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TFEiC

October 5, 2012

It’s been hard to settle down after such an exciting weekend~ I went to an Indie book event last weekend and met a ton of new friends. A lot of these friends are ones I’ve been talking to through writing groups on facebook, so I felt I already knew so many of them. It was great to finally meet in Real Life.

Did you know Tosha is a book blogger now? She is! She’s part of the panel of The Indie Bookshelf. You should check it out. They get the skinny on all the new books coming out~ definitely a blog to bookmark. Plus, Tosha looks really pretty in the cover picture.

So…Tosh and I set out on the road~ she was just as I excited as I was to meet some of the bloggers she’s been working with, not to mention all the great authors. And you know, anytime we get together, there will be fun and hilarity non-stop. Whether we mean for there to be or not…

I’m so happy we’re doing this together, my sisterfriend…

Bright and early…

The trees were in outstanding colorful display…

The weather was perfect. Downtown Chicago was stunning. I’ve been there several times, but have never seen this side of Chicago. Gorgeous. I wish I’d had more time to really explore (and see some dear friends who live there), but it was jam-packed every minute.

This is one of the prettiest skies I’ve ever seen in my life…took my breath away.

Tarryn Fisher, author of The Opportunist, and Rebecca Donovan, author of The Breathing Series

The foursome of the weekend:

Tarryn, Trish, Moi and Tosha~ otherwise known as The Three T’s and Me

A most delicious burger~ with a buttered bun…I want one of these right about now.

Or this would also suffice…

Oh my goodness, it was delicious.

These two were a hoot together.

And of course, me and my girl. I do love her so.

Meeting some of my posse: Maggi Myers (her book will be out soon!), Andrea Randall, author of Ten Days of Perfect, and Melissa Brown, author of Bouquet Toss

Dear, sweet girls…

And more wonderful people~ Nina, Jamie and Andrea~ everybody scrunch and smile!

And I’ve long wanted to meet Fred, a former lawyer and now librarian and book blogger of Still Seeking Allies…

Fred was just as delightful and charming as I imagined. He has this way of making everyone feel like they’re his most favorite person in all the world. Long live Fred’s Baker’s Dozen!

I live to make her laugh…see below.

Okay, let’s try this again…

Melissa helped organize this event, along with Sarah Hansen from Okay Creations, and Colleen Hoover, author of Slammed and Point of Retreat

I’m wishing I had pictures of Sarah and Colleen…sniff. This is right before the chaos.

Melissa is a dolly.

And so is Maggi.

I can’t wait for Dirty Red to be out~ Dec. 28th. Mark your calendars.

Tarryn received some sweet gifts from the people who love her book~ look at this cupcake with The Opportunist cover! I love it! I did want to eat it really, really bad, but managed to refrain.

And then there was this gift, which shall remain nameless, but gave us a very good laugh…

Discussing Dave Newell’s Book~ Red Lory, due out Nov. 2nd.

And Tracey Garvis-Graves~ I had the privilege of meeting her briefly in Minneapolis at E.L. James’ signing two weeks ago and then, for this event, I helped with Tarryn’s table and Tracey was next to us. She is the nicest person ever. Her book, On the Island, is SO good. MGM has optioned the book for a movie~ can’t wait for that!

Tarryn, showing off my jewelry…uh, I mean, Colleen Hoover’s autograph.

My flash gave out the night before, so an entire night of pictures has a halo of light taking over the entire picture. So sad. But that would have made for an even longer post. ha!

Saying good-bye is hard to do.

That’s Happy in the front, on the right…love that girl.

Awww. I don’t like good-byes.

An unforgettable time. Thanks, everyone, for making it so special. Can’t wait to see you all again.

*Extra love notes…

I didn’t get pictures of everyone, but every single person I met was so great. Some authors I LOVE who were also there:

S.C. Stephens, author of Thoughtless and Effortless and many more… (sweetest person and creator of Kellan Kyle, oh my word!)

C.J. Roberts, author of Captive in the Dark and Seduced in the Dark (I love this woman.)

Michelle Mankin, author of Love Evolution and the upcoming, Love Revolution (Dreamy kind and lovely person~so glad we were able to hang out, Michelle!)

Abbi Glines, author of The Vincent Brothers and many more… (Sweet lady! I have to read her books still! Very fun to talk to)

J. Sterling, author of Chance Encounters and more… (Oh this girl. She’s a hoot. Looking forward to the next time.)

Jillian Dodd, author of That Boy and many more…(She’s one of the few I didn’t meet~ we were on opposite sides of the building and the throngs of people divided us. Sigh.)

Next time, I shall meet all the rest that I didn’t even mention here. XOXO, lovely people!

Posted in Adventure, Bloggers, Books, Oct 2012, Sept 2012, Travel | 13 Comments »

WWWWD?

July 25, 2012

Ever since I got this much-coveted Wonder Woman mug, I’ve been asking myself, “What Would Wonder Woman Do?

I know it’s really supposed to be WWJD? What would Jesus do? And I may blog about that someday…if I can find a Jesus mug.

However, what I’m finding is that it can’t really be WWWWD because Wonder Woman really doesn’t have to deal with every day situations like I do…so it’s more like WWWWND? What would she NOT do? What small tortures does she get out of every day?

I bet she never leaves her wallet in the grocery store.

I bet she never has to vacuum the living room…around a grand piano, 6 guitars, 3 flutes and a set of congas.

I bet she never has to get up in the middle of the night and trips on dog you-know-what while cleaning up a child’s you-know-what.

I bet she never says you-know-what.

I bet she never feels insecure about anything, because, well…she’s Wonder Woman.

I bet she never feels bloated.

I bet she never passes on a piece of chocolate cake. Well…maybe. No…no, I don’t think she does. Of course, she can eat whatever she wants.

I bet she never second guesses herself.

I bet she never has blisters on her feet.

I bet she never gets something stuck in her teeth.

I bet she never goes to the gynecologist.

I bet she never waits for HIM to call. You know, The One.

I bet she never waits, period.

I bet she never says something really dumb and then has it replay over and over and over in her mind.

I bet she never looks silly when she dances.

I bet she never has cobwebs.

I bet she never falls down the stairs, or up, for that matter.

I bet she never has a wedgie.

I bet she never has all the ice fly forward in the glass while she’s drinking, causing the drink to go all over her costume and face.

Speaking of that, I bet she never gets stains. Think of all the money she saves on spot remover. And come to think of it, she doesn’t need an iron either, because her costume doesn’t wrinkle. And since her costume is so perfect, that settles the problem of WHAT AM I GOING TO WEAR? day in and day out. Imagine how orderly her closet is! And there isn’t an abundance of hair accessories either, because that crown is perfection and cancels out any other accessory that might be halfway covet-worthy. Plus, when you have blue-black hair that never gets frizzy or too flat, you’re not really concerned about costumes or crowns or wrinkles or problems, because you have impeccable blue-black hair and that’s just…cool.

Sigh.

I love Wonder Woman.

Posted in Adventure, July 2012, Lists of This and That, Mama Musings | 15 Comments »

Arkansas: The Bane of My Existence or Maybe It’s Just Walmart

July 2, 2012

What a difference a day makes…

My dad was in the hospital on Wednesday and Thursday of last week and by Friday, I was burning the pavement from Minnesota to Arkansas as fast as my Mazda Tribute would take me. By the way, thank you, Trib, for getting me places after 120,000+ miles.

My little road troopers joined me…

We like to eat as much junk as possible on a road trip. Krispy Kremes were also involved. And Coke Icees. And Cracker Barrel biscuits and gravy. And pancakes. We were ready for tuna casserole when we arrived. Why does traveling make you so hungry?

Can I throw in here that I wish I’d never introduced my kids to Cracker Barrel? It began when I would drive this trip with Greyley as a baby and wanted a nice changing table, along with a good meal. It turned into an hour of eating food that can be hit or miss, drinking bad coffee and getting sucked into buying some sort of toy because you feel ~~bad~~ guilty that you’ve had your kids in the car for hours on end.

Now I feel like a traitor for saying that about Cracker Barrel, but to top it off~ after I’ve eaten their food, I’m always SERIOUSLY drowsy. Not a good combination with driving. OK, rant finished.

We left at 6:55 AM and arrived at my parents’ house at 9:00 PM. If you’ve ever been in the car for this long, you know that some madness is bound to take over your brain.

Some hyperness has to come out. Some slap happy-ness. Some other words ending with -ness.

We got here and I have never been happier to finally make it. It was killing me to be so far from my dad with him being so sick. I knew if I came while he was still in the hospital, he’d be doing everything he could to get out (he’s done this before when I come while he’s in the hospital) so as soon as I got word that they let him come home, we hightailed it over here. He’s still not doing well at ALL, but he has perked up a little with us here, I must say.

Here’s what has been happening with him~ a year ago yesterday (!) he had triple bypass surgery and we just kept waiting for him to get better and recover from that, but he hasn’t. Every doctor he’s been sent to has said, “It’s complicated.” Ugh. It turns out, he has several things working against him and we’re still not even sure what’s hurting him the most. The latest thing is that he has pulmonary hypertension, which is a scary thing…coronary artery spasms, another scary thing. He’s on oxygen around the clock, which has helped him stop passing out, but he’s still not getting enough oxygen. His blood pressure is crazy low~ like 55/32. He had 2 back surgeries a couple years ago and they didn’t go well, so any tests they run on him put him in more pain than he’s already in…see? It is complicated.

SO…we’re kind of desperate here for things to change for him.

All I know how to do is provide comic relief, make mashed potatoes, watch Little Rascals and pray. So that’s what we’re doing so far. My dad has to go back in for more tests and we’re still waiting to hear about the ones from last week.

I’ll be posting more this week, so keep me company over here, all right? After posting about my dad on Facebook, I was so encouraged and grateful for all my lovely friends and family. I’ve shown my dad all the wonderful comments and he appreciates it so much. We will take all the prayers we can get.

In unrelated topics, it is Hotter than Hades here.

And when I went to Walmart, I thought that’s where I was.

Forgive me, but it’s the truth. Walmart in Cabot, AR, brings out the very worst in me. Actually, besides the Ozarks and the fact that my family is from here and several other nice folks are too, I cannot think of much to like about it. I like a lot of places, but…I think ARKANSAS might bring out the worst in me. So maybe it’s not Arkansas, it’s just me. I might just be having a bitter moment that this is where I have to come when I visit my parents instead of where I grew up in California…but imagine what THAT road trip would have been like…

Posted in Adventure, Family, Grateful Heart, July 2012, Prayer Requests, Travel | 13 Comments »

Winning

April 23, 2012

If you missed the announcement on the Girly Muse Facebook page, this is for you:

Dun dun dun…and the grand prize of I Blame Eve by Susanna Foth Aughtmon goes to…MELISSA KIDWELL! Weehaw! If you’re not Melissa, you can purchase the book HERE.

How are you on this fine Monday morning? I must say, I am MUCH better than I was last week at this time. Although, if you saw me this morning, you’d probably think we were still going through the water difficulties and all sorts of other major trauma. I look haggard, y’all. I look like I’ve been through the ringer. I’m not altogether sure why my hair is on end and my eyes are so puffy. My dreams must have been something ELSE!

I assure you, I am just fine. My weekend was quite mellow and low-key…just what I like.

Nate and I had a little anniversary getaway Thursday night and we were surprised when the Hotel Sofitel gave us the PRESIDENTIAL SUITE. While I would never in a million years want to be President, I could sure get used to staying in such deluxe quarters. There were two huge rooms with gorgeous lighting, flowers, a cozy couch, two flat screen TVs, two fabulous bathrooms, all-you-can-dry towels, an UMBRELLA in the closet…obviously, when you’re the President, hotels think of everything.

This was also waiting for us in the room…

Delicious and so pretty…

It was such a treat, especially after the last few weeks…we felt beyond fortunate.

18 years…I cannot believe 18 years have gone by with my husband. And I’ve loved him a lot longer than that. Most of our married life has not been spent in presidential suites, but it has been full of surprises, extravagant blessings, love, pain, growth, trauma, renewal, passion, upheaval, laughter, sweetness, challenge, bliss and a whole slew of lessons just about every day that I could not begin to fill in this blog post. Marriage is not for the faint of heart. Today I can say that I’m grateful for every lesson learned and I’m ready for the next several decades with Nate Sabin.

Now, it’s back to all-you-can-wash laundry. Thank the good LORD again for water!!!

Posted in Adventure, April 2012, Books, Grateful Heart, Marriage, Nate | 4 Comments »

Coyotes, Laura, Smelly Skunk Creek and Me

March 29, 2012

It’s been a busy week for the coyotes~ I think they’ve woken me up, at some point or another, every night/day this week. This morning it was 5:15 A.M. The sounds they make are so eery and when they catch whatever they’re looking for…I just want to weep for whatever they’ve captured. It’s really bad when it’s bunnies…sorry, y’all…nature can be such a grievous dose of reality.

Moving right along…

I realized this morning that it’s been a very long time since I’ve talked about Laura Ingalls Wilder. Hearing the coyotes ALWAYS makes me think of Laura…you know how I love that girl.

Imagine a flashback wave across the screen…

Whether it’s because the electricity went out or because I’m imagining the warm bricks on my feet~ Pa! Get Out The Fiddle!

Or driving through Missouri and wondering WHO named Smelly Skunk Creek?

And then there’s my favorite~ the Top 10 Similarities between Lori Sabin (that’s me) and Laura Ingalls Wilder~ it really is a Must Read for anyone who wasn’t clear on this subject…

I’m amazed again by the ones who paved the way before me. The brave ones who had to hear coyotes RIGHT OUTSIDE THEIR TENT. The ones who saw berries and decided to give them a try~ before it was worldwide news that you never eat berries you don’t recognize! The ones who had to pound their clothes against a rock to get them clean, one article at a time…oh, how I adore my humongous front-loading washer.

OK, I’m off to heat the kettle and find my bonnet…

Posted in Adventure, Animal Kingdom, Grateful Heart, March 2012 | 9 Comments »

My Very Own Jack Sparrow

February 6, 2012

Vacation Chatter, Wrap-Up

After a wonderful day in Cozumel, there was a PIRATE party. I didn’t realize I was traveling with a bunch of hooligans, but let me tell you~ they were EVERYWHERE!

I’m usually the one who always dresses up, but I forgot my pirate gear!

However, our gang was fully covered…ready to “ARGH” it up.

Our head ~~waiter~~ pirate, Deneval

Two of the Cutest Pirates

And a very Sleepy Pirate…

Let’s take a brief moment to see a common thread of the trip…

It’s called, Little Indie Sleepyhead and the Crocs

And oh, there are so many more…

Following the outrageous pirate party~ fireworks and everything~ we had a nice, mellow day at sea. I finally took a book to the deck and found my favorite spot on deck 4. The boys played shuffleboard nearby. The breeze was perfection. I can still see the waves…days 4, 5 & 6 had higher waves and I dug it.

Oh…we also took in a towel folding class…

That night, supper at Animator’s Palate…the room is black and white when you first go in and gradually as the evening progresses, the room becomes more and more colorful.

Lobster Night, oh my word. DELICIOUS.

The last port was Castaway Cay, Disney’s private island. We enjoyed our day and stayed on the island until the very last possible minute, soaking up the sun and sneaking peeks at the manna rays.

Last night with the gentlemen who had been so kind to us all week…

Sad to say good-bye.

And then we had to say good-bye to the characters!

They were all out, but this was a favorite.

Indigo became fascinated with Stitch at Magic Kingdom on the Stitch ride, which is actually kinda creepy when you don’t know what to expect. I was holding my breath during the ride, thinking he’d be scared, but he LOVED it. He became obsessed with Stitch and had to buy the stuffed animal, so he was willing to get past his fear on the ship and go say hello. Stitch had helped break the ice earlier in the kid’s club when he came and danced with them. So fun. Indigo has decided he needs to see the movie now.

However, he didn’t want anything to do with this character…

Next came the yucky task of packing. Blech.

The poor guy who took our luggage…

Finally, after looking forward to something for so long, it was hard to believe it had already come to an end. We had a little more time to kill before our flight that night so we took in a couple rounds of mini golf at Pirate’s Cove…

And then, when we could stretch it out no longer, it was time to GO HOME~ with happy hearts, heavier bellies and gratefulness overflowing.

It is a vacation we will never, ever forget.

Posted in Adventure, Family, February 2012, Travel, Vacation | 9 Comments »

Tequila, Beaches and Conch Shells

February 3, 2012

Vacation Chatter, 5 days and counting

Loving the beach and all things tropical, I thought it might be really hard to leave the ports and get back on the ship. There was only one day I felt that way. Every other time, I was ready to get back on the ship, get cleaned up and get back in the middle of the ocean. There were so many fun things to do on the ship too, that there was always something to look forward to…

We met several great performers~ Buckets and Boards comedy percussion team and Daren Streblow from Thou Shalt Laugh 5 were our favorites.

We are always huge fans of someone who can make a great face…

Bunches and Boards

And they play great percussion out of random objects~ even better. I wish you could have seen my son’s shoulders shaking over these guys.

Daren Streblow is from Minnesota! We talked to him afterward for a while and he was the nicest man. Our friend Joey I.L.O. and Daren were on Thou Shalt Laugh 5 together and we’d been to Joey’s showing, so we recognized him as soon as he came out. Again, Indie’s shoulders shook and he wheezed from laughing so hard. He’d already known lines from Daren’s act by heart, so it was such a treat for us to see him in person. The fact that he was extremely warm and nice made it that much better.

During the show, Nate was selected from the crowd with 5 others for the funny face contest. I think he should have won. This is a recap of the face~ the first was far cooler…and this one is pretty good.

Sadly, Little Boy from Canada won by most applause. Nate was second.

Then Greyley was selected to NOT laugh. Not only was this not possible, but her laughing so hard made Daren laugh and it was a fun moment.

Good times.

I haven’t mentioned the food yet. Ahh, the food. We got our fill of seafood and steak and every kind of dessert possible…not to mention, all-you-can-eat ice cream. The eating experiences were delightful and the team of people that dote on you was hard to get used to at first, but also extremely fun. They cut my children’s meat and took the tails off my shrimp! I mean, how great is that!

Here’s just a glimpse of a mini sampler of desserts…

Next stop~ Grand Cayman Islands. We found a lovely spot on the beach and went snorkeling. It was Greyley’s first time to snorkel and she found this:

She picked right up on snorkeling and loved it. Indigo really tried and liked it…until he’d see something he wanted to pick up and went down to grab it, only to gag on salt water.

Gorgeous view…

I loved the sand in Grand Cayman!

We got so tickled at Indigo riding the ferry back to the ship. He was worn out and sat across from us…needed a little thumb time, I guess. His next goal is to be done with it when he turns 7…just around the corner. Pray, saints, pray!

Next morning we woke up and we were almost to Cozumel! How about a little breakfast first…

We looked in a few shops when we got off and then took a little walk to see if we could get away from the touristy area. Right away we saw iguanas…just roaming around in a driveway…no big deal.

Nate and I had to see how close we could get…he won~ he touched it.

…and then they both darted away from each other as fast as they could go. Nate was much faster, by the way.

We took a tour with a guy named Gabriel, who told us all about Cozumel. Such a nice guy~ he’s lived there all his life and loves it. Saw a few Mayan monuments and learned how tequila is made. Then we stopped at a few shops out on the beach and met the REAL Tequila. And Greyley won the grand prize of the day…

Greyley and Tequila

Eek!

My girl loves water with all her heart.

Heavenly backdrop…

This is the day I didn’t want to get back on the ship. Look at this water!

There was an area that had massive waves and I was dying to get in it, but our tour was almost over and it was nearly time to get back on the ship…

Coral everywhere…

My happy boy…his shirt confused a few of the locals.

I loved how this was growing out of the crevices…

This is what my hair looked like 97% of the trip…that wind, it was a’blowin’!

And one last gorgeous view before we say good-bye…thank you, Cozumel. You treated us well.

Posted in Adventure, Family, February 2012, Travel, Vacation | 7 Comments »

Sail Away

February 2, 2012

Vacation Chatter, Take 4

One of the happiest parts of the trip was the fact that we couldn’t be too sad to leave one thing~ Orlando, for example~ when we had a CRUISE to go on next. Steve and Jill are cruise pros and Nate and I are cruise newbies.

There she is~ the Disney Magic~ waiting for us!

I was SO excited for the cruise, but did have some nervousness too. Would I feel claustrophobic in the small rooms or panic about being out on the water like that? Fortunately, no one told me about the ship going down in Italy…however, the night before we got on, I was packing to leave our condo and turned on the TV. 20/20 was playing, “Cruise Ship Confidential” and oh boy, it did not help. It briefly mentioned the ship going down, but also talked about the other awful things that have happened on cruises. Great.

Model Version

BUT…I loved it! We had a room with a balcony, which helped so much. The first day, when we were doing the safety drill and all filing down to the restaurant, I had to just not think about what it would really be like if it was truly going down. Nightmare…

Thankfully, there was smooth sailing. And when the sailing wasn’t as smooth, it was still kinda fun. I’m a klutz to begin with, so put me on a rocking ship and it can get interesting! I loved how it lulled me to sleep~ haven’t been able to sleep well since I got home~ I think I’m hooked!

We left from Port Canaveral, Florida and our first stop the next morning was Key West. My brother happens to be working down there for the next few months so he and his wife were there to welcome us as we got off the ship!

This lovely couple also greeted us…

The only two things I really wanted to do in Key West were go to Ernest Hemingway’s house and eat key lime pie. Anything else would be cake.

On our walk to Hemingway’s house, we saw these gorgeous trees…

One of the B&B owners saw us admiring her trees and took us around the back to see her favorite…

I cannot tell you how grateful I am to have gone on this trip. Besides all the fun, the simple fact that we were in the heat, the ocean and green, living things…it’s like breath to me. It was wonderful.

And finally, after passing Harry Truman’s house (why didn’t I get a picture of that house?!), Ernest’s place…

Ernest lived here with his second wife, Pauline Pfeiffer. Hemingway is such an interesting, tragic person. I have always been intrigued with his story…my brother and I have this in common.

It was fun to see the books he liked to read, his pictures, their rooms…he loved cats and they are all over his space~ on his bed, everywhere. They have full reign. I think 40 still live on his property. He was partial to the polydactyl (six-toed) cats.

I wanted to stay in his little writing cottage. It’s more spacious than it looks here and we couldn’t go all the way inside this room…

Minus the hunting decor, I’d take it! Apparently he used to have a catwalk from the veranda off his bedroom to his writing cottage. He spent most of his time out here, when he wasn’t fishing or traveling.

Very fun tour.

The six-toed cats are protected in Key West, as well as roosters. It was odd to see roosters everywhere!

Every time I see roosters, I think of the rooster we had for a brief time. If it was a cloudy day in San Jose, the rooster would crow ALL DAY LONG. Needless to say, he didn’t last very long at our house.

After a long, adventurous and toasty day, it was pretty nice to see this in the distance. Yes, pretty sure I am hooked.

Posted in Adventure, Family, February 2012, Fun, Travel, Vacation | 10 Comments »

Magical (And NOT So Magical) Space & Animals

February 1, 2012

Vacation Chatter, Take 3

Still flying high from the Jedi and Idol experiences, we didn’t really care what we did the next day~ we knew it would be fun, no matter what. We decided to go to EPCOT~ Experimental Prototype City Of Tomorrow~ just in case you were wondering. (Knowing this came in very handy the next week.)

Epcot was beautiful and felt like a slower pace after our days at Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. The characters were in cute outfits, matching the different countries. Indigo liked seeing the characters…from a distance. He had no real desire to go get his picture taken with them~ even his favorites. I had this same aversion when I was little, so I didn’t push it. However, he is very fond of Donald and Donald in a Sombrero was being so funny, Indie worked through the nerves.

We nearly panicked when the children were swallowed up by sharks. Man, you just never know when that is going to happen…

The best food in all the Disney parks is at Epcot, in my humble opinion…

I shouldn’t have said that right after my kids were swallowed by sharks, should I?

Eww. Moving right along…

Hungry, Greyley?

JUST kidding. Don’t kill me, please, baby girl. I couldn’t resist.

While we were eating lunch, it began to rain. We didn’t mind~ Steve had brought rain gear with him and ran out to get us rain ponchos. They were lovely. Hmm, no picture of that…oh dear. Well, anyway, we looked SPECTACULAR in our rain gear. Ahem, really. You’ll just have to trust me, I guess. We kept going, but it did slow us down a bit.

Met two astronauts along the way…they were very sweet.

All play aside, I had one of the most terrifying experiences of my life on the ride, Mission: Space. You can see the ride and read about it HERE. It was 5.5 minutes of torture. It should have clued me in when they warned us no less than 6 times of the possible side effects. Also, Greyley was ready for more of a thrill after two days of roller coasters, so she picked the more intense version of the ride, so we happily went along with it. Big mistake, the whole thing.

First of all, I’m claustrophobic. I should have just kept walking when I saw the little space we’d have to be closed up in. Second of all, I should apparently NEVER experience 2.4 G force. I thought I was going to pass out and then die, I’m not even kidding. I kept my mouth shut because I didn’t want to make anyone else panic. Greyley, in the first 30 seconds, was saying, “I don’t like this!!!” I had to just close my eyes, NOT watch the screen and go to a meditative calm place.

It was ten times worse than what I’m even saying and I’m sure most of it was just in my head, but oh my. I hated it.

Everyone but Jill and Indigo felt awful when we got off. Indigo didn’t like it, but wasn’t sick. Jill loved it! That woman must be cut out to be an astronaut. I will never be signing up to go to space, thank you very much.

Things did get better…the laser light show was amazing and ended the whole day on a happy note. We felt like we didn’t fully experience the park because of the rain, but got a good feel for what it’s like. It was fun and interesting to meet the different people who worked there from all the different countries.

Day 4 of our adventures took us to Animal Kingdom…we LOVED this park!

The Safari ride was our favorite, so fun to see the animals up close and personal.

I took a TON of pictures, of which I won’t put you through on here, but…come on over if you need to see some interesting animals.

Our pretty group…

I love how Indigo’s busting a move in his own little world. This is a true glimpse of my boy.

Met these two bugs in the FUN Bug’s Life Show!

We were a little tired by day 4!

After a long day and a fun roller coaster…

These things freaked us OUT…bats.

EEK! And it was OPEN, no glass or anything! The lady who worked in that area scoffed at our reluctance. “Bats are more scared of you than you are of them!” Um, NO. And, “They don’t fly sideways, you silly people.” OK, she didn’t say the silly people part, but she implied it with her tone. I have had a bat swoop by my head, TOUCHING MY HAIR, I don’t really know if he was flying sideways or upside down, all I know is that it happened, Lady! OK, I didn’t tell her that either, but I implied it with my tone…inside my head…

Such a fun day. This is Jill and Nate’s favorite park. I think it might be mine too, tied with Hollywood Studios. Just two completely different things. But could go to Animal Kingdom all the time. The water ride was great too.

Day 5, Hollywood Studios, to see all the things we missed on Day 2. And to ride Tower of Terror a couple more times. We stuffed sugar and napkins in Indie’s socks to TRY to get him on Rockin’ Roller Coaster, spiked his hair as much as we could…and he missed it by half an inch. Shucks.

Nate found the Lord on Rockin’ Roller Coaster.

So we made him go on it 3 times…just to make sure it stuck.

We had such happy hearts with all the fun we’d had all week. So many fabulous experiences, so much love in the air…worn out with all the goodness. We were so tired, we couldn’t quite settle on a place to eat. Someone mentioned IHop as sort of a joke (I think). It was between IHop and All-you-can-eat Lobster and Indigo said in a pitiful voice and completely serious, “My parents have never taken me to an IHop…”

So, we took that boy to an IHop! And he LOVED it!

The only good thing about our fun in Orlando ending was that the next morning, we would get on a big SHIP and sail away! More on that to come…

Posted in Adventure, Animal Kingdom, Family, February 2012, Travel, Vacation | 6 Comments »

American Idol Magic

January 31, 2012

Vacation Chatter Continued…

If you’re just joining us, I’ve been out of town for 2 1/2 glorious weeks for a much needed VACATION! I’ll jump right in where we left off yesterday.

Day Two of our theme park visits in Orlando took us to Hollywood Studios. I think this might be our favorite of all the parks. We went there the 2nd and 5th day since we missed a lot on the first day.

We had good reason to miss a few things. Our son, Indigo became a Jedi. This was a very serious operation. They do not just get selected because they’re cute or talented or x, y, z. There is a very strict PROCESS to getting in the Jedi training. I felt very bad for the ones who were cut…but they’ve gotta do what they’ve gotta do. It’s ~~Hollywood~~ the real deal, right? So thankfully, he went through after a strenuous selection ordeal.

It was worth it. He did mighty things in a short amount of time, thanks to his instructor.

And you’re not going to believe this, but DARTH VADER ACTUALLY TRIED TO INVADE! That turkey showed up and wanted to overtake the whole park, but NO! My son, the Jedi, stopped that just in the nick of time!

It was touch and go for a while there, but I’m here to tell the story, so it’s clear that all ended well. Thanks be to God and Jedi Brave.

Greyley came in on the tail end of all this because while her brother was out saving the world, she was trying out for American Idol. We thought it would be a cute, little fun thing that wouldn’t last very long, but again~ those Hollywood Studios people are very serious about their work. She went through 2 rounds of auditions and out of 300 people who tried out, 25 were chosen to continue the competition. Greyley was one of the 25! The winner of the finals would get to the front of the line in a REAL American Idol audition, no expiration date.

She was told to come back in an hour to get in for hair and makeup, rehearsal and time with the vocal coach. Then she would be performing in the show later that afternoon. It was all very exciting.

To pass the time, we paused to get our photograph with the Contestant and then took in the Tower of Terror~ our favorite ride of all! That ride brings on a dire case of the giggles in all of us…once we get over the TERROR. Let’s ride it again!

And before we knew it, we were due backstage at the American Idol auditorium. I was Greyley’s “Manager” and we were in a small room with the other final two contestants performing in the show with Greyley. One contestant was a 33-year-old lady from Orlando~ total sweetheart~ who had her son as her manager~ he was a year younger than Greyley. And the other contestant was a 40-year-old man from London. He tries out for the show every time~ I’m not sure if he’s won the other times or not. They were both really good.

This nice girl from Atlanta did Greyley’s hair and makeup. I was instructed to not take any video and only pictures before the show, not during. Boohoo.

And then she met the very nice vocal coach, who gave her some great tips. She had to practice the song a few times~ she chose the songs when she tried out and then they gave her a small list of songs to sing in the show. She chose This Is Me by Demi Lovato.

After this, they ushered me into the auditorium, got me settled into the reserved seating close to the front and gave me my small list of rules. Before people started piling in, I was able to sneak this picture from my seat and then no more…

I put this picture on Facebook right before she went onstage and didn’t expect the reaction that came from it. I thought anyone who saw it would also see that we were at Hollywood Studios/Florida style that day, not HOLLYWOOD Hollywood. And Greyley’s too young for the other one anyway…

I got a pile of messages and texts and emails wanting to know when she’d be on TV, etc…and since I was on vacation, I didn’t get them all or have a chance to even look. So I apologize for leaving any of you hanging…teehee.

However…here’s another little glimpse.

She did a fabulous job. She really did. I know you think I’m just saying that because I’m her mother, but it’s the truth. The crowd began cheering when she got to the chorus. We all got teary. It was such fun.

The judges loved her.

I couldn’t tell you who the judges were, but they looked familiar…in that Hollywood Studios sort of way. The one on the far right was the token “Simon” and he was the only one who didn’t rave. He didn’t rave about anyone or anything, though.

The host was really nice~ he interviewed her at the beginning and talked to all of them throughout the show. He had really sweet and helpful things to say to Greyley even after the show. I appreciate these extra kindnesses. They go a long way with me, especially when they involve my children.

The audience voted~ there were buttons attached to the chairs for each contestant. The other contestants’ family members were sitting close to us.

Tension mounts.

Vote for 1, 1, 1!

And the next American Idol…

IS…

The 33-year-old Mama from Orlando!

No picture of her win, sorry. She really was great and so very sweet. She said she was rooting for Greyley all they way, which absolutely made Greyley’s day.

The whole experience was a blast, from beginning to end.

*Fun fact, our nephew, Chris Lawrence, tried out for the REAL American Idol. He went to Hollywood last year, but got cut. This year, he hasn’t been telling us the outcome, but I’m 99% certain he made it to Hollywood again. Watch for him! As I’m typing this, they’re interviewing him on our local Fox news show. YES, it is confirmed that he has a golden ticket! Woohoo! Craziness! How I would love to see him in the top 10!

The fun continues tomorrow. Stay tuned! XO

Posted in Adventure, American Idol, Fun, January 2012, Kids, Music | 12 Comments »