Birthday Thanks

Thanks to everyone who took the time to call, email or text me to wish me a Happy Birthday.

I wound up needed to spend my birthday in St. Louis for work, I could have gotten out of it, but it wasn't that big of a deal - I'm sure I'll celebrate another day. But it was nice to hear from everyone. :)

When I got done at the office I treated myself to a nice meal at Red Lobster (one of three options nearby) and a glass of wine. I was suprised, there must have been three or four other birthdays last night. Then I went to the sad little mall and bought a new book and spontaneously decided to get another peircing. I peirced the cartilidge of my right ear about half way up. I realized as she was doing it that it was 15 years ago at the Claire's in the old Winter Park mall that I first got my ears peirced.... then I stopped for a 6 pack and some chocolate and spent the rest of the evening in my hotel room watching TV and working.

Chris and I move in a week, our move in date is actually our two year wedding anniversary. I'm sure that once we settle in a bit Chris and I will find some time to celebrate both occasions :)

Cedar Point - Check

This weekend was HUGE for me.

I started my "bucket list" when I was about 12 years old and living in Orlando, FL. One of the first items added was a trip to Cedar Point located in Sandusky, OH right on Lake Erie. Cedar Point is universally known as the roller coaster capitol of the world. It is constantly setting new records with it's coasters and holds the most coasters (17) in one park. When I added this to my list it didn't seem any more attainable than "float down the amazon". Little did I know that I would end up living in Cincinnati, a mere 4 hours drive away from this roller coaster mecca.

Since we're moving away from Cinci soon we decided that we had waited long enough and we hopped in the car and drove up. I found an internet deal where for $10 more per person you can return to the park for a second day. So we spent Saturday evening and Sunday morning/afternoon wandering the coastery goodness.

The lines were insane on Saturday but we had much better luck on Sunday and the weather cleared off so we could enjoy the day. Here is the list of coasters we road and our take on them

• Mean Streak - not impressed, King's Island Beast and even Son of the Beast are better
• Millenium Force - awesome, this was our first good coaster and was worth the 2 hr wait
• Iron Dragon - don't bother
• Top Thrill Dragster - what a rush, it is amazing and worth a long wait but be warned it's over quickly, you almost have to ride it twice to really appreciate it.
• Power Tower - chris rode this and said it was fun, especially since there was no wait.
• Magnum XL 200 - lots of air time, worth a wait but not the best CP has to offer
• Gemini - not impressed, it's more about racing than thrills which is kinda boring
• Cedar Creek Mine - we knew not to expect much but the wait was 10 minutes
• Maverick - this was Chris's favorite and my second fav - lots of twists and turns, take out your earrings!
• Raptor - Good, worth the 30 minute wait but a bit rough and not really a 5 thrill level
• Wicked Twister - my favorite, the rush of dragster but more time to appreciate it

All of our pictures are here. With the rain on Saturday we focused on the locals to provide some entertainment and boy did they...we saw some really funny, traumatizing and interesting sites...

I definitely hope to return some day but for now I am very glad to have made it up to Cedar Point and highly recommend it to fellow roller coaster enthusiasts.

Update

I just got back from the annual family vacation. I had a distant cousing get married in Charleston and we used seeing him again as an excuse for a get-a-way. We stayed in a Wyndham resort on Edisto Island. It was amazing, we didn't do much of anything other than play cards and chill by the pool. Chris did beat Mom at ping-pong and Mom smothered all of us at putt-putt. Other than that, just relaxation. Pictures are up here.

Other than our mini-vacation our efforts have been focused on moving down to FL. Everything has panned out and the apartment in East Orlando has wound up our best option. It's about 1150 sq. ft. well within our price range and we can take Roger D. back from my parents, so we're happy. Another perk is that is is right off of the 408 so Chris can get to work easily. Our official move-in date is August 11th, we plan to arrive with the truck on August 12th.

In addition to the move, I have picked up another short-term corporate contract gig, so I'll be hopping over to St. Louis every week or so. That will add an interesting twist to moving huh? The boss knows about the move though, so hopefully all will go smoothly.

Now we just need to get the movers booked, a truck reserved and all of those dumb boxes packed, yet again. :) Wish us luck.

Happy 4th

Chris has to work on the 4th, but don't feel too bad for him - he has
a long overnight in Boston. I've tagged along and we are currently
sitting on the banks of the Charles River listening to the Bostn Pops
and waiting for one of the best firework shows in the country to
begin. Sweet huh?

The picture is of the sunsetting on the Charles. Two F-15 Eagles just
flew over in full after burner just feet from the hairs on our heads
as the finale for the National Anthem.

Tomorrow I head to Otown to spend some quality time with the pseudo
sister. Not a shabby weekend.

While I haven't been particularly patriotic lately I have to say it is
pretty cool to be here with over 500,000 other people - to see the sea
of red white and blue swarming around me.

Have a great Independence Day!

Oprah - pros and cons

I've said more than once that I really don't like Oprah. I've finally sorted through my thoughs on this and decided that it's not Oprah that I dislike - it's America's reaction to her that disgusts me.

Oprah as a person deserves a lot of respect, she's come a long way in a country that traditionally disapproves of both women and races other than pure white. I know she does a lot of good for humanity and I don't mean to discount that.

However, it makes me sad and embarassed is how the majority of the women in our country watch her show religiously, subscribe to her magazine and will basically to just about anything and everything she suggests. Fortunately for us she is a good woman and usually recommends positive things.

It concerns me that she has near as much social power as the president. It goes back to the Ant Like philosophy of American Society - it seems that we have collectively lost the ability to think and act for ourselves. We now need Oprah to tell us what to eat, read, wear, drive and often times, think.

Now, Dr. Phil - I still think he is the devil - but that's a whole 'nother post.... :0)

New Recipe

Traveling as much as I do I tend to make a lot of "snack sized" friends on flights. During the flight from Rome to Cinci I sat next to a gentleman named Howard. He was a very pleasant seat-mate. We chatted through meals and aside from that he was politely quiet.

One of the things we discussed was cooking and he shared a recipe that is a favorite in his family. He called it Salsa Chicken. Well, I tried it and added a few twists of my own and is yummy! I did the math and the dish is a bout 9 WW points and the salad I made to accompany it was another 3 points - still not bad for a hearty dinner! Click here to see the recipe.

Several years ago Chris made me this awesome cook book - Sara's Food Network. It has all of our favorite family recipes in the same format with little cards to give away etc. Well since then we've been stockpiling recipes to try and favorites, but I have not been diligent about adding them to the book. I've been trying to get caught up. As I go I have been putting my all time favorites here - so if you're interested....

Rome Adventure

I told you I'd be busy, didn't I?

So let me give you the full scoop. I wanted to DO something with John for his birthday this year. Three years ago we went to Seattle together for a week and had such an amazing time, I wanted to recreate that, only bigger.

The original plan was to go to NYC, but John had finals and it just didn't work out. Then I started looking at how pricey just one weekend was going to be and I started to think bigger. We threw around a few ideas and John decided on Cozumel, but I had just been there. Plus that isn't really so far from Florida. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted something bigger. I brought up the idea of Rome, John is an Art History major, so Rome is like a mecca. I've been there once before and loved it. So, it was finally decided.

Mom and I started looking for hotels or hostels, but it's so tough to know what you're getting into. My friend Fabio is back in Italy and he seems to have tons of connections, especially since he is Roman by birth, so I contacted him for advice. His response was amazing - you don't need a hotel, I am in Rome....we worked out all the details and he has invited us to stay in his home and will even pick us up at the airport. Even though he is Roman he hasn't done much "touristing" in his own city, so I think he may join us some as well. I am stoked!

John has been planning, creating lists and slowly getting excited. He has started a travel blog for the trip which you can view here. John flies into Cinci tomorrow morning and will hang out with us for the day. Then, at 7:30pm EST we take off for Rome, most likely in first class seats baby!

I'll be out of touch for a few days while we do as the Romans do, but I'll be checking email etc. so keep in touch and check the blog for details.

New Do

I got a new haircut.


I know it's super short, but I really like it, it's SOOO easy! Since life has been so insanely crazy lately that will be a very nice thing. I went to a different salon than usual, just because of time constraints, but I think I'm pleased.

What do you think?

Time to Move On

We've been talking for months about moving to Florida. It's become a reality.

Chris met me in Orlando this past week and we spent a couple of days looking at rental homes and apartments. We found an apartment that we really like that is a good distance from both family and work as well as shopping since it's only one exit from Waterford Lakes. It would be a three bedroom with around 1100 sq ft, they accept Roger, we can hook up our own W/D and it's right in our price range.

We didn't have so much luck with the houses. There were plenty in our price range but they most of the owners/realators just didn't call us back...it was really frusrating. We did look at a few but none of them felt like home.

We do have one option that might pan out. Some friends might have to relocate, but it depends on if he gets a promotion he's applied for. It sounds like a very good possibility, but it's all a big maybe right now. If it did work out it would be amazing, it's in a prime location, super nice inside and right in our price range.

For now we're planning on the apartment, but keeping our fingers crossed for the house. Either way though, we plan to have most of our belongings in Orlando by August 1st. Yay!

Travelin' Fool

Well, Chris and I had one whole day home together before Chris had to head right back off to work. Since he was leaving anyway, I decided to hitch a ride and I went back down to Otown.

My whole family drove North to Ocala to spend some time with my pseudo-family, the Pratts. We stayed the night on air mattresses and go an early start the next morning. All 11 of us drove even further North to the Ichetucknee Springs. We stopped for inner tubes and spent the day picinicing and floating down the springs. It was a lot of fun! It was great to spend time togethe again, it felt almost like a grown-up homeschool outing :)

The only advice I have is that if you're going to do this yourself, go early in the day. The later the day, the more people and the more stupid things we saw. For example, parents encouraging their young children to climb trees and jump off into the river, adults standing on tubes very close to others and trying to make the other fall down - very 2505 type of activity.

I have a few pictures from this weekend already, but we got a water camera to take with us too. The camera has mysteriously disappeared, but once it's found a developed, I'll add those as well.

West Coast Adventures

So we didn't make it to Paris, but it was just as well. I go a nasty allergy induced head cold that I am just now starting to ditch so I would have been miserable in Pari. We did have a good time in Seatlle though.

I have actually been all over the place lately.

First I to Orlando for one of our Family Gatherings and to see Prince Caspian on opening night. It wasn't bad by the way, just not true to the book. The book is always better, you know?

After Otown, I met up with Chris in Cinci where we hopped on a plane to San Francisco to see Jennifer (my sister-in-law) graduate from college. She finished up her B.A at St. Mary's College which is just outside of SanFran. Chris couldn't get the time off so he had to leave before the ceremony. I wound up staying with Jennifer for five nights and spent lots of time with her. I'd never really spent any time alone with her so it was a neat opportunity, we had a good time. Though it was really weird being in a college atmosphere again. We did all sorts of site seeing and spending time with other family that was in town for the same reason. You can see all the fun pictures here.

From SanFran I hopped down to LA to meet up with my old internet buddy, Eddie and his new fiance Margaret. We did all the typical tourtist things and had fun trying to find the illusive Hollywood sign and ate good food. He was an amazing host and had all sorts of little details in place to make me feel uber welcome. Pictures from LA are here.

From LA I went back up the coast to Seattle where I took a bus out to Mount Vernon to hang out with some of my new cousin-in-laws and aunt-in-law. I played with the kids, got a tour of the farm and just had a general good time. I stayed with Debbie and her family who's lives are just non-stop. I just tagged along for the ride and while I had a fabulous time and really respect Debbie for handling it all so well, I gotta say that it just reinforced that I am definitely not ready for that stage in life yet.

I spent a lot of time with Aunt Judy learning about the Utley family history, looking at old pictures and hearing about my newly acquired ancestors. It was really interesting, especially since it isn't something that Chris's family talks about a lot. Not that there are tons of skeletons or anything, just that it's not something they focus on, so most of the stories I heard were not only new to me, but new to Chris's family too.

Since I wasn't feeling so hot, instead of heading back to Cinci to meet up with Chris and head towards Paris, he came to Seattle to meet up with me. We stayed in his parents new house, saw some old friends and went back out to Mount Vernon to see family, while there Jen fed a cow and Chris fell in love with a kitten.. All the Mount Vernon pictures are here.

Travel Changes

I've been hopping all over the place. We had planned on a quick trip to France next week but decided against it. It's a long story so I won't bored with the details. The outcome is that I am in Seattle and Chris will be meeting me here and we'll spend his days off hanging out with family before heading back to Cincinnati.

I have been all over the place and will have pictures and stories soon.

Stow Aways!

Chris found some tag alongs in his suitcase during his last trip. When
interrogated the excuse they gave was that they have never been to CA.

Upcoming Travels

Chris has six days off at the beginning of June so we plan to head to Paris for a few nights. It's a bit overwhelming to hunt for hotels in such a large city with no idea what area's are sketchy etc. Luckily my mom has a friend who has spent a lot of time in Paris so she has given us some direction. However if anyone else has suggestions, we are always open to more! :)

Oh yeah, I'm also taking Johnny to Rome. We plan to go at the end of June for about a week. Our friend Fabio has graciously offered us a place to stay and may even ramp around town as a tourist as well! 

Movie Catch Up

Between free movies in First Class and Netflix I have watched several movies lately:

August Rush - I was pleasantly surprised by this. The script and overall plot weren't very cohesive but the music was fantastic. The actors themselves did a good job and I like the general feeling I had after watching it. Vague, I know. But I think it's work Netflixing. Again, I really liked the music.

27 Dresses - As if you didn't already know - this one was cheesy with a bad script. But, it was free on the movie and I had nothing better to do...

The Bucket List - I didn't have high expectations for this one but I do like Nicholson and Freeman so I had planned on giving it a shot and when it was available on the plane - why not? I was actually impressed. The plot was cute and there is more to the movie than just old guys doing crazy things. Definitely worth the time.

Juno - Everyone talked about this like it was the next Garden State so I went in with high expectations. I have to say I didn't get it. I mean the idea behind the plot is nice and the casting was good. I definitely liked the sound track and the leading lady (Ellen Page) was unique. The actual direction the movie went in didn't really make sense to me...I think if I hadn't expected so much I would have been more impressed.

Across the Universe - Wow. Talk about trippy! If you go into this knowing that it is just an excuse to re-do Beattles songs and that the script was written with the sole purpose of incorporating as many Beattles songs as possible - it's not half bad. It was very inventive and creative and the sound track was great. I think it's definitely something that everyone should 

Cloverfield - Really awesome concept. It could have been totally creepy and a great psychological thriller. Instead it was just a dumb teeny-boppper flick. Don't bother.

Mother's Day

I went to Orlando this past weekend to surprise Mini Mama for Mother's Day. We had a family brunch, hung out at the beach and took Mini Gma to dinner. It was really nice.

I was cruising Post Secret and found these. I didn't write them, but I could have.

Love you Mom

Back in the States

I'm back in the states. The trip to Greece was beyond amazing. It was very roller coaster esque however. First we had flight issues and some of us spent an unexpected night in NYC, then we got to ee the Acropolis. We weren't sure if we were going to have to ride mules up a cliff, then we got the spectacular views of Santorini. Chris's pinky finger got all nasty and infected, then we hiked a mountain and saw the sun set in Oia. Then we had car trouble but had a grat adventure as a result and so on and so on.

Overall we had a good time and I would definitely recommend others to visit. Our pics are up on my Flickr here and there are some videos on my YouTube here.

We haven't yet decided where our next adventure will take us.

Away...

Hi, Thanks for stopping in.

You've reached my blog. Sorry I'm not here right now, I'm off exploring Greece. If you would like to track my travels, please feel free to do so here. Otherwise leave me a comment after the beep and I'll get back to you just as soon as I can.

Beep.

Cancun - Finally

So we leave for Greece in just over a week so I figured I'd better get caught up and post my pictures from our last trip.

Here is my summary of our trip to Mexico. I can give you all sorts of details if you want them, or you can read more on Chris's site. All of the pictures are up here as well and they are definitely more interesting.

To get a visual of our trip check out the map.

3/25: Fabio land at Blue Ash. Dinner at Teak. Watch "Catch me if you Can" together.
3/26: Shop for a Mac. Pick up Chris from work. Dinner at BoneFish. Load up Mac. Develop Flight Plan.
3/27: Leave Blue Ash. 3.5 hr flight. Lunch in Rutherford, NC. 4 hr flight. Dinner w/ parents. Night in Orlando. Brownie pudding.
3/28: 3hr flight to Key West. Lunch in Key West. 3 hr flight to Cancun. Dinner at El Parillo Mexican Restaurant.
3/29: Italian for lunch. Mexican Mall. Max cook tomato pasta for dinner. Metro club.
3/30: Beach day. Dinner at Adriana's crazy, beautiful, eco-friendly home.
3/31: Fly to Cozumel. Snorkeling with friends from Seattle. See amazing things under water. Lunch at the Money Bar. Dinner at El Minsion.
4/1: Fly to Chichen Itza Mayan ruins. Lunch at buffet near chinote. See ruins. Max teach how to make Carbonara.
4/2: Really early delta flight through Atlanta. Barely make flight in Atlanta to Cincinnati. Chris's tire blow.

I'm still here

Sorry that I have been absent for awhile - though I admit I often wonder if anyone even notices when this happens. I haven't had a comment on this site in ages!

I've been incredibly busy working and having fun.

Chris and I just got back from a really amazing trip to Mexico and I am curently sitting in CVG (cinci airport) trying to hop a flight to MCO (orlando airport) to see the family.

Chris already posted about our trip so you just can't wait for the details you can check them out here. Otherwise, be patient and I will have a trip summary and lots of pictures up soon. Videos are already available here.

I'll be back soon! :)