McHie No Moore

I went to a wedding last weekend at Veritas Vineyard in Charlottesville! It was beautiful:) 

Weather was perfect with cooler temps and low humidity, and the wedding reception was very fun! Love these ladies:)

I even got up on stage...(though I was told I was not invited). I still remain confident that I was! A sing along always means you can join on stage, right?

We finished our celebrations with a lawn brunch at UVA. Perfect way to end the weekend!

Congrats, Matt & Jess!

Silent Sunday from St. Augustine, Florida

Awesome weather, awesome Air B&B house, awesome people, and an awesome wedding! Weekends with these friends show how as much as things change, so much stays the same. Congrats to Brandy and Dustin!

March is Madness

Nothing like living in Virginia to enjoy a 70 degree day on Sunday and a snow day on Monday!

I have gotten really bad about blogging...I blame it on the fact that I am now obsessed with Instagram, so I get to share aspects of my life with people everyday! Blogging just does not seem as necessary:) I also have been doing more of the same in terms of my daily life...running, reading, eating, relaxing and hanging with Romo.

So handsome!

Won't let me go running!

We don't want to bore you too much!

As for my news- my big race (Shamrock Half Marathon) is in less than two weeks! I have been training with a group that runs at 8 AM on Saturday mornings near my condo. My long runs have included me running 8 on my own (which sucked) and 10 and 12.5 miles with the running group. Running group runs are so much more fun and take me to areas I don't normally go. I also love chatting with people while I run:) I have felt great on all the long runs (and have begun running before work during the week) but my blisters have returned! I think I will need new shoes after the race to gear up for the rest of the spring races! Ugh for my random running issues...

Yes, please!

Midway through a COLD 12.5 miles and blisters!

And as you know more running=more HUNGER. I am a bottomless pit lately. It is disgusting and annoying because I am hungry every 2 hours and all I want are carbs. Thankfully Puffins are my go-to snack of late that curbs my craving for carbs, sugar and peanut butter (obvi I always crave PB or AB).

ON another note, my "official" first day at the new job was supposed to be today, but the weather has other plans! I am eager to get started and get ready to open up a new school! I have already enjoyed my larger paycheck...by opening a 457(b)! I am so exciting- gotta prep for retirement and save some money on taxes for next year (I owed a total of $1,120 this year)! I do have some fun trips planned for 2014, though, so don't worry- more details to come! I am booking one today actually...

I leave ya'll with the exciting news of Virginia Men's Basketball being ranked #5 in the country after beating Syracuse and clinching the ACC title! Gotta love being good at a major sport for once:)! 

GO HOOS!

Have a great week!

Wahoo Wedding

Ladies and gentleman, I am only one wedding away from the end of the 2013 wedding season (yup, 8 of 9 weddings have quickly come and gone) and, if it is anything like this past weekend's wedding, it will go out with a bang!

Yesterday I watched my college friends Colleen and TJ tie the knot! (This is the same college group of friends that was at this wedding in 2010). It was a wonderful day with great friends, food, booze and dancing (duh). It took place at the Cathedral in the heart of VCU with a little break (and hotel lobby boozing) before the reception at the historic John Marshall Hotel in downtown RVA.

Don't worry, I have pictures (though I didn't document as well as I normally do).

Beautiful church!

Beautiful couple inside and out!

(Notice the orange and blue UVA theme)

Crazy Katie.

See?

OMGmynewfavoriteguyever, Spencer.

Wahoowa!

Selfy

Shannon and Whitney

RVA girls and former 2nd year roomies:)!

Big congrats to Colleen and TJ! Great party:)

(I am also officially done working at the pool- it closed today :) !!!!)

The Little Things

I think life is made up of the little things. Not the job promotion or the house you bought (though they can help), but the time your friend sent you a card or when you had a nice night in watching a movie with a good friend or spent a lazy afternoon reading at a coffee shop. Little things are what make us happy or get us down. I can have an overall awful day, but something so small can make it better. Or my day can be going fine and a little annoyance will ruin it.

It is also is the little things we tend to forget. I was looking through emails yesterday and came across old emails I sent my last semester of college (when our email system was switched to gmail so they were saved). It was really fun to look back and read what I had sent and received. My dad and I emailed each other daily all while I was in college- just about what we had done and how our day was. Now it is a nice diary of what my life was like. I had forgotten what I sent friends or what my job and school were like, and these emails gave me a chance to relive those moments.

I also had forgotten (or failed to think about) what the routine of my days were like in college- whether it was class, work, the library, my marathon of TV show viewing my 4th year when I took less classes, or time with friends. And thinking about all those little things makes me smile.  I live similarly now as I did in college- I still enjoy work, working out, reading at coffee shops and watching TV, but seeing those emails and remembering what college was like- with best friends living across the hall and events going on constantly- makes me really appreciate life.

And all the little things that make it worth it. I just need to sometimes be reminded not to let the little things get to me when I can’t control them.

Rejuvenation

Sometimes you just need a weekend with your girls. I'm sure this was said on "Sex and the City," but I'm claiming it now.

It seems every year I come back from Homecomings Weekend at UVA rejuvenated and feeling good about life. College was such an amazing time for me- I met so many great friends and got to fall in love with the wonderful town of Charlottesville. Somehow, though, it seems I often forget about college and it seems like another lifetime ago. I still talk with my friends and we go on trips, but the "bubble" of college is something that I feel out of touch of. Last night as my friends and I were dancing at a Young Alumni (YAR) event with local Cville food favorites, booze and good music, I couldn't help but thinking how much living I was doing in that moment. I don't do that enough. I was living so much in college and meeting people and being social and exploring and discovering a new part of me. I miss that.

'Hoo knows if it was the weather, the great game (Upset over #12 Georgia Tech!) or my great friends (probably all three), but everything just clicked for me. I felt like I was in my element and it all seemed to make sense. That feeling of 'making sense' is something I don't feel enough of anymore. But my friends and their significant others are all amazing people (I also have a renewed faith in guys after spending time with my friend's SO's- they are all so awesome (as they should be to be with my friends!)). I feel like that really is what it is all about- friends and the family we make. No matter what happens in my life, my friends are my family. They all bring out a different part of me, but we all bring out the happiness in one another. And that is truly what it is all about. Not money or schedules or looks or your job, but how you feel and who is a part of you.

My friends are all a part of me. I love them, wish I could see them more (workin' on it!) and hope I meet many more in the future. The only way to meet new friends, though, is to put yourself out there and not hide away. Living isn't done hiding away- if I had done that I would never have met the amazing people I met in college. I also hope I don't forget what a great part of my life UVA was- it wasn't perfect, but it was mine and it led me to great people.

So here's to my rejuvenation of life. It won't always be easy, but it's worth it. I know that and hope this feeling will stay with me. Gotta storm through!