This is a big #

Right now the sun is beaming into our car and burning my legs. It's a beautiful thing. 

Jacob has the day off of work and yesterday was the last day of work for me EVER (at least at my old company) & so we are on our way to Illinois. For me, this is it. I live in BEAR country again. 

The drive from Milwaukee to where we will be living now is only 2 hours & we have made the trip a few hundred times but this time I am crossing the border & I am officially back home & that is exactly how I feel. At home. 

I took a run this morning in Mke. Ten miles. I went past a lot of our memories. First apartment... The yacht club our reception was at... Trails Jacob and I walked a million times... 4 different Starbucks that have saved my life in one way or another... The list could go on.

I realized how lucky I have been to have spent my adult years here so far. I have grown into myself here. I fell in love here and this state sure holds a lot of people I love dearly in it. 

I don't know if they will be very happy that I am writing this but I know my parents are sad, if not hurt, that we are choosing to go back to Illinois. But all I can say is that I hope that they know from the bottom of my heart how much I love them and that they know they raised me in such a wonderful way, in a place that I love so very much that as a late 20 something I just can't wait to return. Life has a funny way of coming full circle, doesn't it? 

So with that, I can't even believe it, but this is my 100th post. It doesn't surprise me that I could think of 100 things to write about but more so that this place really has become my diary of sorts. I have really come to love it. It's a holding place of many memories and pictures and feelings that help me appreciate all the wonderful, and even the hard experiences of my life. I wasn't sure I would get there. I kinda just thought I would write about running shoes a lot ;) 

On a serious note...

The two greatest gifts I have received because of this space are easily... 

{One}

It has helped encourage My dad and some of my closest friends to pick up running. This at one point or another has brought tears to my eyes. Running is the greatest gift I feel like I could inspire someone to choose and getting my crazy awesome feelings out here about the sport has been rewarding to say the least.

&{Two}

I have found new people and blogs that inspire me everyday. They make me push harder, act kinder, and reflect more and they probably don't even know it. It brings me hope I do the same for a few readers.

So cheers to 100!

I cannot thank you enough for reading (go grab a bottle of wine right now and insert straw. I am giving you an order).

Have a great weekend my little rhino readers!!!

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Next week...

What my family thinks of this blog.

How I reacted when one of my most favorite people in the whole world surprised me the other day by telling me she started running!!!!

Blog post from the hubs!!! 

Xoxo

it feels like my last hump day!

Tomorrow is my last day at the company I have worked for, for two and a half years!!!

As my first "real" job after college, I feel really grateful for all the opportunities I have had to grow, the people I have met and the connections I have made. It hasn't always been easy but it has been a great stepping stone...but honestly I cannot hide how happy I am to move on. Taking some time to focus on our new journey and nanny again is almost too good to be true. I just feel so lucky that I get to be doing something I absolutely love everyday.

This past weekend I visited with the family again that I will be nannying for. They have two girls (3 &1). Our visit was everything I needed to reassure me that I made the right choice. They are the sweetest family.

So on top of meeting with the family again, Jacob and I worked on our room at his parents house. It turned out really cute. We made it our own and actually hung pictures and everything. I love nesting, decorating and organizing. It was so strange how quickly a guest room we always slept in became "ours" in a matter of hours. I kinda love it.

bad iphone pic.

Remember when I made these? That hook is just waiting for my medals :)
(I haven't taken my medals off my desk at work yet.)

You don't have a wine cooler in your bedroom???
weird.

I would update you on the rest of the weekend but I can pretty much sum it up by saying...
our awesome friends got married.
they seriously threw one of the best receptions ever (I am still recovering/detoxing).
my dress fit!!! (& DID NOT rip).
my mother in law is awesome because she got me taco bell at 1 am--which is why I was alive and functioning the next day. no doubt.
andddd I even got two great runs in (an 8 miler and a 6 miler)... which were quickly proceeded by fro-yo & time with this cute guy.

Here are some more pictures from the wedding :)

Our Landlords (aka Jake's parents)

Starting next week I hope to be able to focus on the blog again daily. I would really love to continue to grow this space and be able to respond to more of your great comments. So thanks for still reading during this move!!!

I seriously can't believe how different my life will be one week from today : ) AHHH!

HAPPY HUMP DAY.

It has been awhile but... how about 5 on Friday!

Let's just jump right in.

{ONE}

I realized on my run this morning that I haven't been doing a lot of talking about running lately on the blog...I recapped my half but the day to day stuff has kind of been missing. 

If you care...

I have been averaging about 25 miles a week & just taking it how I feel that day. Last Saturday I had the most amazing 7 mile run. Out of nowhere I had negative splits with an average pace around 8:30...But then again I ran five miles on Wednesday at a 10: 40 pace.
So it just is what it is and honestly I am enjoying getting miles in & having NO pressure. 

feeling awesome after my run Saturday

Not sure if you remember but my first Marathon is set for November!!! It will be here before I know it...so without a doubt Fall training will be much different than Spring  training and I am just so excited that my brain is functioning properly and telling me to just relax & pump the breaks on hard running for now :)

{TWO}

This weekend I officially move in with Jacob's parents!!!

I spy with my little eye an Emma.

I still have three days left at work next week so we will be back in WI, but we are spending our three days this weekend in Illinois celebrating our Friends' wedding (we are both standing up) and settling into life in our "new home".

You can bank on an update next week. 

{Three}

Speaking of our friends' wedding, I posted last week about how I have no will power & my "dress stress" because it didn't fit... 

Well honestly I don't know where I found the focus (I guess a bridesmaid dress will do this for you) but I totally rocked this last week and I feel so great. I did have one hiccup on Tuesday because my sweet co-workers threw me a little going away party (wine and 3 musketeer cupcakes included! 3 musketeers are my favorite!!!) But I got some exercise in everyday, ate clean otherwise and avoided booze for the most part. 

Hopefully this continues after the wedding. It totally helps to just take each day one at a time. That is what truly helped me. I didn't count down days or think about the next day, I just did what I could in the moment. 

Part of me thinks this worked because if I think too much about how many days I have till the end of a goal, I make up excuses about my "cheats" or "breaks". I just didn't let myself think that way. 

Mind over matter.

It also helped that I slept in the dress to stretch it :) but it fits and I feel much more confident than a week ago. 

{Four}

I may be homeless but that didn't stop me at the flea market last week!!!!!!!!!

I died over this chair and it's mate. 

My stupid filter was on when I took the picture but they are an amazing YELLOW color and in great! condition. I just had to have them. I scored them for 70$$$ a piece.

I am thinking about writing more on my flea market obsession soon. 

Anyone else lovvvvve the flea market?

{Five}

This may be the most ridiculous thing I have ever shared on this blog ...

But I have suddenly become very aware of how amazing chunky peanut butter is, over creamy peanut butter...

Like I am not even sure why in the world creamy PB exists? OR why for years I just wouldn't buy chunky. Huge mistake. 

I have years to make up for.

&&&&&& I need this shirt. 

Have A FABULOUS weekend beautifuls :)

& just like that we are homeless

This morning I woke up & got ready as quick as I could so we could say goodbye to our first house. My dad met us for just a minute to take our picture and then we were off to the closing.

The weather today is beautifuuuul and this morning the sun was just beaming. Sounds corny but it was nice to have our last memories of the house include sunshine and warm weather. Emma got one last run in, in her back yard.

Walking through the empty rooms was sad and being outside (my favorite part of owning a house) was strangely hard but honestly we weren't here very long (only 1.5 years).

Jacob made a great point that although this was our first house, this wasn't our first home and as soon as he said that, I wasn't as sad anymore. It is completely the truth. We have apartments full of memories too.

I have been doing a lot of thinking though in the last few days about how much weight we put on the walls in which we live. We give so much power to possessions and that is just not how it should be.

The puppy who loves me more than food (that's alotta love) and the husband who holds my hand through all the ups and downs in life are what matter so there is nothing to be sad about. I didn't lose anything.

&&& gosh darn-it, not being a home owner is actually a huge relief. It is a hard job and it is a lot of stress.

*********************************************************************

Also I found this the other day on pinterest & really liked it so I'm sharing! It kind of explains how I feel about picking up all the pieces of our life and chasing after Jacob's dream : )

Happy Hump Day, Cuties!

I have no will power

There are lots of things I am good at but in the last two years or so I think my follow through sucks.

I have "follow through" on projects and at work, sometimes to a fault, but I am so bad at actually doing what I say I will in my personal life.

Ask my best friend, Lauren! If I miss one more of her calls and don't call her back, next time she is here she is going to steal one of my expensive bags and take it back home to CA with her as punishment..........I have NO idea why I decided to use that as an example of punishment but she wouldn't punch me and she will always forgive me SO I just thought up what she would want most in my closet. 

Moving on.

Ok so personally, my follow through sucks. I start the week ALWAYS with great intentions.

This week I am going to be nicer to Jacob.
This week I am going to walk Emma (dog) because it makes her so happy.
This week I will eat clean.
This week I will not drink on weekdays.
This week I will call all of my friends to catch up or send Facebook messages.

Sometime on Friday night I realize I have maybeeeee accomplished one of these tasks, if any at all.

********
A huge trend in social media and in the blog world is meal prep. The cool kids keep saying...

"if you fail to plan you plan to fail"

So I jumped on this train. For weeks now I have planned out my meals on Sunday for the week and by the end of the day on Monday I have already completely messed up and added twenty two additional snacks or decided to go out to lunch with co workers.

Now maybe the thing is that I am not trying to lose weight. I just want to eat better and feel better and perform better in running and at the gym. I want to tighten up and not be so full of junk but I fail week after week.

Lately, I have been trying to really stay focused because our friends are getting married next weekend. The bridesmaid dress I ordered fit at the store but when I went to pick mine up (two weeks ago) it was muchhhhhhhh tighter. This is two fold for sure.
First, the dress I tried on (months ago) probably fit because 99 other girls had already tried it on
and second is a no-brainer,  I have been falling off the wagon so much the size is just tight.

Anyways I think because of this pressure I have just fallen off the wagon more & I have exactly seven days to clean up my act and sleep in the dress (i.e. stretch the crap outta it).

After writing this I feel silly. This is totally a normal girl problem, this isn't mind blowing or a tragedy, but I guess I just wanted to put it out there so I have to tell you what happens. I want to be accountable not only for the wedding but to prove to myself that for one fricken week & weekend I can have some self control. So for the next seven days I have devised a plan. No booze. Lots of veggies and fruit. Some new smoothie recipes and lean protein.

I can do it &&& I will feel much better personally and physically if I do.

I will also call my mom. Return Lauren's calls. Kiss my husband more & find better ways to celebrate getting through the day then a spoon & frosting. Oh and I will also blog all about it.

Just call me Ms. Commitment.

I will throw in some new recipes, tips I found helped &&& the results.

Anyone else have big plans Memorial Day weekend and want to join me?????

Door County Half Marathon- My dad's first half!

For months I was SO excited to do this race.

This was my first half (in the history of everrr) last year. Unfortunately though I was in a terrible mood on Friday (the day before the race). We took the day off of work and drove up, taking our time at some of our favorite stops, including some great wineries. I had absolutely no reason to be crabby!

To be honest I have never drank the week of a race before so that probably wasn't the best decision but I really wanted to enjoy our little trip. PLUS we had just finalized and made all of our new LIFE PLANS and I wanted to celebrate, but come about 4 pm I was in a disgusting mood. I can't even tell you why. It was just one of those girl days.

Anyways we eventually got to the cabin we rented. My dad and mom were there, along with my grandmas and we loaded up on a yummy pasta dinner. Honestly though we had eaten so much all day and I think I just over did it. Another mistake. I felt like a lump the next morning.

My dad on the other hand was psyched. I was so excited to wake up on Saturday morning and come down for coffee to see him already rolling away on his roller. It has been the coolest thing ever to watch him morph into a runner. I was totally excited for him.

Last fall when we were at this exact same cabin, my dad tried to run a mile with Jake and I and barely could make it. To think only a few months later he was ready for 13.1 is so impressive. SO SO impressive.

Well we got ready for the race which started at 10 but the whole time I was getting ready, I wasn't exactly saying negative things in my head but I just knew I felt off. I honestly think I just didn't want to run. This has never happened to me at a race or the day of. Sure on a Wednesday night I might feel mehh but I think I just didn't feel into it and then I felt bad I felt that way which just made it worse.

@ about 9:00 am Jacob (he was doing the 5K) my dad and I all headed to the state park. We checked our bags and walked to the starting line. This race is amazing at its organization and support. Just crazy amazing.
The energy was good and I got a little boost. My dad stayed back in line a bit and I moved forward. He was getting in his zone, I could tell, and he didn't really seem like he wanted to do this skipping and holding hands.

I have forgiven him.

********************************************************

Race starts and the crabby me was instantly back.

Around mile 4 I started crying. I hated how I was feeling. My legs felt so heavy. I just couldn't keep up with the pacers I wanted to & I started to get really upset.

Probably around mile 6 the sun finallyyyyy peaked out and I started telling myself...

"I do this for fun. This is one of my most favorite places in the world.
I run to run, not to win, so just go at a pace that feels FUN & get over it.
This race is a lot of money and it is ridiculous to be wasting a great race being upset.
I can run 13 miles at once, that is accomplishment enough. ENJOY this dammit!"

Mile 10, I came flying down a big hill and I saw my husband. I did not expect to and it was the last little push I needed. I started to feel great and really started flying. My last mile was my fastest. 13.1 miles in 1:57:38

I learned two major things in this race.

1. YOU better not, even a second, judge a race/run by the first few miles. Just don't do it. It is really hard but not giving up and pushing through is ALWAYS worth it.

2. I learned that the way you train, is the way you run. Last year I never really took warm up miles. I started my run and tried my hardest to hold on. Almost every run I have done this year started with me talking my body into it. I go at a comfortable pace for awhile until I decide to either dig deep and push harder or not : )

That is how I ran on race day. My body took some time to get into it. The reason I got so upset was that I was comparing my race to last year races, when I should have been comparing it to last week's run.

I was so happy to finish under two hours. I really didn't think I would. The best reward though was finishing and then waiting in anticipation to scream for my dad.

He finished in 2:32:07 !!! Pretty AWESOME.

Jacob killed his goal too! He finished in 27:49!! He has really become a speedster. Even though he will not give in to adding mileage, I love that he still makes his own goals and hits them. It proves running can be whatever you want it to be for you : )

We spent the rest of the day relaxing, eating, drinking, and playing mini golf. Jake and I also stopped for a few minutes at our favorite spot where he asked me to be his bestest friend forever. It turned out to be a great weekend.

I can finally tell you EVERYTHING!

It has been weeeeeeeeeeks of me coming back and forth from this page. For some reason I think the line "Its not you its me..." applies here. I hate leaving blog land.

I keep giving the same lame excuse but in case you missed it, we have big changes going on because my smarty pants husband decided to drain our savings and any future savings we may have by going to law school. 

It has been SO hard to write anything on here because all the crazy good and crazy bad stuff I wanted to share needed to be kept under wraps because... I JUST GAVE MY TWO WEEKS notice @ work!!!

DRUM ROLL PLEASE....

We are moving back to Illinois and Jacob will be going to Loyola Law School (in Chicago) in the fall. 

I cannot tell you how excited I am. I am from Chicago and didn't move to Milwaukee till I was almost 20. There really hasn't been a year that has gone by that I haven't missed it. Milwaukee is a greattt city and now it holds a lot of awesome memories for me but there is something to say about moving home. I would have never guessed I would be that person 10 years ago but I am and I am more than okay with it. 

Unfortunately my parents and grandmas are here in Wisconsin now but we won't be too far. It is only a two hour drive back and being in Chicago we will be closer to our oldest friends and near Jacob's parents. 

andddd when I say near...I mean we will be down the hall from them- Jake's parents that is. Yep. When I meant home. I really meant home.

Jacob's parents are giving us tons of relief for the first year of school. I am not even sure how we could ever thank them enough. My cooking sure won't, but hopefully I will find something besides sharing my sweet dog and wine expertise- which really isn't an expertise...more like a strong passion to drink good wine. 

. 

But there you have it. THE PLAN. oh!! I almost forgot the very best part. As of June 2nd I will be nannying again. I guess I am not sure that I ever mentioned before that I was a nanny for three of the sweetest little humans on this earth for two years in college. The girls were my flower girls in our wedding. It was the best job in the whole wide world. So as soon as I knew we were moving, I started looking for some full time opportunities. To be honest I am burnt at my job and I really wanted to chose something for awhile that made me feel great about life and gave me time to think through what my next steps are. 

one of the beautiful flower girls

I also know I need to be a pretty happy wife for my hubby who will be working his butt off ...

&&& crayons, peanut butter sandwiches, combined with discovering the world with little people makes me pretty gosh darn happy. 

So that's it! That is where I have been. 

Closing on our house. 

Quitting my job. 

Consoling my sad parents. 

Packing. 

Packing.

Packing. 

&&& trying not to eat all my weird emotions that went into making these big changes. 

As a side note, today I was talking to Jake on the way to work and he mentioned how excited he is to read the blog everyday after we move. I am sure if you blog you feel this way, but it is hard to find something great to write about when your days are basically four cubicle walls. There are so many reasons I am excited to nanny again but another added bonus is that there will be daily adventures to share with y'all.

*****************************************************************

Stay tuned this week because now I am back for good...

I will have my half marathon recap up soon. It was almost two weeks ago but I knocked out 13.1 miles again but this time along side my daddy-o. It was pretty great.

XOXO

Happy Tuesday! thanks for waiting it out and always coming back :D

A really great day...

I think I just had one of the best days...

Have you ever taken a day off from work and just stayed home? I seriously have not, until today, and if you haven't you really need to.

 Let me just take a few minutes to prove to you why.

I woke up this morning and quickly drove to my favorite coffee shop. I came home and hopped right back in bed with my yummy drink and scone. 

I proceeded to watch 'the big wedding' on Netflix. I hadn't seen it before but loved it!!! 

Eventually I got out the door for a five mile run. I didn't have to stop at one red light! I'm telling you the stars were aligned for me today!! 

My husband was home for lunch so we ate and watched two episodes of family fued and then we both left (he went back to working hard) I went to get my hair done! And get pampered for an hour or so. Also had a free therapy session... Anyone else get one of those when you get your hair did?? 

Then I roamed around target for an hour without any place to be but there. Dangerous? Absolutely.

Pure happiness? You betcha. 

Especially since I found a 140 dollar duvet cover hiding behind a bunch of full price covers for 24 dollars!!! Yes, yes this really happened...

I then picked up some sushi I couldn't afford for dinner. Came home to my favorite wine and worked on a dorky art project I have been waiting to do.

Lately I have been stalking some awesome race bib displays on etsy and then suddenly believed I for sure could recreate them. I stopped at michaels weeks ago for supplies but have just been staring at the stuff for days till today because boom!! 

Race bib displays done :)

Now I am watching 'burlesque' and if you make fun of me we can't be friends. Cher  is one of the greatest gifts God has given this world :) 

Tell me something great that happened to you today ?????