tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2986795311964592592024-03-19T01:48:42.787-07:00Gretch Runsa running and lifestyle blogGretchen Braunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07790068777611696356noreply@blogger.comBlogger978125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-298679531196459259.post-8354204489757777582024-02-03T08:13:00.000-08:002024-02-03T08:13:24.468-08:00January Goal Update<p>January was such a busy month- not only did I pack my schedule full of social activities (3 book club meetings; hosted a "board" party, a progressive dinner party with my neighbors, dry January non-alcoholic beer taste test, a movie night, and a game night; brewery yoga; Bunco holiday party) but I also had 3 releases for work that made me work nights and weekends, as well as a new project that made me travel in to Pittsburgh for a week! To say it was hectic is an understatement, and February is going to be even more busy!</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiexSiZwYTJRTyGXVzEKAUmIQHQjWScOCMwpaeA9E6pOi78G-v8q3VdBVdpk1DNvRTfEFPV2JZwI06dNDQkBzvGGnE1faPnqgPwn5tCx9B6xD5a2G_jNPQHQjqSbgO4oZAhyphenhyphenRA4ojguNhHp-vmOcUJsHq92-ffwjYqN9Aenu2SM_Kbt4Yt99nRyWYGT-kLA/s4032/IMG_3093.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiexSiZwYTJRTyGXVzEKAUmIQHQjWScOCMwpaeA9E6pOi78G-v8q3VdBVdpk1DNvRTfEFPV2JZwI06dNDQkBzvGGnE1faPnqgPwn5tCx9B6xD5a2G_jNPQHQjqSbgO4oZAhyphenhyphenRA4ojguNhHp-vmOcUJsHq92-ffwjYqN9Aenu2SM_Kbt4Yt99nRyWYGT-kLA/w480-h640/IMG_3093.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br />One of the highlights of my month that I talked about above was a neighborhood progressive dinner party. This was an idea a friend posted about and I shared with my neighbors a year ago- we finally made it happen! The way we made it work was that each course of the dinner was hosted at a different person's house. We started with cocktail hour at Wanda's house, then moved to my house for appetizers, went next door to AL's for the main course, then Kelly's for dessert and after-dinner drinks. It was SO much fun, and a great way to spend lots of quality time with the people we see daily!<p></p><p><br /></p><p>Now, let's get to a round up of how my 2024 goals are going. I'll just be sharing goals that were completed that month (or made progress for longer-term goals). Here's a quick visual of what my goals look like after January:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKKhKGpRF-ugeoG9YS3C5NFNnp0m5VE7c_2Q8eDQyebe4EgYk-qB8iHAC7jJZZFfkEubJytTGYCZLwrNqGIrZbXepqRi-GJhkM9_1KdlwfwMiIFE4ZZJK9BWZY5osOQejAb36Aeu2dYXS-f3bjFoT0C4vFRqiJ8tmowRDK5ErFWZWKPwV00c9ErUQu5V-h/s1920/Book%20now%20(1).png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1080" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKKhKGpRF-ugeoG9YS3C5NFNnp0m5VE7c_2Q8eDQyebe4EgYk-qB8iHAC7jJZZFfkEubJytTGYCZLwrNqGIrZbXepqRi-GJhkM9_1KdlwfwMiIFE4ZZJK9BWZY5osOQejAb36Aeu2dYXS-f3bjFoT0C4vFRqiJ8tmowRDK5ErFWZWKPwV00c9ErUQu5V-h/w360-h640/Book%20now%20(1).png" width="360" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>Let's get into it!<br /><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: center;">Fitness</h2><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFNbZuaL0Qm3l8lhpejMkrOdhLd3p-LieydI7n6iCECZsXs4XVPU7_yOEAlHcGSUDszp38NJKOupvKAXW-Fb6iA6kfabitJPkzsdvRb2y3pzM0yYxtrKj_QFLPWfamCGxJPMdceLoZWPaDeYBMRg20D2bpvhjigQkk08Iwz3J2riJ0ppuTZzJNmxL7tON7/s4624/PXL_20240128_170258102.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4624" data-original-width="3472" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFNbZuaL0Qm3l8lhpejMkrOdhLd3p-LieydI7n6iCECZsXs4XVPU7_yOEAlHcGSUDszp38NJKOupvKAXW-Fb6iA6kfabitJPkzsdvRb2y3pzM0yYxtrKj_QFLPWfamCGxJPMdceLoZWPaDeYBMRg20D2bpvhjigQkk08Iwz3J2riJ0ppuTZzJNmxL7tON7/w480-h640/PXL_20240128_170258102.jpg" width="480" /></a></b></div><b><br />Month of yoga.</b> I finished Yoga with Adriene's 30 days of yoga, and (spoiler alert) I'm still going! It's been a nice daily activity and makes me feel amazing.<p></p><p><b>ANNUAL GOAL: Try a new class each month. </b>In January I actually tried two new classes- Interval Training and rock climbing! It was really fun trying these and I liked both of them. I've been rock climbing a lot, and even got my own gear! The gym I go to also has yoga and other classes so I've been trying those out as well.</p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: center;">Personal</h2><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPlAjRballqGrZ4Iu86FpnnIqPGR7JOTacvGRTSpBY5RKNNPO62zHR9RAsaWHI3AemJuJDLxJV_xycj3md5ZSBO3TZy-otD0AgWxvBd9Wb49P8z831W7CQgRwSFBiGJCmkm1kkScLuJn5AnR9cxFyYqaZa3_MdK_1TKEZroDRNDDQziqaBjtjU4yguB3s9/s4032/IMG_2674.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPlAjRballqGrZ4Iu86FpnnIqPGR7JOTacvGRTSpBY5RKNNPO62zHR9RAsaWHI3AemJuJDLxJV_xycj3md5ZSBO3TZy-otD0AgWxvBd9Wb49P8z831W7CQgRwSFBiGJCmkm1kkScLuJn5AnR9cxFyYqaZa3_MdK_1TKEZroDRNDDQziqaBjtjU4yguB3s9/w480-h640/IMG_2674.HEIC" width="480" /></a></b></div><b><br />Learn a new language. </b>I have been working on this! I came up with a plan to actually make this a "measurable" goal- for the first 6 months of the year I want to do a daily duolingo lesson, and once a week listen to Coffee Break Italian. After June, I'm hoping to feel comfortable enough to do some kind of language exchange and practice a bit more with a real person!<p></p><p><b>Catch up on scrapbooks. </b>I finished my Belgium scrapbook, so I still have quite a few to go but made a little progress.</p><p><b>Volunteer. </b>I found a really cool opportunity to volunteer and started this month! There's a library in Charlotte, NC that is creating a "living archive" of interviews with residents talking about their experience with Covid and how it affected them. My job is to listen to it and make corrections to the AI generated transcription. It's been so interesting to hear the stories of the diverse group of people that are interviewed, and I'm really enjoying it. There's going to be a big event for the exhibit in June, so I'm excited to see what everything looks like when it's complete.</p><p><b>Meal plan/prep weekly. </b>I have been working on being better about this- I've made a meal plan every week and stuck to it which helps a lot, but haven't done as much meal prep. This month is full of a ton of travel so this might be an off month from this goal which is fine!</p><p><b>ANNUAL GOAL: Phone free day monthly. </b>I didn't do a full phone-free day, but did have a few days with no social media. That counts, right?</p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><h2 style="text-align: center;">Family</h2><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlBJAkLop_HkQaCnDX_o4No-oinHlrOFzfNPPNocgERPmSVPXwa_Xj5-GuflDqf-A-D8b41nDDrO12fIZA9XpueRLZF6crQ5zbaFCOueMEpUNary4xUjNI_kshJFMoMzbvPe2Ghk3PxCrSSsJIzLwA4_CwF1VMjrfD5i2nyOyi-XVMnI5RR_yEghJkJICV/s4032/IMG_2863.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlBJAkLop_HkQaCnDX_o4No-oinHlrOFzfNPPNocgERPmSVPXwa_Xj5-GuflDqf-A-D8b41nDDrO12fIZA9XpueRLZF6crQ5zbaFCOueMEpUNary4xUjNI_kshJFMoMzbvPe2Ghk3PxCrSSsJIzLwA4_CwF1VMjrfD5i2nyOyi-XVMnI5RR_yEghJkJICV/w480-h640/IMG_2863.HEIC" width="480" /></a></b></div><b><br />Deep clean entire house. </b>This month I deep cleaned my bathroom! One room down, many to go.<p></p><p><b>ANNUAL GOAL: Date night every month</b>. I wrote down 12 different date night ideas, and for January we pulled movie night! For this one, we went to Cary Theatre, which is a smaller theatre that mostly does indie or older movies. We saw Lost in Translation, and it was so fun! Afterwards we took a stroll around the new Downtown Cary park, got some coffee, and had a great day.</p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><h2 style="text-align: center;">Fun</h2><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZU44LGaZLtxUjr4IX6XfAouDeYXRT3tX2wX4hsPDWbe_5Pka7e6AvGhwIJ4_UAwb87A91nFPJdzQeaF6DJ5GSLrUbzRpiHl-8x5El4RZixVjpb_9yw0fGT9KIxXLFk5XlyQCqmv8PGdZZJqnWVxtGsQyfB3dtzBB4K8NJ42zYSTkVBm7Q9LzVqUYas9sN/s4032/IMG_2897.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZU44LGaZLtxUjr4IX6XfAouDeYXRT3tX2wX4hsPDWbe_5Pka7e6AvGhwIJ4_UAwb87A91nFPJdzQeaF6DJ5GSLrUbzRpiHl-8x5El4RZixVjpb_9yw0fGT9KIxXLFk5XlyQCqmv8PGdZZJqnWVxtGsQyfB3dtzBB4K8NJ42zYSTkVBm7Q9LzVqUYas9sN/w480-h640/IMG_2897.HEIC" width="480" /></a></b></div><b><br />Read best fiction of 2023. </b>So far I've read 3 of the top 10 books on the best fiction list from Goodreads - Yellowface and The Five Star Weekend were both read last year, and this month I read Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano. I liked the book but didn't love it.<p></p><p><b>ANNUAL GOAL: Monthly cooking challenge. </b>This month I borrowed Chetna's 30 minute Indian Cookbook and tried out the beany stew, chili and cheddar naan, cucumber raita, and spinach kofta with creamy almond-oinion curry.</p>Gretchen Braunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07790068777611696356noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-298679531196459259.post-7154223409962710732024-01-09T10:51:00.000-08:002024-01-09T10:51:54.397-08:002024 Goals!<p>We are officially one week into the new year, and today I’ll be sharing my goals! This is probably more exciting to me than any other post that I create in a year. I absolutely love making goals for myself (in fact, every week I sit down and make a list for the week and love to check each item off). This year I decided to do something different than usual. I keep seeing people doing 24 for 2024 lists since it’s such a nice and even number and breaks down to 2 per month, so that’s what I decided to base my goals on this year. I broke them down into four different areas, and tried to make 5 regular goals for each area as well as one year-long goal. Let’s get into the goals!</p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSvK0meU21gcVYm94sXUBoMkOWG9wcsRWUFoBkB2DMMJXLRijbBT55kYTiJxoABVVdt9N3Yx5CmWq8mu7R5s2tA6ORiR0cIbHsfk2RKVVTCami_sRjO3boIU0lRTmgorwOGXXBBLkNuDlT4OoAeR-RpnhaEE9VCnhqdW4JJapMiE9jAUm_YEHCAvpqwxXG/s1920/Book%20now.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1920" data-original-width="1080" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSvK0meU21gcVYm94sXUBoMkOWG9wcsRWUFoBkB2DMMJXLRijbBT55kYTiJxoABVVdt9N3Yx5CmWq8mu7R5s2tA6ORiR0cIbHsfk2RKVVTCami_sRjO3boIU0lRTmgorwOGXXBBLkNuDlT4OoAeR-RpnhaEE9VCnhqdW4JJapMiE9jAUm_YEHCAvpqwxXG/w360-h640/Book%20now.png" width="360" /></a></div><p></p><h2 style="text-align: center;"><br /></h2><h2 style="text-align: center;">Fitness</h2><p><b>Run a trail race.</b> I love to run trails and don’t get out nearly enough, so my goal this year is to make that happen. One way to force myself is by signing up for a trail race (hopefully more than one!). I already found a half marathon in May, so that will be my goal. I’m also looking for a few others so I’m excited to work on this and get out on trails more.</p><p><b>International triathlon. </b>I’ve really enjoyed doing triathlons the past two years, and this year I want to step it up by moving from the sprint to international. This doubles all of the distances (1500m ish swim, 25 mile ish bike, 10k run). The hard thing with this one will be timing, so I hope it’ll work out! Otherwise, my goal will be to beat my times from last year in all the races I do this year!</p><p><b>Bike the entire Neuse River trail.</b> Last year I made it a goal to bike the American Tobacco Trail, and now I’m going east of Raleigh to do the Neuse River Trail. This is about 28 miles from Wake Forest to Clayton. It should definitely be doable so I’m looking forward to doing this.</p><p><b>Month of yoga.</b> This should be an easy goal to cross off because I always do Yoga with Adriene’s 30 days of yoga challenge in January! I’m already in it and will make sure to cross this one off in January.</p><p><b>Day hike. </b>I want to get out on more hikes this year and do longer ones, so I’m going to try to do a day-long hike (which I’ll consider something over 10 miles).</p><p><b>ANNUAL GOAL: Try a new class each month. </b>I want to get out more and try new classes and studios, so I’ll work on getting out for one new (to me) class every month.</p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: center;">Personal</h2><p><b>Learn a new language. </b>I will talk more about this goal in the upcoming months (there's a particular reason why I'm doing this but I don't want to share anything until things are more certain!) but I want to focus on learning a new language this year. I already know Spanish decently, but I'm going to try to learn Italian! To make this more of a SMART goal, I'm going to do a Duolingo lesson every day and listen to Coffee Break Italian at least once a week. Later in the year I want to try to find actual language exchanges so I can practice.</p><p><b>Monitize hobbies. </b>I absolutely love to paint and crochet, and I would really like to be able to monitize it a bit. Right now I do a lot of free gifts for friends and family which I enjoy, but I want to see if other people would actually buy my stuff. I have a few ideas for making this happen and I'm both nervous and excited to give it a go.</p><p><b>Catch up on scrapbooks. </b>I'm so bad about keeping up with scrapbooks (I do them for every international trip that we go on). I'm one trip behind right now, so I want to be all caught up by the end of the year, which would include any trips I go on this year!</p><p><b>Volunteer. </b>I used to volunteer back in Pittsburgh and loved it, so I want to find something local to do regularly. I found one opportunity but it's a one-day event, so I want to find something I can do on a monthly (or more!) basis.</p><p><b>Meal plan/prep weekly. </b>I really enjoy meal planning and prepping and it makes the week so much easier, but I've gotten really lazy about it lately! I want to get back on track and at least plan some meals for the week every week.</p><p><b>ANNUAL GOAL: Phone free day monthly. </b>I'm really bad about being on my phone too much, so I want to start doing one day with no phone and also cut back on social media on the weekends.</p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><h2 style="text-align: center;">Family</h2><p><b>Make a budget. </b>Going along with my meal planning goal, I want to be better about my finances this year! When I don't make a plan for the store I end up over-spending and have to go back multiple times. So, I'm going to track my spending in January and then try to create a realistic but tougher budget to hit each month. I also want to cut back on other frivolous spending as well and save more money this year.</p><p><b>Go on a backpacking trip. </b>I enjoyed backpacking last year, so I want to go again this year! </p><p><b>Declutter challenge. </b>I hate clutter, so I'll be finding a fun challenge to get me to go through each room and get rid of the junk...</p><p><b>Deep clean entire house. </b>... which will also help me to really deep clean the entire house!</p><p><b>Organize garage</b>. Our garage got completely in disarray with our bathroom project, so I want to get it organized again and utilize the space we have a lot better. </p><p><b>ANNUAL GOAL: Date night every month</b>. I'm really excited about this one! I saw a couple on TikTok that wrote down unique and fun date night ideas and pulls one once a week, so I decided to give that a go. Dan and I have been together for so long that we don't really put a lot of effort into making fun date nights so I thought this would be a really great challenge to do more things together.</p><p><b><br /></b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><h2 style="text-align: center;">Fun</h2><p><b>Beach day trip. </b>Easy goal- I live close to the beach and want to do a day trip! A lot of my friends do this a lot and for some reason I just haven't yet. </p><p><b>Spa day</b>. We all deserve some pampering..right?!</p><p><b>Outdoor concert. </b>There are a lot of really cool outdoor venues in the Triangle, and I haven't been to any! I want to change that this year and find a fun show to go to.</p><p><b>Read best fiction of 2023. </b>I decided to change up my reading goal this year, and instead of reading all of the winners of Goodreads Best Books of the year, I want to read the <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/choiceawards/best-fiction-books-2023" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">top 10 fiction books</a>. </p><p><b>Attend a local festival. </b>There are so many fun festivals going on around me, particularly in the summer, so I want to go to more of them this year. My goal is only one, but I would love to go to as many as possible.</p><p><b>ANNUAL GOAL: Monthly cooking challenge. </b>I did this goal a few years ago and really enjoyed it, so I thought I would bring it back this year. Each month, I'll find a cookbook at the library for a different type of cuisine and make a meal from it. I like to try different types of food and also visit new grocery stores to find specialized ingredients, so this should be a fun (and delicious) one.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>What are some of your goals this year?</b></p>Gretchen Braunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07790068777611696356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-298679531196459259.post-87911154821309989572024-01-02T07:02:00.000-08:002024-01-02T07:02:37.325-08:002023 Year in Review<p>Can you believe it's the end of the year? In some ways this felt like the fastest year ever, and in other ways it dragged. I'm looking forward to 2024 for a number of reasons (and will share some of my goals and plans for the year in another post) but for now I'm excited to recap 2023! I'll be sharing how my goals went, as well as some highlights and favorites.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwR1Lx3xcR7ZOvuqmVYgclQTvBdHdSHBMfF4ovcFJkvl1BZfvdJ0xryqq4BthahCLHPLeJQvDXO76jdWEViyHUiC0x0XU6alpHjYyMusOIg9_babhKVR4ZoZrO8Vc9R0oQTN1KliF6DGb3vFLn4RlQc66Ug-KR7VbNRezYToygDhyr-ZcPuOXnqjUbmm7v/s4032/IMG_7584.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwR1Lx3xcR7ZOvuqmVYgclQTvBdHdSHBMfF4ovcFJkvl1BZfvdJ0xryqq4BthahCLHPLeJQvDXO76jdWEViyHUiC0x0XU6alpHjYyMusOIg9_babhKVR4ZoZrO8Vc9R0oQTN1KliF6DGb3vFLn4RlQc66Ug-KR7VbNRezYToygDhyr-ZcPuOXnqjUbmm7v/w480-h640/IMG_7584.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: center;">Annual Goals</h2><div><h2 style="color: #575757; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; text-align: center;">Korean Vegan Cookbook</h2><div style="color: #575757; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">I started this really well at the start of the year, and it kind of trailed off towards the end. Going back into the office, working on house projects, and general winter laziness made me get way worse at meal planning, so I didn't finish up this goal. But- I did try a ton of new recipes from this cookbook and I'm excited to keep trying it when I get back into the groove of meal planning! My favorite recipe that I tried was the Curried Tteokbokki skewers from <a href="http://www.gretchruns.com/2023/07/june-highlights-and-goals.html" target="_blank">June</a> - they were so flavorful and unlike anything I've ever made or tried before.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div style="color: #575757; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><br /></div><h2 style="color: #575757; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; text-align: center;">Temperature blanket</h2><div style="color: #575757; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><div>This was a fun project to work on all year and got me really into crochet. I'm glad that I do it, but also understand why people don't recommend that you do it! For one thing- you use up so much yarn, and it's impossible to know how much you'll need ahead of time. So, I would run out of colors and have to make too many trips to the store (and towards the end the colors were just a little bit off since they use different dye lots throughout the year). Also- it gets kind of boring after a while! I did two different stitches- alternating each month- and it just got very repetitive and boring. I would put it off for weeks and then catch up in one day. </div><div><br /></div><div>On the other hand, I loved always having a project to work on if I wanted to do something but didn't want to think too hard. I also love how it looks- the colors are so cool together. It's such a cozy blanket that Selma and I both love!</div><div><br /></div><div>Here are some stats for the entire year-</div><div>- The blanket ended up being over 9 feet long.</div><div>- I used a total of 6 colors.</div><div>- The highest daily temperature was 97 on July 27, August 25, and September 6 and the lowest was 42 on March 12. I ended up not using one color at all (purple), because it was for temperatures 39 and below. It also never got above 100 which was crazy to me!</div><div>- My most-used color was yellow, which was for temperatures between 80-89 degrees. I used this 92 times! My least-used was cobalt, for 40-49, and was only used 15 times. </div><div><br /></div><div>And for the final reveal- here's my blanket!</div></div><div style="color: #575757; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf0qdQE6ARahWulV226aPKRE2DT6gmzNPh2oodcczDrU6W8uLNEEE7TDqgw1eEV5pYYrLVWdpYXSLcQN8iH7T0YZFGC_vGADNfOskPu6Sio4pZLKU0KnaGShjSO1pRWrf1UMR0beLF_ikOJa2eU9CHb3fJeslxxtEdjRP5So-4qW4cWYZEleIfVvvaYhiA/s640/IMG_2645.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf0qdQE6ARahWulV226aPKRE2DT6gmzNPh2oodcczDrU6W8uLNEEE7TDqgw1eEV5pYYrLVWdpYXSLcQN8iH7T0YZFGC_vGADNfOskPu6Sio4pZLKU0KnaGShjSO1pRWrf1UMR0beLF_ikOJa2eU9CHb3fJeslxxtEdjRP5So-4qW4cWYZEleIfVvvaYhiA/w480-h640/IMG_2645.jpg" width="480" /></a></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #575757; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #575757; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; text-align: center;"><br /></div><h2 style="color: #575757; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; text-align: center;">Hike 100 Miles + Check Out 10 New Parks</h2><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyyG9f9zPZlbWXm5YEYfLAStYaz_bmffAPRTEUrL2oiKYd73VNRa36Dd1X6VUwQgqlhNRV_zV_ZjwXuxPijIgDhPN51ixvsrNYHtBbxETrkQpiwBbdLDUvB82Raj_VLxlOMKmXP8S4OPhlXpZDjJCmNlH6PtFemdNQOCMEZY94SeFDrfZENt51jbra7Jt0/s4032/FullSizeRender.heic" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyyG9f9zPZlbWXm5YEYfLAStYaz_bmffAPRTEUrL2oiKYd73VNRa36Dd1X6VUwQgqlhNRV_zV_ZjwXuxPijIgDhPN51ixvsrNYHtBbxETrkQpiwBbdLDUvB82Raj_VLxlOMKmXP8S4OPhlXpZDjJCmNlH6PtFemdNQOCMEZY94SeFDrfZENt51jbra7Jt0/w640-h360/FullSizeRender.heic" width="640" /></a></div><br />I ended up hitting 121 miles for the year! I wish I kept track towards the end because I would have made myself hit 125, but I'm really happy with that number. I also went to way over 10 new parks (I stopped counting once I hit 10) but my favorite (local park) was Grandfather Mountain. I went for a backpacking trip and it was so beautiful and not too far away! I definitely want to go back sometime soon.</div><div style="color: #575757; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><br /></div><div style="color: #575757; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><br /></div><h2 style="color: #575757; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; text-align: center;">Read the Goodreads Best Books</h2><div style="color: #575757; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibryXpDFA-gZUvEZjTUKGZkEQezFhD7W6AGEZokkdxZqEHyX_EAMHZdcJ-ubDji-HPI2TLzAvSCMLchp8aCu0evFabfnca6y-6p9GkGL6disIPEpBTcCV-w-OJ61MKr-45Daii8BQV3MR16uUIMsX_v5EUpy_L42ogaTLIEVmW7MsBVepRksRQ-_8syEcd/s4032/IMG_9460.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibryXpDFA-gZUvEZjTUKGZkEQezFhD7W6AGEZokkdxZqEHyX_EAMHZdcJ-ubDji-HPI2TLzAvSCMLchp8aCu0evFabfnca6y-6p9GkGL6disIPEpBTcCV-w-OJ61MKr-45Daii8BQV3MR16uUIMsX_v5EUpy_L42ogaTLIEVmW7MsBVepRksRQ-_8syEcd/w480-h640/IMG_9460.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br />I finished all the books for the year! It was an interesting mix of things that I already read and things that I would never think to pick up. My average rating was 3.25, and I gave out two five-star reviews. The first was I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy, which won for best memoir, and Heartstopper by Alice Oseman which won best graphic novel. </div><div style="color: #575757; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><br /></div><div style="color: #575757; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><br /></div><h2 style="color: #575757; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; text-align: center;">Work from a Coffee Shop Once a Month</h2><div>I was doing really well with this goal until September, when I had to go back into the office. Since I started this to get out of the house and find a new environment, I got that from being in the office! Unfortunately there's not many people on my floor at work, so when I go in I'm usually by myself. But- towards the end of the year I met some people on other floors and will try to start being more social with them to make it more fun going in. </div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuU7w8Z6YHEw470FlOKxrIHQc4OIvtiEjnvogqa6tzQGhd9ZHaWPJSHD4JmU2EQcSVRa66b3YADS7sN8b6LEUgQ6tJk_sTR2CLOJ80H-K-dJp10CiaCivBVBKut41eHkAfydIESGJ52PQe7NOCl_29AA9cMCDMWy5DGWuQ0IrMCFIx71EtgGQaipMY-uar/s4032/IMG_4547.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuU7w8Z6YHEw470FlOKxrIHQc4OIvtiEjnvogqa6tzQGhd9ZHaWPJSHD4JmU2EQcSVRa66b3YADS7sN8b6LEUgQ6tJk_sTR2CLOJ80H-K-dJp10CiaCivBVBKut41eHkAfydIESGJ52PQe7NOCl_29AA9cMCDMWy5DGWuQ0IrMCFIx71EtgGQaipMY-uar/w480-h640/IMG_4547.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br />While I was going out for coffee, I got to try some really fun shops. My favorite one to work from was probably Meeples Brew. It had the perfect combination of fast wifi, good service, good food and drinks, and not busy. Plus- parking was super easy since it's in a shopping complex! It didn't have the best atmosphere, but when you're trying to work anyway that can be distracting. So- this was perfect for me!</div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div>Now let's get into some favorites of the year!</div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: center;">Favorite Moment</h2><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuLzzj20a_xTjVdBYOmQGqxl809KvwwDt9DWM3POFr7NrLqnZptC8sYvbiaVEadRPWF3V81hg7h7h7nV55T376Q6tA3v90pRo9He-LPuH_cVTefpiY80ShMhWHEf40y0ufpo2XZN4E8RjLdGyhakpwa2NhAHFly9w_oKrEOAnjZLgEj0Gc79YpDJYn0Hmh/s4032/IMG_7654.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuLzzj20a_xTjVdBYOmQGqxl809KvwwDt9DWM3POFr7NrLqnZptC8sYvbiaVEadRPWF3V81hg7h7h7nV55T376Q6tA3v90pRo9He-LPuH_cVTefpiY80ShMhWHEf40y0ufpo2XZN4E8RjLdGyhakpwa2NhAHFly9w_oKrEOAnjZLgEj0Gc79YpDJYn0Hmh/w480-h640/IMG_7654.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br />This was the easiest to come up with- going <a href="http://www.gretchruns.com/2023/08/europe-trip-highlights-part-3.html" target="_blank">paragliding</a> for the first time was the best moment of the year, if not my entire life! The whole lead-up was so magical, from thinking we weren't going to be able to go at all to having the most beautiful weather and views imaginable. This was so incredible and I'm hoping to go again this year on one of our upcoming trips!</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: center;">Favorite Purchase</h2><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7LKI3ThJVg7NCs8B3r38AeBG702aYEAXYYLBF4jFYJlSjLMRhMHCuQ37GlR5ESlpEtToBTO1-lBI_cfix4rbEx7xAkZJE_-ppqP4RAO3K57BRyjQ_XehnKG-8oaiuIxAzxXYR-eVgT3j4KWg7d0S6Q_gS308YYQshBle2pNz4y_NyHWNLjIyOpFP4MyAM/s4032/IMG_6144.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7LKI3ThJVg7NCs8B3r38AeBG702aYEAXYYLBF4jFYJlSjLMRhMHCuQ37GlR5ESlpEtToBTO1-lBI_cfix4rbEx7xAkZJE_-ppqP4RAO3K57BRyjQ_XehnKG-8oaiuIxAzxXYR-eVgT3j4KWg7d0S6Q_gS308YYQshBle2pNz4y_NyHWNLjIyOpFP4MyAM/w480-h640/IMG_6144.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br />My Oru Kayak! I bought this back in March because my inflatable kayak got a hole in it, and I'm so glad I got this foldable kayak instead. It's very lightweight and easy to set up/take down by yourself. It's also SO comfortable to use and feels very sturdy! I absolutely love it. My only piece of advice is to be prepared for tons of questions when you use it- everytime I'm out with it people want to know all about it which is always fun!</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: center;">Favorite Project</h2><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA6d57qgDG9M2RloHzJnJQdeaLYT4QEGYW1Zt891-_p5NTSZ6mB24kRfy0FqFNc2TSoWXN0lXcUFYTZ994qQne8JNAJxpaVQGKZYqStyLKhSH__L8jQjBjLkLyhMSvAmoBd9CITZendODuZi-En1BrJpyFKRVfXyMiGNwoafDUTIcUiObyzSWYPQcmLp8j/s4032/IMG_2150.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA6d57qgDG9M2RloHzJnJQdeaLYT4QEGYW1Zt891-_p5NTSZ6mB24kRfy0FqFNc2TSoWXN0lXcUFYTZ994qQne8JNAJxpaVQGKZYqStyLKhSH__L8jQjBjLkLyhMSvAmoBd9CITZendODuZi-En1BrJpyFKRVfXyMiGNwoafDUTIcUiObyzSWYPQcmLp8j/w640-h480/IMG_2150.HEIC" width="640" /></a></div>Dan and I did a lot of projects around the house this year, but by far my favorite (and most expensive, most time consuming, toughest, etc etc etc) was our primary bathroom. I'm so proud of what we did for this and don't regret all the long hours and stress it took to finish this. I absolutely love it and it just makes me so happy to look at it every day. Here are some more views of the bath (with my favorite purchase- the shelves. Absolutely love them)...</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8rrUZ9WOtG3-Awb3R9gH3BHvShsumqOpyKH5wZCWCIAuKr446rZ07BHJxl4oSVgNy_N2KXpem6rfqXA0yMv5dsl_scnp9jQCF06kxHHp9hNOPVcK9DKhrjh2qTHxM9_d60daY99utZGGfBn2UxoHfJ4VD0J2xBLXhn4KRjvcBzoh68qjBkqkDP3SMabSb/s4032/IMG_2139.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8rrUZ9WOtG3-Awb3R9gH3BHvShsumqOpyKH5wZCWCIAuKr446rZ07BHJxl4oSVgNy_N2KXpem6rfqXA0yMv5dsl_scnp9jQCF06kxHHp9hNOPVcK9DKhrjh2qTHxM9_d60daY99utZGGfBn2UxoHfJ4VD0J2xBLXhn4KRjvcBzoh68qjBkqkDP3SMabSb/w480-h640/IMG_2139.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Our vanity! The only "professional" help we got on this entire bathroom was having the vanity delivered to our upstairs. We installed it by ourselves and did everything else too!</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE-0eHAbTbz0GYH9hJPkDGeOic5Xmfw-P-t1Y2nGe0pQ8YJEuebhlGghHMXdTAvB7NHfdbegb4p_mzMLP0h-k5dFMyz60RvLB9XmVhoDOrg8gutMiJj8ew1vCuCmd5t1H8VOQpmXG02qZeUJgyMhI7lazjiAdWUW8W-lemf2JJMIrDLbhYSPShVBusNs7_/s4032/IMG_2151.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE-0eHAbTbz0GYH9hJPkDGeOic5Xmfw-P-t1Y2nGe0pQ8YJEuebhlGghHMXdTAvB7NHfdbegb4p_mzMLP0h-k5dFMyz60RvLB9XmVhoDOrg8gutMiJj8ew1vCuCmd5t1H8VOQpmXG02qZeUJgyMhI7lazjiAdWUW8W-lemf2JJMIrDLbhYSPShVBusNs7_/w480-h640/IMG_2151.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div>And another look at the shower. Love this space so much.</div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjInTSD67sP0DvX01XrKmq3C0m47iL8jw_cJz6dTBHcsVsVd-Tb8Uj_1gZUe06K94PqXZLkt3Jqjs0EAQAbVieUZkAYpjqprG6glVcxcQkyju4gXzjKvnz-tFizBYODpTqiK9tV0GfFUPVBpap4qOeZ4UdiqLeU2F01-nJEUm6eTyfjRrRkv7aUV1_Efscy/s4032/IMG_2147.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjInTSD67sP0DvX01XrKmq3C0m47iL8jw_cJz6dTBHcsVsVd-Tb8Uj_1gZUe06K94PqXZLkt3Jqjs0EAQAbVieUZkAYpjqprG6glVcxcQkyju4gXzjKvnz-tFizBYODpTqiK9tV0GfFUPVBpap4qOeZ4UdiqLeU2F01-nJEUm6eTyfjRrRkv7aUV1_Efscy/w480-h640/IMG_2147.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br /><br /></div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: center;">Favorite Concert</h2><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEZnVChNZqmuo5D7IK1iMghL8d2JnXTc9HsDMWisVEVRIXMCzVEvEK90avT609Jq1uYkTcxohViiF5l0evnLeBqh4tP747VZUXX1bc9lwzRFmb0ki7UaG7CduIoz_3LrRCp06Zo6Nvp5iwT2brhKPwqa2JPBfPB1Twox-g58sggCPgU_VE34jBCYXj4cPn/s4032/IMG_2311.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEZnVChNZqmuo5D7IK1iMghL8d2JnXTc9HsDMWisVEVRIXMCzVEvEK90avT609Jq1uYkTcxohViiF5l0evnLeBqh4tP747VZUXX1bc9lwzRFmb0ki7UaG7CduIoz_3LrRCp06Zo6Nvp5iwT2brhKPwqa2JPBfPB1Twox-g58sggCPgU_VE34jBCYXj4cPn/w480-h640/IMG_2311.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br />I didn't go to too many concerts this year but heard plenty of live music (hoping for even more in 2024!). But- I did go to the Trans Siberian Orchestra's holiday concert this year, which was a big item on my bucket list. It was absolutely incredible and was a full scensory experience. I loved it so much and could see this becoming a tradition to see every year.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: center;">Favorite Race</h2><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh18X3JTGrKyJk__nwJOMITFSe29RYpyLdv_uTkzx9qYODqh_zbN5toJNZRLrodBMLADLH5y98n0lIJaXkfOETyXpV5SBQOmErr46hoTgLYXxn0t-6hBWcyroOESClkmIUtAoGZM0UtkP1drjMYyZoEaQZ9Kk6sOqOveFACtuypWud5BtIZhh9lbhaxn4fb/s4032/IMG_1511.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh18X3JTGrKyJk__nwJOMITFSe29RYpyLdv_uTkzx9qYODqh_zbN5toJNZRLrodBMLADLH5y98n0lIJaXkfOETyXpV5SBQOmErr46hoTgLYXxn0t-6hBWcyroOESClkmIUtAoGZM0UtkP1drjMYyZoEaQZ9Kk6sOqOveFACtuypWud5BtIZhh9lbhaxn4fb/w480-h640/IMG_1511.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br />My favorite race of the year wasn't one of my own, but it was a race that I helped to pace and crew for a friend. She did a 100 mile race in West Virginia, and a group of us went to support her! It was such an amazing experience, and I really enjoyed the miles that I got to run with her. Definitely a highlight weekend for me!</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>What are some of your favorites this year?</b></div>Gretchen Braunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07790068777611696356noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-298679531196459259.post-48703406004942937082023-12-04T18:20:00.000-08:002023-12-04T18:20:59.423-08:00November Reads and Reviews<p>It's almost the end of the year, and I'm getting very close to my annual reading goal! This month I was really busy with some trips and bathroom projects, so I listened to more books than usual. I also started some holiday books that were so disappointing, so if you have some good ones please let me know!</p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: center;">Business or Pleasure by Rachel Lynn Solomon</h2><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvSuFh-zxK4VPsmcNETZxgptlfSvvLnZ6f-PqNXW8XUoNYEoMADCn-2ixT2qmubAP3ZpvJLB667fa8t3U445dcPKrwLjotyLc8FEBWMUK8WYmRuPLSbuMIvaiPjqjjFAUT5W1GFSqg7PvePs1RRvwU8h0B8c0lasxl0Zfpqtbv3qYwxVV-hIWtSxihsS4H/s4032/IMG_1484.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvSuFh-zxK4VPsmcNETZxgptlfSvvLnZ6f-PqNXW8XUoNYEoMADCn-2ixT2qmubAP3ZpvJLB667fa8t3U445dcPKrwLjotyLc8FEBWMUK8WYmRuPLSbuMIvaiPjqjjFAUT5W1GFSqg7PvePs1RRvwU8h0B8c0lasxl0Zfpqtbv3qYwxVV-hIWtSxihsS4H/w480-h640/IMG_1484.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br />The premise of this book absolutely sold me- a woman has the worst one-night-stand of her life, then gets an amazing opportunity to ghost write a memoir for a celebrity and guess who it is?! Of course hijinks ensue, and while they're working together on a book, the writer is also teaching the celebrity how to be better in bed. It's pretty cheesy and predictable but I still enjoyed it as a quick and easy read.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>My Rating- 3.5/5</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><h2 style="text-align: center;"><b>Kiss Her Once for Me by Alison Cochrun</b></h2><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwCOfDEvUPpNFtHNoEI7QZNJUDahmRh3JgOBbEASF-ii-pbj7YbYr-qv__hoXw-t_xq3uoMWbkRqDZ6IFv8hwHT9G2SPeFj0heJdixgKmmg6qa0-_kQ-Jvvdb3ysBOONt_3KDkfWVpNUTZfbFE10IWJUa840s9rEa4_EUTG8RWGBLRiIeyvg_VxJJRhJrJ/s4032/IMG_1584.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwCOfDEvUPpNFtHNoEI7QZNJUDahmRh3JgOBbEASF-ii-pbj7YbYr-qv__hoXw-t_xq3uoMWbkRqDZ6IFv8hwHT9G2SPeFj0heJdixgKmmg6qa0-_kQ-Jvvdb3ysBOONt_3KDkfWVpNUTZfbFE10IWJUa840s9rEa4_EUTG8RWGBLRiIeyvg_VxJJRhJrJ/w480-h640/IMG_1584.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br />I absolutely adore Christmas romances, so when I saw this on a list I picked it up without even reading what it was about. As it turns out, it's about another one-night-stand and also involves a fake marriage to the one-night-stand's brother. This was my first holiday book of the year, and unfortunately this one wasn't for me. I didn't like the main characters and the drama all felt very forced to me. I did like the drunk grandmas and the best friend, but otherwise this fell flat for me. One other good note- I liked the representation in the book and it didn't feel forced to me like it usually does! There were people of different sexual orientations and also a non-binary semi-main character. More of that please (but maybe with a better storyline?)</div><div><br /></div><div><b>My Rating - 2/5</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: center;">Yellowface by R.F. Kuang</h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv7c1YKsqPvEQLpDMxdHmxpqXEt2PiprYGDGNmMYZFv5QwoShImTWkhr3qG_tWwjo5tFRHQgVwtaipTsNuPpzLf-m8TznsFXrAHo2ClJTrCmVd3j8Uvrdu0iJVBw2i0CrLMjF8QNo_d84TkUwZk1SGhPcr4EHiRjS3ZHz5KPK9Bl0fquuLe7gCQEs1OuYM/s4032/IMG_1851.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv7c1YKsqPvEQLpDMxdHmxpqXEt2PiprYGDGNmMYZFv5QwoShImTWkhr3qG_tWwjo5tFRHQgVwtaipTsNuPpzLf-m8TznsFXrAHo2ClJTrCmVd3j8Uvrdu0iJVBw2i0CrLMjF8QNo_d84TkUwZk1SGhPcr4EHiRjS3ZHz5KPK9Bl0fquuLe7gCQEs1OuYM/w480-h640/IMG_1851.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div>This was my book club pick for the month and it was a book I was really excited to read! I heard a lot about it but intentionally went in not knowing much about it. I really enjoyed the wild ride this book took us on and learning more about the publishing process. It was super frustrating and cringy at times and I found the main character so unlikable that at times I wanted to give up the book completely. It was a bit too satirical for me at times but I still enjoyed it.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>My Rating - 3/5</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><h2 style="text-align: center;"><b>Meet Me Under the Mistletoe by Jenny Bayliss</b></h2><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKCoK5kxZMOoxVldSppKY3r70Qg-pMhnxJniJCVbT1p_YJ9XiX3dDnell9qFysiK53MPfiJTIs22lZC_DsVhcdAvVraZl2pC5WatAU_CGg0wAeaXJfXWzIa5sbXj6wLimAXLKDGn0d06aA71U6J-Qv-JFkpYmz1YL5Am9YHiShXOZ6iNOd2OlGtB26gLoq/s4032/IMG_1748.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKCoK5kxZMOoxVldSppKY3r70Qg-pMhnxJniJCVbT1p_YJ9XiX3dDnell9qFysiK53MPfiJTIs22lZC_DsVhcdAvVraZl2pC5WatAU_CGg0wAeaXJfXWzIa5sbXj6wLimAXLKDGn0d06aA71U6J-Qv-JFkpYmz1YL5Am9YHiShXOZ6iNOd2OlGtB26gLoq/w480-h640/IMG_1748.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Unfortunately, this holiday romance was another dud for me. I liked Jenny Bayliss's other holiday romance (The Twelve Dates of Christmas) but this one was just so BORING. The setting and characters were great, but it just seemed to go on and on forever. There was no tension, no buildup, nothing. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>My Rating- 1.5/5</b><br /><b><br /></b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><h2 style="text-align: center;"><b>Audiobooks</b></h2><div><b>What You Wish For by Katherine Center</b> - I listened to this on a road trip and it was the perfect book. Easy to follow, fun characters, and not too much drama. I really like Katherine Center books!</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Tell Me Lies by Carola Lovering </b>- I watched the series when it first came out, and finally decided to read the book. The characters were SO much more frustrating in the book that I just wanted to scream at them!</div><div><br /></div><div><b>The Fine Print by Lauren Asher</b> - I've heard a lot about this series so I figured I would give it a try and it was really good. So many HR nightmares in the book though and things that you should just never say to your boss, but it was entertaining and I'm looking forward to the rest of the books.</div><div><br /></div>Gretchen Braunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07790068777611696356noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-298679531196459259.post-49806991008712328152023-11-22T11:27:00.000-08:002023-11-22T11:27:12.031-08:00Europe Trip Highlights Part 4<p>I realized today that I need to wrap up my posts about my trip to Europe, because we just booked our flights for our next trip! This is to a part of the world we’ve never been to before, and a new hemisphere! Any guesses where we’re going? But back to our last trip. So far I shared about going to the <a href="http://www.gretchruns.com/2023/06/europe-trip-highlights-part-1.html" target="_blank">sea</a>, the <a href="http://www.gretchruns.com/2023/06/europe-trip-highlights-part-2.html" target="_blank">mountains</a>, and the <a href="http://www.gretchruns.com/2023/08/europe-trip-highlights-part-3.html" target="_blank">lake</a>, but now we’re journeying up to Austria! </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqQ22PirJ9JUNW555gNrhxxVe5ygWKio1d459mFuqpa9BQEciwMX9443emFGePjgdcvdNHSwkDeeToh29d0YP8stbbZWD1dgJdqbKXuWJz139vwrScgsKc7w-ZRijEbRp2z7UWFIPmhOwLR5WqTC3FkKYZ-_gR3ErHzHS672G6OiGi498FhdByWMcwgn75/s4032/IMG_8111.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqQ22PirJ9JUNW555gNrhxxVe5ygWKio1d459mFuqpa9BQEciwMX9443emFGePjgdcvdNHSwkDeeToh29d0YP8stbbZWD1dgJdqbKXuWJz139vwrScgsKc7w-ZRijEbRp2z7UWFIPmhOwLR5WqTC3FkKYZ-_gR3ErHzHS672G6OiGi498FhdByWMcwgn75/w480-h640/IMG_8111.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br />We went there for a good reason- the Red Bull Ring is right outside of Slovenia in the town of Spielberg, Austria. For those of you who don’t know, Dan and I are both big Formula One fans (he’s been one for a while and I got into it after watching Drive to Survive). <p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcJ_Ngf9yiB_fE7opVNW7VGX4RBJTpCDJ8vL2rWcEdXP4aV22IdLpCrotoxptT_60S4DQQeKEWW7fdD_FaAdqYfeT5HWFZnStQmS6HfKR2jiyQrZTIvnTh-1NZD2OlaDKRU_tv45MDCaPb-8VJ5DBf47DHnzKmLC6EcrpCYGL6EA_DkRqxt5aEh3cbOK4U/s4032/IMG_7846.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcJ_Ngf9yiB_fE7opVNW7VGX4RBJTpCDJ8vL2rWcEdXP4aV22IdLpCrotoxptT_60S4DQQeKEWW7fdD_FaAdqYfeT5HWFZnStQmS6HfKR2jiyQrZTIvnTh-1NZD2OlaDKRU_tv45MDCaPb-8VJ5DBf47DHnzKmLC6EcrpCYGL6EA_DkRqxt5aEh3cbOK4U/w480-h640/IMG_7846.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br />He found out that there are opportunities for regular people to drive cars on the same track that the race uses, so we had to do it! I got to be a passenger princess and it was such a cool experience- we got over 150 MPH and it was insane how fast it felt, but still way slower than the actual drivers. We also got a tour of the track and got to stand on the podium and see all the VIP areas!<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuwDEuU7o5EmZ-Fw4M0RB12JiskI2-6lNAJQ67hgfs2wlbXlupCw9GGDi2E7SdGCpQm5lJeMv9ultRXa7Xzfa0XVeyIGDcmFv-swCf_Spxo1Y25aYswIhhiUY0aXZkxVhH24B2tbXs9vfpggY0dDj12wVBUg2Rb4QWh435JRGVR6Fmo7ZaXNOOSUj_5IBb/s4032/IMG_7878.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuwDEuU7o5EmZ-Fw4M0RB12JiskI2-6lNAJQ67hgfs2wlbXlupCw9GGDi2E7SdGCpQm5lJeMv9ultRXa7Xzfa0XVeyIGDcmFv-swCf_Spxo1Y25aYswIhhiUY0aXZkxVhH24B2tbXs9vfpggY0dDj12wVBUg2Rb4QWh435JRGVR6Fmo7ZaXNOOSUj_5IBb/w480-h640/IMG_7878.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br />After the fun of the track and exploring the town a bit, we headed to Graz where we were staying for the next few days. Our hotel was right in the center of town and the location was great! We walked around a bit after checking in, and found a huge event happening at the main square. We weren’t sure what was going on- there were police everywhere and people drinking, but all we could hear were people chanting along to someone yelling on stage. It was kind of surreal because they were all speaking German and we had no idea what was happening! We later found out it was a party for a win by the local soccer team.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOH7HA9keS0vUxcvIPRsgUxk3okC7r4_aLvkKxa_uMB701kQs3opsjy_8NsY52Y9XYTwbU2YKRQquNUaGr4mjVWqLubWuh3Grb2wFFu0z0lR6LwhvMJ1KuVPLPTl7NgUjBn3tMxI-F0Hky7oQ2ANLMH8qWhyfXngh8pXbyahUe8g5SQLwxPAo6rNlrDqSv/s4032/IMG_7905.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOH7HA9keS0vUxcvIPRsgUxk3okC7r4_aLvkKxa_uMB701kQs3opsjy_8NsY52Y9XYTwbU2YKRQquNUaGr4mjVWqLubWuh3Grb2wFFu0z0lR6LwhvMJ1KuVPLPTl7NgUjBn3tMxI-F0Hky7oQ2ANLMH8qWhyfXngh8pXbyahUe8g5SQLwxPAo6rNlrDqSv/w480-h640/IMG_7905.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br />Graz was such a cool town to visit. There is a river running through the town, with lots of places to explore on both sides. There are lots of funky designs, like an art museum that looks like an alien orb shape, and a man-made island bridge going across the river. There were lots of vegetarian restaurants that we enjoyed and tons of cute coffee shops, including my favorite that had ducks all over as the logo.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrxne-R5rqfs9QQJYaNSuzMmn06LqzxxeCMqgk1nTGOm9_aathgOPyQAlxJK5CpS4jhhk-h05iN1mY_AJwkhnrR4y5Y6htZQ8gnd3W5_xg9zafpgGnOy3fVmM6tuEmFYnWAQI04s_tnqPPMJwVwhMPZorisxpfcodY1IMCa6T7hMjsbPwENtkvvkzioGXg/s4032/IMG_8113.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrxne-R5rqfs9QQJYaNSuzMmn06LqzxxeCMqgk1nTGOm9_aathgOPyQAlxJK5CpS4jhhk-h05iN1mY_AJwkhnrR4y5Y6htZQ8gnd3W5_xg9zafpgGnOy3fVmM6tuEmFYnWAQI04s_tnqPPMJwVwhMPZorisxpfcodY1IMCa6T7hMjsbPwENtkvvkzioGXg/w480-h640/IMG_8113.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br />One of the highlights for me was going to Hops Craft Beer Pub. It was down one of the many alleyways in the city, and was such a cozy place with candle light and stone walls. The beer selection was amazing, and it was a great way to end a long day of adventure.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi16n3hBwiCHU0ewIxXzLmzZQ4tUDt3xZkE8oQTb1r_PdcrlQZ1L8zPaoxcf77zu6yBHzkR6uksg7GXHA1Bynw9kXo8oJuuNogoVpw5CIgYVuvLAlIj4Alk1ldyTeM-UdTSyuvLxFoZsC1Jz_Mt5IM-AdYkvlDQdZ0FgqDbeVm4ynhgubYktiYM_-oAwGlV/s4032/IMG_7993.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi16n3hBwiCHU0ewIxXzLmzZQ4tUDt3xZkE8oQTb1r_PdcrlQZ1L8zPaoxcf77zu6yBHzkR6uksg7GXHA1Bynw9kXo8oJuuNogoVpw5CIgYVuvLAlIj4Alk1ldyTeM-UdTSyuvLxFoZsC1Jz_Mt5IM-AdYkvlDQdZ0FgqDbeVm4ynhgubYktiYM_-oAwGlV/w480-h640/IMG_7993.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br />The next day, we woke up to a bunch of rain, so we needed an indoor activity. Luckily, I knew just the place, and we headed a bit out of town to the Zotter Schokolade Factory. To me, this felt just like Willy Wonka brought to life. When we walked in, we were immediately greeted by a little robot bringing around samples, and from there we never stopped eating! The tour we took explained how the chocolate is made, and then lets you sample until you can’t eat anymore. We were given little spoons, and walked around the factory to try all kinds of products. There were chocolate fountains, more robots serving chocolate truffles, roller coasters with chocolate bars, a hot chocolate room, and more! It was so neat to see all the different ways they came up with to serve the chocolate, and to try all of the random combinations! There were also lots of amazing vegan chocolates to try, and we had such a great time wandering around the factory. <p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsGjKfq8tgsF6FefhyphenhyphenMbLZup5H8EbAnuNhbp6yicB4DDIb_iyyc8WUDSeadLTOwEU3_0KMxXFc2Z2ARTdOOfvAa1E_N64dEJstDpl_7rto4Qe34CFHDackz0MsRAjlEuiL3SrKGin5tVj7OVwULyDJsl-QU67cAnHRIDESfxEOn7rjh7v8xtks4tLbsuPo/s4032/IMG_8033.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsGjKfq8tgsF6FefhyphenhyphenMbLZup5H8EbAnuNhbp6yicB4DDIb_iyyc8WUDSeadLTOwEU3_0KMxXFc2Z2ARTdOOfvAa1E_N64dEJstDpl_7rto4Qe34CFHDackz0MsRAjlEuiL3SrKGin5tVj7OVwULyDJsl-QU67cAnHRIDESfxEOn7rjh7v8xtks4tLbsuPo/w480-h640/IMG_8033.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br />Once we were sufficiently stuffed (even after having a “chocolate shot” that’s basically alcoholic chocolate and supposed to give you a second wind to eat more), we wandered outside where there was a huge farm, petting zoo, and gardens. By then, the rain had stopped, so we spent lots of time making sure to visit all of the animals and hidden gems of the farm. It was really amazing and definitely worth the visit.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk6_cCluQW8xjqWlxi8AwOMFYYr9VOgk6SsYuiQFPkMwc42ELnnMXWshMg1hw5lwp5pbUWxvXKBlukpQclSb6ecWcjLWQEI0UW_dC5LED7vQRfGZLESQJ950_bWyx20ATKQBQ0e1ypGIsMQe6iS28ZZ1RFHeFHMOrpGF-10Tvmdn9tZ14nI1jEpU4wsCmV/s4032/IMG_8160.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk6_cCluQW8xjqWlxi8AwOMFYYr9VOgk6SsYuiQFPkMwc42ELnnMXWshMg1hw5lwp5pbUWxvXKBlukpQclSb6ecWcjLWQEI0UW_dC5LED7vQRfGZLESQJ950_bWyx20ATKQBQ0e1ypGIsMQe6iS28ZZ1RFHeFHMOrpGF-10Tvmdn9tZ14nI1jEpU4wsCmV/w480-h640/IMG_8160.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br />Our final full day in Austria was spent visiting the Styrian wine region. While we were driving around visiting wineries, we crossed back and forth over the border and had the most incredible views of rolling hills, mountains in the distance, and vineyards. We stopped at a few wineries and were able to get some glasses of great wine to try. By far my favorite place was at Bischöflicher Weinkeller Hotel Schloss. This is an old castle that got converted into a hotel, and features an incredible wine cellar. We got some glasses of crisp white wine, and had the entire cellar to ourselves! It felt like we took a step back in time and we really soaked in the experience.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3XpUCtyT2ANfRfhhKShniBBBsdw7G_AIphxn92XnWxzNgJn8sZF87F8W1Tz36uqST9dY_s6mAXPgOs8-zWzwsgkmfppNtMS61QzBjiP05_xkVnqWGPWoau6oVdPVliUV8eMNnxEDQdWmJ9dKNQrkki7ULZWhMUBa0i41E-M3gPLFGZa85U4ZwAw-qqZdi/s4032/IMG_8131.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3XpUCtyT2ANfRfhhKShniBBBsdw7G_AIphxn92XnWxzNgJn8sZF87F8W1Tz36uqST9dY_s6mAXPgOs8-zWzwsgkmfppNtMS61QzBjiP05_xkVnqWGPWoau6oVdPVliUV8eMNnxEDQdWmJ9dKNQrkki7ULZWhMUBa0i41E-M3gPLFGZa85U4ZwAw-qqZdi/w480-h640/IMG_8131.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br />The rest of our time spent in Graz was just wandering around the town, visiting all of the highlights like the castle and courtyards and other interesting buildings and parks. One of the interesting things we got to see was a double spiral staircase, which was kind of disorienting to walk up and down! I loved how Graz was full of random things like this- it kept me guessing and was one of the more unique cities I've been to. I really enjoyed our time there! After this we had one more city to visit, which I'll talk about in my next post, and then I'll be sharing one more post of all the pitstops we made between each leg of the trip! In some cases these were even better than what we found in the cities we stayed in!<p></p>Gretchen Braunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07790068777611696356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-298679531196459259.post-40144770505887366952023-11-10T11:34:00.005-08:002023-11-10T11:34:58.944-08:00October Reads and Reviews<p>Somehow we're almost through with the month of November, but I still have lots of fun books to share that I read in October! Let's get right to them-</p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: center;">Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez</h2><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG-Ewb_BRZVaJe4S9zUVpvm20Nx4sXgbZ_W15hW6hutNYHtPppciOckwU_th-JAJWLAHhdxqWBbHZf8r7oaJLgbYnhCIM9sJ_cdAujqb2LPfJBpQUerwh7nGJhxSBh1mnbRANJn9LRAUDzpsFy9DRZH37JAa8-QosFOPSzJe8IvO2uTwzK1V8-IfnMvFFo/s4032/IMG_0919.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG-Ewb_BRZVaJe4S9zUVpvm20Nx4sXgbZ_W15hW6hutNYHtPppciOckwU_th-JAJWLAHhdxqWBbHZf8r7oaJLgbYnhCIM9sJ_cdAujqb2LPfJBpQUerwh7nGJhxSBh1mnbRANJn9LRAUDzpsFy9DRZH37JAa8-QosFOPSzJe8IvO2uTwzK1V8-IfnMvFFo/w480-h640/IMG_0919.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br />For the most part I really enjoyed this book- Abby always writes such great characters with so much depth and the conversations always seem so realistic. My only complaint about this was all of the fake drama- I usually love the fake relationship trope, but this time it just seemed so forced and dramatic for me. I liked the side characters a lot, particularly the grandpa and Jafar! Such a fun and easy read.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>My rating - 3.5/5</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><h2 style="text-align: center;"><b>When in Rome by Sarah Adams</b></h2><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMTsPcetehGScN8YtSmeF1_I4gQ-THqVNL05RES9TRT5TPBp68PFtFGkQHmaD6WxDmid1OYsCZyxXZp8wbtLhMWxt4DoPqnOv9vdKuMpA8s9vPLxMdFzUSpjy-YKrYS8WQgcGtpU8fwTQjoViHjUbIPqkWUAK5TVOQkxJWmig8PszKBHkPc7AtcwNr9I2G/s4032/IMG_0978.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMTsPcetehGScN8YtSmeF1_I4gQ-THqVNL05RES9TRT5TPBp68PFtFGkQHmaD6WxDmid1OYsCZyxXZp8wbtLhMWxt4DoPqnOv9vdKuMpA8s9vPLxMdFzUSpjy-YKrYS8WQgcGtpU8fwTQjoViHjUbIPqkWUAK5TVOQkxJWmig8PszKBHkPc7AtcwNr9I2G/w480-h640/IMG_0978.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br />This was another cute romance by an author I love to read and I know it'll just make me feel happy on the inside when I read it! This was a bit more of a slow burn to me- it took a while for me to get into it but once I did I couldn't stop. I liked the town setting and all of the quirky town people, and also loved the developing relationship. Super sweet and clean romance!</div><div><br /></div><div><b>My rating - 4/5</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><h2 style="text-align: center;"><b>The Golden Spoon by Jessa Maxwell</b></h2><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlzVgjZbZNdnhuRWFWyNFUtZoN9wh4Mkh55sCKlznOaa7UgxSCfcrsGGszvRDukrPYeH8baqA0lvCcRSHTojZDyCEPu8rO7vv-gbVR20GAiXjZP-bRo65oTFRDhAqIXIaxsoymAhlbyPxLkbJkln9yNLFkN4XiAjLZGrGmPjIFq0U_C9vHJQNQckvLRUQj/s4032/IMG_1078.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlzVgjZbZNdnhuRWFWyNFUtZoN9wh4Mkh55sCKlznOaa7UgxSCfcrsGGszvRDukrPYeH8baqA0lvCcRSHTojZDyCEPu8rO7vv-gbVR20GAiXjZP-bRo65oTFRDhAqIXIaxsoymAhlbyPxLkbJkln9yNLFkN4XiAjLZGrGmPjIFq0U_C9vHJQNQckvLRUQj/w480-h640/IMG_1078.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br />The Great British Bake Off meets Clue? Sign me up! A really quick and easy read with some baking drama and a murder mystery thrown in. Not the best writing ever, but I really enjoyed the story line and need more GBBO-esque books. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>My rating - 3/5</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><h2 style="text-align: center;"><b>How to Fake it in Hollywood by Ava Wilder</b></h2><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhctz2kXwLvvD8i7__AhxKSFVTQafGWwORsBWoSQLyT6eeKeP_6kSu552ZWO2veV7bqDRwFn5TBjTczbiksQJN0NzosFl_nEuqnV3qXL5Y_YeBjS9O-QkVIBI-wQEwMGiYJ7JvPgFwLDK4TzfjKsAN1FoUqbsz80DHVCdOKxKmkSGBjixGI8ekzRkurKU5c/s4032/IMG_1342.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhctz2kXwLvvD8i7__AhxKSFVTQafGWwORsBWoSQLyT6eeKeP_6kSu552ZWO2veV7bqDRwFn5TBjTczbiksQJN0NzosFl_nEuqnV3qXL5Y_YeBjS9O-QkVIBI-wQEwMGiYJ7JvPgFwLDK4TzfjKsAN1FoUqbsz80DHVCdOKxKmkSGBjixGI8ekzRkurKU5c/w480-h640/IMG_1342.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br />Another fake dating story - this one was a bit more of a miss for me. The pace was all over the place for me and I found myself getting bored at a lot of parts then getting really into it, then it dropping off again. The plot also seemed kind of random with adding in drama whenever possible for no reason. In the end I did enjoy it but could have done with a bit more editing in it.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>My Rating - 3/5</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Audio Books</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>Practice Makes Perfect by Sarah Adams</b> - Second book in the When in Rome series, and I adored this!! The narration was really good and I just loved the characters and plot. So, so good.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix</b> - This was my book club pick for October and it was so creepy and gross. I don't know how he comes up with these ideas in his books but they're always bonkers. It made for a great discussion and a good Halloween read.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>The Honeymoon Crashers by Christina Lauren</b> - This was a quick audio-only book that is a follow up of the Honeymooners. The experience was definitely unique with the audio and it kind of took away from the story for me. It was fine but not great.</div>Gretchen Braunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07790068777611696356noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-298679531196459259.post-18013483697312323342023-10-20T07:22:00.006-07:002023-10-20T07:22:44.415-07:00September Reads and Reviews<p>I am so late with my book reviews this month, but I had a lot of really good reads and didn't want to skip sharing them! I'll get right to it- but be sure to let me know what you read this month and loved.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: center;">House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J Maas</h2><div>This was my book club pick for the month and I'm so glad I got to read it! I know this series (Crescent City) is full of really long books, so I didn't really want to get started with them. This started a bit slow but I loved the world building and quickly was not able to put it down. I like how this was more of a modern world with fantasy elements. The characters were all great and I loved the relationships that got built! I do think it was way longer than it needed to be, but I'm excited to read book 2.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>My Rating - 4/5</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><h2 style="text-align: center;"><b>The Ex Hex and The Kiss Curse by Erin Sterling</b></h2><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfX2VV3CMtmYGueREzpEiZhldcvE81nYr7TL8aLnjdnFnu9vbUB7eYzAehad59Rd7g2bAPpQLJNQPC_EHCa8skGGeKyJ7auSUU6GYsYpXm09rCPafLo-rn8-mfS9ZJwFXAQEpyzslBn7GYKbGkVqmN73pi6ZCJCCbRvhxHYoeOXIocEPNNsxp3qTkYSpo5/s4032/IMG_0606.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfX2VV3CMtmYGueREzpEiZhldcvE81nYr7TL8aLnjdnFnu9vbUB7eYzAehad59Rd7g2bAPpQLJNQPC_EHCa8skGGeKyJ7auSUU6GYsYpXm09rCPafLo-rn8-mfS9ZJwFXAQEpyzslBn7GYKbGkVqmN73pi6ZCJCCbRvhxHYoeOXIocEPNNsxp3qTkYSpo5/w480-h640/IMG_0606.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br />Spooky season meets romance! These books were so quick to read and were the perfect cozy little read for the month. I read them out of order but it doesn't really matter if you read one or both- they're amazing! I loved the dynamic of the cousins and their witchiness. The town was adorable and was like a haunted Stars Hollow! I think that The Ex Hex is slightly better, but I loved them both.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>My Rating - 4.5/5</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><h2 style="text-align: center;"><b>Heartstopper Volume 3 and 4 by Alice Oseman</b></h2><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyLk-N2TCwBf1T2U5xj_qOhGDyngjvjnI0ASy0r4v1dPFpHnMgO4nME8Hwlr0hjeU1BHAioWzafoBorIyv9aKgVMs5dSk3I7kg-XVDDqyvHi-555yhsdl07hB0dhQMeoaqvQ977OzxG67-0YLe3FgBFEkk0c2f1KLVc1nVgnTH23QHEJEK23mt1CM83yED/s4032/IMG_0456.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyLk-N2TCwBf1T2U5xj_qOhGDyngjvjnI0ASy0r4v1dPFpHnMgO4nME8Hwlr0hjeU1BHAioWzafoBorIyv9aKgVMs5dSk3I7kg-XVDDqyvHi-555yhsdl07hB0dhQMeoaqvQ977OzxG67-0YLe3FgBFEkk0c2f1KLVc1nVgnTH23QHEJEK23mt1CM83yED/w480-h640/IMG_0456.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br />I finished this series and loved all of them! The relationship dynamics, the school drama, the travel- it was all so realistic and amazing. I just found out there's an actual series for this book on Netflix, so I'll be checking that out next!</div><div><br /></div><div><b>My Rating - 5/5</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><h2 style="text-align: center;">The Breakaway by Jennifer Weiner</h2><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRAuuWtj5SGtmz0p2dFVRQfXnS4Ki8LSY8szu2j-TOo3lHEKSL7xITWsJ_v4kLOYWcq9FZPu5oSevElx-M-7HsEA3gYSrLTjDFP3FYwt8ssU2nzaiFm791wBr3VeyAH1gMtbEQrkM9DMp8AybZE9iZKEGkgBhaLaLi6EYPiPwBLANPeUk7vpfYk34WsyJr/s4032/IMG_0520.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRAuuWtj5SGtmz0p2dFVRQfXnS4Ki8LSY8szu2j-TOo3lHEKSL7xITWsJ_v4kLOYWcq9FZPu5oSevElx-M-7HsEA3gYSrLTjDFP3FYwt8ssU2nzaiFm791wBr3VeyAH1gMtbEQrkM9DMp8AybZE9iZKEGkgBhaLaLi6EYPiPwBLANPeUk7vpfYk34WsyJr/w480-h640/IMG_0520.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br />I feel really conflicted about this book, because on one hand I loved the premise- a woman gets asked at the last minute to fill in as a bike tour guide on a trip through New York state. What a dream! I loved following the different groups and all of their drama and reasons for the trip (especially the twist with the old folks at the end). But- the relationship between the main characters made me feel so uncomfortable! It just felt gross to me and unfair to everyone involved and kind of ruined the book for me. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>My Rating - 2.5/5</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><h2 style="text-align: center;"><b>The Other Black Girl by Zakiya Dalila Harris</b></h2><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5rTtG-FCd-NVUsWOOsJosPVbUbgi4VfXzLRM1MhBuMOUTQRZ5MamwTxflDGPSRb_21Hyxvw1Y4okcRRkIJ4lWHR6jemIQ_VKgVIF56WZT7RyLa66Iq7qXXWhEoXYjGgK3GqelSeY9zI7J69aN9TlDwFcGSwka-FkwGj0b2BjzdbTAC90YUa4Oy5_PE7wF/s4032/IMG_0683.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5rTtG-FCd-NVUsWOOsJosPVbUbgi4VfXzLRM1MhBuMOUTQRZ5MamwTxflDGPSRb_21Hyxvw1Y4okcRRkIJ4lWHR6jemIQ_VKgVIF56WZT7RyLa66Iq7qXXWhEoXYjGgK3GqelSeY9zI7J69aN9TlDwFcGSwka-FkwGj0b2BjzdbTAC90YUa4Oy5_PE7wF/w480-h640/IMG_0683.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br />I've had this on my TBR list for a while now and finally got to reading it because of the show on Hulu that just came out! I went in not knowing what to expect and this was a crazy ride. I don't know if I necessarily loved the twist, but I did enjoy following the journey and having the dynamic of being the only minority in an office be discussed and kind of parodied. It was entertaining but also heart wrenching at times, and by the end you weren't sure who to root for or what was right and wrong! If you read it, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the ending.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>My Rating - 3.5/5</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><h2 style="text-align: center;"><b>Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak</b></h2><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjifua-aWbwwbQ2WOocQPqEJhfyekfUN6bB9re91-LMc_gN3xEmCpCAvyx656XShRkQ3RKIEcZeAni446Lzv_GTEyTytYhOVe10m9ujen2xcquR8QIe2EGmdKxRbiRuMUFf39eQC5NqWwuPBefVdmvgHRAVf6lcSzMpL8EUQQYl6A4xCg5J3Y3dgzG_kRdR/s4032/IMG_0791.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjifua-aWbwwbQ2WOocQPqEJhfyekfUN6bB9re91-LMc_gN3xEmCpCAvyx656XShRkQ3RKIEcZeAni446Lzv_GTEyTytYhOVe10m9ujen2xcquR8QIe2EGmdKxRbiRuMUFf39eQC5NqWwuPBefVdmvgHRAVf6lcSzMpL8EUQQYl6A4xCg5J3Y3dgzG_kRdR/w480-h640/IMG_0791.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br />This was the winner for best Horror in the GoodReads awards last year, and is one I would normally never pick up. It was definitely creepy and spooky- just seeing "my special imaginary friend" being drawn by a kid is so disturbing, but it also seemed kind of over the top and not believable, which made it less scary to me. This was another case of the ending kind of ruining it for me- I read a lot of other reviews and learned about how harmful what happened at the end can be for perpetuating stereotypes (not going to give it away but if you've read it you'll know what I mean). I feel really unsure about this book but in general wouldn't recommend it because of the controversial ending.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>My Rating - 2/5</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><h2 style="text-align: center;"><b>Audiobooks</b></h2><div><b>The Five Star Weekend by Elin Hilderbrand</b> - I love listening to Elin Hilderbrand's books in the summer and this was probably my favorite. I enjoyed the female friendship dynamic and there was a perfect mix of action and secrets going on. Loved!</div><div><br /></div><div><b>In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware </b>- This was another book club pick and was really great and atmospheric. The ending was unexpected, but the whole idea of being that obsessed over a high school love and never getting over it was a little strange to me.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Same Time Next Summer by Annabel Monaghan </b>- I thought this was awful and can't understand why people are so obsessed with it! I could barely finish it and really did not enjoy any of it.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><b>What have you read recently?</b></div>Gretchen Braunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07790068777611696356noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-298679531196459259.post-55146264157719373112023-10-06T12:04:00.004-07:002023-10-06T12:07:39.391-07:00October Goals and Highlights<p>September has come and gone, and it's actually starting to feel like fall is around the corner. We're getting a few mornings of cooler weather, but the days are still nice and hot, and I love it! This was a busy month for me but wasn't very fun- I had to start going back to the office three time a week (which is frustrating since my team is all in Pittsburgh, so I come into the office to sit alone and not see anyone!) and also had to work almost every weekend! It's been really busy and stressful at work, and honestly getting in the way of the work/life balance that I always try to keep. I'm working way more hours, and also just feel tired and stressed all the time, so I'm hoping that October will get a bit better.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2YkemBFKyqd9T7-3PRaS1m8g5MiIfRsXcfSFXCwpHGhPOUPpYjDtZUpj3QNeuh9FO1BpE0jkdaEZv9Ot0eeDFo6a06PinBU-7TbShRiTTxbLjYe5TSf3DuU54CmycZZlg8svkeFSsQ8FLQ5v4kRX2DkBmFMWaE5KXUbnJuAVZmdkeLH8wUzPnEmSD7nAv/s4032/IMG_0832.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2YkemBFKyqd9T7-3PRaS1m8g5MiIfRsXcfSFXCwpHGhPOUPpYjDtZUpj3QNeuh9FO1BpE0jkdaEZv9Ot0eeDFo6a06PinBU-7TbShRiTTxbLjYe5TSf3DuU54CmycZZlg8svkeFSsQ8FLQ5v4kRX2DkBmFMWaE5KXUbnJuAVZmdkeLH8wUzPnEmSD7nAv/w480-h640/IMG_0832.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br />There weren't a lot of highlights this month, but finishing my fourth triathlon of the year and spending that weekend with friends was definitely one of them! It was also my only weekend I didn't end up working, so I was thankful for a little time to unplug.<p></p><p><br /></p><p>Here's a look at how my annual goals are going- </p><h2 style="background-color: white; color: #575757; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; text-align: center;">Annual Goals</h2><div style="background-color: white; color: #575757; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><h2 style="text-align: center;">Korean Vegan Cookbook</h2><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Unfortunately I didn't make anything from the cookbook this month. I was really bad about meal prepping in general, so I'm hoping to get back on track in October.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: center;">Temperature blanket</h2><div><div>I'm done with month 9 of the temperature blanket- officially 3/4 of the way done! It's absoultely massive already, so I'm thinking I might sew it in half to make it a heavier and shorter "weighted blanket" instead of one super long blanket.</div><div><br /></div><div>Here are some stats for September-</div><div>- I used a total of 4 colors</div><div>- The highest daily temperature was 97 and the lowest was 65 (just a reminder, I'm only doing the "high" of the day so I didn't record the daily low or average)</div><div>- My most used color was yellow (used 13 times) which is used for the range 80 to 89 degrees.</div><div><br /></div><div>Here's what the blanket looks like now (and you can see how big it is!)</div></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixrTQVI1Y8gDV57ylGhdIWDuyJ0shK4iSKVYK_wG_M_hPL2GId6YCZmI2izU4nXGT-NwLmYUqqGEZNn-B8FDChTsBGLl1HRDZVSZYJ-FmLW8USxWP-7-mnL1uaYkF_wUVxZSmj4FBYWUqucMnowqYah0xxMAoUIlbDUf8v59TPpIhw6G4pwO8Qrs8cRXqX/s3088/IMG_0947.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3088" data-original-width="2316" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixrTQVI1Y8gDV57ylGhdIWDuyJ0shK4iSKVYK_wG_M_hPL2GId6YCZmI2izU4nXGT-NwLmYUqqGEZNn-B8FDChTsBGLl1HRDZVSZYJ-FmLW8USxWP-7-mnL1uaYkF_wUVxZSmj4FBYWUqucMnowqYah0xxMAoUIlbDUf8v59TPpIhw6G4pwO8Qrs8cRXqX/w480-h640/IMG_0947.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: center;">Hike 100 Miles + Check Out 10 New Parks</h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6MEs6s5luAbTKDV76mnP4ObHUqhw0_s5gLmJ0FZhFDQ1KdfstjUgX0TuKmLM4wvR3r0ng3WaKYrGcmZmZctRPOQ39i8vTc74V_i3CQn27qnZOv1_tP2JMmbLKq_WJ_IK4jnx3h_iP3a4Ol3w1CFuQlHUBiIlA84RLabWvxPxd4s7Ltsq8nQZ5Jet3hc_M/s4032/IMG_0563.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6MEs6s5luAbTKDV76mnP4ObHUqhw0_s5gLmJ0FZhFDQ1KdfstjUgX0TuKmLM4wvR3r0ng3WaKYrGcmZmZctRPOQ39i8vTc74V_i3CQn27qnZOv1_tP2JMmbLKq_WJ_IK4jnx3h_iP3a4Ol3w1CFuQlHUBiIlA84RLabWvxPxd4s7Ltsq8nQZ5Jet3hc_M/w480-h640/IMG_0563.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>I didn't plan this, but I hit 99 miles this month! I'm only 1 mile away from my goal which is kind of wild. I also visited a new park- the Durant Nature Preserve. It was a really nice place to walk and was really relaxing. I enjoyed it a lot!</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: center;">Read the Goodreads Best Books</h2><div>I finished two books this month from the Best Books list-</div><div><br />Best Horror- Hidden Pictures. This wasn't particularly scary, just kind of spooky and suspenseful. I liked the beginning, but the twist was really weird and after reading a bit more about it, I realized how problematic it is and it ruined the book for me. Would not recommend.</div><div><br /></div><div>Best Non-Fiction- Atlas of the Heart. I didn't really enjoy this book- it was basically a manual laying out different emotions and how/why your body responds in certain ways. I kind of skimmed through this and wasn't super into it.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: center;">Work from a Coffee Shop Once a Month</h2><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9EOOKrovVXv9WmY43XMBXf3ptp_5CVU-Z1ONx2cJ91w8_G-n09Ml5Sm9eoQ8bMJKCWPfcVUUM18oIkS67mhh4lbSd6CHokiStf2Lewg5Fonel5Qo2O63YAt_HZxEkWyNFs6sqSgbHLOAQZvZs_9TOQ3lf-P622X_PJjtSO9ssNZgTIsEZAyRrqHFE7E2i/s4032/IMG_0561.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9EOOKrovVXv9WmY43XMBXf3ptp_5CVU-Z1ONx2cJ91w8_G-n09Ml5Sm9eoQ8bMJKCWPfcVUUM18oIkS67mhh4lbSd6CHokiStf2Lewg5Fonel5Qo2O63YAt_HZxEkWyNFs6sqSgbHLOAQZvZs_9TOQ3lf-P622X_PJjtSO9ssNZgTIsEZAyRrqHFE7E2i/w480-h640/IMG_0561.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br />Now that I'm back in the office, I'm not going to keep trying to work from a coffee shop. But- I do want to try out new ones in downtown Raleigh (where my office is!). This month I went to Sir Raleigh Coffee and got a delicious fall latte (Spice Up Your Life!). This was a really cute shop and I think it would be a great place to work from..if I ever need a change of scenery downtown.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></h2><div>Let's talk about some goals for October-</div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: center;">Finish Bathroom</h2><div>Dan has been working on our bathroom remodel for the past few months, and now it's my turn to start helping out. I'm hoping we'll finish this month- we just have to do all the waterproofing and tiling, then install our new fixtures! Hoping it'll go smoothly and I'll be able to share everything soon.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: center;">Start using Peloton again</h2><div>Now that my summer racing season is over, I need to stay on track with working out. So- I'm going to be getting the Peloton app back! I stopped my membership this year but I want to get it back to keep in shape during this "off season".</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: center;">Closet Cleanout</h2><div>It's been a while since I've gone through my clothes, but I'm definitely overdue for a cleanout. My goal will be to donate everything I'm not wearing or don't fit anymore, and tossing anything too old and holey!</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: center;">Plan/Plant Fall Crops</h2><div>It's time to start planting some fall veggies, so I will work on figuring out what needs planted and getting our garden beds ready. We also have to get out our old plants to make room! I also want to plant some fall flowers (probably mums since I've been seeing them everywhere).</div><div><br /></div><div><b><br /></b></div></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>What are your goals this month?</b></div></div>Gretchen Braunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07790068777611696356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-298679531196459259.post-8001034641670612682023-10-04T12:11:00.004-07:002023-10-04T12:11:40.132-07:00Wrightsville Beach Tri take 2<p>This past weekend, I completed my fourth and final triathlon of the year! Going into this year all I wanted to do was do more tri's so I could find out if I really liked them or not, so I think I can successfully check that goal off. My final one was the same that I did last year- the Wrightsville Beach Sprint Tri- and I improved in some areas and got way worse in some. Let's go over the race!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA567zZ0m1V32PsFqA3fqIYE64tjOicBIb6hDSfGT-nFSzOzNmvbVxgsMk3YxEg0dFx60wNvI_rKYk4kV0MP8_X1GMlYItDlow2uSzEBHHUeDhbvrGgQwej9G62j62Z-fmFS1NRfvaKOBX6-YuXfNznOFUMUpklUrJn2nUw6Qn8VF3ZArKav-XKgLCcMfy/s4032/IMG_0806.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA567zZ0m1V32PsFqA3fqIYE64tjOicBIb6hDSfGT-nFSzOzNmvbVxgsMk3YxEg0dFx60wNvI_rKYk4kV0MP8_X1GMlYItDlow2uSzEBHHUeDhbvrGgQwej9G62j62Z-fmFS1NRfvaKOBX6-YuXfNznOFUMUpklUrJn2nUw6Qn8VF3ZArKav-XKgLCcMfy/w640-h480/IMG_0806.HEIC" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: center;">Swim</h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFEesEtxD0cASKFKwewBNYAg7tP51BEc5Tyy4G_2gJFQ24T_RNSKwu9X_WjkVBCIj0rAfWom8mXBQIxOlTK4gl8RWym6YrTTfpCNGTI5YE30XuvflxnT6shlD7hOQYCM9Z86eNtq_tqBv_dqK_1R2Hlzfv5dVmJwaaaH6_QyGfr4tRUe5-niPKrADNZJ28/s4032/IMG_7619.heic" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFEesEtxD0cASKFKwewBNYAg7tP51BEc5Tyy4G_2gJFQ24T_RNSKwu9X_WjkVBCIj0rAfWom8mXBQIxOlTK4gl8RWym6YrTTfpCNGTI5YE30XuvflxnT6shlD7hOQYCM9Z86eNtq_tqBv_dqK_1R2Hlzfv5dVmJwaaaH6_QyGfr4tRUe5-niPKrADNZJ28/w640-h480/IMG_7619.heic" width="640" /></a></div><p style="text-align: left;"></p><p>If you remember from last year, this was the one leg that I was really dreading. I was so nervous about it but I ended up doing way better than I expected. This year I went in with the goal of just going for it and pushing as much as possible because I worked really hard on swimming this year! As soon as we started, I just immediately kicked off and went for my freestyle. Just like last year, the salt water kept me afloat and made it really easy to keep going! </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhswwyA_tLMysuZrszGXfxB3LlNONEB6dpqUfrcPpIun6j0ereehcVu-6tSNEnIfCwnVxCsWPdpRXHlBUgEKRc4XZrVnr6CjO5bE-z8oIu2AHGP5dy2mPiEQzsCM9a4i7FvN-OfxKaxsc9BsVe0UJYuZ9qg6ihJbFhUa8NtjPj0XCUnoamFhg23rithcrLT/s4032/IMG_1165_Original.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhswwyA_tLMysuZrszGXfxB3LlNONEB6dpqUfrcPpIun6j0ereehcVu-6tSNEnIfCwnVxCsWPdpRXHlBUgEKRc4XZrVnr6CjO5bE-z8oIu2AHGP5dy2mPiEQzsCM9a4i7FvN-OfxKaxsc9BsVe0UJYuZ9qg6ihJbFhUa8NtjPj0XCUnoamFhg23rithcrLT/w640-h480/IMG_1165_Original.HEIC" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>I surprised myself by actually swimming the entire distance and not taking any breaks- I didn't really feel tired at all so I told myself to keep going! The only downside to this was that my sighting wasn't as good and I had to change course a couple of times. But- I made it out of the water and was so proud of myself for going the entire time. I ended up over two minutes faster than last year!<p></p><p><b>Swim time- 26:26</b></p><p>The transition from swim to bike felt a bit shorter this year- maybe because I was expecting it. I felt pretty tired at this point (mostly from all of the salt water I think) so I took a little longer than usual and got some water, took a gel, and changed into my shoes. </p><p><b>T1 time- 4:35</b></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXTnMpA7KlYIqA1gtk8qmtOrMEDrg300oEe5bLJNIQ7jGoGhgkNqB6pxcXK-JDv_nw82mXLv8I9eRqRl1cD4zqJO6bUw5WNdKwDKvEMCafx2Qti0cmLdsQ1sfzUSV9py6SbJFbP365eZA1EDmIOHsUA3tI8xRPQsGQEtA8IE3fDgxyx_v28zSlxlITR_i8/s4032/IMG_7624.heic" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXTnMpA7KlYIqA1gtk8qmtOrMEDrg300oEe5bLJNIQ7jGoGhgkNqB6pxcXK-JDv_nw82mXLv8I9eRqRl1cD4zqJO6bUw5WNdKwDKvEMCafx2Qti0cmLdsQ1sfzUSV9py6SbJFbP365eZA1EDmIOHsUA3tI8xRPQsGQEtA8IE3fDgxyx_v28zSlxlITR_i8/w480-h640/IMG_7624.heic" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><h2 style="text-align: center;">Bike</h2><div>When I started on the bike, I felt pretty awful! My stomach started to hurt a bit and my legs were sore, but after we made our way out of transition and into the first section of the bike I felt much better. The course is so flat, so I just tried to push in a high gear and was passing so many people!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxcj4BNTZDQniYBtmwg3ErRE8-Cj2Tbq4umRKqZSpGCYWaT9SApxRc-F3jZNV48gLr3fPQqk_iEcUXA2HgNDg7s4wjLFi1sSzeFj9KIrHBIykcm8sz6MGni9KekeqzDp8VkYI6TsmI27vhPRoJog7RdYf65zJLF2b1L8XkJAmLMC-1galQ4FDZa4khwkXx/s4032/IMG_7626.heic" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxcj4BNTZDQniYBtmwg3ErRE8-Cj2Tbq4umRKqZSpGCYWaT9SApxRc-F3jZNV48gLr3fPQqk_iEcUXA2HgNDg7s4wjLFi1sSzeFj9KIrHBIykcm8sz6MGni9KekeqzDp8VkYI6TsmI27vhPRoJog7RdYf65zJLF2b1L8XkJAmLMC-1galQ4FDZa4khwkXx/w480-h640/IMG_7626.heic" width="480" /></a></div><br />When I started on the bike, I felt pretty awful! My stomach started to hurt a bit and my legs were sore, but after we made our way out of transition and into the first section of the bike I felt much better. The course is so flat, so I just tried to push in a high gear and was passing so many people!<p></p><p>After we made the final turn, I got hit with a TON of wind. It was blowing so hard that there were a few times that I felt like I was going to tip over! I lowered my gear a bit and just tried to grit through this section and not lose too much time. I kept passing people (including one woman who I kept passing and then getting passed by) so that was also a nice boost. I ended up with just about the same time as last year.</p><p><b>Bike time- 45:12</b></p><p>In the second transition I just grabbed my tri belt with my race number and a gel and got another drink of water. As soon as I ran out of transition my gel fell off my belt so I had to go back a bit to pick it up...great way to start the final leg!</p><p><b>T2 time- 1:22</b></p><p><b><br /></b></p><h2 style="text-align: center;"><b>Run</b></h2><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieRkiGYWbnsM1c5ZqjtZxAq77RPqHg8jd_olFaKW5xj8Qs9AyeSBMNGgUBSDBy08mFYrnzVuiZwhiUrdk9RucDNTZ8bmErZ31dLVHO_KDmDpYWWvwxTYYqa_S3y34QNHetsSvwuIHKMJAUB9DOvjlS2iJrapsTJUnMdkcG6txegkuihMTS2BlgGXQudoWP/s4032/IMG_1644_Original.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieRkiGYWbnsM1c5ZqjtZxAq77RPqHg8jd_olFaKW5xj8Qs9AyeSBMNGgUBSDBy08mFYrnzVuiZwhiUrdk9RucDNTZ8bmErZ31dLVHO_KDmDpYWWvwxTYYqa_S3y34QNHetsSvwuIHKMJAUB9DOvjlS2iJrapsTJUnMdkcG6txegkuihMTS2BlgGXQudoWP/w480-h640/IMG_1644_Original.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br />This is where it all went downhill. My stomach was still bothering me at this point but my legs felt relatively fresh, so I was hoping that after a bit I would feel better. We start the run by doing an out-and-back down a street, where I saw all of my friends doing the race and that helped to give me a boost of energy. </div><div><br /></div><div>I tried to get myself to keep running until I got to the water stop which was about a mile in, even though with each step my stomach was hurting more and more. I made it to the water stop and took a walk break to get some water and take my gel- hoping that would help! From here on, I walk/ran to the finish line, finally feeling better with about a half mile to go! I'm not sure if it was having an empty stomach and adding in salt water from the swim and a gel during the bike, but it was really painful and I'm disappointed it affected my run so much. I really wanted to beat my time from last year, but with such a bad run I ended up a little slower.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Run time- 31:58</b></div><div><b>Overall time- 1:48:33</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div>Even though the race didn't go exactly how I wanted, I'm SO happy and proud of my swim! This is what I really worked on all year, so I'm happy that went well and I executed my training really well. My running has been awful all year, so my goal for the off-season is to get that back on track and build up some endurance, so that next year I can do much better in my races!</div><div><br /></div>Gretchen Braunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07790068777611696356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-298679531196459259.post-17043299668098272882023-09-18T08:35:00.003-07:002023-09-18T08:35:54.430-07:00Back to Office<p style="text-align: left;">We are officially in the final stretch before my last race of the year! I'm so excited to see how I do compared to last year. This was a week of transition- I'm back in the office now so that's definitely changing how my workouts went and how I could squeeze them in again. I'll figure it out but for now it's been a little rough! Here's how the week went- </p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: center;">Monday</h2><div style="text-align: center;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik8SLrV29gR7WyKadiHVlfcduDqXY3eggwrKd1G8qZZfyUU5YPfHprBncT8Z8u5t4tWLZ5SXTNtL-oV1BzFksgBT04xd_uhTsW8u7b9Q3I34gR1cmMX1FLsNVu6GjkXZKGj_z2CMd7qO2AeAh-ip_LViwUM6WxMlfngLUChvXOFriBUaCNwERKv5qagWmf/s4032/IMG_0514.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik8SLrV29gR7WyKadiHVlfcduDqXY3eggwrKd1G8qZZfyUU5YPfHprBncT8Z8u5t4tWLZ5SXTNtL-oV1BzFksgBT04xd_uhTsW8u7b9Q3I34gR1cmMX1FLsNVu6GjkXZKGj_z2CMd7qO2AeAh-ip_LViwUM6WxMlfngLUChvXOFriBUaCNwERKv5qagWmf/w480-h640/IMG_0514.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br />1 hour yoga</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">Yoga was very much needed today- I had my first day back in the office this morning (after 3.5 years away!). It was a long and stressful day so it felt great to end my day with some stretching and easy movement.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: center;">Tuesday</h2><p style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguQxHMPrJdAgiebXr5X-kSciDg2sSL7p2kaGMCMJHjyPLjMRaPa2Kno60gB1Lpm-jccUsXkjM-tqUOYfYDcAOGXV0cXRdPc7pScxC_EG_EZgDNYSuYn8QUIMDAxK14jarw5IhoF1JWLyECl4NvYa8ZxrMUOzztuaSIM-WDON3Jxm7pYMQk1t2TLBg79zYP/s4032/IMG_0521.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguQxHMPrJdAgiebXr5X-kSciDg2sSL7p2kaGMCMJHjyPLjMRaPa2Kno60gB1Lpm-jccUsXkjM-tqUOYfYDcAOGXV0cXRdPc7pScxC_EG_EZgDNYSuYn8QUIMDAxK14jarw5IhoF1JWLyECl4NvYa8ZxrMUOzztuaSIM-WDON3Jxm7pYMQk1t2TLBg79zYP/w480-h640/IMG_0521.HEIC" width="480" /></a></b></div><br /><div style="font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><b>30 min run</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">Very sticky and warm run today at lunchtime- I headed to a park that I haven't been to in a while and it was great to have a change of scenery!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><p></p><h2 style="text-align: center;">Wednesday</h2><p style="text-align: center;"><b>1 hour bootcamp</b></p><p style="text-align: left;">Today's class was so hard! Our first three stations were all wall sits- one regular one with a weight overhead, and then holding a weight and just using one leg in the hold. It was really challenging, and the rest of the stations were just as difficult. I was so done by the end, and of course we had to finish with burpees. Tough class!</p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b>1 hour bike</b></p><p style="text-align: left;">Lunch bike ride was really great- I did 20 minute warmup, 20 minutes pushing hard, and 20 minutes cool down. It felt good to shake out the legs and the hard minutes felt great.</p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: center;">Thursday</h2><div style="text-align: center;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmZ-GXJNo2oix_4COBPFpimHmL9TA-QK-9hmD1ZEOu0hpk-sag_qpkpluZOK9_sbB15oepSutY6TjWVj_3s424R-ezVP2WFFtuREznIJvnxsDx0rnkvod2EJw_ppsES_6TbwcOUDzXX7SPGcJ7_p-xEXGOVXJjNCDC8xBHKHUDTgmyMqRP-HHzk9szgqtS/s3088/IMG_0537.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3088" data-original-width="2316" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmZ-GXJNo2oix_4COBPFpimHmL9TA-QK-9hmD1ZEOu0hpk-sag_qpkpluZOK9_sbB15oepSutY6TjWVj_3s424R-ezVP2WFFtuREznIJvnxsDx0rnkvod2EJw_ppsES_6TbwcOUDzXX7SPGcJ7_p-xEXGOVXJjNCDC8xBHKHUDTgmyMqRP-HHzk9szgqtS/w480-h640/IMG_0537.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br />1500 yard swim</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">This was our last (outdoor) pool swim of the year! It seems like this season went by way too quickly. I had a really great swim to finish out the year though with lots of hard laps. Feeling good going into my race!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: center;">Friday</h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOAMN0JbhXXy9RGp7krHLV7eRzwsHbl41I_lejO-lloTRJ1NeWMifseGqcP6PTZLGNpQ0dfqtvEaPDY2ugQ5TzRu60BBejZxo0sVetuSV8KJQPDeul0Az_Laa9eEVfjJKMPGrgnmPZbrOXT0TqDIP3cKkZr5CNNNFEOgQ2b_2F-hqI-wiGI-yIer7Yyp7W/s4032/IMG_0566.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOAMN0JbhXXy9RGp7krHLV7eRzwsHbl41I_lejO-lloTRJ1NeWMifseGqcP6PTZLGNpQ0dfqtvEaPDY2ugQ5TzRu60BBejZxo0sVetuSV8KJQPDeul0Az_Laa9eEVfjJKMPGrgnmPZbrOXT0TqDIP3cKkZr5CNNNFEOgQ2b_2F-hqI-wiGI-yIer7Yyp7W/w480-h640/IMG_0566.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b>2 mile hike</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I was back in the office today and had plans after work, so I decided to visit Durant Nature Preserve on my way to meet my friends. It was a really pretty, quiet park with some great views of a small lake. I love lake trails, so this was a great way to end the week.</div><br /><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: center;">Saturday</h2><div style="text-align: center;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxUfMaL5rBJUK9myyQtRRvVAVnm5vxPAgbFi4Eu3U8lmy6vsQugkfCBHb1nP5EHi-zSgYSwID9fWWbb61-gHFrXGnLwQ0yoWJz55kcQfBwNHXNc87-lT5iz_cfThr_yPQVsKlMPyj4r3WNtLD7NQptYphCRiSL-MwJkoYquMnZ18NLv238zLpsfLwrDdhU/s3088/IMG_0578.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3088" data-original-width="2316" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxUfMaL5rBJUK9myyQtRRvVAVnm5vxPAgbFi4Eu3U8lmy6vsQugkfCBHb1nP5EHi-zSgYSwID9fWWbb61-gHFrXGnLwQ0yoWJz55kcQfBwNHXNc87-lT5iz_cfThr_yPQVsKlMPyj4r3WNtLD7NQptYphCRiSL-MwJkoYquMnZ18NLv238zLpsfLwrDdhU/w480-h640/IMG_0578.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br />1 hour bike</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">We had a busy day ahead of us, so we were just able to squeeze in a little bike ride in the morning. It's starting to get chilly in the mornings and evenings, so this was a cold ride! I definitely need to start layering up for rides now. We kept this pretty easy and just biked out to a lake and back.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: center;">Sunday</h2><div style="text-align: center;"><b>40 min run</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">Ended the week with an easy run around the neighborhood. I felt a bit sore and tired on this run after a long weekend full of fun, so it wasn't my best run ever but I got it done. </div>Gretchen Braunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07790068777611696356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-298679531196459259.post-26335508076163056002023-09-10T22:00:00.001-07:002023-09-10T22:00:00.136-07:00So close<p style="text-align: left;">We are getting closer and closer to my next (and possibly last?) race of the year! It was a great week of training- minus doing some road biking because my bike was in the shop getting a tune up for the race. Otherwise, things are clicking in place and I'm excited to see if I have any improvements from the race last year!</p><p style="text-align: left;">Here's how the week went-</p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: center;">Monday</h2><p style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBVtl8jk9FGvLkWi6cD3fDflqVWZJFljqSLvyhKJBYrVpu4PMDYFbpzmh6r4_M939HPky46WLfmsESwiQFBzO4cStEZN-LddKmNAvS-TV8H2pat30qF6t3r_3qiPDiBBYehPS1YE1sRYiV6GdG-UzQfrZ-_66rNorHfL-DswlkTC8jw3-PA2G7Q0ahKwXF/s4032/IMG_0434.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBVtl8jk9FGvLkWi6cD3fDflqVWZJFljqSLvyhKJBYrVpu4PMDYFbpzmh6r4_M939HPky46WLfmsESwiQFBzO4cStEZN-LddKmNAvS-TV8H2pat30qF6t3r_3qiPDiBBYehPS1YE1sRYiV6GdG-UzQfrZ-_66rNorHfL-DswlkTC8jw3-PA2G7Q0ahKwXF/w480-h640/IMG_0434.HEIC" width="480" /></a></b></div><b><br />1000 yard swim</b><p></p><p style="text-align: left;">I did a straight swim today- no sets or warmups, just swim nonstop. I felt good on this and could have kept going which is always a good thing!</p><p style="text-align: center;"><b>4.5 mile hike</b></p><p style="text-align: left;">Since it was a holiday, I decided to go out to my favorite park for a hike. I was also planning on kayaking afterwards but it seemed like that was everyone's plan and it was super crowded! So, I just ended my kayak and headed home to relax the rest of the day.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></p><h2 style="text-align: center;">Tuesday</h2><div style="text-align: center;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq5_bg5M2cnWlwmxCxrOVkabh5zm0awh6QJ8-h6XzZ2QFqHHr-wXeKQUkQHG7duvRWcP70B8Y9MPC4lxCANr6oipYhkjLHI6AmjK8qbnmLbKLUHU8K12_biqT0RFRE0AGqBfW6Wb5OLrQeQSZY_IWbNjH-VmV7LJX0QOd9Tx6G-4h0hsS1djxDFC5T5cxv/s1599/image000000.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1599" data-original-width="899" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhq5_bg5M2cnWlwmxCxrOVkabh5zm0awh6QJ8-h6XzZ2QFqHHr-wXeKQUkQHG7duvRWcP70B8Y9MPC4lxCANr6oipYhkjLHI6AmjK8qbnmLbKLUHU8K12_biqT0RFRE0AGqBfW6Wb5OLrQeQSZY_IWbNjH-VmV7LJX0QOd9Tx6G-4h0hsS1djxDFC5T5cxv/w360-h640/image000000.jpg" width="360" /></a></div><br />40 min run</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">If you can tell by our expressions, it was a toasty one this morning! I joined Erica for a run around the Art Museum, and we took it easy with some walks up the hills. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: center;">Wednesday</h2><p style="text-align: center;"><b>1 hour Bootcamp</b></p><p style="text-align: left;">Today's class was all about squats- we had 3 different types and they were killer. We also ended with some burpees and I was so tired by the end!</p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: center;">Thursday</h2><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Rest day!</b></div><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: center;">Friday</h2><div style="text-align: center;"><b>30 min run</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">I made the big mistake of waiting to run until lunchtime, and it was HOT! I actually felt decent for the first half of the run, and then took it easy for the second half. I didn't bring water with me which was a big fail on my part, but I made it through this!</div><h2 style="text-align: center;">Saturday</h2><div style="text-align: center;"><b>1 hour bike</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPU11EDqjJf2y9RoEJnGh6avrH2NYVjd_5SNfkwSbwxk5zg4kNqdLZFXOhDQ0Ye0TopRANzHc9PMBMtOoesBgF0fRg1o-SGAb6LdQg0M4QKqFg9FJXJXKO3MEkzVdusG_JEqd60-EjLFwa-e4sw1dBoSsKMpB1H9ocxBWzRsNZ8MuEWFNU6uKIozGr_UZ9/s4032/IMG_0487.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPU11EDqjJf2y9RoEJnGh6avrH2NYVjd_5SNfkwSbwxk5zg4kNqdLZFXOhDQ0Ye0TopRANzHc9PMBMtOoesBgF0fRg1o-SGAb6LdQg0M4QKqFg9FJXJXKO3MEkzVdusG_JEqd60-EjLFwa-e4sw1dBoSsKMpB1H9ocxBWzRsNZ8MuEWFNU6uKIozGr_UZ9/w480-h640/IMG_0487.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br />My goal for today was to do an outdoor ride and an open water swim, but we had bad storms all day and were stuck inside! So, I decided to do a longer stationary bike while watching the US Open womens final, and it was great entertainment while I rode. I would climb on the commercial breaks and do flat roads while they played, so it was a pretty easy ride. What a match though!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: center;">Sunday</h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg23VhCS0tnpo-BHvSk6J81iCKgfLFuRDRUFPIHevCUj_HRoAWrcKKiKtabghui6agNCRNBgmw8Y5cj-UvX_AiPb5eObLmmQ9sdQU3aiLCpiUjPiwI2Kc_iQwBeRm8Zu-FDUvrpVZ6DghQTZJyqieMZpmTSX24NJxtG72F3dbI9Hp6frBVG1qb1-eFCssre/s4032/IMG_0493.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg23VhCS0tnpo-BHvSk6J81iCKgfLFuRDRUFPIHevCUj_HRoAWrcKKiKtabghui6agNCRNBgmw8Y5cj-UvX_AiPb5eObLmmQ9sdQU3aiLCpiUjPiwI2Kc_iQwBeRm8Zu-FDUvrpVZ6DghQTZJyqieMZpmTSX24NJxtG72F3dbI9Hp6frBVG1qb1-eFCssre/w480-h640/IMG_0493.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>1200 yard swim</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">Since I didn't get to swim yesterday, my goal for the morning was to do a pool workout followed by a run. It was a little bit chilly and misty out in the morning but the water felt great! I had a great swim workout with 200 yard repeats and felt like I could have kept going forever.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>1 mile run</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">The run afterwards also felt really good- I was able to push the pace a bit and get to some speeds I haven't seen in a while which felt great!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>1 hour yoga</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">I joined my friend Erica's class at Trophy Brewing and it was great! She highlighted artists at this year's Hopscotch music festival in Raleigh, so it was a nice selection of lesser known (at least to me) artists. Tough class after a full workout in the morning but felt great.</div>Gretchen Braunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07790068777611696356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-298679531196459259.post-7769310292828603462023-09-05T22:00:00.001-07:002023-09-05T22:00:00.147-07:00August Reads and Reviews<p style="text-align: left;">I had another up and down month of books! On one hand, I had what might be my favorite book of the year so far, and on the other I had some duds and one that I gave up on. Let's see what I read- and please leave suggestions on some fun fall books I can read the next few months! </p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: center;">Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros</h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgThYn6867meHRX5Ntb_FF9eO0P5pIChCAv_LpKJojgqhs7FObdJ_3grOst7zMxAZC3fYql-8CoxOis3dBKTXuaArBUXIK22yyCg_F-cdh4BA8rz0IwVAJq5lXzFyg1D1ZgUSx73EP18JjeSjRLoXtDOsEYKNi2xWUn5Uvys1qMl809CPFqklzc9tCuS3yq/s4032/IMG_0043.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgThYn6867meHRX5Ntb_FF9eO0P5pIChCAv_LpKJojgqhs7FObdJ_3grOst7zMxAZC3fYql-8CoxOis3dBKTXuaArBUXIK22yyCg_F-cdh4BA8rz0IwVAJq5lXzFyg1D1ZgUSx73EP18JjeSjRLoXtDOsEYKNi2xWUn5Uvys1qMl809CPFqklzc9tCuS3yq/w480-h640/IMG_0043.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div>There was a lot of hype around this book- I saw it everywhere on Instagram and Tik Tok, and the wait at the library was months long. I wasn't sure what to expect, but as soon as I started I was pulled into this incredible world. This book takes place in a world that's like Harry Potter meets Hunger Games, with more dragons thrown in. There's a lot of action, as well as sweet moments and some romance as well. I loved this so much, and definitely think it's one of my favorite books so far this year.</div><div><b>My Rating - 5/5 obviously!</b><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: center;">Mean Baby by Selma Blair</h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqF0fTvunBx-Q5MRDmDW6EgqCEYlKzG0R8rDZOEl_4tnmCzvI4Z15sElsxHfUW8qkTwfosQcgJz24VNlTdKHGGvcj-stdRfnwCoGZ2E6X-027gq_oNSn1iALtVsiFSfSG_bk2AhGloYL5A7XGht6-sRxc2L0jLIJrltwvydtcE_rpEY6X8SXQJY_-H40Le/s4032/IMG_0187.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqF0fTvunBx-Q5MRDmDW6EgqCEYlKzG0R8rDZOEl_4tnmCzvI4Z15sElsxHfUW8qkTwfosQcgJz24VNlTdKHGGvcj-stdRfnwCoGZ2E6X-027gq_oNSn1iALtVsiFSfSG_bk2AhGloYL5A7XGht6-sRxc2L0jLIJrltwvydtcE_rpEY6X8SXQJY_-H40Le/w480-h640/IMG_0187.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div>You should already know that I love celebrity memoirs, and I also love Selma Blair as a person (from what I've seen at least) and as an actress, so I was so excited to read her book! I was unfortunately pretty disappointed in this. Her stories were interesting and at times really heartbreaking, but it was so hard to follow because she jumps around in time a lot, and does so much name dropping (which is my pet peeve in celebrity memoirs!).</div><div><br /></div><div><b>My Rating - 3/5</b><br /><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: center;">Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris</h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw8bdlJ10geaPRqIktG8lV5RP6dMriu2rno42iV0tBwGSIwuEQ4_ZvJEzSvQ1pm5RzmLTL8QltJ-m-P6aXZUrFKIWnSZLa4x2UUbY38fF5TUNtu6v00wz2WcbT_NN2MiDqDpISvzi9lRN4DPZrziezXSrKs_RaQtMYm_ceH-RODFuuOhPIEwiqxqXIfWRd/s4032/IMG_0264.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjw8bdlJ10geaPRqIktG8lV5RP6dMriu2rno42iV0tBwGSIwuEQ4_ZvJEzSvQ1pm5RzmLTL8QltJ-m-P6aXZUrFKIWnSZLa4x2UUbY38fF5TUNtu6v00wz2WcbT_NN2MiDqDpISvzi9lRN4DPZrziezXSrKs_RaQtMYm_ceH-RODFuuOhPIEwiqxqXIfWRd/w480-h640/IMG_0264.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div>This was another hyped book that I've heard about for a while, and it was a really interesting read. Most thrillers have twists up until the end to leave you guessing, but this one you find out the twist pretty early on and just have to hang along for the ride. It was kind of out there for me, and I didn't find the characters sympathetic or realistic at all.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>My Rating - 3/5</b><br /><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: center;">Audiobook</h2><p><b>Hello Stranger by Katherine Center </b> - Another winner for me by Katherine Center! I liked the premise of this- a portrait artist has temporary facial blindness during the biggest competition of her life. Lots of hijinks ensue, and I loved following along and the twist at the end.</p><p><b>Happy Place by Emily Henry </b>- For some reason I mostly only read Emily Henry books by audiobook, and this one is unfortunately my least favorite of hers. I didn't like any of the characters, and thought the whole plot was frustrating. Also, I think I'm tired of rich kids whining about losing their free beach or lake house that they've had access to for years...so this one overall was a miss for me.</p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: center;">DNF</h2><p><b>The Talented Miss Farwell by Emily Gray Tedrowe</b> - This was a book club pick, and it just dragged on for me! I liked the first part, but after a while it just got so slow that I gave it up. Only two people in my club finished the book, so it definitely wasn't a popular pick.</p></div>Gretchen Braunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07790068777611696356noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-298679531196459259.post-21145714666383598452023-09-04T22:00:00.001-07:002023-09-04T22:00:00.134-07:00August Highlights and Goals<p>August was such a fun month! It definitely felt like it was the height of summer fun, with lots of outdoor activities with friends, outdoor festivals and concerts, birthday celebrations, and races. It was a good time! There were a lot of highlights for me, but the top one was probably something I've been looking forward to for months (and honestly years)- seeing the musical Wicked! I love musicals and any kind of live performance, so I was really excited when a friend was willing to go with me and we had an amazing time. The show definitely lived up to my expectations and I absolutely loved it!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj1H96T9oxE66_2Twt1oWEmH6e9dULCES1cQGK6G7rRB4flrjut3e3RY_g9QBqazbQXpmiEYIRZanV457lcPyaIHlEEthXUMWXYuL-BVzqD4_3PZLKC4Gx7i9trY-RQBTDeSxo4dfg2zQ99K29hP31wwVU_WcAuuNNXql2yPiznUidNB5-yrpKoSdE5pnr/s4032/IMG_0389.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj1H96T9oxE66_2Twt1oWEmH6e9dULCES1cQGK6G7rRB4flrjut3e3RY_g9QBqazbQXpmiEYIRZanV457lcPyaIHlEEthXUMWXYuL-BVzqD4_3PZLKC4Gx7i9trY-RQBTDeSxo4dfg2zQ99K29hP31wwVU_WcAuuNNXql2yPiznUidNB5-yrpKoSdE5pnr/w480-h640/IMG_0389.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>Here's a look at how my annual goals are going- we're getting down to the end of the year which is crazy to think about!</p><h2 style="background-color: white; color: #575757; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; text-align: center;">Annual Goals</h2><div style="background-color: white; color: #575757; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><h2 style="text-align: center;">Korean Vegan Cookbook</h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjlOy_sz7_i1ZkWryp8_Il3L4v9IlC9VHV1ejEpYOGWPstVvTLDC-kXWdyAiLJclApAHoaCJpUNnZYrEF6CCN0BPAu4JyQnXmX1z8dQUVtg4iqulhbAFpnWmfa4lrStLaBnJdUBfyTf3QrlTUDLfTTIwvmQAClxhyNLMH0DGiC_FG14WI1VPhHDLOlX4_h/s4032/IMG_0333.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjlOy_sz7_i1ZkWryp8_Il3L4v9IlC9VHV1ejEpYOGWPstVvTLDC-kXWdyAiLJclApAHoaCJpUNnZYrEF6CCN0BPAu4JyQnXmX1z8dQUVtg4iqulhbAFpnWmfa4lrStLaBnJdUBfyTf3QrlTUDLfTTIwvmQAClxhyNLMH0DGiC_FG14WI1VPhHDLOlX4_h/w480-h640/IMG_0333.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">I tried out the noodle chapter in the book, which I was pretty intimidated by! I've never made noodles before, so I decided on the knife cut noodle soup recipe which the author says is the easiest to make. I liked how the soup tasted but the noodles were so thick- they almost tasted like dumplings. Dan really liked it though!</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: center;">Temperature blanket</h2><div><div>I'm done with month 8 of the temperature blanket. I kept getting behind this month- I was working on other projects and kept putting this off! It's such an easy design that it's good for a brainless activity which is nice, but I'm starting to see why people say they dread making these.</div><div><br /></div><div>Here are some stats for August-</div><div>- I used a total of 3 colors</div><div>- The highest daily temperature was 97 and the lowest was 78 (just a reminder, I'm only doing the "high" of the day so I didn't record the daily low or average)</div><div>- My most used color was yellow (used 16 times) which is used for the range 80 to 89 degrees.</div><div><br /></div><div>Here's what the blanket looks like now-</div></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4RNArxJTM1xKlDRx-7VYm49Gmxst_aHepHSx4P3hx48t2Z9yTLKaYMEeVO3YQUkPEWvq6ZApPDZRikF_IWR6y7_6STv-CuD04yo5pFMcZrbTmxbqIsQ3OCW9NryQ9jPDTznMXpNU1eh0WGRnxf6KSekffskbJS8XAMCxsQwYykO8RrD4gdZ50oOSFhkQ4/s4032/IMG_0406.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4RNArxJTM1xKlDRx-7VYm49Gmxst_aHepHSx4P3hx48t2Z9yTLKaYMEeVO3YQUkPEWvq6ZApPDZRikF_IWR6y7_6STv-CuD04yo5pFMcZrbTmxbqIsQ3OCW9NryQ9jPDTznMXpNU1eh0WGRnxf6KSekffskbJS8XAMCxsQwYykO8RrD4gdZ50oOSFhkQ4/w480-h640/IMG_0406.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: center;">Hike 100 Miles + Check Out 10 New Parks</h2><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLjwPisqMzXu0SKbANUGODjY5nwOjqGwEiMULT51-SzAhYghzsSywwxSA-h3wwm3SD49tcd6csktGtqRUk6Ud3w9Y_K0eK-_r1N2bbSLeHkepNl40gRrapyWL3EX-0vvLHckwU_nJZ8vcwxprBjJkhB1Nhq6fakBvT4lGe_0zMQwzOjbBNemNe5Vo1rcqz/s4032/IMG_9998.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLjwPisqMzXu0SKbANUGODjY5nwOjqGwEiMULT51-SzAhYghzsSywwxSA-h3wwm3SD49tcd6csktGtqRUk6Ud3w9Y_K0eK-_r1N2bbSLeHkepNl40gRrapyWL3EX-0vvLHckwU_nJZ8vcwxprBjJkhB1Nhq6fakBvT4lGe_0zMQwzOjbBNemNe5Vo1rcqz/w480-h640/IMG_9998.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>I did a few hikes and trail runs this month to add 6.8 more miles onto my total, making it 93 total miles this year. I'm so close to my goal of 100 already! I also visited one new park- Lake Raleigh.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: center;">Read the Goodreads Best Books</h2><div><br />I'm currently reading the Non--fiction winner (Atlas of the Heart) but haven't finished any winners this month.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: center;">Work from a Coffee Shop Once a Month</h2><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-GiVTB8wW-AKemEmazMKE4jnSjZ2sqHOgojhFX20Qtjl5LkLxDjoqRB93fXV9Yt0G-dp1ksQqSs0ufcZ4Po1u9qoHK73klKtD7HDZqb8eIGL6DOtgBQFvLukg41MNJLto38ITzmeSNKDWxvsGBfeF4v8uCgkOfXLLVLWxYmhHSSu9lJvlyOKiOroLlQE2/s4032/IMG_0082.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-GiVTB8wW-AKemEmazMKE4jnSjZ2sqHOgojhFX20Qtjl5LkLxDjoqRB93fXV9Yt0G-dp1ksQqSs0ufcZ4Po1u9qoHK73klKtD7HDZqb8eIGL6DOtgBQFvLukg41MNJLto38ITzmeSNKDWxvsGBfeF4v8uCgkOfXLLVLWxYmhHSSu9lJvlyOKiOroLlQE2/w480-h640/IMG_0082.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br />I visited The Optimist in Raleigh this month, and it was such a great little coffee shop. It was really busy so I can tell it's a popular spot, and I understand why! The coffee and food was great, and there are lots of spots to work from (including a huge patio outside). Definitely will go back.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">I finished off my summer bucket list this month, just in time for summer to unofficially end! It was so fun to have a list of things to try out and I'll definitely be doing this in winter as well.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Summer Bucket List</h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOF1rSMUwMaxXfUx_CIf1zlN3dcn0xvDa5CHX7ZcRu3hrx_SgK-o4-aiEUVFTVmqR5thnt8gL5GZVzTX4FhxqLDTbF2qFk_vcOCNY0OlguAR_co5Jzya0YQYCAAC7i2kvGsLrCow5GiudYjmpMVYzw6IeFF4qczZvWptZgKUAlSMYb0rafmA6_62-e-6r-/s4032/IMG_0317.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOF1rSMUwMaxXfUx_CIf1zlN3dcn0xvDa5CHX7ZcRu3hrx_SgK-o4-aiEUVFTVmqR5thnt8gL5GZVzTX4FhxqLDTbF2qFk_vcOCNY0OlguAR_co5Jzya0YQYCAAC7i2kvGsLrCow5GiudYjmpMVYzw6IeFF4qczZvWptZgKUAlSMYb0rafmA6_62-e-6r-/w480-h640/IMG_0317.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><ul><li><b>Bike to a brewery or bottle shop</b> - <i>done in June</i></li><li><b>Kayak or SUP in a new lake </b>- I went to Lake Raleigh this month. It's a really nice lake right on NC State's campus and I really liked it! Would definitely go back.</li><li><b>Paint and picnic </b>- went to Jordan Lake to do this earlier this month.</li><li><b>Crochet in a park </b>- <i>done in June</i></li><li><b>Hike somewhere new </b>- <i>done in June</i></li><li><b>Go to an outdoor movie</b> - Saw the Mario Brothers movie at Apex Nature Park. My city does a free movie or concert in the park every weekend in the summer and I finally got to join (for the final one!)</li><li><b>Go to an outdoor concert </b>- <i>done in July</i></li><li><b>Visit a winery </b>- <i>done in July</i></li><li><b>Bike the entire Tobacco Trail </b>- Did this with Dan and my friend Karena! It was a really nice ride and not too difficult- my next goal is doing the entire Neuse River trail which is about 5 miles longer than the Tobacco.</li><li><b>Go to a baseball game </b>- <i>done in July</i></li><li><b>Play frisbee golf</b> - Went twice this month!</li><li><b>Go camping </b>- <i>done in June</i></li><li><b>Dine al fresco at a restaurant (bonus points if it's rooftop!) </b>- <i>done in July</i></li></ul></div></div></div>Gretchen Braunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07790068777611696356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-298679531196459259.post-11828920093866455312023-08-21T13:47:00.001-07:002023-08-21T13:47:57.534-07:00Chaos in the Pool<p style="text-align: left;">Another great week in the books! This one was a little lighter on official workouts, but I got in some fun cross training (if you can call it that...) as well as another sprint tri during the weekend! I'm still a few weeks away from my goal race for the year, so I'm using all of the races I've done so far as practice for the main event. Here's how the week (and race) went-</p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: center;">Monday</h2><p style="text-align: center;"><b>30 min frisbee golf</b></p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipdfpG8DJMvHs5WR8qgahftLV7JgmGIW3Ht3GQxJ01g5wY4E1fnlnXjGkQCSosXEzAf4jeP-bGmsJgeM_4dFVuXFS2aroSYBlw_0_zCX3lFoyPJecJq0Eh-C7ryO7JJHHFqeTO-n60weQ_jRU_H_v-wMKY0v6qOc0RiQdqg_EHIr1ncwZObjqufjiGTrHS/s4032/IMG_0131.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipdfpG8DJMvHs5WR8qgahftLV7JgmGIW3Ht3GQxJ01g5wY4E1fnlnXjGkQCSosXEzAf4jeP-bGmsJgeM_4dFVuXFS2aroSYBlw_0_zCX3lFoyPJecJq0Eh-C7ryO7JJHHFqeTO-n60weQ_jRU_H_v-wMKY0v6qOc0RiQdqg_EHIr1ncwZObjqufjiGTrHS/w480-h640/IMG_0131.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><div style="text-align: left;">Finally went out to play frisbee golf- our first time in a while! It was brutally hot and sunny out, but in the shade it felt much better. We went at lunchtime so only had time for about half of the course but it was so fun to get out there.</div><b><br /></b><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></p><h2 style="text-align: center;">Tuesday</h2><p style="text-align: center;"><b>1500 yard swim</b></p><p style="text-align: left;">This morning's swim felt amazing! I started with a warmup, then the main set was 4x200 repeats. By the time I was done, I was close to 1500 so I extended my cool down a bit to hit that number! This was one of those days I could have kept swimming forever and got in a good groove.</p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: center;">Wednesday</h2><p style="text-align: center;"><b>20 min run</b></p><p style="text-align: left;">Short and sweet run at Run Club and it actually felt pretty good! I ran with a friend and we kept the pace easy but time went by really quickly running with her. Even though it was hot out, it didn't feel too horrible!</p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: center;">Thursday</h2><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Rest Day!</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhysHieHJTVZ8WrpyaCGq1CWqZD4w_s3WeOZt4HfDMvTyZbX9pp9GHrUmNmxQGm66mwhob0mYGgh-8_z6AZZGXnimO_ma0HuiZwamd8DlbMVW8c4RanLowqeSY54Xv2kpClovQ6n0EzIk9SkRBb7PqiWagVm3GMzoM_2cyj3Z9t0_bW7zq7HCEZ39y3ykL2/s4032/IMG_0198.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhysHieHJTVZ8WrpyaCGq1CWqZD4w_s3WeOZt4HfDMvTyZbX9pp9GHrUmNmxQGm66mwhob0mYGgh-8_z6AZZGXnimO_ma0HuiZwamd8DlbMVW8c4RanLowqeSY54Xv2kpClovQ6n0EzIk9SkRBb7PqiWagVm3GMzoM_2cyj3Z9t0_bW7zq7HCEZ39y3ykL2/w480-h640/IMG_0198.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Very easy, lazy day with a morning walk with Selma, and then met up with some friends after work. We checked out the new art installation at Dix Park that is 3d printed pieces that project shadows. I have to admit it was a little bit disappointing- I was expecting it to be much bigger but there were only a few of them and they were each about 2 feet tall. Still fun to try something new though.</div><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><h2 style="text-align: center;">Friday</h2><div style="text-align: center;"><b>500 yard swim</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisLmHH0UxD338-hkqCyncd4hnav9zegakGSjbLUPyZ6EPAAHLBmVj9lRfun3MEXxdI5ktMKg4MhhCkAWSAj3i_bJMOCYqsoa7oRWSdFvqQqCyAhLvhinsF6nrylCWzGAzZRz_trSO9_u96jWSNnhFIK1ROCjT1pu_DLVjFxE8Od7zGnKyDE7S69Bg9_5Ix/s4032/IMG_0205.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisLmHH0UxD338-hkqCyncd4hnav9zegakGSjbLUPyZ6EPAAHLBmVj9lRfun3MEXxdI5ktMKg4MhhCkAWSAj3i_bJMOCYqsoa7oRWSdFvqQqCyAhLvhinsF6nrylCWzGAzZRz_trSO9_u96jWSNnhFIK1ROCjT1pu_DLVjFxE8Od7zGnKyDE7S69Bg9_5Ix/w480-h640/IMG_0205.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br /><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;">We just did a quick swim to prepare for the pool swim at the race, and it was such a great reminder of how far I've come in swimming. When I started out this year doing 500 was such a big deal and was so hard. I had to take a bunch of breaks to do it, and now it's an easy day to do it nonstop!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: center;">Saturday</h2><div style="text-align: center;"><b>1 hour kayak</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6xc5gdLz2fAZ3BT5Sm8GTrP14x-NzW0F-XwYg19aIUDMSL9YHdOBQg7KRoqto5p_JJYrChXpjkvfJ6IILqmsOVJHDjfIF3WdBffUxoKjTrn46jO9dIhDBfFeKygkln75TmaGZ_v6hj1nVLKcmiq3IUGOk_ye3rSnuS3yPQzXGn__pjib_A02dyoWs4sWB/s4032/IMG_0215.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6xc5gdLz2fAZ3BT5Sm8GTrP14x-NzW0F-XwYg19aIUDMSL9YHdOBQg7KRoqto5p_JJYrChXpjkvfJ6IILqmsOVJHDjfIF3WdBffUxoKjTrn46jO9dIhDBfFeKygkln75TmaGZ_v6hj1nVLKcmiq3IUGOk_ye3rSnuS3yPQzXGn__pjib_A02dyoWs4sWB/w480-h640/IMG_0215.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I finally got to check out a new lake this morning with a friend! We went to Lake Raleigh, which is kind of hidden in NC State's campus. Once you get on the water, it's super calm and relaxing. There were so many little coves we explored, and it's already become one of my favorites spots I've visited! Afterwards we headed to a nearby coffee shop called Lucky Tree to refuel to end a great morning. Later that day, I went on a super short bike ride with Dan just to shake out my legs for tomorrow's race!</div><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><h2 style="text-align: center;">Sunday</h2><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Wakefield Sprint Tri</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgihKK_X978VIJF3igI37PWV6Mt2vGRjmba8IH9iSsiY-QeySsybkmKZRDULw-mXRA1_pDWp9Cpglt8jFtuVlcq35nOOQ1rHV_KRJ5F_oU6I8RxJHM126pnZ_9uCc9ZytJKhIKyagmQkLDU0K4sZ3mTwq2FED5xSBjCrPRHEXLAJ6LcuU0fgFoGsLFBGvDI/s4032/IMG_0223.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgihKK_X978VIJF3igI37PWV6Mt2vGRjmba8IH9iSsiY-QeySsybkmKZRDULw-mXRA1_pDWp9Cpglt8jFtuVlcq35nOOQ1rHV_KRJ5F_oU6I8RxJHM126pnZ_9uCc9ZytJKhIKyagmQkLDU0K4sZ3mTwq2FED5xSBjCrPRHEXLAJ6LcuU0fgFoGsLFBGvDI/w480-h640/IMG_0223.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">This morning I completed my third triathlon of the year! It was another sprint with a 250 yard pool swim, 10 mile bike, and 2 mile run. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">The swim was pretty chaotic- Every 15 seconds a new swimmer started, and we had to cross over to the next lane every two lengths. This wasn't really explained before we started, so people kept swimming on the wrong side and there were a lot of collisions! By the time I went up I was pretty anxious about it but I was talking to the people around me and everyone seemed to know what to do. I tried to keep my pace steady, but there were definitely some times I had to wait for people ahead of me (it was pretty hard to pass) but I was still happy with my time of 5:00 flat!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">We ran from the pool to the transition area, and I jumped on my bike immediately to get started. The course was easy enough to follow- basically a straight down and back through a gorgeous golf course neighborhood. It was SUPER hilly though, so my mantra while I was biking was to <i>survive</i> up the hills, and <i>thrive</i> down the hills. I was passing a lot of people (and also got passed by just about as many) but I felt great about my pace! I ended up finishing in just over 40 minutes for an average of 14 MPH!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Finally, we got to the run. This was another down and back, but unfortunately the down was dowhill, and the back....was all uphill. It was BRUTAL. I started the run and immediately felt like garbage- my heartrate was really high and my legs felt like there was nothing left in them. Maybe next time I should take time to grab a gel before starting, because I was definitely lacking in energy at this point. To survive the run, I ended up run/walking the entire thing. I was kind of discouraged by how bad I felt, but one of the volunteers was being so motivating and reminded me that I'm still accomplishing a lot!! She kept saying how great and athletic I was (when I felt the complete opposite) and made me laugh when she said "You're finishing a triathlon and can't nobody tell you NOTHING". Thank you for the motivation!! It helped so much!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Overall, I finished 5th in my age group which I'm happy with but I know there's a lot of room for improvement! Very frustratingly, Dan ended up beating me by just 3 seconds (he started the swim in a bunch of waves ahead of me, so I couldn't tell what our gap was). UGH!</div></div>Gretchen Braunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07790068777611696356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-298679531196459259.post-60344727911783142582023-08-17T22:00:00.002-07:002023-08-17T22:00:00.137-07:00Europe Trip Highlights Part 3<p>I'm finally back to continue recapping our amazing Europe trip today! It's been nice to break it up so much because it feels like I'm reliving the trip every time I get to talk about it. We left off in part 2 in <a href="http://www.gretchruns.com/2023/06/europe-trip-highlights-part-2.html" target="_blank">Bovec</a> with some incredible excursions and mountain views, and are heading to Lake Bled. If you've ever seen an image of Slovenia (or if you Google it right now), this is the place that you'll see.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrpQSOrGTscv9i7Y0EUU_depKtgxL8_7MKyXlEZ8UyzE7RqNehHvvalF7B1DCvCSLHUd6K_vV86WUUWnttzubAc6fdhCFH_AZO7f_3e1VmW95SAThPZiN6cbifYNmgOS9_IhDUX80gr4M9ewtLj-JJX3GJJ3x5PHFs6vupDyWJzknuMwopiTfplLrh91Bb/s4032/IMG_7557.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrpQSOrGTscv9i7Y0EUU_depKtgxL8_7MKyXlEZ8UyzE7RqNehHvvalF7B1DCvCSLHUd6K_vV86WUUWnttzubAc6fdhCFH_AZO7f_3e1VmW95SAThPZiN6cbifYNmgOS9_IhDUX80gr4M9ewtLj-JJX3GJJ3x5PHFs6vupDyWJzknuMwopiTfplLrh91Bb/w480-h640/IMG_7557.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><p>This lake sits right by the border of Austria and is a quick bus ride from the capital city of Ljubliana, so it's a very popular day trip. We decided to stay here for a few days though, and I'm really glad that we did! We stayed at the Penzion Berc, which had a great location and was the most charming place we stayed in during this entire trip. This is a family-owned B&B, which started out as a farm and developed into the amazing place that it is today. We had the best hospitality here, along with a delicious breakfast every morning! The location was great too- we were just minutes from the lake and were able to borrow e-bikes for free to get around town.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXDjoQlBcELvXBi7HlVna-1GXk9YE5owxQtNVH9Yo5KSUjGwR4BJnopshMHJw8R-EZJ25QmTAgKq348JCVp0Ql2TQLThlWwxisfDcjhjJEQI66lvI_quNeBI4Bce1HKGZo0jpmJDoK_I4UISnSQVGu-Do_976jO1qFhzu3RcmsVMVkeowaHGlnrorBGnom/s4032/IMG_7487.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXDjoQlBcELvXBi7HlVna-1GXk9YE5owxQtNVH9Yo5KSUjGwR4BJnopshMHJw8R-EZJ25QmTAgKq348JCVp0Ql2TQLThlWwxisfDcjhjJEQI66lvI_quNeBI4Bce1HKGZo0jpmJDoK_I4UISnSQVGu-Do_976jO1qFhzu3RcmsVMVkeowaHGlnrorBGnom/w480-h640/IMG_7487.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Our first day here was spent enjoying the lake. There's a trail that goes around it that's about 4 miles, so we strolled around, taking in the views. We decided to rent a row boat to get out to the island in the middle of the lake, where the Assumption of Mary sits. It was such a cool experience to row out and dock our boat with all the other tourists, then climb up to the church! <div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdtH1vLhhJ0w8aRLbcth9ykwH1N2IUTJ-MVfbX_4kFNwVzDNesQhydoe4Vxh_y_dnQrq_l7TJ3BOh3vcvR5nwwPiF1YOOue9b8Rj2cVAB10iwc51rROxjCf6-ksypxcthsYUOnpyH53JlL9mnCde0falfETU1yErBkQBr1_ky2bpPtri6qLj_8tX0mrr1Q/s4032/IMG_7518.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdtH1vLhhJ0w8aRLbcth9ykwH1N2IUTJ-MVfbX_4kFNwVzDNesQhydoe4Vxh_y_dnQrq_l7TJ3BOh3vcvR5nwwPiF1YOOue9b8Rj2cVAB10iwc51rROxjCf6-ksypxcthsYUOnpyH53JlL9mnCde0falfETU1yErBkQBr1_ky2bpPtri6qLj_8tX0mrr1Q/w480-h640/IMG_7518.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div>We ended the day with dinner at an Asian restaurant along the water. It was fine but definitely overpriced- we got used to smaller town prices but at this restaurant there was a "placemat fee" charged per person- which I'm assuming is basically a tourist tax. I wasn't expecting that, so if you're eating in this area be prepared to pay a bit extra! Luckily the night was saved with some beautiful skies that we enjoyed on our walk back to the B&B.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLlJQsm7EoPI0gkEn1Gzt--m-JMpekxAXiN88pQH_jz2IJj245RkqLewAqyvSsTArAc7lAq35zZXtAnEp_fAMJXwcfE4jdZf_yXmTBDZlJ3XAK3a649vJm5dAl-vfBGIn_99yFa_bYt953C07xvdZ9HEj7UqADy3cDLdi4xcuVn3b9PjBowo3NbE1bM_wZ/s4032/IMG_7584.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLlJQsm7EoPI0gkEn1Gzt--m-JMpekxAXiN88pQH_jz2IJj245RkqLewAqyvSsTArAc7lAq35zZXtAnEp_fAMJXwcfE4jdZf_yXmTBDZlJ3XAK3a649vJm5dAl-vfBGIn_99yFa_bYt953C07xvdZ9HEj7UqADy3cDLdi4xcuVn3b9PjBowo3NbE1bM_wZ/w480-h640/IMG_7584.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div>Our first full day in Bled was probably the best day of my life. It almost turned out to be a dud though- I knew that Dan had planned for us to go paragliding, but it's extremely weather-dependent. The weather wasn't looking too great, so we were told that we had to go to a lower level to launch (the upper level was still covered in snow and unsafe), and likely would only get a short ride since it was cloudy and rainy out. That was fine with me- it still would be the best paragliding trip of my life! Before we did that though, we went to a nearby park called Korita Mostnice for a little hike. The views and the gorge were amazing, and it was a great way to start the day.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj37qSnVSg7CAL2e5YcADH7yMzlCNmhhlmoYqU42VWAhc_QXHpXgL-oQ9DNwdoR-8GjPep0KJS4xLsCZnt5QPlMXPTSpLjEBNhnwVUyTzqw5X83udd-u80BhE0jEXjr7CUhh7ate0tFgxakR0CAFXTtRXT-uZSUsCtECIyxlZfmk6eNmfW5yHXYkDac_ZJr/s4032/IMG_7633.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj37qSnVSg7CAL2e5YcADH7yMzlCNmhhlmoYqU42VWAhc_QXHpXgL-oQ9DNwdoR-8GjPep0KJS4xLsCZnt5QPlMXPTSpLjEBNhnwVUyTzqw5X83udd-u80BhE0jEXjr7CUhh7ate0tFgxakR0CAFXTtRXT-uZSUsCtECIyxlZfmk6eNmfW5yHXYkDac_ZJr/w480-h640/IMG_7633.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div>Next we headed to the meet-up spot for paragliding. Dan picked the company <a href="https://kumulusparagliding.com/" target="_blank">KumulusParagliding</a>, and I could not recommend them highly enough! We were with one other person (who is from Texas and was an awesome travel companion for the day) and we all got paired up with one of their pilots. Side note- It's funny because we all seemed to be paired with the perfect pilot for our personalities- mine was a crazy guy who kept calling me his princess and said we were best friends, Dan's was the owner of the company and talked about the physics of paragliding, and the Texan had a rebel guy who did all kinds of tricks! Once we started heading up to the launch point, the most miraculous thing happened- all of the clouds parted and the sun started to shine! It was the most perfect weather for gliding- the sun helps create warm air streams to help lift up the glider, so you can keep going as long as you want to stay in the air. I mean- just look at this view-<div><br /><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbl3Zi_AKtnQIWGoj38Z-cPYL-t6icc4ha-HhIgmM6FaLUECOKrtZPaYWI0tcfE9jBXVck8NEJEtPOchuHJU1Ieh7k0CYRnmGlB2iF1XYYLUNdklzWqs2jIVgH3hWSF-GhSrX1E4aEh5QUInlqO2wlYI1gEc1LpWvDrtV56e0-3wS6yLrWfDO11t5wULs0/s4032/IMG_7657.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbl3Zi_AKtnQIWGoj38Z-cPYL-t6icc4ha-HhIgmM6FaLUECOKrtZPaYWI0tcfE9jBXVck8NEJEtPOchuHJU1Ieh7k0CYRnmGlB2iF1XYYLUNdklzWqs2jIVgH3hWSF-GhSrX1E4aEh5QUInlqO2wlYI1gEc1LpWvDrtV56e0-3wS6yLrWfDO11t5wULs0/w480-h640/IMG_7657.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br />Once I got hooked in to the parachute with my guide, he let me know that when the wind was right he would tell me to walk, and I just have to walk straight off the mountain! It was the most incredible experience- once you start walking, the parachute fills with air, and you're lifted off the ground and can sit back and relax. From there, we just floated around, getting the most amazing views of the mountains around us. I seriously can't put into words how life changing the experience was- it was the best thing that I've ever done in my life and I want to do it again and again! (if you want to see videos of me taking off, I posted it on Instagram and TikTok!)<br /><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwI0SmFcxk1-OWZOFe22-HPyQ-0hlfL9oooKgtnt5VXlcKr5Endks1yYMu6Pu_vjo-GT8L9gj_1xTf2SvRBR9mtpEX5uDi8iMVx7LR5YgD6qsrojaNyfGCca_eZYLmbQBCrFr8vZ4y3A8EO3lS_sOgNIin_QcXnXTGesgzV90gdhb_6ydd1pbVguhHUEJ8/s4032/IMG_7654.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwI0SmFcxk1-OWZOFe22-HPyQ-0hlfL9oooKgtnt5VXlcKr5Endks1yYMu6Pu_vjo-GT8L9gj_1xTf2SvRBR9mtpEX5uDi8iMVx7LR5YgD6qsrojaNyfGCca_eZYLmbQBCrFr8vZ4y3A8EO3lS_sOgNIin_QcXnXTGesgzV90gdhb_6ydd1pbVguhHUEJ8/w480-h640/IMG_7654.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div>Nothing could really top that experience, but we kept the fun going with a short hike at a nearby waterfall called Slap Savica and lunch at the restaurant there (which was amazing and had great views! Plus- I thought the price was very reasonable for the area). We ended the day with a quick kayak rental in the lake- we were in Lake Bohinj for this day, which is like a less touristy version of Lake Bled!</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCpPBOi95J4W3ClxM1gGZq63NZ2HWhxMRvkwu-j54qCTPoWa_2mpfMwNHkH1ruEsbHzKGlcGVFWjqVZ9KAuKSX_tUg3c_hBhaGjncodg8QusUBp_kc4Sl2PonU64kzrC8UCevG2FZaULznpnuDhPh9BNVQ83LjkOu9yTN4HryJ2sNuXZR4zAOuvKYeWtQX/s3088/IMG_7679.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3088" data-original-width="2316" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCpPBOi95J4W3ClxM1gGZq63NZ2HWhxMRvkwu-j54qCTPoWa_2mpfMwNHkH1ruEsbHzKGlcGVFWjqVZ9KAuKSX_tUg3c_hBhaGjncodg8QusUBp_kc4Sl2PonU64kzrC8UCevG2FZaULznpnuDhPh9BNVQ83LjkOu9yTN4HryJ2sNuXZR4zAOuvKYeWtQX/w480-h640/IMG_7679.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div>The next day was our final day in Bled! We started it by doing one of the most popular things to do in this area- visit Vintgar Gorge. This was highly recommended by everyone and I would definitely say it's worth it. I was worried that since we've already been to a bunch of gorges and waterfalls that this more busy one would be a disappointment, but it's popular for a reason! The views are incredible along the entire park, with great boardwalks crossing over the water and hugging the rock walls. </div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXN2F7se8EAMv0L2IrtLrAO4YfmfrZ0xRzrXlM6ev0y9RWyFbS9rMG0ShlMs7b1LeF0BsN0GKrbdO7Jn4iyYScwInGcVKw2FDvF9av1yYkUvi4xJmlneMoQkyY9Io6peCtNwuG4RDRNHSOAaAXVSZHf0M_0Ezptztls5MsE0n-gxlHVUhZZg6CoJ1NJ4oJ/s4032/IMG_7714.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXN2F7se8EAMv0L2IrtLrAO4YfmfrZ0xRzrXlM6ev0y9RWyFbS9rMG0ShlMs7b1LeF0BsN0GKrbdO7Jn4iyYScwInGcVKw2FDvF9av1yYkUvi4xJmlneMoQkyY9Io6peCtNwuG4RDRNHSOAaAXVSZHf0M_0Ezptztls5MsE0n-gxlHVUhZZg6CoJ1NJ4oJ/w480-h640/IMG_7714.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div>At the end of the park (which is a one-way trail), we were treated to a beautiful waterfall view, and had two trail options to get back to the parking lot. Honestly, this part might have been my favorite! The trail was a lot more quiet, and we got to pass through little villages, farms, and had great views of Bled and the countryside.</div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4gdVXQy_5Am44ZZXFp9dVRxYeo6_fdwJgypyZC6iNV3h6xfeAu37v08O32bA0v7cS8i8uJB9giLOyxzD2Aw1imPBk_53E1lWrD2vSL-a-zFFdORd9rkcg7xI4psDQfYjMdQN1J7C9pmLNYkRAq7bj0Fu5O8nLOjYsfeW6iuKJD12xi-KVLq6nHt8fBWVb/s4032/IMG_7733.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4gdVXQy_5Am44ZZXFp9dVRxYeo6_fdwJgypyZC6iNV3h6xfeAu37v08O32bA0v7cS8i8uJB9giLOyxzD2Aw1imPBk_53E1lWrD2vSL-a-zFFdORd9rkcg7xI4psDQfYjMdQN1J7C9pmLNYkRAq7bj0Fu5O8nLOjYsfeW6iuKJD12xi-KVLq6nHt8fBWVb/w480-h640/IMG_7733.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div>On the way back to Bled, we stopped at the Bled Castle (you can see it in the distance in my first photo, near the right-hand side). This was a really neat place to walk around- it felt like a little village with shops you could explore, museums with artifacts, and restaurants. We ended up getting a piece of freshly made paper, stamped with the castle and a wax stamp- Cool souvenir!</div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI74NvqSEbX4Dx7C1bJZLrmHFgQ0gpj6HkWXCQGD3X-5AhVZ_9VZqPIYKazPB6Rse8nube6KffrxjbrTJ8q5dEyC438g_LqpGvrbIz0Y7WGvURUSzr0bCH7uqJ-tpDEULIND1SCsjv4KrUmOO-fxRWEtuS1Rg2i0gHyQGyeu9bf10yeqgqmtHe0Sj3Gip_/s4032/IMG_7755.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI74NvqSEbX4Dx7C1bJZLrmHFgQ0gpj6HkWXCQGD3X-5AhVZ_9VZqPIYKazPB6Rse8nube6KffrxjbrTJ8q5dEyC438g_LqpGvrbIz0Y7WGvURUSzr0bCH7uqJ-tpDEULIND1SCsjv4KrUmOO-fxRWEtuS1Rg2i0gHyQGyeu9bf10yeqgqmtHe0Sj3Gip_/w480-h640/IMG_7755.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br />After the castle, we stopped for some food at the coolest restaurant called Tavci Vegan Cafe, which was also a tattoo shop. I was prepared to get another tattoo but unfortunately they didn't take walk-ins (I was also trying to convince Dan to get one!). Our food was delicious though, and they also had a great selection of local beers! Next up we explored the area around our hotel more, checking out the alpine coaster and taking the B&B's e-bikes for a ride around town, before getting back and packing up for our next stop. Stay tuned for the big adventure we had next....<br /><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv4_2k2xC3H7NIgCSMNP8dQeNuqe6Zd_l-vJpnBuSHQXUH5PxYaG4ksG3uxdnhJ885ev-tyztwk-wdT_4bbubth_s0_9y9GAVb8pvXBz7f4zhA2Zy00CrBSbnI4tP15ceELI430CxuqZ6egpzKJedN49_IKB0dDDj1MLTquZBnTjT0GIKE9HsY0BOL8Zc8/s4032/IMG_7789.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv4_2k2xC3H7NIgCSMNP8dQeNuqe6Zd_l-vJpnBuSHQXUH5PxYaG4ksG3uxdnhJ885ev-tyztwk-wdT_4bbubth_s0_9y9GAVb8pvXBz7f4zhA2Zy00CrBSbnI4tP15ceELI430CxuqZ6egpzKJedN49_IKB0dDDj1MLTquZBnTjT0GIKE9HsY0BOL8Zc8/w480-h640/IMG_7789.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><div><br /><p><br /></p></div></div></div></div>Gretchen Braunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07790068777611696356noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-298679531196459259.post-43144017503660013182023-08-14T22:00:00.001-07:002023-08-14T22:00:00.145-07:00July Reads and Reviews<p>July was a great month of reads! I got through a lot of books (lots sitting by the pool or while kayaking!) I also crossed off two more books from the Goodreads Winners of 2022 which is always exciting for me. Here are all the books I read this month-</p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: center;">Heartstopper by Alice Oseman</h2><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_sPqvrV80CYYiLODj0qpZbxtLXLo6lu5sQSiLLM9Vrx2GvtpMjw5zthziT0UWIkDbbfJQy7CceaIzRLLGPLJAJbhAEbcQ83o_-QttolBMTKaLbQ229v_leZIdcTBj1jA6K4RwkDivZqTWmbT47XrflNn1DMjPl6YsADM8yphA_sN2tK7l5aSrpExA6Yle/s4032/IMG_9460.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_sPqvrV80CYYiLODj0qpZbxtLXLo6lu5sQSiLLM9Vrx2GvtpMjw5zthziT0UWIkDbbfJQy7CceaIzRLLGPLJAJbhAEbcQ83o_-QttolBMTKaLbQ229v_leZIdcTBj1jA6K4RwkDivZqTWmbT47XrflNn1DMjPl6YsADM8yphA_sN2tK7l5aSrpExA6Yle/w150-h200/IMG_9460.HEIC" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjapTATeHxJdXFL3QhWAaRKaMr_vjSDazQIm4MDTf5O87UyJWhevWzltI7ViHxGBSqGncjuk-CJdatBFBuI0aTbY6GIWdO-GpUhSfAiPHH3TFLus8yr6KEAzS-pMmmTFBA4DP1Xos3ztHK_JdhzUF2QytWPCxpLiu4pDh1Yd-2C9B-H3Mx2y7i1TbsO3BDB/s4032/IMG_9667.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjapTATeHxJdXFL3QhWAaRKaMr_vjSDazQIm4MDTf5O87UyJWhevWzltI7ViHxGBSqGncjuk-CJdatBFBuI0aTbY6GIWdO-GpUhSfAiPHH3TFLus8yr6KEAzS-pMmmTFBA4DP1Xos3ztHK_JdhzUF2QytWPCxpLiu4pDh1Yd-2C9B-H3Mx2y7i1TbsO3BDB/w150-h200/IMG_9667.HEIC" width="150" /></a></div></div><br />I read the first two books in this series because it won the Goodreads award last year, and I really enjoyed it! The books follow a British high school boy who's gay, and trying to figure out his friendships and relationships. It really captures the experience of being in school and not really knowing who you are or who you can trust, and finding yourself. I found out this is also a Netflix series so I want to check that out and keep reading the series as well!</div><div><br /></div><div><b>My rating - 4.5/5</b></div><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: center;">Sea of Tranquility by Emily St John Mandel</h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVbaCzH9ZUN0ladUZLyyC4uvs073g6D6UwZ-J4xtzXRLYMlcJ9pnikwi6jZJzdCEwEwQjkMOVJoezUPABWEXGZrL6TnQ7ywckFLuRpNTGnv1QBfX8mX-PLOXdVwuOUQOHVIytSDTtlctO17AsHxLl67oY7TamnU8yJQFmM6Tvu_ADEbO_qdaJmpgIimmcV/s4032/IMG_9379.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVbaCzH9ZUN0ladUZLyyC4uvs073g6D6UwZ-J4xtzXRLYMlcJ9pnikwi6jZJzdCEwEwQjkMOVJoezUPABWEXGZrL6TnQ7ywckFLuRpNTGnv1QBfX8mX-PLOXdVwuOUQOHVIytSDTtlctO17AsHxLl67oY7TamnU8yJQFmM6Tvu_ADEbO_qdaJmpgIimmcV/w480-h640/IMG_9379.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div>I probably would not have chosen this book on my own, but it also won a Goodreads award (for best Science Fiction). In the end, I'm glad that I did read it! This follows a few different time lines that seem to have nothing in common, but in the end it all makes sense and has a very satisfying ending. I liked all the different timelines and thought each one of them would make its own interesting book! There are also a few characters from other books by the author that show up which is always a fun treat.<div><br /></div><div><b>My rating - 3.5/5</b><br /><div><br /></div><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: center;">Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree</h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAKDOQ9nOykN1q67vLqiZMFJMHYvKkWzwh8r3afAVN-8XVpoW3hLypCxV2hoFGu2Qi0buFnAyY7n8OC4s0zQ86oWuDJWjbO8_kW9tCIDYJVk3CZC-QNhCr5Dp7BGElGuvDLBU_kFjQfoj9V0h5nEN8Bh0T4b4kg6pYiz1npzqx8uQxJRF3bx3zLKOQ9DPb/s4032/IMG_9654.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAKDOQ9nOykN1q67vLqiZMFJMHYvKkWzwh8r3afAVN-8XVpoW3hLypCxV2hoFGu2Qi0buFnAyY7n8OC4s0zQ86oWuDJWjbO8_kW9tCIDYJVk3CZC-QNhCr5Dp7BGElGuvDLBU_kFjQfoj9V0h5nEN8Bh0T4b4kg6pYiz1npzqx8uQxJRF3bx3zLKOQ9DPb/w480-h640/IMG_9654.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div>This is definitely not my typical read, but the premise sounded so interesting that I had to check it out! This story follows an orc who decides to give up a life of battles to open a coffee shop in a small town- where no one has heard of coffee. It's an adorable story with lots of ups and downs and the best characters- it's such a cozy little read that I think it would be perfect for fall or winter reading! Just make sure you read it with a hot mug of something and some pastries or else you'll be craving it while reading!</div><div><br /></div><div><b>My rating - 4/5</b></div><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: center;">Meet Me at the Lake by Carley Fortune</h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAGfTeNlfiSIdkQyFo4bkQncmpIq5wG_P8RjhxBTlwvr4GlvfCxnEaWryCMwoe5WkkRX7Bx9q4rXVx7KxU6R-WSUEKJuRWlzzAea_DiAFtj-jPlOm0kmg_ahcemnU2HQPG6OxoMNPV8tp4CIXUyEjBRHjkWmo_JIRUzK24FUPmAV2sFZ3vO0ffoeOGX0T5/s4032/IMG_9733.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAGfTeNlfiSIdkQyFo4bkQncmpIq5wG_P8RjhxBTlwvr4GlvfCxnEaWryCMwoe5WkkRX7Bx9q4rXVx7KxU6R-WSUEKJuRWlzzAea_DiAFtj-jPlOm0kmg_ahcemnU2HQPG6OxoMNPV8tp4CIXUyEjBRHjkWmo_JIRUzK24FUPmAV2sFZ3vO0ffoeOGX0T5/w480-h640/IMG_9733.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div>This was a 24 hour read for me- I absolutely devoured this and really enjoyed it! There were so many relatable parts of the story (having someone you've wondered 'what if' about, broken promises, summer love, etc) but also had some things that were a bit far fetched. I didn't really like the last conflict in the story and thought it was a little ridiculous, but the rest was perfect!</div><div><br /></div><div><b>My rating - 4/5</b></div><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: center;">Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld</h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3Y8ToElAtgInKFNTk39XN-sx8dzPJsFETks4mn0ZKuA7tATrVf0MfQdRN1S8YDVA87XkrzjGw-uAZnK7qP28JgLAHavfuqpWXGIlcuJX-sorkKqTgitvNdsgljsDAlpAVActSn7MJUgXNsNVa5JQMMyYdfZonn25vgjUgLeFykBdckQCUgJxoS3zj889Y/s4032/IMG_9730.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3Y8ToElAtgInKFNTk39XN-sx8dzPJsFETks4mn0ZKuA7tATrVf0MfQdRN1S8YDVA87XkrzjGw-uAZnK7qP28JgLAHavfuqpWXGIlcuJX-sorkKqTgitvNdsgljsDAlpAVActSn7MJUgXNsNVa5JQMMyYdfZonn25vgjUgLeFykBdckQCUgJxoS3zj889Y/w480-h640/IMG_9730.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div>I heard a lot of mixed reviews of this book, and that kind of mirrors my thoughts on it as well! I liked the format of this and how it was broken into three parts (even the email part I thought was clever and unique!), but I didn't like the main character at all. She was so irritating to me, especially in the third part of the book! The whole relationship came off as very juvenile to me as well, so it was kind of irritating to read this and find it believable.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>My rating - 2.5/5</b></div><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: center;">Love, Pamela by Pamela Anderson</h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYwp-Cn1E1ME6P-mz2i-aOoZPF9aTi-KdOZ9q91x9PaECcI080Llt7caKf2QGcHS7YzdNQylzZnQejytntGWOyM4fUuq2s1vI9sUz0RblVk87rtDFqzPiYWo8dv5EFRHyrd4XiydG92bC1Cn0tMhYQ66Mg7Oa3zPXdJYJwyDvppQ5FTUHMMgw8oV614dEx/s4032/IMG_9776.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYwp-Cn1E1ME6P-mz2i-aOoZPF9aTi-KdOZ9q91x9PaECcI080Llt7caKf2QGcHS7YzdNQylzZnQejytntGWOyM4fUuq2s1vI9sUz0RblVk87rtDFqzPiYWo8dv5EFRHyrd4XiydG92bC1Cn0tMhYQ66Mg7Oa3zPXdJYJwyDvppQ5FTUHMMgw8oV614dEx/w480-h640/IMG_9776.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div>I love, love, love reading celebrity memoirs, and this one was no exception. I don't know much about Pamela Anderson besides how she's portrayed in the media, so I was interested to learn more! This was a really good look at why you shouldn't judge people based on what we're told- you never know the full story or know the person's history of why choices were made. Sure- this might be a one-sided story of her life, but she seems like such a kind person with a heart of gold and seems like an amazing mother! I loved reading this and all the stories she tells- it was entertaining and a quick read.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>My rating - 4/5</b></div><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: center;">Audiobook</h2><p><b>The Soulmate by Sally Hepworth</b> - This was my bookclub pick for the month, and it was just OK. I liked the audio a lot and was excited to see what was going to happen- but it ended up dragging on for way too long and the ending wasn't satisfying at all.</p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: center;">DNF</h2><p><b>A Thousand Miles by Bridget Morrissey - </b>Got through about half of this before giving up. I didn't like the characters or believe in their relationship, and also found the whole road trip to be boring to follow.</p><p><br /></p></div>Gretchen Braunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07790068777611696356noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-298679531196459259.post-30047186948744949042023-08-14T06:20:00.005-07:002023-08-14T06:20:44.112-07:00Humidity Gets Me Again<p style="text-align: left;">This was definitely a week of highs and lows. I had some rough workouts but also had amazing ones as well- it seems like running is hard right now but everything else is feeling great! I'll just blame the weather and hope it feels easier once it gets cooler (and less humid). Here's a look at my week-</p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: center;">Monday</h2><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Rest Day!</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><h2 style="text-align: center;">Tuesday</h2><div style="text-align: center;"><b>3 mile run</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">I met up with my early birds group for my run this morning, and as soon as we started I felt off. I donated blood on Sunday evening and thought that I would feel better by now but my body let me know it didn't! I hung in the back and did a run/walk, but was still happy to have people to start with at least!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>2 hour SUP</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuAM03XYxB0btZB020h40uaQPunYlkNV6vOi1uUgXz9fL_8m_mM_vMDC41jZYKqSMzfbh1S4897e1jrvGxpAYaHYHpF2Ro2zR5qe0YsU2J3kpCm0pa-FQNnf3p9XHz0JSP0WLWt2BKQ_6AEXWgEXuJk5Jj4BJyXx-13GZN0npNp_3Bc6WajSKX7ooCCo7A/s4032/IMG_0039.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuAM03XYxB0btZB020h40uaQPunYlkNV6vOi1uUgXz9fL_8m_mM_vMDC41jZYKqSMzfbh1S4897e1jrvGxpAYaHYHpF2Ro2zR5qe0YsU2J3kpCm0pa-FQNnf3p9XHz0JSP0WLWt2BKQ_6AEXWgEXuJk5Jj4BJyXx-13GZN0npNp_3Bc6WajSKX7ooCCo7A/w480-h640/IMG_0039.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I was feeling much better by the end of the day and it was gorgeous out, so I headed to Harris Lake for a little paddling. The water was pretty calm so I took it easy going around and also took lots of rest! It was the perfect end to the day.</div><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><h2 style="text-align: center;">Wednesday</h2><div style="text-align: center;"><b>1 hour bike</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdvrlrBts8udrhYLdUBV1SNoegm5u-wWuHwrvHCr7OeIkis33T3DwAnlfAneJKl5B0yRCZi7A4g44MKifo-SKTu_R0cJvIiTVHgyA-M7qxe4PwvT8Ni_vvl8J3A6azNDdGhRH-gjyvkXngzQbzzc5LvRkqcwUOm2WCcWAYdJfFmaAiq3CwiQc-9SHP4qOH/s4032/IMG_0055.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdvrlrBts8udrhYLdUBV1SNoegm5u-wWuHwrvHCr7OeIkis33T3DwAnlfAneJKl5B0yRCZi7A4g44MKifo-SKTu_R0cJvIiTVHgyA-M7qxe4PwvT8Ni_vvl8J3A6azNDdGhRH-gjyvkXngzQbzzc5LvRkqcwUOm2WCcWAYdJfFmaAiq3CwiQc-9SHP4qOH/w480-h640/IMG_0055.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br />I went out for a lunchtime ride and added in two intervals of 3 minutes pushing hard. This entire ride was a lot faster than what I normally do- usually when I do an hour I do about 12 miles, but today I almost went 14! I also set a lot of segment PR's on Strava which felt great. It seemed like everything was clicking into place today which is a good feeling.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: center;">Thursday</h2><div style="text-align: center;"><b>750 yard swim</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">To be honest, I was not really feeling this swim. I woke up a little late, Dan didn't want to join me, so I was just trying to get through this. I decided to just do a steady state swim without stopping, because I knew if I stopped I would just get out of the pool! I ended up going straight for 750 yards and called it a day.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: center;">Friday</h2><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Rest Day!</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><h2 style="text-align: center;">Saturday</h2><div style="text-align: center;"><b>30 min run</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5_nJeaZCCxSljKuPiexS8IsieDkn1jm5FTJ57aVFxAe_qu3TcNlRo1rLx2cBV6VS1vMpZdpE_OOwpGG2OBNlSCM0-8evtCO5IdsKfH2_lxglEowdht6K47gsuVh-wRgWZy0gs6xssvq5nkF5i03wIwmHo8ecYnAKMZBu23QPFC3rb4EPg9wHwDZYo-fRE/s4032/IMG_0094.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5_nJeaZCCxSljKuPiexS8IsieDkn1jm5FTJ57aVFxAe_qu3TcNlRo1rLx2cBV6VS1vMpZdpE_OOwpGG2OBNlSCM0-8evtCO5IdsKfH2_lxglEowdht6K47gsuVh-wRgWZy0gs6xssvq5nkF5i03wIwmHo8ecYnAKMZBu23QPFC3rb4EPg9wHwDZYo-fRE/w480-h640/IMG_0094.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I felt awful on this run- as soon as I started I felt really tired and my legs ached so this was a struggle! I think my running is just off this week, so I'm hoping next week will be better.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>1 hour yoga</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">I joined my friend Tiffany for yoga at Hi-Wire Brewing in Durham, and it was a great class. It was slower and more yin-style than what I usually do, but it's just what I needed today. I'll definitely be back when I want to do some gentle yoga!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: center;">Sunday</h2><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Brick Workout</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDLUjtvlWpYPUl3Edei0pwd4r9TUCfB2ZqnI3yd24d8TfkqoKCtK9brRDWxU4KuxjDebMDIATCJJrUPpslo-_0oF-KizyQ3D3jYCqR0keBmvqcPQEQwwIkHLezPTZtkxbj2lFhYF4NqTnAl-2rWF6_XGykPCjKs9UPKPIhi3AI8kLpqTJ7Efgj05O7V_yQ/s4032/IMG_0115.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDLUjtvlWpYPUl3Edei0pwd4r9TUCfB2ZqnI3yd24d8TfkqoKCtK9brRDWxU4KuxjDebMDIATCJJrUPpslo-_0oF-KizyQ3D3jYCqR0keBmvqcPQEQwwIkHLezPTZtkxbj2lFhYF4NqTnAl-2rWF6_XGykPCjKs9UPKPIhi3AI8kLpqTJ7Efgj05O7V_yQ/w480-h640/IMG_0115.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Dan and I went to the Tobacco Trail for a brick workout this morning! We had an hour bike ride followed by a mile run. It was so hot out so this was really tough- after the bike I was just dripping in sweat and was really exhausted so the run was painful! It's always hard to transition from bike to run so it was good to practice it, but man this was a tough workout.</div></div>Gretchen Braunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07790068777611696356noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-298679531196459259.post-78794726049748017632023-08-07T08:30:00.001-07:002023-08-07T08:30:49.349-07:00July Highlights and Goals<p>July was such a fun and busy month! I didn't really have much free time, which is exactly how I prefer my months. I had family come and visit for a week, then went to Cleveland and Put-in-Bay to visit with some friends. Add in some craziness at work, a renovation on our primary bathroom, and lots of time with friends- it was very hectic without much free time. But, I did spare some time to literally smell the flowers and enjoy the bloom of the sunflower field in Dix Park!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0AcIFoyzC3Cju_ScJ1I8HiOnSWPjucSxAbDyO5faZFXUGghyv1Y3z2xBdZJvvZ0LfJiwjIigo1T2gCbH9cOrQPMcSGqFEXVr0LwyjcVd4pWtTVxpz3ftIXC2CQaHCDEG1HL3FV1GVdBqSnduyUWafuhKhgZncKQcYzWzO7ZsAqWQKU8cv1FBElWRK13UC/s4032/IMG_9646.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0AcIFoyzC3Cju_ScJ1I8HiOnSWPjucSxAbDyO5faZFXUGghyv1Y3z2xBdZJvvZ0LfJiwjIigo1T2gCbH9cOrQPMcSGqFEXVr0LwyjcVd4pWtTVxpz3ftIXC2CQaHCDEG1HL3FV1GVdBqSnduyUWafuhKhgZncKQcYzWzO7ZsAqWQKU8cv1FBElWRK13UC/w480-h640/IMG_9646.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p>Let's get into the goals!</p><h2 style="background-color: white; color: #575757; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; text-align: center;">Annual Goals</h2><div style="background-color: white; color: #575757; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><h2 style="text-align: center;">Korean Vegan Cookbook</h2><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnzXXKr9XSESRMIj4uX2Ganma6WPHPPw7sz0GlyrfonngcB8IBsGmBYuGc39QsdjbBUHzAf8VIvRdNMMMWlcmxw3rY0rOWXq-cSCUix1BMmUbY-sapljlxIEHOV5OC5jIqpLvMSWSbvbWbws9mOg15erub9NFp566egATg8xsYdeOUrIFEddB0979r22dM/s4032/IMG_9932.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnzXXKr9XSESRMIj4uX2Ganma6WPHPPw7sz0GlyrfonngcB8IBsGmBYuGc39QsdjbBUHzAf8VIvRdNMMMWlcmxw3rY0rOWXq-cSCUix1BMmUbY-sapljlxIEHOV5OC5jIqpLvMSWSbvbWbws9mOg15erub9NFp566egATg8xsYdeOUrIFEddB0979r22dM/w480-h640/IMG_9932.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">The next chapter in my cookbook that I tried out was the Soups and Stews- which probably wasn't the best for the hot weather we've been having but ended up being amazing! It was a fennel and tofu stew with doenjang broth. Super light and tasty and I loved the char of the tofu with it. It tasted like something from a restaurant- really good and easy dish.</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: center;">Temperature blanket</h2><div>I'm done with month 7 of the temperature blanket. This was the first month I could be completely covered by the blanket while I was working on it- not that I needed the warmth anyway since it was all in the 80s and 90s this month, but it was still a very cozy way to crochet.</div><div>Here are some stats for July-</div><div>- I used a total of 2 colors- my lowest amount of changes so far.</div><div>- The highest daily temperature was 97 and the lowest was 85 (just a reminder, I'm only doing the "high" of the day so I didn't record the daily low or average)</div><div>- My most used color was red (used 22 times) which is used for the range 90 to 99 degrees.</div><div><br /></div><div>Here's what the blanket looks like now-</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs7rB_b7iPgp8DRAPtHgQ38kPC7AHvRnLpBLtasSNvyJwZQajuX3KY7-S1FWNXqWVfen4BHZzTFbz-eXTZKe3S2AngJUeSkG1yPyUrFIkVwgNTV-xNVzORGiqXF0FAhny1IDmK58v3t8vpnYTxWbMw3zYHAvvFLdRiYO2zrW8Io0OGFdrbk7aPKbiHb5Ti/s4032/IMG_9976.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs7rB_b7iPgp8DRAPtHgQ38kPC7AHvRnLpBLtasSNvyJwZQajuX3KY7-S1FWNXqWVfen4BHZzTFbz-eXTZKe3S2AngJUeSkG1yPyUrFIkVwgNTV-xNVzORGiqXF0FAhny1IDmK58v3t8vpnYTxWbMw3zYHAvvFLdRiYO2zrW8Io0OGFdrbk7aPKbiHb5Ti/w480-h640/IMG_9976.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: center;">Hike 100 Miles + Check Out 10 New Parks</h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOL-LcjpQHiamXXJkHmPIwiZceccnJ1NeRn3MbuDODVpQKPEWH69aMXZyzMYu7JKOKhEHB5fMbeb3bICM6YRYnxTQ4QdwL25lhT4QthaBTZx1WFkhAzTZGoOYS6oc8N7Spa2abRSNa6XSHEFbtk5Leh30K0vUqeq3jSbBridAacCZCCbwZBGLTW6iP883N/s4032/IMG_9937.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOL-LcjpQHiamXXJkHmPIwiZceccnJ1NeRn3MbuDODVpQKPEWH69aMXZyzMYu7JKOKhEHB5fMbeb3bICM6YRYnxTQ4QdwL25lhT4QthaBTZx1WFkhAzTZGoOYS6oc8N7Spa2abRSNa6XSHEFbtk5Leh30K0vUqeq3jSbBridAacCZCCbwZBGLTW6iP883N/w480-h640/IMG_9937.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div>I did a few more hikes this month to add 10.5 more miles onto my total, making it 86.2 total miles this year. I didn't visit any new parks this month!</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: center;">Read the Goodreads Best Books</h2><div><br />This month I finished Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel. I really liked it- I was a big fan of Station Eleven but didn't like (and ended up not finishing) The Glass Hotel. This one might be my favorite so far- I liked the sci fi aspect and future worlds that were created, and the fact that everything tied up in a nice ending.</div><div><br /></div><div>I also read the Heart Stopper graphic novel series! I enjoyed this a lot- it was really easy to read and understand and the story line is so realistic and charming. I flew through these and want to read more in the series.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: center;">Work from a Coffee Shop Once a Month</h2><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">I worked from Fount again this month- I went there before meeting up with friends to watch Barbie and it was a great day! I want to try out a new shop this month instead of going back to the same one again. I'll have to start going into the office in September though, so this goal might have to change a bit.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Here's a look at how my summer bucket list is going-</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Summer Bucket List</h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-YrPLv_ak_9qpD16xTjJPW-hrYHYa2HJMHVehdbqHjxRMnmJNJudQq6LjSNzvQ84_hAhsz4y22swicCpQTAw8Xf5zbJZrwMeNDu6p_SgMpZmCIWg5pTLC_3xRc2wNflxRgCKoz6zl6ljSZWjo_GaqimGl6o8MccFI85FYQwSjzqWxSw25o6v3iM7u2pMr/s4032/IMG_9824.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-YrPLv_ak_9qpD16xTjJPW-hrYHYa2HJMHVehdbqHjxRMnmJNJudQq6LjSNzvQ84_hAhsz4y22swicCpQTAw8Xf5zbJZrwMeNDu6p_SgMpZmCIWg5pTLC_3xRc2wNflxRgCKoz6zl6ljSZWjo_GaqimGl6o8MccFI85FYQwSjzqWxSw25o6v3iM7u2pMr/w480-h640/IMG_9824.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><ul><li><b>Bike to a brewery or bottle shop</b> - <i>done in June</i></li><li>Kayak or SUP in a new lake</li><li>Paint and picnic (bring my watercolors to a park and paint, and also bring snacks along!)</li><li><b>Crochet in a park </b>- I did this for a second time at Lake Jordan!</li><li><b>Hike somewhere new </b>- <i>done in June</i></li><li>Go to an outdoor movie</li><li><b>Go to an outdoor concert </b>- In July I went to visit friends in Cleveland and we went to Put in Bay for a day and went to a few concerts at outdoor bars- I love live music so this was an amazing day!</li><li><b>Visit a winery </b>- On the same trip as above we went to three different wineries! One was actually at the site of the largest geode cave in the world which was really cool.</li><li>Bike the entire Tobacco Trail (it's about 22 miles so it's definitely doable!) </li><li><b>Go to a baseball game </b>- When my family was in town we went to the Durham Bulls field and watched the Savannah Bananas play (we didn't have tickets but were able to watch from a restaurant that overlooks the park!) It was SO much fun! I also have another baseball game with my run club coming up in September.</li><li>Play frisbee golf</li><li><b>Go camping </b>- <i>done in June</i></li><li><b>Dine al fresco at a restaurant (bonus points if it's rooftop!) </b>- no rootop but an amazing al fresco meal at one of the wineries in Cleveland (that also had live music happening). </li></ul></div></div></div>Gretchen Braunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07790068777611696356noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-298679531196459259.post-74061344808397647452023-07-26T06:12:00.000-07:002023-07-26T06:12:02.162-07:00Better late than never!<p> The past few weeks, I’ve written blog posts about training and keep forgetting to post it! So- sorry for the delay but here is last week’s workouts. For now, I’m off on an adventure to see some friends so I’ll be sure to share more later!</p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: center;">Monday</h2><div style="text-align: center;"><b>1 mile run</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjcFWtQlJB6Vf26d70mquAqi-5-AGPB-QxOBtbLARJmi2dzv9X-BruB6CVbTSXmMsWqWWw7BrtzDUH9VIweRtSs4CvMAvY-cVgXBkzEbw6k9PV8gHMzPopERqGndmw1ALw-4KmvMSoYrn0S22ts9c7yrSdAe-xG8Ze879BEzwU5HQ3YV4GPMTOVE6pnYjz/s4032/IMG_9620.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjcFWtQlJB6Vf26d70mquAqi-5-AGPB-QxOBtbLARJmi2dzv9X-BruB6CVbTSXmMsWqWWw7BrtzDUH9VIweRtSs4CvMAvY-cVgXBkzEbw6k9PV8gHMzPopERqGndmw1ALw-4KmvMSoYrn0S22ts9c7yrSdAe-xG8Ze879BEzwU5HQ3YV4GPMTOVE6pnYjz/w480-h640/IMG_9620.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br />Today was technically supposed to be a rest day, but Dan wanted to do a quick run so I couldn't let him down! We're also dog sitting right now, so at night we took the dogs for a long walk.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: center;">Tuesday</h2><div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>40 min run</b></div></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmj6kt2ffM84FqkG5w1ofoEormCmFI9ZgrQl5hmY_8fS4fITIGRXxHMmRJvED-iDPxB5jMSmrb997-gh_qbF99Xf8MhezHavSzozaCwpE-kXUvYw_eag0rw9Pf8RKW3prKIfzalC-bIUwWDetv41x1AEvdaeBaUxxmwwwgQedPfoPJBpiuAR6WPFAbNaRQ/s4032/IMG_9645.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmj6kt2ffM84FqkG5w1ofoEormCmFI9ZgrQl5hmY_8fS4fITIGRXxHMmRJvED-iDPxB5jMSmrb997-gh_qbF99Xf8MhezHavSzozaCwpE-kXUvYw_eag0rw9Pf8RKW3prKIfzalC-bIUwWDetv41x1AEvdaeBaUxxmwwwgQedPfoPJBpiuAR6WPFAbNaRQ/w480-h640/IMG_9645.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;">The sunflowers are in full bloom at Dix Park, so I had to join my friends for an early run. It was humid and smokey out but I was happy to have one of my longer runs this morning. Plus, the flowers were beautiful!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: center;">Wednesday</h2><div style="text-align: center;"><b>1 hour boot camp</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOM5iWpp0L0gxH5pdbjoroJxd4JPBmbSjwFle9GKeIhVEQ9RrxpU-1yupoVKIzWbKkQtlZqWwqdGuh28BcB_jV8ut_KtJ56NdQOFJugzeczo1Q2uNV5cf5eBSTMGt_6MM4SC8GkxfSW1KQNIx7CWzIEzeUTCmu9grMqv3UbHXiRk9QuAFEAGw8dNm854es/s4032/IMG_9696.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOM5iWpp0L0gxH5pdbjoroJxd4JPBmbSjwFle9GKeIhVEQ9RrxpU-1yupoVKIzWbKkQtlZqWwqdGuh28BcB_jV8ut_KtJ56NdQOFJugzeczo1Q2uNV5cf5eBSTMGt_6MM4SC8GkxfSW1KQNIx7CWzIEzeUTCmu9grMqv3UbHXiRk9QuAFEAGw8dNm854es/w480-h640/IMG_9696.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br />Two early morning workouts in a row! Feeling back to my normal groove and it's great! Today's class was very leg heavy- lots of squats and lunges so I was exhausted by the end. Great workout though! After work, I met up with a friend to hang out and noticed a beautiful sunset, so I went on a little evening walk around the park.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: center;">Thursday</h2><div style="text-align: center;"><b>1000 yard swim</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk1Netju8xmPqihk5rJVqjD9zDA4gPV5IG8z8G9pChTU4B1z2kspADvRGB-p_REOigQ8EHzvewN6FuPlDuBz5ndiS7SE_LZ0M8ubVQyG92KzoF6LkOTA9PSFGTQbY-N_7IT4ZUiFGOqa6hpcDkQXefJhJhvteK0htGnpgOD5T7oiQF9S1GJ4lQAmuMAV4W/s4032/IMG_9701.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhk1Netju8xmPqihk5rJVqjD9zDA4gPV5IG8z8G9pChTU4B1z2kspADvRGB-p_REOigQ8EHzvewN6FuPlDuBz5ndiS7SE_LZ0M8ubVQyG92KzoF6LkOTA9PSFGTQbY-N_7IT4ZUiFGOqa6hpcDkQXefJhJhvteK0htGnpgOD5T7oiQF9S1GJ4lQAmuMAV4W/w480-h640/IMG_9701.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Today's swim workout was a fun speed play- warmup followed by 100 yard intervals that was 25 yards easy-25 hard-25 easy-25 hard. After that we did 4 intervals of 25 yards all out and a cool down. It was tough but I enjoyed it a lot.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>40 min bike</b></div><div style="text-align: left;">My plan had hills on the schedule for today, so we did a tough ride through some neighborhoods near us. There were some tough hills and my legs were toast by the end of this!</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: center;">Friday</h2><div style="text-align: center;"><b>1 hour kayak</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVtpG03GPEODzqAVZTAOoKX_4lrqxHtRM41w1mhFj3GXWYq0MQJ4gV-v1jg16eOAiI96-B3zM1iFmC-iZ3pEt1ouSjv6ly9YsV0RwML2ljXmZS5pAY4d4dhiKACyCsQP0y4RtZ4JpLfgGA8aS4dZfWvSFDcYrkKpUjaO0xjcAO-yKT9uo1po_QXzvhIpSE/s4032/IMG_9732.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVtpG03GPEODzqAVZTAOoKX_4lrqxHtRM41w1mhFj3GXWYq0MQJ4gV-v1jg16eOAiI96-B3zM1iFmC-iZ3pEt1ouSjv6ly9YsV0RwML2ljXmZS5pAY4d4dhiKACyCsQP0y4RtZ4JpLfgGA8aS4dZfWvSFDcYrkKpUjaO0xjcAO-yKT9uo1po_QXzvhIpSE/w480-h640/IMG_9732.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Nothing like kayaking around on a beautiful day! It was a bit choppy out so I definitely got my workout in, but I still got some relaxing in on this ride. I upgraded to a foldable kayak this year and I'm really enjoying it!</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><h2 style="text-align: center;">Saturday</h2><div style="text-align: center;"><b>1 hour bike</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRt0eDRsgXj5XeiFqZubh0DJcD7iAKj9mVjrLxtJKL-2GqMfMabD5RZVFaRHix57ULV7_0yAKwbr5ZE-qKEtFaD49oXhNfBf-97D_M6iKmmwVJrc3VqB8f10T51_Ixe28zz2VJDyKmOk2lz41ROmurWCoLA4uri_Vk1r0NXKsPuUs8vj4gZOmhJLg8udmi/s4032/IMG_9752.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRt0eDRsgXj5XeiFqZubh0DJcD7iAKj9mVjrLxtJKL-2GqMfMabD5RZVFaRHix57ULV7_0yAKwbr5ZE-qKEtFaD49oXhNfBf-97D_M6iKmmwVJrc3VqB8f10T51_Ixe28zz2VJDyKmOk2lz41ROmurWCoLA4uri_Vk1r0NXKsPuUs8vj4gZOmhJLg8udmi/w480-h640/IMG_9752.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I had a lot of fun making this route- I combined a few areas that I usually bike to make a longer ride and then added on a few new loops as well. It was a bit of a cooler day so that also felt great and I set a few segment PR's on Strava!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: center;">Sunday</h2><div><b>30 min run</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy28BYYh4hb8X6EGdc1OMVfSecEbVlZuaWxHd2QVcVNk04FFtilixtdT1ugIm2xSckUV5bDb6kFQ1qKuBo_-vqr083NeWmyo8Fe9dylSQlKwoccDwc7y03_cKLLXDrNVLBY_j3kAFMd6W9B1pcRRAn1HlrsQeisyB41mRsVscPhrVO6RxWI28jKT-Mq4EJ/s4032/IMG_9771.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy28BYYh4hb8X6EGdc1OMVfSecEbVlZuaWxHd2QVcVNk04FFtilixtdT1ugIm2xSckUV5bDb6kFQ1qKuBo_-vqr083NeWmyo8Fe9dylSQlKwoccDwc7y03_cKLLXDrNVLBY_j3kAFMd6W9B1pcRRAn1HlrsQeisyB41mRsVscPhrVO6RxWI28jKT-Mq4EJ/w480-h640/IMG_9771.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I started this run way too late and regretted it because it was HOT and sunny out! I decided to check out a new neighborhood that I always drive by, and there was no shade at all. I had a lot of regrets by the time I was finished but I got it done.</div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Gretchen Braunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07790068777611696356noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-298679531196459259.post-28453147591081672442023-07-11T07:28:00.000-07:002023-07-11T07:28:59.985-07:00Push It<p>This was a really great week of training! In my plan this is still in the base phase, so it feels manageable and not too tough yet. I'm just enjoying it so far and it's making me excited for the more challenging stuff that I know is coming along! Here's how the week of workouts went-</p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: center;">Monday</h2><p style="text-align: center;"><b>1 hour yoga</b></p><p style="text-align: left;">I had a pretty open day, so I was able to make it to Erica's outdoor yoga class. It was just what I needed today- it was warm out but class wasn't too intense. Lots of stretching and easy movement. Loved it!</p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: center;">Tuesday</h2><p style="text-align: center;"><b>1000 yard swim</b></p><p style="text-align: left;">I'm enjoying the workouts that are in the plan that I'm following- it really helps me during swimming to break down the distance and keep it focused on smaller chunks of work. Today we started with a 200 yard warmup, then did drills for 100 yards (for this I do kickboard for 50 yards, then bouy for 50 yards). Next, it was 4x100 yards of moderate effort. 100 more yards of kickboard, then a 200 yard cool down.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b>3 mile walk</b></p><p style="text-align: left;">Selma and I met up with a friend and her dog for a nice little walk around Lake Johnson. It was really busy with the holiday and nice weather in the morning, so we got to see lots of other dogs! I love walking at this lake because the loop around is really pretty and shaded. Great spot to walk or run!</p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: center;">Wednesday</h2><p style="text-align: center;"><b>3 mile run</b></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6aF_WGLXjqS1oXPJCMTzKlswtNa985sWLlCoyWZ241aG2Udy83BgNWpHV4nncCNGe7xHVWRM_MLJhBc9NC23EJi_12bK8jlakTHDQVeSiElS13waNjDOnXKyBkSCshtn8FsIwzy59OmUyVMgh3Yg8JoMxL7lCQRjtWczEGFspnQHPGTqz9Cii5_ViCxis/s3088/IMG_4370.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3088" data-original-width="2316" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6aF_WGLXjqS1oXPJCMTzKlswtNa985sWLlCoyWZ241aG2Udy83BgNWpHV4nncCNGe7xHVWRM_MLJhBc9NC23EJi_12bK8jlakTHDQVeSiElS13waNjDOnXKyBkSCshtn8FsIwzy59OmUyVMgh3Yg8JoMxL7lCQRjtWczEGFspnQHPGTqz9Cii5_ViCxis/w480-h640/IMG_4370.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br />Run club in the summer means that I'm running when it's HOT out. It was in the 90s today and it was definitely rough, but running with friends makes it way more bearable. <p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: center;">Thursday</h2><p style="text-align: center;"><b>Rest day!</b></p><p style="text-align: left;">Just went for a walk with a friend and Selma in the morning and then had a nice, relaxing day.</p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: center;">Friday</h2><p style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgweWksb66-BRFfFH4fZm1NQdYQXgUe_CuP-nxB7DuZUmhMtYBTdC47LGy5ggCIlCY-jTdL_6b4QRbWvEn6ldsoEkjFrzUPgm8MFEJzY0eUSw0uGakj9qfXcFyZHtyVzadOuxSN0CQ_rijZfd08WtJCX4wvExnq6xsh-4a6COnFASCmmjY40xOPO3hlj5f9/s3088/IMG_9514.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3088" data-original-width="2316" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgweWksb66-BRFfFH4fZm1NQdYQXgUe_CuP-nxB7DuZUmhMtYBTdC47LGy5ggCIlCY-jTdL_6b4QRbWvEn6ldsoEkjFrzUPgm8MFEJzY0eUSw0uGakj9qfXcFyZHtyVzadOuxSN0CQ_rijZfd08WtJCX4wvExnq6xsh-4a6COnFASCmmjY40xOPO3hlj5f9/w480-h640/IMG_9514.HEIC" width="480" /></a></b></div><b><br />1000 yard swim</b><p></p><p style="text-align: left;">Today's workout was a really fun one! It was pretty much the same as Tuesday's swim, but instead of a steady, moderate effort for the 100 yard repeats I did a fartlek workout: 25 yards easy, 25 hard, 25 easy, 25 hard. This was tough but kept me moving and I really enjoyed it!</p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b>10 mile bike</b></p><p style="text-align: left;">It was the first Friday of the month, so I was excited to head to Bond Park. They host an outdoor concert with food trucks, beer tents, and boat rentals on the first Friday each month in the summer, so Dan and I biked out there to meet up with some friends to enjoy. Unfortunately there were some thunderstorms in the area so after waiting a bit they ended up cancelling the event! We still got in a good bike ride and got to see friends which was nice though.</p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: center;">Saturday</h2><div style="text-align: center;"><b>35:00 run</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;">I was really happy to be able to join a few friends for a Summer Saturday run! During the summer, a few local businesses are sponsoring a warmup and recovery station along the Tobacco Trail, which definitely came in handy on today's run. This was the longest I've run nonstop in a while (I've been doing a lot of run/walks) and it's all because I was with friends that helped me keep going. Afterwards, it felt great to have some ice cold drinks and towels to help cool down from a super sweaty run!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: center;">Sunday</h2><div style="text-align: center;"><b>1 hour bike</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;">Went for a great morning bike ride this morning and it felt really good! This was just a steady state, moderate ride so it was really enjoyable. I feel like every time I ride I'm getting stronger which I always love.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>1 hour yoga</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;">I was really excited to be able to make Erica's brewery yoga this morning at Trophy Brewing! It was such a great class with some good stretching and just enough of a challenge to feel good at the end but not too tired. Her classes are the best so if you're in the Raleigh area definitely check them out!</div>Gretchen Braunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07790068777611696356noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-298679531196459259.post-47510071862126124942023-07-07T11:31:00.002-07:002023-07-07T11:31:21.430-07:00June Reads and Reviews<p>I got a decent amount of reading done in June, with a real mix bag of reviews! I started really strong and ended with two big duds. Here's what my reading looked like this month-</p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: center;">Scandalized by Ivy Owens</h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzNbkcs-Cvvp2tMLX7XeF1bhFPOsdSOSe4nr3OJ_Wrk3pqE6XvSo48yJafiiuRGomGIUZHqVc67VV3byxZ09SCHF63UxQyHfJO1h4hkgvR2K3RZJdBZJvdAyGJCKeFMvp9r1-nW9yPdrb_4v6d5xg9ptCT_Zx7T82Sb1IeGSh7lToycRp0hhN6T6pOGAcp/s4032/IMG_8859.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzNbkcs-Cvvp2tMLX7XeF1bhFPOsdSOSe4nr3OJ_Wrk3pqE6XvSo48yJafiiuRGomGIUZHqVc67VV3byxZ09SCHF63UxQyHfJO1h4hkgvR2K3RZJdBZJvdAyGJCKeFMvp9r1-nW9yPdrb_4v6d5xg9ptCT_Zx7T82Sb1IeGSh7lToycRp0hhN6T6pOGAcp/w480-h640/IMG_8859.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I went into this book not really knowing much- basically that this was a book by one half of the Christina Lauren duo and that people loved it. I ended up really enjoying this- the story was really quick to read and the drama wasn't too over the top. The two main characters- Alec and Gigi- were great together and had great banter back and forth. Plus, it had just the right amount of spice for me which is what I've come to expect from any books by Christina Lauren! I'm hoping that the roommate Eden will get her own book because she was a really great side character.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>My Rating- 4/5</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><h2 style="text-align: center;">The Daydreams by Laura Hankin</h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2K0CGr9cPJPMWlaZEPD7eHdz-JYcl8sdUKhzgcnVERHCOBYrzZppsia2WIh4KAfH8oraDRNAXJSjI9T-Hdl49lq4EDZ6Ob9uZhCqHaNQ8xNsJ7ae9_IEXag8f0xgBzi0B5qpszxw1P_yjlKzjxD0XEFkJC2gauMHDWHIAvHEErcBuzs0YW_pGgHL2_xK0/s4032/IMG_9092.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2K0CGr9cPJPMWlaZEPD7eHdz-JYcl8sdUKhzgcnVERHCOBYrzZppsia2WIh4KAfH8oraDRNAXJSjI9T-Hdl49lq4EDZ6Ob9uZhCqHaNQ8xNsJ7ae9_IEXag8f0xgBzi0B5qpszxw1P_yjlKzjxD0XEFkJC2gauMHDWHIAvHEErcBuzs0YW_pGgHL2_xK0/w480-h640/IMG_9092.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Talk about a fun beach read for this summer- this book is it! This reminds me of Daisy Jones and the Six- if the band was a TV show on Disney Channel and a scandal ruined the show after just one season. Now the castmates are coming back for a reunion and all the secrets are coming out! I really enjoyed this, and liked the plot going back and forth in time. </div><div><br /></div><div><b>My Rating- 4/5</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><h2 style="text-align: center;">The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang</h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtovRJme-yPz2D-U6vKPo0NgY8PoSl6YeRLxKc6Hm-z9AW1pj-qdRgdHc8pRR7LLzIWtQz3wQNI4lrz2qY1BgpV75758acFoWrmllzAxZ8UHi7P6kXMCyYlQzjuo5Ho9CESQ3oRj8rgyrheTDQ63ODF3m9YAyx_Ycy18-290gVwx8MujQ8LcZXCP_yenV4/s4032/IMG_9229.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtovRJme-yPz2D-U6vKPo0NgY8PoSl6YeRLxKc6Hm-z9AW1pj-qdRgdHc8pRR7LLzIWtQz3wQNI4lrz2qY1BgpV75758acFoWrmllzAxZ8UHi7P6kXMCyYlQzjuo5Ho9CESQ3oRj8rgyrheTDQ63ODF3m9YAyx_Ycy18-290gVwx8MujQ8LcZXCP_yenV4/w480-h640/IMG_9229.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div>I previously read another book in this series (The Heart Principle), and finally got around to reading the first book in the series. I always love a fake dating trope and this one was amazing! I loved the characters and how real they were, and also how sweet their dynamic was together. Now I have to read the second book in the series (The Bride Test)! I really enjoy this author's stories and want more!<br /><div><br /></div><div><b>My Rating- 4/5</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><h2 style="text-align: center;">Jar of Hears by Jennifer Hillier</h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdzEDQTEmNOA2ZHr69NrJSi6dz97Mh4A2fTsMYKo6tRPZmPSNU0xznh4UnQke8zLkNX6tx7LOGi5D7E1ixnp2TW2i0NeGiB35PA49SQSkKswVPmqxLX9S269gY2tkVW4uLEILEnfHmb-x4TBEiOmeAr8F16v2vhtWk8mqdA8uko-T7Hx2R-4nzN1zH5hdV/s4032/IMG_9189.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdzEDQTEmNOA2ZHr69NrJSi6dz97Mh4A2fTsMYKo6tRPZmPSNU0xznh4UnQke8zLkNX6tx7LOGi5D7E1ixnp2TW2i0NeGiB35PA49SQSkKswVPmqxLX9S269gY2tkVW4uLEILEnfHmb-x4TBEiOmeAr8F16v2vhtWk8mqdA8uko-T7Hx2R-4nzN1zH5hdV/w480-h640/IMG_9189.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><div><br /></div>It's hard for me to rate this book, because the first part of it was so good and then it got extremely disturbing and made me feel so uncomfortable at the end. It almost seemed like one person wrote the first 80% of the book and handed it off to someone else to finish! It was a bizarre ending. The beginning was great though- page turning and just thrilling enough without being too scary. Overall I would recommend skipping this one!<br /><div><br /></div><div><b>My Rating- 2.5/5</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><h2 style="text-align: center;">My Favorite Half-Night Stand by Christina Lauren</h2><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-weight: bold; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfc2nAF4-4kVkgLzukjR4DyyO8IsJr-CT7KnQNdjXTUamwbPED740n9OToB44JZqAT94_N4zV2HHbqzbL6eplGwEhce1pmmBkntUK-28Fvp8eauVFs5iWv55WgccIXSkJbID9k9bOe8ancmY5perLRApTetEv42nzEDTonPONXXzp1Lav5I8bElJ1VqCIz/s4032/IMG_9190.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfc2nAF4-4kVkgLzukjR4DyyO8IsJr-CT7KnQNdjXTUamwbPED740n9OToB44JZqAT94_N4zV2HHbqzbL6eplGwEhce1pmmBkntUK-28Fvp8eauVFs5iWv55WgccIXSkJbID9k9bOe8ancmY5perLRApTetEv42nzEDTonPONXXzp1Lav5I8bElJ1VqCIz/w480-h640/IMG_9190.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><div style="font-weight: bold;"><b><br /></b></div>This was probably my biggest disappointment of the month. As I mentioned above, I love this author duo and usually really enjoy their books! This one I thought was awful and I hated the characters. The chemistry also felt forced, and the drama was so frustrating to me. I almost DNF'ed this and kind of wish I did because it felt like a waste of time.</div><div><br /><b>My Rating- 2/5</b></div><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: center;">Audiobooks</h2><p style="text-align: left;"><b>Inheritance by Katherine McGee </b> - Short book that happens before the events of the American Royals series. I want to get into that series next so I thought I'd start with this. It was a little hard to keep up with all the characters but it was entertaining.</p><p style="text-align: left;"><b>A Court of Frost and Starlight by Sarah J Maas</b> - Another short novella- this one between books 3 and 4 of the ACOTAR series. Super cute and cozy book that takes place during Winter Solstice. </p><p style="text-align: left;"><b>You Shouldn't Have Come Here by Jeneva Rose </b>- I listened to this while camping which was not my best idea, but it was really good! Suspenseful and gripping with a twisty ending. I liked the two narrators a lot!</p>Gretchen Braunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07790068777611696356noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-298679531196459259.post-51878516203665143702023-07-05T06:44:00.001-07:002023-07-05T06:44:52.372-07:00June Highlights and Goals<p>Happy Summer! It has definitely heated up in the past few weeks here in North Carolina, and I'm absolutely loving it. This month was full of so many fun activities: we went to the mountains three times (backpacking for the first time, a wedding, and then a regular car camping trip), completed two triathlons, and celebrated my birthday! It was a really great month, but I think the wedding was the highlight for me. It was such a fun weekend to spend with friends and celebrate two amazing people that are perfect for each other. The venue at Beech Mountain was also incredible- nothing like a backdrop of mountains for such an incredible moment!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjonnNuFIIh-9GBckcHs9er85ht7hej28VK-kgRNgQo8yP276HkFrnSq-07dkPS8ImiYZmdDyZYRAIUMP2SSNFF-yQmmDRMMn-tCwcXc6ipA38Dlcj129O1-odwon5rMEtwvSf1i-BMHt7eD77gsN9JQSlV3HC2yCWbqDSXEsiXC8WTp215TLnrb3Hy6b0G/s4032/IMG_9259.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjonnNuFIIh-9GBckcHs9er85ht7hej28VK-kgRNgQo8yP276HkFrnSq-07dkPS8ImiYZmdDyZYRAIUMP2SSNFF-yQmmDRMMn-tCwcXc6ipA38Dlcj129O1-odwon5rMEtwvSf1i-BMHt7eD77gsN9JQSlV3HC2yCWbqDSXEsiXC8WTp215TLnrb3Hy6b0G/w480-h640/IMG_9259.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p>Let's get to the goals!</p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: center;">Annual Goals</h2><div><h2 style="background-color: white; color: #575757; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; text-align: center;">Korean Vegan Cookbook</h2><div style="background-color: white; color: #575757; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAvwaLGY_INtTbdm_924IBuJVyiJpklVEKLRcQq7nv-Z4XF_JFYCQa30BRuUgCLIj8vptEJEZWdWTqq3vpwku4WtWrqBf3Y8hlPWeRuBbWzh2nQuZXh9FdMtfOV2f2_ww0wuFXkEjuvKzM81i1o0lrCEkoWqV23ZJGPj4fLQD2BZW4AWWLNUXEUt9Er4EK/s4032/IMG_8925.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAvwaLGY_INtTbdm_924IBuJVyiJpklVEKLRcQq7nv-Z4XF_JFYCQa30BRuUgCLIj8vptEJEZWdWTqq3vpwku4WtWrqBf3Y8hlPWeRuBbWzh2nQuZXh9FdMtfOV2f2_ww0wuFXkEjuvKzM81i1o0lrCEkoWqV23ZJGPj4fLQD2BZW4AWWLNUXEUt9Er4EK/w480-h640/IMG_8925.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I actually tried two recipes from the cookbook this month- the Kale and Ramen Salad from the Kimchi and Salad section, and the Curried Tteokbokki Skewers from the Bar and Street Food chapter. The salad was just ok- it looked really pretty but was a little bland and I didn't like the ramen noodles in it (especially for leftovers- they got really soggy). </div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl4lQjvQu3RNpPGX5ycjI_iaYL9AjeqbemL6VgHR-3Q3xs6-SFLj_QLRNzKaAdu0BOj8jRZe1RvAACDEKebYmjPYJirFBJdgQDGoj1r-DwbFYLi5d6qvS9TDcEe0LnaGPIXsJgaPvv04PVQZ7Uuk_9NHPNSpYd5q3HHq7QaP9jUh2PNvM_fIAb5rntJ-mw/s4032/IMG_9079.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl4lQjvQu3RNpPGX5ycjI_iaYL9AjeqbemL6VgHR-3Q3xs6-SFLj_QLRNzKaAdu0BOj8jRZe1RvAACDEKebYmjPYJirFBJdgQDGoj1r-DwbFYLi5d6qvS9TDcEe0LnaGPIXsJgaPvv04PVQZ7Uuk_9NHPNSpYd5q3HHq7QaP9jUh2PNvM_fIAb5rntJ-mw/w480-h640/IMG_9079.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br />On the other hand, the tteokbokki was AMAZING!! I'm a huge fan of rice cakes so I knew this would be good. The sauce was so richly flavored and was so satisfying. The process was a little finnicky and took a while, but the overall taste and experience of it was worth it.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #575757; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><br /></div><h2 style="background-color: white; color: #575757; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; text-align: center;">Temperature blanket</h2><div style="background-color: white; color: #575757; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">I just finished month 6 of the temperature blanket and we're at the halfway point! It's really big already so I can't image how huge it'll be in December.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #575757; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">Here are some stats for June-</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #575757; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">- I used a total of 3 colors and got to use red (over 90 degrees) for the first time!</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #575757; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">- The highest daily temperature was 91 and the lowest was 73 (just a reminder, I'm only doing the "high" of the day so I didn't record the daily low or average)</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #575757; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">- My most used color was yellow (used 20 times) which is used for the range 80 to 89 degrees.</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #575757; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">- Now, the only color I haven't used is purple (under 40 degrees)!</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #575757; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #575757; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><br /></div><h2 style="background-color: white; color: #575757; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; text-align: center;">Hike 100 Miles + Check Out 10 New Parks</h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaFwca_yfFYsdJD4ouvPS-R4orP-0GTCKl0VVW90W-96oZwaNQ-UcCekTNyHLaS9pHz3Lcveg91zgNhBaK3un4Skuwqw16x7v7CN4bUWHUHZUh9oK2xTSUYuSBvxwpx1abmTsrmbL14mygoTQon5D9HOpIYFuXV9T_G7i9QDghwkUup8Aazxjpdn3jmL1S/s4032/FullSizeRender.heic" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaFwca_yfFYsdJD4ouvPS-R4orP-0GTCKl0VVW90W-96oZwaNQ-UcCekTNyHLaS9pHz3Lcveg91zgNhBaK3un4Skuwqw16x7v7CN4bUWHUHZUh9oK2xTSUYuSBvxwpx1abmTsrmbL14mygoTQon5D9HOpIYFuXV9T_G7i9QDghwkUup8Aazxjpdn3jmL1S/w640-h360/FullSizeRender.heic" width="640" /></a></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #575757; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><br />I went on quite a few hikes this month thanks to camping and backpacking, and did about 15 miles. I'm now up to 75 miles and I think I need to increase my annual goal! Maybe I'll bump it up to 150 to give myself a good challenge?</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #575757; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #575757; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">I also visited two new parks- Grandfather Mountain where I went backpacking, and Hanging Rock where I went car camping. They both have great trails for hiking, and Hanging Rock has tons of fun activities to do. That's also much closer to me (just about an hour and a half away) so it would be great for a day trip!</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #575757; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #575757; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><br /></div><h2 style="background-color: white; color: #575757; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; text-align: center;">Read the Goodreads Best Books</h2><div style="background-color: white; color: #575757; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;">I didn't finish any Goodreads books this month, but I'm currently reading two of them. After I finish those, I will have three more left to go!</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #575757; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #575757; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><br /></div><h2 style="background-color: white; color: #575757; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; text-align: center;">Work from a Coffee Shop Once a Month</h2><div style="background-color: white; color: #575757; font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 15px;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Once again I didn't get a chance to work from a coffee shop this month. I had so many meetings that I couldn't really get out much at all unfortunately! Hoping to make up for it in July (and also hope that work is less stressful this month!!)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;">Last month I shared my "bucket list" for the summer, and I managed to cross of a few items. Here's how the list is going-</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Summer Bucket List</h2><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiODopxAXxa1wmWX_g29SOU0-8b5x2kA3iUIqWfXcJC0U60wE3NrdnBlvSYHGJpM6hpczxct7JcdcPMdw3uSekmqw7XMVlDqTaoju4RDxPSqgpTYaKAQX3Pht7lImRYi5adRTwnFArXR8JE_3_SyKFfsxVPAX35_qFV0OZoEhFgkYXJKHCfOb99zGnFAnxi/s4032/IMG_8988.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiODopxAXxa1wmWX_g29SOU0-8b5x2kA3iUIqWfXcJC0U60wE3NrdnBlvSYHGJpM6hpczxct7JcdcPMdw3uSekmqw7XMVlDqTaoju4RDxPSqgpTYaKAQX3Pht7lImRYi5adRTwnFArXR8JE_3_SyKFfsxVPAX35_qFV0OZoEhFgkYXJKHCfOb99zGnFAnxi/w480-h640/IMG_8988.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div><div><ul><li><b>Bike to a brewery or bottle shop</b> - I biked to Fortnight Brewery for music bingo earlier this month. There are two bottle shops that are even closer and easier to get to so those are also on my list to get to!</li><li>Kayak or SUP in a new lake</li><li>Paint and picnic (bring my watercolors to a park and paint, and also bring snacks along!)</li><li><b>Crochet in a park </b>- I brought a project along to camping with my this past weekend so I can count this one as done!</li><li><b>Hike somewhere new </b>- I mentioned above that I went hiking at Grandfather Mountain as well as Hanging Rock.</li><li>Go to an outdoor movie</li><li>Go to an outdoor concert</li><li>Visit a winery</li><li>Bike the entire Tobacco Trail (it's about 22 miles so it's definitely doable!)</li><li>Go to a baseball game</li><li>Play frisbee golf</li><li><b>Go camping </b>- Done twice this month! I want to go camping more this year, but maybe in the fall when the temperature drops a bit.</li><li>Dine al fresco at a restaurant (bonus points if it's rooftop!)</li></ul></div></div></div>Gretchen Braunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07790068777611696356noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-298679531196459259.post-19340377892645539542023-06-22T23:30:00.001-07:002023-06-22T23:30:00.138-07:00Europe Trip Highlights Part 2<p>Welcome to part two of my trip recap post! We just left Izola and said goodbye to the sea, but were heading towards some of the most beautiful water and mountains I've ever seen in my life in Bovec, Slovenia. This is part of the Julian Alps, and Dan described this area as the "adventure capital of Slovenia". I can definitely confirm that!</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG0ewFV1onUqwFWtsiMWIluT4X-qFtHlcPVfQmpvpkR_yVzv6BNIvVBy5uryDWRrGSUPocrhhejvgxMJkTy1h7A2bLq_i63Lt-qgeE6wALRPGR_u1clcUx4V5oiBIuuwziRlVB5jgCnTDLvTdKuQxXNFz0OuPQ341C49qWsu3pMMhT9OwHFuKv43e4XyRf/s4032/IMG_7166.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG0ewFV1onUqwFWtsiMWIluT4X-qFtHlcPVfQmpvpkR_yVzv6BNIvVBy5uryDWRrGSUPocrhhejvgxMJkTy1h7A2bLq_i63Lt-qgeE6wALRPGR_u1clcUx4V5oiBIuuwziRlVB5jgCnTDLvTdKuQxXNFz0OuPQ341C49qWsu3pMMhT9OwHFuKv43e4XyRf/w480-h640/IMG_7166.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br />We stayed at Hotel Sanje ob Soci, which was probably my favorite place we stayed during the trip. The building is a beautiful A frame with incredible views of the mountains, and also had a sauna in the basement! It was right down the street from the tiny and cute downtown area and all of the workers were amazing. <p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiz6_vFF8jLmrWJn8VIF9ubANY_gKW2VBIp7lJjjQ7gfKeTfIvpCvSVhY8EU9QgdU60OemCjx2WqugrKK8CGRY7BzQy8yJi3k1WGBEA0eLxjaftDRgpGOENZRuPk86tmzBz4Wvslk2WaR6DWWEISqHMAOkwO7OlT5XK7G08xfFBAInuenzUXzEkHEKfzje/s4032/IMG_7180.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiz6_vFF8jLmrWJn8VIF9ubANY_gKW2VBIp7lJjjQ7gfKeTfIvpCvSVhY8EU9QgdU60OemCjx2WqugrKK8CGRY7BzQy8yJi3k1WGBEA0eLxjaftDRgpGOENZRuPk86tmzBz4Wvslk2WaR6DWWEISqHMAOkwO7OlT5XK7G08xfFBAInuenzUXzEkHEKfzje/w480-h640/IMG_7180.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br />Plus, the breakfast was incredible. One day we were the only ones who ordered breakfast and we had a feast set out for us right in front of a roaring fireplace.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0mB3Ysm5I9O3FCqtcR3IsFjJ_kWbws7g-ZJtIHu-ZgtkOn1b2YfyTItton6FJSqEPa92i2-9FIaQzehbI1YXAjJn4xCB4RiN_5KJEOaa5sY29ce5PeftnC5E-4EPaWNWV0W6PBJX8V8kUqFx8scm_saxM3YrwHUSDNJdM2b5IHGCHbTOuOwI1gOLHT0PA/s4000/IMG_7410.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0mB3Ysm5I9O3FCqtcR3IsFjJ_kWbws7g-ZJtIHu-ZgtkOn1b2YfyTItton6FJSqEPa92i2-9FIaQzehbI1YXAjJn4xCB4RiN_5KJEOaa5sY29ce5PeftnC5E-4EPaWNWV0W6PBJX8V8kUqFx8scm_saxM3YrwHUSDNJdM2b5IHGCHbTOuOwI1gOLHT0PA/w480-h640/IMG_7410.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br />Our first full day was one of the highlights of the entire trip. We started in the morning by heading down the road to Nature's Way to meet up with our guide for canyoning! This is something that I've never done before but always thought it looked so cool. We were lucky enough to be the only two on the tour this morning, so we could go at our own pace with our tour guide Tim. After picking up our gear, we parked at the base of a waterfall and hiked about a half hour to the start of the canyoning trail. From there, we put on our neoprene wetsuit and canyoning shoes and made our way down the canyon.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgipn7bgwfTrQlRw2JVIyWMTgLRu_lnBv_sPtunZnWFSttEyWGMqLm1uFG5ndGEgi3wKdlajxiLT-VB7pZR-VrySItoM5qf12gSP3IHbwHHugAbWuzn4XiGfpKRxF2niorvnoKEHH7mSvopghiEWEwLpdQANt6hhQrtXhN8fdsnj6A7K_aeGOo9-pvstBO8/s4000/IMG_7411.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgipn7bgwfTrQlRw2JVIyWMTgLRu_lnBv_sPtunZnWFSttEyWGMqLm1uFG5ndGEgi3wKdlajxiLT-VB7pZR-VrySItoM5qf12gSP3IHbwHHugAbWuzn4XiGfpKRxF2niorvnoKEHH7mSvopghiEWEwLpdQANt6hhQrtXhN8fdsnj6A7K_aeGOo9-pvstBO8/w480-h640/IMG_7411.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br />Along the way, we had to jump off rocks into the pools, slide down natural rock slides, rappel down steeper sections, and use the via ferrata system to make our way around rock walls. It was such an amazing experience that was both exhilarating and a little terrifying! Tim made everything so fun and easy, and we had the best time. We were lucky to have the area to ourselves- usually it's completely packed in high season so we didn't have to rush or get slowed down by groups in front of us! My favorite and scariest part was the very last waterfall which happened to be the highest of our journey- Tim slowly lowered us by rope, and at about the halfway point we free-falled into the water! Talk about a rush!<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguVBE49XEWvqopzTbfH8gGQxuEddeYCuL-mRN3B4gJS6BEnFRYSR2N2wuGlE3aYgfOkacW3bL0iOqGH6ddJXQd3gUNP8EAMwfZ-OZE_GvJaV07hdOEUENLHqSew8-DQXjqbP_I1vIJjXc5SDFIWdTDYnBL7hTXb28U-_GfInC7ecd_FhP6JtPA-5m8oCOS/s4032/IMG_7416.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguVBE49XEWvqopzTbfH8gGQxuEddeYCuL-mRN3B4gJS6BEnFRYSR2N2wuGlE3aYgfOkacW3bL0iOqGH6ddJXQd3gUNP8EAMwfZ-OZE_GvJaV07hdOEUENLHqSew8-DQXjqbP_I1vIJjXc5SDFIWdTDYnBL7hTXb28U-_GfInC7ecd_FhP6JtPA-5m8oCOS/w640-h480/IMG_7416.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />After that action-filled morning, we had a quick lunch break back at the hotel (where we just got snacks from the Mercator) before heading back for white water rafting. I mentioned the beautiful water before, but I really can't describe how incredible it was. If you've ever seen pictures of crystal clear water that looks like it was edited to look an unatural shade of blue- that's exactly what the Soca River looks like in real life- even better and more incredible in person than what you see in pictures. Mineral deposits can explain this color in the water- when the sun reflects on the rock flour, it gives it a blue or green color depending on the weather. It's also completely clean and safe to drink- so while we were on our adventures Tim kept telling us to drink it to stay hydrated.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC7NQNexVfddzKMz-a5P3uj70lRguZn5qHenWWY8ie_gQWDAf4CmGmlWYV3Dqb9pnVBb-CAX4X2UDzWy5-FpBXVc9tXjjawYGFDZnICQAJmwb11sV9jcYc4noZi8Y5UaCZlVRyx19SR1CszgIRHpmeWpWCI9SDDOSoYgimHGAtyZWPV7nee9MUOKgJdz_J/s4000/IMG_7413.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="3000" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC7NQNexVfddzKMz-a5P3uj70lRguZn5qHenWWY8ie_gQWDAf4CmGmlWYV3Dqb9pnVBb-CAX4X2UDzWy5-FpBXVc9tXjjawYGFDZnICQAJmwb11sV9jcYc4noZi8Y5UaCZlVRyx19SR1CszgIRHpmeWpWCI9SDDOSoYgimHGAtyZWPV7nee9MUOKgJdz_J/w480-h640/IMG_7413.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br />Rafting was definitely less of a rush than canyoning but was so much fun! We had a group with us and we managed to not fall in the water (except when Tim gave us a chance to float around!). I would definitely recommend this to anyone! <p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguBhY4nWdfS18__fQv91Fp6Pen-uMFyvzi5vCUwRsOT-8eJ2xnWk4l8wuHFFs-QhCMVDQnphIKSX_ZoqkhYlXuvzqEtTNNcm7qmuI5Nrj-ZMxQ9egwJTorkXYA-6MwVB5fNR0RG9gAH-hOPseMVuqsCfZ-GaGAZEVUd6jKsnlMAZgI2FNwDIdIGPOyPJfz/s4032/IMG_7220.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguBhY4nWdfS18__fQv91Fp6Pen-uMFyvzi5vCUwRsOT-8eJ2xnWk4l8wuHFFs-QhCMVDQnphIKSX_ZoqkhYlXuvzqEtTNNcm7qmuI5Nrj-ZMxQ9egwJTorkXYA-6MwVB5fNR0RG9gAH-hOPseMVuqsCfZ-GaGAZEVUd6jKsnlMAZgI2FNwDIdIGPOyPJfz/w480-h640/IMG_7220.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br />Our next day was also a very active one. We decided to take a chair lift up to the ski area in town to try to do some hiking. We weren't sure what to expect since it was the end of April, but we were in for a surprise when there was a TON of snow and lots of skiiers out! The visibility was really bad at first, so we very slowly and carefully made our way to the ski bum bar that was right by the lift, and enjoyed some Lasko beer while we got glimpses of the mountain. It was fun to see how quickly the views changed since we were so high up in the clouds! Apparently the ski season here can last until June, depending on the snow, so I guess it wasn't a surprise so many people were out.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJm3jSrgGs51wQ_pGCsMW3ybseqYbmw7rYVgerq-h_gxydsU7aymi9E21-T-8L4ilTTUvmq4vxf920XSRF3b7odAXclS75O5Jw6-W0stjuNmQApYh24djjwtIHeljwItUh5vi8kKQ76FhLyGZ3ElbHHor8yCoMCoDfKeyysCdJvVRgafQfsGIwUx0gwKMq/s4032/IMG_7357.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJm3jSrgGs51wQ_pGCsMW3ybseqYbmw7rYVgerq-h_gxydsU7aymi9E21-T-8L4ilTTUvmq4vxf920XSRF3b7odAXclS75O5Jw6-W0stjuNmQApYh24djjwtIHeljwItUh5vi8kKQ76FhLyGZ3ElbHHor8yCoMCoDfKeyysCdJvVRgafQfsGIwUx0gwKMq/w480-h640/IMG_7357.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br />Once we got back into town, we headed out for a long hike through the alps. We followed an All Trails route that took us through so many beautiful areas, including some old WW1 shelters, over bridges, through fields, and into the town. It was a great hike that was really only tough at the beginning (lots of incline!) and ended up being about 9 miles long.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMjUnG_0PgaGCS8kNpPEQs39w1OW4_9b6uRtTjWWFBjZBp_r28Ap5H7DBuNfuv4XnO4oqjdKbBkb-Esqc6_aiDluN_hT5pe6ZlRawYBvgKayGCDtvdTzupJ2p4XRJBYrdvqF4vRp22PoM93xWRDl6t0yBcjAfM-bNHhVo06Ir9ouW2okgR6rZuKAj81UM0/s4032/IMG_7169.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMjUnG_0PgaGCS8kNpPEQs39w1OW4_9b6uRtTjWWFBjZBp_r28Ap5H7DBuNfuv4XnO4oqjdKbBkb-Esqc6_aiDluN_hT5pe6ZlRawYBvgKayGCDtvdTzupJ2p4XRJBYrdvqF4vRp22PoM93xWRDl6t0yBcjAfM-bNHhVo06Ir9ouW2okgR6rZuKAj81UM0/w480-h640/IMG_7169.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br />We had to end at a brewery, and the one in town called Thirsty River hit the spot. Then, we stopped for pizza at Pizzerija Črna Ovca, which was really good! There are some tennis courts, bocce courts, playgrounds, and more at the restaurant so it seems like a great place to spend a while with friends or family. <p></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0dnewHb9s0rrQwv2fvRcGKe5WfTJcCRwFN_6GVMLxnMa9A2c9n04yaRUvG9gpMPMsWqtVDU67CfbhPwJzzsR9I9rEHjhgDyKocDbZ-HPISm0XGs7jrg-QmHi2Z6cBk7sQYu2Bmb-bMaf-8-r05Xv32GFQljdHirL602BcVBcjlIOyOOKc4ISLM3-Wfdr-/s4032/IMG_7375.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0dnewHb9s0rrQwv2fvRcGKe5WfTJcCRwFN_6GVMLxnMa9A2c9n04yaRUvG9gpMPMsWqtVDU67CfbhPwJzzsR9I9rEHjhgDyKocDbZ-HPISm0XGs7jrg-QmHi2Z6cBk7sQYu2Bmb-bMaf-8-r05Xv32GFQljdHirL602BcVBcjlIOyOOKc4ISLM3-Wfdr-/w480-h640/IMG_7375.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br />After we finished we still had a bit more daylight and it was our last day in the area, so we did a quick drive to check out some waterfalls and gorges. I will never get tired of these sights and the sound the water makes- it was the ultimate relaxation! We spent a lot of time just sitting by the water marveling in its beauty and feeling so lucky to be here. <p></p><p>All good things must come to an end, and it was time to leave for our next stop!</p>Gretchen Braunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07790068777611696356noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-298679531196459259.post-64183035600733004272023-06-20T07:44:00.001-07:002023-06-20T07:44:24.323-07:00Another Week, Another Race<p>Good morning everyone! I had my second tri of the year over the weekend, and also had a great week of workouts! Starting this week I'm officially in training for my longest tri ever- the Olympic distance. I'm equal parts excited and scared! I'll share more about my training for that soon, but in the meantime here's how a week of training and racing went-</p><p><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: center;">Monday</h2><p style="text-align: center;"><b>3 mile run</b></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm1V1M_Le5iKPTEVU7ZWa8AHeuYHKFSRB8mc8iBWYY7DIdp1isIv1VJMG2ncYieQtKIj2538hHf2o8yDeWmUxqVyUdrc0Yw17bRKrwfAsjl4893OkVYi5Rf6nwbrWhVEE6EE8DrVR7VsHMrOHSCgUIRuZRwzUTuKoy0zr5vQrftF805V_pD-ZhFIVA2cHK/s4032/IMG_9057.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhm1V1M_Le5iKPTEVU7ZWa8AHeuYHKFSRB8mc8iBWYY7DIdp1isIv1VJMG2ncYieQtKIj2538hHf2o8yDeWmUxqVyUdrc0Yw17bRKrwfAsjl4893OkVYi5Rf6nwbrWhVEE6EE8DrVR7VsHMrOHSCgUIRuZRwzUTuKoy0zr5vQrftF805V_pD-ZhFIVA2cHK/w480-h640/IMG_9057.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br />Started the week with a lunch run. I was still really sore and tired from our backpacking trip, so I wasn't sure how this would go and was happy that I felt relatively good! I did another Peloton run that had intervals of jogging, running, and sprinting that helped the time pass by really quickly.<p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: center;">Tuesday</h2><p style="text-align: center;"><b>12.5 mile bike</b></p><p style="text-align: left;">This was one of my best training rides ever- I didn't feel like I was pushing that much but checked my watch at one point and realized I was going much faster than I thought! When I got home and uploaded to Strava, I saw that I set a PR on every single segment, which was crazy to me. I'm not sure what the magic of today was but it was an amazing ride where everything seemed to click.</p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: center;">Wednesday</h2><div style="text-align: center;"><b>3 mile run</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix734tFUyg8QyVGCkmBtnT6I3-P04Sv1Wp60h7Ou1ah5gH86OshQ11nRbnWN5LOhYfgjgaymly_ZgKnaZLfcx8a0pIWbuufsdG2f8eiQiKnp7bUGZQ4ZFA3-b0yIjj12zOyb4D4mvjKJXD7-Nbc3CvZ8M0oh5bNt_EfCNAnznX-S35szl7fmma8oAMyg/s1170/IMG_9124.PNG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="869" data-original-width="1170" height="476" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix734tFUyg8QyVGCkmBtnT6I3-P04Sv1Wp60h7Ou1ah5gH86OshQ11nRbnWN5LOhYfgjgaymly_ZgKnaZLfcx8a0pIWbuufsdG2f8eiQiKnp7bUGZQ4ZFA3-b0yIjj12zOyb4D4mvjKJXD7-Nbc3CvZ8M0oh5bNt_EfCNAnznX-S35szl7fmma8oAMyg/w640-h476/IMG_9124.PNG" width="640" /></a></div><br /><div style="text-align: left;">Made it two weeks in a row of going to run club. It was a HOT day so this was definitely a struggle, but it was great to see friends and be able to catch up on the run.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div></div><h2 style="text-align: center;">Thursday</h2><div style="text-align: center;"><b>7 mile bike</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVLNDjgaPHfrAp4LXEvOn1TMksNffZn5Tqv2iv7IeyvAZyE8h-ak_-Zr33bGMAjh0OAfDDohhnJjUA_TXqduz-WNAWQGr2JnytZz5UCHTVf8YAEkiAkI5H0yFhGouQ2mzvcvRH6UIPUVLtYGjDOKNKw5dX8g9mzk0TioApDWylm0SK9ZUGZDnC5TzuqQ/s4032/IMG_9122.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVLNDjgaPHfrAp4LXEvOn1TMksNffZn5Tqv2iv7IeyvAZyE8h-ak_-Zr33bGMAjh0OAfDDohhnJjUA_TXqduz-WNAWQGr2JnytZz5UCHTVf8YAEkiAkI5H0yFhGouQ2mzvcvRH6UIPUVLtYGjDOKNKw5dX8g9mzk0TioApDWylm0SK9ZUGZDnC5TzuqQ/w480-h640/IMG_9122.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">It was a nice day out, so Dan and I decided to bike to Fortnight Brewery to meet up with friends for music bingo. The greenway is really easy to bike (even if it gets a bit hilly) so this was a perfect bike commute! Plus- Dan managed to win one of the rounds of bingo. Wins all around.</div><b><br /></b></div><h2 style="text-align: center;">Friday</h2><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Rest day!</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><h2 style="text-align: center;">Saturday</h2><p style="text-align: center;"><b>3 Little Pigs Triathlon</b></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg09TLkrF8UT6wTnN5cGqEQABPoRPsfheD9bt1MvpX7T4xSQAX5vKIAhkMFbFoowBUTDfSFDvTjnHEiJvzXMSrnUfDlYWSkbZBsSkQ6xnCfs4_GRTc4_JeeUFSB3HFxsyUMkwLpDcFR8jylYRz3ow1CNL9cnRJAvgWOogYIr8jYy6wSL8xZsSBPRiRHYkxf/s4032/IMG_9130.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg09TLkrF8UT6wTnN5cGqEQABPoRPsfheD9bt1MvpX7T4xSQAX5vKIAhkMFbFoowBUTDfSFDvTjnHEiJvzXMSrnUfDlYWSkbZBsSkQ6xnCfs4_GRTc4_JeeUFSB3HFxsyUMkwLpDcFR8jylYRz3ow1CNL9cnRJAvgWOogYIr8jYy6wSL8xZsSBPRiRHYkxf/w480-h640/IMG_9130.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br />I got to do my second triathlon of the year this weekend! It was in a nearby town called Smithfield, and was a much different format than I've done before. The swim was a pool time trial, where a new person started every 10 seconds. We had to do 250 yards, changing lanes every length of the pool. It was a little funky and threw me off my rhythym a bit but I finished ahead of my goal time of 5:30.<p></p><p style="text-align: left;">Next was the bike, which was 14 miles around the town. It wasn't my favorite course- a lot of it was on a busy road so it didn't feel safe, and the road was very bumpy! My goal was to be under an hour and I ended up in about 56:00.</p><p style="text-align: left;">Finally it was a 5k run around a park and through a greenway. By this point I was so tired and it was getting HOT out, so I managed to finish by doing a run/walk from about the halfway point till the end. It wasn't a great run, but I was happy to finish!</p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><h2 style="text-align: center;">Sunday</h2><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Rest day!</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div>Gretchen Braunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07790068777611696356noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-298679531196459259.post-72433852803602091922023-06-12T11:01:00.001-07:002023-06-12T11:01:13.662-07:00Ups and Downs<p>Happy Monday!! I just got back from an amazing weekend trip (more about that below). This might not have been the best workout week ever, but I still managed to get some movement in every day. Let's just say that it's not easy to motivate yourself to run when you aren't sleeping well, and I've been sleeping really badly lately. Let's hope that's just an off week and I'll be back to normal soon! Here's a look at how the week went-</p><h2 style="text-align: center;">Monday</h2><div style="text-align: center;"><b>2 mile run</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaPW43hlCoW7RPNYxVFXmwVs48fExxTExUHtvyHNxgouIStLYsey0Speq5pE-xRd9ZRq4LcgZ0OM8V1DYI57hDF_ITqv9HbdFYliaikcbilApPNVlkxQAwTk1RRaNTH6GNTc2R_vs2qjc4rb6qA0Zp4_V99wNEzCeGv93RVjYPnWLnEOVlUJDWdp2Z6A/s4032/IMG_8893.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaPW43hlCoW7RPNYxVFXmwVs48fExxTExUHtvyHNxgouIStLYsey0Speq5pE-xRd9ZRq4LcgZ0OM8V1DYI57hDF_ITqv9HbdFYliaikcbilApPNVlkxQAwTk1RRaNTH6GNTc2R_vs2qjc4rb6qA0Zp4_V99wNEzCeGv93RVjYPnWLnEOVlUJDWdp2Z6A/w480-h640/IMG_8893.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;">Started the week with a midday run. It's definitely feeling like summer out there, but it actually felt great! I did a little interval workout using the new Free section of the Peloton app (I used to have a membership but dropped it a few months ago, but they just came out with free workouts that you don't need to have any membership to access!)</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: center;">Tuesday</h2><div style="text-align: center;"><b>1300 yard swim</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWIyM9woYmfxeKRJ9m6pUojugH0fDm4Wh5niSLspye0ANesa09TtO3tlg8QdJpHo_PkqSweIKpovomoE2d8Ifz_anaw_brPYvmmCtGGkcKzJki4hrKSFYC96nENewZ9ZU2IspXMUWluQ69FdTlbjzocTU4TKtdWXcVkhQucSgR270SPX5MMXbXAg7bLQ/s4032/IMG_8783.HEIC" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWIyM9woYmfxeKRJ9m6pUojugH0fDm4Wh5niSLspye0ANesa09TtO3tlg8QdJpHo_PkqSweIKpovomoE2d8Ifz_anaw_brPYvmmCtGGkcKzJki4hrKSFYC96nENewZ9ZU2IspXMUWluQ69FdTlbjzocTU4TKtdWXcVkhQucSgR270SPX5MMXbXAg7bLQ/w480-h640/IMG_8783.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><div style="text-align: right;"><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: left;">I followed a swim workout today, and that really helped me to break up the swim and made it go by really quickly. I enjoyed it a lot which is always a good feeling, especially for a longer (for me) swim. I started with a 400 yard warmup, then 200 a little harder, then 3 x 100 making each rep a little faster, then 6 x 50 alternating all out and a recovery rep. I finished it out with a cool down and really liked this.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: center;">Wednesday</h2><div style="text-align: center;"><b>2 mile run</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvYBMxiq-MjIF6cqvxNcJoS6twtnVxrllEuhnaU1s0KV0MC9FG2ESDMn4RnsSTuRrz9u2awA88twWa_4uh7O8lbDXLH7F2RIKbndI7ZPTWuuVV9kfekBF-EZ1jCqcu4qokxMRlhNeilbwN3I7QTdFDjydswYTIX19ZTS47KcKWXkB4qjyzx9QlX4yPlw/s3088/IMG_2307.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3088" data-original-width="2316" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvYBMxiq-MjIF6cqvxNcJoS6twtnVxrllEuhnaU1s0KV0MC9FG2ESDMn4RnsSTuRrz9u2awA88twWa_4uh7O8lbDXLH7F2RIKbndI7ZPTWuuVV9kfekBF-EZ1jCqcu4qokxMRlhNeilbwN3I7QTdFDjydswYTIX19ZTS47KcKWXkB4qjyzx9QlX4yPlw/w480-h640/IMG_2307.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div><br />I got Dan to join me at run club today! We ran the first mile and then did a run/walk for the second. The air quality was pretty bad so we took it pretty easy and it was still rough out. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: center;">Thursday</h2><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Rest day!</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;">I met up with a friend in the morning for a walk, so I skipped my regular Thursday swim. It felt good to have a day to rest though, so this was definitely worth it.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: center;">Friday</h2><div style="text-align: center;"><b>1 hour yoga</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;">I made it to sunrise yoga at the Art Museum! It's been a while since I did yoga so I was really happy with how good I felt during class. Nothing like a nice stretch to kick off your morning. After work, Dan and I took Selma for a 1.5 mile walk around our neighborhood wearing heavy packs to prepare for the weekend....</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: center;">Saturday</h2><div style="text-align: center;"><b>11 mile hike</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip0QJkfqOLv7wgX3iZg58yU-v8gbhKc2yQyylRbQ-0z_rCxzGlqO5qxCKtKppjE5VouLzsupeLYeFUTnEjGQLU3SuNYydB9G4Hh17QxaM4LBwMxIDCHHaHGeABCBB-oLAdsHoqMe3F6avWr7L_Rfh6rYNcYzqM3MYgLhx_N3AHevAoZ3xvltlDdJzZnA/s4032/IMG_9034.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEip0QJkfqOLv7wgX3iZg58yU-v8gbhKc2yQyylRbQ-0z_rCxzGlqO5qxCKtKppjE5VouLzsupeLYeFUTnEjGQLU3SuNYydB9G4Hh17QxaM4LBwMxIDCHHaHGeABCBB-oLAdsHoqMe3F6avWr7L_Rfh6rYNcYzqM3MYgLhx_N3AHevAoZ3xvltlDdJzZnA/w640-h480/IMG_9034.HEIC" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">...which was my very first backpacking trip! I love to camp and have been wanting to step it up to backpacking, and luckily got an invitation from a friend for a trip to Grandfather Mountain in the Blue Ridge Mountains just about 3 hours west of Raleigh. The journey was really tough- our first 3.5 miles to camp was all uphill and I had about a 25 pound pack on. After that the terrain got even tougher but luckily I just had a day pack on. Dan and I both agreed that this is one of the toughest physical challenges we've ever had but it was so rewarding and the views we had were incredible!</div><b><br /></b></div><h2 style="text-align: center;">Sunday</h2><div style="text-align: center;"><b>3.5 mile hike</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG44OdisFFEqE10_tCydPpgMbKFqklY_mvCg5zGI1Xhp8gLD3wlopeIjuVwu6rLeW3SwdW1EX32ReBpWZuONFz4KXtnoEWKdflLyK7A5QTjh8LKmnQUu2v-9uIx8rnJdnCmpRNPX1-bv3_m8A9x-v114RzSDg1FJMOXLdwvLW1FkkbTeLzkl4G4o4lKw/s4032/IMG_8988.HEIC" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG44OdisFFEqE10_tCydPpgMbKFqklY_mvCg5zGI1Xhp8gLD3wlopeIjuVwu6rLeW3SwdW1EX32ReBpWZuONFz4KXtnoEWKdflLyK7A5QTjh8LKmnQUu2v-9uIx8rnJdnCmpRNPX1-bv3_m8A9x-v114RzSDg1FJMOXLdwvLW1FkkbTeLzkl4G4o4lKw/w480-h640/IMG_8988.HEIC" width="480" /></a></div><br />After waking up in camp and relaxing for a bit, we had a hike back down to the car. Luckily this was all downhill and a little less weight since we drank most of our water and had most of the food, so this felt easy!</div>Gretchen Braunhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07790068777611696356noreply@blogger.com4