Nothing That Important to Say...

Hey all! To be honest, I'm really just posting something for the sake of posting something. I hadn't put anything new up in ages so I thought I might as well...

In my family, Christmas is always about being with family. All the time. *sigh* My Uncle Steve and Aunt Laura were going to spend Christmas with his family this year so they came down from San Jose the weekend before Christmas. My aunts seemingly can't live without having every moment planned out (love you guys!!) so, while all the "big boys" got to go play paintball, the women and children were left to the ballet. The six year old son of one of my grandmother's co-workers is in a ballet troupe and so we went to support him. They preformed the Nutcracker (of course) at the Fine Arts Center at Victoria Gardens Mall. The most entertaining part of the day was probably the fact that there was a life-size Shakespeare sitting on a bench outside the theatre. All of my cousins proceeded to climb atop him and pose for pictures. Sacrilege!



From left to right: Erin, Nora, Jessica, Coalson, and Egan (Zach was causing trouble elsewhere)

The Tuesday before Christmas Eve, Mandy held a Christmas Party at her home. It was interesting, to say the least. Fortunately, we were FINALLY able to get a decent picture of everyone looking at the camera with a straight face!

 

From left to right: Ryan, Kaitlyn, Greg, Maggie, Robert, Jami, Daniel, Mandy, Meaghan

So... yeah. Aside from all of the incredibly long rants I have about the craziness of Christmas in general, particularly in my family, (which I will not bore you with at present) that's all folks.

And, of course, another lame youtube video:

A Few Quick Videos

Hey all! Just thought you might want some lame videos to take up your abundance of time over Christmas Break! :)Enjoy the pure annoyance...









And... just in case you've never been exposed to Achmed THE Dead Terrorist, here you go (disclaimer: please excuse the brief language!):



And Jingle Bombs:

Reading Log Rant

Alright, just to let everyone know, I positively ABHOR reading logs!!! They are a complete waste of time and serve no other purpose other than to pester and annoy. Do these teachers really expect us to log a book WHILE we're reading?! Honestly, you'd think that they would encourage us to "get into the book" and read as much as possible, not be hindered by stopping every 20-25 pages to find a quote and write about how very important to the plot it is!! hmph. As you've probably already guessed, I'm being forced to complete reading logs. -.- For English we have to read and log a best seller and then write a timed essay about the theme or character develpoment or another silly thing that anyone with a brain can generally understand just from reading the book sleeve. Oh yeah, did I mention that I have to read Eragon? The never-ever-ever-readitagain type of book that happens to be 550 pages and one of the only best sellers on my shelf. (The other option was Angels & Demons by Dan Brown) I've read them both before which makes LOGGING them every 20 pages interminable. And this timed essay/due date for logs is this Friday. I haven't even started to re-read either. *sigh* Alright so, the entire point of this post was to a) keep me from throwing a rather large hard-covered book at someone's head, b) help me procrastinate even more, and c) get a post out there so that I'll have posted in the last 2 weeks. *another sigh* Curses be upon all reading logs!

Just slightly disturbing...

Ah Youtube! I swear, you can find anything and everything on that site! Just browsing, I came across a link to piano sheet music for Deathbed (one Youtube, go figure) and this interesting video. The song is old and most of you will know it but I thought that the homemade music video was priceless! Here you go:

That is all.

A Merry Thanksgiving to You All!

MERRY THANKSGIVING to everyone! I hope that your Thanksgiving is full of family, friends, laughter and lots and lots of pie! Every year, we go around the table and say what we're thankful for. (a tradition that I realize is shared by over 60% of American families) It's always everyone quickly coming up with the same cheesy responses that everyone gives every year and then passing along the awkward moment to the next sucker. This year, I decided to give my response a little more thought that "Um... I'm thankful for my family and um.... America!" Considering the fact that close to no one who reads this blog will actually be there for my family's Thanksgiving diner, I thought that we could carry on our own "What I'm thankful for" thread. I'll go first, I'm thankful for having woken up alive for the past 15+ years with the chance to live my life surrounded by wonderful people and amazing friends. (cheesy and true!) If you have anything to be thankful for (and you ALL do) post what it is as a comment to this post!

 

Quick update: Jami and Rob are now an "official couple" for everyone who cares to know. Aren't they cute? :P



And here's a pic that I should have posted with my last post of Robert and his ducky towel:

[caption id="attachment_266" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="I love Mr.Turner in the background!"][/caption]

 Merry Thanksgiving!

Everything From Razzle Dazzle to Now...

 

CoLoR iS a WoNdErFuL tHiNg! I just figured out how to add color to my posts and thought I might as well try

it out....

Alright so, as I was sitting in my room today, staring at the ceiling for lack of anything better to do, I was hit by a sudden realization. I had not blogged since before Razzle Dazzle! Although not much has happened since then that anyone reading this would either care know or I would care to write, I figured I might as well write something. So here goes.... Razzle Dazzle went splendidly. There were fewer tables and more servers this year so that we were all able to wait on only one table! (first time ever, I might add) Despite the Cruella deVil outfits in the fashion show (and a rather embarrasing spotting of an "old friend" who was modeling them) everything went without a hitch. There was a "fashion throughout the ages" segment that was fantastic. I was extremely jealous of Steve and Evangelia Navaro and their fantastic, early 20th century attire. Her bonnet was simply to die for! :) Progressing in time, Brian Lucas' green suit and 'fro were... interesting, and not at all suspected by Mandy. Some of the youth performed in a 1950's style. Steven was dressed much like usual but everyone else was wonderfully dressed and they all performed exceedingly well. Mandy Lucas was the speaker this year and gave a rousing speech about purses! Okay, actually, I didn't pay too much attention after I heard what it was about but nevertheless, I'm sure it was fantastic! However, when I got home, I had a strong urge to make something out of all of the vinyl (fabric not records) that I had laying around. I eventully decided upon a black vinyl satchel. Not the best choice! I made up the pattern as I went and it turned out looking like a ganny-bag but, oh well. It was my first try. I think I'll embroider some beads to the front or something of the sort, just to give it a bit more personality... Saturday afternoon, Meaghan performed in a stage production of High School Musical. Though it's definately not my favorite story line, Meaghan dancing on the table tops was priceless! She had to "pop, lock, brake, and jam" on top of a table, in front of a full-house at Bridges Auditorium! And Meagh, you did it well! Much better than that horridly annoying Sharpay could have done! :P That night, the Boat Club had their annual officer's election pot-luck at the Claro's home. As usual, it was the adults sitting around drinking either Corona Light or wine and all the kids hanging out upstairs making ridiculous amounts of noise. When you go to a Boat Club function, you can almost assure yourself that you'll have a head-ache by the time you get home. Don't get me wrong, it's always fun, just loud and crazy. This time, we made pizza. The "meat lovers" was so scary I wouldn't touch it but, the more normal toppinged pizzas were delicious! Tuesday was Robert's birthday! (Robert Marquez, not my father) He actually wore the ducky towel Meagh and Mandy had gotten him for the first couple periods of the day. However, when Jami refused to admit to knowing him, let alone hold his hand, he relented and took it off. Oh the drama! The rest of the week was pretty uneventful as far as blog-worthy news goes. If ya'll can thing of something that I missed, let me know!!!   

P.s. The bright colors were getting on my nerves.... =/

 

Waiting for 5657.5

There are 91 days left until my half-birthday, and I couldn't be anticipating it more! On the 5657.5th day I've been alive, I will be *able* to get both my Driver's and my Work Permits! :D Finally! Though it dosen't mean I'll be getting either on that very day, it's extremely exciting. Father and Mum have been on my case lately about the amount of time they spend driving me to and from places. It's not really by any fault of mine that they do, living in a hilly area just rules out "walking" as an option. I was cleaning my room today *gasp* and I found the Driver's Ed packet I had gotten from AAA when I signed up for classes this January. Finding it reminded me that, come July, THEY WON'T HAVE TO! Finally! I honestly don't think I'll mind having to drive the sibs around, so long as I don't have to depend on my parents to take me. Think, to be able to drive to the library whenever you need to. (or want to :P) Fantastic! Anyways, Razzle Dazzle is tonight!! Hopefully David won't spill ice on anyone this year and we won't have to change those horrid models!

P.S. How much longer until you all can get your permits? Or, if you already have it, when did you get it?

Rituals of the Bath

I'm generally a shower-girl. It's just so much faster than having to draw up a whole tub of water. Today however, I really wanted to procrastinate preparing for my timed English essay tomorrow so... I took a bath. And actually, I've decided it's a rather glorious thing! Ever since the time of the Greeks and Romans, bathing has been a ritual part of life. (For a full history go here.) There's something extremely calming about immersing yourself entirely in hot water and basking in the warmth until your fingers get all pruny. Now mind, I realize it isn't at all practical for regularity but, as a rare indulgence, it suits just fine. (excluding you, Grandmama) So saying, I now charge you all to take a bath (a real one, not the over used term for any type of bathing) at the next chance you get. I care not whether you think you're "too tall and won't fit", try it.

Crawling Out of Mourning

Goodness Gracious. *long, drawn out sigh* What is our world coming to?! On last Tuesday night, the fourth of November 2008, Barack Hussein Obama made his acceptance speech as President Elect of the United States of America. Let us observe a moment of silence for the death of America's future..... Our country, may she rest in peace...........................................................................................................................................................This was DEFINATELY a cause to mourn. Since then, I have worn nothing but black and pajamas. Having vowed to do so for the rest of the week if he was elected, I have walked around like a rain cloud since that fateful Tuesday. I'm not quite over the initial horror/depression at having someone I was so very opposed to, be elected BY THE PEOPLE of our nation to lead us. Ugh. Just typing this makes me want to scream! I waited until Sunday to write this because, had I attempted it sooner, this post would just be one interminably long rant about how extremely sorrowful life is and how horridly tragic America's thought process is. However, whether or not I'm completely over it, the worst is past. I'll be able to vote in the next elections and then I'll at least be able to say I had a hand in getting him out of office. =/ Not much consolation there. Another "happy" bit of information, the inauguration insn't until January twentieth. From today, that means 72 days left! Aka 72 days to weep, mourn, rant, glare, and be completely negative about President Elect Obama's election. Once he's in office, he will be our nation's leader. We will have to support him because, to not would be to not support our country. As a general rule of thumb, supporting your own country is probably a good thing. (Obviously, Mum shot down the idea of moving to England. Ba Humbug!) Well, to get off such a horrible subject, I was sick on Friday and missed school. Being sick is never TOO bad but missing school is always an unfortunate occurence. I'm now swamped with homework and have to make up several tests when I return. Don't ask me what the tests are about, I have no clue. (and this IS a happier subject than the elections) Alright I have to go put on a sweatshirt. I'll post again soon.

Harvest Fest

"Halloween", for lack of a better word, went extremely well this year! We all had loads of fun with ridiculous costumes. I was "Queen 'o Hearts" in one of the horrid 80's bridesmaid dresses my mum had been forced to wear. In other words, I came up with it at the last second because I needed SOMETHING to be allowed at Jami's party. Harvest Festival was great. A few of us got there at 3:30 to help set up and were there until about 9:30 at night. Afterwards, I went over to Jami's. We watched the movie Disturbia and I laughed through almost the entire thing. Jami, Mandy, Maggie, and Meaghan were all huddled on the couch screaming at the drop of a pin. It was very entertaining, I can assure you. All the guys left at 11 and "the girls" spent the night. In the afternoon, I went to another USC game with Meaghan. USC won (of course) 56-0 against Washington. It was rather pathetic.

I made a short slideshow of videos and pics from "Halloween" night. Here you go:

Ewwwwwww Bugs!

I'm generally not one of those girls that squeals at the tiniest bug. *cough*Jami*cough* However, I am becoming increasingly perturbed by the Bug Project I have to do for Bio. Having to pin dead insects to a piece of Styrofoam is not exactly my idea of an ideal project. Look how nasty these things are!



For some unknown reason, I had the sudden urge to take a ridiculous amount of pictures of flowers today. Here's a particular favorite of mine:



On a completely different note, here's a pic of Zach's hat for science camp. He refused to smile... how depressing. Fortunately, he's promised to let me "borrow" it for Winter Camp. :D



Tomorrow is Halloween; a ridiculous, pagan holiday. I found this great site explaining the origins for all those who care to know: http://www.jeremiahproject.com/culture/halloween.html. The only truly redeeming quality that I can find about it is.... HARVEST FEST! I'm going down to the church at 3:30 to help set up and should be there until it closes. Afterwards, I'm heading over to Jami's for a sleep-over with "the girls" and some old "scary" films. I still don't know exactly what I'm going to dress up as. (to be allowed in Jami's home I HAVE to be in costume) I may utilize some of the old dresses I have lying around or come up with something simple and pwny. We'll see. I'll probably post some pics of Harvest Fest and Jami's sleep-over Saturday so check back soon!

post script: PLEASE comment! It dosen't even have to be more than a "Hello"! Goodness gracious people! I get plenty of site-views and NO ONE has commented since Sarah right after she returned from Nationals! Sheesh! :P Anyways, just comment so I know who's reading, k? Gratzi!

Just Testing...

Just wanted to test this new poll feature...

[polldaddy poll=1047408]

Just In Case You Thought This Blog Fell Off the Face of the Earth...

As the incredibly long title of this post stated, this post is just to inform you that "this blog HAS NOT fallen of the face of the earth" and is in fact just... um.... sleeping? for awhile. :) Actually, this morning at church, I was chided by Jonathan for not having posted anything new in a month or two so I figured I might as well. Anyways, this post shall be devoted to a recap of the beginnings of Sophmore year in PICTURES!! :D Alright first off....

When I got back from THE ROAD TRIP I went with Mandy and her parents down to their time share in Laguna Beach for the weekend...



I have no clue what she's saying at the end of that video... if you can decifer it, please let me know!

That same weekend, Mandy decided to go emo/gothish... the outcome was... intriguing to say the least.

[caption id="attachment_163" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Dosen't she look HAPPY!?"][/caption]

 Maggie's 16th birthday just past (My, Maggie! How old you are! hehe) and we celebrated by kidnapping her at 6:30 that morning and draggin her in her pajamas to IHOP for birthday pancakes. Later that night her parents took us down to the beach for dinner... To save the dignity of all, I won't be posting pictures of everyone in their PJ's, half asleep at IHOP but here's a pic of us all down by the beach...

[caption id="attachment_164" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Yay for Jeans!! ^_^"][/caption]

Oksana and David Orlik were BAPTISED!! I do have several pictures of each of their baptismals but they are horridly grainy and not worth posting. =/

And then there was HOMECOMING! Anyone who knows me in the least knows that I don't particularly like dances... at all. But, after avoiding them all freshman year, I finally gave in. It went well and we all had a lovely time despite the fact that I ran around barefoot all night. Nefarious heels....

[caption id="attachment_165" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Pluthie and Maggie! "][/caption]

 

We adopted an adorable little creature named Miss Frizzle. (like the wild, red haired teacher from the Magic School Bus)

[caption id="attachment_166" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="THE Frizz for short..."][/caption]

 

I FINALLY got a picture of David smiling.... almost.... close enough?

Meaghan took me to a USC football game... They won (of course) but it was really just hanging out that made the day so much fun. And just in case you were wondering, I CAN actually follow a football game. :P



And for Zachary's birthday we took him and Daniel to Dave and Buster's at the Ontario Mills Mall. However, I shan't post a picture of THAT because it is MUCH too disturbing. :)

So, that has been the photographed events between our ROAD TRIP and now... pretty exciting? O_O

Rocks, Wood, and More Scrub

Alright so the reason that I didn't blog for Tuesday of this week was because we did absolutely nothing, saw absolutely nothing, and heard absolutely nothing worth telling you. Except.......... SCRUB! -.- That's right, since we're back in New Mexico/ Arizona, it scrub again, as far as the eye can see.

WEDNESDAY of this week was a little more interesting. We went to the Petrified Forest National Park and saw some dead trees! It was actually much cooler than that sounds. Supposedly, 200 million years ago, Arizona was a jungle. O.o Crazy, I know. Anyways, all of the trees fell into a river and were buried deep beneath the river bed for millions of years. The minerals (quartz and semi-precious stones) seeped into the logs and displaced all the wood. Basically, the trees got buried and turned into colorful stone. It was really cool! The trees are huge in some places and they are just lying on the ground everywhere. Let me take this chance to mention that we did NOT pick up any petrified wood. The minimum fine was $325. I don't really think a peice of rock/wood is worth $325+, do you? Thursday we will be going to the Grand Canyon. Ironic really. We boat near it constantly, have driven over it several times, and are in the vicinity often but have never actually gone TO the Grand Canyon for the purpose of going THERE. Better now than never I suppose...

p.s. I'll see you all soon! We will be back this Sunday! Technically, we could get back Saturday if we drove 500 miles but we're 99.9% sure that we'll just get back Sunday evening. Yay!!!

Texas x2

Sunday of this week we headed over to Plano, Texas to the Scheuermann home. Soowan, Nancy, and their kids Micah and Amanda were incredibly hospitable and made us dinner. (Mrs. Scheuermann, your dessert was delicious and tell Mr. Scheuermann that his steaks were too!) We spent the night in their driveway and left too soon at about 10 o'clock. All of Monday we drove until we reached Amarillo, Texas. For dinner we went to this place with 72ounce steaks. If you can finish one in an hour, your dinner is free. Needless to say, none of us tried it! Tuesday we will be heading over to New Mexico!

Memphis Minus the Rock n' Roll

This Saturday we drove to Graceland, that is, Memphis. On our way, however, we stopped at a Tennessee pearl farm. Who new that they produce pearls in Tennessee? Anyways, it was actually really interesting! To 'grow' pearls, they insert a peice of shell into a mollusk (not just a clam!) and wait up to five years for it to build up a coating around it. This somethimes works, sometimes it dosen't. Jess and I each got a string of pearls and Mum got a lovely necklace and earring set. Zach, quite uninterested in jewelry, bought beef jerky.

When we arrived in Memphis we looked into going to Graceland. (Graceland is the home that Elvis built for his parents and where he is buried.) We quickly realized that none of us had liked Elvis much anyways when we saw ticket prices! We decided instead to go on a tour of the Gibson guitar factory. We got there only to  find they were sold out! Of course, that didn't phase dad TOO much by the time he realized that there were guitars lining the walls. He, also of course, found one that he really liked. (I liked it too but I know nothing of guitars so my opinion does not count.) The price tag however, was not pretty so it was swiftly decided that he did NOT need a guitar #5. In the evening, we went to go see "Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D". Some 3D movies are really lame but this one was actually executed nicely. It was pretty well done. When we got back to the car, we noticed that someone had inscribed a lovely message on the window of our utterly filthy vehicle. (It is insanely, unbelievably, horrifically, dirty!) We decided that now would be a good time to get ourselves over to a carwash. We have the bike rack and bike stuck to the end of the car and it seems as though those don't agree very well with car washes. The long water/soap arm thing is going around the car and then it stops. We all did the "Uh oh". Dad went out to look at it and it seemed as though it had jammed itself against the rack! We tried to fix it to no avail. We had to drive back to the motorhome with a half wet car! (It did NOT clean that side, by the way.) Mum said they'd put the cops after us for breaking their carwash but, we don't have license plates on the car yet anyways! However, we did pay with a credit card... :P I'd tell you what we're doing tomorrow but... I don't know yet.

A Full Day

Thursday of this week seems like the busiest we have had. For starters, we went to the Louiseville Slugger's Factory and Museum. The entrance is marked by a giant, 6 story, baseball bat! The factory tour was actually very interesting but Zach's favorite part was getting a custom engraved bat. Go figure. Everyone (minus Mum and I because our hand-eye coordination= 0) went to the indoor batting cages to test their skill with the most famous baseball bats in history. On our way out of the museum, we happened to spot the Colgate factory about a mile away. We drove by but to no avail, they don't give tours. :( Next stop on our list was the Kentucky Derby. Nothing exciting was going on so we just drove by but that is still kind of cool. Then on to Fort Knox. As you can imagine, we didn't get a tour their either! Here we come driving down the road toward the gates to our nation's wealth and we get stopped by a rather heavily armed security guard. His opening line was "Sir, are you trying to invade Fort Knox?" It was pretty funny. Once we swiftly manuevered our way back onto a public highway, we saw a sign for Mammoth Caves. We had nothing better to do so we stopped by. Unlice Carlsbad Caverns, Mammoth Caves are the longest set of caves in the world and were carved out by underground streams. This means that they are pretty narrow and you have to duck quite a bit. After that, we drove onward towards Nashville, Tennessee. By chance, we decided to pay a visit to the Grand Ole Opry. We were just going to go out to dinner but Dad ran in and they had unsold tickets. If you don't know what the Grand Ole Opry is, don't worry, I didn't either. It is infact, one of the world's most famous country music venues. The perfect place to go while you're in Nashville! I didn't know anyone but one performer (I'm not all that into country music) but, supposedly there were some very famous country legends. We saw: Jeannie Seely (who looks like she wears a bad wig), Connie Smith, Mark Wills (who sang my favorite country song, 19 Something), Jimmy C. Newman (the Alligator Man), Mountain Heart (the main banjo player/lead singer only has a thumb on his left hand!), David Ball, Jean Shepard, Jesse McReynolds & the Virginia Boys, Raul Malo (who I did not like), Jim Ed Brown, Buddy Jewell (who played his fantastic new song, This Ain't Mexico), and Mandy Barnett. It was a lot of fun!

Mount Vernon and the Rode

Wednesday of this week, we went to Mount Vernon. It was the home of our nation's first president, George Washington. His house is preserved amazingly (they put fence posts in their historically accurate places!) and I must say, he had taste! There are a couple gardens, houses, stables, ect. that you can tour, as well as the main house. After you are done with the tour, there is a fantastic "Education Center" (aka interactive museum) just outside. In one of the films, they have snow fall down on you when it talks about the bitter Revoultionary winters. Besides the museum and grounds, Mount Vernon also houses his two tombs. In his last will and testament, he stated that a new tomb be constructed because the old family grave was becoming as decrepit as the bodies it housed. Several years after his death, he and his wife, Martha, were moved to the new mausoleum. After Mount Vernon we just drove some more. -.-

The People's House

Monday and Tuesday of this week were spent inside Washington, DC. 

On day one, we rode atop one of those incredibly touristy, obnoxiously red, double-decker tour buses. (Which we later found out have decapitated several people by way of low lying branches.) Fortunately for us, we had the foresight to duck beneath any of these branches and prevent out noggins from being swiped off. That would not be pretty. Anyways, we saw the incredibly tall Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial, as well as Arlington National Cemetery. In complete explanation of the first- it was enormously tall. For the next- he was ginormous. (Which should be a word) And of the latter- wow. We were unable to attain tickets to get to the top of the Washington Monument but, I did get some lovely shots of it from the ground. (check out the pics page, it’s actually updated!) The Lincoln Memorial was spectacular. Dad had Zach run up the steps to the top but hopefully, this won’t mean he’s becoming the next Rocky! As for Arlington, it is exceedingly large and incredibly easy to get lost in. We tromped around for about an hour searching for the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. If you have never been to the Cemetery, let me tell you a little secret, BEWARE OF THE HILLS. It was, fittingly, not originally meant as a tourist attraction but, in time, more and more people have come to pay their respects. Considering that the original plans were not drawn to accommodate the masses, it is full of hills. Mum and I conjectured that half of the grave sites must have been tourists who had keeled over from heat-stroke. Nevertheless, it was amazing. The changing of the guard was a rather interesting ceremony. A little too much gun clapping, order yelling, metered marching, high saluting, ceremonious pomp for my taste but, if that is all to show the proper respect, so be it.

Day two in DC was even better. (Ivette, if you are reading this, thank you so much! We all had a fantastic time and would like to thank you sincerely for spending the day with us. We felt truly privileged.) Before meeting up with Ivette, we saw a band shooting a music video in front of the White House. We later learned that it was Locksley. I’d never heard of them but who knows, maybe they are really good? (If any of you have heard of them let me know!) Anyways, when we met up with Ivette, she took us on a tour of the White House’s East Wing. It was incredible to think that we were in the home and work place of the leader of the greatest nation in the world. Later in the day, we went back to the White House in order to watch Mr. President take off in Marine One. (his huge helicopter) That evening, Ivette had reserved the White House bowling alley. So we got to go bowling (horridly I might add) in our own private, 2-lane alley. Pretty cool experience if you ask me. Overall, I actually prefer Washington, DC to New York City. *gasp* I love New York and its high rise buildings and street vendors but, DC has so much more history and surprisingly, a much better sky-line. Wednesday, we’re going to Mount Vernon (home of George Washington) and then driving… a long way. :) This was a very long post.

Comment, Please?!

This is for all you lurkers:

COMMENT PLEASE!!

If you don't take a minute or two to leave a quick message every once and awhile, I have no way of knowing who is reading the blog. So... to all of you who have been silently reading (aka lurking) please post a comment!

I Give Up!

I realize that I am very, very, behind in my blogging. I have tried to catch up but I have just fallen farther and farther back and my writing has suffered for it. Therefore, I am going to stop trying and just move on. My next post will be about our time in Wahington, DC. To quickly let you all know where we visited between Philadelphia and DC, here is a list. (In Order) 1.  Mystic Harbor (fudge!) 2. Plymouth 3. Salem 4. Boston 5. Canada (Niagra Falls) 6. Hershey (yum!) 7. National Civil War Museum 8. Gettysburg

Two American Idols

(note: This post is from last Sunday.)

Today we went to Philadelphia. We arrived in the mid-afternoon and so (of course) Dad had to go find a cheese-steak. After asking a policeman who got right up in Dad's face to say that "Sonny's waitin' for us!" we headed over to his reccommended cheese-steak vender... Sonny. It was actually pretty good. Afterwards, we headed over to the Liberty Bell. There are so many reproductions that it was unbelievable to be standing by THE bell. It is a true American idol. And speaking of American Idol's, I saw another one. I dont know if y'all remember James Lewis but he was the tour guide from Philly who sang "Let My People Go". If not here's his audition: <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/28Pb4ioWZnw&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/28Pb4ioWZnw&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

We were walking down the street and saw him standing on the street corner in his tour guide uniform. I was the one to spot him first and, of course, this was followed by, "Hey Mum! That's that guy from American Idol!" and "No it's not, who are you talking about?... Wait! Yes it is!" e&t. I got a lovely picture with him that you can find on the pics page. We'll be going to NYC and Boston soon!

FAMOUS Steel Pier?!?

(note: This post is from last Saturday.)

Today we went to the "Famous" Steel Pier in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Atlantic City is like the Las Vegas of the east coast so it was NOT my favorite place to be but, it was very urban. In Atlantic City we went to the "famous steel pier". It was... less than satisfying. The main attraction was the "Crazy Mouse" roller coaster; a jerky, death-trap on top of a rickety pier. The entire experience was pretty dissappointing. Tomorrow we'll e heading over to Philly for a cheese-steak and the Liberty Bell! Hopefully it will meet more of our expectations!

In The Town of James

note: This post is from last Friday.

Today we went to Jamestown. It wasn't my favorite place but, it was kind of cool when you thought of iy in terms of Pocahantas. (atrocious spelling) Jamestown was actually where the Disney movie was based upon but, there really was a Pocahantas and there really was a John Smith. (though he was many years her senior and there was no Disney-fied romance going on there) In the evening we took a ferry from Virginia to New Jersey. Tomorrow we'll be going to Atlantic City.

Colonial Reversion

(note: This post is from last Thursday.)

Today we went to historic Yorktown and Williamsburg. Yorktown had a Revolutionary reproduction army camp and a colonial farm. It was alright but not that incredibly interesting. However, Williamsburg was awesome! It is a restoration of the entire colonial town of Williamsburg. It was complete with actors in full costume roaming the streets to bid you a "good morn". There are also several shops within the town. The craftsmen (and craftswomen) that work there all make their wares with tools and techniques that they would use in days gone by. No modern machines, ect. are used. One that was particularly cool was the gunsmith who makes them all by hand! The silversmith and the wig-maker were also rather interesting. So... tomorrow we're going to a 3rd historic town, Jamestown. I'll let you all know how that goes.

Wright or Wrong?

(note: This post was from last Wednesday.)

Today we went to the Wright Brothers Memorial. It was actually pretty cool. I could not believe that people actually FLEW in that rickety thing they called a plane!! And then we drove some more. Zach and Jess went wild for the fire-flies at the camp ground. woo Tomorrow should be actually interesting! We're going to tour a couple colonial hands-on-history towns.

Quick Revision

Thank-you to David who was the first (and only) person who was observant enough to point out that on the post '15 Candles' the "shot heard around the world" was at the start of the REVOLUTIONARY War. NOT the Civil War. I have since edited the post so it is historically accurate. :) If any of you have any other corrections, feel free to leave a comment/text me/e-mail me/whatever. Thanks!!!

Without Loss of Life or Limb

(note: This post is from last Tuesday.)

Today we decided to go Myrtle Beach. It was lovely and the water was warm but it  started to rain pellets. (And I soon realized that my novel was becoming rather worse for wear during the torrential down-pour.) We high-tailed it back to the motorhome so that we could get farther on in NC. And we drove some more. When we finally got to our destination, a little campground in the middle of nowhere, dad and I ran to KFC for some dinner. We had been planning on a bucket of legs and thighs only to find out that they had discontinued that the day before. Much abashed at missing dinner by a day, we got the next best thing and went 'home'.

After dinner I was convinced to go with Dad to attempt to learn to drive. Just to let you all know, I am positively terrified of crashing the car. The last time I was told to simply pull the car into the driveway, I almost ran Dad over! That would NOT have been a good thing. Anyways, it went without loss of life or limb. (thank goodness) And I discovered that I can not park for beans. Tomorrow we will be going to the Wright Brothers Musuem and new pictures will be posted soon!

15 Candles!

(note: This post is from last Monday.)

Today was my 15th birthday! Yay! To celebrate, we went para-sailing in Hilton Head, South Carolina. I was really cool to soar 800ft in the air behind a boat. Afterwards, we drove all the way to Charleston, North Carolina to see Fort Sumtner, where the 'shot heard around the world' was fired. (aka The first shot of the American Revolutionary War.) The fort is located on an island in the middle of a bay. Unfortunately, by the time we got there, the last ferry over departed an hour before we arrived! Much abashed, we went out to dinner at a little Italian place in the downtown area. But they didn't have canoli! What kind of self respecting Italian restaurant dosen't have canoli!? Their claim was that they were 'northern Italian', but I'm not buying it! Anyways, instead of a birthday canoli, we picked up some Ben & Jerry's icecream from the local 7/11. (I now have 2 new favorite icecreams! :P) Actually, the name of this post is rather misleading... I didn't have a single candle! That's okay though because I don't think candles and icecream mix very well... :)

The Lighthouse

note: This post is from last Sunday.

Today we went to Tybee Island, Georgia. It is an adorable little island right off of mainland Georgia. The main attraction on tiny Tybee is it's lighthouse. Deservingly named the 'Tybee Island Lighthouse', it had been relocated 3 times and rebuilt twice! Although the view from the top was phenomenal, the climb up there was atrocious! (Auntie Julie, a long time ago you gave me a book about a real girl who had to take care of a lighthouse all alone. Now, I really appreciate how hard that must have been!) Every 8 hours one of the 3 families that tended the lighthouse had to carry whale-oil up to the top.

After the lighthouse, we went to dinner at 'The Crab Shack'. (Suggestion courtesy of Auntie Michelle!) We shared a sampler platter and it was massive! I must admit, the fresh crab leggs were my favorite. At the Crab Shack, they have alligators which you can feed. Unfortunately, they were rather tiny. :( Tomorrow is my birthday!! Yay!!

El Castillo De Santo Marcos

note: This post is from last Saturday.

Today we went to the Castillo De Santo Marcos. It was a Spanish Fort in Saint Augustine, Florida. (Saint Augustine is the oldest city in America) The remarkable part was that it never fell to the British. There was a lot of cool history and tons of awesome cannons pointing out to sea but, my favorite part was the chapel of Saint Mark. The original, ornately carved, stone basins for Holy Water are still there! Afterwards, we walked through the downtown and went to a fantastic little pizza place for lunch. The rest of the day we spent driving. Tomorrow we're going to Tybee Island, South Carolina.

post script: I'm not wearing down I jusst wasn't able to write for a couple of days and that has thrown me off. I'm catching up asap and then I'll be able to produce more in-depth posts.

Another NASA Space Center

note: Okay I got that wrong, we went from Disney World to the Kennedy Space Center, NOT Saint Augustine. :P That was the next day!

Sooo, today we went to the Kennedy Space Center. I actually like it a lot more than the Huston Space Center. It was a lot more informational than touristy and everything was done WELL. I mean, everything was produced and set up extremely well. There was a space shuttle launch simulator that was phenomenal and an excellent tour of the grounds. We saw where Apollo 13 launched from and where the first Apollo was buried, for future generations. There are also two IMAX 3D movies about the International Space Center and the first Lunar Missions. Althoug one of them was narrated by Tom Cruise (yuck!), the information was fascinating and actually wasn't boring. (the other was narrated by Tom Hanks) TOMORROW, we're going to the Castillo De Santo Marcos in Saint Augustine, Florida.

Snow in July! Oh my!

note: This post is from last Thursday.

Today we went to Winter Summerland. (aka Blizzard Beach) It is a snow-themed waterpark within the Disneyland complex. It's actually a pretty cool waterpark, as far as waterparks go. To get to the tallest slides, you have to take a ski-lift to the top of the mountain. Afterwards, we hopped back in the motorhome and drove to Saint Augustine, Florida. We'll be going through the castillo there tomorrow.

Downtown Disney

note: This post is from last Wednesday.

Today we pretty much just hung-out. We stayed at the motor-home all afternoon and played board games and the sort. In the afternoon, we took the Disney bus down to Disney Downtown. We walked around for awhile (check out the LEGO pics and Father and Cinderella) and went through the different stores, just looking. In the evening, we went to Fort Wilderness' Hoop-de-doo Review. It was really fun and the food was pretty good. We had fried-chicken, ribs, mashed potatoes, corn-bread, ect. and, (Grandma J, you should like this) strawberry short-cake for dessert. Tomorrow we're going to Winter Summerland (Blizzard Beach). It's one of Disney World's two water parks.

Chip, Dale, and Julie

note: This post is from last Monday.

Just to let you know, this is going to be another rather short post. Because... we drove all day again. We are now officially AT Disney World. (Which, here, does not just mean the theme park. Here, THE theme park is called the 'Magic Kingdom'. Considering there are actually several parks encompassed within the Disney World property (each with their own entrance fee of course! :P), I suppose that it could get rather confusing.) We are staying at the Fort Wilderness RV Resort, conveniently located within the bus-routes to all the theme-parks. Tomorrow we will be going to the Magic Kingdom but tonight, we went to the Chip and Dale campfire sing-along. In case you don't know, Disney's Chip and Dale are two squeaky-voiced chipmunks who solve cat-related mysteries on their own animated show. (Yes, I am guilty of actually watching such a thing in days gone by.) Zach and Jess roasted marshmallows and I got a lovely video of Jessica doing the hokey-pokey. The woman who actually lead the sing-alongs name was Julie and she happened to look an awful lot like my dear aunt from afar. (picture on pic page) And that is about as eventful as it has been lately. Oh, I finished my third book since the beginning of the trip. I just read through 'Northanger Abbey' by Jane Austen for the, surprisingly, first time. It is incredibly satirical and witty and all together rather fantastic. I recommend it to you all! hehe By the way, I miss you all exceedingly and hope you have a lovely summer without us. (Though I hope to hear all about how you missed US to the breaking point, when we get back! :)) See you all soon!

The Magic Kingdom: It's MaGiCaL!

note: This post is from last Tuesday.

Today we went to the MaGiCaL Kingdom. (Which is Florida code for what we in California would just call Disney World) Living so near to Anaheim and the first Disney Theme Park, we couldn't help but to compare it to this one. Unlike the ginormous 'Small World' castle at Disney Land (from here on out referred to simple as DL) the Magical Kingdom's (from now on referred to as MK) version was seriously lacking. Not like anyone actually sees the need for such a large castle for such an annoying ride but, it's tradition! Anyways, at MK it's just another hole-in-the-wall ride across from Peter Pan's Adventures. (which had a longer line than Small World, I might add) Although I'm sure we can agree that DL's version is much ado about nothing, it was odd having it so pushed aside. Another interesting difference between MK and DL was (and in my opinion this is actually quite a large flaw) that it does not have the Indiana Jones ride!! *gasp* I know! Tragic, isn't it? We had been all excited to compare them only to find out that there wasn't one at MK! Another ride that MK was lacking happened to be Mum's favorite. The Mattahorn (spelling is sorely off) was not included in the MK experience! Besides all of this, the pre-show for the Haunted Mansion was positively atrocious! Despie these flaws, the Pirate's of the Caribbean ride was done much better than at DL. Overall, both parks are Disney. They are both basically the same. Oh! Exept for the fact that it rained. While we were at the 'happiest place on earth', we had to wait for 2 hours in line at Big Thunder Mountain due to lightning storms and a torrential down-pour. And then we went on Splash Mountain. O_o Tomorrow we shall be going to Downtown Disney. (No, we aren't going to Epcott, but I hear we aren't missing much.) I'll let you know how that goes later!

!!!!!500!!!!!

YAY!!! I told ya'll (which I can use since we are in the South) that we would have to celebrate when Lovely Insanity reached 500 views. Well..... it received 294 on Monday!!! YAY!!! Since then, we have a total of 800-something views. And in recognition of that this post shall be filled with all kinds of lovely, dancing, animations!! Woot! Here you go:

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="100" caption="CARLTON!!"][/caption]

  

Nada

note: This post SHOULD have been posted two days ago. So... this is actually ABOUT last Sunday.

Today we did a whole lot of nothing. We drove a looooooooooooooooonnng way to a little camp-ground on the Suanney River. (where Jessica has claimed to have seen an alligator) It is about 300 miles fro Disney World. This evening I was absolutely KILLED at shuffle-board by Father. (though I had never played before) And that was about as eventful as it got yesterday. Oh, Father brought along a whole surround-sound speaker system which we hooked up to Mum's computer. That way, we can listen to the 7th Harry Potter book (which we all read and promptly forgot) on audio CD, while driving. Tomorrow we'll be getting to Disney World so I'll let you know how that goes!

Hot Sauce and Powdered Sugar

Today we went from Louisiana to Florida. While still in LA, we took a quick tour of the Tabasco factory. It was just a quick walk-through and I actually think that we spent more time in the Gift Shop than we did in the factory itself. Both Jessica and I bought pairs of Tabasco bottle earring, if only for the novelty of such a thing. (Oksana and Sarah- I almost got you Tabasco napkins :P) Afterwards, we hit the road once more, this time in search of an elusive Rice Mill. After driving about aimlessly for quite some time without a hint of where it could be, we decided to give up our rice search and head to New Orleans. Despite the rather looong drive to get there, New Orleans was definately somewhere we had to go while in Louisiana. Our exploration of the city only encompassed select parts of the French Quarter (namely, Bourbon Street), but it was enough. We sampled some jazz around town (Zach bought a harmonica) and then headed to the origional Café du Monde. (thanks for the tip Ryan!) If ever you happen to be roaming the streets of New Orleans and have a craving for sugar, that is where you must go. They serve beignets. In case you don't know what those are (which you probably don't), they are like French doughnuts. They are little rectangular puffs that are buried under mounds of powdered sugar. Needless to say, they are fantastic. After our tasty snack, it was on to Bourbon Street. Jessica and I purchased some lovely feather masks and then it was time to leave New Orleans. The saying goes that once you've been there you'll "Know what it means to love New Orleans." But I don't. It was incredibly dirty, extremely humid, and Bourbon Street was an crowded, alchohol and smoke filled, tourist trap. In conclusion, Zachary's harmonica is making me want to jump off a cliff and if that is not the death of me, the humidity will be. (By the way, pictures are up to date.)

Independence Day

So... as you all know, today was Independence Day. That's right, the Fourth of July. The day when America finally declared it's freedom from the Mother Country. In celebration of this splendid day, we drove- a lot. Right now we are in Louisiana. Hot, sticky, swampy, Louisiana. If you can't tell already- I don't particulary care for Louisiana! The air is so humid, it's tangible and it is incredibly muddy. The camp-ground that we are staying at is actually right by a swamp. A real swamp. The type of real swamp they warn you not to walk near after night because the alligators will come and eat you! Personally, I don't plan on being eaten by an evil, swamp-lurking, alligator anytime soon. Therefore, I am sitting peacefully in our air-conditioned recreational vehicle, with a bottle of water and a good book. (Thanks Meagh!!) Staying in door also prevents me from being eaten alive by bugs. You walk out the door and the first thing you hear is a constant buzz. At first, you may think that it is the hum of a telephone wire, or possibly some really annoying child talking in your ear *cough*Zachary*cough* But no, it is in fact bugs. And no matter how many times you swat at them, they will always be there- watching and waiting for the right time to suck your blood. *shivers* Back to the Fourth of July... To celebrate, Father brought along some fireworks to set off at the camp-ground. Which actually isn't illegal in Louisiana... we hope. Anyways, we had a lovely time watching coloured sparks shoot into the night sky. And then we had s'mores! Personally, I don't like s'mores. The grahm cracker and chocolate ruin the deliciousness of the burnt marshmallow. So JESSICA had s'mores and Zach and I had toasted marshmallows. (I just happened to 'toast' mine until they were flaming and black.) The ironic part of all this was that we were 'toasting' them on our stove, inside the motorhome, instead of the traditional bonfire. Oh well, they still tasted good. Even though my birthday isn't for a little over a week, everyone thought it best that I open one of my presents now. (so that I could use it on our trip) I got a lovely, pink, Olympus, camera! And so... the firework pictures that I uploaded were actually taken with MY camera! Yay! Tomorrow is going to be a very busy day so check in soon!

p.s. I love reading all of your comments! It's nice to know WHO is reading instead of just looking at my dashboard and seeing that there have been 376 total views. We'll throw a party when we get to 500! :)

Quick Note

You might have noticed that the picture 'Natural Arch' features an odd, silver, shiny thing where my feet should be. That is actually my awesome, shiny, silver, shoes not a magical fairy from 'Fairy Land'. That is all.

Huston, We Have a Problem

note: This post is actually up to date! Finally! Yay!!!

note #2: This post was started yesterday when it WOULD have been up to date. As of now, it is one day late.

Today we went to the NASA Huston Space Center. We were expecting a very technical, space-age looking set of building with lots of scientific-looking people runung around doing scientific-looking things. However, that was definately not the case. When we first walked in, we were accosted by a gigantic children's play area taking up the entire center of the building. It reminded me of a space-themed Chuck-E-Cheese. We took the tram tour which was actually rather interesting and got to see where they train all of the astonauts. The starship gallery was also really cool. It had a full scale replica of the first space shuttle that you could watk through. After the Space Center, we went to the Kemah Boardwalk for dinner. We ate at a seafood place called Landry's. The food was fantastic but the service was atrocious! When we were done satisfying out hunger with delicious fish, Zach wanted to go on the 'Boardwalk Bullet', a rickety-looking, large, wooden, rollercoaster. So, (despite my better judgement) Zachary and Father got in line to bring back all of the seafood they had just consumed. Mum, Jess, and I waited for them near the base of the coaster. Everytime a set of cars went by, the entire structure shook menacingly. Surprisingly (Father has a weak stomache), they completed their escapade without returning their seafood to the sea or falling through the wooden planks of the Boardwalk Bullet. Tomorrow is the 4th of July! Yay! We don't know where we are going to be yet but, we brought a whole mess of fireworks so we can celebrate our nation's independence wherever we may be. NASA pics will be up soon!

p.s. 11 days until my birthday! :D Mum is freaking because that means I can get my permit in 193.5 days!

We Remember the Alamo

note: This is another of those pesky, late posts. When I say 'today' I actually mean Wednesday! Sorry for the confusing order of things!

Today we went to the Alamo. It actually wasn't all that interesting. The story of the Alamo is incredible but, considering that it is now surrounded by tall city buildings instead of a frontier, it was hard to imagine the actual battle. Walking through the walls of the Alamo, I couldn't really picture Davey Crocket and Jim Bowey making their last stands inside it's walls. However, it was chilling once you realized how many men fought and died on the ground we were walking. While touring the old church, there is a tile on the floor that said four bodies were uncovered in the late nineties on that very spot, and were reburied under the tile over which we were carelessly walking. Needless to say I avoided walking upon that spot again! Overall, it was an interesting place but, not one that takes more than a half hour to tour.

After the Alamo, we walked down the famous River Walk. It was gorgeous but the humidity was killing me!! I've decided that I like the clean, historic look of downtown San Antonio but, the humid air is atrocious! Unfortuantely, it won't be getting anything but worse the farther east we go! *sigh* Anyways, we ate dinner at the Hard Rock Café. I had a phenomenal Honey Citrus Chicken Salad or something of the sort. After dinner we went and saw 'Hancock' the movie. Although there was a large amount of foul language (specifically at the beginning), the real issue I had with the movie was it's plot. There was an odd twist about half way through that completely changed the point of the story. It seemed like they were trying to combine two movies into one. But this is not a movie review so.... tomorrow we are going to the Huston Space Center.

Apologies and Observatories

For the apologies part of this post, I'd like to humbly ask your forgiveness for not posting anything for the past two days! We're in the middle of Texas right now and there isn't good connections anywhere! So instead of writing one reeeeeaaaaaallllllyyyyyy long post about Tuesday AND Wednesday, I'm going to seperate them and we can all pretend that they were posted when they should have been! :P By the way, pictures are officially working again! To see them go to the 'Pics' page. If you click on them it will give you their descriptions.

Today we went to the McDonald Observatory. It is a series of 3 large telescopes and several smaller ones located over the span of 3 hills. Trust me, these telescopes aren't just 'large', they are GIGANTIC!! We took a tour of the two largest and Zachary actually got to man the controls of one of them. (he moved the entire 6ton telescope with his thumb!) That tour wasn't the most... interesting thing ever but, the night program was MUCH better. In the evening is the Twilight Program. (it dosen't get completely dark here until around 11pm) We sat in an amphitheatre as the sun was setting and learned about the different signs of the zodiac and how they are really just constellations. (there are really 13!! so it completley discredits astrology) Anyways, it was actually very interesting. Then came the 'Star Party'. We sat in the same amphitheatre (by now it was getting rather chilly) and as it got dark, the astronomer pointed out to us major constellations in the night sky. The funny part of all of this was that all of the guys who have been giving us the tours are scientists and therefore, have a scientisnts sense of humor. Their incredibly dry jokes were hilarious after you got past their laughing at themselves. (considering they give these tours all day and repete the jokes every time) Another interesting point was the laser pointer with which he was pointing out the constellations. All of the guys in the audience thought that was the coolest part. :P After the 'Star Party', we got a chance to look through some of the telescopes. We saw Jupiter and Saturn as well as some M-somethingorother star clusters. It was really cool. Tomorrow we are heading to San Antonio and the ALAMO!

Fairy Land

I've decided to let Mum take over Justus5Journey. I felt like I was getting repetitive in what I was saying and I thought you all might want to hear her point of view as well. Therefore, I will still be writing Lovely Insanity but all posts on Justus5Journey (including today's) will be written by Mum.

Today we went to Carlsbad Caverns. (which happen to be back in New Mexico) So we drove BACK to New Mexico from Texas (although we'll be going BACK to Texas tomorrow) On the way there I took a lovely nap and supposedly missed out on some horrid fog; the likes of which severly decreased visibility. We got to Carlsbad at around 12 in the afternoon and swiftly proceeded to the caves. The natural entrance to the caves is this massive hole in the gound and although there is a nice zig-zagged foot path down into the caverns, you can almost imagine what it was like for the first explorers. The caverns first modern day exploration was executed by Jim White, a 16 year old cowboy working on a local cattle ranch. After treking down to the bottom of the cave, we took the self guided tour of the Big Room (a part of which is called Fairy Land) this took an hour and a half or so. Then we took a guided tour of the King's Palace. All of the 'decorations', as they are called in the caves, were absolutely phenomenal. The stalactites and stalagmites were HUGE!! However, my favorite part of the tour was the draperies. They are big sheets pf rock hanging from the ceiling that look just like drapes, hanging from the roof. Thw whole experience was amazing. This evening we went back to the cave entrance to watch the nightly exit of the bats. Although we didn't see any on our tours, we found out that there are over 100,00 Mexican Ring-tail bats living in the Carlsbad Caverns. That is A LOT of bats! When they come out of the cavern mouth at around 7 o' clock, they all spiral skyward. We assumed that they would all fly out and that would be the end of it, ut instead we found that it takes somewhere around 10minutes for all of the bats to leave the cave. They spiral out in a great, screaching worl-wind and flap off into the night sky. It was awesome. We weren't able to take pictures because the electrical disturbance of cameras and phones throws off the bats but, we did get some great shots of the inside of the caves. Once again, pictures will be up soon but we are still encountering some techinical difficulties. In the meantime, we're going back to Texas tomorrow to visit the McDonald Observatory, the darkest place in the western hemisphere. Anyways, I'd like to apologize to you all for such a lengthy and incredibly dull (and informational sounding) post. Tomorrow should be more interesting!

New Mexico in a Nut-shell

Basically, I was roused this morning at 5:30am from a lovely, peaceful slumber, to sit around asking "Are we there yet?" for another several hours. Last night we stayed in a camp-ground outside Phoenix, Arizona. Although it had a pool, the water was just as hot as the air; which, I can assure you, was hot. When we left the furnace-like spot this morning, we were on our way to New Mexico. So.... after driving through miles, and miles, and miles, of desert scrub (which is all that Arizona seems to be) we finally reached New Mexico... and drived through more scrub. Like Arizona, New Mexico IS scrub. We were headed to Steins Railroad Ghost Town only to find that it was that- a ghost town. We drove all the way there only to realize a hundred or so mile sto late that it was closed. After lunching outside, we set off again. This time to Wet-n-Wild Waterworld. The waterpark is in El Paso, Texas, a lovely little city located right on the banks of the Rio Grande. After gettin forced into the park, Mum and I were quick to discover that our family was not only the seemingly only one not fluent is Español (as stated in my other blog) but we were also the whitest ones there. (which isn't uncommon, I know) Anyways, after being soaked in the nasty, recycled water (similar to Raging Waters with a worse water-pump) we found to 'rides' that were actually somewhat enjoyable. The first being one comparable to Dropout at Raging Waters, an almost vertical, extremely high, water slide. The second was merely fun due to the novelty of it. It was called the Alien Vortex or something of the sort and ended in your being 'flushed' like the Men in Black from the movie Men in Black II. Afterwards it was all we could do to stop from repetitivcely reciting the phrades, "Flush me Jay! Flush me!" Pictures from Arizona and New Mexico will be up soon. (more connection problems) But until then, Adíos!

The Open Road

This morning we finally left our humble abode on the hill for the perilous open road. After more than a bit of squabling we have all settled down to our seperate areas and seem to be coexisting healthily for the time-being. At the moment, Jess and Zach are watching 'Madeline' on the back bed, Mum is reading 'The Three Cups of Tea' on the couch, Father is manning the controls, and I have two laptops turned on and am trying to hook up a network connection. (yes, we brought along 4 laptops) After setting up our Verizon Aircard on my computer (mine and Father's are the only ones that work with it) we uploaded our digital camera's XD card to Mum's. (hers and Jess' are the only ones that work with that) Unfortuantely, we can't seem to figure out how to tap into the interenet connection on my computer from Mum's. Therefore, l pictures will be coming soon; they just aren't here quite yet. Anyways, we're driving through Palm Springs right now. And it is HOT here! I'll keep you posted when we reach Arizona. Bye for now!

The Day Before Tomorrow

So today is the day before THE DAY. That's right, the day that we leave for the Trip to End All Trips. (goodness, it sounds like we're going off to war... anyways...) My mum happens to be a firm believer that you should never go on a trip and leave a messy house. She dosen't like to come home to a slobby, dusty, mess. Therefore, we all (minus Father who was off at work) spent the better part of the day scrubbing the house until it was spick n' span. After that, we all had to dig through our drawers and scrounge up approximately 2 weeks worth of clothing to stuff into one drawer each. Surprisingly, it was accomplished! Yes that's right, I was able to fit a good portion of my wardrobe into ONE DRAWER! *gasp* Fortunately, we shall be bringing along an iron to chase away the nasty wrinkles that are sure to develop on trips such as these. We are planning to stop at a local laundromat every 2 weeks or so to do laundry because any less would be a bit of a nuisance. But besides the cleaning tangent, today was incredibly relaxed for being our last day before we leave everything we hold dear to begin our frightful journey across this fair land. *melodramatic music* So, to everyone reading this, Adieu!

Ello Lovelies

Ello all! This is going to be my blog to let you all know how life is really going. Primarily it shall be used for my version of our trip this summer. You see, my family's blog (which I happen to be writting also) is more of where we are and what we're going. I want you all to know what's else, besides the bare-boned facts, are going on! So anyways, I'm Kaitlyn, and this is my new blog- Lovely Insanity.