An Exciting First for Me.

When I asked my sister during our run yesterday about what races she is planning on doing now that she is running so much she replied, “I’ve already had enough pain in my life, I’m not going to pay money to be in more pain.”

Valid point.

Haha it really is a strange thing that we do when we pay money to be in pain on the race course but I definitely miss that pain.

9:29 average and a hangout on my porch for a bit before going inside.  My legs felt like cement after doing a speed workout the day before but I actually did run up one of the hills so that was exciting to me.

Spending some time at the pool gets out a lot of their energy so it is the thing I am embracing fully this summer.  An added bonus is that sitting in the water is the only way I am going to survive being outside much this summer.

She has a new facial expression for each picture that she takes.

Then we had my niece over to our house to babysit and we went to our favorite place to eat—> Sundance Foundry Grill.

We ate outside surrounded by the mountains with a nice breeze because it is much cooler there compared to at home.

Because we have season passes to ski here we can take the lift year round which Andrew loves because that means he has some amazing mountain biking all summer too.

Recharged.

I absolutely asked him to match shoes with me ha.  We were sent these a year or so ago and I try to get Andrew to wear them with me as much as possible.

And then we stopped at Coldstone to finish off our date.  I have no idea how Andrew doesn’t add a brownie or something delicious to his ice cream but he loves the cake batter flavor plain.

After we got home I took the kids over to my sister’s house and we did something I’ve never done before… We made homemade freezer jam!

My sister’s kids were happy that she had her apron on to make something delicious and not for grouting which is what she usually wears it for ha.

We used the recipe on this Pectin and now that we know how to do it, we are going to do it each year together.

We made a total of 28 of these containers of jam and we figured out that for each container it only cost $1.65 (including the containers which she got at the dollar store and you can freeze them… We will reuse them for our future jams too).

Now I have homemade almond butter from Lauren and homemade jam for my sandwiches… I am set.

I didn’t keep track of my favorite things this week but I’m sure that just means next week’s Friday Favorites will be doubled but I’ll leave you with our nightly tradition…

I position myself in a way on the couch that I can be lying down to eat my cereal (and avoid spilling all over myself) while we watch a show and Skye decides she needs to be eating my cereal too.

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I love the amazing things you are all doing and love to feature them!  Send them to [email protected] if you want to be featured!  So inspired by Nadya!

Nadya!!!  “On Sunday May 31, 2020, I ran a solo half marathon to support the movement for social justice in America. I am the Co-Director and an Associate Professor of Peace and Justice Studies at Wellesley College. I am also a wife to my sweetheart Patrick and Mom to (newly) 6 year old sweetie Leila. In the wake of the twin crises of the pandemic and the racial injustices that have occurred (which are linked), I wanted to put into action something I teach my students and my daughter. Peace is a verb. It is not something one can simply wish for and hope for to happen. Just like Love we have to work hard at it, nurture it, extend compassion in the face of differences and put it into action. It requires dynamic activism. But how could I be an agent of peace if I must quarantine or social distance? How can I be of service to justice? I have been caring for my elderly parents in rural Virginia and zoom teaching since early March  and my father’s age and underlying medical condition precludes me from joining large groups for protests. Instead of peaceful protest, I chose to become a peace runner. Running isn’t safe for all people (as we saw with Ahmaud Arbery) and I wanted to use my privilege to run to share the “Peace is a Verb” message- for this small rural community where we are staying and for my daughter to see too. So I made a T-shirt and did my run. I also raised a bit of money to donate to the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI). I always seek to affirm the message (of MLK Jr)  that the moral arc of the Universe is long but it bends towards Justice. It may be long but I know my strong legs can carry me quite a distance on that tough path toward Justice. If other people feel inclined, maybe they could become peace runners and make their own Peace is a Verb shirt?”

What are you looking forward to this weekend?

Have you ever made jam?  What kind?  Made anything recently that you are pretty proud about (I’m extremely proud over this jam)?

Do you have any mountains close to you?  Close to any water? How far away?

During the time at home the last few months did you pick up any new hobbies/talents?