Shark Reef Diving

On Thursday, the last day I had in Orlando, we went to Typhoon Lagoon - Disney World's water park. I'm not much of a water park person... but when I was told that they had a place to snorkel with sharks, I forgot all about not being a water park person. (:

So we went.

And had a whole lot of fun.

When we got there we were told that we could  snorkel with sharks for free, or 'surface dive' (I think that's what they called it) with a respirator and an air tank for twenty dollars. Kind of like extended snorkeling...

We paid for the air tank.

Here it is in pictures.
Taken with a super-nifty/fancy/technical (actually, none of those things...) by Susannah and myself - I'm not sure who took which because they were all scrambled when they were put on a disk. Suffice it to say we're both awesome underwater photographers. (:

susannah, excited as we're signing up.

a leopard shark.

a bonnethead shark.

another bonnethead.

 random fish. not the most colorful that they had. it was hard to catch them at the right time.

a sting ray.

people could go down and look out those portholes.

susannah swimming.

me swimming.

both of us right before susannah got out.

(they let you stay in until you had 500 units left in your tank. susannah's tank was not as full as mine was.)

in the shark's mouth.

I kind of love sharks and have always been fascinated with hammerheads. When I read about bonnetheads and found out that they're the smallest of the hammerheads I was really excited. So I took a lot of pictures of them. (:

Orlando - Day Two

Most of today was spent at a conference. Some of the sessions were interesting, others were kind of boring, nothing was really fascinating.

This evening I walked over to Downtown Disney again, but this time I had company. This lady I met just briefly a couple of years ago through my internship is here staying at the same hotel I am. She came with a few other people and when I met her again today she mentioned that last night they had gone out to dinner and she had been the only one who didn't drink. Some of them got drunk, and she wasn't really looking forward to dinner with them again. I told her that if she didn't want to drink tonight that I would also be not drinking, and we could have dinner together or go for a walk. We went for a walk.

We were gone for about two hours and just spent most of the time walking. It was pretty nice. Especially when we got out of the actual Downtown Disney part and started walking around a golf course. Then it was quiet and not crowded. Which was awesome.

Okay, here are pictures -

pretty sunset

pretty egrets

pretty lights and trees in the parking lot

this made me think of a friend who loves cirque du soleil. had to take a picture.

made from legos. prince phillip fighting maleficent.

Travel Day - Destination: Orlando

I did it! I made it to Orlando! Not that I was really worried that I wouldn't, but it's always nice to get the travel part behind me and get checked into the hotel.

For journeling purposes...

- The flight went well. I got to the airport with more than two hours to go before my flight. A friend dropped me off before he went to work, hence the early arrival. My first first of the day came when the skycap guy told me I should go through security at the international terminal since access to my terminal was right there. He said it was really crowded inside the main terminal and I'd bypass the crowd that way. So I did it. Quick and easy. Then I waited... and then I boarded, slept on and off through Sherlock Holmes 2 (the in-flight movie), and got off in Orlando. I had been told there would be a shuttle from the airport to the hotel, but when I asked a guy at a shuttle stand where the shuttle for my hotel was, he said there wasn't one and that I would need to take a taxi. The fare... let's just say I'm glad that I'm not having to pay for that since this is a work trip. Ouch.

- My next first - checking into a hotel room on my own. Yep, I'm 30, but I've never stayed in a hotel all alone. At least I don't think I have... My last work-related trip I was traveling with a high school student and they put us in a room together. This time. I'm solo. They guy at the desk told me that I had a room with two queens and when I told him it was just me and he could move me to a room with a single bed, he did. I have a pretty nice view and a balcony! It's a tiny balcony, and I don't know that I'll really use it because the one time I opened the door there was a nice little swarm of gnats flying around. Yuck. But it is a nice room.

- After collapsing in the room for a little bit, getting wi-fi set up (it took a little while to get it working), and watching a couple of shows (king of queens and seinfeld - so funny), I made myself get outside my room. I walked down to the convention level to find out where my shuttle will be coming so I can get to the conference tomorrow morning (the whole reason I came...) and then once I got out of the room and down to another level I figured I may as well get myself outside. So I started walking. I walked a little more than half a mile away to Downtown Disney (I wasn't looking for it, but that's where the sidewalks led me) and I walked around there for just a little bit. I left when it felt like it was maybe going to get dark soon, and on my way back I came across a back way into the hotel which was nicer to walk than through the parking lot. I also found out where the gym and hotel restaurants were when coming back that way. The whole solo-exploring was another first. It's something I've been thinking that I need to get good at since solo-trips could become more commonplace for me. So tonight was my first foray into that world and you know, it wasn't bad.

- My last first for the day... room service. I can't believe how expensive some of these things are! I'm eating it right now, and it's pretty good, but I was surprised what $9 for 'seasonal vegetables' got me -

- that's it. Wow, huh? It was good, but it wasn't much.

Anyway... more 'adventures' and pictures to come... either while I'm here, or after I get home.

Stay tuned!

I Seriously Love This City

and here are just a few of the reasons:

Oh, sidenote - I'm now monitoring my comments because some lame-o keeps spamming me. Thanks a lot kevin21. If someone knows of a way I can just block him, that would be wonderful to know.

Here's What Will Happen

 today-
- leave work in 7.5 hours (yay!)
- go to verizon to hopefully finally get my blasted phone working properly
- 4:30 - meet friends for frozen yogurt
- 5:30 - get to the temple for my shift in the baptistry (first time back after the last few weeks off)

saturday -
- 8-??? - play in the regional volleyball tournament (done when we're eliminated, however long that will be)
- afternoon - clean things up, do laundry, clean fish tank, PACK
- evening - hopefully get to friend's birthday party in park city

sunday -
- 9-12 - church
- 12-??? - visiting teaching stuff
- rest of the day - finish packing (unless i'm done) and relax (hopefully!)

monday -
- 10 - plane departs for DENVER
- 11:30 - arrive in DENVER

next 2 weeks and 1 day -
- spend Thanksgiving with my sister and her family, meet my new niece who will be born while i'm there (unless she comes before monday...), and love it!

Ticket: Purchased

This morning, the last thing I did before leaving for work was buying a plane ticket to Denver. While I'm not spending my 30th birthday there like I had originally planned to, I will get to be there when my sister has her 7th baby (5th daughter) and makes me an aunt for the 22nd time, as well as Thanksgiving - spending a total of 2 weeks and 1 day there. I must say - I'm pretty excited about it.

Just FYI, Southwest and Delta both have awesome fares to Denver right now. Cost me $115.10 through Southwest - it was $110.10 yesterday when I checked, but I forgot to buy it when I got home from work... oops.

Wyoming Sunset

We got as far as Laramie last night. This picture was taken from some dead-end freeway exit during our second stop.

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Ohio-Bound

In about 3 hours I'm driving away from my home and my bed and my dogs and my... etc... (: and heading to Ohio. I'm driving with my sister and her two boys (ages 2-yrs and 6-mo.) so they can meet my brother-in-law in their new state-of-residence.

24-hours in the car.

At least.

Woo-hoo.

Then I remembered this clip:

Watch from about 1:30 on-

(ignore the whole political-whatever for the video, it's the only clip of this scene that I could find)

And then I thought Ohio might not be all bad if there are Ohio-Amish like Harrison Ford. (:

Plus I'm flying back through Dallas.

I've never seen Texas before.

Here's to hopes for sanity through the next three days.

This Time Last Year

I was falling in love with DC.

I never did finish posting about that trip. Maybe I'll get that done this year.

Coping

So... I'm turning 30 this year. THIRTY. I remember when my oldest sister turned 30 and I thought that was a long way off for me. Well, now I'm staring down the barrel of the gun that's shooting the number 30 out at me. I'm not freaking out about it yet... And I've thought of a way that would totally help me cope with turning 30.

I've had my eye on this cruise for about four years. I'm thinking it might be time to go. And I'm thinking that the perfect time to go would be on my birthday. Who would mind turning 30 while spending time on the Mediterranean?

I wouldn't mind.
Not at all.

We'll see if it happens...

If not the cruise, then I'd *settle* for some time spent in Italy.

I'm easy to please.

A Girl Can Dream... And Dream... And She Does.

About half an hour ago I discovered this website. And I haven't been able to look at anything else since. Don't worry, you don't have to go to the link, I'm happy to talk about it right here. And I will.

This website provides marathon tours in various places around the world. That means, you pay for a package and you're signed up to run a marathon in some awesome location as well as spend some days around race day touring. Some options are: Dublin, Rome, Athens, Paris, Reykjavik, Maui, Easter Island, The Great Wall, Berlin, Cape Town (this one is 34 miles, it's called the two oceans marathon because you run from the Atlantic to the Indian), and London. And that's not an exhaustive list.


Okay, really? What's not to love about this possibility? And you don't even have to run a marathon. They give an option for non-runners, and some of the locations have half marathons, 10ks, and 5ks. Something for everyone.

Now that I know these exist, I have to run one. Yes, HAVE to. And I will.

Not sure when or where, but I will.

Until then, I'm dreaming.

Oh, and here's a picture of the Kenya marathon. How awesome would that be?!


And until then, there's Bryce.

Perhaps Another Reason I Want To Go To Italy

I'll admit - I cried a little bit while watching this.
Sometimes I just need a good hug.

DC Pictures! (there are many, and there will be more...)

(click each one to enlarge)

To Do List:

:laundry
delayed it for too long... ugh
:pack for DC
so excited to be going! but any travel - even fun travel - brings with it some added stress
:write a two-page paper
due Thursday night by midnight, but since I'll be in DC... I should get it done tonight
:straighten up bedroom
not necessarily a *must* before I go, but it's always nicer to come home to a clean space
:make sure plants are watered
I've been doing such a good job keeping them alive, I don't want to risk them while I'm gone
:get 10 hours of sleep
okay, okay, I know, not possible, especially having to leave for the airport at 8 am. but I can dream, right?

Maybe I Should Rethink This...

Look here.

Maybe I should rethink it.
But I won't.

This Summer -

any questions?