Spring Fever

As the weather warms up and the world bursts forth with a new wardrobe of blossoms and blooms I find myself itching for a change. I've caught it...spring fever...and I'm getting restless.

It's a strange mix because a part of me is ready to "spring" forward to all the events on the horizon: moving into a nice apartment, completing the first year of medical school, putting a year under my belt at work, showing Ryan and Richelle beautiful Florida, and visiting with Garrett and Nicole. And then another part of me is dreading how quickly time is flying by because as each day passes I get closer to losing Logan, Patrick, and Ayden to Ohio.

Thinking about moving into Logan and Patrick's apartment in June leaves me feeling a bit ashamed, like I'm measuring for curtains while a relative lies on his deathbed or something. LOL!

Sigh. Sisters aren't meant to live apart. :( Logan and I already started checking airfare between Dayton and Ft. Lauderdale!!

Mr. T and I are very lucky to have met a great group of people here, though. We've really enjoyed hanging out with our fellow M1s especially.

Recently, a bunch of us spent the weekend in Naples. It was such a lovely break. It was our celebratory escape in honor of Spring Break. Mr. T was giddy! He hasn't had Spring Break since high school!! We really enjoyed ourselves. We stayed at a beautiful hotel, visited the beach, ate (gorged ourselves really) at delicious restaurants, and lazily strolled around outlet mall after outlet mall enjoying each others company. We were so excited to find a Red Robin that Mr. T and I each got our own meal (we generally split) AND a shake!! I was STUFFED! Thank goodness that was at the END of the beach day.

(Megan, Darek, and Ellie soakin' in the sun)

We also saw tons of alligators on our way over. They obviously had an impact on our resident sand-castle crew.

(Just a random stop off the side of the road on "Alligator Ally" on the way to Naples)

(Joe vs. the sand Alligator)

Mom and Dad came to town for Easter and we had such a great time! The whole family pitched in and helped me prepare and put on the church Easter activity I was in charge of. Mom was really a saint in helping me prepare and dad even swung by Wal-mart in Tallahassee to get the muffins for the party. I LOVE my family! It was so fun to enjoy the weekend and celebrate Ayden's 1st birthday together. Just a year ago, we all were sitting in the delivery room together just wondering what new little personality would be joining us. And what a wonderful addition my cute niece Ayden has been!

(At the church party)

(Birthday celebration)

(Hanging out at the beach. Ayden climbed up on me in an effort to avoid the sand. What a silly girl.)


Quite a bit less lovely, however, are the issues Mr. T and I have been having with our apartment that led to a bit of Spring cleaning. As part of the "solution," the apartment complex "professionally" cleaned our carpets. Hmmm. It was not thrilling. I came home to a wet, dishevelled house. Luckily, my husband had the presence of mind to request a dehumidifier and blower (the complex didn't even offer them to us!). So, upon entering my home, this is what I found:

(Hmmm...where's the table?)

(Oh there is it!)

(But now, where's the kitchen?)

I needed to change my clothes after work, so I burrowed through to our closet, even though the king mattress and bed had been leaned against this door. Mr. T couldn't follow me in, but the view was so funny looking out, I had to take a picture!



And then I traveled to Tallahassee for work for a week (which was a great experience and a great time...and look who dropped by).

(Enjoying Wing Stop with Caroline, Mom, Andrew, Zach, Cambrie, and Anistyn - Andrea and Dad not pictured)

(What a sweetheart)

(I noticed Anistyn's kind addition to my ensemble halfway through work)

So, Mr. T and I decided we'd earned a break. We participated in the Disney "Give a day, get a day" program and got a free day at Disney. Then we each upgraded our ticket to 4 Florida Resident passes. It only cost $40 total for 8 tickets, and we paid with Disney dollars we had earned with our credit card. Sweeeet! So we had a nearly free weekend at Disney.

A deal is enough to get me excited, but I was over-the-top when we arrived at Epcot. The magic at Disney is contagious! I am 26 years old, but I was bouncing off the walls in that park as if I were 20 years younger. Well, at least for the first half of the day. ;) Over the weekend, we hit up both Epcot and Animal Kingdom and I tell you what it was a trip around the world!! We had so much fun stopping in the different countries and snacking our way through Epcot. The patisserie in France made me long to go back to Europe; the chocolate crescent was pretty authentic. The fish and chips were tasty too in the UK...and the weather was the best I'd seen to date in Europe! Of course we chomped and chewed our way through the orient, the rest of the European continent, and South America...thank you Mexico for blessing us with nachos...what would I do without you?!?

(In line for Spaceship Earth. After the ride, we played a 3D video game where you put together a human body by grabbing bones and vital organs off a conveyor belt and dropping them in the right place on an operating table--not as gross as it sounds. Mr. T loved it. He kept shouting out all the parts, what they were, and where they went. It was so fun. The only part we didn't like was at the beginning where the narrator explains that this game simulates how a doctor in India could one day perform surgeries in the US. Grrrr. Is Obama funding Disney now, too?)

(Rafiki, Simba, and Mufasa in flower form)

(Asanti sana, squashed banana...)

(A comedy troupe in the UK that had us laughing)

(Peter Pan, Hook, and a croc...look to the right!)

(Paris! We watched a film here that left us both wanting to visit beautiful France.)

(Another impressive flower display)

(Mr. T chillin' in Morocco)

(The tail end of the fireworks display. A firework flew out right in front of us!)

The next day, we put our ponchos in our pockets and checked out Africa and Asia at the Animal Kingdom. It was a great, leisurely day. Mr. T and I climbed Mount Everest 6 times (no training...now that's my idea of a hike!) in the first hour and a half, and then strolled about the park looking at animals. It started to drizzle which kept the lines short and actually brought the animals out. When it really started to come down, Mr. T and I hopped on the safari jeep tour. OH WOW! It was the best safari-type ride I've been on! I felt like I was in Africa and that maybe the animals were trained to stand right next to the jeep full of tourists. Mr. T even asked me once if I thought a nearby elephant was fake...it was just too amazing!

(Mt. Everest in the background)

(You could play "I Spy" forever looking at this tree. It was amazing. The longer you looked, the cooler it got.)

(Mr. T and the gila monster)

(a turtle)

(The Tree of Life!!)

One of our favorite parts of any theme park is guessing where people are from. I love hearing folks go by saying things like "Alright you lot, back in the queue." It tickles that part of me that loves to learn about other cultures, see new things, and travel.

And that leads back to my original point. I've got the bug. I've enjoyed all our recent adventures and am aching to change things up still more. I guess it's good that an entire season carries with it that kind of motivation. Hopefully, it lasts!