Hungry Turkey 5K

After such an poor showing at the Hot Chocolate 15K earlier in the month, I was determined to do better. The Hungry Turkey 5K was my shot. It was held the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

We had an exciting first Thanksgiving in Columbus by preparing our Thanksgiving dinner on our own for the first time ever. We had intended for Chris' family to be in town to see our new place and check out the area, but some minor medical issues prevented that from happening. So it was just the two of us. And a massive turkey. And a small ham. And far too many sides. But we laughed a lot and the meal was delicious.

But back to running. On that Saturday, I set out for the start line determined. It was chilly, but not unbearable. The race hoodies they gave participants were amazing! My goal was simply to run the entire race. I'm happy to say that I met my goal. At 12:44 per mile, I wasn't setting any world records, but I was proud. It was a step in the right direction and that is all you can ask.

Have you ever run a turkey trot?

Andrea :)

Hot Chocolate 15K

The idea of running a 15K turned out to be much more fun than the actual running of it. Even though lots of chocolate was involved at the finish line.

I was beyond unprepared for race day. On top of that sad fact, the forecast showed rain. It turned out to be more of a mist than an actual rain, but my socks and shoes were completely soaked by the 5K marker. It was a disaster.

Honestly, the only positive from the entire adventure was the chocolate treats at the end. Those were worth the slog. Definitely a race I want to do over in the future. It had amazing potential, but I just didn't do my part on this one.

What is your least favorite racing experience?

Andrea :)

Photo A Day - November

There sure was a lot to be thankful for this month. The weather stayed nice which was great since we were training for two different races.

It rained on and off the whole time for our Hot Chocolate 15k, but the treat at the end made it all worth it. Seriously - so tasty! I started a round of 21 Day Fix, voted, and we saw our second show as Broadway season ticket holders in Columbus. Waitress was fantastic!

I took a solo trip to Lexington to play with the kiddos and visit Mom and Dad while they were babysitting. We went to a dance at Brinley's school, had a basketball game at the Y, and went to church at Southland. I stuck to my workout schedule and continued to focus on eating healthy. I highly recommend listening to (or reading) Born a Crime - phenomenal.

Chris and I checked out the Columbus Blue Jackets when the Rangers were in town. I finally hung all my race medals - so many memories! The Youth in Government event had me at the capitol building for a few days before we celebrated Thanksgiving. Chris and I made our own turkey dinner (despite a steep learning curve) and WAY too many sides for just the two of us, but it all turned out great!

We ran the Hungry Turkey 5k complete with mega cinnamon rolls at the finish. My cousin, Kenneth, surprised me with a completely unexpected visit. It was awesome to see him after SO many years! I continued to stay on track with my meal plan and drinking lots and lots of water.

Andrea :)

Date Nights - October

By October, I had started my job as Youth Development Director at the Liberty Township/Powell YMCA and we were beginning to get settled into our new life in Columbus.

I learned about a pumpkin painting event at Park Street Cantina via our apartment complex newsletter. It sounded like fun so we signed up. We tried pumpkin carving in the past to mixed results so I thought this might be a little more our style. The event was well organized. We arrived and selected our pumpkins and found a cozy spot to start painting. I chose a white pumpkin and Chris stuck with traditional orange. It was fun to just talk and paint for an hour or so. I loved how the pumpkins looked on our porch, too.

Chris found a Columbus scavenger hunt that gave us clues electronically and we could explore on our own to find different places in the downtown area. We went one day after church and discovered a lot of fun spots. It was interesting to learn more about the history of some of the buildings and areas downtown. It probably would have been more exciting if we were competing against other people in the typical race format of scavenger hunts, but it was also nice to not have to rush despite the crazy wind and threat of rain.

Have you ever been on a scavenger hunt in your city?

Andrea :)

Viva Las Vegas!!

Despite the limited vacation time due to our move and me starting a new job the month prior, we still found a way to sneak away for a long weekend to celebrate our third wedding anniversary. Since Chris had never been to Vegas (and I had no interest in returning unless he came along), we went all in. Ha! Neither of us are much on traditional gambling, but they say there is something for everyone...

The timing of our trip ended up being just a few days after the mass shooting from the Mandalay Bay so that had us a little on edge, but it ended up being quite a unique trip altogether. We stayed at the Tropicana and our first order of business after getting checked in was to find some lunch. We stumbled upon a spot called Bruxie - known for chicken and waffles. We were sold.

Our first night, we went to see magician Mat Franco from America's Got Talent. He was just as incredible as he had been on the show. I loved every second of the show. I've always been fascinated with the smooth nature of magicians and enjoyed the humor Franco brought to the stage as well.

We stopped by to watch the Bellagio fountains do their thing after the show. I enjoyed it, but I think Chris would have been fine moving on. He's a good sport though!

The next morning, we kicked off the day with treats from The Dapper Doughnut before making our way over to the Westgate. Betting on sports is much more up our alley than any of the other array of gambling so we had fun placing a few wagers and then enjoying the games. We won a couple bets, but mainly it was fun to watch all the massive screens with every game going at once.

We spent some time in the afternoon investigating and solving a crime in the CSI: The Experience tourist trap. It was a fun way to pass some time out of the hot afternoon sun, but not something we would do again. I think we envisioned it being more like an Escape Room type set up. In reality, it was probably meant for teens or families with middle school age kids. We made the best of it though.

Our main event - One, the Michael Jackson Cirque du Soleil show - took place at Mandalay Bay. It was eerie walking over there from Tropicana. There was a huge memorial of flowers on one of the concrete islands in the street and the Route 91 concert signage was still in place, but police tape cordoned off much of that specific area. It was all incredibly sad.

One was a fantastic show. Chris was singing along to nearly every song. It was very high energy and quite enjoyable. The acrobatics in the cirque du soleil shows are phenomenal.

The next day we just walked around the strip and enjoyed each other's company. I managed to talk Chris into riding The Big Apple roller coaster that sits atop the New York New York Hotel & Casino. It was a rough ride, but we did it. When my family visited Vegas many years ago, my brothers rode the coaster while I stayed inside testing my luck at slot machines so I was glad to finally see what I had missed out on all those years ago. Turns out, not too much!

We were both ready to relax for a bit after all that adrenaline. As we walked by the CBS Television City store, an employee asked if we watched much TV. We answered a few questions and before you know it, we were part of a paid focus group. Men and women were separated, but we watched an episode of a new show and answered some questions before we went into rooms to provide vocal feedback. It was a really interesting experience. In the end, I don't think the TV show lasted long on the market. I wasn't surprised based on the feedback in the women's room.

We took our profit from the focus group and decided to have a little fun back at the Tropicana. Chris opted for slots while I tried my hand at roulette. Fortunately, I had a couple of nice folks at the table with me because there is A LOT more to it than picking a number. They definitely helped make it less embarrassing for me...even though I managed to double my money. Chris won a chunk as well so we decided to call it quits and grabbed some dinner before our flight back to Columbus.

We had a great time celebrating our anniversary in Vegas! Not sure it is a place we would be quick to return to for a week long vacation, but we were easily entertained for a couple of days!

Andrea :)

Photo A Day - October

We had a lot of fun in October. We celebrated our 3rd anniversary with a trip to Las Vegas and spent a weekend with friends in Pittsburgh, too.

We had fun painting pumpkins at an event downtown early in the month. I continued to organize before we had our first visitors at our new place. Jordan, Jen, Chris, and I went to the Ed Sheeran concert while our parents watched Brinley and Landon. We spent the next two days exploring Columbus with highlights being Jeni's and COSI before Chris and I headed off to Las Vegas!

We got back to Columbus in time for our first Broadway across America show - School of Rock. I started a Youth in Government program at a local middle school through work. We volunteered with a Compassion International walk and found the Christopher Columbus statue downtown.

We spent our 4th anniversary at the 94th Aero Squadron restaurant. It is near the airport and truly a neat spot. We enjoyed our steak and reminiscing about the last four years! Continuing to organize around the house, watching movies, and work kept me busy.

We ended the month with some fun in Pittsburgh with a few stops along the way. I had a lot of fun passing out candy to all the kids in the area on Halloween!

Andrea :)

Date Nights - September

September was a fun month for us as we adjusted to our new city. We were both continuing to job search so we had a lot of time to check out different areas around town. We also took two big trips - one back to the Albany area of NY for a wedding and the other for some fun in Lexington.

I selected apple picking as my date night. We ended up at CherryHawk Farm a bit outside of Columbus. It was a scorcher of a day with the sun just beating down, but we had fun using the poles to pick apples from the tip top of the trees. We had a fun day, but will be sure to check the weather for an unseasonably hot days in future years!

Chris picked a local sporting event - Columbus Crew vs New York Red Bulls. We ended up with seats behind one of the goals in a family friendly area of the stadium. It was a fun experience. I like the stadium in Columbus much more than Red Bull Arena in New Jersey. Red Bull Arena just seems less intimate to me. Watching soccer live is always more fun than watching it on TV so I am glad we were able to catch a game - especially when Chris' team was in town.

What are some of your favorite fall activities?

Andrea :)