travel

Screw Winter

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My last three vacations were born out of Tate desire to chase waves.  Not that I’m complaining one bit, his love of surfing has taken us to gorgeous beaches around the world (including living in Peru for a year!).  The latest was Puerto Rico, which he’d had his eyes on for years.  Tate, two friends, and I spent a glorious week escaping from winter.

Puerto Rico is totally unique.  Technically it’s The United States but it has the unique distinction of also being part of Latin America.  It feels more similar to Central and South America than the “mainland” U.S except you don’t need a passport to travel there and everyone we encountered was bilingual.  In fact, I was a little disappointed that I didn’t get to use my (pretty pathetic) Spanish at all.

The island is pretty small, roughly 100 miles by 35 miles, and an awesome mix of forest and beach. It is very accessible from the East coast, our tickets were $300 from Richmond, Virginia and it only took 5.5 hours airport to airport.

We rented a condo on the beach not far from the town of Isabela and spent our days surfing, running, snorkeling, lounging, and exploring the area.

It’s back to the grind now but the awesome memories will last, unlike my tan. 🙂

Plank time!  Check out Monday’s post to catch up on my February plank challenge (ONE HOUR OF PLANKING!) and check out the Gracefulfitness Facebook page to see how today’s workout breaks down and for video of today’s plank of the day.

Full and Fulfilled

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Is it over yet?

Thanksgivinghanukahchristmas…new years!

Three down and one to go.

Okay, I don’t need to get to Bah Humbug, it’s been a fun and full month week.

The last six days were spent in West Virginia full of family, sleeping in, and endless hours in the kitchen creating delicious meals and treats.

We kicked it off with our annual pirogi dinner at my momma’s.

The dough was flying!

Dozens of potato-filled dumplings were made (and devoured!).

The occasion totally called for some zebra print ‘stashes.

And many toasts.

Truly the best part was lots of good QT with my amazing, big, family, especially my three sisters and my brother.

Tate and I returned back home to Charlottesville last night to a 42* house.  Burrrrr.

It was dusk on Christmas eve, I’d started the day with a bloody mary and followed it with some egg nog and a two hour car ride, not exactly a recipe for exercise motivation in my book but I pulled on my sports bra anyway and got moving.

Tate actually joined in for his first ever exercise dvd experience!  By the time the warm up was finished we’d shed a layer of clothing and the house was up to at least 45*.  We completed a 35 minute tabata dvd and both felt great afterward.  Another win for workout dvd’s getting me up and moving!

I hope each of you had a sweet holiday and I wish you an amazing last week of 2013!

p.s. for the full holiday photo album “like” Gracefulfitness on Facebook!