1. Back in January I posted about a hike I went on called Mount Si. I received a comment from an artist asking if she could paint one of the views in the photos I shared, and OBVIOUSLY I said please do. She created such a beautiful piece of art, I especially love the tree like frame she used.
You can see more of Lorna’s art on her blog. This is the link to her post with the below photo.
2. Some of my favorite pieces of art I own are those that were created for me by friends, including people I’ve met virtually. OR pieces that were purchased for me by others because the art made them think of me. This is such a special feeling. A lot of my art is centered around cats and nature.
Big surprise.
3. My job sometimes brings in brand reps to share information on products, and with these presentations often comes free swag. We haven’t had many reps come lately, but we did have a box of sample mix-matched Smartwool socks put out for us to dig through. I found two pairs of similar socks, the only difference was the pattern.
I am a sucker for anything free, even if I don’t match. Smartwool has been my go to sock brand for many years, and this was like Christmas morning for me.
4. A couple months ago I shared how I was able to change my own cabin air filter in my car to save me $80. This months car project was to replace my rear brake lights. Duncan showed me how the lights pull out into the trunk, and I bought a new set online for $6. I don’t even want to know what Toyota would have charged me for that job.
5. Nostalgia hit hard when I went to a friends house a couple weeks ago for a Nintendo 64 game night. I would consider myself a minimalist, and I am constantly purging things I do not use or need, but I will never give away my N64. I used to have sleepovers with my friends and we would stay up all hours of the night playing Mario Party, and that’s exactly what I played with my grown up friends.
I only had two controllers, and I was able to find two more online for $32…for both! They aren’t OG Nintendo controllers, but they worked great! I look forward to more N64 game nights as a sorta grown up.
6. I ordered a pressure washer for my mom this month, and Duncan and I tag teamed washing her backyard concrete patio. At first I was disappointed, I had no idea pressure washing was as time consuming as it was. I thought I could spray it like a hose and voilà! That was not the case, but it was worth the time it took to clean.
7. It’s no secret I will stop wherever I am to pick up loose change I find on the ground. I will stop a run, get off my bike, go to a self checkout station that I did not use – if there is a coin, I will grab it. Overtime this habit will pay off, and I can take a handful of rolls to the bank. My recent bank haul brought me $26. Some of that was from returned change after using cash, but a bulk of it was free found money!
8. I recently bought Little a party hat for the birthday celebration we will be having in two weeks. When browsing the selection at MudBay, the cashier told me for his birthday I could have a free salmon treat. I have been buying food at MudBay ever since I stopped feeding him prescription food a few years ago, and this company has been nothing short of wonderful.
Superb customer service for stressed out pet parents trying to find a good food option.
9. I ran a 12k St. Patrick’s Day themed run two weekends ago, and I took this opportunity to buy myself another themed cat shirt. I managed to find the exact same theme as the shirt I bought for my Valentine run, but when I saw there was rain in the forecast I regretted buying a cotton t-shirt for a 7.4 mile run. I ended up wearing a base layer under the shirt and it worked great.
What did not work great was the weather. It was raining, which isn’t a huge deal, but it was also cold and the wind was OUT OF CONTROL. Nearly two miles of this run was across a bridge, and something about a bridge with wind is like a magnet. The majority of this run was brutal, I was on the struggle bus, and when my watch hit 7.45 miles and I saw I wasn’t done yet I wanted to riot.
The course ended up being 7.86 miles on my watch (and on a handful of other peoples watches who sync’d with my Strava account), which isn’t a big deal in the grand scheme of running, but I was ready to be done at mile 3 so this extra mileage sucked big fat doo doo. I finished with a 10:14 pace, and I had to fight for it.
10. On the topic of running, I am in week 9/12 of half marathon training and I am so over it. Don’t get me wrong, when I cross that finish line in April I will be proud of myself, but the last month of training has been a slog. I have had more fatigue than I would like after my runs, and I am starting to dread the mid week runs.
After the 12k I ran I can’t seem to get my body moving further than 1-2 miles which is obviously concerning.
I am cutting back on my weekday run distances and will try slowing things down on all my runs. Hopefully this will help, but I am ready to get back to running here and there when it feels right. I am discovering that I prefer the 10k distance for my longest run’s and I don’t think I need to do much more than that. I struggle with fueling once I up my milage, and I can’t eat bagels and peanut butter like all the other runners. I end up eating things that don’t sit well just for the calories, which then adds to the fatigue. Alas, it’s never ending trial and error.
Q: What’s your confession?
Blissfulbritt 
22 thoughts on “Early Morning Confessions”
Thistles and Kiwis
That is a great painting.
My confession? Hmmm…..well, I don’t like doughnuts.
Brittany
OH MY GOODNESS!!! I don’t think I have ever met someone who didn’t like doughnuts. I LOVE them, but I can’t really eat them.
I don’t like cheesecake. Or the taste of butter in baked goods. Which I think most people do?
Thistles and Kiwis
We all have such different tastes!
StoryhengeArt
This was so cool! All of it! It is a special feeling to have an art happen between two points in the universe!
My confession? My sister and I buy socks and then divide them up so that we each have one of each set – none match…but then we also know that there is one other person walking around in the other’s shoes all the time.
Go forth and master that marathon! Maybe someone else is running in the other sets.
Brittany
Oh my gosh, your confession warmed my heart. This is such a sweet tradition you have.
C.A. Post
You don’t want to know‼️😂
Brittany
I always want to know! 🤣
gpavants
Brittney,
I go through the gym and exercise but don’t love it like I should. I love my school, but want to retire. Feel like I am not making a difference.
But we keep doing it, right?
Gary
Gary Avants Forbear Productions * *garyavants66@gmail.com garyavants66@gmail.com
Brittany
Sometimes I really don’t like the exercising I do either, but we do it because we know it will be good good for us. I can empathize on wanting to retire, but I am FAR off from that. LOL.
I think you’re surely making a difference in your school, and you are definitely making one on your blog for your readers. Even small differences count. Thanks for sharing your confessions, we are all in this together!
gpavants
A High School Musical song now is my head.
Gary Avants Forbear Productions * *garyavants66@gmail.com garyavants66@gmail.com
Brittany
LOL, yes!
Allie Zottola
That artwork! Wow is that beautiful AND so meaningful. I love art that is special to me, too. Most of ours is made by our kids, or pieces I commissioned of our pets hahah.
Dude, free smart wool socks? YEAH!!! Who cares if they don’t match. Those are gold!
Love your cat shirt. I feel like wind is always what *gets* me too with the weather. If it’s cold and sunny, it’s not so bad. But throw in some wind and I’m done haha.
My confession: my whole family is sleeping right now and I’m enjoying the peace and quiet and so happy to catch up on your blog!
Brittany
I’m still recovering from that windy day, it seriously sucked so bad. 😵💫😵💫
Love your confession. Quiet, peaceful moments to read are my favorite.
Amy
What a gorgeous painting!! I’m in awe of people with talent like that. If I attempted to recreate just about any photo, it’d end up looking like a 3-year-old did it while left alone with finger paints…
LOVE your St. Patrick’s Day shirt! That sounds like such a tough run, especially with Raynaud’s. I’m so proud of you for finishing — and for continuing your half marathon training too! You’re an inspiration, Brittany!!! ♡
Brittany
GIRL…my hands and feet were frozen until like mile 3. It took a full 30 minutes of strenuous aerobic activity for my digits to finally get blood. It was not a fun time. LOL.
I am with you on the painting, my stuff looks so bad. And at the same time I’m a perfectionist about it, so then I end up getting mad? So I just avoid painting.
Amy
“Not a fun time” is probably the understatement of the century… Raynaud’s and frozen digits are the WORST!
Yes!! I’m right there with you. I’ve basically stopped doing any kind of painting… Unless it’s paint-by-number. I’m decent enough at staying in the lines — that’s my one and only painting-related skill! 😉
stewedpears.com
My daughter is currently training for a half-marathon trail run. All power to you!
Brittany
Awesome! Trail runs are double hard! Good for her.
camilla wells paynter
Mt. Si is one of my old haunts from back in my trail-running days. That painting is fantastic! (P.S. I collect found change, too. My bullfrog coin bank holds about $40.00. 😉 )
Brittany
I cannot imagine trail running Mt. Si. ☠️☠️ I saw two guys on this day specifically and both were running up and then down…TWICE!! Insanity. Good on all of you.
I LOVE that you have accumulated $40 of found change. Amazing!
camilla wells paynter
LOL! I never ran it twice! When I hiked the Wonderland Trail (at 40), I met people in my current age group (55-70) who were running the whole trail, 96 miles, if I’m not mistaken, as the crow flies, but with 4,000 ft of elevation gain or loss per day!
Brittany
This is amazing. I can only hope to be in this type of physical shape in my 50’s to 70’s!! Such inspiration.