Jenna, Author at Runs on Espresso

Fall at Cafe Noir (2021)

Posted on January 6, 2022June 16, 2022 by Jenna

I am trying to catch up on my book reviews since I haven’t posted one since August! This week, I will share my September and October reads since both months were slim for finishing books. Each picture is linked to Amazon and will open in a new window. Amazon links are affiliate links and I will receive a small commission if you purchase through the link.

Closer than Blood by Gregg Olsen

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

Closer than Blood is book two in the Waterman and Stark series. I would classify it as a psychological or serial killer thriller. The main theme is the dichotomy between good and evil, past and present.

Detective Stark is planning her class reunion which brings back painful memories of the past and an investigation into her classmates, twins, seemingly opposite in every way. Is one of them a black widow?

Despite knowing the general plot points, I wanted to keep reading to find out where it would end up. Olsen writes great, multifaceted characters.

My only complaint is the same one I had for book one in the series – the story jumps around from different perspectives with little to no warning, usually within the same chapter. After the first book, it was a little easier for me to follow but it was still jarring a few times.

I would recommend Closer than Blood if you like the genre. It is definitely not for everyone and can be a bit graphic.

The Last Anniversary by Laine Moriarty

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

I would call The Last Anniversary contemporary fiction. The main themes are family drama and a past mystery.

Sophie inherits a house from her ex’s aunt on a small, family-owned island. The island is home to the Munro Baby Mystery, which Sophie has been obsessed with. Everyone has secrets on the island. And for Sophie sometimes finding yourself means finding out those secrets and creating a life different from what you imagined but still full of love.

This is the first book by Laine Moriarty I have read, despite watching Big Little Lies I have yet to read the book. I found myself enjoying the story and will read more from her in the future. The pacing was a bit slow but the descriptions of the island made me want to move there (even though it’s a fictional place). I think it would be fun to commute by boat.

I think Margie was the best character in the book. She wasn’t the main character but her arc was by far the best. I can’t find a way to discuss my second favorite character without giving away too much!

I would recommend this book to people that like found family stories and maybe cozy mysteries. It’s not really a cozy mystery but it’s also not gory or scary like horror or thrillers might be.

Psycho by Robert Bloch

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

Have you ever read a book that has chilled you even though you know the story? For me, that was Psycho. Robert Block does such a great job presenting the story, you get lost in it. Forgetting you’ve seen every movie and tv show inspired by the novel.

It’s a slow burn. You know what the ending is but you keep reading, on the edge of your seat, hoping it will be different. But it’s not. You know the story, a man lives with his mother while running a roadside motel. A young woman disappears. Did she skip town or did something happen to her?

I would definitely recommend this if you like the Hitchcock movie or if you like a thriller that isn’t in your face. It’s subtle but the terror is there in the pages.

The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

This is very similar to Psycho in that it is a slow, unraveling of a character. It also makes you question what is real.

Several people with psychic abilities are invited to Hill House by a doctor who wishes to study strange events reported at the house. Slowly the house starts to show its secrets. Or does it?

I did enjoy this book but it did get slow in parts, and not a good slow. I haven’t watched the movie or show so I cannot compare. The book is creepy and I would recommend it to those that like to question if things really happened as presented. It’s definitely a haunted house mystery but no real gore. There is mentions of some violence.

You Are Not a Failure

Posted on January 3, 2022January 1, 2022 by Jenna

Failure. It’s not something many of us are comfortable with but we’ve all failed before. Or felt like we have. Failure isn’t a bad thing. It’s how we learn and grow. And we tend to feel like failures if we don’t reach the goals we set for ourselves.

Every year I start off setting goals and in the past, I’ve written all about it. Then I talk about how we should review and update our goals every three months. Acting like I had my ish together.

Narrator: She did not have her ish together.

Over the years, I’ve gotten really good at setting goals. It’s still a challenge but I can decide on and set goals. What I can’t seem to do is complete said goals. I try but I either don’t know how to start and spend hours, days, even weeks researching and trying to figure it out. Or I get a flying start and can’t wrap my head around how to finish.

As I mentioned above I often get stuck in an obsessive research loop. I will research a topic to death before I actually start an action step or give up because I’m over it. Or I just can’t figure out the next action step. I really struggle with breaking things down into small steps.

I also think I have more time to complete things than I do (or I think everything takes 15 minutes while in reality, it takes an hour).

I’ve also suffered from too many interest-itis. It’s a real thing, look it up. 😉 I’ve always wanted to do it all. I’ve tried to limit myself but it never seems to work. I get annoyed and upset then give up on things so I can do another. Then I get upset that I’m not reaching any goals because I keep jumping around.

So this year I’m not going to tell you to set goals. Or to follow up every three months. Nope. This year I am going to tell you it’s ok to set or not set goals. It’s ok to set aside one goal and focus on another new, shiny goal.

You’re not a failure if you don’t accomplish a goal. You’re not a failure if you change it up every month. Or week. Or heck, even if you change it up every day.

This year, I am going to set goals but I’m going to try to look at them differently. Some of them will be fairly easy (read 52 books – I’ve been doing that for a while now and make sure I fit it in). Others I may float in and out of. My focus this year is to create. I have set create as my word of the year and a lot of my goals will revolve around that. But they aren’t strict. I want to create every day. That might be painting. It might be editing a few images.

I have a general idea of where I want to go and I think I’ll take the scenic route to get there.

What has been your biggest failure and what did you learn from it? What do you want to accomplish this year?

Book of the Year 2021

Posted on January 1, 2022June 16, 2022 by Jenna

What was my book of the year?

The Happy Runner by David and Megan Roche which I read way back in February.

How did I arrive at this conclusion? I went through the books I read each month and picked my top choice from those that I gave five (5) stars. Then I put those picks in an imperfect bracket and had a faceoff! It was a tough choice for some of the matches but The Happy Runner came out on top!

The Happy Runner was also my most listened-to podcast episode.

Want to grab a copy of The Happy Runner? Click here to get on Amazon (affiliate link – I will receive a small commission if you purchase from my link).

Yes, I haven’t finished up my reviews for the year. I am a bit behind but still plan to get them posted, just a few months late! I have many updates for September to December! For 2022, I plan to stay on top and publish each month for the previous month.

Here is my bracket so you can see all my top picks:

Plan Your Year – Planners

Posted on December 20, 2021December 6, 2021 by Jenna

Did you order a planner during all the Black Friday sales? Are you staring at all those blank pages wondering how to get started?

You are not alone. Everyone struggles to put pen to paper in their shiny new planners. There is no wrong way to plan and part of the journey is finding what works for you. But that doesn’t mean you can’t read blogs and watch videos to get ideas on where to start.

So, grab your blank planner, some sticky notes, and get ready to plan!

First step is deciding what you will use your planner for. Some people have one planner for everything and some use multiple planners for different areas. Do you want your planner to be the keeper of everything or do you prefer compartmentalizing your life?

What are some things you can use your planner for?

Budget/Bills
Fitness
Content Planning
Work tasks
Family events

If you are putting everything in one planner, you could color-code each category. Budget and bills could be green while your kids are purple and your workouts are orange. It makes it easy to see what is going on each day with a quick glance. I color code my Google calendar so I can see what I have going on when I’m out and about.

Once you’ve decided what your planner is for and if you are color-coding, you can start setting up your year. A lot of planners use sticky notes to get started. Most planners have a lot of blank places you can fill. I use The Content Planner and Erin Condren. They both have dashboards for each month and then the monthly spread. EC then goes into the weeks or days, depending on which layout you have. (Links are affiliate links and I may receive a small commission when you purchase through my links).

You can use sticky notes to figure out what you will use those dashboards for. This allows you to move things around or change them before you put them down in a more permanent way. You can search google, Pinterest, and Instagram for inspiration. Or check out how I set up my dashboards in my fitness planner for 2021 here. Once you decide on a plan, start adding stickers, pens, and whatever else you want to make it your own. You can either set up all your monthly dashboards now or do them the month before. Personally, I prefer doing them the month before because I like to try new things.

Next up is your monthly view. Grab those sticky notes and add anything important like paydays, birthdays, and appointments. Before 2022 starts I like to go through and put sticky notes for any birthdays and appointments I know of for the entire year. Then as things come up, I add it with a sticky until I get to the month. Things change and I’d rather be able to toss a sticky note than deal with white out. You could also use pencil.

Finally, the weekly or daily spreads. This is where we get down and dirty. What do you need to do each week/day? What are your top priorities for each week/day? Put your sticky notes down first. It is really helpful to see what your obligations are each day. If your day is packed with taking your kids to appointments will you really have time to clean the entire house, meal plan, and take Fido to the vet? Probably not.

Planning is like the rocks, pebbles, and sand in a jar analogy. You start with the rocks (dashboard/monthly) then fill in the pebbles (weekly) and finally the sand (daily).

Also, there are many sticker shops that do dashboard, monthly, and weekly kits. You can go all out or stick with only pen. You can add a few decorative stickers or use only functional stickers. You can highlight when a task is important or highlight to mark a task complete. Planners are so personal. You really need to play around and find what works for you. And it can change from planner to planner! Don’t be afraid to play! If you think you’ve messed up, you get another day, week, or month to try again. Planning should be fun and a stress reliever.

How do you plan your year? Let us know in the comments, maybe you will give someone a great idea! Then head over and subscribe to my YouTube channel to see my 2022 set up video!

Plan Your Year – Running

Posted on December 13, 2021November 24, 2021 by Jenna

We are headed quickly into 2022. It’s hard to believe but January will be here before you know it. Have you started putting together your health and fitness plan for 2022? If not, it’s time to get started!

What do you want to accomplish next year with your running?

This may or may not be a goal. This could be a certain race or distance you want to do. It could be a challenge you want to take on. Or even making little changes each month to become a better runner. But looking at the entire year at once can be a bit overwhelming.

Maybe grab a piece of paper to write things down as we go.

Let’s start with the big picture. As asked above, what is the big thing you want to accomplish in 2022? For me, I want to run my first ultramarathon. That is my top goal. Some smaller things I want to do are continue to strength train, add in yoga more consistently, and add more fruit/vegetables to my day. The first thing I would do is put that ultra on my calendar. Everything else will be filled in around the ultra and should support that goal.

Here are a few things to think about when planning your race calendar:

What type of event do you want to do?
- Road, trail, obstacle, mud
What distance?
- Have you done that distance before?
- Trainging for a 5k is different from training for a marathon
Where is the race? Do you need to travel to it?
- Traveling can be tricky with racing. You don’t want to do much site seeing beforehand.
- You want a hotel that’s convenient and easy to get to the start/finish.
How much time can you put into training?
- The longer the distance, the more running you need to do.
- Are you going to do other activities? Cross train?
- Do you have other priorities that may take time from training?

There are a few other things to think about. Sometimes races are expensive. Shoes and other gear can add up. Everyone says running is a cheap sport. It can be but like anything the more you get into it, the more it costs. Local, small road races can be less expensive than the big Rock n Roll type ones. And they can be more fun. You may not get the cool medal but they usually have a t-shirt to remember the race. You can find good deals at Old Navy or Target for gear. Shoes can be pricey but if you are doing shorter runs and races, you can make shoes last.

Another area to consider is are you injury-prone or have any health issues that may impact training? This may hinder or alter your training. If you know you tend to have issues with your IT band, maybe work with a sports medicine doctor or physical therapist for exercises you can do. Make a plan. If you have health issues, again, work with your doctor. They know better than some random blogger.

Do you have a support system? If your partner/family/friends don’t understand your need to go out Sunday mornings for 20 mile long runs and expect you to party until 3 am with them, you will struggle to get through a marathon training cycle. Having a partner that supports your goals is extremely helpful. They will understand why you napped after that 20-miler instead of cleaning the bathroom.

What are your other training goals? Do you want to drop body fat? Get stronger? Do more mindful meditation? All of these are great goals but may not always align with running. You may have to juggle a bit to fit it all in. Or take a break from one while in the middle of your race training.

So how do you go about fitting everything in?

Start looking at the year overall. Put that goal race or A race on your calendar and work around it. If your race is in the fall, you are looking at a big summer of training. Maybe that means you focus on your other goals at the start of 2022.

Once you figure out the overall picture, you can bring it down to quarterly, monthly, and weekly.

For example, in December I will start thinking about January through March. What will that quarter look like for me? My ultra will be the first weekend of March so my focus will be building up to a 50k. I will also look at January. I know I will have a trail race that month. My main focus will be completing that without injury and getting my trail legs back. Then on the Sunday before each week, I will look at my week and what my running coach has assigned, and what else I have going on and work to fit in strength training and maybe yoga. I really want to get yoga back into my routine. I will do this each Sunday.

Lastly, make sure to be flexible. Life happens, things come up so you won’t always be able to stick exactly to your plan. The biggest thing is to have the plan laid out so when those inevitable things come up, you can move around your runs or strength sessions as needed. Or take an extra rest day if you need it.

Planning helps to be consistent and consistency is the main ingredient to achieving your goals.

What do you want to accomplish in 2022? Drop it in the comments then head to Instagram to follow me as I train for my first ultra! I’d love to follow you on your journey too.

South Rim – Grand Canyon

Posted on December 13, 2021 by Jenna

Let’s take a trip to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon.

Grab a camping spot and settled in because you are sure to see some elk wandering around.

You can hike down the South Kaibab trail and enjoy a snack with a view of the Colorado river.

And don’t forget to catch a sunset.

Don’t forget to look for interesting rock formations or shadows!

And if it’s open, head over to the Watchtower. Otherwise, grab a photo from a distance.

Want more of the South Rim? Head over to my shop and grab a 2022 wall calendar!

Episode 25 – Rocks, Pebbles, and Sand. Oh my!

Posted on November 29, 2021November 24, 2021 by Jenna

On today’s podcast, I talk about filling a jar with rocks, pebbles, and sand. What does that have to do with running? A lot actually.

What is going on everyone! I cannot believe we are a couple of days away from the last month of the year. 2021 has flown by! I can’t we will soon be in 2022. I may take December off since Christmas falls on my usual recording day! Then we can start fresh in season 2 for January!

Today I want to talk about planning your year and coaching.

First up, we are reaching the end of 2021. Have you been thinking about everything you’ve accomplished this year? You should be because I bet you’ve done more than you think you have! We have a tendency to forget what we did WAY back in the first half of the year. So take a moment to reflect on all the awesomeness you’ve done this year.

It was a lot huh?

Ok, now it’s time to start thinking about what’s next if you haven’t already. I like to pick an A race or main goal. For next year, that is my first ultra. Once that is completed, my goal will switch to maintaining my running and building strength.

But how do you get to your A race or goal?

You plan your year. Put that A race on your calendar. Is it a spring or fall race? Will you do other races to test your fitness along the way? Add those too. So now you have your big yearly plan. Then we gotta break it down into smaller pieces.

Have you heard the rocks in a jar analogy? I’m sure you have but just in case the overall idea is you put the rocks in the jar first, then the pebbles, then the sand to fill in all the gaps. That’s kind of how you should look at planning your year.

So your rocks are your A race and other supporting races. The pebbles? Those are your quarterly and/or monthly training plans. Lastly, your sand is the weekly/daily work you put in.

After you’ve put the rocks on your calendar, look at the quarters. For me, my ultra is early march so quarter one, January to March is focused on workouts and food to support my ultra. April through June will be recovery, July to September base building, and finally, October to December will be getting ready for a marathon in 2023 (yes, I already have that penciled in). How will your quarters look for 2022? Take some time to think through your cycles for 2022.

Once you have your cycles, you can focus on each month. I like to sit down the last week of the month and plan out the next month. I do the same weekly. Every Sunday, I sit down and look at my schedule and my training and fill in strength training and other cross-training activities.

See? You start with the big picture now and fill in the gaps.

One last thing before we take a short break. Leave room to be flexible. Life happens and we have to change plans, often at the last minute. Maybe you planned to have a rest day on Thursday but something came up Tuesday and you ended up not working out. That’s ok. Take a look at the rest of your week and move things around as needed.

Being flexible and consistent is the key to achieving your goals and rocking that race!

Ok, let’s take a quick ad break.

And I’m back!

I mentioned before that I was looking for a coach and had hired one. November was my first full month of coaching and I feel like we got a lot accomplished! She started me back slowly, which was expected. It was a little weird to go from marathon training, to rest, to like 20-mile weeks.

I know people that have done them and I know what they are but it still made me nervous! For me, and I’m sure many others, doing something new can be a bit scary because we don’t know exactly what to expect. Like, I hate going to a new to me restaurant because I’m like how do I order? Is it like McDonald’s, Chipotle, Red Robin?!? And then if it’s like McDonald’s or Chipotle, there’ll be pressure to decide as the line behind me grows!

Yes, these are thoughts I actually have when trying a new restaurant.

Getting back to the time trial. The plan was a 2-mile warm-up, followed by strides and drills and a short rest before the actual 2-mile time trial and then of course a 2 mile cool down. The warm-up, strides, and drills went as expected.

I really struggled to settle in the first mile of the time trial. I had talked to my coach and we had decided 10-10:30 minute mile would be a good aim for me. Well, I averaged 10:39 for that first mile, not because it was hard but because I couldn’t get a steady pace. I was pushing too hard then I’d pull back too much. The second mile went much better and I got a steady flow going and ended up with a 10:02 mile.

I felt like I had pushed but not too much. I had enough in the tank to do the 2 mile cool down. The hardest part was breathing.

The time trial has set my times for easy runs and speed work. It’s pretty similar to what I was doing the past couple of years. Hopefully, with some consistency and a coach, I can improve. It’s been a bit of a rocky past couple of weeks for me. I’ve missed more runs due to weird things than in the past.

I had weird ankle issues one day. I think it was from my time trial. There was a spot where I forgot the sidewalk was lifted and came down pretty hard. Then I forgot to change my alarm and woke up too late to run. Then I thought we were hiking on Sunday and Justin thought Monday. I gotta get my ish together or my coach is gonna drop me!

I’ve also been hitting the trails again, mostly for my long runs. There is nothing like being out on the trails, especially when no one else is around! It does make it harder to do the fast finish and other little speed things my coach throws in but I try and do what I can. Because let’s be real, my ultra is on these trails so I need to be prepared!

Speaking of my ultra, I am having second thoughts and feel I made a mistake in signing up for this particular one. I have run all the trails it covers, some of them multiple times. But there are a couple of sections that make my anxiety spike. One section is loose rocks. Not like small rocks but decent-sized rocks on an incline. Going up? No issues. Going down? My brain freaks out. The last time I had to go down, I stood at the top and stared for quite some time, trying to psych myself up. I also crab-walked down some of it.

And the race goes up and down this section.

The other section is also downhill in this race. It’s very narrow and technical in parts. I can do it but I do it fairly slowly. There isn’t a lot of room to pass. It’s rock wall on one side and way down on the other. I wouldn’t want to hold others up as I slowly pick my way down.

Hopefully, I’ll be so far back it won’t be an issue.

I do plan to get back out to these sections for practice when my long runs get a little longer.

And now… COFFEE CORNER!!

November wasn’t quite as slow book-wise as the last couple of months. I got a little of my reading mojo back.

I finally finished Hannibal. I give it two stars. The first two books were definitely better. The author spent way too much time and detail building the story. I really didn’t need about half the info he included. And the ending? Enraged! It doesn’t seem like the right ending for this story.

Then I picked The Endurance Diet back up to finish it. Three stars. I would recommend any other Matt Fitzgerald book before this one. It felt so much of just a way to say I met this athlete and this is what they ate. His other books are better.

I also got the Rise and Run cookbook and read through that. Five stars! I love these cookbooks and someday will actually make all the yummy-sounding recipes from them.

Then I went on a fiction binge including Five Total Strangers (3 stars), The Bone Box (5 stars), and The Lost Soul of the City (4 stars).

Five Total Strangers by Natalie D Richards was about five young adults that instead of being stranded at an airport during a blizzard decide to rent a car and drive together. Of course, one of the five has an ulterior motive. Concept was good. The author tried to throw you off from the real culprit but it was so obvious what they were doing that I guessed correctly. It was still a very fast read and well written. The Bone Box is a Waterman & Stark book from Gregg Olsen. It focuses on Dr. Waterman and her family. It’s a short story but very well done and not quite as graphic as his other books. The Lost Soul of the City is the first book in the Nameless season two from Dean Koontz. It’s decent but I thought the last season was better. I will still read the other short stories in season two. This one just felt different.

I have started The Ultra Mindset but Travis Macy and The Upside of Falling by Alex Light. So far I am enjoying both. I will include my thoughts in December’s podcast as I don’t think I will finish either of these before I record this.

Ok, that is all I have for this week. Tell me, what is your A race for next year? When is it? How will you build your year around your big race?

If you enjoyed this podcast, be sure to give it a follow. New episodes will air monthly on the last Monday of the month. I plan to keep this schedule for a while since I have so many other things going on. In the meantime, you can find me on Youtube, Twitter, and TikTok at runs on espresso and Instagram at runs_on_espresso.

If you like this podcast, I’d appreciate a rate and review wherever you listen. And be sure to share it with anyone you think might enjoy it.

If you have a show idea, something you’d like to hear more about, drop me a message at anchor.fm/runsonespresso or email jenna@runsonespresso.com I look forward to hearing your ideas!

Until next month, I hope your runs are as strong as your coffee!

North Rim of the Grand Canyon

Posted on November 15, 2021 by Jenna

The North Rim of the Grand Canyon isn’t the popular side. It’s the road less traveled. The “it’s another four hours to get there” side. Everyone has seen the South Rim but only a fraction head to the “other side”.

But you’re missing out if you don’t take the trip.

The North Rim is beautiful and peaceful. It is the same canyon but it’s different from the South Rim. And there are fewer people, which is always a plus.

You can hike down north Kaibab.

Not a hiker? Maybe you prefer off-roading!

You can see an arch.

Or head to a white pocket.

Maybe see some bison!

Cross off hike the Arizona trail from your bucket list.

And see the Colorado

If you haven’t been, start planning your trip! There is a lot to see and do when you go further north. You can get little cabins at the Grand Canyon or be a little more adventurous and set up camp at one of several campgrounds.

Some areas were affected by a wildfire a few years ago. We were there about a month after the fire. It is always a sad sight to see fire ripped through such a beautiful area.

When you are out and about, please be careful. Be sure your campfire is completely out or don’t have a fire when not allowed. Be careful where you park your car, avoid spots where vegetation is high.

We weren’t able to go to a lot of spots because of the damage. Below are a few photos of the devastation that we were able to see. It breaks my heart.

Want to see the Grand Canyon every day of 2022? Grab a wall calendar in my shop!

Gluten Free Thanksgiving

Posted on November 15, 2021November 23, 2021 by Jenna

Most holidays involve food. But Thanksgiving? It is basically celebrating stuffing yourself silly. Being gluten free on Thanksgiving can be tough.

If you get together with family, it can be difficult to navigate your food options. You don’t know how someone else prepared the food. Maybe they forgot they used the wooden spoon to stir the casserole but they normally use that same spoon for gluten filled pasta.

Maybe watching everyone else eat apple (or pumpkin) pie while you have no pie is torture. Because it is.

How can you make it easier for yourself this year? Here are my top tips:

Talk to the host ahead of time. Find out their menu and help them navigate gluten free cooking. Remember, you do this every day. They don’t. Tell them how to keep you safe.
If there is something you don’t want to miss out on, make it (or grab it from the store). You want to make sure you can have stuffing? Or maybe you want a delicious dessert after the main meal. If you make or bring it, you can enjoy AND share with others. Maybe they’ll see gluten free doesn’t eaqual flavorless.
If you think, or know, there won’t be much for you to eat at your gathering be sure to eat beforehand. There’s nothing wrong with having a little snack before you leave if you know you can only eat the chips and salsa at the party.
Heading to a restaurant? Check their website and menu beforehand. Call and speak with the manager to make sure there’s something you are comfortable eating. If not, see number three. Eat ahead and grab drinks with your friends and family. You don’t have to stay the entire time!
If all else fails and you have the means to do so, be the host! Invite over your friends and family and show them what a gluten free feast can be! If they ask to bring items, see tip one and remind them of how to make things safely or ask them to bring a bottle of wine, extra napkins, or flowers for the centerpiece.

How do you stay safe during the holidays? Drop your tips in the comments!

2021 Holiday Gift Guide

Posted on November 8, 2021November 23, 2021 by Jenna

It’s that time of year again! When we all freak out and try to find gifts for everyone we know. I’m here to try and help make it a tad easier on you. Please note, most links will be affiliate links. I will let you know which links are affiliate links. I will set up all links to open in a new window so you can continue through the post without losing your spot!

First, a shameless plug for my own photography business. I designed three calendars this year, all about the Grand Canyon! You can find these calendars on my website. The images below are the cover of each calendar. From left to right it is The North Rim, The South Rim, and The Grand Canyon. The Grand Canyon is a mix of images from both North and South Rim.

Feel free to browse around my photography shop as I also have other items that would make great gift items! Please note, everything is printed on demand and can take 2-4 weeks to receive so order early!

Have friends and family that are gluten free?

Do they love to cook or bake? How about a cookbook! Amazon links are amazon associate links. They will pay a small commission if you purchase through my link.

Or maybe they prefer not to cook but still want a sweet treat. Consider a donut hole variety pack! Or maybe throw it back with a sweet treat they ate as a child. And lastly, maybe they miss a certain girl group cookie? Grab a perfect dupe for it!

Is shopping for the runner in your life tough?

They use gadgets and gizmos a plenty. The need whozits and whatzits galore. You need thingamabobs? They’ve got twenty! So no big deal but what do you buy them?!? Let me help you find some ideas.

First, some yummy stocking stuffers! A Picky Bars or Honey Stinger waffle variety pack is a great way to fill their stocking and stomach!

Lastly, how about some fun shirts to showoff their love of running every day! You can even save 10% on your order with my affiliate code RUNSONESPRESSO. Below are a few examples of the type of shirts you can find on Sarah Marie Designs! Affiliate link – I will receive a small commission from the company if you shop through my link.

How about that friend that loves notebooks and pens? There’s lots of gift ideas for them too!

There are SO many pens you can get your stationary loving pals. So many. Shop for these items at Erin Condren. Yes, another affiliate link. I will receive a small commission when you buy through this link.

From top left to right:
1. Believe stackable bracelet, ultimate planny pack in camel, A5 year over year journal, and inspire bookmark
2. EttaVee Kindness Always cards
3.Eco Friendly desk set and focused pocket planner

From bottom left to right:
1. Focused pocket planner and fine tip markers
2. Acrylic perpetual calendar and organizer (holds your phone and desk accessories
3. Acrylic bookends – one end holds your notebooks while the other side holds your pens, scissors, and whiteout!

Author: Jenna