the little black cloud finally went away.

I finished it this morning.

It’s been converted to a pdf and sent to the editor.

Now all I have to do is defend it and I’ll be official.

Sigh. of. Relief.

In celebration I decided to take a drive to the North Shore to visit Haleiwa Town.

Browsing through the beachy boutiques I found a pair of handmade earrings that I loved. The perfect no more little black cloud present to myself.

So happy to have pushed through and finish what once seemed impossible.

Fashionable Distractions

Spending so much time on academic endeavors leads to many  fashion daydreams, or basically me just wasting time pretend shopping on the internet. Browsing through fashion blogs and online store-fronts adds a little relief to an otherwise thesis centered day. Plus it’s a little motivating too. I like to think that upon graduating I might actually get a job that pays me well enough to afford some of my fashion fantasies.

I’ve recently become obsessed with Club Monaco. Their clothes have a simple sophisticated, yet international vibe about them. Ideally that’s how I’d like to define my sense of style.

all images from the club monaco spring & fall 2011 lookbook

In case you were wandering about my post-marathon running life, its been pretty low key. I still try to workout 5-6 days a week, but I’ve cut back on my running a lot. I’ve been sticking to 3-6 mile distances for my runs, & have ended up at around 15 miles a week this month. I wanted to give my body some time to adjust to not running every day, but it seems like the more I’ve cut back, the worse my knees feel. For instance, I did 5 miles this morning at about a 9:30 pace and for the rest of the day my right knee has been acting up pretty bad. Every time I attempt to go down stairs it stings in pain & is even a little feverish to the touch. I still enjoy running but I think my joints need a little rest so I’m not making daily runs a part of my workout routine for a while.

I did order the Barre3 DVD a week ago. I’ve heard great things about this workout, so I’m really excited to try it out and hopefully work it into my weekly regimen.

For now I’m looking forward to spending some time catching up with Don since we’ve got a 4 day weekend! Hopefully it will include some fun, blog worthy adventures 🙂

In the Meantime

I’ve been largely absent from the blogosphere lately – which I’m sure you expected from that last post – and with that, I’m proud to say that in the past few weeks I’ve made some significant progress on the little black cloud that’s been looming over my head for what feels like forever…

…the thesis. 104 pages (and counting). A small book.

And as you can see by my academic calendar, I plan on graduating this summer. It’s been a long time coming, but I feel like I’m finally ready to let go of my academic security blanket.

It’s going to take a lot more work, but I’ve become increasingly aware of all that I am missing out on by prolonging graduate school.

I want to really take advantage of my time in Hawaii, and the only way to truly be open to new experiences is to finish this goal and move on to the next challenge.

Make you Smile

If you haven’t seen this viral video yet, here’s a little something to make you smile today.

So happy Don is home, although, the Military throws a few curve balls every now & then, so I won’t really be able to spend any time with him until Sunday night.

He’s scheduled to work 12 hour shifts overnight until Saturday night. Bummer. But honestly I’m just glad he’s here.

Today I’m busy planning out my thesis defense and graduation schedule. I was previously pushing to finish this semester, but since I’m not completely done, and no job opportunities have come up, I am going to push it out until summer so that I can be completely confident with my work.

It at least feels good to have some sort of a plan.

I am a perfectionist to the utmost degree, and that tendency has really gotten in my way during this whole process. I made it through all my graduate classes (on schedule) plus 2 semesters of foreign language with a 4.0. I passed my comprehensive exams and I was feeling on top of the game. But starting my thesis out of state (I started my first thesis semester the month we moved to Texas) put me off on the wrong foot because I didn’t have the academic support system that I was used to. I was so focused on the nit-noid details (one of the burdens of my previously mentioned personality type) that I got completely lost in the details.

At the beginning of this year I was seriously considering quitting.

I kind of made a deal with myself that I’d put all my efforts into finding a job here in Hawaii, and that could serve as my excuse for leaving my hard earned Masters Degree unfinished.

Well, as it be, no job opportunities have caught and I absolutely have to keep busy in order to feel productive, so the thesis wins. I have a feeling it was meant to be this way. I know that even if I’d found a really good job and left my degree unfinished, I’d always regret it and regret is something I just don’t want.

I look forward to that day in the not so distant future when I can say “I’m finished”! But for now I’m pushing forward, thankful that I have the opportunity to choose how I spend my time, and remembering to keep my eye on the prize and stay focused.

 

Concentrate, Concentrate, Concentrate!

That is my mantra for the day- or for my life…

I have been a zombie all day today!

This morning I went to my first pottery class.

Throwing clay on a wheel is a lot harder than it looks and it takes some serious upper body strength! I brought my camera to class, but was so caught up in the instruction (not to mention covered in clay) that I did not take any pictures.

When I got home I ate some lunch and zonked out for 2 & 1/2 hours! I don’t nap very often but I just felt exhausted today.

As of now I am staring at my inspiration/motivation board trying to force myself to concentrate on the work I need to get done.

Anyone have any tips on concentration and getting seemingly impossible projects done?

It’s funny because I have a 14 mile training run scheduled for this week, and compared to my school work running 14 miles doesn’t even seem like a big deal. A few years ago, had you suggested I run 14 miles in one day I would have looked at you like you had two heads. Today though I look forward to long runs as a time to clear my head and not stress over deadlines and details.