Glenn quit his job recently. He’s often fantasized about quitting his job in a blaze of glory. But this was a calculated step in a much larger plan we have to push the pause button on our daily grind. By becoming unemployed Glenn has helped create the space in our lives where magic is going happen. You […]
Learning to Appreciate Paradise
I don’t often appreciate things until they are gone. I’m typically focused on the next great thing – forgetting to enjoy what I have at the time. My mother once told me this character trait makes me high maintenance because I am always distracted scheming the next great thing. She’s probably right (as mothers always […]
Getting to the heart of the matter
* GUEST POST by Glenn, Michele’s husband A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams – John Barrymore None of us are ageless. Eventually we will all be limited in one-way or another by age or circumstance. Not an especially cheery thought but something that I’m sure has crossed all of our […]
Adventuring in Croatia
Croatia is the land of waterfalls, whiffs, warblers, weed-whackers and war. Glenn and I recently found ourselves in Croatia to run the first ever Dubrovnik International Half-Marathon and we spent some time after that event to explore this beautiful country. We decided to join an REI Adventures tour that included biking, hiking and kayaking across […]
Dubrovnik International Half-Marathon
Glenn and I recently found ourselves in Croatia. “I got us all signed up” Glenn said when I got home from work one day. “For what?” I asked. “For that half-marathon in Dubrovnik! You said you wanted to do it. Right?” Ahh, yet another miscommunication that results in an adventure! Last October we ran in the […]
Redemption
“Running has taught me that I am capable of more than I ever imagined.” That was written on the back of a woman’s shirt at the Vortex Half-Marathon this past week. She had full knee braces on each leg, a big sweatband around her head and a slow jog with just a bit of a […]
Making the jump
“My heart’s not in it.” That is what a friend said to me the other day as we were discussing our mutual journey of getting healthy and losing weight. Her comments got me to thinking about all of the times in my life when my heart also wasn’t in it. I’ve certainly spent more time […]
Learning to fly
It’s amazing what blowing air can do to combat gravity and this past weekend I got to experience it firsthand. Indoor skydiving it’s called. Imagine a 12-foot diameter clear vertical tube that goes up three stories…and then imagine 140+ mph winds whipping through said tube…and then imagine flinging your body into this wind tunnel and […]
Dream big. But dream silently.
Guest post by Glenn, Michele’s husband. If you have a personal goal heed my advice and keep it to yourself – otherwise you may just have to follow through with it. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not against personal goals. I think finding something to challenge yourself with, especially something you aren’t quite sure is […]
Biking through Vietnam
A year ago this week I was bicycling through Vietnam – a dream come true. I had been captivated by the idea of biking the rice fields of Vietnam from the instant I saw pictures of such a trip on the REI adventure travel website nearly 10 years earlier when Glenn and I were looking […]
Running around Copenhagen. No really!
“You two look to be in great shape” is what our tour guide said upon meeting us on a very cold, windy and slightly rainy Sunday morning in Copenhagen. Certainly not a sentiment I’ve heard very much (ever) in my life. It made me blush. I still can’t get over it when that happens – […]
It’s not all rainbows and unicorns
It turns out that sometimes…running sucks. I learned this important life lesson this past weekend when I participated in the Happy Girls Half-Marathon in Sisters, Oregon. Running 13 miles on forested trails in the high dessert of the Cascade Mountains with 500 other amazing women. What could be better than that? What could go wrong? […]
The people that inspire me
“Surround yourself with people that make you a better version of yourself” was the quote on the back of a guy’s t-shirt as we ran the Portland Half-Marathon last weekend. I had started studying the t-shirts people were wearing for this momentous event in an effort to distract myself from the fact that I was […]
My first half-marathon
We were supposed to run 10 miles today according to our training schedule and I was scared to death that I wouldn’t be able to do it. Ever since we did the Cascade Lakes Relay in early August we haven’t been running regularly as we’ve been focusing on hiking in preparation for the hike around […]
Round the Mountain
Every year Glenn and I plan at least one mystery vacation for each other. We plan a special outing and the other person doesn’t know what it is until it happens. I stole this idea from a co-worker who does this with his partner and I thought it was brilliant! This past Labor Day weekend […]