I Promise I'll Be Better

I have honestly just been too busy and didn't feel like writing much.  Things I've done in the past 3 months:

River Tubing
Finished up my latest work contract
Found a new contract
Went to AZ for my cousin's wedding
Went to 4 baseball games
Took my car into the dealership 3 times
Preakness
Gold Cup
Saw Friends with Benefits
Saw Bridesmaids
Vacationed in Riviera Maya
Went to Colombia
Visited Boston
Was given a stuffed lobster.  I love that lobster.

Oh, and I shopped.......a lot.  I did a lot of little stuff in there too, but that's the bulk of it.  Speaking of shopping, today I bought the cutest pair of flowery wedges from DSW.  It was raining, I figured shoes were in order.

ANDDDDDDDD....in 8 days, I get to see this man again(even though I'm deeply saddened by his recent nuptials):

YAY FOOTBALL!!!!

Disney Pics

Here's just a sampling of the 140+ pics I took over the 3 days at Disney.  Enjoy!

Disney World Day 3-Animal Kingdom

Our last day in Florida started with us checking out of our hotel, storing our bags, and heading on the bus to Animal Kingdom.  I had been to MGM when I was 9, and my mom wanted to go to AK, so there we were.  katmcd had gone there once before and warned me that she would be going on the Everest ride at least twice.  We walked into the park right after 9am,  mom and John got their coffee and we started walking around the Oasis, and into Discovery Island.  Discovery Island is where the Tree of Life (the giant tree in the park, trust me, you know what I'm talking about) is.  So we took some pics and headed off to Africa and the Safari ride/car trip thing.  The safari was pretty cool and we got to see a lot of animals including giraffes, elephants (and the cutest baby elephant running after it's mom), a black rhino, a white rhino, an ostrich, and a lion couple.  There were a lot of birds and some other smaller animals and we were just having a nice time driving around the reserve area.  Following the safari, katmcd and I went on some rapid ride while mom and John walked around some trek area with animals and plants.  We walked right on the ride and got nicely wet but it was really fun.  Then we headed over to Asia where Expedition Everest is.  GIANT mountain and a very intense roller coaster that goes backwards and forwards, and has a yetti!  It was honestly super exciting and might be my favorite roller coaster of the entire trip to Disney.

Following Everest, we went through Dinoland or whatever it was called to ride Dinosaur.  If you've been on the Indiana Jones ride, the car was identical.  You travel back in time to pick up one of the creatures from that era right before the meteor hit and destroyed all life (if you believe that's what happened).  I also have to warn you that I have a huge fear of things popping out and scaring me and that's all this ride was.  One of the dinos even breathed on us hot air.  I was so freaked out, I spent most of the ride with my head down and with a death grip on katmcd's arm.  They took a picture at some point, it's just the top of my head.  I was terrified. 

Following my heart attack on that ride, we took a breather and went to lunch at Rainforest Cafe.  I've been to this before actually back in Texas at Grapevine Mills, this outlet mall.  But it was a delicious lunch and our last meal at Disney.  After lunch, we walked back over to Everest to ride that again and then we had about an hour and a half to kill before we needed to head back to the airport and mom and John decided to go separate from katmcd and I. They walked around the Tree of Life and saw some different animal and plant exhibits, while katmcd and I rode the rapid ride, and then went back to Everest.  So just to count, that's 1 safari, 1 horrifying dino ride, 2 times on the rapids, and 3 times on Everest.  We still had some time so we went to Character Landing and met Winnie the Pooh.  Eeyore and Tigger were there also, but when it was our turn, everybody was taking a break except for Pooh bear. 

We met up with mom and John, bussed back to the hotel, cabbed to the airport and then sat and surprise, had another coffee.  Our flight was about an hour before my mom and John's so we went through security leaving them at Seattle's Best.  Going through security happened to provide some great entertainment for us though.  This foreign couple had a suitcase full of bottled water.  katmcd was watching this while I was still getting screened, but she said that the suitcase went through the machine, they called over a supervisor who put it through again and took a pic of it.  Are you serious?  A full suitcase of water bottles? Not allowed sir.

Following us laughing about the water bottles, we quickly hopped on the tram to take us to our gates....only it wasn't our gate. It was 1-29, and we were gate 50.  Is there another tram?  We looked around and this just wasn't right, so we hopped on the tram going back, and then finally saw the trams to gates 30-59.  We.are.stupid. 

What a great vacation it honestly was.  It's not necessarily relaxing, but it was just so enjoyable and I think I was just so happy during it that it was totally worth it.  I <3 Disney.

Disney World Day 2-Magic Kingdom

Seriously...the Happiest Place on Earth.

We caught the 8:30am bus over to the park and got there right when it opened at 9am.  Now something different about Magic Kingdom is that you have to either take the monorail or the ferry from where you buy your tickets to the actual park.  I have kind of a weird obsession with the monorail, so of course we popped in line and waited our turn.  I was surprised how busy it was that early in the morning, but it was still ok.  We got off the metro and went into the park and walked down Main Street, U.S.A.  I guess I just have a LOT of childhood memories from Disneyland and Disney World, so as we're walking, I'm just snapping pics and getting butterflies just remembering all of the amazing things I've seen there.  My mom and John live off coffee and we needed to get some breakfast so we found a bakery on Main Street and stopped to get some food.  I had the most delicious chocolate croissant and chocolate milk.  Chocolate overload for sure, but it was so worth it. 

Following our pit stop, we headed straight to Tomorrowland.  It's changed quite a bit over the years and to start off and see what was new, we hopped right on the people mover.  The people mover takes you around Tomorrowland at a slow pace and tells you about the rides, some history, and shows happening.  After that, we went on Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear's uhm..something, (which was awesome, you glow and get to shoot lasers at Zurg), Stitch's Great Escape (horrifying for anyone like me who doesn't like the dark where things are touching your legs, shoulders, etc), Carousel of Progress, and Autopia (which I realize isnt' called this anymore, it's like the Tomorrowland Race Track or something, but I'm old school).  Mom and John took a coffee break while katmcd and I went on Autopia by ourselves.  The line was actually really long, but as we're walking up to the line, this guy who works there is like:
Him: Happy Birthday Sarah
Me: Thanks!
Him: How old are you now?
Me: 25.
Him: So, 21?
Me: Definitely
Him: Well, I turn the magical age in 3 months, but I've been 21 already since I was 14. 

uh...what?  Ok.  Then he's like, "follow me."  We got to cut the entire line, and then he put this sign on the back of our car that said, "It's my birthday."  So we say thanks, and get in the car and go for the drive.  When we're back, there's a bit of a back up, but we can see that the guy like waited for us to get back but as we're driving up (I was steering, katmcd was on the pedals) a GIANT bug comes flying at our faces but suddenly zooms away.  The 3 guys who work the ride, including our friend, are laughing hysterically at us.  Uhm, hi that bug was really huge.  So we pull up and ask our friend to take our pic in the car, but first he tries to take a pic of himself, and then he pulls the sign off the back of the car and pulls it around the front so you can see it.  It was my magical moment of the trip.

We met back up with my mom and John and headed towards Fantasyland, and on the way, saw that they are creating an Ariel under the sea adventure and Belle is going to have her own restaurant.  AWESOME.  In Fantasyland, we rode the Winnie the Pooh ride (where you ride in honey pots, so cute), Snow White's Scary Adventure, and the Carousel.  Then we went to New Orleans Square...or wait, in Disney World they call it....Liberty Square, and rode Haunted Mansion, and then went to lunch at The Liberty Bell Tavern.  Lunch was delicious, well, Kathleen, mom and John's food was really good.  Mine was ho-hum.  They got pot roast and thanksgiving dinners.  So delicious though.  Then we found a spot to sit for the 3pm parade Celebrate a Dream Come True (or something like that).  Following the parade, we headed to Splash Mountain and then Big Thunder Railroad in Frontierland, and then Jungle Cruise and Tiki Room in Adventureland. 

I have to make a slight tangent though and tell you all about my severe disappointment in the new Tiki Room.  Recently they redid this attraction, changing it from the original 1960something format that was such a classic.  They added in Iago from Aladdin and Zazu from the Lion King.  It was horrible.  They turned it into a bird disco and it was just awful.  I've never been disappointed by anything Disney.  It was a shame.

After shaking off that sad thing, we went and got some Dole Whip, which is the most freakin delicious pineapple frozen stuff ever.  Then we headed back to Tomorrowland to do Space Mountain again and before we knew it, it was time to stake out a spot to watch the Main Street Electrical Parade.  I have seen this parade so many times but I still love it.  Katmcd and I trekked out to find some food which was non-existent.  We went back to the bakery to get some sandwiches and after some ridiculousness there, I decided to just get food for mom and John too so they wouldn't have to try and leave our spot.  Things were taking forever, and there were just SO many people everywhere we looked.  We went back, ate our food, watched the parade and then went back again to Tomorrowland to kill some time before the fireworks show at 9.  We decided on Buzz Lightyear again because it's just so silly and fun.  The fireworks were really nice to watch complete with music and I took some nice videos and pics of them.  We headed all the way around the park to go back to Big Thunder Railroad per John's request, had a great time riding it again, and then started our trek back to the hotel. 

On the monorail, which was PACKED, I turned around and accidentally hit this kid in the head with my elbow.  I turned around to apologize to him and got his mother or grandmother saying "Hey watch it" in that total bitchy tone.  I said, "I didn't see him there, and I turned around to apologize to him."  She responded, "Just watch yourself" in that same tone.  I preceded to verbally assault this woman: "You don't need to speak to me like that.  It's VERY crowded in here, and I didn't see him.  I turned around to apologize to him, and got your attitude which I don't appreciate.  I didn't mean to hit him, but you don't need speak to me like that."

Ridiculous way to end the evening.  I shook it off and we got on the bus which was insanely crowded and after an hour of standing up and riding around which seemed like everywhere, we finally made it to the hotel and went to sleep.  Overall it was such a great day and it seemed like everyone was having such a great time.  Pics to come soon.

Disney World Day 1 - Epcot and Food & Wine Festival

Katmcd and I landed about 20 minutes late on Friday afternoon but were met right off the plane by my mom and John(my mom's husband).  We hopped in a cab, checked into our hotel, and hopped on the bus to Epcot Center.  Did you know Epcot actually stands for Experimental Prototype City of Tomorrow?  I didn't.  It was John's first time ever to any Disney park, so katmcd got him a "First Visit" button which he wore with pride the entire weekend.  (On Saturday, katmcd picked me up a "Happy Birthday" button which the Disney people wrote in big black font "Sarah", so multiple Disney workers would say "Happy Birthday Sarah."  It was pretty cool.) 

I didn't remember Epcot really from when I was 9 and went there, and let me just tell you, I was very pleasantly surprised.  They had added a lot of rides.  We managed to go on all of the major rides(Future World) and get around the entire World Showcase.  The rides we went on included Test Track, Mission: SPACE (with spinning), Soarin, Captain EO (which I actually remember from Disneyland in CA), Spaceship Earth (inside the big white golf ball looking thing).  And we did some of the smaller rides including Nemo's ride, Maelstrom (the ride inside the Norway Pavilion), and Gran Fiesta Tour (inside the Mexico Pavilion). 

Then we headed over to World Showcase which was packed with people enjoying all of the different food and wine tastings.  It honestly was a bit weird to see so many people drunk at Disney World, but hey, whatever.  The four of us decided to do some tastings since there was no admission to the festival, you just paid for what you ate/drank.  Our samplings included:

Brazil: Pork skewer with grain something.  This dish was a bit weird, the pork was so good, but the dipped the skewer in what felt like really grainy sand and it really dried it out.  Very bizarre.  (Kathleen had a shrimp soup over rice which she said was good.)
Singapore: Beef stew type dish over jasmine rice.  I think this was my favorite of all dishes we tried.  It tasted a bit like Indian food mixed with Thai food.  So good.
Poland: Kielbasa and Potato Pierogies with Caramelized Onions and Sour Cream. This one was also freakin delicious.  It had some sausage too.
Japan: Spicy tuna roll.  This dish came with 3 pieces of sushi and was pretty good but was nothing special.

Honestly, everything smelled and looked delicious, but I think we had a nice sampling of the festival.

Lastly we stood around the lake and watched Illuminations, a firework and water show.  I had a mini-meltdown for absolutely no reason but 5 minutes later I was fine and apologized the next morning to my mom/John and katmcd.  I'm stupid.  But anyways, the show was pretty nice, very different.  It centered around a large floating globe that changed colors and a mini-island with some fire.  Afterwards we just walked to the bus stop and waited to get back to our hotel. 

Overall Epcot was a really great start to the Disney vacation.

Trips Take 2

I am so hungover and off to the airport shortly for Disney World.  Yay!

In 1 Work Day and 2 Hours of Work

In that amount of (work) time, I will be with these people:

At this location:

Can you tell that I'm a little one-track minded recently?

I have to apologize about it actually, but ever since I went to Hilton Head and then came back to the same miserable series of events from before I left, I've been somewhat depressed about life.  The weekend was so great, but with the drama that K2's putting in my life right now, my current role assignment just being total crap, and other just home business, I am so stressed out.  Work days feel like they're 20 hours long, and I'm just pining for the moment I get to leave and go to fabulous locations with amazing people. 

I had always vacationed when I was younger, but I was young and didn't have siblings, and didn't get to experience anything big and awesome like I currently get to do with my trips abroad, to beaches, Disney, etc.  (Not to mention, that as a child I lived an hour away from Disneyland and went there no less than 3 times a year.)  I love them and it doesn't surprise me that I live for vacation.  I could have spent every day for a month sitting in the sun under that cabana with a frozen strawberry banana daiquiri playing name that tune and learning the "shag" and not have been bothered one little bit.  (I would however have brought my tennis to work out this time.)  Hmm, I guess I'll just daydream about being back there until 5pm when it's time to leave........

Call Me Snookie, or Snooks, or Snickers

Hilton Head was amazing.  We layed out, sat in fabulous cabanas with fruity cocktails, played in the waves, watched football, and had a fantastic time.

One of the things I did was I finally saw one of the Twilight movies.  It was New Moon, and it was showing at our resort outside.  Honestly, I could have done without the thousand of bug bites I now have, but the movie itself was pretty good.  I felt bad because I kept asking katmcd questions (bc she loves Twilight and has seen the movies) about things that happened in the first movie that I didn't understand.  I liked the movie, I need to see the other ones though.  One thing I don't understand is how she just hopped a flight from Seattle to Italy with no money and was there within like 12 hours.  I didn't get it.  But that's ok, because I liked the movie and I'm interested in seeing the rest. 

Also, everyone on this vacation, and not just our group, but others also, LOVED beer koozies.  There was even a class/event at our resort for decorating your own koozie.  At the Ohio State bar we went to on Sat, they even gave them away.  Pretty sweet, no?

The Cowboys lost on Sunday to the Bears, and while MB is happy since she's a Bears fan, I was not.  But I just told myself that I was on vacation and since I didn't get to watch, that the game didn't actually happen.  Hahahaha.  And how did I do in fantasy?  I lost.  Badly.  In both leagues. 

And the entire trip to Hilton Head can be summed in these four things:

Teen Mom:

Jersey Shore (they called me Snookie, Snooks, or Snickers all week/weekend):

Little Tiger Snooze:


Hide Your Wife, Hide Your Kids, Even Hide Your Husband:


Just a fabulous trip and Happy Birthday katmcd!

Buh Bye!

Off to Hilton Head!!!!!

Long Week

It's been a pretty long week and I don't have too much to say today.  It's kickball day, so we'll see how that goes, and I have a JAM PACKED weekend that includes dinner at Art and Soul with the girls, Beirgartens on H St, UFC fights, and Six Flags.

In less than 1 month, I will be here with katmcd and her brother, his wife, and their college friends:

In less than 2 months, I will be here with katmcd and my mom and her husband:

Happy 25th birthday to us soon! 

And bc it's Thursday, and we all need just a little push to get to Friday, and in honor of UFC.....

You're welcome. :)

I Wish

1. That I magically was given $3000.
2. That I had a personal shopper.
3. That my car was paid off.
4. That Run Amuck photos would be posted (ahem, it's been over the 72 hours originally noted)
5. That I was back in Spain.

Residensea

So while I wish I could have slept a little later, I'm watching the travel channel, because a Disney Cruise Line special was on, and now, this special of Residensea is on. It's a cruise line but people live on this ship.  It travles around the world and honestly sounds amazing.  But it does seem like a rich old folks home.  I like the idea though.  Also, I love cruise ships for their food.  I think I'd really like some of that now.  Today I cannot move.  The Run Amuck and 6 hours of softball wiped me out.  And off to work I go in an hour.  Lame.

OMFG and I'm seeing on People.com that Hilary Duff and Mike Comrie got married.  So f'ing jealous....plus, isn't she my age?  Nope, she's 2 years younger.  FML.

Rosetta Stone

Rosetta Stone Spanish for Spain



My mom bought me Level 1 and Level 2 for my trip to Spain last year. I love it, and I really learned Spanish from it. I wish I was fluent though. I've always wanted to be full bi-lingual or multi-lingual. It's one of my life goals I hope I have time to fulfill.

Chicago

Chicago



In 5 months, I think this is where I'll be living. Maybe. Is this a good idea?

Nothing to Report

I'm sad and want to go here:




who will pay and who wants to go?