This is 39 (Month 9, Update 2)

There were a couple of updates that I wanted to share for my second month nine update, so I'll hop right to it:

Hike 1x/month
Katie, Tara and I found ourselves cramming in an early evening hike at Will Rogers- my go to hiking place to fulfill my monthly goal- just a day before the end of my month. It was a glorious night- perfect weather for a back yard hike. We saw horses and a cute elderly couple having a picnic (which involved rosé) at the top, we had a great view of the ocean and downtown and we were all one in just under an hour.

I'll admit that I had different ideas when I set this goal. I had hoped to do more exploring of all the various hikes available to me in the Santa Monica Mountains. I had just come off the exhilarating (albeit is crushingly sad and challenging- emotionally and physically) experience of hiking Mt. Lafayette in northern New Hampshire when I set this goal last fall. So in some ways it seems like I'm taking the easy way out.

But I've got to give myself credit for still going out there and getting it done. And here's hoping that in the final three months, maybe I can step it up a notch and do new hikes so it feels a little more in line with what I had intended.

Run a half marathon
Of all the goals I've been working on, this is the one I'm most excited about and proud of. I have been training for 14 straight weeks. I've run nearly 150 miles in that time. I have missed only one run (my final week in Ireland). And I can now run eight miles without stopping.

My pace is slow (average of 11:30/11:45/12:00 minute miles), but I'm sticking with it. I figure for my first half marathon, I'll just concentrate on getting through it (without stopping). And if I decide to run another half marathon (which already seems likely at this point), then I'll focus on improving my time.

I was talking with my friend Cheryl about the walk/run method and I know it's just not for me. As many of you know, I'm very much an all-or-nothing type of person. And I feel like if I were to start walking, I may not stop. Also. When I ran a million years ago in middle and high school (thanks Hal for getting me into running all those years ago), I never stopped. It just wasn't how I ran. And so I kinda wanna keep going with that.

The next few months will be higher and higher mileage (my training plans gets me up to 12 miles I think) and also I'm traveling more and more for work. I'm being strategic with my travel- flying later so I can get in my long runs before I am away for the week. And I know I can (and will) say no to hanging out in the evenings so I can get my training in while I'm traveling. #priorities

I'm actually really looking forward to the half marathon and am hoping it will be a fun experience and the rewards for all the hard work I've put into my training!

Use my real camera 1x/month
I took my camera out for our little memorial for Clancy on the one year anniversary of when he died (July 11th). Steve, Katie and I went down to the ocean and scattered some of his ashes. It was a calm and beautiful night and I took my camera with us to try and capture the mood and energy of the evening.

I didn't take photos (with my real camera) of us actually spreading Clancy's ashes in the ocean (or them coming back on to me- oops). But I did get some from our walk down to the beach:

At the beach:

And I caught Steve in a quiet moment after Katie and I left a piece of Clancy behind in the Pacific Ocean:

Also. Because I'm still organizing my photos and stuff (it's like the never-ending project), I've been learning more about Lightroom (thank you Cyrena) and can finally use it for things like cataloging my photos and touching them up.

Volunteer 1x/month (must include something to help flip the House):
Another month, another stint of writing postcards to remind voters to vote in special elections. This time I helped with Danny O'Connor's special election in Ohio. Currently the results are too close to call (although last I checked, it was tipped ever so slightly in the Republican's favor). It's always a rewarding experience to volunteer for Postcards for Voters and I highly recommend you sign yourself up too!

In addition to this, I also signed up for two other volunteer opportunities to help with the mid-term elections:

1. When We All Vote- taken directly from their website..."Volunteers across the country will give people an opportunity to register to vote through a partnership with Rock the Vote, and ensure people don't fall through the cracks in the voter registration process."
2. The Last Weekend: Volunteer in the Midterms- taken directly from their website too..."Study after study shows that the most effective way to get people to vote is by having conversations with them in the four days before Election Day." Even though I'll be working Saturday, November 3rd and Sunday, November 4th, and traveling on Monday, November 5th, I've already signed up to volunteer the evening of the 5th and I'll see what I can do on November 6th (Election Day). 

If you're so inclined, sign up too! It feels really good to be part of the solution instead of just complaining about current events. Take it from me- someone who has been on the sidelines for like 97% of her life up until a few years ago.

So that's Month 9 for ya!

I'm already looking forward to Month 10 and will need to take a look at what I've done and what's left to accomplish.

Thanks for playing along!