Gretch Runs

Good morning! I'm early for once to share my monthly books, and I had some interesting picks. I got out of my usual genre a bit and delved into the world of fantasy which was fun- but also had lots of romance as well. There were some hits and misses, but mostly I'm just excited for December and some more holiday books! Here's what I read this month- Carrie Soto Is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid Carrie Soto is fierce, and her determination to win at any cost has not made her popular. But by the time she retires from tennis, she is the best player the world has ever seen. She has shattered every record and claimed twenty Grand Slam titles. And if you ask Carrie, she is entitled to every one. She sacrificed nearly everything to become the best, with her father, Javier, as her coach. A former champion himself, Javier has trained her since the age of two. But six years after her retirement, Carrie finds herself sitting in the stands of the 1994 US Open, watching her record be taken...

In October, I finally made it back to Europe! If you've been a blog reader pre-pandemic you might know that I love to travel and try to go on at least one international trip a year. Unfortunately that streak ended last year (we made it to Mexico in February 2020 so the streak was still alive then) but we're officially back!  This time, we wanted to keep the trip as simple as possible after hearing travel horror stories. We always travel with just carry-on items, but we also wanted to take a direct flight. For us in Raleigh, that led us to Paris, and from there we decided to take a train to Brussels and explore Belgium for a few days. Getting local trains after that was easy, and we stayed in Bruges and Antwerp, with day trips to Ghent, Brussels and Dinant. Here are some highlights from each city! Up next- our visit to Luxembourg. Bruges Hotel : Grand Hotel Casslebergh. This hotel was awesome! The location was central, right beside Burg Square. Our room was in the historic part ...

October was such a fun month! The weather was perfect, and it was great to have a house where we could actually celebrate Halloween. This was my first time decorating my own place for a holiday, and I loved it! We had so many trick or treaters and went to a neighbor's house to pass out candy- it's everything I always wanted in a neighborhood.  For my highlight of the month, it was definitely going to Europe. Dan and I spent a little over a week in Belgium and Luxembourg, with some quick stops in Netherlands, Germany, and France. I'm working on posts of everything we saw and did, but it was SUCH a fun trip and made me realize how much I missed traveling internationally.  Let's talk goals now- it's crazy to think there are only 2 more months left of the year! Here's how my annual goals are going- Spend More Time Outside 1000 Hours Outside  - 869 hours so far. Only 131 more to go! January - 54 total hours February - 52 total hours March - 97 total hours April - 103...