Raindrops Falling On My Head...

Does anyone else LOVE the rain?  I don't know what it is, but the second I see raindrops on the ground  I can't help but smile!

Maybe it's the fact that if you live in Alaska, you have to learn to love it otherwise you'll be one unhappy person.  The summers in Alaska are usually either amazingly sunny and beautiful... or cloudy, rainy, and cold.  I guess I should edit my statement above... that is the one situation where I don't love rain.  Rain for 3 months straight is not my favorite.  Alaska Weather Man? If you're listening, please forget I said that and bring on the SUN!  I have some serious camping/hiking/fishing/running/BBQ-ing to do this summer.

Backpacking adventures...

Fishing on the Kenai River with my bestie 3 years ago!

I took yesterday off from running, so this morning I woke up ready to hit the pavement.  I looked out my window and saw soaked trees and puddles on the pavement -  the PERFECT running weather!  You may think I'm kidding, but running in the rain is my absolute favorite.  I like to think it washes away all the "yuck" from your life (and by "yuck" I mean studying for board exams!). Amazing.

The rest of my day was spent at Starbucks doing what I do best... drinking decaf coffee and studying. I had a tough time staying focused today for some reason. I kept getting distracted from dogs passing by the window, people laughing and enjoying a friendly conversation, and free samples of cranberry muffins/frappucinos/FULL SIZE chocolate chip cookies.

And if you want me to tell you which Starbucks gives away all the freebies, the answer is no.  I love to share, but all this studying requires sustenance and I love free food!  :)  The longer this studying routine goes on, the crazier I am going to get.  Luckily I can see the light at the end of this long tunnel!

On a side note, ONE week from tomorrow, I will be seeing my HUBBY!  It has been 13 weeks, 4 days since I saw his cute face!  I can't believe we did it.  Longest 2 years apart in history.

The last time we were together in Mexico!

I'm also getting very excited to go to Boston and see all of my relatives that I haven't seen in over 4 years.  Should be a great trip!  To all of you who are running Boston, I hope to see you there! Just look for the 20-something year old female runner, you should have no trouble finding me... ;)

Last random note of the day... in ONE MONTH from today, yours truly will be walking across the stage at Stanford to receive her diploma!  YIPPEE!

#8 & #9

I promise I didn't forget to be grateful.  I've just been very busy the last few days. I've had an extra amount of things to be grateful for, so it was tough to narrow it down to just one for each day.  I'll start with the important things. (Sorry to all my Alaskan friends, you may hate me after you read what I'm about to write.)

November 8: I am grateful for the RAIN.

It's like that country song by Luke Bryan, "Rain makes corn, corn makes whiskey. Whiskey makes my baby feel a little..." Okay, maybe it's nothing like that.  I don't even like whiskey, but I do love rain. 

Yesterday morning, the ground was glistening from fresh rain when I got up to workout. It was the most beautiful thing I had seen in a long time.  Living in the land of eternal blue skies and bright golden sun is amazing, but it is such a welcome change to see dark clouds and raindrops falling from the sky. 

Not my finest photography moment, but those little raindrops truly brought me great joy.
Like my cracked windshield?  Thanks to potholes back home, this is the norm for most Alaskan cars. 

I think I love rain so much because a) if you're from Alaska you either learn to love rain or you don't last a week in the unpredictable Alaskan summers and b) the clouds and rain give me an excuse to bake delicious homemade coffee cake and then curl up with a steamy cup of hot cocoa.

Coffeecake from HEAVEN.

Someday, if you bribe me with running gear, I'll share my secret recipe with you. 

November 9: I am grateful for the road to recovery.

Did you think I would actually go a whole post without discussing running? :) This week I have made great strides in the recovery department.  I had 2 appointments with an Active Release Therapist (I swear by it - if you are injured and/or need a "tune" up, let me know and I'll give you a recommendation of who to see.  You will NOT be disappointed). He cleared me to run again- even saying that I would be fine to run the Silver Strand half marathon on Sunday! I'm not so sure running 13.1 miles after taking a few weeks off is the greatest idea, but I AM going to do the race.  My rule to races is: if I pay, I will finish to earn my medal and t-shirt. (And let's not forget collecting free stuff from the expo, because we all know how much I free samples of goo). My plan is run as much as is comfortable and then walk the rest. There is no reason to re-injure myself or cause more inflammation, but I'm ready to get back out there and at least see how everything feels! Regardless of how it goes, I am so grateful for this exciting news in the running-deprived world of mine!  

Hope you have a great weekend!!