Family, Football, and Fall Festivities

It's been a while since I've sat down and given a bit of a life update here on the blog. I've been posting up my vlogs as I've been posting them on YouTube but I also haven't been doing a ton of daily vlogging lately, save for readathons which don't really focus on my daily life. I thought I'd pop by and give you all a bit of an update on what's been going on lately!

The school year is finally underway, I survived September, and things are finally settling down a bit. If you've been following along with this blog for a while, September and April are always the busiest months of the year at work. I'm really happy with how September went for us this year - we have multiple succesful programs, we're trying out new things, and - the best part - really connecting with the students. Our staff is still fairly new (the majority of us have been at MHC a year and a half or less) but there's definitely a difference in how we're connecting with the students this year which is making our work so much easier.

The Nichols football program is doing much better this year than they have in previous years! It's been great to see the football program Brett dedicates so much time and energy to finally make some visible and tangible improvements. While they're 2-3 half way through the season, Brett is confident that they have the potential to pick up a couple more wins which is amazing. I can't wait to see how the rest of the year goes!

I did lose my grandfather a few weeks ago. I mentioned this last week here on the blog and in my Tackle Your TBR vlog & wrap up but I didn't feel right writing a "life update" and not including this. He was a loving and hard working guy, and always ready to crack jokes and enjoy himself with his family. It's still weird as he's always been in my life and we will miss him dearly. <3

I'm running marathon #4 on tomorrow and I am NERVOUS. Training this summer went really well, but as the school year kicked off and my schedule got busier training got pushed to the wayside quite a bit. I'm trusting my body and my knowledge of fueling and stretching properly to propel me across the finish line, but I'm still pretty apprehensive about taking on 26.2 for the fourth time. (Can you believe it?! Marathon #4. I still remember everything about marathon #1 so vividly!)

Life is still quite busy but I'm happy with how most things are going. I have a huge stack of books I want to get through, I'm drawing, blogging, and YouTubing more consistently, and I would say that I'm overall content! I'm looking forward to the coming weeks that will be packed with family visits, holiday food, and lovely end of the year festivities. I hope all is well with you guys, too! Happy fall :)

Vlog: Tackle Your TBR Week 2

Last week the second and final week of the Tackle Your TBR vlog and while I was going through some difficult things in my family life, I managed to continue reading. It was actually quite therapeutic over the last few days to be able to focus on a book. One of my favorite booktubers, Dana from The Book Hoarder, posted a very appropriate vlog a few days before my grandfather passed away that basically sent the message that books will always be there for you. In good times and bad, you can always pick up a book and be transported to a world where your worries are non-existent and you can just shut off your brain for a while. It's exactly what I needed through this tough time.

Grampy & I making sure my cousin doesn't tip over. XD

I hope you enjoy this vlog! As I mention at the end of this video, I'll be taking a couple weeks off from readathoning but I have a few lined up for the end of October and one for the beginning of November (which I am hosting)! Hopefully you don't miss my readathon posts too badly... ;)

The Whole Famn Damily

The past two weekends have essentially been family-palooza for Brett and I! It's always awesome to spend time with the family for both of us because when the school year kicks off we both basically drop off the face of the Earth until the holidays (sad, but true). Though these last two weekend consisted of a butt-load of driving (~3hrs both ways to NH and ~6hrs both ways to ME), the people we were spending time with made it all worth it in the end.

Photo courtesy of Brett's sister Melissa!

Two weekends ago we hiked it up to NH for Brett's Uncle Mike's wedding! The ceremony was so pretty - in the lake on a sand bar, with all of the attendees in boats surrounding them. It was a beautiful event and so perfect for the setting! After the ceremony we hung out on the boat for a little bit then headed back to the campground for a reception - complete with champagne & chocolate fondue fountains and puppies everywhere. That's my kind of wedding!

Photo courtesy of Brett's sister Melissa!

Being silly at the reception!

This past weekend we trekked up to Maine to see my extended family! I only get to see them a couple times a year, and this year it worked out that Brett could join me! This was the first time Brett was going to be meeting the majority of my extended family, so it was an exciting weekend. We left late Friday morning and spent a solid 6 hours in the car, but it was fun to hang out, talk, and listen to music as we watched the Maine scenery go by.

As soon as we hopped out of the car, my cousin Tucker - who is 9 - was ready for us to play. We walked out to the back yard and saw the beautiful image that was our view for the entire weekend:

Not too shabby, right?

We took a walk down the shore while the tide was out and saw tons of tidal wild life all over the place, including snails (I taught Tucker the trick to get snails to come out of their shells - by humming!) and tons and tons of washed up jelly fish. Tucker was immediately BFF's with Brett and they played a little bit of frisbee while we explored.

We returned to the campsite and the rest of the family arrived for the weekend. There were drinks, stories, and so many laughs shared and it was so good to see everyone - and for everyone to finally meet Brett! We enjoyed the weekend full of sunshine, sea kayaking, camp fires, good food, and good company. Oh, and not to mention the world's most breathtaking sunsets.

On our way home on Sunday, we made a few stops. First we stopped at Caterpillar Hill, which was this awesome scenic stop that overlooked a lake and the ocean. We knew we had to grab a selfie and a panoramic before heading home for good! (Panoramics were seriously my favorite setting on my phone this weekend, with time lapses coming in at a close second - check out the vlogs below to see what I mean!

And it really isn't a trip home from Maine if I don't make a stop at Pat's Pizza in Yarmouth. I don't remember when this became a tradition of my family's, but every time we drive home from Maine we have to stop at Pat's and get a personal pizza. Even though I wasn't with my parents, I wanted to continue the tradition and introduce it to Brett as well. (Success - Brett loved his pizza!)

After another 6 hours in the car we were home and the weekend was over once again. It's crazy how fast weekends go by, huh? At least they're fun! :) Of course, I vlogged throughout both of these fun and exciting weekends, so make sure you watch both vlogs below!

Brett and I took this weekend easy. We ordered take out and watched the new Netflix series Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp (hilarious) Friday night, saw a show that I was asked to check out for work on Saturday (because my job is awesome and allows requires me to do things like check out shows to bring to campus), and just relaxed with some movies after my #SundayRunday 12 miler yesterday. There's nothing like a month of traveling every single weekend to make you REALLY appreciate the down time!

What did you get up to this weekend?