Happy Halloween!

There are some extra Halloween decorations at the Magic Kingdom this year.

Up near the castle there is the Walt & Mickey partners statue.  Around the statue is a circle with greenery and benches.

There are 4 'bronze' statues of the Fab 5 (minus Mickey).

Here are photos of Donald and Minnie.  I think their pumpkins might light up at night ... cool!

Look who else I saw at the Rays game!

As Jonathan and I were leaving the Rays game, we ran into this guy.

It's Brian Knobs, otherwise known as Nasty Knobs, otherwise known as The Nasty Boys!

If you're still not following, he was a WWE wrestler.

Honestly, I don't remember him very much, but he's a huge Rays fan.  He was at game 1 (with Hulk Hogan - a Tampa resident) and he was at game 6.  I debated asking him for a photo, but he was walking with his wife and friend, so I felt kind-of weird.

Plus, this guy is HUGE!!!

Notice his rockin' Rayshawk.  Sexy!

YouTube Tuesdays

A week or so ago, Jonathan and I went to game 6 of the Tampa Bay Rays and the Boston Red Sox series.

Before the game they showed this short movie on the big screen.  I thought it was pretty funny!  Check out his homemade Rays t-shirt.

Digi Scraping

I've been scrapbooking for about 10 years now.  I enjoyed doing it, and I really enjoyed looking at the finished products (and remembering stuff I did).

Recently I've fallen into a creative slump.  I actually didn't want to scrapbook because it just took too long.  I wanted results, but I couldn't produce results.

Then I discovered digital scrapbooking.  It RULES!  It's 100X faster, it's easier, and most importantly it's less expensive.  All the paper and stickers and ribbon and other stuff I used to buy are all downloadable and FREE!  Now, you can pay for stuff, but there is tons of free stuff out there.

My favorite "give me free stuff" website:  www.ikeagoddess.blogspot.com.  I check out her blog daily.

My favorite "I might eventually pay money for this" designer is Britt-ish Designs.  Her funky style rocks!  I love everything she does.  Plus she loves Disney.  Basically, I want to be her cyber friend.

Here are some of the layouts I've created:

Product Placement of the Day

Check out this fun blog!

Look who I ran into at the Rays game!

Please excuse the silly look on my face - but I met an ESPN celebrity at the Rays game on 10/18/08.

It's Tim Kurkjian (pronouced Ker-chin) - an ESPN baseball analyst.

He was just wandering around the 300 level.  I saw some guy shake his hand and I thought, "that guy looks familiar?!?"

I told Jonathan that I found Lee Corso!  Wait, that's the old guy on College Game Day.  It's Karl Ravich!  Actually, no - it was Tim Kurkjian.  Thankfully Jonathan knew his name.  I knew he was familiar, but I couldn't get my ESPN guys straight in my head.

We walked behind him for about 4 minutes until practically nobody else was around.  I said, "excuse me Mr. Kurkjian?" and he turned around.

I asked if I could get a photo taken with him, and he was so nice!  He said, "sure!".  Then he shook Jonathan's hand and my hand.

Take note that I am about 5' tall.  Which means Tim Kurkjian is only about 5'5".

YouTube Tuesdays

A month ago Jonathan and I went to see Nick Swardson at the Hard Rock in Orlando.  Somebody managed to get a camera/video camera in the arena and took this video.  I honestly haven't watched it, and it is kind-of long, but maybe you'll enjoy it!

You may recognize Nick Swardson from the movie Grandma's Boy, Click, Blades of Glory, Reno 911 (TV show & movie) and more.  He had a slight potty mouth, but he was still hilarious.

And, seriously, if Hard Rock paid everybody $100 to sit in their seats and not get up and buy drinks every 5 minutes, I think Jonathan and I would've been the only ones to walk out of the joint with $100.

Wilderness Lodge

Long story short, I got a free room night at any Disney resort! I picked the Wilderness Lodge, so we could walk over to Fort Wilderness Campground and go to the outdoor movies. After I booked a room, I realized I could upgrade (again - for free!) to a one bedroom villa.

This sucker was huge! A bedroom, a huge bathroom, living room and a full kitchen. We used absolutely none of the features, but it was a sweet room non the less

.

We also found tons of Hidden Mickeys!

Here was our 21 hour vacation:

2-3pm - Property Control (found a necklace I really wanted for 75% off!)

3-4pm - Check in and walk around the room

4-5pm - Walk over to Fort Wilderness

5-6pm - Eat at Trails End

6-7pm - Waddle back to our hotel room (actually, we took the boat)

7-8pm -

Swimming! I haven't been swimming in FOREVER. Jonathan hates swimming (b/c he hates getting sunburned), so I was really excited when he agreed to go swimming at Wilderness Lodge

8-10pm - Monsters, Inc. at Fort Wilderness

10pm-9am - Sleep

9am - Check out. :0(

Blue Man Group

My friend Melanie won 40 tickets - you read that right - to the Blue Man Group.

I guess she won them off a radio contest. After the show we got to meet one of the Blue Men!

I really wanted to ask him some questions, but he stayed in character the entire time, meaning he was silent and kind-of creepy.

The show overall was really cool! I guess I'm glad I didn't pay $80 for my ticket, but I really enjoyed myself. I don't want to say much about the show, because I don't want to ruin anything ... but the show is ANYTHING but unpredictable. Just don't be late for the show, or you may get picked on.

YouTube Tuesdays

In honor of the Tampa Bay Rays making the playoffs for the FIRST TIME ever, here is a You Tube movie I made of the Rays Fan Fest before the season started.

Go Rays!

Feel the heat ... Rays!

Last Friday Jonathan and I went to the opening game of the American League Championship Series (fancy word for - winner goes to the World Series).

We won tickets on ebay.  Even though we paid 400% over the normal price, it was still worth it.  It was a fun game ... even though the Rays lost.  They didn't even score a run!

I got to show off my 44cents Rays t-shirt I bought at a thrift store in Illinois.

The game started at 8:36pm.  Over around 12:15am.  Home by 2:30am!

I hope the Rays can beat Boston, make it to the World Series, and maybe I can buy more tickets.  This time, hopefully, at normal price.

An open letter to Dianner Navarro.

Dear Dianner Navarro,

I really owe you an apology.

During the '06 & '07 Tampa Bay Devil Rays (they were the D. Rays back then) season, I had a lot of mean things to say about you.

Maybe you were a great defensive catcher, but you really stunk at the plate.  I went to a lot of Rays game those 2 seasons, and I never saw you get a hit.  You were barely batting .200.  I could never understand why you were playing.  I yelled at you a lot, and since nobody was at the Rays games, you could probably hear me ... even though I was sitting in the outfield in the cheap seats.  You grounded out every at bat, and I always let you have it.

Well, this '08 season you've proved me wrong.  For the first 1/2 of the season you batted well above .300.  You made the All Star team, and you weren't the pitty All Star (b/c every team has to have an all star representative).  I was actually thrilled when you would come up to bat, because I knew we had a great chance of getting some runs.

So Dionner Navarro, or Navi as I like to call you, I sincerely apologize.

No hard feelings,

Amber

You Man!

Remember I mentioned the "You Man" photo a couple posts back? The "You Man" originated with Julie and her brother Tom (I think?). The phrase comes from the baseball movie Major League. Julie and Tom both posed for a photo saying "Yoooooou Man" and pointing at the camera. Somehow, our family got involved and now we do it when ever we can!

Here are a couple more examples:

For some reason I'm the only one doing the You Man here. I'm also sporting overalls and a sweater. Not a great fashion year for me. This was right before Corey and Tom (Julie's brother) went to senior prom.

Here we are again (all saying "You Man!" this time) at Corey and Tom's high school graduation.

YouTube Tuesdays

I love this commercial!!!  Plus, it actually won an emmy.  Which makes me think pretty much anything can win an emmy

Totally Radical!

Julie already downloaded some photo from the '80s party!

Here is the entire group taking the traditional YOU MAN photo. It's a family tradition ... long story ...

For some reason we're doing a kick line. From left to right is Jonathan, Julie, me and my broth er Corey. Jean shorts or "jorts" as everybody calls them were very popular.

Here is Julie and her husband Mitch slow dancing - '80s style! Mitch was dressed up a little Bret Michaels and a little Miami Vice.

Balderdash!!! From bottom left: Tom (Julie's brother), Jonathan, me, Jeremy (Julie's other brother), Mitch and my brother Corey. When I was in 2nd grade Julie's family moved in across the street. Julie and I are the same age, and Tom & Corey are the same age. Jeremy is in the middle. They are pretty much my 2nd family. And Corey spends a lot of time with them b/c our parents live so far away.

Totally Tubular!

Last night (until 2am - yes, I stayed up until 2am!) my friend Julie hosted a party for my brother's 27th birthday. It was an '80s party. Unfortunatly Jonathan and I aren't really party animals, so we didn't come prepared with any '80s gear.

Thankfully, I had packed a cheesy '80s looking Kwaj t-shirt to wear. It was a size small. Since Julie let me borrow a polka dot tank top with bows all over it, Jonathan tried on my Kwaj t-shirt. It fit him like a glove ... a really tight glove. So Jonathan's got on the tightest t-shirt ever, and a mullet wig. The wig didn't last 10 minutes b/c he claims it was itchy. Jonathan was pretty sexy with a mullet! All the girls at the party sported side pony tails.

I discovered the wonderful game of Balderdash! It's hilarious. My cheeks were killing me the rest of the night from laughing. It's easy to play, but hard to understand. Basically, the person who's turn it is has a card. He reads a movie title from the card, like FANGS. Then everybody around the table makes up a quick synopsis (sp?) of this movie FANGS. For example: A small town in Nebraska is infested by tree snakes // A NYC Cop is actually a vampire and learns to love again // An unpopular teen turns into a wherwolf and learns to play basketball ...

These 'answers' are all read outloud, and you have to pick the real one. The person who was 'it' has the real answer on the card. Everybody at the table tries to pick the real synopsis of the movie FANGS out of all the fake ones. Again, it's fun to play but hard to explain via blog. I highly, HIGHLY recommend you check it out. It's a great game for about 4-7 people.

Today it's off to the thrift stores!!! Jonathan is really excited - not!

Sweet home ...

... Chicago!

Jonathan and I flew in to Chicago tonight. We landed at 9pm and we arrived at my friend's house at 10:20pm.

We have to wake up tomorrow at 6:45am in order to catch the train to Chicago! Tomorrow my friend who I'm staying with (Julie - check out her blog here) and my brother have to work, so I'm going to show Jonathan around Chicago. Not that I'm a great tour guide, I've only been there a handfull of times myself.

I've never seen that "bean", so I'm pretty excited.

Then we're celebrating my brother's b-day tomorrow night. Julie is throwing him an '80s party!

Good night!