Thanks, Obama

The first time I ever voted, I voted for this ticket. I remember watching the results come in with my dorm neighbors my first year at CU. I was tasked with coloring our oversize US map after each state was declared. I gave up as it began to be apparent that Barack Obama would be elected the 44th President of the United States. (And because Texas probably killed my red marker.) I can't even describe the overwhelming sense of pride I felt that America believed their message of HOPE and I got to be part of it, during my first election at that. In 2012, I cast my ballot for this ticket again and watched with my mom late into the night to see them re-elected. Maybe it had lost some of the magic from 2008, but I was still proud and hopeful for another 4 years of this administration.

I voted for Barack Obama twice, but I also voted for Joe Biden twice. I voted for Michelle Obama and Jill Biden twice. I voted for the entire Obama Administration twice. I voted for their continued hope for the future of our country. I voted for their integrity. I voted for their humanity. I voted for their empathy. I will forever be grateful for so many things that the four of them accomplished together. Things that directly impact my life and things that might not effect me, but certainly make the world a better place. I'm proud to have voted for two men who repeatedly stood up and spoke out against sexual assault against women on college campuses, who made health care available to all Americans, who comforted grieving Americans, who fought for change and equality for all Americans, who speak for those who are oppressed and those who don't have a voice loud enough on their own.

I admire the way President Obama and Vice President Biden worked together. I admire the way they have loved their wives and families. I am admire the standard of integrity they set in the White House. I admire they way they persevered to bring positive change to the world, sometimes against all odds.

While I haven't agreed with everything they have said and done, I am proud that I helped elect these great Americans to office. I am sad that this day has come, but I am determined to remain hopeful for the country's future amidst my fear and doubt.

Thank you, President Obama. Thank you, Vice President Biden.

[Insert Biden finger guns here. 😎]

Find Balance

For the month of January, Pure Barre is running a nation-wide campaign called #SetTheBarre, encouraging clients to determine a goal or intention for the year ahead. As the studio manager, I definitely wanted to participate. Each year, I try to find a word for the year ahead. In 2016, my word was a u t h e n t i c i t y. This year, I've chosen b a l a n c e.

I want to actively seek balance in all areas of life, including time, money, and myself.

I want to b a l a n c e my time better. I want to spend less time working and more time cultivating relationships. I want to spend less time watching TV and more time reading. I want to devote time to building my relationship with God. I want to invest quality time in my relationship with Luke. 

I want to b a l a n c e my money better. I want to spend less and save more. I want to buy fewer things and have more experiences. I want to be wise with my money and value my money over my time. Meaning I'd rather spend 30 minutes preparing a meal than $12 picking up lunch for convenience.

I want to b a l a n c e myself better. I want to be more positive than negative. I want to focus on areas of growth and development instead of plateauing into bad habits. I want to find a healthy balance between activity and rest.

I believe that finding balance with change my faith, my relationships, my job, my health, and my happiness.

How We Make Long Distance Work For Us

Photo: Brianne Haagenson Photography

I've been in a long distance relationship for five months now. (Plus two and a half months of talking and getting to know each other.) Of course we talk as much as possible. We text (on WhatsApp) throughout the day, call when we can, and set aside time to Skype almost every day. Skyping especially helps the relationship because we're able to see each other and talk face-to-face. (Any of the "big" stuff or "hard" stuff we discuss on Skype, not on text.) We try to see each other as much as possible, but so far we've only spent 24 days together throughout our entire relationship, with one more trip scheduled for next month.

People ask me all the time how we make it work and the first thing that I tell them is that talking makes all the difference in the world. But that's obvious, isn't it? However, we both agree that the amount of time we spend talking has helped us move our relationship along faster than in past relationships. For example, if we lived nearby and we went to a movie together, we'd spend 3 hours together, but we wouldn't talk much. For us, 3 hours together means 3 hours of quality conversation. The only tricky part is that he's 7 hours ahead of me, but we've fallen into a routine nonetheless.

There are a few things that we do together that I think make all the difference in our relationship and allow us to have the same type of intimacy that couples who aren't long distance can experience while going out on dates or talking over dinner.

1) We have date nights. We schedule evenings (for him, afternoons for me) to watch a movie together. We'll pick a movie beforehand to make sure we can both watch it, count down from 3 and hit play simultaneously so we can sync up the movie and listen to one audio. We've been going through both of our top 5 favorite movies list, but since he went back to England last week, we've continued watching The Office (US), which we started while he was visiting.

2) We check in. It's something that I learned at my church a year and a half ago. You focus on what you're feeling and identify your feelings into 6 primary emotions: sad, angry, scared, happy, excited, tender. We identify the feeling and explain why we're feeling it. This really helps us to communicate not only about our emotions, but also about what we experienced throughout the day. Our goal for this year is to include ways we can pray for each other in that same conversation as well.

3) We bought a candle together. While he was here, we went to Target and picked out a candle that we both liked. We bought two of them so he could take one back with him. We light them both at the exact same time and blow them out at the exact same time. Maybe it sounds kind of silly, but at least for me, it makes me feel more connected to him if we can smell the same scent in the room while we Skype. He gets bonus points for suggesting it because I think it's just the sweetest thing in the world.

I think other than those things, we do regularly long distance relationship type things. We count down until we can see each other again. We plan our future trips together. And we hope for a day when we aren't long distance anymore. (Although we're not exactly sure yet when that day might be.) All I know is that this is the best relationship I've ever been in and he is worth every single time my heart aches to be near him or every tear that he can't wipe away. 

Farewell 2016

J A N U A R Y

January 1st was the worst day of the year. I was insanely hungover and had already purchased tickets to go see The Hateful Eight with my brother and sister, which turned out to be the longest movie in the world. But luckily for me, that meant I could only go up from there, right? My family went on our annual cross country ski trip that usually takes place in December or January. It was a lot of fun because my brother was able to go with us while he was home on leave from Korea. I did something out of my comfort zone and agreed to foster two adorable puppies, whom I affectionally named Finn and Rey. (Since I had seen Star Wars Episode VII three times at this point.) Of course I watched a lot of playoff football as the Broncos made another Super Bowl run. And at the end of the month, I sold my car and purchased a new one, this time all by myself!

F E B R U A R Y

The Broncos won the Super Bowl. At work, we had every intention of starting monthly hang outs, but it never really got any traction. I got my annual "Roses are red" poem from my dad along with a single red rose and that basically sums up Valentine's Day 2016. I was also selected to go to England in May with my church and our partner, Globalscope.

M A R C H

Early in the month I headed up to the YMCA of the Rockies outside of Winter Park with my church group. We stayed two nights, one with the leaders, and one with everyone and I had a great time. One of the old Pure Barre teachers came into town for training, so we all got together for brunch in Denver. I went to team training for my upcoming trip to England with my church. I worked on Easter and then joined my family for a late lunch in the opposite of Easter clothes.

A P R I L

I had friends over for a game night and made Oreo cupcakes, which made me realize how much I miss hosting and how much I miss baking. I started a weekly Bible study called "Better" with my new friend Delina. I went back up to the mountains to serve on the work crew for the men's retreat, which was completely out of my comfort zone, but put me in a good mindset for service. April wrapped up with a very snowy wedding in Colorado Springs. My stepmom's cousin got married at a beautiful ranch, but surely they were expecting a beautiful spring wedding. Instead, they got the blizzard of the year, but the wedding was wonderful all the same.

M A Y

We continued our Mother's Day tradition of taking my mom out for high tea at the St. Julien hotel in Denver. Later that week, I was leaving on a jet plane for England, my first time to Europe! I went to England with 5 other young adults from my church and I fell in love with the country the second I set foot in London. We spent half a day in London after we arrived, then traveled by train to Birmingham, where we spent the week at a Globalscope ministry near the University of Birmingham. The trip was incredible. I learned a lot about the culture, my faith, and myself. I met a lot of wonderful people, including the man that would later become my boyfriend, Luke! We wrapped up the trip with another half day in London (and visited Platform 9 3/4). The final day of the trip, I got up early and wandered out in London by myself for a few hours. The city was quiet and peaceful. It was the perfect way to end the trip, although I certainly did not want to come home. At the end of the month, my little sister graduated from high school. I spent Memorial Day at the Bolder Boulder, as per tradition.

J U N E

The first weekend in June, I hopped on a plane to Arizona for a weekend called Soul Beauty. The weekend was painful and incredible and it grew and stretched me in ways I couldn't have imagined. The craziest thing is, at the end of 2015, I made it my goal to go to Europe in 2016 and to go to new states in 2016, including Arizona (because it would be the easiest due to its proximity to Colorado). I had no idea that I actually would travel to Europe and Arizona in the first six months of the year, but because God would lead me there, not for a meaningless vacation. Anyway, my sisters and I invested in a giant swan for the pool, who we named Ron Swanson, of course. We celebrated Father's Day in Boulder a week late. And I tried to get outside a bit with hiking after work and camping with my church group outside of Frisco.

J U L Y

I celebrated the Fourth of July both on the third and the fourth. I celebrated my year anniversary at my dream job and a week later, celebrated three years since I had taken my first class at Pure Barre Boulder. At the end of the month, I traveled with my dad, stepmom, and little sister to Massachusetts for my cousin's wedding. We had a great long weekend away and I was able to add another state to my list of visited.

A U G U S T

On the first day of August, Luke and I had a conversation over the phone and decided to become "official". The first weekend in August, I celebrated my 26th birthday at my friend's wedding in Michigan. Delina and I jumped in the car early in the morning the day before the wedding, drove 17 hours to Lansing, spent the morning in Lansing and the afternoon at the wedding, then got up the next day and drove back. It was crazy, but fun! I spent the remainder of the month counting down until Luke would arrive for our first visit on the 31st. On the final day of the month, I picked him up from the airport (I was so nervous!) and we had our first date where we went for oysters and sushi in Boulder.

S E P T E M B E R

Luke was visiting for the first week of the month. We went to the first CU game together with my little sister and brother-in-law. We went up to the mountains for two days and stayed at Devil's Thumb and visited Grand Lake. The visit was fantastic, but all too short. I went back up to Winter Park with my church group, this time for a bigger and longer weekend retreat. Pure Barre Boulder put on our very first pop up class to benefit the Boulder Humane Society and we even had a few puppies running around as well.

O C T O B E R

Sadly, October started on a somber note when my parents had to put down Bonnie, our family dog, on my little sister's birthday. I drove down to Colorado Springs for a weekend with my little sister to see her new life and spend time with her. I voted early. 

N O V E M B E R

Of course November was filled with CU games, which were actually fun all year because CU was actually good! I participated in the turkey drive with my church group again this year. I had Friendsgiving the week before Thanksgiving. I went to a Nuggets game with my dad and sat in the second row, just like I had the Tuesday before Thanksgiving in 2014. I had two Thanksgiving dinners on Thanksgiving. I did some minor shopping on Black Friday after I had to work. And then the rest of the month seemed the drag on, I guess because Thanksgiving was so early this year.

D E C E M B E R

To be honest, I started decorating (and baking) for Christmas the night before Thanksgiving. I always love when the house is decorated for Christmas. It just seems so much more peaceful and magical. I drove down to Colorado Springs again to visit my sister, this time allowing her to dye my hair and a cosmetology student. (She did a great job!) I went to an amazing Harry Potter party, because why not? We celebrated six year of Pure Barre Boulder. And then Luke came to visit! We went out for his birthday (which had been the previous week), seeing Rogue One and then going out for sushi, which is now our first night of the trip tradition. We got really fancy for The Nutcracker in Denver. We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas with my family. We went cross country skiing with my family on Boxing Day. We celebrated another family wedding. We drove down to Dallas in one day, spent one day with his brother and his brother's girlfriend, and then drove back in time to get in pajamas and ring in the new year watching Westworld (which we finished on New Years Day).

2016 was a hard year for the world, to be sure. But 2016 also brought me a lot of blessings. I think the biggest of all was finding Luke at a pub in Birmingham, England. I'm very excited for what blessings and changes 2017 will bring!

January 2017 Goals

{ S P I R I T U A L }

December 2016: Go to church every weekend this month. 0/2

January 2017: Find a new daily devotional. 

{ F I N A N C I A L }

December 2016: Get my credit card's outstanding balance under $1,000. 2/2

January 2017: Eat out at lunch no more than once a week.

{ R E L A T I O N A L }

December 2016: Have an Elf-inspired date night while Luke is visiting. 1/2

January 2017: Start listening to one sermon a week and scheduling time to discuss again.

{ S O C I A L }

December 2016: Plan a gathering with friends. 2/2

January 2017: Call three of my long distance friends at least once.

{ M E N T A L }

December 2016: Read before bed 3 nights a week instead of watching TV. 0/2

January 2017: Read before bed 2 nights a week instead of watching TV.

{ P H Y S I C A L }

December 2016: Do 30 minutes of activity (according to my Fitbit) 3 days a week. 0/2

January 2017: Take Pure Barre/Platform 3 days a week.

{ P E R S O N A L }

December 2016: Only get Starbucks twice a week. 0/2

January 2017: Replace my chai and breakfast sandwich from Starbucks with tea and oatmeal from Trader Joe's.

{ P R O F E S S I O N A L }

December 2016: Change my attitude. 2/2

January 2017: Find balance.