Weekly Daily Update!

Hello my dear friends!  I've decided that I'm going to take a daily pic and upload them all with a little story every week, just like Laura does.  I think it's a great way to stay connected, since I feel like I have a little bit of a better idea of what's going on in her life, and I like to feel connected to you all!

My life is pretty boring.  I mostly just hang out with Kingsley and Thor, do homework and go to work.  Seriously.  On my days off I let Grant take my car to work since I don't have anywhere to go or any one to see and his car is old and doesn't have air conditioning.  Sad face.  Maybe I can also use this as an opportunity to do more fun things and not just watch Netflix with my two furry sidekicks.

I'm really excited about this!  The reason I included this post before my weekly post is that I want to make myself accountable for this and not just blow it off since I didn't tell anyone.

I'll leave you with my current favorite picture of Kingsley to hold you over to my next post. 

Let's go fly a balloon!

I recommend that you sing the title of this blog to "Let's Go Fly a Kite" from Mary Poppins.  That's how I sang it while I typed it.  And also, it's much more fun that way.  Anyway!  February of last year Grant and I bought a Groupon for a sunrise hot air balloon ride as a Valentine's Day gift to each other.  So you buy the Groupon and then pick a date for your fun adventure.  Then at 6pm the night before the flight you check their website to see if the flight will happen or not.  Apparently weather is super important to hot air balloon rides.  Which seems pretty obvious, actually.  Well, our first 5 balloon rides were canceled for bad weather.  After each cancelation you're given the option to rebook on one of their next available flights.  At first it was super easy to rebook, then the Groupon started showing up almost every week and suddenly it was an entire month before we could book another one.

Finally a few weeks ago we got on the balloon!  And it was so cool.  And also a little lame.

We had to show up at this hotel at 5:30am about 15 minutes from where we live to meet all of the other people and fill out paperwork.  People were late so we left late.  Then we had to get in these vans that took us to the launch site.  Twenty-five minutes later we're still in the van and the sun's coming up.  I thought this was a sunrise balloon ride?  We pull up to this giant field and all the pilots get out and tell us to wait.  The pilot gets back in the van and says we have to go somewhere else to launch since apparently this place has swampland or something.  You'd think they'd work that out before they had 100 people waiting to get in balloons.

Another 20 minute van ride happens.  The sun is now completely up and I'm getting cranky.  We get to another field which meets the pilot's approval.  Then they start to take all the balloon stuff out.  We have to help them set the balloons up.  At first I thought this was really cool that we were able to experience everything that goes in to making a balloon fly.  But then I remembered it was 630am, I hadn't eaten breakfast and it was a random chilly day in Florida (seriously, it's the only time all season I wore a sweater, pea coat, gloves and a scarf).  I just wanted to be in that balloon and then get back to the hotel for complimentary breakfast.

look how cold Grant is!

We helped roll it out of the bag

Grant volunteered to help hold the balloon open while they were filling it up with air.  He said that it was cool to see, but it took too long and the air was really cold.

The balloon we were in was brand new.  It was the first time it had ever been flown.  I thought that was special until I realized that all my pictures would be of the dingy balloons since I was in the pretty shiny new one.

Finally they got the balloons up (it took at least another half hour) and we jumped in the basket.  Our balloon (and 2 other ones) held 16 passengers plus the pilot but there was another balloon that held 25 passengers.

The fire was nice and warm

We went over a lot of swampland which was nice to see.  If we were flying on a warmer day the pilot said we could've seen gators.  Once the basket hit the top of a tree and it scared me so badly.  We were in the air for about 40 minutes.

look at all the steam coming off the golf course pond

swampland!

I think this is my favorite picture.  It's a reflection of our balloon in a little pond.

I also thought it was really cool that we flew right over our apartment!  Our building is the last one on the left.

After we landed (which was a little terrifying) we had to help put the balloon back together which was awful.  It took forever since we had a new balloon and we were in this really prickly grass type field.

Once the balloon was in its giant bag we got back in the van (there's people who follow the balloons in the sky to find where you're going to land and meet you there) to meet people from another balloon to have a champagne toast.  I was the last one to get champagne so there wasn't much left.  Sad face.  They had orange juice too, so I guess we had Mimosas.

They said an Irish toast and then we piled back in to the vans to go back to the hotel where breakfast was served.  By the time we got home it was 10am.  Basically we were gone for 5 hours for a 40 minute balloon ride that met 15 minutes from our apartment.

Overall it was a great experience that I probably won't do again.  The actual balloon ride was amazing, but we paid almost $200 for it and for all the labor we did I felt like we should've got a discount or something.  Here's some more pretty pictures. 

orange trees

pretty balloons

The inside of the balloon while we were in the basket

“The winds have welcomed us with softness.

The sun has blessed us with its warm hands.

We have flown so high and so well

That God has set us gently back into

The loving arms of mother earth.”

-Irish ballooning toast

DVD Clutter

Since 2009 I've moved 5 times.  Those moves have made me realize how much unnecessary stuff I have!  One thing that's helped a lot is going digital for media like books and music.  The only thing that is still a real problem is my expansive movie collection.  I'm sure all of you remember how many movies I have.  In case you forgot, it's like a zillion.  And they are such a pain to move!  Another thing that I hate about them is how much space they take up.  The bookshelf that we've been using to house these DVDs is giant, falling apart, can't hold all that we have, and is super ugly.  I finally couldn't take it anymore!  I used to think that the DVD cases looked so pretty all together around TVs.  But they don't!  They look like clutter! Grant and I will probably be moving again in at least a year (and maybe once more after that) and the thought of moving them all again was not pleasant.

This is just the Blu-Rays.  I forgot to take a picture of the other bookcase.


Here's all of the DVD cases on the floor.

So we went to IKEA and bought 4 of these boxes.

One for Blu-Rays, one for TV seasons and two for movies.  Unfortunately, that's not enough.  I'll have to head back there to pick up a fifth one for the rest of the TV seasons.

Then we went to Target and got some cheap DVD sleeves and card stock.

I kept the cover art for the Blu-Rays, because I can't make myself part with them just yet.  I didn't keep any art for the DVDs though since we were missing a lot of them and have a lot of DVDs that came with Blu-Ray combo packs.

Here's the finished product!  I just made the dividers with the card stock and cut them so they'd have little tabs for the letters.

I'm very happy with our newly organized DVDs.  Maybe someday I'll get around to making a spreadsheet or something to keep track of them all since it's hard to read some of the names when the disc is 2-sided.

We used the now open wall space to make a little bar!  Complete with a shelf for wine glasses and such!  When that's finished I'll post about it.

"We're all different people and we're allowed to be different from one another.  If someone ever says you're weird, say thank you.  And then curtsy.  No, don't curtsy.  That might be too weird.  And tip your imaginary hat.  That'll show them." - Ellen Degeneres (Seriously, I'm Kidding)

Diet Bet

I don't think it's too big of a secret that Grant and I have been trying to lose weight.  Weird work schedules and making time for school is a bad combination for weight-loss.  We were doing really well about this time last year.  We started doing Herbalife.  (Which is a protein shake based diet, in case you were wondering).  It did work for us (I lost 25 lbs!), but as soon as we stopped doing it we gained all of our weight back.  Grant's older brother is getting married in November and suddenly that has given us the motivation to eat healthier and make better choices so we can look better in those photos that'll be around forever.

The hardest part for me is always going to be giving up dessert.  The second hardest part is that it's so hard to make myself work out!  I'm always glad I went, but still making myself go is so hard.  It's just so much easier to sit on my couch and rub my puppy's fat belly.   It seriously would do us both some good to get out on that lovely track right outside our apartment.

The aforementioned track is directly behind Kingsley and about 15 feet from our porch.  It's 1/3 of a mile.

Anyway, to the title of this post.  There's a Web site, called dietbet.com, that Grant and I have joined.  Basically, it's based on the idea that people will do almost anything if money is part of their motivation. Different people set up different Diet Bets and basically challenge users to lose weight.  There are different "bets" with different "buy-ins."  We chose a $25 buy-in.  But for all of them, you're betting the group that you can lose 4% of your body weight in 4 weeks.  If you lose the weight you get your money back and a share of the money of those who didn't lose 4%.  I hate losing money.  I think I even hate it enough to eat right and exercise semi-regularly.  It's actually really cool and the site will have a lot more info if you're interested in learning more!

And so, today is the start of our Diet Bet!  Wish us luck!  Here's to making better choices and hopefully making a little bit of money!

“Most people fail, not because of lack of desire, but because of lack of commitment.”

 -Vince Lombardi

Back Again

I haven't blogged in so long that this interface is confusing to me.  I don't know if I should rehash what's happened in my life this last year so that I can pick back up where I left off, but that's boring.  Here's the quick version.

I moved in with my sweet lovely awesome boyfriend Grant.  It's been amazing.  Yes that's a picture of him in Gaston's chair in the New Fantasyland.  (PS - come visit me and I'll take you there...for free!)

We have a silly puppy named Kingsley who's a little over a year old and training to be a therapy dog.  It's harder than I thought it would be to train him for that.  He's just so excited to say hi to everyone and jump all over them, which would be an automatic test failure.  We're shooting to have him take the test in late February.

I go to Full Sail University now where I'm working towards a Bachelor's in Web Design and Development.  I linked to it above so you can look at my degree program if you're interested.  This is also much harder than I thought it would be, but so far I'm learning a lot and can't wait to get a big girl job.  Thanks a lot for the useless degree, OU!  Hopefully soon I'll be reworking this blog with my new found web skills.  I'm pretty lazy though, so let's not count on any time soon.

I started working as a server at the ESPN Club on Disney's Boardwalk.  It's been ok so far.  I'm glad I won't have to be there forever though.

We've got a lot of things going on right now that I'm excited to blog about!  Losing weight, organizing/decorating our apartment, maybe getting a new puppy (!!!) and just trying the enjoy the few hours we have together since Grant works all the time.

That's all I've got for today.  Now that I've started writing again, it's kind of hard to stop!

"When people try to rain on your parade, poke them in the eye with your umbrella" - Author unknown

Bittersweet

ast night, or should I say this morning, I saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 at the midnight premiere. I teared up during parts of the movie, but I didn't just openly weep like a lot of people in the theater.

But when I got home, Grant asked me how I liked it, and I started to cry. And now as I write this I'm getting emotional again. I don't know exactly how to express my feelings right now. For the last 10 years of my life, I always had something Harry Potter oriented to look forward to, and now all that's left is Pottermore. I was always just around Harry's age when each book came out, so I understood his world so perfectly.

It was the summer before 7th grade when I met Harry. It was 1999 and I was 12. I was in the Edmond Public Library with my mom looking for something fun to read. She told me I should read these new books she heard about about some boy named Harry who lived in England and was a wizard.

I remember looking right at her and saying, "Why would I ever read a book about some British boy named Harry? That's like the stupidest name ever. It sounds dumb."

She went on and on about how it was on the best seller list and she knew I would like it. I had always been a fan of fantasy books and she didn't understand why I was fighting her so hard. Then she proceeded to tell me that a family friend had already bought me the first two.

I didn't get anything from the library that day. But I borrowed some books from my neighbor. Shortly after our library visit we made a road trip from Oklahoma to New York and New Jersey to visit our family. I brought my borrowed book that I had almost finished with me and those lame Harry Potter books just in case I had more time.

I finished that borrowed book quickly. I remember laying in the back seat in my mom's 1990 caravan finally giving in and deciding to read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. After one little 17 page chapter I was hooked. I stayed up almost the entire 24 hour car ride reading about Harry's first year at Hogwarts. Soon I moved on to his second year. My grandparents hardly saw me that first week. Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger had become my life.

Luckily the third book came out that summer, very soon after I had finished the second one. For Christmas I got collectors editions. I reread them over and over and over. I made my mom and grandma take me to the midnight release for the next book. By then the whole world had fallen in love with Harry. How could you not?

I remember reading Fahrenheit 451 in 8th grade, you know, the book about how books are banned and burned in the future, and thinking that somehow I would save my Harry Potter books if that were to actually happen. My little 13-year-old brain couldn't process not having them.

I could go on and on and on about my love for Harry. I have special bookends that my hardback editions sit in. I have every book in paperback. I have every book on audio CD. I have all the movies. I have countless t-shirts and accessories. I bought an annual pass to Universal Studios just for The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

Thank you, Mom, for making me read something you knew I would love. Thank you, J.K. Rowling, for creating such a wonderful world with such beautiful and real characters. Thank you, Harry for being in my life.

I will never ever forget you, Harry.

“Always have a vivid imagination, for you never know when you might need it." - J.K. Rowling

Adventures of the Kavourgi

fter my last post I decided that I needed to share adventures that I have gone on recently with my family.

My mom and Terry and Peter came to come visit me in January. We went to Universal, and we had adventures all over Disney World. The picture from last post is from when they were here. My mom had a great time seeing Prince Charming too.

We went to a dinner show called the Hoop-Dee-Doo Revue where it's all you can drink wine, beer and sangria.

Peter was in the show! (Not really, but that guy sure looks a lot like him!)

My mom is so cute.

Terry and Peter are such great musicians.

Then we went to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter! Terry pretended that he was Harry and this was Hedwig. He's so precious.

Peter was really really scared on The Mummy. It was the best.

Then mom and Peter had to go back to Oklahoma :( But Terry stayed a few extra days and went to 80s night with us!

Then a few weeks later the Pittsburgh Steelers played the New York Jets in the AFC championship game in Pittsburgh. The Kavourgi secured tickets!

Mom and her boys. They're so cute. If you look closely, you can see that Donna is supporting both teams.

Peter could barely contain his excitement!

I think that's a sufficient snap shot of what happened while I was with my family in January. There are a lot more pictures. Eventually they will go on Facebook. No promises for any time soon though...

"A brother is a friend given by Nature." - Jean Baptiste Legouve