A healthier me: Mission accomplished

Sometimes all it takes is getting off the couch. Three months ago, I set a goal of getting healthy. And Saturday, I completed my first mud run, a three-mile course with mud pits, balance beams, hills and a lot of fun.

I felt a great sense of accomplishment, making all those times I forced myself to make a gym appearance worth it. I won't lie. Some days I didn't want to go. And some days I didn't (even though I felt super guilty). But the aches, hours of cardio and pushing myself to the limit culminated in crossing the finish line at the Dirty 6 Mud Run. 

It was publicly announced yesterday that former WSU and New Orleans Saints football player Steve Gleason has ALS, a terminal disease that damages the nerves that control voluntary muscle movement. The Times-Picayune ran an incredible story on Gleason and one of his quotes has resonated with me.

By no means am I comparing my fitness journey to Gleason's courageous battle. But what he said is so true. I was fearful of putting all of this on the blog because what if I failed?! I was fearful in signing up for the mud run because what if I couldn't complete the training?! Well, I'm here to say that once you let go, anything is possible.

A childhood spent playing in dirt piles and my natural clumsiness combined to lead up to this defining moment.

Find out more about my journey to a healthier me here.

Five for Friday + A healthier me: The moment of truth

Well, friends, the time has arrived for my first mud run. Tomorrow morning you can find me at Wild Horse Pass in Chandler getting dirty with a few hundred crazies. This journey to a healthier me is far from finished, but I can't wait to put the hard work of the past few months to the test.

I wanted to share my fave posts from the past few months in this edition of Five for Friday. Future topics will include fun playlists, nutrition and potentially training for a half effin' marathon! Thanks for all of the encouragement I've received via your wonderful comments and emails. They mean so much!

1. Back at the beginning

2. Where the magic happens

3. Sassy support

4. Mileage milestone

5. Thrice as nice

Find out more about my resolve to get fit then delve deeper into the Five for Friday archives.

A healthier me: Thrice as nice

Week 7 of my running program is in the books, fitness friends. And I'm happy to report I hit the three-mile mark. It's still hard to believe only three months ago I could barely run three consecutive minutes. It hasn't been easy (there are still days I have to force myself to make a gym appearance), but when I'm finished running, it's always worth it.

I'm a little less than two weeks away from reaching my goal of competing in my first mud run, and I couldn't be happier with the progress I've made.

Come along with me on my journey to a healthier me.

A healthier me: Mileage milestone

I'm proud to report I reached a major goal in my journey to a healthier me. With the help of my running program, I did a little over two miles and 20 minutes nonstop on Friday! It's still not a full 5K, but considering I was a regular fixture on the couch prior to June, I'm super stoked with my progress and can't wait to put it to the test in September. Go me!

It hasn't been easy, but it's most definitely worth it. Check out my progress towards a healthier me here.

Open for business

It started with a few e-mails, phone calls and kind words. The compliments on my blog design and the inquiries into creating a birthday invite or putting my logos on T-shirts started coming in. And out of a leap of faith, Turn Up The Rad Creative was born.

You see I've always adored design in pretty much every form and that passion led me to the newspaper industry as a sports page designer and copy editor. Growing up, all I ever wanted to be was a professional journalist. I was lucky to live my dream for 11 years. But sometimes you have to walk away from the thing you love the most. 

With the decline in print readership and growing recession, I survived three rounds of layoffs while watching many of my talented colleagues get shown the door. It was not an easy time and opened my eyes to the reality of print journalism's future. 

My fiance was then recruited for an amazing opportunity to become the engineering manager of a company in Phoenix, Arizona. We were both so stoked at the chance for him to realize his dream. But it meant mine would probably end as most newspaper companies had instituted a hiring freeze or were paring down their staffs. The instability of the industry, regardless of my qualifications, also was scary.

Not really sure what to do, I took a risk. A leap of faith. And it's most definitely paid off because today I'm embarking on a new adventure and launching my own design studio. It's been difficult keeping this a secret, but now I can shout it from the blogosphere rooftops.

Currently, I'm accepting orders for Blogger revamps, invitations, logos, design project consultations and editing projects. The next step is to set up the store for my T-shirts and photography. So head over to the studio and make yourself at home.

Five for Friday: Nice to meet you, 29

This time last year I was celebrating my 28th year of life with the fiance, fondue and some of my closest friends and co-workers in California. It's crazy how much can change in a year. Never did I think I would be out of sports journalism, living in Arizona, venturing into the blogging world and at a crossroads in life.

As I get acquainted with my new friend 29, I have a few goals for our upcoming year together.

1. Career carousel: I grapple each day with where to take my professional life. Do I return to my first love in newspapers? Or do I take a different path? A career in psychology, graphic design, music or sports information is appealing.

2. A healthier me, continued: I've been working out and eating right for a month now and I feel better already. It's something that is a priority for me this year and beyond. I even found a few races I want to enter. Stay tuned for the details.

3. Say yes to the venue: The one thing holding the fiance and I back from becoming Mr. and Mrs. is finding a wedding venue we agree on. We've decided it should be somewhere in Washington, preferably in the San Juan Islands, but that's as far as we've gotten.

4. Rack up the miles: There are a few international destinations I want to visit, but staying domestic is more likely in the next year. Visiting friends in Idaho, California and Indiana is on the agenda. I also wouldn't mind checking out New York, Chicago and Hawaii (again).

5. Computer love: I never imagined the blog would be received so well when I started it back in May. I'm thankful for the continued support, new things I've discovered and people I've "met" as a result. I will work full-speed-ahead to continue producing fun and informative posts. As always, thank you for reading!

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Five for Friday

It's full-blown monsoon season in Phoenix, but that won't stand in the way of my weekend goals, which include staying dry.

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1. Eff you, rut: I began last week's list detailing my ever-growing frustration with the stalled project that was decorating the office-slash-guest bedroom. Well, I'm happy to report I kicked the design block's ass. 

The look of the space has progressed in a direction I'm totally happy with this week. The addition of curtains, a restyling of the bookcase and a few wall decorations getting a home makes me a happy wannabe interior design maven. Stay tuned for the full reveal.

2. Retirement temporarily suspended: I'll be dusting off my reporter's notebook next week. My college homie and fellow Daily Evergreen alumnus Kyle Bonagura asked me to cover two Bay Area baseball teams at a tournament in Surprise for his Web site, Patch.com.

I'll admit I'm a little nervous considering I haven't written a gamer since leaving the Tri-City Herald in 2006. My time at the Fresno Bee was all about copy editing and page design. But I'm embracing this challenge. I should've known sports journalism wasn't going to let me get away that easy.

3. Second-hand search: A trip to the thrift shop across the street is in order. I have a little nook in the office/guest bedroom begging for a small chair or table.

4. Lack-luster: If the mission to find something at the thrift store fails, I have an IKEA Lack side table from 2002 that needs to be repurposed. I'm thinking something like this.

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5. Gone too soon: Tomorrow is not promised and that was never more evident Wednesday when I learned a friend I'd known since junior high had passed away. Les was an extraordinary person, touching so many with his musical talent, infectious smile and comforting embrace. 

 

One of Les' songs.

Cherish one another, be grateful for each breath and appreciate the beauty in the little things. Rest in peace, Les.

 

Five for Friday

It looks like our plans to go camping are literally getting rained out, so a weekend at the townhouse is in store. And that probably is a good thing since there's plenty to be done around these parts.

1. Makeover rut: I had big plans for the office-slash-guest bedroom when we moved in, but progress on the multipurpose space has been halted. Too many ideas and an unclear design vision has led to inactivity. 

Five months later, only the desk and bookcase are assembled. The pictures sit on the floor waiting to be hung; the shelves aren't properly styled and there aren't curtains or a window-seat cushion. To make matters worse, the room has turned into a landing place for miscellaneous items. 

My expectations for designing the space were probably too high, and now I'm afraid the end result will fall short of what I wanted initially. But it's to the point where the room is starting to bum me out. Not conducive to a job that calls for creativity. Outside of my bedroom, it's where I spend the most time. So I'd like the space to be pretty, organized, inspirational, fresh, functional and clean. And most of all, a reflection of me.

After seeing this before and after, it's the push I need to give the makeover another shot. The first step is to clear everything, minus the desk and bookcase, out of the room this weekend.

Do you have any tips or tricks to break through a creative block?

2. Destination: Forever: The fiance and I are throwing around the idea of an international wedding. We have a place in mind, but more research will be done this weekend to make sure it's the right decision for us.

3. Write away: The goal is to put the finishing touches on a few upcoming blog posts. Stay tuned. Have I mentioned how good it is to write again?!

4. Seeing stars: It's been forever since the two of us have seen a movie in the theater. We've been Red-Boxin' it lately. Angelina Jolie's spy thriller "Salt," which has been on my radar for months, and the hyped-up, mind-bending trip "Inception" are worthy candidates to end the drought.

5. The perfect storm?: As mentioned above, thunderstorms are in the forecast, setting the stage for some cool photo opportunities. 

What are your plans or goals for the weekend?

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Five for Friday ... And beyond

After some difficulty generating five things for just one weekend, I've decided to expand my Five for Friday series to include future goals, events, wants, hopes, etc. As much as living in the now is important, it's always good to want ish for down the road.

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1. Explore Arizona. Since we had to postpone our Sedona trip because of illness, it's top priority. Other places of interest include the Grand Canyon, Flagstaff and Fossil Creek (pictured above) in the Fossil Springs Wilderness.

Hiking among lush greenery to a natural water wonderland is right up my alley. The name stems from the high levels of calcium carbonate in the water, which causes large, fossil-like rock growth. The area was well-known for cliff jumping, but I've read they are tearing down the dam used as a launching pad per the area's designation as a Wild and Scenic River in 2009.

2. Soak up the sun. It's going to be 107 on Saturday and 106 on Sunday. Even though I'm still not feeling 100 percent, I'm tired of being cooped up in the townhouse.

3. Hang out with everyone's favorite L.A. boys. Entourage Season 6 came out Tuesday, and it hopefully will make its way into our DVD collection this weekend.

4. Decorate. The never-ending process of making the townhouse pretty continues with the hanging up of more pictures in the master bedroom, office and upstairs hallway.

5. Blog love. I'm going to work on a new header and have a variety of topics to cover for future posts. On my mind right now is the college football expansion, what I most recently added to my music library and a review of one of my most favorite Washington stores, which I had a chance to visit during a layover on the Alaska/DC trip.

What are your Five for Friday?

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Five for Friday

Sorry I didn't post much this week. Bruce and I are still getting over a bug we caught after our incredible trip to Alaska and DC [pics will be posted soon ... I promise]. And it didn't help the Internets connection has been finicky.

And what better way to get back into the swing of things than my goals/thoughts/hopes for this weekend?!

1. Acquire an Arizona driver license. I tried earlier today, but apparently fate doesn't think I should legally be able to drive in this state. I'll explain why the highway gods were against me in a separate post.

2. Spend time with the amazing fiance. Said quality time probably will include finishing "Friday Night Lights" Season 2.

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3. Rest. Our good homie and Fresno sports anchor extraordinaire, Andrew, will be in town Monday through Wednesday. On the agenda: Lunch, pickle ball, the D'Backs/Yankees game and other general rad times.

4. Check out a farmer's market. Because who doesn't love fresh produce and beautiful blooms?

5. Clean. This is pretty self-explanatory.

Hope everyone's weekend is fun-filled. Good luck to those back home participating in the awesomeness that is the Fremont Solstice Parade. Google image search at your own risk.

If you're looking for a weekend soundtrack, may I suggest Stars' latest offering. Expect an album review sometime next week. I'd sure enjoy listening to it on this dock.

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Five for Friday

There's no rest for the weary in this household. Instead of taking it easy this weekend, we're dusting off the tent for a trip to Sedona with some of my cousins who are visiting the AZ from the homeland. We've wanted to check out Sedona since we moved to Phoenix, so I'm pretty stoked.

So it's no surprise my Five for Friday revolve around the outdoors.

1. Enjoy the "cooler weather" up north. You'd be surprised what a difference 77 degrees is when you've been roasting in 100-plus temps.

2. Hike, swim, tube or raft. Perhaps in Red Rock Country, Slide Rock State Park, or the Verde River?

3. Snap some quality scenery shots. Totally inspired by this:

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4. Reconnect with family. It'll be nice to see some familiar faces here in Arizona.

5. Relish the opportunity to get out in nature. I've had a case of cabin fever this week, and long to go on a camping trip. Maybe it's because we were surrounded by such amazing beauty in Alaska two weeks ago?! Or the fact I'm missing the California wilderness?!

What are your Five for Friday?

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Five for Friday

It's that time again, friends.

My five goals/wishes/hopes/projects for Friday through Sunday.

1. Rest my body following five consecutive days of working out

2. Paint Bruce's nightstand

 

3. Hang the rest of the black + white photo gallery on the living room wall

4. Enjoy the sights and sounds of our second Diamondbacks' game at Chase Field

5. Start the packing process for the Alaska/Washington DC trip

What are your Five for Friday? May your weekend endeavors, whatever they are, be rad.

 [my photo of the sunset over Ellensburg, Wash. 06.09]

Five for Friday

I treasure weekends. You see I rarely had the luxury of any weekend day off while working in newspapers, which sucked. I'd usually start my work week on Thursday or Friday as Bruce's was ending, so we never could take a spontaneous day trip or enjoy watching college football together. Everything had to be planned months in advance, and life doesn't always work that way. Well, it can as evidenced in my constrained situation, but how boring. And if something came up at the last minute, forget it.

The plethora of Facebook status updates revealing people's plans for Friday-Sunday used to make me envious. I was happy for my friends, but wished I could have time off with my significant other like the majority of the rest of the working world.

Granted things are much busier, which is a pain. But at least I can do the crowded, pain-in-the-ace stuff with Bruce without figuring it out 85 years in advance. The freedom of jumping in the car and heading to Sedona, taking the entire day to finish up a home-improvement project or simply relaxing with a cold beverage and good conversation is absolutely worth celebrating.

And that's where my "Five For Friday" series comes in. Each Friday, I'll pick five activities, goals, emotions, suggestions, etc. for the weekend. I may or may not get to all of them, but at least I have the opportunity and choice to now.

My Five for Friday:

1. Hang our black + white photo gallery on the living room wall

2. Get a knob for the coffee table and other assorted items for projects around the townhouse

3. Laugh

4. Swim in our complex pool to combat the 90-degree temps

5. Acquire some beautiful blooms for the living room

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