2014 Disney Princess Half Marathon

A few years ago if you told me that I'd run two half marathons in four months I would have told you that you were crazy.  Running a full 10k was difficult a few years ago and I only dreamed of 13.1 miles.  Well, I did it.  Twice.

The first race was the Thanksgiving Day Atlanta Half Marathon in 2013.  It was 25 degrees at the start of the race and still below 30 when we finished.  It was cold, hilly and pretty miserable.  Let's not go back to that morning.

Instead, let's focus on my first Disney race - The Disney Princess Half Marathon on February 23, 2014.  I grew up in Orlando, I love all things Disney and I love fun swag, so signing up for this race was a no-brainer.  When my friend, Sam, suggested that we run the half, we signed up right away.  Pro tip #1: sign up right after registration opens, it sells out FAST.

The race starts at 5:30am so that the park can open after runners have finished so we decided we were going to get a hotel on Disney property.  We chose Port Orleans Riverside because it is the closest hotel to the start and finish lines at EPCOT.  It wasn't until 3:45am, when we went to the bus stop to get on the shuttle that Disney provided for the runners, how lucky we were that we chose that hotel.  We were told that the last bus was going to leave the hotel at 4:00am so we went out a few minutes early so we didn't miss it.  Our ride rolled up just before the deadline and our stop filled a bus.  We were lucky to be the first stop because the next 3 stops that we passed had 50+ runners at each stop waiting for a bus.  From the look on our bus driver's face, there weren't any other busses behind him for a while.  Those poor runners, I'm sure they were worried if they'd make it to the start on time.  Pro Tip #2: My advice for any runners next year is to stay at Port Orleans Riverside - no bus issues!  Our stop was also the first stop coming back from the finish, another bonus!  Even from the closest hotel to EPCOT it took us about 30 minutes before we were in the parking lot and got off the bus.  The traffic was intense.  This is at 4:00am.  Nobody wants to be sitting in traffic in a car at 4:00am.  Stay on Disney property and take the shuttle.

The race was well organized, which is what I expect from anything Disney.  As soon as we got off the bus Disney cast members ushered us towards the start/finish area.  Here is where you could find the bag check, bathrooms, ice tents, food tents (open after the race), etc.  We stood around here for a few minutes then it was a 5-10 min walk from the staging area to the starting corrals.  All along the way we met cheery, happy Disney cast members making 5:00am not so bad.

Sam and me on our walk to the starting corrals

You can't really tell in the pictures above, but that morning the humidity must have been at 100%.  Anything over what felt like 100 yards away was hidden by fog.  It was in the low 60s but felt MUCH warmer.  I was warm before we even started running.  I have no idea how Sam ran in crops, a t-shirt and long sleeve shirt.  If I could have worn a tank top I would have, I forgot to bring one as a backup.

In other large races once you're in your corral you stand around and wait and slowly march closer to the start line.  Disney had TV hosts all around the start area and jumbo screens set up so everyone could see their interviews and what was going on at the start line since some people were pretty far away at the other end of the parking lot.  After the National Anthem, some speeches by Miss America, Children's Miracle Network and Disney, Cinderella's Fairy Godmother came out to get the send us off on our run. With the start of each wave, which seemed to be about 3 minute apart there were fireworks. (If you do stay at the Port Orleans Riverside and family members stay back at the hotel to sleep while you run, they will be woken up by the fireworks.)

Fireworks for the corral before I started the race.  You can see how foggy it was, that's not smoke from the fireworks.

Once we were on our way the humidity really kicked my butt.  For the past 5 months I'd been running in cold, winter temperatures with very little humidity.  I wasn't ready for how heavy the air was, but at least I wasn't shivering and I could feel my toes.  

All along the race course there were Disney characters posing for pictures and there was even a high school marching band around mile 1.  Having the distractions along the way definitely made the time fly by which was nice because the first 5.5 miles or so you're on a state road between EPCOT and the Magic Kingdom.  It could have been the addition of the fog, but if there wasn't entertainment for us, it would have been a very boring course.  As we got closer and closer to the next park you could feel the excitement.  I didn't stop to take pictures with any of the characters along the way, I was there to run.  However, there were definitely people stopping and standing in line.  Some of the lines were 20+ runners deep.  A half marathon is long enough, I'm not stopping for pictures.  The course circles through the Magic Kingdom and back to EPCOT, the same way we came.  The characters were a nice distraction again.  My favorite was the Green Army Man from Toy Story.  He was on a hill at mile 10 and was hilarious motivation for the only "hill" on the course.  (Coming from Atlanta, the city of hills, the course was nice and flat for me!)

While we're on the topic of stopping, luckily I didn't need to, but some runners need to stop along the course for a bathroom pit stop.  Disney had a group of Port-o-Pots and a Medical Tent at every mile.  If it wasn't every mile, it was every 1.5 miles.  It was great - thanks Disney!  It's always a great fear of mine that I'll suddenly get the urge and be miles from the next stop.  The medical tents were fully stocked and staff was handing out body glide to runners who were having chafing problems.  Thankfully, again, no need to stop.  

I didn't finish the race any faster than I finished the Thanksgiving Day race a few months earlier, I was actually :20 slower, but with the humidity as high as it was, I am proud of my time!

Total Female Finishers: 19,321

Overall Place: 1,944  

Division Place: 306

Gender Place: 1,680 (8% what!?!)

5k split: 30:55

10k split: 1:02

15k split: 1:35

Finish Time: 2:14:56

I'm not a fast runner, yet, but because so many people stopped to take pictures, etc, I actually finished in the top 8% of female racers.  That's nuts!  I've signed up for the Thanksgiving half marathon again for 2014 and I hope to be sub 2:00 at that point.  

Me and Sam post-race!  Check out the medals!

In our packets at pick up we were given our performance t-shirt that I've worn a few times back in Atlanta and at the end of the race we were given small, mesh backpacks along with our medals, food, and water.  Bring on the swag!

The entire event from the packet pick up on Saturday to the end of the race and the shuttle ride back to the hotel was fantastic.  It was well organized and as always, Disney seemed to have thought of everything.  The only thing I didn't like was that the massage tent was $1 a minute for a massage.  I hadn't seen that listed anywhere before the race and of course I didn't have cash on me.  I had my MagicBand (room key and credit card info) from Disney and my cell phone.  I had about an hour to wait for Sam to finish because she was in a later corral and I would have gladly paid $15 for a 15 minute massage.  I probably would have paid $30.  Pro Tip #3 - bring cash. 

I didn't buy any of the photos from the 100 photographers along the course even though some of them were pretty good.  The photos with the EPCOT ball were so foggy you could barely make it out in the background and I'll wait until the next time I run it and hope for clearer weather.  That's right, the next time I run - I'll absolutely run this race again.  

Cross Stitching: My New Hobby

This year Stephen and I decided that for Valentine's Day we had to give each other handmade gifts only.  No cards, no fantastic presents, handmade only.  I struggled for a while to come up with something to make.  I'm crafty, but I didn't want to make something I've already made before.  I needed something new.

When I was little I remember my Grandma cross stitching and being fascinated watching something come from string and little x's.  I loved the backs as much as fun as the fronts.  I decided that I'd teach myself how to cross stitch and make something funny for Stephen.

Of course I turned to Pinterest and Etsy for inspiration.

From this AMAZING Etsy shop

This Etsy Shop

The two above, and about 30 other ones made my short list of inspiration but ultimately I decided that I wanted to create my own design.  It would have been SO much easier to pick one of the designs from a shop and buy the template for download, but I don't always do easy.  After some Google searching I found this website that I ended up using to create the text that I wanted to use.  There are a TON of fonts out there, but I liked this site because I was able to write what I wanted and print it out at home.

Next I had to figure out how to lay everything out on a template so I had something to follow.  This is where I almost threw in the towel.  I tried to do it in a fancy new Excel program that takes an image and converts it to small squares but it never worked out right.  I was almost in tears and ended up telling Stephen what I was going to make him so he could try to help.  In the end I turned to trusty old, regular Excel and plotted it in squares.  Definitely not my recommended route, but I was on a time crunch and needed to get moving.

For my Valentine's Day gift I stitched a phrase that I say to Stephen all the time.  He finds it creepy and silly which only encourages me to say it more often.  I have no idea where it came from, but it's stuck with us know.

I'm working on framing it and I think I'm going to hang it in our guest bathroom.  We are actually very short on wall space in the house.  We both love artwork so much we're running out of room.  My cousin has asked me to make me one of these for her because she says something similar to her husband all the time, too.  I guess weird runs in our family.

Goodreads and My 2014 Reading Goal

It's been 11 months since my last post.  I can't believe it.  I was warned that after a vacation where I wouldn't be able to blog or use the Internet that my usage would change.  Yep, that happened and now it's been months since my last post.  Anyway, I'm back after almost a year hiatus.  It's been an amazing year, so at least I wasn't sitting around bored!

In 2014, I set some pretty serious goals for myself and I'm not letting myself slack, even a little bit.  The hubby is going back to school so I have some extra time alone at the house and I plan to take full advantage of this new "free time."  (But let's be honest, I'd love to have him around more.)

My first goal is to Read 50 books in 2014.  I've joined Goodreads and I'm using the website/app to keep track of my read books, my progress while reading each book, and all of the books I want to read.  Is anyone out there using Goodreads?  Do you want to be my friend?  My username is KatieAtlanta.  So far, I've read 13 of my 50 book goal and I'm just past the halfway point of my 14th book, but this one is a doozy at over 950 pages.

Above are the books I've read so far.  I'm currently reading Fall of Giants by Ken Follett.  It's the first in a LONG trilogy, but I welcome the challenge. The most rewarding books so far have been The Road, The Glass Castle and Devil in the White City.  Each of those books I would recommend to anyone.  All are very different from the next, but each of them has stuck with me long after the final page.  I'll write a book review post in the next week or two that will run down each of these books.

Overall, I love using Goodreads and I update my reading status every day.  I loving having lists, checking my lists and crossing off completed items on my lists so having a website that tracks all of my books lists for me is genius.  I have only have one friend on the site, so I'm not using it for it's full potential and I don't really follow along with the reading lists of the groups I'm in because none of them have really appealed to me, but it's great for tracking what I am reading and what I plan to read.  I also like that I have a place where I can go back to see my completed books and re-read my reviews so I don't forget what I've read and accomplished.  I don't want to just fly through 100-page books just to reach my goal.  I'm looking for books that interest me and books that have been recommended to me as "books I must read".  Any suggestions?

So there you have it.  My first big goal of 2014 - 50 books in 12 months.

Conan filming in Atlanta

Our amazing friends, the C&C fun factory, were great enough to take us to the first Conan taping here in Atlanta.  (He is here all week filming before the Final Four.)

Stephen saw his ads for Conan State University and we had to participate.  Stephen gets 100% credit for our hats.  He wrapped the baseball caps in fabric and glued it all together and even made the tassels!  What a man.

Click here to see the rest of the pictures from Monday night.

The show was so much fun.  Our night, the guest was Seth Rogen and he brought a clip of his upcoming film, This Is the End, releasing in June.  He was hilarious and told some pretty great stories.  You can catch the trailer for the movie here.   I laugh every time I watch it.

There was one bit where Conan had a Georgia Peach fight with a Florida Orange... let's just say he was kissing up to his GA crowd.  However, when he put on a UGA shirt, he was booed - so that made up for making fun of FL.

Team COCO!!

Four Ingredient Pancakes

Sunday morning we woke up to a very cold Atlanta morning.  We had one injured dog (Goose cut his paw, just like a puppy) and neither of us were really in the mood to do much in terms of cooking.  I headed to the kitchen to whip up a healthy, quick breakfast.  I could have gone with eggs, but that seemed predictable, so pancakes it was.

I remembered seeing a recipe for Greek Yogurt Pancakes from Julie of the blog Peanut Butter Fingers.  Click here for that recipe.  I assumed that the recipe on the blog was for one so I doubled it for the two of us, we could always freeze leftovers.

I used:
4 egg whites
12 oz of fat free Greek Yogurt
1.5 cups of old fashioned oats
3 strawberries

Pancakes were also a great excuse to use my immersion blender.  Every time I use it I forget how much I love it.  I blended the ingredients and then cooked like you would any other pancakes.  The mix will be thick, make sure you have your temp right on the stove

I could have used a couple more strawberries but ours looked pretty bad so I went with what I had.

They were so good and so easy!  And with those ingredients, you know they were healthy, too.  (Ignore the maple syrup that I poured all over mine!)

Next time I'll try with some bananas and blueberries.  Really, the possibilities are endless.

It was a Sunday morning, I have no photographic evidence of this breakfast.  Sorry!

Sunburst Mirror using Shims

I thought I'd have so much more time to craft and clean the house and basically fill my time with fun stuff after the wedding and holidays past.  Boy, I was wrong!  We have been so incredibly busy the past few months I haven't really had too much time around the house to be crafty.

We did have a cold weekend a few weeks back and I decided it was time to make something for above our bed.  It was a huge empty, white space that was in desperate need of some pop of color.

The mirror is perfect for the space

Of course I turned to Pinterest and was drawn to the many Sunburst Mirrors out there.  Like this one and this one and this one.  Ultimately I was drawn to this one from Tonya of the Love Of Family & Home blog.

I gathered all of my supplies:

• 3 packages of shims from The Home Depot (I only used 2)
• Gorilla Glue Wood Glue, you'll need a lot
• Craft Paint
• Circular picture frame with hanging hook already in place
• 5" mirror
• Sandpaper

Some bloggers have noted using a scrap piece of plywood and a picture framing hook instead of the picture frame and to be honest that was my plan, but I found a 12 inch circular picture frame at Michael's for $3 and grabbed it.  

My first step was to go through the packages of shims and find all the pretty ones.  You'll know what I mean.  You want some uniformity across the shims, so make sure you pull out the ones that look the best and are the strongest.  Once you have all of the shims, it's time to sand them down.  You can probably skip this step, but I wanted to make sure I didn't have random wood splinters sticking off of some of the shims.  It will take 10 minutes to sand them, just do it.  Also, if you're going to attach your hanging kit to the back of your scrap plywood, do it now.  Don't wait until the shims are glued down!  Once those babies are attached, it is very difficult to move around.  

Painting and gluing begins

Once everything was sanded, I laid out the pattern that I wanted for the sunburst.  There are so many ways you can go with this, do what makes you happy.  I chose to lay my shims flat, others have made a design with the shims on their side.  Be creative.  When you have your layout worked out, with a light pencil, mark your layers if you're like me and did two layers with different colors.  This keeps everything organized when it's time to paint.  

I painted each of my shims their appropriate color (leaving the backside unpainted) and let them dry overnight.  I probably didn't need to wait that long, but I wanted to be sure the wood glue would have no problem sticking.  I would have also painted my picture frame (or plywood) the color of the bottom layer, but I didn't.  Learn from me.  Do it.  

When the paint was dry, it was time to glue.  I used Gorilla Glue Wood Glue and I wasn't shy about how much I used.  I put a generous amount on the back of each shim and placed them down on the picture frame.  To make sure they stayed in place and that the glue held them down with no chance of them falling onto our faces in the middle of the night I put a scrap piece of paper on top of the shims where they were glued down and then put the two heaviest, thickest books I had on top.  I left them there over night.  I wanted those suckers to stay.  In the morning, I removed the books and let the glue dry the rest of the day while I was at work.  The following night it was time to add the 2nd layer.  Because these overlapped I only did 3-4 of these at a time.  Same process - generous amounts of wood glue, placed on the picture frame, held down with heavy books overnight.  I wasn't planning on the project taking a week, but it did.  

Once all the shims were in place and there is no chance that they're coming off, attach the mirror.  Same process - lots of wood glue, heavy books overnight.  I actually left the books on the mirror for a full 24 hours, just to be safe.  

When it was ready to go Stephen and I measured and hung it on the wall!  (Shhh - it may have taken 3 time to get it right, but all evidence is hidden.)  I love it.  Even the small mirror makes such a difference in the room, reflecting the light from the window.  The finished project is 3.5' to 4' across, not a small piece of art.  Yours will depend on how you place your shims, so make sure you have enough space and measure while you're laying it all out in the beginning.  

While I was taking pictures of the mirror on the wall, Mabel wanted to get in on the action.  I saw her coming towards the bed while I was taking pictures and I waited to see what she was going to do.  

Classic photobomb.  She jumped up on the bed, right in front of me and sat there.  I love it.  She knew something other than her had my attention and she was jealous.  I love that pup.

Bon Jovi at Philips Arena

I'm not the biggest Bon Jovi fan out there, but I enjoy some 80s and 90s rock every now and then.  When some tickets showed up at work and nobody else took them, I jumped on them and invited 3 ladies I knew would have a great time with me.

Jon Bon Jovi turns 51 on Saturday, March 2.  The man still puts on an amazing show.  He dances and runs around the stage the entire set.  I'm not sure I could keep up that enthusiasm for two hours and I'm 20 years younger than he is.

I'm not one for pictures during a concert because I'd much rather enjoy the show than spend time fumbling with my camera so I don't have any shots of them in action.  Here is the set list, pretty long - 26 songs!

Source: Robb D. Cohen/ www.RobbsPhotos.com via accessatlanta.com

About one minute into I'll Be There for You something crazy happened with the speakers and everyone stopped playing.  Richie even ducked and joked that it sounded like they were being shot at.  Being the professionals that they are they picked up at the first verse as if nothing happened.  After the song ended Jon said, "At least now you know we aren't using a tape."  I have no idea what the noise could have been.  Keep on rocking Jon.