Semester is OVER! Time to R.E.L.A.X

Hey everyone!!!!

Missed everyone so much + blogging of course. Despite the extremely hectic last few weeks I have been able to sneak a peak at my favorite blogs here and there but nothing beats the leisure of reading away and taking time to relax without having to worry that I have a paper due tomorrow or that I have a very intense Finance final coming up. So, pretty much happy to say that is over!!! :) 

I have the next week off from work so I am excited to catch up on my favorite things more consistently: Blogging, family time, friend time, love time, time to work out, time to meal prep and bake goodies, time to spend time with the people that make me smile and just time to BE FREE. Nothing can describe the sense of freedom that being off from work AND school brings, even if its just for a week. So, I am feeling very blessed and grateful and looking forward to wrapping up this wonderful 2013 on the right foot.

Before I go any further just wanted to give a shout out to Lisa from "Something Infinitely Interesting" for participating on my last give away. Congratulations as you won the amazing Bestowed Box!! Please email me your mailing address (dolcemabelle@gmail.com) so that I can make delivery arrangements. Thank you so much for participating. I didnt get much response on the giveaway and I have a feeling I am lacking a bit on my advertising skills for the blog. Not to mention I haven't really been making people aware of my blog as much as I used to in the past. So, no biggie'. Just something to work on!

So, whats happened since my last blog post? Wish I could say I traveled all around Europe on a private jet. However, the majority of my time was spent with my bank management book:
Here is a photo of me after I took my last final last week:

Lets just say that after nearly 100 note-cards later I was ready for it all to be over!!! Just quickly wanted to point out that despite another challenging class; I once again got a professor whom was very understanding and actually took the time to meet with me and discuss things I did not understand in order to make sure I would be okay. Always thankful for professors that actually care.

Besides finance, I took an "Gender Differences" course which was pretty much an entrepreneurship class focused on women business owners. It was AMAZING and I learned so much! Sometimes I wonder why the heck am I bothering with the degree and then classes like the ones I took remind me of why and put my career goals and objectives back on track and in to better perspective.

So anyways, all the studying, classes, my full time job and trying to balance some sort of social life was starting to take a toll on me back in November. The anxiety was transferring over to my eating habits and I couldnt remember the last time I exercised. Lets just say I was feeling like crap (...and pardon my french). Considering all the races I have done this year running outside had gotten kind of mundane and boring. I needed a change of pace to get excited again about working out so I took it back to the basics: I joined a gym!!! Besides calming down my anxiety and feeling better about myself I also wanted to join in order to start off the new year the right away. I dont know about you but "trying to start something" on January 1st brings a little bit too much pressure and thats when motivation seems to slowly fade away. In comparison, starting off on goals way before the 1st makes me that much more motivated as I transfer the momentum in to the new year. What do you think?

So, back to the gym: I am super, duper, FRUGAL so I did not want to spend a ton on monthly fees. I looked in to Planet Fitness which is the most affordable gym I know ($10 bucks a month, hard to beat that!). After much thinking and back and forth I finally decided to take the plunge and I joined a new facility near my apartment complex.

All I have to say is that I REALLY love it and it's done is job in terms of keeping me motivated to work out again. I have to admit in the past I had been a little skeptical about planet fitness due to some prior not-so-good experiences but I am so glad I joined this branch and look forward to my workouts. No better feeling than to getting back at it! 

Bathroom Selfie

Besides the above, Ive also been spending a lot of time with a good friend and simply just bonding away and feeling very, very happy.

A couple of pictures of decorations around Wall Street (taken right before I literally ran out of the vicinity before vacation):

Tree by NYSE

NYSE

Hope everyone has been good and is ready to start out the new year on a momentum.
Any goals? I suggest starting out now!!! Even if its just a small step. There is no better feeling than starting the new year already ahead of the game!

Love you all and thanks for reading!

 Mabelle <3

Source 

Fortunate Fridays + Tomorrow's Post

Hey guys! yes I am alive. I apologize for my hiatus this past week. School has started again believe it or not so I have spent the last week of my life trying to sort out my schedule and would spent literally the ENTIRE day away from home! But I am happy to say my schedule has been set and I am excited about the semester. I am actually taking 2 courses I am super excited about. Will share more on that as the semester develops.

By the way--- I promise the blog is more than just fortunate Friday posts! I will be posting more often as soon as I am finally settled in to my new routine. I feel that my friday posts have become a tradition already so, if I can help it I wont let them slide by :)

Soooo here goes...This week I felt fortunate for (these are super RANDOM so, get ready :)

1. Being at the right place at the right place at the right time-- Went to church this past Sunday and went to say hello to a friend of my moms who is from Ecuador. Well, as we walked out of the church she asked whether I eat chocolate (ummm hello?! I belong in C.A- Chocolate Anonymous) . Well, she handed me a small bag of traditional Ecuadorian chocolates and candy. I would say this is not necessarily an 'amazing' thing for my healthy lifestyle. But, everything in moderation, right?! :) I was able to stretch out the candy for longer than 5 minutes so I'll call that an accomplishment. lol

2. Meeting new people-- Met someone this week. We have a ton of things in common but I still dont know what to think. I'll share more as I feel more comfortable. This shall be interesting. :)

3. The blessing of being able to attend graduate school and finally take courses I am passionate about! :)

4. The ability to get back on track and identifying what my food triggers are which helps me find ways to control myself.--- I have to be honest. This week with all the stress and anxiety of getting my schedule together I ate A LOT. And I dont mean a lot of healthy food. I mean a lot of junk for at least 2-3 nights out of this past week (I would come home super late and just eat). The important thing is that I am FULLY aware of it and of what my triggers are (stress, exhaustion, anxiety). I think that when you understand yourself and the reasons why you do certain things you can find ways to fix it or work around it next time you're faced with a similar situation.

5. Most Importantly: Being alive and well-- This morning I received some terrible news about someone I know who passed away (She was in her mid twenties) I was on my way to work and felt incredibly helpless and devastated. it was also a wake up call to realize that being alive is  BLESSING that we need to embrace and feel incredible thankful for. No tomorrow is promised and as cliche as that may sound, is the truth. We may be going through tough times in life but as long as we are breathing and still here, thats all you need. Everything else can be fixed. 

Dayana-- I dedicate this post to you. May you rest in peace and thank you for being such an amazing person. Although I just met you briefly you introduced me to a whole new world and so many amazing things to see in your beautiful country, Peru. Thank you for teaching me so much about life and being the best tour guide i've ever encountered. I know God you has you in his highest glory.


Tomorrow I plan to write up my January recap, how my goals went and introduce new goals for February!!!! :)

T.G.I.F

What do you feel fortunate for this week?!