Moving On

Things are happening in my little life, but sadly training isn't one of them. I miss it terribly. But I'm also stoked beyond belief about the other things so I can deal with two weeks of mediocre (read: crappy) training.

What the heck am I talking about that's so important that it screws up my training (very few things can do so)? First off was the wisdom teeth surgery and that required some major downtime. I managed. I was expecting to come back and hit it hard, which I started to do but that only lasted for two days. Then life took over. But, I cannot complain whatsoever because I love what's goin on! I've been waiting for this month for a loooong time. Let me explain. When I quit my job as a newspaper editor a few years ago and started grad school in a new field, I set some goals for myself. May 2011 was the deadline....

One - Pay for grad school all on my own without student loans, which required me to live at home with the parents and still work.

Two - Slowly increase my workload over the 2.5 years in order to save money and, more importantly, be doing what I want to do for work by the time I graduate. I wanted to avoid having a shocking moment in my life of, "Now that school's done, what now?"

Three - Graduate and MOVE OUT in May 2011. Preferably move to the beach, specifically Laguna Beach.

Sounds easier when I just simply write that out... but my what a journey it's been. The good news?! Well we're in May 2011 folks and it looks like all goals will be achieved!! Actually, I did have to get an extension on my comps exam, which will now be taken this summer, but I still get to walk and graduate now. Could be worse.

Soooo......the biggest and best news right now is that last week I landed a sweet little one-bedroom apartment in Laguna Beach walking distance from the beach and downtown area, and I can actually afford the place all on my own. Yea, I can hardly believe it either. As you can imagine, Laguna is an expensive place to live -- I was preparing to have to live in a studio if I wanted to make it happen, so I am beyond grateful that I found my new place. It's cute and manageable with my budget. I think it's meant to be too -- the onsite property manager is an active woman and she and the tenants even have an organic veggie garden growing in the complex... all are welcome to take part in it! Seriously?! Oh, and did I mention I'm 0.3 miles from Golden Spoon and Whole Foods? Trouble! Not to mention, walking distance to do ocean swims (no excuses now) and a mile from the gym where I work and train.

So needless to say, it's been a crazy past week with this turn of events. My workouts started suffering big time on Wednesday because I had narrowed the apartment search down to a few places and was busying meeting with real estate agents, applying, etc. But it was worth it. By Friday I got the news that my application to the one I wanted was accepted, so I dropped everything to start the moving process. Being just one person moving into a small place has it's perks, mostly that I call the shots on what I want. My main goal is: Minimalism. Keep it simple! Extra important when your place is tiny :) On the flip side, the bad part about being just one person moving out of mom and dad's is that I own nothing in terms of furniture, kitchenware, etc. Hence, lots of work. Saturday was long. I was so excited I woke up at 2:30 a.m. thinking about all I wanted and needed to do. After a 6 a.m. run with friends (12 miles, woot woot!) and teaching class at the gym, we moved the bulk of my stuff, had a celebratory dinner in town, yada yada. Before I knew it, the clock read 2:30 a.m. Yikes, a 24-hour day! Sunday I had to make a decision. Do my 4-hour bike ride/long-ish T-run or finish getting moved in so I could actually live in my place. I chose the latter. Yea, I have an Ironman to train for, but you only live once and I knew my workout would be crap because my attention and focus was elsewhere. So, Sunday was a marathon day running around Target, Bed Bath & Beyond, etc, etc, etc. My mom was gracious enough to spend Mother's Day helping me with all that. She rocks.

The basics are pretty much almost all done. I am now a single chick livin in Laguna Beach. And, no, MTV will not be doing a reality show on me lol.

Oh, and very important to all my triathlete/cyclist friends: Anyone riding on PCH near Laguna Beach, please don't hesitate to call/text me for a pitstop... I'm one block from PCH and will always have lots of GU to hand out :)