Slowing Down and a Hike

When I woke up this morning, I really didn't want to run. I had to read running blogs to motivate me. My body is tired. Really, really tired. But, I got up and did it. I decided to run slower this week and actually change my pace as my body needed it. And I actually did. I was pretty proud of myself.

It helped that another magazine was waiting for me on the counter at my dad's house when I got there. I read  this tip that I thought was really interesting.

I got a text from my sister right as I finished inviting me to go north to check out the blackberry festival and go for a hike. We are still trying really hard to get the baby out. The blackberry festival was a complete bust. It was basically 4 booths in someone's front yard and absolutely no blackberries! So, we went to get lunch at Aztec Grill, where my brother-in-law ate a burrito the size of his future daughter.

My food was really delicious. It's really strange how good a Mexican place in a gas station is, but the food is always so fresh and my grilled chicken platter even had broccoli!

Then we headed to our hiking spot. It started off really steep and my sister needed a little help up the mountain.

We definitely took every photo opportunity we had.

She also had a few major contractions, which made us really excited, but her water didn't break, so we were sad about that.

I have been on this hike about a bajillion times and every single time my breath gets taken away by the sheer beauty that I get to live in.

It was an absolutely beautiful day, as well, so there were tons of people on the beach and boats in the water.

The hills were a great addition to the 9 miles I had already run.

Sometimes I take this place for granted because I have lived here for 25 (almost 26) years, so it's really refreshing to remember that I live in an incredibly special part of the country.

I mean, look at this view.

The ocean definitely is my happy place and reminds me that all of the worrying about being fast enough, lifting heavy enough, eating well enough is just really not important in the scheme of things.

My second favorite part of the day came in a bowl.

Tonight my old roommate is coming into town and hopefully we will be going to the river tomorrow. And only two more days until we head to Washington to my very favorite happy place:

Counting down the minutes until I get to this island.

What's your happy place?