We decided to go to Florida when our friend Steven invited us to his wedding. Typically I don't think we would have flown all the way to Florida for a wedding that wasn't a family member, but there was a lot more we could do there than just go to wedding. My dad lives about an hour away from Orlando and I have a very good friend that lives in Jacksonville. So John and I decided to take a Spring Break if you will and visit Florida.
Dad so graciously bought us 3 day, park hopper tickets to Universal Studios. I have been wanting to go to Universal ever since the Harry Potter parks opened. The park hopper pass allowed us to take the Hogwarts Express between the 2 parks, which is WAY better than walking. Here we are waiting for the train
I also got the awesome opportunity to try some Butterbeer
The Harry Potter parks are a must see for any Harry Potter fan. They are a lot of fun and really help bring the books to life. You have to ride the Castle Tour and Escape from Gringotts. Those rides were epic and the queuing for them are great too! I've never had so much fun waiting in line for 45+ minutes as I did waiting to ride the Harry Potter rides. Even just walking around Diagon Alley and Hogsmede is fun. Walking into all of the shops and buying candy from Honey Dukes or joke toys at Weasley Wizarding Wheezes was a blast. You can also explore Knockturn Alley, which is cool.
While the Harry Potter parks were by far my favorite part of Universal Studios I enjoyed the rest of the park as well . We got to watch some pretty cool shows and ride some other epic rides. Shooting Aliens on the Men in Black ride and getting soaked on the Popeye water ride was a blast. Despite getting a horrendous headache my first day at the park I really had fun hanging out with John and my Dad and Step-mom. Word of advice to anyone planning a trip to Florida. Drink LOTS of water and make sure to eat on a regular basis too. Universal Studios allows you to bring food and water into the park to help cut the costs of expensive park food. And if I remember right from my trip to Disney World a few years ago, they do as well. Take advantage of that! It's really hard to enjoy the parks if you have a headache because you are dehydrated or haven't eaten!
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| This picture is a must if you go to Universal Studios. And look at what a great job Dad did at getting this!!! |
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| nothing like checking out Fear Factor live. Not as crazy as the actual show, but it was a nice way to relax and eat some snacks. If you need a break from all of the rides and craziness, stop by and check it out. |
Wednesday and Thursday (as well as Monday of the following week) were spent at Universal Studios. Friday John and relaxed pretty much all day. We ran to Wal-Mart to get some last minute wedding stuff, got our hair cut (John) and got our nails done (me). Then we got all fancied up and went to the wedding.
Unfortunately I don't have any great pics from the wedding. John and I apparently were horrible at taking selfies that night and a lot of the pics I have took on a very red hue because of the lighting. But just know it was a LOT of fun. While we didn't know anyone other than the bride and groom, John and I managed to really have a good time (with the help of an open bar :) ). John and I don't get dressed up and go out drinking and dancing ever so it's a nice change of pace when we go to a wedding. And ever since the wedding John and I have started talking a little bit more seriously about our future wedding, whenever that will be. And no this is not an engagement announcement. There is still no ring on my finger. . . YET :) Thanks Steven and Kate for a great night!! Sorry I have no awesome pics to show for it. Maybe I will get in and try to do some editing at some point.
Saturday John and I drove up to ST. Augustine to meet my friends Russ and Alesha. They spent a couple hours with us at Universal Studios on Wednesday, but I didn't come all the way to Florida to spend just a few hours with my good friend Russ! For those of you who don't know, Russ and I have been friends for 6 or 7 years. We met doing early morning custodial way back in the day at BYU. We've been close ever since. I consider him almost like another brother. He is from Florida originally and moved back to Jacksonville after graduating (and brought his then fiance Alesha with him). I haven't seen them since they moved to Jacksonville and I just HAD to meet their little one. So they graciously met us in St. Augustine to spend the afternoon. I loved walking around and chatting with them, and hanging out with the kiddo. She and I had so much fun just walking around. I loved it. It was nice to get to know Alesha better as well. I had met her only a couple of times before they moved so I really enjoyed talking to her more. I knew she was awesome because she landed Russ, who is just so cool :) My hunch was confirmed after spending time with her and getting to chat about the possibility of getting engaged and all that other girl stuff us girls have to talk about whenever we get together. And I'm glad John got the chance to meet Russ. Russ is so important to me as a friend and John is obviously important to me. Russ meeting John and "approving" of him was so great. And John saying he enjoyed hanging out with Russ was pretty cool too. It's always nice when 2 important guys in my life meet and get along. I think John has finally met all of the important guys in my life and they all seem to approve. So we can move forward and get engaged any time now. haha
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| Checking out the fort. |
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| Russ is such a good dad. And look at that cutie! Isn't she adorable!!!!! |
We had so much fun in St. Augustine and can't wait to see Russ and Co. again when they come out to Utah in June!
Saturday night we hung out with the newlywed couple again. It's always interesting to go out when we aren't in Utah. The atmosphere and people are so different outside of the "Utah Bubble". We had a good time eating dinner and getting drinks with Steven, Kate and some of their other friends that were visiting from out of town. While I love all of my LDS friends and hanging out with them, it's always nice to go out with people that have a similar lifestyle to us. Not that the LDS lifestyle is bad by any means, it's just different.
Sunday John and I drove out to Cocoa Beach. Cocoa Beach is MAYBE 20 minutes away from my dad's house, which is so cool to me. Finding parking at the beach in the middle of March on a weekend is by no means an easy task, especially since we REALLY didn't want to pay for parking. We are pretty sure we ended up parking outside of a strip club, but hey, parking was free for 3 hours so we were ok with it. John and I enjoyed relaxing on the beach and collecting some seashells. We found some way cool ones that we are planning on displaying as soon as I go out and buy a vase. John taught me how to body surf which was fun. I don't think I ever actually did it correctly, but I had a blast pretending to know what I was doing and hanging out in the ocean. I love the beach and how relaxing it is (even when there is a HUGE crowd every where you turn). To me, there is nothing better than laying out in a bathing suit with the sun shining down on you and being able to hop in the water to cool off if need be. Whether it's a lake or the ocean, I just love that setting.
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| No we are not on a nude beach. I just happen to be wearing a strapless bathing suit top. I promise. |
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| The obligatory beach kissy picture. We are just so cute right? |
Soon I promise I will get pics up from 2014. We did so much last year that I want to share with everyone! And we still have most of 2015 left to go! We have a couple more fun trips tentatively planned, both to Connecticut. We also have concerts we want to go to, races to run, recipes to share, crafts to try, and just our normal life. I am going to try to post more frequently, I promise!
Much love!!!
~Tara
