Mexico Adventure- The Highlight Reel

This trip was quite amazing.  Mexico was absolutely beautiful and surpassed all of my expectations.  Below are my favorite highlights from our trip.

We ventured out of the resort to visit the Mayan city of Tulum.  Our group got there early, before there were too many tourist and before the sun could scorch us.  The remains of this city have the Atlantic as a beautiful backdrop.  We did meet some rather pushy peddlers, but that was to be expected.

We also went snorkeling in a Cenote(under ground river *EEK*).  It was eerily gorgeous under the water, and surprisingly deep.  I kept thinking that a giant fish was going to eat me.  After snorkeling this we went ziplining through the jungle, during which I looked terrified in every. single. photo. 

One day we decided to just sit on the beach and read/people watch.  It happened to be a particularily windy morning and Darrin managed to spray the sunblock into a cute swirl design on his chest.  He received many funny looks everytime he was without a shirt for the rest of our stay. Side note, I read 4 books while on this vacation and one of them was 800 pages.  Darrin scoffed at me for bringing so many, but I know myself. 

We had met another couple from ND on the shuttle to our hotel and decided we should all venture to Cozumel for a day together.  After getting sea sick on the ferry- yes I am that sad- we rented scooters and drove through the city out to a beach.  Let me just say it was terrifying, but the beach was COMPLETELY worth it.  The restaurant we had a late lunch at was literally 15 feet from the water.  And that water. So blue. So clear. I decided we must go back to Cozumel at some point in order to scuba or snorkel.

Otherwise we just relaxed, drank pina coladas, and enjoyed the beautiful beaches and weather!

~Anne

Ch Ch Ch Ch Changes

Fall.  A time of transition.  When the oranging of the leaves signals the end of warm summer months filled with late evenings on the porch. When we welcome the slight chill in the air as an excuse to wear cozy plaid scarves and knee high boots.  When Summer Shandy transitions to Oktoberfest and lemonade to hot apple cider.

It seems a fitting that during this season, my entire life, has changed. I am married. (say whaaat?) I am moving.  I will be starting a new job.  I will not, as I have for the last two winters, be playing hockey every Sunday. (but I will be joining them occasionally)  I visited a country I never thought I would want to see, and enjoyed it immensely. My best friend moved to Seattle. I have already met new friends in my-soon-to be home.

Life refuses to stand still, no matter the perfectness of any moment.

~Anne 

Photos by myself and Mia Klaus.

9 Loves

 

For the 10 Day You Challenge I skipped my 9 loves on accident and went right to my 8 fears.  So this is my back tracking post to tell you all about the 9 people, places, animals, and whatever else I feel deserves to be on this list.

1. My little family.  My fiance and 2 kitties make me so happy and make me feel so loved.  I love coming home and having those two little fluff balls run up to me, meowing for attention and food.  My fiance constantly encourages me, helps with chores, goes for sushi, and so much more.

Engagement Photo

Princess Leia & Toothless

2. The rest of my family, my in laws, and my adoptive/stand in families.  I have so many people in my life considered family, whether by blood or not they sure do help keep life interesting. They are helpful, considerate, kind, goofy, and always good for hugs.

Bridesmaids

Dad, Big Bro, and Me

Group shot from watching Chris run the Half Marathon

3. Travel.  I love to go places, anywhere really.  From being a tourist in my own city (well town) to traveling across the world, seeing new places and meeting new people is always exciting.  My list of places I want to see is constantly expanding and I love hearing about other peoples travels also!

4. Trying new things.  This kind of goes hand in hand with traveling, but it isn't limited to trying new places.  I used to be the queen of trying weird foods.  My friends would always have me try something first and tell them whether it was worth a shot.  I love experiementing with new beer and wine options, different types of exercise, and different cultural experiences.

5. Speaking of food... It's definitely one of my loves.  I actually really love to cook and bake.  I don't have nearly enough time to devote to it though.  I try to bake or cook something new and exciting once a month and have my stand by fave recipes for busy times.  I have let baking slide lately, but hope to change that after the wedding- there will be lots of new toys to try out. :)

6. Books.  Really really love books.  I am in one book club currently, and probably joining another in the next few months.  I read pretty much every genre except romance.  Romance books literally make me laugh out loud and I find them corny(sorry all you romance fans). 

7. Back yard BBQs and deck time.  Anyone I know with a deck, beware because I will sit out there forever.  Unless it is 90 degrees and humid, then I will be in the AC.  Otherwise, I can't imagine a better day than sitting on a deck, drinking a beer, and having some delicious grilled --insert any food here--. 

8. Lake Time.  Preferably with a deck. Or a boat. Or on a hammock. But always with beer.

In my defense... it was really windy

Kayaking @ Itasca

9. Being active.  I love going for bike rides, running (sometimes), playing hockey, rollerblading, hiking... basically all things outside.  Darrin and I have awesome bikes that we plan to take on trips to Itasca State Park and we sometimes race each other on the greenway.  I want to go on a boundry waters trip which would be all about kayaking. Note to self- work on arm strength. And I have signed up for multiple races in the next year.  I must love being sweaty. :P

~Anne

8 Fears

As part of the Mini Series 10 Days of You Challenge, I have to write about 8 fears.  Well let's just bust those out right now:

1. Spiders- They are gross. And make me run and jump on things.

2. Snakes- again with the gross and the running and jumping.

3. Public Speaking- I turn bright red and get so nervous even though it is never that awful.  I just get so worked up before hand.

4. Having one of my fave characters die- in a book, movie, TV show.  Because they almost always do and it is awful.

5. Clowns. Real life they are NOT fun.

6. Screaming children/babies- I don't know what to do. Just. Stop. Crying.

8. Heights- because they are high up there and obviously the building (or rollercoaster) is going to fall over.

~Anne

10 Secrets

This challenge has been floating around everywhere I look lately, so I thought I would jump on board and share some potentially interesting facts about me.

The first challenge is to list 10 secrets.  Honestly I am not sure if I can come up with 10 secrets that are truely secret.  I am awful at keeping secrets! So, the following are my mostly secret, secrets.

1. My dad and I email because we both hate talking on the phone.  Sometimes, ok most of the time, I make my fiance call to order pizza or chinese because I hate talking on the phone so much.

2. While I like running with a buddy, they have to be ok with silence(or they can bring their Ipod).  I can only talk when running for about half a mile and then I tend to zone out and get lost in my thoughts.  Running is really when I think through a lot of things. 

3. Having kids isn't even on my radar.  I keep hearing that I will change my mind, but we will see.  So far babies and I don't mix.

4. I seriously wish I had studied abroad in college.  It seemed so expensive but it would have been THE COOLEST THING. So now I wait until we can take a trip there.  Top places to see- Prague, Istanbul, Budapest, Rome, All of Scotland, and Southern France.

5. I want a German Shepherd puppy SO MUCH, but wont get one until we have a house with a yard for him/her to run in.  I think it is cruel to have a dog couped up in an apartment all the time.

6. I have a love/hate relationship with running that is about 80 percent hate.  I like how I feel after and I like beating my previous distance or pace, but usually I dislike the actual run.

7. Growing up I was a tomboy.  Except for when my mom and I would have tea parties and make mini "cakes" out of ritz crackers and frosting. Classy.

8. I currently have an obsession with Orange is the New Black and Weeds. 

9. Darrin and I were so nervous around each other the first week we met that I had a constant blush and he barely spoke.

10. I like cats. And Star Wars. And naming cats after movie characters.

Meet Princess Leia (Star Wars)

Meet Toothless (How to Train your Dragon)

~Anne

Of Pool Parties and Running

Saturday was filled with good food, great friends, warm water, and lots of sunshine.  We spent the day at a girls only pool party and enjoyed the first official day of summer with 85 degree weather.  We ate, drank, and took jello shots! 

Hello Summer.

Sunday I started the day off with a run on the Greenway.  I thought I would be early enough to beat the heat, but by the time I was halfway done it was already 80 degrees.  I am not cut out to run more than 2 miles in that heat, but with a couple breaks I went 4 miles.

Here's the recap of last weeks Wild Hog training:
Week 2: June 16- 22nd

Monday- N/A
Tuesday- 2 Miles + strength training
Wednesday- 2 Miles
Thursday- N/A
Friday- 2 Miles- Mia and I hit a snag so we walked about half
Saturday- 1.5 Miles + 10 minutes stairs+ strength training
Sunday- 4 Miles

Total- 11.50 Miles

Next weekend Darrin and I have a 5k in Grafton followed by an alumni baseball game and street dance!

~Anne

Wild Hog 10k Training



Photo taken a couple weeks ago during a 12 mile rollerblading adventure

So I have officially started my training for the Wild Hog 10k in Grand Forks this September.  I am giving my legs plenty of time to work up to the 10k.  It was difficult for me to get back into running last week- as evident by my lack of miles.  I was thrown out of my running groove when I went home and had to run my dad to and from appointments, garden, and help out with household chores. Here is my recap of last weeks workouts:

Week 1: June 9-June 15:

Monday- Strength Train
Tuesday- Off
Wednesday- Off
Thursday- 3.1 miles
Friday- Off
Saturday- 2 miles & 15 minutes stairs

This week I am hoping to get in about 12 miles and two days of strength training!

On a happy note- Darrin and I got a new kitten!  Meet Leia-as in Princess Leia...as in Star Wars Princess Leia...as in Darrin and I need light Sabers ASAP.



Leia likes our couch.

ok Leia REALLY likes our couch.

~Anne

"Old Man" Gillie

             

In honor of the upcoming Father's Day holiday, I thought I would share a little bit about my old man.  And no, he doesn't take offense to the designation "old" and has come to terms with the fact that he no longer gets carded on senior citizen day at the grocery store.  At the ripe old age of 76, he still rides his exercise bike regularly, helps out on his farm, goes deer hunting, and gardens tons of delicious vegtables that he shares with me.

Some of the high lights of my dad and me are:
*Him teaching me how to skate, but more importantly how to stop.
*Him making me weed the garden and mow the lawn(s)
*Us driving for 15 hours to visit my brother and family down in Missouri- without music, because "music is annoying"
*Us rollerblading for hours on country roads-this isn't smart as there are lots of rocks.
*Him teaching me how to drive while I practically gave him a heart attack- it was windy that day.
*Him meeting my fiance, Darrin, and promptly putting Darrin to work moving branches and mowing lawn.
*He showed up for and helped me move in and out of every dorm and apartment while I was in college.
*He went to every hockey game and skated at every hockey practice from 3rd grade through senior year.
*Despite sleeping through half of both, he came to both my high school and college graduations.

He has always challenged me to be a stronger, more independent, nicer, and helpful person.  He is always available for advice, but lets me make decisions (and mistakes) on my own.  He doesn't like asking for help, but knows when he needs it.  And I suspect I got my stubborn streak from him, although that might have been passed down from both sides.  I couldn't have made it this far without him. 

Here's wishing all you dads a happy Father's Day!

~Anne

Summer Hiking Adventure Part 1

Despite Turtle River State Parks close proximity to Grand Forks, neither Mia or I had ever hiked its trails before.  So Sunday morning we made our peanut butter sandwiches, filled our water bottles, and set out on the 30 minute drive to Turtle River.  Once we arrived we started spraying ourselves down with sun screen and bug spray, but then tragedy struck.  We ran out of bug spray.  Let’s just say we will never leave on a hiking adventure without an extra can of bug spray, ever again. 

Since there was an almost constant swarm around Mia's head, we decided to hike as quickly as possibly in hopes of loosing the mosquitoes. While it didn't quite work, we did get a good work out hiking up and down slippery hills and hoping over a small stream that blocked the path.  We only stopped to take a few hurried photos and before we knew it we were back to the Lodge.

The itsy bitsy stream we had to cross- it was rough ;)

 

We saw a snapping turtle here!

Despite the mosquitoes it was a great hike, followed by a few hours relaxing on the deck and enjoying ice cream cake. Is there a better way to spend Sunday afternoon?

~Anne

What I love about North Dakota

 

I never have to run(or bike or rollerblade) up hills.

 

 

 

The low crime rate! Although that does translate to boring news paper articles.

 

Have you heard of "Minnesota Nice"?  The same thing seems to apply here in ND.  If you get stuck in a snow bank there will be at least 3 seperate people willing to help pull, dig, or push you out.

 

Sioux...I mean.. UND hockey is a celebrated event- even at work. Yes, I most definitely rocked a Sioux jersey with my dress pants and heels.

 

You can have the "Small town feel" and still live 4 minutes from a Target.  FYI- I couldn't live somewhere without a Target or similar one stop shopping place ever again.

You can build a snow man at any age.

The community here really comes together and is supportive. You need help sand bagging your house? Done.  Your school is holding a bake sale?  I can make sugar cookies and my neighbor will donate a pie and her sister makes awesome banana bread.  Your selling Pizza Corner to raise money for a class trip?  Put me down for 2 cheese and a pepperoni.  Your aunt is sick and you need help with the medical bills?  Lets plan a silent auction, 5K, or dinner to help cover costs- you know everyone will show up.

FYI Mia took this photo in April.

 

Winter in April! Or maybe not. -.-

 

But in all seriousness- This place isn't so bad.

 

~ Anne

Yoga Challenge Fail.

Judy, Mia, & I decided to create our own version of Olaf.

Well the world has conspired against me (dramatic much?) and I have already completely failed my Yoga challenge for april.  Last monday we had a blizzard.  That's right a blizzard on March 31st. And I don't mean a wussy little blizzard either.  Schools, stores, banks, basically everything was closed and we didn't even get out of our parking lot Tuesday morning until almost 10 AM.  This meant that yoga was cancelled for Tuesday.  Then on Thursday I was just plain lazy.  And today...A last minute work dinner was scheduled.  So I have done absolutely NO yoga in April. 

Surprisingly I am ok with it.  I'm not going to beat myself up because life got in the way.  Instead I have pushed back my challenge to start next week and finish mid-May.  This will bring me all the way up to my 10K on May 10th.  Hopefully life will be a little more understanding for the next month. :)

~Anne

Yoga Challenge

I made it through March without missing a single yoga session!  Now for a real challenge.  April's challenge will be going to yoga twice a week.  I noticed that yoga really helped curb the soreness in my calves and achilles tendons.  Now I can also, at least sometimes, touch the floor with more than the tips of my fingers!  It's the little things.  Hopefully yoga can help me up my mileage on the track and allow me to kick the Fargo 10k's behind in May.

~Anne

PS- my favorite day of Yoga so far- the day we did half hand stands, even when I thought I would fall on my face :)

A St.Paul Adventure

 

Many people would think it crazy to wake up at 4 AM to go to a hockey game.  Those people are obviously not pictured above.  My fiance and I woke up at 4 AM last saturday to drive the four and a half hours to St.Paul so we could see the Wild play the Red Wings.  Or maybe it was to spend the day with some of our closest friends.

 

Were we tired?  Absolutely.

 

Did we get lost in the Skyway system? Yes...

 

Did people stop to offer us directions? OF COURSE- this is Minnesota.

 

Did we drink beer and Irish wiskey? That shouldn't even be a question.

 

Were we dissapointed with our trip? No.

 

Despite the fact that the Wild lost, and Mia did a happy dance when they did- FYI she's a Red Wings fan, the game was close.  We met some new friends and goofed around with our old friends.  We ate and drank and sang songs from Frozen as we power walked between bars.  And yes, we are nerds.

 

~Anne