September/early October:
I spent a lot of time at physical therapy just trying to get my body in a good place. I was able to get to that good place, but then something else decided it wanted to rear it's ugly head inside. So needless to say, I've been very sick the past few weeks. I can hardly eat anything without getting ill or nauseous. So I've been spending a lot of time visiting a few doctors and taking a lot of tests.
I started a low-fat diet in response to the pain I've been having. This has been really difficult because I didn't realize that some of the things I was eating were fatty. I've started having to read labels and ingredients which kind of puts a damper on the entire eating thing. Oh well. I was a healthy eater before, so it's just ramping it up a couple more notches I guess.
I went to the local wine-tasting festival in my hometown with a couple of friends from college. You pay $10, get a glass and then walk up and down the block getting your glass filled at all the little shops. It took us three and a half hours to get around the block. I was so happy that my friends decided to come to my little tiny town to have some fun. I had a blast drinking some wine and just sharing in some quality time with real, honest people.
I celebrated my 23rd birthday this past Sunday. I had some tests on the following Monday, so I celebrated on that Saturday by getting my hair cut and my nails done. I also invested in the new Kenny Chesney album as another gift to myself. On my birthday, I watched a marathon of "Project Runway" and "On the Road with Austin & Santino" on Lifetime. It was pretty dang good. I also watched snippets of Hot Rod in between these shows. It was a pretty chill day for the most part and I enjoyed that because I don't get very many days like these.
I became the youth leader at my church. I offered to help every once in a while and the entire program gets dumped in my lap. So that's fun or not so fun depending on how you look at it. I'll let you know when I start pulling out my hair.
I have a weekend getaway planned to Chicago in the middle of November. I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE MY GIRLS!!! I need this and I need some time with my great friends from college. I miss my girls. I miss being around people who are like me, like the same things as me and who inspire me. People I can have fun with and not be judged for it because they are right there with me doing the same thing. I will be counting down the days until then.
I had lunch with a friend whom I hadn't seen in quite a few years. It was great. He's ridiculously knowledgeable about anything education, fitness, sports or nutrition related. I left after that three hour lunch with so much more knowledge about things and about my friend as a person. I also left feeling motivated to be a better person and to really examine my life and what I'm doing in it. I don't think he realizes the impact that he made that day.
Also, the restaurant we dined at was delicious and is a vegetarian/vegan joint in Waterloo that was very reasonably priced. The executive chef/owner is good friends with my friend and he came out and just chatted for about thirty minutes with us. I was so surprised that he took the time out of his day to do that. And I learned a lot about the Pittsburgh Steelers during our conversation with him. The NFL has some players who really go above and beyond their call of duty when it comes to giving back to the communities that they live and play in. I'm not a huge NFL fan, but I gained some more respect for some of the players and people after this conversation.
And if you are wondering about work because I haven't mentioned it in this post yet, no worries. It is all good. I spend a lot of time traveling to see people and listening and trying to help them with what I can. Some days I feel like an ass and other days I feel like I have actually accomplished something. But who doesn't have days like that, right?
Much Love,
Hilary
