On vacation…

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Hey lovely blog readers!  I am currently on vacation at Disney’s Aulani Resort in Hawaii from May 11-20th.

I’m taking a much-needed break from technology, so don’t expect any updates until next week.  If you like looking at pictures of frozen drinks and beaches, you can follow me on instagram or twitter @travelswithmary and I promise to sporadically brag about how much fun I’m having. (Here’s hoping I’m not jinxing myself to a week of jellyfish stings and sunburns!)  I didn’t schedule any guest posts but if you need something extra to read while I’m away, check out some of these wonderful people by clicking on the banners I stole from their blogs via screenshot (thanks, ladies!):

Kate and I went to undergrad together and are sorority sisters.

Kate and I went to undergrad together and are sorority sisters.

Molly is my big-big-big in our sorority (the same one as Kate!) AXO-bloggers!

Molly is my big-big-big in our sorority (the same one as Kate!) AXO-bloggers!

Ari is a super sweet teacher who shares my love of shopping and maxi dresses.

Ari is a kindergarten teacher who shares my love of shopping and maxi dresses.

Caitlin is a super sweet runner and grad student in Pittsburgh.

Caitlin is a super sweet runner and grad student in Pittsburgh.

Betty is an amazing book-blogger who also posts about healthy-living!

Betty is an amazing book-blogger who also posts about healthy-living!

Miranda blogs about her senior year in high school, running, and healthy living.

Miranda blogs about her senior year in high school, running, and healthy living.

Alex blogs about running and living with celiac.  She also is the best at using GIFs and YouTube videos in posts.

Alex is a DC runner. She also is the best at finding the perfect GIFs and YouTube videos.

Lori and Stacy are fellow Disney-lovers and runners!

Lori and Stacy are fellow Disney-lovers and runners!

Cori is an amazing runner living in North Carolina, and send her a congrats because she just bought her first house!

Cori is a newlywed runner and teacher living in North Carolina.

That should hold you over, hope you have a great week!

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Friday Five

Because clearly, I am not thinking about anything other than the fact that  I’m getting on a plane tomorrow morning, this is going to be a special Friday Five. This week was wonderfully lazy.  I got hit hard by allergies on Tuesday and Wednesday and did basically nothing but rallied on Thursday and got some errands done.  I also found out I won a free entry to the Color Run thanks to the lovely ladies at Scoot a Doot.

Screen shot 2013-05-09 at 10.31.25 AMGo check them out– they’re amazing and host tons of great giveaways!

So, since I’m going out of town tomorrow (for a whole week), this is going to be Friday Five: Hawaii Edition.  (Friday Five-O, Hawaii Friday Five-O? there’s a joke in there somewhere!)

1. clothes:

I have a confession- I’ve been packed for about two weeks now.  Every now and then I’ll go through my suitcase and switch out a dress or outfit, but instead of pulling out all my summer clothes when it finally got warm in Ohio, I went through my summer clothes and packed my favorite stuff into my suitcase for Hawaii.  I can’t wait to see some of those dresses again! I’m still probably going to need like an hour to pack everything and make sure I’m not forgetting anything but I love packing so it’s not a big deal.  We bought sunscreen in bulk from Sam’s Club and yesterday Joel told me he wasn’t bringing a carry-on …which I heard as “you can fill up another bag and I will use it as a carry-on for you.”

2. books:

Screen shot 2013-05-08 at 1.48.52 PMI am SO excited to read these books.  I have been waiting since January to read Shatter Me and Unravel Me and I told myself I wasn’t going to read The Selection until The Elite came out because I’m too impatient when I finish a book I like.  Luckily, City of Bones is a huge series that I haven’t started, so my summer is ripe with choices.  And, yes, I STILL haven’t read The Book Thief so I’ll probably be awkwardly crying on the beach while I tackle that one.  You should all be proud of me, too, I am reading most of these on the iPad instead of buying hard copies.  I’m trying to embrace the fact that I love reading on the computer screen, which may hopefully lead to less clutter of books in our house.  (I’m still going to collect my favorites, but I don’t need hard copies of EVERYTHING.)

3. teaching

I’m already thinking ahead– when I get back into town I need to overhaul my syllabus.  (Maybe that’ll be a job for the 10.5 hour plane ride? Ugh.) I’m excited to teach a sped-up version of my children’s literature class, but it’s going to be a lot to condense and I’m going to have to figure what I can take out and how to get some of the required assignments done in time (without killing my students!)

4. cleaning the house

Joel and I totally rearranged our living room last weekend and I’ve been trying to get our house as clean as possible so that when we come back, we’ll come home to a clean house.  I want to be able to come home and throw our clothes in the laundry and have a totally clean house and clean dishes. Dream big, right?

5. minimalizing stuff

This kind of goes with “cleaning the house” but also is something I want to work on in my entire life.  I started reading this blog/website The Minimalists and was really inspired/awed by the ability of people to just cut out all of the things they really didn’t need in their life… and how much richer that made living.   I’m thinking about starting this when we get back from vacation– going through my clothes and pulling out things I don’t wear or need.  I’m SO guilty of keeping “sentimental” things and just keeping EVERYTHING.  I don’t think I want to get rid of all of my trinkets but I can definitely cut out some of the clutter and reduce what I have.  I can start buying books on my iPad and start scanning and throwing away old papers.  Someday, I’d love to have a spotless and empty home, but I know I need baby steps to actually get it done.  This relates to Hawaii because I’ve made a pact with myself to only buy one souvenir from the whole trip– a Christmas ornament.  I’m hoping I can stick to that goal?

Endorphin Warrior Training Bracelet Giveaway

Endorphin Warrior sent me this awesome bracelet a few months back, and I’ve been patiently waiting to host a giveaway for you guys!Screen shot 2013-05-07 at 6.25.14 PMThey have tons of options for inspirational sayings and motivational jewelry– I had trouble picking which bracelet I wanted but, for some reason, I just loved “Relentless.”  Now Joel and I yell “RELENTLESS” at each other for no reason.  While I was running the Nike Women’s Half in DC, one of the signs said “We run relentless.” I was pretty excited, it’s not just me who loves the word!

The company also makes other jewelry and I think their rings and bracelets are just gorgeous:

Screen shot 2013-05-07 at 6.14.39 PMI could totally see myself rocking a 26.2 ring after I conquer that distance! Or you could get one to motivate you while training for a particular race? I’m big on visual cues and inspirational quotes, so these are right up my alley.  (Heck, I also just love shopping and jewelry, so we can’t go wrong here.)  The Warrior Training bracelet that I have is still super shiny and comfortable, even after being worn on a few runs and getting tossed around on my dresser– I need sturdy jewelry and this bracelet fits the bill.

So if you are convinced you need your own leather training bracelet, RELENTLESS or not, follow the usual prompts:

1. Leave me a comment on this post. Which bracelet would you pick? Look here for all your options.

2. Like Endorphin Warrior on Facebook.  Leave me a comment telling me you did that!

3. Follow @endorphnwarrior on Twitter. Leave me another (separate) comment.

4. Follow Travels with Mary on Twitter or Facebook. And another comment!

5. Share this contest anywhere– your Facebook, your Twitter, whatever! If you get the word out, leave me a comment and you get another entry!

This giveaway is actually going to go a bit longer than my usual one since I’m on vacation next week.  On Tuesday, May 21st, I’ll round up all the entries and post the winner!

Making an Herb Garden

Today is a Marvelous Monday because I’m finally getting things done around the house! Yesterday, in between margaritas, Joel and I cleaned and rearranged the downstairs of our house– I love it! Having part of the house clean gave me the kick to start working on some other projects, particularly gardening:Screen shot 2013-05-06 at 11.24.14 AMOne of my pre-Hawaii chores was to finish transplanting all of our seedlings– because they have been trying to outgrow their little greenhouse for a long time now.  Also, I realized that I have a TON of cilantro.  One whole trough and another pot is just cilantro plants. If you live in Ohio and need cilantro, I’m your girl. The funny part is that, for the longest time, I thought they were peppers and I was so worried they were all overcrowded.  Until I was transplanting them and thought “man, these peppers look like cilantro!” And then I realized my hands smelled like cilantro… yeah, they’re ALL cilantro.  I need to pay better attention to my plants.

But what I didn’t have was a “cilantro” rock.  So that became today’s new project.  …And while I was out rock-hunting, I found this delightfully large rock that I decided to use as an address marker in our front yard.  No pictures of that finished because I don’t really want my address on this blog. I love the idea of painting rocks for plant markers– some people get really creative with them!  Check these ones I found on Pinterest (from Repeat Crafter Me):

VegetableGardenRockSignsThey look simple, but I still couldn’t paint them.

I had done some rocks back in March, so these are just additions to that collection.  I’m hoping that it’ll make a nice uniform look to our garden, but who am I kidding, I’m just trying to crawl my way out of this forest of weeds and make something slightly presentable out of the great area we have.

Screen shot 2013-05-06 at 1.28.18 PMThanks to our wonderful dog-gardeners, I don’t think I can leave my planters on the back porch– so now I’m stumped as to where to put them.  Walter has a taste for cilantro and he’s out to try all of the herbs.  (This is probably my fault, since I let him play with all of the discarded sprouts as I was transplanting… oops.) Martha just chews anything that pokes out of the ground, so we have a lot of small stick-stumps that would probably be nice bushes if she wasn’t so diligent.  I think I might look into hanging the boxes around the railing of our patio, but they’re pretty heavy so I’m not sure if that will work.

Sunday Runday

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I didn’t have a plan for this week because I had no idea how my legs were going to react after NWM last weekend, so I made things up as I went along.  Special thanks to these lovely ladies who helped me figure out how to cope with SORE legs on Monday morning!

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They were totally right– I hadn’t been that sore in a very long time, but walking around got my blood moving and made everything so much better!! After I’d recovered some, I eased back into running– here’s how the week played out:

Sunday: 13.1 miles at the Nike Women’s Half Marathon. (Loved it!!)

Monday: Walked to the thrift store and shopped a bit, otherwise rested.

Tuesday: Walked to school to do some grading, otherwise rested. (My legs felt SO much better, but not 100%.)

Wednesday: Rest.

Thursday: 3 mile run/walk. (Hip got a little tight, so I started walking halfway.)

Friday: 4 mile walk with Joel. (Starbucks and the liquor store, we’re classy.)

Saturday: The Patron Quarter Marathon!! My Garmin says 6.72, so I’m going with that. ;)

Total: 26 miles. That’s probably the highest weekly mileage I’ll have for a while!

And here’s the plan for next week:

Sunday: Rest

Monday: Run 2

Tuesday: Run 3

Wednesday: Rest

Thursday: Run 5?

Friday: Rest

Saturday: FLY TO HAWAII!! See ya!

I’m going back to trying to make running a habit.  I definitely got a bit “burnt out” of running for a bit there, but running in two races this week totally reminded me that I actually can ENJOY running sometimes! When I was running in DC, I was honestly having so much fun.  I want to chase that feeling!  Now that the quarter marathon is over, I don’t have any races until mid-July, so I’m going to make May and June my “base-building” months for future races and two half marathons I’m running in August and October. I really want to just be able to go outside and knock down some miles without feeling like I’m struggling or out of breath every time I start running.  I think I’m really close to being there so I just need to keep logging the miles and having fun!

If you’d like to link-up for Sunday Runday, here’s the list:

Race Recap: Patron Quarter Marathon

Screen shot 2013-05-04 at 12.18.40 PMI DID IT.

I am so excited to report that I finished the quarter marathon today and that I RAN THE WHOLE THING.  I had my doubts, especially when I started getting winded around mile 2, but I pushed through it.  It’s so funny because on Thursday I was out by myself running on the trails and my hip hurt and I was tired and I stopped running after a mile and some change and just walked the rest– but apparently I can run farther than I think I can!

I stayed with a pace group (1:10) for the beginning of the run and it helped keep me motivated.  We ran with the half-marathoners for the first two miles and then split up, which was delightful because there were far fewer people running the quarter marathon at my pace.  My pacer and was super sweet and was chitchatting with another guy and I, it was really fun!  Around mile 5 I got some energy and pushed past them.

Screen shot 2013-05-04 at 4.42.18 PMAnd I got to test run my new Garmin!!

This was my first race with the Garmin 410 and I am totally in love.  I loved looking down and seeing my pace and distance.  I’m not sure if I think that “best pace” column is accurate, but the other stuff looks right to me!

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Screen shot 2013-05-04 at 4.48.57 PMAnd my official time/results according to the race website.

The race page says they’ll put up pictures in a few days, so hopefully I’ll update with real running photos later, but I wanted to write this while it was fresh in my mind! I think a 10K may be my new favorite distance? My next race is a 5-mile run in July, so I’ve got some time to rest, recover, and run!

Pinterest Challenge #2

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Since my first Pinterest Challenge went so well, I’m going to take on ROUND TWO for the month of May.  Here are my goals– I may not get to all of them (and I may add some more!) but this is what I’m thinking as of right now:

1. frame a map of the US in our kitchen

e09ad933d7010eab47d9c97521b3c1d8I already have the map and the stickers to show where we’ve been– I just need to build a frame for it.

2. build something for our living room.

3154810345_1337616502I’m going for another one of Ana White’s plans on this one. Either a TV console or a shelf for behind our couch.

3. make scrabble coasters

29c557c99cf8de4d3ce7daffb1a49810These look so easy and adorable… but only if I can find the letters/game somewhere for cheap!

4. frame our wedding photos

16634618068257pThanks to Cori for reminding me that I STILL haven’t done this! I need to get on it!

5. homemade lettuce wraps

0c49520a635e75406fd6e748a5be6b72channeling Molly on this one, I want to make these so much!

6. pink grapefruit margaritas

766ca73a5e00088455b538e1f0db98ffI don’t think this needs any explanation.

7. kettlebell workouts

842d1e9442c00dea4d12b8d6e27e40a5I got my kettlebell from my parents’ house last weekend, so now it’s time to use it!

Throughout May I’ll be updating with any crafts or things I’ve done from my Pinterest boards.  If you have any suggestions, PLEASE send them my way!  And, if you want to take on the challenge, give me your post and I’ll throw the link up here so we can keep track of each other!