Rollin' Rollin' for Rollercoasters

whew, what a day

We finally made it to Cedar Point Amusement Park on Saturday and we had a fun, but exhausting day. And, sorry folks, I have no photos. :( I was going to take my camera in but then the guys kept saying, "well, don't get mad at us when it breaks or you lose it". They had a good point. So I opted to leave it in the car.

It was a beautiful day in Sandusky, OH. It was probably about 80 degrees, sunny and a slight breeze. The park is situated on a peninsula on Lake Erie so as you are ascending up the rollercoasters you could see water on both sides of the park that seemed to go on forever like an ocean. It was breathtaking!

We rode about 3 really cool coasters and then I talked the boys into riding the "Thunder Canyon" ride. For you Kansans, just think "Fury of the Nile". I LOVE water rides and I don't care about being wet and walking around the park. Well, even on the Fury, you know that some people get wet and others don't, so I figured we could count on at least one of us leaving the ride virtually unscathed by the big waves and pouring waterfalls.

Well, I was wrong. This ride showed no mercy.

As we approached the line we noticed there was almost no one in line. "Great" we thought, at least there is not a wait. Little did we know that this should have been a sign to turn around and go on a different ride instead. There were signs on the path warning "you WILL get wet on this ride" and "Ponchos and rain jackets for sale". We thought "Duh, you will get wet, that's the point and who in their right mind would buy a poncho to go on a water ride."

As we wait to get on the next boat we see people getting off their raft DRIPPING wet from head to toe. Not a dry spot on them. WOW... that can't happen every time. Can it?

I am here to tell you folks that it does in fact happen EVERY time. We managed to miss a few big waves and scraped by the first waterfall and thought maybe we were home free with just a little wetness. Oh, but we were wrong. At the very end we see what seemed like 5 waterfalls (3 on one side and 2 on the other) and these weren't trickling, slow moving waterfalls folks. These were gushing, pouring waterfalls and when I say we got wet, I mean we were soaked from head to toe... all three of us. I thought it was fun so I didn't care too much. I had on capris that had a great material that dried real fast, a tank top and flip flops. Well, Jared had on jean shorts and Hicks had on khaki cargoes and they both had t-shirts. At least Hicks wore flip flops, but poor Jared had on his usual tennis shoes and socks. YUCK! They pretty much cursed me for taking them on the ride the rest of the day :) I apologized, but then laughed secretly. :)

Here's a few photos from the Cedar Point website of a few rollercoasters we rode.

There were many more rides that we didn't get a chance to ride because they were so busy. We hope to go back soon and ride some more! :)

A week without the Jareds....

what will i do

Next week Jared and Hicks are going to the PGI Convention in Gillette, Wyoming. Who knew they had firework conventions? Oh well, I'm sure they will have fun but I will sure be bored. :(

Hurry back fellas!

Random Acts of Kindness

GBE topic #48

I thought this week's topic was kinda fun so I figured I would give it a whirl.

"Treat others as you want to be treated"

"Giving is better than receiving"

"Waste not, want not"

These are all phrases we have heard time and time again as our society strives to be giving towards the less fortunate, disabled, elderly, or just unlucky people. I try to practice "Random Acts of Kindness" as often as I can, but I often find that my perception of others hinders my giving ability.

For example, stopping to help someone on the side of the road, I would never do.

1. I am a girl and I am weak.

2. I know NOTHING about cars.

3. How do I know this person is not a serial killer, a rapist or a thief?

Now, I know that is not a great way to think, but in the world these days you can never be too careful.

Another example... if someone comes to my door and I look out the peephole and it is someone I do not know and is not wearing a UPS, Police Department, or or apartment maintenance uniform (or other recognizable uniform), I usually don't answer the door. Do they need help? Maybe, but I am too chicken to open the door and find out. Is this a logical way to be? No, but it kinda scares me and people can get into your house that way.

Now, with that said, I am lot braver and more giving in these types of situations if Jared is there. I remember January 2007, Jared and I were heading back to Pitt from Wichita in a HUGE snow storm. He was driving and I was tensing and closing my eyes every 5 seconds. I was scared. Jared, however, maintained his cool and kept the car on the road. We were about 20 miles west of Fort Scott when we see an older woman on the side of the road trying to shovel her SUV out of the snow to get back up to the road. Cars were wizzing by and no one was stopping. Jared pulls over to the side of the road and says, "I know you wanna get home, but this poor woman needs some help and no one else is stopping". I agreed that she did need help. So, Jared tried and tried to get her SUV back up out of the ditch and onto the road and each time it got harder and harder. Eventually, he gave up (fearing he would tip the truck over) and told her to call a tow truck. She approached our vehicle and sat in the drivers seat to make the call. I did feel bad for her, she was an older woman, but I was still a little leery of a strange woman sitting in the car with me. She was pleasant and thanked us profusely, and I know if that would have been me, I would have been grateful that someone was there to help me too.

Jared helps a lot of people in situations like this. I can't even begin to tell you the number of times we have jumped random cars for people, of helped people change their tires.

My acts of kindness come in other ways than the emergency car repair arena. I try to send random e-mails or cards to friends once in a while just to tell them hi and that I hope they have a great day. I always hold doors open for people and I have been known to help the elderly load groceries into their cars at the grocery store or help them get something off the top shelf. I rarely give money to beggars on the street, but will often give money at the grocery store for the various fundraisers that may be going on. I always wave to road construction workers when they wave me through the orange cones and I smile at people in passing.

They are pretty simple things, but I like to think they make a difference in someone's life. It is hard to get passed those perceptions sometimes, but I try to focus on little things. I'll leave the big ones to Jared :)

I'm booked this whole month folks

busy, busy, busy days ahead

I FINALLY got a little trip to Chicago figured out for our first wedding anniversary (thanks for the help Marla) and I am really excited. We "Hotwired" a hotel (I was a Hotwire virgin until yesterday and now I think I am hooked). We put in for a four-star hotel in the Magnificent Mile area. Well, most of those were pretty pricey, so we looked a little south to the Loop and found one for $94 a night! It ended up being the Hilton (can't go wrong there) and the normal price through normal booking would have been $172 a night (thanks for Marla, again, for showing me how good of a deal I got). So, needless to say I was happy about this little Hotwire experiment.

Then I decided to book us tickets to the Second City Improv Comedy Show at the Apollo. The tickets were $25 a person, which can't be beat and it looked like a lot of fun. Other than that, I figured we would do some sight seeing, visit the Navy Pier and just take in Chicago. Neither one of us has really had a chance to visit and get to know the city. I think we will have a good time! Just wish us luck on the South Shore Train line and the L Trains... I'm a little rusty on subway riding. I'm thinking I'm gonna need to print some maps. :)

So, this is one of our weekends in August that is planned, but we have a busy month ahead of us folks.

Here's the lowdown:

August 6-8 - Hitting a few Silverhawks baseball games. They are giving out free hats tonight and we are determined to get one! :)
August 9 - FINALLY using our tickets to Cedar Point Amusement Park in Sandusky, OH
August 11 - Going to the Indiana State Fair to help with our booth for work
August 16 - Heading to Chicago for our anniversary adventure
August 21-24? - Jared's very good friend Adam is coming to visit.
August 24-27 - I am in Indianapolis for the National Prevention Network Conference for work
August 29-Sept. 1 - Marla and Jeremy are flying into Chicago and are spending a day with us in South Bend and then we are all spending a few days in Chicago.

BUSY BUSY... but we love it!

Oh what to do, what to do

need your help

I have been struggling with what to do for our first wedding anniversary for some time now. But, now, the day is approaching fast and I still have no plan. We'd like to do a day and night in Chicago or somewhere on Lake Michigan. Anyone have any ideas for cheap and fun entertainment in those parts? I have found a few things (lunch/dinner cruise out of the Navy Pier, Chicago Comedy Series at the Apollo and the Jersey Boys musical) but I'd like more input before I go full out and start booking things! HELP! :)

Just had to share!

mo' money, mo' money, mo' money

I was just given 20 more hours a week for the tobacco grant to add to my current 20 hours! I am still a contract employee, but the hourly pay is sooo awesome. AND... we got a little tip from someone at the federal level that we have received our federal Drug Free Communities grant, which means I will soon become a full time employee with benefits. YAY! I knew taking the part-time gig would pay off eventually. I just hope I can get back into working full time hours, I got a little spoiled :)

Now if we can just sell our house that would be icing on the cake and then we can start the baby train a rollin'. :)

Have a wonderful Monday everyone!!!! I know I will!!!!