Happy New Year!

Hello and Happy New Year!

I am in the middle of a 3-day juice cleanse (1 more day to go!) and am mourning the Packers loss, so I thought I’d do a quick blog catch-up to kick off 2014 and distract myself from the lack of food in my life and the Facebook frenzy over football.

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(I think I will do a full blog post about the juice cleanse when I’m finished. I did a DIY juice cleanse using a blender last year, and I thought some people might be interested to hear about both experiences!)

I haven’t stopped in since the end of October, and a lot has happened since then!

SWEAT

I came off of my PR half marathon at the Monster Dash in St. Paul with a VERY lazy attitude about structured workouts, so there is pretty much nothing to share on that front. I have been fitting in some casual yoga, a few runs, and at-home dumbbell strength workouts here and there but no major mileage and sadly, less activity overall than I probably would have liked. If you haven’t heard, the Midwest is fah-reakin COLD right now and it’s looking like a miserable, long end of winter ahead. I’m resisting joining a gym because, well, $$$, and I received some very nice running clothes for Christmas so I’m resolving to make the best of it and learn to love running outdoors in spite of the cold.

Learning to man up about running in the elements is going to be very important in the months ahead because… oh god now it feels real… in December I decided to register for Grandma’s Marathon, which takes place in June in Duluth!!!! AHHHHHHH. Hold me.

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I am beyond scared to attempt my first marathon and I  have some goals in mind but they are definitely conservative. My lack of running lately and everything I’ve heard about the respect due to 20+ mile distances has me nervous! but I’m also soooo excited to take it on and step up my running a notch or two. Hopefully more blog posts to come throughout my training plan!

LIFE

In November…

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Froze my butt off cheering on the Badgers against the Gophers. The Minnesota-Wisconsin rivalry is so fun for me now that I live in Minnesota as a Badger fan AND my sister goes to the U and is a now a Gopher fan! Sorry it didn’t work out for ya this year, Goldy fans.

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I saw two concerts at First Ave with my friend Emily – we saw MGMT and Cults. For how much I love singing, dancing, and hair whipping my way through my favorite songs played live, I do NOT get out to live shows enough. Minneapolis has an amazing music scene and I was so excited to “bookend” a weekend with Friday/Monday shows with one of my best girls.

Brandon and I headed home for Thanksgiving, where I enjoyed my Dad’s amazing culinary expertise at our traditional Thanksgiving dinner, drank too much light beer, had some much-needed quality time with my family and very best friends, and even scored my highest-every bowling score (137! yeah!).

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We were able to fit in Brandon’s grandma’s wedding in St. Louis over the weekend. We were grateful we could make the trip, see his family, and help his Grandma have a special day. When December popped up right after Turkey Day was over, celebrating the holidays got into full swing with a holiday parties (a sparkly dress!!!), Christmas decorations, and gift shopping for friends and fam.

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I have to say, some years I can be a scrooge about the onslaught of Christmas music and over-the-top decorations, but this year Thanksgiving was so late and the winter cold came so early that I was more than ready for some festive cheer!

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TRAVEL

Brandon and I headed to our hometown for Christmas, where we usually divide and conquer to spend as much time with friends and family as possible while we are home. It is my grandpa and my mom’s birthday on Christmas Eve, so we squeezed the annual b-day celebrations in there as well! It was tough to call the holiday to a quick end with so many family and friends nearby, so much delicious food and drink, and the beautiful Christmas decorations surrounded by new snow, but we packed up the car and headed out on Christmas night for a post-holiday roadtrip.

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In my previous role at work (I am currently switching jobs at my same company), I had “required vacation” Christmas week. The way the holiday fell this year, I was planning to have 2 days off with nothing significant planned, so I pitched it to Brandon – why not ski? So we booked a last minute trip to Winter Park, CO the week before Christmas. The answer is always, “let’s go ski!”

We had a blast despite staying in the crappiest motel I’ve ever had the pleasure of sleeping in. Every time I visit somewhere near the mountains my breath is literally taken away by the beautiful views and expansive natural features.

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I went faster, steeper, and through more trees than I ever have before on skis, and it was a perfect opportunity to try out my present from Brandon this year – my very own ski boots <3 We were even graced with some fresh snow our 3rd day there!

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FOOD

Brandon and I celebrated New Year’s Eve at our good friends’ apartment with a really fun group. We did potluck-style appetizers/desserts/etc. and the spread was INSANE – I wish I had a picture! Chicken wings, taco dip, meatballs, veggie pizza, buffalo chicken dip…. so much good stuff. It was like a football tailgate but I was buzzing on champagne, what could be better?

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We danced, we played Guesstures, we kissed at midnight and then kept right on celebrating the next day with bloodies and lunch. I paired my burger-in-a-bloody with a delicious quinoa salad that I can’t wait to replicate at home – kicking off the new year with a little balance, just the way I like it!

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So, Happy New Year! 2014 is going to be a good one, I can just feel it.

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Have a great start to your week! Come back soon for a juice cleanse review!