Thursday, April 30, 2009

Sorry again...

I'm not doing a very good job of blogging every day. And the only reason I haven't started blogging about the Texas trip is because my pictures are being held for ransom on Scott's external hard drive. He has some CIA-quality security on the thing, so I need his help to access them. There are 2 weeks until the big car show, and I haven't bothered interrupting his "work on the car" time yet to get them.

This weekend I'm going to Lynchburg. I'm supposed to be doing a yard sale on Saturday morning at Anne & Scotty's, as their neighborhood is having a big yard sale. But I hear its supposed to rain. I haven't actually looked at the weather myself, but that's what I'm told. What a bummer. I need to get things together tonight so I can leave tomorrow.

We are also celebrating my dad's birthday and Mother's Day this Sunday. Both real dates are next weekend, but since Rory and I are going home this weekend, it made sense to go ahead and celebrate. Scott will be staying in Richmond to work on the car, so hopefully he can get more done without me moping around wishing he was giving me more attention. Haha.

I've been catching up on Heroes episodes. I had episodes saved all the way back to the beginning of March, and now I'm only about 3 episodes behind, I think. Also watched Lost last night, which was awesome. I should start blogging about my tv shows. Hmmm...

I'm so glad this week is almost over. It's been impossible getting out of bed in the morning and dragging into work. So I'm very thankful that tomorrow is Friday!

Friday, April 24, 2009

Sorry

So my goal to blog about the trip every night obviously has not worked out. Sorry about that! I've been so exhausted by the time we get back to the hotel that all I want to do is go to bed. I promise to write about everything when I get back to town. Today we are going to Seaworld (in the rain, apparently) and tomorrow we head back to Houston. We will be flying home on Sunday.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Friday and a great weekend!

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Texas Trip - Day 1

Howdy, folks! I hope everyone on the east coast is doing well. We just finished our second day in Texas, which was exponentially more pleasant than the first. Let me recap.

We had a 2:40 flight out of Richmond, going direct to Houston. We were scheduled to arrive in Houston right at 5:00 pm. About 30 min out, the captain came on to tell us Houston airport was closed due to weather, and we'd be circling around for a few minutes. Well, a "few minutes" turned into a long time, and eventually they diverted us to Corpus Cristi to refuel. Now, keep in mind...our plans were to land in Houston, pick up the rental cars, and make the 4-hr drive to Dallas (which is where we had reserved hotel rooms for the night). We sat on the tarmac in Corpus Cristi for at least an hour and a half, in a BLAZING hot plane, before they finally let us off to go into the airport. Forty-five min later, we were reboarding to fly to Houston. I was not thrilled with this, as I hate flying, especially when there is turbulence. And anyone who has flown through a thunderstorm knows that turbulence is pretty bad. Kind of like being blindfolded on a rollercoaster. I hate rollercoasters. My handprints are permanently embedded in the armrests of that plane.

We finally landed about 9:30pm in Houston, and by the time we got our baggage and the rental cars, it was pretty late. Keep in mind we STILL had to drive 4 hour to Dallas, and it was pouring down rain like I've never seen. Who knew that much water could come out of the sky? We drove until about 1AM, and finally gave up and got rooms at a Days Inn about halfway between Houston & Dallas. We were all so exhausted from the day.

This morning, it was still torrential downpours when we left the hotel and continued on our way to Dallas. We arrived at the Sixth Floor Museum at Dealy Plaza around 10:30 this morning. JFK and I had a chat.

Seeing the museum and where JFK was shot was really interesting. They have marked on the street where the shots took place, and you can stand from where Lee Harvey Oswald would have been to see his viewpoint. (Pictures were not allowed inside the museum, though).

For lunch, we went to Cyndi's NY Deli, and my cousin Cindy and her son Jamie met us there. After eating, we went to the Bronze Cattle Drive Statues in Pioneer Plaza (where a bronze horn jumped out and smacked me in the head). Then we headed over the Wild Bill's Western Store to check out the boots and cowboy hats. I saw a really cute pair of boots I wanted. They were $499.00.

Tonight we went to the Mesquite Rodeo, which is the first rodeo I've ever been to (closest thing was the Dixie Stampede in Myrtle Beach). It was so fun! There was bull riding, bucking broncos, little kids riding sheep (more awesome than it sounds), and all kinds of other stuff. We had a great time. Now its time for bed.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Pretty new layout!

Yay, check out my beautimous new layout! Thanks to my friend Carolina, I now can use non-blogspot templates, as she introduced me to www.thecutestblogontheblock.com.

So we leave for Texas tomorrow! I'm quite stressed, actually, since we still haven't packed. My plan was to pack last night, but Scott was finalizing our taxes and I fell asleep before he finished. I have meetings literally all day today (one long meeting from 8:30 - 5:00, or later), then a pedicure at 5:30, and then I have to pack when I get home. UGH. So many things to do - Scott has to set up Simba's feeder, clean his box, cut the grass....oh boy. At least our flight is tomorrow afternoon, so we will have a little time in the morning. But not much.

I wonder if my boss will let me out of the meeting. Chances are slim, but I must ask.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

First rule of relationships: Stay in touch

If you were to write up the "Rules of a Healthy Friendship", what would they be? These are mine.


Stay in touch
This is probably the most obvious, and also the most difficult rule of friendship. Staying in touch, despite everything else that is going on in life. We can go for weeks, even months, forgetting to phone a friend, especially in the age of twitter, texting, and facebook.

Think about it...when was the last time you actually spoke on the phone to your friend that lives in another city?


Listen
Also very difficult is the act of just listening when a friend needs to talk. I'm the first to admit that I'm guilty of handing out unsolicited advice, but sometimes our friends don't want advice - they just want to vent. If they do want advice, always be honest, even if its not the advice they want to hear.


Make plans together
While this may also seem obvious, its hard to do when you consider all the responsibilities and obligations in your life. Has it been a while since a friend asked you to do something? Maybe its your turn to ask them.


Make Effort
Maintaining a friendship requires a lot of effort from both sides. So make sure you are holding up your end of the bargain....or friendship, in this case.


Tuesday, April 14, 2009

What vacation would you relive?

I've started using a site called Plinky.com to help me with Blog topics, as I'd like to get better at blogging every day. Sometimes, you just can't think of anything to write about, and Plinky helps. Today's topic is "Relive a vacation".

I've been to Hawaii twice - once with my family just for a vacation, and 2 years after that for my wedding and honeymoon. Obviously, I would relive the latter. Our wedding was in Kona, HI at the Kona Village Resort. It was the most beautiful place I've ever been in my life, without a doubt. Our close friends and family were there - a total of 11 guests (most of whom were actually IN the wedding). Anne, Scotty, Shane, Rory, Mandy, Amy, Robbie, Bonnie, Jeanine, Rob, Eric, and Mr. Trost. Wait...that's twelve people (have I had the number wrong this entire time?).



After the wedding, the family all went to Oahu, and Scott and I went for our honeymoon to Maui. We did so many amazing things: Horseback Riding on the beach and through the rainforest, Lomi-Lomi massages on the beach, a Sunset Dinner Cruise. We stayed at the Kaanapali Beach Hotel, which was within walking distance to the Whaler's Village. We'd walk there for shopping and dinner. The Hula Grill had the most amazing Lava Flows! I'd give anything for one of those now. (Although it IS 8:25 in the morning...)



In short, it was a dream come true for me, and I would love to do it all over again. I wouldn't change a thing.



Monday, April 13, 2009

Girl's Weekend

This past weekend was the annual get-together with my friends from college, Amber & Rena. Every year since we graduated, we have planned a weekend get-together in one of our prospective cities. This year, we headed to Rena's current residence in Washington DC. (Arlington, to be more specific).

Amber arrived in Richmond in late afternoon on Thursday after a long drive from South Carolina. We decided to take advantage of the nice day, and went for a long walk around my neighborhood. She says we walked 2.8 miles according to her pedometer. I fixed baked ziti for dinner and we spent the evening playing Wii.

The next morning, we left for DC and arrived at Rena's about lunchtime. We grabbed some lunch, then decided to head to Tyson's Corner for some shopping. We were expecting it to rain, so indoor activities seemed appropriate enough (ironically, it turned out to be a beautiful day with no rain). The mall was enormous, so we were there for a few hours. We were ready for some downtime before dinner, so we went back to Rena's and watched Twilight before going out for sushi for dinner (and The Melting Pot for dessert).

On Saturday, we slept in, partially due to the fact that it was pouring down rain outside. We took our time getting ready, and Rena fixed us pancakes for breakfast. Then we headed over to the Newseum (and Rena's friend Jackie joined us). The Newseum was very interesting, but also quite depressing after a while. They had a room with Pulitzer Prize winning photographs, another dedicated to 9/11 (which included a piece of one of the towers), and a room detailing the last 500 years of news. There was much more that we didn't even have time to see.

We were starving due to skipping lunch, so we had an early dinner at a nice Italian restaurant, then went back to Rena's for more downtime. We watched Slumdog Millionaire (or as the host would day, "mil-uhn-air") and How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days. We left about 10:45 on Sunday morning, after breakfast at Bruegger's Bagels, and got back to Richmond around 12:45. Amber left shortly after to head back to S.C.

I also finished my book, Sarah's Key, over the weekend, which Mandy had loaned to me and was our book club book this month. Speaking of books, check out my new Goodreads widgets on the right. you can see what books I'm reading, as well as those I've read. I've just started Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. Both Amber & Rena were reading it over the weekend, so I was motivated to start it. I'd found it at a yard sale a couple weeks ago for $1.

So back to work this morning. I've only got a 4-day week, but its going to be a busy one. We leave on Friday for Texas - yay! I'm ready for the vacation.

Thursday, April 9, 2009

The Boxcar Children brings me back

I first read this book in either 4th or 5th grade - I can't remember, because I had the same teacher, Mrs. Allen, both years, and I just remember her reading it to us. I think it was the first "novel" I ever read as a child.

I was fascinated that the children were able to make a home out of a boxcar, and I so badly wanted to go live with them! They had everything - a dog, a swimming hole, food & water - what more could you want, right?

I found this book at a yard sale recently, and began reading it once again. It's just like I remember (except, perhaps, a little easier to read).

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

iPod Touch!

So I forgot to post pictures of the kitchen. Truth is, I haven't taken any yet, but I will get around to it. Maybe this weekend.

I got an iPod Touch! It was my gift to myself that I used with part of the money from my bonus at work. It was truly an impulse purchase (though I did sleep on it first), but definitely worth it. I love that it has wifi capabilities, so its almost like a miniature computer that fits in my purse. I've not gone too crazy with the apps, but I did get an eReader, a few games, and things like Facebook, UrbanSpoon, some news sites, and the new Skype app that came out yesterday (which I haven't gotten to use yet). Now I just need some music. I ripped all of my cd's and put them on it, but admittedly that wasn't very many, and hardly anything current. I'm trying NOT to run up a ridiculous bill on iTunes.

Two and a half weeks till we go to Texas. I can't wait! I'm excited, and I need a vacation. I think it will be fun. We have a full itinerary, so we will definitely be busy. I'm sure there will be many blog posts once we get back detailing the trip.

Well, I better get going. Until next time...