Hey all! I know it seems like I’ve been MIA for the past week and a half, and I’m sorry for not giving you a heads up. I was recently and unexpectedly deployed to Colorado to cover the flood response my organization is providing. As some of you know, my “real” job is writing for an international relief non-profit and one of my main beats is U.S. Disaster Relief. 

In defense of my unamused expression, I had no idea he was taking a picture. The photographer wanted me to stand where the homeowner would stand for a shot to make sure the lighting would be right. But you can get a feel for how devastated this house was. I was seriously knee deep in mud in some places.

The water proof pants and ball cap look is a fashion statement for sure!

So, I went and got to reunite with some really great disaster relief volunteer friends while also meeting some new ones. I really do enjoy interviewing people and writing to get their stories out. But man am I tired. I seriously had been working for around 11 days straight.

I regret my poor posture in this photo but I love these people so much!

We were exhausted. Here’s one of my roomies (who shall remain nameless) exhibiting how we all felt getting up super early in the morning. These people are beasts doing hard manual labor all day.

When I finally got back home, it was 11:30 at night and I only had a couple of hours catching up with the husband before we hit the hay and I was on the road again the next morning for my best friend’s bachelorette party.

But I’ll be writing about that another day 🙂 (or later today if I have free time lol).

Needless to say, it’s been a whirlwind of a time and on TOP of it all, the Hubs is now out of time on a work trip too. Oh to be busy and in our 20s. I need a vacation stat. We’re already booked every weekend of October. How does that even happen?

But I will say, I finally feel like my healthy lifestyle is just that– a lifestyle. Yes, it was near impossible to eat healthy in Colorado because I ate a lot of what our volunteers ate which every meal had meat (and when you normally eat meat either once a day or every couple of days– that’s A LOT of meat). I actually felt so ill during my trip because of the food but I’m very happy to be back and eating what I want to eat again. And surprising, what I am craving more than anything are fruits, veggies and Shakeology. In fact, I’m trying to go all out vegetarian while the Husband is away since it’s easier to do it when he’s not here. He tends to want a little meat each day.
But overall I FEEL SO MUCH BETTER… though Zumba totally kicked my butt yesterday. I guess working a lot doesn’t quite make up for the lack of exercise. Oh well, atleast this time I’m DYING to jump back on the wagon instead of dreading it. Though, I definitely had to rest before completely jumping back on. Don’t mind me. I just looked like this for a couple of days.

What? You can go 100 miles an hour 24/7!

How do you guys recoup after being completely exhausted? Remember, it’s important in every healthy lifestyle to get enough sleep and rest to keep your body in tip top shape!