Sweet - crazy diss'ers meet up!You know- just sayin'- Chicago has a lot to do!!! And I'm a mere 25 miles from the city!
We should meet halfway... and do a race! You know- when I start running again- since I havn't run A SECOND since my 1/2........
I was JUST THINKING we should meet for a race! Then I could really get on your case when you aren't training.
Saint Louis??
There's a HALF, right? You said marathon...not sure I'm ready (or ever will be) for 26.2!!! 
Haha, yup!
There's a 5k, 10k, Half, Full and a Full Relay, and kids races. It's a big deal here. The half and full both go into Canada. =D you run across the Ambassador Bridge, then come back over through the underground tunnel. The full also goes on Belle Isle, which is gorgeous, but I think I'll start at the half this year, lol! A friend did this past one (a few months ago) and one of the areas she ran through was a college neighborhood and they had beer stops set up.
http://momsrunthistown.com/royaloakmi/2013/11/01/detroit-free-press-marathon/
Her recap of it.
OMG, this race looks fantastic! I can't tell WHEN it is though, October? I'm afraid my traveling for races is going to be limited by my job. I cannot leave town really anytime near a holiday, the summer, or October. It leaves September, early November, January, and February...naturally months they don't have many races. That's why I picked The Princess Half! I was able to get away but had to give all my clients about NINE MONTHS notice and still will probably have some conflicts and have to turn some clients down. My job is so frustrating when it comes to this!
OMG, this race looks fantastic! I can't tell WHEN it is though, October? I'm afraid my traveling for races is going to be limited by my job. I cannot leave town really anytime near a holiday, the summer, or October. It leaves September, early November, January, and February...naturally months they don't have many races. That's why I picked The Princess Half! I was able to get away but had to give all my clients about NINE MONTHS notice and still will probably have some conflicts and have to turn some clients down. My job is so frustrating when it comes to this!
I don't want to do another 1/2 (not yet anyways)- I'd be apt to do more of a 10K. Or 8-10 miler race. So this would be perfect...and of course- the big-D is my hometown (was just there this weekend stocking up on my Rock N' Rye and Vernors Pop!)
I do know there tends to be A LOT of races in September/October because of the weather being near perfect for racing! Shoot- can't we just all go do the ToT 10 miler? How about the Mt .Everest Challenge?
I don't want to do another 1/2 (not yet anyways)- I'd be apt to do more of a 10K. Or 8-10 miler race. So this would be perfect...and of course- the big-D is my hometown (was just there this weekend stocking up on my Rock N' Rye and Vernors Pop!)
I do know there tends to be A LOT of races in September/October because of the weather being near perfect for racing! Shoot- can't we just all go do the ToT 10 miler? How about the Mt .Everest Challenge?
It's actually pretty hard for me to even get the day off to go into Saint Louis. My mom and sister live there and I rarely see them because of my job. The Princess seems to be one of the only races that is during an easier time. I also have to give my clients like 9 months advance notice when I'm taking off, it makes for a lot of planning ahead! I figure I only have to do this 3 more years because Savannah will be 16 in 3 years (OMG.) and she has been petsitting with me since she was 3. She can totally cover for me when I need to go out of town, but since she can't drive we'll have to wait for 16 for that! 
I have nothing to add......just wanted to say hi!!!
60 DAYS!!!!
Soooo, we're at 60 days this morning and I can do a proper update! It's good timing too, I'll be pretty busy the next couple weeks with work, petsitting is busiest over the holidays! I'm close to paying off my balance as well, so that's exciting!
Let's see...first off, we had a week or two with ice/snow on the ground. Made for some hard mileage. I tried to run in it, but that was a big fail, so my longest run (8 miles) was done suffering on the TM. The run wasn't that bad, but I was pretty sore and down for a few days afterwards...I run faster on the TM and can't really slow myself down, so I think it was just pushing the speed too much. Anyway, it looked like THIS outside:
luckily it finally melted and warmed up a bit, just in time for the Nutcracker! This is a yearly tradition for Savannah & her friends. We always have a good time. A shot of me and my girly:
They were missing 2 of their best girlfriends this year, but held up pics of them on their phones, so they were there in spirit.
Here's a shot from the first year they went and then last year to compare. Look how little they were! Eleanor had the cutest gap where her front teeth were missing, but you can't really see it with how small the pic is.
We went to the mall since we don't have one out where we live. It's cute, I grew up hanging at the mall, so it's funny to see how excited these girls get to shop at a mall!
Ok, so now that we are all caught up, it's time for the actual DISNEY update! LOL. I made our FP+ reservations this morning. I put an exclamation mark there first and then removed it to put a period b/c I am not THAT excited about it all.
First off, everything I had read was correct. The site times out EVERY.SINGLE.RESERVATION.YOU.MAKE.
I didn't use my phone because I really hate navigating on phone apps, I figured I would prefer to deal with the timing out. I was not happy with a lot of the selections it gave me, but also knew to choose the closest to what I wanted and then go back in and edit each. This worked out pretty well and I got most of the times that I had planned to get.
Now...this is not to say I'm pleased, the tiering really ruins DHS and Epcot and we are getting ONE FP+ at each park that is of any value. I do not need a FP for Living with the Land or Figment, but I have them regardless b/c that's what I had to choose.
Here is an example of our first day choices (screenshot from the app).
Yes, these are morning FP+ but there is a reason for that. This is the day before the race and we are ONLY going to be in the park in the morning, so I made FP's for that time. The rest of our days the FP's are usually in the afternoon. We also have a couple days at MK, and no tiering there (YAY!!!) so I was able to get a variety of MK FPs.
I'm happy that at least I was able to get FP+ times where I wanted them, if not all the rides I wanted b/c of the tiering and I think the best part of all of this is that I won't have to run for FP's or crisscross around the parks. Hopefully we will be able to hit rope drop and get some of the other rides (example: Test Track on the day we have a Soarin' FP) out of the way without extremely long lines.
So, that's it folks! I have a 9 mile run, the longest I have ever run, coming up Saturday and I'm excited/nervous about it. I'll be pretty busy with Christmas and work until then, so hopefully not too much time to get in my head about it! I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!!!
I think your strategy sounds like a great one too!
As always, your photos are simply stunning! Love the girls pics over the years. So cool!
Glad you got your fast passes scheduled. Can you believe I still have to finish doing that for my trip that is only a little over a week away?
How did your 9 mile run go?
That has never happened! I got it done though! Not sure how I will add another 4 miles, but I'm trying to stay positive!
) and souvenirs! 
TMI again (but I'm sharing with you since you are a runner and know this stuff happens...) I did NOT have to poop, I was actually CHAFING there. Ahem!
UPDATE!! It's PAID OFF!!!!
HAHAHAHA!!! You are right- only a runner would know about this stuff. This made me smile. I did tell you about the 1/2 when I decided to take an immodium just to be safe..and found out later that I mistakenly took allergy meds instead.
You WILL add another 4 miles. Because in the heat of the race- you will have adreniline that you don't have now. So you WILL do it. No problem! No worries. You got this!
Congrats my friend! What an awesome feeling!!! You are so close!!!
HI ANN! 
