Thanksgiving Break

Took a blog hiatus for a little bit there. School has been crazy and finals are looming. This weekend has been my "last hurrah" until December 16th, when I will reemerge from the craziness of studying and finally be actually able to enjoy my most favorite time of the year!!

I went home to Seattle for break and made my first trip to Pullman, Washington for the apple cup! Huskies dominated, of course. It was 10 degrees and soo freaking cold. I've never been to a football game so cold and it was quite the shock, especially since it was 85 degrees in LA on Monday before I left. However it snowed and I'm not complaining because I love love love the snow!!! 

My little brother goes to WSU for school and so I finally got to see where he lives and what life is like at my rival school. 

Photo dump from my weekend:

(Have you ever tailgated with bonfires? I have never but I can say it was awesome.)

Running High

Monday I ran 7 miles on a treadmill. Three months ago I could barely run 3. And if I did actually make it to 3, I would stop at least twice. Monday, running 7 was almost a harder challenge to me than I think the half marathon in February is going to be. Mainly because running for over 30 minutes on a treadmill is SO BORING. But I did it. I mean, it wasn't fast. And it wasn't pretty. And I stopped once. BUT afterwards I felt so happy and accomplished. And it made me reflect on the past year a half. 

I've always been a goal-oriented person. I define my own success by achieving my personal goals. Once I reach them, I set new ones. And I've been pretty lucky thus far in my life because most of my biggest goals that I set for myself I accomplished. 

Once I got to law school, though, I had one of those *news flash* moments - everyone here is just like me. Everyone has super high goals. And everyone works really hard to achieve them. (I am not at all saying that the people in my life before law school didn't set goals because they totally did. And everyone I've been close to in my life has without a doubt helped shape me and push me to reach my goals). But this was one of the first times that the people I was around were working towards the same exact goals as me. 

When everyone is working towards the same goals, that means that not everyone can necessarily achieve them. Because there are only so many slots for those goals. And in law school, it's usually called the curve. Since all classes are on graded on a curve, that means only a very small percentage of people can get A+'s. Or only a small number of people can land that prestigious U.S. circuit court judicial externship after law school. And law review only has small number of spots. And landing a biglaw job as a 1L is basically like winning the lottery. 

Basically, what I am trying to say is that it is easy to get discouraged in law school if you don't accomplish a goal that you sought out to accomplish. And usually, people are disappointed more than one time during their 1L year and many more times before they graduate. Therefore, it can be easy to fall into a funk where you almost forget the good feeling of accomplishment for a few months on end. This is perpetuated by the fact that the only feedback you get is on your final - so you really don't have any idea how well you are doing for 4 months out of the semester. 

But running 7 miles on the (effing) treadmill brought me back to one of those accomplishment highs that I have so craved for the last year and a half. And it really made me realize that this half marathon is something that I need to do for myself, for my personal and mental health. It's centering me and reminding me that I can do anything that I put my mind to. And I also think that it will help me in school because it will bring me that sense of accomplishment and confidence that I have seem to sometimes forgotten. 

So for that, thank you, treadmill. 

I swear that I ran 7. But I accidently ended the run .5 miles in so I had to start over.

Life is Precious

One of the most loved teachers at my high school passed away tonight from cancer. He is survived by his wife of only 5 months, another teacher at my school. He is also survived by his 2 daughters who are only in middle and elementary school. My heart aches for them and all of the people that Mr. Connors touched. 

Be true, be kind, be brave. 

Rest in peace Mr. Connors. 

http://www.gofundme.com/Chris-Connors

Most Embarrassing Moment of my Life?

You know when you are in a situation where it's great to have a "most embarrassing moment"?  Whether it's an icebreaker or it just comes up in a random conversation, sometimes it's great to just have one in the back of your pocket. Well, today I realized that sometimes I would rather not have one because it just sucks to actually experience the "most embarrassing moment". Sooo here's the story...

I was sitting in my first class. I sit in the very front row (but against the wall, so that is sort of my saving grace). It was during a period when my professor was asking a student a question and so there was a little bit of a break while the student was re-reading a problem in the book. Naturally, I took this as my time to check social media.

So I look on Twitter and I see Chelsea Handler has tweeted something along the lines of 'this is cute' and so naturally, I thought she was talking about her adorable dog Chuck. And so I clicked the instagram link to see Chuck. Turns out IT WAS KIM KARDASHIAN IN THE FULLY NUDE.

No, it was not the butt picture. It was the full-frontal nudity picture of Kim Kardashian and all her greased-up glory.

Did I mention I was sitting in my law school class in the front row?

This means everyone behind me saw.

I was so embarrassed that I turned bright red for the remainder of class and I couldn't turn around and face the people behind me.

So how was your Thursday?

Half marathon - halfway there!

It's time for the half marathon training update! The half marathon is currently 11.5 weeks away, so most people who follow the standard 12 week training schedule have already started. 

I'm feeling pretty good actually. This weekend when I was home, I ran 7 miles with my mom. I think I've mentioned this before, but my mom is an avid ironman triathlete and coach sooo lets be real she's 55 and WAY more fit than me. And way faster than me. But she ran at my pace and was a good motivator. But before we get to that run... Let's go back in time 2 weeks.

Sunday - 6 mile run part 2. I did another 6 miles (night run, eff you daylight savings time). It felt good! Except for the last mile: that hurt. But the scenery was pretty... Until the sun went down 1 hour before it was supposed to. Seriously I could bitch about daylight savings forever. 

Monday - spin class. Where I died. 

Tuesday - rest day because I stupidly decided spin after a 6 mile run was a good idea 

Wednesday - I was STILL sore so cross training swim. I've been a swimmer my whole life but it's so hard to go swim laps by myself because i get bored without someone yelling and screaming at me, telling me what to do. I swam for 45 minutes and probably did 2,500 meters (ugh long course, ammiright?)

Thursday - rest day (but really I have

class all day so let's be honest by the time I get home I'm too lazy to do anything so I just make myself feel better by calling it a rest day).

Friday - gym workout. 3.2 miles on the treadmill (descending mile time) before I had to run and catch my flight to Seattle. 

Saturday - 3 mile fast run around my most favorite place to run ever, Green lake. It's the most wonderful park/lake in Seattle. It's 2.8 miles on the inside loop and 3.2 on the outside loop. It's 2 minutes away from my high school, so for freshman PE we had to run the lake as our midterm and final each semester and we had to run it in under 30 minutes. I think my fastest time in high school was a 23 and on Saturday I ran a 24. But in high school, I was swimming 2-3 hours a day, 6 days a week soooo im not gonna dwell on that. Don't we all wish we could go back in time to our most athletic/energized days? 

(Greenlake)

7 mile run (Sunday) It was hard. It was extremely hilly. At one point, I'm pretty sure a hill was a full mile long. This girl does not do hills well. That is exactly why I signed up for possibly one of the flattest 1/2 marathon courses out there (it's basically right next to the Pacific Ocean the whole time - hence flat.) So when my mom and I were running up that hill, my pace was probably above an 11 minute mile (I had accidently pressed pause on my Nike app so I didn't get accurate splits). But I'm so proud I finished and so I am happily admitting i was running at an 11 mile pace.

Monday was my rest day/ travel day. 

Tuesday - I did 20 minutes on the stairs and 15 minutes on the elliptical for cardio. Then I lifted weights for another 30 minutes. 

Wednesday - 5 miles around UCLA campus. I was only planning on doing 4.5 but I felt good when I was supposed to be done, so I kept going. Don't you love it when that happens? Doesn't happen all the time but when it does, it's so motivating. When I finished that run, I felt so great and I was so happy. The feeling you get after a great run makes all the other bad runs and runs you really have to drag yourself to do soo worth it.

(Splits from the 5 miler - mile 2 was also a hill. Another example of how this girl and hills so do not mesh). 

But the best feeling of finishing a run - 

(Ignore mismatched socks) 

Thursday (today) - another gym day. 

As for the rest of the week, I'm going to try and get in 2 more runs to make the total up to 4. I'm not going to increase mileage this week though - I think I'll stick to 7! 

ITS ALMOST FRIDAY :) 

Weekend in the Evergreen State

I went home to Seattle this weekend for the UW v UCLA game and to visit my family. Fall in the Pacific Northwest is honestly the most beautiful thing ever. It was perfect for the weekend because I got to experience the cool, crisp mornings, wet leaves on the ground, and go puddle-jumping in the rain. But then I get to go back to sun tomorrow with amazing memories of the great weather; whereas if I was actually living here, I would probably be over it by now.

But no matter how many times I come home or how long I've lived here, I am constantly in awe of this beautiful place. When I'm driving, even if it's down the freeway, my breath gets taken away. I wanted to share some of my weekend and the vibrant colors that surround this amazing state - especially at this time of the year.

But first, I wanted to show you this video my little brother took on his drive from Seattle to Pullman, WA (basically he drove all the way across the state). It's so crazy how the scenery changes so drastically!

(For mobile devices -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eo1KRj0Pvs)

The first stop when I get home - visiting my favorite pup Cooper : )

Greenlake, Seattle - my favorite park 

Saturday meant Husky Football! My brother came along to tailgate (and he even wore a UW shirt)

My longest thus far!!! I died because it was SO HILLY but nothing ever feels better than finishing your longest run yet. 

My dad and I had to go visit our favorite holiday store after the Hawks game 

Finally, I ended my weekend at Kerry Park in Queen Anne with some of my best friends. The best way to end a short and sweet trip.

I'll see ya in 2 weeks, Seattle

November Ramblings

November 1st might just be my favorite day of the year because it means I can finally start celebrating my favorite time of the year - the holidays!!!! This includes Thanksgiving, Christmas AND New Years. I lump them all together because 1) it makes my best friend less mad at me for listening to Christmas music before Thanksgiving 2) its all a season and so its all part of the same happiness and 3) if thanksgiving music or thanksgiving trees existed, I WOULD GLADLY PARTAKE OKAY!? In NO way am I overriding Thanksgiving - I love thanksgiving as much as the next girl. Actually, I probably like thanksgiving even more than most girls because they involve my two favorite things in life -food and football (and family I guess...sorry family). In honor of the beginning of my most favorite season ever, here are some of my favorite things right now...

1. The episode of New Girl from last night - the Nick comedy was on point. (PS when I was searching for the best GIFs to use, I cracked up almost as hard as I did the first time)

2) This weekend, IT RAINED IN LOS ANGELES!!!! It happened on Halloween. And I didn't go out the actual night of Halloween but I stayed up until midnight just so I could go outside and spin in the rain. 

3) The fact that all the news people are saying that it's still supposed to be an El Nino year this year because for Southern Cali that means MORE RAIN! And that means, LESS DROUGHT. It's so depressing seeing how bad the drought has become in the past 3 years. If you haven't seen this pictures, let me show you: 

Note that the red is Extreme Drought and the maroon is exceptional drought. This is scary people. And people say global warming isn't real? Okay...  

3) Speaking of Halloween, recycling costumes is the best. For most of college, I was a ballerina. People started to make fun of me, but I'm a firm believer in spending the least amount of money possible when it comes to Halloween costumes. Sorry, I'm in a lot of debt okay? So this year, I decided to re-cycle the ballerina tutu since I haven't worn it in law school. I was a pig. It worked out nicely.

This year! 

And for some fun throwbacks- 

This is the tutu's first debut. Sophomore Year (2010) 

Here we are senior year (2012) 

4) THIS BOOK BECAUSE ITS AMAZING AND EVERYONE SHOULD READ IT. No, I am not biased because it takes place in Seattle. I am also not biased because it is about the crew team at my alma mater. But in all seriousness, I didn't think I would like it that much because no offense to crew people but it's not my fav. sport. But I can't stop thinking about it. 

5) The fact that my lovely home state (Washington State) just passed the toughest background checks for gun ownership in the whole entire country. Hell yes, you GO glen coco! I am so proud. Not to mention Seattle passed a universal preschool requirement. 

6) I just turned in my first draft of my "substantial analytic writing" requirement (basically it is a thesis) and it is required by the American Bar Association. It was 30 pages. With footnotes. And it was the longest paper I've ever written by myself. And the hard part is now over!

So I will be back to blogging more frequently now :) 

HAPPY HUMP DAY!