• Home
  • About
    • CONTACT
    • CSSD Certification
  • Eat
    • Recipes
    • Nutrition
  • Move
    • Fitness
    • Running
  • Coaching
    • Athlete Spotlights
  • Products I Love
  • Safer Beauty

Eat on the Run

Fueling up for a healthy life!

2017 in Review

January 4, 2018

Happy New Year!  I’m so excited for a fresh start, a fresh year, and hopefully fresh opportunities.  While I’m not a huge new year’s resolution person, I do love the energy this time of year brings for each of us.  We’re taking the time to reflect on last year, identify what we loved, where we could make improvements, and hopefully start to plan a way to implement change.  I’ll be writing a blog post soon about how I’m approaching my 2018 goals.  For now, I’d like to take a look back at 2017, which was filled with change, adventure, and lessons.

In January, we found out that our lease would be up on the townhome we were renting.  This forced us to make a decision and we felt it was a good time for us to purchase our first home.  With lots of support from friends and family, we closed in February and started making this house a home.

IMG-0765

While moving is never a fun experience, it was worth it knowing we were moving into a home that was fully ours.  We learned so much in the process of buying a home and I’m happy to say it only made our marriage stronger in the end.  If you’ve ever been through the home buying process, you know it’s awfully daunting for newbies.  It was a complete team effort and we really enjoyed decorating and filling in the nooks and crannies of our home.

Just two weeks after moving in, Devin and I celebrated our 1st wedding anniversary.  Since we had been through a lot during the first couple months of the year, we decided to stay home, pop open a bottle of champagne, and cook up a delicious steak dinner.

IMG-0789

In April, I headed to State College to attend an Executive education program through the Smeal College of Business.  As a registered dietitian who spends a lot of her professional life working on the business side of health coaching, I felt it was necessary to gain a few more skills.  This was a great place to start and I’m already looking at another executive program to attend.

IMG-0829

It was a beautiful week in central PA and I enjoyed staying in town for the Blue & White game with my family as well.  Overall, it was a fun way to celebrate Spring!

IMG-0833

In May, Devin surprised me with a delicious dinner in Frederick at the restaurant Volt.  It has been a place on our bucket list and it lived up to all of our expectations!  I highly recommend it if you’re in the area. IMG-0853

In early June, I traveled to Arizona for the first time.  It was a quick trip for work, but it’s always nice to visit a new area of the US.  I was amazed at how different dry heat is!

IMG-0902

For Father’s Day and Devin’s birthday, we had a fantastic time hosting his family in our new home.  We spent the day in Annapolis for Dev’s birthday and enjoyed some ice cream by the water!

IMG-0971

It was a scorcher of a summer and we definitely didn’t receive any relief the evening of our Suds n Soles 5K.  The start was right down the street from our home, so the walk was a warm up.  After, they had local breweries offering samples and tastings to finishers.  It was one of my favorite races!  Plus, it was only the 2nd race Dev and I’ve ever done together – which made it that much more special 🙂

IMG-0998

We spent our 4th of July weekend back in Pennsylvania.  It’s always nice to be in the mountains during the summer.  Well, let’s be honest, it’s always good to be in the mountains <3  We also had the opportunity to visit the Flight 93 memorial, which is less than an hour from where I grew up.

IMG-1034 IMG-1079

In July, we also discovered our new love of hiking.  We ended up going to Harper’s Ferry for a day trip per a recommendation Devin received from a colleague.  While there, we completed a 5 mile hike and really enjoyed the workout and the ability to be outside!  Being under the trees helped us tolerate the hot July sun.  If you’d like to read more about our visit, click here for that post.

19990487_10156345171600130_2324139274413645124_n We went on a couple more hikes throughout the month before we geared up for a trip to Florida and Georgia.  The day before we left, we found out our flight was cancelled and would have to fly out a day late.  We decided to get out on the AT instead of mope.  The hike allowed us to start our vacation on time and visit a new part of Maryland.  We started in Middletown, MD and hiked to the Washington Monument (in Maryland, not the one in DC).

IMG_2056

 

 

 

 

 

We spent a few days in Florida visiting Devin’s family.  It’s always fun to see our nephews and catch up with our Florida family!

20664006_10156446306040130_685059525330640017_n

From there, we headed up to Jekyll Island to celebrate our anniversary.  Yes, it was a few months late, but we had to enjoy the anniversary package!  We spent 4 nights on Jekyll, enjoying the summer sun and reminiscing about our wedding.

20708463_10156446306000130_5231995552888196907_n

20664673_10156446305915130_7194753185335709607_n

 

IMG-1238

 

Summer 2017 was really the summer of hiking.  I think Devin and I counted over 10 hikes we went on, which is just amazing.  Hiking replaced running for most of the summer, but I feel like it really kept me in great shape for it.  I’m not a hot weather runner, so I was glad to trade it in for another form of outdoor exercise.

Below is a picture at the lookout of Raven Rocks, VA.

IMG-1352

At the end of August, Devin and I went to California.  I had a business meeting and we thought it would be fun to have him tag along!  We were in the Salinas/Monterey area (aka America’s Salad Bowl).  I still want to write a full blog post about our trip and all that we visited.  Monterey, Carmel, Big Sur, and San Francisco in 6 days was a blast and very tiring since we hiked during 4 of those days.

IMG-1497

IMG_1065

 

IMG_1073

IMG-1690

September brought us a new member of the family: Sully!  We went the rescue route and adopted him through Lucky Dog in DC.  He was 5 months old when we brought him home and he’s stolen our hearts ever since!

IMG-1867

IMG-1874

Fall also marks the start of college football in our house!  Devin is an Ohio State fan and I’m a Penn State fan.  So most the season is a ton of fun – except when they play each other.  Let’s just say we’re not going to review the OSU vs. PSU game this year. Shawna, my bestie from high school, came up for the Pitt game, which is her alma mater, and we even got to meet Todd Blackledge!

21430067_1968729573140895_1396125715216534591_n

IMG-1831

Also this fall, my mom  ran for School Board in my hometown.  Devin and I took a trip to PA to work the polls for her!  We had a blast (even though it was the coldest day of the fall season ) and enjoyed seeing the results come in.  Yes, she did win!

IMG-1117

Devin’s sister, Shannon, is expecting her first baby, so we stayed at home for Thanksgiving this year so we can have a long visit in a couple weeks !  Because we were home, that also meant we got to host.  It was an adventure and challenge, but in the end fun and delicious!  Of course I enjoyed coming up with my own recipes and adding my touch to this holiday. I can’t decide between the butternut squash risotto, which I made in my instant pot, or the cranberry sausage stuffing as my favorite dish.

IMG-1171 (1)

IMG-1165 (1)

Christmas is by far our favorite season.  We try to do quite a few things over the holiday to enjoy every minute.  This year we went to the NeedtoBreathe concert.  We also hosted a holiday get together with friends.  We set out a baked potato bar which was so much fun!  It’s like an adult version of an ice cream sundae bar.  And then Devin surprised me with tickets to the National Cathedral for their holiday choir.  We spent the night in Georgetown at the Four Seasons.  It was such a wonderful staycation!

IMG-1208

For Christmas, we packed up and headed to Pennsylvania to celebrate with my family.  We also stayed in the mountains with full intentions on skiing.  However, negative degree wind chills made us just want to stay in next to the fire.  We did, however, get out to visit Ligonier with it’s cute downtown and adorable shops (we recommend the Kitchen on Main).  And, since we were only 40 minutes from Pittsburgh, we spent one day visiting Phipps Conservatory and the Andy Warhol museum before having dinner with Shawna.

26165506_10156914276525130_3527880285559811254_n

IMG-1259

 

It’s been one crazy 2017!  A lot of change led us into the year and we’re grateful we had a relaxing end to it.  I’ll be back to review how I’m goal setting this year to stay accountable.  Stay tuned 🙂

26166068_10156914276540130_5226778221065554559_n

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Facebook Twitter Pinterest

Filed Under: Fun! Tagged With: New Year's

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

What is 15 + 15 ?
Please leave these two fields as-is:
IMPORTANT! To be able to proceed, you need to solve the following simple math (so we know that you are a human) :-)
Link to my Facebook Page
Link to my Instagram Page
Link to my Pinterest Page
Link to my Mail Page

Search the Site

* indicates required

2018 Reading Challenge

2018 Reading Challenge
Melissa has read 10 books toward her goal of 12 books.
hide
10 of 12 (83%)
view books

Copyright © 2019 · Eat on the Run · Designed by Smitten Blog Designs · Log in