Cleanse and Work!

I am on day 5 of the 24 day challenge.  If time management skills are a frustration for you, this may not be the cleanse/program for you!  
Over all it's not bad.  I never feel hungry with the amount of water I'm drinking now, which is good.  I was worried about the cleanse because I had visions of spending a lot of time in the bathroom, I am going pee a lot but the "cleansing" portion isn't bad for me.  I say "for me" because everyone is different.  As I've mentioned, Joe and I were not terrible overly unhealthy eaters so the switch hasn't been a dramatic change.  Granted, with starting a new job I would have LOVED to have a glass a wine here and there but that's a no go :(  Alcohol is in the "limit and avoid" list.  

It's hard to tell how I'm feeling right now due to a head cold, but I can say that compared to past head colds, I do feel mentally more clear during this time, I feel that I'm communicating better (which is good because I'm a therapist and having a "foggy brain" is not a good thing), and I don't feel as run down even though my body is fighting off this illness.  

So far I'm enjoying the Advocare 24 day challenge.  

Their Spark drink is their energy booster.  You drink it first thing in the morning and if needed in the afternoon.  I haven't missed not having my daily cup of coffee in the morning.  You can have coffee but I tend to use a good amount of sugary cream in my coffee, so for me I've had to take coffee out of the equation for me right now.  The Spark drink doesn't make me jittery, and it's like a low key wake me up.  I've only taken Spark once in the afternoon and again, not a drastic increase in energy but a nice sustained focus for my afternoon.
One of my concerns was the schedule, do this 30 min before you eat, do this at this time.... I was worried how that would work with my work schedule, hell even my life.  Overall, it's been working out nicely.  I haven't been timing myself all the time, but I am aware of my body with when I feel like I need to be eating and also ensuring I'm drinking water regularly throughout the day.  Additionally, being new to Florida and all the new restaurants I was bummed to think we were on an eating out ban during this challenge.  Not so.  We just have to pick things that match our allowed food suggestions.  We had a early dinner at a beach restaurant, it overlooked the beach....absolutely beautiful!  We had tuna sashimi, and a fish creole dish with beans and rice.  DELICIOUS!  

Today is the first day that I'm drinking one of their meal replacement shakes, chocolate mocha, and I must say it is YUMMY!  You can do a replacement shake, of course, to replace a meal but it's optional.  Thus far, I've been packing my lunch and making a breakfast before going to work (usually a oatmeal with peanut butter and honey) but I felt lazy this morning and wanted to give the shake a try.  I'm impressed with how good it taste and it mixes well with no big chunks or weirdo taste.  

Since I have been fighting this head cold I have yet to incorporate working out but soon!


I'm in my second week at work and it's been a typical baptism by fire situation.  After three days at work, I had two groups by myself.  Technically I wasn't suppose to be running the groups by myself (I was suppose to lead and have a co-facilitator) but my wingman had some fires she needed to put out so I was on my own.  My first group focused on emotional baggage and I tried to give examples and relatable stories to my audience, which are mostly active duty military with a few retired or separated veterans.  There were two members that had sat through that education before (they've been there  a little bit longer than some of the others) and they both said they got more out of my way of explaining it than last time!  *high five* and I had a member stop me in the hall and told me he appreciated what I had to say also.... I'm glad I got to at least a few of them, got them thinking about their emotional baggage, and hopefully motivated them to start unpacking some of the stuff they've been holding on to.  It's a good group of folks, there is a good amount of them that are talkative and will share in group.... is it because they are military or because they are at a place, personally, that allows them to open up? Who knows...  Either way I'm grateful to be working were I am at, working with my brothers and sisters and aiding them in their recovery.

I have a meeting with a potential supervisor today at lunch. Florida is different from how my supervision would look like in Utah.  First off, I have to pay for supervision!  Ugh :(  I emailed the Florida board to get a list of authorized supervisors in the area and made a call yesterday to a gentlemen that has been working in the social work realm for about 25 years.  I wanted to avoid the fresh off the boat supervisors.  Additionally I cannot apply for my Intern Clinical Social Work license until I have a supervisor!  I was worried about doing therapy without my intern license but after talking to the other therapist at work, it's not an issue! In Utah you cannot do therapy until you have your Clinical Social Work license!  You can apply for that prior to even having a supervisor lined up and you do not pay for supervision in Utah.  Weird waters I'm navigating here in FL. Hopefully Ed will be a good fit for me, and vice versa, and I won't have to delay counting my hours longer than I need to. I need to ponder if I want to count my hours here and use them to apply for my LCSW license for Utah also.... hmmm Things to ponder.

2 weeks away from "work"

Tomorrow Shane and I head out to Denver for his birthday.  It should be a nice little break, I'm still struggling with this head cold but I'm not going to let it stop me!  I will be away from work for a week, and then the following week I go TDY to Alabama for training :) yeah!  It will be a nice break!
We kept it low key for the infamous Valentine's Day.  We got cards for each other and he made me a wonderful dinner!  Bruschetta, pasta with zucchini, cucumbers, and asparagus.... followed with chocolate covered strawberries and cannoli's!  It was wonderful!  I got myself a keeper :)
I need to get to packing though.... ugh
I love to travel, just hate packing!

Lazy Sunday Afternoon

Three day weekends are the best! I spent Friday being productive. I applied for some more jobs, did laundry, and cleaned up my room before meeting up with Amanda for dinner. We stopped at the bx on base and they were having a tast testing! We had about 2-3 shots of liquor :P We could of had more but we were being good :P We both bought a bottle of vodka though :) Checked out the Clearfield farmer's market. I'm assuming they are just getting started, out of the 10 or so booths only one of them was actually selling produce. Stopped at the in-laws before having dinner at the Village Green. I was surprised at this place. Walking up to it, I won't lie... it looks shady. It has one of those doors with the little window in the front, the kind that are used in old bars that only the bikers and locals brave. Once you step in... Hello! It's big and the back wall is nothing but windows that over look a pond. Very peaceful and pretty. Apparently they have a live band there on some nights (not when we were there) and maybe dinner theatre?! Which would be an awesome thing to do. The food was also a surprise! Very full of flavor! I will definatly have no problem going back there.

Saturday I went and pick up some more donations from a friend for India. She has three cute dogs, one is a corgi with similar coloring to Sami :( Corgi's definatly have their "things" that they do :D Marcia and I did a lot of running around and grabbed some burgers at Five Guys. Awesome! I'm still partial to In-N-Out but this place was great! Fries to die for! It seems like the places that keep it simple, excel at those few things! Why would I ever go buy a hamburger from a fast food joint when I have Five Guys AND In-N-Out here?!

Today is lazy day.  We are going to head out to the pool here in a few to soak up some sun.  It's just us girls this week (not counting Joe of course).  I will be working with my guard unit again this week.  I'm hoping everything is fixed in the system so I can get orders cut.  Then I have a week off to get ready for India!!!!!  I can't believe it's just around the courner!  Long airplane rides but it will be an awesome experience. 

I have to give myself a pat on the back because I've been working out practically every day!  I did take off Friday and today (but I'll probably do some laps at the pool when I'm there).  I either run a mile or I do the Wii fit :P  I do the yoga and the strength portions.  I'm sorry but the push up/plank series is brutal.  I do a set of 6 and the computer is like "good job you can do more".  So I can do 6 or 20!  Really?!  What kind of spread is that?  It  should go from 6 to 10 or maybe 15 but 20?!    When I first got here I did the "compute my age" thing with the Wii and I can't recall what I was but it was sort of sad... it said I was older than I am
:( But I did it yesterday and I'm 34 :D  Which is pretty true :P 

I've gotten a couple of job rejections, the "you're not what we are looking for" sort of thing.  This without an interview... so I'm going to revamp/tweet my resume some more.  I get so damn inpatient with things sometimes.  I'm trying not to get discouraged but some days it's hard.  Thank goodness for doing the days with the UTANG.  The money is a bonus but it's more beneficial right now for me to feel useful and needed.... it keeps the spirits high!