Once apon a time..

There were two sleeping princesses....

with their alarm set for 3:00 a.m. but at 2:55 a.m. Kelley and I both awake to check the time.. I just hop out of bed and begin to get ready, nerves and excitement have overcome me since Thursday night and sleep is just not an option until this is all over..

My body is already sore... the 13 hour day, 3 theme parks, ESPN race expo, and that especially strong margarita in Mexico followed by a Pilsner in Germany (aka.. Epcot) was too much for my body... And the 3 hours of sleep left adrenaline the only thing carrying me around the brightly decorated hotel room.. which i now see as a blessing. I pull on my perfectly planned and themed outfit, gathered our race belongings and headed out into the freezing cold weather... Sun up is not for another 3 hours and the towel we stole is not going to be enough to keep warm.

When we head out the door princesses are everywhere... and they are all eating... oops! Kelley gets into line for the bus and I head back to get us some food! Traffic on the way to Epcot is horrible.. Lanes are already shut down and there are tons of people coming from Disney Resorts as well as local hotels. I am so thankful that we stayed at a Disney Resort and transportation was provided for us. We finally arrive at the big Epcot ball and head off the bus into a sea of people. And we walk, and walk and walk... We head to bag check where we run into Emma and her mom.. A quick hello and we will catch up with her at our corral...

We stop by the medical tent where I sample some bio- freeze on my foot, and pop some Tylenol... The pain is severe and I am more than scared at this point. We are then forced to follow the crowd which seems to be heading to a balloon in the sky.. Little did we know that we are venturing on a good 20 minute hike to the Corrals... Once we find G, we have a seat and rest our feet while listening to the entertainment of Jeff Galloway, Miss USA, experienced runners and a MC... Music is blasting and the vibe is more powerful than I ever imagined.

Hands over our hearts for the National Anthem and then the corrals begin... A heads off with fireworks, then B... next thing we know G is off and there is NO turning back as we shuffle over the sensor to activate our chips.

Mile 1 - heads out of the parking lot and onto a highway ramp heading towards Magic Kingdom, since the road narrows a cluster of walkers, slow runners, fast runners trying to pass and beeps of pacers is a nuisance... never mind the pain taking over my foot and the battle between pain and determination in my mind.

Mile 2 approaches more quickly than I thought.. the 3/2 system that we were most comfortable with is the perfect pace. We talk about how we could push ourselves to do a 4/2 but wise Kelley reminds all the runners that "Its not a sprint, its a marathon." We get our first taste of entertainment as we past iconic Disney men like Tarzan and Aladdin. We then decide that lines are long for pictures and we will only stop for Ariel and Aurora.

Mile 3 comes and goes... We are entering the Magic Kingdom... Parking lot... We are getting there. We go through the Ticket and Transportation area, passing the resorts and head around back to a side entrance under a bridge. We pass by Space Mountain and I am reminded that despite all the pain my body is in, I wouldn't trade out any of the memories from the day before... At this point the pain in my foot begins to disappear... There are people everywhere cheering on their princesses and every princess passing along.. Emotion is starting to overcome me and I just pray I finish the race before bursting into tears.. I now realize that this little running venture I began a year and a half ago is now bigger than I can even understand.

I have no sense of mileage at the point.. I remember discussing check points of 4 and 5 by I am consumed by the bigger picture at the point. We are approaching Main Street, we make a right and the castle comes into our view.. There it is.. I left Kelley run ahead for a photo opt and she does the same to me.... I have goosey's covering me from head to toe! The biggest treat of this trip is now visible but I know we are only around mile 4 and we run through the castle at mile 6 so we have some work to do. We head through tomorrow land, in it, around it and back out of it.

We come back around to the back of the castle and we are about to head through. I heard that there were trumpets playing but to be honest I cant remember... We run through and  back out.. How amazing.. How freaking amazing..

We then take off to the area where the Electric Parade traveled the night before passing Buzz and Jessie from Toy Story and then before I know it we are headed out of the Magic Kingdom and into the service area where we saw Aurora.. We waited in line for her.. 15+ plus minutes of watching runners pass us by.. We also were near the trash area smelling the stinky trash each time the wind blew. It was worth it all...

We leave the park and pass by a golf course where Daffy Duck is out for a round.. We come up to the half way point which is marked for everyone to see "Halfway point, time to get Stronger"... Music is playing the Kelly Clarkson song Stronger and it definitely helps push you on as you transition from the excitement of the castle to the scariness that is the next 6.55 miles.

Right around mile 9 the pain was almost unbearable and we decided to walk a mile.. This mile was for my dad and watching him deal with pain I knew I needed to take time to relieve some of the pressure. At this point each time my left shoe impounded the ground, I was unsure if it could actually hold up my body.. at this point, I was scared. By the time we reached mile 10, my heart wanted to run so badly! Unfortunately here on out I could not run as consistent as I did the first 9 miles and I was upset but these miles were for my mom, Daniel and Oliver and as I love them more than anything I needed to push through.

Mile 10-13 had the most hills... nothing like Atlanta hills where Kelley and I trained but hills toward the end were kind of mean. We came up one of Disney roads and turned onto an off ramp that lead up to a bridge.. The slant and hill made it unsteady and people left and right were on the sides of the road dealing with their own aches and pain... I began a run with right foot, walk with left foot that kept up pace with Kelley's jog... And as we reached the top of the bridge I could see that we were far from the end... Rain starts very lightly and then gets harder and harder into a full drizzle... I am miserable at this point and then we see it..

The entrance to Epcot.. Since we spent the day at Epcot yesterday I am happy because I know how much more to expect... We enter the park, begin our trek around the large ball, down to the entrance of the around the world and back out... its soo close.. we take it a little easy in here to prepare for the last stretch... we pass a Gospel choir, a lady on a wheel chair who was holding a sign that she is a complete stranger who is proud of us and the end is in sight, the photographers strategically placed to get the perfect shots... We stop to take a quick picture at the 13 mile sign and before we know it....

We are crossing over the finish line... We did it... All the pain, training, dreaming, planning, money, and commitment put forth for the past 7 months worth every ounce... Pride and emotions swept over me and of course I finally let the tears fall for a few seconds. I am truly amazed and experiencing a runners high unlike any other.

We head to medical and get ice and rest for a min... then we step out in front of the step and repeat and head to get post race snacks which are in a box that reads “Congratulations Princess! Your 13.1 mile royal quest was an inspiration to the entire kingdom,”.... wow.. even the snack box is going to make me cry.

This race was more meaningful than I ever anticipated that July day when we signed up not seriously knowing what we were getting ourselves into... little did we know that just like the Disney movies..

This is my fairytale!!

FB 02/28

                                                       Lovebirds shopping at Disney store.

Valentine's 2012.....

Fell on a Tuesday so we were both off... We didn't do anything special or fancy and i thought it was great.. I spent the day playing with my two boys, making cards for the grandma's and hand delivering them to each. We got our wedding bands dipped and now they are sparkling and we went out to dinner at Engine 11 in Atlanta.. Oliver went to his school where the youth group were doing childcare for charitable donations to which we donated 10 dollars and some homemade brownies for the kids and youth group teens. And for my gift? I got the prettiest silver watch with a HUGE face on it. :)

Valentine's Day was - Simple, Happy, Fun - quite like our marriage ;)

Over due on Potty Training..

How do you know you are over due on potty training?

When the child is outside playing alone (cause they are a "BIG football player") and they yell in doors to their grandma,

"Hey Am-ma, come change my diaper, it STINKS!"

(this happened on 2/24)

FB 02/27

Looks like the pain from saturdays 13 hour and 3 parks was more than a sore foot. Getting xrays done and then a boot! :( — at Gwinnett Medical Center

FB 02/27

Sweet Alan taping up my swollen and bruised foot. Heading to get an xray soon.

FB 02/26

I am beyond PROUD to say that I have successfully completed a half marathon! Crazy. This entire experience was more than amazing.