Sea World

So today was Sea World day. In the morning, we hung out. I got up at like 8:30 a.m. for some reason even though I didn't need to. This happens to me a lot.

I made coffee and had a yummy breakfast sandwich (I even cook when I'm on vacation).

We went to the grocery store and got sandwich stuff because we were running low. I also got orange juice and I felt the need to get Florida's Natural since we're in Florida.

I know. I'm weird like that.

Anywho.

So then I took a nap because the heat has been tiring me out so much.

Then, Brianna woke me up because we were supposed to go to the Welcome Center around 2:45 so we could get a cab to go to Sea World, but for some reason, I wanted to continue sleeping.

But we eventually got to Sea World and it was awesome. I got to see Shamu, a polar bear and lots of other animals. We got to see flamingos, dolphins and sharks. We even got to pet the sting rays which felt soooo cool.

So yeah. We did get to see another acrobat show, too, which was fun.

So yeah. Lots of fun has been had by this chica.

More to come.

Later.

The Second Day

So yesterday we left for Busch Gardens around 8:30 a.m. We got there around 10:30ish because we had to stop for breakfast and junk like that. So then came the fun stuff: the animals.

Basically all Erin, Erik and I did was see lots and lots of animals. We got to see them from the skyride, from the train and from the rhino rally. We also got to see them a little bit closer.

I think my favorite was the flamingos. They were soo cute. I also liked seeing the zebras, the giraffes and the kangaroos.

The hippo was pretty cool, too. I got pretty up close and personal with the hippo. There was a glass partition in between us, but still. That was basically the only thing that was separating us.

We also got to the ride the Congo River Rapids. That was fun because us three got totally soaked so it was very refreshing.

Then, Erin and Erik left to go visit their family. I stayed at the park for a little while longer and it started pouring as soon as they left.

I then waited for the next show of Cirque Dreams which was in about a half hour. It was really cool, though.

All the people were in animal costumes. There was a couple of girls who looked like plants who did a lot of cool contortionist stuff.

There was a guy who was really good at juggling. Another guy was able to balance on moving cylinders and stuff.

Then, there was the couple who did acrobatics on a couple of ribbons which was really cool.

It was all in all a good show.

After that I rode the Sheikra which was really fun. Basically, at the top of the hill, we were suspended for a few seconds, waiting for the plunge and then BAM. You are let go, falling to your doom.

Not really. It was cool, though. It lasted about 30 seconds.

Then, I went on the rapids ride again. Got good and wet.

Then, my cousin picked me up and we hung out at Bar Louie. It was fun. I hadn't seen her since last summer and I got to hear about her wedding that's going to be happening in April which is cool.

So yeah. Then, Erin and Erik picked me up there and we went home.

I got home around 11:30 and pretty much went straight to bed after I checked my facebook and plugged in my phone (you see my priorities?)

But yeah. It was fun.

And guess what? They gave me a second day at Busch Gardens FREE! Bring on the rollercoasters!

Second part of the first day

So yeah. We went shopping. I  only spent a reasonable amount of money on unreasonably priced tourist traps.

I got a t-shirt for me and a t-shirt my dad. It came to 30 dollars. Isn't that ridiculous?

Anyways.

After walking for like two hours and going shopping and buying groceries, I ended up on the couch watching Napolean Dynamite. Guess who fell asleep?

That's right. Yours truly.

So we decided to go to Sea World another day. Which is fine. The tickets are good until early September.

I'm sure we'll use them.

So then, Erin and Erik came back and we all went to Joe's Crab Shack. It was fun. The crab was amazing and expensive, but it was worth it. Sometimes, you just have to go all out.

So now we're going to watch "Limitless" which we got from Redbox.

Can't wait.

I love, love, LOVE Bradley Cooper. I'd marry him and have his babies, but I don't know if it would work out. I think he might be too pretty for it to work out. He seems like the kind of guy who cares too much about his appearance.

I've met those kind of guys and I'd much rather they put more stock in other parts of themselves.

Anywho.

Enough about men.

I've had quite a relaxing day.

Tomorrow: Busch Gardens and Tampa.

Yayness!

Day Number One

Oh how I miss you, Glee. It's been toooo long. Oh wells. It happens. I am now without a show to watch because White Collar just ended. I guess I can wait a couple of weeks.

Anywho.

So I got up around 9:30 a.m. this morning. I made coffee and had an egg over easy over toast.

Brianna got up not too long after that. We had a nice long leisurely morning that is still technically going on.

I went for a quick little run in my new Five Finger Vibrams. Yes, that's right. I caved. I can't help myself when it comes to shopping. I have an itch that just has to be scratch via spending way too much money on clothes and shoes. It's okay though because I hadn't bought running shoes in quite some time and good running shoes cost that much and more.

So yeah. It happens.

So I went for a run and then took a quick shower.

Now Brianna and I are going shopping. She needs a bathing suit. I will try and control my shopping urges.

Then after that, we plan on playing water volleyball and then doing whatever. I'm hoping for mini golf. We'll see, though.

Then, we're going to Sea World! Already bought the tickets and everything! I'm way excited (can you tell?)

But yeah.

That's the plan.

Later, peoples.

Vacation

Hey all. Since I've decided I'm not going to do a lot of facebooking this week, I thought a good alternative would be blogging.

So I am now in Orlando at our, get this, resort. Oh. It's so nice, here. There are 4 swimming pools, a volleyball net, basketball, mini golf and plenty of other things.

My day started around 4 a.m. when my mom picked me up to go Flint Bishop Airport. We got there and had no problems. I had breakfast with the madre that was a little on the expensive side but it worked. I then said "adios" and went through security.

I played on the interwebs for a little while and then boarded my too-small airplane around 6 a.m.  It was only a two hour flight and I slept pretty much the whole way (yes I did have my contacts in. I know. Bad idea).

I got to Atlanta where I had a lay-over around 8 a.m. There, I freshened up a bit and was able to find my flight quite quickly. They were already boarding by the time I got to the gate, but I still got there on time.

My plane got into Orlando around 10ish. I then had to go get my luggage at baggage claim. Get this: I didn't have to pay for it to be checked but they still checked it for me. It works. *Shrugs*

I then took the shuttle to Blue Tree Resort. There was a struggle checking in because although our room was ready, the room was not booked under my name so they had to verify my identity somehow.

I called Erin and it went to voicemail so I walked around a little bit (in the rain mind you) and then by the time that I got back, the front desk staff was on the phone with Erin.

Then, I got all my information and room keys. The person working the desk called security so I wouldn't have to walk all the way to the room with my luggage. The security guy came and whisked me off on his horse-drawn carriage (a golf cart) and I made it to my room in no time at all.

I was at the room around 12:30ish. I ordered Domino's for lunch. I had like five slices of their veggie pizza. They even had roasted red peppers on it. It was very yummy in my tummy. ;)

So then, I took a five-hour nap on the couch. The blanket was really comfy, let me tell you. I fell asleep to Scrubs. I wish that show was still on the air. Oh well.

By the time I got up it was around 6 p.m. I microwaved a couple slices of pizza. Then, I took a shower and looked to see if there was anything good on the television (there wasn't).

I then went and got breakfast stuff from the little market that's about a 10-minute walk from our room.

On the menu for tomorrow morning: eggs, toast and coffee. That's basically all I need to start my morning off right.

So then I went swimming. It was past dark by then. I loooovveee swimming in the dark.

Then, I took another shower and found "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" to watch. Erin and Erik showed up a little while later so I helped them bring their stuff into the room.

I'm so excited to get a whole 8 days off. I don't remember the last time I've had a week-long vacation.

Now, I'm just waiting for Brianna to get here.

Tomorrow will be the start of a wonderful week of R and R.

Summer Time

I just wanted to indulge you in some of my goings on of this wonderful season that we like to refer to as summer. So far I've: went to Caseville, went camping, kayaked, went miniature golfing, grilled on the beach, went swimming in the water in my parents' backyard, went to Grand Rapids, had a fourth of July cookout, went biking and running, saw the sunset on the waters of Lake Huron, saw Fireworks on the water, had game nights, played frisbee, played catch in the pond, went to a Greek Festival, went to the Art Walk, had a campfire with s'mores, stayed up way past my bedtime, volunteered with a mission in Pontiac, helped with Vacation Bible School, started Summer classes and of course I worked a few hours in between.

All in a few months. I can't believe in about a month in a half or so Summer will be over. It seems like it just started two seconds ago. I don't understand the momentum of time, but I guess I've gotten used to it. It's a cliche, but I feel like as I get older time speeds by even faster. I don't know what it is or how it works, but that's just the ways of the world that we live in I guess. I guess I'm just being introspective. As I like to say, it happens.

So now that I'm taking summer classes, you would think that I would lay off all the crazyness. Not so much. This weekend I'm going rock-climbing. That'll be interesting. I also always make time to go to my parents' house a couple times a week to cool off with a swim in their pond. It's usually pretty nice especially on these hott, July days.

One of the things that I'm thankful for is chances to hang out with friends. I was able to do that last weekend which was really nice. My one friend lives in Grand Rapids so we don't get to see each other as often as I would like, but that's okay because we got to go camping this last weekend which was nice. We were able to do a little hiking and we roasted s'mores.

I also was able to hang out with another friend of mine last weekend. We had dinner at his place and then we went and got icecream (another thing I've done this summer.) Then we watched Harry Potter (my nice little plug for the movie that's coming out this weekend that I won't be seeing until the hype has died down a little bit).

I'm going to be doing a few things in August. I find that August tends to get busy because people want to get in as much as they can before the summer is over with. That works and all, but there's only so much time in a month. It'll be fun, though. A couple of my family members  are going to be going to the Cheeseburger Festival up in Caseville. We go to that just about every year. There's good times to be had there (that and beautiful sunsets as I mentioned).

All right. Well, that's a good summation of what I've been doing lately. I'll let you know if anymore interesting stuff happens.

Later, Gator.

Disaster in the Kitchen

Okay, so it wasn't really that much of a disaster. But it's the closest I've ever had to one in a really long time. So yesterday I made black bean burgers with steak fries. The burgers weren't hard. I did forget to buy bread crumbs so there I am toasting up some bread in the oven for bread crumbs. It was good, though because that bread was getting kind of stale anyways. It needed to have a job to do. Now the thing about making your own bread crumbs is it kind of helps to have a food processor. I tried putting them in the blender and it didn't work. So what I ended up doing is crunching them up by hand and just not using the big chunks on the inside that didn't get enough toasting to crumble properly.

After that I did the steak fries. I sprinkled on some oil, and also steak seasoning, parsley and oregano. Then I put them in the oven for 25 minutes. The recipe said to put them on "high heat." I really didn't know what that means so I set the oven for 450 and crossed my fingers that was high enough.

After putting the fries in the oven, I got to work on the burgers. I was halving the recipe, as per usual, since I'm only one person and I don't like having leftovers for days. I like to cook every single day not every other day. So, one thing it called for was a roughly chopped onion. I did that. Then I realized this and everything else was supposed to go in the food processor. I then finely diced the onion. I luckily found some chopped garlic in the fridge which I used. After that, I put in the egg, spices and bread crumbs and mashed everything up. Upon combining these ingredients, I looked at the recipe and realized I had forgotten to half the onions. I considered taking them up, but they were well mixed at this time so there was really no. Oniony burgers it is!

After this I remembered to flip the fries. I don't know why this is but my french fries always get really done when I bake them. If anyone can help me with this, I would be very pleased. I'm not sure if I'm putting them at the wrong temp or if I just use too much oil or what. But anyways. I flipped them so they would get properly burnt on both sides and then went back to cooking the burgers.

I sprayed the pan with some cooking spray and put them on the grill pan. Everything seemed fine until the fire alarm started going off. It didn't seem like anything was really burning that much besides my potatoes, but there wasn't any smoke really. At first, I was able to turn the fire alarms off. Then, they went off again. It was quite ridiculous. I then turned off the stove. I pressed "hush" on every single fire alarm to no avail until I got to the one in my room. I'm not sure if that was the one that did it since Dustin also pressed "hush" on a different one, but I was just happy the very loud noise had stopped.

The burgers were done anyways and the fries had been done so they got a little extra burn on them, but it worked out. I must say though that I didn't really like my black bean burgers. They were kind of bland. I think I'll try a different recipe next time and maybe even buy my own bread crumbs. Who knows.

All right. More cooking adventures to come.