la vida en la playa

this is what Z thinks about taking too many pictures=-)

z & i decided to take some pictures on some of our recent walks to the beach, most of them are of course goofy, but we sincerely tried to take a couple serious ones=-)

"New"

New: adj. -Just found, discovered, or learned; Having been made or come into being only a short time ago; recent

On account of 2008 coming to a close, thought I would write about some new and old things i'm feeling excitable about in this new year!

• I have given into reading the Twilight series because of my sister-in-law Dani, (after much fighting to not give into the craze), but her recommendation has made it hard to keep turning it away! I am on page 7 currently... and was instantly rewarded when the Olympic peninsula of Washington was mentioned on the first page! It's definitely off to a good start...
• Looking forward to going to LHC, Arizona to see my family in March, and getting to meet my brothers new girlfriend=-) Everyone has met her but me now, and they're all excited about her, so now i'm excited!!
• my two new spring dresses (thanks to Mama Cindy!) I kind of have an obsession with dresses lately.
• Being able to nap with my husband in our hammock and feel the warmth of the sun on our faces... even in late December! Bring on the tanning season...=-)
• Getting a healthy kickstart as early as January when I begin my six-week 'boot-camp' at the gym.
• my girlfriends, A & L, missing them terribly! Fingers crossed i'll see you in 2009!
• seeing my Taylor Swift sing live in March!
• Elizabeth Gilbert promised me that her new book would be out in 2009... hoping earlier than December... not sure if I can wait another 12-months=-)
• a new job? looking forward to the new adventure and people that will bring...

the temporary abode

my wallet-friendly breakfast=-)

this is the place we got to call home sweet home for a few days... the pool/hot-tub was the best part by far... the pool was probably just a few degrees cooler than the hot-tub... it was SOOO nice, like a giant lukewarm bath=-)

fun little moments

what trip would be complete without touristy photos!?
waiting for the simpsons ride... a fun starbucks in the san fransisco themed area

i had to take a picture in my 'tuk-tuk' which is my lucky winning piece in our monopoly game=-)

not something you see everyday! who says monks can't have fun!? and they weren't employed by universal!

happy 'who-lidays'=-)

we got to see lots of shows inside the parks, but my favorite was probably a mini production of 'how the grinch stole christmas.' it was outdoors, the grinch was hilarious, they used a real dog to play 'max' and they even ended the show with 'snow' falling on top of you (it was actually soap suds, but still... very cool effect for us snow-deprived floridians...)

um what winter?

it might be the middle of december... but you'd never know that here=-)

roller-coasters and wet rides oh my!

the wet one...
this was me pouting before every entrance to a roller-coaster...

so this rollercoaster was called 'dueling dragons' because two rollercoasters wind thru tracks at the same time (at one-point you're only like 15-feet apart), and i have to say this was probably the best rollercoaster i've ever been on... one really cool thing was that your feet dangle free... very fun=-) BUUT... the last time we rode this one there was some kind of technical difficulty and the other rollercoaster didn't go in time so we went up the ramp in like 'slow-mo'...and let me just say, the anticiapation was excrutiating!!!! you're going up this like 75-degree angle one click at a time...click.click.click.... it took like five whole minutes to climb to the top...meanwhile zane is totally enjoying the view as things start appearing smaller and smaller... and he's like, "oh hey babe, check it out, there is a nursery over there...check out all the plants!" this is me: " zane: don't talk to me right now, i REALLY need the scary part to get over before you have a conversation with me!!!!" lol, omigosh i was freaking out. somebody behind us said it best when we were done. he said: "i donno which was worse, going up or coming down." ay yi yi... it was crazy!

there were a few lines like this...=-)

so riding the hulk rollercoaster once we enough for me, but my adrenaline-junky-hubby had to ride it again -this time in the front row... he is on the far right-hand side... too bad i couldn't zoom fast enough...let me just explain that when you're about a third of the way up the ramp (heart-pounding out my chest i might add...) and you're 'in the zone' mentally preparing yourself for whatever is to come... it all the sudden takes off like it's been supercharged with Nos totally catching you off guard as it hurls you (UPhill people!) at like a bajillion miles an hour... it was sooo scary.

us posing happy, dry and ignorant...

i told zane that this water ride wouldn't get us that wet... thinking we could just 'duck' when we went down the 'falls'... whoops... i thought so very very wrong... we couldn't have been wetter had we taken a shower in our clothes... these pictures don't do justice to our wetness, we literally had to wring out our clothes...

Character Fun

you better believe we stood in line with all the other anxious kids to get pix with these guys=-) i even got kisses on my cheek from some, lol

KIDS GONE WILD...

that means YOU!

zane 'surfin' down the moving walkway
yay for a 'me-sized' door=-)

just a 'casual' lick off a giant lollipop in seuss-land=-)

ready to get on the spiderman ride with our special peter parker nightvision glasses=-)
z & i just treated ourselves to an economically friendly vacation... we packed a cooler full of food for brown-bag lunches (and breakfasts and dinners!), we snagged an awesome rate for a 1-bedroom condo from my aunt who owns a timeshare, and used 'flex-pay' (meaning we pay a small amount off of our credit card each month instead of paying a lump sum up-front) for year-round access to universal studios and islands of adventures! And to top it all off we had three-days of the weather that makes florida such a famous winter destination -it was in the 80s all week... we literally couldn't have asked for better. these are some of my fave goofy shots of us.