It's been almost a month since I've been home and I am so happy to be able to lounge on the couch with my pup Ollie and enjoy the luxuries of cable TV for a weekend. This year has been crazy busy so far so any chance I get to unwind a bit feels like a million bucks.

January started out strong as it has been mayhem in the world of bridal with all the summer weddings this year and the need for brides to get their dresses asap. Late nights, long weekends, and endless appointments have been my life but sales have been at an all time high! We've had a couple trunk shows and the bridal sale which brought lots of business and was great entertainment as employees. I am happy to say I am really enjoying the sales world so far and genuinely getting better at my job. While I am still looking for the big career change, so far this is a pretty good gig!

Nike has been awesome as per usual. We've had our defeat winter program running since before Christmas and just wrapped up in January. The program consisted of goal setting and challenges to encourage our runners to keep running through all winter ailments and battle the cold. There were 3 challenges that consisted of running tracks, trivial games and obstacle course-like missions that brough out lots of new faces and awarded runners with free Nike swagg (who doesn't love free swag??!). I am proud to say my run club North Toronto were the undefeated champs of all 3 challenges! We had our major final event at the end of January that brought out over 300 runners down at the docks in Toronto for a battle royale type atmosphere of hurdles, wall climbing, tires, balance beams and probably one of the coldest days of the year. The whole thing was filmed and Nike pulled out all the stops making it a really awesome event to wrap up the defeat winter program. We're now focusing on smaller goals for February and helping our runners work towards race goals like the GoodLife Marathon, 30k Around the Bay and the Sporting Life 10k just to name a few.

 

My roommate Kristen has had an epic year already starting a new role as a Nike Pacer for a full time job. She made the big leave from Sears to Nike just a couple weeks ago and is now living the dream of sweet sweet Nike swag and running. She was also featured on the cover of Cycling magazine for her big ride across Canada this past September. So yes, yes, I am living with a celebrity and to be honest it is a challenge trying to get to the front door of our apartment with all the papparazzi these days but hey, we're makin it. I am so proud of her and she has many more big goals ahead with her first Half Ironman ahead in the fall of this year as well as some major pace goals for upcoming races. We'll be running the 30k Around the Bay together in a month and I am so excited because I know I'll have her there to drag my lifeless body across the finish line if I can't make it.

Our roommate Melissa has decided to move out in March so it'll be down to the 2 of us in little Portugal. We'll be sad to see Melissa go but it'll mean another new change for me having my own room and not sleeping on futon in our living room haha. I've been looking for decor ideas and have been inspired by my travels with artistic elements.

This weekend I am home for family day and MONSTER JAM here in London. This epic event was introduced to me years back but unfortunately I haven't always been able to make the event due to work or other commitments. Last year we were in Oz so obviously missed it which makes this year that much more exciting. I'll be dressing up in my finest trailer trash attire and hitting the JLC to cheer on Gravedigger with my two besties Kyle Little and Mark Stewart in one of the trashiest, messiest, drunkest nights of the year. It ain't gonna be pretty folks but it sure is a riot.

I've had some down in the dumps moments in the past few weeks often feeling like I need to be progressing with my life but have decided to make some changes in my life which has brought my life to a complete turn around. For one, I've been writing more and working on little projects in my free time. I have continued writing to my Nana traditional letters as well as writing to my best pen pal of life, Sean Markle who puts a smile on my face every time I receive anything in the mail. Most recently he sent me the most amazing picture of Paul Newman knowing my love of this actor and the movie, Cool Hand Luke. I can't wait to frame the picture and thank you again Sean for making my day! Other goals I've been working on are my personal fitness; still running and have incorporated more weight and circuit training to get toned and stronger. I've been eating more lean meats, vegetables and what Kris and I call "balanced" meals as opposed to skipping meals and eating snacks to meet calorie intake for the day in things like popcorn and crackers. I feel a lot better and though I often feel like a rabbit with the amount of vegetables I go through in a week my body has thanked me for a cleaner eating regime. I've kept up with running and been focusing on my weekend long runs working towards Around the Bay. Long runs aren't easy folks with my latest being a 23km run right before the snow storm. it was tough and a few times thought I may need to bail out but made it home in the end. While I still can't imagine doing a full marathon the ATB will be my biggest challenge yet. This year I plan to focus more on strengthening my mucles and hitting some pbs in pace and generally just entering more races. Career is my eye-on-the-prize this year and will be my biggest achievement if I can land the position of my dreams which has been to be a flight attendant for a while!! I also plan this year to speak with some publishers about the book I wrote while overseas. I have been dabbling with the idea as my book is very personal but it is something I wouldn't mind looking into if not just to get ideas and quotes of the possibility.

I got a new tattoo as well! I decided to get the pattern of a bracelet I bought in Cambodia on my arm done by Scoot at FYInk. He was awesome! I love the new ink and while it was a painful 3.5hours of work I am thoroughly impressed with his work and the piece in general. This bracelet is meaningful to me not only because of my journey but because of the luck elephants bring and the reminder of the challenges I overcame taking that year to myself to travel. Cambodians are awesome people who appreciate life and are happy despite some of the challenges of their living conditions. These people really opened my eyes and made me think about how lucky I am to have what I have and enjoy the finer things in life. So Cambodia, you will forever be a part of me, quite literally.  

Last but not least, I am currently reading 'The Book of Awesome' which has put a smile on my face on my commute to work on the subway. While this book is just a light read its been a great pick me up and has allowed me to appreciate the smaller things in life. Often times the book has made me laugh that things the author considers awesome I truly have thought about many times. For example, seeing the waitress coming around the corner with your food before it hits the table--so awesome. Or entering a lane at a grocery store just as a girl is coming off her break and you are first in line, awesome. Or even random things like high-tens (rather than high-fives), new socks, or having exact change--awesome. I definitely recommend this book!

I look forward to the next few months of races, getting a bedroom, possibly finding my dream job and of course the continuous possibility of me winning the lottery and  vanishing off to somewhere fabulous at any given time. To my readers and followers, I will put this in writing that if I win the lottery, you will get a vacation for reading my jibber jabber and having some faith in me haha.
Looking forward to many more changes, achievements and events of 2013.

Happy b-lated Valentines day, happy early St. Patricks day and more importantly happy monster jam day to my red neck peeps! I'll end this by leaving you with some epic music to check out that I have been embracing so far this year: The Lumineers, The Civil Wars, Fossil Collective, Ryan Adams and getting back to my country roots with the newest albums from my faves!
Have a great weekend folks, chat soon!
much love,

Court
xo