Lauren's Bridal Shower

This past weekend was a whirlwind with little sleep. I have two wonderful friends up north, and I got to surprise one of them for her bridal shower. Unfortunately, I will not be able to make it to her wedding. I thought it would be a great idea to surprise her and support her on one of her big days. My friend Jenn, and her sister, Jess, were so nice to pick me up early at the airport and we were off to a beautiful reception hall. There we enjoyed a lovely 3 course meal, pomegranate bellinis, and watched our friend celebrate her upcoming nuptials with her big Italian family.  Afterwards, I got to hang out with Lauren, Mike, and Mike's parents, her future in-laws. What a fun way to enjoy my 24-hour stay in Pittsburgh. Cheers to Lauren and Mike!

 I had a lay-over in IAD. What a cool mural!

 Jenn, Lauren, and Jess at the shower!

The Bride-to-be and I enjoying a fun night of wine and laughter.

Comedy for Business Communication

Earlier this month, I went to an Improv Comedy Class at DSI in Chapel Hill, NC. It was a workshop put on by the wonderful Raleigh Jaycees to give its members skills on how to best communicate in a work situation. Although I do not hold a big business, presentation-filled type job, I think that being able to communicate is very important no matter what job you have. It was so much fun! The biggest take-away I had was how to handle a situation where someone proposes an idea that you might, or might not, agree with. Always say "yes" and immediately affirm what they believe in. Then, you can give your opinion. Staying away from the word "but" was hard. I really think this will help me in the future!

Happy Easter from Greenville, SC!

This past weekend I got to reunite with two of my dearest sorority sisters from college, Rachel and CJ. Most of my friends are spread around the US and I am so lucky to have them within driving distance. Recently, Rachel got her dream job at an advertising agency in Greenville, so it made a great excuse to see a new part of SC. Greenville is the cutest town with lots of shops, restaurants, and an adorable Main Street. Besides watching lots of Basketball, eating good food, and laughing a lot, we got to celebrate Easter Sunday Mass together (CJ's husband-to-be came home from deployment overseas and joined us for Sunday, too!). What a great weekend together, I am blessed and lucky to have my friends. 

Meet Lucky!

What a crazy, fun, and quick weekend! This past weekend, our family got a puppy. Mom and I drove 5 hours one way to Northern VA to pick up our pup. We had a choice between 2 pups of different breeds. It was a tough decision, but when Lucky just melted in our arms, we had found our boy. He was such a good pup on the way home - slept most of the time. He already loves his crate - goes in and out of it willingly. 3 days later and still no accidents inside! Even last night while we all had dinner, he went and sat on his bed and waited for us to finish. Seriously, is this what owning a dog was supposed to be like? I am sure he will get into plenty of trouble (he already likes shoe strings and tags of clothes/toys), but right now all you see is those itty bitty legs and that fluffy round body and he can't do anything wrong. We are so lucky to have him...no pun intended. 

Tobacco Road Half Marathon

At the beginning of 2015, I made some New Year's Resolutions that will slowly be revealed on the blog. My first one to tackle was to run a Half Marathon. I didn't want to just run-walk; I wanted to run the whole thing. I started the couch-to-half marathon program in December and was very faithful to my training plan. This morning started off cold and damp, and then warmed up almost 20 degrees by the end of the race. The air was like soup, the first humid day of the spring. I stuck to my guns, drank lots of Gatorade/water, and just kept chugging along. Soon enough, the end of the race arrived and I did it! I finished my race at 2 hours and 15 minutes. I came in 77th out of 150 people in my category and averaged a 10 minute 21 second mile with all but 3 miles being between a 9 minute 48 seconds and 10 minutes 10 seconds. I am so proud of my body and being able to complete such a milestone that "one lap Ashley" would never have been able to do. 

Here's to New Year's Resolution #1 and Bring on #2!

 Mile 3...Here we go!

 Mile 5... Still going strong!

Mile 8...The Sun is Rising!

 Crossing the Finish Line!

Yippee! I did it!

I am one happy and tired girl. 

 

Photo op with my race swag. 

Time to add another medal to the bunch.

Jackie's Engagment Photos

Sorry for the delay! I accidentally dropped my phone volunteering at St. Baldrick's and completely smashed the screen beyond repair. Therefore, I was unable to take pictures last weekend. Fortunately, Braxton is a wonderful photographer and was able to capture our friends engagement beautifully. Jackie is one of Braxton's good friends from UNC and she recently got engaged to a wonderful guy, Nick. It was so fun to walk around downtown Raleigh and capture the landscape, and their relationship. Can't wait to see the save-the-date cards!

Free Weekend ~ Finally!!

This weekend was a rare one. Braxton didn't have an upcoming exam and I didn't have to work. This lead to cleaning, catching up on the shows of the week, and getting to relax. We went out for Sushi (Chinese for me) and Goodberry's on Saturday and then went bowling on Sunday. I have been invited to bowl by friends in the past, but I am too embarrassed due to hardly ever scoring above 50. Braxton was able to tweak my form and one time I scored an 85 (yay!!!). I think that this week we will be without snow and I might be able to function on a normal schedule. Also, no more long runs! This weekend was 11 miles and I averaged about a 10' 30'' pace. 2 more weeks of running and then it's a well deserved break. 

My dad is very pleased there is someone on his side on Sushi night.

 Our fortune cookies. B's on the left, mine on the right. I guess my future is unknown!