My baby is FIVE: Happy Blogiversary

This little blog that I started on a whim on August 27, 2011 turned FIVE YEARS OLD yesterday. It's kind of crazy to think that Someone Will Appreciate has been my little baby for the last five years. When I first started this bad boy, it was because I thought/knew I had important many things to say. In the past five years, I have written about TV shows, movies, music, sports, boys, work, running, workouts, poop, travel, or all the things in between. (Well not "all the things" because my parents read this and can't know ALL the details of my life. They might need to have a little birds and the bees chat with me if that was the case. I kid, I kid. Wait, do I?) But basically, since I'm a habitual over-sharer in real life and in my writing, most of the things that cross my mind, no matter how personal (good or bad), get written on this blog. I know I say it all the time, but this blog has become my outlet. If I need to get something off my chest, I write about it. If I feel I have something really important to say, I write about. If I have a funny (yet appropriate if my mom and dad saw it) story I want to share, boom, I'll write about it. I really do love to write, and this blog has allowed me to do just that. I don't care if five people or 5000 people (I wish) read what I have to say, I feel better when I write it. Plus, I now have a permanent record of what happened in my life and will always be able to go back and read and reflect on it. It's actually pretty freaking cool.

Lots has changed in the five years since I started this blog. Heck, lots has changed in the last month for me, so instead going my usual anniversary/blog birthday route of what I usually do, highlighting my five favorite posts from the last blog calendar year (August to August), I am going to mix things up a bit and instead talk about what's changed and what's remained the same since I've started this blog. Since it is a milestone anniversary, I'm going to list the top three things that I often write about that have remained the same over the last five years and also the top three things that I often write about that have changed since this this little blog began.

SAME:

1) Relationship Status: I'm still single. Sigh. This isn't for a total lack of trying. I go through phases of dating a lot and then getting totally demoralized by it and giving up for a while. But really, when I'm in, I'm in. However, when this happens, there still seems to be no move in the right direction on this front. (Being in a new city now with a whole new dating pool will hopefully help the cause a bit.) I'm having fun and meeting new people, but since I am kind of still in summer mode and transition mode, I haven't really been looking to find Mr. Right. But I do know, if I met the right person, I would want to see them and only them, and settle down. I do hope that happens sooner than later.

2) Issues: Unfortunately body image issues are something that I continue to struggle with. As much as I work out, eat healthy ( well 90% of the time), and remind myself how strong I truly am, my body just doesn't look the way I want it to look and this wears on me every single day. I know I am my own worst critic, but it's something I simply cannot get over. Some days are better than others, but I don't know if I will ever be able to look in the mirror and not cringe at something. This holds me back from certain things sometimes and I hate that, but I hope as I get older, I can start to accept my body for what it does instead of what it looks like a little better.

2) Running: I still love to run and it's still a HUGE part of my life. I actually look forward to getting out of bed in the morning for an amazing sunrise run. It just sets such a positive tone for the day and keeps a smile on my face. I'm still signing up for races and hopefully will run my 11th marathon, the Chicago Marathon, in October. I've been dealing with an injury the past couple of months that has really put a ratchet in my training plan, but I've tried not to let it get me too down. Although I am behind on my training and every run still is painful, I am trying to grin and bear it without causing any more damage. Because running is so important to me and gives me such a purpose, it is something that will play such an important role in my life.

DIFFERENT:

1) Location: In case you missed the memo (ie. blog post, IG/FB/Snapchats posts) I now live Chicago. After 12 years in New York City, I finally made the move back home to Chicago. There were a lot of reasons for the move, but I finally bit the bullet and made it happen. Two and a half weeks in, I am loving it here, but am still in vacation mode. I know as summer winds down thing will continue to change and there will be a lot more new beginnings.

2) Job: I currently left my job as a teacher and a coach. After 11 years in education. I am taking a year off. The burn out became very real and the misery set in. I can't exactly pinpoint what caused it, but I needed to step away and re-evaluate what it is I really want to do with my life. I know I will miss my students and my athletes greatly (football and basketball girls especially) because of the strong connection I shared with them, but I believe this is time I so greatly need. I am currently still on summer vacation but have started looking for jobs as a spin instructor and as an educator (sales associate) at Lululemon. I have some interviews this week and we shall see what happens in the weeks to come. This new chapter career wise was something I had to do for myself. It is very like to me to go after what I want but very much NOT like me to not have a plan. I am kind of relishing the freedom right now but reality will set in once my I stop getting a regular paycheck. I just really want a job that I am excited to go to again. Will I come back to teaching and coaching? Most likely! (Especially coaching.) But I need to want to do it again and come back to it excited and reinvigorated. I believe that time will come, but until then, I need to see what else is out there for me.

3) Traveling. I have become more of a traveler in the last three years. Ever since my first Europe trip in July of 2013, the travel bug hit me hard. Really hard. If money was no object, I would be out of the country as much as possible living out of a suitcase (but staying in five star hotels). Sure, I had traveled before that to Mexico and Canada and even to Israel, but nothing like a big far away trip on my own. I fell in love with seeing new places and exploring. Since that first trip, I've been back to Europe twice, gone out to the Pacific NW, gone to Canada again, and even taken a bunch of mini weekend trips on the East Coast. Sometimes just getting away in and of itself is what I need, but I also love to see places I've read about in history book and/or seen in the movies and on TV that just look so magical. Traveling gives me life. It is probably when I am at my most happiest. I want to be able to continue doing one big trip a year if possible but since I have no idea what I am going to be doing job-wise, and what my financial situation will be because of that, it's very up in the air.

It may not be super evident here that I am not the same person I was five years ago when I started this blog, but I have grown up a lot and as much as things change, some things will always remain the same. I look back and look at some of my first posts written and see a difference in the tone and style and how my writing has grown over time as well. (I even got three articles published this year by Women's Running Magazine!!!)  There have been a lot of great times, but also some down times, and I've covered them all on this blog. Although I haven't written as much this year as I'd like, I have every intention of writing more and keeping everyone updated on my new life here in Chicago. Happy Birthday/Anniversary of Someone Will Appreciate!! And here's to hoping to another five years!!