The Whole30/Miracle Morning craziness

Hello all of you random people who somehow still manage to read my very sporadic blog posts!

My crazy friend told me that she was looking for an accountability partner to do something hard and fun and good for us and crazy.  It's called The Miracle Morning (I think I'm supposed to put a copyright sign next to that or something....) and she was right about it all:  

• It's hard to wake up early.  Well, actually, today was Day 2 and it wasn't so bad.  I got so much done in the first hour of my day (prayer, coffee, journaling, affirming my awesomeness, visualizing my future awesomeness, RUNNING!), and then felt pretty great all day.
• It's fun!  Well, maybe fun is the wrong word.  It definitely takes discipline, which I have in spades.  And I love following rules and lists and schedules...okay, maybe there is a part of me that would call this fun.
• It's good for us.  This part has got to be true.  Just making a solid 10 minutes to pray first thing in the morning is great.  It helps me focus on what's really important, and that's definitely good.  Also, coffee is totally allowed, and that's not only good for me but for everyone I come into contact with before noon.
• It's crazy.  Yes.  I started reading the book and felt like I was being talked into another cult (cue Whole30 discussion).  But it's good crazy.  I think.

Meanwhile, I'm doing Whole30 number THREE!  How did I become so crazy?!?  Seriously though, I drank that Kool-aid hard.  I LOVE how I feel when I'm just eating the good stuff.  I even buy organic, grass-fed, petted by children probably, beef.  SO GOOD.  You should see my breakfast - homemade pork sausage patties, avocado, fried eggs, sweet potato.  It's making my hungry just thinking about it.  Did I mention coffee is allowed?  Perfect breakfast right there.

Don't believe me when I say I'm back

Soooo, I thought I'd be better about blogging last January.  I, like many others, had been caught up in the effects of the first month of the year, all full of resoluteness.  I did do a pretty decent job of at least capturing my life in pictures via instagram (you can check me out @nboatwpi).  But writing...not so much.  Hey, at least I was honest when I said previously that my strength is not blogging.  But then a few days ago, my friend texted me, "Hey! What happened to the more blog-filled 2015 lady?"  And I've been thinking about it and figured, what the hay!  Let's give this another shot.

Let's start with a little recap of 2015!

• Since Jan 12, 2015, I've been hard at work at Visterra.  I love it!  My boss is amazing, the workload is heavy and I love having tons to do.  My coworkers are so fun!  I'm loving my commute these days, but lived through one of the CRAZIEST winters ever and had to deal with horrible commutes every day on the MBTA's red line.  On the bright side of commuting though...
• ...I've read 20 books this year!  That's more than 1 per month!  It's been awesome.  I've read some provocative books (Atlas Shrugged.  Read it.  Who is John Galt?  Also, pretty hilarious reading it during the ongoing struggles of my own city's train fiasco).  I've read some science books (The Madame Curie Complex.  Read it.  I LOVE BEING A WOMAN IN SCIENCE!).  I've read some good old fashioned fiction (The Martian.  Read it.  I haven't seen the movie yet, but I still think you should read the book).  Reading on the T has definitely made commuting fun.  Currently reading Harvard Yard by William Martin.
• I trained for and successfully completed a half marathon in the Grand Tetons.  It was amazing.  I actually stuck to a pretty good 12 week training calendar and, go figure, the race felt great.  Running with an I-can't-believe-those-mountains-are-real backdrop was seriously incredible, and just being in the National Park was an unforgettable experience.  It was so unforgettable, that the 3 friends I was there with decided that we would make it our life's mission to set foot in all 59 US National Parks.  We even made it north to Yellowstone while we were there to get our list started right.

• One of the 3 Teton friends and I decided to visit the only National Park in New England - Acadia.  It was a super fun trip of camping, a pre-dawn hike to see the sunrise from the top of Cadillac Mountain, and enjoying some delicious local lobstah rolls.
• I was able to travel home to Oregon for a week in the summer to visit the family.  Ugh, I wish I could live in two places at once.  I MISS MY SISTERS, PARENTS, NIECES, NEPHEWS, and the brother-in-laws!  :)  The five of us sisters are now all of legal drinking age, so we went out for a cocktail and dessert and just bonded over some story telling.  I love them so much, it has me thinking more and more about moving back.  Hold your horses, everyone - it's not happening yet, but the second God give me the opportunity, I'm jumping on it.  :)
• We at Highrock Quincy Covenant Church celebrated our 3-year anniversary as a church plant.  Time flies when you're having fun and trying as a community to follow Jesus.  It's a hard but beautiful thing.  SHAMELESS PLUG - buy a ticket to our 3rd annual Christmas Benefit Concert!

Okay friends, my battery is running low and the plug's in the other room so I'll end it here for now.  Here's hoping I'm back before 2016!

I'm back? I'm back!

Wow.  Did you know that I haven't posted in over a year!  Not a single thing did I say in the year 2014.  Wow.

Okay, this isn't entirely surprising.  My strength is not blogging.  What is my strength?  Keeping busy enough NOT to blog.  That said, I was hanging out on my laptop tonight (something I didn't own last time I blogged) and looking around on Facebook (dang, that website is addictive and a total time suck), and saw two of my sisters' blogs and felt totally inspired to follow suit.  So here I am!

Where to start...2014 was intense.  Heck, 2013 was pretty crazy too, but at least I posted a couple of times.  Since the last time I was on here I...

• attended a 10-year reunion at my alma mater, Worcester Polytechnic Institute.  The Institute crew rented a house near campus and did some serious hanging out.  Awesome as usual, complete with a super creepy trip to Spider Gates.
• was promoted from Research Associate IV to Scientist I at MassBiologics, and shortly after celebrated my 10-year anniversary there.  
• participated in my second Reach the Beach relay.  Hated it and loved it at the same time.  Swore I was done with that thing.  Then I signed up for a half-marathon happening in the Grand Tetons this coming June!
• witnessed the hooding ceremony of one of my Institute crew - he received his PhD in Mechanical Engineering.  M. Ryan McDevitt is pretty awesome.
• traveled to South Africa!  I could/should write an entire (or multiple) posts just about this.  It was a beautiful, heartbreaking trip I made with 8 other people from my home church, Highrock Quincy to meet and shadow an organization called Zimele.  This group is doing great things to help empower women in broken situations to pick themselves up to support themselves, their families, and their communities.  Amazing trip, and I hope to go again someday.
• handed in my resignation letter from MassBiologics on my 11-year anniversary (completely unintentional timing, but kind of crazy).  Then I started my new job at Visterra just this past week.  So far, so awesome.  :)

Whew!  So that's my update.  Here's to a more blog-filled 2015!

Spectator

For this year's Boston marathon, for the first time, I went to be a spectator.  I didn't go to cheer for anyone really in particular (though a friend of my friends was running and I figured if I saw her, I'd certainly scream a "GO LINDSAY!"), just to root on those crazy runners on Heartbreak Hill.  Mostly, I went because one of my best friends in the world is shipping off to army boot-camp at age 31 and I wanted to spend as much time with him as possible before he leaves me for a long time.

Anyway, I went to be a spectator and cheered my little lungs out - it was amazing.  I loved seeing runners' faces light up when they heard their name or saw our ridiculous signs - mine said something like "Why do all the cute ones run away?", and my friend's said "Sexy (arrow pointing at runners), Lazy (arrow pointing at us)".  Today, my friend sent me a link to this article and I had to share it:

http://jezebel.com/the-people-who-watch-marathons-473405924

I think after the bombing last week, I thought about next year's Boston marathon and was worried that from now on, it will be somber and sad, but this article gave me hope.  I'm planning to go again next year for sure.  Keep cheering, spectators.

31 no more!

That's right, I turned 32, and what a great celebration it was - complete with balloon hat (thanks, Heather!).

My friends treated me to a delicious meal at Trattoria di Monica, followed by an amazing cannoli from the one and only Mike's Pastry, and danced the night away at Ned Divines to the delightful tunes of Kristen and the Noise (seriously, best cover band ever - my friend loved them so much she booked them for her wedding.  That was a present for all of us guests!).

Now - do I need to change my blog title?  Probably.  To what?  No idea.  I'll get back to you on that.  :)

Side note:  my thoughts and prayers are with those families directly affected by the bombings at the Boston Marathon today.  :(

M. N. S., I love you

M. Night Shyamalan, I love your movies.  I just finished watching The Village and it never gets old.  It's a beautiful love story set in the past...kind of.  If you haven't seen it, you must!  Now, I know there are some of you out there rolling your eyes and thinking, "His movies are lame.  They're unrealistic and over-hyped."  You know what I say to that?  I'm glad you have your own opinion, and I'm glad that you regret rolling your eyes at me just because I am a hopeless romantic.  :)

Seriously though, lovely cinematography, BEAUTIFUL music (thank you, James Newton Howard, as usual), and such a great story of love triumphing through difficult circumstances.  Sigh.

AHHHH!  And on a whim, I decided to IMDB my dear M.N.S. and there's a movie in post-production!!! YAY!  Check it out here: After Earth.

Life (AKA I still exist)

Soooo, yeah, slacking hard core on blogging.  Life just got all sorts of busy and truly, it just never slows.  A lot has happened since July (what?!?  I haven't posted since July?  It's snowing outside right now...), so here are some highlights:

• Moved out of Cambridge and into Quincy.  It's fun to be learning a new city, and my commute is WAY shorter, yay!
• Opened up to my new church community and gave my "life story".  Very scary, but so freeing to be vulnerable in that way and let yourself be known.  Really just loving getting to know this community of believers and growing spiritually together.
• Started getting into Once Upon a Time - fun show for sure, less serious than my old TV love, Lost.  Also been catching up on Walking Dead, which I love and has NOTHING in common with Once.  :)
• Got my first iPhone!!! It's a 4S and I do indeed love it.  :)  Maybe if I take a little time, I can figure out how to do this blogging thing and use the pics from my phone (not that I take that many, but still, pictures always make these blogs more fun to read, right?).
• Had an amazing Christmas with my family - lots of coffee, movies, music, and laughs.  Oh, and I learned what YOLO means.  :p
• My boss and boss' boss quit.  Yikes.  That's been hard to deal with emotionally since I've been working with them for 9 years, but I survived week 1 without them - hope week 2 goes well!!

Alright, consider yourself mostly caught up.  Now, on with life!