WIAW: The I'm So Excited Edition

I'm excited.  Like, super-duper, uber-thrilled excited.

I'm taking a big, huge risk.

So I'm kind of scared.

But I'm mainly excited.

I'll stop being cryptic now.

For the last three years, I've felt like there's something more I'm supposed to be doing.  Work just hasn't been doing it for me; since I moved back here for my job, I've been grappling with the feeling that I'm meant for something more than life as an office drone.

The feeling started out small, but it has only grown with time.  Especially in the last year, it has become clear to me that I need to do something beyond my regular job.  I need to do something in addition to my regular 8-5 gig -- work I find deeply meaningful.  Work that allows me to be creative while making a difference in people's lives.

It's taken me a while to figure out what I want to do, but in the midst of my wedding-planning frenzy, I had an epiphany.  I figured it out.

Actually doing something about it, however, was an entirely different matter.  There were hours of research.  Consultations with my husband, best friend, and parents.  Weepy freak-outs.  A million pep talks.

Today, though, I'm taking the first step towards what I hope will be an enriching and fulfilling experience: I'm signing up to study with the Institute for Integrative Nutrition.  I'm keeping my day job (a girl's got to pay the bills, y'know?), but when I'm not at work I'm going to study and train to be a Health Coach.

It's vastly, enormously, mind-blowingly different from what I've been doing for the last 10 years.  I'm excited like woah -- I won't start the course until January, but I can't wait to learn as much as humanly possible about holistic health and nutrition.  I'm also scared as hell.  This is a big deal for me, and although I won't be making any major career moves/changes any time soon, signing up for this course is the first step down a very different path from the one I've been on for a really long time.  Terra incognita can be some intimidating stuff.

I have no idea how this will pan out, so I keep looking at the magnet on my fridge that says "Leap and the net will appear" and hoping that it's true.  So, here's to a giant leap of faith!

Navigating terra incognita can make a girl awfully hungry, though, so with that, I'll make this terribly awkward segue into...

What I Ate Wednesday!  Jenn, author of the awesome Peas & Crayons, is the hostess with the mostess for this lovely Interwebz potluck.



5:45 a.m.:  Coffee.  Wait for brain to join the world of the living.

6:15 a.m. - 7 a.m.:  Gym.  Come back feeling like I've had a proper butt-kicking.  Down a huge glass of water, manage to give my poor husband the side-eye while he takes the picture.  (Sorry, hon!)

While I got cleaned up and ready for work, I had a glass of my favorite juice concoction: carrot-mango-apricot deliciousness.

Once I was at my desk at work, it was time for some breakfast -- woohoo!  I had a nanner with cashew butter:

I don't know about you guys, but I love me some snacks.  I'm a grazer, and I can't make it through the day without a veritable cornucopia of snacks.  Morning snack was a home-made peanut butter chocolate chip granola bar.

Lunch was my favorite quick, easy, and nutritious meal: a Dr. McDougall's soup bowl.  The Pad Thai is spicy and delicious:

Afternoon snacks were:

For dinner, I decided to go with an old stand-by: roasted potatoes with veggies.  We had carrots and broccoli on hand -- which, when mixed with olive oil and garlic, roast up like champs.

For a post-dinner beverage, I went with my all-time favorite herbal tea: Celestial Seasonings Bengal Spice.  Mixed with honey and almond milk, it's like a cup of liquid spice cake (sans the gluten or calories).

Hope everyone had an awesome Wednesday!