KGD Trip to Georgia

I got caught up in all the 5k mess that I forgot to tell you about our weekend trip to Georgia a week ago!

Our rep with Interface, a carpet manufacturing company, treated a few of us at KGD with a trip to their company house in Pine Mountain, Georgia. We left Saturday afternoon with a smooth flight, and had an aammaazziinngg steak dinner at a local steak shack. I want to go back so so so bad. We had fried lobster tails, steak cooked perfectly, garlic mashed potatoes, cooked mushrooms and onions, and of course some southern biscuits.

Sunday morning, we woke up with a private chef cooking us a HUGE breakfast! I am not a grits girl, but I couldn't get enough of them! It was raining all day, so the two KGD guys on the trip couldn't play golf, but us girls got to enjoy our spa trip! We spent 3 hours at the spa, drinking lemon ginger water, sitting in the wet and dry saunas, relaxing with our 50 min. massage, and showering afterward of course. I find it hard to fully relax sometimes, but this place made me feel like I had melted and gone to heaven.

Sunday night, Tyrone the private chef, cooked us a genuine southern meal, with "colagreens", cornbread and biscuits, fried chicken, fried salmon (delicious), and macaroni and cheese.

Monday, we toured at the Interface carpet mills all day. We went to 4-5 different locations. The first location was where they stored all the yarns and weaved the carpets. Second was the location where they adhered all the backing to the carpets and cut them into tiles, third was the "awarehouse" where they design carpets for planes and showcased installations of all the carpets. Fourth was the custom carpet studio, where they design all the custom carpets for projects and experiment with new designs and colors, and the final destination was the science lab where they talked about how to clean the carpets, etc. The last was the most boring to me...

Then we headed home to DC. The flight, though, scared me more than anything I've ever experienced. The plane felt like it was dropping a few times, and it was because the clouds were soooo thick. Marshmellow clouds, I call them.

Here are a few pictures of the house we stayed in. It resembled Falling Water to me:

View out the windows:

The house:

Here are some of the tour:

Yarn

Weaving of the carpet

Backing

Warehouse

Custom yarns

Finished product

I learned so much during the tour. It also inspired me to have an interest in other parts of design. I am working in one avenue in the industry, but there are so many others I never knew about. I could see that there is light in the end of the tunnel for me. In other words, if I need to move at any point, I am not limited to what I am doing now, which makes me so happy. My job requires heavy hours, loads of stress and deadlines all with little pay, and needless to say, I don't know if I have a job that you can have a family with...I just can't see the two go hand in hand yet. We'll see :)

Boooring Sunday

I was supposed to go to my friend, Alysha's 21st Birthday party in Palmyra, VA (2.5 hours away) today but have had some sinus funk and a headache since yesterday after my race so I didn't go. I was upset because I feel like I have always been saying no to her in the past year...but it's just timing that's bad for me unfortunately. I guess that comes with the territory of having a full time job, right?

I also asked Anthony if he could understand how I felt in response to the whole him hiking with Motown (yes, I remembered her trail name this time) and he said, "No..." then it got quiet and I said, "Well, if I was in your shoes and you were in mine, would you understand?" and he said, "No...but yea I guess." So that was my answer, and I know that it's a total guy thing. I can just imagine him not even noticing she was a girl, just like I don't think about my best friend being Japanese. Is that even comparable? Anyway, I feel stupid, and I don't want Anthony and my whole conversation being talking about something like this. I think it's just being apart from him that's making me absolutely crazy. CRAZYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!

Fortunately, though, I will be seeing him on Tuesday and I know for a fact all these little feelings will dissipate and I will feel 100000000000x better.

So what did I do to prepare for Anto visiting? I bought him all his favorite foods to indulge in!! Yes, even mayonnaise. (Ew.)

Back to the weekend...

Saturday I ran a 5k Warrior Dash with some coworkers of mine! If you haven't heard of it before, it's a 3.2 mile obstacle course in MUD! It was SO MUCH FUN!! We had to climb over stuff, crawl under barbed wire, slide down a water slide, jump over fire, and swim through a 2-3 ft. pool of mud to the finish line. I loved every minute of it! Here are a few pictures.

Before the race:

Right after the race. The medals were given to everyone as they finished:

All clean and posing like a warrior. To get clean, we had to stand below people with hoses and they just blasted all the mud off us. Haha. Then we got a free beer when we finished, but I was so worn out I could hardly drink it.

The experience was amazing. I had to climb up a few walls with a rope and although I thought I would be scared, I wasn't at all. I surprised myself in that way, actually. I ran by myself a lot of the time, because I felt like I wanted to prove to myself that I can do it by myself without the support of someone else. Well, that and the other girls were going to slow for me!! Haha. I really want to do it again next year!

Explanation Required

I know I'm not alone. I do feel extremely loved, too. I trust Anthony 100000000000%, and that's not why I felt bad yesterday. Preface: I felt bad yesterday.

To preface even more: Tom and Anthony split to do their own things for the next two weeks, leaving Anthony to hike with a girl ...I keep wanting to call her Monty, but I know that's not her trail name. Marmaduke...Monty...Maury...I can't remember.

Anyway, it's not the fact that he's hiking with just her. In fact, I'm really relieved he is hiking with someone else because I know if something happens to him she'll be there to help, and I am also happy that she has a guy to help her remain safe too because she's a young female all by herself on the trail! Scary...

I think the thing that bothered me yesterday when I was at work is to hear they're eating together, sharing this amazing, intimate experience together...and I'm not able to experience even one day of the trail with him. I think I'm feeling bad because part of me wishes that that could be me spending time with him, but also part of me is happy for him for having a companion. I just wish I was his female companion, that's all :) Besides, Anthony said she's practically a dude so that helps me feel better.

I was surprised, and still am, about feeling bad for that though. Thought 1: I should not feel bad.
Thought 2: Why do I feel bad?
Thought 3: I knowww that there are lots of more trail days ahead of Anthony that I can hike too after he gets back. Thought 4: I knowww there will be tons more memories to make after he finishes too. Maybe even better ones... Thought 5: I just can't stop thinking that this is one of the largest milestones of his entire life and I'm not part of it (physically, that is, I am here for support). Finally thought 6: Ateajktheaklttjiotaowtuaiotuwo

Then again, I wouldn't want to be the one digging holes for my poo and eating oatmeal all the time and sleeping with bugs and rodents...

New Apartment!

I am so bad at remembering to write on my blog! I have been doing so much between work, trying to kick start my MK again to keep myself even busier, and I actually just got back in town from Atlanta tonight. I will write more about the Atlanta business trip I went on this weekend when I have pictures of the trip but in the meantime, here are the pictures of my new apartment (sorry it took me so long, Mom). I will have more later, once the weather is nice and I'm home during the day. It's also going to change a lot when my roommate moves in in a couple weeks! First, here are the pictures I took tonight:
Kyra and my front door. Our trash man comes and picks up our trash off our doorstep - how convenient!

Apartment when you enter

Living room

Kitchen

My private bathroom

My bedroom

My bedroom again

My huge closet

And here are the pictures of our amenity areas on the property. They're actually pretty accurate, so I'll show you these instead of ones I take myself:
Front gate

Our lounge area

Grilling outside

Gym

Yoga room by gym

Pool

Hot tub

Townhouses on property

Compared to rent in the area, our place is inexpensive to live in because of the location and vicinity to the train tracks. I've only heard the train once, but it was loud at 3am! The rest of the time, I don't even notice it because of our windows being so thick. Unfortunately, the plumping in our apartment also clicks, but I think that there's nothing to do about that. The property is so homey, though, and it's 1/2 mile away from the Metro stop. There's a shuttle that runs during rush hour to/from the station, which is super convenient! The complex also gives us discounts on the Metro, but now because of the increases in price starting July 1st, it would only benefit my guests that come visit me! I love it here, though. It's so nice to have time between going to work and going home and vice versa to relax and think about things - I find I haven't been bringing my stresses home anymore which is amazing!

Life Update

Good news: I have found an apartment and am signing the lease on Saturday, I think. I also contacted Comcast to switch my service and have officially hired a mover to transport me to my new apartment on the 28th. Bad news: I still have no sublet. This one girl that came yesterday was ALL ABOUT my apartment, and I honestly had such a great feeling about it. I had an ounce of hope in me that this situation really could work out, and then it blew up in my face today when she emailed me saying she didn't want it. Worse news: I have 1.5 weeks to find a replacement or I'm having to pay $1088 extra next month. Better news: I had a nice dinner with Candice, my MK recruiter and friend, and we went to a meeting tonight to amp up our MK spirit and learn some new business techniques. Bad news: I do not feel motivated now. I feel like I need to start my MK business from scratch now. Good news: It's been really nice outside. Bad news: I missed seeing the shuttle fly around DC today. Good news: It gave me a reason to go outside, though. Bad news: I have been feeling more and more and more cramped at my desk at work because of the nice weather. Good news: I had free lunch at a sushi restaurant today with a rep of ours. Bad news: I don't remember her name. Worse news: We have a deadline Friday at work. Even worse news: I cannot focus at work because of how stressed I am about this moving situation. Good news: I have one girl that might still be interested...keeping fingers crossed. Bad news: Amelia isn't a 100% fan. Good news: I told Amelia I needed her to commit because I didn't have any other options right now. Bad news: She got upset and left the room and hasn't talked to me since. Worse news: She's been upset with me since I told her I was moving out. Even worse news: She's been real picky about me finding her roommate "soul mate." I told her I needed her help finding the right person and she said no. Good news: I know inside my new apartment is going to be SO worth it in the end. Bad news: Happiness at my new apartment is being affected by if I need to pay rent at my current place while living there. Worse news: No more savings for me if I need to fund two apartments. Good news: I hope to get a raise soon. Bad news: I don't have any idea when that will be. Good news: I know I am going to be happier in my new apartment in two weeks. Worst news of all: I still have no one to replace me in my current apartment...

HH and funny links

Worked my butt off all weekend, had a hard time focusing today, then had a HH with KGD after work! It is so nice to spend time with people you work with out of the office for an hour or two. Here are some REALLY funny links people sent me today: 1. http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/13-simple-steps-to-get-you-through-a-rough-day 13 Simple Steps to Get you Through a Rough Day and 2. http://hokiehighs.tumblr.com/ I think this is absolutely HILARIOUS and SO TRUE. Might be one of those "you probably wouldn't get it if you didn't go to Tech" situations but they're still funny. Check them out :) Made me smile.

Damn Dog!

I love Belle, yes, but she totally licked my entire block of brie that I was eating for dinner!! I've been going through this phase where I really don't want to buy groceries, so I've been trying to eat whatever I have in the fridge, cabinet, and I've actually been able to get free food at work a lot lately too because of my overtime and leftovers from lunch and learns, haha. Tonight, I am eating the carrots my Mom bought me for the cheese fondue we made together, lettuce with an avocado that she also bought me, and the brie that Tess bought me as a thank you for letting her stay with me this weekend! I also paid Amelia for a beer tonight. I am so lazy.

Well, lazy is relative. I worked a 14 hour day on Thursday, then I worked for 6 hours yesterday, and 5 today. So having the energy to go to the grocery store is half the battle right now. Second part of the battle is wanting to leave the house. Third part is getting the courage to drive my car, which makes this awful squealing noise every time I start it. I know it's my belt, but I don't want to pay the money for it right now... and fourth is not wanting to spend the money because I bought me some Mary Kay products instead this week. HAHA. I really need to be making more money.

I also haven't been sleeping much. I have been goingggoinggoinggoingoigngoingoignoin all day long and stressing hardcore about this move to a new apartment with Kyra that I'm not sleepy when I lie in bed. It's not even that it's the move that stresses me out, it's the fact that we don't have a lease signed or a replacement for me at my apartment that worries me the most. I just don't want to be put into a situation where I'm going to have to pay two months rent at once, especially since I can hardly buy groceries all the time...that would be a really sticky situation, even if I have money saved.

I talked to Anthony last night and it was so nice! He loves it in the outdoors, but has had a few problems with his legs hurting on their hike. I'm glad he's taking a couple days off to rest yesterday and today, though. I can't wait for him to hike up to me :)