16 Hour Days and Pinterest Inspiration

8 months in Alaska and I'm still in awe. This is the view from our driveway looking down our street. Look at those mountains. 

Alaska is remarkable. Today we had (/have because the sun is still out at 10:30 p.m.) 16 hours of sunlight. It's incredible. It's light more than it's dark. And the weather has been nice too. The mornings are a little cool but it's been warming up to 50 in the afternoons. 

This week has been really great. Thanks in large part to a day of grilling on Saturday. Nathanial received a new charcoal grill as a birthday gift from his mom. I'm not sure who was more excited about it - him or me. 

 

Nathanial is quite the grill master. He cooked enough meat to last the week. It has made a huge difference in our evenings. 

He grilled 4 sets of shish kabobs, 8 pounds of chicken, a pound of sausage, 2 pounds of pork chops, hamburgers and corn on the cob. 

He's also been a champ at preparing dinner while I get in a run after work. My favorite meal was the lemon chicken pasta he made with some of the grilled chicken. 

He's a man of many talents that husband of mine. He surprised me Tuesday night with a ukele serenade. While I was out on my run, he bought a ukele and taught himself "You Are My Sunshine." It was awesome. It's more impressive considering I wasn't gone that long and knowing the ukele is an instrument made for right handed people and he's left handed. I'm trying to convince him to take his show on the road - to Hawaii :)

I've been talking a lot about running lately because I've finally found my love for it again. I've already signed up for another half marathon this summer and am eyeing several more. This time around I'm determined to be more consistent in my training. I decided to join a training group to help with that and so far so good. The group is organized through the local running store. There are four coaches and over 100 women. It's such an empowering group of ladies. We will meet twice a week. On Wednesdays we do a track workout with tempo and stride work and on Saturdays we will do long runs. This was the first week and I couldn't be more thrilled with my decision to join. I wasn't so sure on Wednesday morning when I had to be at the track at 6 a.m. in the pouring rain. Early mornings  are not my thing and showing up at a place I didn't know with a group where I didn't know a soul was nerve-wracking.   

Turns out Pinterest is right sometimes.