I Run These Towns

One of the things I love most about writing a blog is getting to hear so many different opinions. I love people who don't agree with me. How boring would it be if everyone did? Last week when I published a blog about how it was important for me to be true to things that mattered to me now that I'm a mom - including doing my hair and wearing real pants - I knew it would be controversial. I meant it only as a standard for myself, and I explicitly said in the blog that my rockstar mom role models make time for things that are important for them (which doesn't necessarily mean the same thing as it does to me). It wasn't about anyone else's behavior but rather what I think is important. I knew, however, that people would read it the way they wanted to. And that's okay - that's what creates thought provoking dialogue. That blog popped into my head when I started thinking about the myriad things people would say would change once I had kids (and I say that at th...

I moved to Michigan in 2006 right before the Winter Olympics. I'm not a fan of the winter games, and I didn't plan to watch them. I met a guy who is now my husband who not only loves the winter sports, but he loves curling the most. I know...how weird, right? I remember meeting at the bar one night when we were still pretending we didn't like one another romantically, and he was sitting there watching curling. It is like all of the other quirky things about my husband (including loving 40s music, old time radio shows, ventriloquists and reruns of "Night Court") that make him old fashioned and charming. Little did I know that nine years later I would've attended two national championship curling tournaments.No...I'm not kidding.  Kalamazoo hosted the 2010 curling national championships, and I went with my husband and a friend. The day/night consisted mostly of double fisting Jack and Cokes and making loud snarky comments about curlers. Oh and the cowbell....

Practical footwear isn't my jam. Despite my stubborn insistence on wearing heels at work (because I feel better in them), there are times where they are not the most pragmatic option. My challenge is twofold: 1) I don't really have flat shoes (and they're too cold in the winter) and 2) my warm winter boots are not business appropriate. I would rather stumble through the snow in heels than wear snow boots with my dress to a meeting. I would feel paranoid the whole time. Last weekend I went on a two-night work trip to northern Michigan to attend the kickoff meetings for the 2015 round of our PlacePlans program (to help cities design innovative placemaking projects). Last year I got to spend lots of time in awesome cities like Marquette and Holland , and I am excited to get to spend some quality time in different communities. Traveling this year is more challenging with the baby. On Sunday I was feeding him with tears in my eyes when thinking of leaving him for a few nig...

I remember in college playing the "never have I ever" drinking game. You remember the one? Someone proclaims something they've never done, and if you had done it, you would have to drink. I would generally end up drinking a lot. But that's neither here nor there. I started thinking about this game as I have been thinking about the myriad things people have told me I will or won't do once I have a child. A few years ago I remember snarkily declaring on Facebook (as I am wont to do) that I don't understand people who leave their house with their hair wet. How hard is it to dry your hair? And I got the "just wait until you have children" answer. I left my house with wet hair exactly one time ever, and it was when we were leaving for vacation last summer. My hairdryer broke, and I ran to Meijer to get another one with wet hair. It was 7 am, and I was mortified. It won't happen again.  We all know my stance on comfy pants in public. Again I've ...

I adore walking to work and dinner and everywhere. But here's a little secret: I don't hate driving. I love to drive fast and aggressively on the freeway. I've been known to have a bit of road rage. Yesterday I may have driven 85 mph for most of my two-hour drive for a meeting. It was fabulous. I don't want to drive to work every day, but every now and then a drive is good for the soul. I'm not anti-car or anti-driving, but I do think we need to have a serious conversation about how we get places. Cars reign supreme here in Michigan. The problem is that the talented milliennials we're looking to attract don't want to drive. They want to take public transit or walk or bike. As long as we continue to focus solely on the automobile as our only means of getting from Point A to Point B, we will continue to lose. I've learned a lot being a frequent pedestrian, and the primary lesson is that a multimodal system only works when everybody is following the ru...

My son is almost two months old. He was born in December (on our wedding anniversary!), and we were not able to publicly celebrate until we got through some legal proceedings last week. For the last two months I've tried to write blogs and post on social media like my life hasn't been completely upended in the most amazing yet overwhelming way.  After 5½ years of trying to have a child he has arrived, and just like that I'm somebody's mom. We got the call a few weeks before he was born, and we were cautious. Last year we were linked with a birth mom who changed her mind. I refused to let myself believe that he was actually coming. People we told would ask me if I was excited. If I'm being honest I really wasn't. My overriding emotion was fear. I was terrified.  On the day he was born I felt my heart beating erratically as we drove to the hospital. All of the "what ifs" were taking over. I was worried that our birth mom would change her mind. I was ...

I am consistently amazed by the human body's capacity to handle adversity. I know people who perpetually endure physical and emotional challenges with grace that I could only hope to muster in the same situations. I regularly remind myself that the physical and emotional challenges I've faced are inconsequential in comparison to so many others. I am young. I am strong and strong willed. That doesn't mean I don't get frustrated, and it doesn't mean I don't indulge in the occasional pity party. I think pity parties are okay when the ultimate result is pulling oneself up, brushing off the dust and knowing that it could be worse. We all just have those moments of frustration. Six months ago I had just gotten out of the hospital after a surprising month that included two abdominal surgeries, a blood clot and losing 20 pounds. The first surgery was to be relatively routine. I was frustrated by the bowel obstruction and subsequent surgery the following week. The blo...

Last month I resolved that I would focus on the 5k in 2015 and really work to be a speed demon following my fast (for me) times last year. I've been doing a lot of great speed workouts on the treadmill, and I have to be honest: being fast is way more fun than running long distance. No comparison. I am registered for two races that are longer than 13 miles this spring, but nothing is more fun right now than rocking out a pretty fast 3.1. I haven't run a race since November , and I was itching to get outside and run hard. I registered for the Super Bowl 5k knowing that the weather might not permit a PR. I woke up on Sunday morning to light snow and warnings of blizzard conditions later in the day. Not exactly PR material, but it wasn't going to stop me from running hard. The race was in Meridian Township and began at Chippewa Middle School. I picked up my packet easily before the race in the school's gymnasium. The snow was coming down more heavily at the start of ...