Can I make it?

I've had to slow my roll. I haven't been able to blog as much since school started, and everyday I think to myself, "I need to post something," but then the day gets away from me. This semester we jumped right into time at the hospital - no easing in...no reorienting....no rest. On top of the brutal days at the hospital we have patient worksheets due on Thursday, which are essentially the bane of my existence. They take FOREVER to do, and 3 of them are 75% of our grade for that course. Our clinical instructor is AMAZING and we all love her!! The patients I've worked with have also been awesome, and I'm learning a lot!! I have also been "working" at my new contract job which is still completely foreign to me, and most days I'm completely lost, but oddly I like that feeling. I love figuring things out, and once that happens I'm usually bored and done. I don't particularly enjoy mastering thing as much as I like simply figuring them out enough to get by.


soooo let's recap what's happened since I've been gone:

May 14 was Justin's birthday (as you read in a previous post) and that weekend my mom came down to celebrate her birthday, his birthday, and a be-lated mother's day. We went out to eat, went shopping and went to see Star Trek. Justin didnt want to go, but went more because my mom LOVES Star trek and always has. The movie was great!!! Even Justin enjoyed it!!! It had the right mix of love, adventure, comedy and drama (well as much as a Sci-Fi space movie can have). It was so crazy to see how much the "new" star trek cast looked like the "old" star trek cast (I'm not a trekkie but I have watched star trek in my days!!!)



This past weekend we attended Justin's parents "Tiki party" and had a grand time.
We ate, visited, gossiped, ate, and played badminton. We attempted to get Justin's parents to even slightly like rap, however we were unsuccessful. Where is the Gangsta love??? I love when summer is first peeking through because it's warm but still cool - it's perfection. It makes me want to be outside around 5 or 6 and just do stuff.....run, jump, garden, walk, even pull weeds!!
This weekend Justin takes his licensure exam, which I'm sure he is stoked for!! We are planning our "summer plans" even though we don't really have our summer free per se. We made our 4th of July travel plans several weeks ago (for once in our lives we are planning ahead) and are really looking forward going out of town soon.

I think that is about it, however I am relatively fried at this point.

School, I love to hate you.

Trippy

So I am finally getting around to posting pictures and tales of our adventures. I know...I'm a slacker. I have been insanely sick, and today have had the energy to take on this task!!

DAY ONE
We decided to catch an early morning flight so we could get to Orlando relatively early. So we headed out at 400 am for our 600 am flight - we were flying to Denver then straight to Orlando FUN!! We arrived in Orlando even earlier than expected, got our rental car and arrived at the hotel. We then headed out to check out one of the MILLIONS of outlet malls there, and spent the evening doing that as well as driving around but no matter what you think we were never lost. We started our nightly tradition of going to the neighborhood Wal-greens to get a nightly Icee. Some nights were more interesting than others. The alcohol lovers came out in mass droves on the weekends which made for some good fights while we were in the Walgreens line. Good entertainment and good snacks - good times!

DAY TWO
We drew names of the places we wanted go out of a hat so we could decide where and when to go. Today's Big Winner was EPCOT!!!!! We headed out bright and early for our big day. I was so excited. I had memories of Epcot from before, unfortunately I had filtered out the memories of the extreme heat and the annoying children running about the park. As I stood in front of the symbolic Epcot sphere when we first arrived(what is that thing called?) listening to birds chirping and angels singing - it was all interrupted when I realized I was sweating profusely and then a small child stepped on my feet. There was also an inordinate amount of people (mostly younger and ummm large in stature) of HoverRound Scooters - Annoying (sorry if you are one of those people)!!

This picture of me right before all of that went down:
Here is Justin waiting in line for Test Track - one of many hour long lines we were in. This was the first day hence why Justin is smiling while waiting in line!

This is Justin's favorite picture - it's kind of creepy.

The Disney world parks have designed their grounds with flowers and greenery made into various disney characters. The most BEAUTIFUL art - here are Thumper and Bambi


At the end of the night they have a wonderful fireworks show called IllumiNations. Justin made a cute friend, a woman about 80 something years old on vacation with her husband. Lois Cunningham. Her husband was previously in the FBI!!! I made friends with this dear couple from Nice, Florida. We all chatted the night away. As the fireworks show got started a bunch of punks crowded our space and blocked Lois view. Don't worry folks she promptly yelled at them all to get out of the way and then had her husband stand on a bench to get some great pics. You go Lois!!

DAY THREE
Today we headed out to Hollywood Studios(aka MGM)and we were still excited and fresh! The two hour time change got to us today so we got started slightly later than we wanted, but it worked out well. I had my first Mickey's Premium Ice cream, which was basically a Klondike bar shaped like mickey mouse----THE BEST ICE CREAM EVER. Completely addicted now, great! We rode the Tower of Terror 4 times, the Aerosmith ride 2 times, the Mummy 3 times, and had a fantastical time. The park was full of seniors on their senior trips, which was mildly annoying but slightly better than the screaming tykes. You can't always get what you want....

Here is a shot of Lumiere and the rest of the cast of the Beauty and the Beast show. It was basically me, Justin, and a stadium full of 3 year little girls....but hey, no one's head was blocking my view!!

Here I am in front of another one of the beautiful topiary around the park.

Here is Justin awaiting the TOWER OF TERROR - we had a fast pass for this ride so we sat in the cool shade until it was our allotted time. Fast passes best invention- EVER.


DAY FOUR
Today we headed out to Kennedy Space Center - It was a short 30 minute drive from Orlando, and we had a lot of fun just driving up there. There wasn't much to see beyond the shuttle tour, but they had kick butt IMAX shows.

Here we are!!

Here is Justin in front of the space shuttle we "tourists" were allowed near.

This is the space shuttle Atlantis on its launch pad awaiting launch on May 11 (which we BARELY missed getting to see).

Yeah I was there too!


DAY FIVE
Today we headed out to the Magic Kingdom which we were super stoked for!! Sadly this park was SOOO crowded and the tykes and their strollers were out in mass quantities.
The day is young and so am I!!

A statue of Mickey Mouse and his creator Walt Disney and some really snazzy flowers.

Entrance to Magic Kingdom: $68, Mickey's Premium Ice Cream: $3.50, Meeting Mickey and Minnie: Priceless

"It's a small world after all, it's a small world after all....it's a small small world."

The great spectromagic light parade to conclude the evening - we had seats directly in front of Cinderella's castle because we got there 2 hours prior to the show. Sadly the vultures descended on our sweet sweet viewing spot and blocked our view, pushed up on us, and attempted to ruin it. ALAS! We stood on our perch and had a perfect view of the light parade and fireworks. Take that dirty vultures.


DAY SIX
Today we headed out to Universal Studios/Islands of Adventure: Today we were getting tired. It was the hottest it had been the whole trip we were there.

Evidence of the miserable start:

Justin trying to "fake it til you make it"

All of my efforts to make Justin enjoy today were for naught:

The Simpsons Ride - Hands down the best ride - it was a 4D INDOOR ride which equalled air conditioning!!


DAY SEVEN
Today we headed out to Animal Kingdom - it was VERY crowded here -- TOO crowded. Then the heat from the safari atmosphere made it SUPER hot. Super hot = super fun!

Justin excited to head out for our Animal Kingdom adventures!!

Welcome to the Harambe Reserve - the start of our safari. If you have not had the opportunity to do this - GO NOW and DO IT!!! It is a great experience!!

This giraffe was SOOOOO close to our vehicle we could have literally petted it had we dared to - it was awesome!!

Here is a baby elephant heading towards us!

WARNING:

Here is our "Safari mobile"

90 degree temps + Over crowded park = this picture


DAY EIGHT
Today we headed out to Tampa Bay for the Florida Aquarium

Me in front of the aquarium sign: Please note there was a gigantic sting ray above this sign that I am attempting to showcase, however someone didn't get it in the picture.....thank you.

Here is the COOLEST thing in the world - a Leafy dragon -- see next pic

Description of said leafy dragon:

Justin enjoying the sites and sounds of the Florida Aquarium being overrun by hundreds of Tampa Bay's finest elementary students on a field trip!

He finally found a quiet place to hide


DAY NINE
Today we had a late flight out so we checked out and went to some more outlet malls. It was a really nice day up to that point. However I was not feeling entirely well, and had a miserable flight home. Ahhh but that is another blog (or a previous blog?!) for another time and another place. My hands are cramping....

Birthday boy!!!!!

Today was Justin's birthday - his 24th birthday in fact. I made him a homemade white cake with chocolate cream cheese frosting, which he loved. He said (in fact) it was "the best cake I've ever had," and he also like the frosting because he normally doesn't like frosting (who doesn't like frosting??). It was so yummy, in fact, that we ate it before these pictures - hence the portion of cake missing! So in honor of this great day I have compiled a list of 24 things that I love about my birthday boy!!!

So without further adieu (in no particular order):
(1) How tall you are.
(2) How you get an idea in your head and you pursue it with all of your might.
(3) When you say "you're no lady" every time I happen to burp.
(4) That you love it when I cook or bake.
(5) That you challenge me. Keep me on my toes.
(6) How cheap you are - you will look for a bargain high and low!
(7) Your eyes.
(8) That you make me laugh with just one glance.
(9) That you take care of Carla.
(10) I love watching Seinfeld at 1100 pm with you each night.
(11) The way you look at me.
(12) Falling asleep in your arms each night.
(13) The advocate in you.
(14) Playing the "who does that look like" game.
(15) That you are truly my partner and help mate.
(16) Your smile.
(17) How hard you work at school, work, and in life.
(18) Traveling with you.
(19) That I can see myself spending my entire life with you.
(20) I can see myself having a family with you.
(21) You are smart - (since it is your birthday I'll admit it).
(22) You always make sure that we are provided for, and you take care of us.
(23) Your compassion.
(24) Ok....I LOVE everything about YOU!!!!!!!!

Pop culture

I was doing my daily reading today, which consists of people.com, tmz.com, and various online british gossip magazines (they have the BEST stuff!). I had a lot to catch up on because I had not been "reading" while we'd been on out of town. It broke my heart to hear that Katie Price and Peter Andre are separating - if their love can't survive then how can any love survive???? I've faithfully followed their marriage since it happened.
First Shanna Moakler and Travis Barker and now Katie and Peter!

I caught up on the Jon and Kate + 8 saga - Who knew paparazzi were following them around in Pennsylvania??

Carrie Prejean.

Mariah and Nick Cannon are still married??

Brad and Jen might be reconciling (doubt it)?? whoa.....

I also learned that Bruce Jenner had more plastic surgery which is meant to repair the old plastic surgery that he had that rendered him virtually unrecognizable from the fresh faced boy winning the Olympic decathalon so many moons ago (sigh).


As I read up on these very important issues I also read the forums where people post their not-so-bright-or-articulate opinions.

I don't know why I read them. They always get me upset. Then Justin walks in only to find me yelling at the computer and the people in it....ummmm...on it. As I read the forums about Bruce Jenner it brought up Kim Kardashian's weight, and a place where she said she is a size 2. So ALL these people start calling her a liar, fat, a cow, a heifer, etc....ALL of these people who (1) have never met Kim Kardashian in person (2) have only seen her in pictures (3) likely are no where near a size 2 themselves
(4)and are likely no where near as attractive as Kim Kardashian are casting stones. So Justin walked in to hear me yelling, "Oh right like you all have room to talk," and "You only wish you could look like Kim Kardashian!"

Typical humans. Making fun of others because of our own "stuff" (aka: Jealousy, insecurities, struggles) in some attempt to make ourselves feel better. So to all you naysayers and forum commentors - Ye without sin cast the first stone!!! Hence why I never post on those boards. I am well aware that I'll never be as hot as Kim Kardashian, never know what it means to have 8 kids, live with the paparazzi breathing down my neck, be Miss USA, or win the Olympics. Therefore I'm in NO position to judge their lives. I've got plenty to clean up right here on the home front, and I've got nothing but time judging by the inordinate amount of time I spend engaging in "scholarly reading" online!!

A pirates life for me!

I was going to write all about our vacation when I got back home. I had been scheming and plotting how I would write it. What stories would I tell? How would I organize them? What words would I use? How much would I disclose? I thought and thought as each day passed how I would describe that day. Finally, it came to me! I had it organized, planned, and I could see the blog in my head in all its glory!! However, something happened the day we came home that interfered with my plans.

The day we left Florida I felt miserable - the worst I'd felt. On top of that we had a direct flight home, which most people covet however a 4 hour plane ride was not what the doctor ordered (so to speak, of course). I'm sure the people on the plane were equally as excited to have me as a fellow passenger. I coughed, sneezed, complained, and whined for 4 hours. Justin, what a saint, as he held me and rubbed my back the whole way. We arrived in Albuquerque and my head was pounding, heart racing, body aching, chills ummm chilling, and fever raging. Death was certain. I turned to Justin (the irony of it all) and said, "What if I DO have the swine flu?" Instead of the eye roll I had given him a few weeks earlier I received an even more terrifying look. The look that said, "I think you DO!"

We rushed home to urgent care and after 2 hours or being poked and prodded I was dismissed. As I checked in I told them my symptoms and was immediately instructed to wear a mask. The doctor thought a possible minor pneumonia or viral bronchitis. I was, in fact, tested for the swine flu which was one of the most painful experiences to date. They stick what appears to be a think plastic pipe cleaner down your nose to the place where the nasal passage meets the throat and swipe and poke around. Both nostrils mind you. I had "Nurse Mel" who pretty much assaulted me when she stuck the swab down my nose as her 2 way radio blarred commands from her fellow nurses in my ear. Her gigantic cross necklace nearly took my eye out as she leaned over me so that she could swab more vigorously. However I was a trooper (Ok I started crying and I reacted to the pain and put my hand up to take the swab out and she hit it down).



I feel a million times better today and just have a slight cough and runny nose. We dont get swine flu results for a few days, however I was told that there's nothing to be done for it and it's not even as strong as the "regular" flu. So now when I tell Justin anything about the swine flu he rolls his eyes as we've now both "lived" through our respective swine flu ordeals and can "tell our tales" of survival. As Captain Jack Sparrow might say, "Dead men tell no tales!" ok...you can roll your
eyes now!

Vacation

We are currently on vacation and so I have not had much time to blog, but I have not neglected writing just put it on hold! We will be back with plenty of antics in a few days - We've been in Florida for the past 6 days and will be here 3 more so we are on the downward slope, sadly! We've had a blast but there is truly no place like home!! See you all in a few days!!