Leaving on a jet plane

Yeah for me. Vacation again. Some of you may be thinking, "Wait...didn't she just go on vacation?" Yep, I went to Disney World in March and it was amazing. But I try to plan vacations every 2-3 months to keep me sane. And it seems to be working so far. I leave here stressed and overwhelmed and I return rested and ready for what's next. Even if it's just for a few days...it sure helps. Everyone should do it. Jobs should require it. I think we'd all be more productive.

Anyway, I'm going to visit my best friend Elissa and her hubby Mike down in So. Cal. E and I plan trips to see each other a few times a year, whether they come up here or I go down there. It's always good times. Here is what I plan on doing this week: sleeping, reading, jogging, sleeping, eating, catching some summer flicks, napping, journaling, soaking up some sun (it's been cloudy here and I miss the sun), sleeping, shopping, having good, deep talks with E, and did I mention the all-important task of sleeping? I love vacation!

And if I think about work at ALL, I am going to punch myself in the face.

Ha ha.

amazing picture

Let's look at this picture together and reflect on how awesome college students are...even when they don't mean to be.

We celebrated the end of the school year with a party night. We had games, slideshows, videos, a pinata, and a dance party (complete with lights, balloons, and a disco ball). I took this picture during the dance party and caught these 3 students totally unaware. Let's focus on each of them:

First of all, check out Libby's face. I think she was just walking through and didn't realize I was taking a picture. Shock and puzzlement times 10. Classic.

Second, look at "Elmo the Pinata" eating Ricky's arm. It's already halfway gone. Love it.

And last, please note Brian. He was headbanging. The picture caught his hair at the perfect time. Another student saw this picture and said he looked like one of the Yu-Gi-Oh characters which gave me a full 2 minutes of belly laughter. It's so true!

College students...god bless 'em.

Genesis

I am reading Genesis. And not just reading it. I really want to wrestle with it. Go back to the beginning and write down questions or comments I have. Talk with people about it. Work through some doubts. This personal study has nothing to do with the basics or foundations of my faith...I just want to do it. So without further ado, here are some questions/observations I've had so far (i'm up to chapter 9):

* When I pictured the beginning, I pictured darkness and nothingness. In Genesis 1:2 it says "and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters". So...I guess water has always been here?

* It looks like humans and animals were all vegeterians before Noah. Gen. 1:29 God gives plants and trees for food. After Noah and his fam exit the ark in Gen. 9:3, God gives them plants, trees, and animals to eat and we all got to become omnivores. Thank goodness because I really enjoy a good steak. That sounds weird to say in this context, but movin' on...

* Did ALL animals talk before the Fall? If not, wouldn't Eve have freaked out and said, "Holy crap! A talking snake!"

* Did she know the serpent was Satan? Did she even know there was a Satan?

* There's always been tons of speculation about where Adam was during the temptation. Had he just mosied in and took a bite of fruit his wife gave him? Or was he mutely there the whole time, watching everything and not speaking up?

* I think it is interesting that Even sinned first (and God knew that) and yet it is Adam he calls after in the garden and asks an explanation from.

* People lived forever in the OT! Well, I'm exaggerating, of course, but still! Chapter 5 is all about the descendents of Adam. Methuselah (fun name) looks to be the oldest man ever, clocking in at a ripe 969 years of age. Good lord. He also happened to be Noah's grandpappy.

* Speaking of Noah, he was 500 when his 3 sons were born. Ack! No piggy-back rides for those boys!

* Onto Noah and the flood. Here's something I LOVE: I learned that the Hebrew word for "ark" is the same word used to describe the basket Moses was put into as a baby. AND there had never been a "flood" before, so no one knew what that word meant. So basically God was saying, "Noah - I want you to build a 45 foot tall basket because I am going to make it sxhgeqtm." Poor Noah probably had no idea what God was talking about. BUT he still trusted God even if he didn't understand. Which is always a good lesson for me to remember.

* Personal comment: I think it is funny that Noah's ark is taught all cutesy and colorful. Parents have "Noah's Ark" themed rooms for their babies. Sunday School shows us pictures of Noah and the animals smiling as they walk into the ark two-by-two. What a great story! Right? Um, that's because no one ever focuses on the fact that millions of people died horrible, painful deaths. I'm not gonna dwell on this, because it's super sad to think about. I just wanted to make a comment on the irony of Noah's Ark being seen in such a cute, fun light when the more I think about it...it really isn't.

* I added up all the days and months the Bible said it rained, flooded, the ark chilled on the water, etc. It came out to about 6 months. 6 months! It wasn't just 40 days and nights like we sang about as kids. Noah, his wife, 3 sons, and their wives had to live in that big, smelly, floating, wooden "basket" for 6 months with all those loud animals. And then it looks like it took another 6 months for the water to recede and they got to feel dry land again. One whole year total. Dang. I wonder if Noah ever felt God had forgotten about him during that time?

* Personal question - why the heck did Noah have to bring mosquitos on the ark? All they do is suck blood, make us itch, and spread the West Nile virus. I think we'd be ok without them.

Well, that's what I've gotten so far. Feel like sharing your thoughts on these questions? Or add some of your own?

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End

In honor of Pirates 3 opening tomorrow, here are some fun pictures one of our students took last weekend at the Disneyland premiere. Ohhhh Johnny and Orlando...

Nerf Assassins

Have you ever played Nerf Assassins? I remember playing in college. Basically, anyone who wants to play goes out and buys a Nerf gun. When the game starts you are given a name. Your job is to hunt that person down and shoot them with one of your darts. If you are successful, the person you shot is now "dead" (out of the game) and they have to give you the name of the person they were going to hunt. You then go after that new name. And you keep playing until there is only one person left.

We thought this would be a fun activity for the college group to do. So we got 25 students to sign up and the game began! Paranoia ensued. People would walk to school, work, home, college group with their Nerf guns held tightly in their hands and looking around as if any minute someone would pop out behind a car and get them. It was hilarious. The first day after the game started I picked up a student and we were driving to the church to meet everyone for a bowling night. We pulled into the parking lot, talking. I parked and then reached down to grab my bag. When I lifted my head, I looked out my left window and screamed. This is what I saw:



The, I looked to my right to see if we could jump out that side of my car and make a run for it. And we saw this:



So we were stuck inside my car. Good times.

Pictures of life lately

I wanted to post some pictures of life recently. Pixs of Mexico, some of my students, the triathlon, etc. Enjoy.

Bumper cars in real life is not fun

I had my first car accident this week. Scary. Let me set the scene for you. I am driving to work. Beautiful morning. I am behind a red Mitsubishi. We come up to the street light right before the on-ramp to the freeway. Just as we approach, the light turns yellow. The guy in front of me makes every indication that he is going to go through it and onto the freeway...and so am I! Yeah!

However.

Then, he happens to look to his right and sees two police cars. He freaks and thinks he'll get pulled over if he runs the yellow light (even though everyone and their mom knows once your front tires make it over the line, you're fine. Right? Everyone knows that, right??). He had plenty of time to make the light and I had plenty of time to make the light. Heck, the car behind me could have made it too! Sorry, I'm ranting.

So.

He slams on his breaks. Not expecting this, I slam on mine and I proceed to have my first world-in-slow-motion experience. Have you ever had one? It's very strange. It was like in that .5 second amount of time, everything slowed down and I knew I was going to hit him and there was nothing I could do about it. My tires squeal, I skid, and them *BAM* I hit him forward just like in bumper cars. But this was real.

And this all happened in front of the cops.

Sweet.

So the cops come over to us and bring us into a nearby parking lot. The guy gets out of his car and we introduce ourselves with me constantly apologizing. Once the officers make sure we are ok, we start exchanging information and they take off. The guy's name was Matt and he was so cool. I think if he had been some raving lunatic shouting obscenities at me, I would have been crying. But Matt and I were both friendly and still in shock of what had just happened. Good combination.

Here's the good news: it could have been a lot worse. His car only has some scratches on the rear bumper and he said it's so old and has so many dents/scratches already he is just going to get a new car. So I don't have to pay for any of that damage. My front bumper has dents, scratches, a bent license plate, my hood is a little unaligned, and there's some red paint from Matt's car. BUT it could have been a lot worse. My car could have been totaled. My hood could be all scrunched up like an accordian. Our air bags could have gone off (it's a couple thou to stick those bad boys back in the steering wheel) or we could have had other people in the vehicles with us.

So now I've had my first car accident. I hope I never have another. They are scary. The bad news from all of this is I have whiplash. My neck and upper back hurt soooo much. I want to make an appointment to see someone, but I have to wait till Monday to see if I'm covered through my insurance.

What life lesson should I take away from this experience? Anticipate people breaking at yellow lights? Don't drive so close to cars in front of me? Only hit old cars to give their drivers excuses to buy new ones?

Wildflower Triathlon

I just got back from completing my fourth Wildflower Triathlon at Lake San Antonio! Woot. Here's is why I love Wildflower:

1) It keeps me motivated to work out during the year.

2) I get to train with my roomates and friends.

3) I love getting away for the weekend and camping at the lake. We always have a big group that gets together for this weekend and it's a fun time to catch up with friends.

4) Crossing that finish line is the BEST feeling.

Ok, so here is one of my highlights of this year's tri: I saw the Bachelor! Hopefully you don't watch The Bachelor on ABC because it's super cheesy. But if you do, you'll know who I'm talking about. Ok, so on the show, Andy Baldwin (aka: The Bachelor "An Officer and a Gentleman") was talking with one of the girls and she said, "I know you're a triathlete and I'm training for my first one." He said, "Oh really? Which one?" She said Wildflower and he said, "I'll be there too. I'll see you there." So all my roomates and I knew he was going to be there and we were going to try and find him. (We've bumped into Survivor contestents at Wildflower before so it seems to attract reality TV stars or something)

Anyway, all weekend I had my eye out for Andy. No dice. Oh well, there is a million people here, I thought. I doubt I'll see him. So on Saturday morning I had my race. The swim was great...I felt better about it than I did last year. My bike was challenging, but still felt good. When it came to the run, I started feeling really low on energy and dehydrated. I was heading back to the finish line and I was looking down, breathing. I looked up for a second and all of a sudden, The Bachelor ran right by me! I fully stopped running and did the whole turn-around-with-gaping-mouth. (The chick behind me almost ran into me) But it was him. We shared air.

It seems so silly to get so excited about that. But I guess it's always weird to see someone in person when you've seen them on TV. He's a bit shorter than I thought (he looks taller on TV) but super cute. So then when I saw everyone afterwards, I kept saying, "I saw the Bachelor!" Some random ladies overheard me telling my friends and they said, "Ooooo, you're so lucky!!" and they were genuine about it. They must be fans of the show. It was so funny.

Another great year at Wildflower. I'll post some pictures in about a week. It takes me forever to download pixs to my computer. Peace out.

oh man, I love this video

My favorite group is no longer together

Concert tickets: 40 dollars
Parking and gas: 25 dollars
Snacks and drinks inside: 10 dollars
T-shirt: 25 dollars
Seeing Nickelcreek in their "Farwell Tour"...priceless.

Update on our psycho neighbor

This was on our CBS station news. Dang. Here's the article online:


MAN SUSPECTED OF STABBING HIS BROTHER SURRENDERS
04/28/07 3:35 PDT

A man suspected of stabbing his brother at their home in on Thursday turned himself in to the County Sheriff's Office on Friday, police reported.

Police received a phone call from the two brothers' neighbor at about 12 a.m. on Thursday reporting that one of her neighbors was being stabbed with a knife, police reported.

Responding officers determined that 25-year-old Daniel Campbell allegedly stabbed his brother in the abdomen while the two brothers were in the backyard of their home.

After the stabbing, the neighbor took the victim to the hospital while Campbell reportedly fled the area on a bicycle.

Police issued a warrant for Campbell's arrest and sent out a press release warning people that he should be considered "armed and dangerous."

Campbell turned himself in to the County Sheriff's Office shortly after noon on Friday, police reported. He was transported to the County Jail and booked on suspicion of attempted murder.

Sirens in the night

Wow. Who knew that my tiny little town could be a hotbed of criminal activity??

To begin this story, I better go back a bit. We have some interesting next door neighbors. And by "interesting", I mean "psycho". Well, one of them is anyway. They are two twin brothers - Jon and Dan. Both probably 25. They've lived in their house for 6 years. Their parents died and that is what was left for them. They've had roomates come and go and we talk with them whenever we see them and have had them over a few times.

But in the past year, things have gotten bad.

It all started when they decided to have a HUGE bonfire in their backyard. It was in the summer when everything was dead and dry and if a tree caught on fire, we'd all be toast. (We have a mini-forest in our backyard) So after asking them to tone down the fire and them drunkingly not repsonding, we called the fire department. After the fire dept. came and asked them to put it out, they came out to the street, flipped off the world, and screamed, "SCREW YOU, NEIGHBORS!" not knowing which neighbor made the call.

Then, came the night drag races. They love dirt biking. I usually don't mind it. Unless it is on a quiet Saturday or Sunday or in the middle of the night. Which has happened. They have made a mini-course in their backyard which came into our backyard which made our landlord pretty angry. Sometimes they'll just ride up and down our street and the noise is deafening. These things are not a big deal, we're all pretty nice and flexible with each other. But then things got worse.

About 8 months ago or so, we would wake up at 2 or 4 or any other ungodly hour of the morning to the sound of screaming. Terrifying, loud, piercing screaming. And then that was usually followed with swear words, threats, and more screaming. When you wake up in the dead of night to that, it is so scary! And there's the fact that our driveway echoes like crazy and it sounds like that is all happening right by our window. Ack!

Basically, one of our neighbors, Dan, has not been doing well. According to his brother Jon, he has scared away all of their roomates (they've probably had 5 roomates come and go in the last year). He gets drunk, violent, angry, you name it. He has punched people and ripped out the fence between their house and the other neighbor's house when they got in a fight. Anyway, it was happening a lot. We totally called the cops a couple times because all the screaming made us worried that someone was hurt. Even when we weren't calling the cops, cops just always seemed to be over there. Finally two weeks ago, we saw the house was up for sale. Whew. Enough of this drama. In talking to Jon two days ago, he said he and his brother were kind of going through a "divorce", it wasn't going well, and Dan needed help. Jon didn't know what to do.

That brings us to Wednesday night. I always get home late on Wednesdays because of college group. I was getting ready for bed around midnight and all of a sudden I heard the screaming again. "Not again," I thought. But then it got worse. I heard a guy yelling, "HELP ME! SOMEBODY HELP ME!" I freaked and ran to my window. Outside I saw a white truck take off down the street. Someone else got on a bike and took off. What the heck is going on?!?!

Then, I heard sirens in the night. At least 5 or 6 cop cars came to the house and there were officers everywhere. They came into our driveway and started searching around their house and in our backyards with flashlights. I realized they were probably looking for the brothers because something happened. So I decided to go out and tell them I saw them both leave. I threw on a sweatshirt and shoes and ran out the door, where I bumped into a roomie who was also going outside to see what was happening. I saw a policeman so I started to say, "Excuse me, sir..."

"GET BACK IN YOUR HOUSE!"
"Um...but...
"GET BACK IN YOUR HOUSE NOW!"

We fled. A couple other roomates were up now and we all were looking out the window. A couple minutes later an officer came up to our window and told us to stay in our house. Something had happened and they thought Dan was armed with a rifle. We of course got all scared. He really has gone psycho.

The 8 or 9 officers plus dogs surrounded the house and yelled for them to come out with their hands up or they were going to let the dog in, who would bite them if he found them, etc. I felt like I was watching an episode of Law & Order/CSI in my front yard. They searched the house and found no one. I did hear them say they found some marijuana growing. Lovely.

I stayed up till 2:30 am listening and watching, too scared to go to sleep. We were all so tired on Thursday. I called the police department after work to get an update. The guy I talked to gave me the scoop: Dan and Jon got in a fight, Dan STABBED his brother in the stomach (what the crap?! Who DOES that?!) and then took off. They had not found him yet. They were afraid he had taken his rifle with him. There was a warrant out for his arrest. And Jon was still in the hospital. If we were ever to see Dan sneaking back into his house, we were to immediately call 9-1-1.

The officers came back last night at midnight and did the whole house-search with the dogs and everything. Dan hasn't been back. This is probably the most action this city has seen in 5 years. And all of this happening right next door to us.

Needless to say, we lock our doors at night now.

What Not To Wear

My roomates have started something: What Not To Wear (Gordon House Edition!)

If any of you have watched the show on TLC, Clinton and Stacy go to hopeless fashion victims and pledge to educate them on "What Not To Wear". They go through the person's wardrobe and make snarky comments while the victim watches helplessly off to the side. For example: Clinton says, "Oh no you DI-DN'T buy this wrap! This looks like a picnic blanket!" He and Stacy will then pretend to sit on it and have a picnic. Quickly after, they'll stand up and toss it into the big garbage can while the woman tears up a little bit because her husband gave that to her on their 20th wedding anniversary or whatever. Pure drama.

Anyway, in the name of "spring cleaning" and "fun", my roomates started our own version of "What Not To Wear". One of us brings ALL our clothes into the living room. The rest who are the Stacys and Clintons get ready: pj's, food, drinks, exercise balls, magazines...whatever we're going to do between changes. And then it begins...

The other night it was roomate # 3's turn. During the night as she tried things on, here were some comments I made/heard (in between lots of laughter):

"It makes you look too box-y."
"You are only allowed 10 cotton T-shirts."
"That makes you look like 'Fonz' from Happy Days"
"What IS that?! Outdoorsy pants? Oh ok, you can keep that."
"I don't like the bottom. I like from the waist up, but not the bottom."
"Do you have any other colored shirts besides maroon, brown, or turquoise?"
"Yes, you can have two pairs of pj bottoms."
"You don't need more than 2 long sleeved white shirts."
"Next time you go shopping, buy tops with patterns on them."
"Oh, yeah. Those are definitely 'work' pants. Keep 'em."
"What?! Are you a lumberjack?! Toss it!"

I am looking back at these comments in wonder. Who ARE we?! Wow, we can be pretty harsh in the name of fashion. The 2 previous roomates who already had their turn seemed to be extra vocal with their comments...they already had to endure comments about their clothes and were ready to dish it out to others.

Ok, so here's my confession. I am scared for my turn. I really want to do it, because I need to clean out my closet and I am interested in what my roomates' opinions are on my clothes. But secretly I am terrified. Everyone has those articles of clothing that have sentimental value and we want to keep them forever even though they are completely ridiculous or out of style. I can just picture myself trying on a shirt and being like (whining voice) "Come on, guys! I know I never wear it! But what if one day I wake up and think, 'I really want to wear my Rainbow Brite shirt!' "

Yikes. I have a feeling I am going to be donating a lot of clothes to Goodwill. And my pitiful excuses will not hold up to the roomates' scrutiny. And I am also going to probably feel like a complete and total fashion victim. Maybe I should give Stacy and Clinton a call.

Spiderman 4 without Kirsten??

I read something today that made me laugh. Since Spiderman 3 is coming out in a couple weeks, there is already speculation about whether this will be the last one or if there will be a Spiderman 4.

The director (Sam Raimi) might possibly be working on "The Hobbit" next. And recently, Kirsten Dunst said if Sam weren't going to direct the next Spidey...well she wasn't on board either. And I quote:

"Audiences aren't stupid. It'd be a big flop without me, Tobey, or Sam. That would really not be the smartest move. But they know that already. [Sony chief] Amy Pascal would never do that."

Here is my response:

Dear Kirsten,

Look. I'm sure you're a nice person and all. I'm a big fan of the cheerleading moves you and your team busted out in "Bring It On". But I'm sorry to have to say this - you're one of my least favorite actresses. I wouldn't be all that sad if they replaced ya in Spiderman 4 with another actress who can...um...act.

Kindest regards, Sarah

What would you have said to him?

I had a conversation with a college student - I'll call him Kevin - the other night. He told me he grew up Catholic but fell away from "religion" in high school. He said he turned his back on God. He instead became fascinated with science. He could prove (or disprove) anything with science. That made him pumped to find Christians to argue with. He said he also got into history.

So while we're talking, he said, "Sarah...I only came to the college group because of Michelle. And during the whole time we were dating, she would tell me about the Bible and Jesus but I never really wanted to understand. Now that we're broken up...I still want to come to church. I want to learn more. This is really hard for me, though. I love science so much. I've always used it against Christianity. And now I'm looking into Christianity and it's weirding me out a little. And I also love history, and let's be honest: Christians don't have the greatest history. When I think of them forcing their religion on the Natives when they first got here and spreading their disease and death...and then when I think about the Crusades and other times in history like that...why would I WANT to be a part of that?"

And then Kevin paused.

"And even if I did...why the hell would God want me?"

not again

I remember where I was when the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake hit. I remember what I felt when I saw on the news the sadness of Columbine in 1999. I remember the shock that registered through me when a friend told me the horror in the morning of 9/11. I remember standing in the living room and watching the Indonesia tsunami in Dec. '04 and then Hurricane Katrina in Aug.'05. These country (and world) events stay with me. I remember them vividly.

And now, sadly, I have a new one.

I came home from Mexico last night and was so tired, I couldn't even put words together to form coherent sentenes for my roomates. I went to bed and didn't wake up till noon today. I was still so incredibly tired. "Gosh, what an amazing week," I was thinking. "These high school and college students built 5 houses. We all bonded as a family. There were no major illnesses, accidents, car problems. Such an awesome experience!"

Because I had planned to not leave my bed all day, I grabbed my laptop and went to check my email. As I got on yahoo, my heart stopped. WHAT?! A school shooting? Virginia Tech? 33 people dead and more than 15 injured? How could this happen???

It felt so surreal. Here I was, recovering from an incredible mission trip and feeling so tired and weary...and the first day back, I am reading about the worst shooting rampage in our nation's history.

I was watching the news and they showed about 20 seconds of someone's cell phone video capturing the sounds of the gunfire inside a school building. I seriously felt like I was going to throw up. And then a half hour later, they played it again. STOP! I felt like back at 9/11 when the news kept replaying the scenes of the planes hitting the towers over and over again. I wanted to look away or turn the TV off, but I couldn't. I felt so sick to my stomach.

I am so sad.

I don't get our world.

Make a run for the border

Hi everyone. Tomorrow morning I head out to Tijuana, Mexico with 100 other people (high school students, college students, adult leaders, parents, etc). We are going to build 5 homes! I am really looking forward to what God has in store for us. We'll be back April 15th. Please pray for us while we are gone. Hasta la vista, mis amigos.

9 seconds of awesomeness

Wait...it's Easter?!

Ever since I've been back from vacation, we have been working non-stop on Mexico. 100 high school and college students plus a ton of adult leaders are leaving this Sunday for a week to build houses in Tijuana. So all of us here in the Student Ministries office are running around like chickens with their heads cut off. A co-worker and I just mentioned how we don't think we've ever made so many phone calls in our lives. There's all these last minute details that need to get ironed out before we leave.

And then as I was at my computer sending out my millionth email...I had a revelation. Wait a sec! It is EASTER this Sunday. I have not thought about it at all. At all. I'm bummed. I've gotten so wrapped up in Florida and Mexico, I haven't stopped to think about what this week means. And it means a lot to me. So I am going to make sure I spend some good reflection time before we leave. That's all. Just felt like sharing.

I dig vacation

In the immortal words of the Go Go's: "Vacation all I ever wanted. Vacation have to get away!" Well, it's what I wanted and boy did it feel good to get away.

I had kind of a rough start to my vacay thanks to a lame airline that was delayed and made me miss my connecting flight. Which airline, you ask? Oh, that's not important. (*cough* American *cough*)

But instead of focusing on the fact that I got up at 4 in the morning to make my flight in SF, then got there and found out it was delayed and no one else could get me to LA in time for my next flight and the lady helping me treated me like I was a big bother and then waiting around the airport for 6 hours (airport floors are NOT fun to sleep on) plus longer because THAT flight was delayed and then flying to Dallas and having to wait another 4 hours for my next flight to Orlando (which was also ran late) and then having to find my bus and arriving at my hotel at 1 in the morning....I will focus on better things. (I'm laughing on the inside...really)

Disney World! Ok, first off, the weather was amazing. Sunny, clouds, 70's and 80's, ahhh...it was wonderful. The first day, BFF Elissa and I went to the Magic Kingdom. We tore it up. Second day: Animal Kingdom and Disney-MGM Studios. We tore those up, too. Third day was Epcot. Woot. Last day we visited all the parks and caught everything we had missed the first time around. Highlights:

* First and foremost was spending time with Elissa and her hubby Mike. They live in So. Cal so it's always so fun when I get to see them.

* I have NEVER eaten so well in my life. We bought this meal plan where you pay $40 a day and you get a Take-Away type lunch (meal, drink, dessert) Snack (popcorn or ice cream, etc) and a fancy-schmancy sit down dinner. Now normally, when I go to places I get something pretty cheap on the menu, water to drink, and no appetizer or dessert. Ya know, the basics. Well, we went for it! We had Italian food one night, steak one night (our meal cost over 50 bones each...and we only paid 40 for the whole day. Ha!), Chinese one night, and Japanese where they cut, cook, and serve everything right in front of you. Woohoo! What a fun splurge.

* At the Animal Kingdom we saw a Finding Nemo musical. So cute!

* Speaking of animals, we saw them everywhere. Bunnies came out at night at our hotel, there were ducks, egrets and blue herons all over the parks, we saw a snake our last night, I caught a couple frogs by the water, it was so fun.

* We rode every type of transportation possible: cars, boats, trains, buses, monorail, trams, even go-carts at our hotel.

* Elissa has a small bladder, so we now know where every single bathrom is at all 4 parks...and which one we are closest to at any given time.

* Whoever invented the "Fast Pass" needs a raise, medal, or ceremony. We didn't have to wait in many lines.

* I loved getting into conversations with kids in lines or on the monorail. The first reason is because kids are super cute and excited to be there and the second reason is because kids say really funny things. Most of what they say ends up in my "Quote Board" book from the trip.

* There is a new fast ride called "Expedition Everest" and inside is a huge yeti. Rockin'.

* My last night I had to switch rooms (because a new family was coming to take my room) and at first I was a little bummed. But then when I got to my room, I realized it was an UPGRADE! Holy cow, I had a living room, kitchen, balcony overlooking a lake, two bathrooms (one with a jacuzzi tub!), and a bedroom with a massive king size bed just for little ol' me. I don't think I've ever slept so well. It was such a surprise. Heck, you guys can switch rooms on me anytime

And then to end the perfect vacay, I flew home and the next day saw Josh Groban in concert. He is AMAZING!!! I was in awe. As much as I love my job, I did NOT want to go back. I think I always feel like that after time away. I am so thankful for vacation! Can't wait for my next one... =)