Hi everyone! Things have been all sorts of crazy around here lately. Last week was filled with interviews, frustration, stress, and the return of my shaky anxiety heart thing. In fact, I was such a mess that an interesting thing happened: I began noticing all the awesome little things that were happening each day. Think about it – when you’re constantly worried and sad, any moment where you don’t feel that way is an amazing moment! And since I’ve been noticing so many happy moments in each day, I thought I’d share them here:
I hadn’t run since last Sunday’s hill repeat session…but yesterday I ran a 9 miler at a strong, steady pace and finished feeling awesome. I remember my last 9 miler back in Philly in February and it was so much harder to make it through that one!
Now that I run with my phone, my RunKeeper app thinks every run is my longest since I used to use my Garmin instead!
I still have a 10 miler between me and the Beat the Blerch Half Marathon…but I tried out a new long run route and I’m now looking forward to running even farther on it next week!
Exit Glacier Road: low on traffic but high on mountain views!
It rained last week…but we got the most insane double rainbow once it was over!
This was the first time I ever saw a rainbow’s end!
The only Starbucks in town is too far away to walk there on my break at work…but my favorite coffee place in town started serving PSLs on Wednesday AND the owner let me and one of my friends help her perfect her recipe and it’s seriously better than Starbucks!
Obsessed
I don’t technically have a job yet…but I did get one very informal offer for a position (they said to come back in October and we will finalize the details then) and I’ve also got a few other jobs that seem interested in me. If it weren’t for the fact that I can’t start work in Anchorage until we get back in October, I would have definitely had more job offers already!
On that note, my trip home is messing with my ability to get a job…but I’m so incredibly excited to see my family and friends again! Plus CHIPOTLE!!!!!
It gets dark at night now…which means that I get to stargaze at night and I get to watch the sun rise over the mountains on my walk to work.
And here’s the absolute best one:
I had a not-so-great experience at the Alaska Sea Life Center’s 5k Rescue Run a month ago…but it turns out that there was a raffle for 25,000 free miles for Alaska Airlines, AND I WON!!!!! It only makes sense to use them to fly to that race I’ve been hinting about! I’m meeting with them tomorrow to sort out the details!
So the moral of this story is that sometimes it takes some bad times to realize how awesome your life can be. I have less than 2 weeks left here, and I’m going to do my best to stop worrying so much about the future and start focusing on all the good times I’m having in Seward. I’m going to miss this place for sure!
What awesome little things happened to you this week? If you won airline miles, where would you fly?
Mom in the Mtns 
Love this post. Sooo many good things. It really is the little things in life that make it so incredible. That double rainbow and seeing the end is SO cool. The importance of chipotle made me giggle.
I would go to Greece. According to the site I just used, I will have plenty of miles left after round trip so I would go to china. I want to run the original marathon and the Great Wall marathon.
Awesome things… This past 7 days… Uhhh. I got some overtime at work by picking up 13 extra hours. I survived my last long run before my 50k. Got delicious coffee beans from the fresh market. And had a really fun game night. Simplicity is my life.
Haha well Chipotle is my favorite! I will be eating it constantly when I’m down in the lower 48! And Greece sounds awesome! I also love all of your amazing things this week. Coffee and game night are two of my favorite things! Good luck in the 50k!
Beautiful pics AS ALWAYS! Congrats on winning!! I LOVE winning free stuff! I actually won a free hoodie at my first 5k this weekend! Hutzpah : ) Now to dream about where I would fly.. top 3 choices: 1. some where tropical 2. Germany (love that place) 3. Cali!
Yay congrats on winning a hoodie! I would be so excited, hoodies are my favorite clothing item 🙂 And I was so tempted to fly to Cali too!
Congratulations, that’s so excellent! Glad you’re finding happy little things to keep your spirits up 🙂
Thanks!
Gorgeous! And good work on churning up some job prospects. It’s always so stressful to not have things nailed down, but it sounds like things will work out well for you even if you don’t have a firm offer before October.
Thanks! Yeah, the east coast in me says that this is not acceptable. But everyone out here is so laid back and chill about everything and it’s making me feel like this is going to be okay. I have a few more interviews to do and then hopefully by the end of next week I’ll have something solid figured out!
I LOVE the way you managed to turn your anxiety around. I deal with anxiety quite a bit and while I’ve never really looked at it that way it’s totally true: it makes you appreciate the smaller, happier moments way more! This past week I was sick so not as productive as I usually like to be, but it gave me a chance to get some much needed R&R and now that I’m back I’m more motivated than ever to tackle this month!
I’m glad you liked it! I’ve just been noticing it so strongly lately. I’ll be in this terrible sad place and then have a PSL or see the sunrise and feel so much better. It’s a weird emotional roller coaster but it’s better than being sad all the time! And yay for relaxing, I love that it got you excited to take on life!
Yes, it can be strange but it’s great you’re embracing it the way you are. Keep it up!
It’s so nice when there is a silver lining to a not so great experience! Congrats on your win! That’s really exciting.
Thanks!
How fun! congratulations on your prize! I would fly home to NC I think unless there was somewhere else that I wanted to go more. I’m so glad things seem to be going well for you and am sending you good thoughts on your job hunt!
Thank you! Yeah I will definitely be using these miles to fly home if I have any left over after my half marathon trip! I’m just so happy there is one less money thing to worry about with that race!
Oh my gosh – so much goodness in one post. Awesome job on your 9 miler! Isn’t it great to look back and know the last time you did that distance that it wasn’t quite as easy? 🙂
25,000 miles? Amazing! Pretty sweet that you get to use them towards one of the races you talked about. Speaking of, when will you spill the beans on which race you chose?!
Good things in my life this week include a birthday celebration at Smith Mountain Lake in VA (with some fun new running gear of course), and kayaking with a friend on the lake. It was a much needed vacation 🙂
Yes, i was so surprised at the end of the run! My husband was very careful around me all night and kept asking if I was okay and I just had to laugh because I know he remembers last time when I was hobbling around! I will totally spill the beans soon because the race registration price is going up this weekend and I’ll definitely register by then. I’m so excited! And it sounds like you had an awesome vacation! I love kayaking, especially on lakes!
I hope the points works out for your trip!
What happened to your cute garmin?!
My Garmin is fine, but I’m afraid to run without my phone with all the bears and moose around 🙂 And when I have my phone on me, I’d rather just use it to measure my run instead of bringing my Garmin too. But my Garmin still gets used for my races and short runs where I don’t need my phone!
Great job looking on the positive side! Winning those miles is definitely a sign!!! Also, I totally understand the job frustration. One summer I sent out 100 cover letters for teaching jobs. Yes, I counted the number of cover letter files on my computer. Don’t give up hope. I thought everything was ruined when I didn’t get a job in September, but then another job opened up in October (So unusual for teaching!), and it has led me to become the reading specialist I am instead of a classroom teacher I thought I wanted. Everything works out for the best, even if you don’t understand it at the time.
I totally hear you on the teaching jobs – I did that one summer too! I must have applied to every teaching job in PA, DE, and VA! I’ve put in a few apps for non-teaching positions in Anchorage School District and hopefully I can be an aid or work in some other support position. Education jobs are so tough to get!
AMAZING rainbow photo!!!!