YACTOAY part two...California trip.

I decided to split this up into two sections, so that you weren't just scrolling through pictures. We were on the California road trip for about half the time they were here though, so that's where the majority of the pictures came from.            

On the way out, while we were driving through Utah, we saw this random trailer full of watermelons. There must be some story that went along with it!! It was really tempting to steal one, but being the good people that we are, we didn't! Plus it would have made a mess in my car which would have been totally unacceptable.









This is my new car by the way. A beautiful '98 For Taurus...with no air conditioner, which most definitely made things interesting. It wasn't bad until we got to Arizona. Then it was like you were living in a hair dryer.

Just some road tripping stuff!! 

 Visiting some friends out in California.  It's so amazing to be able to travel all over and stay at people's houses without having to worry about hotels. We saved hundreds of dollars on this trip just from not having to stay at hotels, and because we are so fortunate that our Catholic friends are so awesome and hospitable to let us stay with them!

Down in an old mine shaft. There were mummified mice and rabbits everywhere. I think someone dared me $100 to eat one...Yeah, that's a bet even I had to refuse.

 Now that is one good looking mummified rabbit.  

 Just a little modeling in front of a mini golf course. Looking off dramatically into the distance was a really big thing this trip.

 Here we are looking dramatically into the distance again. Only this time it's way more dramatic since we all have in-n-out hats. I think we should sell this picture to in-n-out so they can use it as an advertisement. It's a win-win!

"An adventurous life doesn't necessarily mean climbing mountains, swimming with sharks or jumping off cliffs, it means risking yourself by leaving a little piece of you behind in all those you meet along the way."

SECTION 2 OF SECTION 2...Arizona/Grand Canyon

Eegee's. A local restaurant in Tucson. Not the greatest food, but the slushies were pretty awesome, and so were are tongues after we drank them! I guess only Kevin and I got the memo that we were supposed to stick our tongues out. 

Standing on top of a mountain in Tucson.  I don't think that Raphy got the memo to wave instead of look dramatically off into the distance.  At least they got it right the second time though.

Left Tucson at midnight and drove until five in the morning so that we could make it to the Grand Canyon by sunrise. Most definitely worth it!  The experience was complete with sleeping bags and left over cold pizza from the night before. One of our fellow tourists said we should have brought pizza for everyone and sold it. There's always next time I guess!  

I think that this is one of our few normal pictures of the whole trip. (And not the one of us eating pizza, by the way!)

                                 

 Whether they are looking at me doing a back bend on the four corners or if they're looking at the sunrise at the Grand Canyon, I'll leave that up to you to decide...

YACTOAY! (You only come to America once a year)

I think that YOLO might be a more appropriate title for this post, saying that I already live in America and all, however these last three weeks I've been lucky enough to have three German friends stay here in America with us, so our motto for the trip was yoactoay! You only come to America once a year. Well, I don't know if you could say it was our motto, since we came up with it on their last day of America, but never the less, it's our motto now! 

I really can't think of a way to condense three weeks of pure awesome into a post that would be shorter than a novel.  I can't even really think of where to begin. So I guess that I will just bombard you with pictures. Since a picture supposedly says a thousand words, it really will be a novel, but at least you won't be bored to death by the end! (I hope)  

SECTION ONE...ROCKIES GAME!! 

 Dominic (and me) on the big screen at a Rockies game. He sang give me the beat boy in front of thousands of fans. Definitely a most glorious moment of fame. (for me too, since I was on the screen in the background the whole time!)

  Ina and I with our epic Rockies face paint. 

 I did Dominic's face, which is most definitely the reason he got picked to get on tv....haha

 Concentration

Happy birthday Mom!! :)

It's been a while since I've written on here, mostly because these last couple weeks have been insanely busy since we've had friends from Germany visiting.  We are actually in California with them right now, and are gonna meet my Grandparents for breakfast any minute, but I just wanted to  make a quick post for my Mom on her birthday!

 Just wanting to let her know how much I appreciate her, and that I literally wouldn't even be here without her! ;) You are the best Mom anyone could ask for and I only hope that if I become a Mom I can be as good as you are! Thanks for helping me become who I am today. (Well, the person that I am on my good days!) I love you Mom! 

PS. Sorry if this isn't my most eloquent post, but I just woke up and haven't had breakfast yet, so it's a little hard to concentrate! ;) It still comes from the heart though!

If it's free, it's worth it!

Ventures at Village Inn

So, I'm not sure how many of you know that Wednesday is free pie day at Village Inn, but I am here to tell you that Wednesday is easily my favorite day of the week besides Sunday...And yes, it's most definitely because I can get free pie! Yesterday was the third week in a row that I've been, and it most definitely hasn't gotten old yet. Although, I'm wondering if it's getting old for the waiters and managers to see me there every week and to only order a drink and then get free pie out of it.

The first week I went I ended up eating alone, because I gave the wrong Village Inn address to the people I was supposed to meet. Since I don't have my car yet, (Which is a story for another day) I always have to walk everywhere I want to go or depend on other people to bring me places.  I usually prefer walking if I can because I don't want to be too much of a leach. It works out on Wednesdays because it's probably less than two miles to the nearest Village Inn.  However, when the people I'm supposed to meet end up going to a different one twenty miles away because I gave them the wrong address, I can't exactly get up and walk twenty miles. Well, I guess technically I could, but I don't think it would be worth it even for free pie.

So there I was eating alone at a table. I'm sure it was all in my head, but I kept imagining people giving me these dirty looks like, "What kind of loser is she, that she has to eat by herself?" Like I said, I'm sure it was in my head, but that was the first time I had ever eaten at restaurant alone, so I was pretty self conscious.  It didn't help that when I went up to pay, the manager said; "Aww, did you get stood up?" I just said, "Well, yeah, kind of. I guess that it was sort of my fault though since I told them to go to the wrong Village Inn." "Oh, well you should just stand them up next time they invite you somewhere and say that you got the wrong address!"

That was my first venture at Village Inn. The week after that I told my brother Kevin I was gonna be going, and he said that he'd meet me there, so I felt a lot better that I wouldn't be there by myself. However, twenty minutes later and I was feeling how I felt the first time, only worse, because I'm sure they would totally think I was a loser if I got "stood up" twice. After a little while I asked for a kid's menu, so I probably looked like even more of a loser. It kept me occupied though and I didn't have to look at the waiter, with his "evil looks." Let's just say I was extremely relieved when Kevin finally did show up!

Then just yesterday, I went again obviously, but Kevin and I met there at the same time, so I felt like a total non-loser this time! Until the manager came over when we were about half way through eating our pie, and said to me with a totally straight face, "You know, this is the third week in a row that you have sat here at this table and gotten free pie." I was starting to get kind of nervous because I thought that he was going to say that you had to actually order a meal in order to get the pie, and that he was mad that I had been just getting pie every week. So, then he continued, saying, "And every week it's been with a different guy!" Then he just started laughing and before I could even say anything about being with Kevin both times, he just said, "Well, I'll expect to see you again next week."

Next week we're planning on going to ten different Village Inn's and getting ten pieces of pie. We'll see if we can survive it. :) Only six more days until free pie!

Things that go crunch in the night

       Well, I was originally going to start this post by putting an absurd scientific statistic saying how many spiders an average person eats while sleeping during their life time.  However, after doing a little "googling," I found out that a normal person doesn't actually consume a dozen or more spiders over the course of their lifetime. It's really only an urban legend. One site even claims: " This "statistic" was not only made up out of whole cloth, it was invented as an example of the absurd things people will believe simply because they come across them on the Internet."

 http://mentalfloss.com/article/50951/how-many-spiders-do-you-really-swallow-your-sleep#ixzz2bt5xIuMw

 
      I think rather than "how many spiders does the average person eat during their lifetime?"  The question should actually be: "How many spiders have tormented and molested innocent "average" people and ultimately make it so they no longer fit into the category of "average." I have never been the type that screams and runs when they see a spider.  I've actually never even been a little bit afraid of them.  However, I am beginning to become a little bit afraid of the huge welt that one of those fiends created on my big toe, and I really don't think that it can be categorized as average.

    

     I guess I lied in my last post when I said I don't have a single complaint. (Well, I actually said I didn't have a single complain. And yes, I did realize that wasn't proper grammar right after I wrote it, but figured that it rhymed better and I could just use my "poetic license.")   I could complain about a lot of things having to do with those stupid eight legged villains. Like how I had to wash all my sheets and blankets in fear they would torture me yet again. They've already gotten me three times now! You'd think that would be enough for them. I could also complain about how I had to walk to Wal-greens with one shoe since it really hurt to wear a shoe on my bitten big toe foot! And I'm also gonna complain about how my big toe looks like a hot dog now. 

  
  It's really not as bad as I'm making it sound. (I was just using my "exaggeration license!")  I do think though, that some of those little devils might actually deserve to be eaten. I'm not saying that I believe I swallow dozens of spiders in my lifetime, and I'm not saying I would want to.  But it might just be better than waking up to find a hot dog in the place of your big toe.

   

Lovin' the life I'm livin'!

Here's to the little things that will be remembered

To those little moments that are quietly treasured.

Here's to not having a single complain,

And to singing and dancing in the rain.

Here's to appreciating all I've been given,

And simply lovin' the life that I'm livin'.