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Here are the books I read from April-June of 2015!
- Still Alice: I absolutely loved this book and posted a review of Still Alice here! It was fascinating from the start, and offered a great perspective on the experiences surrounding early onset Alzheimers, both from the person who received the diagnosis, as well as their friends and family.
- Inside The O’Brien’s: This book, by the same author as Still Alice, is about a family wrestling with the diagnosis of Huntington’s Disease, which is waging war with the family. It was deeply emotional, and well worth the read. I wrote an entire post on the book here.
- Where We Belong: I listened to this on audiobook right before/right after Mexico, so I spent a lot of that book running errands and packing or unpacking. It served its purpose in keeping me entertained and occupied while doing that.
- Truest: This was the author’s debut novel (it’s actually coming out in September of 2015- I received an advanced copy to read because she’s my friend!), and I really enjoyed it! Set in a small town in Minnesota during the summer, I laughed and cried my way through the book. You can read more of my thoughts in this blog post.
- Most Talkative: This book, by Andy Cohen, tells his story of entering into the entertainment world. The book was fairly boring (I listened to it on audiobook in the car and that’s the only reason I kept listening- I wouldn’t have spent time reading it). The only part I found interesting was the last part when he actually talked about the Real Housewives franchise.
- All The Light We Cannot See: I wrote an entire post about the book here. Overall I enjoyed it, although it took until about 40% of the way through for me to feel really invested in the book.
- On My Own Two Feet: I loved this book! This is the autobiography by Amy Purdy, a paralympian and double leg amputee, and shares her journey from losing her legs to the Paralympics in Sochi and competing on Dancing With The Stars. I wrote a post reviewing the book here.
- The Sleeping Beauty Proposal: This book was nothing special, but it was a quick read that was great for a sunny, outdoors sort of day.
- Twenties Girl: This book was really weird starting off, but once I got into it I enjoyed it. Again, nothing really special and a quick read, but it did the trick of providing some entertainment in the evenings.
- Landline: I actually really enjoyed this book. The writing wasn’t amazing and the characters weren’t spectacular, so I can’t put my finger on why I instantly clicked with the book. I just did.
- American Sniper: What an intense book this was! I listened to this on audiobook, which I really loved. I really wanted to read the book before I saw the movie, so now that I’ve read it, I can’t wait to see the movie.
- Big Little Lies: LOVE LOVE LOVE this book, and I wrote a whole post about the book here. I liked the characters, and the story line kept me guessing the entire time. I immediately added every other book by this author to my holds and wish list for my library.
- The Castaways : Eh- the book was ok. It was a fun beach vacation read, but it wasn’t anything special. I’ll definitely read more by this author though.
- Going Off Script: I also listened to this on audiobook, which I like when it comes to autobiographies- especially when the person is reading it themselves. It was interesting to hear how Guiliana Rancic got into the entertainment industry. If you liked her reality show, you’ll love this book!
- The Girl On The Train : This book was ok- I gave it a 3/5 on Goodreads. I know some people love it, but for what it was, I liked Gone Girl a lot more. The book switched point of views between characters constantly throughout which made it interesting.
- What Alice Forgot: This book is by the same author as “Big Little Lies”, and I loved it as well! This is about a woman who hits her head while biking and loses 10 years of memories. It’s interesting to read about her navigating life after the accident.
- Growing Up Duggar: I was a little interested to read this after watching their show over the last few years. It was a really quick read, and interesting to hear some of their reasonings behind the way they do things.
- Mistaken Identity: This book was about two girls who were mixed up in a car accident- one alive and one died. One family thought their daughter was alive, only to find out 5 weeks later that their daughter had died in the accident. The other family was told their daughter died, and for 5 weeks they mourned her, only to be told she was in a hospital in Michigan. It was a crazy story and worth the read!
- Hope: A Memoir of Survival in Cleveland: This book was written by two of the three girls kidnapped by Aerial Castro and kept locked in his house in Cleveland for several years. The story is tough to read, but is a beautiful story of resiliency and hope!
- Eleanor and Park: I really enjoyed this book, by the same author as Landline. It was a sweet little love story with high school students, and it was a quick read!
- The Matched Series: I’ll talk more about this next quarter since i started the series in June but finished it in July.
For more information about the books I’m reading as part of my 15 in 2015 Challenge, check out my Goodreads page. For other book reviews, check out my book reviews page.
Now it’s your turn to share! What’s your favorite book you’ve read so far in 2015? What do I need to add to my book list for the third quarter?
Because of appointment times, I ended up running in the evening, but still during the warmer part of the day (between 5:30 and 7 pm). Because of that, I decided to head out to a little lake area right off of down town that is absolutely beautiful!
I wore the airiest outfit that I had since it was almost 80 degrees, and with POTS I can’t cool myself the same way an average person can. I also had my handheld filled with watermelon nuun, and kept extra water in the car.
What can I say? I love bright colors! The shirt is mesh which lets air in really well, and the shorts have little holes all over them that let the air in too! I love it.
I got a good laugh as I passed this sign:
A sign about ice houses along the running path!
My 7 mile runs tend to be some of my best runs of the year, so I was looking forward to the run as soon as I headed out, even with the heat. The first two miles flew by, but as I rounded the lake I lost the bit of breeze I had and the sun was pounding down, and for a few minutes I was pretty over running. I decided to avoid that part of the lake again and just do another out and back on the breezy side of the lake. That was definitely a great decision!
I ate two shot bloks (margarita flavor for the extra sodium) around mile 5, and that felt like a really nice treat! My body felt like it hit a great rhythm, and besides the sweat pouring into my eyes (I really need something to help with that!), things felt fantastic!
The views on the run were absolutely stellar, and during my walk breaks (I do a 3:1 run:walk ratio on runs) I snapped a few pictures.
I’ve mentioned before that I love nature, and one of the things I love about exercising outside is getting to experience and interact with nature a bit more than usual as we walk by distracted by the rest of life. Running causes me to pause and enjoy what I’m seeing, especially when I’m trying to avoid thinking about the heat or how tired I am!
I also loved seeing the Mayo Clinic in the distance as I ran! I really love that place, so it was fun to get the opportunity to do a long run near the clinic.
That’s Mayo in the distance.
Overall the run was fantastic even though it was so hot. I loved the views and loved the breeze that came off the water.
I ended up re-creating a meal for dinner that I had while I was in Mexico, and it hit the spot after such a hot and sweaty run!
Another 7 miles in the books 🙂
Now it’s your turn to share! Do you have a favorite meal to eat after hot work outs? Have you ever been in an ice house before?
Reading Inside The O’Brien’s on the porch
Inside the O’Brien’s follows the lives of an Irish family living in Boston. They are touched by Huntington’s Disease as their dad, Joe, receives the diagnosis. The family reels as they not only have to deal with this disease, which will eventually kill him, as well as their own 50-50 chance of having HD as well. HD is a neurodegenerative disorder, and there is no cure and no treatment for it. Each of the adult children wrestle with whether or not to get tested to see if they are HD positive, as well as questioning how they live well with a potential life-sentence. They cannot escape the diagnosis. If they are HD positive, they will live waiting for the moment it takes over, and HD will ultimately end their life. Do they get married, have kids (who might also then be HD positive), or follow their dreams? Do they let their lives be defined by HD, or do they choose to define their lives? The story is inspiring, a tale of deep resiliency, and is deeply emotional and gut-wrenching.
I so appreciate how Genova weaves together facts about HD, educating the reader while also telling a moving story. I found myself laughing and tearing up, and appreciated the honest look the author gives to the reader about life with HD.
A quote that stood out to me:
“And, like a lightning strike, there is his example. His mother before him. The lesson that she passed down for him to pass on to his children – the courage to face every breath with love and gratitude.”
I gave this book 5 stars on goodreads. I appreciated the perspectives from each family member, and watching them struggle alone and together with this deadly disease that is wrecking havoc in the family. You’ll learn more about HD as you read , and you’ll be inspired to resiliency in your own life, whatever struggle you might have! I definitely encourage you to read Inside The O’Brien’s!
If you’re interested in other book reviews or book suggestions, check out my book review tab.
I had a great line up of podcasts ready to go and all the fuel I wanted (plus about 50 ounces of nuun), and I took off! I did an out and back north of the trail totaling 8 miles before heading south on the trail. As soon as I started riding my legs felt a bit heavy, and the turn over wasn’t quite what I wanted.
I’m thinking it was a combination of poor eating over the weekend and my legs feeling heavy from my 10k. No matter which direction I faced it felt a bit like I was biking into the wind, which I hate. At least last week, even though I was frustrated with grinding against the wind, I had a great tailwind ** when I turned around- not this week though! It all felt difficult.
One thing I really enjoy about the Monon is that there are miles that are completely shaded in the woods while others are completely (or almost completely) in the sunshine. It’s a great mix 🙂
Because I hadn’t planned on doing a long ride, I didn’t bring my biking glasses, so I sported lime green ones instead. Ridiculous.
I stopped at mile 18 to really hydrate and take a quick break (because it’s so hot I needed to stop a bit to bring my heart rate down). Also, at the end of last season I got a biking jersey that is completely mesh except for a small panel on the front, and I was so thankful to be wearing that for the ride! It definitely helps to keep me cool 🙂
I stopped again to take a picture of my bike at the river. I hadn’t planned on doing a long ride so, while I had everything else I needed (I keep my bike, bump, fuel, and helmet in my car most of the summer) I didn’t bring my water bottles, so I had to borrow them from the people I was staying with. They didn’t have bottles good for biking, so I had to stop a lot to drink (not complaining- I was just happy to have the nuun!).
I paused for about a minute at mile 28 to eat a salted caramel gu! I hadn’t had one since the fall and had forgotten how absolutely delicious they actually are!!
picture from last fall…
Somewhere around mile 32.5 Itook a side trail off the monon and decided to just explore the area a bit. It messed with my pace, but I didn’t care because I was enjoying exploring a new place! The trail was really narrow and I almost crashed into a guy when we both went around a narrow turn coming opposite directions- yikes! We both stayed on our bikes and continued on our way.
I kept grinding away, and by mile 45 I wished I had brought a little more fuel with me. The amount I brought was fine for the 47 miles I did last week, but by mile 43 or 44 I was a bit shaky- I wonder why that is?
I ended the ride with 51 miles and a smile on my face. Even though the ride felt tough, I enjoyed myself quite a bit and loved biking on trails I hadn’t been on in quite some time!
What I ate and drank:
- Mile 8: 3 berry shot bloks
- Mile 18: 1 honey stinger waffle
- Mile 28: 1 salted carmel gu
- Mile 39: 3 berry shot bloks
- Drank: 50+ ounces of watermelon nuun
I’m enjoying exploring a bit more on my bike this summer than I did last summer, and am thankful for the time to be able to go on long summer rides!
I bought the color a month and a half ago or so, and have been waiting for the right moment to wear it- and here we are! I sort of struggle with wearing pastels because while I love them, I feel strange not wearing bold or sparkly colors. I do love this color though! The picture above is a base coat, 2 coats of Fiji, and a top coat.
In Truest News: 10 Weeks Till Truest: The Evolution of a Book Cover
Here are a few random facts from the week:
1. I went to Dick’s last Friday evening and stocked up on some biking and running essentials for the summer! I don’t use gu’s often, but when I do I love cran-razz and salted carmel!
2. I’ve been re-creating one of my favorite meals from Ihop: scambled eggs with salsa and avocado on the side! It’s delicious and makes for an easy lunch.
3. Last week I was going through an old box of items and found this old disposable camera (REMEMBER THOSE?!). I have no idea what this is even from and I got a good laugh out of it.
4. As you all know, I really love reading, and often carry my kindle or a book with me so I can read in random moments of free time. The other night I was staying at someone’s house and they had to run an errand, so I found myself with 20 minutes to read out on this beautiful patio. I wish I could read here every night!
5. Have you ever played the game Dominion? I played for the first time almost two weeks ago and played again this past weekend, and I’m LOVING it! There’s strategy involved, which I really enjoy as well!
Now it’s your turn to share! Tell me something random from your week! Did you use disposable cameras at all growing up?
I’m thankful for some time out in the country. This past week I went to a family friend’s house who lives out in the country, and it was beautiful! They had a bunch of different animals, and I enjoyed being outside and playing with and feeding them!
I’m thankful for lightning bugs! They are one of my favorite animals, and they have finally come back for the summer! I love standing at the window or on my porch and enjoying the sweet little lights that they provide. It’s like glitter falling from the sky.
I’m thankful for glasses. I honestly can’t imagine not being able to see well, and realize that some people live their entire lives having blurry vision. I’m so thankful for the opportunity to have glasses and be able to see clearly and crisply.
I’m thankful for the hospitality and generosity of those in my life. It’s so amazing to experience the hospitality of friends and family members, and I appreciate it so much.
I’m thankful for the beautiful days of summer. I deeply love summer and I’m trying to live it as deeply and wonderfully as I can.
Now it’s your turn to share! What are you feeling thankful for today?
Still Alice is a story about Alice, a Harvard cognitive psychology professor and linguistic specialist in her 40’s. Alice becomes increasingly confused and disoriented, leading to a diagnosis of early-onset Alzheimer’s. Still Alice follows the internal world of Alice as she comes to gripes with slowly losing her life. It also shows the impact that a diagnosis like that has on family, and the reader gets to see a bit of each family member grieving the diagnosis.
Genova has a fantastic way of educating the reader in a way that isn’t overbearing, and is woven through a beautifully written story. This book broke my heart, and I definitely had some crying moments as I read the story.
As I often like to do, here are a few quotes that stood out to me:
“And I have no control over which yesterdays I keep and which ones get deleted. This disease will not be bargained with. I can’t offer it the names of the US presidents in exchange for the names of my children. I can’t give it the names of state capitals and keep the memories of my husband…My yesterdays are disappearing, and my tomorrows are uncertain, so what do I live for? I live for each day. I live in the moment. Some tomorrow soon, I’ll forget that I stood before you and gave this speech. But just because I’ll forget it some tomorrow doesn’t mean that I didn’t live every second of it today. I will forget today, but that doesn’t mean that today doesn’t matter.”
“In examining disease, we gain wisdom about anatomy and physiology and biology. In examining the person with disease, we gain wisdom about life.”
Genova has a beautiful way of creating moments of inspiration and resiliency throughout her works, and Still Alice is no different. I haven’t watched the movie yet, but I’d highly encourage you to add the book to your “to-read” list, and let it take you on a journey of transformation.
For other book reviews and recommendations, check out my book reviews page.
For those of you who have seen Gilmore Girls, I of course thought of the episode where Rory is hit by a deer, and I got a good laugh about it as I biked along. This happened around mile 3 of my 43 mile ride, so I had a long time to think about it!
Grass is growing. I posted a picture from the same spot two weeks ago for comparison’s sake.
I turned around at mile 5 and headed back up the trail, as my intention was to get off on some country roads that I haven’t biked on since last year! I cruised along until mile 17, and everything went fairly smoothly except where I had to slam on my breaks once again because a muskrat was being lazy and had no real intention to hurry off the trail! At mile 17 I paused for about a minute and a half to eat a honey stinger waffle. I love that these have a bit more substance to them, and try to eat them about half way through a long ride!
I then turned off the trail and, unfortunately, turned straight into oncoming wind… and some slight upward incline. My pace went much slower, and I was hitting about 5:05-5:15 minute miles Those six miles seemed to slowly grind along as I put my head down and pedaled against the wind. I’m getting a bit better about not being quite so frustrated by these moments, as I know that they are beneficial to training, even if it messes with my overall pace!
I turned around right around mile 23, and my pace immediately dropped into the 3:30-4:00 range for the almost 16 miles. It felt great to fly a bit faster after having that strong headwind.
you can tell exactly when I turned around!
I had only planned on going about 40 miles, but was feeling great so I took a windy path back through my neighborhood, clocking in at 43 miles.
Here’s what I ate and drank:
- Mile 7: 2 shot bloks
- Mile 17: 1 Honey Stinger Waffle
- Mile 27: 1 clif gel (cran razz flavor)
- Mile 34: 2 shot bloks
- Drank: 30 ounces electrolyte water
Overall the ride was fantastic, and I loved being outside in nature… even though I almost got hit by a deer!
Last month I mentioned that I would be running the Run(317) Race Series down in the Indy area, and this past Thursday was the first race! I headed into Broad Ripple (the location of the first race) about an hour and a half before the race because I didn’t know what parking would be like. I ended up finding a parking lot that was a flat $5 only about 0.25 miles from the packet pick up, so I snatched it and ran inside.
The packet pick up was well organized, especially for a small race, and volunteers were really friendly! They were directing traffic through the building and saying they hoped we had a great race. They also did ID checks right there and gave wristbands to those over 21 for our free beers that came with entry.
The race is $30, which is a great price for a 5k, and came with all these goodies (I received the zip pullover because I registered for all three races at once):
I love the pint glass! As I mentioned, along with the bib, each racer got 2 free beers. In my opinion, that’s a lot of great stuff for that $30 entry!
We lined up about 7 minutes before the race start, and the emcee entertained us with various chants about 317 (that’s the area code in Indy) and corralling the crowd. With the National Anthem sung, the gun went off and we started the race! They had suggested that slower runners and walkers start in the back, and people obeyed this better than some races I’ve done which was nice. Less weaving around for me!
It was a hot and humid evening (the race started at 7 pm so it had only slightly cooled) and I had done 2 miles before the race, so by the time the race started I was toasty and a bit drained. I brought my handheld with nuun (watermelon flavor) and drank that throughout the race.
The first thing I noticed during the first mile were the signs they had set up along the wheel giving facts and information for School On Wheels, which was the charity organization for this race. Those were nice to read and helped everyone focus on why we were really running.
The race wove through neighborhoods, and some of the neighbors were out cheering, which was nice- especially for a 5k where that rarely happens. The volunteers on the race course were fantastic and cheered loudly for us as they encouraged us onward in the heat. The (317) volunteers had smiles on their face throughout the whole course, which was especially nice with the heat.
Somewhere in mile 2 they had a water station set up (I didn’t stop since I had my handheld), and most people were taking advantage of that.
The race, while a 5k, is actually 3.17 miles long, and when we hit near the finish line, I could hear the crowd cheering. Again, especially because it was a 5k, it was nice to have people cheering there. It really felt like a REAL race, which I loved!
As soon as I coursed the line there were people to cut off our tracking tags, and then people were giving out water bottles and bags of pretzels (extra salt is so great after sweating during a race!). I grabbed a bag of pretzels and took off running for one more mile. I decided to use this race as the middle miles of my weekend long run of 6.25 miles.
Right outside the finish line area a local brewery had set up a little station, and like I mentioned earlier, each participant got two free beers. Because of this, people were hanging around talking and laughing, and there was music. The location was also right next to a river, so it was a lot of fun. It truly was just like a local street party!
Overall I thought the race was well organized and had a great value for what the cost of the race was! It was a fun night celebrating running in the 317!
Now it’s your turn to share! What’s your favorite thing about local races?
The color actually reminded me a lot of OPI’s Live. Love. Carnaval that I wore back in April/May. The color is shiny and holds up well, and I actually had someone ask me if I had on gel polish this week.
Random Facts From The Week:
1. I went to go see Jurassic World this past weekend. I had pretty high expectations, and was hopeful that it would be as epic as I was expecting it to be. AND IT WAS! Honestly I had full blown chills and all the emotions throughout the movie. I saw it in 3D Imax and was jumping as dinosaurs jumped out at me and struggling to breathe as I was nervous in fight scenes. I was full of all sorts of happy emotions as well, and would definitely encourage you to go see the movie!
Melissa and Me at the theater with our 3D glasses.
2. This past Saturday at game night I was suddenly hit with the post-dinner sleepies, but it was a sort of overwhelming tiredness. My head kept jerking up as I nodded off, and at one point I started falling sideways off my chair as I nodded off, and caught myself on the way down. I’m not sure I’ve ever been hit with tiredness that hard before. Of course by the time I went to bed I was hit with a second wind, and it took over an hour for me to fall asleep!
3. This past Saturday Melissa and I went to a community pool and they had waterslides there! It’s been a few years since I’ve gotten to go on a water slide, so I had a great time hanging out there all afternoon!
4. On Saturday my friend “L” (from grad school) and I made a big Greek meal for game night! I made my tzatziki sauce, greek salad, we made homemade baklava, and Kofta (which we served in a pita). It was all delicious!!
5. Meg and I got to catch up this week and enjoyed a long walk along a river, which was nice because the feels like was 89 degrees out! It was nice to get a gentle breeze. I love having more free time in the summer (and longer daylight hours) to get to connect with people!
Now it’s your turn to share! What’s one of your favorite summer activities? If you’d like, share one random fact from your week!
