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March 2017

Life

DC Cherry Blossoms 2017

Hello there, it’s been a while. The cold that was pretty minor that I was basically complimenting turned into a full blown cold that has lasted 3 weeks now… my sister also came home during that time and I haven’t had my computer for a week since it was getting upgraded. But I’m back and I have lots to share! To keep from making this the longest post in blog history, I’m going to share the most recent event since because last night the hubs and I went on a date to DC to see the cherry blossoms. The freak winter storm we had 2 weeks ago killed off about 50% of the blooms according to the NPS but when I was there a week ago, I realized that meant that specific trees were damaged rather than half the blooms on each tree. The show wasn’t as perfect as usual but it was still a fluffy tree wonderland. 

Traffic sucked getting there and took twice as long as it should have, but we were there for the best part of the day and it was surprisingly rather un-crowded for only being one day after official peak bloom. 

We parked in the lots on Hains Point and walked through the FDR Memorial and out to the MLK Memorial before turning around and walking along the Tidal Basin back to the car.

I wish we could have lingered a tad longer because the weather was gorgeous and the sunset had a lovely glow but we couldn’t stay out too late since somebody had work to do before going to bed… However it was a beautiful evening out and I’m already dreaming about the blossoms for next year. 

 

Have you ever been to DC to see the blossoms?

What’s your favorite spring blossoming flower or tree?

 

 

Linking up with Amanda for this post!

Life

St. Patrick’s Day Birthday

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

The only really awesome thing about turning 25 is getting to rent a car without the “under 25 tax” and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to go out and just rent a car right now.

To celebrate the occasion, I’m sharing my 5 birthday fun facts and 20 things on my bucket list for 25!

5 Birthday Fun Facts

  1. The doctor who delivered me was Irish.
  2. 2 years ago I went to the hospital for the first time as a patient. It was also my first time in an ambulance. Let’s just say that my birthday wasn’t the best day of the year to figure out a new allergy.
  3. I’m going to confuse everyone by saying that my “American birthday” is technically the 16th since the time of day that I was born in Australia would technically have been the 16th in the US. But since I was born on the 17th where I was, I’m happy to keep it that way ๐Ÿ™‚
  4. My mom used to get me a few special St. Patrick’s Day goodies for my birthday each year. I still have a few of them including the shamrock socks I got probably 10+ years ago that I loved.
  5. Today is also Katie Ledecky’s birthday!

A photo from my last birthday with my mom (turning 19)

Bucket List

  1. Go backpacking — I wanted to do this last year and it didn’t work out.
  2. Go to Australia — or at least start saving for a trip. It’s been over 5 years since the last time and I haven’t seen much of my family since then.
  3. Volunteer — I was really excited about an opportunity for volunteering last fall but it fell through so I hope to find a great place locally to volunteer.
  4. Host a summer picnic party — just because.
  5. Bike the GAP trail in the fall — another one I was hoping to do last year that fell through.
  6. De-junk home — I’m really trying to get rid of all the extra stuff we’ve accumulated that we don’t need. I hate holding on to so much stuff.
  7. Run a half marathon — still planning on the Chicago half in September!
  8. Regularly share recipes on the blog — I have so many great recipes that I love and I really need to get around to sharing because I know you’d love them too!
  9. Go natural — this may be a weird way to put it, but I really think that all these chemicals we’re lathering on our skin and cleaning our home with are disruptive/harmful to our bodies. I want to make more products to use at home and phase out the chemical filled store bought junk.
  10. Go stand-up paddleboarding — I’ve wanted to do this for a few years.
  11. Gain the upper hand on sugar — this has been a long time coming and is an ongoing battle.
  12. Attend a Michael Buble concert — I don’t know if this will be possible before my next birthday since his son is dealing with cancer and it’s unlikely that he’s going to be touring but I’m still going to put this here.
  13. Share music videos on YouTube — My hubby and I are always singing and making music together and since I already have a channel with a lot of my high school/college music, it’s about time to start sharing more music.
  14. Kayak down the Potomac — We went on a river cruise from Georgetown to Alexandria for my bachelorette party a few years ago and I keep thinking how gorgeous it would be to paddle through that area.
  15. Achieve weight goals — My birthday present to myself next year is to feel amazing, healthy, and be carrying around a lot less physical baggage.
  16. Run on the beach — I’ve kind of fantasized about this one and I’ve love to get to cross this off my list this year!
  17. Watch a meteor shower — I’ve never actually had the energy to wake up and get out of bed to see one of these and I really want to do this!
  18. Take a dance class with Brady — I don’t know how he’d feel about this, but we’ve talked about and joked about it before and I think it could be a lot of fun!
  19. Pick up a new hobby.
  20. Sell a painting — I almost said paint more but I decided to challenge myself. I don’t know who would buy my painting, but it’s going to happen.

 

This is going to be a year full of happiness and lots of personal growth! Have a great weekend everyone!

Life

Winter Walks and Birthday Celebrations

This week has been flying by faster than the last though I am still dealing with a cold. I had a few days where it was pretty light and I wasn’t feeling very much, but today has been a bit rougher with more congestion and it feels like I’m growing a tree in my throat. Some salt gargles, hot tea, and eucalyptus steam sessions are helping me through and unless this gets drastically worse, this has been a very light cold and I’m very thankful for that. 

Maryland and much of the northeast was hit by winter storm Stella on Monday-Tuesday this week and prematurely killed all of spring *heartbreak*. Over the weekend they had been predicting up to 14 inches of snow for our area but that was lowered since we got a blend of snow and freezing rain, the accumulation is really only about 4 inches. I went out for 2 different winter walks to enjoy what we had since this is the only real snowfall we’ve had all winter long.

Winter Snowstorm Stella

Winter Snowstorm Stella

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Exercise, Goals, Weight loss

Motivation Monday #4

I can’t believe it’s Monday again… especially since last week was a week where all the days blended together and it was hard to keep track of which day was which. I spent the whole week subbing in a first grade classroom where all the kids were sick. I had kids cough right in my face while I was working with them and it wasn’t long before I felt myself fighting against the bug. It finally caught up to me on Friday and by the evening I really wasn’t feeling well. Kind of rough because we were spending the weekend up in Lancaster, PA. It started with my throat and I was extremely fatigued and dizzy whenever I was sitting or standing on Saturday. Sunday had some residual throat discomfort and minor nose stuffiness but it’s been a pretty light cold so far in comparison to what I’m usually hit with. I’m really hoping that this is the extent of it all.

If you need some ideas on how to fight symptoms of a cold, here’s an article with some suggestions – many of which I use whenever I’m feeling yuck.

Because last week was a rough week for my health, I struggled to have any energy to put into working out, but I pushed through a couple anyways including really focusing on getting steps in.

  • Monday – 15 minute bodyweight exercises, 10K steps
  • Tuesday – 5.4 mi bike, 35 minutes of Zumba, 12.5K steps
  • Wednesday – 10K steps
  • Thursday – 3 mi bike, 2.4 mi run/walk, 11.7K steps
  • Friday: 7.5K steps (sick)
  • Saturday: 3.3K steps (sick)
  • Sunday: 35 minutes Zumba, 10K steps

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Biking, Life

Mail troubles, current reading, and an anniversary dinner

Hello there all ye lovelies. I have some distressing news to share but don’t worry, there’s a happy ending to this tale.

The USPS Story

We ordered our Disney tickets just about a month ago and they were shipped a few days later. I was expecting to get them about 2 weeks ago but they spent an extended period of time “In Transit to Destination” with no location listed. It sat like that for over a week. I began to get worried because that’s $800 just sitting in limbo. Well today they finally arrived, no thanks to the USPS because this is how it came:

Post office USPS mess up, ripped package

Do you see the rip towards the top? It was ripped over 2/3 of the way across the top of the package which makes me feel like someone opened my mail; I mean, these bubble envelopes aren’t easy to rip. Maybe it wasn’t tampered with but I can’t be trusting. I linked them straight up to our account to make sure that no one was already trying to use them and thank goodness I didn’t have to go through the hassle of harassing the post office about stolen tickets. 

The happy ending here is that we are less than 2 months away from our Disney vacay!

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Exercise, Goals

Motivation Monday #3

Happy Monday! Did you have a good weekend?

This week I’m trying to implement a system to help get me started on my weight training goal. I have a lot of insecurities going into this because it’s never been anything I’ve tried to work on before but I really want to try because I think it’s an important part of a healthy weight loss journey. My aim for this week is to get in 1 gym weight training session with Brady and then do 4 home/body weight quick sessions. As I get used to having a routine, I want to be getting to the gym twice a week for a good session.

For now my home sessions are going to focus on various combinations of these 15 exercises:

  1. Push ups
  2. Triceps dips
  3. Bicycle crunches
  4. Plank 
  5. Plank with hip dips
  6. Side plank
  7. Sit ups
  8. Lunges
  9. Squats
  10. Bridge
  11. Donkey/firehydrant kicks
  12. Clamshells
  13. Side steps with resistance band 
  14. Opposite arm/leg lifts
  15. Side step ups

I ran twice last week and did one 55 minute Zumba session…

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