Woah Nelly! I left in the summer, survived the winter and am back in the spring! Life has been such a whirlwind during these past few months. So much has happened in my little world.
Where do I begin?
August to September
My honey and I went on a 3 week Backpacking European Vacation! We left on August 23rd and didn't come back to the United States until September 14th.
We started in Barcelona and traveled via the Eurail for the next 10 days to Nice, Monaco, Florence, Siena, Rome and Bari. From Bari we took a ferry to Greece where we spent the last 10 days of our trip between Athens and Chios.
I just have to say that this vacation was more than we ever expected! It was such an adventure and even though we were backpacking and didn't stay long in each place until we got to Greece, it was so relaxing and so much fun! I also managed to lose 6 pounds on the trip! Win!!!
September to October
After returning from our trip, like the next morning because we couldn't sleep, we returned to our regime of morning running. I must say, we took 3 weeks off from running and it felt like we never stopped! It felt amazing. So amazing that a week later I was contemplating signing up for a fall marathon.
Guess what? I did! With 8 weeks to spare for training, my honey and I both signed up for the Philadelphia Marathon.
Let me tell you, this training cycle for a marathon was the best one I ever completed. I have never felt so prepared for a marathon before and I knew I was ready to rock it on November 17th.
November 17th
My honey, myself and a dear running friend of mine rocked the Philly Marathon! My honey is a super speedy runner and he finished his first official marathon in 02:51! He qualified for Boston with 29 minutes to spare. Too bad he isn't interested in running it, but I am just amazed at how awesome a runner he has become.
A couple weeks before the marathon I found out an old friend that I hadn't seen since 2007 was also running the race. We decided that we were going to start the marathon together and see how things went from there. Let's just say, we ran the whole entire race together! It was the most amazing racing experience I have ever had. The miles flew by for us. We kept the pace that I had planned out for the race and we supported each other every single step.
Our official finish time was 04:47, but in reality we ran a 04:37 race. There was a 10 minute porta-potty line stop that we made at mile 4. It was 10 minutes that we could never make up and I know we ran the race that I had trained for during the previous 8 weeks. I look forward to running another marathon together!
Thanksgiving
My honey and I flew down to Georgia to spend the holiday with my family! Even though it was a quick trip, it was wonderful to spend time with my family, especially since it's the first holiday without my brother.
We all stuffed ourselves with a homemade dinner and yummy desserts! My father made this incredible Peanut Butter Pie that we apparently couldn't get enough of it!
December to April
The month of December really was a blur with the Christmas holidays and New Year's! I didn't take any time off from work like I usually do and before I knew it, January was upon us.
January through March has been the longest, hardest, coldest winter ever! All I wanted to do was hibernate like a bear. It truly amazes me how last winter I ran outside through the whole entire winter and this winter not so much. My running, and let's be honest, my working out really took a turn for the worse. I became a slug. My winter softened belly shows this so perfectly well.
April has really been my turning point. The weather has turned to spring, with the exception of yesterday and today, and I have been working on getting my running act together. I have spent the last 2 weeks running 4 times a week. The past 2 Sunday's my honey and I have gotten back out to our trails to run and let me tell you, this is exactly what my little cold winter heart needed so badly. Nature, sunshine, wild animals these do a mind and body good! I am now in my 3rd week of running consistently. It's still a little bit of a mind game struggle, but I know once the weather turns a bit warmer in the mornings, I'll be back at the top of my game.
Other Life News
Back in February, my honey and I decided it was time to move out of our little basement apartment to the top floor apartment! Of course, we couldn't move right into it. We decided to do a little remodel that ended up turning into a complete remodel! Funny how things work out that way.
As of right now we are 9 weeks into this thing and hopefully we will be completely done in the next 2-3 weeks. I am so ready to be done and moved in to where there are big beautiful windows that let sunshine into the apartment from all sides! If you have ever lived in a basement, you know how sunshine window deprived they are.
Anyhoo, I have been taking pictures of the whole process. Once we are done, I will be doing a little reveal here on the ol' blog. It's going to be pretty amazing if I do say so myself!
So that's what's been happening in my life for the past 8 months. Can't believe I've been neglecting my little blog for that long. I am hoping that once we are moved and things settles back into some normalcy, I'll be back to blogging on a more regular schedule. I can't wait to get back to my scrapbooking, knitting, sewing, exercising. I'll definitely have lots to be sharing!
