Walt Disney World: Day 2

Day 2 started bright and early. We were headed off to the Magic Kingdom for a day filled with fun! When we were activating our 4-day pass we decided we needed to upgrade to the parkhopper (which means you can visit as many parks as many times as you'd like in a day). We watched the opening ceremony and headed into the park in the rain... which thankfully only lasted for a little while. We rode Space Mountain 2X, the Carousel of Progress (Z's new favorite "ride!"), Stitch's Alien Encounter, Buzz Lightyear's ride, People Transporter, Pirate's of the Carribean, The Jungle Cruise, It's a Small World, Thunder Mountain, The Haunted Mansion... pretty much did everything thanks to the Fast Pass!! You put your ticket into a machine and it gives you an hour time frame to come back and ride the ride with like 0-10min wait. Amazing concept!!! At the park the longest ride we had to wait for was like literally 10 minutes! Insane!! After watching the parade at 3 we decided to check out Animal Kingdom since we had never been. We were sweaty and tired already, but kept trucking along... and hit up the monorail.

We got to AK and watched the 4-D Bug's Life Show and then walked around and saw a lot of the animals. We weren't impressed, but then again we didn't really give it a fair shot since it closed less than 2 hours after we got there... oh well!

After that we got on the bus and headed back to Disney's All-Star Sport's Resort to grab our stuff and head to the hotel we stayed at for the next 2 days (Shades of Green resort). We showered and figured we'd go to Epcot to grab dinner, watch the fireworks, and take advantage of the park being open late for Disney restorters... We rode Test Track, saw Nemo, and walked "around the world". We left at about 11pm and we were SO ready to catch the bus, get to the hotel, and go straight to bed... The day was so much fun though and I'm so happy Z was such a trooper and did everything I wanted to do! lol. The next day we were headed to Hollywood Studios AKA MGM and back to the Magic Kingdom. :)

Mickey/Minnie on the parade!It's a Small World...
Bug's Life glasses! lol.

Z enjoying the monorail views.
The Epcot Ball...

-Ashley

Walt Disney World: Day 1

Unfortunately I still don't have my USB cord for my camera so I'm stuck with pictures from my phone.. lame! But I'll add them in one day. Anyway, Z and I left for Orlando after I got home from work Thursday afternoon. We checked into our hotel and decided that we'd go to Downtown Disney for dinner. I had heard great things about the Rainforest Cafe so we put our name in the hat and walked around (it was about a 45min wait). There were shops galore full of everything Disney you could imagine, a million restaurants, and fun music/shows going on all over! Dinner ended up being SUPER yummy. I also got a drink called the Green Python and it was delish... and it came in a super cool light up cup that I got to take home! :) We sat right next to a really pretty fish tank and enjoyed each others company while sitting through a "thunderstorm" every 20 minutes. lol. The animals moved/made noises and the lights went out and fake lightning flashed throughout. It was pretty entertaining!

The Green Python and I!

Z enjoying himself!

We walked around after we ate and headed to the bus... Day 2 was going to be long and crazy fun at the Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, and Epcot! I'll write about that soon!

-Ashley

My Birthday Weekend

So my birthday was just absolutely amazing! I loved being able to see my family and friends and husband! It has been quite some time that I've been able to do that on my birthday... actually, I don't think it has ever happened before thanks to the Army, but anyway... I just wanted to thank everyone for their wishes/thoughts/gifts/smiles!

This was the loot Z gave me:

Getting ready to go out!

On the stage while the piano men sang a song! LOL.

Britt and I!

Z bought me a cake! Mmmm!

My parents bought me clothes and a Chili's giftcard... Zach bought me a weekend at Disney, the new Chelsea Handler book, Avatar, and a big bottle of wine! Britt got me a shake weight (LOL - youtube Ellen and find it), some very amazing pink nailpolish, and a Target giftcard... and Justin/Melissa got me a Target giftcard too! *yippeee!* I also got cards from Zach's grandma and his mom! Thanks everyone!!

This week we are out of school Friday so Z and I leave for our Disney trip Thursday after school. Friday will be spent at the Magic Kingdom and Saturday MGM/Hollywood Studios! CAN'T wait!!

-Ashley

24!

Happy Birthday to ME!!!

Today is the 24th and I turn my favorite number:

Tonight I'm going out with friends to a dueling piano bar called:

My most favorite present? Z bought us a weekend at:

My birthday is a pretty big deal to me - how many days of the year is it allll about you... really? I often wonder why it's not a national holiday, but maybe one day! (lol) I am so excited to celebrate with friends tonight and Zachary next Fri/Sat!!! I have been begging him for about 7 years to take me to see Mickey and we're finally going together! I haven't been since 2004. Ahhh!! :) Thank you so much for the big surprise Z - I know it will be AMAZING and I can't wait!!

-Ashley

Our Lucky Week!

Zach and I had one crazy lucky week recently! When Zach's mom came into town Easter weekend we all went to the greyhoud track to watch the dogs race... Zach won about 10$ betting 5$ here and there, but before we left I decided I wanted to buy a scratch off lottery ticket. I went to the machine, put in 2$, and won 20$!!!

Anyway, we were shopping at Publix that next week and I remembered I had that lottery ticket I needed to cash so I went and bought the SAME kind of ticket for 2$ and Zach bought the same one for another 2$... We got to the car and quickly scratched them off. I excitedly said "I won 4$!" thinking that Z was the loser, but then he excitedly exclaimed "I won 50$!!!" I was like NO way, but he wasn't lying... So after spending 6$ dollars we came home with a grand total of 74$!

Our luck does NOT end there... at our first Ray's game later that week they were doing a promotion that if Evan Longoria (Ray's 3rd basemen who is on the cover of the new video game MLB 2K10) hit a homerun to section 149 then those people would get a copy of the game (which retails for 60$+). Well, during the 8th inning BAM Longoria hits a homerun to our section, our row (even though Z had talked to an usher and got us WAY closer). .. and we hear "All people in section 149, row T may go to Customer Service and claim their copy of 2k10..." We check our tickets and realize oh my gosh THAT'S US!! So we now have two copies of the game! Holy moly!!! I'm planning on selling mine on Ebay for about 50$!

Calling everyone he knows about our luck!

It was quite the week... Yay for us!

-Ashley

Go Rays!

Well, it's officially baseball season and officially NOT hockey season. I can't tell you how excited that makes me!! I always loved watching baseball growing up so it makes it easier this time of the year to spend time with Zach whether it's watching it on the couch, or going to the game. I'm super interested and know/care about what's going on! We went to our first game last week and had a great time! The Ray's won and we won too, but I'll get to that in my next post! :)

Okay, this is a lie... they weren't even around when I was born! haha.

Our first game of the season!
The guy in the background = CREEPER!

Hoping for an AMAZING season boys!!!

-Ashley

Spring Break: Part 1

I am FINALLY on Spring Break! After everyone else in the world has seemed to experience it already - we're just about half way through. On Friday after school my mom and I left and drove down to Naples, FL to spend the weekend at Zach's grandma's beach house! I had been down many times before, but it was my mom's first time. We had so much fun and can't thank Meem enough for letting us stay! Friday night Deb (my mother-in-law) and Susan (her best friend) were still there enjoying their Spring Break so we all went out for a girl's night at The Cheesecake Factory and then stayed up until 1am!!! sharing stories and many laughs. It was such a nice night. They unfortunately had to get up and leave us on Saturday morning to go back home, but the weather was amazing so mom and I spent the day at the beach, cooked dinner at home, then took a nice walk on the beach at sunset.

The next day, however, was so yucky! Super cloudy all morning and thunderstorms all afternoon. We ended up spending the day reading and watching TV, but it was very relaxing! We went to dinner that night and woke up the next day and left. It was a short trip, but mom had to be home to do some household chores before she left the next day for her next trip with my dad!

On our walk...
Too cloudy for a sunset, but still pretty!

Beautiful day!

Hope Part 2 of SB2K10 is just as fun! Have plans for a Friday pool/cook out day! Yay! :)

-Ashley

The Biggest Loser

Zachary and I have just recently started a competition between the two of us... and it's quite a SHOCKER! Who can lose more weight?! I am always up for a challenge, and I hate losing, so I'm hoping this will help me get my butt in shape! (LITERALLY!) lol. I did the dreaded seasonal bathing suit shopping last Saturday and lets just say it wasn't pretty! I hadn't bought a new one since July '06 - seriously. None of the ones I had fit/looked the least bit appropriate so needless to say it's time to shed a pound or 25 (one of his family members is going to give us a monetary prize if we succeed lose 25)!

On a more positive note - I started training for a 5k last March, but severely sprained my ankle and lost all motivation to keep running/dieting after that - but while I was training I was keeping track of my food in a food journal online. I signed in yesterday to start doing it again and much to my surprise, after entering my weight, they congratulated me for being down 2.7lbs from my last weigh in! What?! Woooo hoo for not gaining anything in the past year (I'm down 12lbs from when I started last year)! I guess that's better than being the other way around!

Z promised to do this with me after he pigged out on his cruise so here we are - ready to get started! We are both supporting one another and we are hoping to change our eating habits around as much as possible. I'm not saying I'm cutting all junk out ALL the time, but definitely cutting back and making healthier/wiser decisions. We have joined a co-ed softball team together and we will be playing every Tuesday night! I'm so excited and hope he keeps me on track, while I do the same for him! Wish us both luck - we'll need it!!

-Ashley

Zachary's Cruisin'!

Just wanted to wish Z happy sails on his cruise this week! He leaves tomorrow morning and will be back Friday... He will be stopping in Nassau, Coco Cay, and Key West! I'm pretty jealous, but know he will have a great time with his brother (and 13 other 21 year old frat boys - eeeek!) lol!



Stay safe, be good, and see you soon! I love you hubby!

-Ashley

Kahlua: The Hunter

After 5 minutes she had managed to destroy the poor duck... cotton everywhere and its "voicebox" was dismantled. She was so proud!

-Ashley

Proud Mom

Ever since we got Lacey 4 years ago she has slept IN the bed with us... and then 2 years ago we got Kahlua and she joined our happy little family IN the bed as well. We would put them in the crate, but the spoiled little brats they are would whine and be out of there only after a few hours because we'd cave in and let them out. So while we lived in OK they took up more room then we did and it made sleeping just plain awful... Well, recently we got fed up with 4 living objects in the QUEEN size bed and decided to give the crates another go around. The first night they were in there until about 3am, but the past 3 nights they've slept until the time we let them out... 9:30 this morning! I am so proud they are finally sleeping through the night - I feel like my babies are finally growing up!

The other day I found them like this...

Even though the other crate is connected - they were SO close to eachother! :)

Thanks Lacey and Lulu for letting mom and dad finally get some good sleep! We love you!

-Ashley

One of THOSE days!

Earlier in the day a girl came up to me and told me her neighbor (a boy every teacher cringes at when she hears his name - sad, but true) .... had wrote "fuock you" on her paper. Pardon my french, I was just quoting him! lol. This is 1 of 4 notes I received at the end of the day with "tattles" on them. Ohhhh goodness. Life in third grade!

-Ashley

Britt's Birthday Celebration!

Happy Birthday Bestie!

Last night I got to go out and celebrate one of my BFFs birthdays! Britt - my MOH - turns 24 on St. Patty's Day, but decided to go out last night with EVERYONE! because her actual day is on a Wednesday and us working folks couldn't be out until 4 (thanks to that dang time change we lost an hour of partying and got home pretty late!) so she is going to party twice (lucky lady!). She seemed to have a great time and there was an amazing turn out! Love ya B!

It was a fun, but super quick weekend and it's back to the grind tomorrow! My Spring Break isn't for another FOUR weeks and it can't some soon enough!

-Ashley

Mrs. S. - The "Sub"

Lately at work I have been the go to girl when it comes to needing a substitute. So many teachers have called in due to a nasty stomach virus going around (my poor mom missed THREE days and she's never sick!) so some days it's hard to have enough subs to cover (there are a ton of classes at the school I work at - I pull from 7 first grade classes and 7 2nd grade classes!) Last week I spent time in 5th grade and 2 2nd grades, and then this past week I was in a 3rd grade, a 2nd grade, and then with the special needs students in a program our school has that includes 3, 4, and 5 year olds. That was probably the hardest, even though there was an aide in there. Most were in diapers/pull-ups and it was just sad to see for example, a 3 year old with the mentality of an 18month old in the classroom...

I haven't had much time with my own students and the teachers that I pull from are getting a wee bit frustrated, but I'm doing what I'm told and I'm getting a lot of good experiences! I'm being flexible and kind of enjoying going to work and not having any idea what I'm going to be thrown into for the day. This experience is also giving me a chance to meet a LOT of the students and I'm known to most of them as just another substitute... One of the teachers joked that I was probably the highest paid sub ever! :) lol.

Where I'll end up next week - nobody knows! I guess we'll find out when we get to Monday!

-Ashley

Taylor Swift Concert!

Heather and I had such a BLAST at the Taylor Swift concert! We were surrounded by 5-15 year olds and their moms, other twenty-somethings having a fun girls night, and just girls, girls, girls (ok, there were the occasional guys walking around with their wives/girlfriends, but they were def. the minority that night)! I can't even begin to explain how loud an area full of GIRLS screaming can be, but it was super fun!

Heather and I left for the concert prettty early to get to my brother and his fiancee's apartment downtown to have a couple glasses of wine before the show and to hangout with them. That meant free parking, a FREE sandwich, AND not having to walk far at all to our cars before/after the show - so thanks J and M! :) We sang, we danced, we laughed, we cried (ok, that was a lie!), and really just enjoyed a night out! At one point we looked at each other and both said "wow, she sounds amazing!" and she totally did...

The concert was at the same place Z works so during the Pickler to Swift intermission we went and found him and said hi... He came home with a T-Swift shirt for me - thanks babe! :) Anyway, still havent found that dang camera cord so it looks like I have to go spend 3$ on ebay and wait for one in the mail so all I have are the two pics I took from my phone... LAME!

I promise that's a girl... and it's Taylor! lol.

Waiting for TAYLOR!

-Ashley