Rants, Recipes, and Running

I'm going to get a little philosophical here...but I've been doing a lot of reflecting this summer. And as my time in the Midwest comes to a close very soon - I have realized a few things. When I learned we would be returning to the Midwest back in March I was ecstatic. I knew this time would go extremely fast, it would be very full, and I would get to strengthen my relationships with family. All that has been accomplished. I also wondered, "will it feel weird to be back?" Indeed. I've realized that I have changed a lot since I last called this place my "home". Grown is probably a better word choice than "changed". This time has made me feel as though during my time away - I was painting the outline of a painting. Understanding what was going on - staying in touch with where everyone was it - but you don't really get to "fill in the lines" until you are face to face with those people. I really felt like I've be...

Recently I was put on a big project at work to help build the "nursing role" within my company. Since nurses working for insurance companies is a fairly "new" idea. I chuckled a bit when I was invited to participate on this committee...for this is my 3rd "RN Retention Committee" I've been asked to serve on in my short 6 1/2 years in this field. After serving on the committee, I got a phone call from a "Leadership Consultant" in my company (one of the perks of working for a big company....so many resources!!) -- who said she wanted to be my mentor. I was ecstatic about this. As every time I listen to her speak or lead a meeting, I always thought to myself "Wow, I want to be like her when I grow up." She is an incredible leader and communicator. She has given me several tasks to do, books to read, videos to watch on my own time, to grow me as a leader. But the most interesting task I was given was to take this "5 Strengths...

Resolutions? Goals? Bucket List. Because I like lists. 2017 - bring it on. This is my list, in no particular order of importance - just things I'd like to check off the list when we ring in 2018 next year... It makes me fill better if I was unable to check something off the list. In opposed to "I didn't reach my goal." or "I failed miserably at the resolutions this year" Get my recipes organized Qualify for the Boston Marathon during my 2.24.17 marathon -- (goal time is 3:25) Run a half marathon in 1:35 Run 2017 miles Don't miss mass. Become a subject matter expert in at least 2 quality areas (boring work stuff) ;) By the end of the year, be submitting application to become a coach at work (which is my companies term for a "manager") Visit NYC Touch the Statue of Liberty (do they let you do that?) Run in Central Park Eat a hot dog from a New York City hot dog stand. (I don't even like hot dogs...but it's necessar...

I think most anyone that reads my blog is well aware of this information, but I feel it's time to put it all into writing. In fact, when I am get to play "99 questions" about this and all the details from acquaintances ...maybe I should just give them the url to this post. Back in August of 2015, Ryan decided to pursue his childhood dream to become an F16 pilot. He made many decisions in his life to pursue this: worked as an Avionics technician, got his Electrical Engineering Degree, got his private pilot licence, followed the F-16 jets from Fargo to Tucson that he was maintaining. Then we sat down, and picked out the locations we could move to. And he interviewed all over last fall. And guess what? He got the job!! And it wasn't any job. It was an F16 slot in Sioux Falls, South Dakota!!! 3-4 hours from my family and 3-4 hours from his Nebraska family. Do you ever make the "best decision of your life", and then get underwhelmed by it? Maybe feel like...

I have stayed pretty quiet about my career change in the public world. Why? Now when I tell people I'm a work from home nurse for an insurance company, I get responses like the following: "Oh cool! My cousin sells insurance. It pays the bills" "So you don't take care of people anymore? How can you be a nurse from your home?" "I work from home too!! I see Pampered Chef!! Isn't working from home the BEST?!" Here are a few clarifications about real work-from-home jobs: -Bottom line: they have you working from home because it's cost effective. Not because it's convenient for you. -Your productivity is scrutinized under a microscope. Literally every minute of my day is accounted for on a spreadsheet -Your workload is possibly double than what it was in the clinical world. -You are expected to answer any email or request on a minute's notice, because your boss knows you aren't "busy with a patient" or "in ...

So as I recently stated, life has had a lot going on lately for the "Nastase's". And when things tend to get busy, I tend to play the "what if" game. Ryan has temporarily put a band to my "what if" game. So to get that all out of my system, I'm referring the " journal jar prompts " and talking "if's" today! If you could have dinner with anyone currently alive, who would it be? I have to say my family. There's really no celebrity, polician or other person in the world I'd rather sit around the table with than my Mom, Dad, siblings, and their families! If you could meet any fictional character, who would it be? The BFG, otherwise known as "The Big Friendly Giant". Remember the book by Roald Dahl? The 1st time I read this book as a child, I had night terrors over this Friendly Giant. Which is ironic, because if I remember correctly, The BFG lived in the girl's closet and delivered good...

If you would have asked me 1 year ago, "Do you want to go to yoga?" I would have laughed, and thought to myself "That's not a workout! If I'm going to spend an hour at the gym, I may as well spend in lifting weights or running!" Boy was I wrong. And how I have changed my thinking! I label this post "downward facing diva" - because I feel like I have transformed into my own personal various of a "yoga diva". Better known as a "yogi" over the past few months. I started yoga because I had a revelation that it's quite pathetic that I can run 20 miles, but I cannot touch my toes. Yoga helped me do that, and much more! I will share that I wasn't feeling so "yoga diva status" at my 1st bikram flow class approximately 3 weeks ago. Where I found myself outside the studio, at the corner of a busy intersection in town, lying on the cement in a sports bra and yoga pants dry-heaving! Not my finest moment. And le...

As I recapped in my " Thank you, 2015 " post, that was a pretty amazing year. My biggest goal was to make 2016 more exciting and happy than 2015. I think we are off to a good start. We kicked off New Years weekend with a bang. I started NYD with a 20 mile run with my girlfriends, and then Ryan and I headed to Star Pass Resort for a weekend of relaxation, hiking, good food, and rejuvenation! But this post is to focus on literal this 10 day span, because I cannot believe how much as happened. Let me set the scene: Ryan is working night shift on random days (sometimes he is Monday - Friday, sometimes he is Wednesday - Sunday, sometimes he is Monday-Tuesday-Friday-Saturday-Sunday). You get the jist. It's all over the place and we are ships passing in the night. In fact, I met a friend for brunch today and I was a few minutes late. And my reason was "I met Ryan on the street and hadn't actually talked to him since Thursday - so we stopped in the street to hu...

I'm going to continue with my "writing project", and today the theme is "landmark events". This is fitting theme for the week. I'm not ready to share the big news, but let me just say my head is spinning from a VERY BIG week!  Write about your first crush.  My 1st crush was a boy at the lakes. Name: Alex. He was "good looking" (for a 12 year old), funny, rebellious, and he had no curfew. Thank you, Mom & Dad, for being so strict and giving me a curfew!! Sometimes I play a little game with myself, and think about what life would be like if these crazy "crushes" from my youth would have persisted. How different my life would be .  That is all I'm going to say! (LOL!) Write about your first week in college. Exciting!  I could not wait to get out of Wyndmere, ND!! I was making new friends every day, my classes were so exciting and interesting. Coming from a high school class of 24 to class sizes of >300 was invigorating...

Here are my current currently's! Reading : I am currently reading "The Kitchen House", which I am having a very difficult time really enjoying. It's a good book, but it seems to be moving slow. Or I'm just moving slow. One of the two... Thinking : About how amazing my coffee tastes on my 1st free morning in several weeks, where I don't have a workout or work to rush to. These quiet morning are so therapeutic! Frustrated : With the cactus hair-like-thorn lodged in the bottom of my foot from yesterday. And no, it wasn't from my race! It was from cleaning the pool, while walking around our back yard barefoot yesterday afternoon. (Here's your Cactus Thorn 101 for the non-desert dwellers: There are some large thorns that can easily be pulled out. Then there are this little hairs of thorn that hurt 10x worse . Usually a tweezers can't grab them. So if duct tape doesn't pull them out, the cactus thorn removal is self-limiting. You have to be pati...

We all know how unpleasant I find it, when people make the constant remark of "Are you pregnant?". I'm pretty sure this one has come up in rants' past. But just a refresher: Just because you are at childbearing age, it is possible to be tired - and not be with child. Just because you are at childbearing age, it is possible to be nauseated - and not be with child. Just because you are at childbearing age, it is possible to lose your keys - and not be with child. Just because you are at childbearing age, it is possible to not want a glass of wine - and not be with child. Just because you are childbearing age, and you have any one symptom - it doesn't mean you're frigging pregnant!! Now that we have that cleared up. :) Here's the other comment I find almost on a daily basis. (when I'm not being asked when I'm planning on getting pregnant, or why I don't have kids yet, and when am I going to have kids...) "Just wait unt...

I am very content with life right now, but I have to stay it's been pretty "simple". Which I kind of planned purposely my 1st weeks of January to really get organized and balanced. Plus we have a puppy at home, so when we are not working -- we've really tried to stay at home..... So due to my list of "interesting stuff", here is my "Currently post" for the winter! Reading : I am currently reading "The Kitchen House", which I am having a very difficult time really enjoying. It's a good book, but it seems to be moving slow. Or I'm just moving slow. One of the two... Thinking: Frustrated : That I don't have a weekend off until February 20. Feeling : At this moment, nostalgic. I'm helping my friend plan her music for her wedding in October. She had asked me what my processional song was, so while I was digging through my old "wedding stuff", I happened to pull out my wedding video. And 1 hour later, I found...

 I'm not going to do a post on my resolutions or goals for 2015, because a) I never keep my resolutions (it's sad, but true) b) I can't even come up with goals, because I don't know what I want. (again, probably kind of pathetic) But there are a few things, I can tell you what I want to get out of this year ! I always love a new year, and the promises it holds. So far, 1 week down: it's been good to me! I am completing a miniature "resolution/goal every week". Because I do better with baby steps. I write down a bunch of these and put them in a jar, and every week I take a new one out! "Abby the Realist" assumes this will last until March. But we shall see! ;) Be more connected to the loved ones in my life . Sometimes I have a tendency to distance myself. I am going to be better about keeping in touch with my family and friends I don't see often - and not via social media! I am looking forward to completing one of the " Top 1...

I have really been slacking on "blogging consistency" lately. Let's just say December got away from me! I got slammed with a 15 days course of bronchitis, while trying to get ready for Christmas. We had a week trip home with my family, which seriously filled my heart with more joy than I could ever explain. Then I got the stomach flu and spent 2 days writhing in fevers and nausea. (on our last days of the trip home) We had a 14 hour day of travel back home, where we picked up our new puppy. I went straight back to work, while trying to figure out how to take care of a puppy. And then it was midnight of January 1, 2015!! Whaa???... I have so much to talk about, but before 2014 gets away from me and just becomes a date I keep writing......let me do a recap of my favorite moments of 2014! (in chronological order) My few weekend trips to Alamogordo, NM to visit Ryan while he lived there for 6 months. Alamogordo is nothing to "write home" (or blog) abou...