The big THREE ZERO....

A good friend posted an article titled "13 Things That are Totally Going to Change You in Your 30's" on Facebook and seeing as how I am quickly approaching the scary age of 30, I thought I'd give it a read.

13 Things That Are Totally Going to Change You in Your 30's

I figured it would say things like "For females, your almost non-existent metabolism will completely disappear" or "adolescents will officially call you old and be embarrassed of you" or "You will feel old and tired all the time and your social calendar will soon be empty" or something crazy to that extent. I was pleasantly surprised that it was opposite.

When I was a kid, I had a plan of getting married when I was 26 and having kids starting at 28.....oh the fun blissful dreams of young Maja. I also wanted to be an interior designer, a journalist or a professional soccer player. Wow...I was so funny as a kid as I am not even close to any of those!

I do think it's funny how people freak out about turning a certain age. It's always the "big" ones like 30, 40, 50 and 60 that seem to cause anxiety for individuals. Now maybe I am naive, but as of now, I am stoked to be 30! Not for any particular reason....I mean, 29 was a fanfreakingtastic age and year for me, Maja Gillespie :), but honestly, am I where I thought I would be at 30? Absolutely not. Am I upset or disappointed about it? How can I be? God had a different plan for the adult Maja than the young Maja had for me. I am so glad I am where I am today...

I have a feeling that 30 will be one of the best years of my life. So many new experiences, so many changes and so many unknowns that will be what WAM call life. I am so happy and content where I am at life and nervous/anxious/and uber excited to see what new doors, opportunities and surprises 30 has in store for me. I have an awesome husband that will make my 30th year one to remember.

To you 30, I say bring it on. We will be friends. I will embrace you and all the crazy you bring :)

Long Awaited Not-So-Exciting Update :)

So it's been a while. Like a couple of months a while. Do you remember me still? I am sorry for my lateness of this post. Please forgive me. I've been lost in the world that is graduate school...

This post should and could be an update of all the fun things I've been up to since my original post back in January, but again, I am human. And I have been chained to a lap top writing a thesis. Such is life...

For now, I will revert back to my New Year's Resolutions to update ya'll on those. The first and main thing on mine and Will's NYR list was to live a healthier lifestyle and to work out more consistently. Well.....ya. I can give you a 150 excuses, but none are good enough to justify why I do not have a smokin' hot body like Jillian Michaels. I just suck. I lose motivation quite quickly and ESPECIALLY in winter. I joke with my co-workers that I need my "winter coat" to keep warm. To be quite honest, we had a really cold winter this year! However, that is no excuse and swimsuit weather is just around the river bend....

I can happily say that Will and I are both on a regular  workout routine and are eating MUCH better! Wahoooooo go us! It is amazing how one can get lost so quickly and fall to the dark side. It is also so crazy how when life gets busy, we (as in us, not society, not YOU, not anyone else but me and mine) let exercise fall out. We say, "we can always work out harder tomorrow." Hey idiot, wrong thing to cut out!!! When life gets busy, the first thing I cut out is my workout. Always. Silly Maj. Stupid Maj more like it. Did I mention I am really hard on myself? I am. Downfall #1. Well that may be true, but I love the fact that a good, hard workout is a great stress reliever. Let's be real, right now, stress relievers are one of the top things on my priority list ;)

For some daily motivation, I refer to The Berry via my smart phone. I love this site! It's mainly a photo gallery site that has funny, motivational and overall just fun photos for peeps to enjoy. I love the Daily Motivation gallery and here are some recent faves that keep me motivated:

One of my other goals I've been working on is reading a book a month. Again, this goal has been slowed down slightly because of working on my thesis. I have, however, finished two books and am in the middle of a third. Probably doesn't sound like much, but when you read a billion journal articles and write, read and re-write a thesis a million times a week, the last thing you want to do is read. Trust me. I don't even want to read the nutrition panel on a box of cheerios. It's that bad. As soon as I get done with my master's I plan to read all  the time. Seriously. I already have books lined up for when I have copious amounts of free time. I am so excited! I would LOOOOOOVE any book recommendations you can give me.

Here are the books I've read:

January:

This is written by one of my favorite authors and she's not my favorite just because her last name is Weiner...ha ha. No, she is a fantastic Chick Lit writer. I thought for my first induction back into reading that I should read what I am familiar with. Wah wah. It was kind of disappointing. It was okay, but did not make me as happy and was not as entertaining as her other books.

February: 

Have you read Heaven is for Real? This is similar in the respect that both main characters have an experience, near death experience if you will, that allows them to travel to Heaven. It's pretty remarkable. This book, however, is written from the perspective of a neuroscientist. A non-believer. Someone who does not believe in heaven, or God, or anything religious. It was an awesome book. I finished my January book on the plane, as I knew I would, so I bought this book at the Seattle airport before my flight. It was an interesting perspective into near death experiences and heaven from a scientific point of view. Definitely recommend this book. 

March/April: 

I am currently in the middle of this book. So far, I love it. I have already cried. It is sweet, loving and intense and full of frustration at the same time. I know there is more sadness to come, but it is a touching novel so far. Please don't spoil the ending if you've read it already.

That's it for now.....