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

Keeping it Simple

Man, it’s been awhile eh? The holidays called for some time off in all areas of life, so I took the time to keep my laptop powered down and give my fingers a rest.

Let’s talk about this crazy cold weather everywhere, eh? I know Chicago has basically turned into a tundra, but Baltimore even got down into the single digits today -  my Civic wasn’t too eager to start up this morning.

But do you know who was eager to start up this morning? Beth.

My Christmas present from Andrew was a bike trainer, which was shipped in a large box from Amazon. It was a bitch blast to set up last night, but I’m in love. I plan to get a thorough sweat session on her tomorrow after work, and can’t wait until it gets a bit warmer to do run bike run type workouts.

To give a short and sweet summary of my holiday season – it was long, and wonderful. Much time was spent with family and friends; great food drink and conversation happened. And of course a few runs.

One of my other favorite gifts was this guy:

And my favorite blog shout out of the year was text to me from my sister’s boyfriend, who decorated a Christmas cookie for me...

RKR = Run Kait Run. Awww thanks Jase you're a gem.

And of course, once wheels were down in Colorado there were plenty of lights to fall in love under, trails to fall in love on, and mountains to take our breath away. 

Baltimore quickly swallowed us back up this past Sunday afternoon as we somehow navigated the absurd delays and cancellations at airports across the nation; we got away with just a one hour delay, landing at BWI right around 3 pm with eight bags in tow between the two of us.

New Years Resolution? Learn to travel lighter.

Kidding. Let’s get real for a minute. Last year I made a very elaborate New Year’s Resolution list. It included different categories, etc. Some things I achieved – I feel like I did a great job of being pretty proactive, all injury aside. Definitely have been flossing more too.

Others, like ‘stop chewing on my cuticles’… I once again failed. Maybe this year?

Anyways, listen up. This year I’m keeping it simple. Literally.

There were points during the past year that all of my resolutions, goals and what not literally stressed me out. I found myself having panic attacks over not becoming a taco connoisseur while I simultaneously tried to do a sugar cleanse for three weeks. I reprimanded myself when I couldn’t find the time to practice my violin, and cried when I realized I wouldn’t hit my goal time for my marathon… because my fifth metatarsal was once again cracked, and running was off the table.

My body is still healing. On my to-do list tonight is to create a viable fitness plan for myself these next few months so that I can get myself into true healthy running shape. Yes I’m running, yet not that much, and not pain-free.

My point is, as far as specific running/racing goals, body goals, health goals, life goals, here’s what I’ve basically wrapped into one for 2014:

Keep it Simple

Keep it Balanced

Do it Joyfully

I want to drink more lemon water. I think I’ll do that; at least I’ll try. One of my best friends reprimanded me for not doing sit-ups ‘the right way’ – this is coming from Mr. Crossfit himself.

that guy  ^^  (& my sis)

Ok, Ok, I’ll work on my sit-up form. I’ve been missing my abs these days anyways – the Christmas cookies buried them.

I want a stronger upper body. I can work on that. And eventually, when I sign up for some races, I will set some short term goals there. But I’m keeping it simple, I’m not stressing myself out, and I’m living 2014 as joyfully as I can. After all, I did tattoo the word on myself. 

Glad to be back my friends. Share some of your resolutions/goals with me, I’d love to hear them. Let’s make 2014 one to remember, what do you say?

Cheers –

K

Eating Snow

Things that will not help my lack of motivation to workout: launching off a small cliff while skiing and slamming my full body weight onto my left shoulder.

Hello there whiplash.

I like to pretend that I’m a good skier. Every time I lock into my skis and hit the first few slopes of the day, I immediately start looking for obstacles to challenge myself with; small ramps of snow to go off of, moguls, those hidden trails through the trees.

I’m not that good. I’m reminded of this almost every winter, with a new kind of injury every time.

Andrew is a better skier than me – he demonstrates a little more caution and typically follows a few hundred meters behind me waiting for my ego to get too big and for me to then eat shit snow He comes up from behind, grab my skis that I managed to dismantle, and follows the same series of questions:

- "Are you OK?

- "How did that even happen?"

-"Maybe now you'll calm down a little bit?"

-Laughs, shakes his head, skis away.

(Sigh.)

The shoulder will heel; it already feels a bit better today. Until then, burpees and push-ups will have to wait.

Outside of taking a face full of snow, the weekend was awesome. It dumped snow up in Snowshoe West Virginia the entire weekend we were there; so much so that we had to get Andrew’s car pushed out of the parking spot yesterday on our way out. The weekend was full of fabulous food, (for the most part) great skiing, and really awesome conversation.

Now, it’s Monday. And I have all of these things to look forward to:

love my countdown app 

It’s home to Chicago this weekend for Christmas, and then off to Colorado the following week for New Years. Being gone for 16 days is definitely something I’m pumped for, but not so pumped to pack for. I’m also going to try hard this week to eat the last of what I have in my fridge/freezer, so that nothing goes bad while I’m away.

This should make for some pretty interesting meals. Stay tuned. Hope your 

week is looking fabulous. If it’s not, here’s one last happy countdown for you that hangs in my bedroom:

Cheers –

K

Spirit

The Christmas spirit hit me pretty hard last night, thanks to a visit up to Baltimore’s 34^th street with a group o' pals.

Baltimore has really, really grown on me the past few months. You would have thought that would steal summer my heart, but it’s really been fall and the beginning of winter that I’ve fallen in love with living in the city. The option to walk pretty much everywhere, and having friends just a few short blocks away is incredibly attractive to me.

I've also been lucky enough to avoid those horrific city traffic back-ups due to an accidents for the past five months… until today. I made the poor choice of not checking my maps app (I have two interstate options when driving to work) and chose the wrong one, which was at a standstill.

Luckily, I had made the correct choice of swinging by Panera on my way out of the city and grabbing a coffee.

That, and Luke Bryan kept me occupied as we crawled through the tunnel at a pace that I could have ran at.

Speaking of running, I’m at a bit of a standstill when it comes to my workouts. I feel bored (still) not being able to run very much, and to top it off haven’t been eating very awesomely with the holiday festivities starting to pile up.  For instance, today I dragged myself down to the gym after work with literally no workout in mind.

I put in a half-assed half hour of cardio on the elliptical, plodded along on the stairmaster for awhile, and then threw weights around until I felt somewhat sweaty. I’ve found that when it comes to training/working out, I do a lot better when I have a schedule/some kind of plan to follow.

Any suggestions out there? I’m open to it all.

Following work tomorrow, Andrew and I are headed west to Snowshoe Ski Resort in West Virginia.  He surprised me with the trip about a month ago when he was still gone so that we had something to look forward to. Man did he pick the perfect weekend, as it’s been snowing there almost all week.

I’m ready to spend the weekend tearing up some trails and getting some quality Andrew time. (Gag, I know)

Cheers my friends - 

K

official

Well after consecutive days of several forms of pizza, Chinese food, pasta, wine and champagne galore, Tuesday left me ready to clean up my eating habits a bit.

I've decided I'm going to try my best shot at tracking a What I Ate Wednesday for you guys today, and report back tomorrow. Wish me luck.

In other news, it’s December!! I’m officially listening to Christmas music, our house is decorated beautifully (no thanks to me), and my favorite boy is back.

Life is good.

I also pretty psyched that I snagged my last holiday flight yesterday for super cheap via Southwest – was able to use points on my Baltimore to Chicago flight as well as my New Years Chicago to Denver flight.

3 flights < $400 = success.

Let’s see what else… I found these, I love them.

Trader Joes

These too - these dude are at Walmart, and great on-the-go snacks.

I’m also trying to be more conscious of drinking water. When Andrew left in July I couldn’t get him to willingly drink a full water bottle if I begged – he was a Gatorade believer to the bones. Now upon his return he sucks down water like it’s his job – it makes me so happy, and simultaneously has been a good reminder of how good it is for the body. Trying to be more conscious of that.

shameless giraffe photo bomb

Last announcement: I officially committed to a gym!

It's just a small guy down the road from where I work, but the location and low monthly fees made it impossible to beat. I look forward to trying out a few of the classes that they offer, and possibly being able to throw in a few quick workouts over my lunch break.

Time to run off to work. Happy Hump Day, Happy December, make today great!

Cheers-

K

Crafty Kait

I have personal rules when it comes to the celebration of seasons. Fall begins in September, winter begins in December. I don't care what the official dates are, that's just how I operate.

Christmas music cannot start until Thanksgiving. However, my roommate is going to break the rules and start decorating our house for Christmas this coming week. So yesterday I broke my own rule and pulled out my snowman mug from hibernation. It had been a long week, and I needed some joy at work.

Wednesday was a particularly rough day for me, one of those a whole bunch of little things added up to a slight meltdown at my desk. So when Thursday rolled around our highschool intern strolled in and handed me two bags of these:

and offered apologies for my rough day yesterday. He sits kitty-corner from my desk for the few hours a day that he's in the office, and most likely thinks I'm a nut job. I am. Regardless, the gesture was precious and brightened my day.

seriously though.

Changing subjects, remember how I have been gym-less since moving to Baltimore in July, and have just been bouncing around on free trials like a sneaky little weasel? Well I scored a 30-day pass to Canton Club about two weeks ago, and have been LOVING the 5:30 AM Friday morning spin class.

The instructor has the potential to be my grandma's age, no exaggeration, and she kicks our asses. Repeatedly. Gets up there, plays some awesome jams, and screams motivation until my gluts are on fire.

Another awesome part of the class is that the studio overlooks the harbor, so we got to see a beautiful sunrise. I wasn't able to snap a picture of the sunrise itself as I was too busy sweating like a madwoman, but hopefully these help you get an idea...

My roommates and I are hosting a Bears/Ravens party tomorrow paired with a Friendsgiving (it's likely I will be the only Bears fan present) and therefore we felt the need to be domesticated and crafty last night with a few glasses of wine. Here's what we came up with:

Pinecone turkeys!

While I sat at the table tracing my hand I realized it had most likely been about 20 years since I had last made a turkey out of my hand. We all did it at some point in elementary school, and there was an odd level of joy that I found in the simplicity of doing it.

Or maybe it was the wine, I don't know.

I'm off to the gym. Today calls for the elliptical and a solid lifting session, I really haven't been giving my muscles enough attention lately. Hope your weekend is fabulous, Go Bears!

Cheers - 

K

Return to Normal

Today marked my first day back in the office since almost two weeks. I woke up feeling unmotivated and a little sad, but once I got into the office, saw all my friends, and started getting after it I felt a lot better.

Want to know what else made me feel better? These.

It’s quite possible that I am officially a Brooks brat. This is my second pair of shoes from their “Pure” line – those beauts are the PureCadence 2’s. I took them for a quick 6 miles yesterday and was a fan. I will be rotating them with my other Brooks – the Connects – which are a little lighter with less cushion.

 The Connects will probably used for shorter runs and speed work from here on out. My hope is that as my distances continue to increase, that the Cadences will serve me well.

I feel like I kind of left the conclusion of my trip open-ended, so I wanted to give a quick wrap up on here. The second leg of it, Colorado, was great, and it was fantastic to spend lots of time with Andrew’s family as well as a bunch of our friends. We rang in 2013 with style at a beach-style bar in downtown Fort Collins, and owned the dance floor like it was our jobs.

 As far as this week, I don’t have much planned. It’s awesome and encouraging to me that tomorrow is Friday, and I have a feeling I will be doing a lot of catch-up this weekend. That include using the LuLuLemon giftcard that Andrew’s mom got me for Christmas. #winning

Anyone else out there a Brooks fan? I’m also wanting to try out some of their apparel in the near future as well.

Cheers to a short week!