Saturday marked one year married to my best friend. And while we don't have all the answers and still have loads to learn, there were plenty of lessons learned in year one that no one gave us a heads up on. And since everyone around us seems to be getting married (or close to it), we thought it was worth passing along.

Gasparilla Half Recap

All week this half was looming over my head. I'd put in all of the training and work, but for whatever reason, I was still worried that my body was going to fail me.

RunningEmily WeirFebruary 23, 2016run, running, half marathon, Gasparilla, Tampa, Florida, race

Brown Sugar and Jam Muffins

I am a food prep queen. I spend hours each Sunday prepping my breakfast and lunch for the week. The reason? The last thing I want to do after a long day of work and cooking dinner is try to figure out what the heck I want to eat the next day.

Recipes, BreakfastEmily WeirFebruary 15, 2016recipe, new recipe, muffins, jam, Urban Canning Co, brown sugar, spiced apple stout, cats

Half Training - Home Stretch

Half training this time around has been so different for me. In the past, I had no issue with getting up early to pound out the miles and consistently had powerful runs, whereas this year felt like I was tackling the distance for the first time. I've doubted my body and my abilities more than ever in the past few months and began to question if my body just couldn't push out the miles at the level it used to.

RunningEmily WeirFebruary 2, 2016Gasparilla, Run, Running, half marathon, Tampa, distance, strong, challenge, determined

The Year of Focus

I don't believe in New Year's resolutions. Tacking on the word "resolution" just seems to set you up for failure. Instead, a few years ago I adopted the habit of setting goals for my New Year. I find that I'm way more successful and don't beat myself up if I fall behind or don't accomplish a goal.

Life LessonsEmily WeirJanuary 5, 2016New Year, New Years Resolutions, 2016, Goals, Tampa, Focus, Relationships, Blog

Change is Good

I fear change. I like my life the way it is and everything to happen just as it always has. I like knowing what is going to happen, when it is going to happen, and how it is going to happen. Change has such a bad reputation, and not just for me. Society teaches us to fear change, to get set in our routine and question when it strays.

Life LessonsEmily WeirDecember 31, 20152015, 2016, Change, Embrace the change, Resolutions, Goals, Marriage, Routine, Life lessons

Buckeyes

One of my favorite Christmas memories began just three years ago. Andy came to visit for my graduation and since it was a couple weeks before Christmas, it was our only chance to celebrate the holidays. We found this recipe for cranberry bliss bars and made them together, and from that a tradition was born. Now every Christmas we pick a couple of our favorite treats and bake them, package 'em up, and share them with our co-workers.

Dessert, RecipesEmily WeirDecember 17, 2015

Half Training - Week 6

For the past month, I've been sharing updates on my half-marathon training for the Gasparilla race I'm running this coming February (you can catch up on week 3 and week 4).

RunningEmily WeirNovember 4, 2015running, Training, half marathon, quit, success, doughnut

Embrace the Staycation

I'm really bad about making time for myself. I start my weekdays at 5am and am going until I crawl into bed around 10pm. And the weekends when most people relax? An opportunity to fit in all of the errands and other tasks I couldn't fit in after work.

TravelEmily WeirOctober 27, 2015Relax, Renew, Tampa, Sunset, Friends, Staycation, IF, Lake, Food, Recipe, Blog

Half Training - Week 4

One of the first bible verses that ever stuck with me was Philipians 4:13. I think it was somewhere in the middle of a steep hike up a mountainside in Haiti that I grasped onto the words and started using them as my internal anthem across all situations.

RunningEmily WeirOctober 22, 2015Running, Endurance, Training, Verse, Prayer

Half Training - Week 3

When you've been running 3 or 4 days a week for years, you get to know your body. What foods to eat before a run and what to stay away from, what temperatures you work best in, and the time of day that is favorable.

RunningEmily WeirOctober 12, 2015running, training, race, Gasparilla, struggle, distance

An Average Runner

I've struggled for a while with whether or not to bring my running into my blog. I wanted to since it's such a big part of my day-to-day, but I also was hesitant since I'm not some running superstar whose throwing out these impressive 8 minute miles and signing up for marathons every other week.

But that's not the real world.

RunningEmily WeirSeptember 30, 2015Running, Miles, Distance, Time, finish line

Trusting the Seasons

I like seasons. Football season, pumpkin season, fall season, I love it all. Seasons that push me beyond my comfort zone and make me question myself and my abilities? I like to stay as far away from those as possible.

Life LessonsEmily WeirAugust 27, 2015Seasons, Trust, Trusting, God, Work, Stress, Experience, Pray, Prayer

Sweet Savannah

Savannah. Where history, the coast, and the south all come to a point in the form of fried food, humidity, and Paula Deen. I've had a soft spot for Savannah since the first time I drove through the city a few years ago and had always had an itch to return. It only made sense to round out our vacation with a day there.