DisneyWorld!!

We had a blast during our DisneyWorld trip. It’s crazy how fast a week can go when you are having so much fun. Our good friend (and my big sis in Delta Zeta), Shelly, lives near Orlando so she joined us at all the parks. We started with Animal Kingdom which is really just a big zoo. It was cool seeing all the wild animals but I felt like they needed more rides. The best part was the Lion King show. It was kind of Cirque De Soilel-ish with acrobats and dancing. Very good show.

We then went to Hollywood Studios and that was a good time. We loved the Toy Story ride! Eric and I rode the Hotel Tower of Terror and that was my favorite part. Eric would not ride the Rockin Rollercoaster with me. He said he was full since we had just eaten lunch (still had a hangover, too.) So I was able to ride it with Shelly and it was pretty good for an inside coaster. Marin’s favorite part was the Beauty in the Beast stage show but that was probably Eric’s least favorite part since he was playing on his phone the whole time. We also did the American Idol Experience where it almost feels like you are watching a real show. Very cool.

Then it was the big day at Magic Kingdom! We were able to get into the park early before it opened because Marin had an appointment at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique for 9 am but the park did not open until that time and we still had to be at the castle 10 minutes before her appt. So it was neat to see the park when it’s pretty much empty. Marin got to dress up as Cinderella and she got her hair and makeup done. She looked like a real princess for the day. After her appointment we had a reservation for breakfast inside the castle with the Disney princesses. When we first went in Cinderella came out and everyone was able to get her autograph and picture with her. Marin took an adorable picture with her and they even gave us prints of the picture as part of the cost included with the meal. We then went upstairs in the castle to the dining room. Marin was so nervous about meeting the princesses that she would not even eat anything. We finally had to talk her into eating something. The princesses were introduced one by one and they came out and stopped to talk to each table. We were the first table so they stopped to talk to us first! Marin got their autographs and a photo with each one. There was Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Ariel and Belle.  After that we hit the rides in Fantasy land. “It’s a Small World” was one of the first ones we rode so that song was stuck in my head for the rest of the day! Most of the rides are very juvenile and I don’t say that in a bad way because obviously Disney caters to the kids more than adults. So no real thrilling rides. The rides are more “story-telling” rides. We rode all the famous rides like the Haunted Mansion and The Pirates of the Caribbean. Marin’s favorite ride was the Magic Carpets from Aladdin. We also were able to meet the Disney Fairies. There was an hour wait to meet them but Shelly had a special medical pass that allowed us to jump the line so we only had to wait about 15 minutes. That was awesome because I don’t think I would have waited the hour just for autographs and photos.

We wanted to stay for the fireworks but we were just too tired since we had to get up early to get there for Marin’s boutique appt. We stayed until about 7:00pm and headed back. Marin didn’t want to go. We told her we needed to go to bed and she kept trying to find somewhere inside the park where we could sleep. On the monorail she fell asleep and Eric had to carry her to the car. She was exhausted!

The next day we took a break from Disney and went to Universal Studios. Their Islands of Adventure park had the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter. It was very cool as I am a huge fan of the books and movies. Marin was able to ride one of the roller coasters called The Flight of the Hippogriff. She loved it! They also had a Dr. Suess world for the kids which she also enjoyed. And in Jurassic Park area she rode a swing type ride with her NeNe and had a blast! We loved that place because it had a lot more rides than Disney and more rides for adults. We ate at a restaurant there called Mythos. It had a banner boasting that it was voted the best theme park restaurant in the world. It was very good. I actually had a cocktail that they had on special for $5 and it was delicious. After that we rode The Hulk rollercoaster which was not a good idea after drinking an alcoholic beverage. But it was still fun. This was definitely Eric’s favorite park since there was more stuff for adults.

We took a day off from all parks to recuperate. We did our shopping for souvenirs and Eric made us drive to find a Miami Subs for lunch since they closed all the ones in Texas.

The last park was Epcot which I didn’t think I would enjoy but was pleasantly surprised. The front of the park is Future World and it was ok. It had a few rides. I really liked the back part of the park where they have the different countries set up. That was definitely my cup of tea. I liked feeling like I was in a different country. We stayed there until the firework/laser show which was pretty neat.

If we ever go back to Orlando I think Magic Kingdom, Epcot and Universal Studios would be the only ones I would go to again. Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom were okay but I don’t think I would have a good time after having already experienced it.

Time to plan our next vacation…I am thinking maybe a cruise…

Ready for St. Nick!

 It's been a busy few weeks. Thanksgiving was great! My parents came in town and we also invited The Bryds over. We stuffed ourselves pretty good. We also got to visit with the Rennies while they were in town for a few days. We tried out the Kinect that Darren brought over and it was fun but it was a major workout! If I got one it would be soley used for the Zumba they are coming out with to work with it. Zumba is a workout system that involves ballroom dancing moves. People say its a lot of fun and you don't realize you are working out that much. Been wanting to try it...

Well, I finally got my Christmas shopping done. I was finished with a majority of it in November but I still had a few people that are hard to buy for that I had been putting off. So I finally broke down and picked some things out and I'll cross my fingers hoping they like them. Less than 2 weeks away from Christmas and I have a lot of baking to do. I have to make my holiday trail mix and candy cane cookies. I also have to make some cupcakes for Marin's class Christmas party Friday. I have been trying to keep up with my portion control regime and the holiday is screwing it up. I have already been eating more and more sweets which is my weakness at this time of year. I definitely will have to add in some treadmill time within the next few weeks to make up for it.

We are getting ready for our Disney trip in February. We still need to find a rental car but everything else is pretty much done. We just received our Disney Rewards card loaded with $665 Disney dollars to spend there. We got the points from when we used our Chase Disney card for about a year. We are probably going to use it for park tickets and I am sure that will use up most of it.

Last night I went to the Borders book store in Allen to see one of my favorite authors, Richelle Mead, who was doing a book signing there. I had never been to a book signing before and this was an awesome yet tiring experience. She did a quick reading from part of her new book and then did a Q&A. Then the line formed to get books signed and I was there for about an hour and a half waiting my turn. It was so cool though once I got up there and was able to talk to her. We talked about her hand cramping up from signing all night. I know that was lame but it was still surreal to be talking to a famous and talented author. I can now check that off my bucket list.

In other news...Oklahoma Sooners are the BIG XII CHAMPIONS! BOOMER SOONER!! I had a slight chance of going to the Fiesta bowl in Arizona to watch them play UConn since Christy's dad is on the bowl committee. But it looks like that fell through and flights were mostly full anyway. I'll settle with watching it on TV this year (or I guess technically next year since its on New Years Day!)

Santa visited Marin's school today and below is a photo. I took a picture of the picture the school took so its not the best quality. And yes, Santa is rocking the dark brown eyebrows. He is apparently trying to look younger this year!

Great Halloween…now on to Christmas!

We had an awesome Halloween this year! The week started off with a trip to Vegas. We didn't win anything but we had a blast! It was great to see friends and just have fun. I was off work the rest of the week so I stayed in East Texas. Marin and I got to hang out with my parents for a few days. My parents had a Halloween party Saturday night. We had a pumpkin contest and the kid's had a costume contest. Marin won the costume contest and I swear I didn't stack the votes! She won fair and square. There was a haunted hayride and we even ended the night with a movie on the big screen my dad set up with a white tarp and we used Eric's projector. I think everyone had a good time. Then last night I took Marin trick or treating once we got back to Wylie. She was really excited about it but halfway through our neighborhood she got tired and asked to go home. I think her treat bucket was getting too heavy and she was tired of carrying it.

I had today off work. My last day of vacation. I took advantage of the day by sleeping in until about 10:30 this morning. I still made it a productive day by taking a trip to Target and getting a lot of Christmas shopping done. I'm always ahead of the game when it comes to Christmas. When December rolls around I like to relax and enjoy the holiday instead of stressing out about gifts. So I am well on my way to being done with all that before the end of the month. Like last year I am placing Marin's wishlist on this link for those who would like to know what she wants. (If a log in prompt appears just leave the fields blan and click "Log In" and it will let you in.) Just click the shopping cart icon if you buy it so others don't duplicate. And as I said last year, this isn't a request for people to buy my daughter gifts but friends and family do ask me what she wants and I always forget once I'm put on the spot so this helps me have a clear organized list I refer people to. But of course, if you get her something not on the list she will love it just the same.

Here are some Halloween pics:

I just tell people I was in a bar fight!

I am finally getting back to normal after my wisdom teeth were removed. I had the surgery for the extraction last Friday and I figured I'd be laid up for only about 3 days.  During my pre-op appointment they told me 2-3 days of down time. But on the 4th day, which was Monday, my right cheek was swollen like a chipmunk stowing a load of nuts.  And it looked like I had been B slapped across the face! My cheek was a lovely purplish hue. I was also in tremendous pain so I called the oral surgeons office to see if this was normal and the surgeon's assistant said "Oh yeah, the 4th and 5th days are the worst since the steroid that we gave you during surgery is now wearing off." WTF? This was not included in the conversation I had in the pre-op! Never did they mention that I would still look like I had been beaten up and the surgeon actually told me 2-3 days and I should be up and running. I had my bottom 2 wisdom teeth taken out about 12 years ago. I was still in college and don't remember most of it but I am sure I didn't have a huge bruise on my face. So I was just getting the top two removed this time and the surgeon also explained that the top two are the easiest since the top jaw bone is spongy (whatever that means!). So easier surgery and easier recovery time...words from her mouth. I think she just feeds this BS to every patient to try and make them more comfortable with the surgery but maybe honesty would be the best policy so you don't have patients freaking out when it looks like they've been roughed up in a bar fight! Anyway, I called in sick to work on Monday since I was still taking pain meds and was too drowsy (drunk!) to drive. Oh, and because I also looked like someone punched me in the face! But Tuesday I had to bite the bullet and switch to just Ibuprofen for pain and about a pound of concealer to cover up my battle wounds so I could go into work. At least my coworkers just felt sorry for me and didn't make fun...although they were probably busting  jokes and associating high fives when I wasn't looking.

On a lighter note...we made a step in the direction towards DisneyWorld in February! We have planned to take a trip for Marin's birthday and so we decided this would be an exciting place to go since I've never been and Eric hasn't been since he was a kid. Marin obviously has never been and we hope she has a blast. We decided to rent a villa instead of staying at a Disney resort because A) Disney hotels are so freaking expensive! and B) We wanted to be able to cook some of our meals and have our own private (heated) pool.  We'll have to rent a car but it will be worth it to get more of the amenities a house can offer over a hotel room for an entire week. I was showing Marin some of the pictures of the houses we were looking at renting and she was getting excited. She wanted to jump up and go right then but I had to explain to her it wouldn't be until her birthday which is still 4 months away. So we're all really excited about it!

I've been on a sort of modified diet regime. I eat whatever I want, just less of it. It's hard to do sometimes when I have a small pint of ice cream and I tell myself that I can only eat a fourth of it but the container looks so small and its just begging me to finish it off. But I've been good so far. And it saves a little money also because that pint of ice cream serves as four desserts for me instead of just one like it used to. I started this little plan at the beginning of August and to date I have lost 9 pounds. Go me!!

We heart the library!

Marin and I discovered the library a couple of weeks ago. Actually Eric went with us as well. He wanted to see if they had up to date computer books (geek!). But Marin and I loved looking through all the books and picking out a few to take home. We also found the DVDs they had. Marin decided on Disney’s The Fox and The Hound. I let her watch it by herself because I can’t watch those sad movies. Don’t like Old Yelller or Where the Red Fern Grows either. Too depressing! So anyway, we have already read the books so we’ll be due back for another visit to the library soon. They are building a brand new library close to our house. Wylie has this huge project they are doing to build a new city hall with a recreational area and the library is going to be moved there as well. They are estimating it to be done by late spring next year. Our neighborhood has two empty lots where we thought the city was going to build us a park but instead they keep telling our HOA that they are going to just build a bridge/walkway to the new complex where we could just walk to the new recreational area or library. That was the plan proposed last year but we still haven’t heard anything else about it. That would be pretty cool if we could just walk over there from our house.

Marin started ballet last night. I asked Eric if he wanted to go and watch her first class with me. He asked if they have wifi there…so I told him nevermind. She did really well and did everything she was told to do. She really enjoyed it and had a smile from ear to ear on the ride home.

Marin was going to be Snow White for Halloween this year but now here lately she has been obsessed with Princess Jasmine from the Aladdin movie. So she told me last night that she wants to be Jasmine for Halloween. When I told her I already bought the shoes to go with her Snow White costume she was not excited. I can easily return the shoes and we already have so many dress-up costumes I bought at a garage sale for $1 each so no big deal. We have the Jasmine costume (it’s basically a genie costume) so I am not upset about it. I told her I would start looking for some shoes that will go with it and once I find them she cannot change her mind again. She was very adamant that Jasmine would be her final choice so I am going to hold her to that.

We are going to Vegas again in October…don’t judge. I remember when it was pretty cheap to go to Vegas. Now the flights alone cost us almost $700 for both me and Eric and that is flying out of Houston. Dallas was even more expensive than that. Crazy! So we decided since my parents are babysitting Marin while we go we would just drive to Diboll and drop her off and drive to Houston to catch a flight. Jason and Jackie are meeting us out there and Eric’s mom has decided to go so it should be a lot of fun!

Spring Fling

We had a great time at our HOA Spring Fling today. We were afraid  it was going to rain but thankfully it stayed away until the event was over. We had two bounce houses, face painting, and a DJ with fun music and prizes. Marin spent most of her time in the bounce houses and had a blast. I won a $50 gift card to Home Depot. We had a good turn out and plan to do another even probably sometime later in the year.

Yesterday we went to Fort Worth to look at a Honda Pilot and ended up driving it home. We got a pretty good deal on it but I think Eric misses his Acura. But the mileage on the Acura was pushing 86,000 so it was getting close to time to get rid of it since we only had 20,000 miles left on the extended warranty. We could have kept it for a little while longer but when we started thinking about what we wanted to replace it with  we just got the itch to go ahead and pull the trigger. It has DVD built in which Marin already loves! We are happy with it.

My Addiction

I was told that I don’t update the blog as often as I should. Well, that is because a) Eric should be helping me out and writing his blogs, and b) I have an addiction! Yes, you read correctly…a major addiction! Is there a group that helps those of us who read too darn much? Maybe RA (Readers Anonymous)? I used to think this was a good habit to have. Reading books isn’t harmful to my health…except maybe to my eyesight if I read in poor lighting. But I do enjoy books way more than any normal person should. Eric can attest to this since I am reading one almost every night. I really knew I had a problem when I read 3 books in 3 days! I just can’t help it, when I get into a really good book it is so hard to put it down. When I finally give in and stop reading for the night I’ll lay in bed and wonder what happens in the next chapter. It’s a sickness! And to heck with the Kindle, okay maybe one day I’ll break down and buy one but that is far down the road when I will probably have to because of technology and price. But call me crazy because I love the smell of those book pages, especially those old books that smell like a library. Don’t judge me! So now you know why this blog gets updated once a month…

We went to East Texas for Easter. It was a beautiful day on Saturday and I kept telling everyone we should hunt the eggs because I seemed to remember a forecast for rain on Sunday. Of course no one listened to me so it was drizzling outside when we woke up Easter morning. We had to hunt eggs in the wet grass. But we still had a fun time. The confetti eggs were a big hit as they always are so even though they are a pain to make they are still worth it to see the kids have fun cracking them over each other heads.

Spring Break

Well, it’s spring break for a lot of people. I am only off one day for spring break but that’s only because I have to work Saturday to make up for it. Marin is spending some quality time in east Texas and Eric and I are going to drive each other crazy by ourselves. He’ll get drunk and I’ll slap him around…you know…the usual. J But seriously, we don’t know what we are going to do without having the responsibility of feeding, bathing and entertaining Marin. I guess I’ll just get a lot of reading time in. And definitely catch up on sleeping.

 We finally decided on vacation for June and booked it. We are headed to Destin, FL. Expedia had a fare sale to Pensacola which is just 45 min from Destin so we jumped on the opportunity. We are flying Continental Express (sorry, Darren) out of Houston so it will be a short flight. We rented a very nice condo on one of the resorts there. I am looking forward to it. Can’t wait to be lying on the beach, looking at the crystal blue water with drink in hand…and then Marin will probably pour sand on me or something but at least I might get a few minutes of relaxation in.

I started playing co-ed softball again. Man, am I sore! I am pretty sure I pulled a muscle in my leg but I am powering through it. We have played 3 games and have yet to win. It is kind of discouraging but we are just out there to have fun so I’ll stick with it. I’ll be glad when it warms up a bit because it is awful trying to playing in the chilling wind. I am ready for sunny months ahead…but I guarantee you by July I will be wishing for the fall season because it will be so hot!

A few days ago I was driving home from work and it was raining. About halfway home it started to clear up and the sun came out and with it came this beautiful rainbow. I have never in all my life seen one so bright before and the picture I took of it with my phone does not do it justice. It’s the little things like this in life that puts a smile on my face…

Marin is Turning 3! Or as she would say…”free”!

My baby turns 3 this Sunday. Can you believe its been 3 years? It's such a cliche' to say it but "They do grow up fast!" We decided to not have a huge party this year. Birthday parties are so expensive and she won't really remember it anyway at this age. My mom asked me if I remember my birthdays when I was little and I can only remember as far back as maybe 7 or 8 years old. But I think we'll still have lots of fun. We will probably take her to Peter Piper Pizza or something and I am going to let her pick out an ice cream cake at Baskin Robbins. And of course she has lots of presents already stacked up on the dining room table. They are not all from me and Eric though...I did buy more than I initially thought I would but she also got presents from my friend Christy and my mom sent one as well. My poor mom spent about $10 to ship Marin her gift and then decided that her and my dad were going to come up for the weekend. So she could have saved that shipping cost. Next year we plan on taking Marin to DisneyWorld for her 4th birthday. We have a Disney Rewards credit card that we used for the past year and a half so we racked up a few Disney dollars to help pay for it.

The Chicago trip was fun! Marin had no problems on the plane ride. She actually really enjoyed it. On the flight back we were waiting for our name to possibly be called for standby (we used our friend Darren's buddy passes) and Marin watched the other passengers boarding and started to get worried. She kept trying to pull me up to the line to board because she wanted on that plane! We finally got on and was spoiled with the amenities of the 777. That is the one with the 5 seats in the middle and 2 on each side. I had never been in one before so it was quite nice. We had our own screen in front of us and got to pick which movie we wanted to watch and it also had games (the remote served as the controller). It was pretty neat. Marin got a little restless towards the end but who can blame a kid after being cooped up in a small seat for 2 hours.

So what else is new? Oh, Christy found out she is having a boy! So I have been shopping for little boy things. Since she and I are both huge baseball/softball fans I have picked up a bunch of clothes with little baseballs on them. I'm a sucker when it comes to shopping for baby clothes or any kids clothes for that matter. Anyone who has seen Marin's closet can attest to that. Anyway, I am anxiously awaiting Darren and Kelli to find out the gender of their baby (or I-Mixed as Darren likes to refer to it). I wish I had a guess but I really don't know which way I would lean. Maybe I'll ask the Tarot cards... Yes, I bought Tarot cards and a learning guide but I have not picked them up in several months...maybe I'll try and practice again.

Well, enjoy the photos we took during the Chicago trip...there isn't many since Eric forgot the camera almost everywhere we went.