Monday, May 28, 2012

Happy Memorial Day!

Well I’ve been busy painting, traveling, watching my newest obsession (Downton Abbey!) and moving. A hurricane (I exaggerate!) hit my hometown last night, so it’s been quite a Memorial Day Weekend.

But even in all of that, I haven’t forgotten what this day means.

Never forget the sacrifices of the few to protect the many.

Memorial Day

Monday, May 14, 2012

Shameless BFF Plug…. and Some Pictures

Two weeks until I move!

Needless to say, we’ve been pretty busy around the house, packing and cleaning and trying to enjoy what little time we have left in our pretty little beach-house. It’s a shame we won’t get to enjoy the summer here, though I am very excited to start our life in Orlando!

Here are a few glimpses into our lives via Instagram! (I am pretty obsessed right now, lol)

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Shane brought me roses! It was a mixture of “Just Because” roses and “I’m sorry I went paintballing after work without you” roses. They made me laugh.

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Going out to dinner for “Military Spouse Appreciation Day”. Hey, I’ll take whatever holiday I can to go out on a date with my hottie!

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Actually enjoying the beach! We took off our rings to put sun lotion on, and I thought it made for a pretty picture. Don’t worry, we put them on quickly! Too much value (sentimental and financial!) to lose in the sand.

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Modeling my very first homemade dress!! I am so proud I actually sewed a dress (with quite a bit of help from my friend Jess!), though I do think I’m going to put the hem up a tad shorter. Not “streetwalker” short, just to the top of my knees, I think.

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No, I didn’t draw that. I’m not nearly talented enough to even come close to creating this (just ask my husband who is subjected to my Draw Something skills.) My best friend, Ellie H. drew this as Day 5 (best friend) in a “30 Day Drawing Challenge” and I’m obsessed with it. I think I should try and talk her into giving it to me….

You can check out her other stuff, I just love the stuffing out of her style.

Ellie's Website

Well, that’s about it for now. I’m off to work on packing some more! Have a great day!

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Disney World Magic: Hollywood Studios/Animal Kingdom

Hey guys!

Taking a break from packing to share another vacation recap. On our second day in Orlando Shane and I went to Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom. Those are the two smaller parks, so it’s easy to do the park hopper and knock them out in one day. This was perfect for us, because we had three days left on our park-hopper pass, so doubling up on one day ensured that we would be able to visit all parks.

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Shane had never been to Animal Kingdom, and neither of us had been to Hollywood Studios, so we were pretty excited. We went to Hollywood Studios first, and headed straight for the Aerosmith Rocking Roller Coaster. I had heard all about this from my friends, so I was pretty pumped.

The line was super short and we pretty much walked right through. I really liked it, but I wanted to head to the one ride I had heard about since I was a child. Hello, Tower of Terror! I am absolutely in love with this ride, I even loved the line décor! It was so freaking cool!

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I only wish we had gone on it more than once, since the ride changes, and you can have different endings! We didn’t know this, however so we continued exploring.

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We checked out a few more rides, then headed out to catch a bus to the Animal Kingdom. We didn’t get too many photos there, but we still had a great time.

We rode the Expedition Everest, which has a fun twist, so it was great seeing Shane’s reaction to it! Then we did the rapids ride, which left us pretty wet! But the majority of this park we spent walking around perusing shops and trading pins! We love the Disney Trading Pins, and I was in search of a Bagheera pin, in honor of my kitten!

It was another wonderful day courtesy of Disney!

Okay, I seriously have to get my butt in gear, so I’ll be packing for the rest of the day. OH! I also finally got Instagram, so feel free to follow me! My username is Katefreak, Have a great day!

Friday, May 4, 2012

Video Break

 

Hey guys! I will continue with the vacation recaps later, I have a few things to do today, including Family Day on base with the Marine’s unit. Until then, check out this video I made for my bestie. See ya later!

 

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Disney World Magic: Epcot

I love Disney so very much. Disney World in Orlando is one of my favorite places, and I know Shane feels the same way. He even proposed to me in front of Cinderella’s castle in 2010! Needless to say, we try to visit whenever we can.

This trip we managed to make it to all four of the major parks at WDW, Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom. [Magic Kingdom is my favorite, by the way.] Usually when we visit the parks we are with a larger group, but this time it was just the two of us, which was nice.

[We love going with a group, but sometimes it’s nice to do something with just the two of us!]

The first day we went to Epcot.

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They are currently having their International Flower and Garden Expo, which is basically an explosion of gardens and topiaries all over the park. The Epcot website says there are more than 75 Disney character topiaries on location! We managed to snap a few photos with some!

Pluto

Lady and the Tramp

Pandas

butterflies

Not to mention the Snow White + the Seven Dwarves and the Woody + Buzz photos from above. [Side note, I know a lot of people are mourning the loss of Picnik. Try out Ipiccy, it’s very similar.]

We had a wonderful day just walking through the World Showcase, riding rides, trading pins, and just enjoying the beautiful sunshine.

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It was one of the best days I’ve had in a very long time. I love vacation!

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Vacation Catch-Up

Howdy.

So, I’ve actually got a lot of things to blog lately, finally. [The past few months have been a blur of boring nothing happening, so I haven’t bored you all with blog fluff. That has changed!]

Starting with the most amazing vacation of my freaking life! My hottie husband is deploying to Afghanistan soon [For the record, I am not handling it well… but that’s a story for another day!] so we just spent the last two weeks on his pre-deployment leave. This included a trip to Kentucky for a wedding –> Pensacola to see my favorite roomie ever –> Jacksonville for Baby Bro’s birthday –> Orlando for Disney fun / apartment hunting / school applying –> Jacksonville for family / friends visiting –> Orlando for more school stuff –> Jacksonville for final goodbyes –> back to North Carolina.

Whew. That was a mouthful (and a whole bunch of driving!). I’m thoroughly exhausted and unbelievably happy. I’ll try to do a post on each evolution, but here’s the highlights!

+ I GOT ACCEPTED TO MY SCHOOL! Oh wow, I’m so excited. This not only gives me something to do [besides cry myself to sleep over a Ben + Jerry’s container] while the Marine is gone, but a means of gaining employment once we no longer have the security blanket of military paychecks! I’m starting the Aveda Institute of Orlando on June 28th!

Now I just have to buy lots ‘o black clothing. [I’m a Florida gal, I like bright colors! I own like one article of black!] Okay, to be honest I’ve already drug the Marine to all kinds of stores to stock up. Retail therapy, what?!

+ My wonderful friend Jess [also my savior from the depths of North Caroline loneliness!] got married! She was the most gorgeous bride [she can pull of retro better than a pin-up girl!] and it was such a beautiful, intimate wedding. So happy for the newlyweds!

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+ Two of my oldest friends had their first child! [Full disclosure, I introduced them! Now THAT is a story, haha!] Izzy and Greg were high (and middle for her!) school sweethearts, and finally gave us a bebe to spoil! I might just steal this little angel. [Too creepy? Nah!]

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+ Two words. DISNEY WORLD!

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+ We got an apartment in Orlando. Now we just need to pack up our beach house. [I’m so sad I won’t get to spend the summer at the beach. Biggest downside to moving.]

That’s the cliffnotes. There are about a thousand little details, but I’m off to enjoy this drive [aka read my book.] Have a wonderful day!