Adulting Level 2: Yard work, bills and babies

Good Evening Blog readers!  Its Monday, I'm waiting for my soup to finish cooking on this slightly dreary weather Spring day.  Yesterday was amazing weather, but didn't stick.  It was good it was so nice out though, because our lawn was looking atrocious and my husband and I FINALLY bought a lawn mower.  I wish I could have been the one using the nice new outdoor toy but alas I was stuck with just using my nifty orange weed whacker BECAUSE.... we are having A BABY.

Check out my little cutie who's ultrasounds look like most other baby ultrasounds!!

Besides the fact that we are having a boy... my husband keeps informing me that I was warned about the possibility of a big baby, and low and behold, he was 1.5 pounds at his last ultrasound.  The tech put him in the 65th percentile for other babies that are 24 weeks... Tomorrow he will be 25 weeks, but still, lol.

Due to our little bundle of joy coming late this summer (hopefully not sooner...), hubs and me have been working diligently to get the house ready through cleaning constantly, organizing different parts of the house and getting our bills in order so that if I end up in the hospital on bed rest, or possibly can't manage our finances for whatever reason (be it baby exhaustion, or just plain laziness...) hubs can manage everything.  Currently I handle making sure all of our bills get paid on time, and am thankful for automatic bill pay.  Most of our bills are automatic bill pay just so I don't have to worry about it.  The downside is, then you forget the password and username for things, and you need the account number, your Social Security number, the promise to give them your first born just to get that damn password reset...  SO!  Hubs and I came up with a system so that if anything ever happened to either of us, we can easily make sure our bills are still being paid and we have the account number for each one.


Ready for this posts project? 

You will need the following:
1. A printer
2. A binder
3. 1 or 2 packs of page dividers
4. Any bills that are already printed.  

**I used a pack of dividers that were pocket dividers to hold stuff related to that bill in it.**

1. Figure out how many bills you have, and how many dividers you may need.  I labeled ours in general sections such as "Utilities" and "car".  We currently only have 1 car payment, but eventually will have 2, just like our Utilities are our water, oil and electric are currently 3 separate bills.
2. Label each divider how you see fit.  As i've already said, I did ours as general things specifically because I was too cheap to buy 2 packs of dividers, BUT some people need more dividers than we did.
3. Sort those bills!! If you don't have paper copies of all of your bills, this is where your printer comes into play.  Go online and print your bills.  Even if you are signed up for paperless billing, whoever you own money to, or holds your money should have a statement online that you can easily print out.  Now, give each set of bills there own little section so that you can easily be reminded of when things are due.  I went so far as to create a little calendar chart so I know when everything is due and don't miss one.  (I know I'm slightly obsessed... its okay)

Now you have a copy of all of your bills in one place.  Now if you are like some other people I know that are lucky enough to have a filing cabinet to put there bills in, AWESOME, you can put away as many paper bills as you need and be super organized.  But I suggest having this binder as well anyway, because then you don't have to go find the most recent bill just to get 1 account number.

I know this posts project wasn't a very typical craft project, but hey, still took some time to do.  I suggest getting brightly colored binder dividers and a fun binder, because fun binders just make bill paying more fun, as opposed to now where you simply watch your money fly out the window...

Happy Crafting readers!!

taxikab

Slow Cooker Nachos

So anyone who knows hubs and me pretty well know there are a few staples that much be present in our home at all times, or we believe we can't function.  Those include, but are not limited to,

1. corn chips
2. salsa

NOW I know its not super healthy, and I am okay with this, as it is super delicious.  We love burritos, and tacos (in most forms) when you use the McCormick taco mix packs (that are literally like 80 cents at the grocery store...) it takes you no time to make tacos.  Got a crazy night that you don't really feel like cook much?  Tacos.   Want a meal with a basic ingredient everyone will eat? Tacos.  Got a husband who loves Mexican food?  Tacos.  Tacos will always be the answer.

We have tried making them with ground turkey, chopped chicken, ground beef, skirt steak, you name it, we've probably tried it.

Recently we had a day that we knew we would be home all day and I could use my crock pot (my favorite lazy day tool) and I went, "HONEY! We're having tacos tonight!" and used my crock pot to make the food because then I could do all the cleaning and packing I needed to for that day and not worry about browning meat in a pan, or mixing ingredients right.  Also, THERES NO WAY TO GET THIS WRONG!  You can literally do whatever you want with additional ingredients and it will probably still taste good even if it looks absolutely disgusting (my husband told me our mixture looked like dog food, and guess what? he ate all of it so he must love dog food...)

So! Here is one of the easiest recipes you are ever going to make for one of those busy "I'm stuck home all day" days.

This recipe will feed about 3-4 people if everyone has no serving.  It also makes a really good party dip with just chips scooping individually.

Ingredients:

1lb ground meat (we used beef)

1 can of chopped tomatoes (you may also chop and toss in your own if you are anti canned goods...)

1 package of chopped peppers (that "sauteed vegetables" package in the veggie aisle, or you can chop your own)

1 packet of McCormicks taco seasoning.

   Use packet for water amount instructions, do not add additional water.

Whatever else you enjoy in your tacos!

Plus one or all of the following depending on your tastes.

Nacho chips

Tortilla Wraps

Taco Shells

(these can all be homemade or pre-packaged, on a lazy day I encourage packaged...)

Slow cooker times: Low heat will take about 6 hours.  Or you can cook it at high heat for 3 hours and switch to low heat for the last hour and then it takes 4 hours.  I should have done the 6 hours, because it was on warm for about an hour after it was done as it was finished cooking at like 430 and we don't generally eat at our house until 6...

Easiest instructions ever, ready?

Prep:

Chop the peppers

4 hour cooking

Set slow cooker to high and add peppers, tomatoes and meat.  I placed the tomatoes on and around the meat.

Wait an hour.  Stir, because it will start to brown in places, and this will allow all ingredients to mix together nicely.

Add the taco seasoning and water.  Stir.

Wait 2 more hours (you can occasionally stir during this, I did because I enjoy stirring food...)

After 3 hours, switch to low and give it another stir.  If you have anything else you'd like to add to the mixture, do it now.  I added about a quarter cup of cheese, just to get it cheesy, but hubs and I like tacos with cheese so...

pre-seasoning tomatoes and meat!

finished product! Yum!!

If you are ready to eat after 4 hours, SERVE THAT UP!!  if not, switch your crockpot to warm, and wait until you're ready to eat.  Give it a good stir before serving and eat it however you want.

With Chips: Put some chips in a bowl, put the mixture on top, add any other toppings you like

Burrito, lay it out flat, stick it in, add other stuff, fold it up.

Nachos!

THE POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS!!

For 6 hours, add the water and seasoning at hour 5, or simply add about 10 minutes before you plan to serve, so the seasoning and juices can blend together or it might not taste the same...

If you do feel like making your own chips, you can slice up some tortilla wraps, add some drizzles of oil, and all purpose seasoning, bake at 350 for about 10 minutes (or until your chips are kind of crunch, but not burnt...) and eat with those!

Happy Cooking!

taxikab.

Adulting Level: Home Owner

Good Morning Everyone!!! 

(because apparently theres people actually reading this now... I'm still shocked.  Leave some comments people!)

**If you just want the home buying tips and general care tips, you can just scroll down I won't be insulted :) **

So, #adulting is a thing currently, and how much "adulting" people are doing is measured by how many adult things you do in your life.  Hubs and I pretty much say that we're getting pretty good at this "#adulting" thing seeing as we 

     A. continue to be happily married (not an exaggeration, we're pretty freaking happy with our lives right now...)
     B. after many long months (almost a year) have FINALLY bought a house.  *cue golf clap*

We are currently in that stage of "ew these carpets are gross" and "when can we move in?" and are slowly taking over things that can be moved for the new carpets.  We purchased a home that we can grow into, and is slightly older, so we've come across some general home maintenance issues but we are slowly fixing them one step at a time.

When we bought the house we had a long list of things that needed to get done before we moved in

• replace oil tank to above ground
• new carpets
• paint the random crummy paint job spots
• clean the kitchen
• switch the cable/internet to new house
• fix the shed
• purchase lawn care items
• Fix the dryer

Currently the list now looks like this

• replace oil tank to above ground
• install new carpets
• paint the random crummy paint job spots
• clean the kitchen
• switch the cable/internet to new house
• fix the shed
• purchase lawn care items
• fix the dryer

We currently are just waiting on the carpet people to install the new carpets (next weekend, WHAT WHAT!) and my dad has offered to see if he can fix my shed door as currently it does not hang right and I'd like to not keep my lawn care items in my living room...

This whole home buying experience has been one heck of a journey and a MAJOR learning experience, AND I HAVEN'T EVEN MOVED IN YET.

STOP! ITS TIPS TIME!!

These are tips for before closing.

1. Talk to your friends and Family.  If you have friends or family who have recently purchased a house, TALK TO THEM.  I have a couple who hubs and me are friends with who I told them I would suggest a realtor and mortgage company, and they didn't take my advice.  Their pitfall? their mortgage rate is NO WHERE near ours, because they weren't aware of all the benefits of being a first time home buyer and having an amazing realtor and mortgage broker like we did.  They went to a random bank they saw an ad for and frankly have expressed they aren't really happy with their mortgage... I'm not surprised.  SO lesson to take from this, shop around before picking one person.  Ask friends, ask family, search the internet, DO YOUR RESEARCH.  This is a major expense you will have for the next 15-30 years.
2. Be honest with the mortgage broker.  Another individual I knew got all the way to the closing table, was about to sign the exceedingly large amount of documentation you are required to sign, and THEN everyone found out the individual had a student loan they failed to tell ANYONE about, thus causing them to lose their financing amount and in the end losing their beautiful dream home.
3. Read the sellers disclosure THOROUGHLY and ask questions.  Hubs and I bought a house that the seller listed they were unsure of the condition of the underground oil tank.  Well this became a huge problem because if the soil around the tank was contaminated, then you have to keep checking the soil to see how deep the contamination went, and if it hits the rock bed, you're looking at 40k or more in fines from the EPA.
4. Check your county's taxes and policies for homeowners.  I was so excited that I didn't have to buy trash cans, then my best friend explained to me that the trash cans are assigned to each home and how the trash collection works in the area as she grew up not far from the house we purchased.  (Friends are a fountain of knowledge!)  I also learned that the township I purchased my home in did not require a check of the oil tank before selling.  GUESS WHAT we did it anyway and learned that there were issues with the tank and it would be beneficial for us to replace it and had to negotiate with the sellers to figure out how to do it because it was still their house, not ours, so not our problem.
5. Do a pre-closing table walk through I was very lucky and had the best realtor I could ask for who was honestly looking out for us every step of the way (thats what I get for choosing someone I've know my whole life!).  We were able to walk through the house one last time before closing, with our realtor and the sellers to check for any changes to the house and be sure that no one trashed the place before closing that we would then have to deal with.

ONTO AFTER CLOSING TIPS!!

These are tips for after closing:

1. Trust no one! I can not stress enough the importance of changing your locks after you close on a house.  I got lucky and my father had an old door handle and key from when my brother lost his keys and he felt the need to change all the locks at our house.  I did however go out and buy a lock set because I was not comfortable with the bolt lock being the same still and my dad did not have one of those...
2. Replace the smoke and carbon monoxide detectors this, and replacing the locks was the best advice we got from our inspector.  He told us you never know how old the detectors are, even if they look new.  Yes, you are spending money to replace them, but you'll spend a heck of a lot more if your house burns down from faulty detectors.
3. Check the electric  and ask questions.  My husband and I have this one light switch in our kitchen that we had NO CLUE what it went to.  Finally figured it out yesterday, its the switch for an outside light over the driveway (not sure what possessed them to put it next to the oven but whatever...)
4. Make a spare set of keys and give them to trusted individuals.  I told Hubs I didn't want EVERYONE having a key to my house so we picked a small select few to have spares to our house incase we ever lock ourselves out.  I'm not a fan of keeping keys under the mat or in the garden so its beneficial someone else have keys that are close by.
5. Check your hot water we had no clue our oil was off when we moved in, and the installers had to turn it on for me... made me look very dumb.  Run the water in the house and check everything.
6. Paint.  You do not want to get brand new beautiful soft carpets, then go paint your bedroom.  If you are not in the rush to move in, paint the places that need touch ups and THEN get new carpet, then you don't have to lay down tarps and everything and it won't matter that you got paint on the rug.  You're tossing it out anyway.
7. Clean up the floors.   No use cleaning the floors before you paint if its a carpet you plan on replacing, but if you have tiles that seem slightly dirty and you plan on changing the color schemes, clean that floor, you never know what dirt may be hiding!

List always make me feel better, how about you guys?  Simple and to the point, right?

Also, for crafting Ideas (because I know this was all about home renovations and care today) check out The Right Brain Bunch.  Theres many new recipes and crafting with your kids videos posted.

Finally, if you are moving, and looking for a slow cooker recipe that you can use while you are painting, waiting for your carpets to be installed, etc, check out Slow Cooker Nachos (the next post).  People have told me I basically made chili, but its nacho stuff :)

Happy Crafting!

taxikab

Each park has its perks....

So now to tips and comparisons of my awesome trip to Florida with Hubs.

1. Disney's water park was MUCH MUCH better than the one Universal Associates with.  WetnWild was a nice park, the people were friendly, but if you can manage it, go to Typhoon Lagoon.  The wave pool was amazing.  Hubs lost his hat in the water, and atleast 4 people tried to help us find it.  There was basically more personable people at Disney, and the "magic" was there.

2. Universal's park hopper was much cooler!  Hogwarts express to go between parks was AWESOME.  Disney has its bus system, because theres so many parks and so many hotels, and they're spread out, I get that.  But every time we wanted to go to a new park, we had to leave the park, walk to the busses, or wait for the Monorail, and you still had to walk like 10 minutes just to get to the bus, then if there were alot of people going back to their hotels or to a new park, you either didn't get a seat or you were waiting for the next one.  It was just nuts...

3. The magic.   I only had ONE person be annoyed about something at Disney, and seem slightly frustrated with their job.  Every single solitary person we encountered at Disney was extremely kind and into the fact that they were supposed to be the happiest people, and act like freaking cartoon characters.  Universal had a couple people who were really into their job, but most of them were like, "raise your arms for the bar.... please don't step out of line" monotone voice.  Disney people were like, 'HEY! you should be smiling!!!"  it was crazy.

4. Rides.  Universal's rides were NUTS.  We got on the Dr. Doom ride first second in on Wednesday and OMG it was AWESOME.  But then we got on the Simpson ride and frankly they could do without that stupid thing.  We waited in line for EVER and it was basically a short ride with alot of videos... it was the Line Ride from South Park...   HOWEVER it made up for it with stuff like Escape from Gringotts, and Jurassic Park, the Mummy, Popeye, etc.  Their rides were GREAT and the ones they had that were "meh" were still good.   As previously stated, they have MANY a ride with videos... I get motion sick easily when I have to focus on one thing, so videos and the whipping around motion of the coasters made me sick to the point I could not bring myself to get on spiderman again.
Disney had some good rides, and you had to wait a long time to get on them.  Their GREAT rides were awesome, but their "meh" rides were still "meh..."  The Space Invaders Toy Story ride actually broke down while we were on it, which was really weird.  My sister and her family were with us for that one and I could hear my nephew going "what happened?"

5. Food!!  We had the Disney dining plan which I HIGHLY ENCOURAGE if you enjoy trying new foods.  You still have to tip everyone, BUT you don't have to worry about the huge bill cost.  We got breakfast each morning, and a snack around lunch, then we had a big sit down dinner each night but Friday, where we had Wawa Hoagies which was AWESOME.  I love a little taste of home.  We didn't really eat in Universal so theres no contest here on that one.  I just wanted to encourage the Dining plan because it really worked well for us.  I had not done it when I was there with my friends back in 2006, and I preferred it this time.  We also plan on going back to the Biergarten next time too.  Hubs and me are both German and enjoy German foods and OMG WAS IT DELICIOUS.  You have to sit with other people, but still, its a buffet so its not family style, but it is...?


Complaints:
Don't stay at the lower cost hotels at Disney is you don't have to.  My husband and I were really annoyed that they hadn't changed the sheets more than once when we were.  We noticed because one of us had gotten something on the sheets, and stained it slightly, and it was still there 3 days later...  We also had an empty bag of chips under the bed at the end of the trip that was not placed there by either of us...
Finally on the first day we were there, house keeping knocked on our door super early and asked if we'd be wanting house keeping, when I said, "not right now... " seeing as it was 8am... she gave me an attitude and told me I need to use the "do not disturb" sign.  I'm sorry I was not expecting house keeping at 8am seeing as my hotel room wasn't even ready until 6pm the night before... and was supposed to be ready at 3pm....
Universals employees could use some pep in their step... a good portion of them were very blah about work.  I get it, its a job, but atleast PRETEND you enjoy working there like some of your coworkers... like the 5 we encountered....

Tips!!!

• Use the Disney Dining plan.  100%, I loved it.  We got a cup, we used them every day, it was great.
• Do the Disney park hopper and water park option.  We wished we had paid for that instead of WetnWild because we paid extra when we got there for Typhoon Lagoon (it was a mix up on my part...) and we loved Typhoon lagoon SO MUCH MORE.
• Stay at one of the pricier Disney hotels if you can.  We weren't thrilled in the end with PopCentury's employees.  
• Stay at the Disney hotels if you're going to Disney.  We watched people trying to park each day and it was NUTS.  You stay at the parks and you get transportation to every park, and you can go for "magic hours" they're special times they're open early or late for only their guests.
• Check your Disney Transportation and that they'll get your bags.  Somewhere their was a mix up with ours and we had to real quick get everything sorted before getting on the bus because somehow we weren't on the list for that... still had transportation, just they weren't getting our bags until we changed it AT the airport.
• Eat at Biergarten.  It was DELICIOUS.  And do atleast one disney character experience
• Check 6 months before your trip for doing Reservations of stuff.  I checked what I thought was advanced and I was a month late so it was harder for us to get the stuff we wanted, like Dinner at Be Our Guest.  Though we had breakfast and Lunch there so it worked out

All in all, Hubs and I agreed, Universal's rides were AMAZING and we loved them, BUT it lacked the magic that was going on at Disney.  Disney's ride were okay, but it was truly Magical being there.  The atmosphere was just amazing, and it was great seeing Disney and the "magic" from my nephews reactions.

Florida Part 2

So some people write 2 and 3 blog posts a week, I apparently write 2 or 3 a year... Its been slightly hectic in our house since we went to Florida and I haven't had any time to actually update the blog due to health reasons for my husband and sheer exhaustion on my part.
To start, Hubs had a seizure the week before Christmas and has been unable to drive since then.  It made last minute shopping slightly more difficult... but it all got done.  The past 6 months I have been his driver, and since he works 40 minutes in one direction from our place, and I work 40 minutes in the other direction, we had to get creative.  Basically I have been dropping him at a bus stop every morning to get to work, and then once his bus comes, driving myself to work.
We (and his boss) are very happy to say that he now has his license back and is getting used to driving again, not being the passenger.  Then we had some hectic stuff going on at my work, with new employees, yearly inspections, new clients, it was nuts.
SO! HERE I AM! Back again! to finish what I started with Disney, because we went to Universal and I never did the Universal post NOR did I give all my crazy tips for Disney.  Here we go!

Universal:
I am going to jump around with this, not like Disney because we just walked back and forth around the parks for this one.
So I have never been there and my husband had been there once with his mother.  We purchased Park Hopper tickets and I am SO HAPPY WE DID.  Let me tell you why!
If you purchase the park hopper ticket option for your Universal Studios Orlando vacation, you get to ride..... THE HOGWARTS EXPRESS.   That's right people!  Rather than walking all the way around Islands of Adventure to get back to Universal Studios, you can get on the Hogwarts Express and it drops you at Kings Cross Station in Universal Studios.


For those of you who have never been there, (like myself before I went in November) there are two portions of Harry Potter-ness to Universal.  There are 3 roller coasters in "Hogsmede" and some shops.  Hogsmede is part of Islands of Adventure, right by Jurassic Park (I'll get back to that awesomeness later!) but Diagon Alley is part of Universal Studios, and you have to have a park hopper to go back and forth between them.

Diagon Alley has more shops than rides, and unless you know here to look it was difficult for us to find.  Legit, we stumbled upon it.  I kept saying to my husband "I KNOW THERES MORE" and while looking for a bathroom in the rain, saw all these people standing by the entrance and went, "I wonder whats around these... OMG ITS DIAGON ALLEY!! WE FOUND IT!" lol.
You will never believe from the OUTSIDE how big it is once your there.  Diagon Alley is huge compared to what you think when you first walk up.

Now apparently you can go through the Leaky Cauldron to get in too, but I couldn't find it... until we were IN Diagon Alley.   I would have liked to have eaten there, but there was always this HUGE wait to get a table, and hubs and me were like "Meh... the food choices are okay..."  So we would snack on stuff instead.

I DID have Butterbeer while there.  I'm not a cream soda person, so it was okay... hubs loved it.  


My brother wanted me to bring him some back but they don't bottle it... I tried to bring him Pumpkin Juice, but couldn't find the store at the airport that sells it to get it (yes, they apparently have a store at the Orlando Airport that sells the same Merchandise as in Universal)
I got a chocolate frog too... Rowena Ravenclaw was my card on the inside.  The Frog is freaking HUGE!!!








We went on every ride that was Harry Potter themed... the two indoor rides have screens and special effects.  I get motion sick easily... so they weren't amazing for me... made me want to vomit a few times, and you had to wait awhile to get on.

TIP!!! If you are like my husband and above the normal average person height (he's 6'4") TELL THEM AHEAD OF TIME for the Gringotts Ride.  We waited in line, then had to get OUT of line because my husband needed a special seat for the ride, and so we had to wait in the Handicap line because he needed to be in a specific spot.  There are like 3 rows that are meant for tall and large people.  Hubs just needed a little more room for his feet.  The rides are very much designed for the average height individual...


Onto more!!! Now that I've ranted about Harry Potter for awhile...
I LOVE the Jurassic Park ride.  I had seen the commercial for Universal Studios on television SO MUCH as a kid, and I went to Disney when I was 18 so I was very curious about this giant T-Rex jumping out at people at Universal.  IT WAS AWESOME.  Universal better never get rid of that ride or I will lose it.  I will never return.  I will also never return if they get rid of the Popeye Ride.
Due to us going on a Thursday... and in the rain, hubs and me got to ride the Popeye water ride like 6 times in a row.  There was no one in line and we just went, "can we just stay on?" and we did... until we were soaking wet and it was time to go home.  Ponchos helped with keeping our heads wet slightly.  Did not help with keeping the rest of me dry... it was great.
I must say I loved many a ride at Universal.  Next post I will compare the two parks, because thats a post in and of itself.  As well as more tips.

While at Universal, we had scheduled our Disney Dining plan accordingly so we had enough to last the week, and got to eat regularly, lol.  HOWEVER on Friday we went to Wet n Wild.  Hubs loves water parks...
We decided in the end, we both would have rather had the water park option for Disney instead of going to Wet n Wild.  We loved Typhoon Lagoon at disney and we were like, "meh..." about Wet n Wild.  If we go back we plan to not get this option from Universal.  It had some nice rides, but I wouldn't go back.  Sorry WetnWild....

On our way TO Universal, we spotted a WAWA!!!!  I'm from the part of PA where we have Wawa's EVERYWHERE.  Hubs and me are trying to buy a house, and distance to a Wawa is crucial... we can't really function without it...
SO we ended up A. making friends with an employee there because we were amazed by the Beer Cooler (we don't have that in PA, you have to go to Wine and Spirits or a Beer Distributor for that stuff...) and B.  We ended up getting Hoagies and taking them back to our hotel at Disney for dinner because we had scheduled lunch in Epcot for the next day.

But seriously if you're from PA CHECK OUT THIS WAWA.  Beer Cooler, SEATS OUTSIDE.  We were like kids in a candy shop...

Friday Night after Wawa, we did some laundry because the Laundromat at Disney was next to the pool (thanks for that Disney!) and swam in their "Hippy Dippy Pool" at Pop Century.  It was nice to not have to do Laundry when we came home (we pay for laundry at our apartment so it was the same as doing it at home...)

Packed up everything, and was ready for check out the next day.  While packing up I was not happy about the fact that I found a pack of potato chips under our bed... seeing as I didn't eat any chips while there in the hotel room... nor did I bring them back... and they MAYBE changed the sheets once in the week...  See next post for more on that!

Saturday we went to Epcot for rides and lunch.  We had loved the Biergarten SO MUCH that we ended up finishing our trip with Lunch there.  Disney held our bags while we went to the parks, and we just gave them to the bus driver when it was time to go home.  We hit up some more rides in the parks, and spent maybe half the day there before going home.

All in all it was a good trip.  I'm glad hubs and me got to be there together without children, so we could experience it together and then later take any future children with us.  Now we have a better idea of what to splurge on and what to say "forget that one..." like, we might not do Universal Studios next time, just do Islands of Adventure, though I really enjoyed that Hogwarts express... :)

Happy Living!
taxikab

"Dreams come true!"

Hi Everyone!  I am back and mainly unpacked (its been a week I should be 100% unpacked but whatever...) from my lovely vacation with the hubs to Florida.  I miss Florida already, but we are back in PA and happy, cold, slightly sick, and stuffed with turkey because it was Thanksgiving about 2 days ago.

So I have lots to update on, lets start!

Disney!  So much fun.  We stayed at Disney and rented a car to go to Universal three days.  I'm making the trip a two part post, first Disney, then Universal and conclusion.  Sound good?  OKAY! Lets go!

As previously stated, Hubs and I stayed at Pop Century on the Disney property and rented a car for going to Universal.  People consistently were saying "save money, stay off ground, etc" but frankly, after you factor in parking and gas, etc, it was worth it, for hubs and me to stay at Disney.  Disney has their own transportation system that will transport you to and from the parks if you are staying at their resort.  Also if you know someone staying at another Disney resort, you can get a bus to one of the parks, then a bus from the park to that hotel and meet up with family or friends staying there, or take the monorail, which we did ride at one point... You can also use this to go to breakfast, lunch, dinner, whatever at the other resorts.

Magic Bands: Your magic bands have your name on them, and then are your ticket to the park, your key for your room, your connection for charging things to your room, and your dining plan swiper.  I think Disney has some bugs to work out still, because I had an issue with my band a few times, and so did multiple other people I saw and talked to.  Bands not working at their room, not matching with your finger print at the park gate, sometimes just not working.  They finally had to take my picture because I could not get  it to work at the parks for a fourth time on one of our last days.

You basically wear the band, and scan your finger so that they know it isn't being used by other people.  Simple enough, but slight pain when one keeps glitching.  You also have the option in the parks to purchase MORE magic bands, with fun stuff on them.  I stuck with my orange one.

Now you have the basics, lets move on, taking this one day at a time….Sorry.  I’ll try to be brief, but no promises.

Saturday: EARLY EARLY EARLY!

My mother in law drove us to the airport at 4:30 in the morning…. no joke.  I was exhausted.  We apparently love to torture ourselves because Hubs and I did the same thing for Jamaica, like 4 hours of sleep then a day of awesome!  Got to Disney around lunch time, had lunch at Pop Century, got our cups (dining plan gives you cups) then off to Magic Kingdom we went!  It was the first time my husband had been to any of the Disney parks, as he had only ever been to Universal a long time ago... PEOPLE if you ever get the chance to take someone to Magic Kingdom for their first time, DO IT.  He was amazed because we got there in the middle of one of their parades and Oh my gosh, Hubs could not stop staring at everything.  He said to me atleast three times "What is this place?" lol.  It was pretty awesome, I'm not going to lie.

We got to meet Gaston, get on the tea cups, we only did like 3 rides at Magic Kingdom Saturday because there was an insane amount of people there.  So we left and went to Epcot because we had dinner reservations at Biergarten which was AMAZING.  Omg, best food.  My husband and I are both German descent and have a small love of German food.  Its in Oktoberfest, and its a buffet.  If you want like drinks and an appetizer, go to Summerfest because thats not a buffet and we met a couple who made that mistake.  Tried to be a beer crawl of Epcot, and went to Biergarten as a short stop… no.  You don’t do that.

Best like everything I have ever eaten, dessert was amazing, vegetables were amazing, sauerkraut was amazing, just omg.  The family we sat with were great too, very nice people from near where Hubs and I live now so.

Our room wasn’t ready until like WELL after 3pm (I’m pretty sure it wasn’t ready till 6 o clock… I may be wrong but I’m going to check it)

Sunday: We got super lucky and got Lunch Reservations at Be Our Guest.  Apparently dinner is much harder to come by, but frankly we just wanted to go in there…  Again, Food was amazing.  When you do breakfast and lunch you go through a line and order at a touch screen, then you pick a seat, and MAGICALLY your food finds you.  I asked how they find you and the girl looked at me so just done and goes “…Magic…”   Okay lady, good enough for me…  I got a roast beef sandwich, that came with fries, AND a cupcake with “Grey Stuff” on it.  It was icing, lol.  It was good.  

Got on some rides, got to ride Dumbo, because frankly everyone should go on the Dumbo ride at least once.  Because of the long lines we didn’t get on many rides at Magic Kingdom.  We did get on the Splash Mountain ride, which was great because Hubs loves log flumes, and it was HOT!!  Again, went to Epcot after magic kingdom, BUT! We ate the Akershus which was awesome too.  This was character dining, where the Princesses come around and take pictures and say hi.  Ariel was fascinated by my shirt because it had “bubbles” on it, and asked if I had been swimming.  It was a polka dot shirt lol.  Again food was amazing.  Missed the fire works for Epcot because we were in dinner, but we caught them Monday.

Christmas Tea Pot!

Monday: Typhoon Lagoon.  Kudos Disney for your wave pool.  Those waves came and people SCREAMED.  It was great.  Water slides were good.  I am not a fan of slides where I have to go down without a tube because my shoulder blades always hurt afterwards, don’t know why but they do.  This day we got to meet up with my sister and her family after we had finished at the water park.  So we left a bit before closing, went back got showers, and met up with my sister after dinner for fire works.  We ate at the coral reef which was SO COOL.  Everyone has a view of the fish tank which is awesome.  They give you a list of what all the fish are too so you can see as they come past the glass.  Also they had this black sea salt on their butter with the bread, OMG So delicious.  I’m a salt person, who I lost my mind over this one food lol.  

Fire works with my sisters family was great.  My husband had my nephew on his shoulders so he could see better, and apparently the Monorail was in the way because he insisted my husband move closer.

Tuesday: Magic Kingdom again, but this time with my sisters family. We got lucky and SOMEHOW got to eat at Be Our Guest AGAIN but for breakfast this time.  Hubs was like, “lets try it” and no joke, we were in and out in half the time as lunch on Sunday.  Met up with my sister after breakfast and frankly we really got in more rides with them than we did on our own which we didn’t expect.  My sister would go, “this fast pass” and i’d switch us to it and then we’d head over because on Tuesday this was less people and most of the rides we could take her kids on, had like NO waits.  It was good.  My nephew likes the Aladdin magic carpet ride, which is basically Dumbo, but with carpets and camels that spit at you, lol.

DOLE WHIP   Hubs insisted he have pineapple dole whip.

We went to Hollywood Studios after Magic Kingdom, and I insisted Hubs ride Tower of Terror.  I love it, its my favorite.  We tried to get fast passes for different stuff but basically ended up canceling some of them and using them for Epcot later.  We also got on rocking roller coaster and walked around just getting on different stuff.  We did NOT ride Soarin’ as there was an hour and a half wait basically every day we checked it.

Dinner was at Epcot again… I KNOW I KNOW but it was so good.  This time at Tokyo Dining which was again AMAZING.  I was not disappointed at any meal in Disney.  We got cloths before the meal to wipe our hands and we got to eat with chopsticks, which we love.  They were very nice too.

We didn’t go to Disney again until Saturday when we left, and this post is long enough already!!!  See part 2 for Universal, last day in Disney, and tips and such.  

Happy Living!!

taxikab

ps.  Happy belated Thanksgiving!

NYX soft matte lip cream review

Ok, so I don't usually write about reviews, and I tend to be very cautious when buying lipsticks, lipgloss, etc, BUT, I had a target gift card and had heard from really good reviews about the NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream, so I went, I'm going to try it!
Target only had like 4 colors... which was upsetting, but I also bought them, today...and I think most stores stock their shelves for things in the beginning of the week.  I got Addis Ababa and San Paulo today, and I'm contemplating checking other stores for some other colors because I'm obsessed with this cream.
NOW! I REVIEW!  Here goes.

Firstly, it is not a gloss.  It's a cream and it feels like baby powder on my lips.  Its nuts.  I love it.  It really feels like mousse if you touch it, and like I said, I love it.  If you let it dry, its not transferring.  You can kiss everyone and it won't come off.  I kissed my hand like 12 times testing it, and the longer I had it on, the more it dried, the less it transferred, until it just didn't anymore and the color was still just as vibrant and pigmented.  Like I said, I love it.  The color San Paulo looked mauve-ish when looking at the bottle, was reddish when I put it on my lips, but on the website looks like a rose color...  All in all, its kinda red...  I still like it, but was not what I was expecting when I bought it.  Addis Ababa is like magenta, hot pink, very awesome color, I love it.  Its similar to Clinique's Pudgy Peony Chubby Stick color.  I love wearing that when I go out, so this may be a new staple for me too.
I LOVE the smell.  I put it on and immediately went, "oh! it smells like vanilla!  Thats awesome!"  and was losing my mind telling the hubs about this stuff.  I had to take a couple minutes and freak out over this lip cream when talking to him.  Basically it was love at first sight.  It goes on very easily and with only a small amount.

Cons (aka I didn't like this...)
Its not very forgiving when putting it on.  It glides on very easily, as I said, BUT! You need a mirror to put it on, or you end up looking like you let a child do you lipstick...  I actually put it on however I felt like, then used my makeup remover to clean up around my mouth.  As I said previously, the San Paulo color was confusing.  I bought it expecting a mauve-ish color, put it on and its almost a dark red... Had I purchased it straight from their website, I would have bought a different color simply because it looks pinkish, like a dusty rose, I can't even describe it.  It just doesn't look like what I bought in the store... (I double checked to see if it was the right color too...)

I DO recommend this to people.  I only had to problems with it, and my good feelings about it REALLY outweigh my bad feelings about it so...  Basically I love it.  I do plan on going to buy more of them as I previous stated.

If you want some as well, go HERE!

All for now!
taxikab

sorry everyone, no pictures this post...