I DID IT!

I took my OAT today! My unofficial score overall is a 360/400! That's above the average for all three of the schools I applied to, so I'm not going to worry about retaking the test.

I'm so relieved!!

Change for America

It gives me chills to hear "the First Black President". It seems unreal!

Congratulations Barack Obama and Joe Biden!

I'm happy to live in a blue state (even though it sure doesn't look like one!) and I'm happy that both Ohio counties I call home are blue :-)

Random thoughts on a chilly Thursday

Yes, I'm still alive. For most of October I was working every day of the week, except Wednesdays. I'm now a supervisor, which means I get to be the night manager on duty on Tuesdays. Whee! I really like doing it (in addition to the nice paycheck it brings).

My AeroGarden plants are growing well. Of the three, one didn't germinate. I think that's because the seeds were on TOP of the pod instead of in it.

I managed to make my desk more comfortable today. It has a keyboard tray, and before the tray would only pull out a little bit (about halfway out from under the desk top). Frustrated with that this morning, I pulled it really hard and it slid out "all" the way. There must have been some "stop" that I needed to get past and hadn't done before.

My favorite Quaker Instant Oatmeal is Dinosaur Eggs. Yes, it tastes the same as the other brown sugar oatmeal. But I love the dinosaurs!

I'm applying to three optometry schools: Ohio State, Indiana University, and Illinois College of Optometry. I just have to finish the personal statement for the applications, get my letters of recommendation into the colleges, and take the Optometry Admissions Test. I take that on December 3, so wish me luck. I'm SO nervous.

My boyfriend is on the "nights" portion of his shift work, so he works from 7p to 7a, and sleeps all day. It's very strange to know that he's here...but I can't talk to him. Urgh. It gives me plenty of quiet time to study, but I don't get to see very much of him. Just a smidge here and there. Tonight we both don't work, so we'll get to hang out for awhile. Yay!

I love walking to the grocery! We live right across the street from Kroger, and I get some minor exercise by walking over there a handful of times per week. It also ensures that I don't overbuy things since I have to carry it all home. Nice little system :-) I really need to make a walking plan and walk every day, but I haven't gotten motivated yet. And then it got cold. Bleh. Perhaps when spring arrives?

Gas prices are absolutely amazing right now. $2.18 at my favorite gas station.

I wish we had a kitty to keep me company. And to roll around in the glorious patches of sunshine on our carpet. *Sigh*

Until next time...

New Toy

This is my new toy. The AeroGarden3. It was impossible to get a good picture of it because of the bright growing light! I've wanted one for a LONG time, and now that they sell a slightly less expensive 3 plant model, I decided it was time. I really want to be able to grow herbs in my kitchen. I tried the Chia Herb Garden, and it went well for awhile, then everything died. There are currently flowers growing in there because I didn't want to waste herb seeds if it didn't work. So far, after 3 days I've got...

Fantasy petunia!


Stock! I assume it's just a random flower with no name :-)

So I'll let these grow until they bloom, then I'll plant my Tuscan Italian Herb pods. I'll have to choose from these: Mint, Genovese Basil, Marjoram, Oregano, Italian Parsley, and Savory. Decisions...

Major Power Outage

Well, count me (and my brother and boyfriend) in among the 231,000+ Columbus residents still without power after Ike ripped through the midwest. Luckily, my brother and I were coming back to our hometown, so we're not suffering in the dark. Our power has been out since about 4:15pm on Sunday. Needless to say, all our food is a lost cause now! We didn't have too much to lose, but it still is going to be a pain to restock.

In other news, my brother will be moving into his new apartment this upcoming weekend. Finally we'll be able to fully settle everything into our new place, and hopefully I'll take some pictures. Other than that, not much is going on.

We Are Moved!

We're all moved in! Friday and Saturday were our big moving and cleaning the old apartment days. My boyfriend's brother came down to help us out and with the three manly boys (including my brother), they got to do all the hauling. I got to sit in the new place and assemble furniture (my new computer desk, a 5-shelf bookcase, and our entertainment center). I love assembling furniture. I'm sad that we didn't have more!

Everything is pretty much settled here. We have a few issues we need fixed (all our outlets are upside down and my key broke in the lock on Sunday), but overall we're very happy. All we need now are a few more pieces of furniture and to finish finding homes for all our stuff.

Pictures in a few weeks when everything is more settled!

Why?

I feel like I've complained about this before, but I'll do it again.

Why do people feel the need to openly judge my choice of being a server in the time I have to wait to go to optometry school? I hate it. I realize that it would be a better use of my degree to get an engineering job, but I don't want to a) get burnt out on a career path I don't want to follow anyway and b) work somewhere real for a year and then up and quit on the company.

Everyone has the same reasoning behind their logic that I should have gotten an engineering job: I'm wasting my natural abilities or as a smart woman I could "write [my] ticket anywhere". I hate that last bit, because it makes it sound like someone or something else is making me be a server and go to optometry school instead of a more lucrative engineering career. UGH.

I feel like I've made the choice that will make me most happy. And truly, I'm learning "customer service" which as a doctor is critically important! I wouldn't learn that behind a desk or in a research lab. I'm also not in dire financial straits. I make decent money, especially now that business is picking up again. I don't need to make a ton of money right now, I'm meeting my expenses just fine (even with the new car).

I wish people would keep their thoughts to themselves. It does me no good to hear them.

Smorgasboard.

It took way too many tries to get this shot!

In lieu of going through my pictures and posting them with the hope that blogger won't mess up, here's a link to the Picasa album. If that doesn't work, let me know! It was an excellent trip, but I really need to take more pictures!

Today's was Farmer's Market Day...$27! This will be the last one for a few weeks, until we're settled in the new place. Two week hiatus. Ouch.
*10 peaches
*6 ears of corn
*watermelon
*cantaloupe
*pint of mixed cherry tomatoes
*cucumber
*2 eggplants
*6 poblano peppers
*2 green peppers
*2 yellow onions

And last but not least, say goodbye to:

Oh Bessie, you'll be greatly missed for your carpooling to bowling and your sporty spoiler.

And hello to:

Oh...new car. I'm still working on a name for you. But I think you're a boy.

This is my "new" 2005 Honda Civic LX. It's not the best picture, I'll try to get some better ones! I got it on Thursday. So yay, and finally! I'm going to miss my van, but it was getting to be a pain. People were already looking at it at the dealer before we even got the plates onto my new car. I hope it finds a good home. *tear* I have to take it over to the dealer on Monday to get detailed, and then it'll be CLEAN and mine :-)

Farmer's Bounty!

Last week's farmer's market haul: $25
*2 eggplants
*1 lb green beans
*1 zucchini
*1 cucumber
*1 overfilled pint of baby red potatoes
*4 ears of bicolor sweet corn
*1 large yellow tomato, 4 yellow cherry tomatoes, 1 heirloom striped "roma" tomato
*LARGE bunch of basil
*1 pint blackberries

This week's farmer's market haul: $17
*2 large red tomatoes
*1 lb tomatillos
*1 red onion
*1 white onion
*1 bunch of scallions
*2 generous handfuls of green beans
*9 peaches
*1 bunch cilantro
*5 jalapeno peppers

I LOVE IT. It's worth getting up early on a Saturday to get all that fresh produce. My friend from work and I are making this a regular event. We might even try to find a U-Pick farm to get fresh berries!

Finally, A Trip Post!

So my mom and I were in Maryland for roughly 8 days. Sunday was the first of those! It was pretty boring, but RELAXING. Until we tried to drop my sister off at Georgetown in the middle of Washington DC. Then Sunday was hellish. All ended well though, and despite getting turned around MANY times, we ended up back at my Aunt and Uncle's house. We ate at the Congressional Country Club for dinner (I had amazing fried calamari and delicious prime rib), and basically called it a day. They literally live around the corner from the club, so it was a crying shame that the outdoor pool was closed for the summer.

Monday was one of two shopping days. We went to Target (Rockville MD) and my mom and I were both impressed that it had a 5 story parking garage and 2 store levels (including a cart escalator!). We also went to a Bed Bath and Beyond that was certainly beyond--it had an entire section of stuff you'd typically get at CVS (shampoo, hair dye, lotion, body wash, etc). The moral of the story is that the Maryland/DC area is totally different from Ohio. Chico's was also a stop on our outing. What fun that store is--they have 4 sizes, 0-3. I'm a 0! Heh. Unless I want sleeves that are long enough, then I need a different store. I got a really cool necklace and earring combo that I'm trying to find reasons to wear ALL THE TIME! As Kindred Spirits was another stop. I didn't get anything, but they had a lot of neat jewelry and little gifts. Whole Foods was the last stop on our outing, and it was awesome. It's certainly bigger than the Whole Foods that's up the street from me, and it made me a teeny bit jealous. My new aim is to find a bigger Whole Foods in Columbus (as there is only one other, I need to go visit it).

Tuesday we went to the National Zoo! We started the day off watching a baby elephant get his spa treatment. Then we saw the pandas!! I wasn't able to get very good shots of them, because the baby refused to turn around and face us. Very cute though! Other highlights included meerkats! baby goats! orangutans!

Tuesday was my favorite dinner day--Bethesda Crab House! What an experience! I was a little leery of it since it's not crab legs, it's whole crabs with all their...stuff...still inside. In the end it was AWESOME. I honestly cannot wait to go back. It was delicious and fun. What more can you ask from a meal?! We also went to Gifford's for ice cream, and I finally found the replacement ice cream to one from a local shop. Peppermint ice cream, yum!

Wednesday was day 2 of shopping. My mom made the mistake of mentioning that I needed something to wear to a wedding I'm going to in September, so that was the main shopping goal. The first shop we went to was Lucy--I bought a really cute knit racerback dress in magenta. We had Japanese for lunch and I experienced my favorite sweet potato cooking method--tempura! Delish! Then we popped over to the mall (specifically Nordstrom's and Macy's) where I got a basic little black dress for any occasion and a black "bubble" dress for fun occasions. I also got jewelry to wear with the LBD for the wedding, so the last thing I need to find is a shrug or little jacket. It was an exhausting day though--8 hours of shopping. Not my cup of tea, but once in a blue moon is okay.

Thursday we recovered. So tired! I also worked on reading The Red Tent by Anita Diamant. My aunt suggested I read it, so I did while I was there. It was a great book and had a very interesting premise.

Friday, mom and I went to DC. We mastered the Metro! We started off at Madame Tussaud's, which was a blast. It left me wanting to go to one of the bigger Madame Tussaud's though! After that, we just wandered around and ate lunch at the Ronald Reagan Trade Center (or some name like that, heh). Then we went on the DC By Foot walking tour, which was great and I highly recommend it! We went at a relatively easy pace and our tour guide found plenty of shade for us. We walked right up to the Washington Monument (but not inside), learned some trivia about the Captiol, learned about Jefferson Memorial (too far away to walk to!), walked through the WWII memorial (my favorite), walked past the Vietnam wall and smaller monument, and ended on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Very informative, and certainly better than trying to do it on our own. My mom and I also walked over to the Korean War memorial, and revisited the WWII memorial. Then we walked up to see the White House, where we saw his helicopter take off. We managed to fit a lot in without feeling overwhelmed. I'm definitely making plans to go back, so I can do more stuff!

Saturday we went to Mount Vernon (after retrieving my sister from Georgetown), which was very pretty. What a great location for Washington's house--right on the Potomac River. I'm also always a dork for homes from the past, so that was very cool. Washington's tomb was cool too, I want to go back to see that again (too many people right in front of it!).

Sunday was our last tourist day. Fittingly for a Sunday, we went to the National Cathedral. Absolutely gorgeous architecture! Gorgeous stained glass! There's an observation gallery on the 7th floor and you can see the whole area surrounding--all the way to Washington, where the Washington monument looks like a tiny speck! We went on the tour and learned a TON of information about the different chapels and the cathedral itself. I want to go back after learning how to take better stained glass pictures in the dark. That night we had Thai for dinner, and it was great! My first Thai experience, and it was definitely a good one.

And Monday was our travel home day. It was a great, relaxing, fun trip. I loved hanging out with my 11-year-old female cousin all week (my 13-year-old male cousin spent the week brushing up on his golf skills to be able to make the high school golf team). I can't wait to go back!!

I'll put up another entry with pictures. It was enough just to type this out!! Thanks for reading!

Yes, I am alive.

I'm back from vacation (have been since Thursday!), but I've been a little lethargic in addition to getting back into the swing of working all weekend. I'm not ready for the whole breakdown yet, but I wanted everyone to know I'm still here!

In all, it was a mighty good break--from Columbus, from work, from general stress.

Look for an update somewhere around Wednesday!

Ready for Vacation!

Or...almost ready. I haven't actually packed OR thought about what I'm taking. All my clothes are clean though, so that's a start. And I know what types of clothes I need to take (answer: all types).

I am ready for the sightseeing though! We're going to be close to DC, so I decided to look up all the things that we could do there. Washington has a pretty cool website with a list of things to do in DC (and the general area). I really want to do the "Bike and Roll" tour, where you rent a bike and ride around on a guided tour of DC (or at the very least National Mall). I have to convince my mom on that one though. There's also a very cool sounding FREE guided walking tour (DC by Foot) that I am most definitely doing. Of course, there's always the Smithsonian. And a trip to the National Zoo is a must (it's FREE!). At some point we're also going to the Bethesda Crab House, where you order your crabs, they cook 'em up and dump 'em on the table, and you whack 'em open with mallets. I'm very excited about that!

All in all, I'm now very excited for the actual TRIP, and not just getting away from life here for awhile. I don't remember much of the first bunch of times I've been to DC, so I'm hoping to make this one memorable. And I'll take lots of pictures!!

Yay/Nay

Yay for finally knowing that we'll have an apartment come August. Granted, it's the end of August and will lead to a few very stressful days of moving, but we have a place to live! Hopefully we'll have a couch and dining room chairs soon too, but I'm not too up in the air about those items. However, a bed (or at the very least a mattress and frame) are a top priority for me right now.

Nay for putting the car search on hold due to financial woes. I thought I had managed to find the perfect car for a good deal ('05 Honda Civic Ex with 18,000 miles for $14,495), but the details wouldn't work out with paying for it (and insurance). Blah.

Yay to going to Maryland in about a week. I'm hoping for some crab (as I do on all vacations). Nay to working the next 8 days out of 9. Here's to hoping I make good money by doing so.

Sadness

Rest in Peace--Lauren Elizabeth Brian.
May 20, 1985-June 28, 2008

Just One More Thing to Deal With...

I spent some time at home this past week due to some horrible pains. My pain was rotten enough to prompt an ER visit on Sunday morning, but after 4 hours of not being seen at OSU ER, my mom and grandma picked me up and carted me back home. After going to the ER there, an ultrasound on Monday, and a follow-up visit on Wednesday, I was told I probably have endometriosis. It's only firmly diagnosed via surgery (a laproscopy), so for now it's a waiting game to see if I have as much pain next month.

I was happy to be home in spite of the circumstances. I spent time with my sister making jewelry from a kit that I gave her for her birthday. I went a little crazy with it--4 pair of earrings, 3 necklaces, and 1 bracelet. It was fun :-) Sadly I missed out on going to Cedar Point with my work friends, which was a huge total bummer.

Everything else is going along. We're still waiting to hear about our apartment, but hopefully we'll be moving in mid-August. Work is fine, much slower than normal. I need to get out and celebrate summer--I'm thinking of heading down to the pool one morning to lay out and read. I need some sun, dood! My brother got a hamster, so now there are two of them in our apartment. His is a girl and she is pretty darn cute and fluffy! The car search is going nowhere, but I really need to get a start on it. I don't want to be a grown up!

This is my life...of course.

I'll start off with a few good things, and move onto the crappy. I'm finally completely finished with undergrad, unless something comes up in applying for Optometry school. It doesn't really feel real; I'm sure come September when I'm not taking classes, then it will finally sink in! Work is still work, except a little hotter since summer started. The A/C in our building doesn't operate too well since it's old. Luckily, the customers don't notice nearly as much as the staff does. I visited home this past week, which was fun and relaxing. I also visited my boyfriend's home which was also fun, albeit a bit less relaxing (we spent Sunday building a grill for his dad--fun times with 4 boys!).

So speaking of that trip (to Cincinnati), we drove back Sunday evening. Now, I knew that my A/C wasn't working, so we drove most of the way back with the windows open. About 20 miles from Columbus we shut the windows and turned on the A/C just to get some air flow in the van. As we got off the highway, we both realized that the van was making a horrible roaring noise. We shut off the A/C, which did nothing. We pulled into a gas station, quickly shut the van off and opened the hood (as if either of us would have SEEN anything). A passerby asked what was
wrong and I told him. He had me turn the van back on and upon hearing it, told me that the clutch on the A/C was stuck. That in turn would break the serpentine belt if allowed to continue, and then all chaos would break loose. So, I had to call AAA (thankfully we have it) and finally at 10:45pm Sunday night my van was towed to the nearest Tuffy Auto Service Center (and the tow truck guy drove us home!) Monday morning my boyfriend and I walked to Tuffy (the van is the only transportation for myself, my boyfriend and my brother) and let them know what was up. Meanwhile, my family came down and picked us up so we could still go home as planned.

So...my van needed a new compressor and the works for the A/C, a grand total of $917.50. OUCH. We're starting to think that maybe it's time to trade in the van and look at a new car for me. I'm scared of that process, because I love my little van a lot. It's only 8 years old, but it's slowly starting to go. Sam thinks the transmission will conk out next, which is uh, NOT GOOD. It's a situation I really don't want to be in :-( Especially because of looking at finances, I would be much better off with a car instead of a van or SUV. I want a bigger vehicle because that's what I've driven since I started with my temporary license. The only cars I've driven are a Ford Taurus (big) and a Buick Century (bigger). Ack. I'm not ready!!! But I also don't want to be stranded if my van finally bites a big one. Again, cars suck!

Fluff and Stuff.

Tomorrow I turn 23 (23!). Sheesh. I'm not sure how time has flown so quickly since high school!! I'm taking one last class, and the final for that is on Thursday. That will officially bring to an end my undergraduate career. Then onto the next obstacle--applying for optometry school. Fun!

In other news, I'm finally hanging out with people from work. We went bowling on Sunday evening, followed by Sunday Funday at a local bar (in celebration of one coworker's birthday). It was a lot of fun, even though I was the DD (I was sick with a stomach flu thing on Saturday, so I didn't feel like risking drinking!). I really like most of the people I work with, and that's all a girl can ask, right? Yay for new friends!


And now for studying. Then tonight, crab legs for my birthday! Yum.

Strange...

I noticed a strange phenomenon at work today--when my hair is down in a braid (such that it reaches the middle of my back), people tend to be unable to resist the urge to give it a tug or swing it. From my boss to the grumpy bartender, many people played with it over the three days I wore it in a braid to work. Silly people! Luckily, I don't mind at all.

However, I do mind that people are advocating my hair being cut. I'm not at the point where I want to cut my hair yet, but almost everyone at work thinks that I should cut it. Or let them cut it. Eep. I just finally started being able to braid it without the shorter layers poking out of the braid funny! I'm pretty sure everyone is just jealous because my hair is so long (and pretty).

Tonight is Sunday Funday with some of the people from work. I'm pretty excited. :-)

Better Weekend at Work

This weekend was much better for me at work, other than the fact that we were not as busy as normal. My brother started working on Thursday as our dishwasher, and Saturday I helped him out after I finished my serving shift. We left about 2:30am (Sunday morning), which is 3.5 hours after the restaurant closes. Last night, when he worked without me, he finished at midnight, which was only 2 hours after close! Hopefully that's a good sign for the future!

I'm sick of the spring rains. I want sunny days to be the NORM not the exception like it's been for two weeks. Ugh.

The boyfriend is at his home for a few days to assist his dad recover from surgery. He was diagnosed with colon cancer last month, and last week he underwent surgery to remove his colon and biopsy his lymph nodes. All the biopsies (40-something) came back clean, so essentially he's cured. I'm very thankful that they seemed to catch it early, even though they had to remove his colon. There's a family history of colon cancer, so it was wise to remove the whole colon and not just the affected areas. Of course, I need to prod my boyfriend to get himself checked out, if only to get a baseline for the future.

Now it's onto my day. Class and groceries are my only required activities today!

Nothing Particularly Noteworthy...

Yesterday was a heinously busy day at work--from 9-2:30ish, I had $1000 in sales. Which is very good for a Sunday (usually by 4, I make between $700-800 on a good day). Unfortunately, I utterly bombed in the tips department and only ended up making $105. So all day my tips were roughly 13%. Ouch. I didn't feel like any of my tables didn't like me, so I'm not sure where the problem arose. My general manager said that the problem was that people who don't usually eat out were out to eat yesterday...and perhaps were not impressed with my service on our BUSIEST DAY OF THE YEAR. *sigh* Luckily for me, I regularly have nights where my tips are 20% all night, so I won't suffer too much.

In other news, I went to Whole Foods today because I needed "Greek style yogurt", which my local Giant Eagle doesn't carry--go figure! While perusing the dairy aisle, I found skyr, which is an Icelandic dairy product. It's hard to describe, but it was very good. It's much thicker and creamier than yogurt (in fact, it's actually a fresh cheese). I was intrigued to find it because I had read about it online and saw it on TV.

Lastly, I helped my brother get a job at my restaurant. It's not the most glamorous, but it's money, and he can move up to better jobs as other positions open. And he'll be living in our apartment for the summer (in my previous roommate's vacated room), so that's pretty neat.

Apartment Hunt

The boyfriend and I hunted for apartments again. The first time, we found a great place to live (with one of our roommates from this year), but the roommate got a job in Cleveland so we had to look again for two bedroom apartments. Thankfully, looking for two bedrooms is a lot easier than looking for three bedrooms. We checked out 4 places yesterday and found one that was too old (no updated in the least), one that was too expensive and a little shady on pricing, one that was pretty nice, and one that seemed like the IT choice.

I did a little internet searching today about our top choice, and realized the complex is right next to train tracks. Not a complete deal breaker, but it soured the deal for me enough for me to look again at the "nice" choice. I also read reviews online, and while I know to take those with a grain of salt, most people had similar complaints (especially about noise).

I think we're going to end up going with the "nice" choice, because the location is pretty good (a stone's throw from where we're at now, so we know the area) and it seems that it will be cheaper for similar amenities (the ones that we'd use at least). We're both pretty happy with the choice, and I felt like I liked the leasing agent best at this place. We're putting in an application tomorrow (with no application fee!), and hopefully we'll be able to live there. We probably won't know for at least a while--since Ohio law requires only a 30 day notice for move-outs they won't know the availability for our time frame (late August) until June or July. We're estimating that it will cost us the same as living here once all utilities are considered, which is good, because we're both living within our means right now.

There's still a walk-in closet in the room I'd be in, which is a bonus (really, it's extra storage space for both of us). We have the option of getting it renovated (new carpet, new appliances, new cabinetry, new bathroom vanity) for not too much more. There's also a possibility of getting a brick wall in the living room, which sounds strange, but the more I think about it and looked at it, I kind of like the feel it gives the room. The complex was built in the 70s, so the brick was probably very chic at the time! We'd actually have a dining room, so no more eating on a couch! In all, it's pretty exciting.

Off topic, I love the smell of rain in the spring and summer. So refreshing!

It's Taken Too Long to Get to Here...

Tomorrow (Wednesday) is my brother's trial. Please send every ounce of good thoughts that you can muster my brother's way.

In other news, I hate having to listen to other people's music because they're too incosiderate to play it at a normal level. Ack.

Of no real importance...

I felt I should make an entry even though there isn't much going on. The weather is beautiful here, again, we've skipped spring and it's pretty summer-like.

This past weekend at work was a long one--I closed on Thursday night which is unusual and I worked a double on Sunday. 10 hours and 45 minutes, nearly all of it on my feet. Ugh. The upside is that I made a pretty chunk of money. This weekend should be a lot less strenuous for me.

The only other thing to talk about is apples. A few weeks ago, the boyfriend and I went to the grocery to stock up on fruit--apples being one of the primary ones. We bought a bag of "Rome" apples, and were both sadly disappointed in the quality. They were too softy, and almost mealy. There was no satisfying crisp biting into the apple. On this past grocery trip, I picked up 2 each of 3 kinds of apples: Granny Smith, Gala, and Pink Lady. I'll be honest, I picked the Pink Lady because of the name. Surprisingly though, they're very good. Perfect crisp and a good balance of sweet and tart. Yum! So good that I went back yesterday and bought 6 more. I'm not an apple fan, but these may have made me one.

Things That Are Not Tips

So in the current economic woes we're experiencing, people are finding new ways to tip less but still feel good about themselves.

A couple of examples, shall we?
--Profuse "thank you"s and "you were so great"s. I mean, sure it makes me feel good inside, but 20% (instead of...11%) makes me feel extra good, and will ensure than when/if I serve you again, I'll make some extra effort. Boasting about how great I am to my manager? Nice, but again, not a tip.

--A napkin with "Jesus Loves You!" and various bible snippets written on it. Again, I can tell that you care (about me?), but only leaving 12% on the check when you've had great service can't be something God smiles upon favorably. (This is actually the first time I've had a Jesus napkin left for me. I have had pre-printed Jesus-y cards left for me...in lieu of a tip. Extra frustrating.)

So if you're inclined to leave a "tip", think of this--if your server takes that "tip" to his/her landlord, will it pay the rent? Can s/he buy a bunch of bananas with a "thank you so much for everything!!" If the answer is "no", don't be a sourpuss, leave a real tip! (I'm sure my readers aren't this type of tipper, so no offense guys!)

Bummer!

So I was supposed to have an awesome tea/brunch date with my friend, but alas the gods of plans intervened...

Yesterday when I was driving to work (at 4:30, mind you), my brakes started making a weird clicking/clunking noise. Since I learned from last time DON'T MESS AROUND WITH WEIRD NOISES, I panicked! I went to work, and one of my managers let me take my car to the Tuffy across the street. I wanted to make sure that it was drivable and I wouldn't die. The problem turned out to be the brake shoes not being fit properly and thus not wearing correctly. Luckily, not something DRASTIC, so I decided to wait until today to take my car to the Tuffy that did my brake work originally. And thusly, I needed to cancel tea (figuring I'd be sitting at Tuffy or the nearby Starbucks all day long).

Tuffy was busy today (even though I went over at the crack of dawn), so instead of sitting there all day impatiently, I scheduled service for Monday afternoon. That freed up my day today, but unfortunately I went to bed very late last night (I worked till close--midnight), and getting up early this morning was killer. I came home and went back to bed, only to still feel like poopie when I finally got up. Ugh. So basically I'm going to waste this day reading a book until I have to head to work.

The good news in all of this is that the repair work will be covered by the limited warranty, so it shouldn't cost a single red cent!

A Post Dedicated to my Mom (and some talk about me...)

My mom got a new vehicle this weekend, and I'm terribly jealous. She even drove it down here today to drop my brother back at school, but since I was working, I didn't get to see it! At any rate, she got a 2008 Jeep Patriot (in Inferno Red, the color shown above, I think).

I'm very happy for her though: it's the first car she's ever purchased new. So congrats to my mom for that! I hope that she did enough shopping around this time--she wasn't too fond of the last car (Devil Car) that she purchased.

One of the things I can't wait to do is to be able to purchase my own car. That's a ways off though, so for now I'm happy in my white soccer mom van. <3

Week

It's been a week since I last updated, and though nothing exciting has happened, I figured I'd post so you know I'm alive.

This quarter I'm only taking one class and working, so it's very strange to have as much free time as I now have. I need to find some way to fill it!

Last night at work was one of those nights that just stunk. I made good money and didn't have any upset customers, but it was still not a great night. Probably my mood was set off by my first table not tipping me. Always a good start to the night :-(

Why isn't it spring yet?

A Very Exciting Spring Break

My spring break is careening toward an end, and it has been a RUSH. Let me recount it for you...

On Monday, I went to the eye doctor and learned that my prescription has not changed for the umpteenth year in a row! Yay! I also bought glasses for a steal and got a really awesome pan.

On Tuesday, I went to the dentist and found out that I don't know how to brush my teeth! So the hygienist taught me all over again, after poking and prodding away all the plaque. FUN! I also got the bonding fixed on my front tooth. Eventually I'll get a porcelain veneer, but since that's expensive, I'm holding off.

On Wednesday, we had crab legs for dinner. Delish!

On Thursday, I drove back to Columbus and worked!

Okay, so really, not exciting at all. But that's okay, I'll take my lame spring breaks over booze filled spring breaks any day! The rest of the weekend I'm working, including what promises to be a VERY VERY busy Easter Sunday Brunch Buffet. I'm just hoping to make a lot of money!

Spring Break

I'm officially on Spring Break now. My first order of business yesterday was to scrub down the kitchen in our apartment. The stove and drip pans are quite dazzling now, I must say. Second order of business was to clean my room.

I graduate on Sunday, which seems unreal. I don't feel like I'm DONE since I'm taking a class in spring quarter. Ah well, it'll certainly be different only taking ONE class, instead of...three or more. Test time will definitely be less stressful!

It feels really good to have nothing on my plate right this moment. Today is my first full day off in a very long time. I just don't know what to do with myself!! Now if only spring would really arrive today...

ETA: I got an A- in organic chemistry! Amazing since I didn't do so well on the multiple choice part of the final! And I'm gunning for an A in biology and an A- in physiology. One more quarter done well!

Boys and Snow

I worked with all boys last night, meaning that on the floor I was serving on, the other servers were all male. It was interesting, and definitely different than working with females. I think that I liked it better. It also helped that the 3 guys I worked with are the "better" of the male servers at our store.

In other news, we're being whomped by snow today. The weather (and slow busses) made me late to my first final. (Don't worry, I still was able to take it!) I'm scared to drive to work in it...

Here goes everything...

On Smoking...

I know we all have our vices, it's only human. I mean, right now I have three open boxes of Girl Scout cookies within arm's reach. But smoking is the one vice I just don't get. I understand the "peer pressure" aspect of starting, I suppose. Trying to be a cool kid, trying to fit in, gotcha. It just seems to me that there's so much more negative about the habit than possible positive gains, aside from the obvious.

First there's smelling like an ashtray. Um, yuck? My grandparents smoked throughout my junior high and high school years spent living with them, and the secondhand smoke smell on every last one of my things was repulsive. Granted, I noticed it only when I wasn't home (and especially when I came home on breaks from college), but I still knew that I smelled like smoke. Doesn't that affect the potential pool of suitors to those who can stand to kiss an ashtray? And is that a very big group of fantastic catches? (My instincts tell me no.) Sure, you can cover it up with mass amounts of body spray (as one of my coworkers does after she's taken her smoke break), chew gum, and the like, but that just makes you smell like a minty or vanilla-y ashtray!

Then there's the addiction. I would absolutely hate it if my body so strongly craved something that was so detrimental to my health. It's one thing to crave cookies, but at least they won't diminish my lung capacity and cause cancer. All the smokers at work are constantly trying to find a spare moment to take a smoke break. That's a lot of time spent thinking about smoking and not a lot of time thinking of the tables they're supposed to be waiting on! (And again, walking up to your customers smelling like a vanilla ashtray is just not appealing.)

Another point I can't wrap my head around: the cost. Smoking is one expensive habit (unless you're the guys I work with who get by borrowing smokes from everyone else). Once again, I'd rather spend my money elsewhere.

Of course, there's the obvious health implications. With all the media coverage of the effects, I don't know how people can rationalize smoking. From the risk of clots if used in conjunction with birth control to dying of lung cancer, how does one continue that habit?! What good can come of it in the long run?

I hope this doesn't offend anyone. I just don't get it. Which is probably good because I won't end up smoking (though, starting in my 20s would just be ridiculous).

Any thoughts?

Progress

I'm feeling better, although I sound awful coughing. Whatever is in my chest is breaking up, so my coughs are those rattly coughs. I just need to be a little better by Thursday so that I can work without dying.

My ochem midterm went well. The test had two parts, both worth 60 points: multiple choice and a written part. I rocked the written part hard, though, I did worse that I would have liked on the multiple choice part. The instructor has a tricky way of writing questions, so that it's very easy to mistakenly fill in the wrong bubble even when I know the right answer. I lost 3 points that way, so I'm annoyed. I'm still sitting near the top of the heap, so I feel that I'm in a good position for the final. Which is coming up very soon. Ack!

I made a yummy dinner tonight--lasagna rolls. I perused a few recipes, and really created my own. They turned out pretty well, so I committed the recipe to paper, and I plan to make them again. I'm really starting to be able to create my own recently. I made really awesome chicken fingers a few weeks ago and I pulled together an Alfredo sauce that was darn tasty after looking at several recipes and choosing what I liked. I hope that next year I can really blossom in cooking because I think I'll end up cooking more since I'm living with (lazy) boys.

This weekend...more studying, of course! There's always something to study for. And I need to clean my bathroom and our kitchen. They're both looking really neglected!

Blast!

I caught the sick, for sure. It's not BAD, just an irritated throat and urge to cough. Unfortunately, we were REALLY busy at work last night, and I just about died. Coughing (and trying not to cough) ended up giving me a stomachache and a dull headache (that intensified every time I coughed). When I finally got off work and got home, I burst into tears because I just felt SO BAD. This morning I had no voice and was able to call off work, so I'm home to study and rest. Of course, I feel fine-ish now, but I know that working would have kicked my butt again.

So that's that. With several days of no work, I can rest up and be fine by the weekend. Hell, I might be okay by tomorrow!

Of course, my organic chemistry midterm might just make me sicker...

Oh no...

Everyone at work has been sick. And not like, little sneezes sick, but full blown, call off work sick. One girl left midshift on Friday because her ears were so blocked up that she couldn 't hear and it finally made her snap. I'm the only one who hasn't been sick yet, but I worked with at least 3 sickos last weekend, so I'm sure I've been exposed.

Then, my female roommate has a terrible case of influenze...one that had her sent to the ER with chest pains and difficulty breathing. She's gone home-home to recover, so I'm not actively being exposed, but I'm sure the virus is lurking on the door handles and everything, so again, already exposed.

I don't want to get sick. I'm a miserable miserable miserable sick person. I was sick in December and that's more than enough for me this season.

So I'm going to pretend that this little sore throat issue is a figment of my imagination.

When it rains...

So, a few posts ago I lamented over how much money I spend, and that I was going to cut back on said spending. The Gods must've read that and had a ball, and thus sent me a new whopper to deal with...

A week ago this past Sunday, I got my van back from being home for e-check. The very first thing I notice is that the parking break seems to be sticking and it takes a moment for it to come unstuck after I release it. Great. Hoping that it's just the cold weather, I stop using the parking break. Everything seemed alright for a few days, but then the regular breaks were sticking to something when I came to a complete stop. I bit the bullet and took it to Tuffy yestereday...and got the LOVELY news that my right rear brake cylinder had ruptured and was leaking fluid everywhere (thus the sticking) and ruining ALL THE PARTS. Shoes, pads, etc. So I sign for the work to be done at a whopping $618.03.

Upon talking to my mom a few minutes later, I learned that the brakes had just been replaced last February, and were thus still under warranty. I hurriedly called Tuffy to put a stop on the work to see if I was going to get the car back home to get it fixed at the place who held the warranty. The Tuffy guy was leery of this plan, but stopped the work, and went about seeing what they could do to get the car drivable back home. Meanwhile, the other place hemmed and hawed, and finally agreed that they would grant a reimbursement if it met all the "conditions" of the warranty (12 months, 12,000 miles, and it does) with a receipt and the "old" parts. So I got the work restarted at Tuffy, and the manager said he would see what he could do to save me money.

When he called me back, it turned out that he was willing to take off some of the labor charges and some other charges to do the work, just so that I wouldn't die trying to get it back home. It would be a liability for them, and a clear safety hazard for me (and he feels like the other company is trying to protect their pocketbook, big time). The final cost of the repair came down to $382.07. I am so grateful to them, and for the time being, they certainly have me as a customer! We're still going to get the parts warranteed out, so hopefully I'll still be getting some money back.

In short, cars are big drama. Ack. Thankfully the brakes didn't go out and kill anyone.

Interesting...or not.

This weekend at work was okay. I close again on Friday and Saturday, which was truly a pain. I need to get a better rhythm and timing for closing so that I can get out earlier. And I need to learn to send mental messages that say "Do not try to order a full meal at 10:45pm when we close at 11pm". Jerks. Today was extra lame because we were NOT busy at all. UGH. Probably because it was so damned cold here!

I realized something interesting recently--when I'm working, my bladder shuts off. I just never have to use the restroom, or even have the urge to, in spite of drinking water and lemonade steadily throughout my shift. Even today, when I had a medium latte before my shift (which usually runs straight through me), I didn't have to go. It's pretty excellent. TMI? Sorry! *shrug*

I'm pretty peeved right now because a recipe that I tried sometime last year, and really really liked has now disappeared off the face of the earth. Unless it wasn't a Rachael Ray recipe, which I highly doubt. I just can't imagine where it might be that I haven't looked!

I'm so tired, and so bored. I wish it was later so that I could justify going to bed!

On the cusp of my working weekend...

Tomorrow starts the weekly 4-day cycle of work. I hope that this weekend is a good one--I was off Sunday because they had too many servers (and I was the first one my general manager asked if I wanted to go home). I hope that if I close, it won't be as awful as last weekend--Friday and Saturday nights I was there till midnight! That alone left me whipped on Sunday, so I was glad to have the day off! I definitely like the days I work. The first day is Thursday, so we close an hour earlier than Friday or Saturday, but it's still relatively busy. Friday and Saturdays are pretty good business nights, especially when I close, and Sundays are pretty easy because of the brunch buffet and it's a nice end to my "work week". The only downside is that I only get to work under one of the managers for the most part...and he's not my favorite manager! Ah well, it's okay!

This past Saturday was my 4 year anniversary with the boyfriend. We celebrated pretty low-key, lunch and dinner out, but not ridiculously expensive. He also came to see me at work, and left a pair of earrings as a tip, which was incredibly touching!

I bought my cap and gown yesterday, and signed off on my name in the "graduation binder", so it looks like I'm cleared to graduate in March. Finally. Not that it matters too much, since I'm taking a class spring quarter (organic chem) in order to fulfill the optometry school pre-reqs. So in June, I'll finally be finished with undergrad. Then it'll be working full time and working hard to have the best optometry school application that I can muster!

I'm ready for this dreary winter weather to end, pronto. I want to be able to walk to and from class without freezing or getting wet!

Quick and Dirty

So I realized today that I just don't know where I spend all my money. I thought I had been doing well with not shopping but a quick check of my finances tells me otherwise. Ack. I started a financial log, of the tips I get and the money I spend. Hopefully seeing what I spend will break that habit for me. And I'll be able to better estimate the kind of budget I need, and what I can afford for health insurance. And perhaps car insurance.

The real world is downright financially terrifying. I'll have to start thinking about what I would be willing/able to do for a second job, especially when I'm not in school (starting this summer, for those keeping track). Or a better paying first job (probably not...my first job is pretty well paying for the hours I work!).

This will end the pity me post.

Study Break...

This weekend is a studying weekend for me--I have two midterms on Monday (Organic Chem and Physiology). I took tomorrow off work so that I would have a full day to study, and I'm feeling pretty confident that I'll do well on the tests. Luckily for my second set of midterms, they're all spaced pretty evenly so I shouldn't have to take off work to study!

Speaking of work, last night was a pretty good night for me in terms of sales--I had the highest sales excluding people who worked a double shift. My tips weren't as high as I would have liked and I know one check really stiffed me. Argh. Ah well. Here's hoping tonight is pretty good too, and I don't have to stay as late!

There's not much else going on around here. The other night I had a pretty long chat with my female roommate about some of the issues she's been feeling around here. It was interesting because I was well on my way to drunkville, but I think I managed to make her realize that a) we don't hate her and b) she's projecting a lot of her feelings of awkwardness and not belonging outward. I hope that we'll be able to mend friendship fences as roommates, because we really all lost that fun "hanging out" aspect with each other (prior to living together, we all used to hang out a lot!).

Here's a lame story: my mom's van which I have on campus is close to license plate sticker renewal time. Which means it needs an e-check. No biggie, I'll find a place down here, I tell my mom. Oh right. Only 7 counties in NE Ohio still do e-check. Ugh. Tomorrow my mom and grandma are driving down to switch cars with me so that the van can be e-checked. I'm happy I get to see my grandma though!

Blase.

Tips at work have taken a tumble the past two nights compared to last week (and the week before). I'm hoping to make up the loss tonight by working until close (more tables!) and that it's a Saturday (just hope the kitchen doesn't get overloaded again...).

I hate that in order to find "good" living arrangements that start in September, we have to start looking NOW. Ugh. I'm going to be living with just boys next year, which is daunting, but I think I can deal (especially if I have my own bathroom). My female roommate this year just isn't going to work out for next year, on either my end or hers. I just hope that I can retain a friendship with her. I've been trying really hard since the new year to be agreeable and whatnot, and it seemed to be on the upswing--she was being more social on the whole. That seemed to fall apart last week due to a spat between herself and another roommate. I hope it resolves itself, and we can go back to cohesive roommates.

We saw Sweeney Todd last week, and I really liked it. I like Johnny Depp in his "dark" characters rather than as a "normal" person. A friend from work described it perfectly: "gory, yet whimsical".

It's a three-day weekend, yet I feel crunched for time. I hope I can study well enough for my exams coming up in the next two weeks, what with work and an alcohol "awareness" class I have to take for work. Blah!

Vacation Part Three

I'll try to finish out the vacay in this post. Then back to the daily grind of my boring life!

Day 5, Wednesday: We spent the whole day in Key West. We got there in the late morning (almost noontime) and broke into various groups. My group made our way down Duval Street (the main shopping/tourist drag) toward the Ernest Hemingway House. We shopped along the way (Ron Jon's Surf Shop, of course!), and ate lunch at a place called Willie T's. It was pretty yummy, my boyfriend and I shared a blackened mahi-mahi wrap and jalapeno poppers (I have a recent obsession with them!). The poppers were served with an orange marmelade-horseradish, which actually was a good compliment! The best part of lunch was feeding the chickens and roosters that hang out in the eating areas of all the outdoor restaurants. They were piggy little things. I made one jump up and down for french fries!

The piggy chicken! She wouldn't stand still long enough for me to touch her, only to feed her.

The Hemingway house was pretty cool, except that I had a bad headache from the sun and heat. I took copious amounts of pictures of the polydactyl cats while the rest of our group learned Hemingway trivia to share with the part of our vacation group that didn't join us. I absolutely loved the kitties and desperately wanted to pick them up and squeeze them, but that wasn't allowed (probably because they're not entirely tame!). In addition to being polydactyl (and descending from one cat--Snowball), many of the cats had calico coloring to them, including the tiger cats, such gorgeous coloring!! The stories of Hemingway and his house were pretty cool too, but I won't tell them just in case you ever want to hear them for yourself!

Note the shape of the paw--those are some extra toes in there!

We were supposed to have a meet up time of 3:00 with the other members of our vacation group, but we had walked a long way to get to Hemingway's house and had to walk a long way back (and on the opposite side of the street--more stores!!!) We met back up with our group late and of course, no one knew what we should do next (aside from those of us who were content with the shopping we missed while rushing back!). We chilled out, did a little shopping, then headed to the pier for the "Sunset Festival". This is Key West's street fair that celebrates the gorgeous sunset every night. There were all sorts of street performers, from the bawdy escapist, to the CatMan (CRAZY MAN). It was a lot of fun, and we followed it with dinner at a Cuban restaurant. I had never had Cuban before, so I was a little leery, but it was pretty good. I definitely want to try it again! A little more shopping and we headed back to the condos. Most everyone passed out at that point!

My boyfriend and I with the sunset!

Day 6, Thursday: We spent the morning lounging around and trying to decide what to do for the day. Eventually it was decided that we would head out on a fishing party boat for the afternoon. Twelve of the eighteen of us went, and it was a lot of fun. Until I was the only one not catching fish. Then I was grumpy, more about the fact that I felt like a failure and I knew people would make fun of me :-(. It was still cool being out on the ocean. In one of the spots we stopped at there was a plethora of jellyfish, and I was able to snap a good picture of a bunch of them! Again, a lot of activity and time in the sun was tiring and we spent the night relaxing. That's what vacation is all about, right?!

Jellyfish!!

Day 7, Friday: We went snorkeling! It was so cool, even though I was scared to death that I was going to drown (I'm not a good swimmer, especially in the middle of the OCEAN). The water was supposed to be calm, until we got to Sombrero Reef, where it picked up to 5 foot swells. SCARY. I wasn't in the water for long (combination of big waves and mouthfuls of saltwater), but the time I spent in there was cool. It was so awesome to get a glimpse of the underwater world! I don't have any pictures from that part of the trip because I didn't want to lose it overboard. Take my word for it though, I wore a wetsuit well! Hehe! After snorkeling, everyone did their own thing--the beach again, some napping (it was tiring in the ocean!), and some video gaming.

Day 8...our very last day...Saturday: We spent more time in Key West. We did a few tourist things (seeing the Southernmost Point), and did shopping for souvenirs (of course, everyone needed something!). The highlights were eating stone crab (the local crab variety) and drag queens. Delicious and hilarious!!

Delicious...
Hilarious! (That's my boyfriend on the left and his 14 year old brother on the right!)

Day 9 (and into Day 10): Time to clean the condos, pack the van, and hit the road. We drove straight through the night to get back to Cincinnati. It was a bit rough, but 22 hours later (exactly), we were able to stretch out our legs :-). The final part of fulfilling our "Livin' the Dream" was stopping to eat at Waffle House at 6:30 in the morning. It was delicious! (I had never been to one before, so it was quite the experience!).


And that concludes our Christmas trip to the Florida Keys. I miss it so much, and I can't wait to go back...I want to make the Keys my vacation destination!

Vacation Part Two

First, it's January 7th, and I'm wearing flip flops in Ohio. WTF?! Also, I would have posted sooner, but I've worked 23 hours over the weekend-y days, and I was too pooped to post.

Day 3, Monday (Christmas Eve): This was one of the boring days! We had breakfast, and I ate goetta for the first time. I've avoided in the past, part to be a pain in the butt to my boyfriend and part because I was scared of how it might taste. It was actually pretty damned good! I still refuse not to call it "peasant food", because IT IS. After breakfast, we spent a goodly amount of time in the pool and by the pool, until we kids decided it was time to explore Marathon. We went to the world's smallest K-Mart (maybe not smallest, but pretty close!), then to a few "tourist" stores like "Goofy Gecko" and "Krazy Larry's Last Store". They had lots of Florida Keys trinkets, but it was all very expensive. I did find a sand dollar ornament (to commemorate the trip) that I went back for later in the week. We then drove further south on the overseas highway and went to the "sister" resort to the one we were staying in. They had actual beach, whereas we had grass then the Gulf, but it was more crowded and more...tourist-y really. They had a bar on the beach, and jet ski rental (at $95 an hour...yikes!), and a mini-golf course, but we all decided that we liked ours better! I collected a small handful of shells before we decided to leave. From there we headed back toward our place, stopping at Walgreen's first for bait (for my boyfriend's cousin) and liquor (yes, the liquor store was part of the Walgreen's).

White sand beaches at the other resort. I'm only jealous of the sunset views they must've had.

Once home, we changed for Christmas Eve mass, and went to mass. The church we went to had a "prayer" garden that was decked out for Christmas with lots of lights, which was very pretty. I wanted to go back later in the week to take pictures, but never got around to it. Dinner was had (again, with 18 people, dinner is always a production!) and we all relaxed for the evening. Until a drunken trip to Walgreen's, which was pure hilarity. I'm surprised they didn't kick us out of Walgreen's!

This is our best Christmas picture! And it's actually taken on Christmas Eve!

Day 4, Christmas!: Instead of lugging the normal piles and piles of presents to Florida, we did a $7 secret Santa instead. It was pretty fun, and I hope that if we do it again, I'll be able to bargain hunt for great gifts better (the aunts were able to go to estate sales and get awesome things for very cheap!). The highlight of the exchange was when my boyfriend's cousin proposed to his girlfriend (of almost 8 years). I was very confused at first, because the ring was packaged and slipped in her stocking (and was the last thing she opened) and I was her secret Santa. I kept thinking...I didn't wrap that! What's that?! It was pretty cool, and I'm happy for the two of them! After lunch, we went to Bahia Honda beach and spent several hours there--in the ocean, collecting shells, building sandcastles, and watching the sunset. A very different Christmas from all others I've had!!
Merry Xmas in the sand. It matched our shirts for the occasion (we all had matching shirts, because we're dorks like that!).

The promised picture of me touching the ocean. I was unaware that he was only taking pictures of my feet!

After Christmas dinner (featuring my heart attack potatoes), we opened up a coconut we had managed to knock down from one of the palms out the back of our condos. It was a lot of fun, but the coconut was disappointing in the end (it didn't have a lot of flavor). I was still impressed with the fact that we managed to open a coconut with nothing but brute force! Other than that...we were all tired out, again. I think I managed to get to bed before midnight (or just after) almost every night we were there. It helped that we usually woke up before 8!

The coconut, as it was when it was knocked out of the tree.

After opening!

Christmas Vacation--In Chunks

Since I'm back to being busy with school and work, I'm going to try and recount my trip in a few posts. Let's start, shall we?

Day 1, Saturday: We awoke very early to pack the van and hit the road. I'm pretty impressed with my boyfriend's family's new van, the Honda Odyssey. Unlike my van, it has a lot of trunk space, and we all fit with all the crap pretty nicely. I can fit in most any vehicle nicely, seeing as I sit like a pretzel, but that's beside the point. We drove and drove, hitting traffic only south of Hot-lanta (Atlanta). We stopped in Ocala (Florida) for the night after driving 15 1/2 hours (with meal breaks, driver switches/potty stops). A good first day of traveling, for sure!

Sadly, it was dark when we reached Florida, so no awesome pictures of us with the sign. Such is life.

Day 2, Sunday: Started out with DENSE fog. Quarter mile visibility, lame! We made it through, and were planning on stopping in Ft. Lauderdale to meet up with my boyfriend's dad at Sam's Club (we needed to stock up on food for 18 people!). Last minute, our plans changed, and we were headed to a Sam's Club in Miami. This is where the trip down turned ugly. Somehow, streets and avenues were transposed, and we found ourselves in Little Havana. I assure you, there is no Sam's Club in Little Havana. It took us a long time to figure out this mistake, but with the help of Walgreen's and my brother at home, we managed to find where we needed to be. It was a crappy few hours, but since that was the worst part of the whole vacation, I'm glad it happened early!Awesome building somewhere in Miami. It was interesting to see Miami and the very apparent different culture.

After stocking up on the supplies, we got on the road. At this point, we had a Tom-Tom navigation system (given to us by my boyfriend's aunt's nephew, co0nfused yet?), and the navigation lady was pretty fierce. We missed a turn, and she starts insisting we "turn around as soon as possible" and "make a u-turn now". We ignored her and ended up where we needed to be anyway. We stayed on roughly the middle key (Marathon Key) at the Indigo Reef Resort. It's a fairly new (less than a year) resort with "timeshare" type condos. We had 3 in a row, and it was very awesome. The first several days we pretty much had the whole place to ourselves...until after Christmas. Everyone showed up to the condos around the same time, and it was a relief to be able to shower and change out of my "road clothes". Dinner was had, wine and beer were drunk, and everyone hit the hay pretty early.

This trip was the first time I saw the ocean, and my one of my boyfriend's brothers was kind enough to have a photoshoot of my first time seeing the ocean. Coming up--the first time I touched the ocean.