A Few Thankful Thoughts (cross posted) in Where It All Begins

Rob and I went to my 10 year high school reunion on Saturday. Where did the time go?! I graduated with 450 people but only roughly 50 people (including spouses!) showed up. Thankfully about 25 of them were my friends in high school and at least 20 of them were people I'd stayed close enough with to have invited to my wedding two years ago. Basically, despite my not organizing it, it ended being a fun night out with a big bunch of people I know really well and adore already. A few somewhat awkward "Yeah...sooooo..." moments with people I haven't seen in ten years but overall very fun.

Total brag moment, forgive me please - I had three different people come up to me ask if I really am who my name tag said because "You got so much hotter since high school". After working hard to get into shape, eating consciously and running/biking/yoga/etc, it felt good to feel strong and confident in that room. It felt even better when apparently it was noticed. To be fair, I had braces and bad acne throughout all of high school so really I had nowhere to go but up. Needless to say, it felt good.

I also played in an outdoor grass volleyball tournament on Saturday. It was my first volleyball tourney since that huge annual 1000+ team one back in July and I just can't get over how much I love this game. I enjoy going running and I find that yoga re-centers me and biking is a great way to see the city...but volleyball is my game. It just makes me happy. Every moment I'm out on the court, throwing my body every which way, calling out blockers and defenses and smashing the ball through the opponent's hands, I am alive and healthy and strong and present. I had so much fun on Saturday and took an extra moment or two to really appreciate what it means when I can play ball at this level still. It will fade one day, and go away altogether for a bit while pregnant, so I soaked it up and smiled extra wide while out on the grass doing one of my very favorite things.

On Sunday we headed to the river with my parents, sister, brother in law and Rob. We brought our lunch & tucked them safely in the dry well, enjoyed a winding course and some absolute solitude and a disconnection from our phones and gadgets. Four hours of laughing and talking and being silly and ridiculous is good for the heart and soul and there isn't anyone else I'd rather spend it with. I have a pretty cute family. Glad for our chance to get away and just be with one another. With all of the sickness I see at work and all of the battles with cancer my dad has gone through, I am always especially thankful for healthy, 'normal' days like these. There is bliss in the little every days, you guys.

Work has been going great. Finished up my last night shift last week and am now 100% on day shifts. I could not be more thrilled. While night shift itself isn't so bad and the coworkers are awesome, I just could never find my groove at that pace or at those hours. I was constantly groggy and hormonal and tired and sluggish and dragging. It always took a few days to 'bounce back' after a stretch of night shift and while my 5 AM alarm clock on day shift is not my favorite thing, I'll take it over fighting to sleep during the day and messing up my entire body by flipping my internal clock. Here's to life on normal hours - never thought I'd be so thankful just to work during the day!!

I've realized lately that my best runs are after 12 hour shifts. I come home at 9 PM, grab the dog and we head out into the night. No watch, no pace to meet, no distance to accomplish...just me and the puppy, the quiet clear darkness, sleeping homes around us and the huff and puff of our breath and the pavement and each other. It's perfection. I actually feel like I'm floating on these runs. I only stop because I need to get home, need to sleep, need to end the day...but I couldn't imagine a better way to do so. My little thirty minutes of sweet, serene, stolen silence. A 5K for the heart and soul. :)

As for today, I'm headed to a nearby lake with my very best work friend (the one who recently got pregnant) and we're going to kayak and swim and play with our dogs and throw the ball and spend the entire day bopping around her little lakeside town, eating ice cream from dripping cones and laughing until our bellies hurt and catching up about our lives and coming home with new tan lines, sand between our toes and tired puppies. These days are summer to me and as I'm watching the sun set earlier and rise later, I'm ever the more thankful of these last few warm, wet, wonderful days of summer. Should be so much fun!

Looking forward to a busy weekend coming up as well. Going to the Farmer's Market with my sister on Saturday morning for fresh local produce and farm-made snacks then a small together at a friend's house then a housewarming party for a college buddy followed by an afternoon playing in a volleyball tournament and ending it with a book club meeting with some of my closest lady friends. It will be busy and I'll have to pack for all of these events when I leave early in the morning but they will be things that ignite my soul, replenish my heart battery, strength my relationships and best of all, I get to spend almost all of them with Rob. Couldn't ask for more.

Hope you are all having a most wonderful end of your summers - it's almost skinny jeans and sweaters and tall boots and crunchy leaves! Oh and apple cider and carving pumpkins and FOOTBALL! Happy Tuesday, everyone!