FOMO

Long time no blog!  I figured I had to break the silence and give a quick run-down of our summer since our initial wedding crush.

I finished working at the end of June, and kicked of my three-week funemployment by going to New York with my family for a joint birthday party for my dad and an engagement party for Dan and I.  While he wasn't able to attend {he was at a bachelor party in Manhattan that weekend}, it was wonderful to see a large group of family.  It was the first time in years that we had gotten so many of us together, so it was great to be surrounded by so much love.

A few days later, we left for our much-anticipated San Francisco trip, and it certainly did not disappoint.  While I thought I was looking for a relaxing vacation after a year of non-stop high-stress work, it turned out to be the opposite of relaxing.  Oh well!  But you know what? It was actually my perfect vacation, because we were really active every day, whether that involved running, hiking, walking EVERYWHERE {and up very major hills} or riding bikes across the Golden Gate Bridge {we did that on the 4th of July, and ended up riding over 20 miles overall, including stopping in charming little Sausalito, where we were part of the old-timey 4th of July parade}.  We ate a TON of mouthwatering food - seriously, I don't think we had a good meal - ranging from a salad place near the Air Bnb we were staying in {which was so delicious we went back a second time} to an amazing Greek restaurant whose chef recently catered a White House event.  We spent lots of quality time with friends, including my friends Maggie and Jordan, but mostly Dan's friend from high school, Trey, his wife, Ashley, and Trey's brother, Ian, all of whom moved to SF recently but have an enviable knowledge of the city.  The three of them spent a ton of time with us, and we were so grateful for them setting up activities for us that were outside of the "touristy" description.  It was the perfect getaway, especially for my first time in California!

When we got back from San Francisco, we had four full days left in DC, and we really maxed them out, spending lots of quality time with family and friends, saying goodbye to some of our favorite restaurants and places.  The Saturday before we moved, Molly threw us an engagement/going-away party at Poste, which just filled me up with happiness.  There was so much love at that party, and almost all of our favorite Washingtonians were there, including both sets of parents.  I could not have asked for a better send-off.  

On July 14th, we packed everything into the U-Haul and Dan's car and drove away from the city that we have come to love so much.  I was hysterical as I said goodbye to my dad and my mom and I drove to Pittsburgh, our first stop on the way to Chicago {luckily, my mom was driving the first leg, which freed me up for some solid crying}.  We arrived in Chicago in the middle of the next afternoon, and we are pretty in love with our new place.  It is kind of industrial, with exposed ducts and unfinished ceilings, but, even with my love of everything old and clean when it comes to houses, I absolutely love it.  The location is fantastic too, allowing us easy access to many parts of the city, especially downtown.  I definitely feel like I am still in the adjustment phase.  I do love our apartment and I am enjoying exploring the city, but I am certainly not at the point where I love it here or it feels like home.  When people mention DC, my heart still skips a beat.

The job has been the biggest blemish of my experience here so far.  To make a long story short, there are a ton of personnel issues in the office, which were articulated to me starting on my first day.  Needless to say, I have gone home from work in tears on several days.  While I don't miss the office politics of my old office, I miss the work, and the students I worked with, terribly. One of my students sent me a really sweet card in the mail thanking me for everything I have done for her, and it honestly made my day, if not my week.  The work I'm doing now is just different, and I don't think I've quite adjusted to it yet.  I'm hoping that things start to get better soon.

The other thing I have been struggling with is significant FOMO. I was talking to Allie about it the other night over a yummy Indian dinner, asking her if she had felt as though she was sort of "out of sight, out of mind" when she left DC after graduation.  As I reflected on our conversation afterward, it struck me that this is very similar to how I felt during study abroad, when I realized that life goes on without me and, as it does, communication with friends fades.  I am looking forward to continuing to get together with Allie and Kristin, but they both have busy schedules, so I'm thinking that, until things pick up with the Partners Club through Dan's program, things might be a little lonely around here.  That has definitely been my overwhelming emotion since we got here.  We grabbed dinner with someone whose wife is in the program and lives in our building, so hopefully, little by little, we'll start making more connections like that one.

Last weekend, I met my family back in my beloved New England {seriously, that place practically makes me weak at the knees!} for a beautiful and moving memorial service for Terry.  Although he passed away back in April, they opted to do the memorial service later on, and, while it was certainly emotional, I appreciated the chance to say goodbye and be surrounded by people who loved and cared about him.  On Saturday morning, we made the short drive from Maine {where the memorial had been} to the Lake and enjoyed 2 1/2 days of uninterrupted sun and family and friend time.  There was definitely a sadness this year, as two members of the "Lake family" are battling cancer, and one is in pretty rough shape at this point.  You know what? Cancer sucks.  It freaking sucks.  I'm tired of people in my life dying from it, especially people in our Lake family.  When I got back to Chicago on Monday night, the first thing I saw on the TV monitors when I got off the plane was news of Robin Williams's suicide, which is obviously tragic and incredibly sad.  I know there is a lot at play with people who attempt suicide, and I have been fortunate enough to never have experienced feelings like that, but, after having been around so much suffering over the weekend, I was struck by the fact that these friends of ours WANT to live, and they're fighting SO hard.  To think that someone just threw it all away makes me really upset, when there are so many people who would do anything to be healthy.  Sorry for being depressing. Obviously it was an emotional weekend for me.  But, at the end of the day, we all got to spend time together in the most special and beautiful place on the face of the earth, so I was happy.

I'll hopefully post again soon with some summer pictures, but, in the meantime, I'm off to enjoy the weekend with Dan's family, since his parents are in town for a visit.  I'm looking forward to having a piece of DC here, even if only for a quick few days!

2014 Wedding Season

Now that Dan and I are engaged, weddings have taken on an extra bit of meaning.  Sure, we still enjoy going to weddings, but they are also a great opportunity for us to figure out the types of things that we like at weddings or would prefer to not have at our own, and, just in general, decide on the type of feel we would like to have at our wedding.  

Last weekend, we traveled to Pittsburgh to watch one of Dan's best friends from high school get married {actually, they have known each other since they were just little guys}.  It was a really fantastic wedding, so low-key and down-to-earth, which was perfect for the couple.  Dan's {yes, his friend is also named Dan, and yes, there are three of them named Dan in their high school friend group} grandfather is a deacon and was able to be a co-celebrant, so the ceremony was very personal.  The reception was really fun, and we loved spending time with the entire group, many of whom we hadn't seen since this friend group's last wedding this past August.  Towards the end of the after party, Dan and I were getting ready to head out, so we said our goodbyes to Dan {the groom} and Jen.  As I went to say goodbye to Dan, he motioned to me to come towards him, and, giving me a big hug, he told me, with tears in his eyes, how thrilled he was for Dan and I and how perfect we are for each other.  In his defense, it was late in the night, he was coming off of a highly stressful day and he had had more than a few to drink, but the sentiment was certainly genuine, and seeing him tear up made me tear up as well.  Dan is so lucky to have such a good friend, and it is SO apparent to me how much the two of them care about each other.  Weddings are one of those moments in life where you can really reaffirm relationships with people you may have known for years, and I know that my Dan was so happy to stand up next to Groom Dan as one of his groomsmen.  All in all, it was a fabulous party, and it was wonderful to get to meet some more Pittsburghers.

This past weekend, we went to my friend Colleen's wedding in South Bend, Indiana {yes, that's Notre Dame, for those of you who thought that name sounded familiar as you read it}.  Colleen and I lived together, along with one other girl, in the year after graduation, and she has been a dear friend ever since {I'm so grateful to the mutual friend who "set us up" as roommates!!}. We opted to drive to this wedding, because of the extreme cost of flying, and, although the drive was painfully long {roughly 9 hours}, at least Dan and I had each other to share it with.  Molly and Lauren drove up separately, and it was great to have the two of them there, because we were the few non-Domers at the wedding!  This wedding, you guys, was Colleen and Brett to a T - it was quite the classy event.  While I am completely biased against Notre Dame, I will say that the Basilica that they got married in was gorgeous, even outdoing dear Dahlgren.  One little detail that I loved is that both of them are eucharistic ministers, so we actually got to receive communion from the two of them.  It was just a really nice touch.  We had a bunch of downtime after the ceremony, which was at 9 a.m. {that Basilica is in high demand!!!}, so we walked around a bunch {we figured out that we walked about 5 miles that day} and  watched some World Cup.  At one point, Dan went to the lobby to get a soda, and found us three girls passed out upon his return mere minutes later - we were exhausted!  The reception was lovely as well, and the food was probably the best of any wedding that I've been to!  Lots of options for a vegetarian with nut allergies, which made this gal happy :)  

It is so hard to not go to all of these weddings and not get the warm fuzzies.  Some of our earliest, most concrete conversations about marriage happened after the weddings we went to last summer, in large part because you're on such an emotional high and are feeling the love after attending a wedding.  I know that ours is still about two years away, but I just can't wait to marry my best friend :) I'll do a phone dump at some point this week so I can post some pictures from these weddings, but for now, here's one that I Instagrammed from this past weekend!

Colleen and Brett, seriously beaming!

Yesterday was also my parents' 29th wedding anniversary! I was so lucky to be able to spend it with them once we got back from the wedding.  I sure am lucky to have them as my parents, and here's to many more!

Post-Weekend Links

Happy Monday, friends!  Big news: I GOT THE BOOT OFF a few weeks ago!  I had been carting that darn thing around since the beginning of May, and the month of May just DRAGGED as a result.  I couldn't have been happier when my orthopedist told me a few weeks ago that I could rid myself of what Dan and I affectionately call Das Boot!  This injury has definitely prompted a bit of an attitude change when it comes to running, because I know now that I can't sustain running 50 mi/week.  My body WILL start to break down, it's just a matter of when.  So I'm kicking of a recommitment to finding fun forms of cross-training, and I have to say, I absolutely loved my time spent swimming during the month of May.  I felt myself getting stronger, and it was a nice release.  I hope to find a pool near our new apartment so that I can continue to do that a few days a week.  In the meantime, I have started running more, and have found that, thanks to swimming, I have been able to bounce back really quickly {whereas, last fall, when I couldn't exercise at all while I had the boot on, I was sucking wind for my first few weeks of running}.  Anywho, a few interesting tidbits:

• I found this article about "The People Who Can't Not Run." Even I can admit that the people are a bit extreme {running in place while in labor? No thanks!!!}, but some of what they said that resonated with me.  I run every day both because I love running and because no other form of physical activity gives me the same emotional high that running does.
• I found this great post over on Hey Natalie Jean, a blog that I read frequently.  It features a documentary called "Spent: Looking for Change" that features five families who represent the growing percentage of Americans in financially underserved households.  It is really sobering, and illustrates the very fine line between a great financial situation and a few bad breaks that can send a family into a tailspin.
• During my job search, I realized I needed to brush up on how to negotiate a salary increase.  I found this awesome article that provided a word-by-word of what you should say.  I think that this is a skill that women need to practice more {i.e. not being afraid to state what we think we're worth}, because, really, what can you lose?  Also, this is something they should teach in school.

I will work on posting some more this week, which is my last week of work {HALLELUJAH!!! My last day is Thursday!}, because I have so many updates to share, from the job search to two fantastic weddings and lots of travel in between!

This Move is Officially Happening...

Last week was a banner week in our household! We started off the week by getting engaged on Sunday, and, by Thursday, we had gotten a condo!  Add to it some slight movement on the job front, and it made for a great week.

To be honest, I was not completely stressed about our housing situation in Chicago.  If I needed to move to start a job, I knew that I had a couple of great friends that I could crash with for a couple of days while I tried to find us an apartment.  However, I feel SO much better knowing that there is a place that will be ours as of July 1st!  As opposed to the job search process, which has been long and drawn-out, the housing search happened at a lightning-fast pace.  We had narrowed it down to one neighborhood that we wanted to target, based on proximity to public transportation, overall feel of the neighborhood, etc.  Dan was able to see a few buildings in this area during a neighborhood housing tour that was a part of Admitted Student Weekend.

Based on the research we had done and the buildings Dan had visited, we were primarily considering three buildings.  On Wednesday, we had our real estate agent go and look at a place for us, and we made a split-second decision to go for it after seeing the pictures that she sent us.  Our plan all along had been to have either one of our friends or Dan's sister go and see our prospective homes before signing a lease, but we soon learned that we were going to need to move more quickly than that, requiring us to place all our trust in our agent to get a sense for these places {this is not a good feeling for a control freak like me!}. We raced to get the application completed on Wednesday afternoon and evening, and found out late on Thursday morning that we got the condo!  It was such a whirlwind, and we certainly got ourselves worked up about it, but I am so glad that everything turned out okay.  We are very excited to move in!

I found out in the middle of last week that I got an on-campus interview for a job that I am very interested in, so I will be heading to Chicago next week.  I am both excited and nervous, since the job-related component of this move is what has stressed me out the most, both from income and healthcare perspectives.  I so badly want to have that nailed down so that I can truly enjoy my remaining time in DC and not need to stress out about my employment prospects.  I will keep you all posted!

I would be remiss if I didn't talk about the aftermath of the engagement.  It has been a huge adjustment to refer to Dan as my fiancé, and I have certainly slipped up more than a few times.  Everyone has been so sweet and curious to hear about the details, and I think I have the story memorized at this point!!! We are not moving forward on any major details yet, although I have started brainstorming a guest list, as that will affect the types of venues we are able to consider.  We got to see several friends over the weekend who hadn't seen us since the engagement, so it was really fun to share the story with them.

In general, it was just a perfect weekend! Dan and I got to spend some quality time together, and, very importantly, we spent a LOT of time outside, as the weather was absolutely gorgeous!  Dan, Molly and I went to a Nats game with Dan's dad on Saturday, followed by a great late afternoon/evening on H St. celebrating our friend Alix's birthday on a rooftop.  On Sunday, we went to the Air & Space Museum, which Dan had never been to, and I spent the afternoon with my dad at the outdoor pool that they belong to.  We grabbed dinner with my parents at Blacksalt on Sunday evening {seriously, mouthwateringly delicious fish!} and got to catch up with them post-engagement {they had not seen Dan since then}.  It was a beyond perfect weekend, and this upcoming one will be one of our last in DC, as we will be out of town at weddings the following two weekends.  Exciting times! It is finally feeling like summer, and I think going to Jazz on Friday will make it feel like the official start of summer for me!!

Our Proposal Story

'Hold the phone! When did this happen?,' you may be asking yourself.  I have written pretty openly on this blog over the past few months about hoping for a proposal, and I feel so blessed that I am actually sitting down to write it now {since, let's face it, my productivity at work this week has been completely shot}.  So, let's start at the beginning, a very good place to start:

We went to my aunt and uncle's house in southern Virginia from early Saturday morning to Sunday morning.  We had an awesome time hanging out with my family, including two of my aunts, my uncle, my cousin, her boyfriend and roommate, and my parents.  I continued my annual Memorial Day Weekend tradition of getting sunburned to a crisp, thanks to this exceptionally long winter we've had {and a subsequent lack of Vitamin D exposure}.  At the end of the day on Saturday, I went up to the house to take a shower, leaving Dan and my dad alone on the dock.  A part of me thought that Dan could be discussing marriage with my dad, but I didn't want to get my hopes up.  After my shower, I walked back down to the dock and switched places with Dan, who then jumped in the shower himself. I hadn't been seated for a minute before my dad looked me in the eye and said very matter-of-factly, "So, Dan was talking to me about asking you to marry him." 

"DADDDDDDD," I groaned, "you weren't supposed to TELL me that" {all of this while laughing}.  My dad felt really bad afterward, especially after my mom chided him for being clueless.  What can I say? I'm obviously the man's first child! I wasn't actually angry at all, because of the fact that Dan and I had discussed marriage so extensively.  We proceeded to have an amazing dinner.  Picture this: a screened-in porch to protect us from bugs and a large, family-style dinner with lots of laughter and great conversation, all taking place mere footsteps from the river.  It's like a story written in summer heaven.  This is not at all relevant to the proposal story, but it just speaks to my perfect summer evening: being surrounded by family and friends, enjoying yummy food and lots of stories and laughter, preferably in close proximity to a body of water.

Anyway, Dan and I got on the road relatively early on Sunday morning so that we could enjoy the day in DC.  When we got home, Dan ran to Whole Foods to "pick up beer" while I showered.  When he arrived home, I asked which kind of beer he had gotten, and he was nondescript, answering simply, "a wheat beer", which is unlike him {he usually tells me exactly what kind he has purchased}.  He had carefully orchestrated our plans for the evening, having made a reservation at Zaytinya, one of our favorite restaurants and one of the places on our bucket list {although, at this point, we should rename it the "to do again" list}.  Typically, when we're making a dinner reservation, we'll pore over Open Table and make the reservation together, but he insisted on doing it.  He also suggested, before we left for dinner, that we grab dessert afterward and walk over to the Tidal Basin.  I was starting to get seriously suspicious at this point, because the guy is NOT a planner.  This seemed a little fishy…

We had a wonderful and delicious dinner {seriously, I have never not left Zaytinya without a happy tummy} and headed to Red Velvet to pick up cupcakes {our first choice, Crumbs, had already closed for the evening}. We walked over to the Tidal Basin and looked out onto the Jefferson Memorial as we inhaled our cupcakes.  The weather was perfect, not yet hot and humid enough to be truly oppressive, and the sun was threatening to begin setting. We sat on one of the park benches and just talked, and it was so lovely to be taking in my favorite spot in all of DC with my best guy.  There were a lot of people around, and Dan only increased my suspicion by looking several times in either direction.  I was onto him at this point! When it became clear that there was not going to be a break in the crowd, he suggested that we walk over to a slightly more secluded area so as to "get a better view."  It was there that he told me how much he'll always love DC because it is where he met his wife, then launched into a list of things he loves about me.  He dropped down on one knee and produced the most beautiful ring I have ever seen, asking me to marry him.  I was crying, so made the poor guy sweat it out for a minute while I composed myself, before answering, "YES!" as enthusiastically as I possibly could.  The next few minutes were filled with kissing, hugging, marveling at the ring, and staring at each other in disbelief because WE WERE ENGAGED! It was the most perfect, special proposal that I could have asked for, perfect for our relationship and the type of people we are.  We couldn't stop smiling, the biggest, goofiest smiles you've ever seen.  We hopped in a cab and headed home, where Dan produced the bottle of champagne that he had picked up on that Whole Foods run {in his defense, he did also buy beer}.  Being that we are in our interim apartment now and have very minimal kitchen supplies, we chilled the champagne in a kitchen pot with an ice pack and what little ice we found in the fridge's ice-maker.  Yay for resourcefulness!!!

We took our time and enjoyed our champagne before calling our immediate families to break the news, which, we agreed, was perfect, allowing us some special time to ourselves before letting the world in on our little secret. The timing could not have been more perfect, because, since Monday was Memorial Day, we had an entire day off to get in touch with friends and family and just enjoy our new engagement.  Our loved ones' responses were wonderful, as were our friends' reactions when we called them the next day.  From the time that we started telling people our happy news, we were completely floored by how wonderful and supportive everyone was.  We are so humbled by the truly incredible people that we have in our lives, and it has been such a blessing to share this time with them.  While we will not be getting married until summer 2016, after Dan graduates, we couldn't be more excited for this next phase of our lives, and everyone's enthusiastic support has made the post-engagement glow last.  It still doesn't feel quite real sometimes, although it certainly helps to look down at my gorgeous, perfect ring as a nice, shiny reminder.  He did an amazing job picking it out {with a little help from Pinterest and what turned out to be a great guess when it came to my ring size}, but I told him that, while it is the most breathtaking ring I have ever seen and was exactly what I wanted, I would have been happy with whatever he got me, because it would be from him.

To wrap up this epically long post, I just want to take a moment and acknowledge how lucky I am to have ended up with a guy like Dan.  I have to, first and foremost, thank my best friend, Molly, for inspiring me to create a Match profile, because, without her encouragement, I probably never would have met him.  All of this came a few months after a painful romantic experience for me, and joining Match provided me with the perfect kick in the butt to be open to meeting someone new {so, in a strange way, I am grateful that I had that experience, however much it may have sucked at the time}.  From the day I met him, Dan has been such a positive light in my life - sweet, generous, funny, supportive, smart, and very handsome - and being with him has made me strive to be the best version of myself.  They don't say that girls tend to marry men who are like their dads for nothing, because I can absolutely see all of my dad's most wonderful qualities reflected in Dan.  I could not have answered any more enthusiastically when he asked me to be his wife, because he is the person that I want by my side for all of life's many highs and lows.  While I am obviously excited to plan our wedding {which I have been planning in my head since I was about five years old}, I am just relishing in this little moment we have going on here, because it is so, so special :)

Right after it happened! So, so much happiness :)

Weekend Links

Many of the blogs that I read have a Friday feature called "Weekend Links" where the bloggers round up all of their favorite weeks from the internet that week.  I can't promise that it will happen regularly on this blog, but I thought I would give it a shot.  And, since it is about to be the weekend, the thought is that you'll actually have time to read these things {right??}!

Here we go…

- A really interesting article about privilege {a buzzword right now after a Princeton student's recent editorial} as it relates to both race and gender

- Panda puppies!

- Lusting after this purse {my Longchamps bags are looking a little ratty, so it's totally justifiable to buy this to "bring to future job interviews", right??}

- A friend posted a link to this food-based course co-taught by Michael Pollan, which you can watch for free!
- Another FB link: the owners of Baked & Wired are opening a new place devoted to artisanal toast.  I don't think I like the sound of that.  However, their in-store market will sell cookie dough, so maybe I do support this place :-)
- NYT did a "36 Hours in…" piece on DC, and I think it's pretty sad that I have not done many of those things in my eight years of living in this city.
- The Pens may be out of the chase for the Stanley Cup, but I can't get enough of this pint-sized fan!

Have a great weekend, everyone! We are gearing up for moving everything to my parents' house tomorrow, and hopefully we'll be able to have some fun, too.  It's bringing a smile to my face to watch all of the newly-minted graduates walk by my office window right now.  Hoya Saxa! 

Prepping for the Move

This week is graduation week on the Hilltop, so that always gets me a little bit emotional.  I LOVE working at a university, but, for a person who hates goodbyes, it can be tough when each subsequent class graduates.  I am planning on staying especially far from campus this weekend, because I know that this graduation weekend, my last in DC, would churn up a lot of emotions.

So instead, we will be moving on Saturday…which will churn up a whole other set of feelings because of how much I despise moving.  We have to move to an interim apartment until the end of June, which, luckily, is furnished, meaning that all we have to do this weekend is pack up all of our stuff and move it to my parents' garage until the big move.  Dan pointed out that, once we do this weekend's move, the hard part will be done {at which point I reminded him that he was forgetting the 10-hour drive to our new home!}.   So the rest of our week will be spent packing up our mountains of stuff.  As much as I try to purge things I don't need, the piles don't seem to get any smaller.

I wanted to do a quick recap of this weekend, because it was so, so wonderful.  I have been trying to wrap my head around it, and the best way I can describe it is that it felt, over the course of the weekend, like I was single again.  Don't get me wrong, I love Dan so much and our relationship brings me so much joy every day, but it was so, SO nice to be able to call my own shots for the weekend and do whatever I wanted to without any concern for another person.  Friday was absolutely wonderful, starting just before I left work for the day and I made a kid cry with joy by telling him that we were admitting him off the waitlist.  It just gave me the warm fuzzies, you know?  I then proceeded to bake a ton and watch no fewer than three full episodes of House of Cards, and it was absolutely glorious.  I had to work from 9-1 on Saturday, which wasn't too brutal, and then did my swim and met up with my family.  Tim was in town, so it was great to have our little foursome together again!  I really do miss him, and am so glad that he is loving New York.  I think he was trying extra hard to be nice and cheerful, too, probably given that it was Mother's Day weekend, almost his birthday, and probably one of the last times we'll be together before Dan and I move.

We went out to a delicious dinner at The Hamilton {definitely recommend - I had the halibut and the beet salad, which were both heavenly}, and then I met up with Molly to go to a friend's birthday celebration in Columbia Heights.  It was great to see that group of friends, and then I got to have a sleepover with Molly, which was so lovely.  It has been really tough for us to get together over the past few months, due to how busy the two of us have been, so it was great to have lots of time to just catch up.  I am going to miss her so, so much.  On Sunday morning, after we grabbed breakfast, I headed back over to my parents' house and had some more time with the fam before Tim had to catch his bus.  By the time I got home from my swim afterward, Dan was back, and, although I loved my weekend of doing whatever I wanted, I was so happy to have him back!

On another very random note, The Bachelorette starts on Monday {yay!} and one of the contestants is a guy from my hometown who was in my class when I was in public school.  I have an inkling that he'll be a one-and-done contestant, but we'll see.  I'm hoping that this new apartment has DVR capabilities, or else we might have a problem!

Also, I am about a week in to swimming, and while I am far from being a talented swimmer, I am enjoying it!  My leg is definitely feeling better, so I'm hoping that it will be completely healed when I see the doc again on June 5th.  I think that I'll start using the Aqua Jogger at the pool in a few weeks - apparently it's fantastic for runners who are coming back from injuries.  I am just feeling so grateful that I am able to exercise!

Happy Wednesday, friends! We're almost over the hump!