8.21.2013

Alice in Wonderland 10K Pre-Trip Report!

We're getting excited for our upcoming trip and 10K over labor day weekend to the infamous Disneyland Resort! This will be our second trip to the Disneyland Resort this year, and we are throughly looking forward to it, as the Disneyland Resort is our place! 
This is the place where we have the most Disney fun, have the best eats (see our review on the Disneyland Corn Dog Cart here: http://themountainears.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-disneyland-corn-dog.html), and where Danny thinks we truly fell in in love (Jaime doesn't always agree, hahah)! We decided to post what we are looking forward to the most so we can keep ya' up on our adventures! See our list below!
- Traveling with our silly friends! - We are going with a huge group, around 10-12 of us, all from UNC and/or TTU, and we are all running in one of the runDisney Disneyland 1/2 Marathon events and going to enjoy Carthay Circle Resturant together (among many other eats)! We have 2 friends doing the Dumbo Double Dare, a few more doing the Disneyland 1/2 Marathon and we will be doing the Alice in Wonderland 10K! Overall, we are going to have some silly laughs, fun runs and great eats!

- Running in the inaugural Alice in Wonderland 10K - As stated above, all of our friends are participating in one of the many runDisney events this weekend, however we are excited to be participating in an inaugural run, the Alice in Wonderland 10K! As a group we have themed costumes, and lets just say we think they are pretty original, and we CANNN'T wait to share our team spirt with ya'! BUUUT, we don't want to spoil the surprise, so we will hold off for now!

- Limited Time Magic - We don't know whats coming, but the Disneyland Resort has been doing some phenomenal Limited Time Magic Annual Passholder events, and we can't wait for what will be happening when we are there!

- More Corn Dogs! - Well kinda! We are of course going to go to the Disneyland Corn Dog Cart, but we are also going to expand our palette and have a Hot Link Corn Dog and a Cheese Corn Dog... Can we say yum quicker?!

-. Celebrating our Ring-A-Versary - this may not be our 33rd Anniversary of our ring exchange (yes we're those weird hippies that don't want to get married until marriage is equal for all couples, gay and straight), but it is our 1st (read our post on our ring exchange last year here: http://themountainears.blogspot.com/2012/09/it-was-all-started-by-mouse.html) and Danny really wanted to take Jaime out to the Disneyland resort two weeks beforehand to celebrate, but Jaime talked him out of it because of the impracticallity of the trip, seeing as we would be out there again two weeks late... However Danny has a great surprise in store for this 1st Ring-A-Versary thanks to a very nice bunny!

8.05.2013

5 on 5: What we do outside of Disney Parks

Here is how we climb through life outside of the Disney Parks (Dramatic, we know):

Jaime:
1.     Cooking – I love the gratification of being inspired and making something useful so cooking is right up my alley. The product my inspiration is practical and usually pretty tasty. We have tried our hand at Disney recipes (some better than others) and I love to read different blogs for new ideas.


2.     Reading – I really love to curl up with a good book. Being in grad school means I usually have most of my reading prescribed already, but when I get a break from homework I can be found reading fiction (young adult and adult contemporary), autobiographies, non-fiction historical, and even cookbooks.

3.     Camping & Hiking – recently we have taken up camping and hiking. Living in Colorado means that the entire state is one giant, beautiful backyard and we want to explore as much of it as we can. Last month we purchased an annual pass for Rocky Mountain National Park and made it a goal to go at least once a month for hiking, snow shoeing, camping, or other outdoor activity.

4.     Attending UNC events – We try to support our alma mater as often as possible by attending theatre productions, sporting events, and other fun activities. We both graduated from, and still attend, the University of Northern Colorado and live in Greeley where UNC is based so it is pretty easy (and cheap) to support our school. We have an excellent performing arts program, free NCAA DI sporting events, and have brought many wonderful speakers and performers to our campus so we usually attend many events throughout the year.

5.     Secret Shopping – I am an independent contractor for several mystery shopping companies, which usually require that I go someplace and interact with employees. We often do a lot of different dining shops where Danny can come along, too. I love this because it gives me a chance to try new places, learn about new products, or get a ‘free’ lunch during the workweek and get paid for my time. This is a fun way to pocket a little extra cash for the holidays or for our next Disney trip!



Danny!

1.  runDisney Preparation - I have secretly become addicted to runDisney challenges since running the Expedition Everest Challenge with Jaime and Allie.  Since then I have challenged both myself and Jaime to complete a Coast to Coast Challenge, which we will complete this fall at the Wine & Dine 1/2 Marathon.  

I also challenged myself to complete (and have completed) runDisney's women's focused events - the Tinker Bell 1/2 Marathon (which Jaime and I completed this past January) and the Princess 1/2 Marathon with a co-worker.  Now I know you're wondering why I wanted to complete runDisney's women's focused events, its because I like to support anything feminist and women's related (as a self identified feminist, this is important to me), and Disney really doesn't have many feminist focused events, but these two event's are women focused, so why not?!  Plus I work in women's healthcare, so why not support women's health related events, right?!

With all that, I stupidly signed up to run the Dopey Challenge, which will take place during the 2014 Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend and will involve running a 5K, 10K, 1/2 Marathon and Full Marathon...  Yes I'm Dopey!  Also I'm training which means I am some what not Goofy!

2.  Work - I know it sounds stupid, but I LOVE what I do!  I work in women's healthcare doing patient intake and administrative support, and love it!  Helping women and men in their reproductive and family planning is a joy for me and I wouldn't change it for the world! 

I also work as a part-time instructor in Sociology at Aims Community College and also love it!  Teaching is so fun and learning is so inportant to me, that I cannot help but love to see students learn and aid in that process!

I also want to recognize that I have two jobs that are so completely different from one another and wouldn't change them for the world!  I love love love what I do!

3.  Consume Pop Culture - Lets just say I spend a lot of time on my iPhone, read a lot trashy of celebrity gossip websites and watch a lot of stupid TV...  I owe it girlll!  With that said tweet me dumb worthless info @uheartdanny (PS I'm looking at getting a reservation at Club 33 between August 29 - September 2, send me some love)

4.  Watch my Girls - I LOVE watching The Golden Girls on TV.  Yes I said it.  I grew up watching that show with my Grandma and love every second of those sassy old ladies.  I also love watching Chelsea Lately with Chelsea Handler (I'm SOOO excited Lindsey Lohan is guest hosting tonight)

5.  Spending time with my loves, Jaime and Rocco - Awww...  Aren't I cute, and old lady like?!  It's true though!