The First Few Days of Vacation

I cannot believe the first week of my three week vacation is half over! I swear the time goes way, way too fast. I've been spending a lot of time with some of my favorite people.

I've been loving the extra time I have to run. And the weather has been absolutely  wonderful. I'm getting a pretty good runner's tan on, which will look great in my bridesmaid dress on Saturday.

Speaking of the wedding, I have been at my sister's house every day this week to plan. This means extra time with the love of my life.

It was her daddy's 30th birthday yesterday, so we spent some time celebrating him.

My cohort friends and I spent 3 hours having coffee and gossiping on Monday and then we spent 2 hours yesterday crying while watching The Fault In Our Stars. I even had read the book and knew what was coming. I still cried like a baby.

Today, wedding festivities began. We went to get pedicures with my step-mom and the bride's mom.

I apologized profusely to the poor woman who had to deal with my disgusting runner's feet. She said they definitely were not the worst she's ever seen. I think she may have been lying.  That was nice of her.

I cannot wait to watch this lady walk down the aisle on Saturday. My sister and I spent the morning writing the MOH speech while watching Spain get their butts kicked in the World Cup.

Tomorrow is the bachelorette party. Then Friday is rehearsal and set-up. Then the wedding on Saturday! I cannot believe it's already here. Not a bad way to spend the first week of vacation.

Have you been watching the World Cup?

Father's Day Weekend

Father's Day weekend always starts off my summer. This is usually because school gets out the week before, which means this is the weekend I am finally free. It is also because the weather is usually stunning. This happened on Saturday afternoon and I took it as a good sign.

The Saturday before Father's Day, there is always a huge celebration called The Oyster Fest. This is exactly what it sounds like. People drink beer and eat oysters. Resturaunts from all over the county compete to have the best oysters in all the land and the entire county comes out to play.

My niece got to enjoy her first festival. She's TEN months today!!!

I got to spend some time in the sun with some really good people.

The baby got to play with grass.

It was so nice to relax all afternoon in the sunshine listening to live music. And dancing, of course.

Today was all about celebrating the best dad on the planet.

He is the one from whom I got the running gene. He has also taught me the value of a good work ethic and that you will get much farther in life if you choose to be nice to people. My dad is an amazing man. We started out with breakfast.

Even though we were supposed to be celebrating him, this was the true star of the morning. I mean, really?! Look at this face!

My dad had to Tweet his breakfast, of course. His followers would've been very upset. It's a little sad that my 67-year-old dad has a Twitter and I don't.

Then my dad wanted to go see a movie. When I got home, I did my dad right and went for a run.

I'm convinced my shoes are magical and that I need to get 90 more pairs immediately. They make me run fast and really well. It may just be my state of mind though. 

I made sure to get a sweaty selfie because it's been a long time and I feel you guys deserve it.

My night ended the best way possible, with a sushi party at my sister's house.

We also lit her Christmas tree on fire in the back yard. Yes. Six months later.

The fire got a little out of control.

So I went inside and spent more quality time with my favorite man on this earth.

I am so incredibly thankful that I have such a kindhearted, wonderful, amazing man in my life to call my dad. He's been there for me in every big, life-changing event in my life and really helped me make the last big decision I had to make--- which job to take. He's also there for the small moments too, and that's just as important.

Do you have magical running shoes?

Where Does The Time Go??

Thank you all so much for your well-wishes on my job offers. After a weekend of thinking of nothing but where I wanted to work, I chose what felt right in my heart. I will be working at the school I've been a part of for the last 6 years with moderate to severe special day class students. I am beyond excited for the opportunity and to continue on with my work family.

Yesterday was the last day of school with the kids. Today was our last day in the classroom for the year! I have absolutely no idea where the last year has disappeared to, but it went so fast! It will be summer school before I know it, but first, this needs to happen.

Today at work, we spent time cleaning the room. The soccer game was on in the background. I found the boys hard at work.

I also found some new running shoes. I really think these will improve my form and my speed.

Speaking of new shoes, I really did get a pair of new running shoes. Brooks was having a sale and I picked some up for $40. Can't complain. I definitely do not think I have a shoe problem at all.

The shoes were so amazing that I ended up accidentally running 8 miles yesterday. I was so in the zone and I felt like I was running on clouds that I just didn't want to stop. My running mojo has come back hardcore and I had my highest mileage week this week since my race.

I just realized that this post is mostly pictures of my feet. I take all of the pictures for my blog with my phone, because I am a really amazing blogger. I haven't actually had my phone with me when I do things lately because I am trying to detach from technology and live. So all of my pictures are of my feet or of the kids I work with, which will never make it here on the blog, so you're stuck with my feet!

Has this year seemed fast to anyone else???

Hell Week

Last week was literally one of the most stressful weeks of my life. I had two job interviews, a supervisor visit to observe a lesson and work (which includes lesson planning). I had never interviewed before, so I was stressing and had no idea what to expect. I ended the week with two job offers! What did I do this weekend to destress?

I watched the sunset with my mom. And Moe.

I went to the gym. And ran really fast. Every day.

I hung out with my favorite little lady.

I finally got to catch up with my best friend from high school.

I had adult game night.

I went to the river and sat in the sun for four hours with my favorite people.

I made daisy chains.

I also went to see Les Mis, stayed out until 3:30am, had breakfast in bed made for me, ran 8.6 miles, and had family dinner night. I basically did everything that I love doing and I finally feel de-stressed from last week. 

Catch me up on your week!

Happy National Running Day!

I run because it is cheaper than therapy.

I run to stay sane.

I run to stop thinking for awhile.

I run to fix problems and sometimes I run to get away from problems.

I am so thankful for my health and that I have the ability to run. I am so thankful for the running community. Running has been my saving grace in a lot of situations (this past month especially). I owe my sanity to running.

Happy National Running Day!!

June

How in the heck is it already June?!? Where has this year gone?? It's finally the month of summer and the weather has already been beautiful.

Last night was my best cohort friend's bachelorette party. Actually, it was her bridal shower and then her bachelorette party. It was a very long day, but so much fun. We started the day off by wrapping presents.

None of us are particularly good at present wrapping, so they looked pretty terrible. It was a good laugh for all of us. Good thing we are better a decorating.

The night started with wine tasting at a new-to-me spot. I actually had no idea that this place existed and it happened to be their one year anniversary also on the  same night. 

We then moved on to dinner at a place just down the street. I had an amazing salad and even more amazing Brussels sprouts. I could have really just had the Brussels sprouts and been content, they were that amazing.

This girl is the most funny person I know. She had me in tears the entire night. We are basically the same person and I love her to death.

We ended the evening with my favorite form of cardio. 

This was the second weekend in a month that we've gone dancing together and I am pretty sure this needs to become a regular thing.

We danced for two hours straight. Much like running, dancing clears my head and cleanses my soul. 

It really helps when you have your soul mates dancing with you. Who says a soulmate has to be a man??? These ladies are mine.

This morning, I was up bright and early. I felt amazing and hopped right into my running clothes. I haven't run a double digit Sunday since my race. Mostly because I am not in training, but also because my body was so tired of running that I decided to listen to it and cut way back on my mileage. This morning, however, my run was amazing. It was one of those runs where you remember why you run. I only went 7.5 miles just to keep myself from being worn out, but it was just what I needed.

The rest of the afternoon was spent preparing for my two interviews this week. I am insanely nervous. I've never interviewed before, so this is a brand new experience having to sell myself! I did, however, find the perfect pants for them.

For some reason, my friends said they weren't exactly appropriate. ;-) I can't believe that it's already the second to last week of school. I hope you all have amazing week!

How have your runs been?