Summer Recap and Positive Changes

Per usual, I haven't blogged in a while. Things have been pleasantly busy, but also very focused on studying for my upcoming Professional Engineering license. I am hoping these hours of studying end up paying off! My kitties have become so used to studying with me. See below :)

Always giving me stern professor look - in cat form!

This last couple months, I've also started being more focused on health/fitness. I completed a very strict 28-day keto diet challenge, and joined a salad club at work with some of my coworkers. The weight loss has been a nice perk, but the stress relief and balance while studying has been the ultimate reward. It's also gotten me to spend more time in my kitchen and learn to cook - something I've been woefully bad at for years!

Salad club mason jars - prepared the night before my assigned day of the week! Sometimes they're pretty :)

While I didn't craft or do much by way of creativity, I did get some gardening done this summer. Lots of beans and I became the heirloom tomato queen for a few months - ended up being perfect for salad club preparation.

Tomatoes and green (and yellow) beans for days! 

In other big changes - my vendor partner, Blind Cat Vintage, left Found on Fremont to strictly sell online, so the space and all its abundance changed. We have future plans in the mix, so it's not goodbye for good as a duo, but for now I've switched managing the vending space solo.

I was finally able to put some larger pieces in with my newfound space.

I think the most significant change to my life over the summer is that I left the clean water bureau and transferred back to the sewer bureau. Very early on I realized it wasn't a great fit and I'm so grateful that my former bureau welcomed me back with new opportunities - good people and strides towards efficiency are so important in a workplace. I'm working within the design group - no longer a construction manager officially (though, I'm still finishing some projects for my former bureau), but I'm so excited that I'm learning new skills as an engineer. Being well rounded is something I think will benefit my career long term. This past summer, I've been managing the construction on Mt. Tabor Reservoirs historical preservation, which has been a unique project to manage and one I'm lucky enough to finish while transferring bureaus. I love being able to say I have a part in such a well known Portland landmark! Summer site visits here have been fantastic.