Our awesome Vegas weekend

So we decided back at the end of June that we wanted to go somewhere in July. Now if you know me, you know that by going somewhere, I mean on a plane. I have NO desire to 'go' to portland, as I've been there a zillion times and I want to relax. I know what you're thinking, Vegas?? Funny place to relax. But they have dirt cheap flights from Redmond and we haven't been in a few years and I've got some friends who live there, so yeah lets go there. Fast forward to the trip...

So we arrive at LAS airport and take the shuttle to the rental car area. We wait in line for 1 hour 15 minutes just to get our car. Once its our turn to be next in line, they send two people to lunch. Of course they do. So we finally get our car, and I'm cranky and want some food and to be to the hotel. Then it takes us over an hour to get to our hotel. For those of you who've never been the airport is literally all of like 2 miles from the Vegas strip. So driving on the strip sucks ass and there is all this road construction, so we finally took some back roads. (Thank goodness we lived there once upon a time) Finally we get to the Venetian. Now this is the hotel to stay at. Gorgeous huge rooms. And I may be a total dork, BUT their blinds and curtains are operated by a remote control, and I think that is pretty awesome. Let alone the TV in the bathroom. Ahhh yes, its everything I look for in a hotel. :)

So I had been texting my friend Tiffany ( who is a manager for the wayne brady show) about this show on the strip called Peep Show, its got Holly Madison from The Girls Next Door in it. I love that show, so I wanted to see if she had seen Peep Show and to see if it was really worth what they charge for the tickets. She said that she knows some of the dancers as they used to be in Wayne's show and that she hadn't seen it, but heard it was pretty good. So now I've gotta decide if I want to go to that show or the Chris Angel show. Then we head to the spa for a few hours. We get back to the hotel and are watching some tv and Tiffany texts me and tells me to call her at her work ext. I call her and she says, I just got tickets for you to go to Peep Show. WHAT! I'm so excited I'm jumping up and down, and then she says, but wait thats not all..... Hugh Hefner will be in the house and they will be filming an episode of Girls Next door, I literally started screaming SHUTUP, and running through the hotel , (Art was getting ice at this time) I'm freaking out, she got us another set of free tickets, and I'll get to see Hugh and the cast from Girls Next Door, and then I'll get to see Wayne Brady's show (cause super Tiffany got us tickets to that too!!!) ... This is awesome!!! Art comes in and I am jumping up and down telling him, he's looking at me like I'm crazy!!! So after I calm down we go downstairs to visit Tiffany (her office and the Wayne Brady show are also at the Venetian) we're standing there talking to her for a while right outside the Blue Man Group theatre and these two guys walk up and go hey did you just go to the Blue Man show, and we're like oh no, we're just talking to our friend, and he goes oh are you going to this show. Nope we say, and then he goes well I've got three extra tickets, you guys wanna go. I look at Tiffany like What is going on, she's like you're not selling those right and he says no they were comped and my friend bailed, they'll just be empty seats if you don't go. So we're like uhh yeah okay let's do it! So thanks to Tiffany, we've now gotten seats to 3 shows! Yes 3 shows. WOOOHOOOOO!!!

So the next day we hang out, go to the really crazy pool, eat and relax. Then its time for the show. So we get all dressed up and away to Planet Hollywood for Peep Show. I of course want a picture of Hef, so I make Art stand with my by all the crew from Girls and try and listen in. I tried asking them when he'd arrive, but the girl was a total bitch to me, so then we just listened in to their convo. :) About ten mins prior to showtime I hear them say, Hef just left the Palms. Okay well there is NO way he's going to make it before the show is suppose to start. Of course they won't start it without him either, but I don't want to not get my seat. So into the theatre we go. About 20 mins later Hef, the 3 girlfriends, Mary and Hef's brother all walk in. The crowd goes pretty wild. Half the people didn't know he would be there ( I wouldn't have either, if not for Tiffany) so they were freaking out. We couldn't take pictures, but it was pretty cool to see him. They used him onstage which was hilarious, I don't want to tell you, so you can watch the episode next season on E and think of me. So he walked pretty much right past us on the part below about 4 feet down from us, I yelled to Mary, but she didn't look. It was a fun night and you know I love my celebrities.

Next day is sunday, our last day. Sad. So Tiffany had told me in advance that Wayne uses people from the audience in his show, and was I going to volunteer. Uhh that would be a heck yes I'm going to. So we get to the show and she has gotten us front row seats!!! WOOHOO! I'm so excited, I feel like I'm going to pee my pants. Wayne Brady is a funny and good looking guy. So the show starts and I'm just in heaven watching him. He's hilarious! So then he's telling us about the volunteer part and asks for 4. Of course mine is the first hand in the air, and I'm like oh oh oh me me me. Yes I got called. Then onstage I go. YEAH!!! So me and the other 3 volunteers have to act out the words he's using in his skit. We didn't do so good, but we were fairly funny. Some of the words we did, were globe, where we spun one of the people, coffee machine, somehow we ended up hitting the girl and a really funny one was a sliding ladder from the library. Where the guy volunteer got on all fours and I jumped on his back, and the two ladies jumped on mine and I go now move, we must have looked like idiots. But it was fun fun fun!!! The show was AWESOME!! And sooo funny and he can sing and dance too! If you go to Vegas, get tickets and go to his show, its so good!!!

All in all it was a GREAT weekend!!! We had a blast at all the shows...Thanks again to my friend Tiffany for making it all happen!!! Viva Las Vegas

Ohhhhh the joys, yep its another poop story.

So here's one to make you laugh.

So our restrooms at work are public. I mean they are in our backroom, but we let our clients and everyone use them. People for some reason just LOVE to take a crap in our bathrooms. Its like oh I gotta go, let me go stink up the bathroom at Ann Taylor Loft. I have people come in just for the bathroom...so anyways, here's the story.

On Sunday it was clean the bathroom day and its my turn. That's fine, whatever. Its disgusting and we clean the toilet once a week. Since so many people love to take a crap in our lovely restroom, there are always poop spots...like how on earth does your poop get in those spots, I do NOT understand. So I get my plastic gloves on and squirt the crap (no pun intended) out of the toilet with the cleaner, I get it all clean and scrub inside and out so its all pretty and ready for the next client to come stink it up.

Later in the afternoon I tell Mieke (my co mgr) that I gotta pee and I'll be right back. I go in and low and behold....poop stains, I'm like you have GOT to be kidding me...seriously, it's only been clean for like 5 hours!!!! I start walking towards the toilet and I realize there is poop smeared on the top of the bowl, like right underneath the seat. It looked like someone seriously picked it up and smeared it on there. DISGUSTING.... I run out and tell Mieke she has to go check it out. Did I mention Mieke has horrible gag reflexes and gags at everything. She's like no way, I'm not going in there. She goes and checks it out and is like I'm not cleaning that, and I said well I'm not either cause I already cleaned it today. So I told her to just get some gloves and spray a bunch of cleaner and maybe since it was fairly fresh it would like just run down the bowl and she could just use a paper towel to clean up the side. I said I'd clean the rest if she'd just get that part. So she goes in for the cleaning in a few minutes.

About 5-6 minutes later she comes back out to the floor, I ask her if she survived... She said well I sprayed it and it started running down and it was making me gag, I'm laughing a little, I'm not going to lie... and then she goes and then I went to clean it, and my keys broke and fell into the toilet. OHHHHHHHH MYYYYYYYY GOSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHH....I had to run to the back I was laughing so hard, I nearly peed my pants.... Her keys to the store fell into the toilet that now had poop dripping into it. She had to reach in and get them. I don't think I have ever laughed so hard at work in my entire life. If you only knew Mieke, and then thinking how funny the story is anyways....oh my gosh , her keys falling into the poopy water, and having to get them. Its just what timing those keys had deciding to break and fall in right then. Ohhhh the life of retail. Never a dull moment...Never.

So when did I miss ....

So when did I miss this memo coming out that taking your kids into a retail store was like taking them to the babysitter or childcare facility...meaning...

1) You do not need to watch your children in the store, its fine, that IS totally part of my job!
2) Its totally OKAY that they jump all over the fixtures and pull clothes down, and step on manni's and try to knock them over.
3) Its also totally fine that your children play with our window displays, as in we LOVE it when you shop in the back of the store and your sooooo "cute" child climbs on a ladder for display in the window, or thinks the big holiday loft letters are a jungle gym.
4) We also LOVE it when the husbands watch as they destroy the window displays, and when I so nicely ask, ohh hey could you please not have them play in there, I really don't want them to get hurt. And their response is well there shouldn't be things in here that can hurt them, they aren't doing anything wrong..... I'm SORRY WHAT?!?!?!?
did you seriously just say that it was OKAY for your child to be playing in our windows on things that could fall and hurt them, and then tell me that it was my fault. As if your child is so perfect and gods gift that they can literally play with whatever they want in the entire world. Oh yes, thats why we have so many spoiled brats today...thanks for clearing that one up.

Okay okay okay...I'm NOT a babysitter. I enjoy cute children who are well behaved...I'm about sick and frickin tired of all the moms who are bored at home, so they decide to bring their bratty kids into the store and let them run WILD throughout the store while they shop. Every five minutes you'll hear ohhh honey don't do that. They don't even know what they are doing because they can't even SEE where their child is at. It is sooo annoying!!!! We are not NOT NOT babysitters!!!! If your child is a brat, that is what strollers are for. Put them in one. Seriously. I'm sick of keeping an eye out for your childs safety and ensuring that they are ruining things in the store because you don't feel like watching them, and society has deemed it okay for you to leave your kids running wild through the store while you just ignore them and shop....ah yai yai. (sp??) Its really really obnoxious. That would be the equivalent to me coming to your house, yes you the complete stranger who I am sure is reading this, and me being like nope I don't want to talk to you, then pulling out all the pans in your kitchen and hiding them through the house, then standing on your furniture with my dirty shoes on and the proceeding to jump off you couch as high as I can , and really not care if you are bothered by it.

So if you are one of those parents (and I know most of my readers are NOT them) or if you know them....please tell them to stop being so frickin annoying. We aren't your babysitters so stop treating us like them. Thank you.

Hawaii....ALOHAAAAA

So we went to Hawaii last week for our 8 year anniversary! I've never been to Hawaii before, but Art has been twice. We decided to go to Maui, since thats an island he's never been to. We decided to go cheap, as in we stayed at a condo type hotel and brought food with us. This is totally new for us, we are usually hotel then eat out. But since we just went on our super duper Sandals vaca we decided it was probably smarter to go cheap.

We stayed at the Maui Kaanapali Villas, which now are called Aston Kaanapali Shores (online, but when you get there its still the first name..) it was an awesome location. And VERY quiet. Hardly any bratty kids there, and not many people hanging around the resort either. Thats how I like it. The pools were AWESOME (except that they all had a deep end...I no me gusta!) they were soooo warm. I'm talking like a bath. Usually no matter where we are the pool always seems a little cold when you first put your foot in. But then once you get all the way in, its usually fine. This one I put my foot in and I was like oh my gosh, I just went to heaven. Art is thinking, oh lord help us, Rebekah is going to want to stay in all day. Its true, I love love love the pool. So our room is nice too, all the rooms are decorated different since they're all individually owned. Ours was fine, kind of what I expected. But there were some rooms we saw that had just been done up with fancy schmancy decor... Thats okay. Who needs that. Resort is good, we like it.

So lets see here. We mostly just hung out at the pool or the beach everyday. We only were there for 5 days, so we didn't have a ton of time, since half the first and last day were travel days. On Friday I decided I would try snorkeling. I got in and there are some waves there, not big ones but enough that pushes you up quite a bit. I put my head in and was like oh hell no. So I told Art he could go out by himself. I stay up on the beach and enjoy the sun and watch as he swims way out. He goes out for probably a half hour, then he comes and tells me all about the cool stuff he saw. Now I want to try it again. So I have Art go rent me a lifevest. There is no way in hell I am trying this again without one. So he goes and gets one. There is a lady in the water who is helping me relax, telling me to say, I used to be afraid of the water, but not today, the water can't hurt me. I'm thinking okay thats lovely, but it could hurt me if I drown, or if a shark attacks me. The worst part on this beach is the getting into the water with your snorkel stuff. The waves hit you so much that its hard to even stand up, so with putting all that crap on, its a difficult task to get in without falling over. I do it, and at first I'm breathing really hard, and kind of scared. I make Art hold my hand the entire time. As I'm terrified to do this alone. So we start swimming around and we do see a bunch of awesome fish. I knew it was getting deeper. I estimated it was probably like 10-12 feet, Art smiled and said okay if thats what you think. (He didn't want me to know it was probably at least 15 or more) And same thing, at first I was freaking a little, but then I just took a deep breath and thought okay I can breathe and I have a lifevest on, I'm safe. Tons of yellow orange and blue fish, oh and some black and white polka dot ones too. Those ones are funny. We snorkel for a while and then I'm like okay I need a break. We go back out a while later to a different spot and see even more fish.

The next day we decide to go exploring on the island. So we saw a ton of different beaches, took a million pictures, and just had a great time together. Nothing too exciting this day, so onto Sunday we'll go. A couple at the resort had told us about this really cool snorkeling place (see pic up top) so we went on an adventure to find it. And we did. We stopped up top at the lookout and it looks gorgeous. We see a ton of people. We get down to the ocean and its all rocky, we had brought our watersocks, mostly because I don't feel comfortable with the flippers yet. And also thankfully with how slippery the rocks were, the watersocks were much easier than flippers would have been. So at first the water is super merky (sp??) you can't really see anything, then I'm like hmmm...okay whatever. So we swim out a ways. We start seeing some fish after a while, pretty much the same as the ones by the resort. We swim over to where a bunch of other people are and see a HUGE school of fish. I'm talking like at least a thousand. They were all over the place! This one girl is freaking out, she thinks they're going to eat her or something. They were fairly big fish for how many there were. They were like the ones of finding nemo...when one switched direction, they all did. So we swam around with them for a while. We went pretty deep here, and I knew it, and I didn't even freak out. We went out where the boat/catamaran is in the picture. (Yes I had rented the lifevest for the entire day) I'd say we were at least 20 ft, maybe more, who knows. But at least that deep. So we hung out here for a couple hours and decided we'd seen enough. On the way back in, it seemed like there was nothing for the entire way back and it was taking forever. Then when we were almost back we saw this AWESOME fish it was like 4 different neon colors and sooo BRIGHT! Neither of us had seen this kind anywhere else. Then right next to him was this neon yellow long fish like a foot long and really skinny with a point nose. They were both really cool. Done snorkeling here. We didn't see any seaturtles, which is what I really wanted to see. So we decide maybe we'll try blackrock which is suppose to be the best snorkeling in Maui, and just happens to be right next to our hotel.

Once we get there, there is a TON of people and I'm like nope, actually I'm pretty done. (Having my ears in the water for so long, kinda gave me a headache) Art goes out and not two mins later I hear someone shout there's a seaturtle. Art looks up and I've already got my stuff and I'm running into the ocean. I get out there a bit and don't know where they had seen him. Then I hear someone say oh here he is. So I'm trying to run back in (wasn't too deep) but its hard as the water is so choppy. Finally I get to where the guy is saying he is and I put my head in. HOLY CRAP ( okay actually I yelled Holy S%&*) because the thing was HUUUUGGGGEEE. I seriously could not believe my eyes. It was insane. I swear he was like the size of my four wheeler. He starts swimming away and I could not keep up with him. But it was AWESOME, and then I found Art and I was like okay I'm done, saw my seaturtle.

So I snorkeled in deep water, which is a big actually huge accomplishment for me. And other than that we just hung out, relaxed and spent time together. It was a great quick getaway. Wishing I was still there. I'll be putting up a separate blog on our dinner at Roys. But since this one is so long, I figured I better just stop it now!!

Ohhh except for one thing. Something we did to entertain ourselves was taking "action shots" on the camera. So we'd jump in the air, and catch every motion in pics on the camera. So here are our pics from that. The one of Art made me laugh for AT LEAST two hours straight!!! I told him to jump up and click his heels to the side. You know how people do that like on movies and stuff. Well he has no CLUE what I am talking about, and this is the end result. Ohhh lord, reminds me of danceteam. This picture is my new favorite. I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do!!!

Days 3 and 4 in Antigua

Well I'm starting to not remember everything quite as clear from last week...sooo I'll try and remember the exciting parts!

Monday day 3, actually I have NO clue what we did during the day, it was either hanging out at the beach or hanging out at the pool. So we did one of those. Then they had a scavenger hunt for returning guests. We thought it would be like the one last year where you have to find stuff and take pics of it on your digital camera. But no, we just had to run around the resort and find balloons, that had point amounts int them, and bring them back where they would pop them and add up the points to determine the winner. There is this big obnoxious guy there, who is telling us all that we are living on his land for free, because he is an Indian and he was here first, then he starts bringing up politics and other things, so I just decided to walk away from him. He's being a jackass, and you can tell everyone is annoyed...Its time to start...Art and I split up and go running once they say go. I find one right away and then go into the pub where I find three more balloons, I don't want to drop them so I stick them all in my shirt. It made everyone I passed by laugh alot, which is always good. We searched for another like 30 mins, art found 5, but I didn't find any other balloons after my initial four.

I go back and they start counting my balloons, and I'm holding my last one and the big indian man comes and takes it, I laugh like ha ha you are so funny. Then I'm like okay give it back, he says nope, it says where ever I find one and this is where I found it. All the employees are like give it back to her. We go back and forth for probably like 3-4 mins of him being a jerk. I tell him to give it back or I'm going to kick him somewhere, he says go ahead, then I'll stick my wife on you and she's 6 ft. I tell him I don't care how tall she is, cause I'll just sit on her. Then he's like it doesn't matter you're going to get second place just like at name that tune last night. Then he's like and second place is way worse than last.... REALLY ?? How do you figure, for second place I would get $100 gift certificate and he'd get nothing for last. Anyways, then the couple who won first place comes in, and they had a CRAP load of balloons.... They won a couples massage, but hey I'm still okay with the gift certificate. The big indian dude is still going on and on and on, and we just walk away. I now HATE this man. (I'm telling you, because he's in future posts)

That night they had Caribbean night at the beach with a big buffet out on the sand. We went to that and ate ALOT of food. :) After dinner we went to a fire dancing show. The guy was really good, and then he did limbo, and he went under the limbo bar at about 7 inches. It was INSANE!! I've never seen someone be able to bend like that before.

Tuesday Day 4. Again I'm not sure what we did during the day, beach and pool and lotsa drinks I'm assuming.... For dinner we headed to Kimonos, its Teppenyaki (sp??) style where they make it on the big grill thing right in front of you. We met The Dr's there ( Ryan and Ashley) and Glenn and Brittany who were getting married at the resort on Thursday. We chatted with them about all the sandals and all the cool things you can have your butlers do. They were the first people we had talked to who also had butler service. Then we found out that Glenn and Brittany were staying in the villas which I wanted to see, and that the Drs were staying in the penthouse which we wanted to see as well. Then come to find out they all wanted to see our Rondoval. So after dinner and dessert we went around and toured the rooms. Glenn and Brittanys villa was very nice, has a pool and private hot tub, which was sweet! And the Dr's had a room quite similar only they had an AMAZING view of the ocean ... So its like you pick a view, or a pool. I like pool, so I'm glad with our room still.

After this its time to head to the Lovers Game. This is a game that we all signed up for and then they'd pick 6 couples to play. Think the newlywed game. Embarrassing and hilarious. So we're sitting there talking to the other 2 couples, when all of a sudden I hear room 314...ohhhhh lordy...thats our room. Because of course, I mean OF COURSE, out of the 50 couples who signed up we'd be one of the 6 that is chosen. I'm instantly like, ohhhh no I think I'm going to throw up. We'd just met these nice couples, and had about 10 other couples of friends in the audience. Once we get up, all our friends start laughing hysterically and cheering. This is NOT good!!! So the way it works is the guys stay out and get asked q's first, while the women go into the bar so we can't hear. I won't tell you the answers or all of the questions...my parents read this for goodness sakes. So I may put a few risque ones in, but not all. :) so we are finally allowed to go back out, and its time for us to answer the same questions, whoever matches their lovers answers gets a point, who ever gets the most points wins.... easy enough right?? Wrong...

These are the questions they asked the guys, and we have to answer what we THINK they answered!

Q1) Whats your wifes bra size....okay I'm not telling everyone my bra size, but we were the only couple to get this WRONG!!! So now I'm like ohhhh no, what have we gotten ourselves into??

Q2) What item of clothing do you HATE when your lover wears... I have no clue, then Brittany mouths high heels..I'm like what, and she mouths it again, one of the other girls sees and goes CHEATER! The girl who's turn it is says high heels, and is right, so I assume its her answer too. But alas I say PJ's or sweats, and my answer was high heels...ughhh, another one wrong.

Q3) If you could get rid of one person in your wifes family who would it be. Now for obvious reasons, I'm not putting that up here, but alas...guess what...we got it WRONG!!! So we're 0 for 3 now...And we're the only ones who've been married over like 1 week. This is getting embarrassing.

Q4) Whats something you've been begging your lover for that they refuse to do. I'm thinking, hmmm well we've always been pretty clear on the things not happening, so I'm going to say nothing. So of course when its my turn I say, I'm awesome...nothing. And everyone is dying laughing. I get it right, and HOORAY we finally have one point. I can't tell you what the other couples said, but let me just say I was laughing so hard, I almost peed my pants. Play this game if you ever go to Sandals...

Now its reverse time. Ohhh wait, let me also say Art and I had been practicing questions all day just in case we get called, of course they don't ask any q's we had practiced. But our butler did tell us that they do a multiple choice one most times...So we agree we should just pick a letter no matter what and stick to it. I ask Art, but what if its humiliating, he says No, stick to the plan, we'll get over it, and it'll help us win... (you'll need to know that multiple choice part for later)

Okay so its guys turn to go into the bar, and girls turn to answer q's.

Q1) What is the weirdest gift he's ever given you. I answer nothing, we save for vaca's usually, and when he does buy gifts, they're pretty good.

Q2) If you could change one thing physically about your man, what would it be. I say his insanely large neck, because its impossible to buy dress shirts for.

Q3) what is something he does that drives you CRAZY and you wish he'd stop. Right after the host says this I'm like ohhh pick me pick me, I don't need to think about it. He comes over and I say, he's picky, he picks at everything, he's a pickypooh...thats what I call him

Q4) If you had to rate your lover which of the following MULTIPLE choice answers would you rate him as.

a- he's long and boring like to flight to antigua....yaaawwwnnn are we there yet, can I get some peanuts..

b- he's like the energizer bunny, he keeps going and going and going

c- BAM...he's wham bam thank you maam.

Okay sooooo....we'd already decided to go with A regardless of the answer. So as soon as he asks the question, I'm like dying, I drop my head and want to run away...but alas I stick to the plan and say A...the Crowd is like....huuuuuu, you know the noise of shock...no laughter here, the host is like man, you are MEAN!

So the guys come out to answer

Q1) Art says nothing...hoorrayyyyy a point, that makes two!

Q2) he says his nose...we get it wrong. Shocker, since we're totally LOSING! Two of the girls had answered stomach, and the guy from couple 6 was NOT happy when he heard this. If was quite funny to the rest of us!

Q3) Art is like, ohhhh I know this one, and he goes I'm a pickypooh...the crowd is dying laughing that he says the exact same thing, and the host is like, mannn what the hell is that. He explains.

Q4) Arts reaction is about the same as mine, head goes down in shame, and he answers a, and the crowd again is like totally shocked....We're sooo humiliated, and the new couples we've met are like, oh my gosh!!!

Anywho, to say the least we totally lost, then I had to go tell everyone about the multiple choice question, because they were all thinking, whats going on...so it was a hilarious night, even though we didn't win. So thats the end of day 3 and 4. The couples game was much more funny, but like I said, for OBVIOUS reasons, I'm not putting the answers from the other couples up here, because I think some people would not appreciate it, and I'm polite what can I say!

Days 1 and 2 in Antigua

Day one will go by pretty quick since we got to the resort around 4 and were in bed by 8. :) So we show up and it takes a while for check in. We're suppose to get to go into the special butler room, but no one takes us...sad. But I'll live, I'm in paradise. Finally our butler Cicell comes and gets us and takes us to our rondoval. Its the room I've been wanting to stay in forever, and at last I get to see it. Its an adorable little round house with our own private pool in back and big beautiful flowers all over. I love it! Its WAYYYY smaller than our previous rooms, but its adorable and only about 300 feet from the beach. I'm in heaven.

We tell the butler all the things we need, breakfast every morning at 9 and our order, and that we like to eat early for dinner, and that we want him to book all our dinners. So that night we go to Marios for dinner. We're practically zombies at dinner after our 27 hours of traveling with no sleep...so we decide after dinner its time for bed...We sleep a good 12 hours and wake up around 8:45 the next day...just in time to get our room service delivered and eat it out on our patio next to the pool. Now this is the life.

After breakfast its time to put on swimsuits and load up on sunblock and head to the beach. Its a beautiful HUGE beach, but it is public. Boo to this. Meaning anyone can walk around it, so there were kids wandering up and down the beach from the neighboring resorts, but they were pretty well behaved...so its all good. I just laid on the lounger for hours, its soooo beautiful that you can just let the entire day drift away while laying there watching the ocean and staring at all its beautiful colors. We decide to go up and go to the big pool for a while, and its a little cold. Not really, its just I was being a sissy. So we get in and have some drinks from the swim up bar, ahhhh now thats nice.

Next its time for dinner, so we get all dolled up and meet our other butler Maureen for the first time and she walks us over to our dinner where she has flowers all over the table for us, and its the restaurant on the beach. Its gorgeous. Arthur has a fun experience while at dinner. In Antigua there are a MILLION little lizard like gecko things, they're all over the place. Totally harmless and quite amusing to watch. Well during dinner, Art has something fall on his shoulder, swipes it off and looks down and its the body of a roach!!! Its moving all around, only it doesn't have a head, Art looks up and sees the little lizards chomping away on the roaches body, guess it wasn't hungry enough for the body! SICCKKKKK!!! So that was entertaining.

After dinner we saw Ken and Susan from the plane and sat with them for a while and just chatted and got to know them. After a little while its time for Name that Tune. So we decide we'll play. They have a DJ and a lady calling on people to answer it. Samantha was the employee with that job, well she keeps picking on the front table, and everyone is getting annoyed that she keeps picking them. She's suppose to call on the first hand she sees. Now granted they knew ALOT of songs that other people didn't....BUTTT they weren't always the first ones with their hands up. So the audience is getting annoyed, then the DJ tells her for everytime she calls on the wrong table she has to do a shot...so the audience gets into this, and keeps yelling shot shot shot, everytime we didn't like who she called on. So she keeps calling on the front table, and when its quiet for a second I yell...HEY TABLE ONE...and the lady turns around and I go...ITS ON, you're going down!!! She's like bring it...So we started a little fun war with them. Then me and Ken had to go up and dance to Michael Jackson in front of EVERYONE, thank goodness he offered to go up with me, there is no way Art was going up to dance. The crowd enjoyed Kens MJ moves. A little while later we had to go up and do the Macarana, which is always a crowd pleaser, so I went up and then pulled someone else with me.

Towards the end, they tell us they are going to do a tally on chips (everytime you got a song right, you got a chip) so all these people keep coming up to me going we want you to take out table one, so take our chips...I'm excited we might actually beat them. I've been glaring and talking trash to them all night, so it would be awesome to kick their butts...Well then I realize we're one chip away from tying with them, I look around and ask someone if I can have their chip and then the DJ is like CHEATER....you can't do that!!! Everyone was like yes she can, we gave them to her, so I took my chips up and tried to tie for first place...but the DJ wasn't having it...so then table one decided to start yelling SHOT SHOT SHOT!! ohhh no.....i do NOT do shots...yuck...but they keep going and eventually the DJ gets everyone to start chanting. Might I add this was not a normal size shot, but more like 8 oz of straight hard alcohol. I tell them I won't do it unless they admit we tied...they won't and I'm not getting off the hook here, I do the shot and its NASTY!!! Yuckkkkkk...Everyone cheers!

Name that tune is over and then a band comes out and starts playing and its dancing time. I make friends with Pam and Mary of table one, they were quite fun. Then I start a conga line and after that a limbo line....what can I say, I like to start things and make sure everyone is having fun. After starting those, I met alot of people and had lots of new friends, who as the week progressed would always glare at Pam and Mary of table one from the infamous name that tune night. I also got the nickname of troublemaker from that night...hmmm imagine that. After that it was definitely bed time, we'd had a great real first day, dancing, drinks, fake fights, limbo, conga line and a whole lot more. We were pooped.....

The airport, traveling, and all that jazz

Okay so this will be all about our travel to Antigua and Day one...Hope you've set aside some time to read read read.... :)

So we check in at PDX for the first leg of our flight, we'll have 2 layovers, first from PDX to Phoenix, then from there to Atlanta, and then from there to Antigua...A total of 26 hours of total travel.

On the way to Portland (a lovely 3 hour drive) we are cruising along, probably about 75 mph behind a Subaru when we see some lady passing a semi truck in our lane...I think man, she is REALLY close, when all of a sudden, she's NOT moving over, did I mention there was part of a lane empty on her side. The Subaru skids off into the gravel, fine but still had to run off the road, and then we followed as she wasn't moving. While we're flying through the gravel trying not to get in a wreck, the semi kicks up a huge rock right into my windshield, and CRACK it goes....AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH...I'm already freaking out that we almost went into the ditch, now those jerk offs cracked my windshield too...you've GOT to be kidding me! I'm pretty upset for the next 30 mins...okay over it. Then we're almost into Portland, and I'm driving along at about 80 and out runs a coyote into the middle of the road, and stops right in front of us to think about if he wants to continue. I slam on the breaks, as there is no where to go with the barricade in the middle and a car to my right....he runs off....my heart is racing again...but alas, we are fine. Thank goodness....

We get on our first flight and we're in the row behind the first row that is behind first class. So the lady from the airport gets on and asks the guy in front of us if he'll move so a family can sit together... he says I'm 6'8, I need the extra leg room, if you can get me into an exit row, I will, otherwise not...they didn't have that and she is like begging him, I tell her we'll move up if the lady next to us will take that other seat available so the family can sit together...now I'm doing this as it SUCKS to not get to sit together, and I thought a good deed would do me some good on a day of traveling.... ohhhhhh boy was I wrong.

On get a mom and her 3 kids, so she'll be holding one on her lap and the other two in the seats behind us. The chair kicking starts immediately. Then the 1 year old on her lap starts hitting Arthur on the top of his head, I turn and look at her and she laughs (the mom...like aren't they soooo cute) uhhhh no they aren't cute. Oh we hadn't even taken off yet, and its a little over 3 hour flight...ughhhhhhhhhhhhhh.... So the screaming then starts followed by ALOT more kicking of the chairs. She never tells them, ohhh no honey don't do that. Don't get me wrong, I know some kids are just bratty but when you let them do whatever they want, of course they aren't going to stop. Well then about an hour into the flight, some RANDOM passenger comes and sits with them. A very very VERY obnoxious lady who tells them they are such good kids, and starts throwing the baby up in the air, who then kicks my headrest about ohhhh 50 times. And the other kids is standing in front of the lady so I'm getting kicked in two places. LOVELY! They come with the drinks and I buy some baileys...Lord I am going to need some alcohol to get through this flight. It continues and the guy is glaring at us, like why the hell did you have to change seats, I mouth I'm sorry to him about a hundred times. After about another 20 mins I can't take it ( I kept looking back and nothing, no I'm sorry, no please stop it kiddos, nothing) so I go and stand with the flight attendants in the back who agreed that we had the worst seats on the entire plane and proceeded to buy me some wine. So I stood back there with them for probably 30 mins.... until it was time to start our landing process, I groan and beg and beg and tell them I'll help them work...but they make me go back to my seat...ughhh....

The kids keep kicking and screaming and they are just encouraged by both women to do so. The guy we're sitting with is so upset he's been drinking the entire flight, and then starts elbowing the seat every time they kick his...which was about every 5 seconds. Finally we land, we're waiting to get off the plane and the people in the isle over are like ohhhh you're kids were so good on the plane, what good little travelers...I shot all of them the nastiest look I could and a couple of people started laughing when the women said that because we all KNEW it was the worst flight ever..... Wheewwww we are off of that plane.

Then we have a 4 and a half hour layover in Phoenix, we get a cab and go out and see some sights, then go back to check in only to find out of flight has been delayed and hour and a half. So now we don't depart until 1:30 am...yes am.... Did you all know I get incredibly sick with no sleep or no eating at normal times....so imagine my excitement...We finally get on the plane and make it to Atlanta, which is my LEAST favorite airport of any, you'll hear much more about that in about 10 blogs when I finish up the entire week. Then its off to Antigua, before we board we notice we're not sitting together. We hear someone else ask the ticketing agent about it for them, and she says she can't fix it until about 20 mins prior to the flight. About ten mins later I ask Arthur to go stand up there to get our seats together, so he waits for the agent to get back and she gives us seats together. The next people go up ( totally different people that earlier) and she says sorry, no more seats together...hehehehe, we got the first and only ones. We board and find that all the people behind us are on their way to Sandals as well, we chit chat for a while, and meet Chad and Jamie, and Ken and Susan. (I'll be referring to them in upcoming posts, so don't forget...) we finally land, and its hotter than hell out there. Ahhhh the Caribbean. We stand in line for an hour to get through customs and finally get on the shuttle to the resort...Sandals here we come!!!!

Vacation Draws Near....

So its almost time for our BIG vaca. The one we save all year for... OUR SANDALS vacation. Its my very favorite place ever. This year we are going to Antigua. Never been there, but am SOOOO soooo excited to go. I can't believe we are leaving in a week from tomorrow. I'm not at all prepared, and it really doesn't seem like its that time already. I'm very confused.

So anways, about wonderful Sandals. This year we're staying in a Garden Rondoval with private pool. Its a cute little round house. All to ourselves. And the best part is, they are really close to the beach. This will be the first time we've been close to the beach, as usually the nice suites are furthest away, that doesn't seem to make sense does it???? So while we are there, it will also be "reunion week". Which is something Sandals does every year for repeat guests. We've never been and didn't even know it was happening until about a month ago, so hopefully it will be good.

I have soooo much to do, I probably shouldn't be online...but alas, I LOVE the Internet, so here I am. If any of you want the best vacation ever, head to Sandals, its so relaxing and soooo beautiful, oh and did I mention....NO KIDS ALLOWED!!! YAHOOO!!!! No bratty rugrats ruining my vacations there, thank you very much....

Okay well this is just rambling, so I'm going to go do nothing on facebook, or maybe watch some tv. Or maybe I'll go to target and get some SPF 90000000....Cause thats about what you need for the sun there!! I'll post pics and everything when we get back!!!

How my brother is stealing my child away....

Yes funny title. I realize, but I'm ever so saddened that Michael and Christina are taking my dear sweet precious baby Kaylee away from me when they move to Boise in a week and a half. Now for those of you who don't know her. She's my niece, the cutest, funniest and sweetest thing ever. And I just love her to death! She can always brighten my day and make me smile. But now they are moving away, and some nerve, taking their own child with them. Ummm excuse me, don't you know how this will affect me?? :) LOL!!! Its just that they are only cute and little for so long before they're bratty and annoying...so can't you just wait until she's bratty and annoying to move her away and not now?? I tell ya...I move back and they move away...Sure I'll miss them...but my heart is breaking that I won't get to do our I love you, I love you more with my favoritest little girl in the whole world. And NO I am not moving to Boise, and NO I am not going to have my own child to get over it. Why does everyone say that, oh maybe you should have your own...No no no...that's why I love her, when she's fussy, back to your parents you go, and you get to give them sugary sweets and teach them funny faces. Ahhh the joys of being an aunt. I'll miss her soooo sooo very much. So thanks alot to my brother for taking away the one thing in Bend I actually love! ( Well besides my husband)

What a frickin week!

What a horrible last week. I mean seriously, started bad and ended really really bad. I'm not even going to go into detail. Because then I'd just be pissed all over again. So all I'd like to say is that I'm really really HAPPY last week is over!!! And those of you who contributed to my week being so horrible, can go ahead and feel happy. You did it! You made my week crap central!! There were a couple of you, and you know who you are. Soooo glad its over, although i'm feeling its pouring over into this week...ughhh...time to move far far away from here!!!

Why on earth should I be sorry????

So since I usually like to vent via my blog...here's something that really really pisses me off.



You know what everyone, Art and I have worked hard to be able to afford the things we have. We're very frugal and smart with spending. So why in the hell should I be sorry for taking vacations, and buying the things we want. I am soooooooo sick of listening to everyone and their dog complain about how its just not fair that we get to go on so many vacas. Well I've got news, you chose your life, and I chose mine. So deal with it and stop being a hater.



Its coming to the point where I don't even like to talk about what we are doing or any vacations in depth because I'm so frickin sick and tired of people being all jealous and telling us that it just isn't fair. Well think about the money you spend on your kids, its alot right? I'm being serious, its very expensive to raise kids. We don't have them, so naturally we'll have what seems to most as extra.



I can't stand it, its like oh poor me, I never get to do anything...its your life you made your decisions. Don't be mad at me, just because I chose to work a steady job since the day I moved out, and not have kids. Its bull s#@* and I am sick and tired of dealing with it.

Everyone makes their own choices, and I made mine. So shut up if you can't deal with it. Cause I'm tired of feeling like its not okay to talk about my life just because I get to go on vacations. Everyone acts like I must have done something really special or am going into some massive debt to do it. Nope its called, we both work full time jobs and don't go out to eat, don't go out to movies, and save pretty much every penny of our money. So I'm really sorry that you're jealous. And no this frustration isn't recent. This is something that has been going on long LONG before the economy sucked. Everyone always tells us it isn't fair. Life isn't fair, get over it, you bunch of sissy cry babies.


Okay I feel much MUCH better! I love blogging.

How I love priceline

So Art and I used to use Priceline.com all the time ages ago, probably like 6 years ago. Then I kinda forgot about it. Man I love that website. You get to go in, name your own price for a certain "star" rating of a hotel and then someone can accept it. And you can just go CHEAP! We got a room at the Hyatt Regency in Orange County for $52 a night for two nights. And in November we got a room at the Hilton Suites also in OC for $45 a night. Needless to say, both these hotels are normally in the $130-$200 range. And by booking through hotels.com or some other travel site, you wouldn't even be able to get motel 6 for that price. So I'll take dirt cheap for a 4-5 star hotel anytime. Just love it, so if you ever want a deal and don't have a specific hotel in mind, try priceline. It'll save you a TON! WOOHOO! I love staying at really nice hotels for cheap...helps me save for more vaca's. :)

Disney Cruise Finale...the airport

So on our way to the airport from the beach. I'm hungry but starting to feel a little sick too. We turn in our rental car and tell the guy we're flying delta. Away we go in the shuttle, then I look at the documents and tell him ohhh it looks like Alaska is operating this flight so we'll need to go there. He insists that since it says Delta that's where we need to check in. I'm sorry since when did he know everything, I knew he was wrong...but to delta we went. Once we get there, half the computers are broken. And I'm feeling even more sick. We find one that works and put in our conf number. Then it says this flight is operated by Northwest, please input that conf #. So I try going through that way and it doesn't work. I tell the lady I need help and she's like in a minute. So finally she comes over and I tell her whats happening, she says well then I guess you better go to northwest. I tell her we're NOT flying northwest, its operated by Alaska, but ticketed through Delta, she looks at my itinerary and was like no you need to go to nw, I said...we're NOT even flying them...we're flying Alaska. Then shes like well then go to Alaska. I only wish I could get her rude I hate my job tone in here. She was not helpful, and I started to cry a little. I'm not much of a cryer anymore, but somehow the airport always stresses me out, plus I felt sick.

So away we go to find Alaska airlines, which was of course on the other side of the airport. So we get there, and there is no one in line and three people working the counter. We stand there and wait probably a good minute before they're done with their conversation and can help us. I'm on the verge of tears, so I tell art he's going to have to talk to them, he tells them the story and this lady was pretty nice, she's like oh okay no problem. Within 15 seconds we had our boarding passes. We walk down the hall, probably 2 minutes and stop so Art can go to the bathroom, while hes in there, I'm looking at our docs, and realize they only gave us the tickets from MCO to Seattle, but not our Seattle to Redmond tickets. Then I'm annoyed, and then I look at our luggage tags...yep sure enough, they checked them to Seattle. Ughhh, art's out in a few seconds and I tell him to run back and figure it out. I stay there as I don't want to start balling and freaking out.

When he comes back, I ask him how it went. He told me I don't want to know. He went over there and told the lady hey we just checked our luggage and you sent it to Seattle and not Redmond, and shes like WHAT!! Well why didn't you tell us that when you checked it. I can't do anything to help you NOW! He's like we just checked it two minutes ago...her: well sorry can't help you...TOMORROW, that's when you can get your luggage. I can't do anything to help you, you should have told us. I'm sorry, since when was it MY job to re-check what the people at the airlines have done to make sure they did it right? Seriously you are blaming us, for you checking our luggage to the wrong place. So art is like, I just want to know what I can do, and what we can do to make sure our luggage goes to Redmond, her: I can't help you, you'll have to do it in Seattle. OMG! Are you kidding me!!! What is going on!

So I'm pissed....royally pissed now, I'm like oh well at least the gate agent is usually more helpful. So we get to our gate and go up to the guy there. Art explains the luggage thing and how we need our connecting flight tickets and the guy is like I don't get it, why didn't they book it to the right place, we have no idea we tell him. He looks annoyed to be helping us, he's like oh well you can just deal with it in Seattle. I tell him we have a short layover and are afraid we won't make it, he's like well it'll show up eventually. I tell him , Also I'd like the names of the girls working at the ticketing counter, and he looks at me like I just asked him to name the president of the companies home address and phone number. He goes, uhhh right, how do you expect me to know who they are out of all those people working over there, I say well there are only 3 ladies working at the Alaska counter, so I'd like their names, He says, I don't even know how you expect me to find that out, I say well I want you to call the ticketing counter, cause I want to talk to their supervisor. He tells me there is no way he can do that. He then starts looking up our reservations, and tells us, he can't give us our connecting tickets and that we'll have to figure it all out in Seattle. That was enough, I had to walk away. I went into the bathroom and cried a little till I felt better.

I came out and Art is on the phone with Alaska Airlines trying to get everything taken care of. The lady on the phone is nice, and tells Art that she has no clue why no one will help us get our tickets to Seattle. She does a bunch of stuff, and like ten minutes of them talking we get paged up to the stand. The same guy slams down two tickets and goes, Phoenix called, here's your tickets, and NO I can't do ANYTHING about your luggage. I was like ohhhh my goshhh...you did not just do that to us! So eventually we board, and get to Seattle. Seattle people are much nicer, help us figure out our luggage, and we are good to go. We board our tiny little plane to Redmond, did I mention its now 11:00, by the time we board in Seattle. And we are on east coast time, so make that 2 am. Oh and did I also mention we have to work at 11 am. So we get to Redmond finally and I tell art that I will wait for the luggage and for him to go get the car. I wait forever, why on earth it takes so long for luggage at this airport I will never know. There is one terminal and one baggage claim. And the entire airport is like the size of my store. So why it takes so long is beyond me. Baggage finally comes and I take it outside to where I think the car will be waiting. Where is art with the car, I look all around and see art walking up. Wait where's the car. Art walks up and says, yep the cars dead. Seriously, no wait, are you serious. This is just great, its 12:15 am, (3:15 am to my body) and we still have to drive 20 minutes home. Ohhhh great. The police officer inside gives us a jump box after art tells him he can hold me as collateral, the guy found that quite funny. I didn't care, I just wanted to go home. He got it started finally, and home we went, for my like 3 hours of sleep and then off to work. Fun fun day. :(

Disney Cruise Part 2

Where did I leave off?? Oh yes...thats right...we had been screwed out of going to Castaway Cay for the day, I remember now.



So they say they have all these really "FUN" things to do. Which mostly consisted of adding on movie times and some character greetings. I was very depressed by this all. We decided to go see Bolt in 3D since we couldn't do anything else. Cute movie. After that, we decided it was time for the adults only pool. Or maybe the hot tub. It was pretty chilly out. So we hung out in the hot tub for a while, and some Disney Cast Members came by asking how our day was, I told them it would be ALOT better if I was at Castaway Cay, that got everyone in the hot tub free drinks. Thank you . We chatted with them a while, and I asked them all sorts of Disney stuff. That night we went to Disney Dreams, the musical show. Very good.



We also got to go to this party for repeat guests with our new friends Oliver and Rosie. We met the captain there and told him that to make up for this sadness of no CC, we'd want some Chocolate Souffle from Palo. Palo is an adults only restaurant on board that you have to pay to eat at. So the Souffle you can only get from there. He asked where we were eating, our table number and time. We gave it to him. I should also mention, that I had already asked our head server in the dining room the night before for some of this, and she said she'd work on it for tonights dinner. Long story short, we totally got the entire table Souffle!!! WOOHOO!!! I'm pretty sure everyone in the dining room was jealous...but thats okay, and it helped me feel much better about not getting to go to CC for the day.



Dinner over, and then we go take some pics of the characters. After that, its pack up and bed time. Is it really time to leave, I swear we just got on. So goes the 3 night cruise, on and then your off. Time flies. Next day, we have breakfast and get email addresses from new friends. Then its time to leave.... :( Sad sad sad.



But I was semi-okay with leaving because it meant we were headed to WDW and the Magic KINDGDOM!!! Hip Hip Hooray! We drove to the Contemporary resort where we'd be staying for our one last night. A really cool hotel, the closest one to magic kingdom and we've always wanted to stay there. So we decided to splurge and do it. Really cool and really nice. And you can walk to the park. And if you know how HUGE WDW is, you know that is very very rare. We went to the park, and stayed for a few hours. And of course my very favorite ride... Mickeys Philharmagic, was closed...what else is new, keep it up Disney...thanks alot! But then we got to meet up with my friend Kim and her hubby for lunch, and I haven't seen her in a while, so that was really cool. After lunch in Downtown Disney, we headed back to the hotel, we were in desperate need of a nap. So we slept for a couple hours and headed back to the magic kingdom. Something really cool that they do in WDW, is if you are staying on Disney property, you can go into the parks after hours, on certain days. So that was one good thing. Until we got there, and the place was packed...go stay at another hotel...leave my disney hotels for me! Why oh why were there so many people there...Its superbowl Sunday, they should be at home, spending quality time in front of the TV. I do NOT appreciate them here, standing in my lines. So we went on a few rides, and decided we didn't feel like dealing with all the people, so we left. Goodbye Magic Kingdom...I promise it won't be long.

Off to our hotel, to watch the last two minutes of the Superbowl. I know I'm an awesome wife for letting him watch the last two minutes! Thank you! :) Off to bed. We wake up for our last day in FL, which was my sister Sarahs birthday as well. We're going to the beach!!! Woohooo!!! Until that is we start driving there, and its TOTALLY raining! UGHGHHHH...we get there and its actually okay weather. Thank goodness. So we go have lots of fun on the beach and watch the annoying seagulls as they nearly attack us for our food. Stupid birds. Then we decide to take a nature walk ( this obviously must have been Sarah's idea, since I don't walk for fun....lol) Where it starts to rain, a little, then a lot, then downpour. So we got fairly wet and then sat in the car and talked. Are you kidding me....rain....RAIN~!! On my supposed to be sunny getaway and on my sisters birthday! The nerve!!!! It didn't let up and we eventually had to leave to go to the airport. Well the airport is another story for another day...so you're just going to have to keep waiting.

So you wanna hear about the Disney Cruise huh??

Warning...this is very long. I may even split it into 2 different posts. So I hope you have some extra time on your hands to read it. :)



Alright...I'll just start this out by saying that you all know how much I love Disney. So the mixture of unfortunate events, has by no means lessened my love for them... away we go.



So we get to the airport around 6:30, our flight leaves at 7:50, we're informed its delayed 35 mins. Then about 10 mins later, its delayed again...and again. We realize we're never going to make our connecting flight, so luckily we were at a nice airport (Redmond) and the lady re-booked no problem. Whewww...that was close.



On we go on our yucky overnight flight, after 13 hours of traveling we arrive at the airport and go to get our rental car. Where the woman is just as pleasant as can be, are you sensing my sarcasm. Well then another client comes in and just walks right up to our counter and starts yelling at the woman about how she gave him the WRONG keys. No, no no...he put his stuff into a nicer car, and now expects her to give him the upgrade. Ummmm hellooooo we are here and we have places to be. He doesn't care, he keeps screaming that he's already packed the entire car, and it is her duty and job to give him that upgrade. Long story short, she doesn't. HAha!



So after an hour of driving we are at the port! WAHOO!!! No lines to check in, awesome! I of course ask if anyone has cancelled and if there are any upgrades. Nope, nothing. Absolutely full...to capacity. Full capacity is 2760 (thats with every room completely full) and our ship was at 2739. Oh great I think. Oh well...onto take our picture with Cpt Mickey~ After about 45 min-1 hour we are able to board. When you get on, they ask for your Family name and state and then they announce you coming onboard. All the way from Oregon, its the Walker Family! We totally recorded it on the camera. It was cool. So up to lunch we go, ate a ton and then finally the room is ready. I decorate the door, and its totally awesome and then we got to sleep! (well a nap at least) Bla bla bla for the rest of the day. Oh we did have a good dinner and saw The Golden Mickeys show, it was awesome.



So day two...bla bla bla...We walk around outside before we decide to go change and get off the ship. We are walking inside and my flip flop gets stuck on the doorway, its slow motion and I think I can catch myself. Well I didn't I fell flat on my face (and no this was NOT funny) and really hurt my knee. It hurt like a mother you know what and I started crying and could barely get up. I laid there holding my knee crying, super. Just super. ( oh and my knee still hurts a week and a half later thank you) Great way to start my day and cruise. So after getting myself together we get ready to get off the ship. We're docked in Nassau, Bahamas we decide that we are not going to take our swimsuits with us, since we've been to Nassau before, so whats the point. We walk about a mile to get to the Beach, since we don't want to pay the insane amount it costs to use the Atlantis Beach (which is right next to the public one) we go take some pictures. We go take more pics at Atlantis, which everyone in the world is convinced is the coolest place ever. Ummmm hello, its a Vegas Casino...in the Bahamas...thats it! Not worth the money, trust me! Go to SANDALS...save yourself from the screaming kids!!! Back to the ship we go. Swimming, hot tub...lots of food, The Toy Story Show, and that wraps up the day.



We wake up on to the ship really rocking on Saturday, then our phone rings and its some friends we met onboard. They got upgraded prior to the cruise to one of the balcony rooms on the very back of the ship! Their balcony was HUGGGEEEE!! So of course we go, everyone I know says watching them dock at Castaway Cay (Disneys island) is totally awesome! So we get dressed really quick and run over there. We see the island, oh its so beautiful. And we see The Flying Dutchman (thats the ship from the movie Pirates of the Caribbean) I can't wait!!! Then all of a sudden, we start turning...and pulling away. And the island is getting smaller and smaller until its gone. We call guest services, they tell us its too windy and we're going to circle around and try again in 30 mins. So an hour and a half later, we're really close... we run out and start taking pictures, and clapping and jumping in the air. Hip Hip Hooray...we're going to Castaway Cay. We get closer and closer, I'm like hurry it up already, I'm ready to jump off this ship and swim there! Then all of a sudden... we just keep turning, and turning and turning. And then we realize it, we're pulling away yet AGAIN! And then the worst happens, the captain gets on and says, attention ladies and gentlemen, due to winds beyond our control, we will be unable to dock at Castaway Cay at all today! I stop listening there, I'm sorry, did he just say AT ALL!!! As in, I will be stuck on this boat at sea all day, and Castaway Cay will remain a dream in my mind and I won't get to see it! This must be a joke...come on Rebekah wake up, I must be dreaming! Because I've given Disney enough time and money that it surely could not do this to me. Well...it did. I was in shock, I wasn't getting to go to Disney's private island...instead we got to have a bull crap Fun Day at Sea! Oh give me a break!!!!

Okay....I'll need a break now, so you'll have to wait for the rest of the story in the 2nd post ...

Vacation draws near...

Only 2 Days until we leave for the one...the only....DISNEY CRUISE LINE!!! WOOHOO!!! I sooooo can not wait! Yes its technically just a long weekend, but its getting out of Bend, so if you ask me that is a vacation!!!

I've finished my Door Decorations for my cabin door. Its going to look awesome in case you were wondering. And I'll be sure to post pics, as I'm sure most of you are dying to see how crazy I really am?!?

Then on sunday, yes that would be superbowl Sunday, I'll be heading to the Magic Kingdom, where my poor husband will be with me, and not watching the Superbowl. But that night I will get to have dinner with one Mrs. Kim Thornburg, a friend from work whom I haven't seen in a while. And then its back to the park for extended Magic Hours. Ahhhh gotta love that staying on Disney Property gives you extra hours in the park!

Then on Monday it will be little miss Sarah's birthday. I think she's turning 35...right Sarah? AHahahahahah...just kidding. We'll be heading to the beach with the kids and hanging out in the sun and making sand castles and hopefully the water will be warm enough to dip our toes in.

So thats it, just can't wait! Stinky Bend has like 3 inches of snow...boooo!!!!!

I've become addicted....

Okay so its bad enough that I'm a total Disneyaholic. Well with our cruise coming up quickly I've been trying to get tips and tricks and cool little hints, and I've discovered these Disney Boards online where millions of people post threads about questions and then other users reply...



Well I've become addicted. Its like a drug or something I guess, I can't pull myself away, well except to write this on how much of a no life I have. But actually if you were ever planning any Disney trip, this would be a fantastic place to research! I think I spend a lot of time on there, there are people who post replies to pretty much every thread. Anyway, its insane. And I can't pull myself away, its like I run into the house after work to see what is new on there! What on earth is wrong with me.

So because of this new found addiction of mine, I've discovered that the real Disney fans decorate their cabin door during their cruise!! And no I am not joking, and yes of course I am going to do it!!! So over the last 3 days after work I've gone through 192 pages...yes pages and, I think there are between 10-15 postings per page. (Did I mention this is just ONE of the threads) So this should tell you just how many hours I have spent looking this stuff up. So now I can't stop making posters and personalized pictures for my door. Because lets face it, if I'm going to decorate my door, its got to be the best. None of this amateur crap, mine will look awesome!

I'm pretty sure that if Art didn't already think I was crazy, he sure does now. But hey like he says, it makes me happy, and thats whats important. (Go ahead and barf now if you want to. ) I apparently just like admitting that I'm a total dork, but who cares. So anyways, if you ever want to know anything about Disney and feel like spending countless hours doing pretty much nothing, then you should check that site out. And if you want some cool pics for your cabin door, go make them yourself! I'm exhausted !!! Who knew being creative was so much work!!

Say goodbye to my bottled water... sad....

Okay so yes I know...biggest waste of money ever is....DING DING DING...bottled water. Yes I know, am I an offender of buying it all the time?? Sure am. But on Sunday when I went to costco, and saw that they jacked up the price for my cute little baby sized water like $4, I about died. Then when I went to be rang up, they charged bottle deposits!! What??? When did I move back to Cali?? Effective Jan 1st in Oregon, you have to pay deposits for bottled water. Well that just threw me over the edge. So my cute little waters (you know the like 8 oz size..they're adorable) that used to cost me like $5 for 48 or something, now cost me $12 with deposits!!! That's insane...

I'm going to a tap water drinker now...booohooo for me. I know its so stupid. But I've been drinking my good ole Kirkland brand bottled water for like 5-6 years. Its weird to not buy it. But man am I going to save money! So I went and got myself a new little cute Nalgene bottle (yes i went to five different stores to find the one I wanted) for work, and now I can help save the environment and save money. Yeah for me! :) Thankfully Oregon has great tap water...now if we move back to Cali someday...I might become a bottled water drinker again. Cause their water tastes like poop!! Its sooo gross.... but for now, I'll be going green by not wasting my water bottles.

Oh and another thing....

Okay so while on the subject that the economy sucks...lets explore this mind blowing phobia... (Of how people are afraid to get a common persons job, because they are just too above all of us)

So you're out of work because the economy sucks, I feel for you. Its really hard out there, I get it. I'm thankful each and everyday to have a job, and that art does. Here's who I don't feel bad for. Those people who are out of work, but who refuse to do anything about it. So yeah you lost your job making really good money. But you won't accept any job that pays less than that?? So let me get this straight...when did no money become better than a little money?? You're whining and crying about not having any money, but there are tons of companies hiring. Sure they make only pay $9 an hour, $10 if you're lucky.... but there are FULL time positions paying that...So you'd rather sit around and feel sorry for yourself then get a full time job (sure it doesn't pay what you're used to) and have some sort of income...I do NOT get it!!

I understand people have become accustom to the way they have been living, but sometimes things change and you can't live like that anymore. But I am SOOOOO sick of listening to people cry about it, and then you try and help or let them know about a position. And well that just isn't good enough. Thats what the common people do, they certainly could not be seen in public by their friends doing such a horrific and common person job. Oh get the hell over yourself. If I lost my job (ohhh lord, please no...) but if I did, I wouldn't care where it was I'd take pretty much anything. If I gotta go work at Target, so be it. A job is a job, and money is money. Having some money, even a little, is better than not having any right? So why is it that all these people are complaining about not finding work...can't you find something temporary until you find your dream job. Can't you make something in the meantime instead of nothing? I guess not. Because we all know it is better to cry and wine to everyone about not having anything, than to get off your butt and work any job to make any sort of money....

Oh the stupid people of the world who annoy me. Maybe that's what I should have named my blog. "All the idiots of the world and how they love to make me crazy"

Don't get me wrong, the economy sucks, and I do really really feel bad for anyone who has lost their jobs. I just think people should be more willing to make something than in the hopes of finding a job making exactly what they were making. Because lets face it, in this economy, it ain't gonna happen my friend.

An Adventure to make you laugh...and to warn you do NOT do this!!!

So we love to travel. We go to Sandals Resorts every year. Its our very favorite place. So in April of 2007 we went to Sandals Grande Ocho Rios. HUGE HUGE resort. Beautiful water of course. But this is not a post about the resort...

This is a post about the tours you can take on these vacations. So I'm looking at all the excursions and tours and I see one that is for horseback riding through the countryside, then you get to ride the horses in the ocean too. So cool right?? I'll let you think it's cool now, just wait. So I make sure to ask a million questions, most all regarding to how deep in the ocean you go, since I'm terrified of deep water (thanks for that mom, hahaha) They told me it only goes up to like the horses legs, like the lower part of their body. So I'm thinking oh okay, I can handle this. Then I ask well do they swim through the water, and they told me, no they trot, its very relaxing and beautiful. I know what you're thinking, once in a lifetime thing to do right? Ride a horse through the beautiful Caribbean. Again, I'm going to let you keep thinking this. So we book the tour.

We get there, and they take us out to the horses. I'm like wait, where are the saddles? All they have are these little tiny things on top... (Art says they were english saddles, whatever that means) So I get on the horse. Yeah this is going to really really hurt after 3 hours of riding this thing practically bare back. So away we go with the 8 other people in our group. Art and I stayed in back and chatted with the 2nd tour guide, he was awesome. And told us alot about Jamaica. Alot of sad stories there. Anywho...bla bla bla, we ride through the hillside....Saw a bunch of huge scary spiders, bla bla bla.

So then we get to the beach. (Its not a resort beach, its a normal one, so its kinda dirty) but the water was still gorgeous. We get off the horses and they tell us to change into our swim suites. I do, thinking why did I bring this if we're hardly going to get wet. So we get back up, and get ready to go into the ocean. Our horses go out into the water. Ahhh sooo pretty. Then before we "start" our water adventure, the main guide says, oh and anyone who's horse takes a crap in the water owes us $2. We all laugh, thinking he's so funny and making a joke. Until we notice one of the horses had pooped in water, and then it was gross. But oh well we're thinking. Guess he had to go. Well apparently horses must get an urge while they are in the water. So we start "trotting" along, and every single one of the horses start pooping in the water!!! Did I mention I was in the back????!!!!???? So there is all this poop just floating around, but guess what happens when horses trot, it starts making the waves bigger, and then the poop starts flying around. And yes I'm totally serious! So by this time, I've got 8 horses poop in front and all around me. And we all know horses don't poop just a little amount. So we start going faster, the horse poop is like discinigrating (sp?) and getting chopped up because its flying through the water. Here we are riding our horses , who are RUNNING ... not trotting, and this poop infested water is coming up with the waves and getting all over you. Art and I have our mouthes closed thinking, oh dear lord please do not let me eat any of this crap. Literally!!! And you're not in to your ankles , its like up to your waist. So from waist down, you're flying through horse poop water. The water didn't have that gorgeous blue color anymore. More brown and smelly.

So in addition to worrying about getting poop all over you, you are hauling through the water on your horse on this bare to none thing they call an english saddle. You can barely hold on, and you're about to fall off. I'm pratically in tears by this point. Mostly because I kept thinking, oh my gosh, I'm going to fall off, get my foot stuck in this thing, and drown underneath a horse who is going to trample me to death in POOP water!!! Drowning is bad enough, but in poop water!! So we stop for a second and I tell them I want to go back in, the main guy is totally making fun of me, and I tell him I don't want to drown in poop water. He thinks this is pretty funny...Its not. Luckily the other tour guide who we'd become friends with offered to go really slow with me while everyone else ran through...So he did. I made it back without drowning in the poop water!! HOORAY!!!

The moral of this story, is when you go somewhere tropical and they try to convince you that you should take this wonderful "romantic" horseback ride through the ocean, you should SAY NO!!! Unless you like riding through poop water and getting covered in it. And if you do, then

knock yourself out.