I Want to Ride my Bicycle

You know that two wheeled device you probably have sitting in your garage that's stacked behind a bunch of boxes and other random things?  Yeah, yeah...that bike?  Well, I pulled mine out last week and totally emerged myself into riding it throughout the weekend.  Yesterday in the evening instead of desert I hopped on and went on a seven mile ride. Today I rode it to run errands.  I'm sweaty, hot, out of breath getting into shape, and loving it!

The last time I rode my bicycle frequently I was an early teenager.  I've dabbled with riding it here and there a time or two in those last 15 plus years but never again since my voracious riding days have I fully used the machine for what it is good for. 

When I decided to test the ol' bike out again, I was surprised at how much fun it is to go places around town while riding instead of driving a car.  There is so much you see that you don't notice when you're behind a steering wheel caged in a bubble with cold air blowing in your face.  Sure, I wouldn't turn away an invention that made me feel cool while sweating bullets, but there's nothing quite like being outdoors, breeze in your face and knowing your heart is thanking you.

My dogs usually are privileged to a 45-50 minute walk.  Now, they are lucky to RUN around 6 or 7 blocks as my warm-up.  They are way more tired and puckered out after the run than I would hope them to be after a leisurely stroll.  So there are many many benefits to my new found...err??? hobby?  or whatever you can call it.  Not to mention I've dropped two pounds just this weekend!  Woohoo!  Here's to our bikes!

The Places We'll Go & The Things We'll See

There was a game I remember from long ago when I was in middle school called, “Where in the World is Carmen San Diego.” I think the point of it was to answer trivia questions about different parts of the world and by the clues find out where this character was stationed. The thought of that game brought some memories and desires right up to the surface for me.

Traveling is something I love to do. It’s not just about the destination. The entire process that starts with booking your flight, packing, the airport, the hotels, etc. is thrilling. How fun is it to escape and put yourself into a different portal for a bit just for the purpose of exploring? There is so much out there for me to see and I look forward to going many places.

Here are the places I have been:

In the USA (Not counting cities I’ve just driven through:o):

New Jersey

New York

Florida

Maryland

Washington D.C.

Pennsylvania

Massachusetts

Georgia

Utah

Colorado

Nevada

Arizona

California

Outside of the USA:

Slovakia

Czech Republic

Guatemala

Germany

Austria

Switzerland

Spain

Oh how teeny tiny that list seems to me, especially considering how vast this universe is! Here are some places I am eagerly awaiting to travel to:

In the USA:

All the rest of the states

Outside of the USA:

England

Egypt

Brazil

Portugal

Cambodia

Thailand

Fiji

Bermuda

Mexico

Holland

Italy

India (I especially want to go here)

And the list will go on and on…

There is still so much to see and do. Where have you been? Where would you like to go?

Atlantic City

Isn't it amazing that as soon as you put your mind to something it finds a way of crystalizing into your actual "reality"?  Well, not long ago I decided to focus on some of the goals I came up with to achieve within the awesome year of 2010.  One of my goals was to take 4 trips.  I had one down, and three to go.  One of the locations I wanted to go spend time in was Atlantic City, NJ.  Last weekend, I got to cross that one off the list.

Not only did we get to go, we got to go for FREE!  Your mind is an amazing thing!  We got a free room and free dinner and lunch, so off we went.  I dropped my babies, aka dogs, at my uncle's house and we hopped in the car for a two day adventure.  We landed at the Tropicana Hotel and checked in.  The room was gorgeous.  It was big and the bed was H-U-G-E!  Can't beat that.  We freshened up and went to play at the casino.  Oh, we're not gambling fools, but some Texas Hold'em and good ol' Black Jack is always fun.  We retired to our room at about 1:00 AM and rested up for the next day.

In the morning we packed up and loaded our stuff in the trunk of our car.  We actually had a business meeting in Atlantic City that day, and although that may seem like "work" to some people, it was actually the highlight of the trip.  We got to hear from motivated and successful leaders from the company and it totally jacked up our energy level for the rest of our stay.

We headed back to our hotel after the meeting for some late lunch/early dinner at the buffet and stayed to play a little longer.  In the interim we saw the boardwalk and enjoyed the sights of the beach and that neat town.  All I can say is that your intentions are powerful.  As soon as you can start to focus on goals, they will have to come to you because that's how life works.  It's inevitable!  So, instead of focusing on what we don't have, let's focus on what we want and enjoy an awesome life!

Travel the World

Oh, I almost didn't want to write another post just because my dream house post would then keep moving to the bottom of the pile.  I think I will randomly put pictures of the house throughout future posts, and unless you've read about it you might scratch your head and be all, "What's a picutre of a house doing in a post about a dog park?"  It can be our inside joke for future reading!;o) 

However, my fingers were itchingly longing to write about more!  So, I took a look over yonder on the 'Goals for 2010' link and realized it's about to be MAY and I only have one of those suckers crossed off.  Being Vegeterian now doesn't even seem fair to me to have considered a goal.  I thought it would be a difficult task and it would take a lot of work.  Nah, I'm actually very liberated by it, and don't miss the meat in my diet at all.  It kinda grosses me out, actually.  So now I am expecting that pursuing the rest of the goals on that list will be as delightsome.

I noticed that I so boldly decided to make it a goal to go on 4, yes FOUR trips this year.  Since I moved to NJ, I cannot really consider that a "trip", however I decided to consider my visit to NYC as a trip.  After all, I did the whole "trip-py" thing.  Went to a local restaurant, comedy show, took pictures and almost bought an I HEART NY T-Shirt.  So, by my standards, it qualifies.  However, I need to fill my slots with three more.  This year, they will all be in the US of A.  Here are some ideas:

San Diego, CA (then I can go drive by MY house & check it out also:o)

Las Vegas, NV

Oklahoma City, OK

Orlando, FL

Chicago, IL

Pittsburgh, PA

NYC, NY

Atlantic City, NJ

Los Angeles, CA

Moab, UT

These have to be TRIPS, though.  Not drive throughs or anything.  Spending at least a weekend doing the stuff people do on trips.  Sightseeing, eating at local joints, mingling with locals, etc.  San Diego is definitely a destination that will be happening, now the only thing to figure out is when and where the last two places will be?

New York City Fun

Yesterday my husband and I celebrated our EIGHTH (*8*) wedding anniversary.  Eight years!  I'm still not over the fact that I can be old enough to have been married so long.  Granted I did marry young, but the speed at which time continues to travel is always a phenomenon to me. 

We had a blast!  Did some time travel and shared some laughs.  Since we're only a 20 minute commute away, we decided to celebrate it in one of the liveliest cities on earth... NEW YORK CITY!  I love NYC.  I have grown up exploring the City and it never gets old.  There is so much to do in New York that boredom really isn't an option.

We got off on 34th Street and walked along Broadway.  We were recommended to Caroline's Comedy Club and then to a restaurant called Mars 2112.  So we found Caroline's and went inside to buy tickets.  The scalper-ticket-pawner-dude (These guys are all over the City) sold us a pair for $40 and we had over an hour and forty minutes before the show started.  Right across the street was the destination of our inter-galactic restaurant experience.

We entered the restaurant and noticed that there was a $2.00 admission to enter the restaurant per person.  Why?  Because, my friends, you literally entered into a space ship and it virtually carried you through space, dodging meteors and all, onto the planet Mars.  This couple minute ride was cute and it was funny to see the little kids go wide eyed over the experience.  Upon landing one little boy even asked if we REALLY WERE on MARS?  The whole space ship chuckled.

Our host was an alien clad creature who greeted us, "Welcome Earthlings" and guided us to our seat.  They had space creatures walking around the place and it was REALLY DARK!  (Probably a good thing, considering it would be kinda scary to think about what the place looked like if it was well lit up:o)  I ordered a Veggie Burger and my husband ordered a 12 oz. steak (I know we're meant for each other, right?:o).  The food was okay, not really something to rave about, but you no doubt pay for the experience and not the cuisine.  Our bill at the end of the night including the tip to our Star Trek waitress?  $67.00.  Yeah.  Welcome to New York City.

We headed across the street (after we safely arrived back on Earth of course) to make it in time for our comedy show.  Apparently the scalper-ticket-pawner-dude sold us the wrong tickets to the wrong show or something.  No worries, though because we got our $40 reimbursed and free tickets to a different show just off Broadway.  Since there's a two drink minimum per person (we always get 4 Cokes and it costs about $25-$30 bucks extra) we were really stoked to get into a show for free. 

I don't even remember the name of the place, nor do I need to.  Not going back, they weren't funny.  Actually kinda weird.  But so it is with Comedy Clubs, hit or miss I guess. 

On our walk back we got lost getting to the train!  We found our destination, so we thought, paid for tickets to get on the train and realized we were in the wrong station.  We then walked out of there, found the right station and paid for tickets to the RIGHT train.  (Usually it helps when you are headed the right direction if you want to go home.  Only "if", though!)

We rode the train to our transfer point and then followed the crowd up a couple of flights of stairs.  Then we realized we walked out of the train station!  Duh!  So, we paid for another set of tickets and waited for a half an hour for the train to come back and pick up our lost souls at the unheard of hour of 2:00AM.  Oh, the joys!  We made it, though and came home safely and sound.  My poor dogs were starving!

All in all, we had a blast.  I love New York City and it was worth the $105 of adventure.  So, happy 8th anniversary to my husband.  I'm excited to see what this year will bring.