Peace out 2018...Hello 2019

Every year I always like to wrap everything up with some kind of end-of-year post. Even though I didn't write a ton this year, I still like some closure on everything that went down. Some years I write about the highlights (and low lights) and sometimes it's just a summary of what went down.

Last year it was all about how 2017 didn't end up being "My Year" liked I had hoped it would be as my first full year as a Chicagoan. So that was a huge bummer. Well, spoiler alert: 2018 wasn't my year either. However, it wasn't too bad of a year at all. I am well aware that with the many ups, there are always downs. No one constantly just wins, and believe me, I don't expect to. However, I just want to feel like I came out ahead at the end of the year. Last year I definitely didn't, but this year, I do believe I came a little closer. Below I have rounded up the positives and negatives of this year in the more glaring portions of my life.

You can't win if you don't play

Last week was a big drawing for the MegaMillions lottery with a pay out of $1.6 billion. I mean, that's more money than I can even fathom having. It's an unimaginable amount of money. While I am not one to play the lottery, with everyone talking about it, I got the itch to play a little. I mean, why not? I decided to get in on the fun and buy tickets, because after all, you can't win if you don't play. I went to a local convenience store and bought three lines and automatically felt some hope. In reality, the odds were were ridiculously low to win, but the little excitement of "what if" got me and it was just fun to be part of the action. So many people I know who usually never play the lottery also bought tickets too, so we were all talking about what we would do if we won. A girl can hope, right? In the spirit of having disposable income, I decided to compile a list of what I would do if I happened to win all the money. 

Chicago 26.2: A Recap of #13

Thirteen is supposed to be an unlucky number and that wasn't lost upon me when I started training for this marathon. This was my second marathon of 2018, my sixth Chicago Marathon, and 13th total overall, and I still can't believe it. Running a marathon is not an easy task.Ever. No matter how many times you do it, it's hard, it's stressful, and ithurts. But I love it, and I keep coming back for more as long as my body cooperates (which actually hasn't been much in the last few years). People constantly ask me why I continue to do them and it's because I truly love running and the purpose and sense of accomplishment it gives me. Sure, there are moments where it totally tears me down and makes me question myself, but there are way more times that it makes me feel like I can tackle anything. And those are the moments I stick around for. 

Europe (Take 3) by the numbers...

Five years ago I went to Europe for the first time, solo, and thrilled for the opportunity. I was gone for about three weeks and saw 8 countries and 22 cities in that time. It was one of the best experiences of my life and I was hooked on traveling and exploring new places. It gave me such a sense of independence and gratefulness and just overall joy. I knew I wanted to keep doing this kind of thing as long as I had the time, the money, my health, and just the enthusiastic desire too. 

Turning lemons into lemonade...or wheat into beer

(Unintentional) DAY 17
 After another late night out yesterday, J and I woke up, packed up, ate breakfast, and headed to the airport to head on back to Chicago. We were flying from Dubrovnik to Munich and had a one hour layover until our flight to O’Hare. As the time kept getting closer to our boarding time, there was no one at the gate and nothing was happening. Boarding time came and went and we started to get anxious. Having a one hour layover in a big airport is cutting it close enough, but now time was getting real tight. People eventually started lining up at the gate to board, including us, even though nothing was going on. The time on the flight board said we were delayed 20 minutes, but no one from the airline said a word. Some people went up to the airline attendant, including me, to ask what the deal was and they had no answers. The girl, who was now hiding behind the counter, assured me we’d make our flight and it would all be fine. More time came and went and I didn’t believe all would be fine. I was getting very anxious (and that’s an understatement). It was now almost 40 minutes past our take-off and we still were waiting. More people kept going up to ask what the deal was because there were people who had connections to Boston, DC, Newark, and Vancouver, all within the same time frame as ours, more or less. We were all panicking with zero information and no communication from anyone from the airline. Finally, they started the boarding process to the shuttle bus and then on the plane. Once on the plane, we sat some more. Again, no information. At this point, J and I had figured we were going to miss our flight. We were taking off about 5 minutes prior to when our connecting flight was supposed to leave. This clearly wasn’t happening for us.