Brrrrrr!

It was cooooold this morning! I think winter is officially upon us and I'm one of those crazy people who loves it. This means it'll be nice and freezing for the race on Saturday though, eeeek. Anyway, I'm SO excited for the weekend, I can hardly stand it. Amanda, Jay, and Neal arrive on Saturday afternoon and I absolutely can't wait to see them. I know the visit will fly by but to have them back in the city with me is just so awesome. The Jets game on Sunday should be nice and freezing as well but man, that will be so fun too.

The plan is to run Saturday morning, head home to shower, and then get to the bar for some celebratory beers. Even if we ran a three mile race, I think we'd all still "celebrate", hehehe. They'll get in around 2pm and we'll have a day/night of catching up on soooo much that's overdue. Sunday morning, we'll be up bright and early and heading into NJ to meet James to tailgate. This will be my first true northeastern tailgate and I'm totally pumped. I'll be dressed in about twenty layers but I couldn't be more excited! After the game, I get to come back home to pack and I'll be on a 6am flight to Atlanta on Monday morning. Talk about a packed weekend! I wouldn't be me though if I didn't do things this way, hehehe.

I do stop to reflect though on this past year and on so much that's gone on in my life. It's absolutely amazing where I find myself currently and I'm so very proud of some changes I've made and lessons I've learned. I feel like life is about learning and growing and, if I can always take something away from each experience I have, then I know I'm really living. Life is a blessing and I pray so much that, as we enter a new year, I'll completely be out of the box I've kept myself in for a long time. I want to begin doing all the things I talk about, like taking trips, and I want to spend time with the people who really matter to me. I want to open my life up to new experiences and challenges (the NY marathon!) and continue following the 'straight and narrow' as a very unique and rare individual. I strive to be different than all the rest and I hope that I can humbly continue on that path, always. It's been a very significant year for me and, no matter what I've gone through, I am blessed.

So, I'm more than ready to get into the weekend and to finally fly home! I cannot wait to see my family, friends, and my dog! I'm already anxious to take him for a few runs as I know he's missed them as much as I have. :)