New Zealand

John and I went to New Zealand during his winter break. We left December 28th and were supposed to arrive in New Zealand on December 30th but there was an ice storm in Chicago on the day we left so our flight from Chicago to LA was delayed meaning we missed our flight to Auckland. Virgin America was able to book us on a flight from LA to San Francisco on December 29th so we flew from SF to Auckland a few hours earlier than we would have flown from LA. Stray asked us to book a flight to Hokitika, the next town our tour would go through, just in case we didn't make it. Amazingly, we just barely made it onto our tour bus from the Christchurch International Airport on December 31st! (And we booked that extra flight with a fully refundable option...thank goodness!)

After that rocky start to our trip, the rest was fairly smooth sailing. We traveled with Stray Journeys which was our first tour. We did the Haast tour because it was the one that fit best with our schedule. It was an amazing experience. We met people from all over the world: fellow Americans, an American living in Singapore, another American living in Australia, Australians, Italians, Germans, an Amsterdammer, and a French Guianese via Paris. Our guide was a Kiwi, of course!

Here's a brief breakdown of our trip (using the Google Keep entry I made on the trip with a few additions) along with a few of my favorite photos from each day: 

Day 1 - Thursday, 12/31

• Made it on our scheduled bus from Christchurch airport; driver Ruru; bus Gollum
• Pies for lunch in Springfield - Not your typical American pie. These were like hand held potpies. We had one with venison and one with pork and apples. Delicious!
• Castle Hill/Kura Tāwhiti Conservation Area - This was a great stop to get up and walk around after being on airplanes and a bus for so many hours!
• Sand flies (gnats that bite) - We were introduced to sand flies and the quick sunburn time (less than 10 minutes) while spending about 30 minutes outside at Castle Hill.
• Lake Pearson
• Arthur's Pass National Park (16% grade)
• Tour bus crash closes road - We were so glad we actually made it to our bus when this happened or we would have been stranded in Hokitika waiting for our bus!
• Ice cream and short walk to a waterfall in Arthur's Pass while waiting for the road to open
• One-way bridges - There are LOTS of one-way bridges in New Zealand and most of the ones we were on did not have stoplights.
• Hokitika - Super cute town. We just stopped at the ATM as we were running late.
• Rainforest Retreat - Great place to stay but had a super hot shower that you couldn't adjust. Ouch (especially on sunburn)!
• Early bedtime since we were awakened on the plane at 3am NZ time - Nope, I didn't make it to midnight on New Year's Eve. :'(  

John with our Stray Journeys bus during our pie stop in Springfield.

Castle Hill/Kura Tāwhiti Conservation Area

  

Our group at Lake Pearson (Photo cred: Ruru)

Day 2 - Friday, 1/1

• Breakfast buffet included - Best included breakfast of the trip!
• Tea at WildKiwi - And 50MB free Wifi with the tea.
• Glacier Guides Ice Explorer and Glacier Hot Pools - The Ice Explorer excursion was awesome! It was my first time in a helicopter and I loved it. Then, we hiked on a glacier. (Side note: The Kiwis and Australians pronounce glacier "glay seer" instead of "glay sure." It took me awhile to figure out what they were talking about!) John and I saw the Columbia Ice Fields in Alberta last August. There you could walk on the glacier but it was nowhere near as involved at this was. Such an amazing experience!
• World's busiest airport without air traffic control - Helicopters taking super short flights so they're in and out so quickly!
• Dinner at King Tiger with Suzie, Linda, Shiona, Amy, Danielle, and Suzanne

In the helicopter on the way to the glacier!

John posing with our guide's ax.

Franz Josef Glacier

Day 3 - Saturday, 1/2

• Breakfast buffet at Rainforest
• Fox Glacier - We just got to catch a glimpse of Fox Glacier from the road on our way to Makarora.
• Dolphins in Bruce Bay
• Hike through swamp near Maori camp
• Pleasant Flat to view Mt Hooker
• Thunder Creek Falls
• Blue Pools - The Blue Pools were so cold! Our driver and a couple of our busmates jumped off the bridge here.
• Makarora Tourist Centre accommodations - We stayed in a super cute A frame here!
• Makarora Bush Nature Walk/Shrimpton Track to the creek
• Buffet dinner and dessert at Makarora

Fox Glacier

Day 4 - Sunday, 1/3

• Cereal, yogurt, fruit, and toast breakfast
• Lake Wanaka
• Lake Hawea
• Mt Iron Loop Track in Wanaka - This was a way tougher hike than I was expecting but totally worth it!
• Puzzling World
• So many forget-me-nots along the highway from Wanaka to Queenstown Crown Range) - At least, I think that's what Ruru said they were. Absolutely gorgeous!
• Kawarau Bungy Centre - Two of our busmates, Amy and Danielle, bungy jumped here. It was our biggest regret that we didn't bungy here too (my mother-in-law had strictly forbidden it). We're definitely doing it the next time we're in New Zealand though!
• Queenstown (Reavers Lodge) - Queenstown was my favorite! Reavers Lodge was on top of a pretty steep hill which made you think twice about coming and going too many times in a day. Our room was small but nice. Best shower of the trip!
• Pizza dinner at Vinyl Underground celebrating Carmen, Shiona, and Amy's birthdays - Can you believe there were three birthdays on the same day?!? Crazy!

Lake Hawea

On top of Mount Iron (with Kishan in the background)

Day 5 - Monday 1/4

• Cereal and toast breakfast; do your own dishes
• Walking tour of Queenstown; Cookie Time on the way
• Lunch at Caribe Latin Kitchen - Delicious!
• Shopping - I did not pack enough warm clothes for this trip. I found a nice warm zip up sweatshirt at Kathmandu and John found some quick drying towels...all for a great deal!
• Joe's Garage/Starbucks - New Zealand has amazing chai lattes. I don't know what they do different from here but every one I had was great. John likes fancy coffee so we had to go to Starbucks for his white chocolate mocha.
• Gondola and luge - This was so much fun. A bunch of us from the tour went together and raced each other down the luge. So much laughter! I can't wait for John to edit the GoPro video of this so we can share it with everyone.
• Dinner at Póg Mahones, Cookie Time for dessert - We love our Cookie Time!

Lake Wakatipu

Up at the luge track

The luge track and Lake Wakatipu

Day 6 - Tuesday 1/5

• Canyoning in Queenstown - This was the second time we did canyoning. The first time we did it with Laura and my mom in Costa Rica. This time it was a lot different. The water was freezing cold so we were wearing wetsuits. (Oh, and we carried our wetsuits while we hiked for a good 45 minutes up to where the canyoning started.) We did all of the clipping of carabiners ourselves. The canyon was much steeper and narrower than in Costa Rica. It was tough but it was a fantastic experience. We also met a fellow/current Badger.
• Laundry - Like I said, we didn't bring enough warm clothes so we had to wash them so we could wear them all again. :-)
• Dinner at Winnie's Gourmet Pizza Bar, Cookie Time for dessert - The pizza bread starter was amazing, the pizzas were delicious, and I had an excellent strawberry lime cider. There are so many different, delicious hard ciders in New Zealand!

John on the first abseil (rappel)

Best action shot ever! (Photo cred: Canyoning New Zealand)

We did it! (Photo cred: Canyoning New Zealand)

Absolutely beautiful day in Queenstown!

Day 7 - Wednesday 1/6

• Cereal and toast breakfast at Reavers; do your own dishes
• New bus Karen - Gollum had some break alarm issues while we went through Arthur's Pass and down into Queenstown so we got a new bus for the remainder of the trip.
• Change of plans: Overnight boat on Milford Sound instead of Doubtful Sound - Ruru had really talked up Doubtful Sound as being better than Milford Sound so we were all quite disappointed that we had to be rebooked on the Milford Sound cruise. However, we made the best of it!
• Lunch in Te Anau
• Cascade Creek walk
• Hollyford Valley
• Homer Tunnel - 1.2 kilometer (0.75 mile) tunnel through the mountain. Of course, it's one-way (with a stoplight).
• Milford Wanderer - Our boat for the night. We met a couple from Wisconsin who picked us out because of John's Badger shirt. We also met a family from near Madison. Small world!
• Milford Track walk - We walked the last mile or so of the famous Milford Track, including Sand Fly Point which was well-named.
• Delicious dinner on the boat
• Monopoly New Zealand Edition with Caitlyn, Kishan and Jonathan
• Too cloudy for good stargazing

From our walk to The Chasm

On our boat, the Milford Wanderer

We walked the last mile or so of the famous Milford Track

Sand Fly Point

We got a good laugh out of this one because we got stuck in Arthurs Pass!

A beautiful sunset in Milford Sound

Day 8 - Thursday 1/7

• Breakfast on the boat
• Breakfast cruise to see seals, waterfalls, Mitre Peak; only location with a glacier, rainforest, and fjord
• Lunch in Te Anau again
• Mrs. Jones' Fruit Stall
• Naseby - The super small town we stayed in for the night. Almost felt like home to me!
• Stayed at the Royal Hotel - Small but comfortable. Most of us had to share two bathrooms and showers but at least there were separate stalls!
• Curling at Maniototo Curling International - John and I curled with Amy and Shiona. So funny!

 

Day 9 - Friday 1/8

• Simple breakfast at the hotel
• Biked the Otago Rail Trail from Ranfurly to Hyde (33 km) - This was hard on the butt but definitely worth it!
• Cheese scone in Hyde - I met another woman wearing a Moov here. It's too bad I didn't realize mine wasn't working in NZ until after we got home...
• Gold mine
• Moeraki Boulders and cafe for lunch - The Moeraki Boulders were so unique.
• Geraldine for groceries
• Himalayan tahr - NZ is the only place these animals can be hunted as they're protected in the Himalayas.
• Big tree - After a long day on the bus we were willing to walk to just about anything. This walk led to a big tree. Ha!
• Cooked dinner at the house at Rangitata Rafts - There was another little hiccup with accommodations here as we ended up sharing the main lodge with a bunch of students from the University of Missouri. Our group had to split up so John and I and two sisters stayed in the main lodge and everyone else stayed in a house a little ways away. It wasn't ideal but it worked. And, the stars were amazing on our walk back to the lodge!
• Shared showers in the main lodge but it worked out - I was pretty terrified of having to shower with a bunch of college girls...but no one showered when I did. Again, the shower was super hot so I was extra quick.

John with a cracked open Moeraki Boulder

John with the Big Tree

Day 10 - Saturday 1/9

• 6:30am departure to Christchurch
• Left luggage at airport - After saying goodbye to all of our new friends we paid to leave our big bags at the airport overnight. Some of our busmates were also staying in Christchurch for a day or so, some were flying from Christchurch that day, and others were continuing with the bus back to Auckland.
• Walked to Antarctic Centre (saw Grazia and Pietro) and then took free shuttle to City Centre - This worked out really well for us. We heard that the Antarctic Centre had a free shuttle to downtown but we wanted to spend Sunday there, not Saturday. So we asked if we could buy tickets for Sunday and still take the shuttle and they said yes!
• Walked to Re:Start container mall, ate at The Smiths with Amy, Shiona, Danielle, and Amy's friend (Suzanne and Jennifer also there) - Amazing how you can find people you know everywhere. Ha! ;-)
• Rode the tram - We were kind of tired so paying $20 each to ride the tram was a nice break. Plus, it showed us more of the city so we knew where else we should visit!
• 1200 buildings demolished after February 2011 earthquakes; 70% of City Centre - I did not remember hearing about the Christchurch earthquakes at all. So much devastation.
• New Regent Street - Super cute area.
• Kayaked on the Avon River
• Canterbury Museum - We saw the Mona Lisa here as part of an exhibit called Da Vinci Mechanics.
• Rode the tram back near Re:Start for dinner at Base Woodfired Pizza
• Bus interchange for transport to Dyers House in Cashmere
• Dyers House is absolutely beautiful! Hosts Angela and Barry - We had intended to have a day in Christchurch before we started our tour so we decided to splurge and stay at a bed and breakfast outside of the city at the end of the tour. Originally, we were planning to rent a car and explore the coast this day. But, it all worked out just fine!

Our last group photo (Photo cred: Ruru)

Re:START Container Mall in Christchurch

Kayaking on the Avon River

Day 11 - Sunday 1/10

• Delicious breakfast at Dyers House with a couple from Australia
• Barry gave us a ride to City Centre to catch the Penguin Express - The Penguin Express took us back to the Antarctic Centre.
• Antarctic Centre - We learned a lot at the Antarctic Centre. The highlights: riding a Hagglund vehicle and meeting Little Blue penguins. We also drank our first L&P.
• Back to the airport to fly home - We left Christchurch after 7pm local time on January 10th. We arrive in LA in the afternoon on January 10th and arrived back in Chicago shortly after midnight. So strange!

John with the Hagglund vehicle

Penguin tracks and footprints back to the airport

I was a little hesitant about the tour as we were getting ready to leave. But, it was one of the best vacations we've ever taken. John and I did almost everything together...but we didn't do a lot of things alone. We met really amazing people who, in this age of social media, we'll actually be able to keep in touch with. Who knows, we might even see them again some day...or visit them in their home countries/states!

New Zealand itself is spectacular. The scenery is breathtakingly beautiful. There's so much to do. The people are wonderful. We were only on the South Island and didn't do nearly all there is to do. John and I both definitely want to go back someday. 

If you can't get enough, here's the link to all our photos!

Oh, and, we saw two of the best flight safety videos I've ever seen: Virgin America and Air New Zealand.

Ambassadorships

Running has introduced me to so many new brands and opened up doors to participate with those brands. First, I became a member of the Oiselle Flock, now the Oiselle Volée, which I wrote about in October. Then, I applied to be an ambassador for Nuun, a hydration company, for 2015 (and now again for 2016). And, most recently, I've become an ambassador for Sweaty Bands. Each program is a little different.

Being a Nuunbassador is pretty simple. I get a small discount on orders and access to the Nuun community. In return, I engage with Nuun on social media and support Nuun by using it! My husband is a huge fan of Nuun now and drinks it every day. (Click the Nuunbassador logo to the right to learn more about Nuun.)

The Sweaty Bands Ambassador Program is a little different in that I actually get a commission (7%) for any purchases made through my link. Plus, anyone who uses my link gets 15% off their purchase. It's pretty sweet! I adore Sweaty Bands. They really don't slip! (Logo/link coming soon to the right sidebar.)

Goals for 2016

Family

• Get pregnant. Since this didn't happen in 2015, it's back at the top of the list for 2016. We're starting the process of IVF so hopefully that will work out for us.
• Continue to grow my relationship with John. Yes, this is the same as last year too but it's so important. I'm hoping that by continuing our date nights in conjunction with our Broadway in Chicago season tickets, keeping up on our "cuddle nights," and making sure we take time to really check in with each other regularly we will continue to grow together.

Exercise

• Be active every day. I keep track of my miles, yoga classes, etc. in yellow on my Google calendar. I want to have something recorded every day whether it's a run, an hour long yoga class or strength training or just foam rolling, a few minutes of yoga or push ups.
• Run three times a week. Running three to four times a week is really my "sweet spot" for running.
• Do a pull up. I did a little research about working up to doing a pull up after my run this morning. I'm hoping to put my newfound knowledge to the test this year and do a pull up!

Home

• Keep it clean and organized. Since going down to three days a week at work, I've dedicated Tuesdays to cleaning and Fridays or Saturdays to doing laundry. (Though, now that we have a washer and dryer in our unit, I can do laundry whenever I want!) A clean apartment makes me feel so good (it's a little sad) so I need to continue this.

Personal Enrichment

• Read books. It's been so great to get back to regularly reading books. I thoroughly enjoy the 10-15 minutes I spend reading before I go to bed. And I adore any extra time I get to read!
• Learn Spanish. I've been using the Duolingo app to learn Spanish since July, after Ale and Laura left. After meeting and spending time with Ale's kids, I really realized that I needed to improve my Spanish in order to be able to interact with them. So far I'm 48% fluent so I'm getting there. I want to continue to do at least one lesson most days. (I'm currently on a 14 day streak!) 
• Start to sew. I didn't do this in 2015 so I'm going to in 2016. I just need to decide what to sew...
• Play piano (well, keyboard). I played piano from second grade all the way through high school. I used to play occasionally when we lived in Champaign but I haven't played at all since we've lived in Chicago. I want to change that this year. 

Goals for 2015: 4th quarter update (a little late)

Family 

• Get pregnant. Well, this didn't happen in 2015. I really thought that one of the last cycles of Clomid/IUI we did was going to be the one but it just didn't happen. We're starting the in vitro fertilization process now so hopefully we will get pregnant in 2016!
• Continue to grow my relationship with John. We continue to do really well. We recently started doing "cuddle nights" on Fridays where we sit on the couch together and watch a show or movie. We spend a lot of time together but it's not always "quality time." This has changed that and we both look forward to these nights!

Work

• Work less. I still love working three days a week. I'm so glad that change worked out!
• Don't sweat the small stuff. I'm doing well with this overall. John helps me reframe things when I need to.

Exercise

• Run three times a week. This was going well until December and the holidays. I ran 53.14 miles in October, 41.55 miles in November, and 24.32 miles in December. I ran the Hot Chocolate 15K, Turkey Trot, and Santa Hustle.
• Do a pull up! I did not accomplish this in 2015 so it's going back on my list for 2016. I did strength training 7 times and yoga 10 times. Additionally, in November, I did a squat challenge which was fun. I should probably find one for arms...

Personal

• Read books. I read Once a Runner, Daring Greatly, and Miles Errant this quarter. I'm currently reading Miles, Mutants, and Microbes but I just realized Miles in Love is the next book in the Vorkosigan Saga. Oops.
• Stay involved with Chicago Scholars. I love the time I spend with Chicago Scholars. I'm so proud to be a part of this amazing organization!

*Bonus Goals (for when I'm working part-time)

• Catch up and stay current with Sports Illustrated and Mental Floss magazines. I finally canceled my Sports Illustrated subscription in November. I'm almost through the backlog (after recycling issues that were more than a year old). I will miss reading the issues but at this point, I'm just not able to keep up with a weekly subscription. I'll definitely check out some of the articles online.
• Keep apartment clean and organized. I still have that one box and one shelf left to get through in our bedroom but otherwise this is happening!
• Start sewing. This still has not happened but hopefully it will in 2016! But what do I want to sew? Hmm...

Book Report: Miles Errant

I finished Miles Errant before we left for New Zealand. It's a large paperback so I didn't want to lug it around for just a few chapters. So, I read a little extra before we left to finish it. This omnibus contained The Borders of Infinity, Brothers in Arms, and Mirror Dance.

Honestly, I can't remember the details very well now but I do remember that this was the easiest book for me to get into and I stayed engaged all the way through. I started out not liking Mark very much (as I'm sure is exactly what the author intended) but by the end, he was starting to grow on me.

I started Miles, Mutants, and Microbes but I just realized that I'm reading them out of order now. I need to read Miles in Love first. Oh well. I'll just finish Falling Free in Miles, Mutants, and Microbes and then read Miles in Love.

Title: Miles Errant
Author: Lois McMaster Bujold
Genre: Science fiction
Pages: 741
Stars (Out of 5): ****

Cheers!

  

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, family and friends! We hope our annual letter finds you well.

Em - I’m still working as a nurse practitioner at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s Health Services. In January, I will celebrate my 3 year anniversary. Crazy! In April, we restructured our staffing so I’m now working 3 days a week. It’s great! I’m definitely staying busy...and enjoying work a bit more. Outside of work I’m still running and volunteering with Chicago Scholars. In September, I met two sports celebrities, Lauren Fleshman and Summer Sanders, at a local running event...so awesome! This year, I was voted Chicago Scholars Class of 2019 Mentor of the Year by my cohort of scholars. Such an honor!

John - John’s position at the University of Illinois-Chicago was again extended for one more year. We’re pretty sure this will be his final year at UIC. We’re still not sure what’s next but we’re hoping to be in the Chicago, Madison, or Minneapolis areas. Time will tell! Outside of work, John is still working out and running, including 4 races. It’s fun to run together every once in awhile! We also both started swimming when the weather was too cold to run last winter. John continues to enjoy playing video games virtually with his friends.

Travels - We started off 2015 with a ski trip to Whistler, near Vancouver, with John’s family. It was a great trip! They even got me to backcountry ski on a glacier. It was terrifying but so worth it! In March, we took a little trip to East Lansing, MI where John spoke at a conference. I particularly enjoyed it because there was a McAlister’s there! We went to Disney World with John’s family in May. Disney is always a great trip for us. We rode the new Seven Dwarfs Mine Train and saw the new Festival of Fantasy parade...so awesome! The American College Health Association Annual Meeting happened to be in Orlando as well so John and I just extended our vacation a few extra days until the conference began. August brought an epic road trip through Canada to Montana with John’s parents. We drove approximately 3737 miles and traveled through 12 states/provinces: Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Nebraska, and Iowa! In October, I went to New York City for the second time in my life. It was a great weekend trip to celebrate Aubrey’s baby shower...and I’ll probably go back again a little sooner this time. We went to Lake Tahoe for a wedding in November. It was fun to travel somewhere new and see old friends that I hadn’t seen in awhile. We also got in a great hike in the mountains. In addition to these bigger trips, we also went back to Wisconsin/Minnesota a few times to visit family and friends and made it to Homecoming at UW-Madison. Great times!

Visitors - In July, my foreign exchange sisters, Ale and Laura (and their families), came to Chicago/Wisconsin to help celebrate Dad’s 65th birthday. We had an absolutely amazing time. It was so great to meet Ale’s husband and kids, to be Tia Emily, and to spend quality time with all of them in both Chicago and Cochrane.

Challenge - Our biggest challenge this year has been trying to get pregnant. We’re currently undergoing fertility treatments. We’re hoping, praying, and cautiously optimistic that 2016 will be the year!

2016 - We’re finishing up 2015 and starting out 2016 with a trip to New Zealand! John found a 9 day “adventure tour” of the south island. We’re so excited! We’ll also have about a day before and after the tour to spend in Christchurch. Our hopes for 2016 are that John will find a job he enjoys, in a geographical location of our liking, that we will expand our family, and that we will continue to enjoy time with each other, our families and our friends. Happy New Year! 

Race Report: Santa Hustle 5K

Last Saturday, John, Natallie, and I ran the Santa Hustle 5K. The three of us ran it last year but we lost John so this year I was determined to let him set the pace and stick by him.

The race started at 9am so we met in the lobby at 7:30am to walk down to Soldier Field. It wasn't super cold but by the time we walked there and then stood around for awhile, I was cold. That's the bad part about a 5K...by the time you're warmed back up it's over!

 

We had plenty of time for selfies, bathroom breaks, and gear check before the start. The start corrals were well-managed...just divided by self-picked paces. It worked out just fine though!

 

We stayed together the whole time! I didn't even wear my watch, I just followed John's pace. We stopped at each of the "aid" stations...cookies, water, and M&Ms. Of course, at the end, John sprinted fast enough that we couldn't quite keep up and finished two seconds ahead of us. Sneaky guy, that one.

 

  

Distance: 5K
Time: 30:37
Cost: $38.53
Pros: Fun holiday race, close to home, smaller than most races I run in Chicago, easy start corral setup, good support on course
Cons: I can't think of any...
Would I run it again?: Sure!

Long Distance Reading Club: Once a Runner and Daring Greatly

Photo from Oiselle but I have one of the bookmarks!

Back in September, Oiselle created the Long Distance Reading Club, the Oiselle book club. I love reading, so naturally, I joined in on the fun! Plus, it was easy: read the book and join a couple of Twitter chats to discuss it.

The first book was John L Parker Jr's Once a Runner. I didn't want to buy it but I found it at the Chicago Public Library. So, I finally got my library card and checked out my first book in years! It took me a long time to get into the book. Thanks to the first Twitter chat, I found out I wasn't the only one having this problem and that it got better as it went on. And, it did.

The story itself was pretty decent. It follows a few characters through their collegiate running days. I really enjoyed the book in the final few chapters but I struggled through at least the first half. I finally figured out why I was struggling. First, the author jumped between characters' points of view without making clear who's point of view it was. This drove me crazy! Second, there were a lot of scenes that had no impact on the main story and didn't need to be included. (I'm looking at you, athletic department hot tub scene.)

All in all, I'm glad I read the book. It gave me an inside look into the collegiate runner's life, albeit in the 1970s. There are now two additional books, a sequel and a prequel, which I may read someday...

For another review, check out my Oiselle teammate Leila's post.

Title: Once a Runner
Author: John L Parker, Jr
Genre: Sports fiction
Pages: 304 pages (according to Amazon)
Stars (Out of 5): **

The second book was Brené Brown's Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead. The Chicago Public Library had lots of copies of this book but they all had really long waits. So, I bought this one for my Nook. It was the first time I've read a book like this and I really enjoyed it.

I highlighted a lot which I've never done on my Nook before. Here are a few of the passages I highlighted:

• Vulnerability sounds like truth and feels like courage. (page 38)
• When we were children, we used to think that when we were grown up we would no longer be vulnerable. But to grow up is to accept vulnerability. To be alive is to be vulnerable. - Madeleine L'Engle (page 42)
• Guilt = I did something bad. Shame = I am bad. (page 61)
• www.self-compassion.org (page 103) - I just did the Self-Compassion Test and did pretty well. I got an overall score of a 4.39 (on a scale of 1 to 5).
• In fact, more people die from prescription drug overdoses than from heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine drug use combined. (page 107)
• "Daisy is a good girl who made a bad choice! We love her! We just don't love her choices!" (page 168)
• Wholehearted Parenting Manifesto (page 182)

This book was a really easy read. I loved the examples provided for each topic. This made it really hit home while I was reading it. The second-to-last bullet point above is when it really hit me. (This was the author's son after the author scolded Daisy, their dog.)

The first Oiselle Twitter chat was really interesting. The second one was supposed to be the Tuesday before Thanksgiving but it seemed to be forgotten. I'm hoping we'll still discuss the rest of the book...and then start another book!

Title: Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead
Author: Brené Brown
Genre: Self-help, relationships
Pages: 230 pages (according to my Nook version)
Stars (Out of 5): *****

Race Report: Festival Foods Turkey Trot

 John and I kept our new Thanksgiving tradition alive even though we spent Thanksgiving with my parents in Cochrane and had to drive an hour to La Crosse to do the Turkey Trot. It was worth it though!

We left my parents' house about 6:30am, arriving at the La Crosse Center around 7:30am, after driving through pouring rain. I was a little worried that we were late but it was plenty of time to go to the bathroom, pick up our packets, head back to the car to drop off our Turkey Trot shirts and put on our bibs, and get back to the start areas. Luckily the rain held off during the race!

Just like in Oshkosh, there were two different start lines, one for the 5 mile run and one for the 2 mile untimed run/walk. I'm not super familiar with downtown La Crosse so the route was totally new to me and kept my interest. I even saw a guy inside his house with a Miller Lite...at 8:15 am...only in Wisconsin!

I felt pretty good but started out a little too fast and got really warm by the third mile. I think I could have worn a short sleeve shirt under my rain jacket or a vest instead of the jacket. But, I finished feeling pretty good and in decent time.

What was really nice about the La Crosse event was that all the pre-race and post-race activities took place inside. In Oshkosh, the post-race activities are all outside. Still, we didn't stick around for long. We grabbed our pumpkin pies, found each other, headed off to Starbucks, and then drove back to Cochrane.

Distance: 5 miles
Time: 42:58
Cost: $20
Pros: Small, inexpensive race, great Thanksgiving tradition, free parking, inside pre-race and post-race activities, pumpkin pies
Cons: One hour drive from my parents' house
Would I run it again?: Yes!

Race Report: Hot Chocolate 15k/5k

Hot Chocolate 2015 finishers!

Once again, my mom, my friend Angie, and Angie's mom came down to Chicago for the Hot Chocolate 15k/5k. John and Keith also ran, along with my running friend Natallie and her fiancé Emil.

We met in the lobby at 5:55 (well, a little after that) and made our way to Grant Park. This year, the start corrals were better managed, though we still had to walk all the way around a bunch of the corrals in order to get to our corrals. I still saw some people hopping the fence.

Keith and Angie

Angie and Keith ran together so Keith could push Angie to a 15k PR. She was hoping for a 7:30 and faster pace. Yikes! And, they did it! Natallie and I stuck together the whole time. We ran a comfortable pace, pushing it at the end, and finished within 1 second of each other.

Once again, there were treats at the aid stations including chocolate chips, marshmallows, and M&Ms. Yum! The post-race treats were as delicious as always!

Oh, and this year I volunteered at packet pickup since it was in my neighborhood. I figured it was about time to give back to the running community. It was a lot of fun!

Distance: 15k
Time: 1:23:34
Cost: $64 with $5 coupon
Pros: Fun race with plenty of aid stations, yearly tradition with friends, close to home, mostly flat course, sweet stations, post-race chocolate, awesome goody bags
Cons: Crowded course, early start
Would I run it again?: Yes!

Oiselle Volée

Sometime in late 2013 or early 2014, I heard about a women's running clothes brand called Oiselle. I can't even remember exactly how I heard about it but I think it was through the #RunChat community. In any case, when they introduced the Oiselle Flock in July 2014, I wanted in! I didn't get in the first group but I did get in the second time around, officially joining The Flock in September 2014. To join The Flock, I paid $100 for free shipping on all online orders, an awesome team singlet, $20 off a pair of running bottoms, $25 towards Oiselle's Emerging Athlete Fund, and other offers throughout the year. More than worth it!

In order to facilitate communication with each other, Oiselle created Facebook groups by region. Now, I know a whole bunch of women throughout the Midwest (and around the country) who run. I have a group of experts to ask questions from "What are the best running shorts?" to "What training plan works best for you?" There's a place to share awesome and not-so-awesome races with people who get you...instead of clogging up the News Feeds of your non-running friends...ha!

The first activity I participated in was last December's Secret Santa. It was fun to be paired with another Flock member from a different part of the country. And it was awesome to receive a sweet surprise gift!

I randomly met a Flock member in real life at the Maggie Daley Run the Ribbon Mile Race in June. We knew each other's faces from Facebook but it was cool to meet in person. We even ran in the same heat.

Ali and I are on the far left

In July, Oiselle decided to merge The Flock with the existing Haute Volée (elite team) under the united team name Volée. As part of this change, existing Flock members were able to renew their membership for free for the next year.

Then, in September, I was finally able to participate in a real meet-up in conjunction with the Magnificent Mile Women's Half Marathon & 5K. A handful of us met up by Buckingham Fountain after the race and then proceeded to Starbucks, where Lauren Fleshman, Collier Lawrence, and Sarah OUaL (not her real last name) joined us. It. Was. Awesome. I cannot tell you how down-to-earth and fun they all are. I was seriously beaming the whole rest of the day! Thanks, Oiselle!

With Lauren Fleshman at the finish line! Photo cred: @runrunmary

(I don't remember who this photo came from...sorry!)

At the bean! Photo cred: @SarahOUaL

Just this past weekend, I met even more birds. As part of the Chicago Marathon weekend, our Illinois group leaders organized a dinner on Friday night, a cheering station at Mile 17, and a post-race happy hour. The Friday night dinner was great. It was so fun to put real-life faces to Facebook profiles and Twitter handles. And, Oiselle sent along bags of free clothes to be handed out! I got an awesome new pair of arm warmers!

Friday night dinner at Spacca Napoli Pizzeria

Cheering at Mile 17 today! Photo cred: @mellebeth

Cheering for the marathon today was great...though it really made me want to run another one. (Come on, fertility treatments, work already!)

Thanks for an awesome weekend, birds! I'm so thankful to be a part of such an awesome women's running community.

*FYI: Birds is another term for Oiselle team members...or anyone who wears Oiselle...I'm not really sure! :)

Goals for 2015: 3rd quarter update

Oops. I just noticed that for my 1st and 2nd quarter updates I didn't include the family category. My bad! I'll include that this time! (And here's the original post.)

Family 

• Get pregnant. Still not. It's starting to get to me a little bit. But, we're doing what we can to make it happen. As a friend said, I now have God AND science on my side. Keep the prayers and good thoughts coming.

• Continue to grow my relationship with John. We're doing really well. He's great at keeping me positive about the infertility situation and I think I've been good about giving him my love and support. Life is good!

Work

• Work less. I love working three days a week. I don't know how I did everything while I was working full time. (Hint: I didn't.) However, it has been a challenge to get everything done at work in just three days. It's still strange to say "See you Wednesday" to Megan on Thursday evening (we only work together on Wednesdays and Thursdays now).
• Don't sweat the small stuff. I'm doing pretty well with this though a new school year started last month which always brings new little things into the mix. So far, so good!

Exercise

• Run three times a week. I'm doing pretty well with continuing to run. I'm currently following a training program for the Hot Chocolate 15K which I really like (though I missed two runs last week...oops). I ran 33.14 miles in July, 41.87 miles in August, and 49.56 miles in September. Woo! It feels so good to be back into running regularly. John and I also did the BTN Big10K (and 5K) in July and I did the Magnificent Mile Women's Half Marathon 5K in September.
• Do a pull up! I still haven't done a pull up but I'm getting closer, I swear! I've slacked a bit on the working out lately due to weekend travels but have a new no-equipment workout that hopefully will be easier to fit in when I can't get to the gym. I worked out 9 times and did yoga 11 times this quarter.

Personal

• Read books. I read Miles, Mystery & Mayhem, The Alloy of Law, and The Giver this quarter. I'm currently reading two books, Miles Errant, the next book in the Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold, and Once a Runner by John L. Parker, Jr. as part of the Oiselle Long Distance Reading Club.
• Stay involved with Chicago Scholars. This year the mentoring is so much different than in the past but I really like it. It's been a little more difficult to connect with our scholars but we're getting there. We took four students from our cohort up to UW-Madison for a day in September. It was a great trip and so fun to spend some time getting to know them better.

*Bonus Goals (for when I'm working part-time)

• Catch up and stay current with Sports Illustrated and Mental Floss magazines. This has absolutely not happened. I just decided to cancel my Sports Illustrated subscription. I'm going to try to read the magazines I have (I read two of them on my flights to/from New York last weekend) but I just can't keep up with them, even though I absolutely love reading them!
• Keep apartment clean and organized. This is happening! I try to get my cleaning and laundry done on my days off during the week. Since April, I've gone through all of our closets and cleaned them out. I have one box and one shelf left to get through in our bedroom and then I'll be done with the catch up and just need to keep up!
• Start sewing. This has not happened yet, much to my mother's disappointment. But, I feel pretty confident that it may happen this winter. I'm so excited!

Race Report: The Magnificent Mile Chicago Women's Half Marathon and 5K

Sunday morning I ran The Magnificent Mile Chicago Women's 5K. After much deliberation, I finally signed up after packet pickup at Fleet Feet for the BTN Big10K. I decided on the 5K instead of the half marathon due to timing, trying to conceive, and unpredictable weather (the possibility of being very hot). But, before I get to the actual race report, let me explain a little about the rest of the weekend's events.

I started off the weekend by going to Candlelight Yoga, presented by Fleet Feet, ClassPass, Bare Feet Power Yoga, and Lolë on Friday evening. The class was $16.82 and we got a free yoga mat and water bottle. Definitely worth it! The class took place in Pioneer Court Plaza, the pre-race event headquarters. It was a little different to do yoga on concrete instead of the carpeted yoga room in my building...but it was a lot of fun! The class was also more of a vinyasa flow than I'm used to but I really liked it.

My view before class started

Yoga in front of my favorite building, the Wrigley Building

Saturday morning I went to the shakeout run led by Lauren Fleshman, a professional runner with Oiselle (I'm part of Oiselle Volée, more on that in another post.), and Summer Sanders, who I remember best from NBA Inside Stuff with Ahmad Rashad but she also won four medals as a swimmer in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona. This experience was incredible! At one point I was running next to Lauren and Summer listening to them chat about how they would change how the Olympics are awarded to cities/countries.

My running selfie skills need some work.

Once we were warmed up, Lauren led us through some drills and they both gave a little pep talk before we headed out for about 3 miles. Summer left us with a quote via one of her old coaches: "No deposit, no return." Lauren talked about how running was easy but also radical and how it seeps into other areas of our lives. I hadn't really thought about it that way.

It was pretty great to run down the Lakefront Trail with so many other women. It was also really awesome to meet Lauren and Summer and see how down to earth they both are. They were SO nice...much different from my experience of meeting WNBA basketball players as a teenager!

Lauren Fleshman

Collier and Mel Lawrence, sisters who run for Oiselle's Project Little Wing

Summer Sanders

Then came the race. It was definitely one of the smallest races I've run in Chicago! There were no corrals. We just lined up with the pace signs. Everyone, both half marathoners and 5Kers started together. I didn't mind that...maybe because I was doing the 5K. It seemed to work out well though. I was able to start at my pace almost right away. I also saw Summer Sanders, her husband, and two kids during the first few minutes of the race. Summer ran the half and the rest of her family ran the 5K but they all started together. So awesome!

My race went really well. I carried along my handheld water bottle even though it was only a 5K because it was so hot out. I started out a little fast but settled in to a pretty decent pace. It was pretty cool to run down Michigan Ave. I was also able to give quite a bit at the end so that was nice...but when I was done, I was done!

Guess who was at the finish line giving high fives to all the runners? Lauren Fleshman! How awesome is that?!?

Distance: 5K
Time: 26:31
Cost: $40
Pros: Close to home, run on Michigan Ave from Randolph to Chicago Ave, Lauren Fleshman, small (for Chicago), cute race t-shirt and finisher necklace
Cons: Hot and humid
Would I run it again?: Yes!