Vacation!

Here's a quick recap of our quick vacation. We went down to Clearwater, Florida (in the Tampa Bay area) for a few days. Matt grew up there. Or at least he "grew up" there as much as a military kid can.

It was nice. Hot, but nice.



For lunch one day we went to a burger place called Five Guys. It was ridiculously good. Everyone should find one close to them and go try it out. They have buckets of peanuts all over the restaurant for customers to snack on. Apparently word got out about the nuts because this guy was hanging out outside the front door.



Even though the year round humidity and subsequent sweating suck, the gardens are fantastic down there. The family we stayed with grows fruits and veggies in Earth Boxes. The plants were just exploding everywhere. In Nebraska, you plant for veggies in May, they fruit in July, and then by October they're dead. It's early May and look what they had out of their garden already:









It's funny because I ended up with about ten pictures of the beach and then twenty pictures of vegetables and thirty pictures of their dogs.

We really didn't do a whole lot other than drink beer, hang out with friends, drink beer, see a Kings Of Leon show, and try to avoid sunburning. We succeeded in all areas.

Vacation and Booking Flights

What a day! I woke up this morning and my desktop weather said it was already 48° outside. I wanted to sit outside and drink my morning coffee. It was so beautiful. Spring is here, or at least here for the next five days.

I bought plane tickets for our mini vacation in May. We really wanted to be able to take a trip this year but the budget is a little tight. We originally thought about Las Vegas again or Colorado, but we ended up scaling back and decided to visit some of Matt's family and friends in the Tampa area. By going to Florida we have a free place to sleep and a kitchen to cook our meals in. Two huge money savers. I do however plan on eating Dunkin Donuts every morning while we're there. I can't wait for my first official DD experience. Bonus that the house also has a pool and is in walking distance to the beach.

I was a little surprised by the price of plane tickets. Everyone has been saying they're going up, but I was able to book us two round trips on American for $378 after all the wacko taxes. I've never flown on American before, but I already like them. I must have signed up for their emails at some point because I got one with a coupon code for 10% off airfare. It knocked off about $33 before taxes and ended up being the cheapest flight I could find. I'm going to keep an eye on flight prices and make sure they don't get any cheaper than that. If they do, I'm hoping they have a policy like Southwest where they will issue a credit for the price difference. It never hurts to ask! I don't think the credit policy is even listed on Southwest's site. I had to call and ask about it.

I'm also going to try to get out of the luggage fees. American charges $15 per bag, each way. Since we're taking a short trip and it's summer (summer = lighter packing) we might be able to get away with just carry on luggage. I once took a five day trip to San Diego with nothing more than a carry on bag and a large purse. It was a proud moment for me. Always remember to check luggage fees before booking. Some airlines are outrageous.

So, in short, three things I always do when booking through an airline:

1. Sign up for airline emails at least a month before I plan to purchase my ticket and keep an eye on discounts.

2. Watch ticket prices after I buy and call the airline if I see my same flight offered for a cheaper price. (If it isn't the exact same flight, they might charge a flight transfer fee which may or may not negate the price of the credit, depending on how much the price went down.)

3. Check luggage policies before booking. Sometimes the savings in ticket prices doesn't make up for the price of having to check luggage.

Know where I wish I was right now?

Anywhere but the office.

How about on vacation?

During the winter months it's always nice to visit somewhere that's warmer than the place you just left. Last winter we went to San Francisco. (Then again on our honeymoon.)






The year before that we went to Memphis and New Orleans. We drove! It was snowing when we left Omaha but by the time we got down to NOLA, Matt and I were wearing shorts and t-shirts.



Anyone else notice that Matt and I are standing in the same positions in both pictures?





Technically those two trips weren't "vacations." At least they weren't for Matt. He had to go to those places for work. Poor baby. I tagged along to get a break from winter and work. This year though, he's going to South Bend, Indiana. Not exactly warm and sunny I wouldn't think. Maybe I'll sit this winter trip out...

A Few Goals for 2009

Some things I'm going to work on in 2009:

1. Save money for a new car and a nice vacation. Possibly to Portland, Seattle and Vancouver. (Vacation idea stolen from Jeff and Brandon.)

2. Run another 1/2 marathon (beating my previous time) and generally shape up. Ultimately, I'd like to run a half every year. I've done it for the last two. It's really one of the easier goals to stick to - barring any unforeseen baby making accidents. Working out in general though, like sit-ups and toning, I have little patience for. I've always had freakishly toned arms (medical professionals have even told me so) but the rest of me is a little on the squishy side. I know that I am a rather thin girl, but there is no muscle in there. It's all jelly. I'd like to even that out a bit.

3.a. Finish a nice variety of portfolio sittings and start charging for photo sessions by March. This is one of the most important goals for me. I really have high hopes about starting a photography career. I'm tired of being unhappy with my professional life. I've had a recent surge in my desire to make this happen. I think it's where my life is taking me.

3.b. Take at least two photography courses. Obviously, this is something that is important and will come in handy. I have no real photography education. Everything I know about taking good photographs I learned from art composition classes. I have no real training when it comes to the technical aspects of photography like aperture settings and white balances. A prodigy I am not, so I should probably get on this one ASAP.

3.c. Photograph a wedding. I need to find some very understanding couple who will let me photograph their wedding knowing full well that I might completely eff it up. Are you that guy or girl? Give me a call! Honestly though, I want to be able to do this by the end of 2009. I'd love to find an OBB girl on a budget in the Omaha area and be able to give her a virtually free wedding photo session. Then it would warm my brain and my heart!

4. Fix up the outside of the house. Replace the windows, paint, white wash, landscape, buy a rake. All that kind of stuff.

5. Release myself from the evil clutches of hair dye. This may or may not work out. I'm sort of hooked on being a red head. However I'm very much not hooked on giving some girl $60 every 10 weeks to color my hair. Yes, 10 weeks. I make that shit last.

Europe 2009, Maybe?

I emailed a travel agent today for a rough price estimate for a trip to EUROPE! How exciting is that? She's probably going to tell me that it's twice our budget and that I'm out of my mind, but until that time comes I am going to be excited.

We want to spend two or three nights each in Berlin, Amsterdam, London and France. And if that doesn't break the bank we want to throw in a couple nights in Ireland. Why not, right? If we're going as far as London we might as well toss Ireland in there too. Matt has been to England and Ireland before, but he missed Liverpool (a sin for such a Beatles lover) so we have to make sure we go there as well.

We can do all that for $5K, can't we? I really have no idea how much these things cost.

We'd really like to take this trip in 2009, maybe as early as March. We're not afraid of a little cold and rain. Everyone around me is popping out babies and I'm starting to think about babies of my own... It's very strange. My plan was always to take a long trip to Europe with Matt prior to having kids, and I'm afraid that all this exposure to preggos is going to cause my baby center to override my efforts to prevent getting knocked up. And going to EU and not being able to drink Guinness and wine isn't exactly a trip I want to take.

Although, waiting a couple of years to travel overseas might not be a bad idea either since 99% of the world hates Americans right now.

Flight Price Went Down Again!

Geez! Gas prices drop and all of a sudden airlines follow suit. I checked in on our flight again and prices dropped another $36. I now have a $98 credit with Southwest. I plan on putting it to use when I go to Chicago in January. Matt's going to be in South Bend for a few weeks so we're going to rendezvous in Chicago for a couple of days. January isn't exactly an ideal time to visit a city situated on a Great Lake. (Chilly winds anybody?) But the post-Christmas shopping will probably keep me all warm and fuzzy inside.

Chicago is awesome and a lot of fun with tons of things to do. But my favorite thing to see every time I visit are the belugas. Yup. Whales. Unfortunately, Matt and I won't be able to see them when we're there. The habitat is being remodeled and the belugas are elsewhere. You can't imagine how incredible these things are. In the old exhibit, the top of their tank was accessible to visitors and completely open. There was a little plexiglass wall about chest high to keep people from falling in the water, but otherwise there's nothing between you and them. You can look them right in the eye. And they look at you right back. They're as interested in you as you are in them. They watch and stare and it makes me wonder what they're thinking about.

I found a good picture of it here on LilySea's Blog.

My second and third favorite things about Chicago are Portillos and Pot Belly's, respectively. Then there's the Art Institute. Actually, maybe the Art Institute ranks higher than Pot Belly's... Then that leaves "never having to drive anywhere" for the number five slot.

Fly the Friendly Skies

I'm in a surprisingly good mood at the moment! I bought tickets to Las Vegas for Matt and I back on October 1st. I checked back at Southwest today to see if the prices have dropped, and sure enough, they have! I was livid! The prices for the exact same flights went down $62 for the pair of tickets! They are super-saver fares so they aren't refundable. I called their customer service number anyways and kept my cool with the customer service lady. Guess what? They couldn't give me a refund, but I now have a $62 voucher for my next flight. Not bad! Southwest isn't the most luxurious airline to fly on, but boy is it cheap. And you still get free peanuts and don't have to pay to check bags.

We flew Northwest for our trip to California and I will never again fly with them. It's $15 to check your first bag, $25 for the second! God help you if your bag weighs over 50 pounds. That will be an extra $50. When we checked in for our flight home, we didn't get seats next to each other. The kiosk told me that we would have to pay an extra $25 to switch seats, even though there was an empty seat next to each of us. We checked in and then had to haggle with the lady at the terminal counter to switch. It was ridiculous. The airline switched our flights so many times in the weeks leading up to the trip that we had a five hour layover in Minneapolis. We ended up paying $25 each to switch our tickets to an earlier flight that was nearly empty. Why couldn't they have given us that flight in the first place since they'd already switched it four times? It didn't make sense. The service was terrible and they gouge passengers with crazy fees every time they ask for something.

Airlines need to learn that good customer service and reasonable policies are always appreciated, just like any other business. Also, people need to learn that some times all you have to do is call and ask politely.

Little Road Trip

I'm excited to get to go see Matt today! I haven't seen him since Wednesday morning. Not fun. I'm driving to Des Moines later this morning. There's a great site, fuelcostcalculator.com that gives you a projected fuel cost based on the make/model of your car and the average gas prices in the cities you're leaving from and driving to.

Here's mine for today:



The only good thing about driving my old Saturn is the gas milage. In city I get 30 mpg, and on the highway I can get up to 40. I haven't driven it on a trip in a few years so I'm interested to see how it does. I got my car the summer after I graduated high school. It has 118,000 miles on it, but I'm reluctant to trade it in. First off, I haven't had a car payment in four years. That is definitely something I don't miss. And secondly, I haven't had a car payment in four years. That's really enough to make me want to delay buying a new one.

My dad talked my mom into letting him get a new car. Can you say "Hemi?"

I have to go finish getting ready to leave. Somehow, I'm not getting much done while sitting at the computer with my coffee and blogs. I did put away my camera to take it and realized that I left the battery charger for it in San Francisco. DOH!