Category: Fun and Nonsense

A Beautiful Occassion

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Over the weekend, I had the honor of being a part of one of my best friend’s wedding. We’ve known each other since kindergarten (almost 20 years!) It was a wonderful time, and the weather couldn’t have been better. We started the day at Revelations for mimosas and girl time, then headed to St. Mary’s in Avon. The ceremony was beautiful, and tears were kept to a minimum. We headed to Edgewater Park for pictures afterward, and had the perfect view of Cleveland. The reception was held at Wagner’s where we danced the night away. I wish you the very best Marissa and Dave, happy honeymoon!

Mr. & Mrs.

Best of friends

#marchphotoaday recap

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Throughout the month of March I participated in the March photo a day challenge on instagram. I really enjoyed being creative and finding pictures to take everyday. Some of the words were easy, some were hard and some were just not something I wanted to find (one of the days was “trash”). I only missed three days, not bad. Here are my favorite pictures from the month…

Vermilion Lighthouse

Word: smile. Lighthouses make me smile.

Little Ralphie

Word: Animal. My wild little animal.

Country roads

Words: Where you relax. Running on the country roads in Wooster.

I had so much fun this month, I decided to do it again in April. I’ll be traveling every weekend, so I’m excited to see what kind of photos I can find while I’m out of town. So here’s the challenge:

If you want to see all of my challenge photos, just look me up! “Masher52”

Growing Up

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It’s time for my blog to change, grow and become something that I hope will be better than ever. I missed my first blogiversary (remind me next January 5th) but now I’m looking at what amazing things I can add in year two. The main focus for my blog has been and will be my running. But hearing about the miles I run, or the races I tell myself I’m going to do can become repetitive. So I’ve come up with a few ideas on ways to expand my blog….

  • Featured bloggers
  • Giveaways
  • A to Z April Challenge
  • Favorite places
  • Weekly recipe
  • #marchphotoaday (mostly for instagram)
Obviously nothing is set in stone, but I do want to see what else my blog has to offer.
After seeing cute photo’s that Kimi has posted, I decided I had to get in on this fun. So I did a little research and found the photo a day challenge for instagram. I’m excited to try it out for the month of March. I won’t post every photo on here, but you can see them on Twitter. If you’re interested in doing it too, here’s what you’ll need to do.
So now that I have some ideas on making this a better blog, what do you think?  What should I add to my blog??

Happy Valen-versary!

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This past weekend was a pretty fun one. The fact that Valentine’s Day fell on a week day and the hour distance made it a little hard for Darren and I to get together. We also have our anniversary coming up in a week, but someone decided they wanted to go snowboarding in Colorado that weekend (hint: not me) So we celebrated both Valentine’s Day and our anniversary this weekend.

We started Saturday with a trip to the new Greater Cleveland Aquarium. It was super busy, we had to wait an hour in line just to get our tickets. The structure was absolutely amazing and I loved seeing all of the sea creatures. It is definitely a place for those of you who have kids, they will love it.

My favorite

Check out those teeth!

“Can I swim with him?”

After the aquarium we headed to the IX Center for the Cleveland Golf Show. This part of the day was purely for Darren, I still don’t think I understand golf any better than before. But he had fun, and I was content after I found a giant glass of wine to keep me company.

“Look how good I am”

After a long day we headed to Nemo Grille, absolutely amazing. This is defitenly a date night restaurant, and everything on the menu is superb!

Yumm…Salmon 🙂

It was a fantastic weekend, tons of fun on our day dates, an amazing dinner and exchange of a few gifts. I’d say I’m pretty lucky 🙂

Just a few things

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While I’m in Canada, I wanted to fill you in a few fun things.

This past weekend we hit the slopes to enjoy the most recent snow storm. Last year I tried snowboarding and after remembering my large amount of falls, I wanted to try something easier and safer. So I decided that I’d spend a few hours skiing. I’ve never done downhill, but I grew up doing cross-country skiing, so I felt I kind of had an idea of what I was doing (not really). I took the beginners lesson so I wouldn’t completely embarrass myself. I definitely learned the basics and felt comfortable going down the easy hills. However, an 8-year-old in the group showed me up and was better than me the first time down, he also didn’t believe that I was in my mid-20’s so I had lost all faith from him. I spent a couple of hours on the easy slopes until Darren tricked me to try a harder one. Sorry buddy, it wasn’t easy and I pretty much had a panic attack on the top of the mountain.

Notice the harder hill I was tricked into

Somehow I made it down, secretly proud of myself that I could do it after just a few hours of learning, but didn’t want to try it again that day. I plan on going a few more times this year, and eventually investing in making it my winter sport. Of course nothing compares to running.

Skiing 101= Survival

Next up, I’m running Cleveland Half for a reason. I’ve decided that the Cleveland Half marathon will be dedicated to running for Team JDRF, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. My goal is to raise $500 by Cleveland to help support those who are looking to cure this disease. No surprise, the reason I’m doing this is for Darren, who was diagnosed with Diabetes when he was just 3 years old. I appreciate any donations and encourage you to learn more about Diabetes.

The final and maybe most exciting thing is….there are 3 more days until Columbus registration opens up! I haven’t even started training or planning for this, but I’m already getting excited, I can’t help but get goose bumps every time I think about it. 2012 is the year of races!

Show me what you got

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2011 was pretty awesome, but I hope 2012 can be even better. I’ve made goals and plans and hopes for the next year. Of course these will change as the year goes on, but I think I can take on anything that comes my way. Here’s my goals and plans for the next year!

Goals

  • Run a PR for the half marathon
  • Run a full marathon (I’m taking the plunge!!)
  • Run four half marathons in four new states
  • Run seven half marathons
  • Travel!
  • Volunteer at races
  • Try a duathlon
  • Raise and donate money for the American Diabetes Association
  • Learn German
  • Learn to cook…no more pasta diet

Plans

  • Vegas, Toronto, Dallas, Chicago, Long Beach-Work trips!
  • Colorado, Indiana, Maine, Nashville-Running trips!
  • CLE Half, round 2!
  • Columbus Full Marathon, yes that’s 26.2 miles!

So far a lot of traveling, but I’m looking forward to every trip. And like I said, I’m sure more will be added, but I’d say I have some pretty exciting things to look forward to!

What are your goals or plans for 2012?

Year in Review

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Here it is almost 2012, and looking back at 2011, it was an amazing year. So much happened to help me grow, discover new possibilities and create new challenges for the future. I’ve learned so much and I can only hope to do so much in the next year to make it just as great. Here’s my 2011:

  • I tried snowboarding for the first time and I am no pro
  • Packers won the Super Bowl!!
  • I traveled to Arizona for the first time, Phoenix is amazing!
  • I ran my first half marathon! CLE!
  • I vacationed in North Carolina, and added another lighthouse to my list
  • I got a new job! Which I love, btw.
  • I moved into a new apartment, it’s fabulous 🙂
  • I went to the Packers/Browns pre season game. Finally saw the pack in action
  • I traveled to California for the first time, not my state, but fun to visit
  • I ran a relay race, Muskies Party of 5 dominated Akron
  • I ran four half marathons this year! Not bad for a beginner
  • Got my passport. Now I can really travel
  • I got my MBA! Best accomplishment of my life

I honestly can’t believe how crazy this past year has been. I can’t wait for 2012. Happy New Year everyone!

What was your favorite memory of 2011?

Straight down that country road

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As much as I love the west side, I spend many weekends in the city of Wooster. Most people think that Wooster is just a small town in the middle of no where. Well, you’re right. But it also has a lot to offer. Passing through on 83 you’ll see the regular franchises, McDonald’s, Starbucks, Red Lobster, etc. But if you take time to go down town, to the old down town, you’ll find another part of Wooster that comes alive on the weekends. Fall, winter and spring bring out all the college students, but they aren’t too much of a bother. So if you happen to pass Wooster any time, here are a few places I definitely suggest!

The Faithful Little Cupcake: I just found this little gem over the weekend, but I happen to love cupcakes so I was quite alright with it. They offer 12 fresh flavors each day and they’re all hard to resist. Not only do they have cupcakes, but they have cakes of all sizes and flavors. Best thing about the shop, they have cupcakes all day, and don’t run out as soon as they open!

City Square Steakhouse: This is a two for one. The steakhouse is a great place for dinner, expensive dinner. But it is well worth every penny. They also have a great bar with a huge TV for all you sport fans. It’s a classy place to go for drinks after dinner out on the town.

SoMar Wine Cellars: A newer place to Wooster, SoMar has every kind of wine that you could possibly think of. Choose from either inside or outside seating, comfy couches or curl up next to the fireplace. They also have local artists that come in and play on the weekends. It was definitely perfect for those cool summer nights.

Broken Rocks Cafe: This is my absolute favorite place. They have the best pasta, and best drinks. Hello carb load! Not to mention it’s a great atmosphere. They even have a private room in the back if you’re looking to have a party.

Of course there are other great places in Wooster to check out, but these are my top favorites!

A Win for the Buckeyes

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The Friday before Labor Day we received free tickets to the OSU game. While it seemed like an exciting thing, and of course you can never turn down free tickets, neither of us really wanted to head down to Columbus for the long weekend. But we did anyway. I’ve never been up so early for a football game. We were up and down to the tailgating spot by 10:00, which they said was late compared to usual.

Ready to go!

I’d say it wasn’t ideal weather. It was about 95 but felt like 100+. And I’d felt a little off all week, so the heat definitely wasn’t making me feel any better. But it was great to see the Buckeyes play for the first time. And they won so that was a bonus…..Here’s to football season!

A little slice of Heaven

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A few weeks ago we headed to Indian Lake for a small weekend getaway. My grandma owns a house, so it’s a nice way to get together to see family and spend some time away from the city. If you’ve never been there, it’s a great place to go. It has a community feel and everything you need is close by. Growing up within minutes of Lake Erie, this was always a nice treat to have a small change of scenery. Not to mention, I spent many summers fishing on the banks of the lake with my grandparents.

I highly recommend taking the drive to the other side of the state just for Indian Lake. And this is why:

  • It’s in the middle of no where, which at times is absolutely great
  • Fishing, boating and swimming are things you can spend all weekend doing
  • Cranberry’s Resort, great food, great drinks, and usually some live entertainment.
  • Froggy’s is a restaurant/bar on the opposite side of the lake. Better yet, it has a pool with a swim up bar.
  • Both sides of my family grew up near the lake, these are my roots

Pretty nice to wake up to