Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year, friends!!  We had a relaxing night of watching movies and some Netflix before we flipped over to watch the ball drop at midnight!  We also managed to run up to the rooftop and catch the fireworks just after midnight - so fun!!  Today, I'm excited to start another year by announcing my 2016 goals!

1 - Read (and listen) to the Bible!  I will get this accomplished in 2016.  It has been on my goal list for FAR too long.  Additionally, I'd like for us to get involved in a Couple's Bible Study.

*I made it to 2 Kings, but that is a far cry from completion. We did find a wonderful Bible Study group that we joined in March. Unfortunately, the group was forced to dissolve in November when half the group relocated. 

2 - Complete all outstanding scrapbooks either by hand or online.  I have SO much scrapbook stuff.  It is imperative that I tackle this project!

*I didn't get nearly as far as I would have liked on this one, but I did manage to create Shutterfly books for both my NYC Marathon adventures. 

3 - Clean out the apartment!  If we haven't used it for a year, we probably won't miss it!  Especially in the clothing department!

*This simply did not happen.

4 - Read (or listen) to 40 books this year!  I plan to complete the ABC Reads Challenge that Mia and I are hosting this year!  We would LOVE to have you join us!  Completing that challenge will put me at 26 books - one beginning with each letter of the alphabet.  I also plan to keep up with the three book clubs that I enjoyed last year.  Ideally, a number of the books will overlap - I'm excited to get started!

*I knocked this one out of the park. It took me literally the entire year, but I completed the ABC Reads Challenge. According to Goodreads, I managed to read a total of 45 books this year. Yay!  

5 - Maintain at least two dedicated date nights per month with Christopher!  Our plan is that we will each plan at least one date night per month!

*Chris and I easily completed this goal. We had a great time, too! :)

6 - Act on what's best for ME!  I spent a majority of this past year reflecting on my interests and searching for my passion.  This year - whether with work, in regard to health & fitness, or with my free time - I want to take action toward a better life for me.

*I'm going to give myself a high five on this one. I made some really tough decisions about halfway through the year, but I know in my heart they were right for me. The future is bright. 

What are your goals for 2016?

Andrea :)

*Edits made on January 1, 2017.

Looking Back on our 1st Married Year!

I really can't believe how quickly this year flew past me!!  We sure did have a blast enjoying our first full married year together though - lots of fun date nights and exciting adventures!!  Here's a recap full of links to some of my favorite posts that reflect on the wonderful year of 2015...

In January, we watched lots of movies in preparation for the Oscars and saw Bradley Cooper on Broadway.

In February, we enjoyed Super Bowl XLIX and celebrated Chris' birthday WWE style.

In March, we made our way to Dallas to celebrate the nuptials of friends, enjoyed a NYC Cider Festival, and I started a book club!

In April, we celebrated the anniversary of our 1st date five years earlier and I announced my Saturday States series!

In May, we checked out an art exhibit in Brooklyn Bridge Park and I talked about my sorority girl days as a Phi Mu.

In June, we had fun with Brinley and Landon in the Big Apple and I ran my personal best in a 10k race to honor the memory of a special GC Tiger - Coach Mullins!

In July, we were moved on our trip to Mother Emanuel AME church in Charleston, had fun in Chicago at the Sakon-Cox wedding, and celebrated my birthday Finger Lakes style!

In August, we had a fun date night at Paint Along NYC and I had an exciting weekend at a Vegas bachelorette party!

In September, we showed my parents around Long Island City and spent some time reflecting on the past at the 9/11 Memorial and explored all over California to celebrate our upcoming wedding anniversary.

In October, we ventured to Madison Square Garden to watch some boxing, celebrated our 1st anniversary, and attended the final Old Girlfriends' Wedding in Dallas.

In November, I ran my 2nd (and final!) NYC Marathon and discovered audible in the process.

In December, we finally made it to the official NYC Bengals bar, saw our first show - Invisible Thread - as Second Stage Theater season ticket holders, and traveled to Annapolis to watch Chris' alma mater play in the Military Bowl!

What was your favorite part of 2015?

Andrea :)

Our Military Bowl Adventure

Chris has always wanted to watch his alma mater play in a bowl game so when we discovered that Pitt was headed to Annapolis for the Military Bowl we jumped at the chance to make his dream a reality! Unfortunately, Pitt didn't get the memo and managed to play terribly despite scoring on the opening kickoff.  Even though the Panthers weren't able to get their act together, we still had a great experience.

We spent some time checking out the festivities outside the stadium a couple hours before the game.  The alumni tailgate party turned out to be a dud, but we did get some really cool lanyards out of it!  And we found the #ConnorStrong banner to sign as well.  It was really special for the team to include Connor (a Pitt running back diagnosed with cancer earlier this season) as an honorary captain, too!

Once inside the stadium, several unique elements were seen prior to kickoff.  A group of veterans parachuted onto the field with American flags and the game ball.  The National Anthem was sung by Miss America while a flag the size of the entire field was unfurled.  And the teams finally took the field after an awesome fly over.

As I mentioned, Pitt got off to a great start!  They didn't do much else in the first half though.  That put them in quite a hole, but they didn't give up.  Pitt fought hard, but just wasn't able to overcome the deficit in the end.  Even through the chilly weather and occasional drizzle, our group had a blast in the Pitt section of the stadium!

Before we began our drive back to NYC, we grabbed dinner with our friends at the Iron Rooster in Annapolis.  They make their own DELICIOUS pop tarts...and serve breakfast all day!  Definitely recommend checking out this tasty spot if you are ever in town for a Navy game!!

Have you ever been to a bowl game?

Andrea :)

Christmas in Kentucky!

We had the most wonderful few days celebrating Christmas in Kentucky this year.  We were able to catch up with friends, visit with family and other loved ones, and enjoy time with our awesome niece and nephew!!

I started the trip early last week with a fun overnight stay with the Heil's! The next day, Michelle and I met my parents in Bowling Green where we tried out a delicious farm-to-table spot called Home.  It was so great getting to catch up!  And the Kentuckyaki Cheesesteak was super tasty, too!!

I was back in Livermore with mom and dad for a day before Chris joined us.  My biggest Christmas surprise was a cake from The Rolling Pin in Owensboro - my absolute favorite!!  Mom and I spent some time visiting with Jean while Chris drove through torrential rain caused by random December tornado warnings in the area.  He arrived just in time for a little extended family time at Cracker Barrel!  Chris was able to spend some time with his buddy, Aunt Mary Ruth, before we made our way to Lexington the next day!

The kids were already in the cookie making zone when we arrived on Christmas Eve.  We iced the cookies they worked so hard to roll and cut after dinner that night.  It was fun for all even if it did get a little competitive toward the end of the night.

Christmas morning brought lots of joy as the kids finally got to unwrap all those presents under the tree.  It was SO much fun to see their faces light up each time it was their turn to open something.  And there was even more excitement when we started putting everything together for them!  Needless to say, we spent the whole day just relaxing together and playing games.

Our big family Christmas event this year was participating in a breakout game together.  Jen's mom watched the little ones while we ventured out for The Derby Heist.  There were lots of nerves and anxious energy before we entered the room, but once our clock started counting down from 60 minutes, it was all hands on deck.  We worked great together figuring out codes to locks and all sorts of other puzzles!  Despite the mere 30% breakout rate, we escaped with over 15 minutes to spare!  Our room monitor indicated it was the fastest he'd ever seen a group escape!  Hooray!!

Before we hit the road to head back to Nashville for our flight, we were able to meet up with Ashley and Parker for a cookie monster at Cheddar's - yum!  Great to spend some time with them!

As I reflect back on our time in the Bluegrass, it makes me realize how fortunate I am to have such an incredible family and wonderful friends.  No matter the length of time between visits (I was astonished by the fact that I hadn't seen my baby brother in person since last Christmas) or the distance between us in the meantime, everything just seems to fall into place when we are together!

Andrea :)

#collaboreads: A Friend's Favorite

When I saw the prompt for this month's #collaboreads book, I decided to pose the question to my Facebook friends.  I received an overwhelming response...and look forward to reading many of the other suggestions eventually!  I narrowed it down to the book my friend Michelle recommended for two main reasons - it sounded intriguing and another friend also commented that it was a good one!  I ended up having some time to connect with Michelle when I was home for Christmas in Kentucky so we snagged a fun photo with her copy of the book then!

RIVETING.

What part of the book could you NOT get enough of?

The book had two parts with a mix of chapters split between Connie's story set in the 1990's as she works toward her doctoral degree at Harvard and the history and lineage of Deliverance Dane set in Salem during the late 1600's.  The stories were both interesting, but the overwhelming detail made parts of the book difficult to move through quickly.  This book involved far more thinking on my end than I anticipated it would when I read the synopsis.  I really loved the story of Deliverance Dane though.  Connie's story wasn't quite as appealing to me...and sometimes even seemed a bit far fetched.  I wish more of the book had taken place in that 1600's era.

ELEMENTS.

How did you relate to/care for the characters?
What's your thought on the plot line and twists and turns?

I really loved Mercy (Deliverance's daughter).  There were a number of passages that focused on her relationship with her mom and dad that I found to be quite interesting.  I also really liked Sam (Connie's love interest) though I was shocked by how quickly they became an exclusive item!  Liz (Connie's roommate) and Grace (Connie's mom) were both a great additions to the story.  Unfortunately, I wasn't as fond of Connie.  I found it odd that it took her so long to figure out quite obvious things given her background as a top graduate student with keen research skills.  Something just kept seeming off about her.  In regard to plot line and twists, they often seemed clear to me ahead of when they were revealed in the book.  There were a couple of surprising elements toward the end though.

ASSOCIATE.
What other books are like this one? If none, did it remind you of a particular TV or movie with it's themes and characters? Does it serendipitous-ly line-up with things going on in your life or the news right now? 

This book reminded me A LOT of The Crucible by Arthur Miller - which I love!  Many of the characters in Deliverance's story were exactly the same as the characters in Miller's play.  After reading the afterword by Katherine Howe, it seems that was done on purpose to create as much accurate historical context as possible.  Also, Howe revealed her interest in writing the book came as she was a grad student in the Massachusetts area and developed a deeper understanding of her own genealogical ties to the Salem witch trials.  I wish she had made the afterword into a preface.  I think it would have peaked my interest even more had I known she was loosely basing it on her own family history.

DESIGN.
You know you judged this book by the cover. What did you think of it? 
How did it relate to the contents of the novel? And the font and layout of the pages? 

The cover of the book was fantastic!  It fit the story perfectly!!  Connie discovers a key that initially leads her on the search for Deliverance's physick book.  And the house Connie inherits via her long-deceased grandmother is covered in ivy when she begins the task of cleaning it up that fateful summer.  The inside cover is the best part though - it is covered in old script with wording to indicate it actually is Deliverance Dane's highly sought after book.  

STARS.  
How many out of five do you give this book? Would you recommend this book to a friend?  

I would certainly recommend this book to others even though it was a bit tough for me to get started.  About halfway through, the story really picks up making the book hard to put it down at that point.  I'll give it 3.5 stars.  I only wish it had focused mostly on Deliverance Dane's story rather than modern day Connie's.

Andrea :)

Health & Fitness in December

For the month of December, I took a break from all running.  I won a FitBit through a drawing at work so I decided to start it on December 1 and track my steps for the entire month.  I didn't do anything outside my regular activities (ie going to work, social events, etc.) for this month so these numbers are a true baseline for me.  And I was stunned at the end of the first week when I hadn't managed to hit the daily goal of 10,000 steps one single time. 

Dec 1 - 5,793 steps

Dec 2 - 6,442 steps

Dec 3 - 5,181 steps

Dec 4 - 9,349 steps

Dec 5 - 2,823 steps

Dec 6 - 7,379 steps

Dec 7 - 8,195 steps

I managed a pretty good streak to start the next seven days and managed to get fairly close to my goal on each of the other days.  A simple one or two mile walk work have easily pushed me over my goal on each of those days.

*Dec 8 - 12,198 steps!!!!*

*Dec 9 - 11,543 steps!!!!*

*Dec 10 - 10,354 steps!!!!*

Dec 11 - 7,136 steps

Dec 12 - 8,407 steps

Dec 13 - 7,911 steps

Dec 14 - 7,923 steps

Then, a cold/sore throat struck and I was even more sedentary than usual.  Ugh!!  I rarely feel crummy, but when I do it is no fun at all.

Dec 15 - 5,593 steps

Dec 16 - 5,949 steps

Dec 17 - 5,201 steps

Dec 18 - 6,153 steps

Dec 19 - 3,728 steps

Dec 20 - 7,711 steps

Dec 21 - 3,523 steps

I flew to Kentucky on the 21st where I spent most of my time in a car for several days straight and hit my lowest numbers of steps for the whole month.  I sure did enjoy all that time with my family though!!

Dec 22 - 3,665 steps

Dec 23 - 3,770 steps

Dec 24 - 3,164 steps

Dec 25 - 1,887 steps

Dec 26 - 3,014 steps

Dec 27 - 3,761 steps

I made a bit of a surge the last few days of December even managing to hit my goal one last time before another holiday was upon me.

Dec 28 - 8,877 steps

Dec 29 - 5,981 steps

*Dec 30 - 10,713 steps!!!!*

Dec 31 - 5,466 steps

Overall, I learned from this month that it is crucial to my health and fitness that I make a concerted effort each day to exercise in some form.  Maybe one day it is a run and others it is a walk.  Or perhaps I decide to spend time going through a workout video.  Whatever way I choose to do it, I learned from tracking my steps with the FitBit this month that it is extremely important to be much more active than I anticipated!

How was your December??

Andrea :)

Merry Christmas!

Huge thanks to my friend, Jennifer, for taking such awesome photos of us around Long Island City in October. We had such a blast! These are our favorites from the shoot we did with her on our 1st anniversary in mid-October - ironically, it might have been the coldest day of the year so far!! I haven't been able to wear that sweater again until this past week! Anyway, Merry Christmas to you all!!

Andrea :)