OY, CIAO!!
Wondering what I've been up to the past 3+ months? Well.. there was the California trip, hitting up Hollywood, Disneyland, and the Santa Monica beach & pier. I was visiting two of my roommates from the past year, Myra & Alexis, and their awesome families.
Following that was Thanksgiving with my Rippstein side of the family - first time everyone was together in 20 years, meaning that the last time everyone was together, the only cousin alive was my older cousin, Stephen. Now there are i think 20 grandkids total. Of 7 families, 5 families crammed into one house. And it worked! And it was a blast.. I wish I could be a part of that again.. I miss everyone so much
Aside from trips to different areas, of course I've explained I mainly just worked at TGI Fridays. I met many wonderful people working there. They said they'd miss me when I left because, and I quote, "Work just won't be funkified anymore!" Haha.
Why was I leaving you may ask? Well.. it was time once again to jet off to Idaho to go for Round 2 of BYUI school. BUT before being required to brave negative temperatures, ice and slush, I made a stop in Utah to visit my aunt & uncle. Grandma & Grandpa Barnes met me at the airport and it was very good to see them, and I do regret not being able to spend more time with them. And then.. a SURPRISE! I get in the car and my crazy lil cousins told me we were going to go skiing the next day. My first time. Apparently I did very well for my first time and I'll be going again sometime soon - lets hope it goes well!!
AND now on to the documentation!
Welcome to LA:
Frank Sinatra's prints in front of the beautiful Kodak theater:
STAR WARS CHARACTERS!! - R2D2, C3p0, Darth Vader - OHMYGOODNESS that was awesome:
Ok so we round the corner on Hollywood Blvd, and we see steps leading to an outdoor shopping area. Just kind of chill on its own, right? Well we get up there and it is Twilight hysteria. We see posters and people dressed up EVERYWHERE! So then we start to go into hyper mode... is someone from Twilight coming? So we go ask and we find out that part of the Twilight cast will be interviewed there and that Paramore will be performing. Wow. I mean I really didn't think I'd see any famous people, and I just happen to go to Hollywood once and I see the cast of Twilight? Freaking awesome. All of the sudden a bunch of girls started screaming and pointing and I looked up and there was JACOB! :
Then Paramore performed a few songs which was pretty cool. I didnt really know about them before Twilight though I may have heard the name. And then the cast came out, not everyone of course but all of the ones i was interested in seeing (with the exception of James). Alice, Emmett, Rosalie, Jasper &, of course, Jacob.
ON TO DISNEYLAND!!
I have been to Disneyworld twice before, and so this experience now with DisneyLAND was very interesting. As you may or may not know, Disneyland is what started it all; the first park. This is the one that has the history. In fact, they had a presentation you could go to about the first 50 years of Disney, hosted by Steve Martin and Donald Duck. It was greaaaat!!
Myra and I in front of Sleeping Beauty's castle!
Ok so Myra and I have this thing. I definitely claim Disneyworld as my park, and she claims Disneyland cuz thats what she grew up with. I like all the MORE that Disneyworld has to offer, plus I love the castle. I was kind of sad they didn't have a fireworks ending in front of the castle, because it was a weekday that we went. But it was decorated for Christmas, just like Disneyworld had been decorated when I went last year for Thanksgiving with the family. Now, in Disneyworld, they have Cinderella's castle, rather than Sleeping Beauty's. When you see the castle on previews for movies and stuff I think it is a combination of the two, but I definitely see more of it in Cinderella's castle. Which do you like better?
Sleeping Beauty's Castle:
Cinderella's Castle:
One fun area of Disneyworld is Adventureland where they have like Indiana Jones, Aladdin, Tarzan, the jungle boat ride, and a bunch of other things, including the Tiki Room (where i'm pictured outside from). Outside the Tiki Room is a 'pineapple whip' stand. You will never taste anything more glorious. WOW. I'm definitely hooked and can't wait to return and grab another one. If any of yall would kindly bring me along next time you take a family trip, that would be grand.
This is about as close to the spinning teacups as I'll ever get:
ARF!!
Mickey!! I got pictures with him, Minnie, Goofy, and Aladdin & Jasmine. I was very bummed not to see my dear Donald :(
A dream is a wish your heart makes.....
So pretty at night!!
The switchoff! From Myra to Alexis:
Ashlynn (Alexis' sister) & I :D
Yes.. we did wait outside for Twilight... Shut it. haha. & Screw being Bella like everyone else... I was Alice!
Alexis' bro & another friend's brother & I just chillin at Lexi's momma's surprise bday party
Ashlynn's 'Come Hither..' Face:
Waiting for the best sandwiches I've ever had, at Sequoia:
To the beach!!
We all had killer sunglasses
Wow... a beach that is actually clean. Definitely 40 billion times better than Galveston ever has been at least. And it didn't even smell like rotten fish!! Is that possible??
Santa Monica Pier:
... i ruin pictures.......
Then on to Dallas for the reunion/Thanksgiving!!
Will & I... wow I can't believe he sat still long enough to take this!!:
The hammock was a main source of entertainment
Thrill ride!:
By the way.. this is the day we took family pictures. Will had no cuts or scrapes or anything which was amazing... but of course things had to happen or else the picture wouldn't be a true representation of him! He crashed a bike, or so I hear, and ended up with that red scrape as a trophy hahah.
Now, after dinner we were to go see a movie. Starting with the younger kids, I was asked to do crazy makeup (like I wear) for most of the family. Ok, so some of them we forced into it.. but still. Here's most of everyone
When I said mostly everyone had makeup... I really meant it. The dogs even got made up!! Muhahaha
Mikayla went for a whole new challenge. She sat down and told me... I want a turkey on my face. Uh.. okay! It ended up turning out pretty well in my opinion :)
Wins prize for Best Face Ever:
These girls are so silly...
See what I mean?:
Here we are deciding what kind of prints we could put on everyone's faces:
Mmmmm fooooooooood
Sam had to get his hip or something iced every day so instead of icing it they decided he'd get into the pool for about 10 minutes or so. I thought he was being a baby so I decided to show him. I got in and wasnt a wussy like him! haha. In idaho they had contests in a cold pool when we were at the hot springs. Whoever could stay in the cold pool longest wins. I won once.. the real shock is when you go right into the hot tub after!! Shock to the system..
Not sure why it won't let me rotate this.. but here's my weirdo baby cousin! The last of the grandbabies:
Will got hyper often. Attacks were his favorite. This was one of the strangest haha:
After returning, I took a trip to Harwin with some friends. For those of you that don't know what that is, its basically a whole street where they sell knockoffs and clothes and cheap jewelry (seriously, never pay 20 bucks for a simple necklace ever again. Just go there and pay maybe $3-7). I went this time with friends from church and from work. I saw these amazing chicken pants and just couldn't resist..... but you know what? I could totally pull them off. Just sayin:
We were able to go to the backrooms of Harwin and get the good stuff. I got a Tiffany's necklace, a good knockoff Prada purse, a Dooney wallet and some other things. Chelsea, my good friend from work, got waaay much more than that, among which were 2 Coach purses, louis vuitton belt, tiffany's necklace, and real Ed Hardy hats and shirts. She loves Ed Hardy.
Now, Chelsea's family was out of town for Christmas so she ended up coming over to our place Christmas morning. She totally jacked my bed too!!:
As I said, Chels loves Ed Hardy. As you know, we can decorate our shirts for work at TGI Fridays. So what did I give her? An Ed Hardy decorated TGI shirt for work. Her eyes popped out of their sockets when she saw it!! What do you think?
Front:
Side:
Back:
Chels is my main girl back home. We're pretty tight friends. As well as working at TGI she also models and is a crazy independent individual. She's amazing! hahah
My main girls! Chelsea & Emily:
Favorite manager, Randy:
My girl, Yessica, one of the hostesses:
And last, but definitely not least, my bfff Daniel Payne. Best Freaking Friend Forever. He's Canadian and also has lived in various places, including Argentina where he learned the spanish he uses to bug me every day. What a dorkwad!:
His 'Men of Fridays' Calender pose
Part of the group, very defining I think:
And then it was goodbye to them... and goodbye to my family. I already missed my family when I was living there (hard to explain), and now I miss them even more. I hope those other than mom know that I do.
Then to Jake & Ali's place. Here's Jake entertaining:
Kisses :)
My first ski trip. I kept annoying Jake by posing for pictures when the camera was aimed, rather than focus on skiing.
It was kinda sad in a way cuz Elli & Will were AMAZING at skiing and I was falling hahah. I ate it pretty bad once, like I did some flip thing, idk, but once I stopped, everything hurt. My neck still kind of hurts, but it was totally worth it. It's so much fun!
Thanks Jake & Ali, SO MUCH for everything that yall do! You dont know how much I appreciate it! Thank youuuuu :)
Alright my friends, 17 credits of homework isn't going to get done on its own (unfortunately) so I should definitely get on that, because if I dont do it now, I know I will never do it. So I leave you with this 'what the heck are you doing Courtney' - idontknow - picture....
And this one of my mother, for whom I mainly write these blogs, as no one else seems to read it hahaha. Enjoy!! muhahaha :
Until we meet again...
Following that was Thanksgiving with my Rippstein side of the family - first time everyone was together in 20 years, meaning that the last time everyone was together, the only cousin alive was my older cousin, Stephen. Now there are i think 20 grandkids total. Of 7 families, 5 families crammed into one house. And it worked! And it was a blast.. I wish I could be a part of that again.. I miss everyone so much
Aside from trips to different areas, of course I've explained I mainly just worked at TGI Fridays. I met many wonderful people working there. They said they'd miss me when I left because, and I quote, "Work just won't be funkified anymore!" Haha.
Why was I leaving you may ask? Well.. it was time once again to jet off to Idaho to go for Round 2 of BYUI school. BUT before being required to brave negative temperatures, ice and slush, I made a stop in Utah to visit my aunt & uncle. Grandma & Grandpa Barnes met me at the airport and it was very good to see them, and I do regret not being able to spend more time with them. And then.. a SURPRISE! I get in the car and my crazy lil cousins told me we were going to go skiing the next day. My first time. Apparently I did very well for my first time and I'll be going again sometime soon - lets hope it goes well!!
AND now on to the documentation!
Welcome to LA:
Frank Sinatra's prints in front of the beautiful Kodak theater:
STAR WARS CHARACTERS!! - R2D2, C3p0, Darth Vader - OHMYGOODNESS that was awesome:
Ok so we round the corner on Hollywood Blvd, and we see steps leading to an outdoor shopping area. Just kind of chill on its own, right? Well we get up there and it is Twilight hysteria. We see posters and people dressed up EVERYWHERE! So then we start to go into hyper mode... is someone from Twilight coming? So we go ask and we find out that part of the Twilight cast will be interviewed there and that Paramore will be performing. Wow. I mean I really didn't think I'd see any famous people, and I just happen to go to Hollywood once and I see the cast of Twilight? Freaking awesome. All of the sudden a bunch of girls started screaming and pointing and I looked up and there was JACOB! :
Then Paramore performed a few songs which was pretty cool. I didnt really know about them before Twilight though I may have heard the name. And then the cast came out, not everyone of course but all of the ones i was interested in seeing (with the exception of James). Alice, Emmett, Rosalie, Jasper &, of course, Jacob.
ON TO DISNEYLAND!!
I have been to Disneyworld twice before, and so this experience now with DisneyLAND was very interesting. As you may or may not know, Disneyland is what started it all; the first park. This is the one that has the history. In fact, they had a presentation you could go to about the first 50 years of Disney, hosted by Steve Martin and Donald Duck. It was greaaaat!!
Myra and I in front of Sleeping Beauty's castle!
Ok so Myra and I have this thing. I definitely claim Disneyworld as my park, and she claims Disneyland cuz thats what she grew up with. I like all the MORE that Disneyworld has to offer, plus I love the castle. I was kind of sad they didn't have a fireworks ending in front of the castle, because it was a weekday that we went. But it was decorated for Christmas, just like Disneyworld had been decorated when I went last year for Thanksgiving with the family. Now, in Disneyworld, they have Cinderella's castle, rather than Sleeping Beauty's. When you see the castle on previews for movies and stuff I think it is a combination of the two, but I definitely see more of it in Cinderella's castle. Which do you like better?
Sleeping Beauty's Castle:
Cinderella's Castle:
One fun area of Disneyworld is Adventureland where they have like Indiana Jones, Aladdin, Tarzan, the jungle boat ride, and a bunch of other things, including the Tiki Room (where i'm pictured outside from). Outside the Tiki Room is a 'pineapple whip' stand. You will never taste anything more glorious. WOW. I'm definitely hooked and can't wait to return and grab another one. If any of yall would kindly bring me along next time you take a family trip, that would be grand.
This is about as close to the spinning teacups as I'll ever get:
ARF!!
Mickey!! I got pictures with him, Minnie, Goofy, and Aladdin & Jasmine. I was very bummed not to see my dear Donald :(
A dream is a wish your heart makes.....
So pretty at night!!
The switchoff! From Myra to Alexis:
Ashlynn (Alexis' sister) & I :D
Yes.. we did wait outside for Twilight... Shut it. haha. & Screw being Bella like everyone else... I was Alice!
Alexis' bro & another friend's brother & I just chillin at Lexi's momma's surprise bday party
Ashlynn's 'Come Hither..' Face:
Waiting for the best sandwiches I've ever had, at Sequoia:
To the beach!!
We all had killer sunglasses
Wow... a beach that is actually clean. Definitely 40 billion times better than Galveston ever has been at least. And it didn't even smell like rotten fish!! Is that possible??
Santa Monica Pier:
... i ruin pictures.......
Then on to Dallas for the reunion/Thanksgiving!!
Will & I... wow I can't believe he sat still long enough to take this!!:
The hammock was a main source of entertainment
Thrill ride!:
By the way.. this is the day we took family pictures. Will had no cuts or scrapes or anything which was amazing... but of course things had to happen or else the picture wouldn't be a true representation of him! He crashed a bike, or so I hear, and ended up with that red scrape as a trophy hahah.
Now, after dinner we were to go see a movie. Starting with the younger kids, I was asked to do crazy makeup (like I wear) for most of the family. Ok, so some of them we forced into it.. but still. Here's most of everyone
When I said mostly everyone had makeup... I really meant it. The dogs even got made up!! Muhahaha
Mikayla went for a whole new challenge. She sat down and told me... I want a turkey on my face. Uh.. okay! It ended up turning out pretty well in my opinion :)
Wins prize for Best Face Ever:
These girls are so silly...
See what I mean?:
Here we are deciding what kind of prints we could put on everyone's faces:
Mmmmm fooooooooood
Sam had to get his hip or something iced every day so instead of icing it they decided he'd get into the pool for about 10 minutes or so. I thought he was being a baby so I decided to show him. I got in and wasnt a wussy like him! haha. In idaho they had contests in a cold pool when we were at the hot springs. Whoever could stay in the cold pool longest wins. I won once.. the real shock is when you go right into the hot tub after!! Shock to the system..
Not sure why it won't let me rotate this.. but here's my weirdo baby cousin! The last of the grandbabies:
Will got hyper often. Attacks were his favorite. This was one of the strangest haha:
After returning, I took a trip to Harwin with some friends. For those of you that don't know what that is, its basically a whole street where they sell knockoffs and clothes and cheap jewelry (seriously, never pay 20 bucks for a simple necklace ever again. Just go there and pay maybe $3-7). I went this time with friends from church and from work. I saw these amazing chicken pants and just couldn't resist..... but you know what? I could totally pull them off. Just sayin:
We were able to go to the backrooms of Harwin and get the good stuff. I got a Tiffany's necklace, a good knockoff Prada purse, a Dooney wallet and some other things. Chelsea, my good friend from work, got waaay much more than that, among which were 2 Coach purses, louis vuitton belt, tiffany's necklace, and real Ed Hardy hats and shirts. She loves Ed Hardy.
Now, Chelsea's family was out of town for Christmas so she ended up coming over to our place Christmas morning. She totally jacked my bed too!!:
As I said, Chels loves Ed Hardy. As you know, we can decorate our shirts for work at TGI Fridays. So what did I give her? An Ed Hardy decorated TGI shirt for work. Her eyes popped out of their sockets when she saw it!! What do you think?
Front:
Side:
Back:
Chels is my main girl back home. We're pretty tight friends. As well as working at TGI she also models and is a crazy independent individual. She's amazing! hahah
My main girls! Chelsea & Emily:
Favorite manager, Randy:
My girl, Yessica, one of the hostesses:
And last, but definitely not least, my bfff Daniel Payne. Best Freaking Friend Forever. He's Canadian and also has lived in various places, including Argentina where he learned the spanish he uses to bug me every day. What a dorkwad!:
His 'Men of Fridays' Calender pose
Part of the group, very defining I think:
And then it was goodbye to them... and goodbye to my family. I already missed my family when I was living there (hard to explain), and now I miss them even more. I hope those other than mom know that I do.
Then to Jake & Ali's place. Here's Jake entertaining:
Kisses :)
My first ski trip. I kept annoying Jake by posing for pictures when the camera was aimed, rather than focus on skiing.
It was kinda sad in a way cuz Elli & Will were AMAZING at skiing and I was falling hahah. I ate it pretty bad once, like I did some flip thing, idk, but once I stopped, everything hurt. My neck still kind of hurts, but it was totally worth it. It's so much fun!
Thanks Jake & Ali, SO MUCH for everything that yall do! You dont know how much I appreciate it! Thank youuuuu :)
Alright my friends, 17 credits of homework isn't going to get done on its own (unfortunately) so I should definitely get on that, because if I dont do it now, I know I will never do it. So I leave you with this 'what the heck are you doing Courtney' - idontknow - picture....
And this one of my mother, for whom I mainly write these blogs, as no one else seems to read it hahaha. Enjoy!! muhahaha :
Until we meet again...
