Life in Billings Mt

We just had a wonderful road trip over to Billings Montana to visit my best friend Jessica and her husband Steve. I love Billings! I really hope to be moving there soon! We had a good drive, it was a 12 hours, and we got to have Sonic in Post Falls Idaho on our way there! YUMMY!! We leaft on July 3rd and got there around 5pm, just in time to help Jessica celebrate her birthday with a nice BBQ dinner. We also got to see Sarah and Kloey (Jess' sister and niece) and Sarah is pregnant and her belly is looking so cute!

On the 4th we hung out at the pool to cool off since it was over 100 degrees! We first had breakfast at the Cracker Barrell, it was delicious! I had some great country fried steak and eggs! Later that evening we went to Laurel, a town about 15 miles away, to watch "The Biggest Fireworks Show in the Northwest" or so it was called by the announcer. We took a lot of great photos during the day of everyone relaxing. Steve and Ray got a styrofoam cooler with Coor's Light...how ghetto! It was funny! I ate WAY too much that day as well! The firework show was pretty amazing! We got VIP tickets since they knew Dave, the morning show guy on the radio station. We were as close as you could get to the fireworks, which was amazing! I took so many photos that I had to delete a ton. The scary/funny thing though was that when we were watching the fireworks we all started to realize that the fireworks seemed to be getting closer and closer. Oh, they were. The tube had fallen over and some of them landed right in front of us! We all tried to scoot back as fast as we could with lots of screaming! There were two small fires as well. It was a good thing the show was put on by the local fireman, and that they were there to respond quickly! They had a great tribute to all the troops with candles in a part of the show which was great. Of course I cried during that. It was really special too to have Steve there for that part!

On the 5th Jess took us up to Red Lodge, a little town South of Billings. We stopped at a Drive-In that has 'Elvis Shakes' and over 24 flavors of soft serve ice cream. The food was great! Jess got the shake which was chocolate, peanut butter and banana...so good! I had Black Cherry soft serve...I LOVE soft serve! And Ray had a huckleberry shake. We walked around town and went in all the cute little shops! For dinner that night I made lasagna with salad and french bread. It was good but it wasn't my best...:( We then played Scene It Squabble, a game we got for a wedding present. It was a blast! I really recommend it! Come on over and play with us!

On the 6th we took the dogs to the park and let them run around and be crazy! :) We had Pepper (Sarah's dog) since she was going to be driving Kloey to camp all day. So we each had a dog and they had so much fun just being pups! Jess and Ray got eaten alive by mosquitos! When we got home I made a chocolate chip cheesecake. :) YUM! Then after Steve got off of work we drove around Billings, went to dinner and to see Hancock. Steve & Jess showed us all over Billings. It is a lot bigger than we had thought! There was a lot of nice neighborhoods we looked at and saw some great houses for sale! We had dinner at Texas Roadhouse. It was so much food for not much money! Awesome! They have these great rolls with some cinnomon butter.....oh my! I had the ribs and they just fell right off the bone! I just picked up the end of a bone and it came up clean! AMAZING! It was a great movie! I don't usually like super hero movies but I love Will Smith and this one was hilarious!

On the 7th we drove and looked at a couple of houses that we were interested in. One of them as we were driving by the owner waved us on in and gave us a tour of the home! I really loved the house! It was a 4 bedroom 3 bath home with new carpet, roof and kitchen. It had a big fully fenced backyard, perfect for Max! A corner lot with a park directly across the street! All of this for only $239,900!! Can you imagine what that would cost in Washington?? We then went to the mall right near Jess & Steve's apartment. We had lunch at The Pickle Barrell, a small sandwich shop. We also had smoothies at a little place kinda like Emerald City Smoothie. That night for dinner we just ordered pizza and watched Vantage Point.

It was time to go home on the 8th and I sure didn't want to leave. It was so relaxing the whole trip and it felt like everyone in Billings was more friendly and relaxed then here in Renton. I felt bad for Jess since she had morning sickness while we were there. After watching her I don't look forward to that part of pregnancy! I can't wait to go back, I've already started applying for jobs over there!

Life With No Gall Bladder

So it has been almost a year since I have had my gall bladder removed after having extreme gall stone attacks. Well last night Ray's mom and Randy and Shawna came over. I must have been a little thirsty after work because I DOWNED three V8 Splash with Mango Vodka like there was no vodka in them. Well, the only downside to doing that, I had extreme pains in my stomach again. Having these pains just frustrates me and makes the pain worse. I don't understand why I went through all the trouble of surgery and all those bills if I'm still going to feel that horrible! It isn't like the first time I had had anything to drink since then. The pains last night were almost as bad as the morning I had to go to the emergency room.

In addition to not being able to drink very much I also can't go more than 3-4 hours without eating. Once I start getting hungry I can feel the pain begin. I have to eat something right away or the pain will get really bad. I can eat pretty much anything, I just have to eat often enough. I just don't understand why it is an empty stomach or alcohol that causes me to have pain. And if the pain I was having was because of the extremely large gall stones then why am I having them now? When I mentioned it to my doctor she said it was my heartburn...no it's not because I know what my heartburn feels like. And I take my Prilosec to not have heartburn. So that is what I am feeling right now. Wondering why I went through the trouble to still be in pain.

Life at Montclair Heights

Ok, so I really want to move out of Renton! There was a fight at the complex today between little kids! How bad do children have to be for their parents to pay attention?? So two kids were on their way down the hill (the double letter buildings...aka the ghetto...sorry Holly and Mike!) to one of the kids' house to get some lollipops. (how sweet is that?) Well, they walked behind the buildings so that these other kids that have been threatening them wouldn't see them. Well when they got to the apartment they told the dad and the dad went out and talked to the 'mean' kids. So when these two boys were on the way back up the hill (to the normal side of the property) these mean kids came up to them and started talking to them, acting like everything was fine. Then all of a sudden all three of the mean boys decided to hit the little boy, for no reason at all. Now this is isn't the first time apparently that this has happened. I guess these three mean boys have threatened adults, kids and whoever with guns and what not. Now these boys are in middle school. Really, who in the world lets their children act this way? So the cops finally showed up 2 hours after the mom of the kid that got hit called them. They chipped his tooth, now he only has half of a tooth! Now, I did the best I could to figure out who these mean boys were but I only know one of them. And believe me, I will be on the phone with Renton Housing tomorrow about this child who's mother is on Section 8. So I'm just dumbfounded today by the way adults raise their children, which is not at all. I just thank God that the little boy that was hurt was smart enough to come up to our maintenace department right away and tell him what was going on. So that is Montclair Heights! If I tell you to move in that is because I'm getting my ass chewed at work for not having enough rentals, but don't listen to me!

Life With No Comments

Does anyone read this thing? Thought I would check since I never receive comments. Is it worth it? :)

Life on my wedding day (weekend)

Ok, I need a little break from work right now or I'm going to explode so it is time for the wedding day (weekend) post! :)

We left our apartment at 9:45 for the drive down to Cannon Beach on Friday the 30th. The drive went pretty well, not really any traffic which was great! When we got to Longview we tried using the GPS/Google Maps on my phone to find a Panda Express for lunch...that didn't work out too well. We got a little lost, not too lost, but Ray doesn't like getting lost. Well, then we were going to stop after we got into Oregon but we just never did, we just kept driving until we got to Cannon Beach. We drove through town first and then decided to have lunch at Cranky Sue's. I had a crab cake sandwich and Ray had Rueben. The sun decided to come out for a little bit while we ate outside. While we were eating Rhonda, Randy and Shawna pulled up.

After we checked into our hotel we left presents for my parents and my brother at the office and drove over to the other hotel to meet up with Randy, Shawna and Rhonda. I left presents for Randy and Joan (Ray's dad and his girlfriend) at the front desk at their hotel after a little trouble. Then Randy, Shawna and Rhonda opened their gifts and we walked to Mo's which is the restaurant connected with their hotel. Well, we just wanted to get a drink after a long day of driving but apparently that is a big issue at this hotel. We were treated rudely when we were seated, then the server was not very friendly to us when she heard we just wanted drinks. Then as soon as she brought our drinks out she put the bill on our table. On the back of the receipt there was a place to write comments about your visit so I definately took advantage of that. We then didn't even leave her a tip since they were all so rude.

So after being basically kicked out of that place we went downtown to shop. We showed them around to all of our favorite stores. The nice place with all the pretty collectables, the best shop for beach themes and cards, Bruce's Candy Kitchen and Puppy Love By the Sea. After all that walking we went to Bill's Tavern and they were perfectly ok with us getting a drink. The bar was full so we sat in the restaurant side and enjoyed some beer (wine for me) and talked. We got a lot of stuff at Bruce's - a magnet for Jess and Steve, taffy, fudge, and a hippo with a tu-tu for me. Over at Puppy Love we got Max a new hook for his leash that says 'WOOF' and it is cute. I did see after I had paid some playing cards that have a dachsund on the front and I really wanted them but I decided I didn't need them. Oh! And while we were getting to leave Bill's someone that I had gone to high school with had walked in with her family! What are the odds really that someone else from Duvall would be there at the same time!

Once we left Bill's we stopped at the liquor store and I got Sierra Mist and Blackberry Vodka. We then hung out at our hotel room for a little bit since we had a couch, two chairs and a little fridge. While we were there my parents got there so I went over to say hi before going to dinner. We had dinner at Warren House Pub and apparently a lot of the people in Cannon Beach do not like groups. It was me, Ray, Rhonda, Randy, Shawna, Randy and Joan. And if you have 6 or more people it has to be on one check with 18% gratuity. Kinda strange. Anyway, Shawna wanted clam chowder but all they had was red clam chowder or chili. Now, this didn't look or taste anything like clam chowder. It didn't even taste like clams! I thought it was the chili. Then when the server asked if she liked it and Shawna said not really the server told her 'Yeah, I don't like it at all.' Now, I don't understand why she didn't say that to Shawna before she ordered it since Shawna had asked if they didn't have white chowder instead. Rude. Then Rhonda was going to pay on her credit card and we were going to pay her back, well the server basically threw the bill back to us saying they don't accept American Express. Ok, that is understandable, but throwing the check back in our faces and being rude about it is uncalled for. What a night.

So I woke up at 7:00 with Max and we took a walk on the beach together. It was not raining really but misting so I was a little worried but a morning walk on the beach is a great way to calm your nerves! :) When we got back Ray and I got ready and we met everyone at Pig'N Pancake for breakfast. We hadn't tried this restaurant yet since we are usually there during the off season so that was neat. The food was good, I enjoyed Eggs Benedict with fresh fruit! :) It was really nice for everyone to get together for breakfast as well and have everyone meet. (even thuogh our large party seemed to have put them out...) I don't understand why large groups are such a problem down there. It's always been just Ray and I so we've never noticed before but wow, it is a problem.

After breakfast Ray and I went downtown to find a sweatshirt for me since I had just packed a thin zip up without thinking about it. After getting the sweatshirt we took a walk along the beach before I had to leave to the Spa. It was nice to spend a little time together before all the craziness of the day.

My mom went with me to get my hair and makeup done. She did my makeup first and I really liked it. It was nice for someone else to do it for awhile! Then it was time for my hair. And if you didn't already know...I have A LOT of hair! So it was quite a long process and my butt hurt so much when she was done! It was fun because there was three girlfriends there at the spa together and they were really friendly and we spent time talking the whole time we were there. :) My hair looked beautiful! She did a perfect job and I was so happy with it!

When we got back to the hotel I had about an hour to kill before I had to start getting dressed. I was sad to come back to the empty room since Ray had gone out to dinner with his mom and Randy and Shawna. So while he was gone I looked through all of Holly and Mike's wedding pictures! It made me excited for them and then excited that my time was coming in mere hours! :) (Thanks Mrs West!)

Kinda fun but sad thing was that Ray and I got ready together and he helped me get dressed. Sad because that isn't tradition and fun because we got to spend the time together. We met up with everyone at 4:30 to meet with the wedding planner and get some pre-wedding photos. Max was being a big baby and only wanted to be next to Ray and I and whined during the pictures and the entire ceremony. The ceremony was perfect! It was very fast and went by in a flash. I accidentally said 'I Do' before I was supposed to and that was pretty funny. I of course cried and found out that the lady that had done my makeup hadn't used waterproof mascara or eyeliner...so my mom had to clean my face up for me.

I was going to borrow a silk bouquet from Tammy (the wedding planner) but since they were moving offices she couldn't find it so she went out and had one made especially for me to keep! It was perfect! I absolutely loved it! We also had flip-flops that said 'Just Married' on the strap and on the bottom so that when you walked in the sand it would write 'Just Married'. The sandals didn't work out too well though and that didn't work. Oh well. My something old was Ray's grandma's pearl necklace. It was so special for me to get to wear those. It really meant a lot to me that Rhonda offered them. My something blue was my right hand ring that was given to me from my parents for my 21st birthday. My something new was my hair comb that was given to me from Tom and Olga from one of the wedding shows. My something borrowed was supposed to be the flowers but that didn't work out but that is just fine with me! :)

After the ceremony we took a TON of photos all over the beach. Family shots, us shots, sibling shots, etc. It was funny because Max is in the background of most of the pictures because he didn't want to leave our side! It was so cute! It was so beautiful getting married on the beach! Toes in the sand was perfect! Having Haystack Rock in the background of the ceremony and the photos was amazing! It was all just amazingly perfect!

We enjoyed a wonderful dinner at Morri's Fireside Restaurant after the wedding. I absolutely LOVE their clam chowder and I had been telling all of our family about it forever! It was funny because all of the women ordered bowls of chowder for dinner. I orderded a cup of chowder and also the stuffed halibut! Oh goodness! Everyone truly enjoyed their dinner and they all agreed with me that the chowder was the best they had ever had! Everyone but my parents and brother enjoyed champagne and Randy gave us a little toast at the end of dinner. We would've gotten dessert but we had planned on going across the street for ice cream but they were closed for the night. :( So sad! Ray and I went back to my parents room then to open a few gifts and cards they had brought down with them. We got some great gifts from our family and friends! We then changed into our sweatshirts and jeans and I took my hair down...it was KILLING me, and took a walk on the beach. I also called Olga and told her about the wedding and she was crying! When we got back to the room I took a shower to wash my hair and it took 3 shampoos and 2 conditions to get all of the junk out of my hair! At least it looked pretty! :)

The next morning we packed everything up while eating breakfast in our room. It was sad to have to leave already. We then went for a short walk on the beach again and went downtown to a few more stores. Randy, Shawna and Rhonda ended up meeting us down there for a little bit but left before we did. As we were getting in our car to leave I got a call from Tammy, the photographer/wedding planner, and she told me she had finished our wedding CD! I was amazed! She didn't think she would get it to us for at least a week! So we met up with her on our way out of town and I was super excited to get home and download photos!!

We drove over 26 into Hillsboro to stop at Sonic Drive-In! My favorite! We both had amazing burgers. I got a watermelon slush and it kept giving me brain freezes! It stayed frozen the whole drive home too! How cool is that? I wanted to drive over to the Roloff Farm since it was only 5 miles from Sonic but Ray just wanted to get home. I so would've loved to see where one of my favorite TV families live but maybe next time we are down there!

So that is our wedding and our wedding weekend. I hope I got everything in there! Enjoy the photos!!

Life at Disney World Part III

DAY SIX

On Sunday we tried going to Animal Kingdom. We went to lunch first at Rainforest Café. It wasn’t any different than the one here really. I had planned to get a matching glass that said Orlando instead of Seattle but I forgot about it. We then walked around Animal Kingdom for a little bit but since it was the weekend it was SOOOO busy. We didn’t want to wait 80 minutes to go on Expedition Everest again. Instead we got some ice cream cones and did a little more shopping. I finally found the boxers I wanted. They are white with pink and brown Mickey symbols. I love them! Great shorts for hanging around the house! J We then decided to just go back to the hotel instead of having to fight through all the crowds.

At 4:00 I left to get my stone massage at Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa. Yes, it was amazing! I was so incredibly relaxed after that! All I wanted to do was lay out by the pool! J Instead though I met up with Ray at Epcot for dinner and to watch the firework show that they have there! It was incredible! We planned to come back the next night so we could video tape the show!

After the fireworks we went to Magic Kingdom for the Extra Magic Hours. We took the monorail from Epcot to the Transportation Center and then took the ferry to Magic Kingdom. We watched the Magic Kingdom fireworks from the ferry. I love that they do that for the resort guests! Since we really only had a snack while at Epcot we grabbed dinner first to wait for some more people to clear out of the park, which paid off. After eating we did all the smaller rides that Disney is known for and ones that we hadn’t yet gone one. We went to the Carousel of Progress, which was actually pretty entertaining! We then went on the Blue Line tram that goes through Tomorrow Land and even some of the rides! Then we did Winnie the Pooh, Snow White and we wanted to do Peter Pan but the ride was extremely long still. So we did the mountain rides again. Big Thunder had no line what-so-ever as well as Splash Mountain! I really wanted to do Splash Mountain again because it is my favorite but it was already 1:00am by then so we decided to start heading out of the park.

DAY SIX

On Monday we woke up and started packing. We had to make sure we had room for all of the stuff we bought so we would know if we would have to buy another carry-on bag! Luckily everything fit! Since we were planning on getting to Epcot early for dinner and watch the fireworks again we just had lunch at the food court at the hotel as a break from packing.

We left for Epcot in plenty of time to enjoy the Soarin’ Ride and to find a great place to watch the show. We waited for about an hour for the Soarin’ Ride. It was pretty cool actually to wait in line. They have 5 huge screens with cameras that let people play along with games on the screens. We played about 3 games while waiting in line and it was fun to be able to stay entertained while waiting. This ride was incredible! It really felt like we were flying over California! Everything was so pretty and it was definitely worth the wait!

We stopped at a couple of stores and finished our shopping for everyone before grabbing dinner. Included was a bandana for Max that says, “My human went to Disney World and all I got was this lousy bandana!” It is pretty cute and looks great on him! We then went to the quick service Mexican restaurant and the food was actually pretty good. We also enjoyed a couple of very strong margaritas since we had 2 hours of sitting at our table before the fireworks. We also had some churros for dessert! Our table was the perfect place to watch the fireworks! The video doesn’t even begin to show how amazing this show was! I would’ve gone every night if I had known about it at the beginning of the week! J

(again I can't upload video. Sorry but I waited for over an hour for it to upload and it didn't)

DAY SEVEN

Time to go back to the real world today! We had check-out at 11 and then we checked our luggage right there at the hotel! That was very handy! We then decided to just hang out around the resort instead of risking any bus delays by going to a park. We actually wasted quite a bit of time playing in the arcade at the resort! It was pretty fun! We then had a long lunch at the food court and then it was time to head home…:(

When we got to the airport our plane was delayed due to weather in Houston. Then as we were waiting for our flight a thunderstorm came through and we enjoyed watching all the lightning! It was a very packed plane and we were all squished together again. When we got to Houston we had to run to catch our flight and that one ended up being slightly delayed due to having no crew yet. Once we boarded the lady in our row gave me the window seat and she took the aisle which was great! We watched Fool’s Gold on the way home, it was ok. It was sad to get home but exciting to see Max.

So this is the end of the honeymoon posts. So sad that is is over! I can't wait to go back! I will get the wedding and reception posts done as soon as possible.

Life at Disney World Part II

DAY FOUR

Friday we enjoyed the day at Epcot. The first thing we did was Mission Space. We tried the Green team first, which is less intense and then since there was no wait time we went back and did the Orange team. I guess they must spin you around really fast to make it feel like you are going through space, your face pulls back. It’s funny. We also took advantage of the Fast Pass for the Test Track. During our wait we had lunch at a Pub in Great Britain and we both had great Fish & Chips. We then walked through the World Showcase. It is pretty cool that you do walk from one country to the next. We went on a couple of little rides to cool off in the hot sun.

Test Track is a pretty cool ride. It is really jerky and you go really really fast. I wish I had worn my sunglasses on it because you are going over 60 mph outside and I couldn’t open my eyes. It was a little strange because they have the camera for the ride at the end after you have gone through everything and for some reason I have a confused look on my face at the end. We also did the Nemo tour. My favorite part is when you get off the ride and you can walk around the aquarium they have there. They even had some dolphins! We were going to go on the Soarin’ Ride but it was too long of a wait that we didn’t really want to stand in so maybe we will try again. J

For dinner we went to Downtown Disney to Fulton’s Crab House. Oh my goodness!! That food was amazing! We shared calamari for an appetizer and they were strips and they were so great! They also give a house appetizer of a crab dip that was really good. They even gave everyone the recipe of the dip at their table, which was awesome! I had Alaskan King Crab Claws and Australian Lobster Tail. I haven’t had such great food in a long time! A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!!! Ray had Beef of Oscar (steak with crab and a béarnaise sauce) and it was also extremely good! We again got dessert…I had New York Cheesecake that was served with both mango and raspberry sauces on the side. I actually loved the mango sauce with the cheesecake…gave me an idea for a new flavor! J Ray had the Key Lim Pie and he loved it. We definitely had plenty to eat that night! J

After dinner we walked around Downtown Disney and went to some of the shops. The World of Disney store was huge! This store was the size of one block and was full of all Disney! It was great! Then we went to the Winnie the Pooh store…only it wasn’t just Winnie the Pooh, there was quite a bit of other items. We also saw a sign for all the pet items you need and it didn’t have any other pet items that any of the other stores had so that was pretty disappointing. But it was fun to hang out in Downtown Disney!

DAY FIVE

We again slept in…this time until 12:30!! Haha! It was nice to sleep in! We definitely enjoyed it! J We ended up going to Hollywood Studios to watch some of the shows that we had missed previously. Due to timing of the shows we ended up only being able to see one show and we went to Indiana Jones’ Stunt Spectacular. It was pretty fun and a cool show; it just really showed how fake movies really are! We then tried to go to the Roller Coaster that features Aerosmith but the line was over an hour long and it really didn’t seem worth the wait. We just really don’t like lines! J

We decided to go back to Downtown Disney for dinner. We waited for a bus for over 30 minutes and the line was so long that we finally just got on a bus to Animal Kingdom then got a bus from there to Port Orleans. It was pretty fun to check out another hotel. From Port Orleans we took a boat into Downtown. We had dinner at Wolfgang Puck Express. That was pretty fun! I saw all of my pots and pans hanging around the restaurant! J We both had pastas and both were very good! We sat on the patio and had fun people watching! J

After dinner we did some more shopping! (of course) We went to the kitchen store and I found some Minnie and Mickey shaped pasta! And if you know us at all, you know we eat A LOT of pasta! J We also got some more goodies at the World of Disney store! We then walked all the way through Downtown into Pleasure Island and the Westside. Downtown Disney was huge! It was fun to check out all the fun stores! There was a store that was all magnets! We stopped at the Virgin Megastore and I was looking at a camera and an alarm started going off. I thought it was the front door but apparently when I picked up the camera I somehow jiggled the wire to make the alarm go off! Oops! We were pretty tired this night so we didn’t stay out too late.

Life at Disney World Part I

Ok, so I'm posting the Disney World trip first before I could forget everything. I will post the wedding stuff soon since I know I won't forget that day! :) Also, I wrote everything on word first since we didn't have internet in Disney World. So anytime you see a random 'J' it was a smiley face on word and not on here. So just think of me smiling when you see that! :) Part II will follow next!

DAY ONE

On our way to the airport at 3:30am!

We got to Disney World about 5pm Florida time. It was such a long flight from home to Houston and then Houston to Orlando. We tried to bump up to first class but there were no extra seats available on the plane so we got squished with everyone else. When we got to the airport in Orlando I thought it would be easy to find the Disney Welcome Center…not so much. You would think that Disney is a big part of Orlando and they would have signs in the airport directing you there but they don’t. We finally found out where to go and then we had to wait about 30 minutes until our Disney Magical Express bus got there.

On the bus from the airport to our resort!

\When we go to our room it started POURING! It was not like rain in Washington at all! Thunder and lightning but it was warm. We went out and about even in the rain, and enjoyed Magic Kingdom while everyone else was leaving to get out of the rain. The rain didn’t last too long and then we enjoyed short lines on rides while everyone enjoyed the parade and fireworks! We found the perfect time to go! :) Sadly our first ride was the Jungle Cruise since that was the first thing we found in the dark. We did go on Pirates of the Caribbean right after that though. We also did Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain which were cool because you could see the fireworks from up there!

So the one sucky thing is that the beds are like full beds. They say they are queens but ‘small’ queens. Not so much. Now, we are not small people and we can just barely sleep comfortably on our queen at home and these are much smaller! So separate beds on our honeymoon is pretty messed up! We are waiting to hear if there will be a King room available for the rest of our stay.

DAY TWO

We slept in a little bit and then enjoyed the day at the Animal Kingdom. It was so cool! It was almost like being at the zoo but having cool rides to go on as well. I took a video of our Safari ride. J Expedition Everest is a great ride! It was so much fun! We bought the souvenir picture of us on that ride since it was pretty good. The river raft ride is also a huge plus! On a hot day it really cools you off! It is short but you get SOAKED! And I’m not just saying that, really, my shorts were sticking to my legs like I had just gotten out of the pool! We went to Dinoland and tried out the Dinosaur ride. Not really my favorite. That one was really jerky and VERY loud and made our ears hurt when we were done. The safari ride was awesome. We didn’t see a ton of animals but the ones we saw were so close that it was exciting! So I had a video of the safari but I think it is too big because I just waited 30 minutes for it to upload and it still wasn't done and I need to go to bed!


We ate lunch there at Animal Kingdom at the Flame Tree Barbeque. The ribs I had were overcooked but Ray’s pulled pork sandwich was good. So I’m beginning to think that I may really have a problem with my blood sugar, either that or the heat is just too much for me to handle. I started to feel sick around 5:00 while at Animal Kingdom and even though we had reservations for dinner and had already had lunch we had to get something else to eat. Water and shade and rest weren’t working and as soon as I had a salad I felt much better.

We had made reservations at BOMA which is located at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. That hotel is AMAZING! It was awesome to look around in there. So the restaurant that said it has table service was a buffet. Yeah, a server comes and takes your drink orders and removes your plates and gives you your bill but that was the extent of the table service. The food wasn’t good, definitely nowhere near the $32 price per person! Then I had a raspberry champagne and apparently that was $14.50! Ray’s drink was $9! So our bill without tip was $90!!!! So then the bill suggests an 18% or 20% tip! For what? They don’t do anything to deserve that much of a tip! I’m normally a great tipper but that was ridiculous. SO NOT WORTH IT!!! I do not recommend it!

After dinner we went to Hollywood Studios since it was their Extra Magic Hours and were open until 1:00am. The first thing we did there was the Great Movie Ride. So it really isn’t a ride and it was actually pretty boring. They should name it the Great Movie Tour, not ride. We then waited in line for an hour to go to Toy Story Mania. This is the newest ride they have and has the longest line. It was pretty fun actually. It is a ride that you actually play along with. The last ride we did there was the Tower of Terror. And oh my goodness, this ride exceeded its name! You are dropped so fast that you are in midair for seconds before landing back in your seat. WOW! I can’t even describe the feeling you get from this ride! If you have to wait, it is worth it! If you’re not big on rides, don’t do it! :)

DAY THREE

We overslept. Not just a little bit. We woke up at noon! Oops! We had reservations at Tony’s Restaurant at 1:00 for lunch! So it was a rush to get ready and get to the Magic Kingdom in time for lunch! Tony’s is the restaurant themed after Lady and the Tramp movie where they share the spaghetti. I had a great Panini with prosciutto, mozzarella, tomato and lettuce. It was so good! Ray had a sausage and pepper calzone. For dessert I had an Ice Cream Bomb which was vanilla and chocolate ice cream on top of a small piece of cake covered in a chocolate shell! YUM-O! Ray had the cheesecake of the day which was Cappuccino which came on a plate with a chocolate photo of Lady and the Tramp! It was very good food!

After lunch we shopped! I got myself some Mickey ears. They have a store where you pick your hat, your ears, your decorations and your embroidery! I got mine embroidered with Mrs. Isom! J We did a lot of other shopping for the day and got some really cute and fun things! One of my favorites is an antenna ball that is a heart with a top hat on one side and veil on the other that says just married! I love it! J I’m still looking for my size in a sweatshirt I like. I can find either too small or too big but not my size! I’ll keep looking though!

We went on more rides throughout the day. We only had to wait 10 minutes for Space Mountain since we went during another parade! J This wasn’t as scary as I had remembered it being! We didn’t do much else the rest of the day. Walked around a lot, had more ice cream (J) and enjoyed being there! I felt gross and so we went home and shower before dinner and then rushed back to get back in time.

My parents got Ray and me dinner at Cinderella’s Royal Table for his birthday. This restaurant is on the 2nd floor of Cinderella’s Castle and was perfect! We got our photo taken with Cinderella before dinner. The food here was AMAZING! I had a small salad as an appetizer and Ray had a crab corn soup. Ray had prime rib for dinner and I had lamb chops. Ray had raspberry sorbet for dessert and I had chocolate cake. J (We’ve been having a lot of dessert) The lamb was perfect, absolutely delicious! This restaurant is so worth the money! Unlike Boma! While we were finishing dinner two of the mice and the fairy godmother came out for a little show and photo session. That was a lot of fun! I really recommend going here, they call everyone prince and princess! :) But make sure you call and make reservations well ahead of your trip!

After dinner we watched the end of the parade. We jumped on It’s A Small World since there was no wait and then watched the fireworks. After the fireworks we enjoyed Splash Mountain again and got pretty wet! Funny that we keep riding that one at night when it’s not as hot out! At least it is better than waiting 80 minutes.

We went to the front desk when we finally got back after our long bus ride and asked about switching rooms. They didn’t have anything available yet but to try back the next day. I guess we will see what happens, for now we have separate beds.

Life is full of mixed emotions

So I am laying in bed typing away on my blackerry so sorry for any spelling errors. Tomorrow is my wedding shower and I am both excited and bummed. I know it will be fun to hang out with the family because it always is but that is all it will be, family. Out of all the friends I invited Olga is the only one going and I consider her family over friends. I also understand that people have plans and are busy and stuff comes up but still makes me sad with every email I get of people saying they can't make it. I'm sure I sound like a Bridezilla thinking it is all about me and I'm sorry for that. I am just bummed that this is the only shower I am having and no bachorlette party and I wanted it to be really special. I only get married once and these are all once in a lifetime events. Ray tried to make me feel better by telling me it is about the two of us and our love and nothing else should matter. He is right about it being about out love and the two of us but I just have some disappointment. Sorry for being such a downer on this post, hopefully the next one will be happier!

Life With My Bestest Friend

Oh goodness, where to start...

Right now Ray and I are discussing a move. Trying to figure out if it would be something we should do and something we both want to do. We have been looking at houses around here and we did get pre-approved but it is hard to find something we can afford around here. So we have been looking online at houses in Billings Montana. We are looking there because my best friend lives there and I would ♥LOVE♥ to live near her again! So we are talking about jobs and money and life in general with a big move like that. I honestly think that I would love it. I would love to start a new life as we start a new chapter together. So that is what we are currently going through.

Jessica & Steve were here the last week and I got to see Jess 3 times while she was here! I got my hair trimmed on Saturday and we had a Mary Kay party and some drinks at her parents house. It was great to hang out with the family! Wednesday we went to dinner at Spaghetti Factory downtown and it was of course amazing! Sunday we went to Steve's parents and had a BBQ of some delicious homemade burgers by Dan! Again it was great fun to have some drinks and hang out with Steve's fam! I had so much fun getting to spend time with Jess! I can't wait to see her in June for the reception and in July when we go to visit them for her bday and the 4th of July!

Wedding plans are great. I have my wedding shower this Saturday and I am sooo excited! I can't wait! Jess gave me her Bride To Be pin that she wore for me to wear. :) So special! I finally found a strapless bra and I got to try my dress on with it at the store and it fit perfectly!! So happy! Ray's mom gave me her mom's pearls to wear and they also looked perfect with the dress! I got both Ray and I white flip flops that say Just Married when you walk in the sand. Ray got his outfit and we just need to get the pants hemmed. I bought some cute summer clothes for Florida and I need to get a pair of the shorts hemmed since they look more like capris then shorts! (apparently my legs are shorter than I thought) I also made a shirt that says DISNEYWORLD HONEYMOON with mickey ears on the front and MRS ISOM on the back! I'm so wearing it on the plane on the way to Florida! I can't wait for everything! There is only 31 days!!!!

Work is going ok. They let the maintenance supervisor go last Friday which was a total suprise to everyone and now everyone is kinda confused as to what is going on. Apparently we will be getting raises on this next paycheck after corporate had our reviews without us. Kinda interesting that I don't get to discuss my performance and my pay increase. Not really sure what to think about all of that. If we do move, either here or to Montana, I'm not sure what I want to do for a job. Not sure if this is something I want to continue doing or if I would rather switch industries where I have a more flexible schedule for when we have kids. Just some thoughts.

Life as an Exhausted Woman

So at the moment I am truly exhausted but there is a cheesecake in the oven so if I ramble...I am sorry!

I made my first invoice for Julie's Cheesecake & Catering. It felt crazy to actually make an invoice! And since it was my first one and I know the budget that the company has for food, I made a pretty good profit! I now know what I really need to charge for the Lasagna lunch and cheesecake. :) I would love to start doing this more but it may be easier if I didn't have a full time job!

On the subject of jobs...I didn't get the promotion. I'm not really surprised since they didn't promote me to assistant manager right away. I'm really trying to not let it get to me too much but there have been a couple of moments that it hit me. The new manager is Benjamin...Ben...and he seems nice so far. I hope I like him and vice versa. I am already starting to respect him which is a good thing. Last week we went Bowling with both us and the North Bend property. It was so much fun! We really need to make it a regular thing we all had such a good time. And I am soooo not a good real bowler. Good at wii bowler but definately not realy bowling.

So this wii is so addicting! Ray plays almost everyday after work. He is a pro in everything but boxing. I can still knock him out in boxing. :) You can do wii fitness everyday to find out your wii age and my age for the past couple of weeks is all over the board. I've been as young as 24 and as old as 58! It is great fun!

I have no new wedding news as of right now. I think this is the calm before the storm!

I have been working out and I'm getting kinda frustrated. The first week I started working out I gained 6 pounds! Very annoying! And now that I've been trying to work out (key word trying) 3 times a week I'm still staying steady at that weight! I so have a hard time eating healthy food. I just can't seem to make myself stay with a diet! I just love food so much I can't control myself!! My planter faciitis seems to be getting a little better. I bought some arch supports that I wear everyday and I've been wearing my heeled boots everyday and that helps. My whole body is always sore now because of our bed. We SOOOOO need a new bed I can't even handle it anymore!

Anyway, the timer is going off on the cheesecake for tomorrow's catering!

Quote of the Day: Everything comes to him who hustles while he waits. -- Thomas A. Edison

Life With A Survey

10 Years Ago:
Oh wow that was awhile ago...I was probably at church or on some church outing our hanging out with friends.

Things on my to do list today:
I already completed one task and that was cleaning this house! So pretty now!
Also hanging out with the family, calling Jaime and Kyle (cousins) and playing WII!!!

If I suddenly became a billionaire:
I wouldn't be working in Renton, I would own a house and another dog and a boat! :) Then I would fly to see Jess and Steve and Julie!!

Three of my bad habits:
1. I pop my knuckles constantly. It has been a habit I try very hard to break but it just feels so good sometimes!
2. I have a tendancy to be negative and pessimistic.
3. I throw my clothes on the floor wherever I happen to take them off when I get home.

Five jobs I have had:
Jamba Juice
Daycare Teacher
Old Navy
Admin/Accounting Assistant
Assistant Property Manager

Five things people don't know about me:
1. I just colored my hair last weekend to a dark brown. Still deciding if I like it.
2. I can no longer drink coffee and soda on a daily basis as I was doing before due to no longer having a gall bladder. I miss my dr pepper and my 32 oz iced soy white chocolate mocha with caramel! But hopefully not having them will help me lose some extra pounds!
3. I have little food addictions about once a month where I eat that one thing all of the time. Right now it is Dreyer's Slow Churned Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream. (probably cancelling out the lack of soda and coffee!)
4. I bought a wii the other night and I'm trying my hardest to get a perfect score and beat my dad!
5. I love reading these surveys and I don't mind filling them out, but I dislike them for one reason: I never have anybody to tag because they've already been tagged!!! So if you're reading this and you have a blog and you haven't done this survey, please consider yourself tagged and I can't wait to read more about you!!!---I agree with Julie P!!

Life as 'Acting Manager'

Hey everyone! So they haven't yet hired anyone to take Tiffany's place so I am currently doing the job until they either tell me I can continue doing it or until they do hire someone else. Jayme was in quick little interviews here all day yesterday and I saw him shred at least two resumes! So there is hope still! :) Work is really calm right now, relaxed and quiet. Just me in the office today and it is kinda nice right now. I'm going back and forth from my laptop to working and I feel that I'm accomplishing more than I do when there are others in the office. My days have changed to having Sat-Sun off. I told Jayme I was willing to do whatever was needed if it was that or staying at Sun-Mon off. We decided me being her Monday would be good. I told Courtney that if things do get slammed on Saturday she can always call me and I'll come down.

Tomorrow Ray and I are going to look at wedding bands. This jeweler specially designed some bands to match my ring so hopefully we will be able to get one of those! We are then meeting Ray's mom for lunch at Cheesecake Factory...yummy!! Then tomorrow night Kyle is in the State Pre-Finals or something like that. A lot of the family showed up for his game last Monday so I think we are all going to be there again tomorrow! It is fun to spend time with everyone!

I got my hair done on Monday but I'm not sure how I feel about it. Only one person out of my family noticed it was done at the basketball game and that was Jaime. :) And there were soooooo many bobby pins that my head was hurting so bad when I got home!

I like having curls because I never do but I don't think I liked the french twist that she did. I was hoping it would be like the previous picture I posted of the feather lady where it was smooth and elegant. I wasn't expecting to have hair poking out the top of my head..that looks funny! And the comb I have is too big to do half up. I think I will just have it done all up and have a few tendrils falling down. We pretty much decided on our cake and my mom I think is going next Monday to put the money down on it. :) We were given an incredible deal by an old friend so that was amazing! I can't wait to see it all finished! The next couple of weeks I need to buy the bowls/dishes to put the candy in and buy the disposal cameras for the tables! We put the money down on the tables and chairs and those are set to be delivered on the Friday before the reception! :) Feels so good to get so much accomplished! :)

I am very proud of both Ray and myself for doing such a good job of paying off our debt! We have paid almost $2000 to debt since January 1st and that is about 50%!! Our goal was to be out of debt by the end of the year but it looks like we may be out of debt before our wedding! It is such a wonderful feeling everytime I go online and look at a $0.00 balance on all those cards! I even called on my Capital One card to close it but they lowered my interest by 12% and they will waive my annual fee the next time it comes up! So nice!

And I almost forget! I am very proud of myself for working out now! I have only gone once so far but I plan on going Mon, Wed and Fri after work. I went on Wed this week and I could only do 20 minutes on the eliptical. I hope to be able to do at least 3o minutes tonight! I bring my clothes to work with me because I know if I go home to change I won't come back down! So yay for me for actually working out and not just saying I will! :)

Keep praying that I get this job!

Quote of the day: Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.