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Five Things Friday Link Up Love – January 31st

Happy Friday!!  I have been reading Five Things Friday posts, hosted by Clare from Fitting it All In, for a while and am so excited to finally take part this week!  I love five. Mostly because I was born on the fifth day of the fifth month, it was number in high school, it’s not too small nor too big, and well you get it!

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Five Things I Ate

I haven’t cooked fish in a while.  I loved this Salmon that I glazed with coconut oil and mustard and topped with almond flour, salt, pepper, and sage!

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We braved the cold and threw these pork chops on the grill.  They came out yummy and I made sweet potato fries for the first time!

 

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My go-to omelet obviously!  I’ve taken out the mushrooms because of a recent experience with eating bad ones…no fun.

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Ten Memorable Moments from 2013

I can’t believe 2013 is coming to an end!  My dad has always said the older you get the quicker time passes.  It’s a little bit scary, which is why I try to remind myself every single day to live in the present and not to rush things.  Kind of fitting that this was the fortune I got from Yoga this weekend.

There is more to life than increasing it’s speed – Mahatma Gandhi.

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2013 was a whirl wind of a year for me.  I moved out of Boston, changed careers, went on vacations, jumped out of a plane again, and had many “firsts” in my relationship.  It was definitely a year I will look back at and think to myself, yup that was a pretty monumental one.

Here are my Ten Memorable Moments from 2013

Skiing in Maine

I absolutely love the atmosphere and vibe of a cozy ski weekend away. In February my friend Maura invited Andy , me, my best friend, and her boyfriend up to her lake house in Maine.  We had the perfect weekend of skiing (Andy’s first time!), Maine lobster, and wine and games around the fire.

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The Boston Marathon

When I think back to this day it still seems so surreal.  If you live in Boston, Marathon Monday is one that is always celebrated.  We have had a tradition for the past few years that includes going to the Red Sox game in the morning and then watching the end of the marathon in Kenmore Square.  This year we got up on the Green Monster!  It was right before I was moving away and was turning out to be the perfect Marathon Monday.  Then we started hearing the chatter that there were “car bombs” at the finish line.  It was one of the scariest moments of my life.  I could write a whole post on this…but I will just say that witnessing a city go through what Boston did on April 15th, 2013 makes you see things differently.  I never witnessed a city come together the way Boston did that week.  Boston Strong!

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Cancun

This was mine and Andy’s first vacation together.  We went to Cancun for my birthday weekend which is also Cinco de Mayo.  It was the perfect relaxing beach vacation.  My favorite part was our trip to Isla Mujeres and swimming with dolphins!  You can also read my re-cap.

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Moving from Boston back to Connecticut

This was definitely a bittersweet moment this year.  I lived in Boston for four years after college, I “grew up” in Boston, and will always have a special place for this city.  I knew it was time to be closer to my family, friends, and Andy and start a new chapter.  Although Connecticut is home I will always miss certain things about Boston!

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Skydiving in Newport, Rhode Island

I had been skydiving before in Maine with my best friend but decided to buy this for Andy for his birthday.  It was an awesome weekend full of lounging on the beach, great food, and jumping out of the smallest place I have ever seen with the best view I will ever get of Newport! I wrote a re-cap a few weeks ago too about why you should go sky-diving too!

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I Started this Blog!

I can’t believe I’ve been blogging for four months!  I’ve tried to start blogs before but never stuck with it.  I guess I was ready this time!  I’ve really enjoyed blogging even though I wish I had more time to dedicate towards it.  With that said I really hope to make some major improvements to it in 2014!

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I nailed a head stand away from the wall!

A year ago I definitely need to be against a wall.  Now I can hold it for almost a minute!

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I can get up into a handstand!

Although I still need a wall, this was a huge accomplishment.  I used to try to do kick ups in yoga class and thought I would never get up there.  I have a lot of work to do in terms of straightening my banana back and not using the wall.  But it’s a start!

Ta-da!

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San Francisco!

Andy and I took a trip to San Francisco in September.  Although, I had already been here before I absolutely loved this trip.  San Fran is definitely one of my favorite cities.  It has everything I love…views, good food, and wine country!

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Making the decision to go to Yoga Teacher Training

Yes, I have decided to embark on a new journey and attend yoga teacher training.  It’s been something I’ve thought about for a while now and well….I’m not getting any younger am I?! I am so excited for this journey (and a little nervous too).  I start in January so stay tuned!

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I hope everyone ends 2013 in an amazing way and is ready for a beautiful New Year!

Old School Blogging – Holiday Edition

I was scrolling through my Bloglovin feed tonight when I came across Christine’s Old School Blogging post.  It caught my eye so I clicked, which led me to Elaine’s blog, which then introduced me to The Kir Corner.  That’s one of my favorite things about blogging…you come across some fantastic bloggers on a daily basis!

And find fun ways to let readers get to know you!  I loved the idea of this post and thought it was a great way to dedicate a post to the holiday season…one of my favorite times of the year!

1 Holy Night or 8 Crazy Ones? (Do you Celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, both?)

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I celebrate Christmas which will consist of three celebrations this year!  I always spend Christmas Eve with my Dad’s side of the family and Christmas Day with my Mom’s.  But this year is the first that I am sharing Christmas with my better half, so we are celebrating with Andy’s family on Christmas Eve Eve!

Peppermint or Chocolate?

Dark Chocolate! But for a nice cozy christmas drink, I’ll have an adult peppermint hot chocolate please!

Sing us into the Holiday Season, what is your favorite Carol this time of year?

Well this is difficult… I can’t just pick one!  My absolute favorite is Neil Diamond’s “So This is Christmas.” BUT I can’t not mention Mariah’s “All I Want for Christmas is You.”

Tell us about a Favorite Family or Personal Holiday Tradition.

Thinking about this I’m realizing that as you get older Christmas traditions fade a little.  When I was younger I had so many! Writing Santa letters, leaving cookies and milk (and carrots for the reindeer), and hiding the baby Jesus from the manger so that Santa could put him back on Christmas morning.  I guess I’ll just have to re-visit those when I have kids one day!

C’mon you remember your favorite  (Christmas, Hanukkah) gift, tell us all about it:

I feel like it had to be something to do with Barbie’s or dolls.  I remember I had a gigantic (it seemed) Barbie House that I absolutely loved.  I think I got that for Christmas!

That magical moment? (Your favorite scene from a Holiday movie…it’s okay if you have 2)

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Love Actually (my favorite).  At the end of the movie in the airport when everyone is coming home for Christmas…it gives me the chills.  And Home Alone when Kevin’s mom comes home.  I guess I like reunions!

Kissing under the mistletoe?  Who do you hope is standing underneath (We know it’s normally your spouse, if it did not have to be, who would you choose?)

Hmm…Justin Timberlake.  Or Channing Tatum?  But I don’t think me and Andy have kissed under a mistletoe – so he has to be first!

Swans a swimming, lords a leaping, golden rings; which gift of the 12 days of Christmas would you like most?

Definitely 6 geese-a-laying.  Do you know how many eggs that would get me!? Hmm, goose eggs? I’d try them!

Play Secret Santa, what inappropriate gift would you love to give this year?

Hmm…inappropriate? To a single friend…a deck of “pick-up line” cards.  Those were fun once!

Martha Stewart or the Grinch? What is your decorating style? (Pictures would be awesome!)

So far my decorating has been with my mom’s hand-me-down decorations.  (Think college apartment decorations). This year me and Andy bought our first tree for his apartment and decorated it from scratch.  I think we did a good job seeing as we didn’t spend too much money!

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What is ONE WORD that defines the holiday season for you? (Examples: Believe/Wonder/Bah Humbug?)

Family! I love spending the holidays with my big family.  It’s such a happy time of year!

If Santa could assure its delivery, what’s the first thing on your holiday wish LIST?

A round the world plane ticket! And a year to use it!