Happy New Year!!

I can't believe it's already New Year's Eve. I mean seriously how did we get from Thanksgiving, to Christmas, to NYE in what feels like the blink of an eye?! We had a wonderful Christmas and I'm excited to welcome a new year. I hope you are as well!

2014 was a great year, there were some hard times, but even more great times and tons of memories were made. I grew professionally and did my best to enjoy each moment as it happened. This year I finally finished by Bachelor's degree, traveled to tons of fun places with my work, met hundreds of awesome people and made new friends while kindling old friendships. Scott started a new career that was a scary move for our family but we haven't looked back since and he's doing so well. It's so much fun seeing your hubby successful. I couldn't be more proud of him.

Scott and I won't do much this evening, we've never been big NYE party animals, I get nervous being out so late on a dangerous evening, plus tonight it's suppose to be freezing so I know we're not missing much! Instead, we'll go over to my Aunt and Uncle's and ring in the new year with Baked Ziti, garlic bread, and family. My Aunt and Uncle are both now retired and are headed down to Yuma Arizona in a few days and will be gone for 3-4 months so we're sure going to miss them and want to soak up as much time as possible before they go.

I've started to notice that more people seem to be cheerful and happy on New Year's Eve vs. Christmas. Perhaps there is less stress and more time for self reflection that makes people more relaxed and excited? Whether you had your best year yet, one of your worst or one that's in between, it's exciting to start a clean slate and begin a new story. While I normally set New Years Resolutions, this year I'm not. Instead I'm setting goals that are obtainable and specific.

First thing on my list - purging. I'm ready to go through closets, my pantry, our garage and every other nook and cranny and get rid of stuff that we don't need or use. Almost two years of marriage has caused an excess of lots of stuff that we just don't need! I don't plan to do it all in one day, because that's what I usually plan and well that hasn't gotten me far! Instead I'm going to follow this #ClutterFree30 challenge in January --

Here's a list of other things I want to shoot for in 2015:

• Blog more
• Finally hang wedding pictures (oops)
• Continue nightly cleaning routines to make weekends more enjoyable
• Be present
• Continuously self improve
• Worry less
• Laugh more

What do you want to do in 2015? What are you most looking forward to?

Weight Loss: Tools & Resources

After my latest weight loss themed post I've gained a lot of new readers and a lot of people in similar positions reach out to me for tips, ideas and encouragement. It means more than y'all know to hear that I'm motivating you! Believe me, it's the other way around!!

So I don't have all the ideas because like you I'm still learning too, but here's a few of my favorite gadgets, gizmos, apps, and resources:

FitBit - This little bracelet is super helpful to track how active or in some cases not active you are during the day. You can follow friends and challenge each other to get up and move more which is extra fun if you're competitive like me! One thing to remember with this, if you're doing heavy lifting or a gym workout, you may not get nearly as many steps as your friend that's an avid runner. Don't let that get you down, any activity is good activity!

Polar FT4 Heart Rate Monitor -This is my FAVORITE work out tool. You wear the monitor just under your chest and the watch on your arm then get on with your workout. During your workout you can track your heart rate (perfect for those HIIT workouts or those that are focused more on weight training then cardio) and the best part is seeing how many calories your body burned at the end. I push myself so much harder with this little do-dad.

 
MyFitnessPal Site & App - Great resource for tracking your food and water intake, your activity and also to stay accountable. I follow and am followed by a few friends on here which makes me more inclined to track and less inclined to eat that doughnut I really want!

Map My Walk & Map My Run - Walk your pup often? Going on runs at night but want to track your distance? This free app is great for tracking distance, pace and time. My favorite feature is that every mile you go you get an update on your distance, time and pace.

Community - Don't try to go at this alone. Weight loss, fitness and changing your lifestyle is NOT easy. Find friends who are going after similar goals or maybe join a workout class at your gym and start connecting with people that way! I love the community I've built with this blog and it's always helpful to have someone to share recipes and ideas with!

Family Support - Get your spouse, family, close friends and those who you call "family" on board with your goals. It's much easier to make healthy decisions when you've expressed your goals and your family wants to help you get there. It's also easier to explain to your hubby why there aren't anymore chips or unhealthy snacks in the pantry! :)

Journal - Write stuff down. Share your thoughts and keep track of how you're feeling. I use my blog as a journal but you can go to Target and get a $3 notebook if that's more comfortable!

Food Scale - Find one of these bad boys on amazon and start weighing your food. Every wonder what 4 oz. of Chicken really is? Food scales speed up and take the guessing out of food prep.

Tupperwear - Going to prep your meals? You need good Tupperware that will hold up to lots of washes! I have 8-10 Tupperware style containers I use for food prep. It's nice to have enough that you can prep for a whole weak and still have some left over.

Egg Genie - You may notice you've been eating a lot of eggs, or perhaps you're like me and just love hard boiled eggs but hate boiling them. Enter Egg Genie. My mother-in-law got this handy gadget for me as a bridal shower gift a couple of years ago and I use it all the time! There is seriously no easier way to boil eggs!

Water Bottle - You should always be drinking LOTS of water and the best way to do that is to find and stick with a water bottle you love. Personally, I love the Starbucks drink tumblers with a straw. I seem to drink way more water with a straw than if I'm using a bottle. Invest in a great water bottle (or 6 if you're like me) and drink up!

Weight Loss: December Goals

 

Well it's officially my favorite month of the year and I've started my annual "days until Christmas" countdown. There's 24 if you're wondering, so you had better start shopping, wrapping and decorating!

With my favorite month comes weekends jam packed with holiday parties, baking days, trips to Zoolights and fun meals with friends and family. It's going to be a tough month to navigate with my new clean eating lifestyle, but thank goodness for 80/20 and allowing myself cheat days! I won't be perfect and I likely won't see the best results possible but it's important to enjoy holiday seasons. 

Here are my December goals: 

• Drink one gallon of water or more per day
• Work out at least three times per week
• Stay off the scale and only weigh weekly
• Keep indulgences down to a minimum and avoid excess sweets
• Lose 5lbs by New Years Eve
• Continue logging my meals in MyFitnessPal

You'll notice my workout goal is only set for three times a week. We're going to be having fun this month and will likely be tough to fit in a 5 day workout regimen. During the slower weeks I'll push for 4-5 but I want to set myself up for success not failure!

What are your goals for December? How are you going to stay on track despite parties, Christmas candy and oodles of baked goods? 

Our Thanksgiving Weekend

I'm lucky enough to work for an awesome company that gives our team a long four day weekend for Thanksgiving! This weekend has been wonderful and just what we needed to kick off the busy month ahead. Scott and I have lots of fun plans in December but they'll keep us busy considering we won't have a free weekend until New Years! Although it will be a lot to juggle, I can't pretend to be anything but excited.

The weekend kicked off with a lunch day with my favorite guy - my Dad. He picked me up after I finished work up for the day an we headed to Tacoma. Along the way I got to by chance see the house Dad grew up in and hear about all of his childhood stories. So fun to hear him talk about life years ago and how different it was than what we know today. Dad and I had to get race packets for Thursday's Turkey Trot so we headed to Tacoma to grab them then  grabbed lunch at an old classic in Tacoma called The Hob Nob where Dad had the "best club sandwich he's ever had" and I had a super yummy chicken salad sandwich. Fun fact - my Grandmother (Dad's side) use to be a waitress many many moons ago! 

Wednesday night was filled with prepping, baking and organizing my dishes for Thanksgiving. I made pumpkin cookies, pumpkin dip, and prepped my Harvest Slaw (recipe to come) but here's a sneak peak. This salad is beautiful when all put together and the family loved it!

We then headed over to my parents so I could learn the secret to my Mom's delicious stuffing so I can take a stab at it next year! It was an early to bed night since Scott had to get up early for the annual Turkey Bowl and I had to do the same for our first annual Turkey Trot!

This was my Mom and Aunt Teresa's first 5k and although I think Jenni and I suckered them into it, they ended up loving it and we'll likely make this a yearly tradition! We talked the whole way and shared fun stories and memories, it was time I will cherish. Plus even though the forecast called for rain, we ended up having a beautiful sunny morning for the entire 3.1 miles, winding through North End Tacoma and constantly reminding me why one day I would LOVE to live in that area.

 

About 20 of my family members spend that afternoon eating yummy food, laughing, scoping out the Black Friday ads and last but not least, watching the Seahawks beat the Niners! My Aunts and my Mom made a wonderful dinner like they do every year, but next year I'm excited to have our generation take on the prep and cooking on Thanksgiving. Remind me that I said that a year from now!

Gunnar getting ready to eat!

Our annual Turkey Day "selfie"

Scott and I headed home about 8pm and I tried my best to go to sleep early since my alarm was set for 3:50am. Yep you read that write, 3:50 IN THE MORNING. I usually can't go on the Black Friday adventure my Aunts embark on every year, but the last couple I've got to tag along since I'm way too old for Christmas presents now!

The alarm went off as soon as my eyes closed (or so it seemed), so I pulled myself out of bed, got dressed and made myself as presentable as that time of the day can be then headed to pick up my Mom. We met my Aunt Karen, Aunt Teresa and Uncle Bob then hit the road for coffee and our first stop-- Fred Meyer. Why you may ask? Because every single year we hit their half priced sock sale and now with so many littles in the family, you can't beat their toy sales! My Aunts hit Freddy's hard and we ended up having to go unload after just one stop!

We stayed out shopping until 4pm, it was a LONG day but I had a blast and most of the other shoppers were in the holiday mood! I love going Black Friday shopping mostly to people watch and occasionally snag a deal or two, but I will never go out on Thanksgiving night or camp out for the $200 Best Buy T.V. For example this guy, was lined up at Best Buy when my Dad and I stopped in on Wednesday afternoon. Why on earth would you want to miss Thanksgiving with your family for a T.V.?

Thankfully between my Amazon addiction and Black Friday finds, Scott and I are only two gifts away from finishing our holiday shopping. I still have quite a few things to finish making but I'm so excited to be almost done and able to truly enjoy the season.

Friday evening and Saturday called for decorating the house. It's my tradition to get our tree up and all of my decorations up the weekend after Thanksgiving and although our full day of shopping set me back a few hours I got it all done and the house cleaned early Sunday morning! I just love coming home to the decorations being out and we've already got presents under the tree!

Even Lucy loves all of our decorations!

My hubs helping me decorate the tree.

My Grandma LOVED Christmas and between her and my Mom I have grown to love it too! I still believe in "Santa" even if that just means I believe in the spirit of Christmas. Nearly 5 Christmases ago, before my Grandma passed away she wanted to make sure that her love of Christmas could live on through all of her Grandkids and their future children. She gave each of us an Elf on The Shelf and Santa's Magic Key. Finding those each year gives me a few second of sadness but even more cherished memories. I can't wait to make sure her spirit and love of the holidays continues!

Saturday night after finishing up a bit more shopping, we got to hang out with our nephew Gunnar for a few hours so we took him to Fantasy Lights. The three of us had a blast and Gunnar thought the lights were "super cool". He is talking so much lately and when you couple that plus his excitement over "Christmas lights" it makes for a pretty funny kid!

 

And these my friends are what happens when you get anxious waiting in line for the lights! The funny faces of TeeTee, Gunnar and Uncle Scott!

Checking out the tree!

Scott and I capped off the long weekend with his "famous hot cocoa" and enjoying the second installment of our Sunday Christmas Movie night by watching Love Actually. Love this new tradition of ours!

What did you do over the long weekend? Have you decorated yet? There's only 24 days left people!

10 Things I'm Thankful For

Happy almost Thanksgiving all! Tonight I'll be baking, prepping and getting ready for the busy Turkey day ahead of my family! My cousin Jenni, Aunt Teresa and Mom are starting the day off early with the Tacoma City Turkey Trot. We're doing the 5k walk to help burn off the calories we'll likely consumer tomorrow afternoon! Then it's off to an all day extravaganza at my Aunt's home with the family. Seriously love this time of year for that reason. We'll eat, decorate cookies (family tradition) and watch the Seahawks play. GO HAWKS!!!!

In the spirit of Thanksgiving and the holiday season, I wanted to share what I'm thankful for this year! I usually do the daily thankful post on Facebook but I often find myself forgetting to post and it seems like more of a hassle than a reflection.

When I started this blog I wasn't sure what my "niche" was going to be or what I'd write about most but I knew that I wanted it to be a place that was fun and felt "happy". I firmly believe that we're in control of our happiness and that even in the darkest moments there are reasons to smile and be thankful. I value the holidays and although Christmas is my all time favorite, I love Thanksgiving. I mean who wouldn't love a day filled with family, ridiculous amounts of good food and football?

I hope you can all take a few moments during the holidays, amidst all of the chaos and reflect on what you're thankful for. I hope you can unplug and enjoy Thanksgiving with your family or friends and make new memories and traditions!

Here's 10 things I'm thankful for:

1. My Husband. Seriously Scott is an amazing person. He loves every bit of me, even the crazy parts! He supports me on most of my crazy ideas and talks me off the ledge for the others. Scott is seriously the kindest person I know and I hope he knows I'm thankful for him every day, not just during Thanksgiving
2. My Mom. If you know me personally, you know that my Mom is my best friend (other than my hubby). We do everything together, we talk every single day and she knows me better than I know myself. Her strength and character inspire me and I hope to be half of the Mom she is one day!
3. Gunnar. Well you all know how much I love him since I probably talk about him every single day! This little nugget is the center of our family, has more personality than any adult I know and is going to grow up and do great things some day. I'm lucky to be his TeeTee. 
4. My Pops. Dad has always encouraged me to go for my dreams and is definitely where I get my strong willed and tough skinned nature. We have a special bond and still go on Dad/Daughter dates that I cherish! 
5. Family. Lets face it, every family is crazy in their own way, and mine fits in that category but in the best way! We are all very close, most of us get together on a weekly basis and we always have so much fun at holidays and other big events. I always married into a wonderfully close and big family that I'm lucky to be a part of. I wouldn't trade my family for the world! 
6. Friends. I got pretty darn lucky in this category too! My friends are seriously the best and have helped me through tough times and helped me celebrate accomplishments. I'm so thankful for each of my friendships!
7. My Coworkers and Career. My second family would be "Smart Team" I get to work with every day. Our team is made up of people from all different back grounds and experience but we all work great together and learn from each other every day. We have so much fun and through our work at Getting Smart we get to bring impact to education! I LOVE my job and am blessed to have my dream career at 26.
8. My Home. While it is and will likely always be a "work-in-progress", I love that Scott and I have a place to call home that we take pride and make our own! We've made wonderful memories here and sometimes my favorite place to be is in front of the fireplace, watching football and just enjoying a quiet day at home. 
9. Health. As you know I'm working on getting healthier by eating right and working out, but overall I am thankful for my health. I'm not perfect by any means, but this year I've had too many people close to me experience major health issues, so I'm thankful for my small "issues".
10. Blogging. I love having a creative outlet to share my thoughts, recipes and other favorites. The last few weeks I've shared some pretty personal and scary things to make public, but through it I have helped inspire others. It's funny how things work; people say I'm an inspiration, but they're the ones who inspire me! If I can share my story and help one person eat healthier, get moving or just feel more comfortable in their own skin, than it makes every bit of nervousness I feel when I hit "publish" more than worth it!

I hope you and your loved ones have a Happy Thanksgiving!! What are you thankful for this year? And what do you do to celebrate Thanksgiving?

Weight Loss: Proof the Scale Doesn't Matter

Today I'm officially on week 3 of my Fitness by Felicia exercise and nutrition plan. I have loved it so far and appreciate that she agrees this is a lifestyle, not a diet. There is no "one time fix" for my weight and fitness. It is something I'll have to be conscious about and watch for the rest of my life and I'm ok with that! I'm feeling stronger each time I go to the gym, I've conquered my fear of the weight room and most importantly I'm feeling happy with myself again. 

Now about the scale...We hear it all the time-- the number doesn't matter it's all about how you feel. But if you've ever struggled with weight loss or lost weight at all you know it's much easier to say the scale doesn't matter than to actually believe it.

Well, I've been converted to one of those non-scale chicks. No joke, I am done with the scale (almost). I mean I'll always have a scale, but I'm done with this daily or every other day visit to the dreaded scale-monster and I have proof that shows it is NOT about the number we see.

I'd be lying if I said I just woke up this morning and thought - "you know I'm done with the scale". Nope didn't happen like that at all. Here's how it really happened. Last week I texted my cousin Jenni who hosts You vs. You and was beyond discouraged. I had eaten healthy with little to no slip ups and worked my butt of yet the scale wasn't changing! She reminded me to remember how I feel and drink lots of water. I trusted her and left the scale alone and waited impatiently for my Saturday update pictures.

This is extremely scary to post and I'm not proud of the first photo but I'm proud of myself for making the change back to a healthier me. This is a photo collage of me two weeks ago and then this past weekend. Please excuse the smiley faces put over my actual face, my cousin posted this on her page and wanted to keep it anonymous which is great since they look much better than my tired, "lets get this over with" face. Also, I promise to get better with consistent poses!

Do you see the difference in the side view and back? Keep in mind my scale only moved by an ounce or two! This goes to show that building lean muscle and burning fat is what matters, not the number that pops up on the scale.

Ignore the scale people! Remember how you feel when you leave the gym and when you eat healthy. Fuel your body with the nutrients it deserves and get moving!

Wordless Wednesday

I mean seriously, could that kid get any cuter?

Why I Climb

If you've ever been to or driven through down town Seattle you've seen this great big building known as the Columbia Tower. Fun fact, it is the tallest skyscraper in Seattle

There are 69 flights of stairs, 1311 steps, and 788 feet of vertical elevation and every year crazy folks like myself climb up it for the Big Climb. This will be my second year climbing and although it is extremely difficult, it is nothing like daily fight that blood cancer patients and their families go through. I have lost more than one loved one to cancer and this year my Uncle Richard was diagnosed with a very aggressive form of leukemia that has forced us all to stare cancer in the face yet again.

I climb for those lost, for those fighting and for those who will some day fight the ugly, nasty and tragic disease that is cancer. I raise money for the climb and every penny that gets donated goes directly to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society which is known as the world's largest voluntary health organization dedicated to funding blood cancer research, education and patient services. Their mission is to cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin's disease and myeloma. Those cancers and this mission is very real to me not only because of my family and friends affected, but also because one day I may be facing lymphoma. I have an autoimmune disease that greatly increases my chances of developing lymphoma, so I climb in hopes that myself and many others can rest assured knowing there's a cure.

The climb is an incredible event that I can't describe. If you haven't done one, I highly recommend you try it. Everyone there is climbing to conquer cancer and there is an energy that's unbelievable. My favorite part of the climb is the faces and names they have in each stairwell to remind you why you're climbing. The faces are of those who have lost the fight and those who won or are still fighting. They push you to keep going, plus the view from the top isn't half bad.

My goal this year is to raise $500.00 and I'm 20% of the way there thanks to a generous donation from my Uncle Richard. Yep, the Uncle Richard above who's currently enduring the fight of his life but still donated to the climb. I encourage you to donate what you can. Even if that means missing your daily coffee or weekly dinner date. No donation is too small, whether it's $5 or $500 it is just as needed and appreciated. Cancer is real, it is scary and it takes far too many lives.

Here's a video to give you a look inside what climbing is like:

Weight Loss: Comparing

"Comparison is the thief of joy." - Theodore Roosevelt

It's been almost a month since I shared my weight loss journey and I still get a slight sense of panic when I think about people knowing my story. Where I've come, what I've gained back and where I have left to go. I have no idea why I feel slightly ashamed and embarrassed. Why on earth should or would anyone (even myself) be ashamed of hard work and a bit of a slip up. At the end of the day I am still healthier than I was when I started this journey 7 years ago but lately I've been letting myself spend too much time comparing my journey to others.

Comparing can be an evil thing, it can occupy negative space in your mind and get in the way of your goals. I think we've all been there, you're at the gym working out when next thing you know in walks a girl or even a guy who is super fit and you think "good lord what am I doing here, I can never look like that" or "gosh I wish I looked like that" and then realize how far you have to go. I've done it PLENTY of times and while I'm making a commitment to myself to stop comparing I know I'll do it in the future, it's human and it happens.

What I've started to realize these past few days is that we're all on a different journey and it is just silly to compare your start to someone else's middle or end. We don't know their goals and while it may look like they are super fit, they're likely struggling with their own self doubt and they worked hard to get there.

This self doubt has kept me from the free weight room at my gym for years. Literally I've been a member there for over 3 years and I honestly don't think I had entered that room until this week. I usually stick to the weight machine and leave that room for the "fit people". Again, how dumb am I to think that being in that room means your fit and that those of us who are working to get there are "not aloud".

Thanks to a fitness and nutrition plan I purchased from a fitness coach on Instagram, I was forced to go into the "fit people weight room". The first day was tough, mostly because I was mentaly afraid to go in and spent a lot of time thinking "gosh these people look amazing, I bet they wonder what the hell I'm doing in here". It sucked to feel like that so I vowed on my way home to remember my journey, how far I've come and that I'm doing this for ME and my health which is all that matters. That same evening a dear friend and family member posted this on Facebook, I swear it was like a sign.

So today I spent most of my 80 minute workout in the weight room. I owned it, I was confident and I did the workout I needed to do. It felt AMAZING and it is ridiculous of me to think that anyone else cares what I'm doing in there. I'm certainly not the strongest, but I'm getting stronger each day and you have start somewhere right?

#NailedIt

 So lets end this negative self talk. STOP comparing your body, your fitness, and your abilities to someone else. We all have struggles, we all want to be a better version of ourselves and we all spend far too much time comparing what we have to what someone else has. Embrace what you've got and choose to be happy. Don't you know, happiness isn't size specific!

Wordless Wednesday

My Dream Job...

We've all thought about or planned for our "dream job" and while you may think this blog is going to tell you about where I hope to work or what I hope to be one day, unfortunately it will not. Because fortunately, I already have my dream career. At 26 I'm growing in a career I love and I'm feeling really grateful for that today which urged me to start writing this blog.

I'm coming off what our team likes to call "conference high" and wanting to reflect a bit on my "smart journey". First of all, lets start with the fact that I LOVE my job. I almost feel as though it's strange to call it a "job". In fact it often doesn't feel like work at all, especially as I sit in seat 11D on my way home from #iNACOL14 and think about how fortunate I am to have a career that I love. 

I've always wanted to do work that mattered and brought impact. I also wanted to become a teacher but soon realized I wasn't quite cut out for this, so the next best thing is my work with Getting Smart. I get to help bring impact to kiddos like this one who spoke this week about how online learning has impacted his learning.

Can you imagine being that young and sitting on a panel in front of a huge group of adults? This kid had no fear and was full of pure excitement when talking about his experiences at school. He absolutely LOVES learning and with the work we do, we're helping to bring this passion for learning to more and more students by creating next-generation, digital learning and student centered learning environments.

When I started at Getting Smart I had no idea what was going to come. I knew I was excited to join a dedicated and passionate team of people from all different backgrounds. We all bring a different set of skills and background knowledge to the team and although otherwise we may have never connected, we make a GREAT team. I took a big leap out of my comfort zone when I made the transition to Getting Smart and I've never looked back or thought twice about that decision!

This year I've gone on so many adventures with Getting Smart. We've traveled near and far, here's a list of some of the places I've gone in 2014:

• New York City. Tom was my personal tour guide and while we only had a short 24 hours in the "big apple", I got to see a lot of that giant city. We walked, and walked, and walked some more. Rode the subway, went to the top of Rockefeller Center, peeked at Central Park and froze our butts off walking through time square. It was a great first glance at NYC, and I can't wait to go back as a real tourist!
• Phoenix. The Getting Smart team got to travel down to PHX for a staff retreat. Not all of us work in the Federal Way office so it was awesome to have an opportunity to all be together.
• Austin. The land of all things Queso, Ripolo's Pizza, live music and FUN. The team went down for SXSWedu and we had a blast! I'm pretty sure I ate my weight in chips and queso though. Oh and if you're ever in Austin you have to go to Torchy's Tacos!
• Las Vegas. Twice, in July. Yes, it was as hot as you're thinking. Once for Bb World, then again a little over 7 days later for National Charter Schools Conference. We got to see the area outside of the "strip", have drinks at the Container Park, and most exciting of all we got to have dinner at Giada's restaurant to celebrate Tom's birthday. Believe it or not, the one and only Giada (who is tiny in real life) made an appearance that evening and even touched my shoulder! I know, it's silly to be that excited but I've watched her on Food Network for years people!!
• North Caroline. Where I perfected my southern accent and learned the true meaning of "bless her heart". 
• Palm Springs. Most of our team went down this week for the iNACOL 2014 Blended and Online Learning Symposium. I finally got to meet people I've been working with for quite some time, met new connections, learned a ton and soaked up sunshine in beautiful Palm Springs. I'll be bringing Scott back here for sure, and if you're headed there I'd recommend you stay at the Colony Palms Hotel. Great pick Caroline!

I've got to build relationship with some of the coolest folks in education and learn about the greater options that there are for students when it comes to education. In fact those people I've met give me hope for the future of education and excited to see where we take it in the next few years.

This year I was also encouraged to participate in Advancing Leadership which provides me an opportunity to grow personally and professionally while getting involved in the community I work in. I'm super excited to see where that takes me and how I grow as a leader over the next 8 months.

Slusser Adventures: Montana

Last month Scott and I went on a 12 hour road trip adventure to Bozeman Montana to celebrate our niece Mikayla's 16th birthday. We greatly enjoyed spending time with the family and while it may seem shocking, we loved the road trip. It was so much fun spending time with Scott, just he and I and miles upon miles of Interstate 90.

Our trip started on a Thursday afternoon. I got off work and we hit the road to our first pit stop, Coeur d'Alene. Not much excitement here other than a quick dinner, McDonalds ice cream cones and then to bed so we could get an early start on the road.

Friday morning we got up, grabbed coffee (a definite must) and hit the road. We were on a mission to get to Bozeman! The scenery going through Lake Coeur d'Alene was incredible. We hit it on a foggy, fall morning and it was like something out of a movie! There as hours and miles to go so we killed time but talking about childhood memories, dancing like goofballs to Taylor Swift songs and just enjoying the drive.

Then, this happened...

I've seen hundreds of those "scenic pull off" signs and have never really stopped but always wondered how scenic they really are. Well we decided to do just that and take a small break, stretch our legs and have a mini adventure. We skipped rocks in the river, hiked up a rocky mountainside and made a memories we won't forget.  Most importantly though, we learned that sometimes you have to stray from the plan and be spontaneous. I am such a planner with every day life that stopping and just enjoying a moment "unplanned" was much needed.

You guys may not know this, but my husband is a kick butt rock skipper!

This giant boulder was so cool, smooth like glass and bright red!

View from the top of our hike.

We even found a cave with ashes and remnants of a fire. Apparently we weren't the only spontaneous ones at the "scenic pull off"

Finally, after a few more hours and a quick drive-thru style lunch we made our way to Scott's sister's home. We have 12 total nieces and nephews, and 8 of them were there so you can imagine the ambush that happened when we arrived! They were excited to start the fun weekend ahead, as were we.

There was go-kart races, family dinners, party set up, kick-ball in the dark, horse riding, rodeo games and lots of memories made.

Our nephew Trace, the goofball.

Sunset over Big Sky

 The road trip home was made in one day and minimal stops, we couldn't wait to get home to our pup and our bed! One of the few stops we did make was in Ellensburg, where we picked up 60 pounds of fresh honeycrisp apples. Seriously still dreaming about how delicious those were. Wish Ellensburg wasn't two hours away!