This is something I found myself thinking about today while I was catching up on some blog reading. One blogger was hoping her husband would make her dinner, and she said something along the lines of, “Hubby, if you’re reading this, that was a hint to you.”

Then I stopped to think- that’s cute that her husband reads her blog. I know that sometimes Fabio will read my blog (testing: Fabio, are you reading this?) but I think nine times out of ten he doesn’t read it. His excuse: “I live the life with you! Why do I have to read about it?”

Touché, my friend. Touché.

Ok so, we’ve established that Fabio doesn’t really read my blog. That’s fine. But I think it is interesting to look at the people who do read it, because the answers can be surprising!

Healthy living blog community

This one is obvious. I think that 90% of my readers are from the healthy living blog community. They probably have a blog of their own and if they don’t, they probably still read a ton of other healthy living blogs, most likely the same ones that I read. They probably found me from a site like Peanut Butter Fingers or Peas and Crayons, and are here simply because they love reading healthy living blogs and I’m just another one on the list. That’s totally fine with me, since that’s probably how I found their blogs as well! I love healthy living blogs and I love the dialogues and friendships that I’ve made through blogging. It’s such a fantastic outlet for people with shared interests.

Close friends and family

This one seems pretty obvious to me too. My best friends and closest family members, especially those who live far away or who I don’t see very often, are avid readers of my blog. They read every day just to see what’s going on on my life since we can’t keep in touch as often as we’d like to. I love that they read my blog, and it makes me laugh when I eventually do see them in person and go to fill them in on some aspect of my life, only to find out that they’ve already read about it on the blog. For example:

Me: “So my mom’s taking us to Italy again!”

Friend: “Yeah I read it about it on your blog.”

Me: “Oh. Well did I tell you Fabio and I are thinking of running another half marathon?”

Friend: “No, but I read about that too.”

See what I mean? It’s really funny how that happens!

That being said, a few of my very best friends and immediate family members don’t read the blog. This generally includes friends who are too busy to be on the computer much or just never got the hang of following a blog every day. Even my dad doesn’t really read the blog (unless he’s been sneaky this whole time. Testing: Daddy, are you reading?).

Despite the fact that not all my closest friends and family read the blog, my writing has proved to be a really great way for me to update my close friends and family about everything that’s going on in my life. Now I just need more of my friends and family members to start their own blogs so I can know what’s going on with them (making progress on this one- already I have two friends who have recently started their own blogs!)

People I didn’t expect

Every now and then I will hear about someone who is reading my blog that I didn’t expect. Some of these people include:

• A few of Fabio’s fraternity brothers 
• Fabio’s dad
• My coworkers (hi, Martha)
• Acquaintances from high school or college
• Friends of friends
• Coworkers of friends

Isn’t that interesting? I think that because my blog is so girly (I mean come on, just look at the colors,) I am always surprised when guys read my blog. I can understand why Fabio’s dad and friends want to read my blog (probably for the same reason my friends and family do) but I still think it’s pretty cool and unexpected. Then there are the people who I barely know who tell me they read my blog, which is pretty flattering!

Lurkers

Then there are the “lurkers,” the people who I can see are viewing my page but never stop to leave a comment or say hi. My website stats show me how many visitors I get each day, and some days there are a LOT! Who are all these lurkers? Sometimes I wish people would just leave a comment below saying hi. I encourage you- if you are a lurker, leave me a note and introduce yourself! I love hearing from readers. Maybe you can even say how you found my blog or which category you fall under.

Anyway, I know this post was kind of random today, but I just thought it was something interesting that I wanted to chat with you guys about.

Question of the day: If you have a blog, who reads it?

I wound up spending Father’s Day with my mom’s side of the family, since her father recently got out of the hospital. It was so nice to have my whole family (at least on my mom’s side) in one place! Here’s some photos and highlights from the weekend.

Friday

On Friday evening, Jack and I hopped in the car and drove over to my mom’s house. Fabio was at the beach with some of his old fraternity brothers, so unfortunately he was unable to join us.

When Jack and I arrived, we enjoyed a nice BBQ with my mom, stepdad, and my uncle David, who had flown in from California for the weekend.

My mom made her standard awesome appetizers- this one is a cheesy salsa concoction. Yum.

Then my stepdad, Fritz, whipped up these amazing softshell crabs.

If you’ve never heard of softshell crabs, they are regular crabs that are pulled out of the water once they’ve molted their shell and have not yet “grown” a new one. They do look a little weird, but you just eat the whole thing! Some people are a bit grossed out by eating the whole crab, but my family loves them! Fritz is really good at cooking them, so they were delicious. Yum!!

Then we had some smoked ribs and grilled corn. Love summer BBQs!!

My mom also made this fabulous bread pudding for dessert. Although I really enjoyed it, it was really rich and I was stuffed so I only ate a few bites. It was probably a blessing in the long run, since I can only imagine how much butter and sugar was in this dish. Yikes!

Sure was delicious though…

After staying up and chatting for a few hours, we all headed up to bed. We had a big day ahead of us!

Saturday

On Saturday morning I dropped off Jack with my dad (thanks Dad, for watching Jack on Father’s Day!!!), and then drove us all down to my mom’s parents’ house in Hague, VA. It was a pretty long drive- about 3.5 hours- but it was so nice once we finally arrived.

My grandma took my uncle David on a tour to see their new landscaping It looked beautiful! They have such a gorgeous property.

Meanwhile my grandpa hung out on the deck! Of course we all went to sit with him after a few minutes, but I kind of love this photo of him just relaxing and enjoying the peaceful view. It made me so happy to see him in his usual chair on the deck instead of hooked up to a ventilator in his hospital bed, which is how he looked last time I saw him.

Such a peaceful view.

Once we unpacked all our stuff, we headed out in the sunshine to be with him!

Hi Grandpa!

A few weeks ago I mentioned that my dad was working on a surprise for my grandpa, which I didn’t want to spoil on the blog, since I know my grandma reads it (hi Grandma!).

Anyway, my dad finally finished the surprise and my mom brought it to them a couple weeks ago, so now I can share the details! My dad put together this beautiful frame filled with pictures from when the two of them used to go sailing on my grandpa’s boat. 

My grandpa bought the boat when it was old and completely rotten on the bottom, and then had the patience to fix it up board by board (I told you he was determined). Then he and my dad would sail on overnight trips up and down the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay. Those sailing trips must have really meant a lot to my dad since he and my mom have been divorced for about 23 years, and he still spent all that time putting this surprise together for my grandpa!

It was such a thoughtful gesture, and my grandparents were absolutely thrilled when they saw the frame. It was so nice

After we ogled at the frame a bit, we headed back outside to enjoy the sunshine.

I spotted this little guy across the cove!

My grandparents’ house is very secluded so they have a lot of wildlife.

Hey mom!

Isn’t she too cute in her Lilly dress and hot pink Louboutins?

It was a gorgeous day, and we just enjoyed our time outside :)

A little while later, we saw a family of swans! There were two parents and five babies. I told you there was a lot of wildlife!

Apparently it was bath time, since they were all busy cleaning themselves.

Soon my aunt CC and Steve arrived and it was time to eat! We had a lot of appetizers and snacks throughout the day, which was perfect. We started with bacon wrapped chicken. Yes, you read that correctly. Bacon. Wrapped. Chicken. Yum.

Here are the ladies! From left to right: my mom, CC, me!

We spent the rest of the afternoon drinking way too much wine, sharing stories, and watching my grandpa open his Father’s Day gifts.

We also played some bocce! I discovered that I’m not very good haha!

Crab cakes were served with dinner. YUM!

It was such a wonderful day.

Sunday

On Sunday morning I headed out before everyone else had woken up to get a little run in! It was another beautiful day and I wanted to get moving before the day got too hot. I set out to do quick four miles.

I’ve never run along corn fields and farms, so it was quite scenic and peaceful. A little different from my usual city runs, huh?

Definitely not my speediest run, and I had to pause with only about a half mile left to go to work out a very painful side cramp, but at least I got out there and ran!

Once I got back to the house, it was time to do some fishing! We caught a bunch of fish, but they were all really small and I felt bad for them so we threw them all back, haha. Although fishing is fun, I always feel a little guilty about hurting the fish :-/

Hey there, little guy!

Fritz cooked us a lovely brunch before it was time to head home- softshell crabs with egg, tomato, and toast. This was a perfect brunch and I sopped up every bite with the toast. So good.

Then it was time to say goodbye to my grandparents, CC, and Steve, and head home!

We stopped at a Farmer’s Market along the way to take advantage of some fresh produce. I wound up with peaches, green beans, and blueberries
After the drive home I spent the rest of the evening snuggling up to Fabio and Jack. I missed my boys!

Question of the day: What did you do for Father’s Day? If you have multiple Father’s in your life (stepdads, grandfathers, etc.) how do you choose who to spend the day with?

Grandpa Clark
My Grandpa Clark, my day’s dad, has always been a huge inspiration to me. He is so wise, kind, and caring, that it’s no surprise what a successful life he’s had. He’s one of those rare people who works hard and treats everyone with respect and kindness. I’ve talked about his wisdom before, so you know I really mean it! Happy Father’s Day, Grandpa!

Grandpa Chambers
My Grandpa Chambers is similarly an inspiration to me as I grow older. He is equally wise, and seems to know everything about everything. He is very determined and will put 110% effort into a project to make sure it gets done right. He just got out of the hospital, overcoming an aneurism in his intestine and a brutal surgery and recovery, and just this morning he walked around with me telling jokes and stories. I cant tell you how appreciative I am to have him in my life. Happy Father’s Day, Grandpa!

Fritz
My stepdad, Fritz, has been a wonderful father figure to me since I was about eight years old. He came into mine and my mom’s lives and literally made every single thing better. He made our house better. He cooked us fabulous food. He taught me more life lessons than I could ever count. And, most importantly, he made my mom and me so happy. Fritz has always been so thoughtful and generous toward me, and I feel as though I am his real daughter. He has always been there for me and I couldn’t imagine my life without him. Happy Father’s Day, Fritz!!

Daddy
My dad is one of my best friends. Growing up I was always a “daddy’s girl” and my dad and I have had a lot of fun memories together. Every night I would run into his room, jump on the bed, and snuggle up to him while we watched Seinfeld, Friends, or Shark Week. We would go camping, bike-riding, and to special pancake breakfasts. I love my dad so much and he’s been such a positive influence on my life. Happy Father’s Day, Daddy!

I hope you all have a wonderful Father’s Day celebrating the dads in your life!!

I didn’t have time to draft a “real” bog post for you guys today (sorry!!!) so here’s a super duper quick look at what I was eating yesterday

Breakfast

Yesterday morning I enjoyed some overnight oats!! I love having this cool breakfast when it’s hot out. This is my first batch of overnight oats of the summer season!

To make this delicious bowl I combined the following ingredients in a jar, shook it up, and then let it hang out in the fridge overnight:

• 1/4 cup uncooked old fashioned rolled oats
• 1/3 cup skim milk
• 1/4 cup fat free Greek yogurt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried chia seeds
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. honey, optional (or substitute any preferred sweetener)
• 1 over-ripe mashed banana

So good! I ate these with fresh blueberries which were a delicious additiona. Yum. (As a side note, my other favorite way to eat this meal is with applesauce in place of the banana, with chopped apples and almond butter on top. So good!)

Lunch

Lunch was the standard- a turkey sammie on a sandwich thin with mustard and American cheese. On the side was carrots and hummus. Same old, same old. Still delicious

Snack

For my snack I had a fresh peach, a mini Babybel cheese, and “a big old cup of sweet green tea” (name that song!).

The peach was phe-nominal. It was sooo juicy and it squirted all over the plate I had on my desk. I was lucky not to get any on my clothes!!

The peaches were an impulse buy after I walked by a bunch of them at the grocery store that smelled super fresh and sweet. It was a great decision! I definitely want to start buying these more often. Sluuuurp.

Dinner

Dinner was nice and simple- I roasted a bunch of veggies (sweet potatoes, regular potatoes, and brussels sprouts) until they were fully cooked, and then threw them together with some spinach, black beans, pre-cooked and warmed turkey meatballs (from TJs- so good), and a “sauce” that I made by combing some fat free Greek yogurt with a wedge of Laughing Cow cheese and some spices (I like curry, but you could also make this “Mexican” by adding salsa or switch it up with some yummy BBQ sauce). This meal is so easy and satisfying. I loved every bite! It was also really easy to make enough for leftovers, which I had for lunch today. Delicious.

Jack clearly wanted a bite.

Nice try, dog.

I may have also eaten some yogurt-covered pretzels from TJs (ahhh, my weakness) but forgot to snap a photo. Sorry!

And unfortunately that’s all I have time for today! Ciao! (<– look at me, practicing my Italian already haha)

Question of the day: What’s your favorite quick, easy, and delicious weeknight meal?

1. The risk not taken: This article by entrepreneur Andy Dunn describes how the risk not taken is more dangerous than the risk taken. For example, if you choose a safe option over being “risky” and trying something you really want to do, you’ll never know what you’re missing. If you choose the desk job over founding a start-up company, you’ll never know if you could have made millions. Sure, you might will fall along the way, but it will be a learning opportunity and you’ll only grow from it. The risk not taken is more dangerous than the risk taken. Love that. This article inspires me to do all sorts of awesome things.

2. Comparison Is The Thief of Joy: Thoughts On Social Media: I follow a ton of blogs each and every day (it’s a bit of a problem, really) and one of my favorites is Carrots ‘N Cake, by Tina. Today she linked to one of her old posts which I either never read or forgot about, which talks about the effect social media has on our culture. People only post the best parts of their lives on social media, so it’s really easy to fall into the trap of comparing yourself to all the fun things everyone else is doing. This post rings particularly true for me, and served as a perfect reminder that everyone is different and no one is as perfect as they may appear online. “Comparison is the thief of joy.” – Theodore Roosevelt

3. 5 Things I’m Loving Lately: Although this post from Anne at fANNEtastic food, inspires me for a whole bunch of reasons (I want to go for a run with Anne! I want to run an obstacle race! I want to do yoga in DuPoint Circle once kickball is over next week!) I mainly want to highlight the last item Anne mentions in this list. Lately I’ve been thinking about going back to school to study nutrition, or perhaps leave my PR agency job to focus on a healthy lifestyle client specifically (instead of the smorgasbord – love that word - of clients I work on currently). Here’s the part of Anne’s post that really got to me:

“Working one-on-one with clients is so rewarding, and I’m so grateful that I took a chance on myself, decided what I wanted to do, and really made it happen. I waited years before getting the courage to go back to school before finally realizing: you know what? If I’d just started when I first thought about doing this, I’d already be done. Everything happens for a reason and I don’t regret taking my time before heading back to school (especially since part of that was my teaching English in Prague adventures, which I wouldn’t trade for anything), but I know that if I hadn’t finally taken a risk I could still be sitting in my cube at my PR job right now, miserable. So this is your gentle nudge. If you’re unhappy with where you are and thinking about making a change – what are you waiting for? Do it – you won’t regret it.”

Ahhh, Anne! Are you talking to me?? The answer is yes, bonehead.

4. This is water: This fabulously inspirational video changes the way that you think about things. I found that I generally think this way anyway, but the video served as a nice little reminder of how to change your thinking. This is a must watch!!

He is a brilliant man, and I always look up to him. Here’s some of his wisdom:

“If you can’t change the facts, change your mind.”

“Steal from people. Not their clothes, not their money, but their mannerisms. Think about the people who inspire you most, and try to identify their specific attributes that make them so inspirational. Are they attentive? Good listeners? Friendly? Funny? Kind? Caring? Clever? Witty? Once you identify what they do that makes them so special, steal it. Start acting that way yourself. Before you know it, people will be inspired by you.”

Question of the day: Now that I’ve given you some nuggets of wisdom to think about, what are you going to do with it?

Anyway, let’s take a little peek at what I was up to…sorry, it’s long!!

Friday

On Friday evening Fabio and I were supposed to go out with some friends, but due to a crappy day at work and even crappier weather (we are talking torrential downpours here) we decided to stay in. Luckily I received a text from the friends we were supposed to meet saying they’d rather reschedule for another day, and I could not have been happier with that decision. Who wants to get all dressed up to go out when it’s that awful inside?

Instead, Fabio and I cooked a quick and easy dinner and then spent the rest of the evening getting more familiar with my good camera (I want to practice with it a bit before our trip to Italy!!), watching Breaking Bad (newest addiction), and drinking one two two and a half bottles of wine It was a perfect way to spend a rainy Friday night!

All three of us snuggled on the couch!

Saturday

On Saturday morning, Fabio and I woke up nice and early so we could get to the Farmer’s Market as soon as it opened.

There were a ton of stalls and, naturally, I wanted to buy everything. 

Luckily I had Fabio there to rein me in (and save my wallet) because we were only there for one thing: fresh herbs!!

Last week Fabio had to go to Home Depot to pick up something to fix our leaky air conditioner, and while he was there he surprised me by purchasing a little flower box from our windowsill!

I’ve had a lame basil plant sitting on our window for more than a year now, and Fabio thought this little window box would be a great way to expand our collection of fresh herbs. What a great surprise!

At the Farmer’s Market we bought four sweet basil plants, a chive plant, and a cilantro plant. Last time I had a cilantro plant for only a few weeks before it started to die and then got covered  in these little teeny bugs (causing me to have a MAJOR freak out), so let’s hope for better luck this time.

Here they are on the windowsill!

It’s not as nice as a real garden, but considering that we don’t have any outdoor space it works for the time being. Now let’s just hope I can keep them alive…

After the Farmer’s Market I had a fun shopping date with my mom! We headed over to Tyson’s Galleria where my mom got me a bunch of fun spring outfits that I can wear to work and while we’re in Italy. The clothes are going to be my early birthday present (wayyy early, since my birthday’s not until September) but now that the weather is warmer I realized that I don’t have any nice spring/summer work clothes. Problem solved!

My mom got me a ton of new clothes from J. Crew and Lilly Pulitzer and I can’t wait to wear them all/show you guys I also bought Fabio a new bathing suit from Vineyard Vines since he’s going to the beach this weekend with his friends, and he’s always doing nice little things for me like that. I think he really liked it!!

After our shopping trip I headed back home where I quickly packed up some overnight clothes and hopped back in the car. We had an important dinner date for my stepsister Maggie’s 21st birthday celebration!

Maggie actually turned 21 a while ago, but with busy schedules we were never able to get together for a family birthday celebration. Finally we were able to all come together on Saturday.

We went to The Comus Inn, a cute little place overlooking Sugarloaf mountain and only five minutes from my mom’s house. The last time we went there was for Easter brunch, but we also went for dinner around Christmas-time!

It’s such a beautiful restaurant and we all had a great time

There was a lot of wine consumed at dinner (don’t worry, I didn’t drive) so I have to warn you that my food pictures turned out pretty crappy. Woops? Clearly I had more important things on my mind

Anyway, I started off with some Maryland crab soup. Always a winning choice.

For my entree I split a filet mignon with Fabio, who got a Cornish hen at my urging, haha. You can see my half of the filet on this plate, and the piece of the Cornish hen on my bread plate to the top left. Everything was delicious!!!

For dessert Fabio and I split the “chocolate pyramid” which was some sort of chocolate and vanilla ice cream thing. I only wound up eating the vanilla part because the chocolate was so rich, but it was still delicious. 

After dinner we went back to my mom’s house, stayed up chatting for a few more hours, and then eventually went to sleep. It was such a fun evening!

Sunday

Sunday morning started with one of my stepdad’s famous breakfasts: a bacon and egg sandwich with potato hash. YUM.

Just look at that runny egg!! His breakfasts are always the best.

After breakfast Fabio and I said goodbye to my mom and stepdad and hopped in the car to go to my grandparents’ house on the Chesapeake Bay! I always love going there in the summer because we have great BBQs and go out on the boat. It’s like a mini-vacation every time!

Here I am with my little sister, Nicole; look how big she’s getting!!

Check out Fabio’s new shirt that he got in Annapolis over Memorial Day Weekend  I know, I know, we are obsessed with our dog. I’m aware.

Boat time!

Here’s my grandma with Nicole!

I wanted to see where we were geographically, so I took a little screenshot of my Google map. As a point of reference, my grandparents’ house is in the “Prospect Bay” area.

After boating around for a little while, my dad steered us in to St. Michael’s for a quick drink. I hadn’t been to St. Michael’s since the half marathon, so it was nice to be back

While parking (docking?) the boat, we saw this cute westie in a life vest, which of course reminded me of my friend Megan’s westie puppy, Tully. I told her she should get him a life vest like this one!

Hey little guy! So cute!

Once we had parked/docked, we walked over to the St. Michael’s Crab and Steak House to sip on a refreshing drink.

Fabio and I went with the St. Michael’s ale. When in Rome St. Michaels, right?

It was really good, and exactly what we needed on the hot day.

Back to the boat!

Once we got back to my grandparents’ house, we took the dogs for a little swim in the bay.

This is my grandparents’ dog, Cindy!

And here’s Jack! Love this picture

Once the dogs got out of the water, we gave them a bath and then headed home to do some laundry and watch Game of Thrones, which totally did not impress me. What kind of season finale was that? 

Anyway, it was the perfect summer weekend

Question of the day: What activities “kick off” summer for you? For me, I always think of the first boat ride of the season as a good summer kick off!

Alright so it’s finally Friday (this week has felt both super slow and somewhat fast to me at times, if that makes any sense) so let’s go over some of the things I was loving this week!

Favorite Surprise

On Thursday I celebrated my two year anniversary at my job! Hooray!!! I also have The Best Manager Ever who brought a whole bunch of mini cupcakes by my desk to surprise me. Isn’t she the sweetest??

I wound up eating a graham cracker one and the red velvet one before sharing the rest with my coworkers. Crumbs just so happens to be my favorite cupcake place (it’s better than Georgetown Cupcake, in my opinion!) so I was thrilled. What a nice surprise!!

Favorite Workout Outfit

When Fabio and I ran our half marathon a few weeks ago, my grandfather was kind enough to pick up our bibs and packets for us a few days before the race so we could avoid lines on race day (what a nice gesture, right?). Anyway, due to a mix up at the registration table, I got a t-shirt for the 5K and 10K instead of the half marathon t-shirt.

Although I was a little bummed about the mix-up, I didn’t think it was worth bothering the race coordinators to get it switched so I just brushed it off. Then last week I got an email from the organizers of the race asking if anyone needed a race t-shirt. On a whim, I decided to email them telling them that I got the wrong shirt to see if they had any of the half marathon tees left in my size. Lucky for me, they did!

They were super friendly and sent me the correct shirt practically overnight. How awesome!

Now I finally have my half marathon t-shirt and happily wore it for a run on Wednesday. Even though it was just a little thing that I thought I didn’t care about, having the shirt made me pretty happy

Favorite Delivery

So, remember how I didn’t go to the beach this year for Memorial Day Weekend with my friends because 1) my grandfather was getting out of the hospital and 2) Fabio’s whole family was going to be in town and they wanted to celebrate?

Well, Fabio knew how much this meant to me and he knew how much I was giving up to be there with his family, so he surprised me by sending me thank you flowers to my office. He is just the sweetest.

This still makes me so happy when I think about it. Fabio is just so good to me

Favorite After Work Activity

Kickball!!

This past Wednesday was our last day of regular season kickball on the National Mall. While we still have playoff games next week, I feel like our season really came to an end this week. Kickball has been such a good experience for me and I’m so glad I went a little outside of my comfort zone and signed up.

I don’t know why, but on weeknights I don’t usually like to do anything too crazy. I like my routine of coming home, working out, and making dinner, so when I signed up for kickball with a bunch of my friends (and also a lot of people I didn’t know) I was definitely stepping outside of my comfort zone.

There’s also the fact that I am absolutely terrible at organized group sports and had anxiety every time the ball came near me. Yep, that happened. During this week’s game though, I had some pretty great kicks (for me) and I could see how much I improved since the beginning of the season. Woohoo!

It’s been such a fun season and I am going to be really sad when it’s over. Wahhh.

Favorite Pictures of Jack

Us with our tongues out.

And Jack being silly.

I picture him saying, “Haaaaayy gurl”

“Haaaayy.”

Or something like that, lol.

Alright guys, that’s all I have time for today! I hope you all have a great weekend and if you live on the East Coast, let’s hope this rain clears out, huh?

Question of the day: What made you smile this week?

Overview

At the beginning of If I Stay, we are introduced to a quirky family planning how to spend their impromptu day off from work and school. After a few minutes of playful conversation, the family decides to go on a drive to visit their family friends, and they head out for the day.

Within just a few minutes of their drive, their car is involved in a brutal car crash, killing both parents and gravely injuring the two children.

The story is told from the perspective of seventeen-year old Mia, who finds herself in an out-of-body experience after the crash. At first she simply thinks she has been safely ejected from the car, but when she sees her body mangled up in the wreckage, she knows that cannot be so.

When the EMTs arrive, she hears them say that she is barely alive and will need intensive surgery immediately. She is taken to the hospital by helicopter, where Mia watches her body undergo complicated surgeries.

At one point Mia hears a nurse talking about her. The nurse says that medically-induced comas are just “doctor babble.” In reality, if a patient wants to live, he or she will. It’s not up to the doctors; it’s not up to the nurses or the families; the patient has to decide.

It is at this point that Mia realizes why she is having an out-of-body experience. She is in a third dimension because she has to decide if she wants to live or die. Without parents to care for her, it’s easy for the young woman to want to leave the world, but after evaluating her life and imagining the life she could have if she lived, she has trouble making the decision. The book shows various flashbacks of Mia’s life, which helps us understand what she’s going through. In the end, I found myself agreeing with her decision.

My Thoughts

This story was written beautifully and I felt like I completely understood all of the characters. The dialogue was witty and quirky, without being unrealistic. I felt totally sucked into this story and I couldn’t put it down until I knew what was going to happen. I read this book in less than two days; it was that good.

This book also made me revaluate my own life a little more, and I found myself wondering what I would have done in Mia’s situation. It was a really interesting concept and a really enthralling read, so I definitely recommend this book!

Question of the day: If you read this book, what did you think about Mia’s choice? Did you wish we found out more detail about Teddy? What did you think of the relationship between Mia and Adam?

Now that I’ve finished my first half marathon (woohoo!), I am already itching to move on to my next “big thing.” You see, I always like having something to work toward, whether it be toning up before a vacation or training hard for a race. Having an actual date on the calendar where I need to be in good physical condition has always inspired me to keep working hard. Having nothing concrete to work toward right now has left me feeling kind of…blah.

I keep thinking:

Ok great, so I completed another Jillian Michales DVD today. Woop-dee-doo.

I ran three miles on Tuesday, but for what?

I hate not having something specific that I am working toward, and I am trying to figure out what my next “thing” is going to be.

Let’s explore some options.

Run a Tough Mudder

A bunch of my friends have run these races lately, and I have to admit they look pretty cool. It’s less of a “race” and more of an experience in my opinion, since although you do have to run 10 – 12 miles, you stop to complete obstacles along the way. Some of the obstacles include crawling through tight spaces, jumping into a vat of icy water, climbing over huge walls, jumping over fire, and getting electrical shocks. Yikes.

Despite those obstacles, I think the course looks kind of fun! It would be fun to train for and would definitely be something different. I’m not sure it’s going to be my next “big thing” to train toward right now, but it could definitely be an option.

[Source]

Complete a Marathon or a (mini) Triathlon

I definitely want to complete a full marathon at some point in my life. I would also like to try to complete some type of triathalon, though I doubt I would ever, ever be able to do a full iron man.

In fact, I never even thought about doing a triathlon at all until I biked 40 miles all over NYC while simultaneously training for a half marathon. Oh yeah, that happened.

Although I want to complete both of these goals at some point in my life, I’m not sure I’m ready for them just yet.

First of all, there is no way I could convince Fabio to run a full marathon with me right now, and I think training by myself would get boring. We just recently finished our first half marathon, and I don’t think I’m ready for the full thing just now. One day!

In terms of a triathlon, I like the idea of running and biking longer distances, but I am not a good swimmer. This might sound weird, but because I grew up with a pool in my back yard, I never took swimming lessons (I just learned how to swim on my own) and therefore never learned a proper swimming technique. Sure I can swim, but I doubt my form is any good and I don’t know how far I could go. If I were to try to complete some sort of mini triathlon, I would need to get serious and take some swimming lessons and I’m not sure if that’s something I want to commit to right now.

Basically, it seems like running a marathon or a mini triathlon are more long-term goals and not anything I’m interested in at the moment.

Run Another Half Marathon

This is the leading option for me right now. I really loved the distance of a half marathon, and I thought the training plan I followed was really manageable. Throughout the entire twelve weeks or so of my training, I was super motivated to follow the schedule to a tee, and I think I only missed about three or four runs total. For me, that was pretty impressive. I definitely trained hard!

Even more than that, I actually had fun during my training by finding new running routes near my apartment and exploring DC in a whole new way (i.e., by running all over it).

I would love to do this type of running myself, without training specifically for a race, but I worry that without an actual goal I won’t hold myself accountable to it. Case in point: last weekend I wrote on my workout calendar that I was going to tackle a seven mile run and then events popped up so I just nixed it. I never would have done that during my half marathon training.

Another reason why I want to run another half is to improve my time! Due to my restroom issues during my first half, I finished just a few minutes over two hours. I would really like to try to improve my time during the next go-around by 1) not stopping to use a porta-potty (duh) and 2) training with more interval runs to help improve my speed. I know I can do it!

Choosing another half

Since I’m pretty sure another half is in my future, I now have to narrow down which one I want to do.

Fabio and I are trying to plan a little trip somewhere, possibly over Labor Day Weekend, and we were thinking that a race in a fun location might help us narrow down our choices. I know there is a Rock ‘N Roll Half Marathon in Virginia Beach that weekend, which is definitely one leading option (the only drawback is that I’ve heard Virginia Beach can be kind of trashy and I’m not sure I want to spend all my money going to a trashy beach).

Our other options are to nix the Labor Day idea and race somewhere really cool like Chicago, San Diego, Charleston (that would be my dream!), etc. We just have to work on narrowing down our race choices, planning out a budget, and figuring out how many days we can take off work. Decisions, decisions.

Questions of the day: How do you pick what your next “big thing” is going to be? How do you choose races?

I’ve been using Active.com and RunningintheUSA.com, but let me know if you have other suggestions!

I hope the weather is as beautiful where you are as it is here. Man, it’s gorgeous outside! Luckily I have a kickball game tonight (the last one of the regular season!) so I will get to spend some quality time in the sun with my friends. Life is good.

Anyway it’s Wednesday which means I’ll be showing you all my good eats from yesterday, so let’s get to it! Thanks, Jenn, for hosting the linkup!

Breakfast Ah yes, this looks familiar. In this delicious bowl we have:

• 1/2 cup of Oatmeal Squares
• 1/2 cup of Multigrain Cheerios (I’m almost out of these and will probably wait a while to buy them again since I have so many Oatmeal Squares in the cabinet. Wahh. My bowls are about to get less interesting.)
• 1/2 banana (I ate the rest right after I finished this bowl)
• A handful of blueberries from the local Farmer’s Market
• Skim milk

Have I ever told you guys that I let Jack drink the milk from the bowl when I’m done with the cereal? Yep. It’s probably his favorite part of the morning. He sits therevery patiently while I eat, pretending like he is just there to love me (ha, as if I were so stupid) and then suddenly when I stand up his tail wags like crazy and he sprints into the kitchen. Then I put the bowl down for him, eat the other half of my banana, and by the time I’m done all the milk is gone and so is Jack. Hmmm, so much for the love. Then the bowl goes into the dishwasher. Just a little snapshot of my morning ritual

Snack #2
One of my coworkers just got back from Disney World and brought us these fun chocolate-covered rice krispie treats. I planned to just eat “a bite or two” since I’m not usually a huge fan of rice krispie treats, but it was delicious and throughout the rest of the afternoon I wound up eating the whole thing. Woops. At least it was good!

About half an hour after I finished it, I realized there were a whole bunch of tiny rainbow sprinkles all over my desk. It looked like a teeny tiny party had been going on since they were so colorful. And everywhere. Oops. Maybe I should pay more attention, huh?

Dinner Dinner yesterday was nice and simple. It included a baked sweet potato and brussels sprouts! I seem to be liking the bulleted lists today, so I’ll keep that trend going with dinner. My sweet potato included:

• Black beans
• One wedge of Laughing Cow cheese (I seriously use that stuff in everything!)
• Fat free Greek yogurt
• Salsa (this is what makes it!!)
• Chopped cilantro (just because we had it and it is almost bad- normally I probably would have left it out)
• Salt & pepper