currently: february 2022

We’re in the depths of winter over here, folks, and it looks like maybe maybe spring could be around the corner here in Minnesota 🤞🏼 Subzero temps have been the norm for so much of the past two months, and I’ve tried to make the best of them by cozying up inside. But not gonna lie, nearly two years into this pandemic makes it tough. Anyway, enough about the weather. February went by in a blink! Here are the highlights.

running

The road to Boston continues – it’s six weeks away! Other than a hydration fail a few weeks ago that resulted in a cut short long run, training’s been great. I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how well my body and legs are holding up as my mileage has gradually increased (aside from a massive blister on my big toe thanks to too many miles in a pair of shoes). My build’s been steady – up to 50 miles this week for the first time since my IMCdA build in 2015 – and filled with mostly slow-is-the-new-fast miles (all on the treadmill because that’s what works right now to maximize my time) with weekly speed work and tempo miles. Definitely not fancy, but it’s consistent – and consistency is where the magic is.

chrome tab organizer

I’m one of those people who has 87 tabs open in Chrome at all times. When it gets too unruly, I close them all with the OneTab extension and start fresh, which lasts about a day. It drives me bonkers! But I recently found a fix! During a recent zoom meeting when a colleague was sharing her screen, I noticed that her Chrome tabs had section labels. I slacked her immediately after the meeting to get the details. Simply right click on a tab and scroll down to “Add Tab to Group” and then select “New Group” where you can name, color code, and move groups and tabs around. Brilliant.

wordle

Late Wordle adopter here, but now I’m obsessed. My mom, sister, and I text every morning, sharing how many tries it took us to solve. What I love about it: only one try each day (I’d otherwise play constantly), its simplicity, the endless possibilities of 5-letter words. My strategy: I start each day with a random word, usually inspired by something over morning coffee.

XC ski races

It’s not February in Minnesota without Nick racing the Loppet and the Birkie. Jackson and I got out to cheer at the Loppet, but didn’t make it up to the Birkie because we didn’t have a place to stay. A botched wax at the Loppet, but for Nick’s 10th Birkie, it was spot on. So proud of him! We already can’t wait for next year!

house projects

We’ve done so much work to our house since we bought it in 2017, and it’s time to share it. I have a few posts ready to go and just need to take pics, so watch for those soon. It’s also time to dust off the instagram account and share some there, too, so follow along at @StandishBungalow! We recently finished remodeling our second floor and are currently wrapping up painting the basement and making that more functional as a second living space and our workout room.

We also recently swapped my office and Jackson’s nursery. When I went back to work in November, we moved my office to our upstairs foyer and moved Jackson’s nursery to my office on the main floor, thinking that would create a quiet space for me to work. Well, it didn’t work well at all because Jackson continued napping in our room where we have blackout shades so that meant I was constantly shuffling between my office and the dining table. But when we got blackout shades for his nursery, it still wasn’t working, mostly because it was too loud on the main floor for him to nap. So we’re back to the original configuration: my office on the main floor (with a door!) and Jackson’s nursery upstairs in our room. It’s so much better and more functional. And I love how cozy our upstairs feels with his crib there ♡

8 months!

Eight months with this little dude. Life is so much better with him in it ♡ He’s all sorts of fun right now, too – army crawling all over the house, cheesing at his doggos, loving the outdoors, talking nonstop, loving every food he tries. He teaches us everyday about determination, and we couldn’t be more grateful for him. Keep giving everything your all, buddy.

the doggos

Olli’s obsessed with Luma, and Luma looks at us everyday wondering when we’re gonna give him back.