Update and Vacation

Today was supposed to be my first day of school this semester, but classes got canceled due to "icy conditions" (though I haven't seen any ice, but I'm not complaining). So I have another day to sit and do ... well, nothing. A split second decision on Sunday morning to go back to college then instead of midday Monday as previously planned created a mad dash to pack everything in 15 minutes (that of course had managed to be in piles all over the house) and get on the road to beat the ice storms. I made it safely to college with only rain on the roads, no ice, but I got here more than a day early. And now with no classes today, I have even more time with nothing to do stuck up in my tiny boring dorm (everything on campus is closed except the cafeteria, though I doubt I would have gone anywhere even if they were open). All alone too, because my roommate's not coming until later today (I think, though not positive). Although I would have much rather spent the last couple days at home with family instead of watching the entire season of Ugly Betty, I guess it's better that I got here safely and in time for classes.

Anyway, in other news of life, I had a birthday last Thursday and turned 19, though I don't feel 19 yet. It was very quiet but better than the last ones. I went with my family to my favorite local restaurant, Italian Villa, which serves the best manicotti I have ever tasted. I also went to a buck theater on Saturday to see Flushed Away, a pretty funny cartoon. I have to admit, it was pretty weird still being on Christmas break for my birthday; I've always been back at school by January 11th, so that was kind of different but fun too.

Christmas was nice, also really quiet and small with just me and the parents. We did make every type of cookie that we always make, even if we were still baking on Christmas day.

New Year's was definitely much more exciting and like nothing I've ever done because we celebrated it in DISNEY WORLD!!! :D After a long exhausting day getting there, we had a blast for a whole week! The first day there (Dec. 30th) was the last day of all the Christmas stories in the Epcot countries, so we planned it and heard every single country tell about their holiday traditions which was really neat. We heard some really good old fashioned Christmas carolers too. New Year's Eve we went back to Epcot (because it is the biggest area-wise park) and saw several amazing firework shows in one day! They did their New Year's firework show at 7:40 and 11:40 so that young kids could see it and then go home. They also finished the 11:40 show a little early, then just before the countdown had each country, in time order, give their own mini firework display over their buildings, ending with America and the countdown with a huge firework show again lasting probably half an hour! They also gave everyone in the park free hats and noisemakers, so it was pretty loud and crowded, but exhilarating. We had dinner reservations at the Italian restaurant at 6:00pm, which just so happens to be the time Italy was counting down, so the waiters did a 10 minute celebration of their own in the restaurant, also really cool to see! New Year's Day we spent in Magic Kingdom. We got their before it opened and ran to Big Thunder Mountain roller coaster first thing. We were the very first train to go in 2007! Isn't that cool?! And, with really good planning and luck, we rode 7 major rides within an hour and 45 minutes after we got there. Pretty good considering by afternoon most lines were over 40 minute wait a piece. After that we just went a little more casually to all the rides and shows we wanted to see, of course allotting time to see the New Years Day Main Street parade and getting front curb seats (we weren't quite as lucky for the night time parade because Magic Kingdom is tricky - they switched the direction of the parade from the daytime route!).

The rest of the week we went to the other parks, MGM Studios and Animal Kingdom, seeing all of the different parades (yes, we saw every single parade - we even, by accident, got a great view of the Animal Kingdom parade because we thought it started at 3:00, so we sat down at 2:45, but it really start at 3:45! It was definitely a challenge to keep those seats and we got poked and prodded by a LOT of little kids, and adults too, behind us trying to squeeze in between any available inch) and shows and rides. Most of the stuff we saw wasn't new though it was still a lot of fun - it has been nearly 5 years since I went last. And a lot of the new stuff was really really cool! Some of my favorite new stuff was the Finding Nemo Musical (sounds weird, but really well done - kind of like how Lion King Musical was done where the costume was bright and colorful but you could still see the actors too) and Everest, a very fun roller coaster in Animal Kingdom that goes through the snowy mountains and even backwards inside the mountain in the dark being chased by Yeti, the Abominable Snowman, who I must admit is actually pretty scary when you first see him.

Food was also REALLY good this whole trip, because we got a meal plan thingy that gave us a restaurant meal, a fast food meal, and a snack every day. The meals each included entrees, sides, drinks, and desserts, and since it was already paid for, we could order whatever looked good and not have to worry about the price! We were definitely well fed. Also during the trip, Dad had a lot of fun with a new game - Pin Trading! Eventually we had bought two starter sets of 7 pins each. Then the idea is to trade them up to get better ones or ones you actually want, with a few rules. You can trade up to 2 pins per worker at a time if they are wearing a blue lanyard (green lanyards are for kids only) and if they don't already have the ones you're giving them. And they have to trade with you if you meet the criteria. Some workers definitely hesitate on this last rule, but they all comply. And Dad, being the expert salesman, was great at trading. He didn't get pins until Monday of our trip, so I was a little worried he'd get stuck with cheap starter pins with only 3 1/2 days to trade. Boy, was I wrong. He had already traded out every starter pin within five minutes of buying them! No joke! I must admit, it was pretty addicting to glance at all the workers pins and see if they had what you wanted. Each pin Dad had probably went through a dozen or so trades, at least. It gave us something to do while waiting in line or for a parade, definitely a fun addition to the trip. All in all even with the huge crowds the entire time we were there (it doesn't die down, even by the 5th of January), I think this was the best trip to Disney World yet!

ANYway, I had a really fun relaxing month off from school with no obligations and just spending time with my family. And even with that much time off, I'm not ready for classes to start yet and wish it could have been longer. Despite my wishes, classes do start tomorrow, as long as there are no more ice delays, so I'll update on those once I go to them. And by the way, I ended last semester with A's in all my classes except a B in my design seminar, only a 1 credit class, rounding off my GPA to 3.93 for my first semester of college. :)