okay, not THE hawaii, although i am planning on going sometime this winter... but the hawaii i'm going to tell you about was a special cottage hawaii in the midwest...
picture it, terre haute, 2003 (too sophia petrillo?)... hehe... lilo and stitch was my favorite movie, and i was learning the hawaiian songs on the soundtrack... leading up to valentines day that year i pestered the heck outta chris about going to hawaii... a couple of days before v'day, i received an "airline ticket" (on Dupin Air) to hawaii... the handmade ticket was in the shape of a real airline ticket, but some of the areas were filled in with goofy stuff...
when he came to pick me up, he had modified his AF uniform to look like a pilot's uniform... all the girls at my sorority house were impressed... and of course, i was beaming... so off we went to hawaii...
when we arrived at the cottage (Hawaii for the night) there were tiki torches lit outside lighting the walkway... and chris ran inside and told me to wait in the car... a few moments later, he emerged dressed in a hawaiian shirt, shorts, and carrying leis... i got the traditional hawaiian welcome at the "airport" and was escorted inside...
once inside, i was surrounded by plastic palm trees, a huge paper sun, and a tropical bird hanging in the corner... in the kitchen, there are strings of tiki lights (like christmas lights) adorning the counter... chris brought me a fruity frozen drink in a tiki man cup too... our dinner was a hawaiian dish with chicken, pineapple, and bananas...
it was so sweet all the things he had done for me... and so i wouldn't forget the evening, he had mixed a CD with the lilo and stich songs, and other songs about hawaii, or paradise and being in the sun...
the evening was fantastic... i only hope my trip to the real hawaii is as good my trip to the cottage hawaii... *swoon*
Monday, June 27, 2005
Thursday, June 23, 2005
Colorado, Deleware, New Jersey, Kentucky
Colorado is the only other state (besides texas) that i haven't been outside of an airport... Denver was my stop on my way to seattle for my first business trip... it was very boring... and i was super tired... and after having to stop there, i decided i would always fly direct on business trips from then on... but the view from the plane flying in was fantastic... so beautiful...
Deleware is another boring state... i've traveled through it twice on my way to New York (both times by bus)... the first time, i was in 6th grade... and several of us on the bus had drank a whole case of Jolt cola between SWVA and deleware... not only were we bouncing off the walls of the bus, but we had to use the little girls room as well... i remember around baltimore it really hit (and we weren't about to use the yucky facilities on the bus) and it seemed to take forever to get our bus driver to stop... but eventually he gave in... and we were relieved...
New Jersey, again, is a state that i've only driven through on my way to NYC... my second trip to NYC was on a chorus trip in high school... we had left SWVA late in the afternoon, so we'd get to NYC early in the AM (in time to sing outside of the Today Show window)... so we stopped at a new jersey rest stop to freshen up... and warm up our voices... let me tell you, those poor ppl at the rest stop (at 4am, mind you) looked really scared when 100 teens piled from buses and started singing "Rocky Top"... LOL...
Kentucky... the only state in this post that i've actually spent a night in... and not by choice either... my last year at rose, i was driving back to indiana from SWVA when my car decides it doesn't want to run anymore... i'm 4.5 hours from home, and 4.5 hours from rose... with out a car...in nowhere kentucky (winchester, actually)... in the middle of winter... i call my dad, and he says he's not able to come till morning... so i call chris to see if he's up for a "road trip" not telling him exactly what the road trip would entail... after he agrees, i tell him where i am and ask him to come get me... knowing it will be at least 4 and a half hours till he gets there, and it being 6pm already, i ask the tow truck guy to take me to a place that will be open late... so off to walmart I go... ya know, it's super hard to spend 4 hours in walmart when you really have no money and you don't really need anything... but i managed... it was so late when chris got there, we decided to stay the night at a nearby hotel and finish the drive to indiana in the morning... and now all the time i get to hear about how chris was a hero and come rescued me when i was stuck in "Winchestertonfieldville" (from the movie Mr. Deeds, i think)...
Deleware is another boring state... i've traveled through it twice on my way to New York (both times by bus)... the first time, i was in 6th grade... and several of us on the bus had drank a whole case of Jolt cola between SWVA and deleware... not only were we bouncing off the walls of the bus, but we had to use the little girls room as well... i remember around baltimore it really hit (and we weren't about to use the yucky facilities on the bus) and it seemed to take forever to get our bus driver to stop... but eventually he gave in... and we were relieved...
New Jersey, again, is a state that i've only driven through on my way to NYC... my second trip to NYC was on a chorus trip in high school... we had left SWVA late in the afternoon, so we'd get to NYC early in the AM (in time to sing outside of the Today Show window)... so we stopped at a new jersey rest stop to freshen up... and warm up our voices... let me tell you, those poor ppl at the rest stop (at 4am, mind you) looked really scared when 100 teens piled from buses and started singing "Rocky Top"... LOL...
Kentucky... the only state in this post that i've actually spent a night in... and not by choice either... my last year at rose, i was driving back to indiana from SWVA when my car decides it doesn't want to run anymore... i'm 4.5 hours from home, and 4.5 hours from rose... with out a car...in nowhere kentucky (winchester, actually)... in the middle of winter... i call my dad, and he says he's not able to come till morning... so i call chris to see if he's up for a "road trip" not telling him exactly what the road trip would entail... after he agrees, i tell him where i am and ask him to come get me... knowing it will be at least 4 and a half hours till he gets there, and it being 6pm already, i ask the tow truck guy to take me to a place that will be open late... so off to walmart I go... ya know, it's super hard to spend 4 hours in walmart when you really have no money and you don't really need anything... but i managed... it was so late when chris got there, we decided to stay the night at a nearby hotel and finish the drive to indiana in the morning... and now all the time i get to hear about how chris was a hero and come rescued me when i was stuck in "Winchestertonfieldville" (from the movie Mr. Deeds, i think)...
Monday, June 20, 2005
Pennsylvania, Texas, West Virginia
I haven't spent much time in Penn... just a few hours driving through on my way from MD to IN... from what i could see it was pretty boring... however, i wasn't near any cities, just farm land... in college, one of my sorority sisters was from a farming town in Penn... she was in the pageant biz and held the title of Dairy Princess... no kidding... she had to promote milk and other dairy products... lol... i don't know why i think that's funny... i guess you just have to know the girl...
my time in Texas was about the same as in Penn... except i was only in the airport in TX... chris says a state doesn't count unless you actually touch the ground in that state... well, i say the walk from the airplane to the airport counts because we were actually walking on the tarmac... the Dallas-Fort Worth airport was also the first stop after my very first commercial flight ever... and it was waaay cool to hear ppl talking in the airport... i *heart* texas accents... hehe...
i used to visit bluefield, WV with my grandparents (my dad's parents) a lot... that's where their optometrist's office was located... so every 6 months i'd make the trip with them, and get spoilled all the way... there was always good food, and shopping... and i was the favorite grandchild, so you can imagine how much i was treated like a princess, even back then... hehe... i've also driven through a portion of the tip top of WV on my way to IN... so, even in my travels in WV, i've never ventured much past the edges (so i really wouldn't know if there is any truth to the jokes and tales of west va)...
my time in Texas was about the same as in Penn... except i was only in the airport in TX... chris says a state doesn't count unless you actually touch the ground in that state... well, i say the walk from the airplane to the airport counts because we were actually walking on the tarmac... the Dallas-Fort Worth airport was also the first stop after my very first commercial flight ever... and it was waaay cool to hear ppl talking in the airport... i *heart* texas accents... hehe...
i used to visit bluefield, WV with my grandparents (my dad's parents) a lot... that's where their optometrist's office was located... so every 6 months i'd make the trip with them, and get spoilled all the way... there was always good food, and shopping... and i was the favorite grandchild, so you can imagine how much i was treated like a princess, even back then... hehe... i've also driven through a portion of the tip top of WV on my way to IN... so, even in my travels in WV, i've never ventured much past the edges (so i really wouldn't know if there is any truth to the jokes and tales of west va)...
Thursday, June 16, 2005
Minnesota
back in 2002, just after school was out for the summer, chris and i had some free time before my big sis's wedding in wisconsin... with only a week, there really wasn't enough time for me to move all the way back to VA, and then get back to IN in time to drive to wisconsin... so we decided to go on a road trip... both of us enjoyed camping, and being outdoors, so we devised a plan to visit the Boundary Waters area of Minnesota (near canada)...
sounded like a cool idea at the time... so we got some maps and did some internet searching and found a camp site... and while i still say i like camping, the idea of camping is more appealing to me than the actual deed... i like running water, and private restroom facilities... but i decided a few days in the woods wouldn't kill me...
the first day/night was pretty cool... we got our site setup... took a little walk around the grounds... and fixed my fav. camping dinner (hobo dinners)... the campground was much different than i was used to... back in VA the sites are full of trees and lush greenery... this place had lots of dirt... and the trees looked dead... but we were still having fun anyway... during the first night, it got really cold (despite the fact that it was super hot during the day)... little did we know that each night was gonna be that way...
the next couple of days kinda blended together... i remember we hiked around one day... we had a map of the area, but it looked nothing like where we were hiking... and we kept saying "okay, over this next crest is a stream..." or something like that... and the stream never showed... and the bugs there were horrible... billions of them... all wanting to bite me... ugh...
we also went canoeing one day... hehe... the morning started out fairly nice... and lunch on the shore of the lake on a big rock was warm and fun... the short hike we made away from the shore was interesting too... too bad there were ants... and then on our way back to camp, it started raining... and not just a little rain... a huge storm... so, chris and i are trying to canoe back to a safe place, when i realize all of our stuff is getting wet (incl. cameras and such) and i need to cover them up... well, i guess i was taking forever doing that... and i hear chris paddling away in the back like there's something after us... and after a few minutes, i look up, and we're in the same spot we were in before i stopped paddling... it was way funny at the time...
eventually we made it back to camp... we were soaked, but i think that actually helped us since we were pretty stinky (no showers)... sometime during the night, it started raining again... it was cold, and we were wet... so we decided it was time to pack up and head out... i was never so happy to see a Super 8 Motel in my life...
one day i might go back to minnesota... but not for camping... at least not without an RV with utilities hook-ups... hehe... now that's the way a princess likes to camp...
sounded like a cool idea at the time... so we got some maps and did some internet searching and found a camp site... and while i still say i like camping, the idea of camping is more appealing to me than the actual deed... i like running water, and private restroom facilities... but i decided a few days in the woods wouldn't kill me...
the first day/night was pretty cool... we got our site setup... took a little walk around the grounds... and fixed my fav. camping dinner (hobo dinners)... the campground was much different than i was used to... back in VA the sites are full of trees and lush greenery... this place had lots of dirt... and the trees looked dead... but we were still having fun anyway... during the first night, it got really cold (despite the fact that it was super hot during the day)... little did we know that each night was gonna be that way...
the next couple of days kinda blended together... i remember we hiked around one day... we had a map of the area, but it looked nothing like where we were hiking... and we kept saying "okay, over this next crest is a stream..." or something like that... and the stream never showed... and the bugs there were horrible... billions of them... all wanting to bite me... ugh...
we also went canoeing one day... hehe... the morning started out fairly nice... and lunch on the shore of the lake on a big rock was warm and fun... the short hike we made away from the shore was interesting too... too bad there were ants... and then on our way back to camp, it started raining... and not just a little rain... a huge storm... so, chris and i are trying to canoe back to a safe place, when i realize all of our stuff is getting wet (incl. cameras and such) and i need to cover them up... well, i guess i was taking forever doing that... and i hear chris paddling away in the back like there's something after us... and after a few minutes, i look up, and we're in the same spot we were in before i stopped paddling... it was way funny at the time...
eventually we made it back to camp... we were soaked, but i think that actually helped us since we were pretty stinky (no showers)... sometime during the night, it started raining again... it was cold, and we were wet... so we decided it was time to pack up and head out... i was never so happy to see a Super 8 Motel in my life...
one day i might go back to minnesota... but not for camping... at least not without an RV with utilities hook-ups... hehe... now that's the way a princess likes to camp...
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
small break from the states
okay, so i'm taking a little break from the state tales to rave about this past weekend...
RAVE RAVE RAVE!!!
the weekend with christopher was one of the best we've had in a while... not saying that we haven't had good weekends, but they've been busy, or i'd been cranky, or just in some way not exactly perfect... well, this weekend was awesome... we weren't on a tight schedule (which most of the time it's my fault we even have a schedule), and didn't have a billion things to do... it was just nice and relaxing... and i truly felt like a princess...
there were several times during the weekend when i was just swooning (yeah, southern gals swoon)... and as i was getting ready to leave, i was completely blown away: it was super hot outside, and chris knows i don't like the heat and was on the verge of becoming cranky... so he took my keys and started my car and got the AC going... now, i know that doesn't sound like much to anyone else... but it was one of those "little things" that i'm always talking about needing... and i tell you, if i weren't already so much in love with him, i would have fallen right then and there... no kidding...
*swoon*... here i go again... hehe... just thinking about how happy i was this weekend makes me happy now, too... i'm never going to get any work done today... but it's nice to be distracted by being dreamy as opposed to being distracted by stress and worry... so bring on the dreaminess... bring on the swooning... i have the bestest hero ever!!!
RAVE RAVE RAVE!!!
the weekend with christopher was one of the best we've had in a while... not saying that we haven't had good weekends, but they've been busy, or i'd been cranky, or just in some way not exactly perfect... well, this weekend was awesome... we weren't on a tight schedule (which most of the time it's my fault we even have a schedule), and didn't have a billion things to do... it was just nice and relaxing... and i truly felt like a princess...
there were several times during the weekend when i was just swooning (yeah, southern gals swoon)... and as i was getting ready to leave, i was completely blown away: it was super hot outside, and chris knows i don't like the heat and was on the verge of becoming cranky... so he took my keys and started my car and got the AC going... now, i know that doesn't sound like much to anyone else... but it was one of those "little things" that i'm always talking about needing... and i tell you, if i weren't already so much in love with him, i would have fallen right then and there... no kidding...
*swoon*... here i go again... hehe... just thinking about how happy i was this weekend makes me happy now, too... i'm never going to get any work done today... but it's nice to be distracted by being dreamy as opposed to being distracted by stress and worry... so bring on the dreaminess... bring on the swooning... i have the bestest hero ever!!!
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