Photo a Day Challenge : Week #34


Day 24 - Fragrant



Day 25 - Mail



Day 26 - Breakfast



Day 27 - Dull



Day 28 - Travel (I've traveled many miles on these legs)



Day 29 - Dessert



Day 30 - Nearby (Remi has been under the weather and wanted nothing more than to be near me)

Mileage Monday

Running stats for the week of August 18th - August 24th... This was a slow week running wise. I just never got the energy to get out there and do it. Even my total steps for each day were lower than normal. I'm hoping that even though it's the end of the month, and things are going to be getting very busy, that I can get myself back into the groove and hit 5 miles. Its been a long long long time since I ran that far. I will probably be in need of a good run for stress relief since I'm starting my last class this week... for the second time and (cough, cough) I'm turning the big 3-0! Gahhhhhhhhh!

Monday, August 18th, 2014 -  6,497 total steps / 2.1 total miles / 98 calories

Tuesday, August 19th, 2014 - 10,332 total steps / 3.4 total miles / 208 calories

Wednesday, August 20th, 2014 - 11,234 total steps / 3.7 total miles / 206 calories

Thursday, August 21st, 2014 - 8,769 total steps / 2.9 total miles / 159 calories

Friday, August 22nd, 2014 - 7,854 total steps / 2.5 total miles / 119 calories

Saturday, August 23rd, 2014 - 2,504 total steps / .8 total miles / 26 calories

Sunday, August 24th, 2014 - 602 total steps / .2 total miles / 6 calories

Totals for the week : 47,792 total steps / 15.6 total miles / 822 calories

Photo a Day Challenge : Week #33


Day 17 - Dinner (leftovers from Olive Garden)


Day 18 - Arrow


Day 19 - To-Do (putting up 16 boxes of books)


Day 20 - Before Bedtime


Day 21 - Decorate (decorating my nails)


Day 22 - Words (the ones I live by)


Day 23 - Style (I'm liking these flash tattoos)

Add It To My Job Description

Resident: "I need help!"
Me: "What happened... are you okay?"
Resident: "Yes, but there was an accident!"
Me: "Tell me what happened?"
Resident: "A bird flew into the window... I believe it's dead..."

We proceed to walk outside to take a look...

Sure enough, a sweet little sparrow had flown straight into the window and broken it's neck.

I gently picked it up and placed it in a ziplock bag...


Me and the residents had a little funeral for the unlucky fella.

Just add funeral director to my job description.

I sure didn't think I would be doing that today!!!

Mileage Monday

Running stats for the week of August 11th - 17th... it was a hectic but most of all an incredibly sad past week for me. I was thankful that there was a lot of things going on to keep my mind off the loss of a very close friend. Early on Wednesday morning my phone started blowing up with phone calls and text messages from some of my past UIndy co-workers. I was shocked to hear that a very close friend of mine was killed in a tragic car accident late that evening.  Here is the news story - http://www.wthr.com/story/26265606/2014/08/12/serious-crash-on-i-65-on-south-side-of-indianapolis. Words can't even begin to express the range of emotions and questions that have gone through my mind this week. I will miss her everyday and a void will be in my heart for a lifetime. The times that I was able to run was a little bit of therapy for me to reflect on life and my times with such a wonderful lady.


Monday, August 11th, 2014 - Ran 3.1 miles / 17,289 total steps / 5.7 total miles / 542 calories

Tuesday, August 12th, 2014 - 9,551 total steps / 3.1 total miles / 172 calories

Wednesday, August 13th, 2014 - 10,085 total steps / 3.2 total miles / 166 calories

Thursday, August 14th, 2014 - 5,559 total steps / 1.8 total miles / 95 calories

Friday, August 15th, 2014 - 13,343 total steps / 4.3 total miles / 284 calories

Saturday, August 16th, 2014 - Ran 4 miles / 11,903 total steps / 4.1 total miles / 496 calories

Sunday, August 17th, 2014 - 2,254 total steps / .7 total miles / 6 calories

Totals for the week : Ran 7.1 miles / 69,984 total steps / 22.9 total miles / 1,761 calories

Mileage Monday

Running stats for the week of August 4th - August 10th... I was having a good running week up until Wednesday. I did my first 4 miler with no pain what so ever. It felt so good to run that far again. Then on Thursday I was working out with a resident just pedaling on a chair bicycle and the pain in my left knee started to flare up again. I'm not sure if the rotating motion irritated it or what, but I spent the next couple of days limping around the building which isn't a good thing since I do A LOT of walking. I did no more running for the rest of the week to try and recover. I'm feeling pretty normal again, but will probably take it easy as I test the waters to make sure not to hurt myself again.


Monday, August 4th, 2014 - 9,091 total steps / 2.9 total miles / 152 calories

Tuesday, August 5th, 2014 - 3.1 mile run / 18,011 total steps / 5.8 total miles / 577 calories

Wednesday, August 6th, 2014 - 4 mile run / 18,713 total steps / 6.1 total miles / 606 calories

Thursday, August 7th, 2014 - 6,830 total steps / 2.2 total miles / 106 calories

Friday, August 8th, 2014 - 7,324 total steps / 2.4 total miles / 133 calories

Saturday, August 9th, 2014 -10,009 total steps / 3.2 total miles / 207 calories

Sunday, August 10th, 2014 -  10,004 total steps / 3.2 total miles / 206 calories

Totals for the week : 7.1 total miles / 79,982 total steps / 25.8 total miles / 1,987 calories


Unexpected Reminder...

Leaving my job at UIndy was extremely hard. The people I worked with there were my second family and it was very scary to leave all that I knew and loved for the unknown that had presented itself in front of me. 

And even though the opportunity to work with the aging population was exactly what I wanted to do, there were days (and still are) that I second guessed my decision... where I was thinking to myself... "What have I done?!?!"

But then there are those unexpected reminders that come from out of no where. Those times that you know you are making a difference. One of these moments happened to me last week when one of my favorite residents was being discharged from rehab. 

Remington and I had developed a close relationship with him right away and we always made an extra special effort to see him and give him the extra attention and the "puppy love" he needed. The day before he left our community I received this note from him and his family...


Words cannot even express how much this note touched my heart. Every doubt that I had been experiencing for the past several months disappeared and I knew I was right where I needed to be. The note was an unexpected... but much needed reminder of why this new job is a perfect fit for me. I will keep this note always so I never forget again :) I am so blessed to love not only my past UIndy co-workers, but get an entire new family at Aspen Trace to love as well.

Mileage Monday

Running stats for the week of July 28th - August 3rd... Sorry for the mass amount of posts in a short amount of time. I'm playing catch up as you can tell. Absolutely no running took place this past week! Dang it! It was the end of month at work which means lots of time preparing activity calendars for the upcoming month. PHEW! Even though it is going to be a busy August I am excited by the fact that my life, for the most part, might be slowly returning back to normal. We have recently hired two new people to assist with activities and also enable us to actually get some weekends off and live a normal lifestyle. I'm glad the reinforcements have finally arrived because I honestly was about ready to lose it... FOR REAL!

As normalcy returns around here, I plan to refocus my energy on this huge project I have to do to complete my Gerontology degree, do more running, blog more than once a week (I know, my blog has turned pretty stale lately), spend some real quality time with my family, and prepare myself for the big 3-0! YIKES!

Other than that... my knees are holding up, but I walk so much every day at work that I have times when they start hurting me or my hips really hurt. For the most part though, I can't complain, and I enjoy having a job where I'm not sitting at a desk all day and instead spending lots of time with my residents!

Monday, July 28th, 2014 - 11, 215 total steps / 3.6 total miles / 233 calories

Tuesday, July 29th, 2014 - 9,803 total steps / 3.2 total miles / 208 calories

Wednesday, July 30th, 2014 - 14,221 total steps / 4.6 total miles / 258 calories

Thursday, July 31st, 2014 - 13, 243 total steps / 4.3 total miles / 270 calories

Friday, August 1st, 2014 - 13,819 total steps / 4.5 total miles / 252 calories

Saturday, August 2nd, 2014 - 2,091 total steps / .6 total miles / 17 calories

Sunday, August 3rd, 2014 - 3,116 total steps / .9 total miles / 20 calories

Totals for the week : 67,508 total steps / 21.7 total miles / 1,258 calories

Photo a Day Challenge : Week #30


Day 27


Day 28


Day 29


Day 30


Day 31


Day 1


Day 2

Photo a Day Challenge - July Recap

Another month has flashed before my eyes... seriously where does the time go!?!?


And now we enter the month of August... the countdown to 30 begins...
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