Florida Part 2.

--Still behind reality.--

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January 6, 2011

Okay, so I travelled all the way from Oklahoma to Florida. We got there and spent the first official day at MK. Continuing… Actually, we went on SM once. I told my brother to get Fast Passes for Buzz Lightyear’s Space Command** ride. When we got to the booth, there happened to be three Fast Passes to Space Mountain. Whoops. Someone must have forgotten them. Well, just our fate. And so we went on for a second time. This time, my brother ditched me. Typical; he would do that. I’m used to it. Sometimes if the line was too long, we would go by ‘Single Rider’. We finished that ride, and it was time for my brother to go to work. Well, we still had the Buzz Lightyear ride which we rode without him.

Fast forward to the end of the day: We went to three parks in one day. We rode some more rides and saw the Celebration (or whatever it was called) Parade at MK and then went to Hollywood Studios. It was the last day for the Christmas lights. It was so gorgeous. Dancing lights in the Streets of America. Simply stunning. The work put into decorating the street is insane. – From August to mid-November they start planning and decorating the area. After the lights show, we went to EPCOT to ride some rides and see IllumiNations, the fireworks / laser light show. We then spent that night eating the BEST pizza in our room. Flipper’s Pizzeria is simply the best. That ends day two at WDW.

The third day, we spent the greater part of the day being bored. I mean, I was bored. We were at my brother’s house making pho for him and his girlfriend. We played Mario Kart Wii, the three of us, him, his girlfriend, and I. I lost. Actually, no, not lost. I sucked. I got last place with a mere two points. Ugh. But that’s pretty much all we did until my brother decided to go to EPCOT. Man, this is my favorite park. It also rained that evening too. Luckily, I had my raincoat. However, my dad didn’t bring his backpack that had the other raincoats. I ended up giving my raincoat to my parents and I wore my hat. Earlier that day, when we just came into the park, I spotted three people sporting OU shirts and hats. Yes. How absolutely perfect. When we passed them, I yelled, “Boomer!” And one of the guys yelled back, “Sooner!” Ha! It’s also because I had my OU hat on. I’m so glad I brought that with me. I’ve always wanted to find an Oklahoman on vacation, but never could. 

Later that night, we ate at 1900 Park Fare inside the Grand Floridian Resort. The funny thing was that my brother and I waited for about five minutes at the arm thing (that one arm that you have to wait to get to the other side. You know what I mean) and we could not get into the parking. When we backed up to go to the other one, it raised. Seriously? Gah. The same thing happened on the other side as well, until I told my brother to try pushing one of the buttons. It worked; the arm rose. We got there just in time to be seated. They end seating at 8:30 PM, and we got there at 8:22 PM. Luck again saved us. My brother’s girlfriend already checked in because she got there about ten minutes before we did. The dining was again, character dining. This time, it was Cinderella. I think my favorite was Anastasia. She was so funny. The only character they didn’t have was the Fairy Godmother. I wished they had her. It would have been cute with the whole “bipiddy, bopdidy, doo**. It was a great ending to a great day. 

The next day we went to Animal Kingdom. We were originally intending to go to Universal for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. But my cousin, who went the day before, told me that it was overly crowded. So change of plans. Animal Kingdom, instead. This day was quite memorable. My brother went to get Fast Passes for the Safari since that’s one of the main attractions. There I was getting autographs and pictures from Lilo and Stitch. Ah, they were so adorable. There was a lot of back and forth finger-pointing. Lilo bit Stitch because wouldn’t he give her the pen. Then she blamed it on Stitch. Then, we started pointing fingers at each other. It was so hilarious. All in good fun. I think that’s what I want to do. – Be a character assistant. They get to spend all day with a character and have fun. Then, we ate breakfast and went to the Safari. There are so many more animals in the day time then in the afternoon. Baby elephants are so cute. That’s all that we did in Animal Kingdom. My brother and I wanted to go on Expedition Everest, but the line was too long. – At least it was for my brother.

More in part 3. :)

40/365: 1 book read

Florida Part 1.

All right, I've been home from Florida for quite a while now. I didn't have internet while I was there because, one, it costs $10 a day to use the internet at the hotel. That's a waste of money since, two, I wasn't in the room for much of the day. So this blog is a bit behind reality.

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January 3, 2011

Wow. I guess that’s what I should say. Just wow. Or maybe, it’s WoW. That’s better. It probably wasn’t a good idea to go to sleep at 2 AM and waking up at 4 AM for the trip. We got everything ready to go and left the house promptly at 5:10 AM. This trip was different unlike so many other times. First, it was New Year’s. I don’t think I’ve ever gone on a trip on NYD. I think, I’ve been on one on Christmas. But I hardly remember the days that I go; usually, I remember what I see and what I do. The roads were unexpectedly, and somewhat, expectedly clear that morning. I mean, super clear. It might have been because everyone crashed after a long night of partying for 2011. 

I crashed at around 6:45. I tried my best to stay up. - To have an extra set of eyes watching the road as my father drove, but that didn’t work out for long. I woke up around 11 AM as we stopped for gas. Surprisingly, we arrived at Louisiana. It was a rather speedy drive there. But then, I remembered that the only reason why we’re here this fast is because no one was on the road. Ah, yes. Nothing but a stretch of road laid down in front of us for miles on end. From then on, I was awake. I ate a few things (just snack-y junk food except for the apple and potatoes). One thing, I despise car trips. Absolutely despise them. It’s not the scenery rushing past us that gets me. It’s the winding road or the bumpiness of it. The occasional swerve left or right, or the turbulence makes me car sick. Blech. And yes, to answer your question, I did get car sick. I knew I would; it was bound to happen. I could feel the ups and downs inside my stomach. Not to mention, my head was pounding. Every sound was multiplied by a hundred. That subsided rather quickly as I fell asleep in the back seat of the Avalanche. 

I awoke to another pit stop. We arrived about twenty-something miles away from Mobile, Alabama. Okay, so I felt a little bit better. Sleep usually cures all ailments the road brings. We drove into the night, as the sky grew darker. One memorable moment I always remember going to Florida, is the tunnel. It’s this tunnel that is underwater. Yup. This road leads to Pensacola, Florida. It fascinates me that we are driving underwater, not technically, but in retrospect, we were. 

Drive. Drive. Drive. We ended up staying the night at Crestview, Florida. This town is our town. Not really; here is where we usually stay. We watched the OU game in our room. FINALLY! We won! The score was 48-20. I thought I would miss the chance to see my team play at the Fiesta Bowl, but we arrived at our pit stop on time.

We awoke early next day to continue driving. We were about seven hours away from Disney World. I don’t remember sleeping, but I’m pretty certain I did. We arrived to our hotel at around 2:30 PM on January 2. Everything was amazing. We didn’t go to the parks that day, because it would be a waste to go now, and we were extremely tired. And so, we went to Downtown Disney that night to meet up with my brother.

We went around looking at the shops and whatnot. Then, we went to Earl of Sandwich. It is amazing. (It’s sort of like Quizno’s and Subway mixed together but so much better.) Ah, the sandwiches were so delicious. My brother, Charles, got off work and met us there. It was weirdly awkward. I don’t know why. It shouldn’t be since he is my brother. But I guess, it’s because I haven’t seen him in six months that we forgot how to communicate with each other. “You forgot how to communicate with your brother?” Yes. I know; it sounds wrong, weird, dumb, etc. But since he neglects to talk to me via Skype, I forgot how to actually talk to him the way we usually talk to each other. We do text and talk on the phone, but that doesn’t count. That pretty much consumed how our day went. (My brother and I have a weird way of communicating with each other.)

The next day, bright and early, we went to Magic Kingdom. Unexpectedly, my phone’s alarm went off at 7 AM. I forgot that it was set for intersession (I was going to do winter intersession, but then I decided not to so we could go to FL.) and so I awoke at that time. Then, my brother texted me twenty minutes after. Luckily, I was awake from the 7 o’clock alarm. We got ready, and by 8 AM, my brother arrived to our room. Off we go to MK. We took two cars, as usual. And also since my brother had work at 12 that afternoon. It felt like old times being in the car with just him. I miss it. And of course, I missed him. We got to MK and we went to the Crystal Palace where we had breakfast with the characters. I’ve been there before, but never for breakfast. Also, this was a buffet breakfast. I was so full; it didn’t seem like I ate much, but I piled a lot on my plate. We feasted with the characters from Winnie the Pooh. I think my favorite picture would have to be the first, Tigger. He’s so rambunctious. We had a hugging picture. (I cannot wait for the movie to come out). He’s also really bouncy. But, my picture with him was adorable. We had a hugging picture. Adorbs. 

After breakfast, my brother and I went on Space Mountain. It’s a roller coaster. Me, I thought it was a terrible idea to ride a roller coaster after stuffing oneself from breakfast. Eh, it wasn’t as bad as I thought. Actually, nothing dire happened. It would seem like a bad idea since I did go on it twice. 

Okay, I’m ending the blog here, and I’ll continue in Part 2.

Oh, and you know, here's my book challenge update (as of now):

40/365: 1 book read

Happy New Year's!

And so I begin the New Year by hopefully, maintaining this blog weekly. It’s past midnight here as I should be asleep. I know what you’re thinking, “It’s New Year’s! It’s time to celebrate it with amazing things!” Yes. I know. However, I would like to point out that I’m leaving in a matter of hours to begin the road trip to Florida. I’M GOING TO DISNEY WORLD! – Again. It’s comical how many times I go there. I mean, yes, some do go more frequently than me. But, they don’t, I’m sure, have to take a two day trip to get there. And also go quite as frequently as I do. It’s like my second home.

Why am I going there again? Well, in short, my brother works there. You read right. My brother works at both Disney World and now, Universal. I’ve got the hookups. So now you know what goes on with part of my life. I love to travel, and even though I’ve gone to Florida many times and during many different seasons, I thoroughly enjoy the trip. Okay, that’s a partial lie. I’m not much of a fan staying inside a car for hours on end driving. But to me, it’s the journey that makes it better, not the destination. Well, in this case it’s both. xD

I’m quite eager to be going back. I’m sure loads have changed since I’ve been there in the summer. – Wait. I was there in the summer and now I go back in the winter? Jeez, I go too much. …Nah, things change six months later. The scenery, the decorations, the atmosphere. It all changes.

Lying in my bed as I type this up, it doesn’t really feel like New Year’s. I don’t feel the excitement –the celebratory happiness. I assume it’s due to the fact I’ve been ferociously packing at the last minute. I should have packed earlier. I even made a list two weeks ago, but I didn’t actually start putting stuff in my suitcase until early this week. So today was nonstop packing and putting all the stuff in the car. I sure hope I don’t forget anything. I always do. Like I said, I make a list. But sometimes, I overlook the list.

It’s now 2011. Time for change. Everyone says that, but really, it is time for change. Now, some of you were either sent here by my YouTube video or by my Twitter. Or even Facebook, since Twitter’s linked to it. Or you may have by chance, found this blog. Hello. Hi. I’m Ashley. Yeah, introductions should have been at the beginning of the blog post. Well, there is the little bio area. I’m sure that sums up most of the things I do. 

To my YouTube viewers, here, whatever that is too long for YouTube (I can post over fifteen minute videos, but this will probably be easier. We’ll see.) will be up as a blog post. Whether it is my writing or my rants, it’ll be here. Oh, to my non-viewers, you should really check out my channel. I’ve got big things planned this year.

Speaking of plans for this year, I’ll be doing quite a lot. An abundant amount, actually. (Whoa, an alliteration. Haha.) First off, I’ve been inspired by one of my favorite YouTubers, Kristina Horner, to do a book challenge. In the entirety of this year, I will be challenging to read a very long list of books. 40 books, 365 days.* Can I do it? Will I prevail? Stay tuned to find out. My first book I’m starting is Looking for Alaska by John Green. He’s an exceptional author-slash-vlogger-slash-singamajig-player.** I really hope I can do this. I never back down from a challenge. Second, I will have a frequent segment about my college life, which is rather, boring, seeing I only go to school, study, and make videos. And now, continue my writing. Third, I don’t know what is next. I’ll probably come up with it later. (Duh, make more weekly vlogs.)

All right, I believe this is a good enough start for a blog. I will keep you posted with more stuff in the future. I hope you stay with me as I journey into the new year with high expectations. Until then, I hope you have a fantastic day, wherever you are.

40/365: 0 books read

*She actually did 50. I, however, don’t think I can do ten more. xD

**If you haven’t heard of him, look him up on YT. – Vlogbrothers – him along with his brother, Hank, make videos to each other and at the same time, end world suck.