Friday, December 31, 2010

A review of my 2010


Happy New Year's Eve to you all!!!  


My year has been pretty fantastic.  In terms of blogging, I have posted more blog posts in 2010 than in 2007-2009 combined.  I intend to keep it up for2011!

I have composed a list of highlights and favorite posts of 2010 (with links to the original posts):





January
Decided on a marathon:  26.2 with Donna The National Marathon to Finish Breast Cancer
We saw The Phantom of the Opera


February
 
Discovered Operation Beautiful
Discovered the deliciousness that are Green Monsters!

 
March
 
The ringing in my ear started (Not a highlight of the year, but it was a significant change in my life.  By the way, my right ear is still ringing, and the left rings on occasion as well.) [source]


April
 
I tried acupuncture


May
 
I won a print by an amazing artist, Rob Kaz.
As part of an experiment at work, we dug up pig bones.
5K PR!!


June
 
My little sister graduated from high school.
My niece turned two.
Saw the play Chicago.
Discovered Hot Yoga. [source]
Met an amazing woman.


July
 
Made it half-way through my 2010 goal  [source]
Got Vibrams.
Learned how to swim and breathe at the same time! [source]
   


August (by far my favorite month!)
 

Took my little sister skydiving.
Saw Jack Johnson in concert.
Went away for a romantic weekend and got engaged!!!


September 

Learned to paint
Celebrated my 29th birthday.


Had my I Love Lucy moment and put a check mark next to a bucket list item.





October
 

Discussed following my heart
My first run longer than a half marathon (15 miles) [source]
Celebrated Chris's 30th birthday


November
 
Celebrated my favorite holiday, Thanksgiving, with my future in-laws (o:


December
 
Passed my candidacy! [source]
Half marathon PR!
Discussed building new family traditions with Chris.
Completed 2010 goal by running at least 3 days for the entire 52 weeks of the year! (Check out my goal for 2011 here!) [source]

May 2011 bring many more happy memories!



Second Christmas and 52 out of 52 weeks!

Chris and I drove four hours from his parent's house to my mom's house.  We spent a few days with my family, which was wonderful and hard to leave.  My niece is absolutely adorable!!!  And it was great to see my sister (my niece's mom), Renee.  Unfortunately, my youngest sister, Clara, was having a rough holiday since she and her fiance broke-up, so I do not have many pictures of her.  And I only got to see my brother, Robert, for a few minutes since he went out of town.  But it was still really great to see my family, because I do not see them often enough.  On a cute note, my little niece is in the process of potty training.  She also loves our kitties who are visiting.  She announced to the kitties last night, "Look kitties, I went to the potty!"  It was pretty adorable!  Here are some pictures from this trip.
 
 
What I read in the car when I found....
Tina from Faith, Fitness Fun!  So cool!
Renee and Joy
Joy and her grandma, my mommy
Giving Uncle Chris a hug
She loved her new bubble machine from Uncle Chris and Aunt Jes
What happened to my little brother, Robert?  He used to be my arm rest!
Mom's awesome new throw
Myself, Renee, my step mom Kathy, and my little brother, Robert
Me and Clara.  We could not get a good picture that night.
Joy's school picture.  Beautiful!
Awesome giant pen from mom!
Sweet!  I can't wait to try it out.

Ornaments from mom.  The shells are to symbolize our engagement on the beach.
A sweatshirt from my sister, Renee.
A beautiful picture my mom made for us.
 


My last three runs for the year were nothing spectacular and were all consecutive days.  In fact, two out of the three runs really sucked in regards to feeling low in energy and/or sore.  The first run was a solo run on our last morning visiting Chris's family where I did 3 miles in 32:21.  I had to walk several times.  The second run was while visiting my mom, and that was with Chris.  We did 3 miles in 30:41 which included a couple short walk breaks.  The last was this evening with Chris right after we came home to Orlando, and for me it was the best out of the three runs.  We did 3 miles in 27:54; although, my left hip was a bit sore during that run.  I'm going to take a few days off.

My goal for the year was to see how many weeks out of the year I could run a minimum of 3 days.  As of this evening, I have officially run at least three days a week for 52 out of the 52 weeks of the year!  This first half of the year I ran at least 2 miles for each of those runs, and the second half of the year I ran at least 3 miles.  As silly as it sounds, I am so proud of myself! 

For those who follow me through Reader, I have added a few new elements to my blog.  I have tabs for "My Story", "My Furry Babies", "Race Recaps", and "2011 Goals".

Chris and I are enjoying a quite evening at home.  Growing up, my sister and I used to go to my our next door neighbors' house (also the home of our best friends... mine being my friend Clare), and we would cook breakfast at midnight and watch Carrot Top on TV.  So tonight I decided to make a breakfast casserole that is similar to a dish my dad used to make.  We are also having fresh fruit; although, we are eating earlier than midnight.  We also bought some of our favorite champagne to bring in the New Year.  New Year's Eve happens to make the anniversary of our first I love you.  Awww. (o;

Also, Happy 69th Birthday to Chris's dad on January 1st!!  He was a New Year's baby!

I hope that you all have a safe and happy New Year's Eve!  I also hope that 2011 is even better than 2010!