Happy Birthday Nicholas!

Brief Update

Yes, it's been another long time span between posts. I really didn't want to become a slacker like this, I wanted to write in my blog daily. I know this isn't necessarily true based on alot of people's blogs, but I always feel like I need to have something interesting or important to say before I blog. With school, work, family problems, personal issues and being involved with other projects, I'll admit, I've put blogging here on the back burner.

It's catch up time! The family problems I speak of are still lingering, but off and on. The personal issues are also still around, but are being dealt with day by day at a slow pace at the moment. Work has been crazy busy, which is actually a good thing. I've made my goal a couple months now, therefore, more money for those months :) School is finally over and I didn't even sign up for classes in the summer. I may decide to during the second session, but wanted a break for now. I made an A in the Psychology and the Medical Terminology classes I took this last semester, so am happy about that. I know I said I wanted to go into Nursing before, but now I'm considering other Health field options. I'm not sure how long I can go taking early morning and evening classes around work, though. It will probably get to a point where I have no choice but to take a day class here or there, so I'll have to cross that bridge when I come to it. As far as the "other projects", I've been playing a couple online games and have started another blog related to one of these games. So, yes, I've neglected this blog in order to write in the other one, lol. I've enjoyed taking alot of pictures in the game I play, edit them and then I post them in the blog along with the text. It's been alot of fun. I've always enjoyed doing creative things like that. Wish I could get paid for doing them! hehe

My youngest son is out of school now and my older one is in about a week. We don't have alot of plans this summer, except a few day camps my younger one will attend. Also, I had won a seven day stay in Cancun, Mexico for two people a while back, so I think my Mom, Nicholas and I will be going in July some time. I'm looking forward to that :) I think that about sums everything up for the most part. I will try to be back to blog some more very soon!

My New Adventure

I can't believe I've waited this long to write! That's how busy life has been as of late. I am now officially a student, yet again :) I have "almost" decided I want to go to Nursing school and just started taking the core courses needed to get in. Yes, you have to take a test once you're finished with the core classes required before you can even get in the Nursing program. Honestly, I NEVER thought I'd want to be a nurse because of the "gross factor", but I feel if I can get through alot of that and end up in the "area" I want to be in, I can handle it. After all, there are several nurses and doctors in my family, so it must be in the blood, right? A good friend of mine inspired me because she's working on the program herself right now. I also found out I have two other friends close to my age who decided to go back to school. I actually find myself enjoying school after so many years, 25 to be exact! Wow, am I that old? When people tell you the older you get, the faster time flies by, believe them! It's the truth! I always wondered how that could be possible. You'd think it would fly by faster when you're young and going through your carefree 20's and 30's. No, I think as you get older, you get busier in alot of areas. Of course it's all in the mind, but maybe that's part of it, too...you feel like you have all this time stretched out in front of you when you're young, but then the older you get, the more you realize how quickly time does pass and you start thinking of all the things you've always planned or wanted to do and never done.

Anyway, back to my student life! I'm taking Psychology and Medical Terminology. Medical Terminology isn't a requirement for Nursing, but I'd also considered getting a certificate for Medical Coding and Billing and/or Medical Transcription. This and one other class has to be taken before you can take a Transcription class. I think this may be the only way I'll know if I'd really like it or not, to take a class in it and see what it's like. I take Psychology bright and early in the morning on Tuesday and Thursday before work, and the other class after work on the same days. Psychology is a lot different than I thought it would be. It's more detail oriented and scientific. I think alot depends on the professor and this professor just got through telling us yesterday that you can go online and check out each professor teaching a class. I didn't even know this. He said, and I quote, "You probably wouldn't be in my class if you had read about the professors". He's let us know several times how hard the tests are and overall, how involved his class is. He knows how to ease our mind! Medical Terminology has been really interesting and enjoyable so far. The teacher is very down to earth and nice. We took our first test yesterday, and I think I did well on it! We have our first test in Psychology tomorrow and I'm not looking forward to studying for it. It's over the History of Psychology...fun, huh?

With school, work, and evenings/weekends at home with the kids, life couldn't be busier. I feel like going to school can only be a positive thing for anyone who takes it on, especially later in life. All it can do is better a person and in the process, possibly improve their job options and salary. I hope I continue to enjoy and progress in this new adventure!

Avatar, A Must See

Well, I went to see the movie, Avatar in 3D for the second time the other night. I'd already been with my younger son and my mother the first time and this time I went with my sister, who hadn't seen it yet, and my younger son again. This is one of those movies you can see more than once and I'm good about that! If I like a movie, I can see it over and over again.

Avatar is actually the name of a project scientists are working on in outer space. Far off, on the distant planet of Pandora, there is a large compound housing a mix of military personnel and scientists all working toward one main goal. There is a mineral (rock) that is underground and very concentrated in a certain area of the planet. A certain native clan live right on this concentrated area and the military needs them to move so they can dig up the area and collect the mineral, which is worth millions of dollars to the company that collects it. The scientists have "created" avatars which look, act and move just like the natives. A human can go into hypersleep and wake up as the native avatar, all along still lying in the hypersleep container. When the person falls asleep while he's the avatar, then he wakes up again as the human. This is the scientists way of learning all about the natives by being one of them. The company after the mineral uses this knowledge to try and make the natives move. That's all I'm going to say about the movie because I don't plan on ruining it for those who haven't seen it like some reviewers do. I think my favorite thing about the movie was the beautiful scenes and cinematography. I can't say enough about how outstanding, unique and absolutely fabulous it was. I think the only movie that can possibly top it is the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Funny, both the movies were filmed in New Zealand! All I know is New Zealand must be like Heaven on Earth...gorgeous! In Avatar, on one end of the spectrum, you have the scientists and military all working together at the dull gray and brown compound with all the modern machinery. On the other end, you have the natives and their beautiful, spiritual land of plants, trees and animals. Everything is bright and colorful and living things of nature unify and work together. One of my favorite points in the movie was the fact that everything glowed at night. As the two main characters walked through the dark forest, all the plants, shrubs and other organisms lit their way with shining beauty. Yes, there's something in Avatar for everyone and I recommend it highly, especially in 3D.

A Travel Agent's Critique of Disney World 2008

Once upon a time there was a world where elephants fly, the sky sparkles every night, and Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy and Pluto all come to life. A world where you can visit eleven countries all at once, have a birthday party with Mickey and sleep all night in Cinderella's magical castle. A world where you can go on a real safari, watch Indy be a hero all over again, and free fall in a dark elevator several stories high. A world where Captain Jack Sparrow exists, you can travel in space at high speed and hang glide through distant lands. Once upon a time? How about now!? You can do all these things and much, much more at Disney World in Orlando, Florida. I have been able to travel to and explore Disney World twice now, first, with my oldest son, and second, with my youngest. We may just have to go again, because it just wouldn't be fair my oldest got to go twice. Now my youngest needs to go a second time :) Yes, I'll admit I love it just as much or more than my kids do. I'll look for any excuse to go again. I would say out of all the places I've been in the world, Disney World has to be my all time favorite! I guess part of the reason for this is because I've been a fan of Disney since I was a child and I'm definitely still a kid at heart. It's also fascinating to see through the eyes of my children.

Disney World consists of four major worlds, Magic Kingdom, Epcot Center, Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom. Magic Kingdom, which took us 2 days to experience, has all the classic rides Disney is known for. For example, The Haunted Mansion (my all time favorite), Pirates of the Caribbean, Dumbo, Mad Hatter Tea Party, Peter Pan's Flight, and It's A Small World. Of course it also offers the popular Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and many more. There is alot of shopping offered, at least one shop for each "area" within Magic Kingdom. These areas are, Adventureland, Frontierland, Liberty Square, Fantasyland, Tomorrowland and Mickey's Toontown Fair. You can find almost any character in any type product you want. There are also alot of shops along Main Street, which is right at the entrance of Magic Kingdom. Magic Kingdom is the best place to find all your favorite Disney characters. You can have breakfast or lunch with them too! When night falls on this land, a beautiful fireworks display lights up the night over Cinderella's castle. Disney really goes all out with this, just like they do everything else. Also, the Spectro Magic Parade (another one of my all time favorites) travels down Main Street and beyond just about every evening. All the characters shine with multi-colored and white lights through the whole production. It's truly an amazing sight to see! You absolutely can't miss it! If you want the full ambiance of Cinderella's Castle, fireworks and classic Disney at it's best in close proximity, I recommend a stay at any of the three deluxe resorts located on the monorail. They are Disney's Grand Floridian, Disney's Contemporary Resort, and then across the lagoon, Disney's Polynesian Resort. One other resort that's definitely great for families and close to Magic Kingdom is, Disney's Wilderness Lodge. The best way to travel from this resort to Magic Kingdom is by boat.

Epcot Center has two main sections, Future World and World Showcase. Future World consists of several rides and about 8 pavilions where you can see and interact with quite a few interesting displays. Depending on how much time you have, you can see Epcot in a day and if you really want to take your time, a day and half or 2 days tops. The popular rides here are Test Track, where you can actually see what it feels like to be in a car race, Mission:Space, and Soarin', where you virtually "hang glide" through several lands. One show I recommend here is, "Honey I Shrunk the Audience". There are several shows at Disney where you feel like you're right there with the people in the movie and they use real effects to make you feel that way. This happens to be one of them. World Showcase is eleven countries on display. As you enter each "country", you'll find the architecture, food, stores and entertainment are all from the culture of that particular country. Alot of the people who work within these "countries" are really originally from there. On their name tags, it has their name and what city and country they're from. There's one ride I recommend in World Showcase. It's called, Maelstrom and is in Norway. Every night, here at Epcot, they have a water and laser light show set to music called Illuminations. It's presented right on World Showcase Lagoon. This is another must see! As we were leaving Epcot, we rode the ride inside "Spaceship Earth", which is the big round ball Epcot is known for. We ended up riding it about 3 times in a row, because my youngest loved it. It's a slow-moving ride in cars through quite a bit of interesting "scenes".

Hollywood Studios was probably my least favorite of all 4 worlds. It was enjoyable, it just didn't seem to have as much to do and see as the others. We spent a full day here and left before dark. My recommendations in this world are, Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular (my younger son was SO into Indy at this time, this show was perfect for him), Star Tours, another "feel like you're there" movie, Muppet Vision 3-D, and the Great Movie Ride. Other popular rides are, Twilight Zone Tower of Terror and Rock 'n Roller Coaster starring Aerosmith. One show we didn't get to see was Fantasmic. We didn't stay past dark, which is when the show starts. It's a lavish musical production with a mix of fireworks, lasers, fountains and Disney characters.

The last and newest of the 4 worlds is Animal Kingdom. This one was alot of fun and had a variety of options for entertainment and can all be seen in a day. The focal point for this region was the Tree of Life. It sits right in the middle of the park and is truly amazing. The trunk is carved with great detail and inside the trunk itself is another must see movie. It's called "It's Tough To Be A Bug" and is another of Disney's special features that includes great effects that make you feel right there. As far as rides, I recommend Kilimanjaro Safaris, Kali River Rapids (if you don't mind being soaked), and the Dinosaur ride. One that we did not ride that is very popular is, Expedition Everest. This is Animal Kingdom's newest ride and is a roller coaster style ride where you climb up and down "Everest" and try to avoid the legendary Yeti in the process. Animal Kingdom is broken up into the lands of Africa, Asia, Discovery Island, Dinoland U.S.A. and Camp Minnie-Mickey. There is now a deluxe resort right by this park that offers views of the safari animals and is called Disney's Animal Kingdom Lodge.

Downtown Disney is a great place to go for wonderful shopping and good restaurants. We saw the Cirque Du Soleil La Nouba, which was our first Cirque show. It was fantastic! This area is within the Disney grounds and can easily be accessed through the bus system.

When it comes to dining, Disney has it all! The following are some restaurants that are musts if you can make reservations ahead of time and have the time:

50's Prime Time Cafe in Hollywood Studios
Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater in Hollywood Studios
Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary Resort for great character dining
California Grill at the Contemporary Resort for nicer faire and also has a great view of the fireworks
Tusker House in Animal Kingdom for great character dining

Also, two dinner shows that are alot of fun are:

Hoop-Dee-Doo Musical Revue - Offers delicious barbeque along with a saloon show that's been going on since 1974. Located at Fort Wilderness area.

Mickey's Backyard Barbecue - It's more like a big informal party where you can line dance with the characters and there are games for the kids. The food is self-serve, all-you-can-eat also at Fort Wilderness area.


One thing you need to know about, which can be found at all 4 parks, is Disney's Fastpass system. This is a great way to avoid long lines at the popular rides. You simply walk up to a Fastpass booth (there's always one close to the popular rides), request a ticket, and printed on the ticket is the time to come back for that particular ride. If you come back at the time it says, you won't have to wait in line at all, or at most a few minutes. You normally have to wait and ride the one you have a ticket for before getting another ticket. The system really works, even in the busy summer time when we went. There are times when a ride is extra popular and they've given out as many tickets as they are able and won't give out anymore for a specific day, but this rarely happens. I highly recommend using this system as much as possible, it saves alot of time.

When it comes to purchasing passes to the major parks, I recommend the Hopper passes for the number of days you spend at Disney (including the last day because the cost is only about 3.00 more per person for an extra day). These allow you to go back and forth between the parks if needed within the same day. For example, one time we were at Magic Kingdom all day, but we wanted to go see the Illuminations show at Epcot that night. The Hopper pass allowed us to do that. Some passes also include all the water parks along with the 4 main Disney parks. It's definitely worth purchasing it this way rather than as singles if you really plan to go.

Another thing to consider as a supplement to your package is a meal plan. Disney offers 2 main plans: Deluxe and Regular Dining. The deluxe plan offers 3 meals a day per person plus one snack per person, while the Regular plan offers 2 meals a day per person plus one snack per person. They now also offer a Snack Plan. You can go to just about any restaurant or character dining venue and use these passes. After seeing the cost of food on it's own and comparing it to the cost of purchasing these meal plans, I truly believe it's a better deal for your money if you purchase the meal plan.

The best time of the year to go to Disney for the price is after Thanksgiving and before Christmas, September/October timeframe and April/May timeframe (not holidays). A great time to go is to celebrate a birthday! Disney goes all out and treats the person celebrating a birthday like a VIP.

Overall, when planning your Disney World vacation, please consider all the possible add-ons that will save you money in the long run and will make your trip more enjoyable. I highly recommend staying on site if at all possible. Also, one of the three (Grand Floridian, Contemporary, and Polynesian) monorail resorts makes it even easier. It really does make a difference being right there close to everything and having easy access to all the different transportation venues. Also, consider adding a meal plan along with the Hopper passes with water parks included. One of the most important things you can do is plan ahead and organize your trip and what you want to do each day you're there. This will save an extreme amount of time! I purchased Birnbaum's Guide to Disney World and based on what rides were popular, park opening times, and what we wanted to do as first choice, etc., is how I planned each day. I did an outline on Word for each park and what ride/presentation we would do first, second, third, etc. within each park. I also planned out which park we would do for each day, depending on where we wanted to eat or where our character dining was for the day. There's alot of factors to consider. You will have an amazing time full of wonderful memories! I must say, Disney does everything right and has everything down to a science, all the way from line organization for the rides to park cleanliness. The service is excellent and everyone from the parks to the resorts goes above and beyond for their guests. It's a truly amazing and unforgettable vacation full of "happily ever afters".

You

You are unique like a snowflake that falls from the sky

Glistening as it blankets the ground in wintertime
You are beautiful like the mountains that line the horizon
Mighty, majestic, and colorful as they stand out in the sun
You are strong like the trees that make the forest their home
Steadfast and sturdy as they protect all creatures who roam
You are kind like a bubbling spring stretching from a river
Sparkling clear and fresh as it provides water for the drifter
You are thoughtful like a bluebird as it builds a nest for its young
Diligent and selfless as it prepares protection, a hero who is unsung
You are loving like a mature buck who guides and fathers its fawn
Leaping and prancing in the woods from dusk until dawn
You are amazing as is all nature and living things made by God’s hand
For you were also made by the same, encompassing many facets of sea and land

Never Let Go

Letting go of something so perfect, so right

Is what I’ve tried to do with all my strength and might

The feelings within my soul have failed me in this great endeavor

And I know I’ll never let you go, now or forever

All the beautiful memories we made flood my mind like a tidal wave

Reflections that touched my life stay in my soul, cherished and saved

You are the only key that can unlock this ardent and devoted heart

And allow the reminiscences from within to escape and restart

Thoughts of time spent together touching, holding, kissing you

Sharing movies, going to eat, road trips, walks and dancing too

Our love of chocolate pies, long talks, house-looking and drives

Spending time with friends, at the Galaxy and quiet moments in our lives

Troublesome times tested our love and devotion

Only to find faithful adoration enhanced with loving emotion

We stood by and held each other’s hand with steadfast support

As our love grew and matured, never coming up short

Times away from each other were difficult at best

But that didn’t stop our love, which stood the test

Endless letters and phone calls kept our hearts in touch

Nothing could diminish what we had, no matter what

Our affections began as a rare, unpolished gem

Gaining facets and luster as daily growth began

Slowly, our love has become radiant, beautiful and hardy

A rare and priceless diamond among a sea of mediocrity

Letting go of our love and passion is not a choice

For it’s as natural and befitting as a singer using her voice

Still my knight in shining armor, and the love of my life

We are complete in each other’s arms every day and every night