Friday Five: Spring!

Happy Friday! The theme of today's Friday Five Link up with Mar, Cynthia, and Courtney is Spring. We had a taste of sunshine and warmth earlier this week, but I'm a little bummed it'll be cold Sunday morning for my next race.  Oh well, I have faith it'll warm up soon. In the meantime, here are five things I'm looking forward to this Spring:

Magnolia time at Goodale Park 

Seeing and photographing the magnolia bloom at Goodale used to be a yearly event for Alex and I, but over the past two years we've missed peak bloom. (I believe a late frost ruined the flowers last year.) I think it will be good to get back out there and appreciate the park. The photo above is from 2011.

(Technically Detroit, but same idea,)

Columbus Auto Show

I can't believe I'm putting this on the list, but one year the auto show fell during Magnolia time at Goodale so I associate the two. We're going this weekend and I doubt the flowers are blooming quite yet. Alex brought me to the car show a few years ago and I surprised myself by enjoying it. I don't really care about cars (I've had the same VW Jetta foreverrrr), but it's fun to see what's out there if I need to upgrade. We went to the Detroit Auto Show in 2013 and it was even better. I think it helps that Alex doesn't spend oodles of time ogling one car. The auto show is great for people-watching and usually guarantees a good meal downtown.

Ash Cave, 2013

Hiking

Spring ushers in new opportunities to explore trails near and far. I don't mind winter hiking, but the sunshine makes everything more enjoyable.

Alex took a photo of my group last year. This was after my first 12 mile run!

Earth Day

We're big Earth Day celebrators. Alex usually hosts a tree planting for the City of Columbus, but it's up-in-the air this year as his normal point of contact moved. No matter what, we'll be planting trees on Earth Day.

Soaking up the sun in our backyard

We normally plant our flowers and veggies in late spring. In the past two years we've waited until the last minute. We've also missed perfect backyard BBQ weekends. I'm hoping to remedy this in 2015. Spring is perfect for backyard hangouts because mosquitos aren't out in full force. Sometimes I forget why I don't spent more time in our yard... and then I go outside in June and get bit 10 times within one minute. (I am a mosquito magnet. Alex and our friends don't have this issue. Ugh, summertime bugs suck.)

That's all for this week. I'm feeling pretty amped for spring! Looking forward to all of the above plus spring cleaning, dinner and drinks on patios, being able to wear lightweight clothing, and running in comfortable temperatures!