Happy 33rd Birthday to Jason! :0)

Two days ago, my sweet husband turned 33 years old.  He had to work nights, so I sent him to work with a dozen cupcakes (just like a mom does with her kid to school).  Hah! 

Wasn’t he the cutest kid? :0)

His mom cleaned out their attic and she found his “potty training Pooh”.  She wrapped it up and gave it to him last night as a gift! Hahah!

I’m sure he’d appreciate knowing that his old photos are on my blog!  Hahah!

Here he is in high school playing in Disney World! Pretty cool!! :0)

 

Seeing these “older” pictures of Jason always makes me smile. In high school, I had a secret crush on Jason. We went to the same church and he played in our orchestra so he was on stage every Sunday.  I wasn’t a stalker (hah!) but I did admire him from afar! :0) 

 

Had I only known the future……  :0)

Happy 33rd Birthday, Jason! I hope you had a great birthday and I love you!!

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I had an eye Doctor appointment yesterday and he dilated my eyes for the first time ever!  I’ve seen the same eye Doctor (for the past 15 years) and he’s NEVER done that to my eyes. I had to drive home and it was a beautiful, clear, blue sunny day.  Of course.  I was going to try to run before Jason’s birthday dinner but yeah, that didn’t happen because I had a horrible headache!  I know it’s for health reasons, but I don’t ever want to have that done to my eyes again!

I’m hopefully going to try to sneak a run in this afternoon. We’ll see!

Also, don’t forget to check out my DetermiNation Raffle! There are a TON of awesome prizes and there will be a lot of winners!!

Have a great Wednesday! :0)

Black Friday, the weekend, and a Raffle winner!

Friday morning (Black Friday), we woke up at 3:15 a.m. It was our goal to be out of the door by 3:40 a.m. We did a good job because my #1 goal was to make it to JCPenny by the time they opened at 4 a.m.  I collect the Disney snow globes that they give away at the door every year so it’s my tradition! :0) 

We parked and made it to the door right as they opened! YAY!

The one thing I wanted to look at in JCPenny was a 4 piece luggage set that was advertised for $39.99. Of course by the time we walked to the back of the store, ALL of them were gone and people in the back of the store were hoarding the luggage sets.  Not a great way to start out my morning, but that’s ok!

After finishing up at the mall (JCPenny, Bath & Body, & Kohls), we had breakfast at Starbucks – yet another tradition!  I usually get a Peppermint Mocha and a slice of Banana bread but this morning, I changed to Oatmeal! :0)

It’s way too early for this! :0)

Next on our list was Target, Bed/Bath&Beyond, Old Navy, Academy, and Michaels.  I avoid Wal-Mart on Black Friday at all costs!  Although I do have to say that this year, the parking lot was relatively empty (since they opened at midnight).

One thing that struck me as really odd this year were the lines to check out!  Usually, we have to wait at least 45 minutes per store in a line that is wrapped around to the back of the store to check out.  Not this time!  I LOVED IT!  Most places, we were 3rd or 4th in line at checkout! That shaved a TON of time off  which meant more shopping for me!  YAY!

 

Madalynn’s toy from Santa! :0)

No buggies at Target!

This was a neat promo at Old Navy! While everyone waited in line, a worker went around asking questions such as “Who has a picture of their pet”, “Who is wearing a pair of Old Navy jeans”, or “Who has an out of state drivers license”?  If the questions applied to you, she gave a Lucky in Line card! Inside was a coupon for either $1 off, $3 off, or $5 off your total purchase! Sweet deal!

After waiting in the longest line of the day at Old Navy, I was POOPED!

Here I am waiting on Kim to check out at Academy! Hah!

As a surprise to us, we were completely finished with our shopping trip by noon!  Usually, we don’t finish shopping until at least 2 p.m. but with the short lines at checkout, we finished up early!  It’s a good thing too because I was exhausted….not to mention that my shoes were hurting my feet, especially the spot where I broke my foot 2 summers ago (not good).

Our loot in the back of my car!

I’d say we did a pretty good job! We talked about making shirts next year! Hah!  There were SO many people out shopping that were wearing shirts!  We’ll have to see! :0)

If BF 2012 is the same as 2011, I’d be a happy camper!  I would leave the 10 p.m. and midnight shopping to all the crazy pepper sprayers and wake up way early the following morning to shop!  (Hah….I don’t think that EVERYONE who shopped at midnight is crazy!)  :0)

We ate leftovers at my parent’s house for lunch, then I CRASHED and slept for about 3 hours.  Friday night, my parents called me to hang out with them because Jason was working nights, so we went BACK to the mall (crazy, right?) and walked around a bit more!

I had a great day!!!

Saturday morning, I woke up at 4 a.m. (early again) for an 18 mile run.  I had to be in Thibodeaux, LA for a family reunion at 11:30 a.m., so my friends agreed to run extra early for me!

This is most of my family from my mom’s side. There were 8 brothers and sisters. One brother and one sister (my grandmother) have both passed away, but everyone else was there including my 96 year old Great Aunt! It was a fun day and it was neat hearing people talk in Cajun French again. (It’s been YEARS!)  Sadly, it’s a dying language.

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With all the weekend business, I forgot to announce my latest raffle winner!

Congratulations……

Suzanne from Cows and Lasers and Everything in Between!

She’s the 4th winner of my DetermiNation Raffle!

Thanks so much for your support , Suzanne! I really appreciate it!! :0)

Email me at: kren2700@gmail.com and let me know which prize you would like! :0)

There’s still lots of ways to win! Check out my DetermiNation Raffle to be a part! Don’t miss out!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope that all of you had a very blessed and Happy Thanksgiving!  :0)

I had a great day, myself!  Here’s a little recap:

I woke up at 5 a.m. and began my search for a news paper!  Little did I know, my dad asked my grandpa to save his for me!  Wasn’t that sweet?

I got dressed and drove to town for the 5th Annual Go Run Turkey Trot.  It wasn’t a race – our coach set out different mileage routes and you could run/walk however far you wanted!  Heather and I ran 6 miles. 

 

Gobble Gobble!

I came home, showered, then brought homemade Pumpkin Pie Cinnamon Rolls over to my parents house for breakfast!  SO very good!

 

For lunch, Jason and I went to his grandmother’s house where we skyped his sister, her husband, and his parents in Kansas City!  His parents were in KC for a visit so we missed them this Thanksgiving!

After lunch, I picked up my mom and we drove to Michael’s for a little pre-black Friday shopping!  It was fun and we got a LOT of good deals!!!

For dinner, we went back to my parents house where we FEASTED on a ton of food!

THIS is the reason I ran 6 miles yesterday morning!

Lots of eating,

Lots of BEGGING,  (doesn’t my face say “I’m starving! Give me a bite!”)

 

…and lots of desserting!!  Is that even a word? Ah well. We ate lots of dessert! :0)

………and my doggie tried to eat my mom’s bird for dinner.

We left my parent’s house, drove home, went to sleep, and woke up 4 hours later for BLACK FRIDAY SHOPPING!!!!! More on that later! :0)

That about sums up my Thanksgiving!  Hope everyone enjoyed theirs too!! I had a blast and I can’t wait to be with all of my family again at Christmas!

Pinterest

Anyone use Pinterest?  I think it’s the most addicting thing EVER!  I’m a really crafty person, but I’m not good at coming up with ideas on my own – so Pinterest is REALLY dangerous for me!!

I attended a Baby Shower last Sunday for a friend’s daughter and her decorations were the CUTEST owl’s that she cut out of felt!  She found the pattern on Pinterest.

Knowing that I had a Bachelorette/Lingerie Shower the following weekend, I decided to look through Pinterest for a few decoration ideas.

What I got myself in to was a mass of scrapbooking paper, LOTS of trimming, ribbons, and feather boas!  I had a lot of fun and everything turned out really cute, but it was incredibly time consuming!  I only had about 6 hours of sleep each night last week AND I didn’t get to go for a run until Thursday afternoon (because I made myself stop and go for a run)!  Me + no run = GRUMPY!!

Here’s the decor!

Feather boa’s on the TV, mantle, and coffee table
Banner on the mantle that says “Oh La La!”
Scrapbook underwear :0)
Pink stones in vases on the mantle

 

Close up of the mantle

I was so happy with the way everything turned out!!

Close up of the banner

Banners behind the couch

 

Close up of the banners

The pink polka dot set was my favorite! :0)

1 Matron of Honor, 1 Maid of Honor :0)

The games were hilarious,

laughter was in the air,

and the Bride had a great time! 

Overall, I’d say the shower was a success!! :0)

If you have a Pinterest account, follow me! 

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After having only a few hours of sleep after the shower, I woke up on Saturday morning and ran 14.4 with my running buddy Heather! We had a great run and it was a beautiful day!  After the run, I came home and put up my Christmas tree! :0) 

I’d say that I had a FABULOUS WEEKEND!!!!

Another winner! :0)

Congratulations……

Morgan from Becoming Rooks!

She’s the 3rd winner of my DetermiNation Raffle! 

Thanks so much for your support again this year, Morgan!! I really appreciate it!! :0)

Email me at: kren2700@gmail.com and let me know which prize you would like! :0)

There’s still lots of ways to win! Check out my DetermiNation Raffle to be a part!

DetermiNation Raffle Winner #2

I pulled my second raffle winner today….and the winner is…..

Kayla from Running Through Life!

Congrats, Kayla!

Email me at kren2700@gmail.com with your raffle item choice!!

Congrats again!! :0)

There’s still lots of ways to win! Check out my DetermiNation Raffle to be a part!

Reminder: DetermiNation Raffle

THANK YOU all so very much for your generous donations and support!  I’m almost to 20% of my goal for DetermiNation because of you guys!!

Just a reminder: the next drawing for my DetermiNation Raffle is tomorrow (Friday)!!

There are lots of prizes from the generous running community with many ways to win! In all, there will be 18 winners!

Check it out!!

Running on Vacation

Day before the cruise – Seattle, WA
Day #1 onboard the Norwegian Pearl
Day #2 “At Sea” day
Day #3 – Juneau, Alaska
Day #4 – Skagyway, Alaska
Day #5 – Glacier Bay
Day #6 – Ketchikan, Alaska
Day #7 – Victoria, BC
Disembark Day – Back in Seattle, WA

My final Alaskan Vacation post!  I’m sure you’re getting tired of hearing about Alaska, but I promise – this is it!

We sailed on board the Norwegian Pearl. The day we boarded, I took my own little tour of the ship and found the Jogging Track as well as the Gym. 

I was VERY shocked to see that the Jogging Track was on top of the ship and only 1/2 the length of the ship.  Don’t get me wrong – it was beautiful and a great way to see the sights, but it was very un-practical for runners.

1 mile = 5 1/2 laps. Really? Who came up with that nonsense??

The first time I ran, I kept a count of the laps in my head – which is hard once you get into 3 or 4 miles. 

 

So, the next time I ran, I decided to bring along my Garmin. I had to laugh because not only was I moving ON the ship, but the ship was also moving (duh, Karen) – so my Garmin gave false information! I still ran like a rockstar! HAH!

Because of it’s location (on the top of the ship), the path was VERY narrow and was very wet and slippery most of the time.  It also wove around other structures on the top of the ship so at times, the path was very narrow and only had room for ONE runner to get by.

This led to a VERY frustrating run. I could tell that other runners were frustrated as well. 

You see, there were these people on the ship (on multiple mornings) who decided that they wanted to go for a leisurely stroll on the JOGGING deck.  That is totally fine with me after all, it’s a ship where you can do whatever you want!  HOWEVER, if you see or hear a runner approach you from behind, move out of the dang way!!! 

My dad had been walking on the Promenade deck with less people, so he asked if I wanted to join there the following morning.  The promenade deck was on a lower deck (on the Disney ships, this is the RUNNING DECK). 

So I woke up, got dressed, and met him on the Promenade deck the following morning. What did I see?

Walking ONLY?? Seriously??   AND 2 1/2 laps = 1 mile?

This ship was NOT designed by runner friendly people!!!

Also, why is it fair that the Promenade Deck asked for Walkers only, but the JOGGING DECK allowed God and everybody to WALK on it???

The icing on the cake was a certain man who was VERY rude on purpose. He took a leisurely stroll on the JOGGING DECK every morning (of course). He could hear me run up behind him - he’d even turn around and see me – and he wouldn’t move out of my way.  I wanted to SCREAM. That was the most FRUSTRATING run ever. I had to stop running and wait for us to get to a wider spot so I could pass him by. I passed him multiple times because if you noticed, I had to make 5 1/2 laps just to get to 1 mile and each time was the SAME thing. SO FRUSTRATING!!!

I ran about 4 mornings on the ship. I even woke up at way early hours so I could get my run in on the JOGGING deck but it never failed – there was always a group of people taking a “Sunday stroll” on the JOGGING deck. 

I had to bite my tongue multiple times because I wanted to say “There’s a promenade deck for WALKERS a few decks below!”

 

So by now, I’m sure you’re asking why didn’t I just run in the gym? You see, I’m from the south.  Our trip was in August.  August in the south = sweltering hot weather.  August in Alaska = Aaaaah I can BREATHE!!  I enjoyed running outside and didn’t want to be cooped up in hot sweaty  gym on a treadmill. I also prefer outdoor runs over runs on the treadmill.

Each morning after my run, I walked down to the outside buffet and started my morning off with coffee and fruit! :0)

Ok so recap:
JOGGING track = 5 1/2 laps for a mile. Walkers allowed.
Promenade deck = 2 1/2 laps for a mile. NO joggers allowed.

Walkers on the JOGGING deck were NOT considerate of runners.

Bottom line: If Norwegian isn’t going to let Runners on the Promenade Deck, they shouldn’t let walkers on the JOGGING deck.

Ok I’m off my soapobox – I just had to get that out! Hah!

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Don’t forget to check out my DetermiNation Raffle! There’s a TON of awesome prizes and there will be lots of winners!!