Hello!!! It’s been several months since I last logged on here. It wasn’t until I stumbled upon my like page (aliswankfitness) last week and started that up again, but also so a post I wrote about rest and it all of the sudden hit me— I missed blogging/writing on here. I love reading other blogs, and thought to restart mine up again.

SO…I’m DONE with school woo!! I graduated in May with my masters in Exercise Science and Nutrition from The University of Tampa. I have a full time job as fitness specialist working through HealthFitness at New York Life. I love my job and can happily say I’m working in the field that I studied to be in.

My year started out great, all of the sudden on Memorial Day weekend, I had my heart broken, my AC went out, all complete with a terrible experience with my landlord. Thank God I have job to keep me sane and the most amazing friends I could ask for throughout the summer. Of course no one wants their heart broken or deal with heartache, but I couldn’t even live in my place because of no AC (which took a month to get back…long story for another day) to be alone or just be upset. My AC got fixed, but with other issues of the apartment come up later, I ended up moving out. My ex lived across the street and I saw and dealt with more cockroaches then I would prefer. At the same time, my running and exercise became sh** and I gained about ~20 lbs. My mental state was out the window.

Just being real, this was my summer. Sh** hit the fan, but I didn’t let it stop me. I simply honed in on people and things that made happy and cut the extra BS from my life. I took a week off exercise and several months of minimal to no social media. My parents came to visit. I traveled to Ft. Collins and Atlanta to see family I hadn’t seen in awhile. I learned who my real friends were and that people are truly kind and care. I journaled almost everyday. I joined the Junior League of Tampa and the Progressive Training Team.

Right now, I’m in a completely new chapter of life. Moving forward from this past forward, here are a few things I’m loving lately:

So I said I ended up moving…to St. Pete!! Right now, I’m in the process of decorating my condo…something so foreign to me! I look on pinterest all the time and shop around at home good, TJ maxx, Pier 1, even Goodwill for decorating ideas and furniture. I have a couch and side table…that’s about it! LOL! I do have a TV and an eating area but it’s pretty much bare bones.

I’m building back a base for running. Summer running went out the window. I hurt and I wasn’t gonna further stress my body. Labor day weekend I got back into and signed up for two races. I’m doing Ronnie’s Ron 10 miler and St. Pete Run Fest 10k. I’m running six days per week just to get time on my feet. Nothing intense. No long runs. Just a consistent amount of miles per day (3-6 miles). I add core or total body circuit at the end sometimes. I love my training group and the motivation and accountability it gives me. I’ve met new people and am getting faster so complaints there!

I joined the Junior League of Tampa. This is a great outlet for me since it is non-fitness related. If you’ve followed this blog for long enough or know me in real life, you know I’m all about fitness!! Having a different interest thrown into the mix has been so helpful. I’m tapping back into volunteering and networking with other girls I may have not met through running. Each person I’ve met has been so interesting and brings something to the group. If it hadn’t been for Junior League, I would not have met some of these women or participated in events I’ve wanted to do (Epcot food and wine festival, girl’s night night dinners and socials).

I’m working on myself again. Taking time to try new things, meet new friends, focus on performing my best at work, and self care other then fitness has been really important for me. I feel good when I eat and sleep well. I have said no a lot without feeling guilty (still takes a lot of work). AND…I’m getting back to little space again!

That’s all for now. I can’t wait to update you on all the things going on and coming up in this new chapter 🙂