And now I sit and wait.

Well the good news is that I made it out of the interview alive and feeling pretty damn good. I gave it my all, answered honestly to their scenario situational questions, and emphasized my qualities. Got a couple of "great answer" responses, and a few silences post-answer, but all in all I can't be any more proud of myself. I truly did the best that I could have done and now we sit, wait 2-3 weeks, and pray.

Doesn't it feel great when you know you have tons of people supporting you, thinking of you, praying for you, finger-crossing for you? :)

On an even better note, lookie lookie what I found today!!!

I KNOW, RIIIIGHT?!?

So get this: I got to the library to pick up my latest read, Ani Phyo's "Ani's Raw Food Kitchen"

...and as I'm walking out, I see a lady standing over a green recycling bin full of magazines! So of course, as a bargain girl myself, I headed over to check it out and OH-MA-GAWD. Some of my favs were in there from some fabulous local San Antonians just as much into recycling as I am! Woohoo! So guess what I'll be doing next time I'm done with my mags? That's right, baby! Returning the favor to some lucky gal (or guy. don't discriminate who loves fashion mags!!) to enjoy what I've enjoyed.

I've got my BFF's wedding in NY coming up in the next week and I'm sporting a FIERCE yellow dress so naturally some pool time will be much appreciated...and what better to enjoy by the pool than some quality reading material?!

THANK YOU TO ANYONE AND EVERYONE WHO SENT SOME POSITIVE THOUGHTS, ENERGY, PRAYERS, AND LOVE MY WAY FOR MY INTERVIEW THIS MORNING......IT WAS DEFINITELY FELT!!

Off to enjoy a night with the hubs to be. He finally has a night off and we've got a HUGE night planned:

Dan watch golf. Blythe blog. Give the pups treats. Make dinner. Watch movie. Early bed time for 2 humans and 2 big dogs who sleep in the bed like said humans.

Exciting I know. :)

Watch Blythe freak out.

AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH fghderotharouitheorighaodfgihaert.

That's me freaking my freak.

SO. Big job interview this week for a MAJOR university here in SA as the Disabilities Coordinator/Counselor. And I know I can rock this job. I was put on this earth to counsel and guide people of all creeds colors backgrounds hell PLANETS with disabilities, have worked in my small time on earth to obtain the clinical background and credentials to call myself a Therapist, and I have been working my ass off with the job apps.

At this point, a year into the hunt, I am ZERO for SIXTY.

Love this economy. :)

The nerves are high because I know I can DO THIS. And the phone interview will be in front of the entire staff....I love phone interviews for the sheer fact that I can have my CV in front of me for reference points, close my eyes, focus on building myself up instead of feeding into my own negative insecurities, and just rock myself out.

It's hard for me to talk about my skills talents and abilities. And it has always been that way. For the reason that I just feel so unnatural talking about me. I'm used to working and people seeing my dedication, leadership skills, and responsible rock-age of the job in person. So in order for me to score this, I HAVE to feel that confidence. I HAVE to let them know why this is the best decision they'll make this summer. I HAVE to show them who I am so they see what I see in this potential partnership.

WHOEVER HAPPENS TO STUMBLE ACROSS MY PIDDLE OF A BLOG, SEND ALL THE POSITIVE ENERGY YOU CAN MUSTER MY WAY. Lord knows I need and want this job more than anything.

xoxox

Some thoughts...

I'm sitting here reading "Skinny Bitch" by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin thinking about what all it means to live a "clean" life.







Early today I had a reminder that clean living also includes emotional nonsense. Ridding my life of the things that do nothing for progress and development of self and relationship are just holding me back from expanding. Stress induced by ridiculous immature behaviors is something I need to cleanse my life of.

Weddings are nice for a couple of reasons:
1. celebrating with friends and family
2. realizing that this will be the last public invitation to some people for creating drama in our new life as one.

The hubs to be is much better at this than I am. He has a perfect no nonsense, black and white approach to it all: just don't let it in your life.

I like that. :)

So now that we're, in less than 2 months, about to start a life not as BLYTHE and DAN but as US, a FAMILY, a UNITED FRONT, what a nice fresh start to cleansing my life of the negativity.

Cleansing my body, cleansing my mind, cleansing my spirit.

Namaste.

Sunday surprise

Hellloooo blogworld!

It's 105 degrees cool in San Antonio today, so I invited my military wife friend to come on by for some pool time girl time (and maybe some rum-soaked watermelon...how'd they sneak in there?!). I was hysterical when she walked up to our apartment with Sunday newspaper in tote....it makes me laugh because I always bring my paper to the pool if I happen to be down on a Sunday and of course, I'm the only person trying to read a full newspaper while soaking in some rays!

So we were hanging out, soaking up some rays, chit-chatting it up about everything under the sun, when....low and behold, is that a terd?

Oh yes, that's right. Two Masters degree educated women saw something brown floating on by, screamed like little girls, jumped out of the pool, and called maintenance ASAP.

Awesome.

So there goes our new Sunday ritual.

WTF.

But at least we got a few good hours in! Thanks for shitting in the pool, people who can't control their kids.

Love,

Blythe

:)

Yoga does the body goood...

Last night one of the military wives invited me for Yoga at her YMCA!

I haven't dabbled in yoga since college, so I thought, "Why the hell not?" I've decided not to run this summer and have instead focused more on my eating habits. Coming off being so active in the non-desert-heat seasons, I think I forgot how much I missed working up a sweat!

The result? AMAAAAAZINGGGGGGG. For about an hour our instructor lead us through some sweat-inducing, breathing-focused, hold-as-long-as-you-can poses such as:


Baby Cobra Pose


And Downward Dog Pose





Some more difficult moves like the Pigeon Pose




And Plank Pose




Following with a super relaxing Child's Pose





Girlllllllllll...I was stretching muscles I didn't even know I had! Especially that Pigeon Pose...wowwweeee. Needless to say, today I'm sore. But it's a good sore. The kind of sore that I have memories of being addicted to. Looks like Monday night Yoga is my new fav thing! Woohoo!

Eating Blah to eating Rah!

To make a long, long story full of weight fluctuation, typical teenage development and growth, self consciousness, and pure junk food a somewhat shorter story, here's a little snippet of how I've come to this point in my life of balance, health, and food happiness...

It's taken me years to get to where I am, and I know I still have so much further to go. everything I know I have taught myself--from reading great books, talking to people who are living healthy lifestyles, and a whole lot of trial and error.

The movement point in my life came to me later in life, while in college at Catholic Univ in Washington, D.C.. In college I ate with my friends multiple times a day in the dining halls, drank on the weekends, and would spend the rest of the weekends at the gym trying to make up for the thousands of calories I'd consume a week. Not until my Senior year, when finally off the food plan, did I realize that I really ENJOYED buying my own groceries. I would spend hours browsing the local grocery store website for the foods I WANTED delivered to me that week--low sodium soups, whole wheat pasta, hummus, baked chips...not the best choices out there, of course, but I was slowly progressing to a lifestyle that better suited my body.

Slowly but surely I started feeling the "changes" with my body--any one who's gone on this food journey before will know what I mean when I say that the late night Saturday slice of pizza post-bar went from being a necessity to soaking up the beer to something that make my stomach hurt. Hurt so bad that the following weekend, I didn't want that pizza anymore. I didn't like how I was feeling after the occasional fried/greasy food that is oh-so common and sometimes the only thing available on college campuses...slowly I was hating the way I was feeling when I put those foods to my mouth. I didn't want fried chicken--I wanted grilled chicken. I didn't want fast food--I wanted to cook my own food. I was feeling different and naturally, my body was beginning to thank me for treating it like it deserves and less as a means of garbage disposal for all the crap food I was putting into my mouth.

Fast forward to graduate school. Living in my apartment in NY, I was in charge of my food choices. I was more interested in the "outer aisles" of the grocery store and less interested in wasting time in the inner aisle of processed, chemical-filled, pre-packaged unhealthy choices. I started asking for healthy recipe cookbooks for birthdays and holiday presents instead of the usual crap that we tend to lose or lose interest in in years to follow. I was educating myself on healthy eating, the benefits of such, and loving how my body was feeling. The gym was then something I enjoyed to ADD to the way I was feeling, instead of being a dark dingy place I would hope to LOSE the guilt and feelings of gross I had accumulated through the week.

Running became my next adventure. I started slow, just walking our dog Crash around the block. Then we (Crash and I) started jogging. Then I graduated to asking Dan (mr. college athlete run 6 minute miles all his life) to run with me. Slowly I was building up--1 mile, 1.5 miles, 2 miles....now don't get me wrong--I was an athlete all through high school: when I wasn't playing field hockey I was swimming and when I wasn't swimming I was playing lacrosse, but long distance running was NEVER, EVER my forte. I was ready to learn a new way of exercising not just my body but my mind.

Fast forward to today I am at the healthiest and happiest I have EVER been with my food. I am at the point where I've stopped counting calories and instead, focus more on putting clean, nutrient-rich produce, grains, simple-ingredient foods into my body. The parts of my body that I've hated since a teenage girl in her most awkward of life developmental stages (hello, cellulite? Thanks, genetics. Appreciate that one.) aren't looked at with hate. Instead, I know that my body is using its' natural resources to supply itself with nutrition instead of trying to pull whatever it could from the crap I WAS putting into it. I feel leaner, cleaner, longer, glow-ier (yes, that's a word in my book.) my hair and nails are stronger and grow faster, and I know I've dropped the extra lil' love handle "weight" that was always bothering me in the past. How can I hate myself when I am now treating myself with nothing but food love? Hate does not equal love. Love does not equal hate. Love equals more and more love.

To make a long story short, here is a visual overview of a typical breakfast for me:

I buy my rolled oats in bulk from a chain farmer's market store in San Antonio called Sun Harvest. I'd like to graduate to steel cut oats, as I have read they are healthier, but for now I'll stick with my oats :) Depending on how big the banana is either 1 whole or 1/2 mashed banana, a squirt of locally produced Texas Wildflower Honey, and a big ol' dollop of Almond Butter--best investment yet. And yes, I'm a coffee in the AM girl. To my credit I didn't begin to drink coffee until graduate school (if you've ever been to grad/law/medical school you will understand why)...and with my sinusitis it really helps me wake up, open up my sinuses on those overcast days, and get me going:

The day I took these pictures was right after getting back from a new farmer's market I found here in SA that was selling GOAT CHEESE.....yummmmyyyy :) I had bought a loaf of fresh wheat grain bread, about a bazillion tomatoes (lycopene must run through my veins with the amount that I eat!!) and garlic and chive goat cheese. OMG. Amazing. I die. (Rachel Zoe reference, anyone?...anyone?...):

If you haven't tried these yet, I highly suggest buying one when it's on sale and seeing if it's your cup o' tea--Kombuchas are the best thing for me to drink when I'm at work for a pick-me-up. They're great for the days I'm not in the mood for coffee, and their ingredients are truly amazing for the human body. Just get one and give it a try:

(note the huuuge jug of Texas Sweet Tea next to my Kombucha babies....that's the hubs and his love for all things sweet. We're workin' on him next haha!)

When I'm finished with my iced coffee or Kombucha tea, I drink multiple refills of this baby multiple times a day:

That's 32 oz in just one fill of water. Water is another thing that my body now craves more than ever--I used to be a big OJ, diet soda, and milk drinker. Lately with my changes, I crave pretty much nothing but water. Sure we'll crack open the occasional bottle o'wine, and I've NEVER been known to refuse a good margarita, but water is my drink o'choice every day of the week. It's amazing that when I started filling my body with water-based produce and fruits, my body continued to crave more water post-meal. Nowadays I put my fancy-schmancy water in wine glasses, martini glasses, and just about any fancy glass we have in the house for my meals to make it more "fun", but it's 99.9% water all the time, baby!

And because of my mass consumption of H20, I've stopped drinking from these for multiple reasons:

1. I drink so much agua a day that I was going through 10 of these a day

2. Lovely SA does NOT offer recycling for apartment developments. Don't get me started--this is an issue that is close to my heart and will be talking about it in later posts, but basically drinking 10+ of these a day was resulting in WAY too much waste that I was NOT comfortable with.

So that's where we are! Our fridge is always stocked with a big bag of spinach for the occasional Green Monster....

...and lots of fruits and veggies for monstrous salads like this bad boy:

Shall I end with some pics of our lovely four-legged girls? :)

(scoping out the fridge after I took some pics...such a curious georgeeeeeee)

(they'll do anything for a treat haha)

Have a Great Week Everyone!!!

Invites? Check.

So as I said before, I took some time off to think more in depth about where I want to go with this and to collect my thoughts. I lasted oh, 2 days. :)



While I was on hiatus, we FINALLY had our invites delivered overnight (will review wedding vendors at a later date), spent the whole day stuffing envelopes and labeling addresses. We did a lot of this:







And this:







Which resulted in this:







Look who opted out of helping with the invites...








...thanks for the help, Kingston. :)

It feels surreal and amazing that we can finally announce that all invites are officially out of our hands and onto our lovely guests. We can't to start getting responses for our big day coming up sooo soon!! Woohoo!!

It's been incredibly hot here in SA lately. Even though I love nothing more than sitting on the beach or by the pool with a good book and some sunscreeen (don't forget your skin!), lately with it being 105 degrees out, I've lasted less than 2 hours before I've needed to head back inside to the pups and hubs-to-be lounging in the A/C....











(this was a big moment...the girls sitting next to each other? unheard of.)


p.s. every Saturday morning here in SA there are not one but TWO fabuslous Farmer's Markets with excellent items ranging from lavender goodies to meat to flowers to nuts and breads! If you are a local SA-er and looking for some great local produce from area farmers and believe in supporting the local food movement (Go Organic! Go Green!) definitely check out http://www.localharvest.org/ and under the tab "Farms" find both reviews and lists of the items for sale! Wish I had taken some pics but the inside scoop I got from one of the sellers is that the "real" growing season for the good stuff is in the Fall/early Winter. Being from the east coast it never dawned on me that the summers I know and love that produce some of the juiciest items from my parent's garden miiiiiiiiiiight be a slightly different out here considering the temp out here gets h-oooooooooo-t hot hot in the summah time :) Long story short, early fall promises to be a much richer selection than mid-July!

Next post I'm going to focus more on my journey to where I am today with my healthy food living. Bare with me as we get this blog purdied up!

Still in transitional stages...

Before we head out for a midnight viewing of Harry Potter I thought I'd hop on here quick and give a lil recap of my day...

Oh, San Antonio. We have days where we like being here and we have many more where we take it for what it is and look forward to being back East again. For example, this morning, we're talking waaaaaaaaaaaay early morning like 3 am, I was awoken in our apartment by people who broke into our development's pool and were cannon-balling, screaming, and chicken fighting until 6 am. I was so pissed. My only option was to leave a message on the courtesy police officer's voicemail, but seriously does he ever check it? Nada. So it was pointless. Not only did I wake up, but the noise was so loud (our apartment over looks the pool) that both pups were up. And on top of that, I don't get the best sleep anyway when Dan's working so many night shifts in a row...I dunno, I think it's because I worry so much about him coming home so so so tired and having to deal with SA traffic. Ugh. So I sleep light, always checking my blackberry for any noise, buzz, text...you get the point. It was the same thing last time he worked a month of nights-my lack of sleep. I just worry so much for him, but this is something I'm just going to have to get used to. It won't be month-long shifts of nights post-residency, but it will be that he'll have a few night shifts in a row.

Oh, to learn how to be a ER Army doctor's wife.

Other than that it was a pretty chill day! Woke up tired to the alarm (couldn't sleep in after that), had the usual breakfast of oatmeal and coffee, and headed out the door to get some groceries for the hubs to be. Gotta love me some bargains--Dan hates going to Walmart with me but HELLO, they've started carrying some of the organic, natural, clean brands that I love so much and with the price differences....hey, this bride to be has got a MAJOR budget to stick to :)

Then headed down to the pool for a couple hours, read my faaabulous novel got at the Dollar Store (oh yes, bargain girl at large. right here.) talked to some of my fabulous best friends, and did some thinking about where I want this blog to go...

I definitely want to touch base on so many things, but after doing research and seeing the extent of some of my fav blogs, I just don't want to take the same ideas those great girls have and copy. So I want to figure out how to make this BLYTHE. Make this something that I'm proud of. Show pictures, tell stories, review wedding vendors, etc. So bare with me, lone universe of zero blog followers, as I take some time to research some more and play around with some blog ideas :)

OFF TO HARRY POTTER MIDNIGHT SHOWING! One good thing about where we live? Regal Cinema literally across the street. No need to drive. Scoooooore :) This was a huge deal for Dan--I'm marrying a doctor who secretly wishes he were a wizard. oy vey.

Another Scorcher

Sitting here drinking my coffee getting through my typical morning routine, which usually consists of Kingston shoving her nose into my face and whimpering (Great Dane whimpers are LOUD), walking said pups, turning the Keurig on (best present everrr), and getting to my daily routine.
I'm off work for the next few days so today I'll probably return my library book and go hang out by the pool. Just finished a great book called "In Defense of Food" by Michael Pollack that outlines the history of the food industry and its' control on trying to detail the nutrients in food that could be isolated and controlled for super-pumped up food to sell as super nutrient foods that are truly un-nutritious.

While the hubs to be sleeps the day away after a looooong night in the ER dealing with all sorts of fun San Antonio crime and violence related accidents, I'm trying to keep the house quiet. Possibly venturing to Office Max to photo copy something for a house decorating project--much easier to get those things done when he's sleeping and just nods "uh huh" to my DIY project requests...shh :)

Day One: Where Do I Begin?

So I've been an avid reader of blogs since I decided to make the move to San Antonio. Realizing that "hey, I can do this" and that "hey, I've got lots of stuff to talk about" it took me til now to finally get myself together.

So here we are. :)

I can promise good days, bad days, and plenty of in between days. For the most part I'd like to keep this as non-journaling as possible and focus on my real passions in this lifetime: becoming more clean, healthy, balanced, and happy, planning what is going to be quite a stunning wedding (if I do say so myself ::brush of shoulder::), loving the life out of my hubby to be as he goes through what has to be the hardest thing I've ever seen someone do (could I work 30 days of 11-7 nights on top of being a US Army Capt? HIGHLY UNLIKELY), and last but not least, loving our perfect little-big four-legged girls: our baby girl freshly turned 1 year Great Dane with a heart of gold and our 5 year old rescue Lab/Boxer/Lord Knows What Else from our college days in D.C.

Right now I'm working part time at a high-end clothing store while I'm searching for the job I was put on this earth to do: counsel children with special needs. Sorry native San Antonians, but unless you're holding out on some magic secret I haven't discovered yet, I am confident in reporting that I have yet to find my peeps!!! WHERE ARE MY KIDS?! and most importantly, WHY HASN'T ANYONE REALIZED HOW MUCH THEY NEED SOMEONE LIKE ME?

So. 50+ job applications and submitted resumes and exactly 1 year later, I am in that box marked with an X of those with a Masters degree working in underemployment of 2009. Fantastic. I really, truly hope that tomorrow I can write from a brand new perspective because every day is a new possibility for change. So in my efforts to be more therapist-y (like that?) and less pessimistic, I thought I'd throw in a few more fun variables to this experiment called Blythe's first adventures in blogging:
1. Planning the most gorgeous wedding (biased much?) for us in September 09
2. Entertaining whatever followers I am lucky enough to catch with pictures and crazy stories of Kingston aka "Legs", the funniest Great Dane in San Antonio. Hands down.
3. My ever-growing passion and knowledge in clean living. By this I mean learning and listening to my body, realizing what foods make me feel GOOD and cleaning my life of the foods that treat my body like YUCK.
4. Creating a space where intelligent people who love the same things in life that I do can discuss the same loves/fears/anxieties/humor as I do

So let the adventure begin...