Hodge Podge

It's been quite a while since I've posted.  Maybe it's because I haven't been doing much of anything that's interesting enough to write about.  Maybe every time I open a certain Word document titled "Graduate Thesis," it sucks every last remaining ounce of creativity out of my soul.  Maybe I haven't felt inspired to write???  While the first two certainly have potential, I have to call myself out on the last one.  I have felt inspired to write, I just haven't taken the time to sit down and do it.  So, today, I'm going to write to you about a mish-mash, hodge podge of topics.

Topic #1:  1/2 Marathon Race Recap

Remember when I said I was going to do a full race recap?  I haven't done it (obviously).  And I'll tell you why.  I thought about it and thought about it and I just couldn't think of a good way to write it.  You know when something really cool/exciting/scary/funny/sad happens to you and the more you tell the story, the less special and emotional it seems?  I don't want to do that to my experience.  Also, sometimes, it's possible to just botch the story all together, then the specialness is really lost.  I really don't want to do that. As most of you know, I have been active most of my life.  I have done a lot of things that a lot of people (including myself at times) never thought I could do - and told me so on many occasions.  Athletics don't necessarily come easy to me, even though I enjoy them so much.  But what really hasn't come easy to me is running.  I have always held myself back (I think), not believing I could become something better, faster, or more free.  I was unsure, right up until the night before the 1/2, whether or not I could really reach this goal I had set for myself.  And when I ran the first half of the race and felt a little like I was flying on adrenaline, then turned into Memorial Stadium, looked at my watch and KNEW I was going to beat my goal by almost 3 minutes, I felt so stinking good about myself, it's hard to express in words.  I just don't think I could do my experience or my emotions justice with a blog post.  I tried to share it with friends and family, but eventually decided that it was something I was going to keep all for myself.  Secret memories for me to pull out and smile about whenever I feel like it.  So, sorry (or luckily, however you want to look at it), no race recap.

Topic #2:  Basic Update

My last official semester at the University of Nebraska ended a few weeks ago.  Right now, I'm taking one hour of Statistics over the next couple of weeks and working like mad on my thesis.  Over the summer, I'll be working three Husker volleyball camps, taking a couple of trips, finishing and defending my thesis, volunteering for the Special Olympics, and trying to get a tan.  I'll graduate on August 14th and classes start at Missouri on August 23rd, so I'll be moving somewhere in between.  I'm going to head down to Columbia with my mom at the beginning of June to look for a place to live.  I need to find a place that's cheap, allows cats, and has some type of yard so Nellie can go outside.

Topic #3:  Happiness Project

Right now I'm reading the book The Happiness Project.  I love it.  The author, Gretchen Rubin, writes very well.  But, let's face it, there are plenty of well-written books out there.  What really draws me to this one, what keeps me going back for more every night before bed, is the practicality of it all.  I'm sure many of you have heard of, or even read, this book.  But for those of you that haven't, here's what it's all about:  The author considered herself to be a fairly happy person, with a job she loved, a great husband and two daughters.  But she realized that she just wasn't appreciating life the way she wanted to.  She was missing the little moments and missing out on the little happinesses that would make her life happier and more peaceful.  So, she started the Happiness Project.  She picked one broad area (like Money or Energy) to focus on each month for a year, then set small, concrete goals that would help her in those areas.
This, in my opinion, is an absolutely fantastic idea.  I'm thinking of starting my own Happiness Project, but will, of course, have to make it unique to the areas of my life in which I feel I could find more happiness or appreciate things a little more.  I, too, am a generally happy person.  I am lucky enough to have a wonderful family, amazing friends, a caring boyfriend, my health, an opportunity to work towards the career that I want, an adorable cat :) and so many other great things going for me.  But, I can tend to get bogged down by the little things that overwhelm me, rather than appreciating the positive.  I am going to contemplate this a little more and will report back when I've made a decision...

I hope you're all doing well.  Somehow Nebraska managed only a couple weeks of spring before heading right into summer over the weekend.
How's the weather where you are?  Do any of you have opinions on The Happiness Project or have you thought about starting your own?