The reason we came down to Florida in the first place was so that Brandon could run his first marathon. On Saturday we drove from Tampa, where we were staying at a Joey's house, to Orlando. Our first stop was Disney, to check-in for
the marathon. We were greeted by sweet retired people ushering us into the correct buildings. One was dancing and singing
dy-no-mite and another read
Brandon's shirt and gave him a high five! Sign me up to retire in Florida. After packet pick-up we visited the runner's expo:
The expo had some neat things but was crowded. We picked up a 26.2 sticker for the car and a baby one for the scrapbook. Then, we left in search of a hotel. We found a great deal on a "blind" hotel with
Hotwire. Our goal was to stay at the cheapest hotel in the "Disney Main Gate" region. For $30/night we stayed at the
Ramada Maingate. It was just an exit away from the park. This was great for me because I had to drop Brandon off at 3:30am. I promptly headed back to the hotel and back to bed. The race officially began at 5:30am but Brandon crossed the starting line around 6am. I got text messages updating me on his splits for the 5 mi, 10mi, 13.1 mi and 20 mi marks.
Around 9:30, Joey and the gang picked me up at the hotel and we had
Cracker Barrel for breakfast. Now that was a good way to start the morning. Although, I did feel a little guilty not getting to cheer Brandon on.
Brandon was taking his race really seriously, and didn't bring a cell phone with him. This made me nervous! When we made it to the finish line we were trying to estimate his time of arrival. I was so worried I was going to miss him! And so were my friends because they knew Brandon wanted to propose at the finish line.
That's a picture of Brandon crossing the finish line. See those fences, that was the best view we could get. As Brandon made his way to the family reunion area, he realized that the proposal wasn't going to happen. As he requested, I gave him a big sweaty hug anyway.
He said the race was just as tough as he imagined it would be but was still up for a day at the park. What a trooper! So we headed to the
Magic Kingdom and rode some rides. The ring was in Joey's pocket the whole time, yikes!
After
Thunder Mountain, Brandon decided we should walk over to the castle and take a video. At the time this did not sound fishy, lol! We video taped Brandon at the finish line earlier. Brandon's plan was to walk through the castle and propose inside (the same path he ran earlier), however, a tent was blocking the path. Amber (our Disney expert friend) suggested that we walk around to the front. I remember babbling on about this and that. Then we arrived and Brandon said, "I ran 26.2 miles today, but I'd run a million more with you. Will you marry me?" Down on one knee and everything. Swoon!
There are 25 small diamonds in the ring adding up to one karat and it is plated in white gold. I love it! But, my finger is still getting used to it - it hurts! lol. I'm taking it to get sized tomorrow, so it will be gone for 1-2 weeks. Have one more look:
