Our Fairytale

I saw this on another blog and thought it was really cute. Some of you lovely followers have mentioned wanting to know more about me, so here's a perfect way to share..and celebrate Valentine's Day!

1. How long have you and your significant other been together? Over 7 years.

2. How did you meet? {What's your "love" story?}
My brothers and the Turtle went to CSU together, and I remember seeing him from time to time on my visits there, starting at age 13 (Turtle was 18!). Years later, when it was my turn to give CSU a go, the Turtle was still there (he was on the 7 year college plan), so my brothers asked Turtle to look out for me while I was at school (boy, did he!).

We both had mutual crushes on each other, unbeknownst to the other, but spent most of our college years dating others and just hanging out together in the Lobby in between classes. Neither one of us thought dating the other was a remote possibility. I figured he saw me only as my brothers' kid sister, a baby. And he thought I would think he was too old.

My Junior year, after a semester of not seeing eachother,  we both attended the same career fair and he decided to say hello....while I was in the middle of a semi-interview! Sorry, Gallop Poles...I have somewhere else to be right now! I high-tailed it over to him and we exchanged numbers (yes, we had never gotten that far before). We ended up talking on the phone for 3 hrs a night every night for the next month, leading up to our big first date at his work's Christmas party on December 4, 2004.

Honolulu 2005: Weren't we so cuuuuuute?

3. If married, how long have you been married? If not, is this the guy you hope to marry? {do tell}

We have been married for 1 year and about 3 months.

4. If you are married, where did you get married at? Big or small wedding?

We got married on October 23, 2010 in Cleveland. If you thought a big, fat Greek Wedding would be fun, try my Big, Fat Polish-Greek Wedding! It was a wonderful meeting of the 'Ski's and the 'Dis's. Good times had by all...all 220+ people!

5. Do you have any nick-names that you call one another? Do share!

Obviously! I'm Tink and he's Turtle!


6. Tell us how he proposed? Or your ideal proposal?

The Turtle had been laid off for the first half of our relationship. Constant letdowns of job interviews and hopes dashed took up a good 4 years of our dating. Finally, our prayers were answered and he got a wonderful job....except it was 3 hours away! So in 2008, we began our 2 year nomadic period of alternating weekends. Watching weather reports in the winter became an obsession. Sundays became the absolute worst day when week after week, we had to say goodbye and then spend a 3 hour drive in solitude,  festering in our heart ache of leaving one another. (And my poor car has never been the same!)

In January 2010, we spent a wonderful (yet fantastically cold, thanks to a freak cold spell) 10 days in Disney World to run the Disney World Half Marathon. This was huge, because 1) it was Disney and 2) the Turtle is NOT a runner. He doesn't enjoy it, doesn't get it, and would much rather have been cuddled in our hotel bed. But he did it for me! 2 days later, we did a little photoshoot on the Polynesian Resort's beach. There, in the frigid 40 degree temps and in view of the Cinderella's Castle, the Turtle asked me to be his Tink forever.

7. Is he a flowers and teddy bear kind of guy for v-day, or strawberries, champagne, and rose petals?

Who needs chocolate when you can have peanut butter? Best Valentine's Day gift to date from him is still a giant jar of Malley's peanut butter sauce!


8. Tell us what you plan on doing on this Valentine's Day.

We'll probably go out for sushi and watch an episode or two of DVR'd Once Upon a Time. Going out is fun, but I love just cuddling up with him on the couch in sweats the most.

And this is why I never see ends of movies anymore

 

9. Are you asking for anything this Valentine's day?

I did ask him to take me out to dinner at the California Grill (restaurant in the Contemporary Hotel in Disney World)...but I think I'm going to have to settle for sushi.

Dinner at the California Grill, Valentine's Day 2011

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!

The Day the Music Died

Another iPod bites the dust. What is this, 2 or 3 that I've killed now? I swear, all I did was sit down on the bike, plug in my headphones and..........nothing. Well, actually, I think I heard a tiny computery voice go "F it, I'm out!, but I could be wrong.

So what's a girl to do with 800 calories worth of biking to do with no tunes? Study the weird specimens that habitate the gym, of course! Here are some of the species and their descriptions from my day of field research:

- Tattooed Mid-Life Crisis Man - Sports a gray buzz cut, freshly inked barbed-wire bicep tattoos and has the annoying tendency of getting on his cellphone every single time he sits down on the crunch machine. Every. Single. Time.

- Male Swan - A 20-something who probably spent a lot of high school lunches sitting alone with his acne and Texas Instrument, and now spends his breakfasts, lunches, dinners and all the time in between, lifting, chugging whey protein and frantically looking to see who's checking him out....whenever he can manage to peel his eyes away from the mirror, that is.  

- Exhausted Man - A disheveled middle-aged man who shuffles to the gym every day in his slippers (yes, his slippers) and rides the bike next to mine every Thursday. He leans his head back, eyes closed and hands folded as if in a prayer as he barely gets the pedals around a full 360. (still in his slippers)

- Perfume Girl - A college girl who really took the 'The gym's a great place to meet someone!' theory to heart. Matching workout outfit, full make-up and drowned in Victoria's Secret Angel Perfume, she manages to be at the gym longer than the Male Swan, while accomplishing nothing aerobic or anaerobic, as she flits around the gym, wafting her scent coquettishly in the direction of the other Male Swans.

- Rico Suave - A friendly middle-aged man who salsas in between his sets. Ole!

and my personal favorite

- Oxygen Tank Couple - A supersweet elderly couple, made up of a very nice husband who dutifully carries his wife's oxygen tank as they totter around the track. Everyone should have someone in their life willing to carry their oxygen tank around when they get old.

These are only a small sampling of the oddities that frequent my gym. What about you? Have you witnessed any strange characters at your gym?

Being Lazy

I have just been too lazy to write any blogs lately. Or maybe just too busy! I've been painting up a storm, catching up on all my DVR'd Castle and Starving Secret episodes (and who can forget 'Not Without My Daughter'- Love that movie!) and well, just being lazy!

When not wrapped up tighter than a mummy in my double-blanketed cacoon, I've had some seriously awesome runs at the gym. After a really crappy first week back from vacation where I felt like I was pulling a tractor behind me all along the track, I recovered with 3 awesome 9 milers since!


Also, I've been working on several paintings, including a very pretty one for my brother and his wife as a house warming gift. While that one is going to take some time, here are 2 others I have completed over the last 2 weeks.

Spring Flower 11" x "17 acrylic

The Guard Shack 18" x 24" acyrlic

You Know Your Face Is Blue, Right?

I'd mentioned in my last blog that a lot of people participating in the Disney races dress up in costumes and even take pictures with the characters along the way. What I had meant when I said that was to show you just how ridiculously OCD I am that even in Disney, I still can't let go and just enjoy a race. There's a part of me that wanted to be out there in all the bells and whistles, hamming it up with Mickey and Donald and just having a good time..But I'm insane, what can I say.

With that in mind, I had wanted to do something to stand out a bit in whatever way I could. Originally, I was going to buy neon colored gear on clearance at Dick's...until I noticed the majority of stuff on clearance was neon green......Tink's colors!

I snatched up a green t-shirt and shorts, and white knee-high socks for my arms. With the neon striped socks mom got me for Christmas, I was runner Tink!

But why let the solid-color green space go to waste? Why not draw a Tinkerbell on my shirt and write Tink on it to jazz it up? So I grabbed some Sharpies and went to town.

The back

And there in lies my big mistake..........

I told you I have toxic sweat

After I crossed the finish line, I noticed black on my thumb. I thought it must be mascara from my crying so I asked a raceworker if I was a raccoon. She said I was fine. SHE SAID I WAS FINE!

After about 20 minutes of hanging around and chatting with my fellow finishers as we all waited for our friends, one of the girls I was with goes "You know your face is blue, right?"

WHAT!??!?!?!?!?

Then, I looked down at my shirt and saw what had become of my brilliant work of Sharpie art. Sharpie and sweat do NOT mix. I rubbed frantically at my face with my arm socks to de-smurf myself. How could that raceworker tell me I was fine!?

As I scrubbed away, I saw Ryan Sutter coming through the tents with his brother. Yay! Now's my chance to apologize for seeming like a stalker yesterday and tell him I'm really not crazy.

Oh... Right.... I look like a smurf. Somehow I don't think trying to tell Ryan I'm not crazy while I covered in blue will improve my chances of him not filing that restraining order. Dammit, I think as I sadly watch him head toward the busses.

When I got back to the hotel room, I discovered just how bad it was

Next time, I'm going to invest in some laundry markers!

Disney World 1/2 Marathon: Part 2

BEEEEEEEP BEEEEEP BEEEEEEEEEP! 2:25am and its time to get ready to fly!

I'm not excited. Nope. Not in the least.

After quickly brushing my teeth and nudging the Turtle awake, I sent a quick text to my brother (don't believe the lies, revenge is sweet) and we were off to catch the race bus to Epcot.

I tried to keep my hyperness down to a reasonable level as we walked (skipped... :) ) to the baggage dropoff. It was pretty chilly at 45 degrees, and after standing around for a half hour, I started to uncontrollably shake, even with the Turtle wrapping his arms around me.

After downing my breakfast of Excedrin and 2 Shot Blocks, we started walking the 3/4 mile to the race corrals. I sent my Turtle off to Corral D and continued on to the front of the line to Corral A. I stretched and hammed it up for the Megatron camera (Turtle says he saw me on it twice!).

Unfortunately, I had sandwiched  myself  next to the 2 most annoying, Hills-wannabe girls in the world. What is this, MTV auditions? Hmm..how obvious would it look if I pushed past people to get away? Can we start this thing already before someone gets hurt?

At 5:35am, 5 minutes after the wheel chairs took off (and 20 minutes into a very deep and thought-provoking conversation of 'Like, OMG!' ), Corral A was released from our gate to the cheers of Mickey, Donald, Goofy and fireworks! (Can I start all my runs with fireworks?)

Mile 1 & 2: I booked it over the start line like I was on fire. What's that sound? Ahhh....just the sound of feet pounding, my iPod and NO 'whatEVERS'.  "Every Tear is Waterfall" comes on as my 2nd song and I feel like crying I am soooo happy to be there! Feeling awesome, running past fun floats and giant balloons set up along the course

Mile 3 & 4: To the left, to the left! Under the bridge to the Contemporary, a wheelchair racer had a wipeout and we had to narrow down to get by. What's that I see up there? The Castle! Hurray! Time for my favorite part of the whole race!

Mile 5 & 6: There is nothing like running down Main Street of the Magic Kingdom, with people screaming and cowbelling you on, as you run toward the castle. After a little loop into Tomorrowland and Fantasyland, its thru the castle, past a million Brightroom photographers. I raise my hands up to make sure my bib number is not blocked from their lens, and.......throw myself off balance in the process and almost trip myself up. Slick Tink.

After, shouting at Jack Sparrow about where all the rum had gone, I was back on the road toward Epcot and the finish line. (There are characters lined up throughout the race and yes, people actually STOP to TAKE PICTURES with them DURING THE RACE!! I know a lot of people consider the Disney race one where you aren't concerned with your time because it can get so crowded, but I start twitching at the idea of wasting precious seconds from snapping a photo)

Mile 7 & 9: Is it raining? I swear I feel drops even though the sky is clear. I'm pass the run/walkers who are just starting their 13.1 and try to see if I can pick out the Turtle. No luck, but man, I am soo glad I'm on this side of the road then just starting out!

Mile 10 & 11:  Do you run the 13th mile or just 12 in a half marathon? Oh my mind is gone. Where's my mylar blanket? I'm done!

Mile 12: Once I passed the Mile 12 marker into Epcot, I started checking my Garmin every 5 seconds to see when this would be over...even though I already knew where the finish line was and how much I had left, I couldn't stop checking! I made the turn around the Christmas Tree in Epcot and headed past Spaceship Earth toward the finish, ready to just flop over in a heap.

.1 to go: That .1 is just .1 too many! Somehow I managed to sprint the last .1 and DONE! 1:38:48!

Yes, that blubbering idiot leaning on the fence was me. I was so proud of myself! Going into this race with my new routine of 18 miles and 1 bike day a week and with the hip flexor issues, I wasn't sure what to expect. I was sure I'd get in under 2 hours, and was really hoping to get around 1:45. But to see that I made it in the same amount of time as the Air Force Half in September, when I'd had a whole summer of normal, pain-free running, I was beside myself. I've never felt more proud.

Clock time: 1:38:48    80th woman of 12,331 | 561 out of 22, 435 finishers | 16th place in my division

Turtle finished in 2:44! 1 minute faster than '10

Learn all about how I killed a Smurf after the race in Part 3.........

Disney World 1/2 Marathon Recap: Part 1

Corral A!!!!!!!!!

The 2012 Walt Disney World Half Marathon is still the most magical race ever!

The day before the race started with me getting up at 2:45am to be properly lash curled, lipsticked and hair straightened for our 5:55am flight. I figured it would be good practice for getting up at 2:30 the next day for the race!

After meeting up with my friends and fellow runners from home for our Cleveland connection, we were off to the races (ha ha).

The 2012 Disney Cleveland Team!

Once again, the Race Expo was complete chaos and disorganized. For how great Disney is, they need some serious Race Expo 101 classes. Maybe give a print out of a check list of all things needed to be accomplished at the Expo. Lucky us got to the Expo just as the Volunteers working it were having a shift change. Needless to say, a lot of information was NOT given, resulting in a lot of back and forthing between the 2 different buildings. When you're running on 3 hours of sleep and 1 Kashi bar, this did not bode well with my already limited patience.

BUT, I can't fault the Volunteers too much, because if it weren't for them holding us up, I wouldn't have met one of the men of my dreams at the Goodie Bag pickup. Yes, it was meant to be. Ryan Sutter, winner of the 1st Season of the Bachelorette, married with 2 kids to Trista Sutter for 7 years....touched me. SQUEAAAAAL!

It was like a dream, I was shuffling down the arena's steps with the herd, just about to turn to the Turtle to bitch about how people don't know how to walk, when I saw him (and Trista), making their way to the staircase. Ryan and I locked eyes. He clearly could tell he had been spotted, like a gazelle by a lion. I frantically tried to think of something to say to him that would make me seem cool, casual and unstalker-like.

"I had your picture hanging on my bedroom wall until I got married!" didn't seem quite appropriate, so I settled for "OMG! GOOD LUCK!" Real smooth Tink, real smooth. I then asked him what corral he would be in and told him I knew he was fast from running in some Iron Man races (Really Ryan, I'm not a stalker). He told me he wasn't sure, which I knew was a complete lie because in order for him to pick up his goodie bag, he'd have had to gotten his corral assignment first. ("Sure Tink, I'll tell you what corral I'm in so you can stalk my all 13.1. Riiiight)

Since I had already completely blown any chance of not looking like a crazed Tiger Beat fan, I asked for a pic with him. The Turtle was completely amused by the trainwreck enfolding in front of him.

I've got the crazy eyes

After the Expo, we got situated in our room and had a quick bite to eat. I went completely into 'I'm in Disney World' mode and was fully prepared to stay at the parks until close. The Turtle however, had other ideas. He made some stink about needing sleep for the race, and said we had to go to bed after only riding the Haunted Mansion and Pirates of the Carribean. Naturally, I pouted the whole way back to the hotel.

After prepping my bib number and shoes for the race (I sleep in my running clothes when I run in the morning), we went to bed around 9pm...only to be woken up minutes later by the fireworks from Illumintations at Epcot....only to be woken up minutes later from a text from my dear, sweet brother telling me it was 'sleepy time'. How thoughtful.

Stay tuned for the recap of the actual race!

M-I-C-K-E-Y-M-O-U-S-E!!!!!!!!!!

OMG OMG OMG! I'M GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!!!!YAAAAAAAAAAAY! Last night I stuffed as much of my wardrobe into my suitcase as I could fit (you must have at least 8 different white tops to choose from!).

What's that weight limit again?

I also worked on my race outfit. So far the forecast is low of 54, high of 75 with partly sunny. But as I start running at 5:55am, I should be finishing up around sunrise! I know a lot of people will probably be dressed up in crazy Disney outfits, but as my main goal is speed, I don't want anything that would restrict that. And since my 2nd goal is to get in as many pictures and/or videos as possible (I'm looking at you Official Disney Marathon Weekend videographers).....I found a happy compromise I think:

I am Tink afterall!



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I am beyond excited and canNOT wait to get down there! Now all I need is a little faith, trust and pixie dust that I'm fly like Tink!