“When one door closes, you have to open all the windows because it gets so hot!!” – Said my lovely friend/blogger Rachel Barker who took me out after I found out I didn’t get the dream job I spoke about previously. It was to be a Naturalist for the Ambassadors of the Environment program at the Ritz Carlton in the Grand Cayman Islands (I know..that would have been AMAZING huh?!). After a couple months of interviews and back and forth emails, I find out I came in 2nd place and if they had one more spot open I’d be in for sure. This job was PERFECT *or what I thought was perfect* in terms of jumping back into the boat with marine science field.

It was a big bummer for sure, but this quote helped me realize that this isn’t the end of the world..

You can’t let one ‘let down’ be the end of your hopes and dreams. There are SO MANY amazing opportunities just waiting for me out there that I’m super excited to stumble upon the next one.

One opportunity that fell into my lap recently was to be part of a blog team for this fantastic workout studio that I’ve been attending since August, called Pure Barre Pasadena. The other half of the blog team is my friend Rachel, which got me hooked on Pure Barre in the first place. But lucky for Rachel, she got asked to be an Instructor for the studio as well as their marketing coordinator. So basically, the Pure Barre Pasadena Blog was thrown into my lap as my own little project. The site is live and doing great – Meet Me @ The Barre  – check it out! Pure Barre is a wonderful workout that combines yoga, pilates, and ballet barre techniques. I’ve seen faster results after 2 weeks of classes than 6 months of the gym. Look for a studio near you 🙂

Another opportunity was to become a part of the Pasadena Jaycee’s (Junior Chamber of Commerce). Rachel is an active member of the program and recruited me to be part of their huge event Operation Santa this year. Instead of traveling during the holidays, I’ll be staying in Pasadena and passing out gifts (where we all are dressed as Santa, Mrs. Claus, and Elves) to children who write letters to Santa (which is re-directed to the Pasadena Jaycee’s Office 🙂 ). I’m such a giving person in the first place- Operation Santa will definitely be a lot of fun!

Getting a little more sentimental- just wanted to say life really works in mysterious ways. This year so far I’ve gained so many new long-lasting friendships, lost what I thought were very strong friendships, worked with some of the most amazing people who have become my family, completed three 5K runs, have had such a supporting family in times of uplift,  dramatically expanded my blogging career, and so so much more.

To say that this year has monumental for me would be an understatement. I’ve GROWN so much. I’ve LEARNED so much. I’ve SEEN so much. Keeping positive, healthy, and confident has only lead me to great things. Right now, I’m happy 🙂 I hope you are too!