weekend catch up

1. I got my hands dirty this weekend and freshened up the window boxes.

2. I wanted to relax a little and was feeling a bit nostalgic so I made Ryan hook up the 360. He didn't mind.

3. We drove to the local rail trail to get our run in today and I had to go so bad I PEED OUTSIDE. #whoami #soproud

How was your weekend?

Peace out, alfalfa sprouts. - Allison

it's a freaking miracle

I MADE IT.

With three fifteen hour days back to back fueled by little sleep combined with the worst cold I've had in the last five years, physical inventory is finally over. Can I get a freaking hallelujah? Ugh.

I'm debating whether I should be knocked up or stuck in another country the next time this rolls around. Especially considering I'm supposed to "run" the finance aspect of it next year and made a multi-million dollar mistake (thankfully fixed!) this time. 

Ryan held down the fort this week doing a bunch of projects. He installed our new dishwasher, switched out the light fixture in the living room, and discovered the fan in the dining room is plastered into the ceiling. #winning

My contribution to the house this week? Repotting plants. 

Since I don't have tomorrow off like most people seemingly do, I'm already looking forward to next weekend. Hopefully by then I'll be rid of this head cold. (And be sleeping a solid ten hours each night.)

What's on deck for you this week?Are you plotting payback for your boss for the cold he shared? Or are you planning on a few extra hours of sleep for good measure?

Until the next sleep deprive post, peace out, lifers.

- Allison Rae

seventeen before twenty-seventeen

When I first came across the idea of creating a list of seventeen things to do before I rang in 2017, I was immediately in love. Mainly because it incorporates my love of lists and my love of setting outrageous goals for myself.

Thirty seconds later, I flipped to a brand new page in my bullet journal (because I've become one of those people) and started writing. I had fourteen ideas down when I enthusiastically told Ryan about my new prerogative.

His immediate reaction was, "Oh God, here we go."

Because he knows that I often come up with crazy, unattainable goals. And I mean CRAZY. I once started a greatist challenge while increasing my mileage training for a half marathon. Both of which never got finished.

But, I beat him to the punch. My mindset going into this endeavor wasn't to go all or nothing. I wanted to make sure these were achievable but still challenging goals. 

With my first fourteen goals "Ryan Approved" I finished up the last three earning approval by the end of the day. Some are a little vague but I have notes in my bujo (oh how I love that term!) explaining more about what my complete goals actually are.

Without further ado, my goals...

If you had to create a list of seventeen things to do before you ring in 2017, what would some of them be? What would be the one thing you want to do by the end of the year?

Until the next checklist. Peace out, cub scouts.

- A. Rae

thoughts on being a morning person

You know how sometimes, you're told something over and over and over again that eventually it feels like the truth? It takes on this life of its own and now it's a fact. 

For me, it's being called a morning person. I've been seemingly pigeon-holed into this character that joyfully leaps out of bed each day, ready to tackle anything that comes my way.

But in reality, my mornings are quite the opposite. Sure, I get up earlier than I need to. I like the morning quietness. Yeah, I get into work an hour before my coworkers. Because I like easing into the work day. And then, by the time everyone shuffles in, I'm finally "on."

Don't let my typical morning cheer fool you. I greet each new day with a grumble followed by a cry for more sleep. I just also realize that I need to get up, get out, and get done. 

And those mornings are full of quality ME time. By the time the rest of the city wakes up, I feel like I've at least done something. Especially on days like today when I logged seven miles for my twentieth run in a row. Even Smashrun told me I rocked it. Although, I think they indulge me when they say "fast."

I can't always rock these kinds of mornings but it sure does make the rest of the day easier. But what about you? Do you rise and shine or burn the midnight oil?

Until then. Peace out, cub scouts.

- A. Rae

Again, I am not sponsored by Smashrun. I've used it for about a year and recently paid for a pro membership out of pocket. The free service is really great, I just wanted to support the great work the team does. If you're already on Smashrun, you can find me here! If you're not, you can check it out here!

my life in numbers

After a truly horrendous commute home yesterday, I'm ecstatic it's the weekend. Mostly for two whole days with ZERO reasons to drive anywhere. Me + Traffic Jams = Nicht Gut.

After a little math pick-me-up (which I'll talk more about soon!) and a little chocolate, I started my weekend running my fastest mile ever. Ahem, a 9:39, thank you very much. *confetti*

So after restarting my weekend, I'm especially determined not to mope around like I've done the past few weekends. I'm gonna go explore a little and bring my camera to capture some of it. It's hard to believe my time here in Germany is rapidly coming to an end. Again.

In the meantime, here's some numbers I'm thinking about...

Twenty-five. The number of days until I jet set home!

Nineteen. My current run day streak.

Eleven. The number of working days I have left here in Germany.

Ten. The number of days until I kick start the last year of my twenties.

Seven. The countdown until Ryan comes back and we road trip it to Oktoberfest.

Side note: Wouldn't it be great if there could be magical confetti cannons that go off when you do something huge? No? Just me? Mmkay.

Until tomorrow. Peace out, cub scouts.

- A. Rae

it's the freakin' weekend

Every time I write that post title, I ALWAYS finish the line. It's like a compulsion a la Sheldon Cooper. Do you know the rest of it?

"Baby, I'm about to have me some fun!"

Let's just sweep the context of that song under a rug, though. My weekend will include no freakin'. Just things like lots of sleep, coloring, and running. You know, single lady stuff since Ryan is currently stateside.

Even though he is three thousand some odd miles away, this September is shaping up to be pretty fantastic. So far, I've run my first 15k ever! I've earned a couple of badges for running five and then ten days in a row.

I just finished day eleven and the streak lives on!

Then this past Thursday, Ryan had bought me a ticket to go see Sam Beam (of Iron & Wine) and Jesca Hoop on their Love Letter for Fire tour as an early birthday present. I'm not ready for you yet, 29! First, Sam Beam is eighty percent beard mixed in with a whole lot of pure talent. Second, you know how some people sound exactly like their albums when they perform live? Sam Beam is. So. Much. Better. I bought the tour album to only find out I have no way to play it! No disc player in my laptop. None in the car. Serious first world problems over here.

But first world problems, bring some pretty sweet first world benefits. Like my favorite chocolate being on sale! Guess who's going broke this weekend?

This month is just going to keep getting better and better.

Until the next chocolate bar. Keep it real, happy meal.

- A. Rae

a pledge to the run

They say that third time's the charm. For me and running, I'd have to agree. I tried, twice before, to start running and on the third time it finally stuck.

Two years ago, that third time was just starting. I did a couch-to-5k and on my first race in November I finished with a 12:46 pace. It definitely wasn't fast but I did it. No walking, no stopping, just running.

More than a year after I started running, with over a hundred miles under my belt, I completed my first four mile run. I had been in Germany for two months and was just climbing out of my self-imposed pity party.

My pace? 12:43.

Nearly a year later, with nearly five hundred more miles in and back in Germany, I've finished yet another four mile run.

My pace? 10:43.

Now, two years into this, I couldn't be happier that I ran/walked that first mile. For each and every one of those steps, I've taken countless more. On and off the road.

So here's my pledge. To the run. No matter how far. No matter the time. I owe it to me.

Until the next runventure. Godspeed, apple seed.

- A. Rae

you are the best thing

I met my soul mate the month before I turned twenty. Forty-seven short months later, I married him. And now, we're here. Five years later.

In those five years, there've been big things: our honeymoon cruise, our first roadtrip together, our first apartment(!), five job changes, our second apartment, moving to Germany (twice), our european adventures (oktoberfest!), and our mediterranean cruise.

And there've been small things: new hobbies (brewing!), our first (and second) 5k, and our first (two) triathlons.

Even before that hot day in July, you were my best friend. And now, five years later, I'm still right where I belong. Next to my best friend. My husband.

You listen to my dreams for the future, saying they're yours too. And you keep me grounded, showing me how to enjoy the present.

You always, always know how to make me smile. In the best times and even in my worst times, you make me infinitely happy.

You encourage me to try new food (and even some again and again) to open my world to new flavors and fantastic dishes.

Your jokes and one liners always make me laugh. And your laugh, your infectious laugh, is my favorite.

You are the kindest person, putting up with my shit and calling me on it when it's too much.

You are my champion in health and fitness, constantly reminding me how great I'm doing, even when I complain.

You are still the only hand I want to hold on our walks, no matter the weather.

And even though you are the smelliest farter I have ever met, that somehow makes me happy.

Because I love everything you are. Each and every piece of you. You are the half that makes me whole. The half that makes me better.

Your quiet strength and support let me be just me.

Don't ever forget Ryan, you are the best thing, that's ever happened to me.

I love you, cutie.

- Me

Germany: Take Two

Sometimes I wonder if I'm genuinely good or truly terrible at my job. Although, companies don't go out of their way to spend more money on you than they have to, right? And since they've now sent me to Germany a second time, to help out the team here, I'm going to go with the first.

More than five days notice would've been nice, though.

I like my job. As an operations financial analyst, my job is cool. I work with the teams who make stuff and help them understand their numbers. Expense and volume-wise. I collaborate with other teams to put together snippets that explain the variations from our plan and then report those out to senior level management.

I suppose cool is a relative word here. Again, I like my job and I like the people I work with. The undeniably cool part is seeing the stuff we make and knowing they go into things we use everyday.

But my job doesn't fulfill me and that's okay.

It's hard to be passionate about finance or accounting. It's kind of dull. So I use the time I'm not at work to do fulfilling things. I bake, I do crafts, I muddle in this and that. I run and cycle and travel to new places.

Those things fulfill me and my job let's me do that.

I think that a lot of people get caught up in the idea that if you "do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life." And I can definitely understand trying to manage life expectations when we're inundated with people encouraging us to follow our dreams. Believe me, I've been there.

But I'm left wanting and it's a terrible feeling.

So yeah, I may "work" all day. But then I get to spend my free time doing things I really love. So please excuse me while I go explore Hamburg - our second mini-vacay in less than a month. It's shaping up to be pretty awesome.

Thank God it's the Weekend

It's official, I'm back.

It feels COMPLETELY surreal. I mean, I'm very glad to be home. But there's also some things I'm not so glad about. Like these unpacked boxes and my freezing cold kitchen. And all these boxes. Did I mention that there's unpacked boxes? I guess that's what happens when you move two weeks before you move to another country. Someone remind me to never to do that. ever. again. kthxbye.

But there's so much that I miss about Germany. I miss the food. I miss the culture. I miss the weather. Strangest thing ever, I know. It just felt so comfortable. Ryan and I lived in a bubble. It was a wonderful, just-the-two-of-us bubble. Now, we live in an us-and-everyone-else bubble. It's now a bubble filled with real responsibilities, family schedules to juggle, two full time job schedules on top of fitness goals and house chores. Someone bring back my bubble!

Anyway, enough with my demands. Here's what's keeping me sane...

Buying and hanging these awesome prints from a local shop in the kitchen this weekend.

Visiting the local farmer's market and signing up for a CSA with our favorite farm.

Menu planning and sneaking this, this, and these into next week's meals. 

Eating a dozen donuts from the best bakery in town. I swear, a whole dozen.

Coming up with ideas on how to wrap these souvenirs we bought for everyone.

Figuring out how to get sugary cereal on the grocery list for these without Ryan suspecting anything.

Scheduling a hair cut and freshen up my style. I'd love to be daring and go short but it'll probably end up just being a trim.

Pretending the boxes scattered around don't exist and sitting down to color.

Because this is just out. of. control. Please send help. 

Thursday Catch Up

ON LIFE (IN GERMANY)

Fall is officially here and I love it. Fall is my absolute favorite time of the year. And I'm 99% sure the smell is the best part of it all. You get out of your car at night after a rainy afternoon and it smells so so good. I want to bottle it up and make a candle. 

Now, I know I talked before about the WIDE variety of songs they play, but here, the songs are all played in their original format, profanity included. Imagine my surprise the first time I heard "The Real Slim Shady" uncensored. I'm definitely not in the US anymore. Amazingly enough, though, people aren't crude and everyone's pretty pleasant. So maybe the FCC needs to do some thinking about being such a prude. We can probably handle a little swearing.

One thing that had me swearing this week? My car was towed yesterday morning. The first time I've ever had my car towed and it's in a foreign country. That was a 190€ lesson I won't be forgetting easily. Especially not after Ryan and I had to go to three different companies looking for the damn car at eight in the morning. Seriously, how many Colonia's can there be in one suburb of Cologne? It probably would have helped if we knew just a littttllleee bit more German. Or if we knew that "towed" isn't a word here.

I suppose that if it has to happen once in your life, though, it's better to get towed sooner rather than later. Yay?

ON PLANS & GOALS

Reading this article I want to binge watch It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Because, hello, Charlie Day. I just want to hug him. When I brought it up to Ryan he was all over it. The Netflix binge, of course, not the hugging. I think we found our weekend plans.

Next weekend though, since being here for such a short time, Ryan and I have been traveling like mad with so many more trips planned. It's funny, considering when we're in the States, we go nowhere. Like, we take zero weekend trips. No close-to-home trips. But in the short month that Ryan's been here, he's come to realize he wants to do more exploring around home. You know, when we do finally get there.  Ryan's started planning some hikes in the Adirondacks and a Finger Lake beer/wine tour. I am super excited. Not only for the long awaited Finger Lake wine tour, but I'm pretty sure I can convince him to show me Niagara Falls. Since I've never been. And I'm also pretty happy because it's about as much wanderlust I can inspire in my self-described homebody husband.

ON CELEBRATIONS

I somehow stumbled upon this shimmery wine/vodka the other day and I cannot wait to try it. It freaking sparkles. I can't wait to celebrate with it. I just need something to celebrate.

The weekend? A long weekend? How about running. Ooo, yes. Let's do running. Because nothing says healthy after running than wine/vodka.

Training for a half is actually pretty fun. And I have the best partner. I'm getting faster and I think my technique is getting better so those are definitely things to celebrate. In moderation of course.

If you're on them, you can follow me with Garmin or Smashrun. 

Thursday Catch Up

ON LIFE (IN GERMANY)

Slowly, but surely, my apartment is falling apart. The washing machine has broken. I've broken a fridge shelf. Ryan's broken a light bulb. The shower head is springing new leaks daily. And in the past two days a smoke alarm started chirping, the heating element in the oven fell out, and the handle on the oven door fell off. Our only tool to fix  them? A hammer. 

You want to know what a hammer can fix? NONE OF THOSE THINGS. Seriously, we can't even figure out how to change the battery in the smoke alarm. 

I promise, I'm an adult.

ON GOALS & PLANS

I've thought about it for years and after reading this article I'm deadset on creating a capsule wardrobe. I love, love, love the idea. What do you think? Could you do it?

Fitness wise, Ryan and I decided before we moved here that we'd strictly train for running. It's my weakest sport (in a triathlon) and I'm super, super slow. Since Ryan has a lot of free time, he's been researching training plans and watching running documentaries. Which, if you have a free half hour watch Wonderland. All this free time also let's him find a crapload of races for use to do next year. So far the list includes: three sprint triathlons (June, July, August), the 10K Turkey Trot (November), the 15K Stockade-athon (November), a half marathon (March), and a full marathon (October). The list doesn't include any other 10K or 5K races we'll "pick up."

And if someone can reassure me that I'm not going to have a heart attack that would be lovely. Either that or tell me how hawt I'm going to look after logging all those miles. Pretty please?

ON CELEBRATIONS

Last Sunday, I celebrated my birthday in Munich. Like actually celebrated. Then again, it's kind of hard not to celebrate during Oktoberfest. But I didn't try to avoid it and pretend the day didn't exist like I always do! I can't believe I've been missing out on enjoying it for the past five years. I need a V8 smack upside the head for that. 

One win for the home team? I'm slowly picking up more and more German. I can almost make my way through dinner at a restaurant. And just the other morning, someone asked a question at work and I understood the entire sentence! By the time I'm conversationally fluent it'll be just in time for me to go back to the States. 

Now, if only I could convince Ryan to have a Halloween party, my fall would be made. Especially considering I have the perfect costume idea.