2 weeks.

In two short weeks, I will begin on a new adventure as an Inside Sales Rep for Zillow! Words cannot begin to describe how thrilled I am to start on this new journey. When I found out I was accepted for the position, it was one of those “if-the-tree-falls-in –the-forest-alone-does-anyone-hear-it-fall”….I was laying in my bed, just having awoken from a nap on a rainy morning and I had a missed call from a Seattle area number. I called them back and they offered me the job – I yelped with excitement…. but then realized I was the only person in my apartment. Although I may have been all alone, I knew there were so many people that were cheering for me out there in the world – my family back in Maryland and my friends all over. I did it. I got that big kid job that I’ve always wanted!

Since I accepted the job offer, I’ve reflected a lot on the past 18 months; since I graduated from college. I would never have guessed as a freshman in college (who had their heart set on being a cardiothoracic surgeon at the time), that I would be working at a running store after graduation, or moving to San Francisco, or moving to Seattle. I always imagined myself living close to home and being around my family all the time. Well, my “story” changed, and I am 100% a-okay with that.

The first 6 months after graduation were mediocre. I lived at home and had a fun job at a local running store. Month 6 is when it started to get tough; student loans kicked in and I was moving out to San Francisco with a 4 day notice. Months 6-11 were probably the most frustrating. I had moved cross country to work for a startup where I was promised one thing, and reality was completely different. It sucked. So I moved home and fell back into the life I was living before I moved to SF; something I was more comfortable with. I returned to working at the running store and picked up a job at Lululemon Athletica, which has been one of the most inspiring experiences I’ve had in my life. I have worked with and met some incredible people. The team that I worked with back in Maryland was that loving and caring group that I needed when I had just moved back home from San Francisco. My interview with them was literally the day after I got home from my cross country drive, and emotions were running high. Through my vision and goal setting, I was able to make moves and venture out to Seattle, in hopes of pursuing my long-term goal of working for Lululemon or Patagonia in their Corporate Social Responsibility department.

The team out here in Seattle has been unbelievable; they are some of my best friends. They have made me feel at home when I thought I wasn’t going to make it. When I had $1.50 to my name until my next paycheck, they were the ones that bought me a cup of coffee. When my grandfather passed away, they were the shoulder I cried on. They have taught me to be okay with feedback, and how to grow from it (good or bad J). I have never worked for a company where management has been so onboard with your hopes, dreams, and aspirations that they are literally cheering you on every step of the way. As my time comes to an end at Lululemon, I am so SO incredibly thankful for the experiences and growth that I have had since I began. I have had so much personal growth since I first started, but just as I got comfortable back home, it’s my time to move on.

Let It Go

Aparigraha... known by yogis as "non-grasping" or "letting go".

As one of my favorite yoga teachers recently said in our Groovin' Flow class, "We have to go to yoga class with no expectations. When we have no expectations for ourselves, all we can do is surprise ourselves."

I found that from the time when I first started practicing yoga, I would always get so frustrated in class. I would always be comparing myself to others in class and would get even more frustrated when I couldn't do certain poses. Well, as a Bikram instructor pointed out this week, everyone's body is different and some may be able to hold certain poses better than others. If your hip has been misaligned since birth, there's no point in beating yourself up over a pose heavily involving hips and balance. As a runner, I find myself a lot tighter than my classmates, but after going to class 3+ times a week I have noticed a huge difference in my running and my recovery. I've learned to "let go" in class and not grasp on to the fact that I might not be able to do a pose in class today, but accepted that tomorrow or next week I might be able to.

Just like in yoga, we have to live our lives with Aparigraha always in mind. If we are living a life where we are grasping onto things (material or not, like relationships, etc), how are we truly going to enjoy life? When I made my first cross country move last summer, I obviously had to declutter my life - of stuff and of "fake friends". Although it may have sucked at the time, being able to let go of grudges that were held or clothes that I hadn't worn in years, I am so much happier now. I really don't own much, and I'm pretty happy about that. I've learned that true happiness is achieved with people and yourself and not with material goods - I'm glad I've gotten there! (Even though a cupcake doesn't hurt every now and then ;)).

So as Idina Menzel sings in Frozen..."Let it Go"....

xo
Namaste

Growing through Yoga

I don't know where to begin. I have had two amazing experiences with yoga this week. The first was during Savasana at The Grinning Yogi in Capitol Hill (taught by Jamie Silverstein) and the second was at the Sweatbox in Capitol Hill (taught by Laura).

We all struggle with different things. Some people have bad body image problems, some have low self confidence, others have eating disorders...the list goes on and on.

      For me, I think one of my biggest struggles is accepting that we are all yogis, even me. I always felt like I grew up as that tall and awkward girl. I remember in basketball I was always the tallest girl on my team and couldn't pull off the "cute" that the shorter girls could pull off. I was the middle child growing up, too, so I always tried to be different from my sister, but sometimes that came back and bit me in the butt when I would get in trouble. I think I spent more time in the principal's office in elementary school than I spent in class. I would go home and cry because I had no friends and that I didn't fit in. My parents never pulled the pity party thing that some parents do - they taught me at a pretty young age that when you fall down, you get up, brush yourself off, learn from your mistakes, and keep moving forward. In middle school I didn't really have that many friends either (I switched from public school to private school in 5th grade, so that transition, along with going to middle school really sucked). I decided in 8th grade that I was tired of not having friends, so I made the switch back to private school (this time an all-girls Catholic school that had been around since the mid-1800s).

     High school is where I learned to not care what others thought of me. I remember running for freshman class president and spending hours on crafting the perfect speech to present to my class of 115 girls; it had all of the talking points for someone running for the President of the United States, but I can tell you now, probably 90% of my class slept through the whole speech. Needless to say, I lost, and was heartbroken. I couldn't believe that my classmates wouldn't elect me. Well, I discovered that it was all about who you knew, and not what you knew. After that one awful experience, I wiped my tears and ran for Student Council 5 more times -- losing every time except for the last time; Senior Class President, I won. I'm pretty sure my campaign was "Vote for Maria, the giraffe". Quite the change from my campaign strategy as a freshman! I must say, I made some of the best friends in high school. I only keep in touch with a handful, but it's so great to know that they are always there for me, no matter what struggles I may have. In high school, I was also very involved with the Youth Group at my church. That's where I really made my closest friends and also found my first love - fair trade.
   College was interesting, too. I learned towards the end of freshman year that if you are close minded, you are going to be miserable. The more I got involved with groups and causes I was passionate about, the more I gained my independence and found true happiness. One winter break I decided to go to Bikram Yoga, and that basically changed the rest of my life.

    Before my first Bikram Yoga (which was at Bikram Yoga Columbia, taught by Kat), I had never had a place in my life where I was 100% calm and at peace. For me, peace had been when I was asleep. If I had even 5 minutes in my day that weren't jam packed with things to do, I would freak out. I had always thought yogis were kind of weird - hippie like, even. They smelled like incense, went to acupuncture, wore stretchy pants, liked to sweat, only used Dr. Bronner's if and when they did decide to shower, had dreadlocks, didn't shave, ate granola every day, and went to crazy small coffee shops (kind of like the one I'm in now...).. you get what I'm saying. Well..... I guess I'm a yogi. Now, if I don't have quiet time each day, I feel out of wack. I enjoy long, peaceful walks, eating granola and locally roasted coffee for breakfast, go to yoga on a pretty regular basis. Yoga has kept me sane. I definitely felt awkward in the first few classes I went to, but now I have gained full confidence and enjoy being in a 107 degree room dripping in sweat for 90 minutes, staring at myself in a mirror as we go through the poses. One day I wouldn't be opposed to going to Bikram Yoga Instructor training, either. If you had asked me when I first started if I would be interested, I would have laughed in your face. With all of the ups and downs over the past few years, yoga, Bikram in particular, has really been one of the consistent things in my life. I love how I can go to any studio anywhere in the world and go to the very, same (but different) class. Thank you Bikram, you really have saved my life.

          Now, here I am, 22 years old, sitting in a local coffee shop in my new home - Seattle. If you asked me a year ago, I would never in a million years have guessed I would have done so much in the past year that I have done. I have worked my butt off and never have gotten paid, moved to a different city and had to move back home, made friends and drifted away from some, gone to yoga and fallen out of poses, run the New York Marathon...the list goes on and on. I am so thankful for everyone that has been so supportive of me and my adventures - it means the world to me. Until next time - Namaste. xo

First week in Seattle

This week has been full of apartment hunting...work...sleep...and sweat.

I've been staying with one of my friends for the past week as I've apartment hunted. My goal is to stay in the Capitol Hill area; I have discovered that if I travel too far down Madison, it gets kinda grungy. Of course, the grungier and closer to the city you get, rent skyrockets. I found a cute studio apartment with a built-in Murphy Bed, so I'm hoping that will work out...we shall see!

I was fortunate to be able to pick up some shifts  as soon as I got out here, so I've been working between two lululemons this week. Both crews are unique and wonderful! After tonight, I will have been to all four lululemons in the area -- hopefully I'll be able to venture up to the outlet and Vancouver sometime in the near future.

I mentioned I've been sweating ... well maybe just 4 times this week, but 3 of those times were in a span of 24 hours. The other day I went for a quick 3 mile run just to check out the area -- can I say hilly?! Last night I went to CrossFit for the first time, as well as sculpt yoga (basically hot yoga, but with weights). Then I went to a spin class this morning. Let's just say my whole body hurts right now and I could barely lift my arms to put a coat on this morning!! I definitely want to go back to CrossFit...the yoga, that's a different story. I'm not the biggest fan of Vinyasa, and the weights just kept falling, and people kept grunting and breathing super loud (one of my biggest pet peeves). The spin class this morning at 7am definitely woke me up, and it's nice because I've been able to lounge around all morning and  not that much of the day has passed!

I did some exploring after spin today and poked in the Pike Place Market and saw them tossing fish - how cool! Of course, it was before 9am so there was almost no one there, but that is the time to go! It reminded me of all of the other markets - like the market in the French Quarter in New Orleans, Broad Street Market in Philly, Lexington Street Market in Baltimore....the list goes on and on. I also popped in to the oldest Starbucks - it's pretty small. I already had my cup of coffee and a delicious waffle for breakfast, so I just bought a coffee cup. Now I just have to find a place to live so I can use it there!

Day 4: Billings, MT to Seattle, WA

I did it!!! I made it to Seattle! It's kind of funny because I feel like I didn't really drive that far (even though it took me four straight days of driving)... it honestly felt more like I was driving my car on a treadmill for four straight days (haha!).

I left my hotel yesterday morning in Billings, MT (the area smells really bad, just in case you were wondering), and went to the Cracker Barrel right down the street where I had the best blueberry pancakes that I've had in FOREVER and they even put peaches on top- it was the next best thing to heaven! I then hit the road...

The drive wasn't too boring yesterday-- I must say though, the drive between Missoula, MT and Coeur D'Alene was pretty hair raising. Just imagine driving through the mountains (so beautiful) but it had just snowed about two feet the night before so where there wasn't snow, there was melted snow that was actually ice. You want to slow down but you can't because there is a car on your tail and you can't switch lanes because then you'll be driving in ice/snow-- ahh!


I wound up stopping in Coeur D'Alene for a late lunch (it was BEAUTIFUL) and then got gas for $2.77! Onward to Seattle ! It was crazy because it's so humid that the water droplets froze midair so it looked like there was snow on all of the trees, but it was just frozen water . It was also super foggy for the majority of the last leg of my drive, but I arrived in one piece and can't wait to get my life started out here!



As soon as I arrive (7pm), one of the guys I'm staying with had a work party to go to and they just invited me as I walked through the door, so I put on my sparkly shoes and headed out the door. Turns out one of the guys works for Amazon and the other works for Microsoft... And we were going to the Amazon post-holiday party at the Seahawks stadium.












Wowee! That's all there is to say. There was SO much food, so many drinks, Vampire Weekend took the stage at 10pm, and the place was PACKED! Of course, I ran into someone I knew who graduated from Maryland this past May. What a small world!

We came back, and I fell asleep within 20 minutes of walking in. I can barely lift my arms today because I think all of the driving has finally caught up with me. Thank goodness I'm on this big, comfy cozy couch for a while. Go Seahawks!


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Location:E Denny Way,Seattle,United States

Day 3: Sioux Falls to Billings, MT

Am I there yet? Some people are extremely annoying and tick me off.

Today was a mostly bitter day but was sweet when I saw Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse! I did pass over the "Crazy Woman River" and was wondering if they named it after me? Ha!

I woke up and went to a DELICIOUS bagel shop in Sioux Falls. I then realized that Iowa was only a stone's throw away, so I did some off-roading and got there!


I then began the long drive to Mt. Rushmore.






I don't journal or write my thoughts and reflections down, except for when I'm blogging and I write it on my blog. One of my good friends at work wrote in a reflection journal every day for a year. If I did that, I couldn't imagine going back and reading everything and seeing some of the crazy thoughts I had! So when I'm not blogging, I just keep everything in my head, and when something (or someone) irritates me, I'll bring it to my full attention to resolve it. On my 13+ hour drive today, here were some of my reflections...

1. Oh my god there are some utterly obnoxious people in this world. I feel like everything they do is just for the approval from others. Seriously? Grow up! I can tell you right now that your friendships will probably not last long if this is you. Just sayin. Also, we are all different and have our own individual and unique gifts and talents, so embrace it!
2. I need to do a better job of keeping toxic people out of my life.
3. Although some long time friends drift away, it's important to just let whatever is going to happen, happen. The worst thing someone can do is fight with themselves to get something to work (relationships), even if they know it probably won't work out. What a waste of time!
4. I'm very happy I'm blazing a new trail and moving to Seattle, even with all of the uncertainty that may come with it.
5. Okay this one is a biggie, I never thought I'd say this, but if I could live in the woods in a cabin with just my role models (so maybe 4 people total) and never interact with a human being another day of my life (except for them), I'm okay with that.
6. I want to marry a farmer or a country bumpkin.

The end.

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Location:I-90 E,Billings,United States

Day 2: Chicago to Sioux Falls

I woke up this morning and realized I had an awesome dream and wanted to run downstairs and tell my parents... and then I realized I was in Chicago at my friend's and not home. Yes, I cried a little, but then got my day started and off I went!

I grabbed a box of instant coffee packets from Starbucks because I knew I had a long day ahead of me and wasn't sure if I was going to be in the middle of nowhere or not! It then took me 2 HOURS to get out of Chicago! Rush hour traffic there is awful. The roads are HUGE like Houston and the drivers are all insane. I think they should stick to riding the "L".

My dad called me to warn me about blizzard conditions in Minnesota and he gave me alternative directions, but I wound up just driving to Minnesota because I saw blue skies ahead and thought "what could go wrong?". Well, as soon as I saw snowplows and salt trucks in Wisconsin, I knew I was in trouble!


Well then it turned to this....
(Really high winds and snow blowing across the road)



And then it turned to this...
(Whiteout conditions)


It was pretty scary because you'd go from being able to see everything to being in a white tunnel of snow . That's when I decided it was time to get off the road.



I had lunch in Wisconsin and was looking forward to having dinner in Sioux Falls-- until the road was closed! It turns out there was a 20 car pileup earlier in the day and the road had been closed for 3 hours! I got gas and they had opened the road back up when I was done. I got to Sioux Falls and decided to call it a night because the roads were so hairy and they had closed I-90 west of Sioux Falls and all of the overhead road signs said "treacherous conditions- travel not advised". I was kind of bummed I couldn't make it to Rapid City, but I think it's for the better. 5 more hours of driving in this weather would have sucked.

I don't think they actually have paved roads here - I think they are all made out of snow! There is so much snow that you can't see pavement, they have big bulldozers plowing the streets, and businesses have shut down! I must say that the Walmart was open and talk about an interesting crowd haha. I was bummed that the Barnes and Noble was closed because I finished my book on "tape" today (Malcolm Gladwell's "The Tipping Point") and don't have another one and I'm only halfway across the country! I guess I'll swing by tomorrow on my way out or just buy one on my phone.

Tonight I'm just relaxing- I was thinking about going to the movies but that requires me going out in the cold so I think I'm just going to lay low and hit the hay early!


Hopefully my car starts tomorrow!

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Location:W 8th St,Sioux Falls,United States