Florida Vacation

Hello Everyone!

We've finally returned from our recent trip to Orlando and Siesta Key Beach in Florida, so I thought I'd take a few minutes to fill everyone in about how it went and what all we did!

The first two days we spent in Orlando at Universal Studios amusement parks with a couple of my friends who are stationed close by in Norfolk, VA in the Navy.  The first day we attended Universal's Islands of Adventure theme park which featured a Jurassic Park river ride and a really cool spider-man ride which seemed to be everybody's favorite.  It also was host of  my personal favorite attraction, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter which makes you feel like you've stepped right into the Harry Potter books and even had a candy store that sold chocolate frogs and a magic store (all you Harry Potter fans will know what i'm talking about), it was very cool! The next day we spent at the actual Universal Studios theme park and watched their Superstar Parade which included popular cartoon characters from the Despicable Me movie and Spongebob along with many others, and also got to see a couple fun shows the park had; like Animal Actors which featured different animals that had been in popular movies showing off their special tricks and skills and also the Disaster show which was a "movie" starring you and we got to see how they use green screens and different special effects in movies and then edit it all together to make one big production... both were quite humorous and really neat to see!!

Jurassic Park Ride 

The Universal Studios Globe

Sitting on a bench outside Islands of Adventure

The third day Preston and I took a short drive over to Siesta Key Beach in Sarasota, FL which is supposed to be one of the top beaches in the US.  I had been to Florida only one time previously so I wanted Preston to get a glimpse of the sugar white sandy beaches and super clear ocean water Florida is known for.  There we grabbed some lunch and just laid out on the beach for a while enjoying the ocean view before heading back to our hotel for the remainder of the day.  Once we reached our resort we went for a quick swim and had fun playing at one of their pool tables which was under a cool grass hut and next to that we also enjoyed a game of life sized checkers, as to which Preston sadly won.... cause he cheats... (hehe) just kidding! 

Us in front of the Siesta Key sign

Siesta Key Beach

The hotel swimming pool

Our fourth day in Florida we met up with one of Preston's friends who used to be in the Army with Preston and his girlfriend at SeaWorld (which we had to go to cause we didn't get to go there on our honeymoon in San Diego and Preston never let's me forget it haha).  We had a wonderful time watching the big Orca show, a really cool dolphin show with acrobatics, and a hilarious seal and otter show.  We also walked around and visited all of the neat animal attractions and rode a couple of the rides the park had.  It was a blast!

Us with Shamu and his little buddy

The One Ocean Orca show

A view of SeaWorld

Our final day in Orlando we spent at Discovery Cove where it was our turn to play with dolphins and other fun ocean creatures! We started off our day there with an amazing dolphin interaction where we got to not only pet and swim with a Bottlenose Dolphin, but we also got to give it a little smooch! After our dolphin interaction we went snorkeling in the grand reef with a bunch of tropical fish, gigantic stingrays, and even giant lobsters, eels and sharks (all of which were behind glass of course!).  We then relaxed in a couple of the lazy rivers, one of which featured a really neat Aviary where you could get out and feed, and if you were lucky enough, pet and hold one of the many tropical birds they featured. The other lazy river let you float close to a bunch of sea otters and some cute little monkeys (marmosets).  It was a very adventurous, yet relaxing, day and one of the most incredible experiences of my life!

Snack Huts

A pretty view of the cove I took

Me giving Amara (dolphin) a smooch!

Us in front of one of the waterfalls along the lazy river

Sunday we ended our trip with a bang (literally, when we were involved in car accident on the interstate where I was rear ended during stop and go traffic.  Thankfully, everyone was ok and walked away without any injuries, although my poor little car was not so lucky haha.  But it's being taken care of and we were able to get a ride home with a very sweet and generous family who were also in the Army and happened to be on their way back to Fayetteville as well.  So it all worked out in the end and we could not be more grateful that God was watching out for us on our journey home and for the amazing experiences we were able to have on our vacation.  Our next journey is set to begin soon, as we head back to our home in Idaho at the end of this month! We are so beyond excited to be back home and close to our family and friends again and we just can't wait!!! Looking forward to seeing everybody again real soon!!

Much much love,

Discovering Raleigh!

Our day out on the town....

NC Museum of Natural Science

Dinosaur exhibit at science museum

Preston back in the day!
NC Museum of History

Me practicing my amazing skills...

Preston practicing his cow milking skills!
NC Museum of History

Cute little pony that was outside one of the Museums!
(how could I not take a picture)

Dale Earnhardt Sr. Memorial
NC Museum of History

Well, we finally managed to get out of Fayetteville for a day this past weekend! Saturday we decided to drive up to Raleigh to spend the day doing a little disovering, we wound up checking out the NC Museum of Natural Science and NC Museum of History and walked downtown a bit. Overall I was really impressed with the museums they have there, they're like mini Smithsonians in a way, the displays are set up really nice and all have valuable and interesting information for you to read!  We also stopped by the Crabtree Valley Mall on our way out of town, where they have tons of really neat (and expensive) stores and restaraunts.  Needless to say we just grabbed a drink and did a little window shopping, but it was still really fun! So, that pretty much sums up our fun day in Raleigh, but we're hoping to get out a lot more within the next couple months as our time out here on the East Coast is coming to an end soon, but we'll be sure to keep you all updated on what we're up to! Be sure to check back in with us later! Talk again real soon...
Love,

Holiday Wrap-Up!

Hello wonderful family and friends of ours!

Hope you all had a very merry Christmas and a wonderful start of the New Year!!  I just thought I'd take some time to let you all know how our holiday festivities went and catch you up on what's going on in our neck of the woods...

As most of you well know we weren't able to make it home this year for Christmas (airfare cross-country can be quite spendy this time of year!) but we had the most amazing first Christmas as husband and wife at our apartment here in Fayetteville.  Preston took me to a cute Christmas lights display the week before Christmas at a place called Meadow Lights in Benson, NC. They had a train that took you around to look at their whole display and a homemade candy store where we bought some yummy goodies and hot chocolate to take back home with us... It was a blast! 

Our date to Meadow Lights!

The weekend before Christmas we had a very special visitor come stay with us!  My dad happened to have some meetings in Atlanta for work on the 16th, so he rented a car and drove up to Fayetteville to spend some time with us while he was over this way.  He got the chance to see a little bit of the base at Fort Bragg and downtown Fayetteville while he was here, he was very impressed with the size of Bragg, it's almost like its own little city!  He also treated us to a nights stay in Myrtle Beach, SC! We had a ton of fun there checking out the boardwalk and staying right on the beach,  it's pretty dead during the winter months there so it was nice to be able to enjoy it without all the people and crazy traffic! We also saw an AWESOME Christmas Lights display that was set up in the parking lot of one of the local baseball fields there, it was timed to music and you were able to drive you car through the whole set-up... it was one of the neatest things I've ever seen! We were very grateful my dad was able to come see us, it was an absolute blast!! Best present I could have ever asked for!

Myrtle Beach, SC

Christmas Eve we got to spend time doing some fun stuff like decorating gingerbread men (mine were the best of course) and enjoying some "Grinch floats" (green sherbet and sprite) while we relaxed and watched How the Grinch Stole Christmas. It was super fun and I'm thinking we're gonna have to make it a new Christmas Eve tradition!

Grinch Floats

Our Gingerbread designs!

Christmas morning we got up and did our own little gift exchange (Paisley included) and that was a ton of fun... my hubby knows me quite well, I was very impressed! We were also able to chat and exchange presents via Skype with both sides of our family and that was absolutely wonderful! Even though we wish we would have been able to be there with them in person, it's so nice to be able to have the next best thing! Thank goodness for modern technology!

Our first stockings

Our cute little tree!

New Years Eve we had a ton of fun hanging out with some friends playing games at our place and watching the ball drop on TV!  I uploaded some very amusing Just Dance videos onto Facebook, so you all will have to check them out if you can! It was a blast!!

New Years 2013

So that pretty much sums up what we've been up to as of lately!  I feel so very blessed to be making so many great memories out here with my little family and can't wait to see what the new year brings us!!  We look forward to our move back home in just a few months (end of March-ish) and can't wait to see everyone again very soon!! Love and miss you all very much!!!

TTYS! (Talk to you soon),

Life in North Carolina!

Hello All!

So this is my first post since we've been married and have gotten all settled in to our new home.  We've been married a little over a month now, which is absolutely crazy, seems just like yesterday when we were saying "I Do"! But you know what they say, time flies when you're havin fun!

As most of ya'll know, Preston and I are currently residing in Fayetteville, NC while Preston is stationed over here at Fort Bragg. We live in an apartment about 15/20 minutes away from base, so Preston doesn't have to travel too far to get to work! We are loving where we are at and enjoy the beautiful scenery around our location.  There is a small lake to the side of the apartments that is supposed to be stocked with fish, Preston and I have been dying to test that theory out but haven't quite gotten around to it yet! So I'll keep ya posted! Also, there are little gazebos off the side of the lake where you can have a picnic or just sit and enjoy the view. It's very relaxing!

There is also a dog park close by, which has come in handy since we recently adopted our newest family member! Her name is Paisley, and she is a 3 month old black lab. We rescued her from the local animal shelter and I'm so glad we did, she is one of the sweetest pups you'll ever meet and I can't wait for everyone to see her the next time we come home! 

Paisley Hair, 3 months old!

Aside from that, we have mainly just been settling in and getting used to our new surroundings.  We had the opportunity to go on a mini-trip into Washington D.C. while we were meeting up with some friends for the weekend in Richmond which was really neat, it was Preston's first time in D.C. and while we didn't have a TON of time, we managed to cover a pretty good area of the city and saw a few of the monuments and visited a couple of the Smithsonians.  We are hoping to be able to do a little bit of traveling around while we are on this side of the states, as there is SO much to see!! That's pretty much it as far as our adventures go thus far, but I'll be sure to keep everyone updated on any new excursions we might embark on! Be sure to check back with us real soon!!

In front of the White House in Washington, DC

Ta-ta for now,