Life on the Runn...

Brian and I departed for our most recent adventure after the work day ended on April 11 th .  After a long but pleasant flight to London’s Heathrow International Airport,  a seven+ hour layover, which wasn’t as torturous as I anticipated it would be (sleeping a few hours helped) and another brief flight, we were finally in Spain.  We were ready to pick up our rental car and begin the first of our two part Spring Break adventure.  It didn’t take us long to realize that the Spanish we were so excited to make use of wasn’t actually going to get us very far.  You see, the people of Catalunya (Catalonia in Spanish) are extremely patriotic and have held onto their own language, Catalan, a dialect that seems to be a unique combination of Spanish and French. Siurana Nonetheless, we were able to get everything settled at the rental car company and hopped into our sporty ride. The GPS unit we rented failed to download the necessary map to actual...

There has never been a doubt in my mind that my parents wanted nothing more than the best for my brother and me, that being our parents was what they considered to be the most important job they have, and in my years as a teacher, I have come to understand that this isn't a given for many people. My parents reminded me of this all last night.  Much like they always do, they did something to remind me that even though I'm all grown up, they're always thinking of me! While I was at school running Academic Decathlon practice, I had a surprise visitor to West. The custodian came by my room and told me she saw someone at my car, and when she told me the person got out of a tan vehicle, I was especially confused and slightly concerned (neither of my parents drive that color vehicle and they're the only people with a key to my Bucky-mobile).  Before leaving the building, I instructed the kids that one or two of them would have to be my escorts; in the event something was tot...

The past several months have been some of the toughest I've trudged through in my 31 (eek) years. I like to have a solution for everything and I like to take care of everyone else.  I'm not so good at leaning on others. Yet, I certainly have had to as of late -- and thanks to such great people in my life, my friends, my brother, my cousins (I'm talking to you too, Runnells cousins), and my parents, I haven't even had to ask. Reflecting on the past seven months makes me appreciate the simple things in life that much more - time with loved ones is such a gift!  As I look ahead to my coming adventures, I know I will be beside myself with excitement when I set foot in Spain, but it's about so much more than that.  It's probably cliche to say this, but I'll say it anyway.  What I'm most looking forward to is uninterrupted time with my favorite person, my husband. I'm looking forward to practicing my Spanish with him.  I'm looking forward to dancing ...

Last Sunday marked the Second Annual Zumbathon to support the American Cancer Society.  I had such a blast last year that when I got the invite this year, I jumped on the chance to do it again.  Besides, it's not every weekend a girl gets to go back to her high school gym and mess around!  And though I found I certainly haven't mastered the art of Zumba (no real surprise there), I had a great time and I am glad I was able to join so many of my family members (Lainey, Mom, Auntie Lynn, Jenna, and Grandma) in supporting my wonderful cousin, Jenna, who organized the event. I was a hot mess when all was said and done, 90+ minutes of constant movement will do that to a person, but I was feeling confident that I would be no worse for the wear.  After the event, as we did last year, we all gathered at a local Mukwonago restaurant and enjoyed dinner and drinks -- we earned a treat after all of our hard work, and the drink of our people was the perfect treat.  I think ...

Turns out I'll be doing a lot of traveling in the very near future.  I can't express how excited I am about my upcoming adventures, though I'll be missing my adventure buddy on the second leg of my excursion. Over spring break, Brian and I will be continuing our life of exploration as we head to Spain.  We will be there for just over a week and will be splitting our time between climbing in Siurana and sight-seeing in Barcelona. Upon returning from Spain, I will be heading to Honolulu, Hawaii with the Academic Decathlon team. We will spend just about a week there as well; the first portion of our time will be spent readying the kids for the competition and supporting them as they get good and nervous competing in it.  The second portion of our time will be spent exploring.   This is what I call livin' the life!!  

Saturday marked the first run, a 5K, of 2104 for my run-buddy and me.  I think I recall us swearing off cold weather runs after our chilly 20 degree Stache Dash (let's not forget the scampering back and forth to the car as we awaited the start of the GLO Run either), but there we were shivering at a start line once again. Thanks to construction and a confused GPS, we took a little detour to get to Veteran's Park, where the run was held.  We watched the clock as our 8:30am registration deadline crept nearer and nearer, but we made it to the park and got checked in as the thermometer crept closer and closer to 30 degrees.  It turns out we had more time than we anticipated having as the organizers had to delay the start (and relocate the start line) due to icy spots on the course. That extra time didn't make us any warmer, however. Much like the Stache Dash, the course was set up so that runners looped around past other runners.  That gave Jenna and me a chance to e...

The past few days were stressful ones.  After all, it's not every day I get to play mom to 13 kids.   After getting my Division 1 champs safely home Friday night, I definitely needed to decompress.  I didn't have time for that, though, as I had get back to the OC, unpack, and try to squeeze in a few hours of sleep before my 7am wakeup call for the Irish Jig Jog (more on that in a later post). The way I cope with stress is two-fold.  I work out and I clean.  While the Jig Jog took care of the former, I knew I needed a bit more.  I decided to tap into my love of cleaning and organizing to bring me back to center before the work week begins. Thus, I took to clearing out some unused items from my closet.  While I was at it, I got to thinking about a better way to organize my scarves.  I thought about buying a towel rack to hang on my door, but I saw some drawbacks to that.  While I was pondering what to do, I came across a shoe rack I had purch...