Updates galore!

I have been a busy, busy bee working on my list lately. I'm sure it probably seems as though there's not much else going on in my life, but quite the contrary - I've been a busy bee in all areas of my life lately! I completed my first month of grad school in April and got A's in both Pathophysiology and Health Promotion! I'm about two weeks into my second semester now...taking Pharmacology and Health Systems this summer. Haven't gotten a good feel for either of them yet, but I've gotten full credit for everything so far. Outside of work and school I've got plenty going on as well. Yesterday I completed my very first "fun run"which is quite an accomplishment for a girl who does not only NOT run, but very much DISLIKES running. But I always said if I was going to do one of those, it would be a color run because who doesn't want to look like they've been smeared around on an artist's pallet, right? Haha. So when Color Me Rad came to Tampa and a big group of my friends decided to do it, I bit the bullet and signed up too. As you can see below, we started off very clean but it didn't take us long to get colored!! In fact I think at least half our group got color bombed before our heat even begun!

So back to the list! One thing I put on the list that I thought would be incredibly useful, but that I wasn't sure how to learn or if I would be able to remember it was #20 Learn how to change a tire. Well, thank goodness a friend remembered it was on my list because about a week ago I got a call to prepare to get dirty because he was on his way over and was ready to teach me to change a tire!

I admit I was a bit apprehensive because, lets be honest, even though I had complete faith in his teaching abilities, I wasn't necessarily confident in my own (questionable) mechanical skills. But he took his time, showing me not only what to do next but explaining the rationale behind everything. The two biggest things I took away: if I have to jump on the wrench to loosen the lug nuts, I should probably jump on the wrench to make sure they're secured as tightly as possible when I put them back on (i.e. Kristen isn't known for her upper body strength). And two, make sure when I put the lug nuts back on, I should reattach them in a "star pattern" and this needs to be done TWICE to make sure the wheel is secure. 

Admittedly, I did make him ride with me in the car for my first trip after my wheel was reattached just in case something went wrong, but I have been riding on it for a few weeks now with no problems! I'm very exciting about my newly acquired handy-girl skill!

And lastly, I did my first day of Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred (goal #26)! I'm going to be up front...realistically its going to be a 40 Day Shred or so for me because a) I was so sore after my first day that I had to skip a day before being able to do day 2 and b) no matter how good my intentions, I doubt I'm going to get up 20 mins early before EVERY 12 hour shift for the next month to make sure I get the work out in. But I'm going to do my best! I took my weight and measurements and I'm hoping between that and working out an additional diet/exercise plan with Tiffany this week, I will also be on my way to #5 Lose 3 inches off my waist/hipline. Wish me luck!!

 

Thumbs up after sweating it out to my first SHRED session!

Coming in June: #6 Go zipling and #25 Go to my 10 Year High School Reunion! I'm getting excited!!

Love,

KayCee

30 Before 30: California Edition!

9. Visit California

I could probably write a whole series of blogs about my trip to California, but I won't bore you with too many of the minute details. My friend and I decided to celebrate having a spring break again by planning a last minute trip to California. We spent time in both San Francisco and Napa Valley, as well as a couple days with her aunts who live just south of Napa in Petaluma. I definitely felt right at home on the west coast where so many people are as green-thinking and liberal-minded as me. And her aunts were a hoot! We began our trip with a hike up the coast and ended it in the city. I have to say, the rural areas we saw were by far my favorite parts of the trip. San Fran was a fun experience and I'm so glad we did it, but I guess I thought it would be less of a typical big city than it was. But it was fun to see all the winding streets and ride the trolley nonetheless. Here's a mini album of our adventures: 

 Tiff calls this my So You Think You Can Dance moment

 Tiffany and I after our 8 mile(!) hike to the coast

 beautiful views!

 first trip to the Golden Gate

 Lombard Street was a little terrifying to drive down!

 riding the trolley on our last day in San Fran!

 view of Alcatraz from on the trolley

Fisherman's Wharf

But of course thats not all we did! One of our main reasons for going to California in the first place was:

22. Go Wine Tasting!

The wino in me was in heaven in Napa Valley! This has been a top reason for me to want to travel to California for years and, looking back, Tiffany and I both agree that we would've been perfectly content for our entire trip to have been spent in Napa. We spent two full days exploring and were able to hit up about 6 wineries, plus some delicious food stops (ahi burgers!) and get our very first mud baths at the end to boot! I love all wines but tend to prefer more sweet (though not dessert) wines or, at the very least, the less dry wines. So I was kind of surprised to find that probably 70% of the wines featured at the wineries were red and a significant portion of the white wines featured were Chardonnays...which is usually among my least favorite of the whites. Not one to discriminate though, I tried a bit of everything and happily expanded my palate to include many more reds. 

The wines weren't the only great thing about Napa though. The people and the scenery were amazing too. We made friends with one of the sommeliers at the Robert Mondavi winery and at the end of the shift, he gave us the unfinished tasting bottles for free! And how to describe the views... my pictures will not even come close to doing it justice, but it was one of my favorite landscapes to date. Needless to say, I don't think a trip to California in the future will ever be complete without a day or two in Napa.

 the wine wall at Rutherford Ranch Winery

 V. Sattui Winery

 Robert Mondavi Winery

 the wine caves of Del Dotto Winery

 the castle of Castillo di Amorosa Winery

gorgeous view from atop Sterling Winery (you had to take a cable car to get there!)

12. Go Whale Watching

From the very beginning when Tiff and I were planning this trip to California, I told her my one non-negotiable thing I wanted to do while there was go whale watching. First, because it just seemed like such an amazing experience and second, because whales have meaning in my family. So this was the first thing I researched and booked, even before the hotels. Our first morning waking up in San Francisco, we were up by 6 am, in time to get coffee and cab it down to Pier 39 to meet with our tour. I was practically bouncing off the walls I was so excited. It was cold and windy and the sun was hiding, but I didn't care - I was going to see some whales! The trip started off normal enough, they told us what to expect, pointed out the 'sea sick' corner of the boat, and away we went. 

Well, the tour itself was 6 hours and it took us 2.5 to reach the Farrallon Islands, which was supposed to be our best bet of seeing any whales. I had never been seasick in my life and cruised along just fine for the first two hours, so I never gave taking any medicine a second thought. Unfortunately, after 2 hours of staring at grey seas and skies, I decided to go inside to rest until we got to our destination. That was my biggest mistake. The enclosed area added with the very rocky boat finally caught up with me and I joined the half of the boat who were already turning green. By the time we made it to the Islands, most of us on the boat had been sick at least once. The sun was finally out and we floated for a bit keeping our eyes peeled for any sight of a whale. The captain came on the loudspeaker a few times exclaiming about seeing a tail or two, but to be honest, maybe only a handful of people actually caught the tail. All in all, I managed to see a few spouts and the last few inches of a few tails before they entered the water and that was it. And then back around we turned for the 2+ hour journey back, while once again, most of us hung over the side of the boat, our stomachs losing the battle against the 20 foot swells we were fighting. 

The view on the way back was gorgeous, with the sun finally out and getting to see views of the coast as we got much closer to land, but unfortunately we were barely able to enjoy it. We passed a number of giant buoys in the water with countless sea lions on them that I wish I'd gotten a picture of. And it was cool to see the Golden Gate from underneath and cruise by Alcatraz. (Side note, every time I go to write 'Alcatraz' I almost always think 'Azkaban' first. Ah, the Harry Potter fandom runs deep in me apparently) We finally made it back around 2 pm and it was all Tiffany and I could do to wave down a cab and crawl back up to our room. I spent most of the rest of the afternoon in bed, while she spent it desperately trying to get enough fresh air outside. So all in all, whale watching...not exactly the experience I expected. But would I do it again given the opportunity in different conditions? Absolutely. I'm still determined to see a whale in my lifetime!

 So pumped!! Little did I know...

 I came up for air long enough to snap one photo of the Farrallon Islands

 view from under the GG

 Azkaban I mean...Alcatraz!

one pic to summarize our experience

So that was my trip! I had a great time with my girl and was able to cross 3 more things of my list. I can't wait to go again, but next time: San Diego and southern California!

Love,

KayCee

30 Before 30 Catch Up - Part 1

I've been making a ton of progress on my 30 Before 30 list over the past few months so I wanted to take some time to share what I've done with you! However, there was too much to put in just one post, so here's the first couple!

23. Learn to curl my hair

Going all the way back to Dec/Jan, I decided to tackle this one on New Years Eve. Don't ask me what inspired this decision, considering NYE is my favorite (non-family based) holiday and I didn't leave myself enough time to try something else should my attempt fail, but luckily I'm going to call the results a success. My years of dousing my hair with as much Keratin as possible, as well as me having enough hair on my head to easily make 3-4 wigs, made this a bit of a difficult task, but using the techniques my sister taught me a few years ago, I wound my hair into some tight ringlets...which promptly fell to loose waves within 2 hours. Regardless, I was proud of myself for spending the 2+ hours it took to put it together (no, thats not a joke!) and happy with how it turned out. Not sure when I'll find the time or determination to try it again, but I had some compliments so maybe soon!

On the left you can see the tighter curls (this was pre-make up stage people!) and on the right, the finished look, with the much looser curls.

28. See a Broadway show.

Alas, it is doubtful that I will actually make it to New York before I turn 30, so when I found out Wicked was coming through town and my friend wanted to see it for her birthday, I jumped at the chance! I read the book years ago, so I can't accurately state how similar it was to the book (though I'm pretty confident in stating it was just a loose interpretation) but I absolutely loved it! If I'm ever given options to see a live show, I'm indubitably going to ask to see Phantom over, and over...and over again, so it was nice to see something fresh, and not have expectations, but still be vaguely familiar with at least some of the music (thank you Glee!). I definitely recommend this show if anyone ever has a chance to go see it!

I accomplished 3 more tasks out in California, but I figured those deserved their own post! (Largely because the amount of pictures I'm likely to include) But I'm also making progress on other items I haven't finished yet: I have someone lined up to teach me to change a tire. I bought Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred, I just need to commit to an official starting day. My sister is going to take me ziplining next time I'm home. I finished the third book in the Game of Thrones series. And I've bought my ticket to my 10 Year Reunion which is taking place next month! It's exciting to see all these checkmarks starting to appear on my list!

Love,

KayCee