Christmas Time & Dopey Challenge Training Week 25 (Final One!)

Now that our Christmases are all complete, life can somewhat return to normal around here. I really really really enjoyed this Christmas season and the way the weekend fell. I didn't feel rushed or pressured to make too many dishes/desserts at one time and all was calm...and bright. :)

On Saturday morning, we had my parents over for a delicious brunch of homemade cinnamon rolls and breakfast foods. We had so much fun and loved kicking back and relaxing with them on Christmas Eve Eve.

We attended a candlelight service at church on Christmas Eve and enjoyed lunch with my parents and a few friends after!

Jason had to work on Christmas day and none of our famlies were doing anything significant that day, so Brayden and I spent a majority of our time at my parent's house, eating gumbo and watching Christmas movies. How have I never seen White Christmas?! I loved it!

That evening, Jason and I opened our gifts with Brayden and had a blast! It was fun to see how he tore each little piece of paper off of each gift and threw them into the trash bag. That kid keeps us laughing for sure.

I sure do love my little family!

On the day after Christmas, we had our Christmas gathering with Jason's family at Jason's sister's house. 

She completely transformed her garage into our eating space and it was perfect! Everything looked beautiful and the food was yummy too!

Brayden's great-grandmother read the Christmas story from Luke, then it was time to open gifts!

Jason's family is huge and it was fun celebrating with them!

On the day after the day after Christmas, we celebrated with my family!

After an amazing and yummy dinner made by my parents, we opened gifts and enjoyed spending time together!

This shirt is perfect, what can I say?! :)

Brayden LOVES his Cozy Jeep! Best gift ever!

It sure is strange going from Jason's huge family to our small one, but I absolutely love it just the same!

We definitely know how to have a good time! :)

On Wednesday afternoon, my brother, sister-in-law, and I saw The Greatest Showman. Y'all. This movie is AMAZING and I want to go watch it again like right now. Jason had to work and wasn't able to see it with us, so that's my excuse to see it again!

Since it's the final Friday of my Dopey Training cycle, I couldn't let today pass by without a last and final Dopey Challenge Training Fitness Friday!

 
Currently Training For:

• Dopey Challenge 2018 - Walt Disney World
• Rock n Roll New Orleans Half Marathon 2018 - New Orleans, LA

Week 23:
Saturday - I ran on Friday instead since I knew Saturday would be crazy - 3 miles for Friday
Sunday - 6 mile run
Monday - Squats/Lunges/PT with cross training
Tuesday - The weather turned NASTY so Tuesday became a rest day instead!
Wednesday - Squats/Lunges/PT with cross training
Thursday - 3 mile run
Friday - Rest Day

On Friday, I wasn't so sure about this "winter" thing...

It definitely wasn't anywhere near me and my chances of a cold Christmas were looking slim.

After returning home from our Christmas Eve service, I decided to head out for my weekly long run. Six miles was all I could muster and I was completely ok with that!

The sky and sunset gave off a beautiful view during my run!

This week I've also done a LOT of leg work as I'm trying to be completely prepared for Disney and Dopey Challenge. I don't want my knee or hamstring to act crazy any time during the week we are there! Hopefully all works out ok and in my favor!

It's been a fun but challenging training cycle and I honestly can't believe we are already at this point! How has this snuck up on me so fast?! Back in June when I began training, it felt so far away and now it's actually here...crazy! Just five days until we leave and I haven't packed a single thing. Sounds like my weekend will consist of a long run and Disney packing!

Thanks for following along in my Dopey Training journey! I'm excited for January 8th and the final culmination of it all!

Have a great one and Happy New Year! How was your Christmas weekend? Did you watch any new (to you) movies during your time off?

Vlogidays Weekend Edition #6

I hope you all had a great Christmas! Ours was amazing and is still continuing as we speak! We have our final family Christmas gathering tonight which has certainly made this Christmas time a fun one as it's prolonged it past Christmas day!

Today, I'm sharing with you a video recap of our weekend where we had brunch with my family, attended a candlelight Christmas Eve service at church, and opened gifts with our little family. Brayden's 2nd Christmas did not disappoint and sure was a fun one to experience together!

I hope you all had a wonderful and blessed Christmas! Thank you for being a blog follower - I've enjoyed sharing our life journey with you!

Merry Christmas 2017

From our family to yours, we wish you a very Merry Christmas!

May you always believe in the wonder, joy, and magic this season has to bring! 

Merry Christmas to you and yours!

Dopey Challenge Training Week 23 & 24

With all of the craziness of the holiday season, I somehow missed posting last week's Dopey Training recap because well...hello, sleep. Exhaustion took over and I had a lot going on at one time, hence the lack of posting. Anyway, here's two weeks of recaps looped into one!

 
Currently Training For:

• Dopey Challenge 2018 - Walt Disney World
• Rock n Roll New Orleans Half Marathon 2018 - New Orleans, LA

Week 23:
Saturday - 7 mile treadmill run + Swamp Stomp Half Marathon (20 miles total)
Sunday - Rest Day
Monday - Rest Day
Tuesday - 3 mile walk with Jason and Brayden
Wednesday - Rest Day
Thursday - Squats/Lunges/PT with cross training
Friday - 3 mile run


Week 24:
Saturday - Dashing Through the Chuck 5K + 2 mile run
Sunday - Rest Day
Monday - 4 mile run
Tuesday - Squats/Lunges/PT with cross training
Wednesday - Rest Day
Thursday - 3 mile run
Friday - Squats/Lunges/PT with cross training

 
Over the past two weeks, I officially hit my highest training point in this Dopey Challenge training plan. No, I haven't followed it to a tee and I didn't plan to when I first started out - I kind of formed and shaped it to work with my body and physical limitations...and I'm seriously thinking this will be my final full marathon. My IT Band just can't handle it.

 
Anyway, the treadmill and half marathon combo did the trick and before I knew it, a 20 miler was under my training belt! :)

After Saturday, I gave my legs a little bit of time to recuperate from my run and I felt great by the time I picked up running again.

Throughout the past two weeks, I've also run several 3 and 4 mile training runs as well as a small back-to-back this past Friday and Saturday.

On Friday's run, my outfit consisted of a red Christmas themed shirt and Christmas tights. I'm sure the neighbors thought it a bit crazy but oh well...who cares!

Also, I started to break in another pair of Mizuno's this past week since I plan to travel to Marathon Weekend with two pair (just in case). I LOVE new running shoes and the way they feel!

Saturday's run consisted of a 5K followed by a quick 2 miler around town. Brayden also enjoyed chasing the birds after our run and I'm sure I tacked on an extra mile chasing after him!

I also managed to squeeze in a 4 miler before dark on Monday of this week before the rain hit. Yesterday's afternoon 3 miler was the second run of the week and will be combined with a long-ish run on Saturday for the culmination of the week. I can't believe that there's just two weekends to go until we are in Disney World! Time sure has flown by!

The first day of winter came and went in the south which left yesterday's run complete with...shorts and a short sleeved shirt. Yes. Gotta love these southern winters. I hear there's going to be a freeze on Christmas day. The weather never can make up its mind in the winter - it's always one extreme to another.

Happy Christmas weekend! I hope you all have an amazing time with your family and friends, soaking up all of the wonders this season has to bring!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Traditions

How on earth is it only four days until Christmas?! FOUR?? This season has literally flown by so fast! If you missed it, I've been sharing a glimpse of our holiday weekends over on my youtube channel so go check that out if you're interested! :)

Jason and I have been married for 11 Christmases now and each year, we've held on to several traditions with both mine and Jason's side of the family that are near and dear to my heart.

For starters, Jason and I always decorate our tree the weekend before Thanksgiving. I know it's early, but I love to hold on to the holiday season as long as I can!

One of the best things to do during the Christmas season is watch Hallmark/Christmas movies on the TV and sit in a darkened room with the soft glow of light from the tree. LOVE it!

On Christmas Eve, I usually have my family over for Pumpkin Spice Cinnamon Rolls. This year, our tradition is expanding to a full blown "brunch" and will take place on the 23rd! Can't wait!

Another favorite tradition is a family group picture - we always take a serious and a funny one and they crack me up every year! We have a tradition Thanksgiving type Christmas meal at my dad's house for Christmas and I look forward to it every year! He is a good cook, y'all! We also open gifts and play board games and it's just a crazy fun good time!

My family is above and Jason's family is below...

We sure know how to have a good time! Hah!

Jason's family tradition is usually held on Christmas Eve (although it will be on the 26th this year) and includes a dinner of fajitas. After dinner, Jason's grandmother reads the Christmas story from Luke and we open gifts. It's such a loving and warm time of being with family!

The night before Christmas is also a fun movie time for us! We always try to fit in a viewing of Christmas Vacation and before heading to bed, I HAVE to watch NSYNC's Holidays in Concert as well as a favorite from childhood - A Disney Channel Christmas! Yes, both are on VHS and I definitely need to convert them to DVD here soon...

Since having Brayden, our Christmas traditions have only begun to grow. I love watching the wonderment in his eyes over the lights and sounds of Christmas, especially as a toddler now! My sister in law took this picture last year and it has since become one of my Christmas favorites!

We are so excited for all this Christmas has to bring as well as future Christmases to come! There's nothing quite like seeing Christmas through the eyes of a child!

Merry Christmas, everyone! 

It's FRIDAY!

Link up with Running on Happy & Fairytales and Fitness for the Friday Five 2.0 linkup!

Vlogidays Weekend Edition #5

Week 5 - how have these weekends flown by so fast already?! There's only two weekends left of the holiday season which makes me immensely sad. It's hard to believe Christmas is almost here. I love all of the prepping and planning for the day, but I don't like once the day is actually over. This is my absolute favorite time of year and it's sad to see it come and go by so fast!

This past weekend, we had the chance to spend a little down time at home which was nice. I did attend a few Christmas parties and we had the chance to run a Santa themed 5K which was a blast. After the race, Brayden and I went over to visit the birds and ducks at the lake front and he had a grand old time! These are the kind of moments I cherish and will remember always!

I hope you have a great rest of your week as we gear up for Christmas! Happy vlogidays! :) Thanks for following along in our journey!

Dashing Through the Chuck

On Saturday afternoon, my friend Kim and I participated in a local Santa themed 5K that benefitted Toys for Tots. This was the first year for this event and had an overall cute idea - they encouraged every runner/walker to dress in Santa form and bring a toy for Toys for Tots! It was also an afternoon event and after the race, several local businesses were welcoming Santas from the race with special incentives. For example, one local restaurant offered a free appetizer for showing up dressed as Santa and they also donated a percentage of the meal total back to Toys for Tots! Such a fun idea!!

Originally, three of us had registered as the "Three Santateers" (with Brayden as our reindeer), but one "Santa" wasn't able to make it at the last minute. We did ask around but no one was able to participate with us, so we brought our "Santa" friend along...in the flat style!

Our crew! Hah!

This race was a fun run - non timed and encouraged walkers and runners alike. We were snapping the above picture when we kind of missed the call to line up to run. Whoops!

We'd planned to walk this race together, so we had a few shenanigans along the way. Where's flat Santa Melissa? Oh! She's hiding behind the tree!

Hey, if you can't have fun with life, what's the point, right?

Flat Santa Melissa says "Go Santa, go!"

Flat Santa Melissa encourages racers not to litter!

Even Brayden got in on the fun!

It was a GORGEOUS afternoon! This race was a double loop course around the lake front promenade.

Once we reached what we thought was the turnaround point, we were kind of confused - there wasn't anyone standing there, telling runners where to turn around. I might have missed it, but I looked all over and couldn't find a sign or a person. I remember hearing "The Marina"...which is a landmark, but there wasn't a sign or anything which I thought was kind of odd. Instead, we calculated the turnaround point out per my watch and turned around once we reached that mark.

My friend Kim only had time to stay for about one and a half miles, so once she left, I decided to run the rest of the way.

A group of marine recruits were out there and as I passed with the stroller (running this time), I heard them say a remark like "wowww...oh my goodness". I wanted to tell them not to feel bad because after all, they were probably high school students and not used to running 3 miles but I didn't say anything.

After returning to the start/finish area, we waited around for the awards. They gave awards to the top 3 finishers as well as the "best dressed Santa".

They also had hot chocolate and cookies available for everyone which was nice!

This event was so much fun and I seriously can't wait until next year to go Dashing Through The Chuck once again!