Orlando, FL

On Thursday we were headed to Orlando.

You might not be able to see it in this picture, but that white stuff under the row of trees says "Daytona Beach". How funny to be driving by all these places that I have heard about other people going to! We also passed Boca Raton, better known as "Boca" by Kate Philpott and E-beth.

The exit off of I-95 (finally!) to Orlando.

Once we got there we checked into our hotel (right across from the entrance to Universal Studios) and then headed over to the time share resort where Jamie's parents were staying. Before we went to see them Jamie showed me around the place. He and his family have stayed at this place at least 10 times in 14 years. Its like a second home. Here I am with sweat dripping down my back waiting for the boat to come take us across the lake.

Matt and Sarah were finishing up their stay in Orlando with Marshall and Patti as we got there, so we went out to dinner with everyone (including Tim, Jamie's oldest brother, and his wife Sarah, who live in the area). Waiting to be seated at the restaurant: (L-R) Sarah McTrusty, Tim, Sarah Brown, Matt, and me.

Eating at the table.

A beautiful one of Sarah and Tim. :)

Everyone who went to dinner (L-R): Sarah M, Matt, Patti, Marshall, me, Jamie, Sarah, and Tim.

Afterwards the boys (and Sarah M) played in the fountain while Sarah Brown and I had some great conversation time. I sure wish we lived closer together.

The next morning we checked out of our hotel (so we could go stay in the timeshare where there was now room). This was one of the sights we saw right outside our hotel.

Before we headed back to the time share, Jamie took me to Kissimmee to see where he used to live. One of the things that struck me, as we drove around the Orlando area, was that this is what a lot of British people see of America. When I was in elementary school in England I remember several friends who would take their "holiday" in America at Disney. Its funny to think that this crazy tourist town is a lot of Brits' only impression of the US (well, other than in movies and TV.) Here was one sign we saw that seemed funny to me, having been to the real thing.

In Kissimmee we took quite a while to walk around the church and house where Jamie grew up. He showed me where his "Carman concerts" were and also where he first learned to lead worship.

Then we went to see his old elementary and middle school (there's a water park right across from it - how cool is that?) and then went back to the time share to spend the rest of the day by the pool. After dinner we went to the recreation area of the resort and looked at the games.

We were trying to figure out what pieces were what. Its not as easy when its that big. We decided to play shuffle board and pool instead of chess. Jamie played his dad and I played Patti and they were very good match-ups. :)

One of my favorite things in Orlando was the walks Jamie and I took later at night. A couple times we walked around and then settled on this little "beach" type place right off the lake to talk. They were good, deep, helpful conversations and I was so glad we got to have them.

The next day we also spent by the pool, but ended up getting pretty burned. Here's my sad face.
But we changed around 4:30 and headed out to pick up our tickets for Cirque du Soleil! (Jamie got them for me as a surprise, although I accidently found out ahead of time.) After we picked up our tickets, we walked around Downtown Disney (where all the restaurants were very expensive and not that good looking) and ended up going back to Celebration (where we ate the first night) and picking a Columbian restaurant. Oh man, it was delicious! And a great atmosphere.

After dinner Jamie bought me some chocolate for dessert and we went to Walgreens to get an umbrella (it was raining) and then we went to the show. It was amazing and gorgeous and sensational and all those wonderful things. We especially liked the little chinese girls with their wood things...although they did mess up. I hope they didn't get in too much trouble!!!

The next day we spent by the pool again, but this time in the shade...which meant we were right by Jamie's parents. Here are some pool-side scenes that we enjoyed!


That night we went to PF Chang's with Jamie's parents and met Kellie and Eli Buffington there. It was fun to see them again. Eli is so cute and seems to be doing so well! He was great during dinner!

After dinner we walked to a nearby fountain (that wasn't on) and Jamie fished pennies out of it for Eli to throw back in. Oh my gosh, he loved that! Eli did a little dance after every throw.

Tim and Sarah B stopped by to say goodbye one last time and it was good to see them again. Then we were back to the resort for the last night there.

The next morning we checked out of the room and then went paddleboating on the lake.

Then we played a quick game of pool (Jamie beat me soundly...) and got in the car to head to Miami.

Pembroke Pines, FL

On Monday we left Orlando and drove down to Pembroke Pines (a suburb of Miami, I think) to stay with Jamie's aunt and uncle and cousins. Jamie's grandma (we call her Nonnie) lives very nearby and his Aunt Paula and cousin Paul are staying with Nonnie. When we arrived, Matt and Sarah were there just long enough to take a picture of most of the grandkids and Nonnie. (But it was on Matt's camera, so I don't have it yet...but you can check for it on facebook!)

That evening we had a yummy meal made by Nonnie (it reminded me of Oma's cooking - delicious!) and dessert made by Aunt Paula. It was all delicious, especially the "crack sauce", so named because its so sugary that it supposedly gets you high (I think, that's why its named that anyway.)

Dinner with the family was amazingly fun. Then I went with Kelly to see where she lives with her husband Drew (he was gone for training) and Jamie stayed with Uncle Randy to watch the YouTube debate. Then, when all the "grown-ups" had gone to bed, we hooked up the Wii and had our first Wii experience. Here are Craig and Jamie playing baseball. I think Jamie is batting and Craig is pitching.

This is Craig and me boxing. That game is hard.

The next day Craig, Kelly, Jamie and I went to Las Olas, the beach in Ft. Lauderdale. We pretty much parked, walked to a restaurant for lunch, and then walked back to the car. But it was a great time of conversation and laughter...and the restaurant was fun. The tables and benches were all joined together and were like a giant table-wide swing. This is Kelly.

This is Craig.

This is me and Jamie and Florida palm tree. Patti, this is for you! :)

We drove back via Cold Stone Creamery, ate some yummy icecream, while chatting some more. Then we got back, hung out, played some more Wii...this time with Paul. He's a fun kid. :)

Then yummy dinner made by Aunt Paula and then a rousing game of Apples to Apples. Jamie said a little about that. This is (L-R) Aunt Mary, Paul, and Aunt Paula.

Craig, Uncle Randy, and Kelly.

Me, Craig, Uncle Randy, Kelly, Aunt Mary, Paul, and Aunt Paula.


The next morning (Wednesday) we left with a large bag of snacks from Aunt Mary (pumpkin muffins, brownies, oatmeal raisin cookies, YUM!) It was sad to say goodbye. I wish we lived closer to the family. They're such an amazing family and I felt such a connection with them. I felt like Kelly could have been one of my best friends from college or something. Honestly, I think its the God thing. They so clearly love the Lord, and I love that!


That day was our longest day of driving. We drove all the way from Miami area to Rocky Mount, NC in just about 12 hours. Well, actually Jamie drove all that way. But it was probably one of my favorite days. (Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures, although I can't say they would have been very interesting.) We talked for a long time, listened to music, sang along, listened to 2 sermons (both excellent) and talked about what we thought about them, and just in general had a good long together time.


The only bad part was the bathrooms along the way. Ew, ew, ew. I hate public restrooms. We stopped twice. The second time we stopped I went to use the restroom in the gas station and it was crowded with people so you could barely move. I decided I could use the KFC next door. Walked in there to find it literally overflowing with, um, dirty water. Ugh. Make me barf. :-P So we went across the street to the McDonalds where the floor was covered with water. Hopefully from the sink, but I'm doubtful. I gave up, walked gingerly through it, and used it. Then I tried to wash my hands, but there weren't even any paper towels to dry my hands - and no napkins in the restaurant. I came out pretty traumatized to Jamie waiting in the car and immediately took my flip-flops off and put them in the back seat. He, being the hero he is, promptly got our germ-x hand sanitizer from the trunk, let me drench my hands in it, and then used a couple napkins from the car to clean my shoes with it. That made me feel a bit better.


When we finally got to the hotel (around 9:30 pm) we checked in (finding that the toilet seat in our bathroom was up and not completely clean - ew again! - but it got us the room for free that night thanks to Jamie's negotiation skills...) and then went immediately out to the Outback across the street. It was Jamie's reward for driving so far. And it was great to relax together after a really very good day (except the grossness). Ahhh.

Corolla, NC

I've decided to post blogs about our trip starting with the last thing we did so that, as you scroll down the page, you get it in chronological order.

We left Rocky Mount, NC and drove along beautiful roads.

Beautiful bridges between islands in the Outer Banks on the way to Corolla.

After we checked in, we spent an hour or so on the beach,

then went to the grocery store. We picked up microwavable food and some salad and ate out on our balcony. It was almost like eating breakfast on the balcony on our honeymoon. Only not as yummy and not as pretty. But still wonderful.

We took some pictures by the boardwalk. And we played mini-golf in town. Jamie won by like 23 points. Or maybe I won. I had more points.

Next day, we spent the day on the beach. and got sunburnt even though we wore a lot of sunscreen.


That night we decided we wanted to see a movie, so we went looking for the "stadium seating" movie theatre. Ha. Google maps is on crack in the outer banks. This is where we ended up, following their directions:



See how crazy green that pond behind the trees is?


We finally found the theatre, bought tickets and then got dinner at a nearby place called Mako Mike's. Oh man, I got this herb crusted chicken which had a white sauce on it. I hadn't had a meal that yummy at a restaurant in a very long time. And then we went to see the late show of Harry Potter. Definitely a fun movie. Not for kids, but also not evil. Jamie and I walk out of movies, and there weren't any walk out moments that we could see. :)


Next day spent on the beach again. That's the view with our back to the beach, facing the hotel.)

A little after lunch, a storm brought thunder and lightning over the ocean and cleared out most of the people on the beach, but it ended up not touching the beach. It was just very cool to watch the clouds and lightning over the ocean.

Oh, and there's a crab. Can you see its camoflauged self?


That afternoon (after the storm) we rented boogie boards and tried to "catch some waves". It was a super-fun time, even if I did get flipped by the waves a couple times and start to wonder which was was up (follow the bubbles right?)

After cleaning the sand off, we took more pictures.

And then headed out to a really nice (but not super outrageously expensive) restaurant that Jamie had found online. It was pretty yummy too...and VERY fancy. (Like leather couches to sit on while you waited and bread and oil so good you'd never believe it...oh, and my meal was salmon with a truffle honey glaze. TRUFFLES!)

We took more pictures of the beach at night.

Then the next morning we left for home. The traffic was completely awful the entire way. And I was sad to be leaving days where I got to spend all my time with Jamie.

It wasn't a great last leg of the trip. But then, to unlock the door to our apartment...oh, it smelled like home and it felt like home and the bathrooms were CLEAN and it felt exciting like when we first walked around our apartment and realized that this is where we would live and set up house. And, even though I wish we could spend all our days together, its good to be HOME!