(copy from journal - birthday recap and photos!)
Birthday Photos and Recap
Little more catch-up on the birthday adventures from last week - plus photos!
Presents from my birthay!
My actual birthday (Tuesday, May 16th) started off really crappy. It was a dreary, rainy day which while we desperately needed - wildfires all over the state and severe drought so far this year - it wasn't exactly a cheery way to start the day. It was the first day of my return to unemployment and no one from the temp job had so much as even gotten me a card. (I bought K. a card back for her birthday.) Then, I borrowed my friend Rand's Jeep for the afternoon so I wouldn't have to sit around the apartment by myself. Turns out, that when I went to take a shower, we had zero clean towels. *sighs* So I couldn't go until I did some which meant I spent the entire day of my birthday dirty, unable to shower, by myself, doing laundry. I was really upset honestly.
Got done just in time to pick Rand up from work and we came back to the apartment. Love came home and surprised me with a cake. Aw.. Originally, I was supposed to hang out with my family on Tuesday but my mom was really sick and we postponed until Thursday. So I wasn't planning on having a cake for my birthday since I'd be getting one on Tuesday.
Surprise cake from Love
(Click for more photos)
I opened gifts and ate some cake. Then Love and I left for dinner at The Melting Pot. Yum! He had balloons waiting for me at the table and they took our picture at the end and gave us a print in a frame. Very nice. We had swiss cheese fondue, a boullion fondue with two types of beef and chicken and then finished it with a Ying Yang chocolate fondue; half dark and half white chocolate. I had gotten the dessert for free for signing up for their Club Fondue. You get one for signing up, plus one on your birthday and another on your anniversary. It's free, so why not? Anyway, it turned out to be a great evening. And dinner was sooooo delicious!
On Thursday, my sister, mom and grandmother (who goes by "Nanny" not grandma) came by and picked me up. We hit the park right near me and had lunch. We also had my second cake and I got more presents from my family.
Here I am at the park opening a dragonfly candle holder from my mom.
(Click for more photos)
It was a nice day. My sister also asked me to be a bridesmaid in her wedding. She started crying before she could even ask me which when she did, made me cry too. So that was sweet as well.
Saturday Love and I took a trip to Walt Disney World for my birthday. We couldn't go the weekend before my birthday because he had to work on his company's office move and he couldn't get off during the week, so we opted to go out on the 20th. We hit three parks - Animal Kingdom, Epcot and Magic Kingdom.
We started our day at Animal Kingdom because they have the new ride, Expedition Everest. Love really wanted to ride it and I wasn't sure. I hate coasters and I am terrified of heights. It's not fun, it's literally terrifying for me. Well, I'd been reading up on the ride and watching ride videos and watched the making of documentary on it and I thought I might be able to try it once. Everyone compared it to Big Thunder Mountain which isn't a coaster, just a ride on rails. (No drops, just curves and fun.) We got there and the FastPass wait was like three hours and we didn't want to spend that much time in the park but the regular line was 50 minutes, so we decided to do that instead. I debated the entire time if I should or shouldn't. In the end, I thought I'd be brave and try it. How bad could it be, right? It's a Disney ride.
Well, it was horrific. Intense, fast, terrifying, high and the part backwards in the dark scared me so bad. I screamed literally for my life. Poor Love was actually afraid for me because of how badly I was screaming. I don't know if there are words to express how horrible that experience was for me. It was a real coaster. The very thing I'd rather be dead then ride they terrify me so much. I am also so severely afraid of heights that I am nervous on the second floor of a building and we ended up getting the front car which meant at one point, the ride takes you to the top of the mountain and it's broken track. You pause there because the track is shifting behind you for the part in the dark and backwards. Well, being in the front car meant you could see without anything in front of you how high you really are. Like, 300 feet high. You could see for miles around and Spaceship Earth at Epcot (the big "silver ball") and Tower of Terror at MGM were tiny spots on the horizon. How I didn't have a heart attack, I honestly don't know.
When the ride finally ended, I was sobbing uncontrolably and shaking so bad my legs wouldn't even support me. It was nothing short of absolute tourture for me. There isn't enough money in the WORLD for me to ever get on it again. Love rides coasters of all kinds and said it was as intense as anything you'd find at Busch Gardens (minus there's no inversion.) It's not ANYTHING like Big Thunder. That's like saying Dumbo is like Mission: Space because they both spin. Uh, no. So for anyone who hates coasters or who is afraid of heights, dropping sensations or going backwards, do yourself a favor: don't ride Everest. It's not a Disney coaster, it's a coaster that happens to be in Disney.
Me in front of Everest in Animal Kingdom.
(Click for more photos)
After that, we left AK and hit Epcot. The Flower and Garden Festival is in full swing and I wanted to catch the topiaries. (Photos of them coming soon!) We also rode Soarin' which is fun and waaay more my speed. Plus, we saw the dolphins at Living Seas, rode Test Track, tried a bunch of coke flavors from around the world and strolled through the countries. Got some pineapple Pocky from Japan AND found some international-only flavors of tea from the Twinnings shop in the UK!* So that was awesome. After spending pretty much all day there, we hit our last stop - Magic Kingdom.
By the time we got there, it was about 8:30pm. The park was open until 11pm, but we still had time to eat, ride PeopleMover, Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder, get a Dole Whip, do Buzz Lightyear and then ride PeopleMover one more time. It was a nice ending to a stressful day.
Sunday I slept in! (Disney takes it out of you - especially hopping across three parks in one day!) Then I exchanged a couple gifts. I had gotten two copies of Charles de Lint's Widdershins. One from Love and one from my sister. So I got two other books instead and an item for full moon swaps. Then I had also gotten a copy of the Back to the Future trilogy which I also already had so I exchanged that for the Aeon Flux complete animated series. Worked out really well. I still have a gift certificate for Gap from Love's parents (I found a pair of pants I LOVED from them but they didn't have it in short length so I need to keep looking), and one for Macy's from a return so that's something to look forward to. Oh, and my friend Rand got me a gift certificate to Build A Bear that I have to use still also.
Whew! What a recap!
Fun time though, overall. Check out the other birthday photos here.
*Hey Phoe! You know that AWESOME Pineapple Roobious you sent me for Yule? They had some there! So I bought another box!! Weee!)
Little more catch-up on the birthday adventures from last week - plus photos!
Presents from my birthay!
My actual birthday (Tuesday, May 16th) started off really crappy. It was a dreary, rainy day which while we desperately needed - wildfires all over the state and severe drought so far this year - it wasn't exactly a cheery way to start the day. It was the first day of my return to unemployment and no one from the temp job had so much as even gotten me a card. (I bought K. a card back for her birthday.) Then, I borrowed my friend Rand's Jeep for the afternoon so I wouldn't have to sit around the apartment by myself. Turns out, that when I went to take a shower, we had zero clean towels. *sighs* So I couldn't go until I did some which meant I spent the entire day of my birthday dirty, unable to shower, by myself, doing laundry. I was really upset honestly.
Got done just in time to pick Rand up from work and we came back to the apartment. Love came home and surprised me with a cake. Aw.. Originally, I was supposed to hang out with my family on Tuesday but my mom was really sick and we postponed until Thursday. So I wasn't planning on having a cake for my birthday since I'd be getting one on Tuesday.
Surprise cake from Love
(Click for more photos)
I opened gifts and ate some cake. Then Love and I left for dinner at The Melting Pot. Yum! He had balloons waiting for me at the table and they took our picture at the end and gave us a print in a frame. Very nice. We had swiss cheese fondue, a boullion fondue with two types of beef and chicken and then finished it with a Ying Yang chocolate fondue; half dark and half white chocolate. I had gotten the dessert for free for signing up for their Club Fondue. You get one for signing up, plus one on your birthday and another on your anniversary. It's free, so why not? Anyway, it turned out to be a great evening. And dinner was sooooo delicious!
On Thursday, my sister, mom and grandmother (who goes by "Nanny" not grandma) came by and picked me up. We hit the park right near me and had lunch. We also had my second cake and I got more presents from my family.
Here I am at the park opening a dragonfly candle holder from my mom.
(Click for more photos)
It was a nice day. My sister also asked me to be a bridesmaid in her wedding. She started crying before she could even ask me which when she did, made me cry too. So that was sweet as well.
Saturday Love and I took a trip to Walt Disney World for my birthday. We couldn't go the weekend before my birthday because he had to work on his company's office move and he couldn't get off during the week, so we opted to go out on the 20th. We hit three parks - Animal Kingdom, Epcot and Magic Kingdom.
We started our day at Animal Kingdom because they have the new ride, Expedition Everest. Love really wanted to ride it and I wasn't sure. I hate coasters and I am terrified of heights. It's not fun, it's literally terrifying for me. Well, I'd been reading up on the ride and watching ride videos and watched the making of documentary on it and I thought I might be able to try it once. Everyone compared it to Big Thunder Mountain which isn't a coaster, just a ride on rails. (No drops, just curves and fun.) We got there and the FastPass wait was like three hours and we didn't want to spend that much time in the park but the regular line was 50 minutes, so we decided to do that instead. I debated the entire time if I should or shouldn't. In the end, I thought I'd be brave and try it. How bad could it be, right? It's a Disney ride.
Well, it was horrific. Intense, fast, terrifying, high and the part backwards in the dark scared me so bad. I screamed literally for my life. Poor Love was actually afraid for me because of how badly I was screaming. I don't know if there are words to express how horrible that experience was for me. It was a real coaster. The very thing I'd rather be dead then ride they terrify me so much. I am also so severely afraid of heights that I am nervous on the second floor of a building and we ended up getting the front car which meant at one point, the ride takes you to the top of the mountain and it's broken track. You pause there because the track is shifting behind you for the part in the dark and backwards. Well, being in the front car meant you could see without anything in front of you how high you really are. Like, 300 feet high. You could see for miles around and Spaceship Earth at Epcot (the big "silver ball") and Tower of Terror at MGM were tiny spots on the horizon. How I didn't have a heart attack, I honestly don't know.
When the ride finally ended, I was sobbing uncontrolably and shaking so bad my legs wouldn't even support me. It was nothing short of absolute tourture for me. There isn't enough money in the WORLD for me to ever get on it again. Love rides coasters of all kinds and said it was as intense as anything you'd find at Busch Gardens (minus there's no inversion.) It's not ANYTHING like Big Thunder. That's like saying Dumbo is like Mission: Space because they both spin. Uh, no. So for anyone who hates coasters or who is afraid of heights, dropping sensations or going backwards, do yourself a favor: don't ride Everest. It's not a Disney coaster, it's a coaster that happens to be in Disney.
Me in front of Everest in Animal Kingdom.
(Click for more photos)
After that, we left AK and hit Epcot. The Flower and Garden Festival is in full swing and I wanted to catch the topiaries. (Photos of them coming soon!) We also rode Soarin' which is fun and waaay more my speed. Plus, we saw the dolphins at Living Seas, rode Test Track, tried a bunch of coke flavors from around the world and strolled through the countries. Got some pineapple Pocky from Japan AND found some international-only flavors of tea from the Twinnings shop in the UK!* So that was awesome. After spending pretty much all day there, we hit our last stop - Magic Kingdom.
By the time we got there, it was about 8:30pm. The park was open until 11pm, but we still had time to eat, ride PeopleMover, Haunted Mansion, Big Thunder, get a Dole Whip, do Buzz Lightyear and then ride PeopleMover one more time. It was a nice ending to a stressful day.
Sunday I slept in! (Disney takes it out of you - especially hopping across three parks in one day!) Then I exchanged a couple gifts. I had gotten two copies of Charles de Lint's Widdershins. One from Love and one from my sister. So I got two other books instead and an item for full moon swaps. Then I had also gotten a copy of the Back to the Future trilogy which I also already had so I exchanged that for the Aeon Flux complete animated series. Worked out really well. I still have a gift certificate for Gap from Love's parents (I found a pair of pants I LOVED from them but they didn't have it in short length so I need to keep looking), and one for Macy's from a return so that's something to look forward to. Oh, and my friend Rand got me a gift certificate to Build A Bear that I have to use still also.
Whew! What a recap!
Fun time though, overall. Check out the other birthday photos here.
*Hey Phoe! You know that AWESOME Pineapple Roobious you sent me for Yule? They had some there! So I bought another box!! Weee!)