Nikki's Comicon 2017 Top Ten

Every year, I tell you that I'm going to write you a Comicon post and then some how it's magically December and it's closer to next year's Comicon and it's just not going to happen. The problem is I think too big. You know I'm wordy and with an event like Comicon there's just too much to write about.

Well, I'll show you Comicon!!!!

This time I'm just doing a Top 10 list. Disclaimer - some of these will kind of blend and repeat. While there are 10 distinct experiences, the pictures overlap occasionally.

Nikki's Ultimate Comicon 2017 Top 10 Best Things Ever

10. Star Wars Booth

I'd be amiss to not mention the whole reason we go to Comicon. Dan and I are lucky to be friends with the guy who coordinated the Star Wars presence at conferences and we get to work the Star Wars booth which gets us our passes. Being Star Wars and all, their booth is generally a large attraction in the convention and this year was no different. Our booth featured a large scene from The Last Jedi as well as some X-Wing Pilot costumes that were used in the film. It was really cool.

The highlight of working the booth though, is interacting with the fans. For the most part, people were friendly and gratious. My job most of my shifts was to take pictures for the fans who came to the booth. I got a great angle and became really efficient with my role. I also really liked it. My favorite were the people with fancy DSLR cameras. I hadn't really used one before but by the end of the weekend, I wanted one.

I also got to see so many cool costumes come through and a few times I asked if I could take their photo for myself as well. I loved seeing the cosplayers have fun mixing their characters with our scene.

9. Cosplay

I didn't really get a lot of pictures of Cosplayers this year but that didn't make their outfits any less amazing. Dan and I normally put together some amateur cosplay as well, but weren't able to this year. Knowing how much work it is to make our mediocre outfits, I always applaud the people who have really good ones. While I don't have any stand alone pictures of them, you can look above for some of my favorites from our booth.

Oh wait, here's an awesome K2S0!

8. SyFy's Everything

SyFy had a huge presences at Comicon this year. They often marched through the streets with a band giving out prizes. They had a pedal cart where you could do trivia. If your team won, you would each get $20. They had a puzzle room for the Expanse (which we did not try out). Lastly, they had a huge party where they rented out the Children's museum, gave out free beers and shirts, had a 90s cover band, and was hosted by Zachary Levi. The last one was what I had the most experience with and it was amazing. I'm not a big party person but every now and then I'm into it and I had a great time at this one. It was a perfect mix of things I love - friends, costumes, beer, bands, and Zachary Levi. Very fun time.

7. Recoil

Sometimes at Comicon, you get to test out a new product. For us, this was Recoil. We thought we were just waiting in line for a silly laser tag game, but we actually really loved the product. Basically, you have some laser tag type of guns and your cell phone is your screen for your game. It plays more like a real life first person shooter where you have to reload, collect ammo, regenerate, and can command air strikes. You play on teams and you have headsets so you can coordinate. We played on a small parking lot course but you can create your own boundaries and play up to a football field sized area. Could you imagine playing in a big park or through a quiet neighborhood? With so much distance and many natural obstacles, you could really have an awesome game. Anyways, needless to say, we destroyed the other team like 40-6 or something.

Dan and I are definitely interested in buying a set. The starter pack with 2 guns and the home base is $130 with additional guns ranging from $50-70 (depending on size/quality). Our feeling was that we'd totally buy the starter set if our friends get their own add on guns. Our group plays in so many leagues that cost $50-70 every few weeks and I like the idea of starting our own Recoil league and playing weekly with our own things instead. Friends - if you're reading this, buy a Recoil gun. Thanks!!!!

6. The Kingsman Happy Hour

Comicon has a lot of opportunities for free food and drinks. This year, it seemed like there was more than ever. One of those opportunities, was a daily happy hour put on by Kingsman 2. My friends and I went two of the days and we loved it. For a short wait, you got 2 whiskey drinks, a burger, a chance to win prizes, and lots of challenge coins. What's a challenge coin? Well, it stems from a military tradition where everyone would have a special coin. While they were out drinking, soldiers would slam their coins on the table. The last one to slam their coin has to buy the next round. We had a fun time playing the whole weekend, and even more fun knowing that many of our drinks were free so no one had to pay up. 

All in all, the happy hour was a fun and silly event. The movie is kind of a spoof on spy movies and it seems like the sequel is going to be even more silly so it was cool that they took the idea and just had a lot of fun throwing some great parties.

Even Halle Berry took part in the Kingsman festivities! .... just not with us

5. New Trailers

Here's something everyone benefited from - even if they didn't make it to the convention. So many movies dropped new trailers from Thor Ragnarok to Ready Player One. I could list them all but I'm sure you've probably already watched them all. I love that people know to look to Comicon for info on new movies and it helps make the event such a major part of the film industry.

4. Photo Ops

The last 5 could probably be inter-changable. They are ALL my favorite things about Comicon but I was able to barely place them into an order.

The Photo Ops are something Dan and I have loved every year. It's probably the reason I had so much fun at our booth - it was a giant photo op. We've always loved finding places to take fun pictures around Comicon and this year was no different. With how many things have long lines, being able to just take a quick photo is such a nice instant gratification and leaves you with a lasting memory.

3. Bladerunner

Like the Kingsman happy hour, this was an outside event (meaning no pass was needed to go) and it also featured free whiskey and food (literally the theme of Comicon this year). That's where the similarities end. While Kingsman truly was a happy hour, Bladerunner was an experience. For a scant 5 hour wait in line (we must have gone at a peak time), you got to watch a VR video that landed you in Los Angeles 2049. You arrive at the scene of a crash with futuristic police officers grilling you about what you saw.

If you survive that room, you move onto the downtown scene. There's an Asian restaurant, transvestites, fog, and a lot of lights. Frankly, it felt a lot like the Castro in SF to me. I loved it. In the downtown area you could get scanned to test if you were a replicant, get a free shirt from a vending machine, eat some free noodles, and try Johnnie Walker scotch (not really related to the movie, but they were the event sponsor). It was a long wait but it was such a fun experience that it was worth it. I heard the line for the experience without VR was shorter and in the future, I would have done that. The best part was the interactive portion and everyone got to do that.

2. Sharing it with My Friends

You're probably thinking, "Damn Nikki, your friends are #2? That's cold!" NUMBER 1 IS REALLY GOOD, OK? Ok great!

Every year a few of my friends come into town for Comicon and it makes the whole thing so much more fun. There are also a lot of San Diego friends who reach out and try to meet up. Imagine how fun all of the past numbers were... now imagine it with either friends you don't see often but love or with friends you see all the time but have never seen the wonders of Comicon. It all adds up to a super amazing fun time.

While I didn't get to meet up with everyone I tried to connect with, I appreciated the time I spent with the people who met up with us. Every year I put together a really organized calendar so I can maximize my time at the con. I was happy to share it with anyone who asked and I'm glad it helped them find cool events and also find me.

Having so many friends meet up at some point took it from a very fun event to a super duper amazing fun time with some of my favorite people.

1. Panels

In my opinion, getting inside the Con has two major perks. You get to buy exclusive merchandise and you can go to panels. Dan and I try not to buy a lot of stuff so we try to maximize our panels. The holy grail of panels are in Hall H. That's about a 24 hour line though and we've never been up for the sacrifice. Luckily, many of our favorite shows are in Ballroom 20 and the line is just a few hours.

Those same shows all ended in crazy cliffhangers so getting a first look at the show's new footage was amazing. Hearing the actors' thoughts on the crazy things that happened over their seasons was also really cool. I mostly just love seeing all the banter and friendships amongst the cast.

Sometimes - you get a really amazing moment at the panels you attend. Last year, the amazing moment was the cast of Flash singing and tap dancing. That moment led to a musical episode. This year, the moment hit much closer to home. A young girl asked Stephen Amell (the star of Arrow) if he will sell anymore shirts to raise money for cancer... as she was a cancer survivor. The room went still. He proceeded to ask her some questions and the end result was him giving her a personal necklace, a hug, and a kiss. I cried then and I cry now thinking about it. Recently losing a parent to cancer as well as both god parents, I know it's a tough experience. I can't even imagine a kid going through it. That's just absolutely terrible. I'm happy she's a survivor and I hope she doesn't come across it again in her future.

That clip is here if you want to see it for yourself:

So that's it! It was hard to limit myself to 10 and I had to move things around a bit, but I did it! I wrote about Comicon! I had an absolutely fantastic time. It's impossible to do it all and I know I missed some experiences - from the friends I didn't meet up with to the Westworld experience (seriously, Google it) to my endless pursuit to meet Nikki Bella. Lucky for me, there's next year and you better believe I will keep coming back for more as long as San Diego has this fantastic event.

Things I Learned About Life After Experiencing a Death

It's been over 3 months since I lost my mom. It's definitely something that consumes my thoughts most of the time, everyday. As such, I was asked to write an article about a life experience being a millennial and it was the only thing I could think about writing. The article ended up not being published but I put a lot of heart into it so I thought I'd share it here. I thought about going back and revising it since it's been a few weeks since my initial submission, but I decided to leave it be.

I have a couple of small points to add though that are mostly just more of what I've learned as time goes on. Mostly - my answer to "how are you?" is the same as it was week 1. Every day is different. Some days I don't struggle at all aside from the usual wanting to call my mom or having a dream with her (these are both almost daily occurrences). Other days will be bad. I'll get worked up about other people not appreciating their parents. I'll want to talk non-stop about my mom. I'll cry for hours. Grief is weird. Mostly though, aside from a few instances, I've tried to keep my grief private. I'm sure people expect me to act or have acted a certain way but the truth is that all grief is different. Without the person in my life that I would most like to grieve to (because it's the person I'm grieving of), I find internalizing it or sharing it occasionally with close friends is how I've dealt with it. I've also tried to really celebrate her life. We added a mantle to our fireplace which will be filled with pictures of my mom. I wear her jewelry and clothes. I share funny or touching memories and pictures of her. It helps her feel alive and keeps her close to me each day.

So yea, grief is weird. The article has my over-arching views on some of the things that happen when you lose someone. Everyone's experience will be different but I hoped to touch on things that might help others someday with their own loss or just in understanding others who are going through it.

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I recently lost my mom. Loss is hard on it's own but when you pair it with all of the things you have to do when you lose someone, it can be extra challenging. There are so many things I never even thought about when I considered what it would be like to lose a parent and I hope that passing on some of that knowledge will help others when they have to deal with that. There are also so many emotions to process. We don't talk about death a lot in our society so I wanted to share what that experience is really like.

Bereavement Is Not for Being Sad, It's Because There Is A Lot to Do.

I always thought bereavement time was to wear black and cry and not have to focus on work when you're sad. It can be for that, but there are also a lot of things to deal with when a person passes away. First, you need to deal with the body. Did they leave instructions? If not, you will need to decide if they will be buried or cremated. We had to make that decision and it was extremely difficult. I spent a whole day just googling the options.
Are you going to have a service? Will it be in a church or home or some place of importance? This one is also difficult because generally you have a funeral very soon after a death and some places may not be available. My mom passed away the week of Easter so we had to wait until after the holiday to have a service for her if we wanted to do it anywhere meaningful. You also only have a few days to put it together - order flowers, print pictures, make programs, spread the word, print an obituary. My brothers and I luckily were able to split the load easily and get a lot done but this can be really challenging if you don't have a lot of people to help. I can't even imagine what happens when you don't have some immediate family.
There are also so many other details that my dad handled. He ran around that week closing accounts and paying off bills. I've heard stories of people causing a fuss and demanding the death certificate when you try to close an account after death but my dad said he didn't face any of those hurdles.
The point is - there is a whole lot to do so no, bereavement is not sad time. My advice would be to use the internet, ask people, and don't do it on your own. People will always offer to help you when you've gone through a loss and this is a good place to direct some of it.

You Think About Possessions Differently

You acquire a lot of belongings over the course of a life. My mom loved stuff. She wasn't a hoarder by any means but she had an appreciation for beautiful things from all walks of life. She never had a distinct style, but her home is an amalgamation of art and items carefully curated over the course of a very full life. The problem is now those things need to go somewhere. My dad will definitely want to keep the home decorations in place for now and will use some of the stuff but the majority of items in his house are things he has no use for.
These things are really what I have left of my mom so I don't want to get rid of them. I am tasked with figuring out how this stuff will fit into my life and what I can do with it. As someone who does not need anything myself, I'm trying to find a balance between keeping my mom close but also not overflowing my house with things I can't possibly place. It will definitely be a process.
The way I'm planning on dealing with it is to slowly bring home things that I really like or have special meaning to me. I started with her jewelry and handbags which I took all of as they have more longevity and personality than normal items. I feel like her jewelry will be a good way to create a legacy where I can hand them down to my niece and any future daughters when they are old enough to appreciate it.
As for the rest, my brothers and I will have to slowly chip away at it. We know that we will have to deal with it one day and I think if we slowly try to do it now, it will be easier when we really have to find a place for it all. Stuff is hard though. I tried to look through my mom's clothes and it brought me crashing back to a time when she had enough life to wear sparkly jeans or steal my dresses and I had to close the closet until another day.

You Have No Idea How Other People Are Feeling

In the days after my mom's death, I was a much sadder and quieter shell of myself. I didn't really want to talk to anyone but I'd have to go out and get food and exist in the world. I wouldn't say that I was rude but I wasn't friendly either. I basically was just quiet, only said what I needed to, got what I came for, and left. Maybe I exuded sadness because no one asked anything or told me to smile or seemed put out by my lack of friendliness.  I think of all the times girls are told to smile and if someone told me that at that point in my life, I would have lost it. How dare you tell me to smile - you have no idea what I'm going through.
Despite this, I still need to be more mindful that others may be going through a hard time when they seem quiet or dramatic or less than friendly. On our way back from a trip I took with my husband shortly after my mom died, we were diverted and delayed because of a storm. Many people missed their connections and had to be put on late flights that were also delayed. We took the next available flight and just put up with the hours of waiting because it was better than fighting mother nature. We saw many people come up to the gate desk and just throw a fit because of the delays. I saw one older lady throw her bag and break down in tears and just thought "You're a grown woman, everyone is delayed. You are not seriously crying over this."
That lady then sat down nearby and started calling her family. Through the tears, I overheard some of her conversation. It sounded like someone back home had suddenly died and the only person around was a kid or teenager who didn't know how to deal with it. She was trying to get back to help them and pick up the many pieces after something like this happens. I felt like such an jerk. Hadn't I just gone through this? Shouldn't I know better than anyone that throwing a fit or being sad in public doesn't mean you're a bad person but maybe something bad recently happened in your life?
So, next time someone is less than great in public, it's worth thinking about what else they might have going on in their lives.

Grief Will Hit You at Weird Times

Obviously, I was very sad after immediately hearing about my mom's death. I basically slept two days straight and didn't want to talk to anyone and then we had to get to work preparing her funeral. Planning my mom's service gave me a sense of purpose and a way to honor her and it made it hard to be very sad. I barely cried at all the day of her funeral. In fact, one of the times I did cry was because after it all, I wanted to call her and tell her that my friends came and wasn't that nice of them? That's when I remembered that I couldn't. I'll never know what she thought about that.
That's more or less how it goes. I went to Europe on a cruise the week after her funeral on a trip that had been planned months in advance. While the escape was nice, it also gave me a lot of time to think about everything. My mom had said the last couple of Christmases that "next year" we would do a family cruise for Christmas so that no one had to throw a party. It was always "next year" because she was too sick to travel. I remembered this while on this cruise and realized that now there wouldn't be a "next year." She'd never get her family cruise.
And it goes on like that. Now that the dust has settled, it's much harder than that first week. My first actual week back home and working as usual had a lot of hard moments. I had called my mom almost every day for years. Sometimes we would talk for 5 minutes, and sometimes for an hour. I'd usually call her whenever work was slow or I was taking a break. Well, the first time I had one of those lulls at work, I thought, "I should call M-- oh, I can't do that."
The idea of future milestones without her is a nonstarter for me. I talk a lot about having kids some day with my friends because I'm the kind of person that likes to be ultra prepared. In one conversation, a friend was talking about breast feeding vs formula and asked which I was. I realized I didn't know and I couldn't ask anymore. As much as I'm excited about having kids some day, it's also a realization that every part of that experience will be something I won't share with my mom.

Fiction Is Really Bad at Dealing with Death

How frequently in a television show or a movie is death trivialized? A LOT. Some of my favorite TV shows deal with deaths of main characters all the time. Kind of. The problem is no one really dies. They can be resurrected or have a flash back or another version in an alternative timeline or dimension. If your favorite character dies in TV, it's ok, you'll be seeing them again.
That's not how death really works. It's permanent. With the way it's thrown around in fiction, it's really hard to grasp that. It's taken me a month to really start to feel that permanence. Up until now, it felt like she could have been on vacation. Well, the vacation is up and she's still not coming home. Television needs to respect us more by showing more realistic death - not re-visiting the characters in some form every now and again so we never really have to miss them the way we have to when someone really dies.
I recently watched a movie that I loved, which also dealt with a major character death. However, this time, they made it permanent. The main characters mourned, they had a funeral, other characters that were in conflict came together because the loss made them realize what was important. It felt more real. It was quickly overshadowed the next week though when finales of several of my shows killed so many characters you knew most wouldn't actually be dead. TV and movies do a real disservice by either making death into something not permanent or a killing spree. So few movies actually show how the loss affected the characters and it's really important to show since everyone will deal with it some day.

You'll Think About Time Differently

My mom was not super young when she died, but I still feel like she should have had so much more time. I look at people who are in their 50s and their parents are 20 years older than them and still alive and they're best friends and it makes me a little annoyed. I'll never have that. My mom and I only had a few years of that time when you're just friends with your parents because you're an adult and don't need to be raised anymore. We had so much we wanted to do from visiting restaurants she saw on TV to going on a big trip to Portugal to something as little as seeing the new Beauty and the Beast movie. We couldn't do any of it and it tugs at my heart to consider doing them on my own. I thought we had more time. I thought I was still in the "marriage and kids" part of my life, not the "losing parents" part.
I've always been the type of person to do as much in my life as possible. I've traveled more in the last ten years than most people ever do. I have a lot of hobbies. I truly live my life, but I still feel like I could make more of my time. I started trying to really embrace my downtime, stop putting off projects or making plans with people. It definitely means being really non-stop but who knows when our time will be? I definitely thought my mom should have lived another 20 years. Maybe we won't get as much time as we think we will - and I want to know that I did as much with my time as I could.

You'll Learn A Lot About the People in Your Lives

It's hard to know what to do for someone who is grieving. I had a friend lose a parent a month before I did and my first thought was "oh shit - how do I help them?" I offered any help I could to her and then I googled "what to do for a friend who is grieving." The answer is that it's really different for everyone. I bought her some flowers and checked in on her and reminded her she had my support and I gave her space. When I lost my mom shortly after, those are the things I needed most. I received such an outpouring of messages and flowers and love. It showed me how many people support me and also how many people loved my mom. I remember every single message I got - even if it was small. Even if I wasn't feeling like responding.
My life will always be different from the moment I got that phone call. My family is forever changed and so are my friendships. Friends are the family you choose. I've always felt that way. I had many friends really be an extra family to me and when I am able to, I will be that family back to them.
My mom had such a way with people. She would easily make friends with strangers and soon they would become friends and then family. As an immigrant, she didn't have a lot of family nearby and had to make her own. The result is decades of lasting friendships and more "aunts" than I can count. It's a skill I used to have but have been having trouble with lately. Now that my family is less whole, I need it more than ever.

You Will Re-evaluate Relationships

I've thought a lot about relationships since my mom passed away. It's made me appreciate my friends so much more. The amount of support I received was truly touching. I had friends come out of the wood works, friendships that weren't left in good places, to show support and it meant a lot to me. I also had friends that had gotten mad at me for petty thing, remain silent. It really confirmed for me that they were friendships worth losing.
I  think a lot about relationships with family friends. There were so many people that my mom connected and she was really my bridge to those family friends. I think a lot about how those relationships will be in the future without her connecting us. I hope that through Facebook and the addresses I have from my wedding, that will be enough but I know some connections will be lost and it hurts to think about which.
Lastly, I think about my relationship with myself. There's always some amount of guilt when you lose someone. Did I visit enough? Could I have made her feel more special? Why didn't I take more pictures? It's so easy to be guilty after a loss and I spend so much of my energy convincing myself that I did as well as I could.

You'll Remember What's Important.

Through this loss, I've had a profound reshaping of what's important to me. I just can't deal with little drama. All of that seems so insignificant in the big picture of things. I don't care if you're fighting - call your mom, be there for your friends, and support your family.
In that vein, my goal for the future is to remember the important things my mom taught me. She had such a way with people. She made friends with strangers. She made our family into a group of people who didn't have to share blood. She threw the best parties. She shared all of those traits with me and I hope to use them more in the future. I think at some point recently, I lost my way. I forgot how to do all of those things and it made me feel really disconnected. Through the mourning, it didn't get any better. Now that there's been some time though, I'm finding that again.
The point is - the people in our lives are the most important thing. My mom knew that. She always made time for her friends and hated excluding people. I want to take the best part of her and make it a key part of my life as well. As more time passes since I lost her, I see that the best way to remember her should be to embody the things I respected about her and forget the things I did not.

Just Do It June - 2017 Update #6

Another month has come and gone! June was a huge month for me. I "just did" so many new things or tackled pesky chores that had been lingering on my to-do list for months. I'm really loving the one-off resolutions and I think I'd also like to do some posts that circle back on some of the past ones. Some are building on each other nicely but even ones like Fabulous February have been in the back on my mind on a day to day basis.

Let's focus on June though! I finally started working part time as a Real Estate Agent in addition to my full time job and 7,562 hobbies. It was a really busy month but I didn't let that stop me from also holding that Housewarming party and taking care of some much needed chores. Both of those things had been lingering on my to-do list for almost 9 months. That's insane. This month was all about just tackling those to-dos and it really took a big weight off my shoulders.

Designated Date Time

We really haven't been as good about this as we were earlier in the year. We've basically ditched our weekly hikes and most "us" time has just been doing chores side by side or watching TV together. However - we have been better at sporadic evening walks. There's something so pleasant about summer nights and Harley loves when we go for a family stroll through the neighborhood. Whenever I'm not feeling too busy, I'll suggest it. Dan and doggy never say no.

Dan also realized that maybe we need some more fun activity time together and booked a surprise date for the end of the month. He had bought us tickets for opening night of a video game exhibit at the local science museum. We got to play Dance Central in front of a room full of people and Mario Kart on the wall of the planetarium. We also just played a bunch of retro and obscure games. It was really fun and I was so happy he wanted to get us tickets for something cool to do on our own.

We spent a lot of June hanging out with a lot of our friends. I'd been feeling really detached after being out of town for basically a month and really needed to socialize more. While it was fun spending time with people, that date night was a good reminder that we need to make time for each other too.

 Here are some shots of Mario Kart in the Planetarium. It's hard to see the game with the lights on but you can't tell the size with the lights off so I present both to you.

Stick to a Regular Fitness Schedule

This is the first time since before my mom passed away, that I really feel like I've gotten back on my exercise schedule. When your life gets derailed, it takes a long time to get things back on track. This has been about 3 months of trying to get one of my biggest priorities back to where it was and I feel like I only just got there near the end of the month.

But it feels so good to have some aspect of "normal" back. Last week, Dan and I finally made it back to an exercise class that we attend religiously every Thursday (it's even in a church!) for the first time in about 11 weeks. It felt right and like an important piece of me was back in place.

When you exercise, you get to be Katniss

We also had our races this month! I really wanted to feel like I was giving it my all but after 2-3 months of much less working out than is usual for me, that was hard. The night before the first race, we subbed into a kickball game as well. In an effort to show off, I definitely over-exerted a little and hurt my Achilles. I definitely don't feel like I was able to give the race my all, but somehow I still managed to come in the top 10 of non-competitive women. I'm excited for what that will mean for me when I am able to give it my best effort. Maybe it means I'll need to graduate to the competitive level!

This habit was a great example of Just Doing It. I went from working out two days a week to four days a week and that's more normal for me. I feel better, have more energy, and my muscle tone is coming back. I love seeing and feeling the little changes that remind me why I like fitness so much.

Meal Planning

I did the thing I didn't want to do. I turned some of my meal planning into meal prepping and it happened for the most natural reason - time management. I have a secret. I'm really bad at lunch. People assume that because I work from home, I have a lot of lunch freedom. Generally, I'm pretty busy until around 1-2 and then I'm picky about what I want to eat. By the time I get around to eating most days it's usually pretty late for lunch or I run out to buy something or throw together some snacks so I don't waste my appetite for dinner. While we usually have some leftovers, I don't really like eating the same thing several meals in a row. It's a super first world problem but with adding the real estate job, I really needed to fix this issue because I now had even less time in my day.

I still don't like the general idea of meal prepping - make a bunch of food on Sunday and eat the same meals all week. It continues the problem of being picky about eating the same thing for each meal.... and then it hit me. Why don't I take my leftovers and freeze them? Then I don't have to have the same thing every day. If I'm feeling picky, it's ok because I'll have built up a variety of lunches in the freezer so I'll have a choice.

This all came to me near the end of the month. I will still have the problem of limited freezer space BUT I've been wanting to pull the trigger on an extra storage freezer and this could be it. It will also give me a chance to make things like curries and spicy foods that Dan doesn't like - and keep them as freezer lunches for myself. I already bought containers and labels and I'm excited to start cooking and freezing big batches of lunches for myself.

Take an Annual Trip with My Husband

Doing the math, it seems unlikely we'll be able to take another big trip this year which stinks because the travel bug is biting really hard. Dan and I didn't take a lot of trips early in our relationship. They were mostly short, domestic trips. Since getting married, we've had two fun international trips and it reminded me how much I want to do and see. Unfortunately, we're both going to be grinding down to our last few hours of PTO after taking the rest of our time for weddings and Comicon. I'm glad this is a new habit/priority though and I can't wait until whatever we come up with for next year.

In the meantime, here's another picture from our trip to Europe!

Read a Book a Week

I only finished three books this month. It happens. This is why I had such a buffer built up - because I can't do everything. Starting in real estate is like starting your own business. I was also trying to get back on a solid fitness schedule and knock out a lot of things I'd been putting off. It didn't help that one of the books was a longer, slower read.

I have another super long book to read next month, but I also have some ideas. I'm on the road a lot more with this real estate gig so it's time to start listening to audio books again! I think that will really help me stay on schedule and get to my reading goal this year.

Me Time

This month was obviously busy for me. I was balancing so much more in terms of juggling two jobs, but there's something about stress that lights me up. I somehow managed all of that and tackled some big projects around the house. While that meant less me time, it was time better used. I was taking my time and putting it toward something bigger.

I read an article this month that felt really relative. It was 4 people under thirty and what they did to become millionaires before 40. The last was a young woman who said to invest in yourself. Use your time thoughtfully, invest in your ideas, and start your own businesses. It felt really in line with what I've been trying to do. So while "me time" is on the back burner for a little while, it's being invested and I hope it reaps some serious rewards down the line.

But that's not to say it was a total shut out. I mentioned doing a few races, and afterwards, I needed to recover. Sometimes that's taking a night off from the gym and taking it easy for a day. I made time for friends. I got back on my workout schedule. This is definitely a piece of the puzzle that needs to fit a little better going forward but this month was full of transitions for me so I'm confident I can carve out more me time when everything is all set. 

Just Do It June

The first day of June started the way many of my days do. I stayed in bed a little longer than I should have, asked Dan to make me coffee, and then opened my computer and started working - not really getting out of bed until I needed breakfast. It's a nice perk of working from home but it's also an easy way to get stuck in a rut and this month was about moving out of ruts, doing more. So - I decided to fix that. I spent my lunch break starting to organize my office. I spent my afternoon getting ahead on work projects and actually sitting at my desk. Whenever I had to wait for something to load, I used that time to multitask and get a little more organized. I'm a big believer that you need to set precedents for yourself and I wanted to have this first day of June set the example of how this month was going to go.

Always have a book handy

It's crazy how much we can do when we set our minds to it. I decided to keep my goals reasonable - I didn't want to stress myself out or create unreasonable deadlines. For example, I had been putting off hemming some curtains since we moved into our house 9 months ago. Finally, I got so annoyed with them dragging on the floor and not closing that I added it to my immediate to do list. I had four to do but I decided to just try to do the first two over the course of two days when I was less busy. I ended up doing all four within a couple of hours. I'd put off this task for so long but once I started going, I realized it wasn't that hard and it made more sense just to knock it all out while I had all the tools set up. It was a good lesson that sometimes things that we put off for a long time blow up in our minds as really difficult projects, but they actually end up being pretty manageable when we just sit down and do it. I'm also happy that I didn't tell myself it would take an hour and then stress out when it took a little longer. It's nice to give yourself more than enough time to do something and be pleasantly surprised when you can do it faster and have extra time for other things. On the flip side, the days where I made huge lists of things to do, I ended up feeling overwhelmed and struggling to cross anything off my list - I didn't even know where to start. Even re-reading this section is a good reminder that I need to pace myself and give myself reasonable goals, especially when I have so much I'd like to do.

I also have truly just jumped into this real estate career. It's unbelievable to me how quickly this ball has been rolling, but I love it. I signed my papers on a Saturday, had my orientation that Monday, and by Sunday was sitting at my first Open House. Real Estate is all about finding opportunities and jumping on them which fits really well with my personality. Even though it's only been a few weeks, I feel like I'm moving right along and creating good habits that will help me build this business. I'm excited about what my future holds.

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Jigsaw July

At this point, you're probably wondering where I'm even coming up with these names. I'm not going to lie, it was really hard to think of another J word that fit what I wanted to do so bear with me. 

After June, I know that anything is possible. I started a second career. I finally had that housewarming party. I took on several projects that I'd been meaning to get to. I even finally went to the dentist. I just did it. I can just do anything... but that's the tip of the iceberg. Always "just doing" projects isn't sustainable. You need balance. June was about starting. It was about knowing things were possible. July is about fitting it all together, like a jigsaw puzzle (there it is!!!).

These monthly challenges are separate but cumulative so I really like that July builds off of June, which built off of May. I put my best effort forward, just went after my goals, and now I want to find the best way to balance my full time job, my entry into real estate, my fitness, my hobbies, my friends, and me time. It's a lot. There's a reason these are challenges, but the idea of these habits and check ins is to be constantly moving towards being my best self.