Positives of 2019 | Blogmas Day 31

It's New Year's Eve! The final day of the decade and the final day of what was a rather challenging year for me. I feel like I've spent a lot of time dwelling on the negative things that have happened to me this year, so I thought in order to close out 2019 on a positive note, why not highlight all of the good things that happened? There's always going to be a mixture of good and bad things that happen each year, and even though 2019 just happened to weigh heavier on the more challenging aspects of life for me, that doesn't mean that there was nothing good about the year at all. There was actually a lot of good! Let's take a look at all of the highlights of 2019 so that when I look back and remember the year, these are the things that pop out to me first. 😊

-Rang in the New Year Grandpa Joe style with the Doodie Gang

-Travelled to Southern California for the first time for the ACPA Mid-Manager's institute and had one of the best professional development experiences with my mentor group, Anat-ch Above the Rest

-Impromptu trip to Pittsburgh to watch the Patriots with the Super Bowl with our best pals

-Marathon #9 in Florida, including getting to spend time with my family and seeing Cassie finish her first 26.2

-Marathon #10 in Arkansas and laughing to much with Cassie on this random trip to Little Rock

-Visiting old pals at Mount Holyoke over spring break

-Finally finding our own place and getting out of a really toxic living situation

-Marathon #11 in Delaware and qualifying as a Marathon Maniac

-Somehow pulling off a sold out Spring Day concert despite the insanity of the semester and my personal life

-Finally registering for one of my bucket list races

-Airboating with Brett and my parents

-Brewery tour in Boston with Noble & Jon, and getting caught in a torrential downpour on our way back to the train

-Picking up some new knitting skills and falling back in love with crafting as a form of self care

-Qualifying for Half Fanatics, and subsequently, Double Agent status!

-Marathon #12 in Rhode Island and getting the wake up call I needed when it comes to running

-Halloween birthday celebrations for Brett with our favorite peeps

-Seeing my students work SO HARD and pull off some really amazing things this semester

-Seeing NFG live for the umpteenth time and them being just as incredible as the first time

-Selected for the 2020 BibRave Pro team

-Selected for the 2020 Chicago Marathon field

-Tried out ax throwing for the first time

And I'm sure there are dozens of other small moments from this year that I can look back on and smile.

Each year, folks put up a "Top Nine" of photos from their Instagram, which is based on the number of likes you receive on your posts. I've been posting a Top Nine for a few years now, but I opt to create my own Top Nine of the year, regardless of how many likes the photos I select received during the year. I think the Top Nine I created this year is pretty reflective of the list above, and it reminds me that even though I still feel the pain from all of the bad that happened this year, there is still so much to be happy and proud about from 2019.

I hope you all have a happy and safe New Year, and an incredible 2020! 🍾🎆🎉

10 Best Photos of the Decade | Blogmas Day 30

As the 2010's come to a close, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the decade as a whole. This was the decade of my 20's and as such, so many transformative experiences happened for me in the last 10 years. I wanted to go through the hundreds (or more likely, thousands) of photos that were snapped over this decade and choose just one that I think best captured my favorite memories from each year. I loved this exercise and I 100% recommend doing the same thing to reflect on your experiences from the 2010's!

2010

2010 was such a fun year. I was newly single, focusing on my friends, and getting more involved on campus. I even got to travel internationally several times and spend a semester abroad! Throughout all of the amazing things that happened that year, the one thing that I'll always remember was my time as an Orientation Leader over the summer. I feel like I spent that entire summer laughing with these amazing people and I will always look back on the summer so fondly.

2011

I feel like 2011 was really the year of lacrosse for me! When looking through my photos from that year I had so many from my lacrosse season. We made the conference championship this year AND I scored a goal (captured above) which was rare for me because I played defense. 😂 Lacrosse was such a huge part of my college experience and I'm happy that I have so many photos to look back on!

2012

I graduated with my Bachelor's degree in 2012 which was such a huge accomplishment for me. I feel like I loved my college experience so much and that coming to a close was a huge life moment. I love this picture of me. It looks like I'm laughing because the photographer actually ended up being my friend Will and I was so shocked and excited to see him!

2013

2013 was the year of my first marathon! I decided to run a marathon just to see if I could do it, and now I have 12 marathons under my belt, working toward 50 states. Crazy! This race (the Hartford Marathon) ran out of participant shirts and finisher's medals (they sent them later) so I remember ending the race feeling pretty disappointed, but at least I got one of my favorite race photos ever out of it! This is me coming across the finish line of my first marathon, and I can honestly say that's probably the best I've looked coming across the finish line of any race. 😂

2014

I love this photo so much - a huge group selfie with my first Orientation Leader staff! I love that in 2010 my favorite photo was as part of an OL staff, and my favorite photo of 2014 is of the OL staff I supervised. This team of students was honestly one of my favorite groups of students I've ever worked with. They were hard working, good humored, and honestly kept me so entertained through 6 long orientation sessions. I miss the 2014 BSU OLs so much! 🐻

2015

I think the biggest thing that I will always remember from 2015 is graduating with my Master's degree! Going to graduate school was never in my plan when I thought of the future, and being able to say I earned my Master's was (and still is) so crazy to me. I love this photo of Brittany and I so much. She was truly my partner in crime that last year in grad school, and our staff in OSIL totally embraced 2015 as the year of the selfie-stick! 😂

2016

This photo will always bring a smile to my face. This was the end of my first year as a higher ed professional at Mount Holyoke, staffing a program that I planned and executed, and enjoying a beautiful day with my Student Programs team. I miss these people being in my everyday life so much, and I will always be so thankful that Erin, Jaime, Alicia, and Tim (not pictured because he was likely off saving the day somewhere on campus!) were my first colleagues as a pro. They welcomed me into their family with such open arms and made me feel right at home, and I can largely look to them as the reason why I've stuck with higher ed as a career path. Miss you guys! 💗

2017

2017 had a lot of ups and downs, but Poppy & Lupita were always a saving grace for Brett and me. I love this photo of the four of us playing in the front yard so much, and describes each of their personalities so much - Lupita wanting to play tug-of-war 24/7, and Poppy just wanting a belly rub. I miss being able to spend time with them so much, but we are so lucky that we were able to have them in our lives when we were able to.

2018

I feel like 2018 was the year of the Doodie Gang! Brett and I spent so much time with Erin & Cullen in 2018 and created so many memories with them throughout the year. I really love this photo of us having a pre-Youngstown Marathon dinner on their patio over the summer. We're so lucky to call them our friends!

2019

This will ALWAYS be my favorite photo of 2019, and is a strong contender of my favorite of the decade. This is a photo tells such a story. This is the finish line of the Florida Marathon back in February, aka Cassie's very first marathon! I ran with her the entire way and she fought so hard to get to that finish line. I was so proud of her for getting there and those tears were totally earned!

Here's to another decade full of new memories! 🥂

2020 Goals | Blogmas Day 29

As I begin writing this blog post it is 5:35 am on Sunday, December 29th. I've been up since 1:30 am and haven't really been able to get back to sleep, so I'm officially throwing in the towel and deciding to do something productive. I've been meaning to take a moment to write down some goals for the new year and now seems as good a time as any! 😂

I've always been the goal setting type. I've found that if I don't feel like I'm actively working toward something, it has a really negative effect on my mental state. I'm just not usually a ~see where the wind blows me~ kind of person, so having a list of things to work toward - even if I never actually achieve them - makes me feel good! I'm going to break these goals up into a few different categories, for organization's sake.

Reading

-Cut my TBR in half. I had this goal for 2019 as well and it just did not happen. Between being in a huge slump for most of the year and continuing to purchase books, I think I ended the year with about the same number of books that I started the year with. According to my GoodReads shelf I have 134 unread books on my TBR, so I'd love to cut that down to 67 if I could! My physical TBR shelf is a little scary looking. 😬

#yikes

-Read at least one BOTM book per month from the previous month's box. I have a terrible habit of not reading my BOTM books for months or years at a time! I would love to start reading at least one BOTM book a month that was from the previous month's box. So for example, in January I'll read at least one BOTM book from my December 2019 box, and so on. I'll hopefully read more BOTM books throughout each month but I think I can at least make it a goal to read one!

-Clear off my "Currently Reading" shelf. This will mainly be tackled in the first few months of the year, but I currently have 8 books that I'm currently reading and have been sitting on my "Currently Reading" shelf on GoodReads for MONTHS! I hope to knock out at least one or two of these before the clock strikes midnight on New Year's, but I definitely want to focus on reading these books at the start of 2020. The books on "Currently Reading" shelf include:

Perfect Little World by Kevin Wilson

November Road by Lou Berney

Talking to Strangers by Malcom Gladwell

Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend

A House for Happy Mothers by Almulya Malladi

The Marathon Maniacs by Malcom Anderson

Brave Story by Miyuki Miyabe

The Complete Stories by Flannery O'Connor

-Finish up my re-read of the US Hardback editions of Harry Potter. I didn't read a single shred of HP in 2019 and I was right in the middle of a re-read. I left off with Order of the Phoenix at the end of 2018, so I'd like to resume with my favorite of the series, Half-Blood Prince and finish reading this edition of the series during the first half of the year. I'm trying to collect a few other editions and I want to at least get one of the editions re-read before I continue collecting 😂

Running

-Run a sub-5 hour marathon. This is my ultimate goal when it comes to my running at the moment. I'm working toward it as much as I can at the moment, but I'm aware that it might take me a few tried to achieve this goal. Luckily I have a few different opportunities to chase after a sub-5 in 2020, so I'm crossing my fingers that the stars will align during one of those races and I'll see a 4 at the beginning of my finish time!

Online

-Continue blogging regularly, 3x/week minimum. I've really enjoyed pushing myself to blog daily this month, and I'd like to continue to blog on a regular basis throughout 2020! I'm unsure if I can keep up daily blogging but I'd love to post as much as possible, and at minimum 3x/week.

-Get back involved with Read Your Face Off. RYFO is my baby and unfortunately I had to take a step back from it in 2019. Luckily th elovely Jess has stepped in and taken over since I took a break, and now we're kicking RYFO back off in the New Year with some new ideas! I'm excited to get back involved with RYFO again and be more involved with the book community.

-Maybe return to YouTube? This is something I'm still seriously mulling over. I really miss making videos, but I know that posting videos and having videos live when I was going through a really tough time mentally was not good for me. I'm a little worried that making a return to YouTube will make me backslide to a negative mental space, so I'm still deciding whether or not this is a good idea, but it's something that I'm open to!

Weekly Round Up (December 22-28, 2019) | Blogmas Day 28

There surprisingly isn't a ton to ~wrap up~ for y'all this week. It looks like I was pretty on top of sharing everything I got up to throughout the week! I guess it's easy to stay on top of things when you don't have an incredibly busy schedule to worry about. 😂 Now that we're back home I'm really going to try to embrace the opportunity to be as relaxed as possible. My instinct is to feel badly for not being super productive, but I'm really hoping I can enjoy this downtime while I have it and not worry it all away!

Lmao 😂 If dogs knew how to spell they would be so pissed!

The fact that Otter Cafes exist makes Japan win. Hands down. Look at this lil nugget!

I came home to another fun package from my pal Jess (she's so sweet!). She sent along a shipment of TimTams 😍 and a Gritty mug! She and I have really bonded over our love of Gritty and I instantly burst out laughing when I opened the mug. I told her I would be doing many TimTam slams out of it! I also shared a couple of TimTams with Brett and our roommate last night and put them back in the box before heading to bed. I woke up to this:

😂😂😂 

They're just that delicious!

A Sigh of Relief | Blogmas Day 27

The first thing you do when you return to Boston is stop at Dunks, obviously. Makes me think of one of my favorite SNL sketches 😂:

We are officially back in Massachusetts after a great week down in Florida. I will say that I am super relieved that the holidays are over. I don't know what it is, but it's a struggle every year and it's always the worst in the days leading up to and following Christmas. Basically it's like a weight that has been lifted off of my shoulders and I'm just excited to enjoy the rest of my vacation (I'm off until the 2nd!) and be super lazy. I essentially just want to embody this Tweet:

Last night we all went out ax throwing and it was SO FUN! It was actually a lot easier than I thought it might be. I went in with the goal of getting just one ax to stick, and I actually got quite a few! It was a great way to end the trip with the family and I would totally recommend trying it out if you haven't had the chance to yet.

Brett and I wanted to see if we could synchronize our throws and stick both of our axes and we did it! You can see how excited I was by my face in the second photo. 😂

Another successful trip down to Florida is in the books! I already have my next trip lined up for the Princess Half Marathon weekend in February so I'll just keep thinking warm thoughts until the next trip rolls around. 

Christmas 2019 Recap! | Blogmas Day 26

Happy day-after-Christmas, y'all! Christmas morning started out with me finally finishing up Fullmetal Alchemist. The manga had a great, explosive ending and everything wrapped up how I'd hoped. I'm excited to dive into the anime with Brett to see how it compares!

After a little while of lounging we had breakfast with my parents and sister and then opened up stockings and presents! Everyone gave such thoughtful gifts, and it seemed like everyone had a bit of a theme for the gifts they received 😂 For me I mainly asked for running gear and help toward my 50 states marathon goal and everyone definitely helped me out in that department! Here's what I received:

Stocking Gifts

-paintbrushes

-kinetic sand

-Swedish Fish

-mini travel mug

-multi tool

-owl tank top

Under-the-Tree Gifts

-dog piggy bank with a roll of quarters

-Hungry Hungry Hippos

-Harry Potter puzzle

-NoxGear LED running vest

-gift cards for travel expenses

-wooden box (art done by my sister) filled with candy and GUs

-spray water bottle

-Train Free vest

-Under Armour sweatshirts x2

-corgi & pizza socks

My parents specifically indicated what race I should use each gift card for, which I so appreciated! I feel like if someone doesn't tell me what to spend gifted money on I usually spend it on something boring like bills 😂

My sister also got me a carry-on rolling suitcase which I've been dying to have for a while! I travel so often for my races and I'm so tired of lugging my duffle bag around the airport. This baby will definitely get a lot of really great use!

After gifts were opened Brett and I tore into the puzzle I got. It took us less than an hour to get through 😂 We love a good puzzle! We did notice about halfway through the puzzle that it was misprinted. See if you can spot the difference!

Clearly upset with the misprint 😂

I've been trying to give Mikey some extra love this trip. He's an old boy - 13! - and losing Kiwi this year just makes me want to cherish every moment I have with him. He's still as cute as ever and always starved for attention, which I'm happy to shower him with (even if he's not a fan of selfies)!

We spent most of the day lounging and watching basketball, but we also decided to bust out the cornhole set that we got for my dad for Father's Day. It always gets pretty competitive but we have a great time playing and laughing!

The day ended with a fantastic dinner (which Mikey joined in with a good round of begging for scraps). We were all pretty beat by the end of the day so most of us turned in fairly early. For whatever reason, early bedtimes are easy to achieve around the holidays 😂 Another Christmas has already come and gone - so wild! I hope everyone had a fantastic day yesterday - let me know in the comments what you got up to!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! 🎅 | Blogmas Day 25

Merry Christmas, everyone! 🎁

I hope you all had a fantastic day with your loved ones like we did! See you tomorrow for Day 26 of Blogmas (we're going through to New Year's Eve, y'all!) with an fun recap of our day. Stay tuned! 💖

Christmas Light Stroll ✨ | Blogmas Day 24

It's become a bit of a Christmas Eve tradition for us to take a walk around my parents' neighborhood with drinks and silly hats to look at the lights! We love enjoying the warm weather while we can and the novelty of walking around outside in December has yet to wear off. We wanted Mikey to come along with us but in his old age he's not one for walking for long periods of time, so we popped him in a wagon and pulled him along with us. He absolutely loved it! 💗 Another successful year of this fun tradition is in the books!

This is my parents' holiday display outside of their house! Their neighborhood does a decoration contest each year and they won an honorable mention this year (though tbh they should have gotten  a much higher award!) If you can't tell from the photos, their theme is "Owl Be Home for Christmas"! 🦉🎄

#Sub5orBust: Week 9 Training Update (December 16 - December 23, 2019) | Blogmas Day 23

Monday, 12/16 → Rest

Tuesday, 12/17 → 5 mile run (treadmill) + .15 mile cool down walk + phase 2 lift

Wednesday, 12/18 → 6 mile run (treadmill) + .22 mile cool down walk

Thursday, 12/19 → Rest

Friday, 12/20 → 4 mile run (treadmill) + .3 mile cool down walk

Saturday, 12/21 → Rest
Sunday, 12/22 → Rest

Monday, 12/23 → 16 mile run

This week in training threw me some interesting curve balls. With getting everything prepared for holiday festivities and our trip down to Florida, I had to really manage my time well in order to get all of my workouts in and still make time to ensure I was getting other things on my to-do list completed. It was definitely an interesting balancing act this week! I did my best, though, and I am happy that I was still able to get all of my runs in.

Being lazy at the gym or resting between sets of hamstring curls?

Unfortunately I wasn't able to hit both of my lifts this week. I lifted no problem on Tuesday night and I attempted to lift again on Friday, but as I was squatting I felt a painful tweak in my left knee and kinda freaked out. I called Brett and he recommended that I stop my lift and just head home so he can look at my knee to ensure it wasn't anything serious (thankfully it wasn't). The tweak is likely from poor form on my part, so tomorrow we're going to hit the gym and he's going to observe how I'm squatting so I can be corrected and avoid things like this from happening again. Perks of dating a personal trainer! 😉

I opted to do my long run of the week (16 miles) today instead of my usual weekend long run as we were traveling all day Saturday and I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to hang out with my parents on their day off yesterday! #MondayRunday I went in with the goal of getting as close to a sub-5 pace as possible (11:26/mi) and unfortunately I just missed. I know it's because I let myself ease into a more "comfortable" pace in those later miles instead of pushing myself. I definitely need to make sure I'm remembering to push to maintain that 11:26 in my future long runs and remember that even though it's going to be really uncomfortable that I can totally capture the right pace! It's all about that mental game.

It's so fun running down here because there's just so much to look at. While there is a bit more traffic and many times where I had to stop for various external reasons (crossing major roads, passing trains, and a draw bridge), it was so nice to take in the sights and enjoy the warm weather. I couldn't stop myself from stopping to take a few photos throughout the run!

This is one of the two causeways that is on the Florida Marathon course. 

Definitely brought back a lot of memories from February!