Juliana Moves

I have had all sorts of ideas and thoughts circulating in my head lately, but no real umph to make decisions or execute on any of them. This is unusual for me as I normally pride myself on being a very decisive, action-oriented person. The current list in my head isn’t all that important though! It’s just some fun adventures or actions I’d like to take. Now that I’m thinking about it, the list contains the types of activities that add excitement and joy to life. That take you off the adult hamster wheel (as Patrick likes to say). In retrospect, I guess it’s a pretty important list after all!

In no particular order, here’s a load of things I’d like to do, but either 1) haven’t decided, 2) haven’t figured out logistics for, or 3) simply haven’t pulled the trigger on. I welcome your thoughts!

Getting a beaver tattoo

A while back I read the book Beaverland by Leila Phillip. It was the first nonfiction book I had read in a long time about something totally random that wasn’t already in line with my interests. Oh boy, did I enjoy that book! Beavers are amazing, and nowadays I love nothing more than spotting a beaver dam or their lodge or even one swimming in the wild! You go on and gnaw those trees down! Thanks for helping the environment around you! Turns out, beavers get a bad rap only because it’s inconvenient to humans when they create a dam on your property. LAME.

Anyway, it was so thrilling to learn something completely new and to feel myself become so intrigued by the topic. My brain was so active and engaged, and it was a joyful experience. As much as I love beavers now, to me they also represent a reminder to continue learning and to seek out new knowledge as much as possible. The feeling is akin to this quote I heard from Hank Green, “Knowledge weighs nothing, carry all you can.”

So, I want a beaver tattoo! To help me remember this feeling and to encourage me to continue expanding my mind constantly. I’m thinking something on my forearm, so I can actually see it. Maybe something like this? Simple and elegant, but undoubtedly a beaver. 

Signing up for a 100k in spring/summer 2026

I know for a fact that I want to run a 100k early next year, but which one?!?!?! I love my Virginia and generally mid-Atlantic trails, but I have to admit that I am really considering traveling out west for a race. 

I’ve had my eye on Falling Water 100k in WV at the end of April, but I think it’d be pretty fun to go out to Oregon or California to run on something less rocky. Sue me! I want to feel this single track they speak of. Of course, traveling adds a lot more logistics and expense to the whole experience, but I don’t think I’d mind that. Some variety sounds nice!

Ugh, I’m not sure. I know Falling Water would be a great race but it’s also four loops. The indecision is killing me! I have plenty of time to think about this all, but it’s easier for me to get in the training zone if I know what I’m working towards.

I could always skip a formal race and do something fun in my own backyard. We’ve got so much forest to explore here in VA. TBD. Thoughts?!

Painting a wall in our house

Me and Patrick, when we were renting: “One day, when we own a house, we can paint the walls and do whatever we want!”

Me and Patrick, almost two years into homeownership: “How does one paint a wall? Where do you start and end? Is primer actually necessary?? We’d have to take all those photos down.”

First, I wanted to paint my office green. Then, we talked about trying out a DIY painting job on a wall in our bedroom where only we would have to live with the consequences. Finally, we said eff it, let’s just paint a wall in our living room. Reader, we did none of these things.

We argued with ourselves that our delay was because we’re busy and we’d have to time it just right so that the weather would be pleasant enough to leave the windows open to air out the paint fumes. Well, the time is ripe to do that! And yet, despite the fact that we both want to do this, we’ve been very meh about it.

In our defense, we are usually quite busy on the weekends, which is when we’d aim to do it. We both have a race coming up in December, so maybe we can use our recovery week to try it out then? Time will tell.

Exploring more George Washington National Forest trails

I am not a very directionally oriented person. When I’ve been on a trail enough times, I can generally tell you which way we’re going, how we could bail out, and what might be around us, but not nearly as thoroughly as you’d expect. It’s something I really want to work on. I need to study maps better, I think.

In talking to people who know the forest wayyy better than me, I’ve become aware of just how little of the forest I’ve explored! Even some of the trails leading into Shenandoah! There are so many route options to scout and try. My lack of adventurousness on some of these trails is partly due to the fact that they’re out and backs or point to points, which is challenging with a single car and for someone who hates out and backs.

Excuses, excuses! I want to see more of these parks and to be able to navigate and orient my way through them.

Planning a winter trip

We live within a reasonable driving distance to so many cool places. One that we’ve had our eyes on since we moved here? Vermont. It’s a very easy plane ride or ~9 hour drive. Earlier this year we had discussed going in mid-October, but we decided we wanted to spend more time with our aging pups so we opted for somewhere driveable so we could bring them along (see: Elkins trip). I don’t regret this, especially since Bear passed away earlier this year.

We figured we’d make long weekend trips to the Northeast one day when we were empty nesters (lol). However, this December I have a week off-ish between Christmas and New Years. Patrick could take time off (or hopefully will have a remote job eventually), and Alaska does pretty well in the car, sooooo we could drive to Vermont for a few days! It would certainly not be the longest I’ve driven for a relatively short trip. Looking at you, Big Bend National Park.

Here’s the problem. When I know exactly where we’re going, AKA what airport we need to fly into and what city we’re staying in, I have absolutely no issues sending it and booking everything. When it comes to doing the research on where we should go, since the car gives us some serious flexibility, I lose all my drive and cannot commit to anything. Patrick and I complement each other nicely here because he can get into rabbit holes and do plenty of research. Then, I’m the one who usually says YOLO let’s do it. 

I think we’ll make it happen. Patrick, when you read this, start doing some research.

One last problem: this week of travel is when I would have eyed painting a wall in the house. LOL. 

Love, 

JN