My first Turkey Day

Now, before I go any further, this was not Thanksgiving. This was me wanting to try to make a turkey. I was not going to be home for Thanksgiving and I even had to work, so I have decided to sweep Thanksgiving under the rug.


With that being said, I decided I wanted to make a turkey. Making a turkey is a HUGE undertaking and if not planned properly, can be a total disaster!!! I had never even made a whole chicken before, but as I was wandering through Wal-mart doing some grocery shopping, I decided I wanted to give it a shot. I figured it was my only chance at having some homemade turkey. The smallest turkey I could find was a whooping 15 lbs, which meant not only was there was going to be a turkey, but there were going to be guests as well since I surely couldn't eat all 15 lbs by myself.

As I invited people, I was asked "well, aren't you going to be make this and that as well?!?" All of a sudden I was making a feast! It took me three trips to the store and one last minute "wait, we need a meat thermometer to know when it is done?" trip before I had all my supplies for my NOT Thanksgiving meal.

Prepping the turkey was not the most pleasant of experiences. The wrapper of the 'bird' said to take out the gravy pack, neck, and giblets. I found the gravy pack and what I could only assume was the neck, but no giblets to be found. I eventually had to call my mom because I was just plain out of ideas of where to look. A word to anyone who has not prepped a turkey, they shove stuff in both ends!
Once that was straightened out I was off and running! I put the turkey in the oven at about 9:45am and got to prepping all the other things I was now responsible to make. After the experience, I would say that its not the making the turkey that is hard, it is the timing of all the other stuff that you are making. Everything has it's varying times, and you have to account for the fact that you only have one oven in your house. And for the record, craving the turkey is just as nasty as prepping it!

Overall, it was fun. I had about seven people over throughout the day and everyone enjoyed the food. Apparently I am able to cook a turkey. It wasn't what Thanksgiving at home would have been, but it was a fair substitute. I'm just pleased that I didn't botch my first turkey day!!!

Run as fast as you can...

A couple of years ago, Give Kids The World started having an annual 5K run to help fundraise for the village. As soon as I heard about it, I knew I wanted to be involved since it was my first year here and I miss event planning. Plus, supposedly I am a "runner". As soon as I saw that the Gingerbread Run site was launched, I let the proper people know I wanted to help out and I joined the committee.

The whole committee experience is not worth talking about because nothing really exciting happened. I did learn a couple of things and it was worth my time because it was all for a good cause. But I did get acknowledged at the race, so that helped too.

Yesterday was the race. Now, I still stand by the school of thought that running is not fun but this race was a blast!!! What made the whole experience so exciting was the fact that there were SO many familiar faces. Well, first and most impressive was the fact that Heather heard about the race and just bought a plane ticket out here to run. She decided she wanted to visit and what better reason than to come out here and support a great cause. But even beyond her, there were my coworkers, my superiors, and even volunteers who I knew. Throughout the whole course, I had people cheering me on, cheering me through the village that I am so familiar with. It really makes a difference. 

Even the post-race party was a lot of fun. I loved that there were lots of characters there. I had a chance to get a picture with Mayor Clayton and Miss Merry, and even got a picture with the star of the race, Murphy the Gingerbread Man. Best of all, they gave me a gingerbread cookie at the finish line! I know, those aren’t the important things, those aren’t the “take away” from the race. The number one goal of the race was to raise money, and I did my part. But the “Fun”, that is important too. That is what gets people to come back year after year. That is what makes the event grow. And with growth, with more people, there is more money!

Overall, I am glad I was involved. It was really one of my favorite races I have done so far. And, next year I plan on running as fast as I can, I have to catch that Gingerbread Man!!!

We got a kitten!

In Florida, there are a lot of feral cats (that means stray cats... I'm not sure why there are two different names for them). Where there are a lot of feral cats, there are a lot of feral kittens. Now Florida is not really a safe place for kittens. First the extreme heat, then it gets rather cold at night once fall arrives. Kittens can't keep their temperature regulated. And, do I even have to mention the threat of getting eaten by alligators? I don't have any statistics on this, but I am sure that it is a thing.

We saw a cat wandering around at work and that's when I really started to consider the possibilities. Maybe we could get a cat. I floated the idea to my roommate and she didn't say no...

A co-worker found him one of the first crisp mornings we had. He came into a security hut to try to warm up. He had a big abrasion on his right shoulder and he only weighed about 2 lbs. One thing lead to another and now we have a Terror Kitty running around our house. Of course he is super cute... and I'm glad we have him, but I forgot how excited kittens always are and how clingy. He's a curious little thing and now there is an extra mouth to feed.

A kitten is really a long term commitment, but I think I am ok with it. I even find myself feeling slightly guilty when I am not home all day because I know he gets lonely... he is a people cat. But it is what it is now because WE GOT A KITTEN!!!

Andrew Visits!!!

I probably wouldn't have gone through with this whole move without Andrew. The morning that I packed up my car, waved to Chicago, and hugged my mom goodbye, he is the one who made it possible for me to get into the driver seat and actually pull away. Even though he couldn't come all the way to Florida with me, knowing that I had him to start the adventure made the whole experience more exciting. Even after arriving here, he has been my constant, the person that I rely on, the person I confide in. Without him, I would have probably packed my car up and headed back north. So, when we started to plan his visit here, I was more excited than I could ever put in words. I counted down the days until his arrival.

There were so many things that I wanted him to experiences, things that I wanted us to experience together. So, I started making a list, including a couple of volunteer shifts at the village so he could see what I did on a day to day basis. And even though Andrew insisted on "playing it by ear", I began to schedule out the week... I can't help it! 

We had a fantastic time while he was here. We went to the beach, the lakefront, we went out for the best tacos I ever had, and even went to Disney World! He came to the village to volunteer, and we went to this pirate dinner adventure... there was a pirate ship stage in the middle of the theatre!  It was probably the best week that I have had since I moved to Florida. 

Even when I got crabby or short, he stayed positive and we had a great time because of it. I am so grateful for the week we had together and the memories from the trip. Now, it is time to start planning his next trip here for New Years, I am already counting the days... 64 more days until Andrew Visits!!!

It's fall?

I'm having a hard time believing that this is fall. The four months I have been here have flown by so quickly that I hardly realized time passed at all. And since most days it is still in the 80s, how can I NOT think that it is still summer? Not that I am complaining, summer is my favorite time of year so I am definitely on board with the endless summer. But slowly I am noticing signs of fall around me. The "Halloween USA" stores and such have been popping up in abandoned store fronts. Wal-Mart has really starting pushing the giant bags of candy... I feel like every year, the variety of options continues to grow! Halloween hasn't really phased me this year. I was seriously considering just skipping it all together, no big thing. I usually really like to dress up and such, but I'm just not in the Halloween mood yet...

The other day I noticed some pictures that my siblings posted. The three of them all went apple picking together and were enjoying some delicious apples straight off the tree. They don't grow apples in Florida, so I am still paying it seems about a dollar an apple here, and definitely not enjoying it right off the tree. But the outrageous price of apples isn't what made me slightly sad. I suppose the fall is bittersweet. Halloween, apple picking, crunchy leaves, all great things about fall back home. Things that I will not experience here. But right after fall, winter comes and punches you in the face. So, I will skip apple picking, and crunchy leaves, and Fright Fest this year. This is what made me slightly sad... well the price of apples also is factoring in a little. 


Although it is sad, I am not upset by it. I have replaced these activities with other ones that I could not do before. For instance, I was just at the beach two weeks ago, it was already in the 50s back home, but the water was perfect here. I have also been going to Disney World, definitely not something that Illinois can offer any time of year. I will even be going to Mickey's Not So Scary! I'm not worried about missing the fall weather, because the way I understand it, Florida's winter weather is kind of like Illinois' fall weather. 


Anyways, I suppose fall is here, even though it doesn't feel like it yet. The moral of this story.... SEND APPLES!!!

I Lost my cookies...

I haven't talked much about the village in my blog. Great things are happening there every day and I wouldn't even know where to begin writing about it so I'll just talk about my volunteering experience. I try to volunteer whenever I can. With working nights full time there, it is hard to get in to volunteer more than once a week, but I do what I can.


I really enjoy my time when I am volunteering. Warning, I am going to sound like a terrible person in the next sentence. I never really was the kind of person who would volunteer. I didn't see how people could enjoy it. But volunteering at the Village is a lot of fun.


Slowly, I have been volunteering my way around the village. With being there 5 nights a week for work, it is hard finding time to get in there to work for free. But, there have been a couple of specific things that I really wanted to do, so I made it happen.


One of my MUST DO's was the Ice Cream Palace. There are not many things I am more passionate about than Ice Cream! Alright, that is an exaggeration, but it is one of the special things about the village and I wanted a chance to experience it with the families. It was really a treat because the day I was over there just happened to be the day that my favorite family came in (yes, I have a favorite! I haven't been so touched by another family before or since their visit. When I pass the villa they stayed in, I still call it "Alex's castle"). It was really fun. 


Another was the Pirate and Princess party. To be honest, I am really more of a pirate than a princess, but when they gave me a princess dress to wear, I really warmed up to the idea of being a princess. There was also the La Ti Da Spa, Breakfast cart, and the Horse and Pony rides. All a blast actually, even though it meant getting up early! It's funny, because when I go to the village for work, it does feel like work, but when I volunteer, not so much! It's weird how that happens...



One of my favorite volunteer stories (of course there are many more to come since I really just started volunteering a couple of months ago), was when I was on the Cookie Cart. That was another shift I kept talking about doing so when I had a free evening to do it, I jumped on it and talked about it all week. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be!!! Let me explain the Cookie cart, really, it is what is sounds like. A golf cart that plays cookie songs while you drive around and pass out cookies. You really have to push the cookies sometimes, you would think that people would really jump at the idea of free cookies... not always! Well anyways, I was making my rounds and a family stopped me, I hopped off the cart and walked around the back and stared in shock... my basket of cookies was missing! Apparently they fell off the back and I had not idea. I guess this had never happened to anyone before, I'm not sure HOW that hasn't happened before, but that's what they told me. To this day, I believe I am the only volunteer who has lost my cookies...

Kissimmee Lakefront

The other day in my wanderings, I happened upon the Kissimmee Lakefront. So, when I think of the lakefront, I think of Lake Michigan in downtown Chicago. The picturesque skyline in the background. Miles and miles of paths along the lake to enjoy the breeze and the sights. Thinking back, the lakefront is probably my favorite thing about Chicago. I've heard people talking about the Kissimmee lakefront, that is where people go for the fireworks on Forth of July and there are different "goings on" there as well. So, when I saw a sign pointing "this way" to the lakefront, I quickly redirected my trip in that direction...


The lakefronts here are NOTHING like Chicago. First of all, I wouldn't even call that a lake, it looked more like a swamp. There wasn't even a breeze coming off of the lake. I was slightly disappointed but I figured I'd hang around anyways and take in the sights. If I had never known the lakefront back home, I'm sure this would be just fine of an option. There was a little lighthouse and the end of this quasi-pier. There was a park with some swings and even an old train caboose transformed into a soda and ice cream shop. It was kind of cute once I threw out my preconceived ideas of what a lakefront was.

As I sat leaning against the lighthouse, I thought back to Chicago. I thought about some of really good times I had by the lake. A first date, my first race and many since, wanderings with siblings and friends. And for the first time, I actually missed the place, not just the people. Now, don't get me wrong, I quickly remembered the feeling you get when snow slips into the top of your boot and you have soggy cold socks all day. I don't miss it enough to pack it all up and move back by any means! Right now, the ocean front is about as far of a drive from my place as the lakefront was from my suburban home in Illinois. And, I definitely pick the ocean. I've actually visited the lakefront since the first visit and it has kind of grown on me.... but that may just be because of my never ending quest to chase alligators!!!