4 Miler on the 4th of July & Other Festivities

Hello blog world! Long time no see! It's been insanely busy around here, but I realize that's not a good excuse because everyone is busy. It seems like every time I think I have a chance to sit down and put together a post, something else happens and it just doesn't come together. I am making an effort to be better, though! I love blogging and it seems to be a part of who I am...so even if the posts are random and scattered, they will still be there!

On to this past weekend's festivities - I RAN A RACE!! In person! 

Although the details and logistics of running said race didn't come together until the night before, the stars aligned and I was able to make it happen. I knew I couldn't miss out on our areas 4 miler on the 4th of July, so my dad agreed to stay with Brayden and off I went!

Had to pull out the traditional skirt! Love it!

It wasn't "hot" by any means (because we were graced with a cloud cover) - but it was humid...so so very humid!

The sight of a bib on my shirt and other runner's feet around me made me so very happy!

I also LOVED the addition of a "fireworks" start! This runDisney fan approves! :) 

Overall, this race was a really good one for me. Nothing hurt, nothing felt off, I didn't breathe funny and my heart didn't act crazy. I also knew ahead of time that I wouldn't PR this race and I was ok with that. I'm nowhere near the speed/pace I was a couple of years ago and that's ok. Hopefully once our Orangetheory opens back up, things will improve even more. (Not corona related but Hurricane related.)

I managed to keep pace during the race with a runner ahead of me and it was pretty smooth sailing to the end. I pushed myself to an extent I was happy with - without overdoing it - and was incredibly happy with the end result!

My official time was 35:14 was with a pace of 8:51/mi. I was 5th in my age group and 17th woman overall. 

It felt SO nice to be back, I just sat near the finish line and watched/cheered on runners and listened to the music while attempting to cool down.

After the race, I showered then met up with my parents and Brayden for breakfast at Waffle House. Seriously, their waffle with peanut butter chips is my all time favorite. So good!

Brayden is growing so big, so fast and will be starting kindergarten this fall. I made it my mission to make this summer the most magical one yet and I think we've done a pretty good job with that! (More to come later with our summer shindigs.)

That evening, Jason joined us after work for a 4th of July celebration at the park. I was sad it rained literally the entire time, but we still had fun!

The fireworks were great, too!

On Sunday, our church had a BBQ potluck dinner, complete with waterslides for the kids. 

It was fantastic and Brayden had a blast! I loved matching him for church that morning, too!

The weather on Sunday was 100% different from Saturday's which I was grateful for! It gave me a little time to sit outside on the patio and enjoy the gorgeous weather!

On Sunday evening, we drove downtown to the lake to watch the fireworks there.

They had food trucks set up as well as a commission of people handing out small American flags.

This time, we met up with some of our friends and we had a blast!

My friend Jane and I were pregnant at the same time, so these two are only 6 weeks apart. It's been so much fun to watch them play together over the years!

We stayed long after the fireworks were over, just talking and catching up. It really was great to see our friends!

As a last minute addition on Monday, we had my parents over for hamburgers! None of us were working, so it all came together perfectly!

It was yet another beautiful day, so enjoyed dinner outside on the patio. I just love days like this! 

This past weekend was a great one and definitely one I'll remember forever!

How did you celebrate the 4th? Run any races? Watch any fireworks? Spend time with friends/family?

Birthday/Labor Day Weekend

Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to celebrate my birthday with family and friends. It was such a wonderful, jam packed, fun filled weekend that left me feeling incredibly blessed and loved! It also included a lot of food, eating out, and cake. Always cake.

On Friday afternoon, a friend called me because they were headed my way for a sno-ball. The days of having a sno-ball from our favorite stand are numbered, so of course I said yes! Knowing I was going to eat cake that evening, I ordered a small. Might not sound logical but made sense in my head. Hah!

It was delicious, too!

That evening, we had a celebratory dinner with my parents. I wanted pizza but couldn't figure out where I wanted to have it from. There's a place in my town called Stonefired Pizza that is similar to the concept of Blaze at Disney Springs, so we went with it. It was delicious, too!

After dinner, we had cake and presents! I've stuck with the same exact cake for the past several years. This year, I changed it up to a strawberry/strawberry/strawberry cake from a local bakery. It was good, but I think I'm going back to my norm next year.

On Saturday morning, Jason made breakfast at home. The Mickey waffle is actually a new recipe for me - it was my first time trying Birch Benders Paleo Pancake mix and it was pretty good!

After breakfast, I met up with my friend Mackenzie for a little Junkin' Gypsies party. This was Kenzie's birthday gift to me and I had so much fun creating our new fall door hangers with her!

Blank Pallet!

Stenciling it up!

Finished product!!

I love Junkin' Gypsies so much! It's an awesome way to have a little homemade piece of art work (that looks amazing) in your home!

On Saturday evening, we had dinner with Jason's family as a two part birthday celebration (for myself and Jason's sister)! It was so much fun and the homemade meal Jason's mom made was delicious!

We also signed the traditional table cloth. After a lot of researching, we discovered that the table cloth goes back to 1995. It disappeared for a little while, then reappeared back in 2005 or 2006! I love fun traditions like that!

On Sunday evening, we didn't have church because of the Labor Day holiday, so we took that time to celebrate with my friends!

We had dinner at Walk On's, then came back to my house for cake and presents.

We might have reused the same cake because it was THAT good (and there was a lot of it)!

Twinning!

As an added side project over Labor Day Weekend, I also decided to spruce up our laundry room. The room felt drab to me and definitely needed a refresher. It was still the same off-white color it had been since we purchased the house and I wanted to change it to a more light and airy feel. I was inspired by our recent stay at the newly renovated rooms of Old Key West, so I went with it!

The color on the left is the cabinet color and the color on the right is the wall color.

Before...

After!

Although it doesn't look like much of a contrast between the wall and the cabinet in the photo, there is a slight one. The baseboards also received a little refresher and wow - the room feels so nice and clean now! I seriously love it!

On Monday, Brayden and I spent the entire day together (minus his nap). We swam, played with water outside, watched a little Mickey Mouse, and overall just had a great day together. During his nap time, I replaced all the doors to the cabinets and refilled them with items then after his nap, we went back outside for more water fun! We really had a great day together. I love soaking up those moments with him. They are passing by so fast, I love to truly live in the moment and enjoy my little guy while he's still little!

How was your Labor Day Weekend? Did you do anything exciting or fun?

Favorite Non-Running Hobbies

Today's Tuesday Topics Linkup is all about our favorite non-running hobbies! If you've been a blog reader here for a while, I'm sure you can guess mine! :)

#1 Disney and Traveling 

We LOVE going to Disney, but we also love seeing new places! One of the reasons we joined the Disney Vacation Club last fall is because it gives us the opportunity to do just that. Already, we've discussed the idea of visiting Hawaii in the future (I traveled there for my senior trip, but Jason's never been)! We are also taking a cruise this summer (non-Disney) with Jason's family to Alaska! This time, we will be sailing on Royal Caribbean. I am excited to return to Alaska and take in the wondrous beauty of it all. For this trip, we are planning on excursions we've never done before which include whale watching and visiting a musher's camp. I know Brayden is going to LOVE seeing the dogs! It should be an all around fun time!

#2 Family & Friends

Family and friend time is absolutely the best. I love being with my family and friends and spending time with them! Life is seriously so fragile - I see it every day. One thing about working in oncology is it has given me a better appreciation for LIFE and enjoying loved ones in the here and now. In the end, I want to be able to look back over my life and say that I truly took the time to appreciate my family and friends. Our loved ones bring such a richness and fullness to our lives and it's important to truly value that.

#3 Baseball

During baseball season, you can either find me at home watching a ball game or at Minute Maid Park cheering on my beloved Astros! I've been a fan since birth and love carrying the tradition over to Brayden! We also love visiting Minute Maid Park! It's almost opening day, y'all!! I'm SO excited!

#4 Volunteering

When I look back over my life, I can't remember a time that I didn't volunteer (because I truly love it that much)! At my church, I've been a volunteer with our Girls Ministries program since 2000 and once I started working in oncology in 2007, I also became a volunteer with the American Cancer Society. Over the years, I've also helped in various other areas, but these two have stuck the longest and I wouldn't trade it for anything. Giving of yourself and your time, especially with how busy life can be is truly rewarding, especially when you know you're helping to make a difference.

So, there you have it - when I'm not working or running or going to Orangetheory, those are the areas you'll find me! 

Join Kookyrunnerand Zenaida every Tuesday for the Tuesday Topics Linkup!

2019 Rock N Roll New Orleans Recap

Happy Friday, y'all! This time next week, we will be hitting the road for our next Walt Disney World vacation and I'm so excited to share in the magic with my family once again!

Finishing up with my Rock n Roll New Orleans recaps is one from the race itself.

I ran this race with my friend Melissa and we had an absolute ball! The miles seriously flew by so quickly!

Our hotel was just a short walk to the start line and after hiding out with a few fellow runners behind a building (to avoid the wind and cold of course), we made our way to our corral.

We weren't in our corral long before we heard the start of the race and before we knew it, it was our turn to run!

One thing I LOVE about running the streets of New Orleans (especially during Mardi Gras) is seeing all of the decorated homes and beads in random places! If you look closely at the first tree in this picture, you'll see beads hanging from it!

Also, this second line band along the course - they are awesome! We actually passed them twice (once going out and once coming back in) and they were rocking it!

As per usual with Rock n Roll races, there are bands at just about every mile and the ones in New Orleans are always great!

Seriously, we were at the halfway mark in the blink of an eye. I couldn't believe how great I felt and how great this race was going for us!

I just loved the holiday decor and architecture of this home!

Y'all know me and "characters"...I couldn't pass up the opportunity to snag one with "Who Dat" Vader!

He was seriously great!!

Another absolute favorite of mine from this year's race was the Mardi Gras float. It brought back so many memories to the early years of the Rock n Roll (then Mardi Gras) New Orleans races and I'm so glad they had it here for the 10th anniversary!

The "see ya later" gator......get it?......gave me a giggle, too!

Towards the end of the race, we approached St. Louis Cathedral and Cafe du Monde. I absolutely love that these "landmarks" are close to the end of the race because once you pass them, you know you don't have much further to go!

I was worried about the Brooks guy after I saw him deflated on the San Antonio course, but it appeared that he made a full recovery and comeback!

Just like that, we were at mile 12 and almost finished with another Rock n Roll New Orleans!

Jason and Randy were waiting for us at the finish line, but they were closer up than than I thought so I almost missed them.

We crossed the finish line with giant smiles on our faces! My 9th Rock n Roll New Orleans race was complete!

This was seriously such a fun race!

After the race, runners were given a variety of recovery items such as chocolate milk (hello, runDisney...I'm looking at you) as well as Zapp's chips which made me incredibly happy. Zapp's are native to New Orleans, so I thought that touch was extra special!

We walked around for a few minutes after the race, then made our way over to the buses to take us back downtown towards our hotel.

After showering and packing up, we had brunch at the Ruby Slipper Cafe which was delicious as always!

I had the bananas foster french toast and it was simply heavenly!

After saying goodbye to our friends, we began our trip back home.

We had a fabulous weekend in New Orleans and loved exploring all this race weekend and the city had to offer! Next year, we have big plans for touring on Saturday and I cannot wait!

I hope you have a fabulous weekend! Happy running!