Hard Rock Life Party!

Last night we celebrated Melissa's birthday with a party at Hard Rock Hotel. The Hard Rock Hotel is absolutely gorgeous! We had 2 deluxe rooms that were beautiful and HUGE! We were waiting for everyone to get there and get organized so a few of us played a couple rounds of Nerts. Tidwell and I make an awesome Nerts team (although on our few rounds we played this morning, we were easily beaten by the Leonard Sister Duo). After we got all organized we headed down to the pool to play on the slide and watch the Dive-In movie. Unfortunately, they shut down the slide because of the movie :( So we hung out in the jacuzzi for a while but then decided to head over to Portofino to use their pool and slide. Way awesome!! We had the lifeguards timing us racing down the slide. I also decided, for safety purposes, that it was necessary for me to wear a lifejacket down the slide. I did not want to drown in the 3 foot deep water. ;) When I took the lifejacket off for my next round down the slide, the lifeguards were impressed with my quick ability in learning how to swim and told me that maybe I could learn to be a lifeguard next. Oh if they only knew how I spent my summers in high school. I could show them a thing or two ;)

We finally made it back to our room and in bed around 1:00 a.m. (after Tidwell and I enjoyed the iPod dock they had in the room and played some great tunes for our room for a while. We'd make good DJs. It's true.) and then got up bright and early this morning for Birthday Breakfast at The Kitchen at Hard Rock. Soooo good. Unfortunately, there was no Woody the Woodpecker there though :( Buttt, after breakfast we headed over to Islands of Adventure with our swimsuits on ready to conquer the water rides. Annnd, guess who we saw! Woody the Woodpecker in his Safari gear! So, of course, we took a picture. Then we spent the morning using our ExpressPasses (heck yes!) to hit up Popeye's, Ripsaw Falls, and Jurassic Park. I think Ripsaw Falls and Popeye's were my favorite. On our last round on Popeye's we were standing in line and the family behind us started asking me if we were all wet from going on the ride over and over again. I explained to the family that we had in fact been on the ride multiple times, but that we got soaked the very first time. In her southern accent she responded "oh well, I'll dry off" I think she was trying to grin and bear it because she and her husband had their teenage son and his friend with them and they wanted them to have fun. They get on the ride with us (It holds like 12 people at a time), and we go down the first hill and they get SOAKED. We were laughing so hard, but they were good sports about it. I could tell they were from the south, they were so laid back about it (wow, that was definitely a stereotype, but a good one, I swear!! They were cool people, I would have hung out with them for the day).

Anyhow, now I'm just lounging a bit before I head out with some friends to the Boardwalk and Animal Kingdom Lodge for night vision animal watching. It should be fun! I love eventful weekends.

Andddd....Monday night is OneRepublic and Dave Barnes!!! So stoked. :)

Short Version Concert Recap-Augustana

I'll fill in more later, but the Augustana concert last night was amazing!!! Their live performance is so incredibly good. They closed with a Bob Dylan cover that was crazy awesome--somewhat strange at points, but awesome. Five Times August was the opener and they were really good too. Definitely worth the money!!

Happy Friday!!! (I love weekends!) :)

Master of Goodbyes

I'm becoming a master at goodbyes. Since moving here a year and a half ago, I've had to say goodbye more times than I can count. I know that I'm not the only person that has to say goodbyes, but it just seems that I'm getting more than my fair share of goodbyes. I suppose that's what happens when you move 4 states away from home.

I'm very much looking forward to going Home (let's be honest...Ohio will always be home) in just 36 days, but I'm already fearing having to say goodbye and return to Florida. Five days may be a good chunk of time, but already it doesn't seem like enough. As I sit here writing this, I'm holding back tears thinking of how hard it'll be to say goodbye to my closest friends at the end of the 5 days. I'm sure that God brought me here for a reason, but I can't deny saying that it hurts to be so far away from the city that I love and the people that I love.

In any case, I can't wait for those 5 glorious days.

What's the moral of this story?

So my friend Ryan sent me this story today at work from Fox News:

One unlucky British teen suffered a painful shark attack without ever going near the water. In fact, he was bitten in the face by one of the sharp-fanged animals in his own bedroom, Metro.co.uk reported.

The “attack” happened at 14-year-old Sam Hawthorne’s home in Dudley, England.

Hawthorne was sleepwalking when the teeth of a dead souvenir shark from a family vacation, that hangs on the wall of his nautical-themed bedroom, became embedded in his face.

The teeth left blood pouring from the teen’s face, his mother, Susan, told Metro.co.uk.

“It was like something out of a horror film,” she said. “The shark must have been embedded in Sam's cheek for about 15 minutes and he was in a lot of pain.”

In the end, Hawthorne came away with only a small scar. “It was the most frightening experience of my life,” he told Metro.co.uk.

So what's the moral of this story? To not sleepwalk? Or to not hang dead animals on your wall? Either way, I'd say this kid's got a leg up on the competition when playing 2 truths and a lie. Nobody's ever gonna believe he's telling the truth.

Tomorrow's gonna come too soon

My hand's raised. Why? Because when asked the question "Who doesn't want to go to work tomorrow?" I'd definitely be the first to respond. Tiny little cubicle for 8 hours a day. No thanks. I'd much rather have open air, sunshine, the outdoors....you get my point. Ah well, I suppose we all must make a living, eh? At least it's a 4 day work week.

And only 37 days until Ohio.

One foot, two foot, RED foot...

We went sailing today. It was absolutely beautiful outside. Gorgeous sunshine, beautiful water, a nice breeze. We were out for about 3 hours along the coast of Lido Beach and Siesta Key in the Gulf. I had taken proper precautions and put on sunscreen before we went out. With only about 15 minutes left of the trip, I noticed that the top of my left foot kinda hurt. Apparently, my left foot failed to receive sunscreen as it is now as red as a tomato while my right foot is tan like the rest of me. Very strange.

Anyway, I now officially love sailing. I took a nice nap on the front of the boat as the waves gently tossed the boat back and forth. I saw a couple of dolphins and a jumping fish. It was certainly idyllic.

It certainly will be rough going back to work on Tuesday...

Music update

Here are my new recommendations. They're good...mostly because I said so :)

Samson-Regina Spektor
Fidelity-Regina Spektor
Prodigal-OneRepublic
Disappear-The Gabe Dixon Band
The Hat-Ingrid Michaelson

Just a short list this time. But I'm really liking Regina Spektor lately. So good.

And small sidenote...someone is super siked for the beach...

Kristi, the lizard wrestler

It's true. I just may have a new career---lizard wrestling. So maybe it's not so much lizard wrestling, rather, lizard chasing and capturing. This is how it went.

The other night I came home and when I walked in the door I saw something scurry across the living room floor. Obviously, I flipped out a little bit and then I went to check to see what it was. I saw a tiny lizard (geico, whatever they're called) in the middle of the floor. Hilary had told me she saw one about a week before and had tried to capture it but couldn't, so I wasn't about to let this guy get away from me. I thought quickly and went to get the cockroach spray (PETA please don't come after me...I swear, it was all in self defense). Since they don't make lizard spray, I figured cockroach spray would be the next best thing. I started spraying the little guy and of course he started running. I backed him into a corner and started spraying him like crazy. He got loose and ran under the couch. At this point, I sprayed all the way around the couch. I then moved the couch until I got the lizard to come out. He then ran in another corner where I sprayed him more until he started to slow down. I took that opportunity to find a plastic bowl in the kitchen to put on top of him. I caught him in the bowl and took him outside to let him loose.

I'm not sure if he died later or if he revived himself and ran away. Either way, I was proud of myself for catching him and getting him out of the house. I will admit, I had a slight fear that every time I left the house and came back throughout the day that the little lizard was going to be back in my house along with all of his lizard friends and they were going to attack me. Thankfully, that's just the making of a fantastic horror movie (or maybe not), and not what really happened.

Nevertheless, I now know how to capture lizards, so if you need help, you know who to call--no, not the Ghostbusters, ME! :)

What. The. Hey.

Seriously. What the hey. First, the OneRepublic concert gets rescheduled (likely meaning Dave and Matt won't be there) and then my flight home in July gets rescheduled. Seriously. There's got to be one more thing. What is it? Who has plans with me and would like to reschedule? Any takers?

C'est la vie.

That'll be all.

I stopped at a gas station tonight and after filling up my car, I went inside to get something to drink. I grabbed a bottle of ice tea and went to the counter. The lady at the counter goes "Will this be it?" to which I replied "Yes." Then she seriously tried to sell me some cigarettes saying "Nothing else? No cigarettes?"

Um. Excuse me. Why yes. Cigarettes do taste pretty good with my Diet Peach Snapple Iced Tea. I'm so thankful you reminded me. I mean, seriously. Do I look that stressed that I need a cigarette? If she's just trying to upsell, the gas station may want to think about doing a little training on pinpointing customer types. If she had tried to sell me a pack of Bubble Yum, I just might have agreed. But cigarettes, no thanks. My ice tea will be all.

Yep, definitely an addiction.

So add to the list of concerts/shows I'm seeing in the next few months:

Augustana
Mamma Mia
The Lion King

And there's a pretty good possibility that I'll be at the Ingrid Michaelson concert. Between entering races and paying for concert/show tickets, no wonder I'm broke. Oh well. Only 5 more days until Dave & Matt!!!!! WAY excited!

Thoughts on Elevator Behavior

I ride the elevator every day at work. Sometimes multiple times. And every time, I grow a tiny bit anxious at the awkward interactions I'll have while on the elevator. Let me define the different types.

Scenario 1: When you're riding the elevator with someone to the same floor, the doors open and then there's that awkward hesitation of who will go first. Or, sometimes there's no hesitation and you both end up awkwardly at the door at the same time and then both say (at the same time) "Go ahead." And so then you both try to exit again at the same time and have to go through the whole routine of saying "Go ahead" again until finally one person just takes the bold step out the door.

Scenario 2: You're in a crowded elevator and you end up in the back, but you have to get off at one of the first stops. Then you either have to push through the crowd to get to the elevator door as you politely say "excuse me, excuse me, excuse me" to every person you shove out of the way or you have to have half the elevator exit so you can get off.

Scenario 3: When the doors are beginning to shut on the elevator right as you walk up and the people inside see you and you see them. A variety of things can happen in this situation. 1) The people on the inside scramble to find the "door open" button as you scramble on the outside to push the elevator button. 2) You just stand there awkwardly starring at them as the door shuts mouthing the whole "go ahead, I'll catch the next one" or 3)(The most bold of them all) You shove whichever appendage you choose between the doors in an effort to get them to stay open. At my office, this is a bold move, indeed. It practically takes the Jaws of Life to get those elevator doors to come open.

Scenario 4: You're riding the elevator up (usually in the morning) with only one or two other people and as they (or You) get off the elevator at your appropriate floor you give the uncomfortable but polite "have a nice day." It's just awkward and strange.

Scenario 5: At any time, riding the elevator with only one other person that you don't know. Let me just say I despise elevator small talk. I mean, seriously, what can you possibly discuss with someone you don't know in the span of 3 minutes? Sure, I like to meet new people and all, but the elevator is not a prime location for striking up a conversation. Let's say you do try to meet the stranger in the elevator with you. When the elevator opens and it's time for you to both exit, 2 minutes later, what do you do? Continue your brief introduction in the lobby? Sit down and discuss world peace over coffee? It's just an uncomfortable situation. I'll be honest, most of the time when I get in the elevator on my way out for the day, I pull out my cell phone not because I want to talk to anybody or need to check messages, but mostly so I don't have to make uncomfortable conversation with the stranger in the elevator about how pleasant (or unpleasant) the weather is. Especially considering we live in Florida. Wow, it's hot and sunny today. What a surprise.

Scenario 6: When you're waiting on a middle floor to get on an elevator and the doors open to an elevator and you start to get on when you realize you need to go up and this elevator is going down. Sometimes, I suppose, it's just nice to go for a little ride on the elevator, eh?

Okay, so I'm sure there are more, but let's just say that elevators make me uncomfortable. Seriously. I know I'm strange, but we all knew this before. In college, I took the stairs most of the time (it's also a great work out!), but now with my job, taking 6 flights of stairs in heels just doesn't seem all that fun. I don't think I can sprint them like I did in college. But maybe I should pack my tennis shoes in my bag just for that occasion.

Not feeling so funny.

I wish I were feeling funny tonight. I'm not. Try back again tomorrow. I can feel it. Tomorrow, I'll be HI-LAR-IOUS.

Race Review--iDrive 5k

So this race review is a bit past due. But here it is. Saturday was the iDrive 5k and it was...on i Drive. Get it? haha. Okay then.

The race start time was at 7:30, but with summer quickly approaching here in Florida, it was very warm by 7:30 already. It didn't seem too crowded and the course was extremely flat. Unfortunately there was absolutely no shade, so the heat on the asphalt just intensified during the course.

I'm not used to running such short races anymore (ha! Never thought I'd hear myself call a 3.1 mile race short!). I'd much rather run a 10k or 15k race. It gives me time to settle into my pace and make up for slow miles. With only 3 miles, if I have a slow first mile then it's pretty much all down hill from there. Surprisingly, I didn't do too bad. My first mile was a 7:30. My second mile was about a 7:45. My third mile was a little down hill. I think it was somewhere around 9:15 or so. YIKES! But I was fairly satisified with my final time of 24:33. Definitely not my best time, but since I've been training for longer races, I was satisfied with this time.

I left right after I finished because I had to let some friends in to the parks. I found out the next day that I got 3rd in my age group so I won some prizes! But I didn't stay around to get them b/c I never place and didn't expect to here. Guess that teaches me. I was also 23 out of 313 women, 120 out of 652 total finishers, and ran a pace of 7:54. Not too bad.

I'd recommend the race. It was pretty inexpensive and pretty well organized. It's probably my last race for the season unless I throw in one more 5k in June. I might get to squeeze a relay triathlon in there somewhere. Otherwise, it'll just be training all summer long for race season to start up again in August/September.

Happy Running :)

Happy Mother's Day

I have a great mom. In all honesty, it's sometimes hard to be so far away from her. In the past year we've had very little one-on-one time. Growing up, even through college, we regularly had time for just the two of us. Whether it was just an afternoon together or a whole weekend or week together, I got my fill of mom-time whenever I needed it. Living several states away has made it very difficult to get that fill now. Sure, I get to see her a lot, but usually it's with several other people in tow. I was lucky to get to spend a weekend with her in November and we had a great time. Now I'm just waiting until I get Mom and Kristi time again.

Anyways, here are some pics of me and my mom from the last several years.

Last Cross Country meet Senior Year November 2006

Summer 2007 at Easton in Columbus

In Thailand December 2005 (Apparently it was windy)

Disney November 2007 (GO BUCKEYES!)

Disney November 2007 with our favorite monster

Atlanta Braves Spring Training game at DWWS March 2007

Spring Break (Mom's...I don't get a Spring Break anymore....)

March 2007

January 2007 in Winter Park, FL

Mom's Spring Break again

March 2007 at the Polynesian

I love you mom! Happy Mother's Day :)

Overheard...

Last night I went dancing with my roommate. While in the restroom, we overheard this conversation...

Bachelorette Friend: (to the Bachelorette) I'm so glad I met you!
Bachelorette: Yeah...me too. You're, like, such a girl.

Bachelorette comes out of the stall and is standing at the sink with her friend...

Bachelorette: This sash (which says "Bachelorette" on it) is really annoying.
Bachelorette Friend: Just take it off then. You bought it, you can do whatever you want.
Bystanding girl: (to bachelorette) Are you getting married?
Bachelorette: Yeah...in a year. I keep putting it off.
Bystanding girl: I say just become a stripper. You make lots of money that way.
Bachelorette: Hmm..that's true.
Bystanding girl: Well, congratulations!

Hmm...so many things in this conversation are awkward that I wouldn't even know where to begin to point them out. Later in the evening we saw Bystanding girl aka Stripper girl getting down with the crazy old man dancer. The whole thing is just weird in my opinion.

It's not easy being Green...or is it?

So everyone's heard about it. Going Green. It's the new trend. The new Black, if you will. And to be completely honest, I never thought I'd be one of "those" people. I never thought I'd be one of those environmental, organic crazy people. But lately, I find myself making more and more efforts towards going green and organic.

I think it all started in college when my campus minister/mentor/close friend Austina mentioned to me the idea of not using bottled water. She explained the benefits of using a Nalgen and filtered water instead (better for the environment, more cost efficient, and a statement in the fact that all people deserve access to clean drinking water). I'm certain that this seed she planted in my thoughts has developed into something much more. I feel as though I'm constantly thinking about how my actions and lifestyle are affecting the environment, the people around me, and even myself. For example, I avoid drinking bottled water whenever possible (yes, I still do drink it on occasion, but not nearly in the same capacity that I used to). I purchase "green" cleaning products and laundry detergent. I've replaced many of the light bulbs in my apartment with the cool, long lasting spirally ones (yeah, that's the official name of them). I purchased organic cotton sheets (and let me tell you...these things are seriously liking sleeping on a cloud. Even if I weren't environmentally concerned, I'd still buy these things!). I've begun to limit the amount of materials I print at work. I've started to buy more organic products at te grocery. I know that, for me, it'll be impossible for me to ever be completely organic for many reasons--cost and convienence being two of them, but I think the effort is important.

One of my new favorite environmentall friendly foods is LightLife Smart Menus. LightLife is a vegetarian product (no, I'm not a vegetarian...yet--not sure if I ever will be or not--but I do like a LOT of vegetarian products). At the grocery recently, I picked up one of LightLife's products called Garlic Teriyaki Chick'n (get it...it's not realy chicken. Hence the spelling...). I made it for lunch one afternoon and I was seriously surprised. It was sooooo delicious. And the fake chicken tastes suprisingly similar to regular chicken. I love that the product is good for the environment and good for me too!

Like I said, I know it takes small steps towards becoming more environmentally aware. And to be completely honest, it's expensive sometimes. But I think it's worth it. Whether or not there's global warming (yeah, I know that debate is constantly going on), it's unfair for us to be treating God's creation as some big garbage disposal. We are a society that is wasteful and often thoughtless. Just think about the amount of garbage you throw away in one day. Or the amount of fuel you use in one day. And then mutliply that number--because there are billions of people creating just as much waste as you are each day. From a human rights standpoint, I continue to struggle with how it's fair for me to have every luxury I could possibly think of while people all over the world who don't have clean drinking water and electricity. They live in conditions that in the United States would be condemned and deemed unfit for human life.

I could go on and on and on about this topic (well, I suppose it's many topics all connected) for hours. And I'm sure many of you could debate with me my reasoning, but I know that God has placed this on my heart. I know that as a Christian I need to be aware of my actions, in every aspect of my life, and their impact on the people around me and the world I live in. Like always, the invitation stands...if you're ready for a discussion on this topic, I'd love to chat!

PS--I really just started this post to tell ya'll how much I love LightLife's Smart Menu products, but I got sidetracked. So, really, just go check out their products.

Go Tigers

It's the middle of May and I'm ready for Fall. Mainly, for 2 reasons. Reason numero uno. Florida summers suck. Like seriously. Hot. Sticky. Muggy. Sick. Don't get me wrong...the other 9 months of the year are super fabulous, but these 3 months of summer I'll live in the AC and/or the pool.

But let's move on to numero dos. College Football. I love College Football. Granted, it's not quite the same down here in Florida, but I can still cheer for the Buckeyes!!! (Don't judge me). Anyway, tonight my friend Rachel and I were talking about how much we love college football. She's a Clemson grad and was saying that she wants to go to the Clemson/FSU game this fall. I told her since I couldn't see the Buckeyes play here in Florida I'd totally go to the game with her. She asked if I'd dress in Clemson colors, too, and of course I said yes. It's so much more fun to be at a game and be cheering for one of the teams than to just go watch a game. So come this fall, I will be a Clemson Tiger fan for a day. Then it's back to Scarlet and Gray for me...

Thoughts on the Bow Tie

Today I was eating lunch with 2 of my managers when I saw a fairly young and fairly good looking guy walk by. He was wearing a bow tie. I stared for a while...and not because he was cute (although he was...very), but mostly because he was wearing a bow tie. Now, let's be honest, it's not every day that you see a man wearing a bow tie. Heck, any more, you barely see guys wearing ties in general. And, this wasn't just a regular old bow tie. It had, like, two layers and I believe white with blue dots. (yes, I know I just typed the way I talk. Good thing it's my blog and I can do what I want :) I've been thinking about this bow tie all day. I mean, if it were a 65 year old man, I'd be like "sweet, old man's got a bow tie." Or, let's say it was Halloween. I'd be like "Hey, that's a great costume you got there. Let me guess. Charlie Chaplin?" But, it was neither of those things. It was a regular old Wednesday in May. Hmm..maybe it's National Bow Tie day? Somebody check on that and get back to me. My final conclusion: He lost a bet with friends. Either way, I applaud him for going fearlessly where no man has gone before, for forging the way for new fashion trends. I bet he was the man who started the pink shirt trend. Good job, man. You've got confidence.

On a totally unrelated sidenote--I was running at the Boardwalk tonight and I saw a bird chase a squirrel. It was completely amazing. I felt like I was watching the Discovery Channel. The bird was pecking at the squirrel's butt and the squirrel was trying to run really fast. Eventually the squirrel got away and I think the bird was pissed. It kinda makes me wonder why the bird was chasing the squirrel. Weird.

Kristi Kookies

The ultimate cookie has been made. Let me explain. Yesterday (Monday) at work, I was talking with one of my coworkers/friends about how I really wanted cookies. I mentioned that maybe I should make some and my friend volunteered to make cookies instead. Hey, who am I to argue someone else making cookies for me to eat? Anyhow, my friend asked me what my dream cookie would be. My response: Chocolate Chips, Butterscotch Chips, Peanut Butter Chips, Oatmeal and Frosting (I later threw in bananas and pecans, but they didn't make it into the final cut...probably for the best). This morning, I arrive to work and find a plate of my dream cookies sitting on my desk. It might have been the best Tuesday ever. I now have my favoritest (Yes, that's a word in Kristispeak) cookie ever. Seriously, these things are good. My friend named the cookies--Kristi Kookies (I know, I know, original...I like to refer to the cookies as "Best-cookie-I've-ever-tasted-in-my-entire-life" but that name was just far too long for a cookie).

Anyhow, I'm willing to try future cookie submissions to see if they can beat this cookie recipe. Just contact me for cookie delivery location. :)

Not a coincidence...

I don't really believe in coincidences. I'm confident that everything happens for a reason. That being said, there's a Bible verse that consistently shows up when I start to let the little things (or even the big things, for that matter) get the best of me. Last night I was having one of "those nights." I felt extremely overwhelmed by all the little things, overwhelmed by the future, and overwhelmed by the past. I went to bed still not feeling all that great. This morning, I logged on to my iGoogle account to check my email. One of the widgets that I have on my iGoogle page is Bible Verse of the Day. Today the verse was Philippians 4:6-7. It's the verse that constantly shows up when I'm worried, overwhelmed, stressed, etc. I'm pretty sure that it's God's way of telling me "Hey Kristi. Remember me up here? Don't you worry. I've got it all taken care of. You just trust me and things will be a-ok." So that's my reminder to give it all up to Him. Although, I'm sure I'll need the reminder again sometime.

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. -- Philippians 4:6-7

Just enough...

I'll admit. It's a good thing that I only need enough faith to get me through one day at a time. Because sometimes it seems hard for anything more...Figuring out the reasons and the truth seem all too difficult. Maybe I really should leave it up to God...

Tomorrow's a new day.

Race Review--Minnie Marathon

What a great day for a race! I woke up this morning right around 4:30 feeling pretty energized after only about 5 hours of sleep. I had laid out my clothes and everything I needed for the race the night before so it was okay I was in a half daze as I got ready this morning. I was out the door by 5:00 and headed for Animal Kingdom. It was probably in the mid 60s when I met up with the running group at about 5:30. We headed for the start line and the race started right on time at 6:15 this morning.

I had told myself that I wasn't going to run for time, but just to get a good work out in. The race was a 15k (9.3 miles) and the farthest I've run since the 1/2 marathon in Jacksonville in February was 8 miles. I started the race with Pam and at the first mile we saw that we were at a 10:20 and we both decided that just wasn't gonna work for us (granted, the first mile is usually the slowest because of all the people, but still...). So of course, my competitive streak came out real fast and I picked up pace and took off. I was much happier to find that the rest of my splits were either 9 mins or less. Annnnd, (drumroll please), I finished in 1:23:08 setting a 15k PR for myself by more than 3 minutes! (My previous 15k time was from September. I ran a 1:26:34). I was really excited! I remember feeling utterly and completely exhausted in September after the 15k and today I felt sooo much better. I can tell my endurance has definitely improved throughout the year.

I have been having some problems with my right knee and left hip although they weren't too bad throughout the race. I think my knee is out of place again (I know, doesn't that sound fun?), but luckily I go to the chiropracter first thing tomorrow morning so he can fix that. My hip/butt/thigh/etc. all hurt, but I'm not really sure what the cause of it is. I'm sure if I quit running it'd get better, but seriously, let's be honest, quit running? I don't think so.

Everyone in the group did really well today. I think we all ran PRs, so it was a good day all around. The course is similar to part of the marathon course. We started out at Animal Kingdom, headed down Osceola to the entrance to the sports complex, did a uturn and headed back down Osceola, up the ramp to World drive (?), took another ramp to the back entrance of the Studios and then ran through the Studios, past Yacht & Beach, and through Epcot to the finish (confused yet?). It's a fast flat course so it's pretty easy to PR.

Anyhow, I'd recommend this race, but unfortunately it's the last year for it.

Happy Running :)

Life to the fullest!

Soooo much going on in the next few months. I'm way excited!!

Tomorrow--15k, breakfast with the running group, TSM preview, and hanging out at the Studios.
Now--Fawn is moving closer to me! She'll be just a hop, skip, and a jump away...or a bike ride. Either one, really.
Tuesday--My mom gets into town. Just for the night, but I'll take it.
Next Weekend--A friend's wedding, lunch with another friend I haven't seen in a while, and the parks with a few others I haven't seen in a while. And maybe a 5k race...we'll see if I can squeeze that in too!
17th--My mom, sister, sister's friend, and sister's friend's mom (isn't that confusing?) get into town.
18th--Waterpark with the family!! I haven't been in soooo long!!!
20th--OneRepublic Concert with Matt Wertz and Dave Barnes (Secretly, this is what I'm most excited about in the upcoming weeks. Sorry mom...just kidding :)
22nd--Outrigger's Race
Memorial Day Weekend--Heading over to Sarasota area for the weekend. Hopefully doing some sailing, relaxing, shopping and all that jazz. WAY excited!!
29th--Possibly the Augustana concert
June--Hopefully Adam's coming to visit...if we can find a plane ticket that doesn't cost a kajillion dollars. I'd be way way way wayyyy excited to see him!!!
June 20th--Ginny Owens concert. Volunteering for The Mocha Club.
End of June--Possibly Austina coming to visit!!!
July---COLUMBUSSSSSSSSS. Yes, you could say I'm excited. Maybe. A teeny tiny bit.
August--KOEBEL COMES TO VISIT!! Nah, I'm not really excited about that either. Okay, maybe I am. :)

And there are many more little things thrown in there as well. Possibilities include Ingrid Michaelson concert, going to see Mamma Mia and Jesus Christ Superstar, Night of Joy, Melissa and Andrew's wedding in the fall (well, that's not a possibility that's a definite!). Hmm I don't even know what else, but I'm sure I'll find plenty to keep me busy. I'm definitely looking forward to the next few months. Between concerts and people visiting, I couldn't be happier. And work is going really really well. I'm so thankful for all God's blessed me with!

Strike 1, 2, and 3...But still fun!

I got to go to lunch yesterday with Matt. During lunch we were talking about how Wicked is playing at the Bob Carr right now and how you can put your name in the lottery each night to try to get a $25 ticket for the sold-out show. Today at work Matt IM'd me and we decided, what the heck, let's give it a shot. We met up with our friends Melissa and Andrew at the Bob Carr and put our names in the lottery. Unfortunately, none of us were chosen :( --Strike 1.

So at 6:15 on a Friday night Matt and I were planless. Next, we decided to head over to Universal Studios to see if we could ride the new Simpsons ride. We were confident that Universal had to be open until at least 8 on a Friday night. We drove into the parking garage to find that it closed at 6. What the heck?!? Closing at 6 on a Friday night in May?!? That just seemed absurd. But there was Strike 2.

Our creativeness for planning was running low so we decided that we would just head over to Hollywood Studios to see if Toy Story Mania was open. Matt, however, didn't have his ID with him. Luckily, I had my ID and my Silver pass with me so we went to Studios and were finally in luck--it was open until 8:30. We walked back to TSM only to find that it wasn't open. Bummer. Strike 3. Since we were already at the Studios we decided we had to ride something before we left. On our first lucky break of the day, Tower of Terror only had a 30 minute wait (which was much less) so we got to ride TOT!

After our exhausting search for Friday night entertainment, we headed over to Beaches 'n Cream to reward ourselves with ice cream. The waitress told us some interesting facts about the Kitchen Sink of ice cream there. It has a whole can of Whip Cream (A whole can?!?!?) which equals 1000 calories in itself!!! Then add all of the ice cream, syrups, and other toppings--that's probably at least 5000 calories per a sink. Annnnd, they have a Kitchen Sink challenge. If you can eat the entire thing by yourself in an hour you get it for free. Can you imagine how sick you'd have to feel afterwards? Omigosh...disgusting.

Afterwards we checked out the movie on the beach and found that High School Musical 2 was playing. We watched a few minutes but then decided we were over it. We walked some of the ice cream off around the Boardwalk and then came back to Celebration and walked a bit more of the ice cream off at Relay for Life at Lakeside.

It was quite the random night, but we did a pretty good job of finding entertainment for ourselves! Although, I'll admit, I really really really wanted to see Wicked!!! Oh well. Maybe next time. It was worth a try!

Happy May Day!

So I taught Adam about May Day today. Can you believe that he hadn't heard about the tradition of hodling the ends of ribbons attached to a pole and running in a circle. Yeah. I was surprised. I made him Wikipedia it. But only after he told me his explanation of what he knew of May Day. Which was this:

"it was day when the soviet union use to have big parades and show off their army and celebrate"--Adam

Haha. Quite the opposite of my knowledge of May Day. Not so light-hearted.

So, however you celebrate--army parade or pretty ribbons--Happy May Day!

(And if you were like me, you celebrated by playing with DisneyLink and becoming ridiculously frustrated today...but that's another story for another time...)