BE's Never Ending TR -- That kind of ... Ended? Or did it?

[kaoden39]

It's a good thing I wasn't too big on knowing what the story was about before reading this!

I read the book so no big deal for me.

 

[blabbermouth]

Ahh! I'm a late adopter HP fan. I have only read the first 5 books so far. I quickly scrolled past your movie related comments! I'm trying to catch up so I can see the final movie in theatres, but it likely won't happen in time.

Anyway, congrats on your new purchases! I have sauconys too

 

[Belle Ella]

What can I say, I don't know how to no spoil things for others, haha. I'm far too enthusiastic for that. And I have nobody to talk to about it in person and it's depressing me!

 

[reyasmommy]

DH and I took the kids to the Drive-ins on Friday to see Harry Potter. That was the only way we were able to see it because I couldn't get babysitter. But I might as well have saved my money because the baby wouldn't sit still for anything, I think I maybe saw a total of 20 minutes of it. I plan on going back next weekend and seeing it at the IMAX. I read all the books though, so I know wht to expect. I'm so sad it's alllll over. HP will always hold a special place in my heart.

 

[Belle Ella]

It may have ended but I refuse to let it be "over" HP is a series I can read again and again and again, the same with watching the films. Heck, my family rolls their eyes whenever I go on another HP movie marathon. And now I have AVPM/AVPS as well. It's plenty to keep me going for a little while longer. I really hope you like it when you get to see it again.

 

[kaoden39]

One of the worst experiences I had at the movies was years ago. We took the girls who were 2 and 3 at the time to see the "premiere" of Hercules. Disney had special "premieres" in select cities. I bought the tickets well in advance and I was so excited. We left the baby with my MIL and we took the girls. I don't think that Scotty and I saw half of the movie with between trips to the lobby with Kody. We ended up leaving before the movie was over. They didn't go to the movies again until they were much older.

 

[reyasmommy]

I just DVR'd all the movies on Family channel and started reading the first book again. Thought I'd have a marathon this weekend. I own all the movies just thought it would be easier to have them all on DVR so I can pause and go as often as I need without any trouble. Should be fun.

 

[JH87]

Great update Jessica! Looks like you are making some great progress with your running!
And I love that you instantly thought of Tinkerbell when you got the green shoes

 

[tdashgirl]

The spoiler aspect with HP movies is kind of like the Twilight movies ... I admit that I kind of just assume that anyone who is interested in the movies read the books and already pretty much know what happens Bad Tania, I know.

I plan on going back next weekend and seeing it at the IMAX. .

Oh you will love it! We went to go see it in IMAX and were so glad we did. Totally gorgeous picture and sound, it really was like you were in the movie.

 

[Belle Ella]

See, that's my thought too Tania. Especially so long after the final book was released. Spoilers are kind of a moot point after a certain period of time if you ask me. Nothing in the books at this point in time is really a secret and the important things in the book had gosh darn well better have been in the movie. There are some things I wish had been included - you'll always get that - but I'm a very happy camper. I just got back from seeing it again and already I want to go back!! I think I'll settle for re-reading the books.

 

[mommaU4]

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Hey, what a cute shirt!!

 

[kaoden39]

The spoiler aspect with HP movies is kind of like the Twilight movies ... I admit that I kind of just assume that anyone who is interested in the movies read the books and already pretty much know what happens Bad Tania, I know.


Oh you will love it! We went to go see it in IMAX and were so glad we did. Totally gorgeous picture and sound, it really was like you were in the movie.

See, that's my thought too Tania. Especially so long after the final book was released. Spoilers are kind of a moot point after a certain period of time if you ask me. Nothing in the books at this point in time is really a secret and the important things in the book had gosh darn well better have been in the movie. There are some things I wish had been included - you'll always get that - but I'm a very happy camper. I just got back from seeing it again and already I want to go back!! I think I'll settle for re-reading the books.

I am of the same thought. I read the books, I am not surprised and frankly if I was that concerned I would have seen it last week.

 

[Queenbillabong]

Hey, what a cute shirt!!

What she said


....... and I LOVE Harry Potter! Still haven't been to see it though. I may try to make it this weekend (we'll see how it goes). I could read the books over and over too

 

[smile4stamps]

I missed TR Tuesday!!!

Actually I didn't... I read it on my phone... but we all know how that goes in trying to respond!

And then I wasn't on the Dis yesterday...

I love the Shoes! Very Nice looking. How long do running shoes generally last? Will they still be good for the Tinkerbell Half or will you need a new pair before then?

The SPIBELT looks interesting... When I go on my walks I use my waist bag I use for DL but if I try and jog. (Try being the operative word!) it bounces around a lot...

 

[Happy 2 B Me]

Even as old as I am I love the Harry Potter movies. To this day I think the first one is my all time fav Harry Potter show. (All time Favorite Movie ever is the Original Star Wars Movie-- I will never forget the black theatre- with the beginning scrolling by on the screen).

Reading your posts everyday I can get to them. Will be trying to check back more often.

 

[Belle Ella]

Good to see you drop by, Patty. Thanks! See, I really love Harry Potter because I think it's something all ages can enjoy. True, it can't be everyone's cup of tea (what can) but it's definitely not a one group time of thing. But I think part of what plays into that is how long it's been going on now because those of us who were young when it first started aren't quite as young as we were. 10 years (for the films) is a pretty long time! I will say I'm not a big fan of Star Wars though (hence why I'm making my own theme for the 5K), but to each her own, right? Hope to see you drop by again.

You are forgiven, Paula! You've had a whole heck of a lot on your plate lately but as long as you're here (and doing that reporting of your own) it's all good. I sure as heck dont blame you for not trying to respond on your phone! Every once in a while I go in and try for some crazy, crazy reason and regret it instantly but I've already dedicated myself and by golly, I am going to finish! As for the shoes, I have no idea. I've obviously never followed the 'running shoes rules' considering I have had my last pair since ... high school or earlier. And the SPI belt is the perfect remedy for that bouncing around. It hasn't been a problem at all!

So Theresa, did you get to see Harry Potter?!

And you and Beth are so silly!

 

[WDWJonasGirl]

I love your TR!!!

 

[Belle Ella]

New update coming tomorrow! Just a heads up, it probably wont be until about ... 5p at the earliest thanks to a looong day at work tomorrow.

 

[WDWJonasGirl]

Okay. That's fine with me.

 

[Belle Ella]

I wanna be a Starship Ranger

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It's time for another TR Tuesday, folks. You know what this means? I'm one week closer to Disneyland!! This time next week it will officially be August which is really just blowing my mind right now because August means that my trip will be 1 month away! I wish I could say I had anything fun going on in August. I'll be missing my mom's big 50th birthday celebration in Vegas with her twin sister, 2 cousins and my sister. A part of me wishes I could be there since it's a big milestone with my mom but I had to pass (even with my mom paying) for a whole slew of reasons. Now I'm trying to brainstorm something fun for the two of us either before she leaves or after she gets back but between (all of) you and me that's not going so well so far. I'm just not that kind of a creative person. I also have to plan a fun night for my friend's 25t birthday on the 10th all the while trying to convince her to go to Disneyland with me in September. Her birthday is exactly one month before mine and I'm pushing the whole "late birthday celebration" reasoning as much as I can. She just doesn't know if she can get the time off or not yet. Keep your fingers crossed with me, will 'ya! Otherwise we're doing our birthday tradition of dinner at Benihana's. Yummy! My mouth is watering already.

One exciting thing from today though: I got mail! Well, I do get mail frequently but it's usually bills and of the non-fun variety which wouldn't be worth posting about, but today's mail was exciting! Remember way back when, when I first started my TR Tuesday updates? Well, I decided to share a photo of the shirt I was getting for the 5K (which I have self-appointed the Starship 5K) that featured one of my favorite Starkids? Just to refresh your memory:

Well, it arrived in the mail today - along with my totally awesome light blue Starkid sunglasses. Let's just say I am a happy camper right now. Funny story though, UPS delivered it to the wrong address and my crazy neighbors ended up with the package (UPS needs to hire more Hufflepuffs, just sayin'). Uh-oh! That could have been bad and I'm actually surprised they brought it over to me. Did I mention they are my crazy-neighbors? I knew it was for me the second crazy-lady mentioned something from UPS since I'd been tracking it online and new it was supposed to arrive today. I wasted no time getting it inside and ripping it open. I really love ordering new Starkid things because the company they go through, Ann Arbor Tees, just plain old rock and every order I have placed has come with a hand written note, thank you or drawing on the invoice. It just puts an even bigger smile on my face.

When Up cuts an onion - the onion is the one who cry


I am a Starkid


Yes, yes I do​

So now that that's out of the way, let's get down to business - and please don't be mad, but I didn't keep on track with my runs this week! I didn't have such a great week with work between shift extensions because my workload was too huge, no sleep before (what was supposed to be my last) my overnight shift, and a near yelling-match with a co-worker I was just way too stressed out, tired, and all around frazzled to get my tush off the couch and go for a run no matter how hard I tried. So this will look a little pathetic:

Training Week 3

All data gathered using RunKeeper and Ultimate 5K Apps for iPhone​

Tuesday 7/19:
Total miles: 3.80
Pace: 16:46 min/mi
Time: 1:03:40
Calories: 362
^ data from RunKeeper

Man, oh man! My friend and I made the mistake of going a route with the biggest hill in town. We were dying!

Wednesday 7/20:
Total miles: 2.26
Pace: 14:17 min/mi
Time: 32:13
Calories: 264
^ data from RunKeeper

Run Distance: 1.72 mi
Run Duration: 21 min
^ data from day 1 of Ultimate 5K

Thursday 7/21:
Total miles: 3.31
Pace: 17:13 min/mi
Time: 57:03
Calories: 311
^ data from RunKeeper

Friday 7/22:
Oops. No walk or run today.

Saturday 7/23:
Nope, not today either.

Sunday 7/124:
Well, this is my normal day off. Did you expect me to run? Not a chance after my overnight shift.

Monday 7/25:
Total miles: 2.24
Pace: 14:23 min/mi
Time: 32:14
Calories: 266
^ data from RunKeeper

Run Distance: 1.72 mi
Run Duration: 21 min
^ data from day 1 of Ultimate 5K

Look! I finally got back on the running bandwagon! All I need to do is add an extra run in tonight instead of my walk and then run again tomorrow and I'll be 100% back on track.

The good news? I'm still feeling like I'm improving with each run but I am having trouble finding a run/walk interval that works for me. Right now I'm going strong through the first mile - maybe mile and a half - but after that I'm finding it hard to keep going. I've mostly been sticking to a 1/1 ratio (run for 1 minute and then walk for 1 minute) although I tried 30 second splits but that failed miserably. On my last run I was able to keep the 1/1 ration going for the first mile or so but then had to switch to running for 1 minute and walking for 3 I was just so tired. Tonight is my long run and I jump from 1.72 to 2.3 miles! So I think I'm going to stick to a 1/3 ratio for tonight and then go from there. We'll see how it works out for me, keep your fingers crossed!

So moving right along, I've been doing a little more planning this past week as far as my individual Disney days go and I wanted to break those down over the next few weeks for ya'll - I figure if I do one day a week it will keep my mind occupied with enough planning to keep me from going insane up until the week before I leave. Sound like a plan? Well, here we go with ...

Friday, September 2nd​

This will also be known as driving day or Disney day (or simply D-Day), but also day 1 and Expo day - take your pick. First let's take a look at the Park hours and Disneyland's entertainment schedule:

Disneyland: 9am - 11pm
California Adventure: 10am - 10pm

Fireworks (Magical): 9:30pm
Mickey's Soundsational Parade: 4:00pm, 6:30pm
Fantasmic: 9:00pm, 10:30pm​

My usual Disney routine is to leave home sweet home around 2am! Super early, huh? The first big reason why I love leaving at that time is that I miss the worst of both the NorCal and the SoCal traffic and end up making very good time. The second big reason is that it puts me in Anaheim early enough to check in at my hotel and stow my luggage (or if I'm lucky enough and my room is ready I can go unpack) and still make it to the the gate before Disneyland opens. It's a beautiful, beautiful thing! So I'll be aiming to arrive between 7:30 and 8am at ...

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Go HOJ! Go HOJO! It's a pretty rare occasion when I don't stay at the Howard Johnson on Harbor. What can I say, they've been excellent to me so far so I see no reason to go anywhere else just yet. And it's really no biggee to me if my room is ready upon arrival or not. Either way I'll simply be checking in, leaving my luggage behind, and making a mad dash over to the Esplanade basking in the Welcome to Disneyland atmosphere (even for the cross-walk on Harbor) where I get to queue up at the gates and wait for the Park to open. One small bummer is that it will be a MM due to the 5K race on Saturday morning, but that'll just have to do.

The plan is to spend a couple of hours in the Park getting a head start on my Scavvy-Hunt-photo-taking, collecting some Fast Passes and going on a few rides. I'm not really interested in giving Star Tours 2.0 a try for the first time just yet so I'll go out on a limb and say that my FP's will be strictly limited to Space Mountain and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. You can also count on me getting an early ride in on Indiana Jones and Pirates of the Caribbean. I'll have about 2 1/2 hours all to myself to do what I want to do before I have to go check in at the Blue Bayou for my lunch reservation, request a waterside table, and then chill out in the lobby. I know I'll already be tired so I'm really looking forward to that (who knows, it could be the highlight of my day).

That's really all the park time I've got planned out, lol. After lunch I'll be hopping over to Tomorrowland and taking the Monorail to Downtown Disney so I can make a dash to the Health and Fitness Expo at the Disneyland Hotel, which starts at noon and lasts until 8pm. I'll need to pick up my race packet and I would also like to take a peek at what they have going on over there: the exhibits, booths, merchandise, goody bags, speakers (including Jeff Galloway) ... you name it. I don't want to sit here and plan how long I want to spend there so I'll just go with the flow. But (and there usually is a but, or is it butt) I would like to be back in Disneyland in time to see Mickey's Soundsational Parade at either 4 or 6:30pm. I plan on being back at the hotel and in bed long before Fantasmic or the Fireworks light up the sky seeing as I have an extra early morning on race day!

All in all it'll be a pretty low key day. I have an early race the next morning and after the very early morning I'll want to get a good night's rest. After I leave the Expo I'll probably hop back over to Disneyland for long enough to use up whatever FP's I grabbed in the morning and then look to head back to the hotel to eat dinner and then relax and go to bed! See, such a nice and easy day!

Well, see you on the other side!

continue the adventure here​