Im a Kid Again


One of my many things that I put on my list to do this year was fix my bike. It has been rotting away on my front porch since we got married. Spiders made it their home with cob webs throughout the spokes. Birds frequently use the handle bars to perch and poop. Ashley got a new bike last week, and named it Ruby, so that inspired me to fix up mine. It makes so much more sense to take your bike to the beach than your car. You never have to worry about parking, and you are more mobile around town. After work yesterday I started calling around to price out how much it would be to fix. Got some $60 and $50 offers for new tires, new tube, an inner lining, and they said it could be fixed by next week. I decided to wait until this morning to check out a local shop and I am glad I did. I walked my crusty bike into the shop and was out of there in 20 minutes with new tires and tubes. Tires were $12 and tubes were $4.50. Ashley and I road our bikes to the beach, to lunch at Pizza Port, to a friends house, and then back home. Bikes give you this weird sense of freedom, and make you feel like a kid again. :) I decided that I want to ride more often, and now I can. There are so many benefits to riding bikes. Save money on gas, no pollution for the air, and it is good exercise.

I know you all probably have a bike somewhere in the garage or in your backyard. I encourage you to pull it out and take it for a spin. Ride it to the grocery store, or around the block. I need some help coming up with a name for my bike. Like I mentioned before Ashley's bike is the Schwinn pictured above named Ruby. Mine is an old Shogun road bike with a lot of history connected to it. Anyways, thanks for stopping by, and I look forward to completing many more items on my list for 2010.

The Newly Weds Trip to the Beach


Over the weekend Ashley and I spent some much needed time at the beach. I usually do not mind going with ashley and doing what the girls call "Laying Out". I usually bring a book and my ipod to pass the time. This weekend we stayed for 3 hours!!!! I read a few chapters and listened to some music for awhile, but that was all the "laying out" I could handle. I walked around for awhile, went from one end of the beach to the other. I come back and ashley has yet to move. How do women sit still for so long? They could lay there forever. I told ashley that we needed to have some sort of activity that we played during these "laying out" sessions. I saw some couples playing volleyball, frisbee, and paddle ball. I think I will convince her to try paddle ball or whatever its called. I am a guy and I need some form of sport to play or game to keep my interest levels high. So what about you all, any other people out there experience this? I understand you all do not have access to the beach, but I am sure you have similar experiences.

The Balancing Act


In one week I will be starting a new position within the University that I work for. There has been a lot that I have learned about myself and my career throughout this transition. The first thing I learned is I hate interviewing. It is weird for me. You have to basically go into a room and brag about yourself for a half an hour. I am not a bragging type of person, and I feel uncomfortable doing it. In an interview you have to brag though, because they need to know why they should hire you.

Through this transition of jobs I have learned a lot about career choices. I tend to become content with my job once I have learned my responsibilities and I know I perform them well. I was hesitant to take this position at first, but I received a nudge. Change is good and it keeps you learning and growing. This new position will keep me growing and developing. I will be challenged again and start to develop new skills. I encourage all of you out there to take a risk and try something new if it is available to you. It might be different at first, but if it is a good development opportunity, then go for it. (Thank you Ashley for pushing me :) )

I try to remember to keep my life in perspective and not allow my career to take over. I tend to go through phases where I can get obsessed with certain things in life, and put too much emphasis on them. I should care about my job and I should do it well, but that does not mean that it should consume me. I am learning to find a balance between career development and my big picture perspective on life. My career should not dictate my life.

So I ask you? What risks or big changes have you made that you have learned from? Was it hard or relatively easy? How do you balance your career with the rest of your life?