Here is my Top Nine on Instagram from 2017. I loved getting to look back on these amazing memories, especially our engagement in Colorado after Jake’s one hundred (and two) mile run. You can see it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTkJlFh4tnk&feature=youtu.be It’s so special and perfect!
Ready for some pool running! I hope to get into the pool starting next week. I’m really looking forward to it! Stay tuned for how it goes…
Real talk time: this was a hard email to send, but it’s what is best for my body and my running future. So, it’s official – I will be running the half in Nashville in April rather than the full. I’m okay with it. That being said, I’m looking for a full in September, which is my birthday month. Let me know if you know of any that I should check out! 2018 is the year of the full!
Jake and I started our New Year’s Eve day at Gailey’s enjoying some delicious breakfast. I had their Eggs Benedict, which was so yummy.
We also enjoyed a few yummy beverages.
We went home and relaxed a little bit after brunch, then met some friends at the 4 By 4 Brewery for a beer before heading out to dinner.
Jake and I went to Metropolitan Farmer for our NYE dinner. It’s one of our favorite places, but we hadn’t been there in WAY too long.
We sipped on an Old Fashioned or two. They were delicious.
This is what we always get when we go to Farmer’s Metro – wings with Frank’s Red Hot powder, flash fried brussels, and a beet salad. SO. GOOD.
This was our second New Year’s together. We were in Austin, TX last year. We had toyed with the idea of going skiing this year, but it was nice to just be at home! It was a very relaxing night, which we both loved.
After dinner, it was time to go home, change into our jammies, and wait for friends to come over. I made everyone take a Fireball and RumChata shot. They’re SO good.
We had some yummy snacks. I forgot to get a picture of the goat cheese stuffed peppers that Cassie and Nick brought over – they were AMAZING.
Has anyone else played this game?? It’s called Watch Ya Mouth and it’s hilarious and SO much fun. I think I laughed the entire time we played this. The worst (best?) part is that when you laugh, you want to take the mouth piece out of your mouth, but you can’t because you’re laughing too hard, which just makes you laugh even harder. It’s a vicious cycle.
We had a blast ringing in the New Year with these two (and Healy and Caitlin) – they came over later! And yes, my mouth piece was upside down…
Lu loved having her friends over for some New Year’s Eve celebrations. She felt the need to throw her toy at anyone close by. She didn’t want to be left out.
Monday morning, we headed to Springfield Brewing Company for our first Mug Club breakfast. I mentioned around Thanksgiving how Jake had wanted to be part of this Mug Club for years. I found out when the date was that they were releasing new mugs and planned on this being one of Jake’s Christmas presents. Well, he happened to find out, too, soooo there went one of my present ideas! We both ended up getting to be part of the Mug Club, though, so it worked out! We got these special commemorative mugs to celebrate Brew Co.’s 20th Anniversary. They are super nice!
We are officially part of the 2018 Mug Club! We are so excited.
Look at this handsome fella and his Christmas present. He has wanted to be part of this Mug Club forever. I’m so glad he finally gets to enjoy this!
Here’s a little throwback – this is us waiting in the line to purchase our mugs in November! Obviously we don’t follow typical “line” rules…
Our complimentary breakfast for being in Mug Club! We are both going back to strict Paleo today, so this was a wonderful way to end eating millions of holiday treats! Brew Co, who does this Mug Club, has the best biscuits and gravy I’ve ever had. I’m not even a gravy fan, but I could eat this every dang day.
We took a short nap after breakfast at Brew Co, which was so nice. Then we worked on eating up the rest of the leftovers in our fridge.
I cooked up these veggies to have for breakfast with eggs and sausage this week. I’m excited! They smelled so good while they were baking. I just chopped up brussles, sweet potatoes, mushrooms, and onions and topped all of it with olive oil, garlic powder, turmeric, and cumin. Super simple!
Last ‘dirty’ meal for a little bit. We both enjoyed the holidays SO much and we had decided to splurge a little, which everyone needs to do occasionally, BUT, my body is ready for some healthy foods again!
It was up early to get to the Y to spend a little time on the elliptical before my Body Pump class. Look who I got to see! Kayla is running with me in Nashville in April and today is Day 1 of her training plan, written by Jake! This will be her first half and I can’t wait to watch her crush it!
Cassie met me at the Y for the Body Pump class, so we knocked that out this morning. I think I’m going to be a little sore tomorrow…I used to do Body Pump a lot, but I don’t think I’ve gone to the class for about 3 years.
I had planned on doing a little bit more time on the elliptical, but I got super hungry and cold after Body Pump, so I came home and did this. Jake told me I still need to be careful with overdoing activities (he knows me too well), so that made me feel better about not finishing up on the elliptical. I guess I AM still recovering…tomorrow marks two weeks off from running! Only 4 more to go…hopefully.
Jake got home from his run shortly after I did…he was covered in ice! HA!
I have an interview today for my dissertation. It’s an in-person interview, so that’s always fun! Most of my interviews have been conducted over the phone After that, I’m going to knock out some other work and hopefully have time to get started on Chapter 4 of my dissertation. My goal is to get that chapter written (as much as I can before analyzing data) in the next two weeks. I need to find about 4 or 5 more people to interview, but I think I’m staying pretty well on track. Fingers crossed!
Happy Tuesday!