Blizzard 2016

In case you haven't heard, there was some snow here in Virginia over the weekend. Holy cow! I can tell you that this is definitely the most snow I have seen at one time in my whole life. It's really hard to be sure how many inches we got because of all the crazy drifting, but I read an official report of 34 inches for our town. At one point on Saturday afternoon I had to go across the street to my neighbor's house to feed her cat because she was stranded at work and the snow was up to my hips in some spots.

I have to tell you, the recent weather has made going back to work seem easy. So far the majority of the days have been snow days :) Major bonus. Matt has also been home due to taking his paternity leave after I went back and now he will have the day off tomorrow too. Life is pretty great.

To entertain ourselves during the storm we participated in our first Pat Collins Snow Stick Challenge. The theme was 'Cabin Fever Cure.' We love how our submission turned out. For those of you not familiar with Pat Collins and his Snow Stick, all I can say is that it's a very coveted prize here in the DMV. We also cleaned the house and did lots of laundry and of course a lot of shoveling! Yesterday (and today) was absolutely beautiful. The sun was out in full force and it didn't even feel super cold. We took Quinn out for a little bit in her snowsuit. The girl was so warm and cozy in there she fell asleep! On that note, I leave you with some pictures :)

Friday Love

{ONE}

Snowcation. So here is what my week looked like: Monday: President's Day holiday, Tuesday: Snow Day, Wednesday: Snow Day, Thursday: Two Hour Delay/School, Friday: Too Cold for School Day. I worked like seven hours this week. Thank you February.

{TWO}

Every Kid in a Park. While watching the news last night I heard about this 'Every Kid in a Park' thing. I think it's great. Apparently every 4th grader and their family gets free admission to all national parks. So awesome. I would start with Rocky Mountain National Park, 4th graders.

{THREE}

THON. It's Dance Marathon Weekend at PSU!!! This weekend is hands down the BEST thing that goes on in Happy Valley, and you know how many good things I think happen there. Tune into the live feed sometime this weekend {HERE}. Can't wait to see this year's total! Also, I just came to the realization I danced 10 YEARS AGO! TEN YEARS!!!

{FOUR}

Friends on Netflix. I have been reliving the 90's recently while watching the first season of Friends on Netflix. It's been fun reminiscing with Rachel's haircut and all the fashion trends of the time. Watch a few...it will take you back :)

{FIVE}

Dole Whip. It's like a pineapple float. I had my first on last month in Florida. Incase you didn't see the recipe I posted last night, make sure you take a look. So delicious and so simple.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, friends! We are spending the first days of 2015 in New York City. Last night Matt and I stayed home and quietly rocked in the new year. We packed for our trip, watched The Wolf of Wall Street, and at midnight went through our bean pot. I think this might be my very favorite tradition that we have started on our own. Throughout the year we wrote down funny or happy things that have happened to us on little scraps of paper and dropped them in the pot. We do it independently, so neither off us know what each other puts in there. And a lot of the times we don't even remember what we wrote. It's fun! I suggest you try it for 2015!

2014, In Review!

Oh 2014, what a year it's been!  We've had so many highlights. I went back through my blog to pick out a few of my favorites from this year. Enjoy this year's summary, and enjoy your last night of 2014!

A big theme throughout my posts from January, February, and even March was SNOW! We were lucky enough to enjoy many snow days last winter. I am beginning to wonder where they have been this school year. I hope they find us soon! During one of those early January snows I remember binge watching episodes of Orange is the New Black. I recently heard somewhere that Netflix is one of the biggest game changers of 2014, and I have to agree. Binging on OITNB and Breaking Bad were great breaks from reality. And our Breaking Bad finale party was a fun night to begin our fall.

Spring was full of big achievements! Matt graduated with his Masters in History from George Mason. It was a great celebration of a lot of hard work, late and stressful nights and weekends. Also in the spring, I completed my first ten mile race and half marathon! In the realm of big accomplishments might also fall my relinquishment of coffee, not to say there haven't been some cheat days :)

The summer of 2014 was my best in a long time. For the first time in a long time I chose not to work during my time off from school. We started the summer off with a trip to Dewey Beach for a few days. Soon after we drove to Boston to celebrate Matt's sister's wedding. The rest of the summer was filled with lots of funsies with friends around town and by the pool. I also very pleased with the amount of leisurely reading I did. There was also some time spent being tourists in our own town. Most recently, as DC tourists, we were able to get up close and personal with the White House.

Of course no year would be complete without our families or our friends. We had plenty of game nights and other events to keep us occupied on the weekends in Virginia. Visits to Massachusetts and Pittsburgh, or visits from our families, for holidays and other exciting times, are always our favorites.

Going back to school after a fun summer is usually a little bit of a drag, but this year I have had some exciting things going on to make my time at work a little more pleasurable. I was given my own classroom to use for my lessons! And I have also been enjoying holding some book clubs with my fifth graders. This fall Matt and I also found the illusive Bull Run Mountain and hiked to the top not once, but twice.

I am so looking forward to going through our Boston Baked Bean Pot tonight to find some more happy memories. I can't wait to see what 2015 has in store for us! If our plans for January are any indication, I know it will be a great year!

Christmas at The White House

The Cross Hall and Grand Foyer with the Blue Room tree in the background

Yesterday Matt and I went to the White House! Back in July, when we were on a mission to be tourists in our own city, we asked for a tour. I suggested Christmas time so that we could see it all decorated. Little did we know at the time that it would be perfect timing with the program that we went to at the Archives on Thursday. The program definitely helped me spot details and know a little bit extra background information.

The Blue Room's 18 foot tree, decorated with the theme America the Beautiful

Close up of the 2,000 ornaments

This post is going to be few on words and heavy on pictures. Overall the tour was only OK. It is self guided and you don't get to see much of the White House. I suppose security really should be the priority. And speaking of security, it took us longer to actually get into the White House than the time we actually spent inside. Those things mentioned, I'm still glad we went. The decorations are very beautiful and the whole place smelled so good. It really just smelled like you think Christmas should smell! And obviously it's really neat to be inside. I leave you with the rest of the pictures and the details I remember :)

The White House Library

Vermeil Room

The China Room, decorated with Gingerbread Cookies

The East Room

The State Dining Room displayed the decorating theme this year, Winter Wonderland

The 300 pound Gingerbread White House 

A close-up of the trees in the Cross Hall and Grand Foyer

The icicles, snowflakes, and stars on the trees and trims represent a child's wonder

In front of The White House, we didn't even have to jump the fence!

Friday Love

This week was so busy! My little friends at school are keeping me on my toes, and I'm sure they will be making sure to do so next week too. I have definitely earned my weekend. We are taking a trip to the White House tomorrow! I'm really excited, and I can't wait to share more about it on my blog soon. Have a great weekend!

{ONE}

Soup Exchange Party. I read about {this} idea for a winter party on another blog earlier this week. I love this idea! I'm thinking about trying with my friends after the holidays. Anyone want to join me?

{TWO}

Marcel the Shell. This might be the most ridiculous thing I have seen, but also the cutest. I was laughing out loud on multiple occasions. I even watched the other two videos. I don't even like YouTube videos. Oh, Marcel.

{THREE}

Our Christmas Tree. I was feeling a little grinchy and had kinda decided to forgo a Christmas tree this year. I thought we wouldn't be home enough to enjoy it, and it's always such a process to bring all the stuff out and then to put it all away. I had a change of heart last weekend and decided we would forgo all other decor, but put up the tree. I suppose it was a good idea.

{FOUR}

Our Fireplace. The day we put up the tree, we also decided to turn on our fireplace. Best idea ever! We have been enjoying it ever since. I'm only slightly terrified about the bill I am going to receive as a result.

{FIVE}

The whole panel

History of the Holidays at the White House. Last night Matt and I went to the Archives to listen to a panel talk about decorating the White House for the holidays. It was the perfect event for us. It had history for Matt, and decorating and Tim Gunn for me. The other panelists included Lynda Johnson Robb (daughter of LBJ), Genevieve Gorder from HGTV, former White House Chief Usher Gary Walters, and Coleen Christian Burke, author of Christmas with the First Ladies. Each of the panelists had some experience being in the White House during the holidays. My favorite part was listening to the stories of the White House Usher and the author of the book. I really liked that even though the program was very historical the panel kept it funny and entertaining. It was a lot of fun!

Lynda Johnson Robb's stocking from LBJ's last year in office

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!

Marathon Monday

Great things have happened this week. Great things. At Wednesday's Girls on the Run I was determined to get as many laps of my own in as I could. We started a new system this season with the girls counting their own laps. It has been awesome. They get a nice visual on how they are doing and all the coaches can be running the track at the same time to 1. get them moving a little bit better, and 2. get our own exercise in. I think it only works so well because we have a smaller team this season and we also have really good girls on our team. I'm thankful. After practice I talked my friend into just doing two more miles with me...well that turned into 3.4, so I had a little over five done on Wednesday afternoon. I wanted to go out on Thursday too because it was supposed to rain all day Friday and we had company coming to visit. I knew I probably wouldn't get any more miles in until Sunday when I planned to do my longest run ever. Turns out I wasn't as motivated on Thursday, but we still did a couple of miles after school.

Like I said I planned to do my longest run ever on Sunday morning. All week my weatherman friends kept making the weekend forecast more and more dismal. I had hope that maybe, just maybe, the weather would get itself together in time for Sunday. I was extremely hopeful and positive. It didn't work. The good news is that the decision to continue with our plan for Sunday happened so quickly, I didn't even really have time to think about it, or there is no way I would have done ay miles at all. Upon exiting my house I realized there was rain, but thought maybe it would be manageable. We were maybe about halfway up my street when the first wind gust came, and I thought we might not actually make it a mile let alone ten. Truly. We kept going. Why? I really don't know. At about mile two the rain got so much worse, and not only was it pouring rain, it was pouring sleet. I really couldn't believe this was happening. I kept thinking about how much I complain about this type of weather at bus duty, but was now choosing, on purpose, to do these 10 miles. By some miracle, my calves and other parts of my legs, had little pain, or maybe I just couldn't feel them. At about mile three I was completely soaked. My clothes felt so heavy. Every time the wind blew I swear we were running into it and it was brutal, my eyes were involuntarily crying. Miles 4 and 5 didn't seem so bad cause we had some tree protection from the rain, but we were forging some serious puddles and overflowing water from various places on a regular basis. My feet were sloshing around inside drenched shoes. Mile six was a loop back to my house where we made a pit stop for the bathroom and to change clothes and shoes. First portion, done.

Another thing I had on my to-do list for this run was to try my first running snack. Saturday I went to the store to buy a bunch of options. Before the run on Saturday I tried a few pomegranate Sports Beans with caffeine. They were good, tasted like jelly beans, really. During the pit stop I was going to try my first gel. I tried the salted carmel Gu packet. Not as terrible as expected. I would do that flavor again.

After our stop we did a big hill for mile 7, as we were doing the downhill portion we kept seeing cars stop. That's when I realized we had friends waiting for us on the trail. Two deer stood in our path. This is when I entitled the run, "The Mother Nature Run." I was getting nervous as we were approaching and they were going nowhere fast, but they did get moving eventually. Thankfully, after our pit stop the weather seemed to get a little bit better. It was still raining and very windy, but not nearly as bad as the first six miles. During mile eight I got a little confused about the route I planned so we had to take a little detour, but really I didn't care as long as all these miles were getting done. The ending of the run wasn't nearly as exciting as the first parts. Though, I think somewhere along the last few miles is when I discovered I had frozen, crunchy hair. When we finished we ended up with 10.18 miles for the day. I actually still felt good both mentally and physically, minus being wet and cold. While this weather was way less than ideal, I feel way more confident about completing the half marathon in Pittsburgh after surviving the elements and the 10+ miles.

We ended our pouring rain/sleet, 10+ mile day with a celebratory dinner at Katerina's. I think it was well deserved and I ate my entire dinner - I was so starving all day! To round out this week I did some laps at GOTR giving me 19.16 miles for the week. I also crossed the 200 mile mark this week since my training began in the fall. I'm also very pumped about my month of March activities. I did miles 19 of 31 days for a monthly total of 83.1 miles. Only 33 more days until Pittsburgh. I can't believe the days start with a three!

Friday Love

{ONE}

$13,343,517.33. That's how much PSU Dance Marathon raised last weekend for the Four Diamonds Fund, a charity benefiting childhood cancer. I'm always proud to be a Penn Stater, but that record breaking total is just one more reason.

{TWO}

Crockpot Monday. Each Monday the 5th grade team at my work does a rotating schedule where someone brings lunch for the whole team, this year I joined the rotation. It was my turn this week. I'm sure you will see the recipe I used on my blog soon. Not having to pack lunch on Sunday nights and having a delicious lunch makes Mondays a little bit easier.

{THREE}

Cookbooks in the Library. Today I went into the library at school and saw these cute little cookbooks for kids laid out on one of the tables. I hope my friends check them out and become little chefs!

{FOUR}

The Nest. Matt desperately wanted the Nest thermostat. I talked him out of it multiple times. Then I decided to be a nice wife and surprised him with it on Valentine's Day. It is pretty cool. You can control it from your phone and it learns your schedule so it can adjust itself. We are still learning how to use it to it's fullest potential. When I win the lottery I am going to buy the smoke alarms too.

{FIVE}

Doug Kamerer. He's the local meterologist. I just love him and his snow day predictions. He's been quite a fixture in our living room this snowy winter. He has been bringing me a lot of good news. Currently, I'm feeling very conflicted about his ideas for Monday.

Friday Love

{ONE}

Matthew Keough. It's only appropriate that Valentine's Day falls on a {Friday Love} Day. Happy Valentine's Day, Matt! Number {TWO} is also a great Valentine's song :)

{TWO}

{THREE}

Big Snow. I am so excited we got more than a couple inches of snow this week! It was so fun. I think Matt might think differently since he did the majority of the shoveling, but I would take one big snowstorm every year. Preferably in February!

{FOUR}

Coffee at home. One of my favorite parts of weekends, snow days, and holidays from school is getting to sit and have my coffee at home. I swear it tastes better.

{FIVE}

Olympics. I live with someone who claims to "hate the Olympics." I also live with someone who hasn't stopped watching the Olympics and always has commentary of his own to add to the nightly events. I have been enjoying the nightly events. It's kind of fun watching sports you really don't know anything about and don't normally get to see on TV. I think my favorites so far are the skiing events and ice skating.