Life is Amazing

Life is absolutely amazing at this moment in time!  I've been feeling better than I have in over a decade! Honestly, I'm not entirely sure what to do with myself. It's been a while since I've posted, so I'll give an update on life.

Work:
I am really enjoying my job! Even though I'm insanely busy, it's giving me plenty of opportunities to learn. Last week, I worked closely with one of our VPs and afterwards he sent an e-mail telling me I did a great job and thanking me for my hard work... oh, and he copied our CEO on that e-mail. I felt appreciated and proud to know I was praised by executive management! I took my first exam for my C.R.I.S. (Construction Risk and Insurance Specialist) certification and scored 98%. Look out world, I'm still smart!  This first course was a prep course to prepare me for the 5 book curriculum to get certified. 5 more exams to go and I'll be C.R.I.S. certified! I recently got a nice bonus. What didn't go to Uncle Sam or my 401K, I'm using for my NYC trip fund. I am also enjoying having a friend at work, my cubical neighbor! She might be signing up for a 5K before the end of the year and I told her I'd run it with her! Our schedules are syncing up. It's nice to have someone to eat chocolate with at the same time of the month.

Running:
When I focus on how much further I have to go, sometimes it seems impossible and I wonder how I ever did this when I didn't feel as well as I have been feeling. When I focus on how far I have come, I feel strong and satisfied with my efforts. It's rough waking up at 3:45am on Tuesdays and Thursdays to run with MarathonFest, but it's worth it because it's cooler in the mornings and they push me to be a better runner. I recently ran a sub nine minute mile! My running group is the best! Runners in general are a good group of people. I've struggled getting through some of the long runs in the heat, but yesterday I ran 12 miles and it actually felt easy. After my run yesterday, I could tell I'm getting stronger.  Do you remember a few weeks back when 12 miles was too difficult, so I stopped after 9 miles? Yeah, well I'm stronger than before!  Heck, last night I was running around outside with Savanna. Obviously, I wasn't sore from running 12 miles which is a beautiful thing.

Me:
I'm doing well! I haven't been having any pain or weird bowel habits. *knock on wood* It's like I'm a normal human being. A few weeks ago I met Taylor in Sarasota for the weekend. I love the friendship that we have! She mentioned she'd like me to make time to write more. I've been making a point to take some time every week to sit down and write, plot, or develop characters. Typically, I don't talk much about my writing because I feel it's personal and I'm not ready to be criticized. Heck, I still keep this blog hidden from most of the people I know.  One day I slipped when my supervisor asked what I did the previous night. She has this way of making me talk. I told her I wrote most of night. Naturally, she asked me questions about what I was writing. First I vaguely said I was attempting to write a novel. She then asked if it was a romance novel. I couldn't help but laugh out loud and clarified that the genre I'm writing about is fantasy. It's about magical creatures.  Now she's been asking me how my novel is going like it's no big deal. I give her as little details as possible, but honestly I think it helps to hold me accountable to keep writing.

Rewarded for Working Hard

If you asked me what my strengths are, I would tell you my strengths are being a quick learner and being a hard worker. I got my work ethic from my dad and he got it from his dad. I work hard without expecting praise and/or rewards for doing what needs to be done. My family isn't known for giving praise, so I grew up with either silence or criticism. I worked for my dad for 10 years and rarely got praised. It's just not his style, so it's always a little strange for me to get praised. Although I do love high fives!

My supervisor at Wharton-Smith gives me feedback on my work every week. She praises me by telling me how great I'm doing and telling me how impressed she is with how fast I catch on. Though I think she is super patient and a fantastic teacher. It makes me feel good and it takes the guessing game out of figuring out how well I'm doing at work. Last week, my supervisor took the praise a step further. She recommended me for a bonus and the VP of Finance and the President of the company approved it. I've only been with the company for five weeks and I got a bonus! I think that speaks volumes about how well I'm doing at work. In the past, typically my hard work was rewarded with letter grades, winning, scoring the most points, or just the satisfaction I get out of doing my best. This time, my hard work was rewarded with money!!!  I am falling more in love with Wharton-Smith every week.

I signed up for health benefits with Wharton-Smith. That will be kicking in September 1st. I'm feeling pretty adult-y about having my own health insurance through my company. I also will start contributing to my 401K through the company starting September 1st. After two years with the company, they begin matching. Once they begin matching I'll start contributing the maximum allowed to take full advantage of it. I also get life insurance, which will be enough to handle all of my debts (right now I only have student loan debt, but the life insurance is enough to cover student loan, auto loan, and part of a mortgage until they can sell my future house) and after death affairs, and still leave my beneficiary with some left over.