Five Things Friday

HAPPY FRIDAY! 

It's spring break in our neck of the woods so I took Wednesday, Thursday, and today off of work! Let me tell you, it was much, much MUCH needed!

Five Things Making Me Happy:

1. Getting to spend time with my fiancé! Sounds crazy but our schedules (well, mine) is so incredibly hectic so it's been nice to get a few days just to relax with P! I love it! We went to the bank, looked at a house (that we LOVED!), went shopping, out to dinner... you know, all of the things "normal" couples do. ;) Probably won't get to do this kind of stuff again until the semester is over in May. Crazy, I know.

2. GIRLS WEEKEND! I alluded to it a bit yesterday but.. I'm so incredibly excited for a weekend with my best friends! My two best friends and I haven't all been together since Christmas! And then my old college roommate will be joining us and I haven't seen her in over a year! I feel so thankful to have met such wonderful people in college. No matter how far we are from each other, we always try and make time to see each other every few months. Who knows, next time might be my bachelorette party..... ;) I'm super excited about that!

3. Finding a wedding photographer! This has been stressing me out for quite some time but after doing lots of research, I finally found an awesome photographer who luckily still by some miracle had October 4th open! Although I haven't met her in person yet, her pictures do all of the talking. I'm obsessed... which I suppose is a good thing, right? ;)

4. New Asics Gel Nimbus 16's coming out SOON! I have a gift card burning a hole in my pocket just for a new pair of Asics and I've been waiting for this announcement since Christmas! I'm a die hard Asics girl and the Nimbus 16's are my jam. This will be my fourth pair! I've heard great things about Brooks but..... unless they discontinue my Nimbus', I'm sticking with Asics. :) With racing season coming up (I'm missing out on two GREAT ones this weekend), they can't get here soon enough!

5. Nike Support! Seriously--they are THE best and I don't say this lightly. I've had a few issues with my Fuel band this week because of the time change/my battery dying and they have been incredible. On Monday, I forgot to charge my Fuel band for the week and it died on me during my morning walk and I ended up missing out on around 1200 fuel points. I just figured I'd lost those points but after simply writing a tweet  (not even tagging Nike), they swooped in to help me out. :)

And not only that, after my epic 8 mile run on Tuesday in which I logged well over 7,000 fuel points, my phone didn't record them and it caused me to lose my 345 day streak!! :( After calling support, they had it fixed within minutes and even informed me that I only had 19 days left on my warranty. They are AWESOME! (And for the record, over a year later I still absolutely love my fuel band and am in the best shape of my life... just in case you were wondering... ;))

Thinking Out Loud

Linking up today with Running with Spoons today for Thinking Out Loud Thursday! :)

1. Being a grown up is hard. Like, really hard. Making big decisions suck. P & I went and started the process of looking for/buying a house and I can already tell it's going to be a struggle. Luckily, we both have a house in mind that we like (which is an accomplishment in itself, trust me). Granted, it's a long shot that we'll actually get it but either way, it's a start. Does anyone have any home buying advice? We could seriously use some.

One of my favorite parts of the house... so cozy!

2. Speaking of living situations, a new couple moved above us in our apartment complex and they have a kid. Now, before I get yelled at, I love kids and cannot WAIT to have one of my own one day. But let me tell you--this girl must have some energy because from 9am-10pm all we hear is her running back and forth across their apartment. (Maybe I just need to start thinking about this whenever I get frustrated with point #1 of this post) All I can think about is June. And we'll be OUT (hopefully!).

3. Tuesday I decided to be adventurous and meet up with a running group (which happened to be all men?) the next town over and... it was awesome in the "I'm a crazy runner" kind of way. I'll put it this way--I'm glad I didn't know what I was getting myself into before we started. I knew we were going for 6-8 miles but what was failed to mention is that half of those miles were up a mountain. Seriously. But I have to be honest, when we got to the top and I had beat a majority of the other guys, I felt like a certified badass. And when we were done? The runner's high was incredible. There's nothing quite like being a runner.

8:27 pace--I'll take it! 

4. Figuring out life plans sucks almost as bad as buying a house. I know WHAT I want to do but figuring out how to get there is becoming a struggle. More than anything I want to become a dietitian. I've never wanted anything more in my life. The problem? I can't move. P & I are pretty much stuck where we are for a few years (which is the middle of nowhere more or less). I found a few online programs that could POTENTIALLY work out but I'm still in the research process. I can't even begin to explain how ready I am to LEARN again. I'm ready to get back in school! I'm trying to be patient and I know that whatever is meant to be, will be, but..... it's definitely hard.

5. IT'S ALMOST GIRLS WEEKEND! Hello, much needed break from the real world! I'm so excited to meet up with my best friends in Richmond tomorrow! It's been a stressful semester and I'm so looking forward to getting out of town and just being.. young again. Sometimes growing up I get so caught up in making decisions and working and getting into a routine that I forget I'm only 27! Although there's no way I could keep up with "college Sarah", I'm allowed to kick up my heels and have fun every now and then, ya know?! So here's to being youthful and *gasp* crazy this weekend (but not too crazy :)).

Have a wonderful Thursday!

Five Things Friday

Life has been insane and work has been crazy and thus, I've been a terrible blogger. I promise once summer hits, I'll actually post content instead of a bunch of link-ups every week. ;) Any motivation to do "real" writing has been lost this semester but come May, hopefully I can really get my blog up and running.

Until then, here's another Five Things Friday. :)

Favorite Things...

1. COLORADO! Oh. My. Gosh. Can we talk about how amazing Colorado was? I think I mentioned it a few times on the blog but I traveled to Colorado Springs for a fitness conference and if I wasn't sure fitness/wellness was the right path for me to take before, I sure as heck know that it is now. I was in heaven. I was soaking up information left and right and could have listened to the presenters talk for hours (well, I guess I did). Not to mention we did 10 kick ass workouts in two days. Yep, heaven.

2. The Broadmoor Resort. Uhh, there are no words. This is where we stayed throughout the duration of the conference and I was going to add it in with my Colorado post but.... this one deserved one of it's own. I can't even begin to describe how awesome this hotel was. First of all, they had chocolate waiting for us in the airport with the shuttle so to me, that's already a win-win situation. But beyond that, I've never stayed any place as luxurious and amazing as the Broadmoor and let's be honest, I'll probably never stay anywhere like it again, haha. I mean, hello, there was a chandelier IN OUR ROOM. Turn down service every night, AMAZING gym/spa, great food (albeit expensive!), and you can't beat the view...

3. My workouts this week! They have been some of the best I've had in a long time. I'll be honest, I've worked my BUTT off this winter in the gym and I can tell a huge, HUGE difference in my endurance and strength in comparison to this time last year. Beyond the 10 workouts I did over the weekend (crazy, I know) after a couple much needed rest days, I had an awesome crossfit workout (I'm getting strong!) and have logged right around 18 miles over the last 3 days. Next week I plan on working in some tabata type workouts and trying out T25 (my mom rocks!). As we all know, I'm a HUGE believer in Insanity so I'm looking forward to trying out T25 for those days I don't quite have an hour to dedicate to working out. :)

4. Spaghetti Squash!!!! I'm so obsessed! We made buffalo chicken spaghetti squash a few weeks ago and Tuesday we tried out an awesome recipe from Skinny Taste. It's so good and healthy and EASY! I've already planned my next Spaghetti Squash dish and can't wait to try it out. :)

5.  Quest Nutrition Bars. I jumped on the Quest bandwagon last fall and have been riding shotgun ever since. They are incredible! And totally DON'T taste like a protein bar (which I generally HATE!). My favorite flavor is Double Chocolate Chunk with Cookies & Cream and Cookie Dough in a close tie for second. They are a little pricey but so totally worth it. I'm so possessive over my Quest bars that P asked if he could try one the other day and I was going to make him pay for it or buy me a new one to replace it with...... whoops. ;) They were doing a promotion of Facebook the other day and I scored two free bars and was STOKED! Seriously--if you're looking for a new protein bar, check them out.

Have a great weekend! I'm off to Louisville for a family thing! :)

Sarah