My summer 'vacation'

Despite this summer being extremely busy...some fun things also took place (including a few races!):

- Races: I ran the Frederick 1/2 Marathon in May and the Baltimore 10 miler in June.  One of my co-workers was injured and couldn't run the Bmore 10 miler, so I took her bib. 



After the Frederick 1/2...I missed a PR by 50ish seconds...but I was still happy about my time!

- Family: My sister, Sara, (who has been in Korea for the past year) came home for a few weeks, so I took some time off of work to hang out with her and the rest of the fam.

Sara and I at Kennywood

Mom, Sara and I at the Lady Antebellum concert (an awesome group!)

The fam in Pittsburgh at the top of the incline (Go Steelers!)

- BRAND NEW CAR:  Meet Avy, our 2012 Dodge Avenger (and our first new car for both Andrew and I).  It's my baby :)

Love that car :)

A (small) vacation:  Since there was only a short time between my class ending and Andrew starting school, we decided to do a small weekend getaway to a bed and breakfast in Cape Charles, VA.  We relaxed, went on a kayak wine tasting (you kayak to the vineyard...) and ate a lot of good food.

The view..

Yummy wine at the vineyard

After a fancy dinner out where we had the.best.steak.ever!

- Anatomy and Physiology: Ok...so maybe this wasn't exactly 'fun', but I was able to get this extremely difficult class over with in eight weeks (instead of the normal 3-4 month semester).  It was really intense and between class, lab and studying I put in around 30 hours a week (on top of my full time job).  But I think I'll use pretty much everything I learned...which is always good :)

The fall semester starts in two weeks, and I also start a new work schedule where I get every Friday off (yay) but have to work 10 1/2 days (boo).  

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What have you been up to this summer?  Anything fun and exciting?

Spring Break = Time to Blog!

Sorry I've been M.I.A these past couple of months.  I somehow didn't realize that full-time job + two tough classes = zero free time/social life.  But spring break has finally arrived and I'm able to blog a little bit since I only have a three day work week (Monday-Wednesday) plus no school.  Here are some things I plan to accomplish with all of this free time:


1.  Sleep more.  Getting only 5-6 hours of sleep a night = one tired, grumpy, hard to live with Kate.  I've already been to bed before 9:00 once and feel like I could run a marathon today!


2.  Organize.  Do you see this desk?! I'm usually the rediculously organized, so this just bothers me. 

Not my desk...but it's almost as messy (source)

3.  Hang out with this girl (it's been way too long!):

4.  Homework.  It never ends.


5.  Bake.  Enough Said.

6.  Hang out with Andrew.  Because seeing him for less than two hours a day does not count!

Cute, right?!

7.  Blog more than once every three months.  I'm not making any promises...but it's worth a try. 


I hope you all have a great week and enjoy this amazing weather.  I see a 10 mile run in my future, but for now it will just be the arc trainer and the Insanity Abs workout :)  Have a great Tuesday everyone!

Long time, no talk (my b!)

Howdy Happy Blog readers (if I have any left!). I apologize for my long absence...but I have a (few) reasons:

1. The holidays:

Around Christmas and New Years is absolutely crazy in the Nagel household.  We have multiple family dinners on my side, then had to drive to PA to see his side of the family.  I envy the time management of the other bloggers who could actually blog around the holidays!

2. I'm going back to school!!!!!!!

Don't you love my backpack?! Andrew got it for me for Christmas :)

I'm taking night classes at our local community college.  Pysch 101 in the winter, then Bio 101 and Stats in the Spring.  It will be hard to juggle everything, but I'm really looking forward to it (does that make me a nerd?!).  But speaking of school...I need to get to the reading/homework (ggrrr). 

I hope everyone has a good weekend! My hope is to update the blog once a week (either Saturday or Sunday)...so look out for that :)

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

After looking far and wide for a new Christmas tree stand, our tree is up:

I decided to go with a blue and silver theme this year instead of red and green.  I'm completely obsessed with Pinterest and found a lot of DIY decorating ideas.  My first 'craft' idea: 

Holy flash Batman!

There will be many more decorations in the next couple weeks.  Hopefully the apartment will look very festive :)

We leave for Vegas on FRIDAY!! I probably won't blog while I'm there, but I'll make sure a post a bunch of pictures when I get back.  I'm nervous about the race, but it should be fun!!

Post Thanksgiving

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! My thanksgiving started with an amazing breakfast:

The breakfast :)

The chef :)

After watching part of the Thanksgiving Day parade (my cousins were in one of the marching bands!!) we drove up to Hershey.  I forgot to take pictures of the food, but I did get the dessert I made:

And my sister-in-law got a new kitten, Squirt:

On Friday we did some shopping, but other than that it was a pretty chill Thanksgiving.  The Christmas tree is going up this weekend :) I love getting into the holiday spirit!

Have a great Saturday!

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How many weeks before Christmas do you put up your tree? 

Find any good deals on Black Friday?

Thanksgiving Preparations!

After working a half day (well...actually a 6 hour day), I went to the gym to get my workout on before I started baking for Thanksgiving. 

I'm really excited about seeing my husband's family and having my parents there too.  We're going to my sister-in-law's in Hershey, PA ('the sweetest place on earth'..and yes...you can smell the Reese's plant as you drive in...awesomesauce).  Andrew and I went last year and had a blast, so we wanted my parents to share in the Nagel Thanksgiving experience too :)


I'm baking two things: These and This.  I'm nervous about baking the rolls, but since I'm making them the day before I'll have time to make something else if I mess them up. 

Oh..and of course this is the perfect day before thanksgiving dinner:

My parents are coming over tomorrow morning before we drive to PA because they need to bake 'crapple' (I will show you that wonderful creation in a later post) because they are currently renovating their kitchen.  The best part about this is Dad offering to make breakfast!! I plan to make pumpkin muffins and I think Dad is making pancakes and eggs.  Greco breakfasts are epic...and it will hopefully tide us over until dinner at 1:00 ;)

Some have chocolate.  The white specs are cake mix...I can never get rid of them when I make these muffins!

Have a happy happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

The best way to refuel after a long run...

8.13 miles to be exact :)

Can I say that I love my hubby...look where he took me:

I think this is the best way to refuel after a long run, don't you?!

Off to get ready for work and this three day week.  Have a happy Monday everyone!