Amazing Blogger Award

Well, I’ve been nominated for 2 more blogger challenges!  The first is the Amazing Blogger Award and I was nominated for it by Stephanie at Running to Health!  The second challenge will be in an upcoming blog post! :0)



Here we go!

[Favorite Cartoon Character]

This one isn’t hard! :0)

 

Being the Disney fan that I am, of course Mickey and Minnie Mouse are the obvious answers!!


[Favorite Thing to Photograph]

 

Sunrises and sunsets!  I love the beauty of early morning runs!  I feel so much closer to God when I run in the early mornings! :0)

[Favorite Thing to Cook]



I won’t lie – in high school, I made a MEAN batch of Chocolate Chip cookies! I was asked to make them for every single class party and for graduation, my cookie making skills even made their way into my classmate’s prediction for my future! Hah!  For our 10 year reunion, guess what I was asked to make?  Yep!  Chocolate Chip Cookies!  I don’t make these very often for myself because I can’t eat just one!  :0)

[Favorite Way to Exercise]



Why running, of course! :0)

[Favorite Movie]

One guess….

“Crying? There’s no crying in BASEBALL!”

 

Yep, A  League of Their Own! This is one of the few movies that I memorized most of the lines!  Even though I’ve seen it about a million times, I still cry like a baby at the end during the Hall of Fame part!

 

LOVE this movie!

Other favorites include: Field of Dreams, the Rookie, High School Musical, A Walk to Remember, Valentines Day, He’s Just Not that Into You, etc. :0)

[Favorite Article of Clothing]



I don’t have a particular item in mind, but I do have a favorite store!  Banana Republic!  It’s probably a good thing that our nearest store is 2 hours away – I’d spend WAY too much money otherwise! Haha!

[Favorite Flower]

 

Growing up, my grandfather gave me a vase full of sweet peas every time I went to visit him.  They quickly became my favorite flower and I even dried the petals of the last vase of sweet peas he gave me! :0)


[Favorite Breakfast]



I’m a stickler for anything that contains fruit in it for breakfast!  This includes waffles with fruit topping, cheerios with a banana, oatmeal and fruit, etc.

[Favorite Book]

 

I have a LOT of favorite books, and one thing that helps making reading easier is my Kindle! I love love love this thing!!! :0)

[Favorite Place to Be]



The place where all my Dreams come true! :0)  Walt Disney World!  I’m seriously having withdrawals…it’s time to go back!

[Favorite Sporting Event]



America’s past-time!  Baseball!  Even though I’m not very happy with the Astros at the moment, nothing will deter my love for my sport!! :0)

Now I have to pick a few people to repost this on their blog!

Kayla at Running Through Life
Heather at Life and Running
Heather at Running With Sass

Heart & Soul

“It breaks your heart. It is designed to break your heart. The game begins in spring, when everything else begins again, and it blossoms in the summer, filling the afternoons and evenings, and then as soon as the chill rains come, it stops and leaves you to face the fall alone.” ~A. Bartlett Giamatti

In this case, my heart is broken for a completely different reason.

I’ve been worried about this all week and last night, I received the official news. 

Hunter Pence is gone.

Gone?  Seriously?

Are the Astros really THAT dumb?  Did they really just TRADE their ONLY 2011 All-Star player, a huge fan favorite?   I’ve heard people say “Stay true to your team” (although in this instance, I think there are more outraged Astros fans than there are loyal fans).  If the Astros REALLY cared about “Their Fans” opinions, they wouldn’t have traded Hunter away – fan favorite=major source of income.

In a sport where players actually play the game the RIGHT way – with all their heart and soul, Hunter Pence is a rare gem.  Time after time, I’ve seen him step out on the field, hustle to his position, play the game with everything he had in him, and hold his head up high knowing he gave it his all. 

(Photo courtesy of Google)

Growing up, we were always taught that no matter where you hit the ball, you hustle your butt to first base and try your hardest to stay safe.  If you are hit by the pitch, you shake it off and move on.  If you miss a fly ball, you try harder the next time. 

Not many players play this way.  You do not know how much it infuriates me when a ball is hit in the infield and the batter trots to first like he’s going on a Sunday stroll.  Seriously, you are getting paid to play a GAME!  There are thousands of people who would die for this opportunity.  RUN!

Hunter gave it his all.

I’m going to miss this guy.  I’m glad for his new opportunity and I’m happy he’s going to a team where he has other former Astros to hang out with – but I sure am going to miss him.

As Astros fans, I think we were spoiled to the fact that for so many years, we had consistency with Biggio and Bagwell.  No matter who got traded or who left the team, we knew Biggio and Bagwell would always be there. Hunter was a long-time player and I think people expected him to fulfill that role.  People don’t like change, people like consistency.  I’m one of those people.  I have to keep reminding myself that this is all a part of the game.  Trades happen – but that doesn’t mean that I have to like them. 

I also have to keep reminding myself….I still LOVE this game – it’s my team the Astros that I’m upset with.

“The other sports are just sports. Baseball is a love.” ~Bryant Gumbel, 1981

A quote from one of my top 3 favorite movies of all times – Field of Dreams:

“The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball.  America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers – it has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again – but baseball has marked the time.  This field, this game – it’s a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good, and can be good again.” --Terance Mann – Field of Dreams

(And yes, I just typed that out from memory! Dork.) :0)

Next weekend, we have tickets to an Astros game. Had I know all of this was really going to go down, I wouldn’t have bought my ticket.

I’m making a shirt (and don’t think I won’t cause I really am) that on the front says:

“I’m only here cause my ticket was non-refundable!”

I’m also going to have a #9 on the front and a #9 on the back.

In the meantime, I’m cheering for the Rangers!  And if the Phillies make it to the World Series, I got their back, too!!! :0)

Free Tea, Movie Stars, & More Birthdays!

Did you know that yesterday was Free Tea day at McAlisters? 

It was so important that it was marked on my calendar at work!

Of course, all of my coworkers and I had McAlisters for lunch!  I re-created the Patriot…it was my favorite sandwich and it was removed from the menu! :0(  I haven’t had it in a LONG time so I decided to get it yesterday!  It’s wheat bread, Turkey meat, Lettuce Tomato, and their Orange Cranberry Sauce….oh so yummy!!! :0)

Also, if you saw my Twitter feed the past few days, you know that I asked what movie star I should be for something at work!  Well, I received LOTS of suggestions, and I decided to go with Sandra Bullock!

 

OK, not a perfect comparison, but our hair was similar…sort of….!!!  Hah!

Our hospital is hosting a new set campaign of ads – billboards, commercials, etc. and yesterday was the grand “premier”!  So, we had to stand outside of the walkway and great our “fans” as they came in for the premier.  HILARIOUS.  Seriously! 

L to R: Dolly Partin, JLo, Sandra Bullock, Angelina Jolie (she had baby dolls and the “tattoo” on her arm and everything!), Jennifer Hudson, and Sharon Stone! 

Of course, Dolly got most of the attention….

Anyway, after the grand premier, I ran with Heather, then I came home to get ready for my mother’s birthday!  We went to eat out at McAlisters, and afterward, we had cake!

  

One of my most favorite salads (minus the blue cheese)!

 

The cake was AMAZING!  It was a Bananas Foster cake so the filling was bananas foster and the icing was cream cheese….oh so delicious!

   

Cake!  Did someone say cake?! :0)

I hope my mom had a very happy and extra special birthday!

Happy Running and have a fabulous weekend!!

My 7 Links

Hope everyone’s had a great start of their week so far!  It’s almost Wednesday – which means half way to the weekend!  Yay!

Heather from Running With Sass picked me to create a blog post of “My 7 links”!   

THE GOAL

To unite bloggers (from all sectors) in a joint endeavor to share lessons learned and create a bank of long but not forgotten blog posts that deserve to see the light of day again.

THE RULES

1) Blogger is nominated to take part
2) Blogger publishes his/her 7 links on his/her blog – 1 link for each category.
3) Blogger nominates up to 5 more bloggers to take part.
4) These bloggers publish their 7 links and nominate another 5 more bloggers1
5) And so it goes on

So, here we go!

Most Beautiful Post:

 

I think beauty comes from the things we are passionate about.  Obviously, I’m passionate about running, but I’m also passionate about my career – fighting cancer.  Last year, I had the incredible opportunity to run with the American Cancer Society’s DetermiNation team.  This is the very first blog post where I discussed my plans for the 2011 Rock and Roll New Orleans Half Marathon, and I opened up about my career!  Creating a World With More Birthdays

Most Popular Post:



Even though it’s a post about a Disney World Half Marathon, believe it or not, my post popular post is not from official WDW Marathon Weekend in January!  My most popular blog post is from the 2010 WDW Wine and Dine Half Marathon!   I got to run this race with Laura and Melissa and we had an awesome time!! :0)  I’m not running Wine and Dine this year (2011), unfortunately, but I’d definitely love to run it again!

Most Controversial Post:



So far, I haven’t had a “controversial post”…at least not one that I can remember!


Most Helpful Post:



I’m not trying to beat the dead horse here, but I have to go back to my recap of the 2011 WDW Marathon Weekend Health and Fitness Expo!  I think this post is very helpful to a lot of bloggers/readers who are interested in running a future Disney race! 


Post Whose Success Surprised Me:



I was definitely surprised by the success of my post Since we are discussing Baseball…….   I never thought anyone would be that interested in my high school sports stories!  This post is sprinkled in my top 5 most popular posts – right in the middle of WDW Marathon race posts! :0)

Post That Didn’t Get the Attention it Deserved:



Inferior.  As girls, we deal with a lot of things – especially while growing up.  One thing in particular that I dealt with was rejection. In this post, I opened up about the self esteem issues from my past and how I dealt with them so I could move forward in life! :0)


Post You are Most Proud of:



This is probably no surprise – my 2011 WDW Marathon Recap!  My very first Full Marathon!  Reading back over this incredible amazing experience gives me chills!  This is something else I would do again in a heartbeat! 

SO, now the fun part…..

I tag:

Lisa at Chasin’ Bunnies
Crystal at Am I a runner…or just crazy?
A. Leo at Delicious Ambiguity
Christy at My Dirt Road Anthem

Just “Owling around” & other random thoughts

Hi there!  Hope you are having a fabulous weekend so far!

Here’s a little mini-recap of my week. 

If you missed my last blog post, my Great Uncle passed away last Friday and my dad and I travelled to Metairie, Louisiana for his funeral on Tuesday.  After the funeral, we couldn’t figure out what to eat, so we decided to drive to Baton Rouge for a stop at Whole Foods! 

I.
LOVE.
THIS.
STORE.

Seriously, I wish they would build one closer to where I live!  Well, never mind I take that back – if we had a Whole Foods and a Banana Republic, I’d be one broke chick!  Hehe!

We decided to eat first since it was almost 3 p.m. and we were starving!

 

I opted for Avocado Sushi rolls, fruit, and the stuff in the bottom left corner is Sweet Potato and Cous Cous!  VERY GOOD stuff!!!  After we ate, we shopped around for a little while and I was very glad to see that a lot of the things Whole Foods carries, I can get at a little local Health Food store in my town!  Yay!

Probably the thing that impressed me the most was this machine right here.  SO AMAZING!  It presses and squeezes the almonds and makes FRESH ALMOND BUTTER right there in the store!!!!!  How cool is that?!?!

After lunch, my dad wanted something from Starbucks, so I decided to walk around and see if I could find some Fro-Yo!  I was very successful….Yogurtland!  They had this Fro-Yo called Almond Caramel dream….oh my gosh probably the best I’ve had yet!  YUMMO!!!!!  (The pink stuff was something else I wanted to taste – it was too tart for me!)

If you’ve noticed, I quit posting all of my foods/etc that I’ve eaten.  I’ve slacked up a little on myself – I met my main 1st goal and I’m happy with that.  In total, I lost 6 pounds!  :0) Fun times!  Anyway, these are Veggie Quesadillas!  I had them Thursday night after our running group get together!  SO GOOD!!!!!

Moving on…..to FRIDAY!!!

 

I was SO excited for Friday to come!  My good friend Heather (also known as RunningWithSass) was travelling all week to support her Running Skirt sales and she scheduled a stop for Lafayette!  I met up with her for lunch at our favorite place…McAlisters!  It was so nice visiting and chatting with her and her mom!  We had a great lunch!  (Our visit was too short, though…we need to plan another weekend thing!!!)

After driving back home, Jason and I hit up the movie theater for Captain America!  LOVED it! Such a good movie!  Tip: If you go, stay around for the end of the credits!  You won’t be disappointed!

Also, I know that Disney now owns Marvel, but I find it amusing that their composers Alan Menken (Beauty&TheBeast, Aladdin, Little Mermaid, Tangled, etc) and Richard Sherman (Feed the Birds, Small World theme song, etc.) composed music for both Captain America and Iron Man 2!!  I’d say they are pretty darn talented and very well rounded musicians! :0)

Onto this morning!

We met up for our 8 mile training run! 

We ran by a different part of the lake today (different route) and got to enjoy another gorgeous sunrise! :0) 

Along the run, we stoped for a little fun.  I decided that if I tried “planking” on the ground, I’d probably not get back up….so we opted for “Owling”!  Anyone seen this new trend?  Hilary Duff tweeted a photo of herself “Owling”….

Apparently, it’s the “new” thing…

Hah!

Anyway, we were nerds and decided to try it out!  :0)  Don’t we look so trend-ish? :0)  Sure.

  

This pelican was “Owling”, too!  See, everyone’s doing it!!! :0)

Anyway, back to the run….UGH it was SO HUMID this morning.  The air was SO thick it made it hard to breathe!  The Weather Channel said 94% humidity and NO breeze…just made it even worse! 

I
WAS
SOAKED
after our run.  SOAKED. 

 

See?  This is where I sat while I listened to coach’s seminar on pre run and post run fuel! :0) 

Feels great to be dry!!!!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

In loving memory: Uncle “Buddy”

I attended a funeral today. A funeral of a man who was kind and gentle despite his height and stature. He was one of the sweetest men I knew - he was my Great Uncle.

What I saw lying in that cherry wood casket astounded me. His body, so frail, so small was merely the whisper of a man I once knew.

Cancer.

I hate it. I absolutely loathe this disgusting disease. It robs people of their life, their breath, their joy. Cancer has no prejudice - it attacks the young and the old, those with young kids, and those who will never have kids because of it. It doesn't care about age, race, or who you are.

I do find one comfort in his death - I know that he is in heaven, reunited with his wife of 62 years who passed away 3 years ago.

What I saw today made me angry - this is the reason I continue the fight.

I love celebrating with those who are blessed with a cure. Knowing that some aren't as fortunate makes the celebration of a cure all the more sweet.  Unfortunately today, I saw cancer at it’s worst.

My Great Uncle lived in New Orleans – downtown New Orleans.  He and his wife had a house there for 63 years – he lived in it until his death this past Friday. Hurricane Katrina hit them hard.  One day, I’ll share that story.  For now, I leave you with this….

In loving memory:

Lawson H. Francis
Born: September 4, 1922
Died: July 15, 2011

Loving husband, father, grandfather, great grandfather, family member, and friend.  He served in the Army Air Corps during World War II. He worked 35 years for General Motors and was a Charter member of UAW Local 448.   He will live forever in our hearts and memories.  He will truly be missed.

“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me….Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Amen.”  Psalm 23

Another Rainy Day Run!

Good afternoon!  Hope you’ve enjoyed your Saturday so far!  It’s been gloomy and dreary all day today!

Of course, the rain didn’t stop us this morning!  We had 10 miles on our schedule and we were bound and determined to run all 10 of them, rain or shine! :0)

Lately, our runs have been in the afternoons when it’s HOT and MUGGY and HUMID!  Rainy day runs are always a nice change of pace – I like to think of them as a confidence booster, especially when the heat and humidity slows me down so much! 

We started our run in the dark, at 5:30 a.m.  After running 5 miles, we made our way back to our starting point and took a few silly pictures with our cameras!



Soaked!!



I. WAS. DRENCHED!



Aaaah they found me!  Teehee! :0)



The rain never let up our entire run!

After taking our pictures, we started out on our 2nd 5 mile section.  Our streets here flood…and I mean bad.  Most of the time, we have to run in the middle of a street instead of the side because the sides of the streets flood.  We sloshed through a ton of puddles that were ankle deep.  It was insane.  My friend Heather commented that this was the closest she was ever going to get to a Triathlon!  Hah! 

There wasn’t a lot of traffic out that early so it wasn’t a big deal.  However, when cars do drive on our flooded streets, they tend to drive in the center lane, or in the middle of the road.  Well, we had just begun the 2nd half of our run when we stopped at a red-light on a curb.  A punk kid driving  a truck CHANGED LANES from the middle lane to the outside lane just so he could MONSOON us with water.  Thank goodness we were already soaked so it didn’t matter but still – HOW RUDE!  The water seriously was like a huge wave that came UP and over us – all we needed were surf boards!  Insane.  I’m sure he thought he was funny. Ah well – like I said, at least we were already drenched!



Hmmm…I see more rainy day runs in my forecast! :0)

Have a fabulous weekend!