My latest obsession.

The past 2 weeks have been filled with great times catching up with old friends and hanging out with new ones. The single life has been hard to adjust to, but I'm so happy to have such a great supportive family and understanding friends. I've started taking pictures again (finally!) and will be more than happy to document my nights and share with you all as soon as I can. I uploaded my pictures on to my friend Natasha's computer and haven't had time to blog them yet, but they're coming soon, I promise. I'm at the library right now, otherwise it would be done already.

I'm very happy to report that I have started going back to the gym! I was pretty faithful right after I got my Gold's pass a few months ago, and I even went over Thanksgiving break while I was at home. I know I know...who goes after a holiday weekend spent eating a ton of food? Well, I do. I started to feel better about myself in a way that I never have before. Not that I feel like I need to lose weight or anything, I just didn't feel healthy. Anyway, after I got back to Utah I went twice more at the beginning of December, and then got out of the habit and didn't go back. Until this week, and I'm already addicted again. I love being there. I am building up my endurance with running everyday and each day I switch off between weights/circuit excercises and abs/pilates. It is AMAZING. I'm currently very sore since it's my first week back, but it's so worth it.

I've always hated running, mostly because I'm naturally more of a sprinter than a long distance kind of person. But since I've actually put some effort into it, I really enjoy it now. When I can't run as long as I want to, I get kind of mad at myself for not sucking it up. I used to only be able to run for literally 2 minutes and I had to stop and my throat would hurt and I'd get a side ache...haha yeah I was pathetic. Now I can run a good 1.5-2 miles without stopping, which is a huge accomplishment for me. And I love that I'm getting better about speeding up my mph as I go farther.

I'm kind of stressed out with life at the moment, and I'd love more than anything to be running. It's so nice to just blast music and run your worries away and/or have time to think about everything. I think the thing I love the most about me working out is the fact that it's had a part in making me a little more comfortable with myself. The first time I stepped foot in a gym, it was instant anxiety. I felt so out of place and dumb because I didn't know how to do anything. But then you realize that no one is looking at you as much as you think, everyone is there for the same reasons, and it's just some really good time to focus on yourself. Now I'm a little more confident and I don't really care if anyone's watching me or not, and that habit has overlapped into other areas in my life. It's also helped me push myself a little bit harder and helped me realize I can do a lot more than I think I can.

Well I must be going, but like I said I will update you all with pictures soon!

My Home Away from Home.

So I suppose this is long overdue, but I will finally tell you all about work, since it's where I spend the majority of my time. I am not exaggerating when I say I eat all my meals there. Sad? Probably. Okay who am I kidding. It's ridiculous.

I just passed my 8-month mark at Myler Disability. It's a law firm where we help people get approved for disability and social security benefits. I started out in the department known as the DLC, which is the new claims department. Potential clients will either call in or go to our website and leave us their basic information...name, phone number, their disability, and if they're seeing a doctor or not. That short questionnaire gets sent as an email to a team leader over whatever region the client lives in, and the team leader sends it to you to call and try to start an application. You basically prepare the application for them before it gets sent on to the social security office. A completed application is known as an intake. When you begin, it's normal not to get more than 7 intakes a day. You're supposed to get 15 day. It's kind of competitive, and people get fired for not reaching their goals. Well after 3 weeks, I was probably still doing about 6 or 7 intakes, and I had a crazy dream I was going to get fired. The next morning I was on the phone with a client and my boss came up behind me and put a note on my desk asking to see me in his office. I was so nervous and I'm sure he could see my heart pounding. He then proceeded to ask me if I would rather work in the front office as a receptionist. I was so relieved...I'd do anything as long as I didn't get fired!

So since the last week in June I've been in the front office department. There are currently 8 of us. Our job duties consist of answering and transferring every phone call to the correct person, picking up/opening/delivering every piece of mail (as the 5th largest disability law firm in the country, that's ALOT of mail), listening and transferring over 100+ employees voicemails, and scanning and uploading all the important documents. I graduated from answering the phones in December and have been full-time on the scanning/uploading side of front office since the beginning of the year. Considering the monotany of it and the crazy people we have to talk to, I really enjoy the people I work with, and that makes me love my job. I don't want to work there forever, by any means, but I don't wake up in the morning and dread going. Which is a good sign.

This may sound weird, but one of my favorite parts of it all is delivering the mail to the employees. I have gotten to know everyone in the office that way, and usually people come to me to ask who someone is or where they sit because I know it like the back of my hand. I really try to always smile and be friendly to everyone, and it's definitely paid off. I've made some good friends that way (Yes you, Tash!). I love to be able to answer questions and show people how to do things. I tend to visit alot, because that's just my nature, as you know, but that actually got me in a little bit of trouble last week...haha. But in the end I work hard and am productive. I love going home at the end of the day feeling accomplished.

So there you have it, my life for the time being.