Write Me Away From Here

it's crazy how fast time passes...  i feel like it was last week that ben and i were curled up on the couch watching the ball drop as we welcomed 2017... i know we're lame and don't go out on new years. 2017 was a year of change. a year of accepting and moving on. a year of learning... learning that some things that are broken cannot be fixed or put back the way they were before... they just stay broken and you figure out how to adjust. and through this adjusting, some relationships become strained and others are strengthened and it is what it is. despite these challenges, 2017 was an amazing year. a year filled with so much excitement. new babies. weddings. family and friends. new jobs. vacations. so much laughter. some tears. and our engagement! overall it has been incredibly rewarding. january was the first full month i started crossfit, kitchen renovations began and i started a per diem surgical icu position.   february was an exciting month as i officially...

"may you never be too grown up to search the skies on christmas eve."   when i was a little girl, my parents made christmas so magical. each room of our house sparkled with twinkling lights and christmas music played softly in the background. christmas eve we headed to church and then hurried home to wait for santa to leave pajamas at our front door. the entire drive home i spent looking up at the sky for rudolf's red nose. i was so excited for christmas morning that it took me hours to fall asleep.  as i got older and started to question my belief in santa, i read "the polar express" and decided to ask for a bell from his sleigh like in the book. my brothers and i opened all our gifts on christmas morning and at the bottom of the pile lay a small bubble wrapped package for me... a bell. it was tattered and worn and there was no way my parents bought it from a store. the only explanation was that it actually came from santa's sleigh... and i believe...

can you all believe christmas is this weekend? sweet jesus, where did the year go? i wish there was more time in the season to fit in everything i want to do... like spend a whole day baking cookies and another whole day watching christmas movies and wrapping presents and another whole day sipping tea and munching on those cookies i baked with my mom. but so is life, right? just never enough time... but we're making the most of it.  my mom has an album for pictures of my brothers and i with santa since we were babies... and even at 28 years old, we're adding to it. this past weekend, we headed to the mall to wait in a line of impatient children for a picture with santa. after about a half hour in line, santa decided to leave for an hour break! an hour long break!!! so... we improvised and took pictures in santa's chair, without him. sorry mom... we tried.  between holiday gatherings and shopping and craziness we were able to squeeze in a quiet night at home complet...

it's been almost a year since we decided to join crossfit and, as you've probably gathered from previous posts, i'm hooked. before ben and i started working out together, my workouts consisted of mostly weights with some cardio scattered throughout... and i was working out for almost 2 hours daily. eventually ben managed to convince me to try some crossfit workouts with him. and because i couldn't get over the fact that a workout wasn't good enough unless it was at least an hour, one of the first wods we did was "murph"... 1 mile run, 100 pull ups, 200 pushups, 300 air squats, 1 mile run. holy cow... it was hard but hard workouts were what i loved... and one crossfit workout turned into many... our crossfit journey started in a regular gym... we were those people in the corner doing weird stuff but sweating our butts off and panting. the regular gym was sufficient for awhile... and i swore i would never join a crossfit gym because why pay $150 or...

merry christmas!  may your holiday be filled with love, laughter and magic.   * * * * * * * * * * * after our amazing weekend away and too much pasta, bread and desserts, i was looking forward to eating clean again (minus the cheese because i just can't give that up yet).  for breakfast i ate sausage, roasted asparagus, and homemade baked fries  lunch consisted of a turkey burger with gorgonzola cheese, kale and more fries  for dinner i made gluten free chicken parm on top of rice noodles and more kale (i freaking love kale)  and my favorite treat at the end of the night was 1 coconut butter cup! 

the cold air engulfed us as we wandered around the city streets and so i headed back to the car to add a few layers in an attempt to keep warm. my scarf, the size of a small blanket, wrapped around my neck and my hat covered my ears. my fingers felt like icicles and were warmed by a hot cup of coffee and ben's pockets. despite the chilling air, the sun's heat was a pleasant surprise when we'd turn a street corner and it was no longer blocked by buildings. there were so many people, shopping bags in hand, wrapped up in the hustle and bustle of the season but always finding a moment to stop at the enormous christmas trees and snap a photograph... all the while offering smiles and season greetings. and as the sun went down and darkness set in, the city was reborn by christmas lights that twinkled brighter than the day. there were hot chocolate stands and ice skating rinks and christmas music... so much magic in one place and exactly the kind of getaway we needed.  this ...