Running Into Joy

 Happy Monday, friends!  You may have noticed I've been a little MIA the past couple weeks. That's because we started our Fall 2020 semester at the university where I work.  Because of my dual roles of full-time Student Affairs professional and adjunct faculty in the English department, August is a busy time for me. I took a few weeks off the pressure of regular blog posting while welcoming our incoming Class of 2024 to the strange new world of being on campus during the COVID-19 pandemic.  In addition to these hectic work life, Andy and I finally followed through on something we've been talking about pretty much since we decided I'd move into his house in 2020: getting a dog.  My family had dogs growing up (a pup named Mandy when I was born and a sweet little Jack Russell Terrier named Ginger throughout most of my young life), but I have yet to own a dog as an adult.  My sweet cat, Artemis, was my sole responsibility for a number of years, and I loved so m...

You may have noticed we've done a little rebranding here in this corner of the internet. After a year of disliking the name of this  blog, I brainstormed with some internet friends and finally found a new name that fits. So, without further ado, cue the confetti canons as I re-introduce you to: Running into Joy via GIPHY  (Credit: @bunch_of_fans) This blog will continue to be about self-care, finding happiness, and fitness. The name change, I feel, better reflects the outlook I've grown into in this past year of writing and reflecting. Much brainstorming centered around things like "Chasing Happiness" or some variant, but ultimately I didn't like the implications of that phrasing. To "chase" something implies we're forever trying to reach it, but that it's difficult to catch. That it's a state to be gained and kept, that the chase will at some point end, be finished, concluded. I don't think happiness works that way. In fact, ...