2019 Goals: November Update

This is coming at you a little late but my schedule got a bit mixed up with my marathon recap last week. We are sooo close to being done the year so I didn't want to give up on my updates this late in the game. I am already thinking of some goals for next year and how I want to go about them. I'll be putting together that post throughout the month so I can post in when the new year begins! It's so crazy that 2020 is just a few short weeks away... Crazy, right?

Goal 1: Maintain a Healthy Lifestyle

With WW (formerly Weight Watchers) introducing their new plans, I have been switching up my meals lately and it's making a difference! As most of you know, I ran the Philadelphia Marathon on November 24th so my fitness was on point for a majority of November in order to prepare for the race.

 

Goal 2: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle

I finally splurged and purchased a Stash reusable sandwich bag and it's a total game changer! John loves packing sandwiches for lunch and the one I purchased is the perfect size for them.

Goal 3: Reduce Phone Usage

Work keeps me busy enough during the day that most days I don't end up playing on my phone until bedtime. I did have a good chunk of time off work this month which led me to playing on my phone a lot. I am trying my best to find other things to do with my free time rather than go on my phone such as organizing, reading, and cleaning!

Tilapia with rice and mixed veggies made for an easy and yummy dinner :)

Goal 4: Try New Recipes

John jump started this goal this month by coming up with some new dinner meals. My favorite was tilapia which is now in our dinner rotation. Shoprite sells a bag of individually sealed filets that we purchase and take out just as much as we need when we make it. 

Goal 5: Give Back

This month I did a good amount of purging old things I didn't need. I chose to donate all the items to the Purple Heart. It was such an easy process! I just put everything in bags and boxes and then scheduled a pick up. On the day of the pick up, I left the bags and boxes on my front patio where they picked them up.

Goal 6: Save Money

With our new budgeting app, saving money has been so much easier for us. It really makes me think about every purchase I make. Black Friday was the first time in a few months that I actually purchased something for myself {a new tank top!}, other than an iced coffee, and it felt so strange. We've been really good about only spending money on groceries, gas, and the occasional meal out so buying things other than that is odd to me.

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?

2019 Goals: October Goals

Is it just me or is 2019 flying by?! I know it was a busy year for me, but still! October flew by just like every other month has. I kept an eye on most of my goals as the month went on and also kept looking at my 19 in 2019 list. I still have quite a few items to check off but I'm hopeful that November will be a good month to do so! Today I am sharing my progress with my 2019 goals.

Goal 1: Maintain a Healthy Lifestyle

I've been making it a point each week to prep a healthy breakfast and lunch. When it is already ready for me each day, I don't have many reasons to deviate from what I should be eating. Our dinners can tend to be a little more comfort foods so I feel good if at least 2 of my 3 meals are healthy! I ran the Hershey Half towards the end of October and I maintained a great training schedule for that. Strength is making its way back into my schedule at full force!

Goal 2: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle

I'm pretty excited to say that so far this school year, I have not brought any plastic baggies in my lunches. I've been sticking with using reusable shopping bags at the store and recycle everything I can!

Goal 3: Reduce Phone Usage

Work keeps me busy enough during the day that most days I don't end up playing on my phone until bedtime. 

Goal 4: Try New Recipes

This goal seems to be getting a lot of attention lately. We tried some different meals this month to try and switch up our weekly routines. I have also been finding some yummy baked good recipes that I've been trying out just for fun.

Goal 5: Give Back

This goal has started to take a back burner but I am sure I will be doing a lot in November to give back such as make donations.

Can’t stop, won’t stop buying pumpkin iced coffee :)

Goal 6: Save Money

This was our first month following the Dave Ramsey way of budgeting and I am already feeling good about saving money! It almost feels like a game trying to get what we need with only a certain amount of money. We've been budgeting money for groceries since we moved out so that wasn't too hard. The newest thing was only giving ourselves a small sum of money for "fun" money throughout the month. Both John and I learned it all goes towards buying lunch at work and iced coffee, haha.

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?

2019 Goals: September Update

I meant to post this on Wednesday but I completely forgot! Since today is the last day of the month, posting it today works :) September was a busy month but I feel like I really took the time to focus on my goals which makes me feel good. It's hard to believe we are nearing the end of 2019. I guess it's time for me to start brainstorming goals for 2020!

Goal 1: Maintain a Healthy Lifestyle

With school starting, I have tried to make my health a priority. It has been pretty easy in the eating department as I meal prep on Sundays. That has kept me from excessive snacking during the week. John and I have been sticking to a gym schedule and I have been working hard to get my runs in during the week, even if that means I am running at 5 am!

Goal 2: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle

This isn't anything too new but I have been really great about only packing lunch in reusable containers. Sometimes my lunchbox is crammed with all different sorts of containers but I make it work!

Goal 3: Reduce Phone Usage

Work keeps me busy enough during the day that most days I don't end up playing on my phone until bedtime. 

Goal 4: Try New Recipes

We cooked/baked a lot this month! I tried my mom's meatloaf recipe earlier in the month which turned out yummy. John found an Instant Pot mac & cheese recipe that we tried and ended up falling in love with! We added that to our dinner rotation. Along with those two things, I made pasta salad, pumpkin oatmeal muffins, and a delicious quinoa dish.

Goal 5: Give Back

This is a goal that didn't get as much attention the past few months. I am currently brainstorming things I can do!

Goal 6: Save Money

John and I started following Financial Peace University to pay off our debt! We are fairly new to the program so we are still learning. So far we have established a budget and set it up for October. I am excited to see where this goes!

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?

2019 Goals: August Update

I'm off my usual schedule with my August goals update but it's just been crazy around here with school starting. To be honest, all of August has just been a whirlwind and I feel like I need a day or two just to breathe. I go back to school full time this week so who knows when I’ll get that. Eventually I’ll even get my honeymoon and wedding post out! Anywho, here is a little update on how my 2019 goals are going now that we are a little over half way through the year!

Half marathon #6!

Goal 1: Maintain a Healthy Lifestyle

Between the wedding and our honeymoon, this goal seemed to go out the window. I wouldn't say I really "let myself go," but I definitely wasn't tracking my food and following a strict workout routine. Now that I am back, I am slowly getting back into my usual routines. I'm evening training for my 6th half marathon in October!

Goal 2: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle

I really haven't changed too much with this goal in the past month. I am always thinking of new ways to reuse items but nothing worth noting right now.

Goal 3: Reduce Phone Usage

Our honeymoon was wonderful because my phone was barely touched, besides taking pictures. Since being home, I've been crazy busy trying to prepare for school to start so my phone has been the least of my worries. I'm a-okay with that!

Goal 4: Try New Recipes

This is something John and I both agreed needs some work. For one, we've hardly been cooking at home and when we do, it's the same old-same old. I spent some time the other day finding some new recipes for us to test out. John has even been finding recipes and sending them to me so we can get the ingredients.

Goal 5: Give Back

This is a goal that didn't get as much attention the past few months. I am currently brainstorming things I can do!

This day was worth every penny :)

Goal 6: Save Money

This was a tricky goal in August. While we were putting out money for the wedding, we were still trying our best to limit purchases so we could continue to save money. We were proud of ourselves when we realized we paid less for the wedding than we originally thought we would! 

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?

2019 Goals: July Update

The end of July pretty much signifies the end of summer being near but I’m not terribly upset about it because that means my wedding is closer! As of today, my wedding is 9 days away! We have pretty much everything together so now I’m just attempting to relax until the day gets here. In other news, the end of the month also means I need to post an update about my 2019 goals. Read on to see how they’re going!

Goal 1: Maintain a Healthy Lifestyle

July was a great month for working out and eating healthy for me! I was part of a weight loss challenge at my gym {I pretty much did it for the free workout classes and personal training. I did not expect to lose much weight} so I pushed myself to get myself to workout classes and personal training sessions. My trainer helped me figure out my nutrition and for the past month I have been focusing on tracking calories instead of Weight Watcher points. It has definitely changed up my eating game which has been nice.

Goal 2: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle

I taught arts and crafts at a camp this summer and tried my best to come up with crafts that used recycled items. We used toilet paper tubes to make firework paintings, I encouraged kids to use scraps of construction paper left over from other crafts, and saved any plastic containers I had {cottage cheese tubs, yogurt cups, etc.} for supply storage and water cups.

Goal 3: Reduce Phone Usage

This was pretty easy this past month because the place I worked had terrible cell service, so even on my breaks I wasn't really playing with my phone. 

Goal 4: Try New Recipes

Thanks to my trainer, I switched up my eating habits which means new foods! I've been loving cooking sweet potatoes and chicken for the week. I know that isn't a new recipe but it's something new to me recently. John and I discovered the simplicity of making burrito bowls in our Instant Pot and it has been life changing! All we do is throw uncooked rice, a can of corn, can of black beans, and some salsa in there, cook it up, and TA-DA! Dinner! We usually make burrito bowls with this or put it on tortillas. We tried it once with chicken but both agreed it was better without it.

Goal 5: Give Back

This is a goal that didn't get as much attention the past few months. I am currently brainstorming things I can do!

Goal 6: Save Money

I'll have to admit, we haven't done the best with saving money this past month with all the wedding purchases we've been making. We are pretty exciting, though, that we stayed under budget for our wedding! That counts, right?!

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

I can’t decide if this week flew by or went by slowly. All I know is it was a busy week with getting into the swing of things at work and dealing with some more car issues. Thank goodness it’s Friday now and I can relax a bit! Tonight and Sunday are free of plans (besides some wedding planning!) but tomorrow I’m spending some time with my friend Melissa! We are going to get her bridesmaid dress altered which should be fun! I’m getting this out a little late today, but here are the 5 things I’ve been loving this week!

Source

1. Funny Fitness Blender Bottles

This was another late night BuzzFeed find! I was reading this list of items for working out and thought these Blender Bottle designs will we’re the cutest/funniest designs ever! I personally am eyeing up the “bae goals” one! Blender Bottles are such a great bottle to use at the gym, while your out and about, or anywhere. I’ve been using them for years and I’ve never had an issue with leaking. 

2. Protein One Strawberries & Cream Protein Bar

This was an impulse purchase I made while for shopping for lunches this week. I chose the strawberries & cream flavor because it sounded different. It was a good choice because these are so tasty! The strawberry flavor is delicious and not fake at all. The bars are on the smaller side but definitely filling. I want to try some of the other flavors Protein One has to offer!

3. Hydroflask 

I’ve had my Hydroflask for awhile now but it’s been a lifesaver this week! I’m super busy during the day so it’s really helpful that I don’t have to constantly keep filling up my bottle as it holds 32 oz of water. It also keeps the water cold even though it’s just sitting out on my desk. 

4. Personal Training

I never thought I’d say this, but I actually enjoy my personal training sessions! John has been doing personal training for awhile now and convinced me to join the weight loss challenge at our gym which includes some personal training sessions. I’ve had 2 so far and I actually think I work better having somebody telling me what to do and helping me through the workout. I feel much more accountable now!

5. Crayola ColorCycle 
I had heard about this program a year or so ago, but just took the time to look into it. Crayola lets you send them any markers {they don't have to be Crayola!} that are dried out and they recycle them for you! The website makes it sound like you have to register through your school but I am going to reach out about registering through my summer camp because we have already accumulated a ton of dried out markers. It seems so simple to do and Crayola even covers the cost of shipping the markers to them! I was excited when I realized this would help my camp not waste so much because one of my 2019 goals is to reduce, reuse, and recycle.

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

2019 Goals: June Update

Like I say in the beginning of every month, I can’t believe it’s already the end of June! As much as I’m excited to get to my wedding in August, I’d be quite okay if time slowed down just a teensy bit. It’s day 3 of my summer job and so far, so good! I’m come home exhausted each day but it’s be good otherwise!  In typical last-Wednesday-of-the-month fashion, let's talk about how my 2019 goals are going!

We’re at that time of year where sprinklers are necessary during a run!

Goal 1: Maintain a Healthy Lifestyle

This has been my JAM this month! As part of the weight loss challenge I am part of, we are able to go to certain classes and get 3 personal training sessions. John and I have gotten into the habit of going every Saturday to a class, which has been awesome! I’m already starting to see results in my arms which will be perfect come the wedding day!

Goal 2: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle

With our shower his past month, we’ve been opening and disposing of a lot of boxes so our recycling game has been on point! We actually have so many boxes that we still haven’t gotten all of them picked up by recycling because they don’t all fit in the can. Now that I am starting to teach arts and crafts, I am trying to come up with some crafts that reuse items so any ideas are welcome!

Goal 3: Reduce Phone Usage

This has been a bit easier lately because life has been so busy! I find myself not even knowing where my phone is some days because I’m so absorbed in the task at hand. I am hoping to get a lot of reading done now that I have a long lunch at work!

It may look/sound weird but it’s soo delicious!

Goal 4: Try New Recipes

Thanks to our new appliances from my bridal shower, this goal just got so much easier! We received an instant pot which we’ve used twice so far. The first recipe we tried was a sesame chicken. It was surprisingly delicious! The second time we made chicken breast which we then shredded and mixed with taco seasoning for chicken tacos. I received a lot of recipes from our friends and family at my shower that I am eager to start trying! Also, my lunches lately have been spinach salads with strawberries and cottage cheese in place of dressing. So yummy while being pretty healthy!

Goal 5: Give Back

This is a goal that didn't get as much attention the past few months. I am currently brainstorming things I can do!

Goal 6: Save Money

Aldi has been my best friend lately as they carry so many delicious foods for such a low price! My Poshmark closet has been kicking lately with so many sales! To be quite honest, I haven’t been to active on their yet I made 7 sales this month. One of those sales was a like-new pair of Brooks that I just wasn’t in love with. That brought in a nice chunk of change :) if you haven’t already, sign up for Poshmark using my code ELCHRISTMAN for $10 off your first purchase. Sign up ASAP before they lower it back down to $5!

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?

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?

2019 Goals: April Update

What a month this has been! It's honestly hard for me to believe that April is pretty much over in just a few days. The month really seemed to fly by, just as all of 2019 has felt. I'm not sure if I'm okay with this or not. In typical last-Wednesday-of-the-month fashion, let's talk about how my 2019 goals are going! {You can check out my previous updates here: January, February, and March}

Goal 1: Maintain a Healthy Lifestyle

This month consisted of a lot of shorter distance runs in order to work on my pace. It clearly was beneficial as I was able to run two 5Ks with great paces! My monthly mileage wasn't as high as usual since I gave up a few weekend long runs in order to run these 5Ks but I'm okay with that. John and I rejoined our gym which was the best decision! Being at the gym really motivates both of us to focus on strength training.

This box now serves as the "home" for my egg cooker. It keeps my kitchen shelf looking neat and helps all the pieces stay together.

Goal 2: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle

I finally got around to shipping out my Marine Layer Re-Spun package. I mailed in 5 shirts which should get me a $25 credit in return! I've been focusing on the reuse aspect of this goal lately. Each time I go to throw certain items away (jars, containers, boxes, etc.), I think of ways I could re-purpose them.

Goal 3: Reduce Phone Usage

I chose to pick up books instead of my phone a lot this month, especially right before bed. I have a bad habit of scrolling through BuzzFeed right before I fall asleep and I'm trying to break that. I've been attempting to make a habit of having specific times throughout the day when I can scroll my social media accounts and not just every so often. That seems to help me from picking up my phone constantly and getting "lost" in it.

Goal 4: Try New Recipes

I finally branched out with recipes this month! In the beginning of the month we tried out grilled pizza. It was so delicious, we've made it a few times since then! When my friend, Rachel, came to stay with us one weekend, we made a taco casserole that was super tasty! John and I have added it into our dinner rotation since it is so easy and delicious. I made a big batch of shredded chicken one day that turned into a week of creative lunches using it. I'll be doing that more often!

Goal 5: Give Back

I gave back to the running community in the beginning of the month and volunteered at my first race, the Philadelphia Hot Chocolate 5K/15K.

Goal 6: Save Money

Knowing we'd be shelling out a lot of money for wedding costs this month, John and I have tried our best to not spend any money on "extras." I sold 4 things on Poshmark this month for a total of $40! I'm planning on going through my spring/summer clothes in the next few weeks so I can add more clothes to my Poshmark closet.

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?

Gloucester Township 5K Recap

On Saturday I ran my second race of the year, a small 5K in my town called the Gloucester Township 5K. If you remember from my post back in December, I had said I would only run 1 race this spring. Well, since I didn't sign up for any "big" races {half or full marathon} I decided a few small 5Ks would be nice! I heard about this race through my town's newsletter and figured it would cool to run a super local 5K that didn't cost much. I knew John would be away for the weekend so I recruited my little brother to run it with me! It was an interesting race for me so read on if you want to hear about it.

This race morning started unlike many race mornings for me because I didn't have to be up at the crack of dawn {WIN!}. Being less than 5 minutes from the race location meant that we could sleep later and take our time getting there. The start time was 9 am but we still needed to pick up our bibs and shirts so we decided to leave my house around 8:15 to get there with plenty of time to spare. The location of this race was at the senior citizen community center in town that happens to share a parking lot with a park so the parking situation was great. At this point in the morning it was drizzling so we ran into the community center to pick up our stuff. We were amazed at how much thought was put into such a small town 5K. There were handmade signs posted all around the big room everything was in such as the check in and post-race breakfast buffet and they even had a couple of local sponsors handing out freebies. We grabbed our shirts and a few freebies and while heading to my car to stash them away, Dale realized he wasn't sure where his wallet was. Being so close to home, I suggested we drive home real quick to see if it was there. It really worked out because then I was able to use my own bathroom pre-race {there were real flushing bathrooms at the start, as well!} while Dale found his wallet, and we still made it back to the start with time to spare!

The start of the race was a bit odd. The whole race was chip timed but we didn't cross over one of those timing mats in the beginning. It makes me wonder how they figured out the timing then. Anywho, once they let us start, I immediately took off because it was already apparent that there would be a bottleneck ahead where we had to narrow down into a smaller portion of the road. Dale stayed with me at this point. We had agreed beforehand that if I felt like I wanted to push ahead to try and place in my age group, that was fine. I wasn't sure what my plan was because the weather was already so hot and humid, something my body was NOT ready for. I continued to keep pushing and eventually pulled away from Dale after about a half mile because I saw a girl in my age group wasn't too far ahead of me {with this being a smaller race, I was able to easily pick out people in my age group}. I kept pushing but eventually the girl flew past me and I couldn't even try to keep up. 

I didn’t take many pictures but I did manage to  get a picture of Dale crossing the finish line!

My ankle started bugging me around mile 2, which was when another girl in my AG started closing in on me. I had kept turning around to check on Dale and eventually realized how close she really was to me. I had to let myself stop real quick to stretch out my ankle and within that time, the girl passed me. At this point, I assumed I was in 3rd, which felt good. As I neared the end of mile 3, a girl who looked like she was in my AG flew by me without warning. I tried my best to push myself in that last quarter of a mile but the heat was really dragging me down. I crossed the finish line with a time of 28:31 {1 second faster than the Phillies Charities 5K 2 weeks ago!}, just 24 seconds after the 3rd place female in my AG. I was so mad at myself for pushing so hard in the beginning because I believe that was what made my ankle pain flare up later on. I threw myself a quick pity party before letting it go and promising myself to continue working on pace to better myself!

I

The post-race breakfast buffet was really nice and I was thankful to have a bagel and some orange slices to fill my stomach. Overall, this was a well put together 5K that I am looking forwarding to running again in the future. It had been awhile since I ran such a small, local 5K and this one made me remember how much I love them! The obvious community pride made me feelgood about the town we chose to move to and call our "home."

Question of the Day: Have you ever done a small town race? If so, what were your thoughts?

Volunteering at a Race

On Saturday I finally crossed something off my 19 in 2019 list as well as my Bucket List: volunteer at a race. After 6 years of running races {close to 50 races total!}, I have always wanted to volunteer at a race for two reasons. 1. Running and races have done a lot for me so giving back just makes sense and 2. I wanted to know what it was like to be on the volunteering side of race day. I chose the Philadelphia Hot Chocolate 5K/15K as my first because I had been a runner at it a few times before and I knew it was a fun race. Somehow I even managed to get John and my friend, Rachel, to volunteer with me! Today I am sharing with you some details of my experience and what I learned!

With a report time of 5:45 am, an early wake up call was necessary. Since we weren't actually running the race, not much preparation time was needed in the morning. We literally woke up, threw together some bagel sandwiches, and hit the road to Philly. Our informational email had warned us that we should eat a good breakfast beforehand as our shift was 5:45-11 am and only light snacks would be provided. We decided to eat our breakfast on the way so that it was the latest time possible. 

Just like every Philly race, we parked in our usual spot and made the walk over to Eakins Oval {right in front of the Art Museum}. We all commented on how weird it felt not to be running the race but yet it was a good feeling. It was pretty chilly at such an early hour, but we didn't want to layer up too much because we were told we would be given volunteer gear that would be worn on the outermost layer. When checking in, we weren't given anything but overheard a check-in person telling another volunteer that they didn't get enough volunteer jackets so we'd get them mailed to us later. We actually received an email today reiterating this information on Monday so now I'm eagerly awaiting the arrival of my volunteer jacket! Anyway, back to the cold. Luckily they had big thermoses of hot chocolate for us to drink while we waited for our assignments. That definitely helped warm me up!

Eventually someone walked us over to our assignment which was at the finish line. We were instructed to set up tables with cups filled with Nuun. John, Rachel, and I worked well as a team. John and Rachel set out cups while I went by and filled them half way with a pitcher full of Nuun. The Nuun was mixed in large coolers in which we dipped the pitcher in to fill it. Time flew by and we filled tons of cups. We all agreed we had to of filled over 500 cups! As we finished up this job, the 5K began. At this point, we were told to stand by the table and hand out cups to the finishers. For once I was able to witness the first finishers break tape. So exciting! Not many 5K finishers seemed interested in the Nuun we were handing out. I'm not sure if they just weren't really thirsty or if they weren't sure what Nuun was.

As the 5K finishers started to thin out, the 15K had already began so we were told to take any bathroom breaks at this point before the rush of 15K finishers came in. We decided to just hang around and luckily we stayed by because we found out there were hand warmers for us to use. Such a lifesaver at this point! The 15K finishers started pouring in soon enough and we were handing out Nuun cups left and right. The sun had finally come out so runners were hot and dying for a cool drink. It felt great to be able to help everyone out and see that we were making a difference. As this crowded thinned out, we started cleaning up. There were still a lot of filled cups left so those needed to be dumped back into the cooler which was then taken to be dumped out. It blew my mind how much was wasted. I told Rachel that I will always take water/sports drink from a volunteer because now I know how much work they put into filling all those cups!

That was the extent of our clean up. Once we finished that, we asked the head guy we kept reporting to if there was anything else we needed to do. He said we were good to leave so we headed towards the volunteer tent to see if there was anything we had to do to check out. Thank goodness we did because there was CHOCOLATE at the volunteer tent! As in, all the goodies the finishers received after completing both races. Not that I was looking to be "rewarded" for my good deed, but man was I happy to get some yummy chocolate in my belly after keeping busy for 5 hours.

John, Rachel, and I all have an enjoyable time volunteering! We agreed that we have a while new appreciation for race volunteers. I will continuing to thank as many as I can throughout each race I run. For anyone who has thought about volunteering at a race, I highly recommend that you do! Running is a huge part of my life so being given the opportunity to give back to the running community was such a great feeling!

2019 Goals: March Update

Let's just take a moment to acknowledge the fact that April is literally right around the corner! As I sit here typing up this update, I'm completely mind blown that March is already almost over. I'm not going to lie, I'm pretty ready to get this school year over with and get to August so I can have my wedding and go on my honeymoon, but it needs to slow down just a tad. In typical last-Wednesday-of-the-month fashion, let's talk about how my 2019 goals are going!

Goal 1: Maintain a Healthy Lifestyle

At the end of February, one of favorite bloggers, Carlee McDot, shared 4 different 30-day challenges. One of my '19 in 2019' items is to complete a 30-day challenge, and also I obviously have a goal of maintaining a healthy lifestyle, so this was perfect. I chose the crunches and push-up challenges and as long as I get through the next 3 days, I will have completed both! My running has been pretty on point this month. While it's not as rigorous as when I am marathon training, I feel as if I have been pushing myself a lot lately. I've been surprising myself with the distances I've been running even on the days I have to force myself to even put on my running shoes.

Goal 2: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle

I started collecting my old mascara wands for Wands for Wildlife. This was an organization I had known about but completely forgotten about until I cleaned out an old make up bag. I'm going to try and collect a few more before mailing in! Something I realized I've never acknowledged that I do to reduce the use of plastic is by bringing real silverware to lunch. Yeah, it would be easy to grab a plastic fork from the lunchroom and then toss it, but it's just as easy to bring my own fork and wash it when I get home.

Goal 3: Reduce Phone Usage

Although I don't have any real 'proof' that I am doing well with this goal, I still feel as if I am slowly reducing the amount of time I spend on my phone. I am planning on playing around a bit more with the Screen Time feature on my iPhone in the next few weeks so hopefully I'll have that to talk about in my April update.

Goal 4: Try New Recipes

I bought tzatziki sauce this month, which I incorporated into a few different lunch recipes. I made homemade pita chips in our air fryer that turned out super delicious! With the warm weather finally approaching, I am looking forward to trying new recipes on the grill.

Source

Goal 5: Give Back

It hasn't happened yet, but this month I signed up to volunteer at my first race! I am also toying with the idea of volunteering at an ultra marathon I hope to run in the future. I just have to look at my schedule and plan it out.

Goal 6: Save Money

This actually hasn't been too hard of a goal considering I never have time to go out and spend money, hahaha. Couponing has helped me save a lot of money on groceries, allowing us to save that extra money to put towards the wedding.

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?

2019 Goals: February Update

February sure did fly by! I'm not sure if it's due to the fact that February is only 28 days long or if it's because I was busy for about 26 of those days... Looking back, it was a wonderful month full of spending time with friends and also working towards some of my goals! I even crossed a few things off my 2019 to do list. Today I'm sharing with you the progress I've made on my six 2019 goals.

Goal 1: Maintain a Healthy Lifestyle

I was surprised at how many quality runs I got in this month with the crazy weather we've had! In the beginning of the month I ran my first double digit run since November. I added some faster pace runs in. I also managed to start adding some strength and HIIT workouts into my schedule. My upper body strength has really declined in the past couple months so I am working on building that back up.

Goal 2: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle

I am so proud of myself that I remembered my reusable bags almost every time time I went to the store this month! One of my favorite bloggers, Carlee McDot, shared in one of her recent Friday Favorite posts about a program called Re-Spun by Marine Layer. The basis of the program is you donate your old, unwanted t-shirts and then Marine Layer "re-spins" them into new shirts. You also get a $5 credit per shirt donated {up to $25 but they don't cap how many shirts you can donate}. I requested a donate kit so I can mail in some of the t-shirts I am ready to donate. I'll keep you updated on my process as I just received the kit in the mail. To go along with the re-use theme, I started to find ways to re-use items such as turning an empty Lysol container into a trash bag dispenser.

Goal 3: Reduce Phone Usage

This is definitely something I am becoming more aware of. I have gotten better at not going on my phone first thing in the morning. Instead, I quickly check my messages for any urgent texts and then throw it in my bag. Once I get to work, I take a few minutes to check any notifications before putting it back in my bag. At home I have been trying to pick up a book or magazine {bridal magazines have been my go-to at this point in time} more than my phone.

Goal 4: Try New Recipes

I definitely failed on this goal this month. I did start making my lunches a bit more creative, but none of the recipes were anything new. More so just a hodge podge of food I had in. The only "new" recipe I would say I tried is pumpkin spice overnight oats which uses oats, nonfat plain Greek yogurt, real pumpkin puree, and pumpkin spice.

Goal 5: Give Back

One of my best friends works for a non-profit that recently opened up a food & toiletry pantry. I raided my cabinets and put together a bag of items to donate!.

Goal 6: Save Money

In a way, I did do really good with saving money this month. I didn't purchase any "extras" and only ate at places we had gift cards/free coupons for {besides during our weekend trip to Washington, D.C.}. We had a couple house emergencies in the beginning of the month that required us to put out a good bit of money. I think these issues really put us in the "money saving" mindset, though, which is good in a way. A majority of my grocery shopping trips were couponing trips with my mom. I only spent .61 cents on an order that was originally over $50!!

Question of the Day: How are you doing with any of your 2019 goals or resolutions?

2019 Goals: January Update

Can you believe January is already almost over?! Man, 2019 is already flying by but I desperately want it to slooooow down considering there is a ton I have to do over the next few months. As a way of keeping myself accountable, I will be posting a update at the end of each month on the goals I set for myself this year. By doing this, I am hoping it helps me remember the goals I have and the baby steps I can take to reach them.

Running in the cold and still smiling!

Goal 1: Maintain a Healthy Lifestyle

I have been keeping up with a good running schedule. I don't always hit the distances I want but I can't complain. As of now, my longest run post-marathon is 8 miles. My plan is to keep anywhere from 6-10 miles as my long run for the next couples weeks as I'm not training for any races right now. I haven't been the best with adding strength in but I'm getting better now that my brother taught me a few new kettle bell exercises. Meal prepping and tracking have been on point so fingers crossed it is becoming a good habit for me! Eating breakfast has become part of my routine but I definitely want to think of some new, easy ideas because overnight oats can get boring. I {partially} took part in Gazelle Sports #31HealthyHabits challenge which I think was a great kick in the butt I needed to start 2019 off strong!

Such a small purchase can go a long way!

Goal 2: Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle

In the beginning of the month I purchased produce bags that will be a big help with reaching this goal as they are so easy to use. I have gotten better at remembering to bring my reusable bags each time I go to the store. I need to remember to stash a couple in my car so it's not something I need to think of before I leave the house. My students can be pretty wasteful when it comes to paper, and my school is not the best with recycling, so I took matters into my own hands. Whenever my students clean out their binders (which should happen more often than it actually does...), I have been taking any papers with blank sides and cutting them up to use as note paper. It comes in handy when I just have quick lists or notes to jot down. I also take the stack of extra fliers in my homeroom and cut them up as note paper. I've been doing a lot of brainstorming this month as to how I can re-purpose items. 

Goal 3: Reduce Phone Usage

I wouldn't say I've completely reduced my phone usage to the best of my ability, but I'm pretty dang proud at how many times I chose to pick up a book instead of my phone. I've been working on deleting apps I no longer need and turning off notifications to keep my phone from being so tempting.

Air fried chicken tenders = delish!

Goal 4: Try New Recipes

John and I tried a few new recipes this month in our air fryer. I have been collecting recipes online and also bookmarking them in my cookbooks to try in the near future. On a recent grocery trip, I stocked up on a couple McCormick spices to start adding into my more basic dishes, such as grilled chicken or quinoa bowls.

One box down, many to go!

Goal 5: Give Back

On one of my lazy Saturday's a few weeks back, I decided to go through a box of clothes that I'm embarrassed to admit has been sitting in my room since the move. The box was primarily old t-shirts that was moved from my college dorm, to home, to my new house, never being opened which clearly means they weren't important. I went through all the t-shirts (who knew someone could accumulate SO. MANY. T-SHIRTS!) and filled a box with a bunch to donate. Man, did it feel good to not only declutter, but also give to those who will actually wear them.

Goal 6: Save Money

Without even being too active on Poshmark lately, I was still able to make 3 sales. It's better than nothing! I have started being pickier with my shopping list after clearing out a bunch of expired items from my fridge and pantry. I am trying to buy only items we will use within the next week or two, unless it has a longer shelf life or can be frozen. I have also been focusing on buying things able to be frozen in bulk since it is much cheaper. John and I have collected a good amount of gift cards for restaurants so we are making a point to only go out to eat to places we have gift cards for.

Question of the Day: How are you doing with your 2019 goals or resolutions so far?