oh life...

I keep thinking I'll get back on track and blog regularly but life if just so busy. Here is a quick summary of the last few months. I walked for graduation, I worked my butt off at my new job and am currently looking at shifting positions or getting a new job entirely because I'm so burnt out, Steven finished his classes and graduated (YAY!!!), we spent the summer going to mission farewells, family reunions, a wedding and will soon be taking a little vacation. I think that about sums it up. I'm really hoping life slows down a bit soon because this pace is totally killing my workout routine haha.

I've noticed that I'm really good at the planning stages of things but I'm not very good at being patient with myself to see certain things through. With the crazy hours I've been working (I think my longest day was 17 hours starting at 6 AM, 4:30 including waking up and commuting) it has been EXTREMELY difficult finding what works for me despite hours of pinterest and notebook planning. Honestly, I felt like I was just living to survive for a while- it was not pretty. I have gained an additional 10-15 lbs since taking this job and it has been oh so frustrating. I definitely let me myself get lost in the service of others, which is great, and has been so rewarding in many ways. That being said, I have recognized I need more balance in my life and my health is too important to be sidelined the way it has been (hence the current job hunt).

I've read blogs of girls who've gone through body transformations and sometimes think, maybe I should keep my mouth shut until I have more to say, till I am on the other side of this transformation. Then I think, no- this is the hard part. This is the part where people want to quit, give up, binge eat, self- harm even. This is the stage where people need inspiration, someone to empathize with them, and someone to keep pushing them. So despite the struggle this journey has been for me at times, I hope it brings hope to someone else in my shoes. Sometimes life just happens and we just have to do our best to grow from our experiences. This is true even when it comes to fitness. I don't think I necessarily chose to gain weight- circumstances I had put my body under stress and I adapted. A while back I made some great steps in the right direction and I feel like I'm ready to take those steps again. I've lost the weight before so I know I can do it again. This blog will be a way for me to be accountable for the work I'm putting in but also a way for me to track what's working, which recipes I'm enjoying, and other tips and tricks to help others along the way.

I'll be posting soon about some of the steps I'm taking now to get back on track with things as well as a fun couples workout I designed for Steven and I to test out our exercise room-in-progress. More on that to come!

<3Kayla

Updates updates updates!

It has been FAR too long since my last post so I will try to wrap up the past few months to get everyone caught up. After feeling like I was wasting so much class time in my personal training program, I decided to pursue that endeavor on my own and quit the program to finish my undergraduate degree at BYU. I haven't focused back into it just yet because life has been crazy (we'll get there soon) BUT it's definitely something I want to do to supplement the social work career goals I have. SO- In December, I took my last test at the dreaded testing center and kissed my undergrad career goodbye. Around the same time, my mom got married, and I decided to try out my skills as a master baker and made her this lovely wedding cake. I failed to prepare for the assembly with supports so it caved in a little but it was one tasty cake and went perfectly with the simple winter wedding.

Doesn't this just look dreamy?? I have such a gorgeous mom :)

Flash forward to January and I started applying to jobs like crazy. After a couple weeks of hunting I landed an amazing job working for the Utah Youth Village. I've always known I wanted to work with kids, and have taken a special interest in abuse victims through my education and volunteer work. This combines both and landed me in a little girls home in Salt  Lake where I help teach skills to the girls which they are rewarded for using both in points, privileges, and a better life hopefully. Right after I started the other associate in the home quit leaving me and the "parents" of the home rather overworked. I referred my best friend Ashley for the job (graduating in psychology next month) and she was just hired on last week! This means less overtime and more girl time for me- woo! After a week or so or training we'll start seeing her around the house more and life will slow down a bit. 

Flash back a bit, when I first was hired (maybe 3 days in), I left home for some training up in SL and got into a car accident! My car took a pretty hard hit and I had some bad whip lash for the first few days especially, but considering all, things turned out alright. I'm still visiting the chiropractor and massage therapist when I can, but it could have been much worse so I'm just grateful for that.

This little guy got me through some great road trips and college nights. C'est la vie!

Funny enough, the night before, we had just brought home a "new" car we got from Steven's sister KC. We were hoping it would be an upgrade for him from his '89 Subaru Legacy. After my car got totaled however, we decided to keep ol' blue until she just couldn't go anymore. 

Steven is doing well but is suffering from some major senioritis haha. He is so ready to be done with school and lucky for him, after a couple spring and summer classes, he will be! For now at least. The plan for now is to apply to physical therapy schools in the fall and to find work as a tech or volunteer assistant until then to get some experience/exposure hours. He's been enjoying breaking up the monotony of school work with frisbee tournaments especially this weekend's exciting exhibition game BYU hosted here in Provo. They rented out the high school football stadium for the game again University of Utah and were tickled to have over 500 fans show up to support the schools! After a game leading to universe point, BYU took the win, and couldn't have been happier with the progress it marked in the direction of the program. I'll post some pics of his frisbee escapades when they become available :)

Finally I am rededicating myself to my fitness goals. It was always hard to maintain a routine during the school year, then between the accident and massive amounts of overtime, I've yet to get back into things since graduating. I have however gotten set up at a gym near where I work and gone several times there so there is some progress. I've also been consistently drinking tons of water and cutting back on junk food so baby steps! I just need to follow my own advice and find what clicks for me again with the current lifestyle I have then get to it! I just ordered a body fat monitor so I can track those numbers in addition to weight loss so I know how much of my weight is muscle vs fat and can better measure my progress. I'll post more on my goals/efforts/progress later but I am determined to get back on track and finish my goals off. 

Getting back to the good stuff

 <3 Kayla