Gratitude: Check.

Happy Thanksgiving!! I flew home Thanksgiving day, which happens to quite possibly be the best day to fly home. There were very few people at the airport, the flight wasn't full and it took very little time to get through security. Score! I got home by like 10 AM, plenty of time to enjoy the entire holiday. 

Thanksgiving happens to be one of my favorite days of the year. I like it because it doesn't involve buying people things. It's really just a day that you can be surrounded by people you love and eat food. And watch football. What more could you want? This year the holiday was at my parents house. My cousins came over and we had a really good time just hanging out. Like we usually do. Also Thanksgiving happened to be a very important football day. The Seahawks were playing the 49ers. West Coast rilvary! Unsurprisingly, we beat them. In their own home. Silly 49ers.

That weekend, my cousin and I went to the EMP. I never been to the museum before… Mostly because it's really ugly and I didn't want to support it. However, they're having a special 12's exhibit. And I really wanted to see it. It ended up being a really fun trip to the museum. I wouldn't mind going back again someday. The exhibit itself was really small, but it did have the Lombardi trophy and a Super Bowl ring. 

There were some other cool exhibits in the museum as well. There was a horror movie exhibit which was neat and a game of thrones 4D experience. 

It being Thanksgiving and all, I figure there's no better time to write a thank you speech. I'm probably never going to win an Oscar or an Emmy or Tony or any sort of award that allows me to get up on a stage and thank the people who've been the biggest influence on me. So instead, I will use this platform to do so: 

First of all I would like to thank my family for always being there for me. Every single one of the people in my family bring such joy to my life. Even when they're acting weird. Yes I'm looking at you cousin G. Thank you for hanging out with me, for eating Dim Sum with me, and for spending countless hours playing silly games. Thanks to my parents for always supporting me. For allowing me to have crazy adventures and always willing to welcome me home. Thank you to all of my friends who constantly make me laugh. Who are there for me when times are tough, when times are fun, and when times are boring. A special shout out to all of my road friends. I see you more than I see most other people in my life. You're more than friends, you're family. (Cue hallmark commercial). I'd also like to thank all of the flight attendants, the hotel staff, and the people who make my food while I'm on the road. You're jobs are usually thankless. But know that I really do appreciate you. I'd also like to thank the Seattle Seahawks. For giving my city something to cheer about. Lastly, I'd like to thank "not my cat"cat, Finn. For always welcoming me home after a long week on the road.

And of course I'd like to think Academy. All of them. Even if they didn't give me a real award.

It is finished.

Celebrate good times, throw your hands up in the air, party like it's 1999....whatever your party rock anthem may be, play it loud because this week is a week to let the good times roll....

(See what I just did there?) 

This is week 13. 

Whoever said the number 13 is unlucky is wrong. Because this week marks the end of my fall semester college visits. 13 straight weeks of being on an airplane, staying in hotels, eating food from God knows where....all very worth this moment. 

Run, Walters, Run: Las Vegas Rock and Roll Half Marathon Recap

 

This just happened. 

A 5K and a Half Marathon in two days. 

The Las Vegas Rock n' Roll running weekend I so ambitiously signed up for months ago was finally here. 

And I was so not ready for it. 

When it comes to these sort of events. They always seem completely achivable months for the actual race.

Cue the day of...And holy cow! What was I thinking?!? 

I have been in Colorado for the past week for work so my flight wasn't too bad Saturday morning. I got into Vegas around 11 AM and had plenty of time to hit the expo hall, check into my hotel and relax before the night's 5K race. I never really run at night, so I had no idea how this race is going to go. 

It ended up being really cool and a great way to kick off the weekend. Everything was lit up and lots of people were wearing neon colors or glow sticks or anything that glittered. I was staying at Circus Circus Hotel, and the 5K started right across the street. It was great. As I was running, I had to remind myself that I had a 13 mile race tomorrow, so I better take it easy. I really wanted to get up a PR, but didn't realized I should just be using this run as a warm-up for tomorrow. 

I couldn't take it to slow, I had tickets to go see Cirque du Soleil that night. By the time I got back to my hotel, I had to quickly shower and make a mad dash for the theater. 

I have never gotten to see a cirque show before, so I was pretty excited. It was definitely everything I thought it was going to be and at the same time, not at all how I imagined. I will say, those Acrobats and athletes are intense. Holy cow, I can't even imagine the work they put into train. 

The Half marathon, like the 5K, didn't start until the evening. It was really cold all day long. So I went to a clothing store to see if I could get a bit of warmer clothing....apparently this was on everyone's to do list. There were a ton of runners stocking up on socks and gloves and hats. 

One of the best aspects of a rock 'n roll race, is that they have a headlining band either before or after the race starts. Because the Vegas race starts so late, the Band performs before the race actually starts.  It was originally supposed to be Snoop Dogg performing. But for some reason he canceled last minute. So it ended up being the awesome Seattle band Macklemore and Ryan Lewis. I was way more excited to see them that I was to see Snoop Dogg. I got to the venue right before they started playing, and got a really good spot in the crowd. It was really neat to see them live. There were also a ton of Seattle people in town too. A lot of them wearing their Seahawks gear.

After Macklemore played, it was time for the race to start. There were like 30,000 runners in town for the event, what took a while to get to the starting line. It actually took me almost an hour! 

What's my bones started to defrost from the freezing cold weather, I got a good pace and had a really great time running through the streets of Vegas. The best part, of course, was running down the strip. It was so neat to be in the midst of all of the lights and the crowd was cheering entire time. I definitely didn't run my best time, but it was totally worth the experience.

State count, 18.

Let the storm rage on....

Week 12 brought with it a polar vortex. I have of course found myself in Colorado. I'm beginning to judge people who tell me Colorado has the best weather. Because every time I'm in town, I get stuck in some sort of unnatural, heinous weather conditions.

Rains, floods, snowstorms,… But this week brought me freezing temperatures that could rival an Alaskan winter. 

It was legit. Because of that, I feel like I've blocked out the entire week.  I did get to run into a few really good friends, so that was fun.

The one where we conferenced, but really we just ate a lot.

This week was the annual conference week for for my region. A week where professionals in the  education abroad world come together to network, hang out, learn a little, and hopefully gain new skills. This year, the conference was being held in Portland Oregon. A crazy cool city that I don't spend a ton of time in, but always enjoy while I'm there. And the fact that all my friends were converging together, even better!  

That was raised by the river, so there was a really good running paths. I got up early one morning (note: only one more in the entire week did this happen) to run, but was blessed with a pretty sunrise.

The conference was 80s themed and I have to admit it was really fun. The organizers did an amazing job this year. There was so much going on at night, and we all had a really good time at receptions. Michael Jackson even came back from the grave to dance for us for a little while.

There was a course of Photo Booth… And you know how I feel about photo booths.

And it being Portland, the land of endless food, we ate our way through the entire week. From Ramen to sushi to seafood, I don't think I stopped eating. And to top it off the conference brought in the infamous voodoo donuts. I've never seen so many donuts and so many hungry conference goers ever. before.

Not going to lie, it was totally worth it. And even better one of my very good friends, friend A, won an award for being an awesome person. No one deserves it more than her.

Ten. Ten. Ten.

You guessed it...Week Ten.

This is the week where I have completely forgotten where I am, why I'm there and what I should be doing. It's a constant state of delirium.

Appropriately known as the end of October. 

In the life of a road warrior, we have weeks that come like clockwork. The week where you hit the wall is usually around this time. 

And right on schedule, here it was. 

I had a short week, with a quick trip to Montana. This state, like pretty much my entire region, is gorgeous. With its big sky and it s big mountains, I really enjoying coming here. 

I had a beautiful sunset and an even more beautiful sunrise. I hoped to see a buffalo (I didn't) but I did see some really big cows. So there's that. 

State count: 16 technically, but I'm going to totally count Utah because even though I didn't leave the airport, I spent a respectable amount of time there during my layovers. So, 17.