Cricket Wireless sponsored this post, but all opinions are my own. It's hard to believe that we are approaching the end of the year! Soon Thanksgiving will be here, quickly followed by Christmas. I love the holidays, but I struggle every year with the fact that most of our family does not live near us. As you know, we live on the East Coast but we have family on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, in Wisconsin, and on the West Coast. Yes, we are about as scattered as we can be. Growing up as a military brat, we used to send letters in the mail to family members when we couldn't get home for Christmas. Times have changed! Now my kids video chat or send emails or texts to their grandparents in different states. Occasionally, my kids will … [Read more...]
Hello Fresh Review
I love to cook. I love to eat even more than I love to cook. But you know what I really do not like to do? Meal plan. I'm just not that creative and I have picky kids and I get stuck eating the same things over and over again. I have a particularly hard time as it warms up as I have fewer summer options. (Soups are my "thing".) So, when Hello Fresh offered me another box to try, I was all over it. Once again, it was a success. (Check out my previous box!) [Tweet "Get 25% off to try out a week of yummy meals from @HelloFresh #healthychoices"] … [Read more...]
Five things I love about Madison, Wisconsin
I swear, this has been the longest week. We had snow on Tuesday that the county did not handle well, so the commute into school was awful for everyone. Then on Wednesday they had a delay for ice and on Thursday one for cold. Thankfully I work from home, but it has definitely messed with my week. Perhaps that's why Madison jumped to mind when I heard that the Friday Five topic today was 5 things you like about your favorite city. They at least know how to handle cold and snow LOL. … [Read more...]
Five Favorite Race Memories
This week's topic for the Friday Five from the DC Trifecta (Mar, Cynthia, and Courtney) was so hard for me! Five favorite race memories??? I've had so many race experiences and most of them have been really awesome for one reason or another. I think I would have had an easier time picking my five least favorite race experiences LOL. Here they are in no particular order: 1st International Race : Achill Island Half Marathon. I hope this is the first of many international race experiences. We had a super fun trip as a family and we never would have gone to this part of Ireland if I hadn't been racing. The race itself was challenging, but beautiful and extremely well organized. Fun race with great friends : ZOOMA … [Read more...]
My Rock
Red Envelope asked me to participate in their #RedGift campaign to show gratitude to the "rock" in our journeys. While I have a lot of supporters in my life (I'm so lucky to have an awesome family and wonderful friends), the main rock in my life is obviously Beer Geek. We've been together a long time and been married almost 2o years. He's supported me through grad school (where I lived 4 hours away for 1.5 years), building my career, our roller-coaster ride to parenthood, and my decision to drop out of the work force. But, he's been the most supportive when it comes to my fitness journey. Whenever I say, I think I want to... His answer is "you should." And then he follows it up with whatever actions are necessary to make it … [Read more...]
Five things my dad taught me about life
Today's Friday Five with Mar, Courtney, and Cynthia is theme free, so I decided that in honor of Father's Day, I'd write about five things I learned from my dad. (And I'm guest posting over on Courtney's blog about five steps to avoid post-race/post wedding blues because Courtney is off getting married this weekend!) 1. You can always dig deeper. I've seen him do it in races. No matter how tired or how ready to give up you are, if you really want something, you've got something left. You just have to learn how to use your mental strength to tap into it. (This would be the main reason he beats me in every.single.race.) 2. A stranger is just a friend you haven't met yet. I live in an urban area where people don't really talk to … [Read more...]
Thirteen Things Thursday: The Beer Geek Edition
15 years ago today, I married my best friend. Even after all this time, he's still the first person I want to tell about my day and my favorite person to drink a beer with. So, here are 13 random things about him/us and some pictures taken over our years together. (I apologize for the quality of some of the pics. Maybe in the next 15 years, he'll teach me how to use the scanner). We'd never have gotten together if there had been enough seats on the couch that evening. I may be laid back, but even I won't sit on the floor of a fraternity house. Good thing there was a lap available. ;o) Beer Geek proposed to me late one night as we were walking back from a 7-11. The conversation went something like this: Beer Geek: "So, are you … [Read more...]
