Friday Five

I am so excited that it's Friday once again! This week was full of fun activities and this weekend will be as well!

#1 Long Run

Last weekend, I set out to run a long run with my running buddy Heather. We had 12 miles on the schedule and somewhere around mile 5, my knee decided to let me know it wasn't very happy with me. To be honest, I haven't been doing my squats and lunges and PT routine like I should and my knee just isn't having it anymore. Needless to say, our 12 mile run was cut short at 8 miles. I was ok with the decision (and thankfully so was Heather) because our main focus is a 10K next weekend and we both want to have a good time for the race. After weighted squats and lunges and foam rolling all week, I hope the knee is back to being ok - we shall see on Saturday!

Along with my knee, I also took a little break from running this week. I ate something on Monday night that left my stomach very unhappy with me. Needless to say, it all decided to revisit me the following morning and I've felt off all week. Here's hoping that gets better soon, too! 

By the way, Saturday was a BEAUTIFUL day with amazing weather! I want it to come back!

#2 Grand Opening

This weekend, we also had the privilege of attending the Grand Opening for our church's Mother's Day Out program. Back in December of last year, our church experienced a massive flood (internally) which did a LOT of damage. It also wiped out our entire nursery/Mother's Day Out area. After a lot of time, restoration, and planning, the insides of the Mother's Day Out program is finally back to normal!

They held an official ribbon cutting and celebration this weekend. My dad even had the honor of cutting the ribbon!

One side is themed as "Under the Sea" and the other is nature and local scenes!

I LOVE it! They did an amazing job!

#3 Homecoming Parade

Last night, we attended the homecoming parade for our local college. All of my family including my husband are alumni and it's fun to go back and support them during homecoming!

Aren't Brayden's baby leggings just the cutest?! I loved his little outfit for the parade! 

It's also a tradition of my best friend and I - we have attended this homecoming game together every year since I can't remember how long! When we were in college, we were even in the parade together! :)

Last year, we were about 4 months pregnant (she was 3 weeks ahead of me) and this year, we brought our babies! SO MUCH FUN! Brayden loved looking at everything - the only thing he did not care for were the crazy loud sirens.

#4 The Walking Dead

You guys. Oh my gosh. I still have no words...but you gotta admit, this one's pretty funny right here!

#5 "Haunted" Car Wash?

There's a local car dealership here that "dresses up" their car wash every year for Halloween. It's actually rather funny and we decided to go check it all out for ourselves!

Lined inside this tunnel were all kinds of Halloween themed items. I'm not a huge celebrator of the scary side of Halloween, but this was pretty funny...and a clever gimmick to get people to stop by and get their cars washed! 

This weekend is going to be another busy but fun one! I have a wedding shower that I'm helping host on Saturday morning. That evening, we are going to take Brayden (and his cousin) back to the pumpkin patch in their costumes for pictures (can't wait)! We also have the homecoming football game where we will be celebrating the birthday of another good friend of mine. In all, it should be another fun (and busy) one!

Today, I'm teaming up with Running on Happy & Fairytales and Fitness for the Friday Five 2.0 linkup!

Festival of Fantasy Parade

Happy halfway-through-the-week day! Today I’m bringing you another Wordless Wednesday (Disney style)!

Host: Deb at Focused on the Magic
Today’s Theme: Parades

On our recent Disney World trip for the Wine & Dine Half Marathon, I had a chance to see the Festival of Fantasy parade for the first time. Oh..my..goodness…people this is a must see! I now understand all of the reviews I read before our trip – this parade is full of vibrant color, great music, fun characters and amazing floats…even a fire breathing dragon, what?! 

You can find the Festival of Fantasy parade daily in the Magic Kingdom at 3 p.m. Check your park/guide map for a detailed parade route.

What’s your favorite Disney parade?

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Want to participate in an upcoming Wordless Wednesday? Click on the button below for more details!

Light Up The Lake (FitMas Giveaway #2)

This weekend, our city hosted a “Light Up The Lake” event where our Christmas light display and tree were officially switched on for the first time this year! They even had a light switch like the one at the Osborne Lights in Walt Disney World! :)



Before I left home, I couldn’t find Pixie. Where oh where could she be? She was camouflaged on the chair in my bedroom. I literally had to do a double take when I finally found her…silly girl!

Back to the Christmas event – so, the festivities were hosted all day (I missed the Christmas parade…whomp whomp).



Around 5 o'clock, several bands and a few singing groups gave entertainment until it was time to flip the switch on the lights. Even Gumbo the Gator was out to tell us the “Cajun Night Before Christmas”.



Our little festive crew! :)

After the lights came on (sorry, I have no pictures…isn’t that terrible?), we walked over to the water to watch the lighted boat parade and fireworks!



This was a lot of fun – we caught a lot of beads and a bunch of candy!




I spied a few friends on the back of this boat! :)



Lots of people came out for the event!



This was my favorite boat! I loved how Santa and his sleigh were “flying” over the crowd.



The fireworks were a lot of fun to watch! I want to be on a boat out on the water next year…wouldn’t that be a neat view?



A local radio station had trucks at the event  (playing Christmas music) so we could listen along while the fireworks were popping.

The only downer of the day - I was bummed because I missed Santa’s Hot Chocolate 5K that morning. How on earth didn’t I know about a Christmas 5K in my own hometown?? I have no clue…. Seriously, I was so bummed out when I found out about it after the fact. Oh well. Definitely next year! :)

Anyway, we all had a great time together at the event and enjoyed seafood for dinner afterwards! I’m already looking forward to next year! :)

Does your town hold any special Christmas events?

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Now for the fun part – week #2’s giveaway!

One lucky winner will receive:

• Yurbuds “Inspire” dry fit top (size medium only)
• Road ID Head Sweats hat
• Running Warehouse arm warmers
• Sweat Pink shoelaces

This is the back of the Yurbuds shirt. Again, it’s a size medium only (the next two week’s giveaways will not include anything that is size specific so stay tuned….sorry about that!).

Enter through Rafflecopter below. This giveaway will run for one week’s time and will end next Sunday evening.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Congratulations to Margaret, the winner of FitMas Week 1 Santa Dry Fit shirt! Send your info to kren2700@gmail.com and I’ll ship out your shirt this week! :)

Merry Christmas and good luck!

Spectromagic

Welcome to another Wordless Wednesday! This WW (Disney style) is hosted by Deb at Focused on the Magic!

Today’s theme is: Parades

I’m a huge fan of parades (especially of the Disney variety) and was incredibly sad when Spectromagic left the Magic Kingdom. Although I love the Main Street Electrical Parade and it brings back memories of my childhood, I still miss Spectromagic. Here’s a few photos from our last time to see Spectromagic (taken from 2009).

What’s your favorite WDW Parade? (Day or night.)

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Want to participate in an upcoming Wordless Wednesday? Click on the button below for more details!

I’m Making Strides!

Good morning! Fall finally found its way to SWLA yesterday – it was a chilly 68 degrees when I woke up on Sunday morning! Yesterday afternoon, I left the windows open in the house and it felt amazing. Jason and I also replanted and moved around a few plants in our flower bed (thank goodness, it was about time)! I hope you all had a fabulous weekend…here’s a glimpse of mine.

On Friday, I received a call from my friend Kim who asked if I would ride in the homecoming parade with her sister, as an assistant if need be.  Of course I couldn’t pass up the opportunity!

We had so much fun! After the parade, I had two people ask if I was Sara’s mother. I’m 31 and Sara’s 18. No, I’m not her mother.  Must be our dark hair, people think we are related. Someone please tell me I don’t look old enough to be the mother of an 18 year old…

Anyway, onto other things.

I am currently participating in a challenge that’s being hosted by Mommy Run Fast. It’s the Fall 5 or 10 by the 5th Virtual Race Series. Basically, for the months of September, October, November, and December, participants have to run 5 or 10 miles prior to the 5th of the month and document their accomplishments in a spreadsheet. Each month, giveaways are held and there’s an option to purchase a medal at the end of the series. It’s fun to read along and see what everyone’s running to reach their goal!

For October, I ran 5 miles (plus a 5K) on Saturday morning. I had plans to run more than 5 miles but woke up late due to the homecoming game the night before.

I ran these 5 miles without my running buddies (they had other plans…gasp, I know right?!). Kidding…I love you guys!

During the 5 miles, I pushed myself but didn’t want to overdue it because I knew I had a 5K to run not long after. It was HOT and humid (yes, still) which made it difficult to breathe.

Despite the weather, I kept a 9:07 pace and finished with just enough time to make it over to the 5K!

On the way to the 5K, I ate a banana and cooled down in my car. I also changed my shirt to pink…it was in support of breast cancer research, after all!

I’ve run this 5K twice in the past. Check out those recaps here:

• 2011 Making Strides 5K
• 2013 Making Strides 5K

As a volunteer with our local American Cancer Society, I’m always excited to see a great turnout at events. Making Strides Against Breast Cancer was no exception! The crowd was great and full of energy!

Opening ceremonies

With my work crew prior to the start

I gathered with several hundreds for the start of the 5K. This 5K is advertised as a walk, but is also runner-friendly. Last year, I got turned around with directions and ended up running almost 4 miles instead of 3. I haven’t been able to live that one down yet!

Ready to go!

As we took off through a local neighborhood, I weaved through walkers (sounds like a Walking Dead episode) until I was out in the open.

At mile 1, I noticed I was running an 8 minute pace. I HAD to slow myself down. This was not a timed 5K, I kept reminding myself. I was having difficulty breathing and I didn’t want to fizzle out before the end!

Around Mile 2, my friend Mike joined me and we ran and talked the rest of the way. I met Mike at a local race back in 2009 when I first began running – it’s always nice to see a familiar face at a local run. After he joined me, I kept talking so I would forget how miserable I felt. I wanted to walk SO bad, but I wouldn’t let myself. Mike confirmed my thoughts by saying he was glad I was there because he wanted to walk, too. We kept pushing each other through the end, neither allowing each other to walk. It was awesome and I told him we need to do that more often. When the weather is cooler and I can actually breathe outside, I would love to run a timed 5K with him! I have a goal to reach a 25 minute 5K – I’m so close, I just haven’t broken that time yet. We will see what cooler Fall weather brings!

We crossed the finish line, just shy of a 5K distance with a  pace of 8:39!

Thanks again, Mike!! I appreciate the support you gave me on the course.

Do you enjoy running with others? How do you get yourself through rough patches during a race?

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Don’t forget about my Thirty-One giveaway happening right now! One lucky winner will receive a Cinch Sack with personalization of their choice. Enter now, giveaway ends on Thursday!