Staycation, All I Ever Wanted

On the last day of our staycation, my husband and I tried to make the best of a sad situation – having to go to work the next day – by spending time together and having fun.

We went on a walk in our neighborhood to Highland Park.  Everything looks so sad and burned up without the rain but with Julia, everything looks a little happier.

Later we spent some time relaxing and drinking almond-milk-sugar-free iced lattes at Ghostlight Coffee on their pretty patio.  It had just (finally) rained so it was actually cool enough to sit outside.

And now it’s back to reality…

New Addition to My Family!

Update 7/3/12:  Unfortunately, Suzy’s foster parents decided that our home would not be a good fit for Suzy because she showed so much dominance toward Julia.  While I believe that type of behavior can be corrected using modern positive reinforcement training, they weren’t willing to take the risk in letting them live together, which may be for the best considering they could have potentially started fights and hurt each other.  We bear no resentment as this part of the process is entirely up to the rescue group and not the potential adoptive parents.  No matter how bummed we are about this, we still feel that working with a rescue is the best way to adopt pets.

No, it’s not a baby.  Meet Suzy!  She is a terrier mix found at the same shelter Julia! was rescued from.  She is currently being fostered and we’ve been scheduling little play dates for Julia and Suzy to get to know each other little by little.  Suzy is 1 or 2 years old and has a lot of energy so it was hard to get a good picture without her wiggling away.  I adore this little girl!  I can’t wait until she’s officially part of our family.  I’ll post updates as we get closer to the adoption date.

Blue Heron at Eastwood Metropark

On a recent trip to Eastwood Metropark, we spotted this blue heron.  We even got to see it fly but we couldn’t get a picture of that fast enough.

This walk was a little different because we walked all around the creek and I didn’t realize there is a beautiful waterfall right before it empties into the river.  Also, not to ruin the effect here but creeks smell absolutely terrible.

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Eastwood MetroPark is Our New Favorite

I love living in Dayton (see…this entire blog for reference) but one drawback to moving here was less access to the MetroParks.  We’ve always lived so close to parks and trails that it was easy to escape for a while into another world.  We had no idea until last Sunday that Eastwood MetroPark extended so far into Dayton – Smithville Road seems to pretty much dead end in the park.  We found it Sunday midmorning and were immediately smitten with the bridges and ducks and all the families having picnics.

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I can’t wait to go back!  We barely scratched the surface of this park and there is so much more to see!

Dayton Area 5Ks and Races for April 28, 2012

I spend most weekends not participating in 5Ks – let’s say maybe 50 out of 52 weekends a year.  So you can imagine my surprise when I get invited to not 1, not 2, but 3 races on the same day, April 28, 2012.  I can’t be in 3 places at once so I thought I would share the information with my Dayton readers in case you would be interested in attending one of these races for charity.

Walking to STOP Child Abuse – 5K Walk/Run to benefit Family Violence Prevention Center

• This 5K takes place at and around Beavercreek High School
• My team name for this event is The Isotopes, which is a Simpsons reference (and yes, we perform about as well as the real Springfield Nuclear Power Plant team)

Dayton Peace Accords 5K Walk/Run to benefit Dayton International Peace Museum

• It took some digging but it looks like the route will be on the Great Miami River Trail, which will be beautiful!  Wish I could make this one.

March for Babies to benefit March of Dimes

• This one will take place at Carillon Historical Park
• I was invited to this by my work but since it was already committed to the first one, I couldn’t go. 

 

I Love Spring!

My husband will tell you that one of my more annoying qualities is that I stop frequently on walks to take pictures of flowers, animals, signs, buildings, etc.  The way I see it, it’s easier to go on walks and stay active at all if there are beautiful things to document the whole time.  Here are some of my favorites from our walks this spring.

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And here’s a baby bunny we found at work.

Springtime in East Dayton

I know this could easily be a sign of end times but I’m so digging this very unseasonably warm weather.  I feel like I can’t waste another second cooped up inside so here’s everything you need to know about springtime in East Dayton:

These were all taken on walks around our neighborhood in Linden Heights.

A Perfect Weekend

Now that we are settled in our house, we have established a sort of rhythm to the weekend.  Our best weekends are loosely (if at all) planned out and just sort of unfold at an easy pace.

We start the day with brunch, many times from the Starlite Restaurant:

Next, we peruse the shelves at Belmont Party Supply (they have the most diverse beer section I’ve ever seen – I wish we could have taken my dad here because he would have refused to leave, it’s that close to a beer enthusiast/shopaholic paradise).

After taking our winnings home, we gather up our library books and walk to East Library:

No weekend is complete without a cold walk in the fading sunshine – and maybe some time on the swings.

We round out the afternoon with a trip to Ghostlight Coffee for a latte.

Walnut Hills Park – Dayton, OH

When the global warming gods give us an almost 50 degree day in January, I make an effort to enjoy it.  My husband had been talking about “The Best View of Dayton” like it was a copyrighted phrase so of course I was intrigued.  We walked to Walnut Hills Park, established in 1926, and I had a great time taking in the view, breathing the fresh air, and playing on the swings (I guess I’m 25 going on 5).  I think I’ve found my new favorite park of all time.  (Central Park is a close second because although I can’t walk there whenever I want to, it does have turtles.)

Pace for Peace 5K – Yellow Springs, OH

John Bryan State Park

In an effort to soak up every last pretty moment of autumn, recently my mom, sister, and I took part in the Pace for Peace 5K benefiting the Family Violence Prevention Center of Greene County.  I loved that we had a reason to get outside in the fresh air at John Bryan State Park (and the breakfast at Young’s Jersey Dairy in Yellow Springs afterward didn’t hurt).  Even though we achieved a better time, we unfortunately came in last place. 

To congratulate ourselves for a job well done, we went shopping and I bought a beautiful rice bowl from Yellow Springs Pottery.