To my dismay real life has taken priority over internet documenting for the past several months.
These happenings have captured all the time...
January brought my first trip to Hillsborough, North Carolina for the year. The most adorable baby graced this planet in early December; at seven weeks, we met. Baby R.J.F. continues to grow in both adorable-ness and size. Life thankfully brought more time with long eye-lashed Baby R.J.F. in April, July, August, and December.
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| January, Hillsborough, NC |
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| July, Hillsborough, NC |
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| August, Round Hill, VA |
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| December, Hillsborough, NC |
Later that month brought a full-speed combination trip to visit my charges from the college era in New Haven, Connecticut--crossing CT off my '50 States before 50' challenge, dwindling the list to single digits, and R.D.S. in New York, New York. "My" little people are now now quite big--turning seven and double-digits over the summer. The visit, despite the brutal temperatures and time shortage, was an excellent escape.
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| New Haven, CT |
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| New Haven, CT |
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| New York, NY |
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| Strand Book Store - New York, NY |
After all the busing, driving, planing, and training, I stayed in in February as it snowed... and snowed some more. We also escaped to Jamaica for a wonderful retreat with P's family.
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| Treasure Beach, Jamaica |
We moved in March. And we had special visitors from both Atlanta, Georgia and Lesotho. On our first hike of Spring, on a day with temperatures leaning more Winter than Spring, Boyfriend became Fiancé at Great Falls National Park. Two weeks prior, my brother proposed to his girlfriend!
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| Washington, DC |
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| Great Falls National Park |
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| Great Falls National Park |
April had me traveling back to NYC to celebrate R.D.S., though she was deathly ill through it all. If she had to be sick, we were all thankful it was during her bachelorette weekend and not for her big day. By her wedding day, she'd made a full recovery and I headed South to commemorate her nuptials. She was a beautiful bride and the weekend itself was busily wonderful.
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| New York, NY |
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| Columbia, SC |
I also finished twelfth (in a field of 3000 women) at the George Washington Parkway Classic 10 Mile race at the end of the month. My 6:55 pace shocked me! The 1:09:06 finish time wasn’t for lack of training, but holy smokes--speedy.
To complete a hectic month, Fiancé and I went on our annual Cherry Blossom walk, clocking eight miles before we arrived at work.
I married Fiancé first thing in May; he’s now Husband and I wife. Weird? Very weird. We jetted off to Nashville, Tennessee to celebrate and had a great, great time doing so. Nashville was followed with weekend in Baltimore with K.A.B. before her departure to South Africa. I thankfully had a bonus weekend with her on my third trip to NYC for another wedding. Another beautiful bride. And way too much fun for a girl with a strict 9:00 pm bedtime.
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| Washington, DC |
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| Nashville, TN |
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| Long Island, NY |
June brought a weekend escape to Asheville, North Carolina--just husband and wife. We mostly got poured on, though we managed a couple scenic waterfalls strolls. To call these mile jaunts hikes would be misleading. I then spent time in Jacksonville, Florida with my mom, where beach strolls were our thing.
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| Wicked Weed - Asheville, NC |
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| Devil's Courthouse - Asheville, NC |
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| Blue Ridge Parkway - Asheville, NC |
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| Little Talbot Island State Park - Jacksonville, FL |
My company treated Husband and I to stellar seats at a Nationals game where it proceeded to rain and rain and rain for two hours straight. The game was not canceled but the mood was certainly dampened.
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| Nationals Park - Washington DC |
What February dumped in snow, June tripled with rain. The soggy month ended with Book of Mormon for the win. The two years was certainly worth the wait and the great seats were worth the price!
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| The Kennedy Center - Washington, DC |
I spent 4th of July at my parents’ home cuddling puppy dogs and eating. Ready or not, this holiday weekend rebooted the marathon season. And as soon as Husband was back in the states, we caught a flight to Portland, Oregon for an extended vacation in the Pacific Northwest.
We spent time with H.J.W. in Portland and further South at Diamond Lake and Crater Lake before catching the train to Seattle, Washington to celebrate my grandma's 80th birthday. The highlight of the trip was definitely the day we spend in Mt. Rainier National Park. Two family vacations in one year is a feat in and of itself, having my mom's entire family gathered was nothing shy of a miracle!
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| Watson Falls - Umpqua National Forest |
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| Crater Lake National Park |
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| Diamond Lake - Umpqua National Forest |
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| Seattle, WA |
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| Ferry to Bainbridge Island |
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| Mt Rainier National Park |
I also squeezed in another weekend in Asheville for J.L.W.'s bachelorette weekend in late July.
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| Asheville, NC |
August my parent's hosted our non-wedding celebration. To have all our family and friends gathered in one place for us was both exciting and overwhelming. The night was as near perfection as I can imagine. I hope to remember the night for years to come.
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| Round Hill, VA |
I also started a new job in August. While I continued to focus on building my career, I also began the building of a lot of running mileage this month.
In September, I kept on running. P and I traveled to Michigan to visit my extended family unable to travel to Virginia for the "I Do BBQ." My grandparents were delighted to meet P, and it was hands-down one of the best trips to Michigan in recent memory. Later in the month, we took another l-o-n-g road trip back to South Carolina for J.L.W.'s wedding. Despite a disgustingly rainy, wet weekend, the bride was stunning and the night was wonderful (though quite chilly). I very much enjoyed the company of my brother and his fiancé throughout the weekend, including an indulgent Waffle House breakfast prior to our drive home.
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| Southfield, MI |
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| Livonia,MI |
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| Taylors, SC |
In October, Louis and Toby came to visit for a long weekend. Though it rained for four straight days, we managed lots of long walks! We finally managed to scramble Old Rag,
the hike of Shenandoah National Park. October also consisted of the end of the marathon cycle... and a disappointing marathon finish. I still can't quite wrap my head around how it all went wrong after the successes I had earlier in the year and consistently throughout my fall training cycle. I suppose that is the challenge of the marathon. There will be more races to run.
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| Old Rag - Shenandoah National Park |
In November, we had another long weekend with Louis and Toby. This time we went to Northern Virginia, our country escape. We re-outfitted Husband at the Premium Outlets, we hiked Raven Rocks, and exercised the puppies silly. We celebrated Thanksgiving at home. This was my first year contributing to the menu, which was an absolute fail.
We kick-started our holiday season with new and old traditions in December. We saw the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Ravens in Baltimore, Maryland the weekend before we headed to Boulder, Colorado for Christmas with Husband's family. We celebrated Christmas (again) on New Years with my family in Northern Virginia. The highlights include lunch at Bar Taco and shopping in Reston Town Center, a tailgate party to watch the College Football Playoffs (including two of our four teams, Clemson and Michigan State), a tried-and-true Christmas morning on New Years Day!
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| Baltimore, MD |
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| M&T Bank Stadium - Baltimore, MD |
With changes on the horizon, I head into 2016 grateful and hopeful, thankful too.
We were ready to be on the move after a morning of travel. We hopped backing in "our" tuk tuk to Psar Chaa (Old Town) and started exploring. There were cool markets and loads of tourists. Old Town is where you spend your time in Siem Reap if you're not exploring Angkor Wat. After a bit of shopping (for a "bargain" backpack, according to Husband) and lunch at Khmer Kitchen, we treated ourselves to a fungus eating fish foot massage and pedicure. Husband then enjoyed a pitcher of beer while I delighted in the sights and sunset.
The Night Market was next on our agenda. Here we bought a piece of art from a thirteen year old girl, though she said her older sister was the artist.
The day ended with cold showers and much needed sleep.
We headed towards Wat Arun, turning in circles a few times while gathering a lay of the land. Once we made it, we discovered the temple stairs were closed but we still got our $1.34 worth of touring. Afterwards we took an two-and-a-half baht (0.08 cent) ferry to the Grand Palace where our day-long battle with Tourasians began. Despite just opening, the palace was PACKED and since we felt as though it was overpriced, we opted out and moved on to our next stop: Wang Lang Market.
Following our market excursion, we grabbed a ferry back to Grand Palace where we were mobbed by tour groups (again!). This was one hot, humid madhouse. After some perseverance we figured out which ferry to catch from Tha Chang Pier to Central Pier.
We then took two tuk tuks in search of the Khlong Lat Mayom Floating Market, but had no luck with either. After giving up, we walked to the Siam Square Mall and took the BTS up to the Chatuchak Weekend Market. This market went on and on. After having a snack in Chatuchak Park, we dined at a restaurant lining the park. Then we wandered the market, enjoying a cup of coconut ice cream as we browsed.
On tired legs, we headed back to the hotel - hot and grimy, where we crashed around 6:00 pm.
