1st Trip (of many!) as Mr. & Mrs.--the TR-- UPDATE 9/9: Life Update--We're Moving!!

[stacikristine]

Originally Posted by princess_momma

I'm here! And first!

Haha! Yay!

Originally Posted by princess_momma

I wish I could say I was the extra passenger! Can't wait to read your update!! And I wish I had known about renting points earlier. Oh well!! There's always next time. Glad we both found the Dis anyway.

And to get back to your other thread, I will definitely have to look into that!! I was looking in the Orlando and while the cost of living is pretty much the same, the exact same job I'm doing there STARTS at more than I make now (after 2 raises!) But I also do need to go back to school and stuff...so I don't know if I'm going to be moving before or after that. Pretty much the thing that keeps me here now is my mom watching Landon. Daycare is SO expensive!! It can cost as much as rent for a small apartment!! But I have some research to do

I know--I wish I could be an extra passenger on everyone's trips! Yeah, I was lucky to have stumbled upon it... It saved a lot of money, and we got to stay in a Deluxe! Yeah, we have lots of things we're saying "next time" for already! Wow--that would be incredible if you could have that kind of raise! Keep me posted. Yeah, daycare is outrageous. And I'm sure your family would miss you SO much if you moved. But it's good you're looking into all of it!

Originally Posted by pinkpixie0920

I can't wait to read about your trip! I have been so busy with work, coaching cheerleading, and just plan life that I don't think I really have a lot of free time to write a trip report unfortunately. I looked for you while were there but I was sad we never ran into each other. Our trip turned out great and I can't wait to hear all about yours!

I can't wait to write all about it!! I know--I looked for you too, but I guess our paths just never crossed. If you're not going to write a TR, what was your highlight? Your favorite meal? Something everyone should do next time?

Originally Posted by crocko

I'm here, too!

Excited to hear about the trip!
"extra passenger"? Hmm....several possibilities come to mind.....(although, I don't think you spent any time in jail, so I'll rule one of them out)

Yay! Haha... Nope, no jail time!

Originally Posted by deslynnpatterson

i am just joining in to read your TR!! count me in

Hi! Thanks so much for reading!!

[stacikristine]

Originally Posted by BippityBoo

Woohoo

Are you going to update soon? Cant wait to see your room. Is renting DVC points a money saver? I don't know anything about it. SO happy to be here

Hi Katie! Yes--I'll update Day 0 (travel to Dallas day) today sometime! And maybe I'll be able to start on our arrival day. You'll for sure be able to see some AKL pictures by the end of this week! Oh my goodness, YES! It's SUCH a money saver. We stayed for 6 nights at a studio savanna view room at AKL for cheaper than what we could have stayed at POP! It was only $560 for the entire 6 nights! I've met so many people who rent points every trip. If you want more info, PM me, and I'll send you a link. The only drawback is you can't take advantage of the specials (like the 4/3 deal). But you can stay at WL for about $1050 for the entire week's lodging.

Originally Posted by Leleluvsdis

Waiting for more

It's coming soon!!

Originally Posted by Tnkrbelle565

Reading along

Hi! Thanks for reading!

Originally Posted by heaven2dc

I'm definitely joining in for this one! First of all congratulations on your marriage last year - you are a beautiful couple!

I always love hearing how people discover how much they can save by renting points from a DVC owner. I've stayed twice last year at BWV and got a boardwalk view in December 2008 for a one-bedroom villa and paid so much less than staying at a value resort or even moderate (thanks to the DVC owner for a great rate on points! )

Can't wait to hear all about your trip and see lots of pics and maybe some videos

Hi! Thanks so much for reading!! Thank you--we're really happy together. Isn't renting points just the greatest?! I don't know if we'll ever do anything else!! I took almost 2,000 pictures plus the photo CD, and we have hours of video footage!!!

Originally Posted by Dancegrl624

I'm here Staci! I can't wait to hear all about your trip!!!

Yay! I'm glad you made it over! I can't wait to share all about it!

Originally Posted by LilAnn

Yay! You've started the TR! Count me in! I hope you had a fabulous time! Can't wait to see how all of your outfits and planning turned out!

Hi! Thanks! It was wonderful!! Haha--the outfits were a super great time saver... I can't wait to share!

Originally Posted by ibedancin824

Count me in

Yay! Hi!

Originally Posted by khertz

YAY!! Needless to say, subscribing. Can't wait for some PICS!!!

Haha--Yeah, I figured you would be! Thanks! I took almost 2,000!!! So they're on their way!

[Roxychica7]

Yay Staci! The trip report has been posted! I was ready to close out the window because I saw non of my favorite reports hadn't updated and then the saw "The TR link has been posted!" Can't wait to hear about more! And SO glad to know that Dbf and I aren't the only ones making goofy faces on our trip

[stacikristine]

Originally Posted by Roxychica7

Yay Staci! The trip report has been posted! I was ready to close out the window because I saw non of my favorite reports hadn't updated and then the saw "The TR link has been posted!" Can't wait to hear about more! And SO glad to know that Dbf and I aren't the only ones making goofy faces on our trip

Hey Jess! I'm glad you found it! I'm about to start on the first real installment Haha--we make TONS of goofy faces! It's what makes them interesting

[HeatherBelle614]

You need to update. I need a distraction...

[princess_momma]

Originally Posted by stacikristine

Hey Jess! I'm glad you found it! I'm about to start on the first real installment Haha--we make TONS of goofy faces! It's what makes them interesting

Goofy faces in pictures are the best! This reminds me of high school...I was a teacher aide with my best friends for one period and we pretty did NOTHING but take pictures of ourselves and in all of them we just have different faces. I'm pretty sure we did every facial expression imagineable! It is what makes pics interesting! I can't wait to see yours!

[stacikristine]

Originally Posted by HeatherBelle614

You need to update. I need a distraction...

I'm posting it right after this! I've been praying a ton!

Originally Posted by princess_momma

Goofy faces in pictures are the best! This reminds me of high school...I was a teacher aide with my best friends for one period and we pretty did NOTHING but take pictures of ourselves and in all of them we just have different faces. I'm pretty sure we did every facial expression imagineable! It is what makes pics interesting! I can't wait to see yours!

Haha--yep! That is hilarious! I'm sure Landon will get a kick out of those someday!!!

[stacikristine]

On Friday Night, we set our alarm for 9:00 the next morning.

Around 5:30, we both woke up. We were sooo excited! I guess it was just the pre-vacation jitters (this isn’t the first you’ll see of these!) Mine wouldn’t have been so bad if I didn’t have “Kill the Beast” in my head! Try falling asleep when all you can think about is “Kill the Beast! BOOM! Kill the Beast! BOOM! Kill the Beast!” We chatted for a little while and then finally went back to sleep around 6:15.

We were both wide awake by 8:15, but we tried to go back to sleep until our alarm played *“Kiss the Girl” at 9:00 and reminded us it was time to get up because we were going to Dallas! *Note: we woke up to a different Disney song every day of our trip! This was the first…

We got ready, made some Cinnamon Rolls, and watched the new Office episode we’d missed earlier in the week. We also did all of our last minute packing (toiletries, etc).

My dad was next door working on remodeling one of their rental apartments, so he stopped in to see if we were all ready for our trip. My mom and sister were staying about 20 minutes away, and no one could get ahold of them. We were afraid that if they didn’t come soon, we wouldn’t be able to say bye!

Our plan was to leave our town around 10:30. We were pretty much on schedule, but then my mom and sister showed up. You see, my sister had been begging and begging to be able to go with us. She’s 12, and absolutely loves Disney World. We’d told her no a million times, but 12 year olds can be very persistent.

We said bye to my parents, loaded up, and headed off! It was 11:00 on the dot when we pulled out of our driveway. Everything was going smoothly until we took this picture and saw this:



What?! What’s SHE doing in the car?? She’ll never make it through baggage!!!





Just kidding! Earlier that morning, my dad asked us if we could meet my uncle on the highway (they live in Dallas and were coming up to OK) to pass Emily off so she could go to the OU game with them. So we met up, gave “hi” hugs all around, told everyone bye, and hopped back on the route to Dallas.


We called my cousin (not related to the OU game uncle or the aunt we’re staying with…I have family ALL over the DFW metroplex) to give her our ETA for lunch. We’d said we’d probably be meeting between 1:30 and 2:00 since we didn’t leave on time.


On our drive down, we saw this awesome car:





Isn’t that gorgeous?!


I also got a cool shot of the sun through the top-tinted front window:




Sorry—here’s the only luggage picture I remembered to take… Our big bag was in the trunk:




We made REALLY great time, and pulled into the Cheddar’s parking lot at 1:30. My cousin thought we were going to be later than that, so she didn’t come until about 1:55.




Oh my goodness, we LOVE Cheddar’s! We really miss having one in our town. I didn’t take pictures, but my cousin and I both had the grilled chicken salad (grilled chicken, glazed roasted pecans, cheese, etc.), and Michael had a cheeseburger. It was all DELISH! We all split an Apple Pie a la Mode for dessert. Holy Cow. This thing was GOOD!


After our scrumptious lunch and saying bye to my cousin (for those of you who read my PTR, she was one of my maids of honor), we headed off to my Aunt Laura’s house.

We left Cheddar’s at 3:15, and pulled into Aunt Laura’s driveway at 3:45.


My cousin’s little girl, A, was sleeping when we arrived (she’s 3). Aunt L said she’d been planning all day how she was going to hide and surprise us when we got there. So we waited in the living room, and Aunt L woke her up and told her we were there. She covered her face as A.L. carried her into the kitchen so we couldn’t see her. I just love it how kids do this! When we went outside “to get our bags”, she found her hiding spot—burying her face in a pillow on the couch!! We “looked” for her and then came and tickled the “lump on the couch”. She’s just adorable.


Continued in next post

[stacikristine]

Continued from previous



After she showed us everything from her bedroom to her brush, we decided to take a drive to:



I’d never been here before, but it’s AWESOME! What an incredible idea! You go in and pick whatever size of cup you want. Then you fill it up with whatever types of frozen yogurt you’d like. You can choose one flavor, or all of the flavors (there were about 10 or 12). Since Michael and I had never been there before, we were given tiny little cups to try the different flavors. I ended up getting Strawberry, Vanilla, and Original Tart (I think that was the name). I think Michael got Cheesecake, Vanilla, and Strawberry. Then, you go over to the toppings bar. They have everything from fresh fruit to candy to cakes—almost anything you could think of! The greatest thing is that you can put as many toppings as you’d like! Michael stuck to Sprinkles. I put mini Gummy Bears on the Tart, Strawberries on the Vanilla, and Cheesecake bites on the Strawberry. After you’ve completed your yogurt-y creation, they weigh your cup, and you pay by the ounce. Brilliant!

Here’s mine and Michael’s:



And here’s A and me:



She had Cookies & Cream with Oreo pieces, Chocolate Chips, and some other toppings. Isn’t she adorable?!


Oh my goodness! This was SOOO yummy!


After we ate our frozen yogurt and visited for a while, we went to Target. I can’t tell you how much I miss having a Target in my town! We found one of our funny Dirty Santa Exchange gifts (don’t worry…it’s completely clean. My mom’s family just does a silly gift swap every Christmas). We found all of these little monster things in the dollar section, and made a goofy gift out of it. We also found some Office pens, pencils, and notepads that we just had to buy. We walked around and visited the Halloween costumes section, the game section, and the toys section. I got really excited when A started pressing buttons on a princess Barbie display—we were going to be at those princesses’ home in one day!!!


By the time we left Target, we were ready to eat. Again, I don’t have any pictures, but I can assure you it was fantastic! We went to a little place called Joe’s Pizza & Pasta. Michael and I both had half orders of spaghetti with ½ marinara, ½ alfredo sauce. YUM! Aunt L had spaghetti and meatballs. A had spaghetti. Let’s just say our tummies were very satisfied when we left there!


We went back to A.L.’s house and played with A some more. She showed us her kitchen and all of her sticker books.




Then, she showed us her pig named Richard. We just HAD to take a picture with Richard, because that’s Michael’s brother’s name!






We decided to play Cooties! I hadn’t played this in forever. I must say, this game is much cooler now than when I had it. All of our pieces looked the same. Now, each cootie looks completely different!






I’m proud to announce that my cootie was the first to be completed!!






Michael’s was having a little bit of an issue.




After we played Cooties, A decided she wanted us to play “Pretty, Pretty Disney Princess”. I’d played the original game, but not this one. I didn’t really understand what some of the squares stood for…oh well.

It was also at this point that I realized my camera does some cool stuff. I don’t know why I’d never thought to check it out before. So sorry about the weird colors and things on these pictures…I was playing!



Oh, Aunt Laura, you’re looking fabulous!





I don’t know why I took this…Probably to check out the color. But I think it looks pretty neat.




Michael had been doing something else, and when he walked up and asked what we were doing, A said, “We’re playing princess! We’re playing princess! Here…you can be the witch!” Thanks, A.




After we finished playing Princesses and Witch, we got ready for bed. It’d been such a fun day! I’m so glad we were able to meet up with my cousin and spend the day with my aunt and A. She’s just the sweetest little girl.

We ended up going to sleep around 9:45—had to go to bed early for our Flight to Disney!!!!




Up next:
Where the heck is our flight check-in desk?!
GORGEOUS Animal Kingdom Lodge
Jason from Zimbabwe
Shopping

[annnewjerz]

Hi there!

I think I stopped in a few times on your PTR to help you get pics off of a memory card (right?) and just saw you had your TR started, so I thought I should say hello and that I'm in!!

I also wanted to tell you, that idea about waking up to a different Disney song each day of your trip is SO FREAKIN CUTE. I love it and may have to steal it for our upcoming trips.

Love the picture of the little tot in your backseat while you are starting your drive. You had me convinced that she hid in the back to tag along with you to WDW. And Pretty Pretty Princess used to be a game I loved when I was younger (although still probably too old to be playing it but that's neither here nor there).

Looking forward to more!

Ann

[BippityBoo]

Woohoo! The first part of your trip!! Little A is adorable. LOVE her pig (and so funny that your DH has a brother that name). What a great way to start off your trip...with family

That frozen yogurt place looks awesome!! What a great idea!

Is it bad that I want you to write the entire TR in one night so I can see what happens?

Also, did you ever get some beignets? I had some on Sunday (kind of a tradition here) and thought of you!

[princess_momma]

I literally LAUGHED OUT LOUD so many times already!! A is SO CUTE. I LOVE the pig named Richard. And I want to play Pretty Pretty DISNEY Princess. I only played the original as well! And I want to try Tutti Frutti. I think I need to go to Texas.

I just can't believe you don't have a TARGET!! Thats so crazy!! I would die and I don't even go there that much!!

And by the way, what type of camera do you have? You had some cool effects with it!! I'm looking into getting a new one in the next year or so!

[lauren_elizabeth]

Hey Girl! I saw you over on Kimmy's trip report (princess_momma) and had to join along! You & Michael are such an adorable couple and OH MY GOSH! That Tutti Frutti yogurt place looks DELICIOUS! Yummmmm!

Can't wait to read more!

[stacikristine]

Originally Posted by annnewjerz

Hi there!

I think I stopped in a few times on your PTR to help you get pics off of a memory card (right?) and just saw you had your TR started, so I thought I should say hello and that I'm in!!

I also wanted to tell you, that idea about waking up to a different Disney song each day of your trip is SO FREAKIN CUTE. I love it and may have to steal it for our upcoming trips.

Love the picture of the little tot in your backseat while you are starting your drive. You had me convinced that she hid in the back to tag along with you to WDW. And Pretty Pretty Princess used to be a game I loved when I was younger (although still probably too old to be playing it but that's neither here nor there).

Looking forward to more!

Ann

Hi Ann! Yes--you saved my pictures! Thanks again! And thanks for reading. The Disney Songs thing just happened. I picked one for our trip to Dallas morning, and then every day at Disney, Michael picked a different one. I LOVED waking up to different favorite Disney songs of ours Yeah...she REALLY wanted to come along! Too bad little sis I never owned Pretty Pretty Princess, but I'd love it when I babysat little girls that had it!

Originally Posted by BippityBoo

Woohoo! The first part of your trip!! Little A is adorable. LOVE her pig (and so funny that your DH has a brother that name). What a great way to start off your trip...with family

That frozen yogurt place looks awesome!! What a great idea!

Is it bad that I want you to write the entire TR in one night so I can see what happens?

Also, did you ever get some beignets? I had some on Sunday (kind of a tradition here) and thought of you!

It was awesome to get to spend time with them! I love my family Oh my goodness, the frozen yogurt place was amazing!! I'd never heard of anything like it! I want one in our town... Haha--I wish I could write it all in one night... And no, I didn't. I SO wish we could have, but it just didn't work out. I think I might have to buy that mix. What was the website again? I'm so jealous you get them so often!!!

Originally Posted by princess_momma

I literally LAUGHED OUT LOUD so many times already!! A is SO CUTE. I LOVE the pig named Richard. And I want to play Pretty Pretty DISNEY Princess. I only played the original as well! And I want to try Tutti Frutti. I think I need to go to Texas.

I just can't believe you don't have a TARGET!! Thats so crazy!! I would die and I don't even go there that much!!

And by the way, what type of camera do you have? You had some cool effects with it!! I'm looking into getting a new one in the next year or so!

Yay! I'm glad you liked it! Isn't she adorable?! I hope my kids are that cute. We laughed so hard when she said his name was Richard. Nice leotard, Richard! Yeah, I agree--you should just move to Texas!! I really do love it there, and hope we can move back someday. The DFW area is awesome! I know...I've only had a Target 7 years of my life But those 7 years spoiled me. I have a little Cannon PowerShot SD1000 Digital Elph. I love it. In my opinion, it's the best little compact camera out there. The color is really great. I've had this one for almost 2 years.

Originally Posted by lauren_elizabeth

Hey Girl! I saw you over on Kimmy's trip report (princess_momma) and had to join along! You & Michael are such an adorable couple and OH MY GOSH! That Tutti Frutti yogurt place looks DELICIOUS! Yummmmm!

Can't wait to read more!

Hi Lauren! Thanks for reading! Thanks! It was absolutely incredible!! I SO wish we had one here! Hopefully I'll get another installment up today.

[SparKeLLy]

Love your report so far and glad to know I'm not the only one that plans their outfits lol.
I also have to agree the Canon Digital Elphs are the best!