Living Blossoms

+ Yep - we made it! We got home around 9:15 or so Wednesday night. Even though it was actually 4:15am Greece time, we managed to stay awake on the drive from the airport and tell Mom a little about our trip. It was SO GOOD to sleep in our own super-comfy bed that night! We had no trouble falling asleep (although I did stay up to watch an episode of Law & Order that I hadn't seen, which meant I had been up for over 24 hours by the time I fell asleep!), but we've been unable to sleep in since we got back, giving us less than 8 hours both nights so far. Considering we were up for so long the day we came home... yeah. Coffee has been our friend since we've been home.

+ So... life at home is great, especially since we're still on vacation. Yesterday we made a big breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon and grilled bagels with cream cheese. That was the first "real" breakfast we'd had in a month, and it was SO good. Lunch was at Chick-Fil-A - YUM - and then we went to church because the girl who's filling in for me had some questions. We also had to say hi to Ken, of course, and tell him all about our trip.

Then we went to see Up, which, until I saw that several of you absolutely adored it, I didn't have much desire to see. Well, we loved it too! What a great story. We had intended to go to Steak 'n' Shake after, but ended up sitting in front of some friends from church at the movie, and they invited us to join them for dinner at Olive Garden. They asked us all about our trip and then even bought our dinner! Rock on! Though honestly the coolest part was seeing all the pics on the walls there, of Tuscany, of the Roman Pantheon, etc., and saying to each other, "WE'VE BEEN THERE!" =oD Italy has been at the top of my list of places I want to go for a VERY long time, and now I'VE BEEN THERE. And I'd love to go back someday.

After dinner we went back to the theater to watch Star Trek. I think that was the only time in my life I've been to see two movies in the theater in one day, but since it wasn't the weekend movies were half price, so we didn't feel too guilty about it. We both quite liked Star Trek, but only if we didn't actually think of it as Star Trek, since they basically annihilated everything that is already in the ST canon. As a stand-alone movie, it was good. The guy who played McCoy was fantastic. The guy who played Kirk was hard to take seriously because he reminded me so much of DiNozzo on NCIS. Zachary Quinto looked a lot like Spock, but I couldn't take him seriously because apparently he will always be Sylar to me.

+ Oh, one other thing that happened yesterday is that my car wouldn't start. Yeah. I'm honestly not surprised since it wasn't started for over 3 weeks and had been having some minor issues before we left, but it was still frustrating. Isaac replaced the spark plugs and the distributor cap and then it started working. Whew! You know, he really is an amazing man, that husband of mine.

+ I know there was more to tell you, but I've forgotten it all. Oh well. Next time. =o)

Yay for a normal post!

+ Our Halloween night was fun, but felt nothing like Halloween. We had fun though.

+ Saturday morning we woke up early to go with Isaac's coworkers to the Florida Baptist Children's Home. We cooked a meal on the grill and then served it. Sadly, we didn't get to interact with the kids (some orphans, some temporarily there till a parent gets their act together) much. This was my first visit to an American orphanage. I felt bad for the kids there, of course, but it just reaffirmed my desire to adopt kids from other countries. To the orphans in El Salvador, the FBCH would be like heaven. The kids don't go hungry, and they have house parents so they get attention and affection, and they're taught the Truth, not the cult of Mary.

Saturday afternoon I slept for 4 hours on the couch! That was not expected, but much-needed. We watched Ghostbusters, which I hadn't seen since I was a teenager. That night Isaac went to play football with some friends, and I watched Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, which I hadn't seen since it was in theaters last year. It is amazing that that movie is 2 hours long and there is SO MUCH left out of it.

+ Sunday was pretty much engulfed by our Olympian Fun Fall Festival. After lunch we set up for it, which took so long we only had about an hour and a half between it and the actual festival. We had 13 kids come, though, and 6 of them don't attend church anywhere; their only exposure to God is through our club. We had a ton of candy left over again, so that was great. Hehe. I did face painting, and tried a few new things this year that went over big.

+ Monday's activities have slipped my mind, save for watching SNL's Presidential Bash that evening. Very entertaining.

+ Tuesday I voted in the morning and did not have to wait in line at all. Bwaha. I then went out to lunch at Olive Garden with Grams, Ange, and the kids. It'd been ages since I'd been there. I do love their Five Cheese Ziti al Forno, breadsticks, and raspberry lemonade. *licks lips* As mentioned the other day, we went to AAAC's house that night for a small election party, which was a total blast and an excuse to use the chocolate fountain again. =oD I was up way too late that night though, and I've paid for it since.

+ Yesterday I spent the day cocooned in the house. I felt like crap for staying up so late without being able to sleep in, and I was still royally ticked about the election results, so I did not want to see any news or newspapers. I was able to take a bit of a nap in the late afternoon, and I convinced Isaac to join me. We skipped the gym in favor of something more fun, and then finally went to see Fireproof. (We've been saying we were going to see it ever since it came out.) We were both pleasantly surprised by it. I had no idea it was funny, and I was expecting nearly all the actors to be bad, like in Facing the Giants. Instead, only a few of them were really wooden, and the rest, while not likely to win an Academy Award, were quite good. It was well-made too - as good as any indie film I've seen. And of course I bawled my eyes out. Hehe. I also had fun spotting people who were in Facing the Giants. We went to the movie at 7, and still hadn't had dinner, but thankfully it was free small popcorn day for people in their Movie Watcher club, so we snacked on that and then went to Steak 'n Shake. We hadn't been there in months, and they have 4 meals under $4 now - and they're good ones - so that was awesome. It was a great little impromptu date night. =o)

Oh yeah, and when we were on the highway heading down to the theater, we kept seeing all these cops go by very quickly, some with lights on, some without. We got around the bend and saw the cops (now all with lights on) blocking the entire highway. We were right behind them. We still don't know what was going on, but we saw them arrest 3 girls in their late teens/20s who looked stoned. We're guessing they were driving recklessly and, to have so many policemen there, probably refusing to pull over at first. Isaac was pretty freaked out, because the cops had their guns drawn and we were so close to them, but I figured any bullets would've had to go through 3 cop cars to get to us. Anyway, it made us late for the movie, but it was pretty exciting.

+ Someone in Greece bought one of my Supernatural shirts! That is so cool. What will be even cooler is if when we're there in June, I see her wearing it. Yeah, yeah, Greece is a decent-sized country, blah, blah, blah. It would still be cool.

+ Off to watch Survivor and then Supernatural. Happy almost-Friday!

+ Today I applied for a job as a server - and not at Steak 'n Shake. I didn't want to go back there anyway, but with gas so expensive it hardly makes sense to spend $5 just to get to work and back. I'm going to apply to 3 restaurants within a mile from my house, and if they don't hire me, there are a few more about 5 miles away. Today was one of the mile ones - Sonny's BBQ. They do decent weekday lunch business, and servers wear jeans, so I'm really hoping they'll hire me.

I don't really want to get a second job, but I decided I do really want to go to El Salvador this December with my church. I know I just went in July, but this December we are going to do Christmas parties at the orphanage, villages and La Esperanza. How could I not want to do that? But obviously we can't afford it, and I feel bad asking for money when I only work part-time. I figured out that if I make what I made working 12 hours at SnS, or even a little less, that will pay for it almost exactly with the time I have left before the trip. It will be sad to go without Isaac, but I can deal.

+ I have not been sleeping well at all lately. The past many nights it has taken me over an hour to fall asleep, and I keep waking up early. I've been totally wiped out during the day. Today when Isaac got home I convinced him to cuddle up with me on the couch and we slept for 2 hours. It was a great day for laying about on the couch, as it was gray and windy and drizzly.

+ I went to the library and picked up Rick Steves' Best of Europe and My Hands Came Away Red, which I'd never heard of, but I saw it and liked the cover, so I got it. I totally judge books by their covers. Hehe. I'm excited about the Rick Steves book because we are still planning on going to Europe next May/June, and I've heard this is a good one for planning. The other one I looked up online after I got home and there's nothing but rave reviews for it, so I'm excited.

+ It's officially autumn now (even though it won't feel like it in FL for another month or so), so I am thrilled to have my beautiful autumn layout again! Yes, it's the one you all hate 'cause the comments run off the page. But it's so pretty. Hehe.

+ I'm so excited about most shows starting this week. I really can't wait for NCIS, The Unit, The Amazing Race, and Survivor. Yeah, I pretty much love CBS shows.

+ Oh! Speaking of TV premieres, gotta go - Heroes is on!

+ It's amazing how many more comments come to my inbox when I'm actually leaving comments on my friends page. Funny how that works. It's been great catching up on you guys. I've missed you!

+ I've been exhausted since we got back. I suppose that's to be expected since I didn't get enough sleep while we were gone, but I slept 11 hours last night and the night before and I'm still dragging. Of course, today's headache probably isn't helping. Oh well. I'm pretty much used to being tired all the time.

+ Yesterday it stormed most of the day. I got out of the shower to discover Mandy laying next to it. So adorable. It's actually stormed for at least an hour or two every day we've been home. I'm pretty sure it didn't rain at all while we were gone.

+ Speaking of Mandy, thanks so much for praying for her while we were gone. She seems to have survived quite well and, in fact, even ate some of her food while we were gone. I was ridiculously worried about her, but she was fine.

+ The other day when I was at Sam's Club, I saw a middle-aged mom, her late teens/early 20s son and daughter, and her 11-year-old daughter. Every single one of them - even the mom - had Heelys on and were rolling through Sam's Club. Coolest. Family. Ever.

+ I feel really cute today. I wore a top I haven't worn for a long time, and it looks nice.

+ I miss my family. We shared a hotel suite with Mom, Dad, Grams, and Seth for a few days, and saw AAAC and Nathan, Nicole & James for much of two days up there too, but since we've been home I've only seen Mom, and only once (tonight). I miss spending all that time with them.

+ Today, Ken asked if I would consider taking over the church treasurer position. The current treasurer got a job in New Orleans and has to move very soon. I'm considering it. I don't think I'd particularly enjoy it, but I know I could do it (especially with Isaac to help me if I need his mad accounting skillz), and it would be extra money. So, I'm thinking and praying about it.

+ Any E.L.F. Cosmetics fans out there? If so, go here to find out how to get products for 50% off AND get free shipping. Can't beat 50-cent lip glosses and nail polish!

+ As usual, there was definitely more I wanted to say, but I've forgotten. Such is life.