Weddings

It's been months since I last did a Monday Listicles. I thought it would be fun to get back into this meme, so...

This week's topic is 10 THINGS WEDDING. Anything goes.

Now, I'm a very happily married woman. Been so for nigh on to 8 years. I'm not complaining at all. My wedding was beautiful. It came after a six-week engagement. Yes, we got married fast. It was a Tuesday evening, and my sister did a fabulous job decorating the gym at the church. We were surrounded by family and lots of friends. It was a wonderful evening.

But sometimes I see movies of fantastic weddings, and I wonder and dream. If I could get married again, how would I do it?

1. Maybe on a catamaran.

2. Or at the beach.

3. Or under the sea.

4. While skydiving.

5. Or out in space. No pics of this, of course, since I don't think it's ever happened. ;-)

6. Deep down in a cave would be cool.

7. Or up on a secluded mountaintop.

8. In the Redwood Forest. Or any magnificent forest.

But the top two places I would love to get married would be...

9. In front of a waterfall. Do you know of my love of waterfalls?

10. Or on a rooftop overlooking NYC or Central Park.

Which, if any, of these scenarios would be your choice, if you were to get married again or for the first time?
What was your wedding like?

Now head over to Stasha's to see what everyone else has come up with for...

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Remembering

Yesterday's prompt for NaBloPoMo was:

Wordsworth called memory the "inward eye." Are your memories more sight-based, or do they concern sound, taste, touch, or smell? 

My memories are definitely more sight-based. For example, when I think back on this day 11 years ago, my memories are filled with sights. I remember seeing the trail around Lake of the Isles where I was running that morning. I  remember seeing the golden color of the tall weeds. I  remember seeing the blue skies.

I remember feeling how something just felt a bit off - not with anything related to my running, but just in general.

I can still see my apartment and my ragged old couch and the endless TV coverage. I can see the mostly empty bar at TGI Fridays where I was covering a shift, watching more endless coverage that night.

What's missing from all these memories are the sounds, the smells.

I wonder why that is. Do I not pay enough attention to these other senses? Do I focus too much on my sight? I wonder if memories can be shaped to include other senses.

What better way to try and test this than by planning a dream fitness vacation!

One of my bucket list life goals is to run a marathon or half on every continent besides Antarctica, so why not start with Australia?

I'd start my dream vacation off with a race. I'd arrive about a week beforehand to acclimate to the weather and do any finally tapering. I'd really focus on taking in the feel of the sweat on my skin, the smell of my surroundings hopefully not too much of the other runners, and the taste of the post-race food. Of course my eyes would be wide open to see the beauty of the course.

After the race, I'd spend a week relaxing at a yoga retreat. I figure this would be a great way to stretch and relax my muscles to aid in a healthy recovery.

Next up would be to the Red Centre, where I would hike through some of the national parks. Maybe go for a camel ride.

And to finish off this dream fitness vacation, I'd return to the coast to scuba dive in the
Great Barrier Reef.

Each day of this 4-week journey would be spectacular! In order to try to create memories that aren't just sight-based, I would keep a journal (or blog!) of daily impressions regarding the sounds, smells, tastes, touches of everything I experienced. Perhaps by recording specifics of these other senses, I could walk away from an amazing vacation with more than sight-based memories.

Now, if I could only get someone to sponsor me on this trip. :-)

Are your memories mostly sight-based? Have you ever tried to specifically enhance your memories of your other senses?
Would you like to accompany me on this fitness vacation?
What would your dream fitness vacation include?
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When I Retire...

I hope that blogging is still around, 'cuz I'd love to continue blogging.

BECAUSE...

What I'd really like to do is...

TRAVEL AND SEE THE WORLD!

I'd be sure and visit places like...

Plitvice Lakes, Croatia.

Source: all-that-is-interesting.com via Clarinda on Pinterest

Iguazu Falls, border of Argentina and Brazil.

Source: buzzfeed.com via Clarinda on Pinterest

Storseisundet Bridge on the "Atlantic Road" in Norway.

Source: oddstuffmagazine.com via Clarinda on Pinterest

And scores of other places, too.

Plus, I want to run on every continent (except maybe Antarctica).

I recognize I probably won't have the money to go all the places I'd like to visit, so maybe more realistically, I'd like to spend my retirement:

• Reading
• Blogging
• Visiting friends/family
• Laughing
• Staying active
• Baking
• Enjoying LIFE while I still can.

This was Day 27 of the August Healthy Living/Fitnes Blogger Writing Challenge.
So, tell me how do you plan on spending your retirement days?

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Well, that was weird...

I was just taking a little Friday afternoon nap.

via

When I abruptly awoke from my 1st ever, bona fide blogger dream.

Now I know that dreams are a bit nonsensical, but there were such fun bloggers appearing in this little ditty that I can't help but share the bits I can remember.

First, I was neighbors with Ally from Two Normal Moms. She lived on the street behind my house, down a hill, and a few houses over. She had a gorgeous, pet friendly home.

I know because not only were we neighbors, we were friends.

Good enough friends that I felt comfortable entering her home.

And hanging out.

When no one else was there.

It wasn't creepy, I promise.

While it was most definitely Ally's home, there was a sense of Mark from Forward Progress. He didn't actually appear in my dream, but he recently lost two dogs, and I remember making a comment in my dream about how comfortable Sallie was in Ally's house because of the loss of her two dogs. I'm guessing that's how that tied in since I know Ally hasn't lost any pets (and least not that she shared on her blog).

There were some funny occurences happening at Ally's.

For some reason, Sallie kept escaping to Ally's house.

And there was a misunderstanding with my family, who apparently didn't like the people in the house where she kept ending up. I kept thinking, Who couldn't love Ally? She's my favorite neighbor??

You know how dreams can flip in an instant, so suddenly, I was hanging out with Lauren from Sweat Junkie. We were all in some kind of class. I wanna say it started out as some sort of exercise class / boot camp type of thing, but it may have morphed into some thing more ladylike. hehehe.

All I remember is at the end of the dream, Lauren, sweet Lauren, was getting berated by an older woman (50ish) who was teaching/conducting the class (and no longer were any of us wearing workout-type attire).

And then.

In swooped this guy (presumably a celebrity of some sort) who got right in the face of this older woman, and yelled, "Say Sweat Junkie!"

This totally flustered the woman and sent the class into riotous laughter, with everyone repeating Say Sweat Junkie.

Trust me.

It. Was. Hilarious!

And then I woke up and thought, "Well that was weird."

******
Dreams are funny things. I don't usually put too much stock in them, and I rarely try to find meaning from them.

And I'm not going to today either.

But these are a few of my favorite blogs, so I figured I'd tell you a little about them and maybe why you should check them out.

Two Normal Moms
Meet Ally and Lela. Two best friends that grew up together and now blog together. They blog about a wide variety of things - each of them writing separately. It's fun to follow their lives. Ally tends to blog a bit more frequently than Lela, so I'm a little more familiar with her. They are both well written and funny.

Forward Progress
Mark and I are friends on DailyMile. His blog is fairly new and mostly tracks his running progress and everyday activities.

Sweat Junkie
Formerly the Running Cook, Lauren recently switched to a new blog. She loves to sweat and share all her sweaty stories with us. Last month, she had to take a DNS for her first marathon because of an injury week's before the big day. So sad.

I find inspiration from so many blogs/bloggers - not just these three.

I love blogging and connecting with bloggers from across the country. It's fun to read about different experiences by real people.

So tell me. Have you ever dreamt about a fellow blog or blogger?