Release Blitz-Excerpt: WINNING THE BILLIONAIRE by J.M. Stewart (Seattle Bachelors #2)

Winning the Billionaire

Seattle Bachelors #2

By: J.M. Stewart

Releasing June 14, 2016
Forever Yours

Blurb

In the tradition of E.L. James and Sylvia Day comes a sultry new series starring women who want to live out their wildest dreams . . .

When it comes to love, this billionaire is all business . . .

Software mogul Christina McKenzie has loved billionaire Sebastian Blake since they were kids. So when Seattle's most famous bachelor-and perennial playboy-finally asks Christina out, her fantasies kick into overdrive. Things become hot and heavy . . . but what's she supposed to do when she starts to fall for him?

Sebastian's never been one to settle down, and Christina knows she's just another notch in his bedpost.

Sebastian knows that smart, kind Christina deserves better than him. But after the mind-blowing night they just shared, he's ready to turn a sexy fling into the real deal. Keeping his freedom is one thing, yet keeping Christina in his bed-and in his life-is all Sebastian can think about . . .

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“Damn it, Christina.” He pivoted and stalked across the space between them, backed her against the counter behind her, and set his hands on either side of her. His eyes narrowed, his gaze hot and confrontational. “Go. Home.”

More than a little surprised by his sudden nearness, she swallowed hard, her heart hammering a mile a minute. He was so close, his every breath whispered over her lips, warm, with a slight hint of mint that made her yearn to discover the flavor on his tongue. She ignored the intense desire to close the remaining inches between them and held her ground. This wasn’t about her desire. He needed her, whether he wanted to admit it or not. 

She angled her chin higher. “Or what? I’m not afraid of you. You can’t boss me around.”

If he wanted a fight, though, she’d give him one, because she knew him enough to know he would attempt to intimidate her. No doubt in order to get her to leave him alone to his misery. If a subject had anything to do with emotion, he avoided it as if it were a highly contagious disease. She’d never let the tactic work before, and she wouldn’t now. 

This time, though, he didn’t do what she expected him to. Rather, his right hand slid into her hair, and before she could blink, he pulled her mouth to his. He didn’t give her a chance to back away, to approve or deny his assault. His kiss wasn’t fleeting, either, or soft and seductive, the way she’d always envisioned. His lips plied hers, tugging and demanding. His tongue stroked the seam of her mouth, a hot slide that had her gasping and opening for him. He took full advantage and swept in, his tongue restless in her mouth.

She whimpered. What she needed to do was push him away. He wasn’t thinking clearly. He was lost in grief. Her body, however, didn’t seem to be listening. His mouth was warm and luscious, and her arms wound themselves around his neck. How many times over the years had she imagined this moment? How many times had she stroked herself to orgasm fantasizing about his hands and his mouth on her body? Yet the reality far exceeded the fantasy, and God help her, she didn’t have the strength to deny him. 

Unfortunately, the fantasy didn’t last long. As abruptly as he’d grabbed her, he released her. His breaths came harsh and shallow, his chest heaving in time with the fierce pounding of her heart.

“That’s what. It’s been a sh*tty day, Tina, and I’m feeling very ornery and very needy.” As if to prove his point, he set his hands on the counter on either side of her and leaned into her, rocking his hips against hers. 

The full press of his lean body against her had any thought of protest flitting away like wisps on a breeze. Sebastian was aroused, and his erection pressed into the softness of her stomach. He didn’t feel like a small boy, either. She itched to reach down and stroke the length of his c*ck. She longed to put an end to the wondering and finally discover exactly how big he really was, yearned to know the soft, intimate heat of his skin. 

The intensity of his stare held her trapped. Sapphires. He had eyes the colors of deep, brilliant sapphires. They were usually intense and focused. Right then, they were in full seduction mode. Never in a million years would she have thought to find herself on the receiving end of that captivating stare. She’d never been the kind of girl who went all tongue-tied over a man, who giggled and sighed. She was a woman in a male-dominated industry; she could hold her own with most men. But right then? God help her, she wanted to do exactly that: giggle like a giddy schoolgirl and beg him to f*ck her senseless.

Author Info

J.M. Stewart is a coffee and chocolate addict who lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, two sons and two very spoiled dogs. She's a hopeless romantic who believes everybody should have their happily ever after and has been devouring romance novels for as long as she can remember. Writing them has become her obsession.

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Expedition Everest Challenge 2013 Race Report Part 2-The Race

After two days of volunteering and a mostly rained-out attempt at the Magic Kingdom Friday night, I decided to chill out in my room Saturday afternoon instead of heading to a park.  I thought I might take a nap, but I might have fallen asleep for maybe 20-30 minutes max...I spent most of the time eating lunch and then reading instead.

Headed to the start area not too early--this year it was a 10pm start.  The weather was pretty good for this time of the year-71 with a little breeze and not too humid (for Florida...it's all relative anyway).  I arrived and just wandered around until I saw Steve, Katie and their daughter (Running of the Ears friends), then I hung out with them for a bit.  I didn’t see any other ROTErs (though I knew some were there), but some of my local friends arrived and we got a quick pic before heading over to the corrals (borrowed the pic from my friend Amy at The Point One Will Getcha! since mine had icky lighting, thanks Amy!).  

This year for the corrals, instead of the individuals going in the first corral and the teams coming after, we were assigned corrals by pace.  There were corrals A-H; I was in F...kind of a bummer after getting to start in the first corral the last two years.  The corrals themselves were not big enough to fit everyone so we were spilling out the back of it.  As each wave was sent off and we moved closer to the front, we were finally able to fit into the chute...also the closer to the front, they had “snow” falling onto us from high above.  Our wave wound up starting at 10:30pm.

One thing that bugged many of us-even though corrals were supposedly assigned by pace (you had to indicate your anticipated pace when you registered), as each corral was sent off, you could see that every single corral (even corral A) had people at the very back walking-and not necessarily a fast walk either.  I had been honest about my pace when I registered-I was thinking they’d still have individuals first, probably ordered by pace, then teams the same way so I figured I still wouldn’t be at the back, even indicating that I would be one of the slowest paces...I didn’t know they would put individuals and teams mixed into every corral based on pace.  While I wasn’t put in the last corral, I thought they may have moved me up based on my times (5K and scavenger hunt) from last year. 

Since I hadn’t done much running-mostly walking-in the months leading up to the race, I started off at a brisk walk and figured I’d add in running if I felt up to it.  The course started off like the last two years, around the parking lot until we came to the first obstacles-the hay bales to hurdle over.  I did run through this-it’s a lot easier to hurdle hay bales when you’re running than when you’re walking.

Then on into the park for a bit before heading backstage.  They changed up the course a bit so we saw some different backstage portions than before.  The second obstacle was the tires.  They had a long line of tires set up (like what you used to see football players go through) and by the time I got there, it was a sea of people one after the other in a big line going thru them.  There were about 7 or 8 people waiting to start the tires in each line, and since I’m a clumsy one, I skipped it and went off-road around them.  The final obstacle was the net to crawl under, but again this year I couldn’t fathom crawling down there with the dirt being kicked up--I have enough problems with my allergies as it is...and so I went around this one too.  I probably would’ve gotten through it faster if I crawled since the sand around it was soft and not conducive to any kind of fast pace at all.

After crossing the 5K finish which was back outside of the park (not my slowest 5K time ever, but still pretty slow for me at 54:40, a 17:35 pace...but I did walk almost the whole thing), I got my first clue.  I was only handed the clue card and flashlight, and asked about a marker, but was told I wouldn’t need one.  Here’s Clue #1:

“Zero in” told me to look for the zeroes and once I did, you could see they made the letters “NW” for Northwest.  Told the volunteer at the first station just outside the entrance to the park my answer and I was given Clue #2:

“Heads up”-start at the top, “high and low”, go up and down...to get Northeast.  On to Camp Minnie-Mickey, gave my answer and got Clue #3:

This one I got immediately.  26--easy, that’s the number of letters in the alphabet, 19 and 23 are the letters S and W for Southwest.  Hurried to Africa, gave my answer and got Clue #4:

Okay, this one stumped me for a bit (and many other people).  I understood from the hints that I should start at the top line and look down the rows to get the answer but for the life of me I couldn’t see where in the top line to start.  Finally saw “nor” from normally, next line right below that was “the”, then right under that was the “ast” from “fast” which gives you Nor-the-ast...Northeast...and on to Asia for the Final Clue (#5).  When I got there, tons of runners were sitting all over the ground trying to figure out this clue:

So basically we had to put the other 4 clues together, turning them the correct way based on each clue’s answer to get this:

See the symbol in the middle?  We were supposed to point at the flag on our bib that had that symbol after we crossed the finish so the volunteer would know we solved it before we got our medal.  Me?  Yeah, I had no idea...just like all those other people who were sprawled everywhere trying to figure it out.  Since I knew we had to use the previous clues to solve the final one, I kept looking at them and the only thing that popped out at me was the colors the clues were printed on-blue for the first one, white for the second, red for the third and green for the fourth.  My not-so brilliant idea was, hey, we didn’t use yellow for those...and the final clue was on yellow, so I’ll just point to the yellow flag, right?  Yeah, not so much.  I headed to the finish line.

The volunteer I went to for my medal was one that I had worked with that morning at the refreshments table, and when I pointed to the yellow flag, she said, “ah, no...um, rhymes with right...”.  Oh.  Okay.  So I pointed to the white flag with a silly grin and she draped my medal around my neck.  White? Huh?  I got my banana, Clif Bar and Powerade and hung out after the finish chute waiting for Amy and her hubby (our other friends are way faster than us and were already done and back in the park).  She explained how the last clue was supposed to work.  I wasn’t about to try to figure it out again then, so we headed on into the park for the After-Party.

In addition to the rides in Dino-Land being open, they also had Kali River Rapids and the headliner, Expedition Everest available to ride.  I had been looking forward to that all night!  And what’s even better than riding Expedition Everest at night (the absolute best time to ride it!)? Sitting in the front row of course!  We rode twice before I decided to call it a night.

Overall I had a great time-this is still my favorite Disney race and I’ll keep coming back every year if I’m able.  My overall time this year was slower, in part due to my much slower 5K portion (2011 I did 47:17 and 2012 I did 48:44 for the 5K part) but also due to the difficulty of this year’s clues.  My final overall time?  1:32:42.  Women, 355/608; 599/954 overall in the individuals.  The 5K portion was of course 3.1 miles; the scavenger hunt added another 1.73 miles for a total of 4.83 miles for the entire race.  And for those interested, here’s the crazy overall map from my Garmin:

Have you ever done a 5K “Adventure” race like this?  Would you ever want to try the Expedition Everest Challenge?

Expedition Everest Challenge Race Report part 1-Volunteer shifts

I’ve said before how the Expedition Everest Challenge is my all-time favorite Disney race (I have, right?), in fact it’s my favorite race anywhere so far.  Not because it’s “only” a 5K-I actually prefer the half marathon distance since the first 1.5 to 2 miles are always harder for me while I get into a groove.  It’s my favorite because it’s just that much fun.  You’ve got obstacles along the course...nothing really hard, after all-you are still at Disney; you’ve got characters on the course; you’ve got a cool scavenger hunt solving clues that take you all over Animal Kingdom; and then you’ve got the after-party once you’re done.  But this part 1 post is about my weekend activities before the race.

Back in January during Marathon Weekend I had volunteered at the expo and 5K (yes, I know I haven’t recapped that trip yet but I will soon...I promise!).  I’m kinda getting into the volunteering thing-it’s fun and a great way to give back to other runners.  And so I kept watch on Disney’s volunteer site until the day volunteer registration opened, then registered to work a shift on Friday at the expo from 10am-3pm as well as a shift at the Family Edition race.  I drove up early Friday morning, got checked in to Pop Century so I could drop off my bags, then headed over to Wide World of Sports (WWoS) for my expo shift.

Waiting for the crowds to be unleashed

Even the Yeti needs to pick up his race shirt

Once I got to WWoS, I checked in at the stadium’s 2nd level, got my t-shirt and snack box as well as my assignment.  They were trying something new by having queue lines set up at the tables where you picked up your bib and race shirts.  Apparently they wanted people to go in one way and come out another, and those of us assigned to the queue lines were supposed to guide people into the lines.  Um, yeah...that didn’t work.  No one wanted to listen to us.  Thankfully, it didn’t get too crazy.  A little busy when the expo first opened, but after a little bit it died down to a steady trickle and since the tables were pretty spread out those of us working the lines were just kind of standing around, directing people and answering questions.  Once my shift was over, I headed back to my room for a short nap before heading over to the Magic Kingdom for some evening park time-which wound up getting pretty much washed out as it was pouring almost all night (I had my umbrella so I just kept on going thru the park...good thing about the rain?  Lots of people leave the park so there’s short lines).

The following morning I was up early to head over to WWoS for my second shift as a volunteer.  I would be working the Family Edition race this time.  A group of us were led out to the track where the kids race area was set up.  Together we helped set up the rack holding all the medals for both the Kids’ Races and Family Edition race.  I would be working the refreshments table so those of us on that table went over to make sure everything was all set up.  It kept doing this misty-raining thing on and off so they gave us ponchos (I am now the proud owner of a Disney Parks poncho, I feel so touristy LOL).  Once the races started, I wound up handing out these little Toy Story gummy fruit snacks to all the participants.  It was so cute watching all the little kids running their miniature obstacle course.  

Medals prepped and ready for the finishers!

Once they were done, the Family Edition started.  We had a nice little break in between while we waited for the groups to get over to the track after solving their clues so they could race to the finish line.  Once all the teams were in, we were done for the day.  The rain did finally clear up towards the end of the shift.  I picked up some lunch and headed back to my room to rest until it was time to head to Animal Kingdom for my turn at a race.

You can see it was icky out, but the kids still had a blast

I have to say, volunteering at the runDisney races is pretty fun.  There’s always a great group of people to work with (both rD people and the other volunteers).  Several of the people I worked with Friday and Saturday volunteered Saturday night for the main race and I chatted with them for a little bit before the race started...they thought it was great that I was participating in the race and wished me luck.  If you ever get the opportunity to volunteer at a race, whether at an expo, water stop, finish line or any other station, I would highly recommend you try it-especially if you’re a runner/walker yourself.  Seeing the race from the other side is enlightening...you don’t really realize the scope of what is going on until you’ve been on both sides.  Oh, and if you volunteer for Disney races, your volunteer time accumulates and you earn a one day/one park admission ticket for every 16 hours you work (exception for marathon weekend in January--if you volunteer then for either the half or full marathon, that shift will earn you a ticket all by itself)...plus you get the free shirt (or jacket for the half/full marathons in January).  It really is a great experience.

My station

I am hoping if I am unable to sign up for Tower of Terror (need my redemption, ya know?) this year, that I will at least be able to go up and volunteer.  And I’ll definitely be doing several shifts next January for Marathon Weekend again.  Hope to see some of you there!

Have you ever volunteered for a race (Disney or any other)?  What did you think about the experience?

PS-there was a cute little otter in the pond behind our refreshment station that kept popping up near the shore:

10 Words That Describe My Blog-April Blogger Challenge #2

1-Disney-my biggest addiction!  Especially Walt Disney World...I can never get enough of WDW :-) 

2-Running-or, okay, walk/running...but still, I’m out there moving! 

3-Pictures-I like to include pictures with my blog entries, I think it makes them more interesting
4-Recaps-as in race recaps, I try to recap all of my races-not just because others may be interested in them, but as a way for me to be able to look back and remember all the fun (and not-so-fun) times.  Interesting tidbit?  My Expedition Everest recaps are my most viewed posts and continue to get views every week!

5-Lighthearted-most of the time anyway.  I prefer to have people smile when they read than have to break out a box of tissues
6-Honest-I don’t put fake stuff out there
7-Free-that’s right peeps, you don’t pay a cent for any of this content!  Okay, you had to buy that computer...and get internet service...but hey, you didn’t just get that to read my blog, right?
8-Friendly-I welcome everyone to come read.  Even if you don’t agree with something I say, as long as any comments you post or emails you send me aren’t nasty, derogatory or the like, everyone is welcome here :-)
9-Personal-yes, I am writing about my own life, experiences and opinions.  Not too personal of course (that’s reserved for only my DH) 

10-Growing-my audience has grown and is still doing so.  I’m looking at ways to expand pages within my blog, connect with other blogs and sites and just keep things interesting here.  After all, if there’s nothing to bring others here, it’ll just be me all by my lonesome...and that’s no fun, everything’s more fun with friends :-)

If you have a blog, what 10 words would you use to describe it?

Don't forget to check out my post from yesterday with my test giveaway.  I'm giving away a fun Disney Parks Growth Chart...just something simple to test out the Rafflecopter widget (my first time using it) to prepare myself for future giveaways on my Disney World Files blog.  I know the growth chart is not a big, fancy prize, but I'm just using it as a way to learn the Rafflecopter stuff.  Please try it out.  If you win and really don't want the chart (though you could give it to a friend or family member who might use it), I can treat you to a drink during any race weekend we're both at instead. Deal?

2012 Expedition Everest Challenge race report

2012 Expedition Everest Challenge Race Report

Yes, I know-I haven’t even done my WDW Half, WDW Marathon Relay, ING Miami Half or Princess Half recaps yet.  They’ll eventually get on here (hopefully before the next of each race rolls around next year LOL), but for now while EEC is fresh in my mind I want to post this one up.

Just like last year I did a Friday to Sunday trip.  Stayed on property (of course) at Disney’s Pop Century resort-my favorite value resort at WDW.  My SIL and her DH were riding up and rooming with me (see “sharing expenses” tip) so we all left together just before 8am so we could be there in time for the noon packet pickup opening.  Once we arrived at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex, there was already about 30 or 40 people lined up waiting for pickup to start.  We joined them, lining up along the outside of the baseball stadium.  When they started letting everyone in, we walked through the inside of the stadium to an open area in the sun where tents were set up with everyone’s packets, a staged photo op area and very small area of EEC and runDisney items available for purchase.  We got our stuff, took some shots at the photo area, I bought the EEC pin, then we moved along to the shirt pickup area.  This year’s was a nice deep forest green with the EEC logo on the front.  

Headed to the hotel to check in, then out for some lunch at TGI Friday’s (another creative financing idea--turned in 150 stripes on my TGI Friday’s stripes card for a free steak entree coupon...gotta love free steak!) before heading to the Magic Kingdom for the rest of the day & night.  Saturday slept in a bit, then headed over to Epcot to meet up with some friends of SIL/BIL’s to wander.  But it was the sun was crazy strong and it was HOT HOT HOT so I left to go back to the room for a couple of hours before heading over to Rainforest Cafe at Animal Kingdom for a late lunch/early dinner (creative financing #3 of the trip--turned in some MyPoints for a $25 RC gift card so my meal was free!).  Even with trying to stay in the shade while at Epcot I wound up with some sunburned arms and a bit on my face...very glad I went back to the room when I did or the race would have been a bit painful!

After resting at the room after dinner for a while, we headed over to Animal Kingdom around 8pm.  Saw Katie, Steve, Becky and David from Running of the Ears right away, then wandered over by the stage area.  We had met back up with our friends from earlier that day (SIL/BIL were running as a team and the 4 others were 2 teams as well) and took a pic at one of the photo areas near the stage, then made a quick port-a-potty stop before heading over to get into the corral.  I lucked out and was in Wave #1 again (YAY!) so wanted to get a good spot off to the right side of the corral so I wouldn’t be in the way of the fast people.

Unfortunately, they held us all outside of the corral for a bit before letting us into the chute.  Everyone was stuffed together at the entrance which was a tad uncomfortable, especially since it had only “cooled” down to about 80 degrees and was still a bit humid.  Finally they let us in.

And then we were off!  I started off running as usual (yeah, moron creature of habit here, I never learn), then tried to switch to intervals trying to keep up with Katie, Steve and his daughter (they were doing 1:1’s), but it was just too hot and humid for me to do that so I switched to my fast walk instead.  About 3/4 of a mile in we came upon our first obstacles--just like last year we had rows of hay bales to hurdle over.  No problem at all!  We continued on, entering Animal Kingdom just after the 1-mile mark.  Out to the back of the park and into the backstage area to obstacle #2--and again just like last year we had the rows of tires to navigate thru.  I didn’t want to try run/hopping through them like you see football players do as I was sure I’d wind up flat on my face like I saw several people do, so I went through them but at a walking pace instead.

Back into the park for a bit, then backstage again before heading out--just past mile 3 was the last obstacle--where you were supposed to crawl on the ground under ropes (like you see army guys do in training).  They had that fake carpet-grass underneath, I’m assuming to keep you from hurting yourself on rocks, but the obstacle is set in a really loose sandy area so there was a lot of dust being kicked up and I wasn’t about to crawl through it with my allergies...and so I went around it (yeah, I know-that technically makes you ineligible for prizes but really--I’m never going to be fast enough to get a prize anyway so eh, no biggie).  It actually was slow going around it because of the loose sand-you couldn’t really go fast (or at least I couldn’t) without probably twisting an ankle.  Once around the obstacle, it was just a few more feet until the 5K finish line.

Next up we were handed our first scavenger hunt clue along with a mini-marker attached to a key ring that had a red-light flashlight.  Remember, there are different clues available so not everyone has the same clues.  Here’s my clue #1: 

  I figured this out really quick.  And I knew from last year not to head into the park with the clue, that the first station was outside the park.  At least this year there was someone there telling people the first clue station was there so they wouldn’t do like I did.  Got clue #2 

and headed into the park to Camp Minnie-Mickey.  Another quick solve!  Grabbed clue #3 

  I had to think about this one for a couple of minutes but tried thinking while walking so I wouldn’t waste any time.  I stopped for maybe one whole minute though to really look at what it said, then jogged on.  Made it over to Africa and got clue #4 

This one I thought was really easy so I quickly wrote my answer down and started running toward Asia where I got my final clue 

  Once I realized what I had to do, I flipped back through my clue cards to figure out the final answer, quickly wrote it down and ran all the way to the finish where I showed them my card, then ran through the chute to the race finish line!

I must say, I’m very proud of myself with the clues this year--I got them all by myself, no hints from anyone and since I knew what I was doing and where I was going this time around, I cut about 25 minutes off my overall time from last year!  One of the teams from our group finished a little bit before me and called out to me once I finished so we hung out waiting for the others to come on through (they were in later waves since the teams started after the individuals).  We all went for a ride on Expedition Everest (where I wound up losing my hat after the big drop-flew right off my head...yes, I’m calling WDW lost and found to see if they have it...that sure didn’t happen last year), then headed over to Kali River Rapids.  I decided not to ride that one (yes, the soaking would have been welcome to help cool down but I wasn’t getting back in my car like that) so waited for everyone else.  After that me, SIL and BIL wandered over to DinoLand USA...no wait for Primeval Whirl so went for a spin before heading out for the night.

This was another fantastic Disney race weekend.  Just in case I haven’t said it enough, I LOVE this event.  Already planning on heading back again next year--after all, I need to see if I can do it faster, right?  Now I have a nice long break as my next race isn’t until the Tower of Terror 10-miler at the end of September.  Time to really get back to the weight-loss regimen since I’ll be able to properly devote my time and not worry about race training for a few months.

Women overall 238/522

5K time 48:44

Scavenger Hunt time 25:42

Total time 1:14:26 (net time); 1:14:43 (clock time)

Expedition Everest Challenge #1

Packet pickup :-). Wave #1 again, gotta love it! There's 6 minutes between waves and at least 5 waves that I know of so that's at least a 24 minute head start before wave 5 starts.

Expedition Everest Challenge-time to go!

All right kiddies...tomorrow's the Expedition Everest Challenge at Disney World!  Just packing up the last minute things, then it's time to head out to visit The Mouse!

Anyone who'll be up there, be sure to come on over and say hi to the Running of the Ears group you should see there.

Get sweaty!

I almost forgot how much yoga makes me sweat!  Just did a half hour this evening and I'm dripping wet.  Whoever out there that thinks yoga is just stretching and meditating sure has never tried it.  Not sure why I did a couple of trees tonight...my balance isn't that great and I almost fell over-twice.  Much prefer the warrior poses.

Now to head upstairs for some deep breathing and relaxation...after I pull out my bag for this weekend's Expedition Everest trip.  That's right, still haven't started packing.  At least there's not too much to pack for this trip-"just" a 5K and only a 3-day weekend.

One more workday, then it's off to the Mouse House!

5 days to the Expedition Everest Challenge!

Only 5 days left until the 2012 Expedition Everest Challenge! I'm planning on heading up Friday morning so only 4 more days until I'm at the Mouse House. Unfortunately the weather is putting a damper on training. It's been raining and raining and, well, you guessed it, raining for the last three days. And looks like more of the same for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. We've been under almost constant flood watches the whole weekend and into today. Makes me glad I'm doing the individual again this year (if they have us start in the first wave/corral again). I could just walk the course and still be done before the last people are even halfway through. Though I won't be walking the whole thing even if I can't get outside to train all this week.

And no, I'm not running on the treadmill. Tried that before and it was awful--I couldn't even keeping walking on the treadmill after I tried running on it, that's how badly it threw me off (no, it didn't throw me off the machine, I meant in general and stride/pace/everything-wise). I wouldn't mind running in the rain if it was just a light rain or drizzle but we've been getting seriously heavy downpours...not worth it to go out in this weather for "just" a 5K. I'll be fine for EEC even if I take this week off.

Almost time to conquer the mountain!

I'm not ignoring you; earning extra money; single digit days to Everest

It may seem like I'm ignoring you but I'm not. I have two blogs now, this one (well duh) and The Disney World Files (you can access it from one of the tabs above). I started the Disney one as a way to write about my favorite place so I could share information and maybe some tips and tricks, etc. And so I've been spending some time working on my information pages which are taking longer than I expected (and those pages are just overview pages...there's just so much to tell about Disney, even in an overview!).

I've also been researching becoming a Disney travel planner/agent, checking out different host agencies and trying to make contact with several of them. I figure with as much as I know about Disney and love the place, I could help others plan and book their trips (I've certainly planned enough of my own and some other people's as well)...not necessarily full-time since I already have a full-time Monday thru Friday job, but at least part-time evenings and weekends (which is when I'd think lots of people would be looking into booking vacations anyway since so many people are Monday-Friday workers like me).

Since my fun-money account has been dwindling down and there's not much available in the mystery shopping/auditing world that's worth doing (have I said on here that I do that in my spare time? If not, yes I do...or at least I've done it in the past, not much out there that pays decent anymore), I've been thinking of ways to earn some extra cash so I can do more races and more Disney trips (of course!). There's really no part-time positions available close by-I'm not spending a ton of gas just for a PT job-so I've turned to home-based ideas.

I could probably gather enough "stuff" from the house and garage for another garage sale, but even if a friend was having one that I could join (my complex doesn't allow it unless it is a complex-wide event) that would just be a one time thing and while that would be nice short-term, I'm really looking for something sustainable.

So again, since I'm a Disney fanatic and have been there over fifty times (at least, it's probably more but you lose count after a while), the Disney travel agent idea seems like a no-brainer for me. I love planning trips, especially to Disney World. So I'm waiting for responses. I've heard back from two agencies so far...one is only looking for full-timers, the other sent me information and a contract if I decide to sign with them. My only money outlay to get started with them would be to get added on a rider to their E&O insurance. But I'm going to wait a bit longer to see what other responses come in to compare commission charts and such (though theirs seemed pretty good).

I know several of my Disney running friends/ROTErs are Disney planners, do any of you have any information to share on getting started that I might have missed? Or advice of any kind? I've already been doing independent contractor work so I'm familiar with that aspect of it. I know this is something I'd really like doing (again, not full-time)...I know volume could be next to nothing or really huge...I'm not looking to get rich doing this, just make some extra and maybe get some travel perks if my volume is high enough to qualify. We'll see what happens!

Only 9 days left until we leave for Expedition Everest Weekend! Looking forward to doing EEC again, had such a good time last year (recap here). Plus this year's medal is pretty nice with the 5th anniversary...I'll leave you with some pics of it:

Expedition Everest waivers up; Tower of Terror filling fast; my other blog

runDisney has put the link up to the 2012 Expedition Everest waivers here. They've also posted final race instructions. This year I'm bib #366 so if you see me there, come on over and say hi! Not quite as low as last year's 95 but not a 5-digit number like I always am at the half marathons (and the full marathon) at Disney. I'm hoping they keep the wave starts like last year with the individuals going first before the teams, it was really cool last time to be able to go off with the first wave instead of the last or next to last like I usually do. Speaking of last year, if you haven't already read my report from last year's event, you can read it here.

I also posted yesterday that I'm officially registered for the Tower of Terror 10-miler the last weekend of September. If you are wanting to participate, better get over to the site to register ASAP...on Friday it was 87% full, yesterday it was at 91%, now today it's up to 94%...so the final slots are filling fast! I know there will be a HUGE group of folks from Running of the Ears there. If you haven't checked out the ROTE forums I highly recommend doing so-lots of great info and fantastic people who love running and love Disney!

Okay, gotta go work on my other blog that I started, The Disney World Files. I figured that since I love Disney World so much, I wanted to write all about it. I'm hoping to make it a place people can check out with tips & tricks, interesting facts, things like that. I want to make it different than other sites/blogs about Disney where I'm not just telling the same information over and over (like hotel details, ride descriptions, restaurant choices). I'm thinking I'd like to be more...I don't know...free-spirited? If you were going to read a blog about different Disney World resort topics, what would you want to see? For example-reviews of the different resorts/restaurants, overview of Downtown Disney, Disney transportation options, etc.

But something more than just the everyday, every Disney site/blog out there talks about the same thing stuff...any unique things, out-of-the-way things, etc-interesting topics/viewpoints that everyone else hasn't already done to death, you know?

Let me know if you have any ideas/requests...and if you have questions/ideas/requests from friends, send those over as well. There is no such things as too many topics/questions and no such thing as too "small" of a topic to cover.

Creatively financing race trips

I'm trying to figure out how to make the only two race trips I want to do coming up (2012 Tower of Terror and 2012 WDW Marathon Weekend) feasible budget-wise. I'm doing as many online things (surveys, MyPoints, etc) to earn gift cards to use for food, gas, etc as I can. That's one of the ways I've reduced my costs for my upcoming Expedition Everest trip...I earned myself a $25 gift card to Rainforest Cafe (or any other Landry's restaurant, but really-RC is right there in Animal Kingdom and in Downtown Disney so why go elsewhere?) from MyPoints. I also have enough stripes on my TGI Friday's card to get a free steak or ribs entree. I'm staying at Pop Century on WDW property and they now have mini-fridges in all of the rooms so I'll be bringing breakfast stuff and snacks. Since I go up on Friday and come home on Sunday, just those things right there pays for most of my meals.

I've already paid the first night of my 2 nights of the hotel as the deposit for Everest...and I'm sharing my room with my SIL and her hubby so they're paying the other night. Sharing a room is always a great way to keep room costs down. I'm thinking for TOT and MW that maybe getting enough people to share a suite at All Star Music or Art of Animation might even be more cost effective since those can sleep even more people (up to 6-one queen bed, one double sleeper sofa, one sleeper convertible chair and one sleeper convertible ottoman at Music; one queen bed, one double "table" bed and one double sleeper sofa at AOA). There's also the higher end places like the deluxe villas and the treehouses that can sleep up to 8 or 9 people too, though I haven't done the math to see if they'd also work out really cheap like the value resorts would.

I know there are probably places off property that are cheaper, but honestly the convenience of staying on Disney property, plus the fact that on property I don't have to pay for parking at the parks and can get to them quicker if of more value to me personally. I do consider staying off property on the first night up for a trip though, especially for January's Marathon Weekend when I usually go up from Thursday through Monday...I've been racking up survey dollars with eRewards so I can redeem for Hilton Honors points. When I redeem those points later this year I should have enough for one night hotel in my Hilton Honors account *YAY!*

One of the trip expenses that keeps getting bigger is gas. Like with the hotel expense, sharing helps keep this down (SIL and her DH are riding up with me for Everest so we'll share gas expense too). I can also use the gift cards I can earn on the MyPoints site for gas as well. I do take the Florida Turnpike for my trip so there is some toll expense, but that's another convenience I'd rather pay for--there's usually less cars on the Turnpike and it is much closer for me as well...plus it lets you out on Osceola Parkway up there which is a straight shot right into the back side of the WDW property.

I'm also currently going over the stuff in my office and garage that I'm basically just storing and not using to see what I might have to sell. I'd rather try and sell it at a garage sale than do Craigslist or eBay, but my complex doesn't allow them (unless it is complex-wide and they've only done one of those) and no one I know is having one for me to tote my stuff over. This part is a work in progress, hopefully I can figure something out...I'll probably wind up using Craigslist since we've had success on there before. At least it doesn't cost anything to use Craigslist so if things don't sell I don't lose any money on listings.

I'd say my favorite way to save is using MyPoints to earn the gift cards (if anyone is not on there, is interested and wants me to send an invite, let me know). I just click on the emails to show I've read them, do surveys and sometimes shop through the links on the site--they have TONS of well-known stores that you can click to from the MyPoints site, then you earn points for each dollar you spend. If you're going to be buying something on a site that has the click-thru anyway, might as well earn points for it, right? I've found it's the best site to easily earn gift cards without having to invest crazy amounts of time.

Anyway, if anyone has other ideas for creatively financing a race trip, feel free to leave a comment, I'm always open to (reasonable) suggestions! Anything to help me make my race trips happen, gotta get that bling and see all my online running friends!