Orlando, FL (Day 1 & 2)

A couple months ago, Chris & I had purchased flights to Miami for the possibility of KSU going to the National Championships.  Many KSU fans had bought tickets in advance; however, after losing to Baylor, KSU was no longer eligible for the National Championship game.  Chris went ahead and had our tickets credited, but my sister thought it would still be fun to go to FL.  She and her friend had originally bought tickets to Orlando, because at the time it was cheaper to fly to Orlando than Miami.  So, they had planned on just renting a car and driving to the game.  However, they decided to keep their tickets to Orlando and just make a vacation out of it - visiting the parks.  I hadn't been to Disneyworld since I was in 6th grade I think.  My family used to go almost every year {up until about 6th grade}.  I was anxious to go back to see if it was similar to what I remembered it as.  

We ended up leaving for Orlando on Wednesday morning and came back the following Tuesday morning.   It was a great trip, and we celebrated my sisters 30th birthday on Friday.  She did the World Tour at Epcot - you travel to all the different "countries" and drink.  She loves different kinds of beers and specialty drinks and was so excited to be able to knock this off her list of things to do! 

Day 1: Universal Studios 

The first day we went to Universal Studios.  "Harry Potter Land" is a part of Universal, which I think my sister & Ashley were most excited about.  I have never seen any of the movies or read any of the books, so it didn't really have much special meaning or excitement to me.  It was actually a bit ridiculous - we had to wait a couple hours to get into the Harry Potter part since it was so crowded and once we got in, it remained crowded - lots of people!  But, it was still a fun day!! 

Universal Studios

Entrance to Universal Studios 

Harry Potter Ride

Harry Potter Ride 

Roller Coaster in Harry Potter World

Universal Studios

Universal Studios

"Blues Brothers Band"

Day 2: Epcot

Friday, January 4th

On Friday, for Kristin's birthday, we went to Epcot (which is one of her personal favorite places).  She wanted to do the World Tour at Epcot, which is where you drink in each country at Epcot.  She had a great time and she loved all the different, authentic drinks.  She finished strong - despite the crappy weather.  It was rainy, dreary and cold!! I spent over $100 just on clothing to keep me warm at the park.  But now,  I have an awesome Disney World Fleece (insert sarcasm)

HAPPY 30TH BIRTHDAY KRISTIN!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Birthday Princess

THE WORLD SHOWCASE TOUR

Epcot's World Showcase is made up of 11 countries: Mexico, Norway, China, Germany, Italy, USA, Japn, Morocco, France, United Kingdom, and Canada.  We went around to each country and in each country, Kristin got at least one drink (authentic drink for that country).  I had a couple drinks, but many of the drinks they had to offer were not drinks that I was very fond of.  Here's a quick recap of the tour: 

{1}

Mexico

Drink: Corona Light

{2} 

Norway

Drink: Coffee with Baileys

Norway

{3}

China

Drink: Tsingtao Lite

{4}

Germany

Drink: White Wine Flights

Ashley enjoying some wine

The little bar that we purchased the wine at 

At the gift shop after the wine flights, she would try anything on we suggested.
It all looked so good!

{5}

Italy

Drink: Chianti

Italy was quite memorable, right Kristin & Ashley??  We were all starving so we stopped in at an Italian restaurant.  I can't remember our servers name (okay, my sister has informed it was Stefano, but that name doesn't fit him as well), but I'm pretty sure we nick named him "B.O." - he smelled something like that.  And he wasn't quite up to par on his serving skills.  Oh well, it was a good memory, right?  It only cost a pretty penny for a slice of lasagna. 

{6}

United States of America

Drink: Bud Light

*Kristin actually drank her Bud Light later at dinner.  We passed this stop up on the tour at Epcot. 

Bud Light (at Smokey Bones)

{7}

Japan

Drink: Sapporo 

{8} 

Morocco

Drink: Sangria & Casa Beer

Morocco - raining

{9}

France

Drink: 1664 by Kronenbourg

{10}

United Kingdom

Drink: Strongbow Cider Beer

{11}

Canada

Drink: Moosehead Beer

Finished out strong!!

  

Congrats!!!

Congrats to finishing all 11 countries!! Unfortunately, I don't have anything saved from France!  I don't remember the drink of choice either!  It was a fun day, despite the rain and cold! Happy 30th Birthday!!

Nashville Rock 'N' Roll Half Marathon

Chris & I decided a couple months ago to train for a half marathon together.  I had completed one already in 2009 - I ran the Kansas City Half Marathon.  For Chris, this was his first half marathon.  We decided to find a half marathon in a city outside of KC so that we could make it a long weekend.  

We both thought Nashville would be fun to go visit.  Also, the Nashville Rock 'N' Roll half marathon has the opportunity to participate and fundraise for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.  St. Jude's is an organization that I enjoy supporting.  While in college at KSU, my sorority's philanthropy was St. Jude's, so I am familiar with the hospital.  St. Jude's is beyond amazing - the support and care they give to their patients and families is unbelievable.  The hospital runs and thrives off donations.  I knew that since we were going to run this half marathon that I wanted to participate in the fundraising aspect.  I set a goal to raise $1500.00 and with the help of family and friends, I ended up raising over $1500!  I donated some money and pledged to donate a minimum of $1/mile that I ran while training.  To put it in perspective, $1500 would help support 1 day of chemotherapy for 2 children (each day of chemo costs approx $750!).  It was a very rewarding experience.  

Being a part of the fundraising, they had a few additional perks while in Nashville:

Pasta Dinner and Celebration the night before the run

Grand total of the St. Jude "heroes" {Wow!}

A father sharing his personal story

CEO of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

Chris {after dinner, during the JoDee Messina concert}

JoDee Messina

JoDee Messina

 

JoDee Messina

One of the "perks" was the pasta dinner that was held the night before the race downtown at one of the hotels.  They had some families share personal stories of their experience while at St. Jude's - which was very touching, tears were shed!  They had some speakers and employees from the hospital and, to wrap up the night, they had JoDee Messina perform a mini concert.  She is a strong supporter of St. Jude's, as well.  It was an amazing evening - just made you appreciate what the hospital does and makes you thankful for your health and your family, too. 

After the dinner, we headed back to the hotel and got things ready for the morning. 

Saturday - race morning:

Chris & I stayed at a hotel that had a shuttle to take us down the race area {our hotel was very nice! If you are staying in Nashville and need to be near downtown area, look up the Hutton}.  We woke up bright and early, got ready, and got on the shuttle to go down to the starting point. Thankfully, the weather was nice in the morning!

At the hotel

All ready to head out!

Ready to go!

Around the park area near the start of the race {pre-race}

We got all checked in, checked our bag to pick up at the finish line, and then got in "line" according to our pace time and waited for the race!  There was only about ... 27,000 other people!

Waiting for the race to start

At the starting area

Almost ready to start! The sun is coming up!

 Chris & I ran the half marathon, not quite in the time we expected, but nonetheless we finished!  One thing that we did not prepare, or train, for was the HILLS!  Kansas City is relatively flat, so when we were training outside, we never trained on the hills that we ran on during the half marathon in Nashville.  The worst part of the hills was around mile 7-9, which is the time that you feel like you're starting to hit a wall and your second wind hasn't quite kicked in!  We had a tough time with all the hills. Yikes! 

Post-Race, Recovering!

Recovering

We are so happy to be done! 

After the race, we refueled with some drinks and food.  Then, we headed back to the hotel and took a nice, long nap.  We woke up, got ready, and headed downtown for some lunch/dinner. 

Downtown Nashville

Eating downtown

Finding some new shades

Enjoying some street "entertainers"

Enjoying some street "entertainers"

 On Sunday, we walked down the Pancake Pantry - everyone raves about this place and it's been featured on TV several times.  As you can see, we weren't the only ones who thought they needed to try this place out:

The line is out the door, around the corner

The Pancake Pantry

We waited in line for over 2 hours.  Was it worth it?... It was good, but not sure about the long wait.  It worked out though because we didn't have anything else to do!  We got to talking with the couple that was standing in front of us in line and they shared with us their experience at St. Jude's and that their daughter had been a patient there recently; but, now she has been going back for follow-up MRI's and what not.  It was crazy to hear their stories and all the wonderful things they had to say about St. Jude's.  I was so glad we got to talk with them - really makes you appreciate your health and the health of your loved ones. 

After breakfast {or nearly lunch}, we walked to the park area and just hung out for a couple hours.  We had a late flight that evening, so we had a couple of hours to kill....

The weekend in Nashville and the half marathon was amazing!! I'm so glad Chris & I ran a half together and I look forward to doing another one!  I loved the St. Jude experience, too.  I wish we could have had time to visit the hospital, but it's in Memphis so it wasn't close to visit.  If you want to look at more information on St. Jude, visit their webpage: St. Jude Children's Research Hospital