Our New Lives

What I am about to say will not come as a shock to my "real life" friends, but I realize to most of my blog readers, what I'm sharing will come as some unexpected news.

Many of you have noticed that Paul has been absent from the blog for the past several months. This is why. We filed for divorce in March, he moved out in April, and our divorce was finalized a few days ago.

Believe me, I never thought Paul and I would get divorced. When I got married, I intended for it to be forever. But no one can predict how life will turn out. We think we know, but we don't.

Life is long. I know Paul and I will both find happiness. Our separation was amicable. We remain friends. I just talked to him on the phone for 45 minutes the other day and it was wonderful. I think we are both adjusting to our new lives as well as can be expected.

That's not to say things haven't been difficult. I can't speak for Paul, but the past nine months have been the most difficult time in my life. My close friends know this. They have been there for me and I can't thank them enough. I feel like I have been taking from my friends. But that's what friends are for, right? They're supposed to be there for you when you need them the most. I feel incredibly lucky that I have so many people there for me when I don't have the energy to give anything back.

My family is extremely supportive as well. I was so scared to tell my parents our decision, but of course they support us and just want us to be happy. They love both Paul and I.

Here are some of the logistics, because I am sure you are wondering. I am remaining in our house with the cats. (For now, I am hoping Paul will accept half custody of the cats because they miss him! But that's a whole other story.) I refinanced and am officially a single girl homeowner! Paul bought a house that's a half mile from his NEW JOB! (So he is a single boy homeowner!) He is an Account Acquisition Specialist for Healthy Hemp Solutions. Paul loves his house and he loves his job. He loves living alone. 

I love living alone too, but that's not to say I don't get lonely. I know divorce is the best decision for both of us but it was really, really hard. These past several months have sucked so bad. 

Paul and I do NOT regret our 10 happy years of marriage. We would not erase them. Getting married was not a mistake. It was just time for it to end and move on.

Obviously, this whole life change is one of the reasons I have been absent from the blog for a long time. First of all, I was very sad and anxious a lot of the time and didn't have the focus to write. And everything that was going on in my life wasn't appropriate to share with the internet. 

In the future, I do intend to write more about about my new life and some of the difficult feelings (and happy feelings!) I am going through. Paul knows this. And he knows I will never, ever violate his trust on the blog or share anything that would be inappropriate or was intimate to our marriage and separation. I hold our relationship in very high regard, so I won't share things that would go against that. But I will open up more about my new life and how I am adjusting.

I hope you'll stick around for the ride!

Weekend Wrap Up!

 

Even though I don't blog every day anymore, Weekend Wrap Up posts are still my favorite to write! I hope you enjoy the peak into my life...

I could have slept forever on Friday! I have found the MAGIC dosage of pills to ensure I have a good night of sleep... 1 trazodone and 25mg of dyphenhydramine. This helps me fall asleep and fall back asleep when the cats wake me up. Unfortunately, it also makes me not want to get up in the morning, but that is okay. Once I'm up I feel fine. Yay! Now let's see how long this lasts...

Because I willed myself to get out of bed, I was able to get 60 minutes on the arc trainer before meeting Andrea for lunch. I watched the Aerosmith/Nsync Superbowl Halftime Show to pass the time. People at the gym probably think I'm nuts!

Andrea and I met at Namaste in Lemoyne. Their lunch buffet had lots of options and was only $10.95! We tried a little bit of everything and went back for seconds for the things we liked the most. I don't even know what I was eating, but it was 

good.

Andrea and baby Louis!

After lunch I ran 2 miles because the crazy part of my brain made me feel like I had to after eating all of that Indian food. 

Later on that afternoon I headed over to my brother's house to hang out with my family! It was me, my parents, Tyler and Debby, and their three kiddos. We laughed so hard!

Clementine and I did our Snapchat thang!

 Clark calls his xylophone a violin...

It is adorable!!!!

Clark and Grandpa sumo wrestled...

That evening I made my first old fashioned... bourbon, simple syrup, bitters, a cherry, and an orange slice. Divine!

I had no plans for the day. Literally, nothing on my calendar. It certainly was nice to sleep in and have no agenda but soon I was getting antsy for something to do.

I decided to tackle one of my summer goals- hike/run up Flat Rock at Colonel Denning State Park. I hiked this trail with Andrea a few months ago but I wanted to do it on my own. It was pretty in March but I have to say it was even more pretty in June. Everything was so green!

It gets really steep toward the top. 

The pics don't do the grade justice!

I was ravenous when I got home! I ate a bunch of tofu dipped in BBQ sauce (I eat tofu now!), a Greek yogurt, and a bunch of pretzels!

That evening I just did all kinds of housework and chilled. I was looking for a new show to start watching on Netflix. All my Facebook friends recommended Dead to Me, so that's what I started. So far I am enjoying it! I've always liked Christina Applegate.

I was supposed to meet Allison for a trail run this morning but my foot felt a little crunchy so I decided not to. Instead, I slept in with the kitties. Then I headed to the gym to lift and break a sweat on the arc trainer.

I'll be honest, I didn't feel great emotionally today. I was just kind of blah and depressed about nothing and everything. I still tackled my to do list which included cleaning the shower. So the day wasn't a total waste.

However, the day ended well. I headed over to Bree's for sushi. It was great to spend time with my friend. I really needed it!

Tell me something fun you did this weekend!

Weekly Workouts!

This week was full of SO. MUCH. TRAIL! I am so thankful to have the time in the summer to do a lot of trail running! My plantar fasciitis has gotten better as well! Things seem to be right in the world again...

Saturday- 8 miles on the AT. I parked at Trindle and did my normal 4 miles out and back. I got to run through my favorite part of the trail!

Unfortunately the bugs were RELENTLESS. It was like running through a wall of bugs! Don't worry, they died on impact.

Not dirt... dead bugs! Freaking gross!

Sunday- 5 mile mountain run. It was a very emotionally draining day, so to cheer myself up and make myself feel strong, I ran up my mountain.

Up!


Down!

Monday- 30 minutes arc trainer, lifting upper body, and an AT hike with Bree and her beautiful newfie, Ursa! Bree randomly texted me to see if I wanted to hike so we met at the trail and did 3.14 miles. That means we get to eat pie after, right!? It was rainy but lovely! After the hike, I went to Planet Fitness for the rest of my workout... which obviously wasn't as lovely.

 I can really get my heart rate up on the arc trainer!

Tuesday- 5 mile trail run. I drove down to Pine Grove Furnace State park to hike/run up to the Pole Steeple Overlook. Then I hooked up with the AT and the Mountain Creek Trail to create a nice little 5 mile loop for myself. It was fun to explore a new place!

Wednesday- 6 neighborhood miles. I can't remember the last time I ran my neighborhood route! I'm developing quite the runner's tan right now... You know, the sports bra and Garmin outline??

Thursday- Speedy 5 miler in my hood. I had every intention of arc training for 60 minutes. I even drove to the gym. They were closed! Apparently they are closed for three days! I was enraged, and also in a time crunch because I was meeting friends for lunch. I zipped over to another Planet Fitness and that one was closed too! WTF? I was really angry at this point as I had basically just driven around for a half hour and couldn't find a gym that was open. So I went for a very fast and angry 5 miler around my neighborhood.

Friday- 60 minutes on the arc trainer & 2 mile run. The gym was open! And once I got on the arc trainer, I realized why it had been closed... a lot of the cardio equipment was replaced with newer equipment. I always get annoyed when the machines change. It's like I finally feel like I mastered how to use one and now I need to learn all the buttons on the new one! I have to say I am ashamed for running 2 miles later in the afternoon because the only reason I did it was because I had a lot of Indian food for lunch. That's not a good reason to run extra miles.

How were your workouts this week?

A New (to me) Trail!

One of my summer goals is to visit new trails. I'm a homebody and a creature of habit. I feel most at home and comfortable running the same trails all the time. But in the summer, there is absolutely no excuse not to switch things up. I have the time to drive to new trails and explore. So on Tuesday, that's exactly what I did!

I headed down to Pine Grove Furnace State Park, which is about 40 minutes away. My "loose" plan was to hike up to the Pole Steeple Overlook, then hook up with the AT and either do an out and back or somehow get myself back to my car via a loop or whatnot. (This sounds very fly by the seat of my pants and UN-Megan-Like!)

I hiked up to Pole Steeple a long time ago. On this day, I ran some of it but hiked the really steep parts. There was no reason to go all out. 

It was only about .7 miles to the beautiful vista! I stopped to take some pictures.

Unfortunately there was a family up there with young kids who were screaming and just ruining the beauty of the view. I really wished their parents would keep them quiet. Do you think I am being unreasonable? I feel like in nature you should be respectful and quiet, especially if there are other people around. (Either that or I'm a teacher on my 2nd official day of summer break and I don't want to hear rowdy children!)

Then it was time to find the AT. I kept following the blue blazes for the Pole Steeple Trail and soon came upon an older couple hiking. I scared the woman a little when I ran up behind her.

"I though you were another snake!" she said.

"Where did you see a snake!?" I asked, alarmed.

"Up on the rocks. There was a baby copperhead sunning."

"No there wasn't!" I challenged.

"Yes there was," the woman assured me. "I hate snakes."

"Me too," I told her. But then I had to run ahead. "I'll scare away all the snakes for you guys," I told them and they laughed.

But I wasn't laughing. Now I was convinced I was going to see a copperhead!

In just a few seconds I found what I thought was the AT. I turned right because I wanted to do a loop and this was the way the map told me to go. I had been on this part of the AT once before but I didn't remember it. The next two miles or so were a gradual downhill, rocky, and sunny. Every single stick I saw tricked me into thinking it was a snake. I basically convinced myself I was going to get bit by a copperhead. I'm a little... catastrophic.

There weren't many white blazes. In fact, I barely saw any! Soon I was worried I was even on the AT. But then I saw a dude coming toward me that looked to be a thru hiker. I asked him if this was the AT and he assured me it was. I was so embarrassed. I feel like the  AT is my trail and I should know if I'm on it or not!

After about two miles I came to a road. I consulted my map. If I turned right and ran a little ways down the road, I would hook up with the Mountain Creek Trail. So that's what I did. 

This trail was completely new to me, thus working me toward my goal of exploring new trails this summer! It was marked by yellow blazes. Most of the trail weaved around big tall trees and lots of green ferns. It also ran along a creek. It was very pretty!

After about a mile and a half, I came out to the road. I ran back down the road to my car and tacked on a little at the end to bring me to 5 miles even.

It wasn't a super hard workout by any means, but it was fun to run somewhere new!

Oh, and look at the informative plaque I saw when I got back to the parking area. 

It's a good thing I didn't see this before my run or I would have turned around and went home!!!

Do you like running the same route or do you like to switch things up?
Have you ever seen a copperhead or rattlesnake?
TELL ME A SCARY SNAKE STORY!!!!