Archive | 6:03 pm

Fourth of July Through the Years

4 Jul

My mom recently brought to my attention that I’m usually traveling on Fourth of July, so I thought I’d share some of my Independence Day memories with you.

In 2006, my boyfriend (at the time) and I traveled to Killington, Vermont for the weekend.

We did some hiking.

 

In 2007, we visited his sister and sister’s boyfriend in Chicago where we did some sight-seeing at the aquarium and enjoyed some time on Lake Michigan on their jet skiis.

I don’t remember much of July 4th, 2008 because I was going through a break-up, but I ran the Beachpaper Firecracker 5K in 2009 and PRed! I watched the Rehoboth Beach fireworks that year with my friend Ellen.

In 2010, I met Jeff in Jacksonville where his sister and sister’s fiance are living now. Time for more jet ski fun!

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And now this year, I’m in Orlando!

The Move

4 Jul

First of all, thank you so much for all of the congratulatory messages! I loved reading all of them on my way down I-95!

My move to Orlando came really early Saturday morning. My alarm went off at 3:30am! The cars and truck were already packed, so all I needed to do was shower and pack my snacks. We were on the road by 4:15.

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We made it to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge just as the sun was rising. So pretty!

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And then through Virginia

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But we got stuck in traffic for little over an hour near Quantico where my Behavior Analysis Unit friends live (Criminal Minds, duh).

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Honk if you love Jesus!

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Next was North Carolina

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where I made it my mission to find a Starbucks because my energy was quickly fading, and I still had to make it to Jacksonsville, Florida. Thanks to my Starbucks iPhone app, I found one!

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I got an iced Skinny Vanilla Latte and a turkey bacon and egg sandwich, and I nibbled on some strawberries I already had in the car.

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This is also where the temperature reared its ugly head!

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I didn’t take a picture of the South Carolina state line sign because I was too busy staring at South of the Border! This place is fabulously gaudy! Gotta love it.

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We made it to Georgia

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and then decided to cut our first day short and stay in Savannah. We had spent 12.5 hours on the road, and this normally would have put us in Jacksonville, but the traffic in Virginia really slowed us down. Unfortunately, due to the holiday weekend and no reservations, we were stuck with a Howard Johnson where I felt like I was on the set of a thriller movie. My phone would ring, and no one would be there. The lights flickered. It was just weird and scary, but it was just one night. My fabulosity took a hit that night :)

We were up and on the road on Sunday around 7:15. The road was almost empty!

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But I still looked like a haggard mess.

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“Mom, are we there yet?”

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It was sometime around 9 when I finally saw the sign for Florida!

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I always love riding through Jacksonville. It’s so pretty!

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About an hour and a half after that, I finally saw signs for I-4 and Orlando!

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By noon, we were checking in to our hotel and heading over to Celebration for some lunch!

(this is the town sign. I didn’t get close enough)

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We parked near the downtown area and walked over to the Market Street Cafe.

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I ordered the tuna salad in a pita. Very delicious, but I think I would have added slices of cucumber.

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We walked around the Farmers Market for a little while. I simply cannot even wait to walk down to the Farmers Market every Sunday!

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My keys were being held at Remax, which was a short walk from the Farmers Market. I love how they set up their front porch area!

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I was holding keys to my own place in Celebration, Florida! Oh, the excitement! I almost cried, but I held back. It was then time to go check it out. I was very apprehensive because it was a filthy mess the last time I saw it. Luckily, it shined up like a brand new penny!

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Would you like a tour?

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The kitchen, dining room, and living area is all one big space. Love it!

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The master is right off of the living room.

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With a big walk-in closet

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And master bathroom

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The laundry area, guest bath, and second bedroom (my office) is off of the kitchen.

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I was going to paint it a light blue, but after driving for so long, unpacking my Jeep and mom’s Jeep, and thinking about unpacking everything else, the thought of painting exhausted me. It might be painted later. We’ll see.

After checking out the apartment and unpacking the Jeeps, we thoroughly enjoyed a relaxing dip in the pool. It’s circular and has zero-entry. Me gusta.

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It was 7:45 before we decided to head over to Disney’s Yacht and Beach Club Resorts for dinner and dessert! It only took us 5 minutes before we saw the Disney entrance. My dad was amazed that I would be living so close!

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We checked out Beaches and Cream for dinner, but the wait was too long, so we decided on the Beach Club’s Marketplace to pick up a few sandwiches, and I had a BBQ Chicken Flatbread. Pretty tasty! Since Epcot’s fireworks were scheduled to start 15 minutes later, we grabbed some chairs by the water and waited for them to start. The view from our chairs was just so pretty! While sitting there, we were able to watch Epcot’s Illimunations and Hollywood Studios’ Fantasmic. Perfect!

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(I need a tripod to take nighttime pictures. I know this)

After the shows were over, we decided to go back to Beaches and Cream for take-out. We all got one scoop of ice cream each.

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Waffle cone tables.. hehehe :)

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So far, this morning (Fourth of July) has included laying around and eating breakfast.

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The continental breakfast is a basket of pastries

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so we each added extra. I got one egg, toast, and a side of sausage.

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Today’s plan includes more laying around poolside and an evening in Celebration for a “Flashback 4th of July” complete with an 80s prom and live music.

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Have a happy Fourth!

A Tale of a Beginner Runner’s 5K Training

4 Jul

Happy Fourth of July! Today, the plan is to completely relax and do whatever our little hearts desire!

Filling in today is the one and only Gwen Guerke, who has a weekly column titled “Tell Gwen” in the Delaware State News. I feel so honored to have her write a guest post today! I can usually find her at the starting line at every local 5K. I’ll never forget the time I asked her what she was listening to as she was dancing right at the starting line, and she said “Justin Timberlake”. She usually wins her age group, and she’s also a yoga teacher! She’s simply awesome! Here is her story of how a friend of hers asked her for help training for her very first 5K at 50!

Sometime in March, I think it was, my friend Jo Facebooked me that she wanted to run her first 5K. She wanted to know if I would help her train.

No problem, I said.

A little about Jo without giving up too much: when she turned 50 in February, she hired a personal trainer with the traditional goals in mind. Lose weight and get into shape.

She lost more than 20 pounds, then raised the bar. She wanted to run a 5K.

Isn’t that great?

When I stopped to think about it, I really had to wonder “Why me?”

I’m not young or speedy, nor am I thin like the girls on the cover of “Runners World.”

However, I’ve finished my share of 5K races. I never ran at all until I was 51 years old. Don’t ask how many races I’ve run because I never kept track. I’ve completed two marathons, at least a half dozen half marathons, several 10-milers. I’ve run on trails and on the road. I run whether it’s July or January.

OK, so I’ve logged lots of miles and I’m pretty good in the endurance department. No speed. I’ve had my share of minor overuse running injuries, and as a result I know the chore of having to start conditioning all over again.

I’m a journalist, but I don’t keep running logs or records, so my experience training with Jo is anecdotal and relying on memory.

I figured I’d give it a go, and if she stuck with it, so would I. From my experience, getting out there and doing the first mile is the hardest part of any run, training or race day. Also sometimes people decide they think they want to run, but when they discover it’s hard work, they change their minds.

Initially, I suggested Jo wear good running shoes and buy a decent sports bra. The rest of running attire becomes through trial and error, especially in the spring and fall when the weather is variable and unpredictable. There’s also the issue of deciding how much you want to spend.

We started by doing intervals, beginning with a warm-up walk. I told her to tell me if she was in true pain. We’d stop. We’d talk through the discomfort of getting started.

So off we went along the streets of downtown Milford. Walking for 5 minutes, then slow jogging for 5.

Jo was, and still is, great. She doesn’t complain, and we carry on a conversation while training. It’s a distraction, and that’s OK because we are usually training from 45 minutes to an hour.

Since I don’t have a Garmin that measures miles or heart rate, I do the intervals by minutes using my unsophisticated Timex sports watch.

A couple of times our training hour has been just walking. When the heat index was something like 105 degrees, we walked.

Her goal is to run the Delaware Hospice on July 13 right here in Milford. I’m sure she’ll do well. The goal is completion. We haven’t talked about a time or a strategy per mile or pacing.

We’ve got about a week before the race, so we will be running more and walking less. We will need to talk about some other race stuff, like is it OK to walk and what about the water stops and how to start and finish strong.

We’re building confidence, and we’re learning the joy of participating. And I hope Jo will want to do another 5K after this one.

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Thank you so much, Gwen, for a trainer perspective on running! Although I will not be there for the Delaware Hospice 5K, I will anxiously waiting to hear how you both did. And Jo, I’m so proud of you!

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