Disney 2021: Ice Storm, Traveling, and Pop Century

Our most recent February Walt Disney World vacation had an interesting start to say the least! With a ridiculous ice storm set to cross our area, we had to make a last minute decision that included several changes. In the end, my idea of adding a little extra magic to the beginning of our trip was the option that topped the rest and I wasn't even mad about it! 

Our original plans included: Flying out of Houston, TX on Wednesday (day 3 of the ice storm), staying 3 nights at Pop and 3 nights at Copper Creek, then flying back home the following Tuesday. 

We were also traveling with a few friends and had a couple of options. We reviewed all of the dates/times to possibly change our flights at the last minute and there was no way anything would work with our tight schedule. Jason worked that Sunday and we had a very small window to work with since the ice storm was set to hit that Monday.

Ultimately, our friends decided to keep their flights, drive up to Houston on Sunday evening (prior to the ice storm), stay three nights at a hotel near the airport, then chance their flight on Wednesday. We debated this option but I knew being cooped up in a hotel with a 4 year old for three days likely wouldn't be the best option. I also didn't like the idea of driving towards the ice storm because I had a feeling we would get stuck. (Not to mention the fact that I would be a nervous wreck the ENTIRE time!)

After a bit of arm twisting, I finally convinced Jason that our best option was to cancel our flights to take the flight credit for a future trip, then leave Sunday night after he got home from work and begin the drive to Florida. It's about a 12-13 hour drive without stops and I knew we could do it. The instagram poll I put out there also had an overwhelming response to drive, so that's what we decided to do!

Despite the chaos, we still took a little bit of time to celebrate Valentines Day ahead of our departure. 

A Valentines Day tradition of ours is chocolate covered strawberries. We've had these every Valentines Day since we began dating so I knew it had to happen this year, too! (circa 2006)

We packed all day Saturday and Saturday evening and on Sunday morning, Brayden and I went to church before returning home to pack some more!

I despise last minute anything, but we got it done! 

One perk to driving was the fact that we could bring our own food and not have to worry about a click-list or insta-cart once we arrived!

Thankfully, my parents were able to keep our dogs for a few days at their house. With the roads projected to be non-drivable, I was worried my dogs would be home alone for days (and they would have been if not for my parents)!

With pipes wrapped and faucets dripping, we crossed our fingers, hoped for the best, and began our drive to Florida.

Since Jason worked all day on Sunday and didn't get home until 7 p.m., we got a late start and decided to stop at a hotel in Pensacola on our way. Pensacola is half way and this plan worked out perfectly for us!

That Monday morning, we woke up and checked our cameras back at home. What's all of that white stuff? It's not supposed to be there! 

If you guys remember, just 6 months ago, we were hard hit with two hurricanes and now this ice storm. My heart went out to those living in campers while fixing up their homes. Our area had power outages and water outages and we couldn't treat our patients for an entire week. Needless to say, it sounded like a hot mess.

Back in Florida, we made it to Walt Disney World around 6 p.m. that evening. I added two nights on at Pop Century and stopped by the front desk to make sure we could keep the same room for the entire 5 nights we would be at Pop. Thankfully, someone behind the scenes had already made it happen! 

Our room was ready upon arrival and we were on the second floor which meant Brayden got to ride the elevators! He was thrilled!!

We absolutely love these renovated rooms at Pop! You also can't beat the Skyliner!

Brayden's favorite part was "his" Pluto bed!

So fun!

After getting settled, Jason and Brayden hit up the pool while I attempted to find dinner. Several friends back at home asked why I wasn't sending pictures and I felt bad about sending pictures of us in the beautiful Florida sunshine while they were freezing away at home!

For dinner, we chose the pizza combo from the Pop food court and it was delicious! It also came with a salad and breadsticks. With no dining plan, we ate on this thing for a couple of days and it was perfect!

The following day was Fat Tuesday and a "play day" for us since we weren't originally planning on being at Disney that early anyway! I love extra and unexpected relaxing days at Disney so I was all for it! 

Up next: Disney Springs and a little surprise!

It's Been A While - An Update!

Hello hello hello! 

LONG time no "see"! I have good reason, I promise and I have several new blog posts coming in the next few weeks. Boy, I've missed this! 

I figured since it's been so long, a little update was in store. My area of the world has been through a whirlwind of a past few months (if you follow me on instagram, you know what I mean) and I do plan on sharing more on our "life" during the storms and after in future posts. I love where I live and have absolutely no intention of moving, but this year has been a doozy on all of us. First corona and shut downs, then hurricane season...I'm more than a little ready to move beyond this time in our lives!

Hurricane Laura impacted my hometown and personal home back on August 27th (also my birthday - and one I'll never forget)! Three weeks later, Hurricane Delta hit our coast just 12 miles from where Hurricane Laura made landfall. Thankfully, we had no additional damage to our home from Delta, but a lot of friends and neighbors did. It's sad to drive around and see devastation everywhere. Even now, two and a half months since the storms and things still look rough and likely will for a long time. Debris litters the roadways, homes have blue tarps on their roofs, exposed beams, or no roofs at all. In several instances, only a concrete slab remains where a home once was. Some say it's going to take years to get back to "normal".  To top all of this off, the insurance companies have made the struggle of repairing homes insane and ridiculously difficult. I don't want to get into it all here, but there are facebook group after facebook group that describe the over the top struggles we are having to face, just to get our homes repaired. Yes, I realize insurance companies are a business, too...but y'all, these cases are just downright absurd. 

My intention for this wasn't to be all doom and gloom, but I wanted to paint a picture of our current situation - this is literally where we are at in this place in our lives. Yes, we still function. Yes, we still continue on with our lives, work, church, etc because it's our "community" that is so important - we need each other in these hard times. And yes, there is still a lot laughter. :) 

Needless to say, my running groove has taken an impact since the storms as well. Downed fences means lots and lots of stray animals. Debris in the roadways means sometimes only once car can pass and it's just simply not safe. Jason works at an oil and gas refinery and they have spent countless hours in the past two months trying to get everything back up and running so the rest of the US can carry on as normal. This means he hasn't been home as much and running consistently with a 40+ pound four year old isn't my idea of a fun time, especially with the roadways as they are. Thankfully, Jason's schedule has slowed down a lot and I am just now (this week) seeing more opportunities to run so YAY for that!

As far as damage to my personal home - we are going to need a new roof, new soffit/fascia around a lot of our home, new window screens, a new sing set, repairs to our shed, new deck rails, and a new chimney on the roof. We finally have everything set in motion, we are currently on a list, waiting for our turn for repairs. In the grand scheme of things, our damage was SO minimal and I'm grateful for that. It truly is sad when you drive around town and witness some of the damage others homes have sustained. 

On a positive and incredibly random note, we are still planning on going to WDW in February on what should have been the Princess Half Marathon weekend. I'm also still planning on running the races around the resort property so that should be fun! Our plane tickets were officially purchased last night! Anyone else still traveling to WDW during that week?

Well, there's my update! I'll be back with more from Halloween shindigs to belated birthday celebrations, evacuating for hurricanes, Brayden 4.5 year update, and more! 

As always, if you'd like to stay up to date with our current lives, you can follow us over on instagram!

I hope you all have a fabulous weekend! 

Summer Running Plans

Races in the summer here in Southwest Louisiana are not plentiful, and for good reason. Unless you are able to wake up early before the sun rises or go out once the sun is setting, your chances of getting in a decent run will be few and far between! However, there are still a few (random) opportunities for races during the summer and I'm going to take advantage of at least one of them!

4th of July 4 Miler

This is one I've run almost yearly for a while now. It's hot, it's sunny, it's crazy, but it's so much fun! A couple of friends and I are also participating in the Triple Crown again this year, so we will receive a medal for completing all three races of this series (the other two races were earlier this year). I am definitely looking forward to a fun day with friends!

Orangetheory

Even though I leave a nasty mess, at least this one is inside with AC and fans! Apart from a few Saturday long runs, the majority of my workouts will be taking place at Orangetheory this summer!

Wine & Dine Half Marathon Training

With the Wine & Dine Half Marathon at the beginning of November, training will have to begin sometime this summer. Although it's going to be a hot one to train for, this race is going to be so much fun and I'm really looking forward to it!

...and that's about it! I knew there's not much going on around here this summer, but it's still going to be a great one!

What are your summer running plans? 

Today, I'm also linking up with KookyRunner and Zenaida for Tuesday Topics!

Cold Weather Running Essentials (Southern Edition)

Cold weather (I mean really cold weather) and life down south don't really go hand in hand. Yes, we do have our cold (to us) days and our random and super rare snow days, but those are only a handful a winter. If there's one thing you CAN bet on with winter time in the south, it's this....

As runners, we have to learn how to deal with and adapt to all types of weather conditions - especially with traveling out of town or for a long run during one of those random really cold weather snaps. So, how does this Louisiana girl brave the cold? Here's my cold weather running essentials, southern edition!

#1 Appropriate attire

For me, this includes ear muffs, gloves, and layers!  Sometimes, it's even cold enough that I don't have to shed any of it, even during a half marathon!

This happened to be one of those super rare snow days I mentioned above - and it was my highest mileage weekend for Dopey Training! It actually snowed and the snow stuck for an additional day which I've never seen happen here!

#2 Throw away gear

This tip and tip number one go hand in hand! Raid your local stores at the end of winter for discount sweatshirts. I seriously have a bag stuffed with all different color sweatshirts from previous end of winter sales! They truly make a world of difference at the beginning of a race while standing around, waiting for the race to start. Once you warm up during the race, you can toss your sweatshirt to the side. Most race organizations pick these up to donate to those in need!

Speaking of adapting to crazy weather...how about the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend of 2010 where it sleeted mid half marathon and water stations were iced over for the full? Hello first half marathon! Thankfully, this newbie runner took the suggestion of a friend to snag a sweatshirt from Walmart literally hours before leaving for the trip! Also, I never shed any of my layers during this race and was super grateful for all of them!

#3 Treadmill

I've thought about selling it many times in the past, but it's a necessity for me. Although I'm not a fan of running on a treadmill, it definitely comes in handy sometimes, especially on super cold days!

#4 Hot Hands

Y'all, these things are life savers! You can find them in the sporting goods/hunting section of most stores and they work like a charm. They are single use packs and once exposed to air, they warm up really quickly. I use them even for races (like this past weekend in New Orleans) where it's just slightly chilly at the start and I toss them once I'm warm. If you haven't used them, seriously get some!

...and that's all I've got for now! Running in the winter months can be tricky to plan, especially because of the way the weather changes around here!

Switching topics - this weekend, y'all! We leave THIS WEEKEND for Disney World! I am so excited and cannot wait!

Stay tuned for a Princess Half Marathon costume reveal coming up tomorrow! I finally finished it last night and cannot wait to share it with all of you! Have a great Tuesday!

Join Kookyrunnerand Zenaida every Tuesday for the Tuesday Topics Linkup!

Friday Five

Happy Friday! It's so great to see another weekend, especially since most of last weekend was spent in bed for me, but more on that later.

We've had some fun things happening around here this week, so I thought I would share them in a Friday Five format!

#1-The Weather

Have you seen those memes going around about fall in the south? They say things like "oh yay it's fall - let's get out the pumpkin spice and scarves and boots...just kidding we live in the south, it's basically like summer but with lots of orange." Yeah, that's 100% life for real. Well, it began yesterday, but we've officially had our first cool snap of the season! When I walked outside yesterday morning, I was shocked to feel the cool breeze - the temps were in the 60's and it was glorious. Of course it warmed up to the mid 80's by the time the sun came out, but we won't discuss that.

Also, we might have made our first pot of gumbo last night! It was delicious!! Gumbo and cool weather are synonymous down here in southwest Louisiana!

#2-Superhero Commercial

On Monday afternoon, I met up with a group from our church to shoot a commercial for our church news segment. At the end of the month on the Sunday before Halloween, we always throw a big "Superhero Sunday" shindig where kids dress up as their favorite superhero (which could be anyone that you "look up" to) and it's always a fun time.

To promote this event, we made a commercial for our Sunday church news. They had me dress as Wonder Woman and I had to run all over the place which was lots of fun of course.

I can't wait to see how it turned out!

#3-Workouts

Sadly, I spent the entire weekend in bed due to a stomach virus and fever. I seriously felt the same way I did back in January when I was diagnosed with the flu...and the fatigue lingered for days. Yuck. Needless to say, I did not have a long run on Saturday and didn't really return to Orangetheory until Tuesday. Running around on Monday for the commercial was as much as I could stand, so I decided to wait until Tuesday to resume my workouts. Both Tuesday and Thursday workouts this week were great! I also plan on running a long run tomorrow morning in the (hopefully) cooler weather!

#4-Police

This week, the local PD visited Brayden's Mother's Day Out program where they had the chance to see an officer in uniform, check out their motorcycle with the lights on, and crawl through the backseat of their unit. I had my brother (who is also in law enforcement) send a picture of himself in uniform to me so I could show it to Brayden and make that "personal" connection to what these guys do. Brayden was a little hesitant with the officer presentation at first but once the MDO director told Brayden that this officer wears a uniform just like his Uncle Brian, he was ok!

He was so very proud of his little badge and hat! I love opportunities like this where they get to see professionals and hear what they do.

#5-Pumpkin Patch

It's that time of year again! Pumpkin patches are popping up everywhere and we've already visited one! Brayden had so much fun calling out the different colors of the pumpkins he saw and running throughout the patch! We even came home with a little pumpkin as a memory! :) Sadly, the memory card inside of my DSLR camera decided to corrupt and won't allow me to even see any of the pictures I took there (which just means we will have to go back for more). Thankfully, I have the pictures I took on my phone!

I'd say it's been a pretty great week so far! :) Have a great weekend!!

It's FRIDAY!

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

Fitness Friday - May 11

Currently Training For:

• Dopey Challenge 2018 - Walt Disney World
• Rock n Roll New Orleans Half Marathon 2018 - New Orleans, LA 
• Warrior Nation 5K
• Contraband Days 5 Miler
  

Saturday - Tour LaFitte 10 mile bike ride
Sunday - Rest Day
Monday - Tone It Up Workout of the Day & 2 mile after dinner walk
Tuesday - 3 mile run
Wednesday - Rest Day 
Thursday - Tone It Up Workout of the Day with PT Routine & 2 mile after dinner walk
Friday -3 mile run

This week happened to be an extra fun one, since it was also Nurses week, too! :)

On Monday, we went on a 2 mile after dinner walk and since Brayden didn't have a nap at his Mimi's house that day, he was OUT! After dinner, I did 2 rounds of the Tone It Up routine of the day. It was nice to use muscles I hadn't used in a while!

On Tuesday evening, I made it out the door for a 3 mile run just as the sun was starting to set. It was a beautiful evening!

It was also a solo run which was nice!

For Nurses Week, my coworkers took me out to lunch on Tuesday to Great Harvest Bread Company. I ordered a sesame chicken grain bowl and oh my gosh...this is seriously my new favorite dish! So good!!

My lower body was kind of sore after Monday and Tuesday's workouts, so I was excited to see a lymphedema rep was stopping by to show us their tools and feed us lunch! I also took a rest day on Wednesday.

This compression device was like heaven on my legs!

After the leg compression, I was also talked into trying the head and neck compression device...

Yeah, that happened!

Oh the fun things we get to do at work sometimes!

We took Brayden to the park this week and someone had left behind some sidewalk chalk. He couldn't figure out how to carry all three pieces of sidewalk chalk together, so this is what he came up with! Hey, whatever works, right?!

On Thursday, I arrived at work and was super surprised with flowers for nurses week from my parents! The are gorgeous and smell oh so good! My parent's are so sweet!

Last night after dinner, we set out another 2 mile after dinner walk, this time minus a nap! I also did the Tone It Up workout of the day as well as my physical therapy routine.

Speaking of Physical Therapy, I was discharged this week! My therapist felt as if she's given me all the tools I need and says I'm doing great! Not going to lie, I'm going to miss seeing her as my therapy sessions were actually kind of fun!

Another change this week is the elimination of excess sweets. I feel very fatigued and tired often and decided if I eliminated excess sugar from my diet, I might start feeling better (obviously).  It's basically a process of making better food choices and it's working so far!

This weekend is looking to be another fun one! We are FINALLY going to order a new shed since the tornado took our last one. We are also FINALLY getting rid of all of the pile of debris in our yard from said tornado. (It's pushed in the corner and we haven't had a chance to do anything with it yet due to work schedules.) It will be nice to have it gone!

I also plan to go for a long-ish run as the Lake Area Runners 5 miler is next weekend!

Hope everyone has a great and safe weekend! Happy Mother's Day!

The Tour LaFitte That Was!

Our second attempt at riding in the Tour LaFitte was WAY better than the first! Two years ago, my friends and I attempted to ride the Tour LaFitte (that wasn't) and just as we arrived at the starting point, the race was cancelled due to an impending crazy storm.

Although we had to deal with a little bit of rain in this year's ride, it wasn't anything like 2 years ago and we had a blast!!

The idea of riding in the Tour again was brought up by a friend and it grew like wildfire! In the end, we had six total in our group!

We were a little nervous about this ride for a few reason - none of us had been biking (although I've been running and another one of us had been doing crossfit and others had been working out in their own way)...we all owned mountain bikes and not "real" road bikes...and we had no idea what to expect.

After arriving at the start line, we headed to the far..far...far...back. As we made our way there, we passed others who were super hard core riders and I'll admit, I felt like a fish out of water. This race offered several distances - 10 miles, 27 miles, 40 miles, 50 miles, and  64 miles, so there were riders of all calibers there (even down to kids with training wheels).

We coined ourselves the "leisure riders" and decided to just take it easy and enjoy our time out on the road.

 ...and we were off!

I wondered how we would distinguish our route from the others and soon realized that arrows had been painted on the ground. Our route was the pink one!

I also profusely thanked this guy for being at this corner because had he not, I might have accidentally followed the others and gone straight! Yikes!

Around mile 4.5, we reached our first water/food stop! They had Cane's lemonade, water, assorted cookies, bananas, and oranges available for the riders.

We might have also spotted a crawfish...and of course we had to take a picture! Y'all know I find "characters" everywhere!

After hanging out for a few minutes, we continued on our ride. My friend Kim kept her straw with her and was fussed at by a spectator for "smoking" while riding! He was joking of course but as oncology professionals, my coworker and I got a kick out of it!

With just a few miles left in the ride, the rain decided to make it's appearance. Thankfully, it wasn't a pouring rain and although it got us all pretty wet, we were still able to continue the ride and finish without any difficulty!

Home stretch...

 ...to the finish!

We had so much fun and really enjoyed the ride. Yes, we were definitely leisure riding but several of us commented how easy this ride was overall and discussed the idea of riding in the 27 miler next year! We shall see! 

All done!

In total, this route came out to 9 miles instead of 10, but who's counting? :)

After the ride, we had breakfast at a local diner (as per our usual post-race tradition)!

And of course, we sported our Tour LaFitte shirts! This race also benefited the Special Olympics which I love! It's always great to support a local race with a good cause! :)

I honestly cannot wait for next year's ride! This really was a lot of fun and a nice change up from the usual races that are offered around town!

Have you ever participated in a bike race?