Commitment

I've found a new addiction in Pintrest.

The site features posts about almost anything you could think of: food, tattoos, baby animals, organizing tips and even better - exercise. It's made tracking down new workouts a breeze and there's no excuse not to implement them into my dwindling exercise regimen.

The other night I tried the new leg exercises to get back into the groove. There was the seated leg sweep, step ups (on a box step), and a leg extension with squat. After those simple exercises I felt exhausted and ashamed. But I am still motivated. There are to many parts of me that jiggle.

I am also going to start a "wake up warm up" routine that I also found on Pintrest. I would like to go running in the mornings but  know that I am not up to that caliber yet so hopefully this warm up routine  will help me get my day going with an energetic start.

Here's to the new year and a new me!

2013

Thank God it's almost the weekend.

We came back from visiting Texas with a gifts aplenty and a couple of colds. The cat made it both ways so at least part of the trip was a success. P.S. - I hate cough drops, as necessary as they are I can never get over the taste. I think I read somewhere that it is merely the act of sucking on something to keep your mouth moist that helps suppress coughs but what do I know.

Overall, going home was disappointing. I have never been more happy to be in my little apartment with the boyfriend and our own bed. The "just us" factor was nice, the not being ridiculed for every, single, little thing I did, and the lack of disappointment from the people around me. The end of 2012 was easily forgettable. I wanted my 25th birthday to be a big moment. I invited all the friends I thought were going to be in town (they replied to the invite as if they were going to be there). I was left with entertaining all of my sister's friends because she was getting her hair cut. The only people I wasn't disappointed by was a pair I knew from high school and if anything, I felt like my party was a let down. I should have just gone out to a bar.

So with the year anew I have dropped my expectation to everyone who doesn't put as much effort forth as I do. Their existence in my life will be deemed a waste of time and they will be forgotten as it seems I have been forgotten.

Starting off the New Year with the resolution to look down upon those who don't meet my expectations seems crass but I counter that by having a more positive outlook for myself. Just because most of the individuals around me cannot be counted on doesn't mean I still can't make a difference or that people as a whole aren't inherently good. I'm just choosing to not look as closely anymore because you will always find failure.

To the masses!

Connecticut

18 children died today.

BBC News

IMDB

Watched the cat attempt to bury his food this morning by scraping at the hardwood floors. I've seen my old roommates cats do the same thing so I wasn't totally weirded out. It's just one of many funny habits our cat, Stan has. But I decided to look up the reason why. Thanks internet!

Stan - the long cat

I discovered that since IMDB doesn't use YouTube for it's trailers, I can watch trailers ALL day at work! This was a very stunning revelation and I am excited to spend my working hours catching up on trailers to amazing-looking movies. So far I've watched Man of Steel, Star Trek, and The Lone Ranger. All looks amazing and I can't wait until they come out!

Benedict Cumberbatch being evil

Wednesday

Today is an appropriate day to spoil myself so I went to the Starbucks in the King Soopers next to my workplace and grabbed a grande Salted Caramel Mocha latte and a slice of pumpkin bread. Mmm spending money this early in the morning never tasted so good.

Success

So Thursday (March 1) went well.

Very well, actually. I was almost immediately notified to come in for a second level interview. I've never been to a second level interview (or third if you count the phone interview) so I looked up all I could about what kind of questions I would be asked, what kind of questions I needed to ask, etc. When the lady called me I was at work so I only got a message from her asking if I was interested in the second interview. I couldn't get a hold of her and we ended up playing phone tag for a few days. Even on the day of the interview I hadn't actually spoken to her so I went up there early to make sure our interview was truly confirmed. I was scheduled for 330pm but showed up at 230pm. I spoke with the lady at the reception desk and she called my interviewer, Jo.

To my surprise, Jo asked if I could go ahead and get the interview over with. I said 'yes' without hesitation hoping that would make a good impression even though I was very nervous. I had spent most of my morning going over potential questions but I wanted to get a few last minute looks over what I wanted to say about myself and what questions I wanted to address. The second interview turned out to be a lot like the first. They performed what's called a behavioral interview where you answer the question with a situation, how you handled the situation, and what the results were. She ended up writing most of the time so I felt a little more relaxed answering questions because we didn't have constant eye contact. At the end of the interview she blatantly said, "I like you." I was taken by surprise and replied, "I like you too" when the appropriate answer probably should have been "thank you."The interview portion was technically over but we sat for a bit and discussed when I could start working, she showed me around the building, and she talked about what the workload would be like.

She showed me out and shook my hand. A few days later, after I got some wonderful people to write me fantastic recommendations, I got a phone call from the recruiter with an offer to work for Centura Health. And that's where I am now. I have a full time job. I put my two weeks notice to DSW. I start at my new job on April 9th!

Interview

Strike one. Here's to Thursday.

Spring

Our apartment hallway always has some sort of smell going for it. Today it was what I can only describe as "boiled vegetables."

A lot has been going on this week. A lot of changes and opportunities have presented themselves. As far as change goes; Miss Kara Smith is finally leaving us for more sunny adventures at the Sherman Oaks DSW in California. I'm really happy for her and wish her the best of luck. It's always exciting to get a pay raise AND a fun new place to live. She will definitely be missed and I don't think anyone can measure up to the caliber of awesome she brought to DSW Cherry Creek. She is the kind of manager who takes her job seriously enough to get things done right but not so much that it interferes with her ability to hang out with her associates in a relaxed and casual way. I think that's primarily why most of us got along with her but were still able to get our work done in a reasonable manner. She really is one of the best managers I've ever had.

On the opportunity front, Joe passed on a job opportunity to me from the company he works at. The position is for a Student Advisor and I already had my phone interview yesterday. I'm still waiting to hear back from the recruiter to set up the second interview. In the mean time I sent yet another email to Centura Health inquiring about that second interview. I had a phone interview with them sometime in February and that recruiter said I would hear from them about setting up the next interview. I had been emailed them once a week and each time she said they were still reviewing applications. I emailed her again yesterday and blatantly asked when they were scheduling the interviews and she asked if I was free Thursday afternoon! So I've got that interview under my belt as well.

I would rather have the job as the Student Advisor because I would not only be able to work downtown and across the street from Joe but it just seemed like a more exciting position than the Patient Account Rep at Centura Health. Hopefully I hear from them soon so I can get the interview over with and they can both fight for me :-P