I Run Like A Girl

In my last post, I breezed through 6 months of updates, and I feel like there was so much more to share from the last few months, especially about our new life in North Carolina. So here I am a week later with another post for you guys. I told you I couldn’t stay away for long. 😉

Joe and I couldn’t be happier with our decision to move to NC. Every other day, we turn to each other and say how lucky we are we made this happen. When I was younger, I would not have imagined my dream would be to live in a place like NC, but here I am. After over a decade of living in big cities, small luxuries like easy parking, doing laundry in my own home, and having a backyard feel like a real dream. It sounds silly, but I will never take these simple conveniences for granted!

Aside from that, this area is just really nice. It’s hard to describe, but there’s a general pleasantness in the people and the pace of life here unlike anywhere I’ve ever lived. We live in a growing area full of young couples/families like ourselves, and it’s somewhere we can see ourselves putting roots down.

Moving here in the winter was a great choice. I haven’t had any FOMO to explore which allowed me to focus on getting settled at home. NC winters are pretty mild, so we’ve had plenty of outdoors time — nature was a big reason we moved here. As it’s getting warmer, I’m starting to feel ready to explore and do more things in the area.

Besides buying furniture for the home, I’ve been on a huge plant craze. We visited a few plant stores and quickly filled our home. This is the third time we made a big move and started our plant collection from scratch. One of the saddest moments during our last days in San Francisco was selling all of our plants on Craigslist. However, starting the collection again has been exciting, as I get to relive the joy of picking plants from the nursery, potting them, propagating them, etc.

I started some pothos propagations. I started these early as propagations are what truly create the lush, full look we want for our plants at home, and I want to get the queue started. Six weeks later, my propagation is ready!

Joe has been working on the outdoor garden. He set up three garden beds, getting them ready for Spring and even planting some winter bulbs in the meantime.

Setting these up was no small feat as it required several trips to the mulch/compost yard. Have I mentioned how grateful I am Joe loves this work? They even gave him a punch card which we thought was funny. But after a few trips, they know Joe by name and he’s already redeemed the free cubic yard. 😛

I’ve been helping with some smaller tasks for the garden like the seedlings. I’m trying to get more involved as I think it could be a fun activity for me too. I have a pretty good sense of indoor plants, but outdoor plants are a whole new world for me. Good thing Joe is knowledgeable here.

We set up a bird feeder — a simple addition that transformed our yard. So many birds and squirrels visit us now, and it’s so fun to watch. The cats are in heaven watching and “ekk”-ing at the birds.

Moving here also meant I needed to figure out my new workout routine. On weekdays, I’ve been working out at home, doing yoga or a strength workout with dumbbells. I love having space for a home gym which has been my dream for a while.

On weekends when I have more time, I’ll do a class in person. I joined ClassPass again to try the different options near me. I tried F45 a few weeks ago, and was instantly hooked! F45 is a circuit-style workout with a mix of strength and cardio. I love going because I get to try new equipment and creative circuits that I can’t do at home. I even did my first pull-up the other day which I never would have tried at home. The hour class flies, by and there are great vibes among the people which is important to me.

I’ve also taken a few classes at Pure Barre. I think barre classes are less fun as they focus on small, isolated movements which isn’t really my kind of workout. It’s been good to add variety, and we’ll see if I’ll keep going.

Random – I’ve been eating a lot of goji berries. I love putting them in ginger tea and my oatmeal in the morning. I buy them dried from H-Mart, and they’ve been a nice, nutritious addition to my meals.

Speaking of food, the food here is amazing! We don’t eat out much, but the times we have have been phenomenal. This was our Valentine’s Day meal. 🙂

Lastly, I’m happy to report the cats love NC as much as we do. The moment we got here, I saw a new side of their personality I hadn’t seen before when we lived in apartments. They are more active and curious – the extra space has been really good for them. Ben claimed the cat tower the moment we set it up, something we didn’t have space for in our previous apartment.

Have a great week, friends!!