13 in '13

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas!  Today I am linking up with Kristin from A Teeny Tiny Teacher for a 13 in '13 linky party.  (As usual, I am a little late to the party...)

Oh gosh...I think the article I wore the most this year was my legging jeans from Gap.  I LOVE these skinny jeans.

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But I also just bought a pair of red patent leather heels that I am kind of in love with.  Goal for 2014: wear these as much as possible.

Catching Fire takes the cake for this one!  I didn't see a ton of movies this year, but I finally saw this one last week and love love loved it.  What a terrific adaptation of a fantastic book!  I can't wait for Mockingjay!

Thanks to Netflix, this is a tough question!  This year I discovered so many great shows.  Parenthood, Parks and Rec, New Girl, Mindy Project...I think of those new shows, Parenthood is my favorite.  Although Top Chef is probably still my favorite show.  

Well, it's not really a restaurant, but the place I frequented most in 2013 was probably Jimmy John's!  I went there constantly this year, especially during marathon training when I couldn't get enough of their super salty kettle chips.  Can't beat the veggie sub!

Post-20-miler sub + TV + bed...

This one is a tie.  One of the BEST new things I tried this year was running with a group!  I was always way too shy to try group running, but I got a free membership to a training program with a group through my Chicago Marathon charity team, so I took the plunge in June.  The women that I trained with this summer became true friends, and there is NO WAY I could have made it through months of marathon training without them!  

We are still running together post-marathon and planning our race calendars for 2014!

 Another AMAZING new thing I tried this year has been learning sign language!  I have three students in my classroom this year who are deaf and hard of hearing, and since the first day of school I have become absolutely enamoured by sign language.  One of the DHH teachers in my school has been working with me on learning sign, and I LOVE IT!!!  I can't wait to continue learning!

Signing my Morning Song with my class!!!  

Hmm, this one is tough.  For my birthday back in April, my dad, my childhood best friend, and I went to see the American Idiot musical.  Green Day was my favorite band in high school (I had a little punk phase back in the day), and it was such a fun blast from the past to see the Green Day-inspired musical with my friend and my dad.  

Bestie and I downtown and ready for the show!

JUST ONE???  Impossible.  Some of my favorites:

This Lentil Soup recipe...YUM.

This yogurt "recipe" borders on life-changing...

And lest you incorrectly think my life is all about cooking (HAH!), a beautiful pin I just found the other day...

Hmm, I don't think I have any favorites that stuck out in my mind this year.  I enjoyed writing about guided math this summer and liked my management monday posts, but no shining stars in the bunch.  One post I did really enjoy writing was this one, "Do Teacher Prep Programs Really Prepare You?" because it was an opportunity to reflect on how far I've come and what I've learned as a teacher since the first year.

This year, this is an easy one.  I ran my first marathon!  For me, this easily is one of my biggest, proudest accomplishments in my life thus far, not just this year!  Crossing the finish line at the Chicago Marathon in October after months of training and fundraising reminded me that with a whole lot of faith and a whole lot of heart, anything is possible.

That's gotta be this one from the Triple Threat Half in Massachusetts.  Don't mind the "do not copy"...

A few runners up:

With a wonderful old friend on the Cape

Laughing with Beautiful Niece at Thanksgiving

This one has to be again crossing the finish line at the Chicago Marathon.  I know, one-track-mind.  But seriously, nothing beats that.

Close second is spending the day in Disney World with my parents, my brother and sis-in-law, and my sweet niece this Thanksgiving.  I've been to Disney so many times, but this trip was the first one with my niece since she has been old enough to love the rides.  We just has such a blast!

So many--I will do a whole post on them later this week.  My biggie though is to complete an Olympic Triathlon--double the Sprint Distance I've raced a few times in the past two years.  Eeep!

Persevere.

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This has been my "word of the year" in my classroom since fall, and it is a good reminder for me too.

No matter how hard things are, no matter how big the obstacle or tough the race, no matter how frustrated and stressed I may feel in the classroom...just persevere.  Keep on keepin' on.