I Can Say I Took A Chance

This week I'm celebrating my 25th Birthday!  My mom and grandma keep telling me how they can't believe it, and well, I can't believe it either!  At 16, this is not how I pictured my life being at 25.  I imagined I’d be climbing the corporate ladder somewhere and my life would be, well, professional.  I’d be wearing high heels and pencil skirts to work everyday, I’d bring a portfolio to lunch meetings and I’d meet my friends or boyfriend for happy hour and dinner after work.  Okay, so maybe I watch too much TV/movies.  That’s not the point. 

I had a real job before I decided to go back to school and pursue a career I actually loved.  But I wasn’t on my way to climbing the corporate ladder there either.  I hated that job, a lot more than I led on to most, but I was grateful for it.  I was grateful to be working, to be gaining experience and that the job taught me what I don’t want my work life to be like.  

   

You sometimes hear people saying something along the lines of “by the time I was 25 I had/accomplished [fill in the blank]”.  The thing is, I haven’t accomplished anything in my career, yet.  I’m still in graduate school.  I’m still learning the ins and outs of the field I want to be in.  I’m still making connections and growing my network (which I know will never stop).  What I can say I did though, is take a chance.  I took a chance and quit my full time, generous salary-paying job to go back to graduate school and work in athletics.  I took a chance and moved 1,200 miles to Louisiana, having never been there before and not knowing a soul.  Then taking another chance by leaving there and moving on to Georgia, a place I knew in my heart I needed to be.  Though I'm not in a power position and will definitely be working my way up and proving myself for years to come, I definitely worked hard to get to this point in general.  

I know this was the right decision for me- to go back to grad school and be pursuing a career in sports in a whole new place.  I love this place.  I’m happy, excited and filled with fire.  And I think I’ll still be happy when I’m even older and can say, “by age 25, I took a chance”.

Cabo San Lucas, Mexico | Just the 5 of Us

This was the first time my sisters and I have had the same spring break since I was in high school, so our parents decided to take us on a family vacation to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico.  It was the first vacation we’ve taken just the five of us in a long time- my sisters and I have brought friends on previous trips or we’ve gone with other families.  With a week-long open bar, how could you not have the best time with your favorite people?

We arrived to our resort, Riu Palace, on Sunday and headed straight to the bar before exploring the resort and heading to the pool for the afternoon. 

Monday was spent basking in the sun on the beach, with a steady flow of cocktails. 

We spent Tuesday morning and early afternoon on an excursion to see the “Cabo Arch” and surrounding beaches.  They were beautiful.  We also saw tons of sea lions swimming in the water and some were very close to our boat.  We then explored downtown Cabo a bit, did some shopping and went to the famous Cabo Wabo Cantina.  Wednesday was another day spent by the pool and laying out in the sun.  Is there anything better than that?  I think not.  This time of year is whale-mating season, which makes it great for whale watching.  We saw a good number whales from our resort, which was awesome.  Of course I was never quick enough with the camera, though!

Thursday was a day of activity.  We had an amazing time riding horses through parts of the desert and on the beach.  Galloping horses on the beach was like a dream come true for me- it was so amazing!  We then rented dune-buggies and road around the trails.  We laughed the entire time.  I would highly recommend Catus for tours like this.  They were great and our tour guide was awesome!  

Friday got a whole lot of crazy.  All I’m going to say is, what happens in Mexico, stays in Mexico, and leave it at that…

Really though, the vacation was so wonderful- filled with lots of sunshine, laughs, cocktails, great food, and of course, family time.  I really cherish the time we have, just the five of us, more so especially since I don’t live close.  I love my sisters and parents so much, they’re some of my greatest friends!  And plus, you really can't beat a view like this for a week:

We’re extremely lucky to be going on another vacation to Europe, just the five of us, later this spring!  I already can’t wait for that!

You Can't Take the Cheerleader Out of the Girl

I was a cheerleader from ages 6 to 18, moving from Pop Warner to competition to high school. At some points I was on more than one squad and went from one practice straight to the other. I loved every minute of it- cheering on the sidelines as close as I could be to the action of football games and the intensity of being on the competition mat.  I was on National Champion squads too.  My experience as a cheerleader was fantastic, until that one time I got my 4 front teeth knocked out while stunting during a football game my senior year of high school. But that's a story for another time.  Even then I got right back out there and couldn't wait to stunt again after my injury.  Even though my mom, coaches and doctors were nervous I'd get hit again I couldn't let that be the way my career ended.  I finished the season and cried like a baby when it was over.  Cheerleading was a huge part of my life.  I was never envious or wish I was a cheerleader in college.  But that doesn't mean I didn't watch competitions on TV or the old tapes I have or find videos online.  The truth is 7 years later I still miss it and can't seem to shake those cheerleader tendencies!

A few weeks ago as I input the final score to secure a Georgia win I simply said, W-I-N the same way I would have in my days cheering on the sidelines, but in a much softer tone!  I laughed to myself and acted like that didn't just happen as I started packing up my stuff.  I should probably mention that the sport was equestrian.  I wish I could say this was the first time something like this has happened, but as I'm sure you guessed, it's not!

During football season the older man that sat next to me, who rarely follows proper press box etiquette I might add, yelled (being a relative term) for the Dawgs to be agressive.  Naturally my cheerleader instincts kicked in and I softly chanted "Be aggressive, b-e aggressive B-E A-G-G-R-E-S-S-I-V-E"!  I then laughed to myself and the kid sitting next to me chuckled and rolled his eyes jokingly.

And recently during basketball season as I cringed watching the Lady Bulldogs fall apart, I found myself cheering "rebound that basketball, rebound that ball (clap, clap)" in my head.  Those cheers, again, were to myself, but just come naturally when watching sports.  Sometimes you need to think that your enthusiasm or encouragement will help, even if there's no way they can hear you, because well, I wasn't actually cheering out loud!

Sometimes I think about coaching - maybe a middle school or high school team or even assisting with a competition squad.  As you can see, you can take the girl out of cheerleading, but you can't take the cheerleader out of the girl!  I'll continue to have that cheery and upbeat approach as my life in sports continues to evolve!

The Best Manicure I've Ever Gotten

Manicures are my thing.  Usually I prefer to do them myself at home because I like to change my color often and I hate when my nails start chipping, especially if I've paid for it.  Doing my nails is relaxing.  Drink some wine, watch trashy TV, give myself a manicure- perfect night in my book.  Pedicures are a different story, I prefer to get those done.

When I was preparing to go on Spring Break to Cabo, I decided to go get a manicure along with the pedicure I desperately needed.  I picked a hot pink color I planned to get on both my hands and feet.  I really loved the color, but as the girl was finishing up my pedicure I noticed she was having trouble.  Turns out there was barely any paint left in the bottle and of course that was the last one in the salon.  She was able to finish my toes, but she wouldn't be able to do my nails the same.  I looked for another color, but couldn't find something I liked and didn't want something that would totally clash with my toes.  I decided to get a traditional french, which I very rarely get.

I couldn't have been happier with my decision.  It was the best manicure ever.  I felt like I had just gotten a brand new set of acrylic nails, but it was just my real nails.  The paint job was so good.  They used all OPI polishes, not gel!

His technique was different than I'd seen before and was so skeptical at first.  After he cleaned, cut and filed my nails and cuticles he added a base coat to half of my nail.  He then painted that half of my nail with regular pure white nail polish, it was not airbrushed or applied with a really thin brush.  At this point I was thinking, "umm thats a lot of white".  He then took a flat, but pretty thick brush, dipped it in nail polish remover and shaped the white part to look like a traditional manicure.  Once he was done with that he added two coats of a slightly tinted base to the bottom portion of my nails before adding two top coats over the whole nail.

I totally love the pale pink/ivory nail trend, but there's something so classic about a french manicure.  I was sooooo happy with this manicure I couldn't stop looking at it or obsessing over it for days.