Thankful Tuesday

Inspired by Ali’s Thankful Thursday, we’re going to call this a Thankful Tuesday post. It’s easy to get caught up in the craziness of life and forget just how many amazing things we have each day even when life isn’t perfect and things are insane.

I am so thankful for my family. Even though my immediate family lives down in Savannah still I have a great relationship with them which allows me to pick up the phone at any hour and know they’ll be there. Over the past year I’ve called them crying, elated, stressed, or just to chat. In fact last week, on Saturday night I even called them tipsy and spent 30 minutes screaming into the phone to them while drinking champagne and putting on makeup. This weekend I get to see my brother Ryan on a rare brother and sister trip to my family’s home in Vermont.

We have no firm plans for the weekend but I’m going to do my best to squeeze my long run in on Friday so that the rest of the weekend can be spent with him and without having to think about it. We haven’t seen each other for a few months so I’m excited to catch up with him in person! He’s not the biggest phone person so catching up from 1,200 miles away isn’t always very fun.  In addition to the rest of my extended family, including my in-laws, I’m so pleased to have Meg in New York City. It’s been a fun treat this summer and I’m sure the fun will only continue.

I am thankful for Bo. I think our relationship is evolving to a new level now that we’re both experiencing the highs and lows of training for a marathon. This is Bo’s 3rd attempt at training for the New York City Marathon but this year 3rd time is a charm! He completed a strong 16.5 mile run on Saturday, including multiple bridges, and has suffered through 3 ice baths thus far. I secretly think he’ll have no problem breaking 4:30 during the marathon, especially since has no problem pushing his body through pain both mental and physical. I really think that the next 6 weeks will be the most fun for each of us as we both peak in training but I will burst for joy when I snap a picture of him with his marathon bib at the expo. Running a marathon was always something on our individual bucket lists and while he has been an amazing cheerleaders the past 2 years I can’t wait for him to share the experience. Now if only we didn’t have to sit on Staten Island until 10:55 on race day.

I am thankful for my career. Just over seven years ago, I accepted a full time position at Procter & Gamble after a wonderful summer internship, during which time I also met my best friend Amy. In the years since graduation I’ve progressed in my career and learned a great deal. I love that a career at P&G has allowed me to gain experience on a multitude of customers and brands while living in first Philadelphia and then New York City. Last week, I found out that I was chosen for a new role in our company, Vice President E-Commerce Leader for North America. While many different things collided in order to make this promotion possible, I am still amazed, humbled, and thrilled for the opportunity. There are many people who have taught me so much in the past seven years that I can’t begin to thank each and every one of them. There are people in the company who believe in me and I can’t wait to take on this new challenge, which was made possible in part due to my passion for blogging and the social media community. 

I am thankful for this blog. I never imagined this would become more than just a place for my friends and family to see what I was doing up “in the big city” and to record my marathon training goals and thoughts. Since then it has become so much more. While it takes on average an hour per day, or 7-10 hours per week, it has brought me so much joy and fulfillment over the past few years. On really long days, like yesterday, when I think I have no energy to blog at 9pm, a dear reader unknowingly brightens my evening with a sweet note. It is this warm feeling, or the one I get when a random reader waves as I run through the city, that makes me continue each day. I always laugh, and look twice, pinching in disbelief when someone like Well+Good or Glamour Magazine reaches out to me for quotes or interviews. I’m just a girl from Georgia trying to make my way in New York city while balancing the role of wife, co-worker, friend, daughter, blogger, and marathon trainer. I was so surprised to see on Twitter that our Glamour slideshow went up today.Talking about morning workouts is near and dear to my heart, as Theodora and others know, since it’s the one constant in our life and a special ritual each day that Bo and I share together.

How to Convince Yourself to Work Out When You So Don’t Want To Health & Fitness: glamour.com.

There are so many other things that I’m thankful for but for now these are the ones for which I’m smiling most about today.

So go for it, what are you thankful for today?