11 Things!

I was tagged by Heather to do this 11 things questionnaire!

Rules:
  1 Post these rules 2: You must post 11 random things about yourself. 3. Answer the questions set for you in their post. 4. Create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer. 5. Go to their blog and tell them that you’ve tagged them. 6. No stuff in the tagging section about you are tagged if you are reading this. You legitimately have to tag 11 people.



11 random things about me…

1.) I think Kindle is the greatest thing ever created!! I also love reading books on the Android tablet that I got for Christmas!!
2.) I’ve never dyed my hair. I have a feeling this is coming soon – the grays are starting to show. Sad times.
3.) I’m depressed about turning 30 in August.
4.) Weddings……I am obsessed with weddings!!
5.) Speaking of weddings – I’ve been a Bridesmaid so many times I’ve lost count! Maybe 10 times? All I know is I have a closet full of dresses! LOL
6.) I’ve always wanted to learn to speak French. It’s on my “to do” list. I think it would be fun to learn both French and Cajun French. Cajun French is a dying language. I used to love being around my grandparents and listening to them speak to their friends in Cajun French. It gives me the warm fuzzies now every time I hear it (which is not very often!)
7.) I was Cinderella for an event at Church. I had a BLAST. I loved it! Wish I could do that every day! :0) (Just not Cinderella – I’m not meant to be a blonde!)
8.) I have most of the lines to the Little Rascals movie memorized! “Quick! What’s the number to 911? How should I know?” Hah!
9.) I wish I were a better photographer because I really do enjoy taking pictures. Weddings make me nervous but I love portrait photography!
10.) Stuffed animals are a weakness of mine. I don’t have a lot of them, but I could if I let myself!
11.) Playing softball. I miss it a lot.



Questions for me:

1.) How long should you be engaged before you get married?
We were engaged for a year before we were married. I’m not saying that this is for everyone but I think it’s important to really get to know someone before you marry them!
2.) Must read book?
Anything by Mary Lu Tyndall…I LOVE her stuff!
3.) Biggest pet peeve?
Stupid telemarketers.
4.) What is your dream job?
A Disney Princess! :0)
5.) crushed ice or cubed?
Cubed.
6.) Have you ever met anyone famous?
Yes I have! :0)  I’ve met lots of Christian recording artists as well as a few professional athletes!
7.) Favorite summer Olympic sport to watch?
This one is obvious! Hahah The Marathon!
8.) Salty or sweet?
Sweeeeeet!
9.) Would you rather have an encounter with a bear or a mountain lion? Why?
Mountain Lion. Here kitty kitty….yeah right!
10.) What was your favorite birthday party as a child?
My Skate City birthday party! I got to ride along the skate ring in a giant skate! It was fun!
11.) What size bed do you sleep in?
King!



Questions for my friends:
1.) What are your favorite flowers?
2.) Favorite coffee or morning beverage?
3.) Favorite jeans brand?
4.) Reality TV? Yes or no? If yes, what do you watch?
5.) If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live?
6.) Favorite vacation spot?
7.) Favorite jeans brand?
8.) Favorite distance to run/bike?
9.) Do you have any pets? If so, what are they?
10.) Buy popcorn at the movies or sneak snacks in?
11.) Ever been on a cruise? Where?
People I am tagging:

Kayla, Suz, Stephanie Ann, Crystal, Christy, Laura, Harmony, Morgan, Kimberly, Janine, Victoria

Princess, here we come!

That’s right! This weekend is the Disney World Princess Half Marathon! We leave TODAY and I’m so pumped I can’t wait!

This trip will be a girls trip that I’m taking with my mom, Heather, and her mom!

Our plans:

Friday
-Leave EARLY Friday morning and drive straight to Disney
-Go to the Expo – get our bibs, shop, etc
-Check in at the Grand Floridian and relax
-PASTA PARTY in Epcot! Thanks to Heather’s special event weekend plans, we were able to get tickets! Yay!

Saturday
-5K on Saturday morning with my mom and Heather
-Park time!!
-Blogger meet up at 3 p.m. at the Grand (If you are coming to the Princess Half, check out the blogger meet up that Heather put together and stop by if you can!!!)
-Dinner at Garden Grill

Sunday
-Princess Half
-Parks!
-Dinner at 1900 Park Fare

Monday
-More parks!
-Dinner at….wait for it….my FAVORITE…Ohana!!! Yay!

Tuesday
-Drive 13 hours back home and return to work on Wednesday morning. Boo.

I really should be asleep right now, but I keep thinking of things to put into my suitcase! Hah!

If you think about me at all this weekend, please say a quick prayer that my knee holds up ok. I’m worried about the Princess route (the overpasses and hills) and I’m also worried about Rock and Roll New Orleans Full next weekend.  Thank you!

Houston Marathon Recap Part 3: The Race

Incase you missed it:
Olympic Trials – Houston Half Marathon Recap Part 1
The Expo – Houston Half Marathon Recap Part 2

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Race morning was early and chilly….and I was scared and sad.

Ready to run! Notice my bib is black, not blue. Sad times. :0(

I met up with my friends and we walked over to our coach’s hotel for a pre-race meeting!

We didn’t do this on purpose!! Go Team 413!!!!

My husband knew how sad I was so he got up early and walked over to the start of the race with me! :0)

Group picture!

GoRun!

Sadly, I said goodbye to my running friends and made my way to the Half Marathon corral.

As I looked across the road, I could see the Full Marathon corrals and honestly, I started to cry. I wasn’t having a pity party, I was mad. I trained for MONTHS to be able to run another Full and it was ripped away from me. So frustrating.

But then my parents joined me at the start line and it made me happy again!

Here we go!!!

I tried to get towards the back because I knew I would be walking a lot.

Minute Maid Park! One of my favorite places to visit! :0)

Start line!

Mile 1….not blurry. Means I was walking. Not good.

I was amazed at the amount of people coming off the bridge! Insane!!!  That’s another thing, this “flat course” race started up a bridge. Really!?

Loved it!

 

GO TIGERS!

The course support along this race was incredible!!! Like none I’ve ever seen! People were EVERYWHERE!

Course entertainment!

I found Ronald!

When I was wedding planning, this pace was where I got a lot of my supplies! I love this place!!

SO many people!!

 

I spent 70% of this race running in pain. I tried to walk as much as possible but I didn’t have my knee wrapped and I didn’t like to walk when people were around cheering us on. Silly I know but people kept yelling “you can do it! keep going!” and I wanted to yell back “I’M INJURED!” lol

Love this poster!

These guys were SO encouraging!! They were in quite a few places along the course!

Breast cancer truck!

See that time? I was not a happy camper. My PT told me that if I could finish this race under 3 hours, then I was a beast – so under 3 hours was my goal! :0)

Almost there!

People also had a lot of You’re sexy and you know it signs along the course! Cracked me up!

Beer? no thanks!

Just a little bit longer!

Running into downtown was pretty cool!

A random passer-by saw me trying to take a picture of myself so he offered to take one for me! haha! My traditional mile 12 sign! :0)

 

These guys were chest bumping the runners. At this point, it took all I had to run. I felt as if bone was grating against bone. (I knew it wasn’t but that’s what it felt like). I thought “if that guy comes anywhere near me, I’m going to scream in his face”!! Hah!

As Jason was waiting at the finish line, he saw this guy collapse and medical crew rushed to the scene to tend to him! Crazy! Jason said he was taken off in an ambulance.

Here I come!

Everyday I’m shuffling……cause that’s all I could muster…..

Finish line! Yay!

After I crossed the finish line, my knee locked up and I couldn’t bend it. I saw these guys on the ground doing pushups after running the full and I envied them. Wish I could do the same!

Inside the GRB was the post race party.

I somehow hobbled to the finishers t-shirt line. I think at this point, I was numb and angry. I followed the crowd as best as I could. I knew once I sat down, that would be it.

I also got over to the food line. I got one of everything, even though I had no intention of eating it all. Again, I think I was just going through the motions.

With my hands full, I met up with my parents/husband at the family reunion area. When I saw my dad, I immediately started crying. My dad has been such a huge support and believer in me. He’s the greatest. He reassured me that things would get better and I would be ok. Love my dad! :0)

Just past the reunion area was my saving grace – CHAIRS!

During the race, I text my husband and told him that I needed a bag of ice, Tylenol, and him to scope out the Nissan tent.  The bag of ice felt amazing on my knee.

Why did I also need him to scope out the Nissan booth? So I could see Ryan Hall of course!

I didn’t exactly get to MEET Ryan Hall (I missed his time frame), but I was in close proximity to him! HAH!

 

This was funny! :0)

Instead, I got to meet Josh Cox, the American Record holder of the Ultra Marathon! He was VERY encouraging to me and I value his advice so much. He told me, “You can’t fully enjoy the mountain tops without the hills and the valleys.” He’s so right!

After taking a picture with him, I went back outside to see where my friends were!

We saw dudes dressed as fairies….

 

….and Big Bird! Too funny!

Here comes Heather!

Amanda came to see me after she crossed the finish line. We both shed a few tears and I told her how proud I was of her!

After watching Amanda and Heather cross the finish line, we went back to the hotel to shower and change. They were AWESOME and allowed the Marathon runners a 2 p.m. check out! How nice!!!

We made it home and I immediately started back with physical therapy the following day!

So as you can see, it wasn’t the best race for me. I ran most of it in excruciating pain and I know I made the right decision to drop down to the half. I’ve learned a lot of lessons while being injured, especially about the important things in life. I hope I’m on the path to healing – we’ll see! :0)