Why I Didn't Love the Ocean

This is the story of why I don't love the beach, and why it's ok.

This fall Andrew and I found that I had a random, unplanned chunk of days off so we booked a trip to the ocean. I had been eyeing this golf resort that had popped up on Groupon several times and lo and behold as we decided to go, a deal popped up! I was hoping that the resort would be like our beloved Sunriver Resort but at the beach. The place we stayed was nice, but it was at the beach, and therein lies the problem.
Apparently, I am not a beach person.
We got there and I realized that there was not a whole lot of shopping to be had. Blast. Our room was tucked up in the trees of an OLD resort. The resort (I use the term resort loosely) was old, but nice enough. We could easily walk to a private beach. The golf course ran right through the resort grounds. This all sounds like a recipe for success. But we had planned to stay for 4 nights. After the first night I was literally going stir-crazy. Apparently the beach involves a lot of sitting and relaxing. Generally when Campbell and I find ourselves in said "sitting and relaxing" situations, we get bonky. He played golf, which was great, in that time I: checked out every book store in town (epic failure), went to the beach, attended the farmer's market (which was in fact pirate themed that week and made for some decent people watching) and worked out. At night we watched a fair amount of football. Now I enjoy watching football with Campbell, but I enjoy watching it while I am doing something else around the house: baking, making dinner, etc. Sitting and watching the game is hard. Until the man Campbell picked for his Fantasy Football team scores a touchdown and does this fantastic little salsa number, that is NOT hard.
Here's the thing. I wanted to go home. We have literally been on the run all summer and into the fall and I felt like we had had very little time together at home. I felt like a huge jerk for wanting to be home when I could be on vacation. Who am I? Oh yes, that's right, a giant homebody who likes nothing better than downtime at home with my husband. But for some reason, I really beat myself up over this. For days. In the end we only ended up leaving one day early and had a good time in the meantime but this trip made me crazy. Being a homebody is something that I always try and talk myself out of, but deep, deep down, in the longings of my soul, I am happiest, at home. Part of this trip was learning to accept every part of who I am. Sometimes, it's hard.
We laughed a lot and thankfully, (God bless this man!), Andrew had similar feelings about the beach as I did. Not our thing. Also, I have an incredibly laid back husband who just kept laughing and saying, "Well, we learned something about ourselves." I am so thankful that he always sees the good! I'm pretty sure people thought we were nuts for not liking the beach. Oh well. ;)

Stephanie Comes to the Great Pacific Northwest

A few weeks ago The Best, Stephanie, came up for a much needed visit. Portland was on the agenda.  Naomi graciously offered to be our host. Two Bests in the same weekend. I was in heaven! When Keeno arrived, we stopped at the house to introduce her to A and E and stopped and Mom and Dad's so she could hug Mama Labberton and then off to Portland we went. 

It was so nice to be able to talk in person, face to face, shoulder to shoulder. It felt so refreshing to be able to really get into deep conversation and hash this life, this journey, out. Just being in the car together for hours was dreamy. I know how silly it sounds, but just the opportunity to sit and talk with this lady is a gift. It felt good to discuss what we are hoping, fearing, dreaming, feeling limited by. We always talk about all of these things, but to be able to share them in person with no limits on our time was the best.

We had all kinds of fun. We laughed. A lot. We shopped, drank more coffee than was probably safe, people watched, ate amazing meals, almost got knived, saw a man's bare butt donning only a thong and chaps. We explored Saturday Market, enjoyed the view from Naomi's house, savored the rain, took the bus like natives, got to worship together, found the cutest parking garage ever, drank delicious brews and simply enjoyed togetherness. It was lovely. 

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Right off the plane! SO excited.

Mother's Bistro. Amen.

Nomes and I. 

Rain coats in full effect.

Bussin' it, like a boss.

Getting me addicted to cappuccinos...

Amazing desserts.

More cappuccino. 

Morning faces.

Shopping success.

We also did a little wine tasting. There will be another post on that. 

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Magical Miles : Mom's First Half Marathon

Mom announced that she would like to run the Walt Disney World Half Marathon. Ok! Cool! Great! However, my mom is not a runner. I repeat, NOT a runner. That being said, my mom is incredibly fit for her age and maintains good physical health. She has done Bloomsday, a local 12km foot race numerous times and has done well and enjoyed it. However, the half marathon seemed like a bit of a wild hair. Yet, she persisted, she wanted to run this race! A Disney race! A long Disney race! She was by no means going to be talked into the 5k, no ma'am, half marathon or bust. So, we decided to go for it.
We scheduled a trip.
We paid our admission fee.
We were committed to this race.
Training began.

Training was rough at times because I work nights. Mom was not thrilled about running on her own and really, it was something that we needed to do together. At one point I was really stressed out and told Mom that I felt like I was letting her down by not running with her often enough due to my wacky schedule. She calmly said, "We are doing our best." She was not about to get stressed the way I was stressed. She was working hard and she knew that in the end it would be enough.

We landed in Orlando having prepared to run/walk this race. We had a few days to get acclimated to the weather before we were going to have to run in it. Of course, these days were spend walking our tootsies off at the parks! Duh! The race has a 15 minute/mile pace requirement. You have to be able to meet that speed or you risk being picked up and vaned back to the finish line. Mom and I were not sure how far in front of that mark we would be as we trained for a walk/run pace of near 15 minute miles. Mom proudly announced that if she spotted the sweeper van at any point during the race she would proceed to sprint in front of it so they could not catch her. !!!

Two days before race day we picked up our packets and it felt real, it was real. This was going to happen. Like it or not, ready or not, we were going to be at the starting line of the Walt Disney World 20th Anniversary Half Marathon. And then bam. Sick. Laid out. Like body-aches-all-over kind of sick. Like I-really-just-want-my-own-bed sick. So I took the day before and I slept. At this point, I was scared to death. Images of Mom having to out sprint the doomed pick-up van, and me, who was supposed to be encouraging her, dragging behind, had me intimidated.

Not Mom though! She just said, "There's no turning back now! I haven't done this distance so I really don't know what to be nervous for!" I asked lots of girlfriends to pray that I could scrape the energy together to get through this race. (Thank you ladies! You girls rock and your encouragement meant so, so much!!!) I was so worried that I would let Mom down. She had worked so hard and I wanted to do this together!

So morning of, we woke up to a 2:45 am alarm and left the condo by 3:30. We were off and I was alive! I felt so much better compared to the day before! I was so thankful! And now...Now, I was pumped!!!

Our goal was to run the race in under 4 hours give or take. Fireworks kicked the race off and we ran. Mom ran farther than I thought she would, she just kept going! I was so proud! We walked and we ran out of Epcot, down World Drive, under the Seven Seas Lagoon and all through the Magic Kingdom. The race ends where it began at Epcot. The temperature was a record high for the area, fabulous. We were drenched. It's so humid and hot and then you're running your booty off, man! I would tell Mom "Ok, we will run until X point," and off she'd go. By the end she was getting feisty with me. She wouldn't start to run to a point until I could prove that I could actually see it...luckily, Orlando is a pretty flat place and you can see a long way ;)

We ended up finishing the race in 3 hours and 1 minute and I could not have been more proud of Mom at that moment! It was such an amazing feeling to have finished it, and to have done it together! Do not sell yourself short! If there is something you are wishing you could accomplish but think you can't, now is your time! Finishing a half marathon is cool. But, finishing a half marathon when you always doubted that you could ever complete that distance brings a well-earned pride. And a metal to boot!

Race Day! 3:30 am.

Seeing Dad and Andrew watching us was so exciting! It was so fun to be looking for them at different places on the course. 

No the most flattering picture but this was Main Street, my favorite part of the race.

Isn't Mom beautiful? Even at mile 5! 

So that is the story of Mom's First Half-Marathon. Hope it inspires you to get out and try something you never thought you could do!