Running again......

Little by little I'm starting to run again. Yay! OK, very little running, but I'm planning a nice little 2.5 miler for tomorrow, and that will be the furthest I've run since the hip injury. I'm hoping to do a few 5K's this weekend....we'll see how the next few days go! Oh yeah, I did have a minor set back within the first 5 min of arriving at our friends house the first day of vacation. Their 90lb doberman and my 55lb aussie were chasing each other at mock 10 and in their furry, they slammed into my left hip which crushed my body weight into my right hip. Tears were in my eyes immediately as the pain was unbelievable. After a few days, I was feeling a bit better again, but damn! That was not a great way to start off!!

We are back from vacation and it was fantastic! Many good times were had by all! We had amazing weather all week and spent a good about of time on the beach in Cape Cod and then Gloucester, Ma. We took Guinness with us and introduced him to the ocean.......while he loved the water (yeah, he thinks he's a water dog), the salt water was a new and interesting taste for him. He took in enough of it to make him vomit around 7am and then have diarhea the entire next day. Sweet! Otherwise he loved it and I have some beautiful pictures of him and Alex romping in the ocean at sunset. So cute!! Guinness also made a new girlfriend in the 90lb. doberman named Nikki, that we stayed with our first night in MA. He had a blast chasing after her, he is such a ladies man! They even shared a goodbye kiss when we were saying goodbye to her owners (they thought no one was looking).

We also spent an absolutely wild and crazy night in Provincetown for Carnival. Wow.....that's about all I have to say about that! It was absolute insanity and I loved it!! We were at the parade and then stayed in town to party our asses off all night long! It was a kick ass night that ended with Spiritus pizza and some very interesting pictures.....



We also spent 2 of the most perfect beach days of the entire summer at Good Harbor beach in Gloucester with our friend Patti. It was so relaxing and gave me an opportunity to finally finish Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. I pick up that book during all of my breaks from grad school and I have been so anxious to finish it before classes start next week, so, these 2 beach days were the perfect opportunity for me to lay on the beach and finish a fantastic book! Alex and I both got great tans and had an incredible time crashing into the huge waves that were rolling in during Sunday's beach trip. Neither of us could truly remember the last time we had that much fun in the ocean!! It was a blast!!

All in all, it was a great week and a perfect way to bring the summer to a close! Here's to the last few days of summer fun!! CHEERS!!

Unemployed, Vacation, & a fantastic weekend....

Today is my first official day as an unemployed woman! I left my job at Nazareth College to finally finish my Masters degree in School Counseling at the Warner School, University of Rochester. I have my final internship this coming academic year, so I won't be able to keep a full time job and spend a few days a week in a high school. I'm absolutely looking forward to the internship and graduating in May '09! I began this degree program at Suffolk University in Boston back in January of 2005. I can't believe I'm finally going to graduate!! I have an internship placement at East HS which is part of the Rochester City School district and also has a very solid School Counseling model in place. This is exactly what I'm looking for because I am very drawn to working with urban youth and I feel this placement will give me the experience I need as a counselor. So, today begins my year as a full time student, wow, it's been soooo long since I have held that title!! Thank you to all my new friends from Nazareth! You have been amazing to work with and I look forward to keeping in touch.

Today also marks the beginning of vacation! Alex & I (along with Derek, Jodi, Chris, & Alana) have tickets to the Maroon 5, Counting Crows, & Sara Bareilles concert at Darien Lake tonight and then we leave for Cape Cod/Gloucester/Boston tomorrow morning. We will spend time visiting with friends back in MA and hanging on the beach. I can't wait!! What a perfect way to end the summer!

This weekend, we also celebrated the marriage of our friends Nancy & Dwight and it was an amazing ceremony and reception. Congrats to Nancy & Dwight!! Alex & I had a fantastic time!!