A Person of Excellence

Hello out there! How was your weekend? I spent most of mine in a Foundations of Strength and Conditioning class at the YMCA. Luckily, it was more of a review for me. The class brought together employees from multiple Y branches so it was a good chance to meet others in the area. Erin Kiernan is one of those people who teaches at the Y in her spare time. She's a full time anchor on WHO here in Des Moines. On Saturday I had the opportunity to eat with her at Z'Mariks. She is one of the cutest, most down-to-earth, inspirational people I've ever met.

Also in the class, we discussed how to define a "person of excellence". The group brainstormed some ideas I thought were great. Below are a few examples of what a person of excellence does:

• doesn't put blame on others
• holds others accountable
• is able to play in the "gray area"
• committed to whatever they're doing at that moment
• knows that their actions affect others
• generous with time, talent, and resources
• can say "no"
• continuously learning
• is known as the "go-to" person

What else would you add to the list? What qualities do you have that are on the list?

In other news... it's week 2 of boot camp!! It is now 8:30pm and my body is about ready to shut down. It probably doesn't help I'm on a 9 day streak of working at the Y and my days have gone from 4:30am-9:30pm. With the extra cash, I ordered a few tops I found on REI and am crazy about them. Especially the pink and gray one.

Front

Back

I'm also officially signed up for the Des Moines IMT Half Marathon. Come cheer me on Sunday, October 16th, 2011!

Why I love Home

This summer I've managed to make it back to my home town of Dyersville a few times. There's something about hometown friends, family and all the green space on the farm that can't be beat. The second week of June I made it back for a friend's wedding. Here's a group of us doing shots... not my regular choice of alcoholic beverage, but it was a fun wedding nonetheless.

 The next weekend back was for the 4th of July! This is my absolute favorite holiday right behind Christmas. Fireworks make me so happy and BBQs, watermelon and the summer sun are what make summer, summer. Even the Karabou got to hitch a ride to visit her cousins Casey and Gabby.

The other new and fun adventures back home are Troy's chickens. I was shocked when he brought this one-"Rooser" was his name right up to the front door. Rooster follows Troy around and it's pretty adorable.

Troy and Rooster

 

 

 

We also have hens from the Amish that produce some good looking eggs. Troy is out there about 10 times a day checking on the chickens and pulling out the eggs that appear to be "stuck". What a helper.

 This past weekend the family kind of came to me! Instead of a vacation to Montana, we spent the weekend camping at Ledges State Park near Boone. Our first celebration once we all arrived was to congratulate Sarah on being debt free!!!!!!! I am so very, very proud of my big sister. I don't recall the final amount but it was around $30,000 she paid off in about 2 years (with a wedding in there, too!) using Dave Ramsey's envelope system and budgeting advice. That is awesome!

Mom and her tie-dyed honies!

My family is definitely the best thing I'll ever have. Such an amazing group of people with such unique qualities and I love every one of them to pieces. It's always good to be at home with them.