Friday Five

It feels so nice that it's Friday after only a 4 day day week! It was a pretty easy week for me as we had our class field trip on Wednesday. This weekend should be just as relaxing. I have nothing but grocery shopping on the agenda for tonight, wedding cake tasting tomorrow 😋 , and plans with my mother-in-law on Sunday. I hope everyone has a great weekend planned. Before I head into my work day, I'm sharing my Friday Five with you!

1. Batiste Dry Shampoo

One of my co-workers keeps this in a closet in my office for us to use and I absolutely love it! Out of all the dry shampoos I've tried, this one is by far the greatest. It doesn't leave a powdery residue like other brands do. It's the perfect way to freshen up your hair on a day when your hair is feeling not so clean.

2. Quote Sign

While out in Lancaster last weekend, I stumbled upon a small wooden sign with John and I's potential first day song on it. I decided to buy it since we desperately need some cute decor in our home. It will also make for a nice decoration at our wedding.

3. Finding Gobi by Dion Leonard

 This was a book recommendation from a student and what a good one it is! Finding Gobi follows the story of a runner, Dion, and a small dog, who he later names Gobi, who meet during an ultra marathon in the Gobi Desert. After the race, Dion decides he wants to bring Gobi home with him to Scotland but this is easier said than done. We follow along during the whole process of getting Gobi from China to Scotland and all the craziness in the middle of that! It's a book for young readers {read: super quick and easy read} but I definitely recommend it to anyone who wants a cute and inspiring book to read.

All my photos of the stage from the concert suck so here is one of John and I from that night :)

4. Billy Joel

As I mentioned tons of times before this, I went and saw Billy Joel in concert on Friday night in Philly. He put on such a phenomenal show and made me fall in love with some of his more not as popular songs all over again! 

5. "Persevere" Endorphin Warrior Band

Years ago I won a leather band from the brand Endorphin Warrior that has the word "persevere" engraved on a metal plate. Unfortunately, about a year ago they closed their shop. All I have to remember them by is my "persevere" band and "26.2" band, which I wore all throughout my first marathon training cycle and for motivation since then. Last week I decided to start wearing my "persevere" band every day as a way of motivating myself through the 8-week challenge I am competing in at my gym. I'm wearing it as a way of reminding me to keep working hard no matter what life throws at me.

Question of the Day: What is something you're loving this week?

2019 Goals: May Update

May felt like it was flying by but also was dragging at the same time. I'm not sure how that is possible but I am just grateful that June will be here in a matter of days because good things are coming! Less than 3 weeks until I am done work for the summer and can go into full-time wedding mode! I will be working a summer job but it is not as intense as my usual job. In typical last-Wednesday-of-the-month fashion, let's talk about how my 2019 goals are going!

Goal 1: Maintain a Healthy Lifestyle

Overall I think this may have been my best month of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. I have started to follow a half marathon training plan as a way of keeping my running on track for the next few months of craziness. John and I have been consistently going to the gym and eating healthy meals. We are both signed up for a eight week weight-loss challenge at our gym! I am not too worried about weight loss. I am more doing it for all the strength training opportunities!

Goal 2: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle

I know I've been doing great with the recycling part of this goal because by time recycling day comes around, our can is FILLED! As for reusing, I've been doing a lot of brainstorming for ways to reuse items. I recently started using an old Nuun tube for my headphones. It keeps them from getting tangled in my gym bag! I also currently have a few empty medicine bottles that I am brainstorming ideas on what to use them for. If anyone has any suggestions, let me know!

Goal 3: Reduce Phone Usage

I have been finding myself on my phone more and more lately for some reason. To overcome this I have been trying to keep myself busy after work to prevent myself from just laying down and playing on my phone. Now that school is winding down, I’ve been trying to read more. The books I’ve been reading are ones I bought for my classroom library. I try to read them all before I suggest them to kids. 

Goal 4: Try New Recipes

Earlier in the month I made a delicious dinner of shredded chicken with spinach sauteed with a garlic oil. It turned out much better than I had expected since I was just throwing stuff together in a pan. I acquired an abundance of bananas after Camporee in the beginning of the month so I made some healthy banana bread. John definitely enjoyed that! Recently we tried our hand at grilled swordfish. I personally loved it while John was "eh" about it. 

Goal 5: Give Back

This is a goal that didn't get as much attention this past month. I am currently brainstorming things I can do in June!

Goal 6: Save Money

Knowing we have a lot of wedding related purchases approaching, we have been pretty good with saving money this past month. We did a lot of cooking at home using ingredients we already had on hand. I noticed we had a lot of food in our pantry and freezer that was not being eaten so we are trying to use most of that up before buying more food.

Question of the Day: How are your 2019 goals coming along? Have you completed anything on your 19 in 2019 list, if you made one?

Friday Five

TGIF! Knowing I had an exciting weekend ahead of me made this week drag on. Tonight I am going to a Billy Joel concert with John, Dale, and his friend. Then tomorrow morning we are heading up to the Poconos for Memorial Day weekend with John's family. Busy busy but yet so fun! Before I start this work day and get this weekend going, I'm sharing my Friday Five with you.

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1. Enso Silicone Rings Birthstone Collection

I received an email earlier in the week from Enso Rings advertising their new birthstone collection. The birthstone collection contains all 12 birthstones for you to choose from. Although I am a December baby, I'm tempted to buy the amethyst thin band to match my engagement ring. Oh and the best part? You can take 25% off your order between now and this Monday (5/27).

2. A New Day Earrings

I had been eyeing up these earrings at Target for awhile now. I even considered buying them for my bridesmaids before finding a different pair a couple weeks ago. Last week I made a purchase at Target that gave me a $5 gift card back. I used that gift card to treat myself to these earrings finally and I love them! They go with all my outfits and add just enough glitz to my day.

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3. Brooks Launch 6: Run Happy

I got the email announcing these beauties earlier in the week and I love them! The idea of writing what/who you run for on your shoes is adorable. It brings me back to my middle school days when we'd doodle on our Converses and Vans. 

4. Grapes

I mentioned these in my currently post earlier in the week, but they're so good not to mention again! I picked up grapes over the weekend and they have been the best go-to snack all week. It's been pretty warm over here in Jersey so they make for a super refreshing treat! A suggestion I would've forgotten to make if it wasn't for Maureen reminding me is freeze your grapes for a cool treat during the summer.

5. Our Wedding Invites

Alright so long story short. Making and ordering our invitations was easy-peasy. My brother-in-law designed them based off one I found and loved online. Then we ordered them through Vistaprint while there was a sale going on. They came in looking amazing! Easy-peasy, right? Silly us thought that creating the RSVP cards would be just as simple (we had to make individual ones since we are having everyone RSVP online so they need individual codes). I designed them based off the invitations and planned to print them at home using perforated postcard paper from Staples. That went HORRIBLY wrong and didn't even match the invitations. I ended up going to a printing place by me that print and cut them all less than the cost of the postcard paper. AND the texture/color of the RSVP cards matched the invitations perfectly! I couldn't have been more thrilled at how nice everything turned out!

Question of the Day: What is something you're loving this week?

Currently

Happy Wednesday! Although it feels like it should be closer to Friday, I'm just thankful we're heading in that direction. It's already been a long week at work for me. I have seen other bloggers do a "currently" post every once and a while. Since I have been pretty busy lately, I figured I'd check in with you guys on this wonderful Wednesday with a currently post to update you on my life at the moment.

I am currently...

Eating... grapes! They were on sale over the weekend so I stocked up and have been enjoying them for lunches this week. I love eating them after they've been in the fridge for awhile. SO refreshing!

Wearing... spring/summer clothes! Warmer weather has finally hit New Jersey so I have pulled out all my tanks for running and cooler clothes for work. My school doesn't have air conditioning which forces me to wear clothes that will not make me overheat. I've also been wearing my glasses a lot lately! I know I've said this a billion times, but allergies have been killer for me and my eyes just want nothing to do with my contacts lately.

Drinking... hot tea with lots of honey! The honey is helping soothe my sore throat this week since I currently don't have my voice and am not feeling the best.

Determined... to get my garage cleaned out and organized. We have been using our garage as a drop-off point for anything we don't really know what to do with. I'm determined to sort through everything out there and make it look a bit more organized.

We sealed the envelopes with wax for a fancy touch :)

Excited... for all the responses we have been getting for the wedding. We sent out our wedding invites on Saturday and have already received a good amount of responses already! I am also excited for the Billy Joel concert I am going to on Friday night with John, my brother, and his friend.

Question of the Day: What is something you are currently excited for or determined to do?

My Week in Pictures XXII

Hi everyone! I'm moving pretty slow on this Monday morning after such a long weekend. We were really productive in the beginning of the weekend and then allergies got the best of me yesterday. This is going to be a pretty long week for me at work so time for me to jump right in! Follow along to see what I was up to all last week!

I didn't take any pictures Monday or Tuesday and I honestly don't even remember what I was doing then lol. On Wednesday I had a good laugh when I saw a student was using a broken off piece of their Chromebook case as a book mark.

After skipping runs earlier in the week due to allergies, I finally got in a good morning run on Thursday.

I FINALLY received my contract on Thursday after they addressed and sent it to the elementary school. Talk about stressful...

Dexter snuggled with us in bed that night :) He doesn't due that as often now that it's warmer out.

Friday was our last testing day and a half day, so we brought the kids outside for awhile. I played a small game of soccer with some of my girls.

Friday night we worked hard to get our invites finished and ready to mail. We went fancy and wax sealed them :)

On Saturday morning we mailed our invites!!

Since we had the rest of the day free, John, my brother, Dale, and I jumped in the car and took a road trip up the Lancaster. We went back to the place where John proposed!

Visited Rachel while we were in Millersville!!

And had a delicious dinner at the Shady Maple Smorgasbord!

Dexter actually let me sleep in Sunday so I got a late start on my run. I decided to run to meet John at the gym so that route brought me by our venue :) I tried sneaking some pictures...

8 miles DONE!

Some strength training and a nice foam rolling session afterwards.

Later in the day, after a trip to Urgent Care for my eye, I went on a walk with Ashley and Tommy. He clearly was relaxed...

John and I grilled swordfish for dinner that night. It was delicious!

Question of the Day: Have allergies hit you yet?

Friday Five

Happy Friday! I'm excited that it's Friday for numerous reasons. 1. I have been feeling sick all week so the downtime is much needed. 2. We don't have any plans on the calendar so we are free to do whatever we want {read: REST!}. And 2. I get to share my Friday Five with you :) I hope everyone has a great weekend!

1. Early Morning Runs

Now that it is getting light out earlier, I have switched back to running before work like I did in the fall. I love getting up and out running before most people in our neighborhood. It makes for a much quieter run than when I run later in the day. I also have been enjoying getting home and ready early enough so I can get a few things done around the house before heading to work.

2. Protein Shakes

I always like to switch up my breakfast options and my newest fave is protein shakes! I've been trying different combinations each day. So far my favorite is chocolate protein powder mixed with water and then blended up with ice and frozen banana. Yummm! I'm looking for new recipes so if you have any, send them my way!

3. Shea Moisture Fruit Fusion Coconut Water Energizing Body Wash & Bubble Bath

This was another couponing purchase awhile back that I just started using. The fact that it says its "energizing" made me a little nervous to use it when I showered before bed so I started using it the past few weeks when I showered before work. I'm not sure if it is the fact that I ran or if it really is energizing, but it does make me feel and smell good! I haven't tried it as a bubble bath yet but I will soon!

4. Me! by Taylor Swift

I know I am almost a month late to the party but I just have to talk about Taylor Swift's new-ish song. I'll admit, it's not one of my favorites and I think some of the lyrics are a bit interesting {the "spelling is fun" part makes me feel like I'm in a kids show} but I DO love the beat and the fact that it features Brendon Urie. I am hopeful that the rest of this album will be awesome with a lot of upbeat songs!

5. Bell Peppers

I love all veggies, but lately I've been craving peppers! I went to the store in the beginning of the week to stock up on some green peppers for snacks this week. Towards the end of the week I picked up some red peppers which are equally as delicious. They've been the perfect snack all week

Question of the Day: What is something you're loving this week?

Things I Wish I Knew When I Started Running

Around this time 6 years ago, I embarked on a wonderful journey into the running world and never looked back. I have learned a lot since that first 1.5 mile run and have decided to share some of those lessons with everyone. Whether you are a new runner or have been running for years, I hope you can take something from this post!

It gets easier. The first time I went out for a run with friends we ran 1.5 miles and I swore I was going to die. 6 years later I laugh at past-me because 1.5 miles is nothing to me now. If you keep running, you'll build endurance and it will start to feel easier.

An old Instagram photo with a cheesy filter ft. my first pair of good running shoes. 

Buy good running shoes. I started running in a pair of cheap Nike's from Kohl's. They didn't support my feet properly and weren't too comfortable. My life was changed when I finally went to my local running store and was fitted properly. I learned that I should wear neutral shoes, more specifically Brooks Ghosts.

I went to my first race expo in 2014 for the Broad Street Run and I spent more money on new gear than I'd like to admit...

It's not as cheap as people say it is. "All you need is some running shoes" was what everyone told me. 6 years later my closet is bursting at the seams with running clothes for every season, a FlipBelt, hydration backpack, motivation wraps, SweatyBands, socks for every type of run, hats, oh, and 6 pairs of running shoes.... Don't even get me started with race entries!

You can make running as cheap as you want. I know I just said running is not as cheap as people say it is BUT you can make it as cheap as you personally want. Realistically, you only need a good pair of running shoes {I can't stress this enough!} and sweat wicking clothes and you're good to go. All the other stuff is optional and there are ways to improvise {like do you really need a $35 handheld water bottle or could you just carry a cheapy one?} or find things cheaper {thrift stores and Walmart are my BFF!}.

It may start to consume your life. When I first started running, I never imagined how much it would take over my life in a good way! Now running is almost always on my mind. When am I running this week? Should I buy that new tank at Running Co.? How do I possibly choose which race to run next?! Real talk: I am not mad at all that running is now my life because I truly do love it and it is a healthy hobby.

Question of the Day: What is something you have learned since you began running or doing any other hobby you enjoy?

My Week in Pictures XXI

Hi everyone! I hope you had a relaxing weekend! Mine was a mix of fun and relaxing. Now I'm all rested up and ready to start the last week of testing in my school. In typical Monday fashion, I'm sharing my last week in pictures with you! Fun Fact: Today marks 2 years since I graduated from Millersville!

Last week was Teacher Appreciation Week so each day we were treated to a different type of "bar." Monday was a yogurt parfait bar!

Week 1 of testing began on Monday.

I mailed out some Poshmark packages. Selling can get so addictive on there!

I started Tuesday morning out with an early morning run.

Our bar that day was a taco/nacho bar. Yummmm!

Wednesday was a trail mix bar. I was thrilled that they had so many nut-free options.

For lunch I heated up the Chick Fil A sandwich I had gotten for free the day before for Teacher Appreciation Day.

Thursday morning also started with an early morning run where I saw a bunch of ducks.

I relaxed after work with some strawberries and dark chocolate hummus.

On Friday, we were given plants at work!

The parents also set up a "school supply bar" for us. We were able to fill a bag with any of the supplies we needed. I am so thankful for some new pencils and Lysol wipes!

 Ashley and I took Tommy to Shoprite Friday night to decorate a cake for Mother's Day. He loved using every color of icing!

Tommy then proudly showed me his new house.

I started my Saturday morning out with a 6 mile run.

I enjoyed a strawberry protein shake after. I've been hooked on shakes all week!

As if I didn't get enough activity in the morning, we met up with John's cousin, Becca, in the afternoon for a hike.

We found some pretty cool areas!

We let John venture out on this little island on his own...

Sunday marked 2 years of us being engaged! It's hard to believe that it has been that long since we first decided to spend forever together. Now I'm eagerly counting down the days until the wedding {88 days!}.

To celebrate Mother's Day, my mom, Ashley, and I made wreaths. It was so fun!

I'm pretty impressed with mine!

Tommy even surprised me with 2 carnations! I love being his godmother :)

Question of the Day: Did you do anything fun over the weekend?