#justthetwoofus

People come and go in our lives. Sometimes they come and then go away for awhile, and then come back again. K. Caitlyn Pilkington is one such person in my life.

College dorm assignments are a total crap-shoot. You can request someone who has like interests all you want and rank your dorm preference as fervently as you possibly can, but in the end it's really all just a crap-shoot in who and where you're gonna get stuck. Somehow, someway, the dorm Gods were like "Yes, bitchez, today, the odds are in your favor," and four compatible chicks ended up sharing a dorm room, excuse me, sharing a suite. They call them suites where we used to live in order to make them that much more appealing. I suppose they were a little bigger. We only had to share a bathroom between 4 people, rather than 27. And we had boysenberry syrup and endless whipped cream by our waffle makers. All those other dorms had over-cooked sausage and eggs that came out of a bag. But I digress.

My college roommates freshman year were awesome. Yeah, we ate a lot of Jack in the Box and gained a lot of unwanted lbs (to be pronounced ell beez - because that's what the cool kids call them), but we wore those muffin tops together. There were slurpee runs in toe socks and high ponies. There were pyramids of natty lite cans in the corner while we got rolled together by our RA for under-age drinking. There were hook-ups with hall mates and several failed attempts at slutty Halloween costumes. We were tight. So tight we decided to live together willingly the following year. Things got a little catty that year. And some friendships withered.

People come and go in our lives.

Caitlyn was one of my roommates freshman and sophomore year of college. We bonded over running and often spoke of racing together. We'd relive our high school cross country glory days and dream about what it'd be like to run for UCSB.

Our friendship faded over the course of sophomore year and then I didn't see her again until the day we graduated. I remember seeing her in passing and uttering a weak "congrats." It was weird. That we could be so close one year, and then so distant the next.

A pocketful of years has passed since graduation and Caitlyn and I have mainly stayed in each other's lives through social media, ya know, following each other on Instagram and such. Somewhere along the way we started texting again, bonding over running once more. She is now the associate editor for Women's Running Magazine and Competitor Magazine. She works for Competitor Group, which is the corporation that puts on all the Rock N' Roll races around the globe. Needless to say, she's a pretty big deal. I've lived vicariously through her via Instagram for the past couple years because she is doing exactly what I would love to be doing. She's getting running swag thrown at her on the reg. She's a published author. She gets to travel the globe and get paid for it. That betch.

Caitlyn came to visit me this last weekend. Hadn't seen the girl in years. When she showed up we hugged and yelped like little kids. We proceeded to drink beerz and get all caught up in that thick ol' cloud of nostalgia.

It was so surreal to be talking about those years. To really hash out what it was that caused all the fading of friendship in that second year of college. We spent the weekend laughing, running, talking about boys, drinking smoothies and eating Cheez-its. #justthetwoofus

I could find one of those cheesy cliche quotes to talk about friendship and sisterhood and bonding through trials and tribulations and all that sick syrupy stuff. But I ain't gon go thurr. Let's just get real and say I cried on the beach and she put her arm around me. It was sweet and picturesque and I will remember that moment for a long time comin'.

People come and go in our lives. Sometimes they go and come back. When they knock, let' em in. Or you can just peer pressure them to drive 3 1/2 hours to your house so they can drink pilsners with you and laugh about passive aggressive post-its and embarrassing casual encounters with hall mates like I did. Eating Cheez-its and See's Candies all the while. #nomnomnom

resolute.

So since it's a new year, here is my token resolution post.

I've decided that this year is the year of taking care of myself. Hopefully it will start a running trend for all the years that follow.

Something happened when I turned 26. Like I mentioned in an earlier post, I feel like 26 tossed me into the land of woman-dom. I'm a woman now, and women need to take care of themselves so they don't turn into leathered looking frizz balls earlier than they must.

One of the steps in taking care of myself involved becoming an independent consultant for a company called Arbonne. The company is comparable to Avon and Mary Kay only in that the products can't be found in stores and are only sold through folks like myself. In every other regard Arbonne surpasses those other companies. Arbonne is an all natural botanical skin care and beauty line. I decided to become a consultant because I tried the products and experienced the many benefits and positive effects  personally and wanted to share those experiences with others. Since becoming a consultant I've hosted three small events and have absolutely loved every minute of it. An event consists of foot soaks and optional facials and getting to pamper people is quickly becoming one of my favorite things to do. In becoming a consultant I was aiming to try and be more conscious of taking care of my skin and consequently stumbled upon a new passion.

Another step in taking care of myself involves this trendy little clean eating thing. I've always pretty much eaten whatever I want whenever I want. My weight fluctuates quite a bit but I've never considered myself to be overweight. Well, except back in my chunkier elementary and middle school

days. I suppose it carried into freshman year of high school, and then again freshman year of college, but for the most part my BMI has been in the "healthy" level for my height. I'm not suggesting that I'm fat right now by any means. But I am suggesting that I need to start being more conscious of what I'm putting into my body. You can be thin as a rail and have a cholesterol level through the roof. I got a slow cooker for Christmas and I fully intend to start making delicious dishes that are good for my body and my tasty budz.

Third step includes getting physical. I've always been relatively active, I mean I run marathons occasionally and stuff. But I've never been very disciplined in my active life. Those of you who know me well know that I've never trained properly for a marathon. It's kind of my thing. But this year I want to qualify for the Boston marathon and you can't qualify for Boston without training. I also have a good friend who is egging me on to do a half iron man with her. We'll see about that last one. I have another friend who has made a resolution to buy a Groupon for a different fitness activity every month and I intend to join her in that. This month we bought a yoga groupon. I've never been much into yoga but I went to a candlelight flow sesh this evening and it was pretty magical. Seriously does wonders for your mental state and the sweating just wouldn't quit. I left feeling like a whole new lady.

My last step in taking care of myself involves doing at least one thing I love to do daily. It's just too easy to get caught up in the busyness of it all. Today I worked on a puzzle for a little bit. And I wrote a letter. Two things I adore. I also spent some time with a new friend who made me laugh until I almost peed my pants, another thing I love to do. The laughing, not the peed pants.

So friends, there it is. The resolution to take care of myself. You should all do the same.

And if you ever want me to host an Arbonne event with you and all your friends, you know where to find me!!