Five on Friday

Yay for Friday! I felt like this week just kept dragging on, so I'm glad that Friday is finally here.

ONE. A couple years ago I made Sangria for the first time and it was delicious. Such a perfect summer drink. I think I'm going to have to make some more soon, before summer is over!

recipe HERE

TWO. If any of you follow @shaeffertoldmeto on Instagram (or read her blog), you might have seen that they recently got TWO adorable Golden Retriever puppies. And the adorable pups have their own Instagram account that you should probably go follow right now (@ourgoldenpups). Talk about cuteness overload!

THREE. I'm in the mood for another house project. I can't decide if I want to work on our upstairs guest bedroom and sitting area or our basement bathroom and laundry room. I mean, I know I want to get them both done, but not sure which one to tackle first. The upstairs guest room is definitely less work, because it's mostly just removing wall paper and painting the walls and trim, but we are in the basement way more often. Decisions, decisions. 

FOUR. I was looking up bottle openers (hoping to DIY one) and saw this one on Pinterest. I love it. Too cute!

FIVE. Our weekend plans consist of playing in a softball tournament tonight and tomorrow, and doing our long run on Sunday morning. I'm pretty sure I'll be planted on the couch watching tv and napping for the remainder of Sunday after all of that!

Weekend Recap

This past weekend was busy, but fun. It started with one last 30th birthday celebration at my parents house on Friday night. We did dinner with family and then invited more family/friends over for a bonfire. The weather didn't cooperate, and it was rainy and super humid, so we didn't do the bonfire  but we still had a good time. I'm seriously so lucky to have such great family and friends in my life!

Saturday morning Kevin and I did our long run for the week. 12 miles. I was pretty much useless after that, but we went out and did some quick batting practice for softball before heading to a friend's surprise 30th birthday party. We were pretty tired by the time Saturday night rolled around, so we headed to bed fairly early.

Sunday morning we headed to Lansing with Chris & Lisa (Kevin's brother and sister-in-law). Lisa, Kevin, and I ran a 5k race in Lansing that morning. It was our first chance to wear our matching shirts that Kevin made for us (see pic below). I wanted to beat my fastest 5k time, but was worried that my legs would be too tired after running 12 miles the day before. But I guess all the interval/speed work we've been doing paid off, because I beat my best time by about 1:45! I finished with a time of 26:34, which I was really happy with. Kevin got a new PR too...I think he was around 25:20.

The Capitol building in Lansing.

(I took first place in my age group...but it was a really small race and there were only 3 people in my age group! Kevin also took first in his, but again, there were only 2 people in his age group. But we'll take it! lol)

After the race, we headed to the Potter Park Zoo for a couple hours and then had lunch before heading home. Sunday night was spent catching up on laundry and watching the start of Shark Week. Looking forward to a fairly quiet week before another busy weekend!

Thoughts on Being 30

Last Sunday I turned 30. Everyone has been asking me how it feels to be 30. Honestly, it doesn't feel any different than it did to be 29. Or 28. It all just feels the same. Except now I have to check a different box for age groups when I enter races. But that's about it.

Even though I don't feel different, I definitely feel like the last 10+ years flew by. I mean, has it really been 14 years since I got my driver's license? 12 years since I "officially" became an adult? 9 years since I could legally drink? What have I been doing all of these years???

Then I thought about it, I did a lot during my twenties.

Moved to a new city.

Became a fur mom.

Got engaged.

Bought a house.

Got married.

Changed jobs a few times.

And now, here we are. I'm 30. My twenties were pretty great, so I'm looking to forward to what the next decade has to offer. Bring it on 30!

Quick & Easy Outdoor Light Fixture Update

Something I've wanted to do for the past couple of years is update our outdoor light fixtures. We have one by the front door, one by the garage, and one in the back yard. The two on the front of the house are just plain ugly and I'll have to buy new ones if I want to update them (I know what I'm putting on my Christmas wish list....). But the one in our back yard had potential. It wouldn't be my first pick in a fixture if I was buying one, but it'll do. When I saw how Serena over at Thrift Diving updated her outdoor light, I thought, hey, I can do that too! I figured the cost of a can of spray paint was way cheaper than a new fixture, so I gave it a shot. Here's what I started with:

The fixture was worn and rusted, and the glass was filthy. Also, the lightbulb inside was dull, so when you turned the light, it didn't really do much. I took the fixture apart, removed the light bulb, and removed the glass. I taped up some newspaper so I could spray paint the base without worrying about any of the electrical (I made sure to cover up the spot where the light bulb screws in so I didn't get any paint in there). I wiped it down, and sprayed away!

I cleaned the glass inserts with windex and let everything dry. After it was dry, I put it all back together, put in a new light bulb, and ta-da! So easy! Not only does it look better and more updated, but it gives off so much more light. I guess that's what clean glass and a new light bulb will do.

Currently (A Life Update)

Once again, it's been far too long since I've blogged. So here's a post to catch up on all the things.

Celebrating: Kevin and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary last month. I can't believe how fast 4 years flew by! We kept it super low-key by just going out to dinner at our favorite Mexican spot. We decided not to do gifts because you know, adulting = bills on bills on bills. But of course, Kevin is a sweetheart and brought me home a gorgeous purple orchid (keep your fingers crossed that I don't kill it).

AND I turn the big 3-0 on Sunday! We're having a cook out to celebrate with all of our friends this weekend and I can't wait.

Training For: Our marathon training officially started a few weeks ago and it's kicking my butt already. The race in in October, so we still have a lot of work to do. I'm so thankful that Kevin and I are doing it together, because it makes getting up at 5:00 am to run just a little bit easier when you have someone else doing it with you. If you've ever run a marathon, I'd love any tips you have! Or if you have any suggestions for great songs to add to my running playlist, let me know.

Watching: Most of the shows I typically watch are on break, so I'm pretty much watching everything on HGTV, baseball, or realty tv (specifically Teen Mom and The Challenge). But I don't watch a whole lot of TV in the summer. It's too nice to spend all that time inside.

Photographing: I mean, if you consider snapping a quick pic on my iphone "photographing," then it would be flowers. I love seeing things grown and bloom. Spring and Summer are great for that! I'm slowly making our yard look a little better with plants, flowers, landscaping, etc.

DIYing: I've been on a role with some quick DIY projects around the house. I plan to share some of those soon. The most recent was a quick makeover of an outdoor light, which you may have seen on my Instagram.

Listening To: I've been to a few concerts this summer (Birthday Bash, Eric Church, and Tim & Faith) and hope to catch a few more before winter gets here.

And that pretty much sums up my life over the past few months: running, yard/house work, and concerts. Now if only I could update on a more regular basis :)