Thanks, Recs, & Changes

1.  I am finally over 100 followers!  Amazing!  It's exciting and I'm amazed that so many people have decided to read and share my journey (or joined in for the free stuff).  When I first started this, I was often writing for myself.  It's nice to know others are reading and that I'm not the only one facing the situations I've faced.  Thanks to all of you who read and an extra thank you to those who comment.  This blog community has really helped motivate me to try new things and reach new goals I never thought possible.  Maybe it's time for another giveaway?

2.  Thanks for all the Chicago suggestions.  If you missed it, we are headed to Chicago for our summer vacation this June.  We're looking for recommendations on fun things to do!

3.  I'm feeling like my life is changing so fast right now.  There are only about 40 more days until graduation.  We're working on moving back to NH and finding grown up jobs.  We'll be moving back in with my parents and trying to get into our own place.  Plus I need to finish my thesis project.  It's all so much at once.  This makes me glad we got married last summer.  A wedding this summer would have just pushed things over the edge.

I'm desperately trying to avoid stress eating.  It hasn't been easy.  Getting in my workouts has also been difficult as my schedule begins to get busier.  In the near future, I will be having some extra flexibility in my schedule and I'm hoping that will help keep me on track.

Headed for the Windy City

So last week I announced that we booked our summer vacation.  But I didn't tell you where.  I asked you to guess, but I gave crappy clues (or barely any clues at all).  So no one guess right (well, only 2 people guessed, but whatever).  So where are we going?

CHICAGO!!!

I'm pretty excited.  Patrick has been, but I have not.  We are going towards the end of June, so I'm hoping for pleasantly warm temps.  Our trip is also sandwiched between my two triathlons on the schedule so far.  We'll be in town for about a week and we're staying with a family member who lives near the Cubs stadium.  Here's what we've got on our list of things so far, but would love recommendations (Allison and Marcia, I hope you're reading this!):

~ Taste of Chicago - We sort of booked our trip around this event.  Totally looking forward to eating my heart out.
~ A Cubs game - I mean, we're going to be right there.  How could we not go?
~ Museum of Science and Industry - I hear this is pretty good.  And I'm a scientist so how could I not go?
~ The Bean

That's all the research I've done so far.  Now I need your recommendations.  Where to go?  What to see?  Where to eat?  Lay it on me! 

Three Things Thursday

1.  I guess I shouldn't avoid the obvious - Happy St. Patrick's Day!  My husband, Patrick, keeps saying that it's his holiday.  I usually don't get too festive, but I did put green food coloring in his milk and I donned a cute green dress in honor of the warmer weather.

2.  Speaking of the warmer weather, I got out for a three mile jaunt this morning.  I am so much more motivated when the sun is shining.  Mostly because I know that it may not last long living in Maine so I try to take advantage of it while it's here.  All the snow has melted on the bike path so all my usual running route are now open.  And I saw 5 deer run across the path this morning.  It's nice to not only see other people out exercising, but also to see the wildlife return to their routines.

3.  We have booked our summer vacation!  It reminds me that there is a light at the end of the tunnel!  Any guesses where we're going?  (Hint: It's in the U.S.)  I will be soliciting recommendations for things to do in a future post.  In the meantime, there may be a prize in store if someone guesses correctly. 

Something To Look Forward To

So my birthday is a week from tomorrow.  So get your presents ready now!  I'll be expecting them all soon.  ;-)  Anyway, because my mom is the best she called to check if her gift idea was a good one (yes, it ruins the surprise, but it ensure that I'll like it, so I'm cool with it).  She wanted to know if Patrick and I would like to go away to our favorite B&B out in Southwest Harbor (next to Bar Harbor).  Ummmm, yes!  We've been to the Clark Point Inn twice before and just love it.  The owners are the sweetest and the breakfast is to die for.  You should visit their website just to drool at the pictures.  We will literally be eating ourselves into a food coma that weekend.  Let's just say that I'll be taking the weekend off from Weight Watchers.  This is the inn:

And I believe this is the room we're staying in:

If you are ever in the area, I highly recommend checking this place out.  It's a great place to rest and relax.  I think we may try snowshoeing while were out that way or we might cross country ski.  Gotta burn a few calories after all that eating!  I've never been snowshoeing before so it would be a new adventure!  And advice or recommendations? Ok, I'm done bragging now.  Thanks for listening!

Refreshed

Patrick and I enjoyed a nice evening in Southwest Harbor (really close to Bar Harbor) yesterday.  I think it was exactly what I needed to get myself focused for the last two weeks of classes.  There's a lot to be done, but I feel ready to conquer it.  Sometimes just laying in bed for a weekend is just what the doctor ordered.  Well, we also did some hiking, some divine eating, and some exploring of the area.

We stayed at the Clark Point Inn, a fabulous bed and breakfast in Southwest Harbor.  Here is our cozy little room:

We stayed here 2 years ago when Patrick was playing a gig with his band.  At that time the current owners of the inn had recently bought the place and we were some of their first guests.  It was nice to go back because it was like visiting friends.  The best part is the breakfast.  It's a 3 course gourmet meal.  This morning we had pumpkin chocolate chip muffins, followed by bananas and kiwi with a vanilla creme sauce.  Finally, we had peanut butter stuffed french toast.  I cannot even tell you how divine that stuff is.  I was too busy eating it to take pictures.

We started out Saturday morning by hiking in Acadia National Park.  I've only been hiking out there once so I thought it best for us to stick to a trail that I knew and had a map of.  It's really more walking than hiking, but you get some nice views for not a very large climb.
Here we are at the top of Conner's Nubble:

And here are some other fun things we found (note: Patrick was having a little too much fun with the camera at this point).  Happy hiking trails:

With a happy hiker:

And a big boulder:

That came from somewhere up there:

For dinner, we headed over to Bar Harbor.  Unfortunately, we were about a weekend too early.  Most of the restaurants were still closed for the season and the place the innkeepers recommended was also closed.  We did manage to find a place that was pretty good.  Here's Patrick enjoying my company:

 But even better than dinner was Ben & Bill's Ice Cream and Candy Shop that we found while exploring the area.  Patrick and I both got chocolate peanut butter cookie dough ice cream.  It was really yummy.  We also got two truffles to eat on the way home.

Check out all these chocolates:

And here's a picture of our ice cream.  Just to tease you:

And here we are with the awesome lobster outside.  Me and this lobster could be best friends with an ice cream cone like that:

All in all, it was a perfect weekend for a little getaway.  Hope everyone else had an equally nice weekend.

Updates

First things, first.  The class I need is not going to be cancelled next year.  Yay!  That is a huge relief.

Two of my four finals are now day.  The other two are tomorrow morning and then we're heading home!  I'm excited to be going home for the holidays and visiting.  From the sounds of it, we're going to have a jammed packed couple of weeks!  On top of working full time, we have lots of family events to attend.  It's gonna be a blast.

Running in Indianapolis

Right now Patrick and I are vacationing in Indianapolis, Indiana. We're visiting Patrick's aunt and uncle and their 4 kids, 3 dogs, and 2 cats. Needless to say the house is nearing capacity. We've been hanging out by their pool, we've been to an Indianapolis Indians baseball game, and last night the took us out to a wonderful Italian restaurant called Bravo to celebrate our engagement. I promise to post some pictures when I get back.

The biggest challenge has been trying to keep things healthy. When you have other people planning your meals that means you're kind of stuck. That and I don't want to be rude. However, I did pack my running shoes and several running outfits and have gone out twice already. The houses are quite pretty and the roads are flat for the most part (yeah!). I think this will be the only factor keeping me from gaining 10 pounds on this vacation! I'll have to give a full report of our adventures when we get back because right now I have to go bake desserts for our cookout!