Friday Love

Happy Fourth of July! I hope you have fun plans this weekend. I think we are going to watch fireworks tomorrow night, and hopefully spend some time by the pool. I can't believe it's July! Summer goes too fast. Enjoy your holiday weekend!

{ONE}

Working Mothers. My mom always worked when my sister and I were growing up, in addition to doing like five million other things. It already makes me sad to think about handing over my future offspring to a stranger this winter. {This article} made me feel a little bit better!

{TWO}

Summer Reading. I have finally got my reading act together this week. I am in the middle of The Husband's Secret, and can't wait to see what happens. Any book recommendations for me?

{THREE}

Inside Out. Matt and I saw Inside Out at the drive in on Sunday. I really enjoyed it. I know most people think it's a movie for kids, but really I thought it was more a grown up movie. I recommend it if you haven't seen it.

{FOUR}

{FIVE}

First Tomatoes! Let's hope the millions of green ones on the vines start turning red.

Friday Love

It's been some time since I posted on a Friday. January was just so busy. And I haven't done a good job getting back on track in February. I'm hoping to get back on track with this post. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. Stay warm, valentines <3

{ONE}

Better Call Saul. Breaking Bad's prequel/spin off premiered this week. I was skeptical, but I think this has potential. I am really looking forward the the rest of season one to see how things progress. After binging on Breaking Bad on Netflix this summer, it's so hard to only watch one episode at a time. Not to mention the commercial breaks.

{TWO}

Brian Williams. Ok, so I really like Brian Williams. He is part of my evening routine. I start prepping dinner and listen to BW. Now don't get mad...I just think NBC might be overreacting a little bit. I really wish he could come back, or that he does eventually come back.

{THREE}

President's Day Long Weekend! I have Monday off! I have no real plans, but I'm happy to have a little break. We have had almost NO SNOW this entire winter, a major contrast to last year's 13 days off. Everyone is tired.

{FOUR}

My Valentine. Matthew T. Keough <3


{FIVE}

Friday Love

{ONE}

Picnics. I always love the idea of going on a picnic, but some time struggle with what to pack for them. It always seems like a lot of maintenance, or like the food just isn't all that fantastic for the occasion. I like this little picnic slot machine for ideas.

{TWO}

Chipotle Orders. Really Chipotle could be on my every Friday love. It's so yum! I thought this article about what your chipotle order says about you was pretty interesting, but none of them really describe me or my order, so I'm slightly disappointed.

{THREE}

Pool with friends. Twice this week I have been able to enjoy pool time with friends. So much fun to have company :)

{FOUR}

Nostalgia Machine. Um, if you do nothing us with the links on this post, I don't care, but please do yourself a favor and click on this gem. You can choose a year and it brings up all the best songs from that year. Seriously it will take you back. I tried 2000 (when I got my driver's license), 2004 (college fun-ness), and 1998 (K-Ci & JoJo All My Life, yes please), but every year will take ya back! I promise!

{FIVE}

Real Conversations. It's easy to get caught up in texting and social media these days, but I have been reminded a couple of times this week about the value of having real in person conversations, or at least talking on the phone :) It's something I want to work on :)

Friday Love

{ONE}

Spray Sunscreen. This is really an amazing invention, don't you think? I mean gone are the days of thick lotions to run in. With spray sunscreen, sunscreening is quick, light, and easy. You can almost completely sunscreen yourself and feel good about it.

{TWO}

Zero Gravity Chairs. Another great invention! I love these things. Have you ever sat in one. It's how I got Matt to be able to spend entire days at the beach.

{THREE}

This guy. He was hanging out on my basil this week.

{FOUR}

Electricity. Since about Wednesday evening we have been dealing with power outages in many aspects of our lives - more on this later. I sure do appreciate the luxuries of 21st century living.

{FIVE}

Stars and Stripes. Happy Fourth of July, friends!

Friday Love

{ONE}

Orange is the New Black, Season Two. It came out on Netflix last weekend. I have only watched the first episode. I was trying to wait to have them to watch in the summer, but then I had too many crazy days at work and thought one might make me feel better. It worked. I can't wait to see what happens!

{TWO}

Summer Fruits & Veggies. I'm so excited that it's time for nectarines, strawberries, corn on the cob, and all the other produce that is best in the summer!

{THREE}

{FOUR}

Pool Season. Our pool opened on Memorial Day and we have been a couple of times since. It's so nice to have a pool in our neighborhood, and even better that we live super close to it.

{FIVE}

The Final Countdown. Only four days left in this school year. It's been quite a year. A year in which I learned a LOT of life lessons, both personal and professional. I am so looking forward to my first unencumbered summer in five years.

Marathon Monday

It's been a little bit of a boring week in training. No crazy weather stories, no new records, just same old walk/running miles. I guess that can be considered a good thing. In numbers news, we are less than one month away from the Pittsburgh Half Marathon, 27 days to be exact. I originally signed up for this partly because I needed something else to focus on back at the beginning of the school year, and I can't believe how quickly April has arrived after such a long fall.

At GOTR on Wednesday, we did a short lesson because our weather was so awesome and got outside quickly for some extra laps. I really wanted to get in 3 miles, but was only able to do 2.67. I came home and did 2.34 more to have 5.01 for the day. Friday after school was another beautiful day, but I knew I wanted to do my long run for the week on Saturday morning, so I elected to just walk 2.25 miles Friday evening. I was hoping this would also help to loosen up my calves for Saturday morning.

Thankfully the weather for the weekend was beautiful. Sunshine and 60's. My goal was to do eight miles Saturday morning. I made sure to get up and get going somewhat quickly so I didn't somehow talk myself out of it. Like I mentioned earlier, it was a little bit boring. I thought a couple of times that I might just do six miles....I had planned a six mile route back to my house so I could get a drink because it was a little warmer than usual. I tried a lemon sublime Gu packet a little before I got back to my house. I left a cup of water on my porch so I wouldn't have to go inside. Probably a good idea so I didn't have extra reason to end my run. I just stopped quickly and finished the last 2.25 miles close to my house. It felt really good to have my long run done before lunchtime on a Saturday. On Sunday, since the weather was perfect again, Matt and I took a 3.4 mile walk on the trails in our neighborhood. This brought me up to 18.91 miles for the week.

Even though this week's runs were a little on the boring side, I did get to listen to some of the new music I added to my playlist. It did make a small difference in the monotony of the miles I was running. Next Marathon Monday should be a little more exciting. I registered for a race at the last minute! More details next week!

Friday Love

{ONE}

A Cup of Jo. So I love, love this blog. She writes about such a plethora of interesting topics, and is super relateable. She also has great voice in her writing...I always feel like I know her even though we've never met.

{TWO}

Forever Young. I love this version of Bob Dylan's Forever Young. It plays at the beginning of Parenthood each week.

{THREE}

Perspective. It's important. Life is all about it. Keeping it. Putting things in it. I'm all about perspectives these days.

{FOUR}

New running stuff. Last weekend in my quest to find Gu, I also bought some new socks, and my fave a new sports bra. I won't go into major details, but I made a serious upgrade. And the socks were pretty good too. I hope to get a couple more pairs of Feetures.

{FIVE}

Springtime Weather! It's finally happened friends! We have made a turn for the better with warm, sometimes sunny weather. A welcomed week since last Sunday's frigid, pouring sleet run. It's been a very long winter, and now I am almost at a point where I can see some summertime light!

Friday Love

{ONE}

Love, Teach. I have recently starting following the blog Love, Teach. Previously I had only occasionally read it, but not I'm a follower. She's got some great posts. My most recent favorites include the 16 ways to monitor testing and Cardigans: A Love Story. The cardigans one really hits home.

{TWO}

Radioactive. I finally downloaded a couple new songs from iTunes earlier this week. Radioactive included. It just brought back some really good memories from summer when I clicked on it and I couldn't resist.

{THREE}

Toms. I wish I was rich and could buy all the Toms I ever wanted. Toms and, you know, lots of other things, but now that spring is coming (finally) I wish I had so many pairs.

{FOUR}

Exceeding Expectations. This week I was testing with fidelity once again and my friend was such a fabulous star I was smiling the whole day! It's just so nice to see my friends rise to the occasion. Sometimes my job really has some benefits!

{FIVE}

A Clean House. I consider myself a nice and neat, orderly person, but truth be told sometimes I really lack the motivation to clean our house. There's just a lot of other things I would rather be doing. Once it's done though, there really is no better feeling.

Life's a Happy Song

I never got around to my {Friday Love} post on Friday. It was my turn to host game night, so I was a little busy. And usually I prep that post throughout the week when I have a good thought, but I guess that never happened either. It seems like the whole month of March has flown by.

There were some highlights this week. We had a snow day on St. Patrick's day. Matt got to stay home too, so that was nice. We watched a movie and just hung out. At school we have been giving the 5th grade writing SOL. Typically I just help out with the logistics of testing, and maybe test a small group here and there. Well, I really lucked out for this test. I got to test one of my very special friends, and because there were multiple special accommodations for my friend there was a second grown up in the room watching me give the test with fidelity. My friend is just the happiest person. He sang the entire time I was trying to test him. My favorite song that he sang to me was "Life's a Happy Song." I have a lot of funny moments from my two mornings of testing, but I think you all should just take my friend's advice and listen to his jam below.

Game night on Friday was a nice end to the week. Instead of making dinner for everyone, I finally found a Virginia fish fry. It was no Pittsburgh fish fry, but it sufficed. I don't think people outside of PIttsburgh really know what a fish fry is, but it's a start. I'm also having a hard time describing to people the ambiance and menu of a fish fry in the 412. Then instead of playing a game we watched March Madness and ate dessert. It was nice to change things up a little bit. 

Friday Love

{ONE}

Spring Forward. I just love Spring Forward! It makes me so happy. I will gladly lose one hour of sleep for a longer period of light any day. The time change has also really helped my motivation to do some after school running this past week. If given the chance I might actually lobby to abolish the fall back time change in the future.

{TWO}

Charlottesville. I spent Thursday and Friday this week in Charlottesville at a conference about leadership. After some very anxiety provoking changes in the plans we arrived in Charlottesville and began our sad excuse for a "Marchcation." The speakers at the conference were more entertaining than anticipated and I did get to travel with a friend. Thankfully, we also had some free time. We enjoyed some collegial fellowship with our co-workers around town. The first night we went to the corner, and the second night we went to the downtown mall. We found a really good restaurant near the mall that I would highly recommend to anyone who might be in Charlottesville. Maya had a very cool atmosphere and excellent food. Each one of us ordered something different and everyone was very pleased! We also had time for some miles through UVA on Thursday afternoon. More on the miles on Monday.

{THREE}

Food Maps. Have you seen these? We all know I really enjoy food. What you might not know is how much I love maps. I know - another weird fact, but really, I could look at a map for while. I guess I just like to know where stuff is and planning fun trips to go there. Out of these food maps I think Italy, India, and Africa are the most beautiful, and France looks the most delicious with all that yummy cheese!

{FOUR}

Man in the Mirror. Man in the Mirror is on my running playlist. Mostly because I haven't downloaded music since about 2004. And because I do love some Michael Jackson. I do love every time it comes on when I'm running. I don't know why, but I do. I do think good old MJ has some really good points in this song....something to think about. Sorry for the slightly intense music video.

{FIVE}

Sleeping in your own bed. I had fun on my trip away this week. It was a nice change of pace, but there is nothing like being away and then coming home to sleep in your own bed.

Friday Love

{ONE}

Work Friends. I am so happy to work with people that I consider to be good friends. A lot of work friends took a little vacation last week and those were some lonely times. I'm so happy my friends came back!

{TWO}

New Furniture. We got new furniture for our living room today. It's so exciting. And big. The good news is we can now both lay on a couch at the same time, and not as many people will have to sit on the floor when they come to our house.

{THREE}

Avogolemono. You might remember my obsession with Katerina's. Well, they have this amazing soup...I would describe it as Greek chicken and rice soup. It's so lemony (I love lemons!!!) and delicious. I am going to attempt to make it this weekend. I found what looks like a super easy recipe on Dinner: A Love Story, one of my fave food blogs. I can't wait!

{FOUR}

{FIVE}

Kid Thoughts. There are days where I don't think I will make it til 4:00, actually there are days where I look at the clock and can't fathom how it's only 9:30 because of the ridiculousness that has already happened in my day. But every once and awhile one of my little shining stars says or does something that is just so funny, I can't help but like my job a little bit more. One of my favorites from the past week is when a 4th grade girl was eating lunch with me and confessed that for her whole first year at BES as a 3rd grader she thought I was the real Katy Perry. I'll take it.