Food Truck

Michael and I just got home from a food truck gathering in Winter Park, which was next to a bar called Tom & Jerry's. I took that photo for Grandpa! We met Sana and a few other people from the Sheriff's Office there at 6:30pm. (Yes, these are new skirts!)

I was hesitant at first when I was invited last week due to the shooting of an old lady working at a food truck five weeks ago in another part of town. Nothing bad happened today though. PHEW! There were about fifteen or twenty trucks all with different foods: alligator tails, hot dogs, snow cones, Swedish entrees, empanadas and smoothies. 

 It was hard for me to decide what I wanted. Each truck only had about five or six items on the menu. I should have gotten a dessert crepe. I'd like to try that one day, but ended up purchasing Cajun pork stuffed into a crescent roll shaped like a tornado. I didn't eat much of it. Too spicy for me especially with all the horse radish on top and Michael's talk of food poisoning risk wasn't super helpful. However, the mango kiwi smoothie at another truck was pretty good. Tonight was.. an experience, but probably one I would neither repeat nor recommend.

"Life's Too Short to Blind People with Rock Salt"

This past weekend in Alachua was a nice getaway. I will admit that my internal clock's schedule got out of whack and I slept far too much, but the sleepover with Mia was well worth it and I am now on another glorious Glee binge, watching three or four episodes every night. Unfortunately, we did not have our much anticipated Indian Adventure, or visit kittens at the animal shelter(s), but still forced ourselves to be awake for breakfast with Grandpa on Saturday morning. We did get to spend a couple hours with Sharanya at her new house in the woods beneath the stars. She says there is a creek with a ten foot waterfall near her house, so we will have to check that out next time. Sometimes I wish I could stay for a longer amount of time, especially when I try to make lots of fun plans, but I would want Michael and Sasha there too.

Last night Michael and I had dinner at Sweet Tomatoes then enjoyed a run through Target before they closed. I got a new skirt for work and a colorful tank top. Its going to be my favorite beach outfit for July! As the manager announced on the intercom that we had to check out, I ran to the freezer aisle for more strawberry flavored Toaster Strudels then yelled in Michael's direction, asking if he wanted one or two packs. He laughed and asked if I felt like we were on a timed game show. (He wanted two and yes, I did.) At home we snuggled on the couch with Sasha and watched our Netflix movie, The Darkest Hour. This morning after being woken up by intense thunder, Michael suggested we have breakfast at Denny's before work. That was a fun surpise. I tried the Fit Slam with spinach and tomatoes scrambled into egg whites, an English muffin and fruit. Not bad!

Wekiwa Springs

Thank goodness for the call I got at Wekiwa Springs last week and had to look up the address, because that interested me in going there with Sana today! It was a nice place in a beautiful area of Altamonte/Apopka. The plan is to get another disposable underwater camera and go back ~ hopefully with Michael too and rent the kayaks or canoes. Another area of that park has a horse back riding area, incase you (Daddy) want to go there next time you come to visit.

I was super wimpy for about twenty minutes, fearing the cold water. The website said it was 73 degrees all the time and normally I won't even get into a pool unless its 86! But I kept thinking about the risks and "jumps" Michael mentioned we need to take more often - more about moving and pursuing our dreams. 

Finally when Sana counted to three for me, I pushed myself off the ledge. And once I was in, even though it was cold, I was glad I did it and didn't have to leave with regrets. (Thanks for taking pictures of me, Sana!)

For lunch we went to 4Rivers. I had been to one before down Fairbanks Ave, but this one was in Longwood and thank goodness there wasn't a super long Disney line, which normally happens because they are so popular. Food photos: I got pulled pork and Sana got a chicken salad sandwich with grapes in it.

Graffiti Junktion

Since Michael and I will be moving soon-ish, and not just to another part of Orlando, Sana and I have kicked up our "trying new things/ visiting new places" adventures into high gear. Although, most of the places we go to eat, Sana has already been, they are firsts for me! I'm excited to explore what I've missed so far = more fun blog updates.

 

I met at her apartment around 1pm and we drove to a restaurant called Graffiti Junktion in College Park. I had been to a different one before during Full Sail with some friends for a karaoke night. I don't count that as a place I have eaten an before because I think they just brought us free nachos? The weather was nice today, so we sat outside. I got the Turkey Taco Salad, which was very delicious and the spice level of the turkey was only about a 3 - just the way I like it!

After lunch we went to the East Orange Shooting Sports (gun range) by work. I was very nervous at first, even seeing all the guns on the wall. The guy was helpful though and I was very cautious. Sana shot first then I had a turn with the 22 caliber. I shot five and when two of the bullets went through the orange circle in the middle, I was done. Thankfully it barely had any recoil. And since I did go from "Please don't make me do this" to "Sure, we can go back in a couple weeks", now Michael wants me to get one. As always, no thank you!

Just Saying

(& the shoes Michael bought me the other day. 

He likes the bows on the sides.)

Weekend Rundown

Phew! What a weekend. Thursday wasn't the best night after I came home and Michael said that we were 100 percent, no doubt about it, definitely moving to Los Angeles (specifically Burbank or Glendale) in January. I cried for a long time that night and ignored him the next morning. But on Friday I did a lot of thinking and walking and praying, all while trying to be positive.
It worked well enough and Michael and I decided to have an anniversary date re-do. I met him at Ripley's at 4:45pm and he gave me a tour. His work area was smaller than I expected, but very interesting. And I got to meet Bruce. We went to dinner at Bahama Breeze and played mini golf afterwards. He won.
On Saturday we went to the Outlet Mall behind our apartment because Michael needs new shoes. However, he left empty handed, but bought me a new pair of black flats for work. & for a late dinner that night: Waffle House. Yesterday we slept in a lot and ran errands to Bed Bath & Beyond and the Florida Mall. Still no new shoes for Michael, but we stopped for a snack at Auntie Anne's. At 7pm, we left to meet some of Michael's friends at a bar for the Zombie Rockabilly Weekend wrap party. We didn't stay long and rented "Tower Heist". These past few days have been a much needed amount of time together. (These pretty photos around Los Angeles were found on Pinterest. No credit to myself.)

I'm on a new schedule now for my final month of training. I'll work from 4pm (or 5pm on 11 hour days) until 4am. So I've been up since noon trying to finish laundry and run errands before going to work.

Daycation, Part II: Lunch, etc

Sana introduced me to another new restaurant called Dixie Crossroads. They had 4 foot tall shrimp figurines inside and outside. They were kind of creepy, but that didn't stop us from taking pictures with them afterward! A lot of the menu items included fish and shrimp, so I just got a hamburger. But as their free appetizer, they had sweet powdered sugar covered corn fritters. They were really good! I'd go back just for those babes. The bathrooms were suspiciously fancy as well.

The third part of our daycation involved finding a trail called "The Enchanted Forest".  The first trail we went down quickly opened up to a bare sandy area with dead tree branches and cacti. 

We didn't stay very long because it got super hot really quickly and Sana didn't feel well. I was fine with leaving early if it meant getting a shower sooner! She ended up laying down at our apartment until she felt better. Here is a flower I snapped a picture of before we left:

Can't wait until the next Daycation! =)

Daycation, Part I: Zoo

For a couple weeks, Sana and I had plans to drive to Brevard County (only an hour away) today and check out the zoo. I got the idea after seeing a friend's photo. There were camels! But we didn't see any camels when we went. Lame. However, on the bright side, I suppose that makes one less experience of being spit on. Here are some of my favorite pics that I was able to take. Thank goodness Michael convinced me to bring the zoom lens!

 The bird didn't move the whole time. Sana took a Polaroid of me with him!

 Polite bunny shared his fruits & veggies with a squirrel.

 Mega Hamster!!

 Sana was frightened by the huge turtle which kept walking closer to me as I continued to take his photo.

Bath Tiiimes!

Today was very relaxed with lots of time to do whatever.. Sleep, catch up on my shows, learn some interesting facts about the girls who write my favorite blogs, watch baby tape DVDs and finally give Sasha a bath! 

Of course she didn't like it very much, but she was good and stayed in the tub until I let her jump out. I was even able to get a video for Michael and some cute pictures of her. Its been about an hour now and she doesn't seem to mind being soggy like last time. She normally scoots herself all along the carpet to dry herself off, but now she just wants to lay her stinky (since she's still damp) body on me!

I've eaten all the junk food in our house over the past two days, such as the last of the bagel bites and ice cream. During the America's Next Top Model ads on Hulu, I'm looking up fitness pictures and healthy meals on Pinterest. Milk commercials get me pumped!

Birthday Princess

Yesterday was Jordyn's 4th birthday. How precious. And to celebrate ~ she went with Jessica, Jonathan and James to Disney! They got to their resort today around 2:00pm and with Jessica's very helpful landmark clues, I was able to find my way to where they were staying. The five of us took a bus to the front of Magic Kingdom, but walked ahead to the monorail. We stopped at the Polynesian Resort where we followed the pool and beach area to the boat dock. For whatever reason, today Jordyn enjoyed a game of "don't look at Rachel's camera" so I was lucky to get this beautiful shot before we departed on the boat. I liked holding her tiny hand and we bonded over being hungry and thirsty, so together we stopped at each water fountain and shared a pack of peanut butter crackers that I had. I pointed out other little princesses her age who had glittery Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty dresses on. Jordyn is most excited to meet Belle and Rapunzel, so I look forward to seeing their family photos in a few days! It was nice getting to spend time with them again. I don't think I had seen Jonathan in a year, since the wedding. Jessica said we are getting spoiled because we have seen each other twice in two months. I'm hoping we can make that a habit. Maybe I can make a trip up to Atlanta in June?!

the Effects Artist's Wife

This might be my favorite picture that Miriam took of me, after my make over on Saturday. I feel like I can really relate to Rachel McAdam's character in "The Time Traveler's Wife" - not knowing when she will see her husband again, being very sad when he's gone and thrilled to spend the time she has with him. I'm tempted to watch it again.. I'm trying to keep calm and not get upset that Michael is hardly home these days. I know it's because he is working. I just wonder how many other jobs will be like this. How many jobs will be worse, on my part, where he will be filming in North Carolina, completely gone for weeks (or months) at a time? I've passed the lonely stage. I don't know what I would do without Sasha's loving company.

 I wrote something for him yesterday:

I'm reaching out for my love

The zombies are ripping you apart

But as long as I can keep your heart

for myself, we'll be just fine.

Love never fails

And I have enough to go around

But I'll be selfish to the point

where I only share it with you.