Day 1 at Universal Studios

My internet and/ or my laptop have been sooooo slooooow lately. Usually I multi-task so while I'm writing a blog post I'm also chatting on Facebook, playing Words with Friends & shopping on Etsy. NOW it will only let me do just one thing at a time. Who has that kind of time?? 

Anyhoo, I finished editing a few more pictures from our vacation. After going to Disney Springs the day we arrived, we headed to Universal Studios on Day 2. We'd only been to the Islands of Adventure the last time we were there so we wanted to go to both parks this time. AND there was the added attraction .... the TRAIN! If you get the park hopper pass you can ride the train from one park to the other. We started at Islands of Adventure again, & our plan was to just head to Harry Potter & ride the train right away. 

This was on the way in after we got through the security lines. A giant tv where you can see yourself .... & a dinosaur. Why not?? 

One of these times, I am going to get to spend time in Dr Seuss land! And I don't mean just running through to get to Harry Potter. Why does no one else understand just how CUTE it is???

At least my boys were kind enough to take a moment & pose ... reluctlantly ... for mom. You can see my FIL on the left saying "hurry up!" lol .... I think he's the biggest kid in our group. 

Here we are on the train .... I was surprised the wait was only about 15 minutes. I'm sure it's longer for the real Hogwarts Express ;)

So the screen on the left is where all the action is. We got to see the owls flying around, Harry & his friends on their brooms, & the London countryside. In the hallway we could hear Harry, Ron & Hermione talking & see the shadows of the evil dementors. 

It was a little confusing when we got off the train, as there are no signs directing to where to go to get to Diagon Alley. But once we found it .... wow! I was amazed by all the detail! First stop was lunch .... at the Leaky Cauldron. It. Was. Incredible!! I had fish & chips & could even finish, there was so much food 

Again .... reluctantly. 

Diagon Alley isn't huge. But then again neither is Hogsmeade. But the details are incredible. Gringotts Bank is actually a ride... but it's a 3D ride so I had to pass. I was fine with that .... I got to walk around & really scope out the joint. And ... how fun ... every 10 minutes the dragon at the top of the bank breathes fire. Of course, even though I knew it was every 10 minutes, I just couldn't get a good picture. I even had the camera aimed at it & couldn't get it. Here's my best shot: 

I could have spent the entire day in Diagon Alley. But we had to move on. 

The boys in front of the Knight Bus .... drinking their beloved butterbeer. (why oh WHY won't they give us the recipe?!) 

After this we moved on to the Simpsons area, which I will save for the next post. If you are still with me .... well then you must be a Harry Potter fan lol ... because I can't imagine reading all this & not being a fan. Snooze!!! 

VACATION: Day 1 - Disney Springs

Wow, it has been hard getting back to normal after vacation! We've been home a little over 2 weeks & I feel like I just can't catch up. Work ... home ... errands ... yard work ... I'm behind on everything. I haven't even gone through all my pictures yet, but I did choose a few from our first day to share with you. 

After a very tough wake up at 2 am ... we got to the airport about 3:30 for our 5:35 flight. I couldn't believe how busy it is at that hour lol. 

Take off at 5:35 am on the dot! 

I've pretty much gotten over my fear of flying. Well, I *had* gotten over it, until our return flight. More details on that in my last-day-of-vacation post in a few days.

We decided since we were getting there early enough, but not really early enough to go to the parks (by the time we checked in to the hotel) that we would go to Disney Springs. We didn't go last time so this was new to us. 

I was excited to see this right away:

Yeah, we spent some time in here. 

I think it's funny that in this picture there is a woman behind me wearing more ears/ hats & holding more "stuff" than I am lol. 

I was exhausted & starving from all that shopping. I have been to one of these restaurants before, but not in Orlando. 

Love this place! Definitely enough to look at while waiting for our food. 

We had great food, great drinks & a great gorilla entertaining us the whole time. I didn't get a picture of him though, he was camera shy :)

Michael is smiling in this picture. He thinks this is the only picture he has to pose for. Silly child.

I just thought this was such a beautiful view. I have no idea if Disney Springs changed at all since being Downtown Disney, or if they just changed the name. I was surprised by the high end shops there. Nothing I could afford but it was fun looking! 

I was hoping the Lego Store was more like Legoland, with lots of creations. None inside, but we did find some cool ones outside: 

It was a fun day & the perfect start to our vacation! 

Next: Universal Studios, Day 1!

Michelle

Home again

Hello friends, we are home from our fantabulous vacation! I miss it already! We had such a good time, although I think this will be our last Florida trip IN JULY. The heat & humidity are wicked, you'd think we would have learned our lesson the first time we went. 

I'm still going through pictures, & will post as soon as I can. Seems some of my friends are anxious for pictures of the new Diagon Alley. It was amazing & I can't wait to share with you all. 

Here are a few random pictures that I had posted on Facebook & Instagram: 

A few of my co workers don't understand why we'd want to go back to Disney & Universal when we were "just there" {4 years ago}. To them I say, we can no longer be friends. Seriously, I LOVE it there & yes we do plan on going back in a few years. We got to do & see a lot of things we didn't the first time we were there & I'm betting in 3 or 4 years they will have even more new things to see. I will never ever tire of going there! 

But for now, it's back to reality. I will be getting back to crafting & hopefully finishing that card I started before we left. I need to get my auctions on Ebay in order & update my Etsy shop. I've been going through closets & drawers & taking a lot of stuff to Goodwill. I feel the need for order!! 

I will be back in a few days with more photos!!!! 

Michelle 

TBT & silly randomness

Because silly is all I can be lately. We leave in 2 weeks & 1 day & I. Can't. Wait!!! Our first vacation in 4 years! Maybe someday we'll go somewhere other than Disney/ Universal, but for now this makes us all happy :)

Here we are, last time. I just want to make a note that it was about 1000 degrees EVERYWHERE that summer, not just Disney, so if we look like we were melting we probably were. I wanted to jump into that water behind us. 

My father in law, my mother in law, me, Michael, Matthew

And now comes the silly randomness ..... speaking whatever is on my mind:

* Our flight is at 5:25 am! Yes, we'll be in Florida bright & early, but we'll all be too tired to do anything! 

* I have no idea how or what to pack. I did great last time, didn't forget a thing. This time, even though I made lists, I feel very discombobulated. Oh how I wish I had kept my lists from last time! 

* Praying no one gets sick! That didn't happen last time, but a few months ago when I did get really sick I thought "what if we were leaving today??!!" I'm sure it happens ... I just hope it doesn't happen to us! 

* My FIL was just diagnosed with Celiac disease. Thank goodness for buffets! {our hotel stay includes breakfast & dinner buffet every day}

* My poor cat, who will be 21 in August, will be staying with my mom & her two cats. He didn't enjoy it 4 years ago, I can't imagine he'll be any more thrilled this time around. Or, he's so old now he just won't care. 

More random stuff:

I've been trying HARD to earn any extra $$ I can this past year, & I've also been trying hard to SAVE. I go in spurts with shopping. I can go 3 weeks without doing any shopping except food, but I can easily cancel that savings out in 2 hours.

I was with my friend Cris the other day, who enlightened me about Shopkick. How did I now know about this?? It's an app for your phone, & you get points for shopping at certain stores. Sometimes you get points just for walking INTO a store .... sometimes you get points for scanning things {like a scavenger hunt, so fun!} .... & sometimes they have specials. I think you can scan your Walmart receipt for points. You can download the app on your phone, or send me your # & I'll send you a referral link. I believe if I send it to you, you get 250 points right away. Thanks again, Cris! 

I've also gotten back into Swagbucks. I signed up years ago but always forgot to go to the site. Now they have a button that you can add to your toolbar & an app for your phone. Much easier to remember & yes, it takes a while to earn gift cards but considering you do practically nothing, it's a no-brainer! 

I do have a card in progress, but as it turns out - more organized space does NOT give you more hours in the day! Who knew?! 

Ok ... back to it. Back to what?? Wasting time on the internet, of course :) 


Michelle {can't get my signature to work, boo}

And now it's May

Well, time is just flying right by, isn't it?? 

Time for my monthly update! 

SCRAP AREA

About halfway done, which doesn't seem like much since it's been weeks since I started. It would really help if I could stay healthy for longer than 10 days. But I did get my table in place, & have my Copics at the ready. All I have to do is find some paper & a stamp & I'm back in business! 

This poor project is kind of the "when I have a spare hour I'll work on it" project. And with the weather {finally} getting nicer, time indoors will become even less. I no longer care about the walls. I mean, I will finish painting. Eventually. I just want to get MY stuff back in its place & get crafting! 

KITCHEN

This is the project my brother is helping us with. My brother, who lives an hour away & has his own kitchen remodel going on. This also has become a when-it-gets-done project. There really is no rush, because when it IS finally done I'll have to paint the whole kitchen. Ain't got time for that right now. At least I no longer have a hole in my wall. Always look on the bright side, right? 

DISNEY/ UNIVERSAL

Yikes, our vacation is only 3 months away! I've got some shopping to do!! 

FITNESS

This is big for me. If you are friends with me on Facebook or read this, my always-current blog (!), then you will know that I have struggled with weight gain for over a year now. My doctor isn't concerned. She said the gain, plus the rise in my cholesterol, can be contributed to menopause. Probably also the reason I don't sleep well. Thanks a lot, middle age. But it's so weird .... I've been gaining SINCE I started going to the gym. 

I was only about 5 or 10 lbs up when my son convinced me to get a membership. I started out just walking on the treadmill. I now take classes, walk the treadmill on at least a 5 incline, & use the weight machines & free weights. And yet, I keep going up. My diet isn't perfect. Anyone who knows me knows I'm a super picky eater, I love fruit but hate most veggies & I do have a sweet tooth. I'm trying to be better. I eat more of the veggies I do like (I should be orange from all the carrots I eat) & have really cut down on the sugar. But I'd rather not eat at all than eat kale, which apparently is THE best food to eat. I worked at Ponderosa in high school. Kale is a decoration for the salad bar, not something you make a smoothie with. 

So now, I've decided to start running. I decided to try the C25K program. I've only been doing it for 2 weeks but did skip ahead right off the bat, since I have been using the treadmill for a while now & can easily walk for an hour. So I'm on week 4. I've joined some chat forums for c25k peeps, plus a couple of other fitness boards. I magically started receiving SHAPE magazine at work. Seriously, one day it was in my mail box, addressed TO ME, but I never ordered it. I've been getting it for a months now & normally I don't have time to read magazines but I really like it. The fitness gods must have gifted me the subscription.

I did a bit of research before starting to run & guess what. I step completely wrong. Remember the song "put one foot in front of the other .... & soon you'll be walking out the doooooor"? {you have that in your head now, don't you? You're welcome}. Apparently walking isn't that easy. Apparently I'm a heel striker & apparently I have to learn how to step properly.

If that wasn't bad enough, I also don't breathe correctly. Geez, having to start all over again with breathing & walking .... does this mean I can go back to taking 3 naps a day as well?? 

We shall see how this all plays out. I would like to try to run a 5k by the end of summer. Just to say I did it. I'll keep you updated on my progress!! 


If you made it this far, thank you! I really hope to be back to making something other than a mess sometime soon! 

Almost May .....

Can't wait!! It can't possible snow anymore in May, right?? 

** Wisconsinites will remember this **


I prefer my May to look more like this: 

In fact, this weekend I will be working hard on my new garden ....starting from scratch so it will take me every weekend for the next month to get it ready ... but it will be sooo worth it. And it's good exercise!! Bonus! 

And I'm so excited that we've decided to go on a vacation next summer. I'll give you one hint as to where we're going :)

Yep, back to Disney World & Universal. My MIL were chatting on Facebook last weekend & decided we needed to go back. Excited to see the expansion of the Harry Potter World (Diagon Alley!!! Or is it Diagonally?? LOL) .... and get through the rest of Epcot (we just couldn't make it to every country last time) .... and THIS time I'm getting me a Dole Whip!! Forgot all about it last time!! Priorities!!

And as luck would have it (since I need to fund this trip), I had someone contact me through Etsy asking me about cards. She used to buy from me a LOT .... but haven't heard from her in a while. Well, maybe because I have 3 whole cards in my store LOL. She said she really needs to stock up & is wondering if I'll be listing more cards in the near future. I told her I wasn't really making cards these days, but that if she really wanted some & was willing to give me the time to make them (like, a year ..... kidding!) then I would make some for her. Otherwise I will sell her the rest of my supplies & she can make her own. You know, teach a person to fish, or something like that.....

Universal Studios - & giving up my hobby

Disney World was AWESOME -- but I can't tell you how much fun we had at Universal Studios! We went to Islands of Adventure -- of course, because that's where the land of Harry Potter is!

I was just floored by the entire place:

First we walked through Dr Seuss land:

It was a quick walk, as everyone else couldn't wait to get to Harry Potter, but I kept stopping to take pictures. I mean, COME ON! How cute is this?

Well I have many more pictures of Seuss land --- but let's get to Harry Potter, shall we?

Seriously, the details are AMAZING!!! I'm not a HUGE Harry fan like many I know -- in fact I FINALLY just started reading the first book -- which came out when my teen was just a baby! But you don't have to be a fan to enjoy it -- here is the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. It's a 3D ride. Yeah, nobody told me it was SCARY! I should have known when they made you put all your loose articles in a locker, than probably I shouldn't have gone on it. If you can handle 3D -- & lots of movement at the same time -- then you'll love it!

My boys with their pumpkin juice. I didn't get a picture of them with their Butterbeer -- which was soooooo good -- that alone is worth the trip! I have a few recipes for Butterbeer to try out -- I hope I can find one that comes close!

Of course we had to get a pic next to the Hogwarts Express:

Made a quick trip through Jurassic Park:

Toon Lagoon -- ALL CARTOONS! So freakin' cute!

I was in AWE! I LOVE cartoons!

Beetle Bailey:

We ate lunch at the Comic Strip Cafe:

Cathy:

Heathcliff (isn't my son so clever? LOL)

Next up -- Superheros:

I'm not up on my Superheros but again, the details were amazing!

And here was the highlight of the boys' day:

It's not called the Hulk for nothing!

A net?? I really hope that's for personal belongings, & not persons LOL

We had the BEST TIME! Our whole trip was really fabulous. Our last full day we went to Blizzard Beach, which is a water park. Again, tons of fun & the weather was perfect for it (it was at least 90). I didn't get any pictures, because I didn't want to take my camera there. But let's just say, it was the perfect end to a perfect vacation!

Thanks so much for taking a peek at my week in Mouse Paradise! I sooo hope we can go back again some day!


On a personal note, I have decided that my stamping days are long over. I haven't had time to make a card in months & I don't see me having any more free time in the near future. Right now, all my stuff is boxed up. I had started a card about a week ago, but since all my stuff is packed away I doubt I will finish it. I was hoping to have a last hurrah-type post but it wasn't meant to be.

I have made so many good friends during these past few years -- & just because I won't be creating any more doesn't mean you are rid of me. I still like looking at pretty cards & I will still be visiting your blogs. I don't know what I will do -- if I will continue to post other things here or not. I still love to bake so maybe I will still post recipes. And I am learning more about my new camera so maybe some generic pictures will pop up here & there. I haven't decided yet how to sell my stuff -- I may post it here -- so don't unfollow me just yet!!!

Thank you so much for your support & friendship :)

Lots of hugs ~