Tuesday Topics

6 Memories

1. 2000: The first time I was on a plane… I went skydiving. And I can’t believe I don’t have any photos of it!!

2. 2000: The next time I was on a plane I went to New York City for New Years Eve.

3. 2004: My first time out of the country. I went backpacking around Europe for a month!

La Basilique du Sacré Coeur de Montmartre, Paris

4. 2004: My first cruise.

Cozumel, Mexico

5. 2010: My first solo trip (Los Angeles).

6. 2010: My first visit to Asia. I moved to Korea!

milkshakes in a carton… one of my favorite Korean things

2012 Review Extravaganza: Third Quarter Recap

July:

I finished up the five week epic Asian backpacking trip with an overnight layover in Warsaw on July 1st. I arrived home July 2nd!

my mom picked me up at the airport 🙂

I went to an awesome 4th of July party.

I went to Coon Dog Day, my hometown’s annual holiday. (Parade, dog show, and square dance!)

I visited my dad, stepmom, brother, and sister in Arkansas. We went canoeing!!

My sister came back with me to visit for two weeks. We went to Bele Chere (a local festival), tubing, and got manicures.

On a sad note, Daniel (my boyfriend of eight years) and I broke up in July.

August:

Callie and I continued the fun. We went camping, to Sliding Rock and the Blue Ridge Parkway, and rollerskating.

that’s Callie!

I was the maid of honor in my BFF Ohee’s wedding.

I turned 30!! Celebrated my birthday by making pottery, going swimming at the lake, going out to dinner, and then finishing with drinks and desserts at my house.

I went to Dollywood Splash Country with Shannon and Mason.

I went to the Laugh Your Asheville Off Launch Party at Highland Brewery.

I went to my BFF Breanna’s son Easton’s first birthday party.

I got purple highlights!!

I got my job as a part-time nanny for Sam.

I watched roller derby for the first time.

I had my first Pinterest party!

I flew down to St. Pete, FL to visit Tessa for Labor Day weekend!

September:

Continued the fun in St. Pete…

Then headed off on a cruise on Labor Day!

Stopped in Grand Cayman and Cozumel…

Started taking a cake decorating class.

Got my two kittens, Riley Moonshine and Diesel Gambrinus!

they were scared to come out of the carrier at first… so sweet!

I went to the NC Mountain State Fair.

I threw my stepsister Ruth the most awesome baby shower ever.

I had my second Pinterest party.

I started my local travel blog (I’m not so good at updating in unfortunately).

I became obsessed with blog swaps!!

10 Day You Challenge: 6 Places

1. Saluda, NC. My hometown!

2. Bundang, South Korea. Where I lived for two years.

3. Bali, Indonesia. My favorite place in Asia.

4. Italy. My favorite place in Europe.

5. Mexico. My favorite place in North America.

6. On a plane going anywhere and everywhere!

Carnival Paradise Cruise

Just got back from a five-night cruise on the Carnival Paradise from Tampa to Grand Cayman and Cozumel. We had a great time! Lots of fun shows and games, lounging in the sun, swimming, drinking, eating, drinking karaoke, and dancing.

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Cozumel, Mexico

Cozumel was the second stop on our five-night cruise on the Carnival Paradise from Tampa. Four of us got a taxi and did a tequila farm/Mayan ruins tour for $20 per person (plus $8 for admission to San Gervasio). The tequila farm was cool even though I don’t drink tequila (except in margaritas)! It must have been good because my friend bought a very expensive bottle. They also had lots of tequila sampling in the duty free shop outside the ship that everyone took advantage of! The Mayan ruins were OK; I think because I’ve seen such awesome wonders like Angkor Wat that they seemed a little boring to me. Plus it was so hot. I did love seeing all the big lizards though! After our tour we got lunch (overpriced like everything near the pier), did some shopping, and then drank and got mini massages on the “beach” in Puerta Maya (Carnival’s port area).

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3 on Thursday

Tell us about your 3 favorite vacations,

or any upcoming vacations you have planned.

These are places I have been to and want to visit again!

1. Bali.
I don’t know why I loved this place so much; there are many gorgeous places to visit in Southeast Asia. But I was really enchanted by Bali: the people, beaches, temples, rice terraces. I would love to live there.

me and a curious monkey in Ubud

2. Italy.
I loved Cinque Terre and Venice. Italy is just magical. Wine is cheaper than water! And the food is amazing. I want to go back and visit the Amalfi coast.

gorgeous views while hiking in Cinque Terre

3. Mexico.
Gorgeous beaches, margaritas, Mexican food. If only those drug lords would stop decapitating people than it would be all good. I really want to visit Oaxaca for the Day of the Dead one year.

crystal clear waters in Costa Maya

Throwback Thursday

Remember when… I went on my first cruise?

It actually went to the same places I’ll be sailing to this coming September: Grand Cayman and Cozumel. I went with my mom, aunt, and lots of other family members: grandma, great aunts, great uncle, cousins, etc. We went snorkeling in both ports and also visited Hell in Grand Cayman. Sadly I still didn’t have a digital camera in 2004. Here are a few scanned photos!

Throwback Thursday

Remember when… I went to Mexico with friends?

In 2005, my friends Colin and Ben graduated from college so four of us went to Puerto Peñasco to celebrate. We went there specifically for a Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers concert (I don’t even know who they are, that was Colin and Ben’s choice!). We flew to Phoenix, rented a car, and drove down there. Driving a car in Mexico was scary! Especially at night. No lines on the road and trucks piled insanely high with crap that looks like it’s about to fall out!

Anyway, we had a blast. We just chilled on the beach, drank, and ate yummy food!!

The Friday 5

1. List your (current) top five favorite food dishes; include photos if you’d like.
These are my top five I like to cook anyway… Top five to eat would get trickier!

• I always make tacos at least once a week. I cook ground pork with spicy taco seasoning, add cheese, my homemade salsa, and sour cream, and throw all the delicious ingredients together in a flour tortilla.
• Spaghetti is the meal I make the most after tacos. My recipe for sauce is here.

• A crowd pleaser is chicken spaghetti. Cook one pound of chicken (on the stove with olive oil) and one pound of spaghetti. Combine in a baking dish with one can cream of chicken soup, one can cream of mushroom soup, and one can of chicken broth. Top with cheddar. Enjoy the fattening deliciousness!

• I have two go-to recipes for parties… pinwheels and Mexican dip. For the pinhweels, combine eight ounces sour cream, eight ounces cream cheese, one cup shredded cheese, and some diced green onions. Spread the mixture over flour tortillas. Roll each tortilla up, cover in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for an hour or so. Then unwrap and slice into sections.
• Mexican dip recipe: Spread a can of spicy refried beans on the bottom layer. The next layer is eight ounces of sour cream, then eight ounces of salsa. Top with shredded cheese and diced green onions.

2. List your top five disliked movies of all time and why.
This was a hard one! I usually avoid movies I know I won’t like (action and comic book films).

• The Tree of Life has to be the worst movie of all time. I can’t believe it was nominated for an Oscar this year. It makes no sense and is sooooooooo boring.

• Employee of the Month with Jessica Simpson and Dane Cook. It was just so bad. I had to turn it off after I rented it. Usually I stick it out if I paid money but it was awful! (On a related note, I loved the Dane Cook movie My Best Friend’s Girl.)
• Made of Honor with Patrick Dempsey and Michelle Monaghan. Worst chick flick ever.
• Bambi. I never liked it as a kid. And not because it’s sad. Dumbo or Pinocchio either for that matter. I guess I just prefer Disney movies with princesses!

• Shakespeare in Love. Saw it in the theater in high school. Walked out of said theater out of boredom.

3. List your (current) top five favorite TV shows and why.
Hmmmmm I think you might notice a theme here…

• Sons of Anarchy. I am in love with the main character Jax Teller. The show is really exciting, especially the most recent season.

• Dexter. I am also in love with him! 🙂 It’s a very dark, disturbing show and also really thrilling.

• Game of Thrones. I love this medieval fantasy show. It’s hard to describe why I like all these shows. Great plots and characters you grow attached to. P.S. I love Tyrion.

• Homeland. It didn’t sound that interesting to me so I waited awhile to watch it. Then I got so sucked in! The first season is a mystery that you try to figure out while watching; I can’t wait to see what the second season brings! P.S. I love Brody.

• True Blood. Just a fun, campy, Southern, vampire show. My boyfriend always makes fun of it and says it’s just arguing and sex. But I love and it. And… P.S. I love Bill! 🙂

4. List your top five favorite places to visit; include photos if you’d like.
Well, these are my top five so far…

• Bali. Such an amazing place. Beautiful beaches and temples. Read all about it here.
• Italy. Specifically, Cinque Terre and Venice. And the cheap food and wine. I must go back!

• Mexico. Great beaches, ruins, food, beer, margaritas!
• Thailand. Great beaches, temples, islands, and food! Cheap massages too.
• The Grand Canyon. It is simply breathtaking.

5. List your (current) top five favorite songs; include video if you’d like.
Here’s the problem… I don’t listen to music currently. At home I just listen to the radio in my car. In Korea I don’t have a car so… I listen to my iPod only if I’m really, really bored. And all the songs on it are really, really old.

• Lady Gaga’s You and I. This is the most current song I know (and love)!
• Pink’s Sober. I’ve had this on my iPod for years and still listen to it all the way through every time.
• Glee’s Thriller/Heads Will Roll Mashup. I don’t like either of the songs by the original artists but this combo works!
• The Band Perry’s You Lie. The most current country song I know and love (told you I’m behind the times). I like to sing along with a country twang.
• Britney Spears’ Baby One More Time. It’s my karaoke song (duet with Daniel)!

C is for Czech Republic, Cadillac Ranch, & Costa Maya

Czech Republic

From January to April 2006, Daniel and I lived in Prague. We moved there in an attempt to get jobs teaching English, which ended up being a giant failure. At the time I hated the place. It was cold, the people were mean, and I was depressed. Once we decided to go home however, I could finally enjoy myself. We took three trips during our final days in the country: hiking the sandstone cliffs in Cesky Raj (AKA Bohemian Paradise), drinking lots of brews at the Pilsner Urquell brewery in Plzen, and visiting the famous Sedlec Ossuary in Kutna Hora (which contains the skeletons of between 40,000 and 70,000 people, whose bones have been artistically arranged to form decorations and furnishings for the chapel).

Cadillac Ranch, Amarillo, TX

My mom and I stopped at Cadillac Ranch on our way to the Grand Canyon in May 2008. It is a public art installation and sculpture that was created in 1974 and consists of Cadillac automobiles half-buried nose-first in the ground, at an angle corresponding to that of the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt.

Costa Maya, Mexico

I have been to four different places in Mexico and Costa Maya was by far the nicest. My mom and I visited in February 2010 when we were on a cruise. Cheap beer, white sand, and crystal clear water. It was amazing! It has only recently become a cruise port so it’s still mostly undeveloped (or was when we went).