Progress

Holy smokes. If I EVER say I am going to take on a project such as painting an entire house, just straight up slap me across the face ok? This week has been insane with working a million hours, and then going over to my house and working until about 10-11 every night. Let's just say I am a little bit exhausted today. Along with work and the house, I passed my Utah licensing test and I can now originate mortgages in Utah. I also got an injection in my neck that seems to be helping so far. Hopefully we have found a pain management treatment that will work. The house is getting closer. This week the carpet and flooring will go in, and MAYBE I will be able to at least move in while other things get done!

The fact that I passed this was a miracle. Let's just say those ten seconds between clicking "finish" and seeing my score pop up were the scariest ten seconds.

Prepping the master bedroom for paint

This kid was STOKED when I let her "help"

Two of the bedrooms have this old school brick wall in them. It looked WAY better after we threw paint on it. 

I seriously haven't been able to get warm for like 4 days! I have been wearing double jackets, drinking hot chocolate, and wearing moccasins and STILL can't get warm!

In case you were wondering- if you close enough volume in one week, your boss doesn't care if you show up to work looking homeless. 

I'm loving the new paint color! Can't wait to see it with the carpet!

And this would be the massive door painting party I threw on Friday. I know, my life is out of control exciting huh?

I'm Ready To Be Bored

I feel like I am always juggling waaaay too many things at once. Usually, this is something I LOVE. I love being busy. I am not the type of person that can sit around and watch an entire season of a show or read an entire book in one day. I used to be, but over the past few years, I just have to be busy all the time. Well, I think I am ready to be bored again. Life is getting insane with the house remodel, work, Dr's, and tomorrow I am taking the Utah licensing test (nope, I haven't studied at all). The house is proving to be a bigger project than I thought (aren't all house projects that way?) We made some good progress yesterday and got the ceilings and baseboards painted in the upstairs. I ordered all of the carpet and laminate that should be coming in this next week. HOPEFULLY, ONE DAY, I will actually live in the house I bought :)

Say hello to my new favorite workout. If I keep telling myself cycling is more fun than running, it will be right??

Am I the only person that craves ridiculous amounts of produce??

This is how Rylie helps me do laundry. 

Say Hello to the best person that has ever happened to me: My General Contractor Luke.

We sprayed all the baseboards. SO fast!

I am hoping all this hard work will totally be worth it. I am learning A LOT!

LOVE vaulted ceilings. HATE painting them. 

We spent all morning and night on our day off working on the place. What's a relaxing weekend like again??

This would be me starting to study. WOOF. 

I'm Grateful For....

the things i love today:

When Rylie comes up to me, puts her arms around me, and presses her forehead to my forehead. Biggest cheaser face in the world. I'm obsessed. 

Kali reads me stories when I get home early enough. Not only does she read them really well for an 8 year old, she acts them out. It's the best thing ever. 

Spin bikes. My new love. 

Fall Time. It always reminds me of playing soccer growing up. 

Peaches. They really need to be in season all year round. But then again, I wouldn't look forward to them as much. 

Listening to conference talks driving to work in the morning. 

Snow Patrol Pandora  station. It's a life changer.

There's so many little joys in life that make all the crap worth it.  

I'm An Old Lady

Turns out the MRI caused for quite a bit of concern. Let me break down the results to you:

3 Herniated Discs

1 Disc Bulge

3 Areas of Spinal Stenosis (narrowing of the bones that surround my spine)

What in the world?! Am I 90?? Nope, just a 24 year old that got hit in the head/neck a little too much, and then ran hundreds of miles, causing my neck to become totally screwed up. I really am blowing the minds of the Dr's that I have met with. They keep asking, "Are you sure you weren't in a really bad car accident"? Surprisingly (if you have seen me drive), I haven't! I have, however, had 5 concussions. And who knows? Maybe genetics played a role. 

Either way, it totally sucks. The Dr. said if I continue to run, my spine will get compressed much quicker. Part of me says, "Screw that! I am running anyway!" But then the smarter part of me thinks that if I would have known getting pounded in sports growing up would lead to this, I wish I wouldn't have played them. Either way, just a sucky situation. 

Looks like I am going to become an avid biker (since we all know how much I HAAAAATE swimming). 

Next week I go in for an epidural cortisone injection. Hopefully it helps manage the pain a little bit. 

I am also considering changing careers at some point, so I don't have to sit at a desk all day since that's what hurts the most. 

My House, My Back, My Life Lately

Prepare to be overloaded via iphone picture dump:

First item of business, the new house "before" pics. We started the remodel this week. It's going to be quite the adventure!

I am very excited that I became best pals with my Realtor and she recruited me to run Ragnar in Vegas with her in November!

My favorite new backyard neighbors!

Every day this week, my heart rate was under 50. I feel like I may or may not be dying. 

I am learning all sorts of construction skills!

The Big Cottonwood Marathon didn't happen. I have had really bad neck/nerve pain since January. I tried everything. I was on some pretty crazy amounts of pain killers and muscle relaxers. Then, I did the acupuncture route. Next was massage and chiropractic. Then, I finally went to a spine specialist who did a couple MRI's and XRays. I wasn't planning on running the marathon if the results came back with issues. Welp, herniated discs and spinal stenosis weren't the best news since I'm 24 and all. The Dr. was actually really confused, saying he only sees this in older patients and car crash victims. I guess I am the lucky 1 in a million. I am sticking with the 3-6 mile distance for awhile. My Sundays lately always include a beautiful canyon run. I love it. 

When I went to put my shoes in my car, I realized I have a little bit of a shoe obsession problem. All four pairs are Brooks. They are all I run in...the sad part...this is only half the Brooks collection...

Bipolar Run

I am still trying to figure out how I went from running three miles in scorching heat to turning around and running 3 miles in a crazy storm! It really was insane how quickly the weather switched! It's never a good sign when everything turns dark and windy and then you have to run three miles to your car. Lesson learned- I will now check the weather just in case Utah decides to be bipolar again. 

Yeah. That was pretty much insane. WOOF!

I Bought A House

The girl that sucks at committing to things, actually committed and bought a house. Trust me, I had multiple commitment attacks all week. I was straight up sick for like 2 days straight before, because I was so freaked out by the commitment. 

BUT, I signed and will get my keys this week as soon as everything records! Crazy! I am so excited to start this new chapter in my life! I am going to do quite a bit of remodeling before I actually move in, so it might be a few weeks until I actually move in. I can't wait!

Besides remodeling this week, I am still trying to decide whether or not to actually run the Big Cottonwood Marathon next Saturday (I've been pretty sick lately and don't know if it will be good to run 26 miles...we shall see!) I am also taking the Utah NMLS licensing test in a couple of weeks, so I have been studying for that quite a bit lately too. Always crazy busy!

I have some of the coolest kids in my life. 

I don't know how, but I became THAT GIRL. The girl that always has her bluetooth. I can't live without this thing!

My parents came up to the title company to support my big signing!

I made sure to hold my paperwork up as an advertisement for my awesome agent!

Signing my Note. Yes, I brought Dr. Pepper with me to the signing to calm my nerves!

To pass my Utah licensing class, I had to pass 3 final exams. I got the exact same score on all three tests. What are the odds?!

I don't even have to pump this kid with chocolate to hang out with me. She's my best buddy!

Another milestone checked off- I am now a grownup homeowner.