7 in 7 Update

Five weeks ago, I had this great idea to come up with seven goals for myself to complete in the seven weeks before my 30th birthday.  Let's review those goals, shall we?

1. Run a 5K.

2. Read a book for pleasure.

3. Try a new food.

4. Try a new restaurant.
5. Finish my National Board portfolio and drink a bottle of champagne to celebrate.

6. Cook dinner for Kurt at least once per week.

7. Visit a new place.

I'm happy to report  that with two weeks remaining in my 20s, I've accomplished three goals.  That's it.  Three!  How pathetic, right?!  I have some very clear and logical reasons excuses for all of this and they mostly revolve around goal #5.  This National Board portfolio is sucking every ounce of life out of me.  I work on it at night.  I work on it during the school day (Thank God for student teachers!).  I work on it on the weekends.  I am always working on this thing!  The good news, though, is that I'm turning it next Saturday and once that happens, I will be able to accomplish goals 2, 5, and 7 with a trip to Cancun for my birthday.  Apparently that's a really safe place to be going to right now...I'm trying to tune out the traveler warnings about Mexico.

So, what have I accomplished?  Well, I've already told you about trying out a new restaurant.  We tried an Italian place that had been recommended to us by my friend Jenni for Valentine's Day.  I've also tried some new foods.  We tried another new restaurant (Woo!  I met that goal twice...it's gotta count for something, right?!) and there I tried some Greek specialties, such as

Moussaka

and Spanakopita.

It was Friday, so I couldn't eat meat, but I tried a bite of Moussaka without the meat part.  I did enjoy a lovely Greek salad and some awesome tzatziki and pita.

And for the third goal, I ran in a Shamrock 5K this past weekend.  Kurt and I did the race with my friend Jen and her boyfriend, Jarrod.  They are doing a marathon this coming weekend, so this 5K was their taper.  I was proud that I kept up with them for all but the last two tenths of a mile.  Since it was a St. Patty's Day theme race, we had to dress up.  This is how we ran:

Jarrod and Jen

Kurt and I

We had a great time and even got to watch part of the St. Patty's Day parade, where we saw one of our high school English teachers on a float dressed as the pope. What a sight!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!