Sites: Lake Michigan Shore Drive

Have you ever itched for a road trip? Head out to discover West Michigan. It is the perfect place that is close to home, but gives you that 'vacation' feel.

Last fall, I was in a photography class and one of the assignments was to pretend that you were on vacation and take 'tourist photos' of your home town. Not really sure how that was going to work, my honey, suggested a spontaneous road trip up the Lake Michigan coast to visit some of the light houses. No twisting my arm on that one.

Our first stop was South Haven, Michigan. It was cold and grey, but a beautiful day to take photos.

We then drove up to Holland, Michigan. What a cool town! 

Side Note: I didn't know before we got there, that my honey was offered a scholarship to go to school there...? wha? Although it would have been amazing, I'm so glad he didn't go. Because we met during undergrad at Western Michigan University ;)

So this blog post is a year late... But next time you're in the mood for a spontaneous road trip, I hope it's inspired you a little bit to explore Michigan. It's an amazing state with unlimited possibilities for a great time (and great photos!)

-L

Gettin' my Run on...

Two years ago, my honey moved to a different state for school. After he moved, I decided that I needed to find something to do to keep myself active and meet some new people. I found this amazing program called Borgess Run Camp. Let me tell you, waking up at 7 am on my Saturday to run in the snow was not my ideal hobby... but I gave it a 'whirl' and I'm so glad I did! I started with the 5K training, met some amazing people and ran my first 5K race in May 2011. Running 5Ks are a blast!

So this year, my honey is moved back home and we decided to train together for a half-marathon... yes, a half-marathon... 13.1 miles... 2+ hours of running straight (insert crazy face now).

We started training in late fall/early winter and started run camp in February. On the first weekend run, Michigan was gifted with one of the only snow falls we got all season... it was 9 degrees... but to my surprise over 1,000 "crazy/awesome" people showed up to run. Can you imagine? WOW!

We're now in our 3rd week, and every run we do amazes me. I have never been a big runner, but now every Saturday is my longest run ever, and there's something special and rewarding about that. It's just amazing to be reminded that if you have the desire, drive and motivation to so something, and an awesome partner to share it with - you can do anything. I never would have thought that I could do a 7 mile run without dying as soon as I was finished... but I did! So this is what is consuming my life now, and I hope it always does.