Compare

Solitude is a kind of a funny thing.  I think sometimes the word can tend to have a negative connotation, but it's not necessarily bad right - everyone needs some alone time.

However it's fascinating to me how everyone needs different doses of it.  I have friends who hit a point where they just NEED some alone time to recharge, reset. I think I fall more in the middle of the spectrum, I enjoy some solitude, but too much of it and I start to get in my own head.

I didn't really want to write about this, because it's a little bit sensitive and personal and honestly maybe border-line childish? And while what I'm about to say might be a big huge DUH, I don't know, I kind of want to talk type through this.

Too much occasional alone time has led to too much occasional social media time, which in turn has led to me playing the comparison game.  It's almost humorous, because I used to YELL at my friends when they would do it.  But in a recent conversation, the tables turned.

Basically, I disclosed that I was considering unfollowing a handful of people on social media because their lives were making me sad.  Not because their lives themselves were sad, but because of what they were constantly portraying.

Some of you might be reading this and are like, "Wait hold on though Kait, you're posting pictures of the beach every other day."

Touché.

However, my life is not a beach.

I took this last night, isn't it pretty!

Social media can really suck man. It can suck because, it basically allows people to paint whatever picture they want about their lives.  And rarely is someone going to choose to display a bad day, a sad day, an argument had, etc.

DISCLAIMER:  I am not unhappy.  Please don't read into this post. But let's be real here, we are all struggling with different things, we all have problems, there are always a variety of challenges.

Basically, I had to be forcefully reminded of this by my friend, like I suddenly had a maturity level of a brainwashed 16 year old whose only goal in life is to be part of the cool crowd.

Is that still a thing anymore? I hope not.

So I'm posting this as a reminder, mostly because I needed the reminder.  Pictures, and statuses, and videos - they don't fully represent that person, or their life.  And while it's awesome to be able to share the beautiful and happy PARTS of peoples' lives from over 6,000 miles away, I need to cut out the bad habit of looking at those parts, and assuming it's a whole.

Wow, that looks like an awesome weekend they had. I'm pumped for them!

End thought. Stop there. Don't start comparing, leave it at that.

It's actually a good rule for life as a whole - not just social media.

I hope this doesn't somehow offend anyone. It's simply exactly what I wrote.  Actually, if it does offend someone, I'm not sorry; this is just another part of social media.  We all have the ability to express ourselves however we want (outside of nudity, that's pretty often blocked still) - and this is just me expressing a recent struggle.

ANYWAYS, love you all.

-Kait

Four

Today is our official four week mark of being in country.  Blows my mind, it's absolutely flown by and been a blur.  Realizing that today was indeed 28 days, I decided to pause for a moment and do a little bit of general reflecting, which I shall divide into two categories.  I realize these lists might come off as somewhat superficial, but don't lie to yourself you would have some sadness about moving somewhere without Targets too.

Things that don't really bother me that I thought would:

1. Lack of my familiar stores.  I basically lived NEXT to Target back in Baltimore, and made several quick runs there a week since they literally have everything.  So Target, followed closely by my favorite grocery stores such as Trader Joe's, Whole Foods - I really thought I would have separation anxiety.  Don't get me wrong, I miss them... but there are more options here than I realized, and it forces me to explore the smaller shops that I wouldn't necessarily go into if I had a big Target-like store out here, close by.

2. Making friends.  My past two moves the process of making friends semi-consistently broke me down into tears; I HATE the slow-moving process of it, I'm just not very good at it.  I still don't love it, but have learned to be more patient with it, and I think I'm a little better at it the third time around.

Friends at the beach last week :)

3.  Lack of a car.  There have been times when I wish I had one, sure.  But walking around the city has taught me a TON, forced me to be more active, and in general probably gotten me more comfortable, more quickly.  Our car is being shipped over here - eventually - but we most likely won't see it until mid-November at the earliest.

4.  Shabbat.  When I say I thought it would bother me, I don't mean the religious practice itself, I mean the fact that roughly 75% of the city shuts down from sun down on Friday to sun down on Saturday - a large chunk of our weekend.  I thought that would really limit us in regards to making social plans and outings, but so far we've found way more options of things to do/ways to be creative than expected; and I've actually kind of come to love the slowness and quietness of Shabbat.

Things that kind of bother me that I didn't realize would:

(let's define the word bother super mildly, these things aren't ruining my day, more so I'm just surprised that I even noticed them)

1. The cats.  Soooooo many stray cats.  Now don't get all up in arms, I'm not like a cat HATER (well some of them really piss me off because they hiss at Kai and get all aggressive with her and she's like what I just want to be your friend!?) but there is always cat food scattered everywhereeeee. Which is cool right, because there's this crazy organized effort throughout the city to take care of all the stray cats, but not so cool when your dog is obsessively hunting down the cat food, occasionally eating it, and then getting awful gas.

This guy guards the gate to our apartment, I've named him Kelly

2. A lack of fall.  I was well aware that there wasn't going to be a 'fall' out here in the sense that the leaves aren't going to change, and it's not going to get cooler until closer to November.  But I think even more than the temperature change, I miss the celebration of fall, and all things pumpkin.  And I'm not going to lie I did this today:

Secret Tel Aviv is an awesome Facebook group where you can pretty much find out about anything

3. LaCroix.  LOL SO BASIC, I know, but I miss it.  There are a few sparkling water options in large bottles, but minimal flavors, and DAMN I just miss grabbing an ice cold can of LaCroix and crushing it when I'm thirsty.

4. The time change.  I want to cheviot this with, I actually kind of like and dislike our time zone difference from the U.S. - so this could have made both lists.  Mornings are nice because they are super quiet, my phone doesn't typically light up with any alerts (unless it's another Israel-resident) until late afternoon.  I get a lot done, and can kind of be disconnected when I choose to be.

However, I am big on keeping in touch with people, and doing it well.  So when my Baltimorians start waking up around 2 pm, Chicago around 3 pm, and Colorado around 4 pm, it's sometimes waves of texts/facetimes/snapchats all at once.  And evening for me is typically workout time, dinner time, and then Andrew time, so I can't always be on my phone a ton, depending.  Which is where I've found frustration that I wasn't anticipating.

I'm not saying this at all to discourage anyone from reaching out to me - I love hearing from everyone, and being thought of.  

So there they are, my four-week thoughts wrapped up in two lists.  I hope they aren't read as me sitting here complaining, I just enjoying sharing the randomness of some of it, and wouldn't be surprised if I re-read this six months from now and laugh at myself.

Enjoy your Friday Eve my friends, I'm off to the dog park with hopes of avoiding all cat food along the way.

Cheers - 

Kait

The pup

Fun Fact: the dog population in Tel Aviv has tripled in the past 20 years

This is a topic that is near and dear to my heart.  I'm not going to go into *extreme* details because it could very well turn into a 20 chapter novel, however, if you ever want more details or advice around flying your dog - whether you're moving or not - reach out to me. I mean it, I'm passionate about it.

Immediately upon learning that our move to TLV was a 'for sure' thing, I began the extensive research process around what would go into bringing our husky pup Kai along with us (there was never a doubt that she was coming).  All countries have different rules and regulations - Israel falls somewhere in the middle in regards to the strictness and complexity of their import rules, at least that's what I've been told.

The planning started months out.  There were strict timelines around certain shots/when lab tests had to be sent, etc.  The last ten days possibly took a month or two off of my life, as she needed a Health Certificate no more than 10 days prior, then the USDA had to sign off on all of the paperwork (I had to drive up to PA for this) and then 2 days prior to flying all paperwork had to be faxed to Ben Gurion Airport in TLV to be approved.

Ben Gurion's fax wasn't working... so after a few international phone calls, and some googling, I found that their fax actually never works. I spoke with one Israeli who basically told me 'not to worry about it' which wasn't the answer I was going to accept.  I eventually ended up getting an email address, that immediately bounced back to me saying the inbox was full.

After a few more persistent phone calls and re sending the email about 10 times, I got the OK from the Veterinary Inspector at the airport. 

My biggest worry (I'm not joking I sometimes laid awake at night running through worst-case scenarios of Kai's first flight) was the water situation.  The flight from Newark to Tel Aviv (we drove up to Newark so that she would be making zero connections) is roughly 10 hours on a good day, gate to gate.  We had to drop her off 3 hours minimum prior to the flight.... plus tack another hour on upon landing, that's 14 straight hours in her crate.  A MASSIVE crate for the record - I could sleep in it if I needed to.

The dog drinks more water than I do, so the tiny ass plastic water bowl that comes with the 'travel kit' wasn't going to cut it.  Not to mention she ripped it off and chewed it up upon our first time leaving her in that crate.

(Panic ensued, I then ordered 3 different travel bowls online to try)

Long story short, I ended up leaving her with 2 metal water bowls on her crate door - United filled both with ice upon her boarding - another plastic water bowl on the side, that I had frozen the night before so that it would slowly thaw... and a hamster waterbottle feeder (also frozen) that I zip-tied onto the outside (because again, she had ripped it off several times in the past) with the nozzle sticking through the crate.

Yes, it was a lot, but better safe than sorry.

I was crying when we entered the Pet Safe office at Newark to drop her off.  If you aren't a dog person judge away, but if you are then you understand dropping your 9 month old puppy off to be put in a plane for 10 hours is heart wrenching.  I'm going to give the Newark office props, because I think they deserve it - the lady I dealt with was great, she reassured me several times, and allowed me to take out Kai twice while we were waiting for them to come take her away.

Her words were "Heck, I think our program is so great I would fly via. Pet Safe if I could"

Unsure why you would opt to fly down under the plane, but I appreciated the reassurance.

Once she was carted away, there wasn't much more we could do besides drink some wine and get ourselves through the next 12 hours.  Prior to boarding, the employees at the gate verified that Kai had been boarded into her temperature-controlled room under the plane - separate from luggage. Regardless, I didn't sleep much, grimaced anytime there was turbulence, and watched the screen on the back of the seat in front of me slowly track our progress across the Atlantic.

Upon landing, it took roughly 45 minutes until we were reunited with Kai. We stood by the over-sized baggage area, and all of a sudden a large garage door opened and Kai was carted in on one of those trucks that are always zipping all over airports.  I saw her little head watching through her side window, probably wondering WTF happened the past 12 hours, but looking perfectly fine nonetheless.  Upon seeing us she starting barking and I again started crying, and the rest is history.

Kai splashing around in the Mediterranean Sea at a local dog beach
<3

Some other time I'll write about why Tel Aviv is actually an awesome dog city (or you can google it, it's actually insane how dog-friendly it is), but in short her transition has been pretty easy. Not to mention she's made my own transition easier - I honestly can't imagine not having her as a companion out here.  She's a handful, but we love her, and can't wait to go on more adventures with her.

Anyways, that's my moving Kai to Israel story.  Hope you have an awesome long weekend!

Cheers - 

Kait

Below is a list of specific advice that I kind of just want out on the internet for those who may need it or be interested. 

- I strongly recommend not to get too deep into the online reviews of the different airlines.  EVERY airline has haters, as well as lovers - but who are the people taking the time to actually get on there?  The haters. I read some scary reviews about the United Pet Safe program, but at the end of the day it seemed to be the most used program to ship pets, and our best bet for a direct flight.
- Know that crate requirements are different per airlines and per domestic vs. international travel. Read crate reviews and know what you are buying. Sizing definitely matters.
- Buy the dog's travel crate a month or two before you fly, so that they can sleep in it at home and get familiar with it.  Try out the different travel bowls as well and find out what works best for your pup.
- Our vet (and it seems most vets) won't really recommend much when it comes to sedating.  Airlines will not fly dogs if they 'look sedated' however, you will find there are things you can try to help them remain calm/more chill.  We experimented with children's Benadryl prior (it makes some dogs actually more hyper, hence why we tried it first) and it chilled Kai out a bit, but not to the point that she was knocked out or didn't have her bearings.  Therefore, we gave her two Benadryl (50 mg total - they say one MG per pound) about three hours prior to the flight.  I also put a pheromone collar on her because why not - you can read more about those here.
- Kai is super high-energy, another reason I was so worried about putting her in a crate for so long.  I did some research, and found a dog park actually fairly close to Newark... so we got up to the area roughly 6 hours before our flight so that she could eat, run around and wear herself down.  I'm actually really glad that we did that.
- $$$ - without going into exact numbers, it's expensive to fly a dog.  Even outside of her actual ticket, the crate, the vet bills, etc. - all of that added up.  Obviously you can't put a price tag on having your best friend with you in your new home, but it's something to keep in mind going into it, to prepare for.

Waves

Fun fact: Israel is roughly the same size as the state of New Jersey

Now that I threw out a captivating fact to grab your attention, Happy Wednesday.  By the time you read this I'll most likely be closer to Thursday, but that's ok.

One thing I've always wrestled with when moving somewhere new (this is now my third time) is the lacking of simplicity. What I mean by this is, for awhile, things that would normally be fairly simple or mindless are not.  The amount of effort that has to be put into tasks such as finding the nearest grocery store, then purchasing said groceries, etc., is much more tasking in a brand new place.

Hebrew and a different currency don't help, but it's all new regardless of those barriers.

Relationships are the biggest simplicity that I consistently miss directly after the move - outside of Andrew, and my dog - all relationships are starting from scratch, having to be built up and nurtured, and therefore require a lot more time and energy than a relationship that is familiar and has been standing for years.

This is just me thinking out loud, not necessarily complaining, because I expected all of this going into the move.

One awesome thing about living in the middle of Tel Aviv is that when I'm having a bad day, a slower day, or just need to get out for awhile, the beach is always an option. And pretty much a guaranteed pick-me-up.

So yesterday after a productive morning I made the ten minute trek to the shore and was PUMPED to find that the waves were massive.

 {For the Med that is. I'm not talking Hawaii-sized waves but big enough to at least body surf and get tossed around}

I don't know what it is about big waves, but they make me irrationally happy. So I left my backpack near the shore by some trustworthy looking peeps and ran in, as cool-looking as possible (which is actually impossible when doing such an act alone).

It was a little odd, splashing and playing about in the waves completely by myself. I did some handstands and caught some of the bigger waves, trying to body surf them in. At one point a larger wave threw me under and I actually came back up with a stupid smile on my face.

An older gentleman was nearby also by himself, and we both caught each other smiling as another big wave came barreling through.  And it was the simplicity of those 20 minutes or so, completely alone with myself yet on a beach full of people that brought me a lot of unexpected joy.

So the point of this weird story?  I think joy is very easily found in simplicity, and I believe simplicity can be found easier than we often realize. You kind of just have to keep your eyes open, and seek it out.  I know building solid relationships out here is going to be a very healthy thing for both of us in the long run - but sometimes it's best to just take a step away from the noise and the events and the planned dinners or meet and greets - and be alone.

On that note, I'm off to another lunch.  Because it's about balance; and while my comfort zone is a good, necessary place to retreat to, I'm not going to make any friends standing in the ocean alone all day.

Cheers- 

Kait

Observing

Being a Type A person,  it is a bit weird to wake up every day and not have a solid schedule in place. Don't get me wrong, every day there are certainly things to get done, but for awhile we will be lacking a consistent schedule.

So until I fully figure out what my job situation will be, I see my basic responsibilities as:

1. Settling us into our new home - this includes stocking up on groceries which has been incredibly daunting so far.
2. Training our dog. At 9 months she is well-trained but we would love to consistently have her off leash; therefore I spend a chunk of every day working with her on that. 
3. Learning basic Hebrew. It very quickly became clear that I should know at least the basics out of sheer politeness.
4. Figuring it out. Let's dig into this one.

My sense of direction has been absolutely turned upside down here in the Holy Land, outside of knowing which way the beach is. Therefore I would define figuring it out as literally wandering around. Slowly learning where the nearest grocery store is, the best cafes, which juice stand is the cheapest. Observing. Plugging my headphones in, throwing on my backpack and simply trotting around with a dazed American look on my face. 

One thing I quickly observed, and fell in love with: Israelis seem to give very little sh*ts about rules. 

Exhibit A: The Beach

From what I can tell, dogs aren't allowed at the beach, unless you're at the specific dog beach.  I started laughing on my morning run earlier this week as I witnessed dogs literally everywhere.  Granted, it was earlier in the morning and I'm not sure that would fly during prime hours, but in short people seem to take their dogs everywhere and anywhere, regardless of what the signs actually say.

However we did find the actual dog beach and Kai has never been happier

(& I absolutely cannot read Hebrew, but I'm thinking a dog with a big X through it means no dogs)

Exhibit B: Scooters

Traffic within the actual city of TLV is kind of insane and once our car gets here (which at this rate most likely won't be until December) I'm not sure I would even be brave enough to drive it within the city. Drivers are aggressive and horn-happy, but beyond that, the scooters are TERRIFYING.  They do whatever they want, always.  On the sidewalks, going the wrong way, weaving between lanes, you name it.

Exhibit C:  Socializing

In summary, it seems that any hour is happy hour.  I'm constantly finding myself questioning if the entire country is on vacation ALWAYS, as bars restaurants and cafes are fully populated at ALL hours of the day and night.  I see business men in suits sipping on beers at 11 AM on a Tuesday, and just this morning while letting Kai out at 6 AM walked past several girls on their way home from bars/clubs.

Walk by any beach any night of the week, and there are enough BBQ's and picnics going on to make us wonder if it's a Jewish holiday we were unaware of (which is not outside of the realm of possibility).

Exhibit D: Graffiti

It's everywhere; it's like a social norm for there to be graffiti on a building, not a big deal at all.  It's grown on me quickly - I'm a big fan of some of the quotes I've seen so far...

I'll stop with the examples, but have plenty more if you're interested.  In short, my observation is that there are simply less sh*t's given in this country - certainly less political correctness, no tip toeing around, more laid back about a lot of stuff.  You say and do what you feel... and I kind of like it.

So the point of why I'm babbling about this observation is; I think that I need to somewhat apply this Israeli mindset to myself as I wander around Tel Aviv trying to figure it all out.  If I hand the cashier the wrong amount of money (which I have) or order the completely wrong kind of drink at the cafe (yesterday) - oh well.  Drink it, move on.

One cafe gives you chocolate every time you order  :)

Happy Friday, hope you had an awesome week!  And if you didn't - forget it, and move on.

Cheers -

Kait

Adventures

It's been awhile huh?  A little too long.

Jumping right in; I wouldn't really consider myself the most adventurous person.  I can talk a big game and will try new things etc., but my comfort zone will forever and always be my favorite place - whether that's in my daily routine, the people I keep company with, the place that I'm living, etc.

Baltimore slowly but surely became one of my most favorite places.  The little city of a half million people is full of spunk and life and team spirit out the ass.  I learned to find a ton of joy in the places and the people who surrounded me there.

Yet Andrew and I decided early this year to consider something new. He's done the overseas thing twice now without me, and every time it's been hard. Really hard to be honest. And last year when he fell in love with Israel, and started ranting about the country's beauty, the slower pace of life, all of the things to do, I quickly put my guards up and told myself that I wouldn’t do the same.

Turns out, it only took a few days visit out there to quickly change my mind.

So, to get to the actual point of this post - last week, we started a new adventure. More specifically, as of last Thursday, we are now residing in Tel Aviv for the next two years.  Leading up to the decision, there was crazy amounts of discussions and tears and debate in regards to moving overseas in general. And it's not going to be easy, believe me we know. But I do know this gives us both the opportunity to go after things we are super passionate about, in a pretty cool country.

We'll be back and forth a lot.  This is a crazy time of life (when is it not?) and there will be weddings and holidays and babies that we absolutely cannot and will not miss.  We've already grown accustom to flights to see both of our families at this point - and so our mindset has simply shifted to, a flight is a flight.  Whether it's 10 hours or 2, when we need to be back to the States, we will get back there.  I just may need to keep some extra Advil PM on hand for that Tel Aviv – Newark non-stop flight, with a 7 hour time change.

So, after over four and half years of living in Maryland/Baltimore, we headed East. 5,000 + miles east to be exact.  Come visit - you've got a free place in Tel Aviv to stay if you want to book that Middle Eastern vacay you never could pull the trigger on. You'll just have to deal with a furry husky who likes to give kisses and occasionally wakes you up howling at 2 AM.

(Don't even get my started on the process of getting that puppy over here, that's a whole separate blog post)

It's going to be hard – change is so hard for me (Just this morning I tried to pay for my $1 coffee with a coin that was only worth 5 cents). But we're ready for it, mostly because we are doing it together.  And I'm thinking it should make for a pretty good story, so as of today this blog is back up and running (excuse the pun). Follow along, we can learn some Hebrew together.

Cheers/L'Chayim - 

Kait

The Gym Hunt

There’s this toilet at my work that is an overactive flusher. Any time that you move at all, to wipe, shift a butt cheek, etc., it freaks out and flushes on your ass butt. Literally. Yet I continue to go into that stall because I like the last stall, it feels safe and I may be attached to it.

There’s your weird Wednesday tidbit for the week, I know you needed it, it’s been too long.

Now I want to discuss my least favorite part about moving into Baltimore so far - finding a new gym. I was lucky enough to be added to Andrew's existing gym pass when I first moved out here, so the original relocation didn't involve any kind of search whatsoever...

Technically this picture has no relation to the topic aside from the fact that it was taken this past Sunday from my new house's deck. Pretty huh?

I tried out the Canton Merritt Gym last week, and ended up going about 5 times, to two different spin classes. Final verdict: Sorry current Merritt users, I was not overly impressed with the Canton location.

source

It was fine, as gym standards go. But it’s very much a ‘scene’. Every other girl is decked out in her LuLu Lemon, which let’s be honest I would be too it I had the money. All of the weights areas were extremely 20-something male dominated, most who wanted nothing more than to gaze at their beloved muscles in the mirrors.

It was annoying.

But hey, it was a free week of working out, and now I know that I don’t want to join there. The spin class that I attended there on Monday also rubbed me the wrong way, per the instructor getting off her bike, jumping frantically around the room from bike to bike, yelling in our faces.

That’s just not my cup of tea. I’m a self-motivator, I realllllly don’t want your sweaty face in mine while I’m on the bike. No hard feelings OK?

Next on the list to try is the Canton Club, which looks to be a bit smaller and doesn’t have a pool. Hopefully it's less bro-ish. A pool isn't the deciding factor for me when it comes to joining gyms, but technically I should be swimming right now as part of my training… I will probably hit up the public pool a couple times prior to August 11^th.

 Last but probably most importantly... I tried out the local Canton Froyo shop last night. Great news – they had crumbled up cupcakes as a topping option.

Life is good.

We’re sitting on the hump you guys. Is that the weekend I smell?

Cheers to gym hopping!

the (second) big move

At first I titled this post 'the big move' and then realized that title had already been used... when I first moved out to Maryland. If you're interested in rewinding to last February, here's that post.

Note to self: Always check the Oriole's/Raven's game schedule before choosing to drive through the city, versus taking the tunnel around the city...

sat in this for a joyful 30 mins...

That was lesson #2 of living in Baltimore. Lesson #1 was learned yesterday. What was that you ask? Rooftop life in Baltimore is da' bomb.

Last night was a beautiful evening to spend time on our new rooftop deck with friends and cold beverages. And that's exactly what happened.

Not going to lie, I am tired with a capital T. Between moving my life in a U-haul van, and romping around the city of Baltimore fairly late last night, this girl is wiped.

My new pad - with my OWN bathroom

Not only am I wiped, I'm also actually really sore. Let me tell you what - mattresses aren't light. Especially when you're lugging it around all by yourself. Moving is actually a great workout, and the warm temperatures made sure that I got my sweat on.

I'm not normally one to take my phone along with me on runs - I like to disconnect myself from time to time. However it's looking like I'm going to have to bring it along with me sometime soon so that I can snap some pics of one of my favorite new Maryland running spots - along the inner harbor. It's beautiful, and I am psyched to log many miles along the water.

Brunch was calling for us this morning, so of course we obeyed. It may have also entailed these...

I apologize for the shortness, it's been a whirlwind of a weekend and I honestly ready for bed. My sister gets into town late later this week, and it's looking like another extremely promising weekend. More on that later.

It's the foam roller and then bed for this girl. Hope everyone had a magical weekend - cheers!

In the cards

Serious question: Is there any possible way to look attractive in a swim cap?

I pondered this for part of my swim this evening and decided that probably the only way to look attractive in a swim cap as a lady if one had an Olympic Medal hanging around their neck. Which isn't looking like it's in my cards, and that's OK.

What is in my cards is that sprint triathlon that I signed up for a couple months ago in the midst of my severe injury depression. Yet between my recent traveling and prepping for my big Baltimore move THIS WEEKEND, the tri had kind of slipped my mind...

That bad boy is now less than two months away, and today was the first time that I swam in probably a couple of weeks. I should probably get on it huh?

Side note: I still haven't found my gym to call home yet in salty Balty, and if I have any local readers, I would love suggestions!

We got rocked with some of those storms today, and at one point my phone looked like this:

Luckily, it doesn't seem like too much damage was done to the area, and life went on as usual. Brussel sprouts and all.

Can't stop won't stop. Love my sprouts.

In other food-related news, my next-door cube mate at work hooked me up with some of her homemade strawberry jam that she made after picking strawberries this past week. It would be a blatant lie if I denied sitting in my cube and eating it out of the jar with a spoon for awhile.

I'm extra pumped that tomorrow is Friday, let me tell you. Not only will the moving begin, but Andrew gets back from his week long hiatus tomorrow evening. Hollllaaaaa.

Alright, I've got some packing to take care of, and some sparkling water in the kitchen calling my name. Make your evening great peeps.

Cheers!

One Year

This is going to jump around, but bear with me, I think you'll enjoy it.

Yesterday was Fat Tuesday. I tried my best not to be too fat because I think I did enough of that during my birthday week. So in attempt to turn Fat Tuesday into Thin (but strong) Tuesday, I dragged myself to 90 minutes of "Yoga for Athletes."

It was hard, I was out of my element. People started pulling out the handstands and the headstands and I was like ummm....

No. I'll just stand here and admire your skill.

I think I should keep going. I simultaneously loved and hated it. I walked away exhausted.

I stopped at Dicks after work on my way home today to grab an essential:

I've never owned one. I don't know how to use it. I'm unsure if getting my 5 lbs of hair into that swim cap is even possible.

I also saw these and want them yet have no reason for them. I may start looking for a reason. Any suggestions?

One year ago was a big day for me. Who knows why? Don't all raise your hands at once.

One year ago I hopped into my little black Honda Civic named Shannon, and moved my life from Chicago (suburbs) to Maryland. I'm pretty sure I wrote a blog post about it...

My mind is blown when I think about this past year, and how much has changed and evolved. I scored an awesome job, I've made some amazing friends, and have explored some breathtaking places.

I fell in love with the ocean in a similar way that I did with the mountains.

It's encouraging the way that the Baltimore area continues to grow on me. I'm stoked to move to the city in May with a coworker of mine, and am looking forward to the many adventures that are already beginning to fall into place for this spring and summer.

Salty Balty, here I come. Stay Tuned.

Cheers!

2012 in Review

What a year, eh?

I don't know about you, but I'm normally a big advocate of the use of the number ranking system. And if I were to give this year a number from 1-10, I would give it a solid 6.

It was a good year. Not fabulous or mind-blowing by any means, but it was definitely good. Full of adventures, but also full of adjustments and changes. It was hard, but I learned a ton.

Rewinding to a year ago today, I was living back at home in the Chicago suburbs. This blog hadn't even been born yet, and I was trying to save up all my coin to make the move out to the East Coast to reunite with my beau.

That took a solid two months to accomplish, and on Februrary 13th 2012 (just in time for Valentine's Day) I made the move out to the Baltimore are.

I was blessed, so blessed to find a full-time job in just over a month's time.

Simultaneously I was training for the Boston  Marathon, which snuck up on me in mid-April. Andrew, Bri and my friend Meg traveled up the coast to the land of awesomely thick accents and Red Sox fans to watch me plod 26.2 through the beautiful city of Boston in 80-something degree weather.

It was definitely one of my all-time favorite memories. If you ever get the chance to run Boston, do it.

Summer came along shortly after and taught me the true definition of humidity. Holy. Cow. The summer was packed full of beach trips, bachlorette parties and country music.

August gave us a grand finale to my first Maryland summer with two epic events.

1. A week-long getaway to the Colorado mountains... followed by one of my very best friend's wedding in the best city in the world, Chicago.

2. A beach getaway to Deleware with a group of a few of our closest homies over Labor Day weekend.

Shortly after, Andrew and I traveled up to Philadelphia to both run in the Philly Half Marathon. It was Andrew's first half and he absolutely killed it, while I surprised myself with my fastest half marathon to date. We both had a blast and enjoyed our first authentic Philly Cheesesteak on the ride back to Baltimore.

And then, tragedy struck and my IT band started hating on me, hard.

Running/training came to a screeching hault throughout most of the gorgeous, color-filled fall, and my Physical Therapy office quickly became my second home. In the meantime, I learned to love other forms of physical activity such as spin class, weight lifting and even some raquetball.

I'm still working on the yoga.

Andrew and I journeyed back to Illinois to get in some quality family time over Thanksgiving, and basically... here we are. Christmas Break 2012 was a fabulous refreshment for me, and I loved spending time with my family, and my parent's new puppy Jane.... in case you couldn't tell from my past couple posts.

I'm feeling stronger, my IT band has quieted down, and this past Saturday morning I was able to run about 70 minutes without any pain. That makes me so happy.

A lot of things make me happy.

Like being able to spend New Years out here in gorgeous Colorado with my boyfirend and his family.

I'll wrap up by saying, I have this sneaking suspicion that 2013 is going to be amazing. Like absolutely epic. I've been telling a lot of people that lately.

I'm going to make it epic. With the full understanding that now, just because something is hard, challenging or even sucky doesn't necessary equate to the fact that something is bad or sad.

I choose to make 2013 an awesome year. Without looking back.

I hope you do to.

Resolutions to come soon, but in the meantime...

Cheers to a brand new year!!

Weird Wednesdays - The Writing on the Sidewalk.

Let me begin this post with this preface; I am not bitching. I'm simply telling you my recent observations.

Well, well, well... look who has way too much time on their hands

Yesterday I ran hills hard and it was glorious. I strongly, strongly believe in kicking your own ass at least once a week, in some way shape or form. However that may look for yourself; lifting some heavy weights, doing kick-boxing until you drop, zumba-ing until you sweat through your underwear... do it hard.


Anyways, my observant, friendless (we'll get to that) self happened to notice a little something on the last few yards of my run, on the sidewalk right in front of my house:

Thoughts on my new kicks?

Weird... I'm pretty sure those are my initials. Also weird, because I didn't put them there.

A sign I'm suppose to be here?

I'm going to take it as that, because I need just about any encouragement that I can get at this point.

Moving to a new place, and starting all over. I've now done it twice (not counting college because everyone does that) and I would say above all else, it's made me a much more observant person.

Not only to sidewalks with my initials on them, and to local street signs so that I eventually stop getting lost...but observant of my social life and to the fact that I've now lived here for nearly 5 months. My number of friends here, I can count on one hand.

Number of close, call-you-up-in-the-middle-of-the-night-type friends that I have here? Zero.

love the Ensemble Kait. oh hey thanks.

No wonder with outfits like that.

I'll say it again, I'm not complaining. I'm not looking for sympathy, or even asking for suggestions/help. However if anyone knows of someone I can hire to be my friend please let me know. Believe me I am aware of plentAY of ways to continue to meet people out here. The bottomline? I'm kind of tired of trying.

For now, let's just leave it at that. It's something I'm aware of, working on and will most likely have an update on once I force myself to go to this local running club some day that I'm scared shitless of going to.

In other news, I somehow ended up at the Maryland DMV at 8 AM this morning and decided it was necessary to make it official. I am currently unsure how I feel about it, especially because my IL license picture was sexy.I asked them if they could just cut and paste my IL picture into my new MD ID and they just looked at me and drooled said no.

Pretty.

Manly.

In about 10 days I will start following this. And I can't wait.

Cheers to a super weird Wednesday - you've made it halfway!