On Giving Up

I have given up on a few things from time to time.

When I was a kid I was a quitter more than a go-getter. Maybe I still am at times. I quit piano, the most regretted quit. I quit softball, but I don't really regret that. I quit gymnastics, but that wasn't entirely my choice (I can, however, still do a one handed cart wheel and amaze my niece who is learning to do round offs).

A few months ago I gave up chocolate for 40 days. I usually give up something in the Lenten season. This year it was Instagram and other social media. Every couple of months, I take a week off Facebook. Honestly, I would quit that one all together if not for the far away friends and pictures of nieces and nephews it allows me to keep up with. And occasionally I give up things like ice cream and pop just to keep control over my habits.

As an adult I have actually gotten much better at seeing things through. Mom made me stick with volleyball my freshman year of high school and I played 6 years for school teams and the 10 years since recreationally. I finished AmeriCorps and did a second term and anyone who knew me the first 2 months of that knows how badly I wanted to quit. But I didn't. And I am glad that I did not quit those things.

Learning to see things through has also allowed me to know when it's ok to give up and move on from something. Be it a hobby, relationship or goal that just isn't within reason.

My most recent thing I am giving up on (just for now, not forever) is training for a full marathon. In May it seemed like a good idea to sign up for one. It doesn't seem like an entirely bad idea now.

But....

It seems the best thing to do is to give it up for now. When I do my long runs, still no longer than a 1/2 marathon, my knees press on in quiet anger and pain wondering what in the world I am trying to do to them. It also is a huge time commitment that I am not quite equipped to make for the next two months.

I like running. And I want to keep liking running. And running a marathon this fall just seems that it is not the way to keep liking it. I will continue running and building a better base and strength that I need to be able to complete a marathon (someday).

But for now, I am hanging up my goal and going with being better at what I know I can already do.

Sometimes the thing to do is push through and not give up. But others, giving up might just be the best thing to do.

I Think I'll Go to Boston

Boston has always been a goal for a trip. And it was the last of the 30by30 goals to be completed. Fenway park was the main reason, but then when Kelly moved near the city it seemed the right trip to make. It also helped that the Reds just happened to play the Redsox at Fenway this year. Schedules were checked and tickets were bought and Aly and I ventured northward!

Aly went a little earlier than me to visit some family so we met up with her when Kelly picked me up Sunday morning.

Our first stop, straight from the airport was to tour around Boston Common, the Freedom Trail, and whatever else we seemed to stumble upon.

Boston Commons, where we had our picnic lunch prepared by Kelly.

I'm a terrible tourist and historian, I did not take notes as usual so do not remember many names of the things on the Freedom Trail. (Nor did any of us really know what they were at the time)

Leave the gun, take the cannoli.

Street performers

Cheers Bar

We headed back to Kelly's residence to drop our stuff and make some dinner which we then followed up with some ice cream from the local shop where she lives. Local ice cream is on my list of priorities for any trip that I take.

After spending the evening searching for cheap Mexican restaurants for Cinco De Mayo the next day(which seem to be in every shopping area around Greenville, SC) we settled on just Mexican, sans the cheap. This did however lead us to a day of adventuring and touring around as we drove many more miles than planned and stopped in to see what we could see on the North Shore.

Our friend Steph works for GE wind energy.

This house is perfect.

The light house that we thought we were trespassing to get to, but then ended up being a public place. And it had a rock wall that was progressively windy and almost a half mile long out to the end in the bay.

We took a break from disc golf on Kelly's campus to climb some trees.

Cute little kite fliers on a beach somewhere in NH I think. 

And to end the evening, we went to a lovely New England contra dance. We danced at the Scout House in Concord which is known in the contra dance community for the line by the fire place, which we all danced in. It was a lovely dance full of people who were lovely dancers. Being young-ish gals we were a bit of a hot commodity and couldn't have sat out a dance if we wanted to.

A lovely New England contra dance.

The last morning we went for breakfast at Sugar Magnolias in Gloucester for a hike around a lake near Kelly's residence and toured around a little here and there to fill the time we needed before getting Aly to the airport.

A lake with hiking near Kelly's residence.

And then we went to Fenway Park! Aly left us to head back south and Kelly and I ventured to Fenway. She had no attachment, nor much interest, but she tagged along anyway. It was a fantastic evening for me. I forgot to take a picture of my Fenway Frank, but it was enjoyed for sure. If you ever go, give yourself time for the pre-game festivities and to tour around the stadium. I did not get to take an official tour, but I guess that just means I will need to go back someday. 

Street performers and pre-game hooplah on Yawkey Way.

It's so small. And you can get really close up pre-game.

Reds vs. Redsox

Our view from the bleachers. Well worth the price for tickets. 

Not a bad seat in the place.

After the game, we navigated the train system to find our way back to the home of a friend of Kelly's. We crashed there for the night and I caught my plane back south bright and early the next morning. 

The tunnel to head back to the airport.

See ya later, Boston!

Over a month...oops

To blog to blog to blog...

I have been meaning to blog for a few days.  No, it's been weeks. Actually, over a month. 

Oops. 

Summer has flown by and gotten the best of me (and has given me a pretty good tan.) How is it July already?!

This is a strange summer for this girl who is usually at a camp. I'm not completely out of camp world, but am not living at a camp for the first summer in 5 years (not to mention the 4 in college). 

Including the musings about not being at camp, here are some things I plan to blog about in the next few weeks:

- a wonderful trip to Boston

- building a house in Raleigh

- a trip to OH in June

- a new niece, who is so tiny 

- security vs. freedom

- a non camp summer

- running a full marathon (or at least registering for one)

- book art and art in general

- job searching and learning and who you know

- jim and bill, the best volunteers ever

- and maybe something else that might come to mind

Half Marathon in January

Had you informed me a year ago that I would willingly register myself for a half marathon in January of all months, I likely would have called you crazy.

After having run a half marathon in January, it turns out I'm the crazy one. 

While I was running in the rain, which at one point poured in a very heavy downpour, I thought to myself, 'why are you enjoying this? What is motivating you right now?' And I still haven't come up with an answer. 

After my cousin Jennifer ran a half marathon a few years ago I thought it sounded like quite an accomplishment, but never thought I would ever want to do one myself. I was that person saying things about how running that much has to be bad for your body and especially your knees. Not that I was doing anything that was particularly good for my body at the time. (And if you asked my knees around mile 12 and for the full day after the race if they thought it was good for them, they would give an emphatic NO in response.)

I then met this friend named Sarah who was planning to run 13 half marathons in 2013. She was definitely crazy. But then one day while out on a walk, I thought, 'if sarah can run 13 miles, I can run 1.'

So I ran 1 mile that day back in march and 1.5 and then 2 the next week and then 2.5 the next and by May I ran 6 miles in one go without any actual training plan. 

And it seemed that I liked it. Sometimes I even craved it. But I'm still not sure why really. 

And 9 months after my first full mile run since knee surgery 8 years ago, I have ran the distance of a half marathon twice. Once on my own in the heat of summer. And now once in an official race in the cold rain of winter. 

As spring has been a little crazy, thus me writing about an event in January in May, I have not been running regularly. However, soon I think things might even out. And just a few days ago I was looking at plans to train for a full marathon.

I'm definitely sure I'm the crazy one now. 

We Went to the UK: Food

One of the best parts of traveling to me is trying new things, especially food! If you went back in time to the painfully shy picky eater I once was she would probably think me crazy (and really old).

In Israel, the food was delicious and wonderful and I could not get enough. In the UK, the food was....good? They have much less flavorful options than the Mediterranean, but still interesting to try.

This was our Thanksgiving feast. Not quite up the Frost family standards, but a lovely meal shared with lovely people. 

Sweet potato pie I made via a recipe from Pinterest and Rachael already having all the ingredients. It was pretty good. (I messed up the crust ingredients, but the filling was great.) The English folk didn't seem to mind it either. They don't really do pumpkin.

Fish and chips in London on the river Thames. Pretty delish. The best part was the malt vinegar in packets right next to the ketchup.

This salad, latte, chips, and chocolate croissant were so good. It was our last meal in London. It was a reasonable price and a lot lighter on my traveling stomach than our previous food. I can't remember the name of the shop we got it at, but it was a chain that had as many locations as a Starbucks would here. 

My first ever crepe. How have I gone 29 years and never had a crepe?! It was delicious and from a street vendor at the Christmas festival.

This pork was just as good as any I have had in the Carolinas. Way to go Edinburgh. The bun was also quite tasty.

This is the Scotch list. Just varieties of Scotch available, nothing else. There were sooooo many.

This is the full Scottish breakfast. The baked beans were a little much that early in the day. Well the whole plate was a little much. But we were good sports and tried the haggis and blood pudding and whatever else they brought us. I wouldn't say I loved either of them, but I could eat them again if I had to.

Clearly they know how to do salt and pepper better than us. Pepper should have more holes than the salt, always.

Chai Latte and a scone with clotted cream and jam. This was tasty and good. Best chai I have had (aside from the Indian chai at the Forest) and the clotted cream and jam was delicious on the scone. Their scones are just better than ours. 

Curry from a jar, but prepared with love by Rachael. It was so good. We need to get up to speed with this in our grocery stores. You can get it at specialty stores, but not for the price or quantity you can in England.

Not pictured, but delicious and tasty is the tomato soup that Rachael made of her own recipe, the great cereal at the hostels and chicken Provencal we had at a festival. That chicken had the best seasoning I have ever tasted!

Overall, my taste buds were pretty satisfied on this trip!

We Went to the UK: Hostels

For the sake of saving money and for the goal of staying in a hostel before I turned 30, we went the route of hostels for our non-staying with friends portion of the trip.

If planning to stay in a hostel over a weekend, definitely book as far in advance as you can.

I learned this by not booking that far in advance. I assumed people who stay in hostels are last minute type people, but apparently if it is the weekend, I was little wrong.

We ended up staying at one of the Clink Hostels in London. It was a pretty reasonable experience. The price was within our budget and the location worked for us for what we wanted to accomplish in our time. It was a little more on the hip and partier side than I would prefer, but most things in a large city probably are. There was a place to hang out down stairs and I think I remember a pool table, but I could be imagining that.

We were able to drop our bags in the luggage storage and hit the town to see the sites. We returned to find our bags safe and secure in storage and our room packed like sardines with beds and people. (there was also a funky smell, but it was a hostel, so who knows what has gone on there in the past)

They offered a complimentary breakfast which was pretty tasty for the price! Nutella was always available and in little packets.

We left our luggage that morning in a mostly empty storage room and returned to a sea of luggage that we could hardly get through.

Overall, I would stay there again, but I would also like to try out a different location if I were to return to London.

In Edinburgh we stayed in the High Street Hostel. It was in a 400 year old building on the Royal Mile. I would absolutely stay there again. This one was recommended to us by my college roommate who had lived in Edinburgh for a little while right after college.

The staff and other guests were very friendly and offered great tips on where to go and how to get there. The breakfast was not complimentary, but it was the best cereal I have ever had. We were in this hostel 2 nights and the second night was a Sunday and we had our room to ourselves!

The only strange thing to me was that the bathroom was co-ed. Aside from my step dad, I have never shared a bathroom with a male. Walking into the bathroom and seeing a guy was a little startling in thinking I had gone in the wrong door. Ha.

If you plan to spend most of your time in the Old City, I would highly recommend this hostel. It was a great location and within walking distance from everything we wanted to do and see.

My first hostel experience was a pretty good one, I think, and I would not be opposed to staying in one again. Hopefully, that day won't be too far away!

We Went to the UK: Liverpool

Our first and last city on out trip was Liverpool. The home of Rachael and Andy (and the Beatles).

Upon arriving we took naps and then ate a lovely lunch prepared for us by Rachael. We got to meet baby Ava, who is probably cuter than most babies you know.

We ventured out on the not so dreary England day and took a train to the main shopping area and checked out the Christmas festival. We got to see the Coke truck, which is one of Rachael's favorite traditions since being there, tried some delicious food, and saw the local landscape a little. Andy picked us up from the festival and it was like no time had passed for the 3 of us being together again. (and Jessi fit in pretty well too!)

The next day we prepared for our American Thanksgiving in England. We went to a few shops and on a walk and then cooked and baked a bit before heading to Andy's parents home. It turns out they don't care much for pumpkin things, but didn't mind my first attempt at a sweet potato pie.

If ever traveling, I think it is best to know some locals so that you can see how they really live.

We watched some American football, making it seem a fairly normal Thanksgiving for being across the pond. And those Englishmen knew quite a lot more about football than I will ever know.

In Liverpool we also just spent some time in the Rachael and Andy's home. This was probably my favorite times of the trip. It was so lovely to spend time with dear friends and enjoy reminiscing and chatting about life. And watching some good BBC programming. Andy was pretty delighted that I knew who Karl Pilkington was and enjoyed watching the new show he was featured in.

We were then off to do our exploring of the other parts of the UK.

Upon returning to Liverpool, Andy picked us up and we went back to another delicious meal prepared for us by Rachael. They sell Curry sauce like spaghetti sauce and it is sooooo good.

Our last day in the UK was spent in Liverpool. Sweet baby Ava went off to the grandparents and we got to spend the day with Rachael! We went to the Docks, Mathew St (birthplace of the Beatles), and Central Perk (a replica of the coffee shop from friends). We ended the day at Rachael and Andy's home enjoying each other's company and laughing to the wee hours of the night.

I very much enjoyed our travels, but I think what I enjoyed most was being with dear friends (and a new friend who will likely become a dear friend) whom I have greatly missed in our 3 years of separation.