Living your life like a Senior Citizen (101)

I realized I am living my life like a senior citizen,

at least in one area of life. 

I lived in Florida from August to May

with a three week Christmas vacation to Utah. 

I will be living in Utah from May to August. 

Weather in Florida from August to May

does not get below 50 in the day. 

(and 50 is really rare, it hit 80 a couple times in January)

Weather in Utah at Christmas means snow... 

magical, and very much needed to convince me it was Christmas.

Weather in Utah from May to August

is usually between 70 and 100.

And it is DRY heat, not humid heat. 

If that is not living like a senior citizen, then I don't know what is. 

Hello Utah, I have missed you. 

We have some catching up to do. 

Airplane Smell.

Flying is my absolute worst enemy. 

Good thing it usually means I am going some where fun. 

I get super duper sick on airplanes. 

So sick that my husband doesn't even want to sit by me.

Apparently I make him sick just by having him sit by me... 

When I was really little, my family flew to Disney Land and it was my first time on a plane. 

I threw up. 

All over my Mom. 

Don't worry, she still loves me. 

During my teenage years, I would get super sick during take off and landing. 

I would put a pillow over my head and blast music in my hears to distract me. 

Now, just the smell of an airplane makes me nauseous.

I seriously feel like throwing up almost the entire time. 

Dave thinks airplanes do not smell and that it is all in my head. 

Somebody tell me it is real and I am not making it up?

Wish me luck. 

Utah, here I come! 

It's Summer Time.

To say we are excited for Summer would be an understatement. 

For once, the reason I am excited for Summer is not because of the warmth. 

Yep, it has already been 90 degrees and 70+% humidity here. It is death. 

The reason we are really excited is because we are spending most of Summer in our favorite place. 

The other day we started talking about the things we are most excited about. 

It was a pretty great list we made so I thought I would share.

This will give you some insight about what we miss the most...

Watching the sunset from somewhere above.

Giggling with nieces and nephews. 

Campfires in the mountains. 

Camping in the mountains. 

Eating at Cafe Rio for Date Night. 

Cuddling with Charlie (Dave's dog).

Sunday dinners with family. 

Lunch dates with my mom and dad. 

Watching my nephew walk for the first time (hopefully).

Dry heat, no humidity!

Laying down on nice grass with no chiggers in it. 

Rock climbing on real rock. 

Laying in a tube on the lake. 

Going to the temple a lot more often. 

A lot of girls nights with my best friends. 

Eating Bob's Brainfreeze a LOT. 

Being able to visit family anytime I want. 

The list goes on and on. 

This Summer is going to be Great!

What are you most excited about this Summer?

Hollywood Studios.

Hard to believe but the real reason we went to Orlando was not for Gatorland. 

As Florida residents, you can get a fabulous deal for Disney tickets. 

We bought three day pass tickets back in February for $120. 

So we decided to spend Saturday at Hollywood Studios in Disney World!

We really loved the park but I think I liked Magic Kingdom more. . . 

Holly wood studios doesn't have a princess castle but they do have a huge version of Mickey's hat!

 I was brave and road the Tower of Terror with Dave... Can you spot us? 

Dave had to hole my hand because he was so scared!

 I loved the Beauty and the Beast show, it may have been my favorite part!

We got front row seats on the Rockin' Roller coaster...

It was insane! Dave's hair looked so fabulous after as you can tell! 

 This picture is hilarious! 

We had our 3D glasses on right before going on Star Tours. 

 The closest thing we will see to Southern Utah was on the Backlot Tour ride. 

It is so amazing what they can do with screen sets these days!

 This was the most incredible stunt show, probably Dave's favorite show of the day. 

That red car also went off a huge jump in reverse!

 The Fantasmic show was incredible! 

It is partly shown on a projector on the fountains. 

It was fun to see all the characters,

we didn't see them around the park as much as we did in Magic Kingdom. 

We love Disney. 

We will definitely be returning again soon. 

Gator Land.

Dave had Spring Break all last week. 

I had to work all week and I was super jealous. 

So we decided to head to Orlando for the weekend to make up for it. 

We got a hotel on priceline for a STEAL!

I took the afternoon off on Friday and we headed to Gatorland. 

I have never seen so many alligators and crocodiles in my life!

 Dave get's super embarrassed when I ask random people to take our picture so we have no pictures of us together...

 All the babies were cuddling... it was kind of cute until I realized they were gators. 

 This guy grew up with parrots... these birdies reminded him of home. 

 This is the craziest hick I have ever seen.. 

 Is he even joking me? 

You guessed it, Dave was super embarrassed when I made him pose for this priceless beauty. 

 Just cuddling and lounging in the sun. 

This picture is going to be in my nightmares, so creepy!

In case you were wondering, 

we learned that you should NOT run zig-zag. 

That is a myth. 

And the main difference between alligators and crocodiles is

Alligators have a U shaped nose and Crocodiles have a V shaped nose. 

I bet you want to visit Florida now, don't you!?

Dreaming of Summer

The move was a success!

We LOVE our new town home so much. 

We finally got internet late tonight. 

I am super excited to share pictures this week.

But for now, 

this is the most exciting part of my weekend...

That's right baby. 

Salt lake City, here I come!

#summerinutah

#familytime

#cannotwaittospendtimeinmymountains

My First VISIT!

Remember that time I went to DISNEY WORLD?!

Yep. That happened last weekend. 

I haven't posted about it because our friend took all the photos and I haven't been able to get them yet. 

It was the most magical day. 

And I felt like I was seven years old again. 

I even saw tinker bell fly from the castle as fireworks were behind her in the sky. 

There are definitely perks to living in Florida. 

And getting inexpensive resident tickets to Disney world is one of them!

hopefully more details about our magical experience to come soon...

President's Day is for Utahns?

Last year for President's Day weekend we went down south

for some warm weather and climbing. 

We spent a couple night's in the local bouldering area called Moe's valley. 

It is just right outside St. George. 

We had a fabulous time with some of our favorite people.

And we really enjoyed REAL rock. 

This year, Dave has school on President's day.

How lame is that? 

I think it is a Florida thing or something. 

We did go climbing this weekend but it was in a gym on fake 'rock'. 

So this weekend definitely had me missing my Utah...

 Yes. I let him grow his hair that long and I have no idea why. 

Yes. My mom thought it looked good on him and he should keep it that way. 

Yes. All these pictures are from our trip down south last year. 

Happy President's Day...

go do something FUN!

A vacation of my own.

There is something about having people come visit you

that makes you feel like you get to be on vacation too. 

Having my parents in town has been a BLAST. 

I have only been working half days

and I get to play tour guide every day. 

It has made me realize I haven't seen as much of Gainesville as I would like to. 

For instance... yes I knew the Gator fans are crazy here

but really? They painted these trees blue on campus... on purpose. 

My Dad has never really been a gator fan 

but he does love college football in general. 

He is so jealous we had season tickets to the football games. 

And he was so excited to see the stadium!

'The swamp' can fit 90,000 people in it for games. 

It is the most amazing stadium I have ever been in...

it was so fun to see how excited my dad was to see it!

They have these huge fans inside the stadium because it gets so hot.

we all cracked up about the name of the company that makes them...

We had to take a picture in front of the famous gator statue!

And of course we had to take them to see a real gator!

This one was only about 4-5 feet long... that was enough for my mom :)

This lake is right outside our apartment...

so pretty!

If only there wasn't alligators in it :)

Early Christmas Presents!

As much as I don't enjoy living 2200 miles away from family, it does have it's perks. 

My lovely parents sent us our Christmas presents a couple weeks ago 

because they didn't want us to have to take them on the plane with us

and they wanted them to get here before we flew home.

I have been dreaming of a kitchen aid mixer ever since I had my own kitchen. 

I honestly didn't realize how easy it would make baking/cooking. 

It is so nice to just toss all the ingredients in and let the mixer do it's magic. 

I HIGHLY recommend getting one if you haven't,

you will have it for the rest of your life.

Dave took a while to decide what he wanted for Christmas.

But I am so happy with his choice,

My parents got him a Wii! 

He has played it every night since we got it and it really is so much fun!

I have always been against video gaming systems and the amount of time that goes wasted with them. 

However, I feel the Wii is different. 

The games are more 'active' and they seem to be more designed to play with multiple people. 

If you are thinking of a gaming system for your family, I highly recommend the Wii. 

We love it!

Thank you Mom and Dad for the best Christmas gifts ever!

However, the real present is getting to come home to see you!

Christmas is coming... just 4 days til UTAH!!

A lonesome Thanksgiving.

To me, Thanksgiving is the ultimate family holiday. It is all about eating the most delicious food and soaking up some much needed time with the ones you love. I have spent every Thanksgiving my entire life with my dear family... this year is different. Since we live over 2300 miles away from home and we are going home for Christmas, a flight during Thanksgiving (for at least $400 a person) doesn't really make sense. Thus, we will be spending Thanksgiving in Florida. I will be with the man I love so much but I will really miss all my family. Since I will be missing home ALOT and Dave has a few days off of school, we want to do something really fun. This is where you come in... Here are a few of the things we have thought about...

1. Two night getaway to Daytona Beach. 
            -This is a great deal- less than $200. It is only 2 hours away and we would get to soak up some rays during the holiday. Plus, I wouldn't have to cook an actual thanksgiving dinner for just us.

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2. Spend Thanksgiving day in Disney World. 

    -Do I really need to say anything here? We have never been. And I would definitely not be missing home at all if I am in the happiest place on Earth!! This is a little more pricey than the first but it is Disney World!!

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3. Two night cruise to the Bahamas. 

    -We would leave on Thanksgiving Day and drive down by Miami (5ish hour drive) and spend the afternoon on the ship. The entire next day is in the Bahamas :) Never been there either... hmmm. THIs choice is the most pricey but still under $400!! Great deal, right??

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4. Thanksgiving dinner in Gainesville and go Black Friday Shopping. 

      -Let's be real, this is probably the most likely option. It does include me making Thanksgiving dinner though... that is a lot of money and work. However, I LOVE Black Friday shopping! I get so excited about it every year! Nothing is better than getting a good deal! 

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Basically when it comes down to it, I am going to miss home a lot that day! So I want to be really busy doing something REALLY fun! So we have four options people. I have been trying to plan something for over a month- Dave doesn't really care what we do... to an extent. So I need some good advice. 

If it were you, which option would you choose and why??

What are your plans for Thanksgiving this year??

Horse Pens 40.

Alabama is beautiful. Maybe it is because I have missed Utah Fall so much -seeing as Gainesville goes straight from green to brown when it comes to leaves- I thought the beauty was amazing! You can decide for yourself...

  We spent our long weekend at Horse Pens 40. It is a camping/bouldering area... only the most well-known in the south east. WE LOVED IT! We had a group of 11 fabulous people and their company made it even more fun. There was a lot of laughing, climbing, s'mores, cuddles, sunsets, fires... you know- all the fun things that come with camping. We had so much fun and I could tell you all about everything but that would be boring. So I think it is probably better to tell you about the weekend in pictures so here you go...

 Dave walked across a slack line for his first time ever!

 This boulder problem is 'the sandbox'- known as the worst problem in the south east.

Don't ask me why they were so excited to climb it.  It was only V2 and extremely hard!

 The camp site was so close to all the boulders. We LOVED it. 

But we did not love paying $15 a person per night to camp!

 I don't get to see many sunsets in Gainesville, this one was breath taking. 

         

 This problem was 'eight ball'- it was quickly the lady favorite of the trip. 

 All the ladies on top of the eight ball boulder. 

Nothing is better than a great group of woman climbers. 

 Dave was a great photographer, multiple shots-- isn't it so pretty!?

 I told you that we would take some awesome photos together. 

 Our group of amazing climbers. 

Horse Pens was fabulous. Very hard, sand bagged climbing... but, oh it felt so good to touch real rock again. And nothing is better than a weekend with no technology, no sense of time, waking up with the sun and falling asleep with the moon and being surrounded by great people. 

Horses Pens 40, thank you for a much needed break- we will be back.