Instead of many words

Photos from the Florida trip are up here.

A few favorites:








It was a very relaxing trip. I came home very refreshed - I needed the rest even more than I thought. I also realized again how awesome my mom is.

I also uploaded some pictures from a trip to Lake Michigan a week or so ago to see college friends here. I wish I'd taken a few more, but oh well. Contrary to all these pictures, I don't spend that much time at beaches. (This central Illinois girl just happened to have a very sandy week in August!)

And finally, my sister is an incredible photographer, as evidenced here.

Travelogue Entry #3

Another relaxing day in paradise! (I overheard a guy say that - and I think it works.)

• Mom and I kept to the shade for our reading/beach time today
• I branched out and tried the spray-on sunblock. I am NOT a fan. It leaves your skin sticky. No good.
• In the pool, this Australian couple asked if Mom and I were twins. Heh. Mom was worried I was secretly offended...but nah.
• I'm getting pulled into the Harry Potter books I believe
• Had a really good dinner at the Fish House (check out their website - little goldish follow your mouse). Mom and I split a combo, and I had lobster for the first time ever. It was really good - all the seafood around here is good (go figure).
• We came back to our place for dessert overlooking the sunset. We took another walk around the water. A-mazing.

Travelogue Entry #2

After a whole day in Florida, I'm happy to say that this pace of vacation is just exactly what I was looking for.

• Slept in
• Chilled at the beach & pool for the better part of the day. At first I thought I'd get tired of it, but I sure didn't!
• We're not good at identifying accents/languages. We've heard lots, but so far the only one I know for sure is British.
• We ate dinner overlooking the ocean. Mom & I split meals well - we were brave and tried a conch fritters appetizer. Conch is really chewy.
• I've decided that "Funky Town" is the theme song for the trip - we've heard it twice already. (Mom's hoping we don't hear it anymore - I keep asking her, "Won't you take me to...funky tooooown?")
• Had real Key Lime pie and took my favorite pictures of the trip so far
• We drove for a bit tonight and discovered actual civilization here in the Keys (a movie theater and a Pier 1)
• I skimmed a bit of this book at a bookstore. Looks really interesting.
• I realized I got a lot more sun than I thought I did earlier - and that I will have some ridiculous tan lines
• Our hotel has Bravo - which means I get to see the new episode of Project Runway tonight! Yesssssss.

Travelogue Entry #1

I don't know how often I'll be able to update, but here are some highlights from the first few hours of vacation:

• Our flight was just long enough for an in-flight movie - Last Holiday. Not bad...made for a quick flight.
• I saw Jose from the Real World Key West at our rental car place.
• Mom is now a believer in the wonder that is - the Marriott bed. Yesssss. This place is pretty amazing.
• I was looking for the stairs, asked one of the hotel workers if they were through a certain door. He said, "No baby..." in this island accent...and then told me they were around the corner.
• Just asked Mom what she was doing. Her response? "Not much. I like it." Indeed!

Cue the Beach Boys...

...cause Mom & I are going to Key Largo!

I have finally settled on vacation plans - www.marriottkeylargo.com in just about a week and a half. And I am soooooooooo excited!

It's about as useless as a screen door

(This post is a story - it's true - and remember, it could happen to you.)

After a long night of watching videos from high school musicals and show choir with my friend Beth, we realized we had stayed up way too late. We laughed at how young we looked, how insecure we were, what fun we had, and how ridiculous some of our choreography was.

As Beth left (around 2am), she had a couple photo albums and videos to take with her, so I decided to help her to her car. After saying goodbye, I walked down my driveway, and went to open my screen door (my front door behind it was wide open). It didn't move. At all. At first I thought it was sticky from the humidity. Then I realize - it's locked. I didn't even know that it could DO that!

Fortunately - I waved Beth down before she drove away - AND by the grace of God, my cell phone was in my pocket. Well, we tried to pick the lock, but it was pretty well-constructed. My back door was unfortunately locked (I'm a little obsessive about that). I decided it was too late to call the landlords next door. I didn't really want to tear through my screens either (they wouldn't pop out - again, stupid well-constructed door).

As we're driving to Beth's house, we stopped to ask the village police officer if he had anything to pick a lock (he was about 19 and was standing outside his car talking with his girlfriend who was keeping him company). His response? "That sucks." Thanks. I feel safer.

This story has a happy ending, though. Beth let me stay with her, my landlords let me in this morning, and no one had broken in through the screen door. (It's like a ROCK.)

And finally - the moral of the story is this: you thought you were cool in high school show choir, but you really really weren't.

Hello old friend

I have had lots of mini-reunions lately...and most of them have been unplanned.

Since I live in the same town I grew up in, I occasionally run into someone from high school or earlier. But that's not really noteworthy.

These reunions have been with some of my closest friends from elementary school through high school. And I only ran into them through other people...so they were pretty unexpected. Plus, some college friends visited last weekend. I know people talk about "picking up right where you left off" - and I haven't always know that it's possible. I mean, there are a few topics (job, school, family, etc.) that you always hit...but you wonder what you'll talk about once you finish going through that list. Well I feel blessed that among all of these reunions, we were really able to just be ourselves - amidst all the change that we've been through.

So, I just have to say that I am really grateful that Ami still loves to talk fast, that Beth is still good at making witty commentary during performances, and that Brunsie is still such a good listener...

Sometimes it takes spending a few hours with someone to make you realize how much you missed them.