Double the Anniversaries, Double the Fun! Jan 2013 PTR | TR HAS STARTED! 2/13

[danimaroo]

Ok I am caught up on all of your P.T.R's and T.R.'s so glad to be joining in on the fun!!
Jennifer

So nice of you to join! I'm glad you caught up on everything and I hope you enjoyed my TR from last trip! I am so excited to share all of the fun updates as we approach BOTH of our fun trips!

 

[dmoore718]

Dani!! I'm here!!!! All caught up!!! Love the plans...we are hoping to switch to Be Our Guest too, but I'm also OK with our CP dinner on our first night. You guys are going to have a blast in Disneyland and at WDW with your friends!!!

 

[danimaroo]

Dani!! I'm here!!!! All caught up!!! Love the plans...we are hoping to switch to Be Our Guest too, but I'm also OK with our CP dinner on our first night. You guys are going to have a blast in Disneyland and at WDW with your friends!!!

WOOHOO! Glad you are here and all caught up! I am totally with you on the BOG deal. If we get it, hooray! If not, we have CP and that's where we've eaten on our first night now the past two trips we've gone. So we either continue that tradition or try to get BOG... Either way, I'll be happy. Plus, the fact that we can go to BOG for a CS at lunch makes the pain of not getting an ADR for dinner not so bad.

I am so excited for both trips! I just read a fantastic TR from someone who was a Disney World vet and visiting DL for the first time ever, and her noting some of the differences made me super excited for our Disneyland trip. It'll be a great way to celebrate my birthday and start off the holiday season! Then, a month and a half later, we're off to Disney World for 9 days! Life is going to be pretty awesome those 2 months!

 

[danimaroo]

Hey guys and gals! So I have a LITTLE trip stuff to update you guys on! But warning, I'm a rambler, and I don't have a ton of pictures for this post, so you have been warned!

So I'm going back to Boston in September to visit my family (that's where I grew up), and also because my older brother and SIL will be parents by then, and I'll get to meet my new niece or nephew!

That being said, I booked my flight to Boston on JetBlue with points, which used up a good chunk of what I had saved in my TrueBlue account from the past few years.

Theeeen my boss at work mentioned how he wanted me to visit our NYC office in September/October, so I thought to myself, "Hmm, what if I fly to Boston, then Boston to NYC, then NYC home?"

Number one, it'd mean I'd only have to fly to the east coast once in the next few months, and number two, I could then have my company pay for my flight home from the east coast, and would get a refund on all of the points I used for the BOS-SEA flight.

$100 later (ugh I hate cancellation fees!), I got half of my points back from my original itinerary, and soon realized... Wait a second, I think I have nearly enough points to get Matt and I down to Disneyland on JetBlue!

Sure enough, I priced it out using my TrueBlue points, and I think we're only around 2,000 points short, which I can buy for really cheap.

So basically, we will be flying to Disneyland for a grand total of $74 for the both of us!

So we'll be booking those flights tomorrow, and that means we are one step closer to our Disneyland trip! The only other thing we'll have left to pay for are our park tickets, which we're still debating on.

Part of us thinks we should only do 2-day park hoppers, since our flight on Thursday the 29th doesn't get in until 8:30pm, but then there's a part of me that thinks we should do 3-day park hoppers, and just basically go to the park whenever we get to our hotel. BUT, that would only work if one of the parks is open until midnight.

The other perk to doing a 3-day pass is that it gives us a Magic Morning pass. Basically, it's similar to EMH at Disney World, only in Disneyland, you get them if you do a 3-day pass, and it's only good for one day. But ugh, an extra hour in the parks on what will be jam-packed weekend for us would be really nice and I know we'd get a LOT done.

It's an extra $50 per person to do this, and we do run the risk of not getting to use the third day at all if our flight gets delayed or it takes forever to get from the airport to our hotel, OR if the parks aren't open late... but again, even if we don't get to, it definitely would be nice to have that Magic Morning pass.

The GOOD news is, we can always play it by ear for as long as we want, because we can just get our tickets when we arrive and decide what we want to do then!

Oh, also, Matt and I usually do NOT plan out our Disney trips at all. I mean, outside of the first 2 days, we totally play it by ear. We enjoy touring the parks at our own pace and doing whatever we feel like. THAT BEING SAID, I realized for our Disneyland trip that we are going to have to plan out our days and actually have a plan of attack. TOTALLY NOT LIKE US, and I thought my idea about planning out our days would totally get shot down.

Imagine my face when Matt said to me, "I TOTALLY agree!" He said he has no problem doing that for Disneyland, because it makes sense with us having such little time in the parks, vs. Disney World, we have 9 days! So yes, I'll be starting to really plan out our days in Disneyland and will be sharing that with you guys... and also sharing our plans for our first few days of our Disney World trip as we get closer!

Sorry, I realize I totally just rambled forever there, but I think you'll find me sometimes doing that in this PTR as I think through my thoughts for planning our trips!

Hmm, not too much else on the Disney World trip. I've definitely already gotten the itch to change our Teppan Edo ADR... and Matt has it, too! I can pretty much guarantee that we will change that ADR to something completely different... And reading Marissa's tweets about how much they loved Ohana (she's been giving live tweets here and there while she is on he trip right now) is making me want to give that whirl! But that would be 2 Poly restaurants in one trip, soooo maybe not!

Tomorrow I'll hopefully have another update for you guys about our flights to Disneyland, and also share some photos of our trip we took last weekend, as I think it's kind of fun to share real life stuff with you guys, too!

 

[407-W-DISNEY]

Yeah for having a business trip and saving your jetblue points!
Cant wait to hear about your DL plans!

 

[Fantasyland Mom]

That's awesome that you can fly for so cheap!
I pretty much know nothing about Disneyland, but I desperately want to visit there, so I'm following your plans closely! So strange that so many things can be so different!

 

[DnA2010]

Hi there,
Really enjoyed your trip! You guys are so like hubby and I, best friends, and of course, disney lovers!
I live north of you and have been to Disneyland (lots growing up and several trips now as an adult) but las year we took our first trip to the World and also loved it...Walt's park is our happy place but we look forward to visiting the world again as we really only scratched the surface, or so it feels. I'm surprised that being so close to the Land that you haven't been yet! I sense another addiction coming on!

Can't Wait to hear more about both trips! Love your mini holidays as well, your dogs are too cute!

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

That's awesome about your Disneyland flights!!!

Personally, my vote would be for the extra pass - sometimes that extra time in the morning can help so much! And you'll only be there for a few days, may as well make the most of it while you're there!

 

[danimaroo]

Yeah for having a business trip and saving your jetblue points!
Cant wait to hear about your DL plans!

I know! I was so excited that I was able to basically fly half of my trip entirely free! And I'm actually very excited to go to NYC because I've never been. Don't worry, I'll be making a trip to World of Disney while I'm there! I can't WAIT to share them with you guys!

That's awesome that you can fly for so cheap!
I pretty much know nothing about Disneyland, but I desperately want to visit there, so I'm following your plans closely! So strange that so many things can be so different!

I know, I'm so excited that it worked out like that. Just means more money to spend in Disneyland and Disney World! I am really excited to start planning for that trip, it'll probably take up most of my planning for the next month or so, then once we're all set with that, I'll start planning our Disney World trip.

It's going to be so weird to have things be different but the same! It'll almost feel like a dream, I'm sure. But I'm so so excited; how cool it'll be to go on attractions that have been there while Walt was around... The history is going to be amazing to see and I cannot wait!

Hi there,
Really enjoyed your trip! You guys are so like hubby and I, best friends, and of course, disney lovers!
I live north of you and have been to Disneyland (lots growing up and several trips now as an adult) but las year we took our first trip to the World and also loved it...Walt's park is our happy place but we look forward to visiting the world again as we really only scratched the surface, or so it feels. I'm surprised that being so close to the Land that you haven't been yet! I sense another addiction coming on!

Can't Wait to hear more about both trips! Love your mini holidays as well, your dogs are too cute!

Aww thank you! I'm so glad you decided to join up! I love when I find other people who are like Matt and I, it makes me happy that there are lots of us who see our husbands as our best friend.

I am really excited to see Disneyland for the first time! It's going to be amazing, especially at Christmas time! I love Disney World but feel like in order to really dig in there, you need to spend like 10 days there! We usually aim for 9-11, just because there's so much to see! I'm sure Disneyland will become another addiction though, which isn't bad since it IS cheaper than WDW so we can get down there more often.

I'll have another update here shortly with another day trip we took this past weekend. And thanks, our dogs are basically our children!

That's awesome about your Disneyland flights!!!

Personally, my vote would be for the extra pass - sometimes that extra time in the morning can help so much! And you'll only be there for a few days, may as well make the most of it while you're there!

I know, it worked out so darn well! Can't beat saving 400 dollars on flights! Well, I have a solid update here shortly about some NEW DEVELOPMENTS about that extra day, but I'm totally agreeing with you there!

 

[danimaroo]

Whoa, 2 updates, 2 days in a row? You guys must think I'm caraaazy or something. OR maybe I'm just excited because I have even better news... about our Disneyland trip!

So originally, the plan was on Thursday, November 29th, we'd get a flight out of Seattle at around 6:00pm, arriving in Long Beach at 8:30pm. We'd leave directly from work, catch the Light Rail down to Sea-Tac airport, and get in and hope to make it to our hotel a decent hour so we could possibly explore a park before it closed.

Well, we started talking about that whole thing on our way home from work yesterday, and I brought up how it would be nice if we could catch the earlier flight at 10am, arriving there around in Long Beach at around 1:17pm.

Obviously this would mean we'd have to take off Thursday from work, but the more we talked about it, the more we both agreed this would be a much better option. We wouldn't have to spend money on another night at the hotel, we'd probably get to our hotel at around 2:30ish and have the whole afternoon to explore the parks!

It'd definitely make the 3-day park hopper idea obviously worth it, and we could not feel as much pressure to run around as quickly having an additional day in the parks. So that being said, I took a look at my vacation balance (don't forget I've been with my company only for 4 months now!) and I will have plenty to take off an additional day!

So, we are officially going to have THREE days in the parks, not just two, and I could not be more excited!

Additionally, when we got home last night, Matt told me he bought us a surprise, but it was more for me. I opened the package and lo and behold, Matt bought me this:

I am SO SO SO excited about this and to read it! It has 5-stars on Amazon and is supposed to be amazing for learning everything there is to know about Disneyland! Even better, the 2nd edition was just released so it's up to date with info! I am getting more and more excited for this trip, I swear.

Okay, so! Disney stuff aside, my Mom came out to visit us last weekend and we decided to take her up to Mount Rainier.

It was the PERFECT day for a trip up there. It's about a 2 hour drive from our house, which isn't bad at all because it's such a beautiful drive! Of course, I figured I'd share photos with you guys!

Matt and I at one of the viewpoints:

Mount Rainier on our drive up:

This quote speaks the utter truth about this place:

Matt with the Mail Bear, which was his favorite when he would visit the Paradise Inn growing up:

Yup, there is still snow up there!

It's breath-taking:

My Mom in one of the really neat wooden chairs:

We love it up there; you will not smell cleaner air anywhere else. There was also lots of wildlife; we saw a deer cleaning her little fawn, and of course LOTS of marmots. I wish I could take one home, hahaha.

We will be going back up for our official anniversary in September (I think I posted about our last trip up there in my last PTR), and we might try to go up in August, too! It's one of my favorite places in the world to visit... and one of many reasons I love living in the Pacific Northwest.

Anywho! That's about it from me for now. I'm in the process of looking into possibly making or buying a drawstring bag for our trips, something Disney-related of course!

If anyone has suggestions on good places to buy a cute drawstring bag, throw it at me! I might try making my own, but that means I need to learn how to use my sewing machine upstairs... and that could be a disaster, haha.

Like I said, with the new book, I can now start to really research and plan for our Disneyland trip... and of course, start all of that for our Disney World trip in a few months, as well!

 

[JDailey]

I love all of the pictures of the get away with your mom!! And might I say, YAY for working it out so you guys will have three days in Disneyland. One more thing.... what a sweet hubby you have for buying you that awesome book. I love how he gets you little gifts, it is so sweet.

 

[407-W-DISNEY]

How sweet that Matt bought you that book on Disneyland!!! And yeah for the 3day pass!! You guys made the right decision about taking Thursday off!!
I think you and your mom really look alike. What a fun weekend...you guys always have the best weekends!!!

 

[mouseketeer70]

Wow! How amazing to live so close to such a beautiful place! I think the PACNW gets a bad rap because people think it's always cold and rainy. But it looks like such a gorgeous place with so much to do!
: good idea taking the day off and getting to DL earlier. You would have probably regretted it if you didn't.

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

Yay for the extra day in Disneyland!!!

Your pictures of Mount Rainier are beautiful - how wonderful to live so close to something like that!!

 

[khertz]

Followed you over from my Disneyland TR.

Yay for an extra day in DL on your trip! Now that I have been there, loved it, and going back soon, I REALLY want to visit during the holidays so I look forward to seeing your pictures and reading your TR. What a great time to visit a new Disney park!

Love your pics from the mountains. We got to experience some of that when we went to visit DH's family a few years ago. We went skiing at Snoqualmie Pass, so we got to see the snow on the mountains and drive up the winding highways. It was pretty neat to someone from Louisiana where our highest point is a tall hill.

 

[marDgreen88]

First of all, yes, I HIGHLY recommend 'Ohana! I really do! I never expect anything that is so hyped up to actually be as good as everyone says, but this really really was! AND if you do decide to go there, I would also recommend going as soon as they open. We got the first batches of food of the night and it was all perfect. PERFECT. YUM! And you can't go wrong with two visits to the Poly!

HOORAY for your extra day at Disneyland!!!!!

 

[DnA2010]

Yay for 3 days! We did three on our last trip , would definitely not want to go for less...hoping for 6-7 on our next one. We also flew into Long Beach and used "Zippy Shuttle" after reading a recommendation off here...cheapest price I found for a private shuttle (and totally competitive with the shared ones as well) the driver was there waiting for us to pick us up and arrived early to pick us up on the day we left.

Lovely photos from your Mount R trip!

 

[GrandCalifornian]

My wife and I really enjoyed following your trip report, and now that you're going to Disneyland we had to chime in. We live in Southern California and got married at the Grand Californian in 2007, then took our first trip to WDW together. This September we finally get to go back, and reading your trip report gave us so many things for our must do list. It seems we have similar tastes in Disney fun.

So, back to tips for Disneyland. We talked about it, and the first one we came up with was dining at the resort hotels. In particular we love to visit the quick service snack bar Whitewater Snacks at the Grand Californian. It is usually nice and quiet, and the beef nachos are excellent. Storytellers is the sit down restaurant at the Grand Californian, and they have a buffet with the world's best corn chowder. Seriously, it is very good.

Another thing we thought of was the inevitable comparison between WDW and DL that you'll be making. We experienced it the other way around, but I am sure some of the feelings will be similar. At first the differences will really stand out, and comparing MK to DL things will just seem to be in the wrong spot! Because of this we ended up not spending as much time in MK as we thought we would, but we got over it. DL is so small compared to MK, but it is amazingly efficient. It feels big for being small, if that makes any sense, but you'll just have to see it for yourselves.

We really enjoyed seeing the parks that were totally unique to WDW, so I bet you guys will enjoy a lot of California Adventure. The new Cars Land is amazing and totally worth checking out, even though it will be pretty busy. You have to see the view from the far entrance to it near Radiator Springs Racers, where it feels like you walk into the movie. They also rebuilt the entrance to California Adventure, and a new favorite place to eat for us is the Fiddler, Fifer & Practical Café, which is the coffee shop at the end of Buena Vista street (the main street as you walk in). The roast beef and cheese sandwich is great, and the seating area is really big, so it is easy to get a spot.

For rides, Radiator Springs Racers is the new hit, and while similar to Test Track there are a lot of differences. California Screamin is a very nice magnetic launch roller coaster and a must do, and so is the classic Matterhorn which has just re-opened from a refurbishment. You mentioned Haunted Mansion, and the NBC version is cool to see. Also, the "stretching room" is done with an elevator in CA, which is cool.

One last major difference is that in California, everything is so close. It is totally feasable to walk between parks and have fastpasses at each. Downtown Disney (although way smaller than the Florida version) is right between the two parks, so everything is super close. Walking out to your nearby hotel shouldn't be bad either, and compared to WDW it will be amazingly close to the parks.

You guys are going to have a great time, and with three days of park hoppers and staying close you will get to cover it well. Enjoy! We can't wait for the trip report.

 

[danimaroo]

I love all of the pictures of the get away with your mom!! And might I say, YAY for working it out so you guys will have three days in Disneyland. One more thing.... what a sweet hubby you have for buying you that awesome book. I love how he gets you little gifts, it is so sweet.

Aww thank you! We really had a great time up there! And yes, I'm super super excited to have 3 days in the parks! It just makes things way less stressful for the trip and yeah, we have a few awesome things planned out for when we're there!

Matt really is an amazing husband; he thinks of these awesome little gifts to get me that are right up my alley! I try to surprise him every now and then, too... I sometimes can get him pretty good.

How sweet that Matt bought you that book on Disneyland!!! And yeah for the 3day pass!! You guys made the right decision about taking Thursday off!!
I think you and your mom really look alike. What a fun weekend...you guys always have the best weekends!!!

I know, right?! The book really is fantastic and I'm looking forward to reading way more of it! I think we made the right decision, too! It just works out so much better and gives us a lot more time while we're there... even if the parks do close at 8pm that Thursday night (which is looks like they might, but that's still 5 hours of park time!)

As I've gotten older, more people have told me we look alike! And I thought of you when I posted the photos! We had a great weekend but have been looking forward to having more relaxing weekends around the house this month, doing our usual weekend routine. Plus, we cannot WAIT for the fall!!

Wow! How amazing to live so close to such a beautiful place! I think the PACNW gets a bad rap because people think it's always cold and rainy. But it looks like such a gorgeous place with so much to do!
: good idea taking the day off and getting to DL earlier. You would have probably regretted it if you didn't.

I know, I am constantly reminded of how beautiful it is around here! I can't wait to go back up there again in September. Don't get me wrong, it does get cold and rainy here in the winter, but the Summer and Fall are just WONDERFUL. I absolutely love living here!

And yes, I think we would have definitely regretted not taking that day off, so I am beyond thrilled about it. It's going to be so much fun knowing we have an extra few hours in the parks!

Yay for the extra day in Disneyland!!!

Your pictures of Mount Rainier are beautiful - how wonderful to live so close to something like that!!

I KNOOOW! When we finally decided to go for it, we were both super excited! It's going to make it way more "worth" the price of everything, I think! And I know, I LOVE living so close to so many beautiful things around here. Sometimes I miss Boston, but I have to say I am glad I live in the PNW!

Followed you over from my Disneyland TR.

Yay for an extra day in DL on your trip! Now that I have been there, loved it, and going back soon, I REALLY want to visit during the holidays so I look forward to seeing your pictures and reading your TR. What a great time to visit a new Disney park!

Love your pics from the mountains. We got to experience some of that when we went to visit DH's family a few years ago. We went skiing at Snoqualmie Pass, so we got to see the snow on the mountains and drive up the winding highways. It was pretty neat to someone from Louisiana where our highest point is a tall hill.

So glad you decided to pop in here! I seriously loved your TR and got so much useful information out of it, and it made me 10 times more excited for our DL trip! So thanks again for writing it!

I am BEYOND excited we are going near the holidays. It's going to be so Christmassy and knowing about both the Haunted Mansion Holiday AND It's a Small World, it's just going to be wonderful. Matt and I are HUGE Christmas fans, so I think this is going to be right up our alley for being a great holiday trip!

Funny enough, we took our dogs up to Snoqualmie last year so they could play in the snow! They had a BLAST! It's wonderful up there! And it is so funny and different coming out here and seeing MOUNTAINS, compared to the tiny hills back on the east coast.

 

[danimaroo]

First of all, yes, I HIGHLY recommend 'Ohana! I really do! I never expect anything that is so hyped up to actually be as good as everyone says, but this really really was! AND if you do decide to go there, I would also recommend going as soon as they open. We got the first batches of food of the night and it was all perfect. PERFECT. YUM! And you can't go wrong with two visits to the Poly!

HOORAY for your extra day at Disneyland!!!!!

Ahhh yeah, the more you talk about it the more you're convincing me to want to go! And thanks for the advice on when to go; I found the SAME thing when we go to Crystal Palace for dinner, just seems to be fresh and delicious!

HOORAY INDEED! I can't even wait!!

Yay for 3 days! We did three on our last trip , would definitely not want to go for less...hoping for 6-7 on our next one. We also flew into Long Beach and used "Zippy Shuttle" after reading a recommendation off here...cheapest price I found for a private shuttle (and totally competitive with the shared ones as well) the driver was there waiting for us to pick us up and arrived early to pick us up on the day we left.

Lovely photos from your Mount R trip!

Awesome, glad to hear that 3 days is a good idea! If we get to a point where WDW isn't happening due to a tighter budget, we might consider doing more days at DL! I think we will have to take your advice on the Zippy Shuttle. It's so nice knowing someone else who flew in Long Beach! I will be looking into getting them vs. a cab to our hotel. Thanks for the tip!!

My wife and I really enjoyed following your trip report, and now that you're going to Disneyland we had to chime in. We live in Southern California and got married at the Grand Californian in 2007, then took our first trip to WDW together. This September we finally get to go back, and reading your trip report gave us so many things for our must do list. It seems we have similar tastes in Disney fun.

So, back to tips for Disneyland. We talked about it, and the first one we came up with was dining at the resort hotels. In particular we love to visit the quick service snack bar Whitewater Snacks at the Grand Californian. It is usually nice and quiet, and the beef nachos are excellent. Storytellers is the sit down restaurant at the Grand Californian, and they have a buffet with the world's best corn chowder. Seriously, it is very good.

Another thing we thought of was the inevitable comparison between WDW and DL that you'll be making. We experienced it the other way around, but I am sure some of the feelings will be similar. At first the differences will really stand out, and comparing MK to DL things will just seem to be in the wrong spot! Because of this we ended up not spending as much time in MK as we thought we would, but we got over it. DL is so small compared to MK, but it is amazingly efficient. It feels big for being small, if that makes any sense, but you'll just have to see it for yourselves.

We really enjoyed seeing the parks that were totally unique to WDW, so I bet you guys will enjoy a lot of California Adventure. The new Cars Land is amazing and totally worth checking out, even though it will be pretty busy. You have to see the view from the far entrance to it near Radiator Springs Racers, where it feels like you walk into the movie. They also rebuilt the entrance to California Adventure, and a new favorite place to eat for us is the Fiddler, Fifer & Practical Café, which is the coffee shop at the end of Buena Vista street (the main street as you walk in). The roast beef and cheese sandwich is great, and the seating area is really big, so it is easy to get a spot.

For rides, Radiator Springs Racers is the new hit, and while similar to Test Track there are a lot of differences. California Screamin is a very nice magnetic launch roller coaster and a must do, and so is the classic Matterhorn which has just re-opened from a refurbishment. You mentioned Haunted Mansion, and the NBC version is cool to see. Also, the "stretching room" is done with an elevator in CA, which is cool.

One last major difference is that in California, everything is so close. It is totally feasable to walk between parks and have fastpasses at each. Downtown Disney (although way smaller than the Florida version) is right between the two parks, so everything is super close. Walking out to your nearby hotel shouldn't be bad either, and compared to WDW it will be amazingly close to the parks.

You guys are going to have a great time, and with three days of park hoppers and staying close you will get to cover it well. Enjoy! We can't wait for the trip report.

I am so glad you guys loved my TR! It makes me happy when I hear people enjoyed reading it, because those things take awhile to write! AND I'm glad my TR gave you lots of ideas of things to do! I'm telling you, a lot of things I learned on DISboards and it made our trip SO much more enjoyable than I ever thought... especially in the SNACKS department!

Thank you SO much for advice! I think we may have to make our way over to GC, first to just check out the resort, and also for the food! I think we are planning on making a couple of reservations at a few spots, but otherwise plan on winging it! I'll let you know in an update here shortly about our plans!

I'm planning on going into Disneyland and trying to see it differently from WDW. Basically, try to enjoy it for the differences. I am going into it knowing a few things (HM is better in WDW, though when we're there for HM Holiday, it is going to be amazing!... while Pirates is much better in DL, etc.), but I'm really excited to experience it for the first time!

I'm definitely looking forward to seeing Carsland, though I'm not a HUGE Cars fan, I have to say the photos look impressive! Depending on wait times, we may try to do Radiator Springs, but that'll probably be with FPs only. If we miss out on it, we won't be TOO upset, because I think we'll be planning another DL trip for next year again.

I am very excited about the closeness of everything! Having our hotel literally be located across the street is going to be fantastic for taking a quick break or changing, etc. It's one of the biggest reasons we've chosen to stay at that hotel.

I am beyond thrilled and can't wait to share the TR with you. Thank you again so much for the tips; and if you think of any more, definitely let me know because tips are always appreciated for a first-timer.