Vacation Day 4: Animal Kingdom

Ahhh, Animal Kingdom, the home of my all time favorite ride.

You can see in my eyes how excited I am.

Expedition Everest

100% thills the entire time.  It starts out a mellow ride through the canyon, and then you start climbing.  And climbing, and climbing and climbing.  When you reach the top you think it's going to do what most other roller coasters do, send you on a free fall.  But no!  Not Expedition Everest.  Instead you go on a journey through the mountain with ups and downs, and then you come to this:

The end of the track

Now what?  Now you go backwards through the mountain with ups and downs.  I think you almost go upside down at one point.  I'm not sure.  It's pitch black at that point, and I'm having way too much fun to really notice what direction I am going!

Then you get stopped, and the shadow of the Yeti comes out.  He looks angry, and he breaks the track and you start to move again.  It's pitch black, you don't know where you're going.  Then all of a sudden:

You free fall

Then you go around a corner and the ride is done.  Best ride ever.  It is so much fun!  We rode it 5 or 6 times I think.  First we got fast passes for it so we could take our picture together, but the rest of the time we just did single rider.

Animal Kindgom doesn't have a whole lot that I am interested in.  It has other rides that are cool, and A Bug's Life is a cool 3D show that you can see inside the "Tree of Life" and if you walk around the park there is all sorts of wild life.  But the park gets kind of old pretty fast.  At least for me.  I couldn't imagine what it was like before Expedition Everest was built.

There is one other ride that I would consider a "must do" and that is the Kilimanjaro Safari. 

You get in a truck

and drive past lots of animals. 

Very cool!

Last time and this time I was worried about the lion attacking the car.  I don't know why it doesn't.  Maybe they keep it extremely well fed.  But I'm telling you, if it wanted to eat someone, it could, easily.

We left the park around 6:00, which is REALLY early.  Instead of going back to our hotel we went to the Downtown Disney area.  It's basically a bunch of shops.  It's pretty cool.

There was a Lego dragon in the water.  Kind of neat.

And then we went to the Vinylmation store and wasted a bunch of money.

And then we went back to our hotel.

Vacation Day 3: Magic Kingdom

This day also was my birthday.  Happy birthday to me!

The first thing we did was get me a button that said "Happy Birthday Jenn!"  I swear I got no less than 200 "Happy birthdays" said to me.  Usually I don't like the attention, but this day I enjoyed it.

Oh, Magic Kingdom, how I love you.

I'm boarding It's a Small World"

Is it just me, or does "It's a Small World" have a bad rep?  I LIKE that ride!  I love what it represents, and the song does not drive me crazy.  I enjoy listening to it in the different languages.

I like going on the "kid" rides at Magic Kingdom.  You know... Peter Pan, Snow White, Whinney the Pooh.  They are cheesy, and old, but they are classics and you can't miss them.

Oh, and what is up with the Peter Pan line being an hour long on most days?!  Luckily, we rode it early enough in the day that the line wasn't retardedly long.  But seriously, it's not the greatest ride, why wait for an hour to ride it?

Haunted Mansion

I very much enjoy the Haunted Mansion ride.  And now they have a new part of the line where you go through the graveyard.  It's pretty cool.

Near Pinnochio ride



I'll never get over the amazing detail on all of the buildings.

For my birthday we had dinner at Cinderella's Royal Table.  To be honest, it wasn't worth what we paid.  The food was not the greatest, and I felt a little silly meeting the princesses.  But it was fun.

"I hope no one gives you any bad apples for your birthday!" - Snow White

"Did you make a birthday wish?  Wishes do come true!" - Ariel

To Lance: "Protect her from Gaston, alright?" - Belle

I have a picture of us with Cinderella as well, but it was taken by a pro (included with the price of dinner), and it's not scanned into the comp.  Cinderella said about Lance, "I hope you didn't have to use a shoe to find him!"

It was cute.

So there you have it!

Vacation Day 2: Epcot

We decided to go to Epcot first.  Why?  Because it's the most walking of the 5 parks we planned to visit.  Lots and lots of walking.

We had a game plan.  Go to Test Track, get a Fast Pass, to go Maelstrom, ride Maelstrom, then to go Soarin' and get another Fast Pass.

That right there is a lot of walking because all three of those things are on different sides of the park.  But the thing is... if you don't get fast passes early for the popular rides, you may not ride them at all, unless you wait in a line that is 80 minutes long.  I'm not kidding.  More info on this when I talk about Hollywood Studios.

But anyway, Epcot was fun.  We did everything there was to do, which is a lot, but I'll only list my favorites.

Test Track:  This ride is way fun.  They take you through the tests they do to cars before they sell them, such as break tests and crash tests.  At one part, after you've done much rigorous testing for breaks, shocks, and heat and cold resistance, they take you to do the crash test.  They line you up with a "wall" and then accelerate you to who knows how fast, but it feels really fast, and then right when you're about to hit the wall it opens and you're speeding outdoors on a race track.  I think you get up to about 60 miles per hour.  It doesn't sound very fast, but it feels fast when you're wearing a pretend seatbelt, and you're not in a real car.  Excellent ride.  Lance and I got Fast Passes for it one time, and then we did the single rider line a few times after that.

Single rider lines are awesome, if you're OK with sitting next to strangers. :-)  It's the fastest line possible.  Faster than Fast Pass!

Living With the Land: This photo obviously didn't turn out.  But it's the only photo we took on this ride.  I really like this one because you get to go through some greenhouses where they grow the food they use in the Disney World resorts.

Have you heard my story about the green beans I had at Animal Kingdom last time we went to Florida?  They were SOOOOO good!

Anyway...  They grow tomatoes on trees.  Yes, trees.  Basically they hold up all of the vines so they're not on the ground.  But it looks like (and they call it) a tree.

Last time we went on this ride they had squash that they were growing in the shape of Mickey Mouse.  So cute!  This time they didn't have that.

The World Showcase:  This is the part that requires the most walking.  There is a lake, which is rather large, and around the lake is located several countries, and you walk through each one.  Each country has its own unique architecture and restaurants.  And usually, the cast members are from the country they are stationed in.  It is very cool!  I love the detail they put into each country.

Here are a few of our favorite buildings:

Mexico

Norway

Italy

America

There are many more countries and buildings but... that's all we took pictures of.  We had lunch in Mexico, dinner in America and dessert in Germany.

Lastly, the fireworks show at Epcot is really cool.  The end.  ☺

Vacation Day 1: Travel to Orlando

We got up at 5:30am so we could make it to the airport on time for our 8am flight. We slept at Lance's parents' house so we wouldn't have to get up even earlier.

It was my first flight in over a year, so I was pretty nervous about taking off.  Taking off is the funnest, but also most scary part to me.  I worry that they won't gain enough speed and we'll come crashing back down shortly after takeoff.  Obviously, that didn't happen.  Also, it's probably rare.  But I always say a little prayer just in case.

Both flights went well that day.  Salt Lake to Denver is the shortest flight ever.  55 minutes?  It's barely time for them to get you your drink and cookie.  I think I listened to two songs on my iPod before they asked us to put things away for landing.

Landing in Orlando was wonderful.  The weather was extremely humid, so I was worried about being way too hot the entire time.  But after raining for about 5 minutes, the humidity went away, and it wasn't humid for the rest of the trip.

Our room was awesome!  From the outside it looked pretty trashy, but we were pleasantly surprised.  We had two entrances.  One in the front and one in the back.  I would describe it as more of an apartment than a hotel room.  If you enter through the front, you go straight into a living room, with a full size couch and two chairs, a TV and a pull down queen size bed. 

The next room is the kitchen.  It had a full size fridge, and also a microwave, stove top, cupboards and kitchen table.  Very nice!  Too bad we didn't bring any dishes! 

The bathroom is next.  It's an average hotel bathroom, pretty small.

The bedroom was nice.  It was very large, larger than our bedroom at home!  There was a vanity area, with a sink and a mirror.  I liked this so I could still get ready if Lance needed the bathroom.  The room had a king size bed, two night stands, and a very small flat screen TV, but a TV nonetheless.  It also had a built in dresser, and a quite large closet.  The bed was very comfortable and they gave us 7 pillows.  I like lots of pillows!

I liked the room very much.  I was very comfortable there.

We went swimming that evening in one of the hotel's three pools, after eating at this cute little place called "Checkers".

It's not every day that you wake up in 40 degree weather, have rain, and then go swimming outdoors.

Lance

He turned 26 yesterday!  I can't believe it.  That's not old, it's just... a lot older than he was when I met him.  Also, I never thought that my husband would be 26 and we would still not have children.  I guess life does that to you sometimes.

I love you, Lance!  Here's to 26 more years of life before you're almost old.  :-)

My co-worker took this picture at our company Christmas party at Tuscany back in December so it's not really current, but I like it a lot.

Dad

My dad's birthday and my birthday are close together so on the Sunday closest we get the family together to celebrate.

We all sing.  I sing to my dad, he sings to me.

I have Fun-Fetti cake.  Really the cake doesn't matter, it's the frosting that counts.

He has cheesecake topped with pie cherries.  Usually two.  One for him, one for the rest of us.

Happy birthday, Dad!

Didja Miss Me?

I can't decide if I want to post each day as a full post or if I want to just do a summary of highlights.

I see the benefits of both.

I do this blog for me mostly.  It's my journal.  I write about things I want to remember.  I want to remember each day in its entirety.

You read this blog.  You probably don't want to read 7 blogs worth of stuff.

Something I Regret

Not going to hair school right out of high school.  I spent practically an entire year messing around, wasting money, and wasting time.  Sierra and I often refer to that time in our lives as "the best summer ever."  But I really wish I had gone to hair school.

I started the job I currently have just three months after graduating high school.  I was part time and just a temp at first, so I still had tons of free time. 

I don't ever plan on leaving my current job, I just wish I could do hair on the side.  Or at least I wish I'd be able to cut my husband's hair, and the hair of my future children.

Maybe one day I'll go to hair school.  I just don't see it in the near future.

My Favorite Birthday

What a coincidince that this is the next topic to write about.  My birthday is in 6 days.  It will be my 23rd birthday.

23...  Wow.  I don't think about my age very often.  When I was younger I was always wanting to be older, always waiting to be able to be old enough to do something.  I remember wanting to get out of primary and into young women's, waiting to be old enough to go to church dances, date, drive, graduate high school, get married, etc.  I never felt old enough.

Well, I can tell you that I am now old enough.  There aren't any more age requirements left for me to be able to do something.  Get senior discounts at restaurants?  Pass.  I think those are crap anyway.  No offense to seniors, but they've had way more time to earn the money to pay.  That's just my opinion.  I don't mean to pick on seniors.  Working in politics, I see the selfishness of every age group, race, and other demographics.  Everyone wants something that will benefit them, whether or not it puts a burden on the rest of society.  Yes, I'm saying we all are burdens on society.  Law of consecration FTW (for the win)!

I'm way off topic, aren't I?

My birthdays are usually small and humble.  I prefer to spend them with family, and maybe a friend or two.  I don't like having a big party, and I don't like opening presents in front of people.  I don't like being sung to.  I don't like attention.

I love being with family.  I love getting presents.  I love fun-fetti frosting, I could eat a whole tub.

I don't have a favorite birthday.  I like all of them. 

In the past few years, I've gone on a "date" each year with my dad to celebrate our birthdays together.  I think that's my favorite part.  I'm definitely a daddy's girl.  We get to talk, laugh, and catch up.  It's nice to go out with him and realize that he'll always be my dad, even though I can't run to him for every little thing any more.

This year Lance and I are going to Orlando to celebrate our birthdays.  His birthday is exactly one week after mine.  This might be the best birthday ever.  We'll see.

My Favorite Memory

There are SO many memories one can have in a lifetime, it's hard to chose an all time favorite.  So, while the following memory may not be my all time favorite, I like it.

Lance and I are not what you would call "lovey-dovey", nor do we publicly compliment each other, or brag about each other.  I think I barely ever mention him in my blog posts. I guess we're just private that way. This in no way means I don't love him, don't think about him, or anything negative of the sort.  I love him very, very much.  No other person in this world could make me happier.  Also, no other person could handle my mood swings, depression, anxiety, outbursts, control issues, OCD, etc. 

I have issues, we all do. 

Anyway, I'm going to share my first memory of Lance, who is now my wonderful husband.

The First Sighting
My first memory of Lance was when I was 12 years old.  My family had not yet moved to Pleasant Grove, but we were planning on it.  The house we were buying had people living in it (who weren't paying rent, and needed to be evicted), and we had to wait for them to move out before we could move in. Even though we hadn't really moved into the ward, we decided to go to church in what would be our new ward. 

In our regular ward in Santaquin, we usually sat on the first or second row.  My parents thought sitting there would make us kids pay attention more.  When you have six kids, you have to be creative. But this time at church, we sat near the back.  We sat on what I call "the first row of the back rows."  If you've been in an LDS chapel, you may know what I'm talking about.  There are doors on both sides of the chapel, and there is a gap in the seating to make a walkway.  The first row after that walkway is the "first row of the last rows."

I was a boy crazy child.  I always had a "boyfriend" or a boy I liked.  If you look at my journal from my middle school and high school days, you'll notice boys' names doodled all over it, with corresponding dates of when I liked that particular boy.  Crazy much?  Yeah.  Normal for a 12 year old?  I think so.  Being boy crazy, I was scoping out the ward for cute boys.

...And then I saw him.  He was sitting on the left side of the chapel, near the middle, on the end of the bench.  His hair was spikey with blond tips. He had tannish skin, and perfect lips. He was wearing glasses, and a t-shirt, jeans and tennis shoes. I remember being very judgemental about that.  "People wear jeans and tennis shoes to church here?"  No. "People" didn't, just Lance did.  I guess he was in his rebellious stage.  But oh my goodness he was gorgeous. I think I stared at him during all of Sacrament meeting.  Cutest.Boy.Ever.

I couldn't find a picture of him from back then, but this is what I looked like.

My arms are still too big for the rest of my body.  (*chuckle*)

Take It Easy

I worked out today, but I'm not following the Insanity schedule.  Because I got off from the real schedule, I decided to just take it easy until we get beck from Florida, which is when I will restart month two. 

Today I did Core Cardio & Balance. I didn't push myself very much, and I wore the Reebok Easy Tone shoes the whole time.  My calves felt nice and tight, I sweat a bit... It was a good workout.

I'm thinking about bringing one of the level 2 Insanity disks with us to Florida, so I can get up early and just do the warm-up every day.  That way I won't lose my ability to do the entire warm-up without stopping.  It took me a long time to work up to that, and I do not want to lose that!

I went tanning last night.  15 minutes in a Ruva bed.  I am scorched.  I don't know what happened.  I did 13 minutes on Saturday, so 15 minutes should have been just fine.  I'm burned, and burned bad in weird places.  The insides of my legs, from thigh to ankle, my bottom, and my stomach are all a crisp.  My back, face, arms, and outside of my legs are just fine.  In fact they look freakishly white compared to the glowing red of the rest of me.  I'm going to let my skin recover for a few days, then go again on Thursday, maybe.

I've been using a self tanner with SPF 20 on my face... I don't like NOT wearing sunscreen on my face, but I also don't want my face to be really white compared to the rest of me.  It's been doing a great job!  The tan that does get through is just enough so that my freckles come out, which is what naturally happens when I'm in the sun. Between tanning and this self tanner with SPF my face matches the rest of me (except that my face doesn't burn, thank goodness!).  It's Jergen's Natural Glow Healthy Completion Daily Facial Moisturizer SPF 20, for fair skin.  That's a mouthful.  :)  I would highly recommend it.

Guilt

I didn't work out today.  It's been really hard the past few days to get up and work out.  I'm not improving at the videos as fast as I was last month and I'm not seeing results as fast as I was last month.  Therefore, I'm feeling a bit down on myself.  I look in the mirror and I look like I'm back where I was before I started Insanity.  I feel like I've quit Dr. Pepper for nothing.  I feel like I get up insanely early for nothing.  I feel like I run, jump, lunge, squat, and push-up the life out of me every morning for nothing.  I need to re-motivate myself.  For what purpose am I exercising?  No real purpose.  Just for fun.  But it's not fun anymore.

I went to breakfast with Sierra today, for her birthday, which is tomorrow.  We went to Kneaders and got some French toast.  Boy oh boy was it delicious! Because of that, I was late to watch session one of conference.  But I heard one talk in the car, and watched another on TV.

Is it wrong to DVR the conference sessions?  Because that's what I did with the afternoon session today.  I went to a movie with Lance, then came home and watched the recording.  I kind of feel guilty, like I didn't make conference a priority. I made it wait for me, rather than making it a priority to watch it.  I mean, I watched the second session, I just didn't make any sacrifices to watch it.

To be honest, I think that was the first time in my life I ever watched an entire session.  So, judge me if you want, but it's an improvement from my life in the past.

Insanity Day 39: Max Recovery

Hardest.workout.ever.

It probably didn't help that I *was* going to skip it, so I started doing a warm-up from another workout.  After I finished that warm-up, I was exhausted, so I decided my body really did need a "break."

Break....my butt!

This big buff guy struggled during this section of the workout.

Imagine me with my scrawny mucles.