Catching Up! (VLOG!)

Hey all! I have felt so disconnected from the blog world, so I decided to do a VLOG to catch up! I recorded this last night around 5:30pm. 

Enjoy!

Can we talk about this ridiculous screenshot!? How do I fix it!? Hahahaha!

Our Christmas Eve

What a crazy past couple days! Even though I am on winter break, I do not feel refreshed and relaxed. Not by a long shot. It didn't help that I was sick with a really bad cold for the four days leading up to Christmas. It was hard to get things done and really prepare for the holiday when I felt so crappy. Then Christmas Eve and Christmas Day rolled around and it was just go, go, go! Yesterday, we took our nephews to the Carlisle Sports Emporium for a day of fun. It was their Christmas gift. They had a BLAST but I am exhausted for all the rushing around.

Luckily, I had a lot of blog posts already scheduled so I didn't have to blog while I was sick and busy. But here it is, Tuesday night, and I am quickly going to type up a post about our Christmas Eve. Tomorrow we have NOTHING planned, so I will be able to (hopefully) relax, do a bunch of puzzles, and write a bunch of blog posts!

I will be honest: I did not get a TON of pics this year because I was too busy just living in the moment...

I got up early on Christmas Eve so I could make a pineapple casserole and run six miles before going to my Grandma and Pappy's. Unfortunately, our can opener was broken. So I literally ran to the Dollar General to buy one. I figured I'd run back home to drop off the can opener before continuing my run, but I felt so good that I just kept going and carried the can opener the whole way!

When I got home, I made the casserole, than Paul and I made the annual trek to Dauphin. Fun Fact: I have been going to my Grandma and Pappy's house for Christmas Eve for the past 35 years. Every year, they have lived in Dauphin, but they have lived in 5 different houses!

Most of the family was there! The grand total was 32 people. And you know what? 8 people were missing! We have a huge family... lots of aunts, uncles, cousins, grandchildren, and great grandchildren!

Clark!

Clementine

 Debby, Ellie, and Clementine open gifts

Those tights...

Paul and I stayed for awhile, just laughing, talking, and playing games. Then it was time to head to his parent's house in Middletown for his family's Christmas celebration.

We picked up his brother on the way there, so it was me, Paul, his parents, brother, 2 nephews, a niece, a cat named Swiper, and a partridge in a pear tree.

We ate a BIG lasagna meal, opened presents, and practically fell asleep thanks to some good wine and spiked egg nog.

 Deb's little Christmas fern!

Violet is a talented artist!

 Then she drew Chrissy!

I do love egg nog...

 Zay!

 Uncle Paul with Eden and Violet

There was freezing rain, but I drove slow and we made it home safe and sound. We went to bed early... we didn't want to scare away Santa Claus!

What did you do on Christmas Eve?

2017 Wrap Up

2017 was a great year for me personally. I am so thankful for all of the wonderful experiences I had this year. Here's a recap of some of the highlights from the past 365 days!

~ Races ~

I ran 6 races this year, which is actually a lot for me! All but one of these were trail races. My absolute favorite was Table Rock. Running those trails in Northern California was a dream come true!

2017 Races and Recaps...

Last Man Standing

Table Rock 30k

Dam Half

HARRC in the Park

Baltimore Marathon Relay

Dirty Bird 30k

~ Vacations ~

Northern California was our big trip this year. We have found a place we love almost as much as Colorado!

I also spent a weekend in Indianapolis with my cousin to attend Crime Con! I am so glad I made the decision to go to this true crime conference. I got to meet some awesome people... including Nancy Grace!

In August, our friends Maggie and Cheetah invited us to Cape May for a weekend as their guests. It was a relaxing getaway! While I was in Cape May, I randomly bumped into DEBBY FROM SURVIVOR!!! We talked for a good ten minutes. What are the odds!!!???

~ Day Trips ~

In June, we discovered the cute little town of Jim Thorpe and spent the day there. 

This summer, we took our niece and nephews to Hershey Park for a jam packed day of excitement. 

We also traveled to NYC to see a taping of the Stephen Colbert show! It was so surreal to see our favorite late night host LIVE!

We also did an overnight trip to NYC to see a taping of Survivor Know-It-Alls. You all know I'm a HUGE Survivor fan and love Rob Cesternino's podcast!

I got to run in Central Park the next day and was so excited that I didn't even open my eyes for the picture...

~ Milestones ~

I started my 13th year teaching, I turned 35, and Paul and I celebrated our 9 year anniversary!

~ Random ~

I chopped off my hair... 

Paul and I discovered we love wineries... 

... and we got solar panels!

One of the best experiences from 2017 was attending the Women's March on Washington in January.

Resist!!!!

And then to piggy back on that, in November, my mom and I went to Philadelphia to see Hillary Clinton on her book tour. We had VIP tickets so we got to do a meet and greet before the show. I still cannot believe we got to meet Hillary Clinton!

Tell me some highlights from your year!

Merry Christmas!

To all those who celebrate, I want to wish you a very Merry Christmas and I thank you for being part of the Meg Go Run community!

Gather 'round children....

Every year at Christmas time, I tell my students the story about how Jelly knocked over my Christmas tree! Today I will tell you that story! 

Gather 'round, children, and Ms. Michael will tell you about the day Jelly knocked over the Christmas tree...

Once upon a time, a long time ago, I lived in a small apartment. It was just me and the cats. One afternoon in December, I was sitting on the couch watching television. Jelly, who was only 1-2 years old at the time, laid on the arm of the couch right beside me.

Only about three feet away (small apartment, remember?) stood my tall, artificial Christmas tree decked with special Hallmark ornaments. It had been up for several days and the cats so far did not seem to be bothered by it.

But suddenly, Jelly got that look in his eye. He stared at the tree and his ears perked forward. "Uh oh, what's he going to do?" I thought to myself. Then he started wiggling his little cat butt and I knew what he was going to do. I had plenty of time to stop him, but I was sort of curious to see how it would play out...

Jelly LEAPED through the air and grabbed onto the trunk of the tree with his front paws. He hung there for a minute and stared at me with wide eyes. The tree started to fall and Jelly began to fall with it... but at the last minute, he jumped out of the tree and ran out of the way before it crashed to the ground. Jelly didn't stop running until he was tucked nice and safe under my bed. He did not come out for two hours.

And that is the story of how Jelly knocked over my Christmas tree!

Any funny Christmas tree stories?

Weekly Workouts

Omg... this week can be summed up like this:

1. Shitty sleep.
2. Got sick.
3. Kids owned me.

BUT IT IS WINTER BREAK AND I DON'T WORK UNTIL JANUARY 2ND!!! LET THE PUZZLES AND SLEEPING COMMENCE!!!

Saturday- Lifting chest @ home. I did 200 push ups, thus making myself sore for the next two days.

Sunday- 6 miles at Hampden Park. I dropped Paul off at Planet Fitness. I ran to the park and ran loops until I hit 6 miles. While I was waiting for Paul to get done lifting, I ran into Good Will to see if they had any puzzles. I saw a student so I turned around and got the heck out of there! (I looked like crap.)

Monday- 6 neighborhood miles. It was so warm that I didn't even need gloves! I felt great during this run, probably since I woke up at 2am and never fell back asleep...

Tuesday- 6 neighborhood miles. It was another warm morning! I took a different route than normal and got to see some Christmas lights I hadn't seen yet. I am feeling good on my runs this week. Even though I woke up at 3am...

Wednesday- 6 MORE MILES. No wonder I am so slow. I just keep doing the same run every day! Woke up at 4am...

Thursday- 6 miles. This was my 5th day of running in a row but it felt good. I was supposed to lift but I was so pissed about the Survivor Finale the night before and needed to blow off some steam!

Friday- Lifting at home. I got really sick on Thursday and felt like crap again today. I lifted back but *really* light. It was barely a workout.

Did you watch the Survivor finale? Want to bitch about it with me?

Friday 5: Holiday movies I could watch again and again.

Hey all! I am linking up with Running on Happy and Fairytales and Fitness for Friday 5 2.0!

Today, I'm going to share 5 holiday movies I could watch again and again... Are you sick of Christmas posts yet? No worries, it's almost over!

1. Home Alone. This is my favorite holiday movie mostly for nostalgia purposes. I also love the music. John Williams writes beautiful music!

2. While You Were Sleeping. I used to watch this movie every Christmas because it was on Netflix, but it's not there anymore! What shall I do? It's a good movie to watch while doing a puzzle or wrapping gifts. I love the Chicago setting and how "homey" it feels.

3. Christmas Vacation. This was not a movie we watched growing up. I don't believe I saw it until I was an adult! Chevy Chase is hilarious and this is just such a Christmas classic.

4. A Christmas Story. Another movie I didn't watch until I was an adult! This is one Paul will sit down and watch with me, so I have to put it on the list. Did you know they turned it into a musical? I sort of want to see it!

5. The Family Stone.  I love to HATE this movie! All of the characters are so annoying. SJP is terrible in it, and it's not really about anything. Yet for some reason... I watch it... and I cannot look away... 

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What is your favorite holiday movie?
Any movies you love to hate?