Road Trip

Wednesday was practically perfect in every way. In the morning Travis decided we needed to drive to Jacksonville so he could show me his old haunts there. I saw his old house and the place he used to work at, which had go-carts and games. I dominated at Dance Dance Revolution, kinda ironic since I inherited Grandma Helen's two left feet. And after I convinced Travis that the photo booths don't cost $10, we took some classic photos. Oh, and I beat him around the track a few times :)

We drove home via St. Augustine + Travis pulled out the 'Amazing Boyfriend' trick = we climbed to the top of the lighthouse there! That means we have 2 lighthouses crossed off our list, though I would love to go back to it. Being on top of the lighthouse was as close as I can get to being on a mountain in Florida. I loved being able to see so much of the ocean, city and beaches. We both decided we would have to spend more time in St. Augustine.

Then we went to Daytona. I didn't know they had such a cool motorcycle shopping area, but DUH! It's Daytona. It shouldn't have surprised me. We will go back there again (preferably when the shops are open this time).

Overall, it was a relaxing, spontaneous and enjoyable day. Random road trips are something I always love doing so it is exciting that Travis is up for them too :) We had some good talks and just enjoyed each other's company. A good day!

Contemplating the First Year

May 21st is a significant day for a couple reasons. The first is my big brother Aaron's birthday. Happy birthday Aaron!

The second reason is the anniversary of me being a semi grown-up in a semi mature relationship for a whole year! A lot has happened in that year.
Timeline:
May 21, 2009: Travis asks me to officially be his girlfriend while we had a non DTR at Squaw Peak. Yeah, we broke with tradition and actually talked up there, unlike most other couples...

Editor's addition: We met up with Beckie, Doug, Aden and Grandma and Grandpa Christensen so that my mom and dad would be able to feel better about this "mystery man" their daughter was going all over the country to see :) We went out for ice cream and had fun. I love my family, even the one's Travis was scared to meet at that time ha ha ha

June 30, 2009: Trav's birthday and I graduated from college :)

September 2009: Dad and I drive across the country, hit 2 skunks (dad hit them both) and I moved to Florida!! Talk about outside of my comfort zone. Mom said later that she was expecting me to call back wanting to go home for the first couple months. Can't say that I blame her. Change isn't my forte :)

October 2009: I got hired by Disney World to work in housekeeping. Mickey gave me my nametag... I bet your job isn't that cool!

November 2009: I called Travis and my dad crying because I didn't think I could do housekeeping. I hated it and it made my body ache all over. I dreaded work and hated going.

December 2009: I realized I can make work fun (thanks to my Dad for pulling out the old pioneers guilt trip, it worked) and start earning some good money as a housekeeper.

January 2010: Travis and I ran the Disney World Marathon together. It was one of the most intimidating things I have ever done, but I knew there was no other option but to finish. I'm not so sure Travis believed I was going to finish ha ha.

May 3, 2010: Travis meets the family and they like each other thankfully! (not that I had any doubts.)

May 21, 2010: Yes, Trav forgot it had been a year... I even made him dinner, but the poor guy still didn't get it. I made a point of putting all important dates (birthdays) in his iPhone to save him from future mishaps :) But we are still going strong and working towards our goal of eternal marriage. We have learned a lot about each other and how to communicate effectively. We have come a long way together and as individuals. He makes me smile, laugh and feel loved.
I also wouldn't have been able to make the changes and leaps of faith in my life this past year if it wasn't for my family supporting me. I am blessed with amazing parents who sacrifice to help me grow. This work in progress is keenly aware of the joint efforts of loved ones. Thank you!

Budget Bath Makeover

The pictures uploaded in the opposite order as usual, but hopefully you can tell which ones are the redo ha ha. I needed color and style. Sorry the pictures don't do it justice!

Ever since I moved in I've been wanting to decorate and make my apartment feel more like home. The college/mission life decor was outdated in my own life a couple years ago! Thanks to some birthday/pity money from my Dad and Mom I was able to create a budget and a bathroom makeover (because the bathroom is the cheapest part I could completely re-decorate). If this was my bathroom and not one I rented, there would be more changes happening. My landlords bought this house after the upstairs (where I live) was burned and they remodeled it. The bathroom is the only existing part after the fire, and it has burn damage on the sink, tub and tile. They aren't dirty spots this housekeeper missed!

Cracker Barrel and DisneyQuest

I'm not sure whether I have blogged about either of these, and am too lazy to scroll back now that I am on this page... ha ha so here it is.

Travis had tickets to go to DisneyQuest. It is "4 (or 5, I can't remember!) stories of Disney interactive fun." My first time there I was so excited about the cupcakes that we bought one to share. Travis didn't hold up his end of the bargain and ate WAY too little! I was too sick to ride anymore, so we made a quick exit. We tried it again and both had fun. Thankfully we made it through Travis cheating at air hockey and stealing my targets at the shooting games. It's still a sore subject. We played an adventure game that after 20 minutes of fighting off predators together, the game says if your love is going to last or not. The first time we played it we broke up (on the game! no worries in real life!) so Trav insisted we play again... and Ta da! We made it and our love did not fail. It was fun.

Travis' mom Susan came down to visit during her spring break and we had a blast. She is a fun lady to be around and I'm blessed to have her as my boyfriend's mom. She sure did raise him right! We went to Cracker Barrel while she was here and she bought us all little gifts. I got the little chick you see in the picture because she is glad I'm the "chick" in Trav's life.... get it? :) Some may call it a duck, and those people may be correct, but for our purposes, it's a chick.

Almost vacation time

Not that it is very exciting for ya'll to read about, but Monday we will be flying across the country. Trav's flight leaves at 7:55 am (he got a free ticket from his friend so had to fly according to availability) and the flight that I booked 2 months ago assuming he was going to be able to fly with me leaves at 12:15pm..... Yeah. I'll be waiting at the airport for awhile. The sad part for him is that he arrives in Seattle 5 minutes after me at 7:05 pm. I was looking forward to having him with me for the flight I've already made 4 times by myself, but you can't argue with free! :) He will be flying back on Friday morning to get back for work Friday night and I get to stay until Monday. I haven't been able to go home since I moved here in September so this trip is very overdue.
I'm looking forward to meeting Ryker and hearing Rock gab.