The Weekend Report

I had a pretty good weekend this week, as it is was one of the first weekends I finally started to feel a bit better, have a little energy, and not be in pain post excess skin removal surgery (I really need to do post all about that, since I haven't had an easy go at it, at all).

Adam left early Saturday morning with Linkee to go spend Thanksgiving with his family in Wisconsin. It's a long story, as to why I'm not going. But no one need worry about me, since I will be spending it with some friends. But I will miss him dearly. 

On Saturday, my friend Lark and I had made a date to go to the Gingerbread Market in Huntsville, which was a big, Christmas shopping marketplace. And it was such an enjoyable morning. First of all, every time Lark and I get together we talk a million miles a minute and seem to have so much to catch up on.

Second of all, the market was big and had such cute stuff.

I ended up buying two wooden door hangers. I'm kind of in love with cotton fields, and I thought the cotton ball that said, "Welcome," is so very perfect for fall. And then I got the cute fox for the Winter months. 

We both got these Mad Scientist candles. What was so interesting about them is once the wax burns, you can blow out the candle, and then use the wax as a lotion! So cool. 

We of course got some treats. There was the always delicious Piper & Leaf tea in Cherry Christmas flavor. I also got this super moist and creamy Pecan Praline bundt cake. Soo amazing.

The outing wore me out for sure, and I spent the rest of Saturday napping.

Sunday, I managed to get a little crafting done which felt good, as I haven't had much energy to spare lately. I made a page for my November Project Life spreads. I love the Homespun studio calico kit sooo much.

I also started on my 2018 "All About My Selfie" album. I made a title page, and I made a page about my goals for 2018.

Some where between all that, I watched a million classic episodes of Survivor, stayed up way too late, and cleaned up my craft room.

I have a little bit of Sunday night blahs. But I'm happy to have a really short work week, and I'm ready for Thanksgiving.

Love,

B

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Running Ragnar Great River

As soon as I finished my Tennessee Ragnar, I knew I wanted to do another one. One of the women on my first Ragnar team, told me they had spots left on her Ragnar Great River Team, which is a relay from Winona, Wisconsin, to Minneapolis, Minnesota, that follows the Mississippi River. Since Adam has family and friends in that area, it seemed like a perfect opportunity to take a little trip together. I could run the race, and he could visit with his people. 

We drove from Alabama to Wisconsin over two days, spending the first night in Champaign, Illinois.  The second night Adam dropped me off in Winona to spend the night with my team, and he went on to Minneapolis to hang out with friends.

I was nervous as I didn't know anyone on the team but one other person, who would be in the other van. But I bonded with my team, by going to dinner with them the night before the race. Everyone seemed so nice, and I started to relax a little. 

We (Van 1) got up bright and early to head down to the start line. It was a beautiful venue on the river bank. Once our first runner was off, we started the process of leap froggin' with our runners to get to the next exchange point.

I was  runner number 4, and my first leg was 6.6 miles. I was happy when I took off to find that my pace was right where I predicted it to be. My leg ran by the riverbank and also through beautiful farmland. And I snapped a few pictures as I went.

I was happy when I finished my leg, and after all our runners had finished their first legs, we had some downtime as Van 2 was out running.

We stopped at a little restaurant called The Pickle Factory for lunch, and we then headed to our next exchange point in Stockholm, Wisconsin. We were there a few hours waiting for Van 2 to catch up with us.

Stockholm was this itty bitty town with the cutest little shops. I took time to explore them before catching a quick van nap. This exchange spot also had s'mores. I hadn't had a s'more in so long, and it felt like such a treat. 

It was dusk when Van 1 set out again. By the time it was my turn to run, it was pitch dark. My second leg was a little over 3 miles. I started on a big hill, which gassed me for a little bit, before I could calm my breathing. This leg was so dark at times, that I would feel a little nervous until I spotted another runner or van. 

At one point, I grew concerned because it seemed that a directional sign was leading us to run through a corn field. Another runner behind me was just as perplexed, we talked it over, but we decided to keep going straight (which was correct). I was so happy when I saw the lights and orange cones of the exchange point, since I was worried I had taken a wrong turn, which is my biggest fear during these events.

After our 2nd legs were complete, all my vanmates spread out where ever they could find a place, and we all tried to catch a couple of hours of shut eye. Although I never slept too deep, and I woke often, it was better than nothing.

As the sun rose, it was time for us in Van 1, to complete our third and final legs. Day 2 was noticeably hotter than the day before, so I was happy we got to run before the hottest part of the day. My last leg was my shortest, at a little over 2 miles. It was definitely more of an urban route than my last two runs, as we inched closer to Minneapolis. 

Once our entire van was through running for the day, we had breakfast at IHOP, as van 2 was completing their last set of runs. We took this pic to tease van 2, as earlier in the trip they had posted a picture of their selves eating a meal, but they had no food in front of them (obviously they were waiting for their food). So we said at least we all could afford our breakfast!

The finish line was in a park near the University of Minnesota. We had about two hours to kill until all our team would meet up at the finish line. Adam got to the park to hang out with everyone while we waited. We had blankets, and we just laid out under some shady trees to stay cool.

Finally our last teammate rounded the corner, and we were able to run across the finish line together.  It was another great Ragnar experience. 

Even though I was extremely tired (and probably smelly), I still wanted to hang out a little with Adam at the Mall of America after the race. I had visited there a long time ago (maybe 15 years ago), and I really wanted to go back. We did a little shopping, and we had dinner at the Melt Shop in the food court.

The next morning I caught a flight home, and I picked up my Linky from my mom's house, which he had been staying with (terrorizing her pet rabbit). Adam stayed on in Wisconsin for another week, visiting his family, before driving home.


It was a quick but fun trip all in all. And I'm still down for another Ragnar!

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Vegas Solo Yolo Trip: Part 2

During my 21st birthday trip to Vegas, somehow I didn't make it down to Vegas sign. And I know it's touristy and cheesy, but I just had to go.  It was really fun to see something you see in pictures and movies all the time. And in true tourist form, I wore my Britney Spears t-shirt, I had pre-bought before the concert.

After seeing the sign, I walked down to the beautiful Venetian hotel to visit Carlo's bakery. I used to watch the show Cake Boss all the time, and their pastries just looked so good! I was happy to find out they had a location in Vegas. I got two of their specialties, the cannolis and the lobster tail. Both desserts were amazing. But the cannolis rocked my socks off!

I really wanted to pamper myself this trip. So I booked myself a day bed at the pool. The adults only pool, which made me super happy, no noisy kids. I adore kids, but I don't like to be surrounded by them on vacation.  And boy oh boy, did I love hanging at the pool. I was there a total of four hours, and the waitress just kept bringing me frozen drinks. It was over 101 degrees, so I took frequent dips in the pool. And I loved swimming, surrounded  by high rises!

When I was done at the pool, I took the most glorious nap, before heading down to the mall in the hotel, where I had booked a blow out with drybar. I've always wanted to go to one of these. I loved the yellow decorative touches, and all their products smell so good. I even ended taking some products home with me. They brought me cocktails, while chick flicks played on the Tvs, as they did my hair. I loved my blow out, nice and straight with some wavy touches, and the style lasted so long. I felt pretty.

I was so excited when the concert rolled around. They had costumes on display from some of Britney's most iconic music videos. I also got a Pina Coloda in a souvenir cup which I ended up keeping, and I turned it into a vase for faux flowers in the craft room. 

The show was amazing, and I had excellent seats. I danced throughout the whole concert. She was just pure fun and it was electric. I was so glad I went, and it just made the whole trip. I would even go again, if someone would fly me out here. 

Below is a video from the concert:

I also scrap-booked this whole trip using the Project Life app on the plane, and I even had the print order submitted an hour after I arrived home. I mod podged memorabilia from the trip at the beginning and end of the album. Here is a little video flip through of the album:

The trip was everything I hoped it would be and a perfect weekend getaway. I'm looking forward to more solo trips in my future.

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Ragnar Relay Tennessee

So last weekend I completed a Ragnar Relay in Tennessee. A ragnar is a 200 mileish relay race. It takes place over 2 days and 1 night. You have a team of 12 people (in two vans), and someone from the team is always running. Every runner has 3 different runs (ours were about 12 hours apart).

I don't know when I first heard about the Ragnar relay, maybe a year ago? But it was one of those things that filed itself away in my brain, as something I might want to do one day. And a few months ago, I decided to just go for it. 

But here is the catch, I didn't know anyone who would be willing to do this race with me. And I can be incredibly shy and socially anxious at times. So it was with much trepidation, I asked on a facebook group to join a team. And before I knew it, I was on a team with 11 runners I didn't  know called Run Hit Wonder. 

 

I was super excited, and then as it got closer I was super scared. I had so many fears. What if  I didn't get along with the people on my team? What if they were such better runners than me, that I was a disappointment?

So many insecurities.

Wednesday night I stayed up late packing, which was no easy chore. I had never attended an event like this before. I needed several different pairs of running clothes, lounge clothes, snacks, and all the other stuff that comes with running.

Link (he is such a good traveler), Adam, and I left for Chattanooga when I finished work on Thursday night. Since Thursday is my late day anyway (and we were traveling into the Eastern time zone) , we did not get to the hotel till about 11:30. I needed to be up at 3:30, I was finally drifting off to sleep around midnight, when I heard a screeching noise.

It was the fire alarm. 

Which led to me standing outside in the COLD for 45 minutes, while fire fighters swept the whole building. Which led me to not falling asleep till 1:30, so I got  two full hours of sleep before starting my big, stressful adventure, which was not optimal. 

Around 4:45a.m, Adam dropped me off, and I met up with the folks in Van 1, I was super shy at first, but according to them I hid it well. The people in Van 1 were Darryl, Bill, Maggie, Terrie, and Jeremy (Bill isn't pictured, and we borrowed Flora from Van 2 for a while). 

The start line was super pretty. We watched the cheesiest safety video, and we got ready to start. Bill was up first, so when the race started, he hit the road. We passed him and headed to the first exchange. I was runner 2, and super nervous! But when Bill rounded the corner, I was ready to go. 

It was pitch dark when I started, so I was required to run in safety gear (vest, head lamp, and tail lights). My first leg was 3 miles and marked "easy" by Ragnar. Bill told me he was runner 2 last year, and the first half of the run was completely up hill and not easy. Where I run, is fairly flat, so hills are totally not my thing.

And he was right it was certainly uphill, and not the easiest run of my life. But I kept truckin. At one point, I had to stop and wait for a raccoon to cross the street front of me, I was praying it wasn't rabid. 

The sun slowly started to rise, and I had a beautiful view of the Tennessee river. I also crossed back into the central time zone during my leg. 

I finished my leg, and passed the slap bracelet/baton to Terrie, runner 3. I got to put a check mark in my first box by my name on the van.

The exchange I was at after my run was very pretty, so I got to stop and take a quick selfie, before changing into lounge clothes in a porta potty (the only drawback of a ragnar, so many porta potties).

After all the runners in Van 6 had ran,  Van 2 of our team started their legs, we had about 6 hours of down time. Priority number one was getting some real food, so we grabbed some lunch at an Italian restaurant in some little town. We then headed to the next exchange point where we had a couple of hours to kill. I cat napped a little (but not much), but spent a good deal of time just chatting with my team. I really got to know the girls, and it was just so much fun. 

Time seemed to fly by and before we knew it it was Van 1's turn to run again. Again I put on my night gear, and I ended up running during sunset. My run was through Winchester, TN, which I was somewhat familiar with from a past half marathon. The run was nerve wracking at times, because it was on a highway during the dark. There wasn't much of a shoulder, and sometimes the corners would be blind, so I worried about getting ran over frogger style. But I survived my 5.0 mile leg, which ragnar deemed "moderate". I still think my first leg was harder. 

After our van finished our night runs, we went to the exchange point, and had another 4-5 hours of downtime. I managed to spread out in the van seat and sleep for about two hours. Some of my vanmates spread out on lawn in sleeping bags. There were birds that were super loud and annoyed at our presence and chirped all night long. We deemed them asshole birds. Ha.

Van 2 had some pace issues during the night, so by the time Van 1 was to head out, we were a little bit behind our projected pace. Race officials said they would just have the vans run the legs they were supposed to, but instead of waiting for our van to finish, we would be running concurrently, and we would meet up with them at finish line. 

My 3rd and final leg was 6.1 miles, deemed "hard", and it was during the sunrise. I loved that I literally had ran during the last two sunrises and one sundown. The run was hard, but just felt like the last few miles of a long race since I was so sore. 

The relief I had at being done with all my legs and having performed at the pace I wanted was indescribable. I could just relax the next few hours and not worry about a thing.

We finished the race about 2:30 in the afternoon in Nashville. When our last runner, Anna Lisa, got near the finish line, we all ran together. It was a wonderful moment.

Our medals are puzzle pieces that when joined together as a team make a quote.

I was so happy to finally head home to get some real sleep and take a shower. That shower was the most glorious shower of my life. After 60 plus hours, and three sweaty runs, with noting but baby wipes and deodorant to clean up with, how could it not feel amazing?

Pushing myself not only physically but mentally (having to be social) was such a rewarding experience. And I'm already planning my next Ragnar in August.

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