i know, i'm sorry it's been awhile monday

Hello! Again, my sincere apologies, I know it's been a little too long. In my defense, I've had kind of a lot going on. I don't really remember what I even wrote about in my last blog. I'm sure I talked about finals and probably about Army-Navy... A lot has happened since then!

To start, I'll be commuting from my house next semester. I know, it's a little wild and very unlike the Academy but they've decided that Midshipmen that live, or have a place to live, within a certain mileage from USNA can commute to and from school. I am one of those lucky winners! So, I had to be completely moved out of my room the day before the Army-Navy game which was on Dec 12th, it was a really sad game. Luckily, I have the best friends and I was pretty much packed up and moved out in only two trips. Shoutout to Madeline for even letting me use her car because it was bigger than the one I would've used. We really loaded that sucker up and I was able to drop everything off at my house in one trip.

Normally the Army-Navy game is in Philadelphia but the Eagles Stadium said, "we really don't want 4,000 people coming to our city if we can avoid it." So, the game was played at West Point, which, if you don't know, is in the middle of nowhere New York. I'm not just saying that either, it's really out there. USNA loaded all of us into 140 coach buses and took us on a 6 hour ride to West Point, NY. It was cold and grey once we got there and we sat around but I will say, regardless of the fact that conditions were less than ideal, I'd say the Midshipmen as a whole had a pretty good sense of team spirit. That or we're really good fakers, honestly, probably the latter. We left at 2 AM on Dec 12th and got back to school at 2 AM on Dec 13th, we were officially on winter break at 12 PM on Dec 13th.

I was only home for one night and then my mom and I drove to GA to see her family. It was a really nice time! We spent a few days with my grandfather and his wife and then a few days with my grandmother. I hadn't seen my grandfather in about two years so it was really nice to catch up. While I was at his house I ended up baking blueberry bread! I think it turned out even better than the first time I made it. Here's the link because it's been a long time: https://julieblanner.com/blueberry-bread-blueberry-loaf-cake/. I'll include a picture too because it wouldn't be baking if I didn't take a pic! I used frozen blueberries and they were a little thawed so the bread had a slight purple tint but I don't think anyone minded. Also I didn't put the sugar on top this time because I really just didn't feel like it.

At my grandmother's house I was able to go on more runs because she lives in a really nice planned community. I hadn't run in a hilly place in awhile because for one, Annapolis doesn't really have hills and two, I've been stuck on the yard and it's below sea level. It was also chillier than I thought it'd be but luckily I've gotten better at dressing for the cold. We did some shopping, I went to the lululemon outlet and for the first time I think I was actually able to find good stuff! A lot of times my size is sold out or very picked over. Other than that we just caught up with family and hung out, it was very chill but sometimes chill is a good thing and I am so glad I went.

Now I'm back home which means I have more opportunities to bake. Last night I made peppermint bark brownies, they were super time consuming and they turned out very picturesque but I used the wrong size pan and they're super dense and a little tough to eat... It's okay, I'll learn from my mistakes. Even though I messed them up slightly it did kill a lot of time which is nice. Here's the link: https://thewoodandspoon.com/peppermint-bark-brownies/, I have no complaints about this recipe. It was easy to follow and everything I just wasn't thinking when I chose the wrong pan which is all me. Anyways yes, I did work really hard to take this photo, thank you Mom for holding the pan up for me. They are kind of heavy due to how dense they are. As far as taste goes though, they are really yummy and I'm sure they'd be super delicious if you made them in a 9x13 like you're supposed too!

Yesterday I also got new running shoes, I got the Nike Zoom Pegasus shoes and they're hot pink and I love them. A lot of my friends recommended them so I tried them on along with 3 other shoes yesterday and they really were my favorite. I've gone on two runs with them so far and I can say I'm happy. I'll also say that because I like them so much I am more excited to run, we'll see how long that feeling lasts haha. I ran with my friend Elena yesterday and we ended our run at Davis's so that we could have a crab pretzel, it's somewhat of a tradition for us we did it a lot over the summer. Today I ran about 4.75 miles at my normal pace and then I did 5 hill sprints and then I jogged home for a total of 5.5 miles. I have no idea what I'll do tomorrow but I hope the weather is as nice as it was today! I was able to wear shorts which was a pleasant surprise.

Today I had breakfast with my friend Elizabeth, I did forget to write that, she's been one of my good friends since before high school. We met through sailing. It was really nice to catch up with her!

Okay this blog is definitely getting long, I had a lot to update everyone on! Tomorrow I'm going to attempt some shortbread cookies and I hope they go well so I can gift some to my neighbors. The recipe seems easy enough, shortbread are one of my favorite types of cookie so I hope it works. I'll be sure to take pictures so that everyone can see if it worked or not :) Hope you guys have a good week! Merry Christmas!