Run DMT

I'm a mom on the run!

Run DMT - I'm a mom on the run!

Category Archives: Musical Monday

Music Monday: Let’s Go!

A couple of days ago, I ran my second half marathon of the year and this Sunday, I’ll run my third for 2013 on St. Patricks’s Day.  How’s that for a half fanatic?  Two half marathons in one week!  Of course, it’s not as impressive as two marathons in a week, but we do what we can.

This weekend, I also have back to back races.  On Saturday, my girls and I will run the Spring Sprint together again.  I’ll run the 5K with Allana and the 1 Mile Fun Run with Emmalynn.  Over the past year, the girls have made such strides in their running ability and I can’t wait to see how they do!

The girls’ running coach bought everyone green running club shirts, so we’ll be all set in our green attire for a St. Patricks Day themed race.  Of course, we’ll wear our little green derby hats again.  I may even wear the tutu again this year.

1SpringSprint5k

Spring Sprint 2012


On Sunday, I will run the Sarasota Half Marathon with Chrissy and several of the Suncoast Striders.  Technically this half marathon won’t count toward half fanatic status as I will be running with under a pseudo bib, which a friend offered to me when she unexpectedly dropped out of the race.  So Sunday, Run DMT will be “Marie G” to earn this awesome medal.  Personally, I think the dolphins should be jumping through shamrock green ocean waters.

SarasotaHalfMedal2013

As for the Sarasota Half Marathon course, I hear there’s a tough bridge in the first half.  Therefore, I’ve decided to approach this race with my usual run happy and snappy philosophy taking photos and just enjoying the course, although I will pick up the pace in the second half.  After all, Marie G is pretty speedy. 

For Music Mondays, I’m now teaming up with my good friend and fellow Marathon Mama, Chrissy.



Visit Xmas Dolly and Jade Louise Designs for more Music Monday.

Run DMT in the NYC

The Taylor Clan has landed in New York City!  That’s right. Run DMT is in the NYC!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/v/0UjsXo9l6I8?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0]

My family and I decided to take a road trip to the Big Apple because of BlogHer and what a road trip it was! Wow.  We survived the traffic and 21 hours on the road.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/v/5yCwiaZwiB8?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0]

Now, we’re rested, reenergized and ready to take a bite out of the Big Apple with a vacation that is full of firsts.

It’s my first BlogHer experience and I will be meeting Stacey, Lolli and Migdalia for the first time as well as many other of my favorite bloggers.

This is the first time two of my children will see NYC.  My oldest has been here before, but she doesn’t remember the experience.  So I guess, really two children will experience NYC for the first time and one will experience it all over again like it’s her first time.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/v/x7CIgWZTdgw?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0]

Although we will be doing all the typical NYC tourist stuff like a Broadway show, the museums, the Statue of Liberty and the 911 Memorial, this trip is all about keeping the kids happy.  Because as any parent will tell you, when the kids are happy, the rest of us can be happy and enjoy ourselves.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/v/IBWo5nx8vS8?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0]

However, since we have limited interact access in my parent’s apartment and no TV, this trip is already off to a not so good start.  Little Lion Man is already crying about “no Why”.

Oh well.  I guess that’s a good thing.  It will force us to be less tethered to our electronic devices and really experience things, like real-life trains instead of happy-faced trains with a really special special.

But how will anyone know what I’m experiencing if I can’t blog it, check-in or tweet it?

Visit Xmas Dolly and Jade Louise Designs for more Music Monday fun.

A Wonderful Father’s Day

This weekend was full of wonderful, simple days for Father’s Day.

Friday, we enjoyed a movie date night with our friends, Chrissy and Mike for a showing of Prometheus.  Believe the hype.  It’s as incredible as you’ve heard. I loved it.  Well, I loved what I could see through my obstructed view as I kept peeking through my hand-covered eyes.  Yes, I was the chick you heard shrilling behind you.

On Saturday, we enjoyed a delicious meal at Bombay Masala with my SIL and her family.

Then on Father’s Day, my parents came over for breakfast but not before the kids and I showered Dad with all the wonderful homemade gifts we crafted, thanks to Pinterest.

With acrylic based paint pens for glass, I traced their hands and then they decorated their dollar store pint glasses.  My girls came up with some clever sayings for their hand-printed pint glasses.  Allana’s listed different types of alcoholic beverages on her handprint and wrote, “You’re drinking again?!”   Emmalynn wanted to hers to say, “Cheers to a great daddy!” Allana thought “Mine!” would be a funny phrase for Liam’s pint glass.

We also gave Dad this D-A-D frame.

(The frame is from Marshalls.  I found cardboard pressed D and a letters at Michael’s and painted them with red acrylic paint.  I had each child hold a letter as I took their photo snapped several photos.)

Emmalynn made Dad another photo gift in school.

Allan loved all his gifts.  I loved the outtakes for the photos that didn’t make the frame.

But I truly loved the simple gifts and fun which made Father’s Day weekend simply wonderful.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/v/-UTq_EhaDUU?version=3&hl=en_US]

 

How was your Father’s Day?
Tell me with a song. Link up and share your Father’s Day inspired Music Monday post or whatever music is moving you today.



Visit Xmas Dolly and Jade Louise Designs for more Music Monday fun.

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Denise Mestanza-Taylor+

Music Monday: Love Songs

It’s February and love is in the air thanks to Hallmark, Hershey’s and florists.  Years ago, my husband and I decided to stop spending money on cheesy Valentine’s Day gifts and challenge each other to be more creative and thoughtful (and more frugal) when demonstrating our affection and admiration of each other.

 

One year, I loaded Allan’s MP3 player with a bunch of love songs and other tunes that made me think of him when I heard them.  I think I may do this again, but with some of my more recent favorite love songs, like Guster’s Do You Love Me?

 

Hubby isn’t a huge Guster fan, but this song always puts a smile on my face and a little pep in my step.  It’s a feel good song that sounds much like a sunshiny song from the 60s, reminiscent of something by Herman’s Hermits.So although he’s not a huge Guster fan, he’ll think of me bouncing around happily to the tune when he hears it.

 

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-uGEycguH0]

 

I’d also add the soulful sound of James Morrison’s Precious Love. It’s another song reminiscent of the 60′s. I love the Ottis Redding sound and style of James Morrison’s demonstrates.

 

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6G7jV5oS5nI]

 

And since my hubbie is learning to play this song on the guitar, I would also add the acoustic version Train’s Marry Me. I couldn’t find any videos that weren’t blocked by Sony and the video is so lovely. I highly urge to follow the link and watch it on YouTube.

 

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gDd1XFkR7U]

 

What love songs on your playlist?

 

 

Visit Amanda, Xmas Dolly and Hairbows & Guitar Picks for more Music Monday fun.

 

Peace, Love and Understanding

I hate war, but I respect and admire a soldier’s sacrifice to protect my freedoms.

 

Because I fear guns, I support stricter gun laws, but I also understand the 2nd Amendment will never be abolished.  However, in light of the Tucson shootings, something must be done so that mentally unstable people can never possess a handgun.

 

I may disagree with a person’s political views, but I would never use the term Nazi or any other ethnic epithet, racial slur or hateful imagery to emphasize my point.

 

I love this country just as much as any conservative or libertarian even though I adopt a different belief system.

 

I’m not trying to destroy America.  I just want this great land to be even better than our forefathers envisioned.

 

By sharing my wealth, I feel I demonstrate loving thy neighbors.

 

Supporting social programs doesn’t make me un-American, a socialist or a communist, but suppressing or silencing my ideals would be un-American.

 

So I ask you,

“What’s so funny about Peace, Love and Understanding?”

 

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XYFJUP84lE]

 

As I walk through
This wicked world
Searchin’ for light in the darkness of insanity.

I ask myself
Is all hope lost?
Is there only pain and hatred, and misery?

And each time I feel like this inside,
There’s one thing I wanna know:
What’s so funny ’bout peace love & understanding? Ohhhh
What’s so funny ’bout peace love & understanding?

And as I walked on
Through troubled times
My spirit gets so downhearted sometimes
So where are the strong
And who are the trusted?
And where is the harmony?
Sweet harmony.

‘Cause each time I feel it slippin’ away, just makes me wanna cry.
What’s so funny ’bout peace love & understanding? Ohhhh
What’s so funny ’bout peace love & understanding?

So where are the strong?
And who are the trusted?
And where is the harmony?
Sweet harmony.

‘Cause each time I feel it slippin away, just makes me wanna cry.
What’s so funny ’bout peace love & understanding? Ohhhh
What’s so funny ’bout peace love & understanding? Ohhhh
What’s so funny ’bout peace love & understanding?

 

I’d also like to share another classic because its lyrics and meaning also ring true in today’s world.

 

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DIoKr9VDg3A]

 

 

Visit Amanda, Xmas Dolly and Hairbows & Guitar Picks for more Music Monday fun.

Pride

Despite our polar opposite political views, my friend, John, and I share a common love for random trivia facts.  In any given conversation, we can offer a lesser-known bit of knowledge related to the topic at hand, like the time when John gave a brief history lesson behind the music of U2’s Pride (In the Name of Love).

 

Like many starched conservatives, John is a huge Ronald Reagan fan and prides himself with all historical facts related to President Reagan.  Remarkably, John is a walking World Book Encyclopedia when it comes to anything historical, American or World.  Wikipedia has nothing on him.  Therefore, I rarely ever challenge him on anything historical, particularly after I’ve had a few drinks.

 

But this one night about a month ago, I called bullshit balderdash to his Bono story.  According to John, Bono originally wrote Pride (In the Name of Love) about Ronald Reagan’s love for America.

 

Being a huge U2 fan and having always admired Bono’s humanitarian efforts, this information struck me as odd and I gave him a glance reflecting my disbelief since it sounded like an urban legend.  And just to annoy him, I told him I would consult Wikipedia and Snopes later.

 

After extensive research, John was somewhat right much to my chagrin.  I hate it when that happens.

 

Upon my research, I discovered that Bono indeed write Pride (In the Name of Love) about Ronald Reagan’s desire for America to become a nuclear power.  However after reading, Let the Trumpet Sound: A Life of Martin Luther King, Jr. by Stephen B. Oates, Bono decided to dedicate the song to Dr. King.

 

“I originally wrote Pride about Ronald Reagan,” Bono explained. “Reagan and the ambivalent attitude in America. It was originally meant as the sort of pride that won’t back down, that wants to build nuclear arsenals. But that wasn’t working. I remember a wise old man said to me, “Don’t try and fight darkness with light, just make the light shine brighter.” I was giving Reagan too much importance. Then I thought of Martin Luther King; there’s a man. We build the positive rather than fighting with the finger.” (1001 Songs: The Great Songs of All Time, the Artists, Stories and Secrets Behind Them, Tony Creswell 2006)

 

With pressure from the producers to finish the album The Unforgettable Fire, the lyrics for Pride were overlooked and one historical fact left uncorrected.  In Pride, Bono sings “early morning, April 4,” but Dr. King was assassinated in the evening.  When U2 performs the song live, Bono acknowledges the mistake and sings it as “early evening, April 4.”

 

Despite being one of U2’s most popular and acclaimed hits, Bono felt the song never truly developed to its potential in his mind.

 

“I looked at how glorious that song was and thought: ‘What the fuck is that all about?’ It’s just a load of vowel sounds ganging up on a great man. It is emotionally very articulate – if you didn’t speak English. – Bono

 

With Bono’s guttural sounds and a brief history lesson, I had been schooled.

 

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYrsgQNAfvU]

 

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wK6-g2cdaHw]

 

 

Visit Amanda, Xmas Dolly and Hairbows & Guitar Picks for more Music Monday fun.

Sugarfoot

I have a confession.  I love Music Monday because it’s so much fun discovering what songs people connect with and why.  But also, this meme introduces or re-introduces me to music that I may have overlooked otherwise.  Since I’m always on a mission to find new songs or classic songs to add to my running playlist, this meme offers the means to do just that.  So, thank you for playing along and sharing the music that moves you.

 

With that, let me introduce you to a song that always gets me up on my sugarfoot.  I love the James Brown sound that Black Joe Lewis brings in this song.

 

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8h6mwP0Tog]

 

What makes your Sugarfoot move these days?

 

 

Visit Amanda, Xmas Dolly and Hairbows & Guitar Picks for more Music Monday fun.

Believe

I suspect that this may be the last year Allana believes in Santa Claus.  She may have already let go of the idea ages ago, but she hasn’t shared that knowledge with anyone especially her little sister.  Honestly, I think she hasn’t shared her doubt with me because she knows I still believe.

 

For four years in a row, Allana has asked for a stuffed polka dot elephant from the Island of Misfit Toys featured in the animated classic, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.  Each Christmas, Santa sent an apology letter explaining how the elves couldn’t make enough toys to fulfill every child’s request.  It broke my heart to see the disappointment in her face but our Santa wasn’t willing to pay hundreds of dollars for a small collector’s toy on eBay.

 

This Christmas, both girls have asked for the stuffed polka dot toy, but thankfully Santa has teamed up with the elves at Build-a-Bear and he will finally be able to fulfill this long awaited request.

 

 

I hope this small stuffed toy delivers another year for Allana believing in Santa Claus.

 

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ur9dHCZKQQU]

 

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Visit Amanda, Xmas Dolly and Hairbows & Guitar Picks for more Music Monday fun.

 

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