babymooning, part dos.

After a few days spent soaking up the sun we decided to get up early one morning and drive 2 1/2 hours north to Orlando to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios. It was such a fun day and we had a fabulous time walking the streets and visiting all of the shops. We went to HP World knowing that I wouldn't be able to go on any of the rides, but discovered at the Hogwarts castle that most non-riders (and their party!) can do a walk-through of the ride/attraction, following which the riders in the party get to jump straight to the front of the line for the ride. The non-riders get to wait in a little room by the exit and watch Harry Potter movies. At the end of the day we totaled up how long Ben would have had to wait in lines and realized that by doing the walk-through option each time, we saved over 3 hours of waiting in lines and Ben never had to wait more than 15 minutes to get on a ride (mechanical issues at Gringotts). That left us with 3 extra hours that we used to hunt down the best treats and explore other parts of the parks.

Honeydukes was beyond adorable and we enjoyed picking out some new candies to try as well as the classic Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans which we used to entertain ourselves while waiting in lines for certain stores.

At one point we asked a cute, older gentleman if he would take a photo of us with Hogsmeade/the Hogwarts castle in the background. The first attempt resulted in a picture of the sky. He insisted on trying again and ended up taking a selfie. Again, he insisted on trying to get it right. This gem of a picture was the final result:

#closeenough :)

There's so much to see and experience at both parts of HP World (trust me- I clocked in at 18,000 steps after walking around for 9 hours!), but our favorites included:  lunch at The Three Broomsticks, frozen butterbeer (save time by ordering it at The Three Broomsticks instead of waiting outside at the street cart), visiting Ollivanders Wand Shop, hearing Moaning Myrtle in the bathroom at Hogsmeade, butterbeer ice cream, doing the walk-through tour of the Hogwarts castle, visiting Gringotts, the Hogwarts castle ride (for Ben), riding the Hogwarts Express, and walking through Diagon Alley.

We spent the next few days of our trip swimming, lounging by the pool, reading, checking out the outdoor shopping mall, giving in to cravings (A juicy burger and fries. Mmm!), mini golfing, grilling, watching football, building more sandcastles, trying some local restaurants, and going for walks around the island. We had a hard time accepting the fact that we couldn't stay forever. ;)

^^ Don't mind our dumb faces and gross beach/pool hair. We looked homeless for a few days. :) ^^

Vacations are wonderful.

babymooning.

Ben and I have been married 3 1/2 years and, believe it or not, until this week we hadn't been on a "real" vacation since our honeymoon. We like to use our vacation time to travel home for holidays or big events, and if we travel around the midwest, we stay with gracious friends and family members who let us crash on their floor. I'm all for spending my travel budget on food and activities instead of fancy lodging!

With little miss on her way before too long (10 weeks left! Ahh!), we decided to treat ourselves to a week of uninterrupted time together in a place where the sun actually shines. A babymoon of sorts, if you will. We've been eating our fair share of Reese's cereal, cruising around the island with no destination in mind, building sandcastles like we're 5 years old, and attending the daily water aerobics class at the resort with the 50- to 85-year old ladies. (And watching out for the hoardes of invisible crabs! Okay, they're white. . .and I've only seen one over the last 3 days.)

Life is good.

Our Thanksgiving break was desperately needed and absolutely fabulous.

// We kicked off Thanksgiving break with a homemade pumpkin roll, because hello, holidays. My mom makes pumpkin rolls around this time of year, so I decided to give it a try. Needless to say, I had quite the experience trying to get the cake out of the pan and on to a towel to roll it up. I may or may not have contemplated just giving up on the whole pumpkin roll idea right then and there and thought about turning it into some very cake-y pumpkin bars. After some cracks, tears, and pieces completely breaking off, it somehow turned into a successful pumpkin roll. Checking that off my list!

// It snowed the day before Thanksgiving and I was in holiday heaven. That is, until it turned to ice and I slipped down our back steps giving myself a gnarly looking bruise and adding some battle wounds to my boots. #thisiswhyicanthavenicethings

// Instead of heading to Denver or SLC for Thanksgiving, we stayed in St. Louis and had a Friendsgiving. Some couples from church and one of Ben's coworkers came over for a feast, and a feast we had! Turkey, steaks (my family's go-to instead of turkey), mashed potatoes & gravy, stuffing, rolls, and a random assortment of dishes--it was delicious and I probably gained 10 pounds. (Good thing J.crew just had a sale on stretching pants/leggings.) After eating, we busted out the new Just Dance game and spent an hour learning some new moves. ;) It was only natural to follow that with pies and ice cream.

// Because of the protesting going on in St. Louis, we weren't expecting many stores or malls to be open, but fortunately a good number of them were. My friend and I hit up Michael's and Old Navy on Thursday night and were surprised that both stores were practically empty. Friday morning, Ben and I ventured out to check a store or two and successfully finished 90% of our Christmas shopping. (Boo to protestors shutting down the mall and other stores.) Side note: IT IS SO HARD TO SHOP FOR TEENAGE BOYS, LET ALONE THREE OF THEM. That is all.

// Ben got one of his Christmas presents early and has since tried to teach me how to play Halo. I will never understand, or be good at, video games, and somehow I manage to live with myself. ;)

// Working at a hospital is bound to kill me one day. Regardless of how many times I sanitize my hands, pens, desk, phone, etc., I seem to catch a cold at least every two weeks. No joke. The amount of tissues and cough drops I've purchased in the last few months is exorbitant. I spent most of Thanksgiving break in bed watching Call the Midwife (I finished it and don't know what to do with myself. Show suggestions, please.) and working on a blanket I'm crocheting. Ben thinks I'm an 80-year old lady sometimes--can't say I blame him.

// We had the missionaries and some friends over for dinner on Sunday night, and were shown this great video that the church has produced. What a great reminder of the reason for the season!

a week late.

We were lucky enough to be able to drive out to Denver to have Thanksgiving with Ben's family this year, and found that the 13 hour drive wasn't as bad as we thought it would be!  We are so grateful for our healthy bodies, schooling/work, a place to live, our families, and more importantly, our religion.

We spent Thursday getting ready for Thanksgiving, getting together with extended family, playing games, and eating yummy food.  Friday, we headed out to brave the Black Friday crowds and shopped for over 5 hours, napped, ate Cafe Rio (I about died and went to food heaven), and saw Wreck-It Ralph.  Saturday included another trip to the mall, more naps, some yummy Chinese food, and games with the cousins.  We spent Sunday in the car driving home and thinking of what we'd spend our money on if we were millionaires.  :)  It was a fun trip and both of us were grateful to get away for a little bit.

Recently, things have been gettin' a little Christmasy over here in our apartment...

and we are loving it.  I can see some Christmas cookies and Christmas movies in our future...

Happy December 1st!