Sunday, December 29, 2013

Christmas in Colorado.


Sharing a few moments I managed to capture while we were in Colorado. Not technically the best, since they were taken with my iPhone, but good enough for the moment. I did not take as much pictures as I usually do. We are officially home, resting and getting ready for another week of our daily routine. Looking forward to what 2014 has in store; more traveling, health goals, and enduring life in Illinois. 








Thursday, December 26, 2013

Happy Holidays!

Happy Holidays!

This post has been delayed, as I've been trying to find the time to sit down and release my thoughts.
A lot has happened these past few days. Alot of traveling, and alot of family time. Needless to say, I have been enjoying every minute. Our original holiday plans changed a few weeks ago. We secretly canceled our entire Puerto Rico itinerary and opted for a colder, more family oriented vacation. We did not tell anyone, my parents had no idea we were arriving. I honestly can't remember the last time we were all together for Christmas, so I took the opportunity to make it happen. The look on my mother's face when we arrived, absolutely priceless. As much as I would have loved to lay out on the beach, relax in a 5 star resort, I felt extremely guilty. Christmas just isn't the same without family. We have been here for a few days, Autumn has been enjoying her uncles, aunts and cousins. Christmas was wonderful, and I am looking forward to a brand new year, which means new goals, accomplishments, more traveling, a new place to live and new possibilities. Here are a few moments I captured so far from our Colorado vacation.






Monday, December 16, 2013

And We Danced The Night Away…..

 
This was the night I let go.
Free from school, final exams, the weight of passing my course with an"A". I did it. I could breath. From the beginning of the week, my mind was a tunnel vision consisting of finance concepts, applications and equations.
A lot of pressure, stress, emotions, tears, went into completing this course.That Friday night, I let loose, I deserved this celebration.
And so I danced all night. I held my husband close. I laughed and enjoyed every moment alone with him.
Together for 10 years and he still gives me that feeling.
Together for 10 years and he still is the most amazing, sexiest, comedic man I’ve ever met.
Everything is so easy with him; our love, our life is easy.
The voices of Eric Clapton, Garth Brooks and The Temptations, serenaded us as we got lost in each other.
Maybe it was the feeling of relief and freedom, or maybe the spirit of the Christmas Holiday, or perhaps just the enjoyment of two people in love, whatever filled the air, was exactly what I needed.  


Monday, December 2, 2013

Goals and Accomplishments.

I am back, despite taking a long hiatus from blogging, feels great to be back in my thoughts. I have been heavily involved in Graduate school at this time, focused and absorbed in every aspect of the course. Basically, I’ve been breathing Finance for the past couple of weeks. My brain needs a break and it seems every second, minute and hour I’ve spent is critical in successfully completing this course. Or at least I think and hope. Sometimes I think I am too hard on myself, if I missed a question, points lost, I frantically beat myself up over it, which often ends with me in tears. Crazy much?
Now before I continue, I am going to shed light on why I am this way. I am going to dig deep and share. One thing I’ve learned from a lot of mommy bloggers is that it is okay to be vulnerable; it is okay to share and have moments where you feel “not so perfect,” because those are the moments that make you stronger, those are the moments you learn from and hopefully others can relate, share or be inspired.
For as long as I can remember, I have always been an overachiever. I’ve always had a plan for myself. I constantly seek out opportunities, create and strive for goals. In my early 20’s, I graduated college, I traveled a lot. I immediately started Graduate school after I completed my Bachelors program. Since I was in high school, my goal was to have my Master’s degree at age 25.  I was on the right track, and finished majority of my courses, that is, until the first few months of pregnancy; I was taking 2 graduate courses and working full-time, needless to say, I thought I could handle it. I remember feeling extremely tired during that time, my job was hectic and grueling, working 12 hours from 6 am to 6pm, until one day, I couldn’t do it anymore. I resigned, went home and took a nap. I immediately felt a sense of relief, along with feeling supported and welcomed home by my amazing husband, but everything came to a halt when I realized how much I slacked in my studies. My flawless transcript was damaged by a failed attempt. I never failed a class before. I was heartbroken, and to this day, I am still devastated. Since then, I have been trying to fix my mistake and it hasn’t been as easy as I thought. Before this semester, I took a long break. I wanted to forget school, forget the thought that my journey is going to be harder, forget everything. While trying to conquer forgetfulness, I forgot the strive, the gleam of education in my eye, I started to forget who I was. I love being a mommy, with everything in me, but there are times I miss the opportunities, the traveling, the excessiveness of my ambition, overall, the young Adrienne. I am starting to learn that goals, dreams and hopes are still attainable as a mother, it may be a lot harder, but it is so much more worth it. I aim to be someone I am proud of, and I aim to be someone my family can be proud of, and most importantly, my little girl. Forget popular pop culture figures, models in the magazines, forget beauty, I want to be her role model. I want her to be in awe of my accomplishments, and hopefully one day create her own legacy. Needless to say, I want to be her guide.
I still haven’t been able to answer why I am always planning my next goal, or my next accomplishment. I started this entry thinking; this semester is coming to end, I need something else to accomplish and so I created my Marathon training spreadsheet. I thought to myself, why do I do this to myself? There are going to be early morning runs before work, cold December runs, and early bedtimes. The idea of a marathon is scary. In my head I think, I KNOW I can do this, but 26.2 miles, it’s not the race that is frightening, but more so of the training. I am still in debate with myself on whether or not I plan to commit to the February 2, New Orleans Rock-n-Roll Marathon. In the meantime, I am hoping I can relax, refresh and take myself away from planning. In reality, my main focus should be the holidays, and getting ready for our big move in February.