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| Lots of people we met for the first time... |
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| Bonfire on the beach! |
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| Ethan enjoying the fire |
It was a great party! Lots of good food & drink and great conversation. About 2 minutes before the countdown, it started to rain and we all darted underneath the trees for cover. Ethan hit his head on a branch. (ouch!) It only rained briefly, but we were all counting down the last seconds of 2013 under the trees with cups of sparkling wine in our hands. Then we headed back to the fire to warm up again!
It has definitely been an adventure living in Puerto Rico. We have had our ups and downs: seeing beautiful places; exploring the beaches, mountains, rainforests, and caves all over the island; finding delicious restaurants; meeting new friends; learning Spanish; trying to find a decent car; surviving the city traffic everyday; and saving up time and money to visit friends and family on the mainland. Reflecting on all our experiences of 2013 brings me to my resolutions for 2014:
Run more
I reviewed my mileage for the past few years and it has decreased drastically :-/ In 2012, I ran a total of 430.5 miles while only making 375.9 miles in 2013. I definitely want to get this number back up for 2014! So far, I have several races planned: Ethan and I are signed up to run all 6 Xterra Trail Races this year (5k or longer for each race). I am also signed up to run the Puerto Rico Half Marathon in March. Hopefully, I can get a new PR for that distance!
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| The heat and humidity are brutal in Puerto Rico! |
Communicate better
I guess we always can work on this one. This is one of my goals for 2014, especially in my postdoc in the Quirk lab. It's a lot larger lab than what I am used to, but I am learning to communicate effectively more and more in the lab each day. And I am definitely improving my Spanish!
Eat Better
Ethan and I have been struggling to come up with planned meals for the week. Sometimes it gets pretty bad because we come home late from the lab most nights of the week and are too tired to make an amazing meal. So one solution I have for this is to plan our meals for the week and make meals ahead of time so that we have healthy prepared meals for those days we come home late. I also want to try some new recipes!
Here's to another adventurous year on the Island of Enchantment! Cheers!
What are your new year's resolutions? What are you going to do to achieve them?
Happy New Year Maria! I've really enjoyed reading your blog this past year and look forward to reading more in 2014! As far as resolutions go I'll be attempting to be a better blogger and write more regularly and generally grabbing hold of life's opportunities a bit more! Hopefully we can keep each other motivated! Is there a parkrun near you both? That could def help with your mileage and is generally good fun! They are all over the world. If there isn't one nearby why not get together with a group of runners and start one up? Check out their website for more info, think the address is parkrun.org Good luck!xx
ReplyDeleteThanks, Laura! I will have to look to see if there is a parkrun in PR. Looking forward to your blog as well! Cheers! :)
ReplyDeleteMy resolutions for 2014 are to get my extension here in Germany until 2017, all I can do is hope and pray. I really did not make any resolutions in particular. Looking forward to reading your blog. I wish you the best for 2014! Muchas felicidades para ti y para Ethan!
ReplyDeleteBilly Shears