Let's Catch Up

A lot has happened since my last post on February 1st.  Birthday's, Anniversary's, Holiday's, and Races!  Let's start from the beginning...

February 10th was Brenden's birthday.  He turned 22 and like any college kid just wanted a relaxing night not to worry about college and life.  Well, on Friday Brenden accepted an offer from a company in Arkansas and has an official start day for May! I am very excited for him and proud that he secured a job way before graduation.  And I might be a little jealous. :/  Before the job offer, Brenden kept telling me he has always wanted to see Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw in concert.  The first few weeks of January, I found out Kenny and Tim were touring together this summer and just had to get tickets for him for his birthday.  So I did.  But the concert is in Atlanta... and he just accepted a job in Arkansas.  Let's just hope he can some how make it there because he was very excited about the tickets (at least he acted like it!).  

After a fun night with friends, we made our way to Birmingham were I was running my second half-marathon on Sunday.  We made it to Birmingham and had the opportunity to hang out with my family and see my friend that set Brenden and I up.  It was so great to see her and spend the night at her cute little apartment in Birmingham.  

Sunday morning, bright and early, in the freezing cold, my Dad, Katherine, Allison, Allison's little brother and Dad and I ran a half-marathon in Personal Record (PR) times for all of us.  I cut 23 minutes off of my time from last year and was able to keep up with my Dad which is an accomplishment in itself.  Allison, Jacob, and Katherine completed their first ever half marathon in 20 degree weather with a wind chill of 15 degrees! It was such an accomplishment for all of us and I, for one, could have never cut that much time off of my first one if it hadn't been for the love and support from my family and friends.  Also, I never could have kept a 9:17 pace if it wasn't for my Dad's competitive spirit and drive to push me to be the best he knows I can be.

After running two half-marathons, having support is definitely a key component in running the long distances.  You don't realize how big of a factor that little emotion has on someone.  Knowing that people want you to succeed and do well makes a world of difference when you do anything but particularly long distances.  Now I am trying to decide, "What's next?" Another half-marathon, a full marathon, or a sprint triathlon? Decisions decisions.  As my sister would say, I am mentally ill!! :)

After running and driving back to Auburn shortly after the race, Brenden and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary of dating.  This sounds silly as I type it (like I'm in high school or puppy love) but to me it was something to celebrate.  I'm not big on Valentine's day so our celebration was just on Sunday night.  I got a gorgeous watch and stylish sunglasses from Brenden and I reminded him of the two tickets I gave him on Friday. :)  Brenden made an excellent steak dinner and we were able to talk about all the changes that are soon to happen to the both of us.

In all of my classes, we are reminded constantly "there should be an action plan for any event, it should be updated regularly, communication is vital, and recapping is of the utmost importance".  That's kind of how our talk was on Sunday night.  What's going well, what can we/I improve on, and what is coming up that we need to plan for.  The past two years have been a growing period for the both of us (he is going to be so mad I'm writing about this on the Internet).  We have developed as young adults and are about to embark on a big step into our adulthood.  We still have a lot to learn about each other and we continue to do that everyday.  I've heard before, if you can make it to the two year mark, you can make it forever.  I don't know how true that is but I sure hope it is. :)

Until next time,

Kayla

Expectations

Good-morning blog readers! Today is the 10th of February and it's my boyfriend's 21st - FINALLY! :D

Today was my fourth day of training.  Running is the best therapy!  I think about anything and everything on my runs.  Today was only three miles but when you get on a runners high you lose track of time, distance, and your location.  I also didn't go to bed until three a.m. last night so I did a lot of thinking then as well.

I did the worst thing a girlfriend can do on their boyfriends birthday.  I fell asleep and didn't call at midnight. :/ That could be a reason I was up until three because I got a quick power nap in until I woke up around 12:34 and realized I had missed it.  I know to some people that's not a big deal because you would rather be asleep at midnight on your birthday but 1. It was his 21st and 2. I would have been so irate if I didn't get my midnight call.  So I began to think about expectations.  Everyone sets expectations.  Whether it be for yourself, of other people, of situations, or just in general how your day is going to go.  When those expectations aren't met you get disappointed.  Disappointed.  I hate that word.  It's worse than angry or mad.  The one phrase a kid (should) never want to hear from their parents is "I'm not mad.  I'm just disappointed." Man did I get that phrase a lot in high school.  Anyways, disappointment is one of those things that is completely preventable.  Yes, you might slip up or make bad decisions but in the end it's on you that you disappointed someone.  Anger and being mad comes from intentionally doing something to piss someone off.  I guess being the rebel of the family anger and being mad didn't effect me as much as disappointment.

When you have expectations of other people and they don't meet them, politely tell them what's wrong.  It's better to know than to just be sit there wondering what did I do wrong.  If you want something done your way you have to tell people.  I guess that's why I always seem to get my way.  I state my opinion way too often.  I have a tendency to place a lot of expectation on myself.  Well and on other people as well.  I only expect the best out of myself and nothing less.  I give 100% all the time and if I'm exhausted at the end of the day, so be it.  I gave it my all.  That's where I have a problem.  The expectations I have of myself, I expect everyone else to be on the same page as me.  That's why I do not work well in groups.  If there is a lot of work to be done, I tend to put it on myself because I don't know if everyone will pull their weight to make things happen.  I know this is annoying and people tend to dislike me after group projects because they feel like they didn't get a say in things.  I'm working hard on a project for one of my classes now and I feel exactly like this.  I enjoy doing the work but it's not far to everyone else who wants to do something.  But on the flip side, slackers just make me mad.  If you don't want to put in the same amount of effort as everyone else in the group, get out.  I don't need my work to be anything less than 100%.

I guess realizing my faults is making me mature as a women.  I believe everyone has something they can work on.  I just think my list is a little longer than everyone else's because I put so much expectation on myself to be/do everything.  I don't think that this expectations are faults but maybe that much pressure is a bad thing.  In conclusion, it's okay to have expectations of people.  If you get disappointed, try and talk/work it out.  Don't just sit there with it on your mind.  It will only eat at you and make you disgusted in that other person.  Also, know that other people are capable of meeting your expectations.  When I say (type) these things I'm doing so for myself as well as whoever it may help/inspire.  These are reminders for me to know that I'm allowed to share work loads and I'm allowed to not be 100% perfect all the time (because I'm far from it).  People are unique individuals and everyone is completely different.  Make sure you take that into consideration when you set your expectations.  Live and learn and make mistakes.  It's what develops you as a person.

Respect yourself and other people,
Kayla

Christmas Break

Hello dear friends. It has been quite a little bit since I've posted.  To catch you up since Christmas Eve I have been a busy girl.  My mom drove me to Atlanta on Christmas morning and I flew out at 12pm with the Donahue's to Jamaica for 5 days.  Jamaica was so much fun.  We got to layout, read, swim in the freezing lazy river, go down the big slide (which was so much fun), and go on a 3.8 mile run every morning with my workout crazed boyfriend (Thanks B!).  The run was on the back nine of the golf course at the Rose Hall Hilton Resort.  WOW! It was hilly but over looked the entire resort and ocean.  It was gorgeous.  That was the only thing that kept me going. We left Jamaica on the 30th which happened to be the only sunny day we had.  I tanned for a few hours that morning and headed to the airport.  The airport was a madhouse.  There were hundreds of people trying to get through security to get to seven or eight gates all leaving close to the same time.  While we were waiting to get on the plane, we all got upgraded to FIRST CLASS! AH! What a perfect way to start my birthday weekend! I am so spoiled.  Thank you Mr. Donahue for a great birthday present!

Even though our plane got delayed an hour, we landed, got through customs, claimed baggage, rechecked baggage, went through security, and reclaimed baggage all by 8pm.  I had a lot of stuff to get done before the party the next day so I came back to AU that night.  That night, my dear friends kidnapped me and I went and bought my first alcoholic purchase.  After I got out of the store, I was blindfolded and driven all around Auburn, parked, and walked me to what I didn't know at the time Samford Hall.  I finally got to take my blindfold off and I had my first drink at Samford Hall. So memorable! Thanks girls!  The next morning I woke up at 8am and started the day going going and going.  My family came into town and took me to lunch! I was so happy to see them! Afterwards my family came back to my apartment and helped me set up for the party that night.  My dad mounted the TV, Mom and Jaime helped me take down the Christmas decor, and they went and bought goodies for everyone to snack on that night. Thanks again family for all your help.  I was never going to get that done by myself.  

Later that night, the festivities started.  My friends and I went to dinner at Laredo's, I went to the bar with the only two people that were 21 (haha), and came back to my apartment where I was able to spend the best birthday with the most fun people!!! We had so much fun and my neighbors came over and brought in the new year with us.  I could not have had a better birthday.  I feel so blessed to have the friends I have in my life.  They are so awesome!!

The Christmas break is almost over and the New Year has started.  I'll leave this post to just Christmas break and catch up with you guys tomorrow on my new year plans! :D It's going to be a great year.  Hope you all had a fantastic Christmas break and a Happy New Year!

Feeling blessed,

Kayla