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!!! 

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 

My sweet fur-baby

Our family had to say good-bye to our sweet kitty Elwood yesterday. If you know me at all, you know how important he was to me & my boys. I've posted tons of pictures of him here & on Facebook & Instagram....  he was a huge part of my life & I am devastated. He would have been 21 in a few weeks. I know, he lived a full life. But that doesn't make it any easier. And we leave for vacation early Saturday morning. Please think good thoughts for my family ... that we can fully enjoy ourselves next week even though we've suffered a huge loss. 

Good-bye my sweet baby. I will always love you xoxoxox

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}

A very slow process

It is April, isn't it?? Looks like I totally missed posting anything in March. In my defense ~ I was sick 2 weekends in a row (one with a headache the size of Texas & the other with the gastro-ickies), I've been trying really hard to get my basement finished, & we've been doing some repairs in our kitchen. 

Oh yeah .... & my son got into a car accident about a week & a half ago :( :( :( 

If you're friends with me on Facebook .... you can fast forward through this paragraph. 

So .... his beloved car is totaled. Thank goodness just the car is totaled & not him. He walked away without a scratch. He was coming home one snowy evening & came up over a hill to find a bunch of cars stopped. He tried braking but just slid & slid. He could either slide into the driver in front of him, or go into the ditch. He chose the ditch. Unfortunately, he rammed into a mailbox & flipped his car. There's nothing like getting a phone call from your child yelling "I flipped my car, come quick!". My heart dropped. My husband wasn't home from work yet. It was dark. I ran out of the house & tried to get to him as quickly as I could. Of course, the weather was bad so I was sliding. He was only a mile from our house but it seemed like forever before I got to him. Oh, & bonus ... I forgot my phone at home. Coming upon the scene ... there are no words. I saw his car upside down ..... the ambulance .... the fire truck ... all the lights. Someone grabbed me & said he was already in the ambulance & that he's fine. Seriously, he had a small bruise on his knee. I lost it. I hate to see how I would have reacted if he'd been hurt. I couldn't stop crying. All the what-ifs went through my head. Thank goodness he was wearing his seatbelt .... & that he was on a back road, not the freeway .... he was only going about 20 mph ... & so many people stopped to help & to call 911. I don't ever want to go through anything like that again.

His car, RIP:

I owe so much to this poor car, it kept my baby safe. Did I mention he wasn't hurt at all?!

So .... we are waiting to hear from the insurance company as to how much we'll receive, & start looking for a new car. Sigh .... I hate car shopping! 

But in other news .... my basement is coming along nicely. I knew it would be a ton of work & I knew it would take forever because of all the crap down there, but I just want it DONE. I paint one wall (2 coats of course, because there is no paint in the universe that would cover these ugly walls with one coat), then move crap over to that wall so I can start on the next wall. Lots of cobwebs & dirt & dust has accumulated over the last 14 years so lots of cleaning before the painting. And the prep. Oh gosh, I hate taping everything. But I'm the slobbiest painter ever so I have to do it. 

A sneak peek: 

It's going from a 2 toned puke hue, to a warm beige/ yellow. I love it! Unfortunately the ugly carpet will have to stay for now .... good thing man invented throw rugs! 

I can't wait to get back to creating. Just as I decided to try to get back into it I had to pack up all my stuff. I also bought some beads & such, & have been trolling Pinterest & YouTube to gear up for my attempt at making some jewelry. I'm sure my first few tries will go directly into the trash .... but I'm hoping to learn lots & someday I'll be a famous jewelry maker!!!!!! 

Ok maybe not ..... but it will be a fun venture anyway :)

I'm also cleaning up & adding to my Etsy shop. Lots of cards have been stashed away & I need to get those listed. Mama ain't making no money with them hiding away in her drawers!

Thanks for sticking with me! Have a super week! 

I survived Christmas 2015

Well, for someone who could be Scrooge's sister, I actually had a nice holiday. Christmas Eve was quiet. I finished baking, made a ham for dinner, then spent the rest of the night watching Christmas movies ("Christmas Vacation" & "Elf", 2 of my favorites) while chugging sipping Irish Cream. I am so thankful my kids don't get up at 5 on Christmas morning wanting to open presents. They were never ever early risers. While my 13 year old generally gets up around 7 on weekends, my 17 year old had to be woken up. Quite a few times. Even though he knew (because he sent me the links lol) some RAD presents awaited him. Apparently he was up playing Minecraft until way-too-late o'clock. Ahhhh the life of a teenager. 

We spent the rest of the day at my mom's. Well, 3/4 of us did. Hubby wasn't feeling well for the 287th time this year, so he stayed home. I think it's because he knew what we were having for dinner .... our traditional lasagna! Nope, we're not even 1 iota Italian, but it's my very favorite meal. My mom has been making it every Christmas for years. Hubby hates it. That's fine, we enjoyed some yummy pasta while he stayed home & probably had a fine meal of Saltines.

Yesterday we all stayed home & recuperated. I am happy to report that I did take a shower (apparently a lot of my Facebook friends didn't even do that lol), but then got right back into my sweats. Did some laundry .... cleaned up the Christmas mess ... & had leftovers for dinner. There was a Harry Potter marathon on tv so I watched some of those .... all in all a very relaxing day. 

Today is catch up before heading back to work tomorrow. Booo! Remind me next year to take some more time off around the holidays .... the thought of going to work while everyone is home lazing is depressing. AND it appears we are finally getting our winter tomorrow. All crammed into one day. Endless snow & wind. Perfect. 

I hope you all had a spectacular & safe Christmas! I'm actually going to do some blurfing right now {while watching the Packers beat the Cardinals} to see what everyone got from Santa!!! 

Update ~ halfway through our visit

Well, I had really planned on posting DAILY while our exchange student was here, so I could tell you all about him & what all the kids are doing every day .... but there just hasn't been a single spare minute. We have been busy busy busy ... trying to cram as much activity as we can into these 2 weeks. And this week is Homecoming so the fun will just keep going :)

It has been an absolute blast having him here. I was so nervous about having someone ... a *foreign* someone, to boot .... stay here for 2 weeks, but I absolutely love him & I don't want to give him back. He is just so sweet & he & my son get along great. All the German students & hosts get along & there have been quite a few parties/ bonfires that they've attended. We even had one here on Saturday ... first one in our new fire pit that isn't even finished. I mean, it WORKS ... there was fire ... it just doesn't look very pretty yet. 

I'll just skip over the part where they decided {on their own} to also burn the entire pile to the left of the pit. It was huge. The pile AND the fire. Yeeks. 

Saturday was our Fall Fest here in town & my son played a song on his guitar in front of the music store where he takes lessons. They have a stage set up & live music all day. I tried to videotape it, but Matthew said I cut it off halfway. Which is weird, because I didn't even breathe the whole time he was playing, let along hit the stop button. I told him to record it here at home so I can post it :)

I laughed when I posted this picture on Facebook, I didn't realize the signs on the store window over their heads .... Dominik is "new" & Matthew is "used". 

We couldn't NOT treat our German to a night of Ponza Rottas. What? You've never heard of a Ponza Rotta?? Maybe because our town invented them, & I guess they never spread outside the county hahaa. It's basically a deep fried calzone as big as your head.

Yes, that is a regular size plate! 

So much other fun stuff ... the kids all went to Lazer Tag one night .... downtown to sit by the river & watch the sun set .... tennis games (yes, Dominik got MY ROCKER SON to try tennis. My son thought nothing of wearing his Led Zeppelin t-shirt, ponytail & aviators .... oh how I wish I could have watched. I think Matthew said he got lucky & hit one ball. Out of about 40. hahaa). We also had another German student here one night for dinner because his host had cross country practice & he was just as aweome, & so funny. Seriously, these kids are amazing. They tell great stories .... I don't know how they can be so stinkin FUNNY when English isn't even their first language! They are smart, well traveled ... they've both done many exchanges & speak many languages ... the only downside to all this is I'm going to cry for a looooong time when he leaves. Thank goodness for the internet so at least it will be easy to keep in touch.

And ..... this has nothing to do with the German, as he was already sound asleep when this happened .... but here are a few shots of the lunar eclipse from the other night. They don't compare to some of the photos I've seen online around the world, but I still had fun taking them. 

Enjoy your week!

We have a visitor!

I'm so excited, our German exchange student arrived today! 

I've been really stressing about this. We signed up for the program well over a year ago. We host now, & in 2 years my son will go stay with his family for a few weeks. I wasn't sure how I would feel having a stranger stay in our house. And HOW was I going to converse with him?? Well, I was worried for nothing. He is a super sweet kid who speaks English VERY well. Heck, he speaks English better than some people I know.

The boys are out right now, touring our oh-so-exciting town with some of the other exchange students & hosts. Kidding, I love where we live. It's small, homey, & we do quirky things like the Jack OLantern Jaunt for Hallowen & Midnight Magic for Christmas. These students first visited Chicago, & after 2 weeks here they are off to New York. They get both extremes! 

Here they are, ready to bail. I'm lucky I got a picture on their way to the car lol. And how scary is it that they are the same height, both wear glasses (well, my son just got contacts), same hair {if Matthew would cut his}, they both play guitar, they like the same music.... & they both LOVE to eat! They have so much in common that I think this will be fun for everyone. 

Stay tuned ... I will keep you updated on our daily doings :)

Wordless Wednesday

Shhhhhhh .... small human, you talk way too much.

Linking up with: 

Wordless Wednesday

Wake Up Wednesday

Wonderful Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday ~ Happy birthday

This was actually going to be a Wordless Wednesday post .... as in, I was just going to post this photo: 

I took this a couple of years ago & it's one of my favorites. I know the focus isn't perfect ~ I think I was still learning how to use my camera at that time ~ but I still like it. 

Anyhow ~~ today also happens to be my son's 13th birthday!!!! I couldn't post just a photo & not say Happy Birthday to him! I can't believe I now have 2 teenagers ~ yikes! I'm thankful they are such good kids.... kind (well, not really to one another, but to everyone else which is what counts lol), helpful (see above) & so far not hormonal at all. I'm pretty sure I have boys for a reason. I couldn't have handled a teenage girl. A teenage ME. {shiver}

Happy birthday Michael! Congrats on becoming a teenager! 

Linking up with: 

Wake Up Wednesday

Almost Worldess Wednesday

Wonderful Wednesday

Outdoor Wednesday

Friday randoms

TGIF! It has been a loooong week! Mostly good.... just long. Here are my 5 random tidbits for the week:

1: Baseball season is over. Sad .... but I think it was just long enough. These poor kids were rained out so many times, so we had to squeeze in make up games whenever we could. They lost their last game, but they fought hard & ended up in 2nd place. So proud of my boy!

2: Our reservations for Disney have been made for next year! I can't wait, we went 3 years ago & had the best time ever. I'm especially excited to visit Universal again & spend some time at Diagon Alley (or is it diagonally? LOL)

3: I've really been into makeup the last couple of years. I spent 11 years at home with my kids, & I went with the natural look more often than I probably should have. Since I've been working I've slowly gotten back into actually caring what I look like. This includes make up, hair & clothes. In fact, where I used to follow just crafty blogs, these days my favorites are all about beauty. One thing that's been on my wish list for a long time is the Urban Decay Naked Palette. However, I am still very frugal & just couldn't justify the price tag. I've been searching for a good dupe & I think I found it. These palettes found their way into my home this week, & I'm thrilled! 

I used them the past couple of days & I love them. I had done some research before buying, & I didn't read too many negatives so I went for it. The less-than-$10 on Amazon price tag didn't hurt. If you're looking for some UD Naked dupes, give these a try!

4: Speaking of work (I think I briefly mentioned work in #3), I celebrated 5 years at my job this week! Wow, that went fast! I love my job & I love my co-workers & I'm so happy to have found my forever place. 

5: I didn't gain weight this week. Since I've been rapidly gaining the last few months, I'm happy to get through a week without gaining any more. Yes kids, this is what working out 3-4 times a week will get you. #itsnotmuscle

Linking up with:

High Five For Friday

Five On Friday

Friday Blog Booster Party


Hope you have a spectacular weekend!! 

My brother's 50th

I wish I could say I can't believe my brother is now 50 & how time flies & all that .... but since I just met him last year .... that wouldn't make much sense lol.

So the day after we went to Summerfest & didn't get home until almost 1:00 am (way too old for this chick), we ventured to Madison for my brother's 50th birthday party. For someone who didn't know if he was going to do *anything* special for his birthday, it was quite a party. I got to meet his dad & his other sister (also named Michelle) ... I was so nervious about those meetings, but they were both super nice & I can't wait to get to know them better. 

My sister in law loaded me up with Sangria. Wasn't even sure I like Sangria, I'm not very wine-y ... but it was good. Well ok, it was tart, but after about the 10th cup (as you can see the cups were *small*) I really liked it! And how about that "table". We have stumps in our yard .... never thought of making them into little tables. #anotherproject

This is Dooley, their Golden Retriever/ Maremma mix. One of the most beautiful, most gentle dogs I've ever met. He's HUGE ... it seems the bigger the dog, the bigger the baby. 

And this is Lily, the beagledor they acquired last summer. She's pretty small, which is a good thing because as you can see, she loves laps! 

Here's my brother and me, after about my 5th cup of Sangria. Which is probably why I'm leaning LOL ...

Happy 50th to my brother .... it was a great day .... & another late one! We didn't get home until about 1:00 am. Again. 

Fourth of July fun

To say that I had THE most fun this weekend that I've had in a long time is an understatement. We had something going on every day except today, thankfully. I needed today to recuperate. I'm almost happy to go to work tomorrow to get some rest! 

I will do a separate post for each day .... because you know .... I'm a little wordy AND I like to share pictures :)

So we'll start with Wednesday. After hubby & I got home from work, we drove downtown & attended a little music festival in Milwaukee called Summerfest. Perhaps you've heard of it?? OK, it's actually the world's largest music festival. 11 days .... 11 stages ... big names, smaller names & in between names. I used to go every year, a few times each year, when I was a young whippersnapper. Then we had kids, & we just didn't go anymore. I do have to say, it's probably not a place I'd take small children. People do, and they do have a kids area. But, the amount of beer & um.... other things (I'm pretty sure I got high just walking through the crowd) make it not so G rated.

But my 16 year old really wanted to go see Halestorm, so we went. He met some friends there, & my hubby & I just hung back & enjoyed the concert as well. Again, not exactly G rated, but since he listens to them all the time nothing was really too surprising.

Here are a few pictures from our day (all taken with my phone so not the best, but you'll get the idea):

We had perfect weather -- 63 degrees & sunny. 

My son was extremely disgruntled when I asked him to stand in front of the fountain for a picture. I reminded him of how much these tickets cost, the painful drive downtown (construction, construction construction) & the very late night that would be had by all of us. Look, I got a picture :)

Sitting on the lakefront. That's the main stage pavilion behind him. I believe Kendrick Lamar was the big act that night. Um, no thanks.

This was our stage for the night .... the Harley stage! Can you see the cycles on the stage? 

Harley-Davidson is one of our biggest accounts at work so I had to take this picture (that's my hubby).

We spent so much on this day, why not spend a little more & get some t-shirts .... we HAD to, right? 

I wish I could have gotten a better picture of Halestorm. We really weren't that far from the stage, but we were way to the side so it was hard to get a good picture. They really were awesome & boy, do they draw a crowd! I think there were more people here for this concert than the main stage! 

We ended up getting home around 1:00 am. The first of a few late nights..... which I have discovered I am way too old for! 

Have you ever been to Summerfest?? If so, who did you see? 

Next up ... a 50th birthday party in Madison.