Wednesday's Weekly Wrap-up (June 26-July 2)

(With my wrap-up posts I try to update each Wednesday about my week in review. I include pictures posted during the week from my Instagram @lilrunner1485 as well. Why Wednesday instead of Saturday or Sunday? Well, it just works better for me on this schedule. So, Hump Day it is!)

Hello friends! I hope you all are having a great week so far! Can you believe it’s already July?! Wow!

For this weekly wrap-up, I must start with my day last Friday. Instead of my usual work flow, I volunteered with a group of co-workers for Habitat for Humanity. Since our Habitat site is located in Huntington, I did have to wake up a little earlier to hit the road. I remembered how tired and sore I was after volunteering for Habitat this past November, so I also dragged myself out of bed even earlier to get in a quick run on the treadmill. That proved to be an excellent decision because it ended up being a hot and exhausting day! Despite the sweltering heat and humidity, it was more importantly a very fulfilling day and a wonderful experience. My family has volunteered with Habitat for as long as I can remember. It’s a cause that my family is passionate about and I’m proud to carry on the tradition by volunteering myself. In case you aren’t familiar, Habitat for Humanity is a non-profit organization devoted to building “simple, decent, and affordable housing.” For more information on Habitat, check out their site here.

I had volunteered with Habitat for Humanity before with my church youth group, but my experience last November was my first full-on work day with the organization. I quickly jumped at a chance to volunteer again with the summer group. While the house we were working on had AC installed, the majority of my day was spent outside painting. I actually enjoy painting so I was happy that was one of the jobs we could do for the day. My co-worker and I painted the exterior along with the trim of a shed. It sounds like a simple task, but it did take up the bulk of our day. The sunshine and no shade made me a sweaty mess, but it felt great to do something different for the day and to know that by doing so I was making a difference in someone else’s life. A shed doesn’t seem like much, but I am darn proud of the job we did and I hope the homeowner enjoys it!

Tropical Moon after a hot work day!

The husband also spent the day volunteering for Habitat, so once our group wrapped for the day we decided to treat ourselves to some froyo at Tropical Moon! After a hot day in the sun doing manual labor, Tropical Moon has never tasted so good! Then the husband had a genius idea that we get Chipotle to go and warm it up for dinner later once we got home. First off, I am so proud I now have him hooked on the awesomeness that is Chipotle. Secondly, he really is a genius because Chipotle (even warmed up) has never tasted so good either!

The rest of our eventful Friday was spent seeing the movie version of Jersey Boys! Thanks to my parents raising me right on GOOD music, I absolutely love The Four Seasons! Needless to say I was very excited for this film, and it did not disappoint. It was SO good. I bought the soundtrack this weekend, which includes songs by the cast as well as original tracks from Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons. I might be a wee bit obsessed, but it’s just so good! I’ve been listening to the soundtrack non-stop. The music has even made my iPod running playlist! It’s made my hot/humid runs more enjoyable for sure! I really hope I can see the Broadway production of Jersey Boys someday! That's the dream!

Jersey Boys soundtrack is my current music of choice!

Perhaps the most eventful thing to recap is my RWRunStreak update! Last week, I, along with my fellow run streakers, started our decent into the home stretch of the summer challenge. Well, now we are REALLY in the final home stretch and the finish line is almost there! I can practically smell it! Today marks Day 38 of the streak, which means we only have TWO more days left! TWO MORE! TWO MORE! I can’t believe how quickly time has flown! I can tell I’ve been running for 38 days straight (actually 39 since I started a day early lol). Like this time of the summer challenge last year, my legs are really feeling the streak! I can tell I haven’t had an actual day off in quite some time. Knowing I’m so close to completing the challenge is keeping me motivated. For those wondering, my ankle still has some definite soreness, but is MUCH better! Fellow streakers, we’ve got this. Let’s knock these final TWO days out of the park!

RWRunStreak: ALMOST THERE!

Speaking of running in general, I have to note that Run Disney released this year's Tower of Terror 10-Miler Medal! I love it! I can't wait to be back at Disney in October for the race and all the festivities! Who else will be running into the Twilight Zone with me?!

ToT 10-Miler Bling!

What’s on the agenda the rest of the week?

1. Watching Independence Day non-stop. I’ve already seen it twice this week and plan to watch it over and over again with the 4th of July coming up! It’s one of my all-time favorite movies. I love the 90s cheese and really, is there any speech better than President Whitmore's?

2. 4th of July celebration! One of the things I do like about summer is the 4th of July. My family hosts a cook-out every year. I look forward to spending time with family, good food and of course, homemade ice cream.

3. HOMEMADE ICE CREAM. Yes, I realized I just mentioned it, but it’s just so good it must be mentioned again.

I hope you all have a great rest of the week. Have a safe and happy 4th of July! To my international readers, happy Friday! Fridays are always fun in general, right?!