Happy Valentine’s Day (Written By AmbassadorNique)

Happy Valentine’s Day! This week is going pretty well. I am doing my best to keep these write up’s short so forgive me if I ramble. Tuesday night I was able to attend an event aimed to link young black undergraduates with mentors and allies. This was a very good event, and while I have a few complaints sometimes it’s better to keep them to yourself and look at the positives. This was a great networking opportunity for me since I am so new at this institution and really don’t know that many people outside of my department. I am actually following up by having lunch with one of the people I met and exchanging emails with some individuals who are currently in a Master’s Program I am looking into.

Wednesday was a great day. After a great workout at the gym I was able to speak to a co-worker who graduated from the same Master’s program I am applying to. I also found out that there will be a free 3 hour session on using Final Cut Pro X next month!

I will start hiking Tiger Mountain soon with one of the Doctors from our department and some co-workers. The goal is for the group to go on a continued basis, and also to diversify my hiking trips as well. The gym is great, but nothing will prepare me like actually getting up and doing it in the beautiful Washington state outdoors.

I ended the day with a delicious steak and lobster dinner (which I learned was called surf and turf.. lol) with my lady. She works tonight so we celebrated early. She also gave me gifts with a card made of a picture from our first valentine’s day we spent together back in 2007 before we started dating. Of course being an online shopper my gift didn’t arrive in time. I hope she likes it.

Ambassador

Time to Level Up (Written By AmbassadorNique)

I’ll keep this one short and sweat since most of my writings tend to ramble on. I’ve done a decent job of staying committed to my goals thus far, but now it’s time to level up and take it to the next level. The plan is to move to a weekly budget, I should be able to save more money now that my credit cards will be paid off. I would like to start waking up and hitting the gym 3 times a week, and taking my home workout more seriously and be more consistent about the workout and going to sleep earlier. I also need to diversify my dishes and more food uploads. My last GRE Prep class is tomorrow morning and a practice exam has been scheduled for March 9^th (should probably find a sooner one). Time to TURN UP!

I’ve been doing a better job of genuinely keeping a positive attitude at work and going out of my way to take advantage of networking opportunities. I definitely need to find more productive ways to use my free time.

Relationship wise I’ve recognized my girlfriends love languages are quality time and acts of service, but I need to do a better job of not letting small things lead me off course of building the foundation we are trying to build for ourselves. I am also working hard to continue to work on progressing in my personal maturity and communication. A friend of mine told me the other day “I would hate to date you because you always seem like you are thinking 10 steps ahead of everyone else.” A gift and a curse I suppose, but I will try to be sure to use those 10 steps to aim for happiness. (**sidenote** Valentine’s day is next week… hmmmmmm…..)

My tax return is on its way and will serve as emergency savings only. No big plans to buy anything or take any trips. Paying off debt slowed me down from my savings for Japan but this will start this month! August is getting closer and Mt. Fuji isn’t getting any smaller!

If you’ve made it this far I hope you too are being realistic about your goals. Continue on your marathon, and best of luck to you on accomplishing your aspirations.

-Ambassador