satisfied with her efforts as her standards for herself are too high along with the expectations of others.

I'm not trying to be better than anyone else, I'm trying to be better than I've ever been before.

Healthy approach, but I think where I can help myself is by appreciating my own work, patting myself on the back, and measuring myself against who I was the day prior, not what every external source expects me to be.

And with that take advice from everyone around me to be vocal about what help I need, where I need it, and how to better set everyone up for success. Sometimes you need people who are looking in to tell you to pause and reset - and I'm ready to listen.

I re-played 30 seconds from this video over and over again to get this entire quotation and I think it's perfect.

"You should never try to be better than someone else, always learn from others and never cease trying to be the best you can be. That's under your control.  And if you get too engrossed and involved and concerned in regard to the things over which you have no control, it will adversely affect the things over which you have control."

Just like I learned long ago through my time spend on the diamond - control the controllables and the rest will fall into place.

[ted id=498]

Back to Life - Back to Reality

Well hello! You may have noticed that in blog-land it looked like I had a 4-day weekend.

The only reason you got Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday content was that I wrote those on my iPad on the red eye flight across the border. Which, if you've never written on an iPad on a plane, it's the most creative writing and distraction-free flow you'll ever experience.

No, last week I was quite too busy going hard at both ends - working to the bone at the office and making a serious effort to be social and build relationships. Some say I'm a natural but it took everything I had to agree to go out with the boys rather than slave away at the laptop - and I think I liked that side of myself.

So - yes, this trip I had way more fun. #sorrynotsorry

Fun also means that I failed so hard on Paleo all week with the restaurants and the nights out and the quick food trips at lunch time. It was the same hotel as you may remember from my big rant and there was still no good way to keep my groceries from going bad.

Time for your favorite part, right? iPhone dump!

1. The CN Tower on the first night walking home from dinner.

2. BEER IN A BAG + a shot. Can I be any more classy?

3. View of the lake from my hotel window.

4. Gringa - should have just had a pitcher #AmIRight?

5. K Cup Coffee all day every day at the office.

6. Fresh blueberries for a walk to explore

When I made it home Friday night I only had 5 hours 'off' from work (10pm - 3am) and then had to get back to it on Saturday morning, Dan and Holly made sure to treat me like a queen.

Weary and overworked, it was nice to have no worries except to Persist through C.R.A.P and do it all over again tomorrow.

Back home now with great snuggles and good clean paleo - I'm a happy girl.

What did you do this weekend?

Linking up for some weekend shenanigans!

Five Things

Do you know why I adore Brooke?

1. Our friendship basically started over Pinterest-stalking each other
2. She's hilarious and one of the most down to earth people I know
3. Girl always tags me!

(Okay so there's many more reasons but that would be a post in itself)

Last week Brooke accepted her tag in the 5 Things post and she decided to sent it my way.

She promised this post was going to be easy so I'm going to give it a shot (from 30,000 feet) en route to Toronto for the week.

5 Things I'm Passionate About

Running

I've considered myself a runner since my Junior year in high school, but really kicked it up a notch the first year out of college when I no longer had a routine workout schedule. Since December of 2009 I've had a goal of running 100 (or more) miles per month and I've happily met and exceeded this goal. Running allows me to think, process, be accountable and push toward a fitness-happy goal.

Health

My health is very important to me and above all its important that those around me are healthy as well. As I think about the adult and mother I want to be, I have a fit, energetic, happy, relaxed and easy-going woman in mind.

Laughter

Laughing is my absolute favorite thing to do in this world. Dan captured me with his wit and sense of humor, I associate with hilarious individuals and have a deep appreciation for people who can make any situation laughable.

Being in Love

I'm so in love with my Daniel that it would be hard to not list him as something I'm passionate about. He makes my tail wag like a puppy.

Education

I have always been a sponge for new information. I soak it up. Three degrees in college and I'm still hungry for knowledge. I think that the more we know, the better informed we are to live our lives happily and courageously. While I don't know if I plan to continue down the road of higher education, I'm always game for getting better at my photography, understanding human psychology and getting to the bottom of the things that inspire me.

5 Things I Want to Do Before I Die

Get Married
Raise children with good hearts and good values
2 week (at least) international vacation with Dan (get your passport!)
See the Northern Lights
Retire young

5 Reads I Love

Blogs on Blogs on Blogs

I'm a serial blog addict. Once upon a time I unfollowed a ton of blogs to close my world, but over time I'm back up to (maybe 50) that I read on a daily basis and love it all. This counts as reading, yeah?

Hand Written Letters

I love mail that comes in the actual mail. My dear friend Tanna is great at sending me hand written letters and I'm thrilled every time I open the envelope to an adorable card and an update on how her beautiful family is doing. I need to pay this forward more often.

TED Talks

Ok I know this isn't reading, but its some of the most intellectual content I digest. Yes, I'd still love it in print format. What I love about the talks is that every person is an expert in their field and the topics are always fascinating, have information I didn't know before and almost always an idea that has never entered my brain.

Chelsea Handler

To get my giggle on I turn to my kindle on iPad for any silly excerpt from Chelsea. If you have a good sense of humor you know that anything from her is gold.

Guilty as Charged

Yes, I've read all 7 Harry Potter books, all 3 Hunger Games books and 2.5 of the Fifty Shades trilogy (not exactly sure why I never finished). I also have been known to geek out over Excel handbooks, leadership strategy books an supply chain efficiency cases. Go ahead make fun, I'm judging me too.

5 Places I Want to Travel (and haven't been to!)

Cancun
Brazil
New Zealand
South Africa
Canary Islands

5 Movies I'll Never Get Tired Of

Shawshank Redemption
Step Brothers
The Lion King
Forrest Gump
Sandlot

5 Tags!

I know it says to tag somebody, so I'm going to throw it to the following girls that I hope will read this post and join the party.

Rachel @ Tossing the Script
Tami @ Friday Morning Buzz
Anna @ A Dash of Quirky
Lauren @ Method to my Madness
Macey @ Macey Perseveres

Easy post I promise!

TED Tuesday: Secrets of Success

I promise you that the video below will be one of the quickest and pain-free TED Talks I'll ever put you through. If you're hungry for more, head to the archives.

Success - what does it mean to you?

When thinking about being successful, the formula seems almost impossible. First you have to be in the right place at the right time. You then have to be willing to put in the work, have a passion for what you're doing and be comfortable with the idea of being in the spotlight.

In my career I feel like I've been pretty successful. From pushing boundaries to making ideas a reality, my daily goal is to prove myself to those around me who may not know what I'm capable of doing.

That said, never have I felt more inadequate for the tasks and challenges in front of me than I feel today. What is expected of me on a daily basis is more than I know what to do with. It's clearly a lesson the universe is trying to teach me. In the words of a teammate at work, "If Jessi can make it through this, the sky is the limit for her career."

Success is for the gritty, the passionate, the persistent, the pushers, the dreamers, the outside of the box thinkers. Success is for me.

What I adore about the short TED Talk below is how simple success can be summarized by remarkable TED contributors who aren't strangers to what success looks like at its most fundamental level.

Before I leave you, I want to share my absolute favorite part from the video that happens at the 2:50 mark:

"PERSIST"

Persistence is the #1 reason for our success.

You have to persist through Failure and you have to persist through CRAP!

Criticism

Rejection

Assholes

Pressure

Yep! 4.5 Million Views and it can't be a hard 3 minutes of your life.

[ted id=70]

Weekend Across the Border

Happy Monday here from Toronto!

This weekend didn't feel like much of a weekend at all. Usually I have long runs in the mornings, mid day naps, and evenings with the laptop out half-blogging, day drinking and some DVR catch up with my guy. This one was cut short with a red-eye flight Saturday night.

But Friday night I cheated so hard on Paleo. Dan and I headed to the theater to watch Wolverine (his pick) and couldn't resist the theater popcorn seasoned with jalapeno butter and cheddar topping. It was out of my control, and I have no regrets from my "cheat meal". With the movie came the realization of how incredibly irresponsible we are as parents. We got home at 9:30pm to an energy-filled Holly who wanted nothing to do with the must-sleep-now plan that we had in mind. Dan slept like a baby, but she kept me up for hours before I was able to finally get some zzz's

Then remember how I said that Saturdays are for sleeping? Well Saturday I didn't get out of bed until 5pm. Sure I 'got out of bed' for food and coffee, but I was mostly horizontal with my iPad, iPhone or laptop catching up on reading blogs and making changes to my own blog.

That's right, do you see the FANCY new social media buttons to the right of your screen?

Thanks to Sarah's amazing tutorial that also works for Wordpress I was able to work my own design, map the image to three separate links and make it fit nicely over there underneath my photo. No more awkward Facebook (like anyone ever clicked that) twitter and Instagram with Bloglovin' separately. I'm seriously thankful for Sarah's Saturday Sessions.

Saturday when Holly and I woke from our slumber when we heard Dan get home was followed by a late round of laundry, a 5 mile run, and some quick packing for my 12:55am flight to a 6 day business visit to Toronto.

I feel like Red Eye flights are for the most productive people you'll meet. Nothing like an air bed & breakfast before arriving to your destination city with upright seated-sleep. Red eye flights are also an excellent excuse to get something that will settle you down and help you to rest a little easier.

Beer & sweatpants, that's my kind of Saturday night.

Flight #2 from Minneapolis/St. Paul was less than fun - I was all the way in the back of a tiny plane (only 13 rows) and had this stink hole next to me. Blugh. I also had a stink hole to my left but that's a different story for a different day.

Since my mission was to enjoy the city on Sunday you'll be seeing some photos later this week that summarize my adventures. I'm hoping this trip allows me to relax a little more than the last one and to actually get some rest. It doesn't look that way from the emails that came through this weekend but a girl can dream, right?

Wishing all the luck and confidence in the world today to my amazing teammates back home today who are presenting my super crazy normal job responsibility on top of their other work. They're going to rock it.

Thrilled at the thought already of being back home - counting down the days!

Backing it Up to Toronto

How fantastic does it feel that Friday is here?

Sometimes Fridays make me feel like dancing, and I mean really dancing.

This week was hard. That kind of hard where you don't know how you got here, how you can take back your life and thoughts like 'how will I ever have a family with this type of workload?'. That can be emotionally distressing for anyone right?  I am thankful to have a guy in my life who doesn't care about mascara and eyeliner smeared on his polo shirts at the end of a long day.

After yesterday's goal setting I really want to start the month off right with some thank you's that are necessary.

Are you ready for a list? 

|| Thanks Mom and Dad for inviting us over last night for amazing Paleo Meatloaf (look for a recipe here soon!)

|| Thanks Dan for letting me vent and understanding what I'm going through.

|| Thanks teammates at work who are undeniably the greatest teammates a girl could have. I know you'll never read this but you keep me going.

|| Thanks Portland for the gloomy and rainy day yesterday, I am a lover of Fall and can't wait for sweater weather.

|| Thanks alarm for getting me an extra hour of sleep yesterday.

|| Thanks kind hearted people who always lend a hand when they see someone who is upset and in need.

|| Thanks to my wonderful friends who haven't given up on me - you know who you are!

|| Thanks to Canada, for having a holiday on Monday and a technical "free day" in the city. Bless your maple leaves.

|| Thanks to Saturday, because you my friend are for sleeping!

And maybe Saturday is also for flying, take it away Sinatra!

Fly Me to The Moon