Reflection: Weeks 9-12

It's winding down now...more things have been covered and taken place: Photo Essay, Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change, THOMAS, Junking.  This one was a little more tricky for me.  I'm sad to say the law and government are not high on my list of interests...The THOMAS project allowed us to look up the history of a topic that is of interest to us and see how the government has taken part of it.  The Photo Essay was a fun one.  I included my SMART goal in it.  I took pictures of different parks around the area for the community to visit.  It was a lot of fun.  Junking should be very interesting as well...we used random items and made lists of what we could make each into.  I think our group had at least 10 new ideas for each of the 5 items.  I'm excited to see what is to come in the remaining two weeks of the semester.

Abby likes the environment so much...she turned into a squirrel.

Eco-Chic Lifestyle Change Week 4: Weekly Update

1. I will take my dogs to Hartley Nature Center for a 30-40 minute walk/run, 3 times during the week days.  It's still going very well.  It was nice having the extra days off and not having to stick to my normal schedule.  We were able to go to new places and go for a longer period of time.
2. However, the beginning of this week was a little more tricky.  The weather was terrible and difficult to get to the places because of the bad driving.  It took even longer to get to point A to point B.  I'm sure it's going to be not as fun outside as the weather gets colder and colder and colder.  The puppies can only last so long running in below zero weather and it's hard to see them when it's snowing out (they blend in pretty well).
3. My feeling were still fun and enjoyable.  Just got to continue to get up and get out there...not allow myself to get lazy and use the weather as an excuse.  
4. We learned about a few new parks to visit around Duluth this week.   Some are nicer than others...
5. Things should stay the same this upcoming week.  If we can't continue to go to the new places we found we will definitely continue going to Hartley, the park that's close by and convenient to get to.

Eye Opener: Photo Essay

ABBY & RANGER'S ADVENTURES

Abby & Ranger riding in the car.  They know it's time for their walk.  They're so excited, they cannot wait to get to the park!

We're here!  They're waiting in the car so patiently...
(Ranger is in the red collar and Abby is in the pink collar)

And they're off!  Who's going to make it down the trail first?!  

Here's our first stop- Chester Bowl. This is one of the newer spots that we've visited.

Our second stop- Bagley Nature Area.  This is one of Abby's favorites and Ranger's first time visiting.  They love running up the huge hills and steps to race to the lookout.

Here's our third favorite spot- Hawks Ridge.  When I was training for my marathons I would take Abby here.   They have the road blocked off at a certain spot, so than she's able to run off leash.  Here they are at the memorial, looking out across the city of Duluth.

Last but not least- Hartley Nature Center.  This is the one we visit almost daily.  It's close to home and have great trails!  Soon we'll be able to start our cross country ski adventures.  Abby and Ranger are waiting patiently...got to make sure they know who's in charge!

They're completely wiped out.  Back to the car...Abby is still smiling!  Ranger looks like he could tip over and sleep anytime now.

Back home- safe and warm.  They're second favorite thing...belly rubs!  Can you guess which one is which?