A Brand New Start--Literally

So today I remembered that I actually have my own blog. Oh blogging, who has time to do it anymore? Okay so it's been a lot of months since I've posted, what can I say, wanna fight about it? With the wedding going off literally without a hitch (thanks to some awesome family coordination), a one week incredible honeymoon in Cabo Mexico, and not one but two new jobs for the newly formed Whitney family, things have gotten crazy! You heard me right, both Jared and I are both proud owners of new jobs. We figured, hey, we might as well throw what remained of our single-lives in the trash, and start all over, good idea right? (Not really, it was totally planned, but the timing of how this whole thing went down has been rather, well, strange). First and foremost, wedding, horray! Photo above taken by our uber-talented photographer Jeremy Arnold (see full blog post here with more images)! There's my own horn, tooted. The wedding was incredible, can we do it again? :)

Now on to the decision to uproot my six year career. From my standpoint was simply ready to move on to a new career with more potential and move on to something bigger and better, and Jared was finally ready to have a job which allowed him to be home more than away. We are SO INCREDIBLY lucky to have both found GREAT jobs in this rather lousy job market. Don't get me wrong, it took about 2 months before I was able to land an offer, but I still consider myself lucky. Interviewing the Wednesday before the wedding however? Not desirable. I'm surprised I didn't come off like a complete stress-ridden, basket case.

So today was my very first day at at my new job as the new Internet Marketing Coordinator and I think I'm going to like this place! (although one guy did say to me "you look like someone, and this is nothing against you at all, but like that ditzy girl from that one show....you know what I'm talking about?" No sir, I have no clue, but please be more specific for my own personal ego...sheesh). This exchange happened only minutes before the cheesy sexual harassment video aired. Ironic.

And Jared? He is finishing out his 2 remaining weeks at his current position and starts at a local software development company thereafter! I'm so excited for him, I think he will love it there from all the great things people say about the lucky company who landed him. :)

So, we have a brand new start on our hands, fo sho. Here's hoping my sanity sticks around throughout this transition process. Three cheers for the Whitneys! Yayflag! Yayflag! Yayflag! :)

Warrior Dash/Stroll

Today was the big day, the day of the Kansas City Warrior Dash. This year is the first year the Warrior Dash came to Kansas City, and I was so excited to give it a try! A group of my friends signed up together to join the fun. Here's a group photo before the race.


Little did Red Frog Events know, they scheduled the Warrior Dash to be held during one of the most trying heat waves in Kansas City. Today, we dashed in 97 degree heat at least that's the temperature it was during our wave. I use the term DASH figuratively. There was not much dashing on our part, more power walking/strolling instead. We jogged for maybe the first mile of the course, and then it was all over. The heat was so intense, the heat index was over 100 degrees, and the course was MUCH more challenging than originally expected. That, coupled with our 11:30am start time, made for a good 50min 5k course time. We should have expected trouble, when the starting line announcer told us to hydrate about 20 times, and then found it imperative to say that "they have seen over 30 people go down just this morning due to the heat". Fan-friggin-tastic. That really motivated me right from the start.

My friend Kate had warned me that the course was full of hills, but I was completely caught off-guard at the quantity and significance of the elevation changes we experienced throughout this course. The incline and decline were so steep, that just walking up these hills was trying, let alone the 10 challenging obstacles sprinkled in between. One participant actually had already ran in the Chicago Warrior Dash held earlier this year, and said that this Kansas City track was ten times more difficult. That made me feel like much less of a pansy. :) It was challenging, but still very fun! The obstacles ranged from cargo nets, to jumping over fire, to balance obstacles 6ft in the air, to tires, to a mud pit at the very end. The link in the beginning of this post will show all of the obstacles we encountered if you want to check it out. It kept us on our toes with every turn and every hill. A few were a little out of my comfort zone--mainly those that required climbing over a tall obstacle to climb down the other side--but all in all, I am so pumped that I finished every one of them! This is my favorite image of the day--My best friend Lindsay and I tackling the fire pits:


My friend Abby was a spectator at the event, and I have her to credit with some of the rockin photos she captured. Thanks Ab! It was fun, but the jury is still out whether or not I would participate again next year if the event is held at the same time of year. That heat was crazy bad, so bad that they cancelled the event shortly after our wave finished. I'm glad I had the opportunity to participate before it was called off! Whew! Otherwise, I would never have known what crawling under barbed wire in utter sludge felt like:

Cake vodka & what's for dinner

Why eat plain ol' pizza, when you can have pepperoni pizza bites!? This recipe popped up on Annie's Eats, one of the MANY cooking blogs I follow. I couldn't resist, so I made this delicious, pizza-riffic finger food tonight for dinner. Super easy to make, and super yummy!

*I substituted 2% cheese and turkey pepperoni, so I could eat more with less guilt. :) Pair it with a side salad, it was a satisfying little meal.

Prepared, ready to hit the oven

After only 20min of baking. It smelled amazing

Ready to eat with a side of marinara for dipping!

Drool

The cheesy, gooey, yummy

I treated myself to a dinner cocktail as well. Anybody ever heard of this cake-flavored Vodka?

Well I heard it was amazing, and I had to try it for myself. The smell of it alone was DIVINE. Mix it with a little Sprite zero, and I had myself a nice dinner time refresher. :) Seriously, try this stuff. The mixing possibilities are ENDLESS. Tomorrow night is my high school 10yr reunion, (if that doesn't make you feel old, what will)? A few of us are meeting up over at my house for pre-reunion cocktails. This is sure to be a hit!

Making lollies

I have no idea why, but I really want to make some homemade lollipops for the girls at the office (and myself I suppose). :) With all of this inspiration and easy how-to recipes, it shouldn't be too hard. Check out these lovely lollies:

photo and recipe cred



photo and recipe cred


photo and recipe cred

I'm seeking out some fun molds and then the candy making is ON. :)