2017

Oh hey - Happy 2017, and Happy Friday - double happiness!

Sorry I went MIA there for awhile, we were lucky enough to get two wonderful visitors out here for a week over New Years, and there was absolutely no time for blogging.

Which is how adventure trips should be, right?  My little sister and her boyfriend, Bri and Jase, arrived here Tuesday night (the 27th) and it was basically non-stop adventure until they left the morning of the 4th.

Non-stop as in, any down time was basically used to eat or nap.  We did get one game of Scrabble in.

I won't give you a detailed seven day recap because that's excessive and this would turn into a 30 minute read, but I do want to cover the general trip, some favorites, and some roadblocks we hit.

The week basically looked like this:

Drove south (Eilat, Israel) and stayed Wednesday night on the Red Sea, crossed the border to Jordan first thing the next morning. Drove North to Petra, explored Petra Thursday afternoon.  Attended Petra at night, stayed at a Bedouin Camp and nearly froze to death.  Back to Petra Friday, then headed north after lunch. Stayed on the Jordan side of the Dead Sea Friday night (thanks for using your Chase points Bri), floated in the saltiness Saturday morning.  Crossed back over the border Saturday afternoon, stopped in Jericho and Jerusalem before heading back to a New Years Eve in Tel Aviv Saturday Night.  New Years Day in Jerusalem, failed to cross the border into Bethlehem due to a very long line.  Monday we headed to Northern Israel, saw Nazareth, the Sea of Galilee, and a winery.  Tuesday we stayed local and explored Tel Aviv and Jaffa.

*Heavy Exhale*

Note: Petra was an amazing life experience that everyone should have on their bucket list if they ever wander to the Middle East.  Jordan in general felt very different than Israel, and I'm so glad we got to see so much of the country.  Petra is MASSIVE and you could easily spend two days there and not get bored.

The Monastery, Petra

Another Note:  Crossing the borders (both ways) is not necessarily easy and took roughly 90 minutes both times.

Roadblock:  The credit card machine wasn't working the day we got to Petra... and sadly we didn't have roughly $400 in cash handy for the four of us to get in.  We spent a few hours running around trying different ATM's until we finally solved the problem - and actually ended up paying a lot less by purchasing a two-day pass and proving that we were staying the night in Jordan.... coming out to about $60/person, plus $15 for Petra at night.

Favorite: We learned at the Bedouin Camp we stayed at (while very cold at night, awesome experience, highly recommend) that a guide could lead us on a hike into the "back door" of Petra - allowing us to start at the biggest structure, the Monastery - instead of ending there.  So for a few Jordanian Dinars we were thrown into a hilarious-probably-illegal four-wheel drive vehicle, driven to God-knows-where, and dropped off in the middle of breathtaking mountains.  A quiet, knowledgeable guide then led us on a semi-challenging hike that was absolutely stunning and made me wonder why more people don't visit Jordan.

Overall, it was fabulous to be able to spend time with family the past week, because I won't lie it didn't *fully* feel like Christmas here, with highs around 60 and zero decor around the city of Tel Aviv.  I'm so glad the trip was able to happen.

Dead Sea

To wrap this thing up: it's 2017, and I'm excited to see what the new year has to bring.  People have been sh*tting on 2016 a ton, and I won't lie it won't go down as my favorite year for an array of reasons. But it's in the past, and that's something we don't dwell on.  If nothing else, it's only motivated me to make 2017 even better; more positive, healthy, and cognizant of how I'm spending my time and energy.

Have a great weekend my friends.  Cheers - 

Kait

Joe the Bear

I debated for awhile if I wanted to put this past weekend in writing or not. The chicken story is funny, but our engagement itself was more along the lines of precious and intimate and has nothing to really do with health or fitness. 

So if engagements bore you or you're bitter that your own man won't pull a ring out of his butt or whatever the case may be, stop reading, I won't be offended, I promise. I'll be back to babbling about almond butter and burpees come next week. 

I think it's fair to start with the fact that Andrew and I met when we were 18; first day of freshman year actually. The following (almost) 8 years since then (we didn't date that whole time) has been a beautiful crazy journey that I wouldn't trade for the world. From Illinois to Colorado to now Maryland, it has been mind blowing to see how we've changed and grown as both individuals and as a couple. He is my partner in crime, adventure buddy, best friend. Everything I could ask when looking for a husband, and I'm so pumped to marry him. 

Anyways, enough of the mushy stuff. 

It was supposed to be a camping trip. I would be lying if I said I wasn't a bit suspicious - but I was more suspicious of THIS upcoming weekend (we are leaving for Puerto Rico today). We left to camp straight from work on Thursday. It was pouring rain. 

It was a trip I had given him full reign to plan; something type A Kait doesn't do too often. So as we continued to get deeper and deeper into Virginia, and the clouds continued to pour buckets onto his car, I was getting increasingly nervous. 

"Andrew I really don't think we are prepared to pitch a tent in pouring rain. Do we even have a tarp?"

"Andrew if I'm wet and cold all night I'm gonna be so miserable. Do we even have like a flashlight for the tent?!"

The enraging part was, he found my anxiety funny. Told me not to worry, we would be fine, he "had an extra sweatshirt I could use."

...

About an hour away from our destination, I went into full fledged pout mode, slouched down into my seat and went silent. 

"Hey reach behind the seat and pull out that envelope back there, I've been meaning to ask you to fill out that form."

What I actually pulled out was this:

It was an absolutely adorable weekend. From the Iris Inn where our  cottage was located (if you are ever in the Shenandoah Valley, stay here, it's perfect) to a misty proposition to be his wife down by a waterfall at the end of a hike, it was all picturesque. And just so us. 

the bed

the breakfast

the waterfall where IT happened

I believe Andrew would be upset if I failed to mention the friend we made on the hike down to the waterfall...  

We decided his name was Joe. We actually ran back into Joe on the hike back up as well. He was less friendly the second time around, and I really wasn't looking for a 30 minute long engagement, so we ditched the trail and hiked the rest of the way back on the road. 

Dinner on Saturday night was in Charlottesville, which has now officially made the list our favorite cities. In the midst of my post-engagement butterflies plus some champagne, I erratically ordered catfish as my first meal as a fiancé. 

the catfish

Andrew will never let me live that down. Regardless it was delicious. 

Saturday was some more hiking, followed by a Dierks Bentley concert to cap off a weekend chalked full of my favorite things. He was awesome live, and even spun off into some Avicci and One Republic songs.

That's it guys. I'm engaged! We haven't done much as far as planning goes. I'm sure I'll give y'all the occasional updates on here, but I can promise you this won't turn into a wedding planning blog. Like fashion, I'm just not too trendy, and casual will be the name of the game for our happily ever after day. 

I'm off to San Juan to lay on a beach. This beach to be exact. 

Cheers to sparkly rings and sparkly oceans -

Kait

2nd on the 3rd

Well, well, well. Another weekend has flown by, and holy moly was it an active one.

(Note to self - never use the phrase holy moly again.)

But before we get into details, can I take a moment and brag about my favorite new creation?

Friday night a few of my coworkers and I had a 'craft night' and painted quotes that we like on boards. I picked the above quote based off of something that caught my eye on Pinterest... although the quote below was a close second.

Both pretty much sum one of my life mottos of 'Live Hard'.

Back to the weekend. Probably my favorite part of the past two days was the 5k that Andrew and I randomly signed up for a few weeks ago. I went into Saturday morning with pretty low expectations - I haven't been running much, certainly haven't been running for speed, and told Andrew that my hope was just to enjoy the race.

Yet when the gun went off I immediately slipped into my competitive mindset, and we were off. I was surprised how semi-easy it was to fall back into a sub-seven minute pace, and we stayed side by side as we ran through Harbor East to the edge of Fells Point, and circled back.

I was happy with the finish. I was surprised today when I found out I was 38th overall and 2nd in my age group? Not too shabby for zero training.

Needless to say, we immediately signed up for another 5k at the beginning of June. Yes.

This morning we tried out a new church, and then headed west to try out some new hiking. The trail was more challenging than some others we've done so far in the area - it was located in Cactoctin Mountain Park. I did a horrible job and only took one picture; better than nothing I suppose.

I write to guys you from the balcony of the beautiful Barnes and Nobles in downtown Baltimore. It's two stories, right on the inner harbor, and a must-visit if you are ever in town. To be honest, being up here on a Sunday evening kind of feels like the calm before the storm of a busy couple weeks. I committed to substitute assistant coaching for a club volleyball team in the area a couple nights per week through the month of May. On top of a busy work week and a long to-do list, it should be a real doozy.

I'm unsure I ever want to use that word again either. Doozy. No. Never again.

Reminder: link up starting this Tuesday for a sweaty May challenge, and find yourself some new workout moves to try out! Grab the button below.

<div align="center">
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That's all I've got. Sun's going down and it's getting cold. Until Tuesday my friends -

Cheers

K8

Snowy Green Seagulls

In case anyone was confused, today is the real, official St. Patrick's Day. I know I was confused for awhile as Baltimore literally celebrates the holiday for 2.5 weeks straight (which I love)... and even this past weekend there were a couple more green beverages to be had. But alas, today is the actual day.

green champagne :)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Currently, there are some very confused seagulls flying around outside the house, in the snow, wondering what this white stuff is in the middle of March.

I've been wondering that too seagulls.

Another Monday, another day of snow. My office has a delayed start, so I'll be heading in soon, crossing my fingers that most Maryland drivers are choosing to stay off the road.

We first were notified of a possible impending snow storm on Saturday, when the two below alerts popped up in my weather app.

A winter storm watch with a fire warning. Now that's new. 

Friday after work I arrived at crossfit and quickly learned that we (the beginners class) were going to participate in the crossfit open, but could scale down the weight if we wanted to.

Coach - 'Kait, I really think you could use the Rx weight'

Sigh...

Below is the workout, I made it through 20 deadlifts at 155 lbs, 90 reps, tiebreaker of 7:38.

source

Needless to say, it was a challenging workout, and I'm still sore today. So sore in fact, that Saturday AND Sunday consisted of hot Bikram yoga. Saturday I even dragged this guy with me -

whole foods coffee after.

He killed his first ever class; handled it much better than I did the first time I tried it about a year ago. Remember that?

Current snow aside, we had a beautiful Saturday here, and following yoga Andrew and I headed north to explore Rocks State Park. There were some pretty stellar views.

Later that evening, we enjoyed futher stellar view from my deck, which I can't wait to be back up on every day once it's consistently warm...

Cough Cough, scram winter.

I hope you enjoy your Monday. I hope it isn't snowing there. If you're feeling particularily blue, fill out a March Madness bracket and challenge a friend. Loser buys dinner.

Andrew and I love going head to head in March Madness. Anyone else enjoy bracketology as much as I do?

Cheers my friends -

Kait

Fab Fourth

Let's work backwards through the weekend, shall we? It will be fun, I promise.

As of an hour ago, my dinners/lunches are made for the week - I whipped up a Mexican Taco Stew courtesy of the Whole Foods recipe app, as well as that Avacado Quinoa Salad that I've made in the past.

For the record, the Whole Foods App is legit!

Hopefully I should be set for at least a few days on the food piece.

This afternoon I also logged 7 disgustingly hot miles. So hot in fact, that I had to take a break after 5 and finish up the last 2 after a water/AC rest stop.

Proof of the heat:

Note the 'feels like' temperature...

More Proof:

so sexy, i know.

Prior to the run, Andrew and I had to return our hot ride that he rented for the weekend...

We woke up Saturday morning realizing we had just about zero plans for the rest of the weekend. Time together is short these days as he's scheduled to leave for awhile at the end of the month.

My proposal over coffee that morning was that we either rent or steal a boat. His was better.

"Let's rent a convertible and drive."

It was the luck of the draw that we happened to get the beautiful 2014 mustang. It was a blessing that we ended up in ended up in Shenandoah National Park down in Virginia.

It was a gorgeous 70-some degrees once we were up in the mountains, and the view rivaled some that I've seen out in the Rockies. We both took the day to soak it all in, cruise in our fake rich car, and do some hiking/exploring.

Andrew suggested that I wash my knee in the waterfall pictured above, that the fresh water would heal me. That I'm not so sure of, but I may find out this week if I end up going to the orthopedic doctor. I haven't decided yet if it's necessary or not, but technically I'm currently training for a triathlon & a marathon and shouldn't be fooling around anymore with these aches and pains, ya dig?

Prior to our Saturday excursion was of course the Fourth of July celebrations, which occurred at my house & deck in Baltimore. I really couldn't have asked for more out of our celebrations, I think my roommates would agree... it was a successful evening.

I could babble on forever about the details of the past four days, but I won't. I'm tired and would love to spend the evening stretching, icing, and planning for the week. It's looking to be a hot one here in Salty Balty, and some laps in the pool sounds pretty good right about now.

Hope everyone had an excellent holiday weekend. I don't know about you, but I'm excited to see what this week has in store.

Cheers!

Perfection

I've got to start off this post by giving a huge shout out to the perfect Maryland weather this weekend - without 3 consecutive days of 65 and sunny, my weekend would have been far less fun.

First Sun Sesh of the year!

Secondly, in order of importance, I just got back from running five miles. It felt so great. Not like, hey that was super easy kind of great. But hey, I am continuing to have more and more confidence in my foot, and it feels so good to be running again kind of great.

I wanted to push it and do six, but I think I'll save that for next weekend. I did push to hold an 8(ish) minute pace, and I stuck to it pretty well. 8 minute miles certainly don't come as easily as the did last September but hey, I'll get there again. My body knows how to do it, it's just a matter of re-training. Right?

As alluded to above, Andrew and I spent a large amount of time outdoors this past weekend. We did some frisbee golfing Friday evening, during which for some reason during it I felt super tired and kept whining and sitting down on the course. He loved that.

I think it's because I hadn't eaten enough protein that day? Maybe?

Late Saturday morning we headed down to Great Fall, Virginia, for some pretty beautiful hiking. The weather was once again awesome, and the trails that we hiked offer some grand scenes.

We also saw a large amount of caterpillars while out on the trail, which I hated, because I was convinced I was going to step on one. Andrew kept assuring me that half of the things I was pointing out weren't caterpillars, that they were centipedes, but I stuck to my guns and continued calling every bug we saw from there on out caterpillars.

Sounds about right, doesn't it?

Mr. Grillmaster threw some veggie burgers on the grill upon returning home, and I did the essential by whipping up some margaritas. We had an awesome dinner on the patio, enjoying the last of the warmth that the day had to offer.

Here we are, another Sunday. Another busy week ahead of me. I have this sneaking suspicion that May is going to fly by - the rest of our month is packed with activities and travels and shenanigans. Just how I like it. 

Any racers this weekend? I know there were a lot offered this weekend. I have a small 5k next Saturday with my Girls on the Run team that should be fun for all.

I'm off to throw some weights around, strong is the new sexy after all :)

Cheers!

Getting Giddy

Oh, did you guys hear? I’m going to Colorado today!

I’ve only been talking about it for the past month week.

Just to put it in perspective for you as to how excited I am right now, not only did I have problems sleeping last night… but problems sleeping all week.

one of my fav hikes ever.

So excited in fact, that this morning on my rainy, dark run, I slipped and banged my shin on the curb, resulting in this:

not so much blood, but a whole lot of bump. no i was not driving while taking this.

But I’m not even mad. Because part I of my summer vacation starts today, when we arrive at the Baltimore airport at 2:30 pm.

I’m also not mad that this morning was the second run in a row that I got poured on. Not like, 'aw cute it's sprinkling, I'm getting a little wet this feels nice' but like finish at my doorstep sopping wet, wring my shirt out type wet.

hey i'm sopping wet and DONT CARE. (long hair)

Not mad at all. Because I’m off to spend five days at my favorite place in the world. The Colorado Rocky Mountains, up at Andrew's family cabin. Paradise.

the view from the porch. what i plan to do every morning.

Activities that will be occurring will most likely be similar to the following:

duckying... similar to kayaking.

fishing. or me falling into the river. either/or.

hiking, stretching, repeat.

Running, eating, sleeping, bonfires, drinking COLORADO beer, playing Catan, laying in the sun.... want me to continue? 

Didn't think so. 

I wouldn't expect to hear from me. Maybe you will, I don't know.

Maybe you will get a guest blog post from my sister; that's also a possibility.

From there, we will jet off to Chicago on Thursday morning for part II of the summer vacay -  THE wedding. But that's another story, for another time.

Enjoy your week, wherever your travels take you. And remember:

Cheers!