Tag Archives: vacation

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Much-needed Vacation


So. I actually got back from Door County on Thursday. I was going to post about it on Thursday night but decided to watch Men in Black instead! Then I was going to post on Friday, but I took my little brother to the pool and then ate cookies and watched Enchanted instead. I was going to post on Saturday but I went to a baseball game instead. I was going to post yesterday but the electricity was out and didn’t come back until early this morning. So, I decided that instead of waiting for tonight when most certainly another excuse would keep me from posting, that I might as well post now!

It was a fantastic trip! We all decided that it was by far, the best time! My grandma and aunt took Abby and I and we drove up to Door County and stayed at a bed and breakfast for three days.

Abby sitting out in the sun at the bed and breakfast. It is a beautiful place!

This is right outside of our rooms.

Okay so I know that I RARELY post pictures of myself.. So you really have no way of knowing when I got my hair cut. I got it cut on Monday. Yeah, it looks good. Yeah, I love it.

Yeah. We’re awesome!

I just love my hair. It’s so short now and flippy. I was so excited about it that I looked at myself in every single reflection. My aunt and grandma thought that was funny. Abby just thought I was being self-absorbed… heh heh.

We went to see The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel the first night. It was good.

We also got cotton candy…

We also went to this really good pizza place in Fish Creek. I love pepperoni pizza.

This is Sturgeon Bay.

We went on a trolley tour.

Sadly, we didn’t visit any beaches.

Everything is so beautiful there.

You can rent kayaks and canoes and water skis and go out to these islands. I think this is one of the Strawberry Islands. It’s about a 45-minute kayak ride out there.

This is the third time we have been to Door County. Every time we go, we go to this restaurant. And every time we go to this restaurant we take a picture in this big chair.

We had a Dollar Tree shopping spree. Abby’s like, “Claire let’s put all of our stuff together so Nana can’t see who’s buying more!” She had 9. I had 5. Among our “treasures” we had fake nails, the plastic bracelets we are wearing in the picture (you can change what it says! O_o), and make up.

We watched Rock of Ages the second night and made rock signs and sang old rock songs for the rest of the trip! 😉

One of us was more into it than the other one… that one is generally the weirder one also. She’s also the one who thinks she should live in a Broadway musical because then when she breaks into song so will EVERYONE ELSE!!!! Oh wait. That she is me… 🙂

That she is awesome. But truthfully, Abby and I were discussing it and we decided that I need to live in a musical because then instead of getting awkward stares when I start singing, everyone will just start singing and dancing along with me! It’s a great idea. I wouldn’t mind living in Enchanted either. I mean they all go singing and dancing through Central Park. That is AWESOME! Why isn’t my life like that? Why isn’t my life like a movie? *sigh*

This is also Sturgeon Bay.

Back to the singing thing. I am notorious for singing in my family. Whenever we are in the car and listening to the radio, I can sing like every song. Every time a song starts to play I’m like, “OH! I love this song!” and then I start to sing it. If you don’t know that I’m like that, then we haven’t hung out enough. The other day we were at a baseball game and I could sing all the songs they played. Anyways, thanks to the movie, my new favorite song is Every Rose Has Its Thorn. But we have the Miley Cyrus version on iTunes so that’s what I listen to. I’m not a big fan of Miley Cyrus but she sounds really good in this song! 🙂

So, that’s my week! 🙂 What have you all been up to? What are your favorite songs? Do you want to live in a musical too? Or is that just something special about me…? (I’m thinking that’s a special Claire thing… oh well. )

 

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Short and Sweet! :)


I know that I haven’t written in a long time and this is why:

This is a running blog. And I haven’t been running lately. Well, I hadn’t been running lately.

Today I went on a run and felt rejuvenated and energized. So I decided to post.

Of course, now I feel like I’m about to fall over dead cause I’m so tired. But I think that’s because I really haven’t had anything to eat yet today. Besides 6 ounces of a smoothie. So I’m starving.

I ran three miles. It was hard but nice. I kept my pace at eight minutes. I listened to my music. It’s windy and hot out today. But it’s the kind of hot where you don’t really notice it unless you’re in direct sunlight or you’re exercising. Of which I was both. So, by the end I was also very sweaty. But glad that I went on a run. Also, I’m not really sore apart from the usual post-exercise aches, so that’s really nice! No strained muscles or twisted ankles or disjointed hips. Sweet!

But the BEST part of the run (besides the whole “working off my weekend” fun) was that I got to run with my LRF or LRB or whatever I used to call her! 😉 LISA! She agreed to run with me after my three miles. Even though, we only ran 1/2 of a mile it was really awesome  that she came with and we walked after that so it still counts as “exercise”! 😉 She is awesome.

So, I am going to be gone on vacation from tomorrow until Thursday, but when I get back I will be relaxed and have MANY pictures to share with you all from Door County!!

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I ran today.

But it wasn’t my usual afternoon run.

It was an evening, after-dinner run.

It was amazing.

Just what I needed.

I told myself that because of my sickness I would just take it slow and run three miles, four if I felt up to it.

I know: I am such a tough trainer.

Anyways, it was slightly humid but over all beautiful. I could feel the rain coming on as the air got wetter and wetter but I didn’t care. The sun was setting. The clouds were all different colors. It smelled amazing. People were coming home from work. It was such a different atmosphere from what I’m used to at 2:00.

As soon as I set out, I knew that I was going to run four miles. I had already mapped out the whole run in my head before even changing into my running clothes. Go down our street, turn onto the next street, then onto the trail. Down and then back.

I passed other runners on the trail, but I was mostly by myself. Just me and my iPod.

It was darker than usual due to the time and the clouds, but I didn’t mind. It wasn’t really that dark so I wasn’t scared or anything.

I got tired pretty quickly and my throat got all dry because I am kinda sick. But I kept going. I just kept thinking, “If you stop now, you will be mad at yourself!” and “Come on, Claire! You’ve already made it this far! Why not just finish the stretch?!”

So I did.

I ran my four miles.

And I ran it in 31:37 which is a 7:42 minute mile. I was pretty surprised actually. It felt like I was going a lot slower. Especially around the middle, when I was the most tired. Usually when I run, I start out strong, then in the middle I burn out a bit, and then somewhere inside of me, I find a little bit of energy left and I can pick up my pace by the end of the run. But today, I just felt like I was going slow.

In fact, when the run was over, I didn’t even think to check my average mile so when I saw it just now, I was like, “WOW!”

I am pretty excited about our road trip tomorrow! I will hopefully get to run while I am on the trip so I should be able to AT least fit in the last mile to meet my weekly quota, if not more!! (*fingers crossed*) And at the hotel I will get to swim too I am hoping.

Anyways, I will not be posting until at least Monday which is when I am getting back. So everyone, enjoy the rest of your week! Feel free to leave comments below telling me about your running pursuits, or the weather where you live, or what fun things you are doing this weekend (“nothing” is actually included in “fun” because “doing nothing” doesn’t really happen that much this time of year!)!

And I will be back on Monday to tell you about my magnificent weekend (sans photos because I STILL can’t find my camera. Grr)!

 

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Randomness (need I say more?)


I ran 3 miles today. It was a hard 3 miles. With a time of 24:38, it proved to be my second worst time I’ve ever run that distance (that counts anyways). But it was also really fun.

John rode his bike with me and talked the whole time. Now, it was kinda hard to hear what he was actually SAYING, cause the wind was a-blowing, but it was nice to have his company!

The weather was simply beautiful. At first, it was cloudy and warm. Then it sprinkled a bit. And then it was sunny and warm. I love springtime! And this is starting out as a beautiful spring! All the daffodils are popping up and the weather is so warm!! I hope we’re in for a hot summer!!

I am super pumped for my Shamrock Shuffle!! This is me:

Me: OOOOH!!! I LOVE Shamrock Shuffles!! They are so good!!! I always get kinda sick when I drink them but they’re so worth it!!

Everyone else: (in unison) shamrock SHAKES! Claire, it’s a shamrock shake!!!!!!!!!

Oh…right. I always call it a “shuffle” even though I mean “shake”! Sometimes, I think I’m even tricking myself into saying the right thing! But I always say the wrong thing! 😛

For the record, there is NEVER that much whipped cream!

But in this case (before I got off-track) I really WAS talking about the Shamrock Shuffle which is a RACE!!!

Yes! I have decided to resort to Google Images because I NEVER bring my camera with me. And on the rare cases that I do, i never take pictures. 🙂

Once again, I failed at stringing together a coherent post!!

Sorry for the squiggly, shaky arrows… But I think you get the point! It’s your basic essay!

The blog post topic is about… WHY YOU SHOULD DO YOUR SCHOOL

Supporting Point 1. So you can learn (duh!)

Supporting Point 2. So you won’t get behind on your homework and miss summer catching up

Supporting Point 3. So you won’t be a loser

Then conclusion.

Once again: WHY YOU SHOULD DO YOUR SCHOOL

Supporting Point 1 of Topic: So you can learn (duh!)

Random Thought 1: Why do I always add in rude things like “duh!” to my blog posts.

Supporting Point 1 of Random Thought 1: Because I want to be tough/funny

Supporting Point 2 of Topic: So you won’t get behind on your homework and miss summer catching up

Random Thought 2: I love summer!

Supporting Point 1 of Random Thought 2: I have SO many plans for the summer!

Supporting Point 1 of Random Thought I didn’t put in blog post: I like Britney Spears’ older music… is that bad?

Backtracking: “Going back to my original thought, you should do your school!”

“Funny” Joke about my Randomness: (sorry I can’t be funny on command, or for that matter at all. but you guys have all read my blog  enough to know what I’m talking about)

Lame Attempt to get back to the Main Point: So, yeah, you should always do your school.

Conclusion

Wow! That part of this post was so fun to make!!! I love making fun of myself!! I also love making ClipArt that no one else is going to understand!! For those of you did understand my pictures, I hope you enjoyed it! For those of you who didn’t, well, stinks to be you.

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Just Sayin…


I think, overall, I can have no complaints about Daylights Savings Time. I mean, when it starts, I do have to wake up “earlier” the first couple of days, until I adjust to the new time, but it also means that summer is coming! And when it ends? Well, yes, it’s a wake-up call that summer is long over and winter is near on the horizon, but at the same time, it’s also kind of hard to hate it, because for those initial two weeks, it’s still bright in the morning. I remember this past fall, right after DST ended and I was given about two and a half more weeks of early morning running. And it was bright out. I recall, that first day, I bolted out of the house, full of an extra hour of sleep and surprise by the bright 6:30 morning I had not been expecting. But today, even though I yawned through the whole day, I was quite content because I know that spring is coming. And to make this day even better:? It was a balmy 65 degrees. Warm enough for shorts! Not that I wore shorts.

I’d like to advertise the fact that after my long week of minimal (meaning zero) exercise, I ran 5 miles on Saturday. Applause is  expected accepted. Now, just for a LITTLE background, the last time I ran 5 miles was February 17, over a month ago. The last time I had run was March 1st (9 days before Saturday). So the fact that I could run 5 miles, in and of itself, is pretty impressing. Now, let’s add in that it was extremely windy. The weather has been severely windy lately. The kind of wind that smells amazing and whips your hair around your face. The kind where, if you’re light enough, it can almost pick you up off the ground and whisk you away. I do love it. But, the wind is always working against me: pulling my skirt up, blowing me sideways, blowing hair into my mouth when I have no free hands to pull it out. And during this particular run, I was running INTO the wind the majority of the time. And when I wasn’t running into it I was running perpendicular to it. And! The most amazing part of this WHOLE INCREDIBLE FEAT is that I ran those 5 miles at an average pace of 8:11 min./mi. That is faster than my goal pace of 8:30 min./mi. for the race and WAY faster than I was even dreaming of running yesterday. I was very thrilled with the results. I am more than ready for my race!

There are more things I could talk about but I think this will suffice for today. I am trying to get my posts to be more understandable! I feel like my ADD-like ramble of thoughts confuses all of you! 🙂

ONE MORE THING!!!

Aren’t all you Chicago-ans just LOVING THIS WEATHER!?!?!?!?!?!

 

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Ah, My Friends! I ♥ vacation!


Go-karts at Captain Mike's: A family favorite!

 

Me driving a go-kart…i got the slow one

Collecting Leaves: Even on vacation, school follows

My Nana and Aunt came up over the weekend!! Here we are at a winery...look at the view!!

 

Lake Michigan Sunsets are amazing! Here are Pete, John, and me enjoying a particularly lovely one!The beautiful night sky

Sunset at the beach

I love vacation so much. Of course, the minute we get home from vacation we are back to our busy lives but it is so worth it! I went on one run the whole week!! My Garmin is amazingly awesome! However, on my next scheduled running day (Wednesday) I slit my foot on a rock at the beach so i couldn’t run for the rest of the week. Bla bla bla… 🙂

The weather was mighty cold!! And breezy! But that didn’t stop us! well, mostly Peter, James, and I. We are lion-hearted!! 🙂 Peter explained to Dad when asked if he wanted to go to the beach with James: “NO! It’s no fun without Claire!”  Whoops! Let me go deflate my head!! 😀 Nothing like THAT to make a girl feel wanted and loved!!

I stink at ping-pong. But John and Abby are the reigning champions! John is very proud of that and wanted me to add that in here!! 🙂

Hm…currently nothing more to say.

A RIDDLE FOR YOU TO SOLVE:

I am what poor people have and what rich people need. I am what blind people see and deaf people hear. I am what brave people fear and what kind people hate. And though hateful people love me, only the biggest fools really know me.

What am I?

Answer in a comment and i will post all of your answers as well as the answer on Friday!

Until then,

Claire