Saremy’s Vacation 2011: Day 3

Moving right along on our Vacation-O-Fun…

Day 3 – Disney’s Epcot

I was pleasantly surprised to discover that this was my favorite park of Disney World.  Epcot is a combination of a future world and something called, “World’s Showcase.’  The future world has a lot of cool attractions, such as: Spaceship Earth, which is a ride inside the Epcot “ball,” Soaring (one of our faves from Disneyland!), Test Track, where you go up to 60 mph, Caption Eo, and Mission:Space.  They also have an environmental area and ride where you see some of the “magic” that Disney is up to, which include growing it’s own plants to serve in some of the restaurants.  Plus, they have a short environmental movie called “The Circle of Life,” featuring the characters from The Lion King, that discusses what we can do to help better our planet!  Lastly, they have an “innoventions” building  that is “interactive play space for kids of all ages where you can imagine, invent, inquire and be inspired while exploring amazing innovations that make our lives better.”  So, not only was it fun…it was educational!

The World’s Showcase was really unique area that wraps around a lagoon.  It features 11 countries which replicas of their buildings, shops, attractions and restaurants.  In fact, we ate lunch in Mexico and dinner in Italy!  Where else can you do that, except at the happiest place on Earth? 

 

Italy.  China.  UK.

Cool Disney character plants throughout the park.

Epot was a lot of fun and we had an enjoyable day there!  Stay tuned to see where we went to next…

Saremy’s Vacation 2011: Day 2

Continuing along on our Vacation-O-Fun…

Day 2 – Disney’s Animal Kingdom

This park was my 2nd favorite of Disney World.  It’s a mix of a zoo and an amusement park, with a big splash of Disney throw into the mix.  When we first entered the park, you know that I had to stop by guest services to get my birthday pin.  It was the day after my birthday, so that totally still counted as my birthday (plus, they don’t even ask for ID). 

As you continue your way into Animal Kingdom, you can’t help but notice this gigantic tree in front of you, the Tree of Life.  This thing is so cool.  Jeremy and I have actually watched a show about the making of this park and this tree is man made.  Plus, when you get up close to it, you see that within the bark are carvings of a bunch of animals!  Only Disney…

Further into the park you’ll find the one roller coaster here, Everest.  It’s similar to the Matterhorn bobsleds at Disneyland, but it’s actually a bit cooler.  Part of this coaster goes backwards through the dark because the “Yeti” tore up the track!

Also, within the park is a dinosaur/prehistoric area, where they have a dinosaur ride which is very similar to the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland, in fact…it even felt like it was the exact same track, building and car.  Oh well, I still thought it was fun!

Lastly, probably the coolest feature to this park is the safari type ride.  You get onto and open bus/car and head out into Disney’s African plains.  What made this so neat was that there were no fences!  It wasn’t like a zoo where you’re looking through glass cages to see the animals…they were right there!  From giraffes (at one point there was one about 6 feet from the car), to elephants to lions.  And when we went on this, there were actually some ostrich blocking the path ahead and we were held up for about 15 minutes while the park people came and shoed them away.

Overall, this was another fun day on our vacation!  Where did we head to next…

Saremy's Vacation 2011: Day 1

Hi there!  Boy, do I have some exciting posts coming up!  You see...Jeremy and I went on vacation a few weeks ago.  But it wasn't just any vacation.  We went on a MEGA vacation to Disneyworld, Universal Studios and SeaWorld!  We had seven glorious days to take in the wonder of the Happiest Place in the World, to ride roller coaster after roller coaster, eat churros, drink Butterbeer and see the whale that ate his trainer last year.  So please, join me as we recap our vacation, one fabulous day at a time.

 

Day 1 - May 14th (MY BIRTHDAY!!) - Universal Studios Island of Adventure

 

We started out our vacation here because I was really, really, really looking forward to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and may have made Jeremy promise me that he'd take me here this year.  Little did we know, that this would be our favorite park of the whole trip.  Though Harry Potter is the main draw to this park, it also has: Marvel Super Hero Island, Toon Lagoon, Jurassic Park, the Lost Continent and Dr. Seuss Landing.  We rode all the big rides throughout the park and even got soaked on the water rides, but since Harry Potter is THE attraction here…let’s just focus on that.

 

So, I’m just going to start out by saying…this portion of Universal was AWESOME.  Simply awesome.  It was, obviously, my favorite park of our trip.  If you’re a fan of Harry Potter, you’re going to feel like you got transported into the books.  From the queue area of the rides, to the characters, to the props and even to the Butterbeer, it’s all just as I imagined Harry Potter’s world to be.  Even Jeremy liked it and he’s only read part of the first book and seen part of the first movie! 

 

As for rides, there are two good ones here: the Dragon Challenge roller coaster (sit it the front row, it’s the best!) and of course, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey (HPFJ).  HPFJ is a great ride, where you follow Harry, Ron and Herimone around the ground of Hogwarts, through the Forbidden Forest, to a Quiditch game and fight dementors.  We seriously rode it about 6 times.  In fact, Jeremy even said that HPFJ was his favorite ride out of our whole trip! 

 

Besides the rides, the whole area of this section of the park was just cool and there is so much to look at.  The major shops that you read about in the books are there in Hogsmeade.  You can buy a chocolate frog at Honeydukes, or perhaps a wand at Olivanders.  Plus, be sure to check out the bathrooms to listen to Moaning Myrtle.  And the one must of this park: try the frozen Butterbeer!  It’s a delicious drink that is cold, refreshing and tastes like a butterscotch shortbread cookie.  Umm, yum!

 

I loved The Wizarding World of Harry Potter!  It was a great way to spend my birthday.  Stay tuned for Day 2 of our vacation!

Litfuse Blog Tour and Review: Missions of Mercy

Thanks to the fabulous people at Litfuse Publicity, I’ve been given the chance to review not just one book…but three!  Exciting, right?  So, here we go:

The Mercy of Missions series by Susan May Warren:

Three heroes, all on missions of mercy, who discover that God not only saves us from evil, but from the darkness inside.

Point of No Return: An American boy and a warlord's engaged daughter have disappeared-together-in an Eastern European border country. Only one man can find them in time to prevent an international meltdown-Chet Stryker. But Chet is taken aback when he realizes the boy is the nephew of Mae Lund, Chet's former flame. When Mae insists on rescuing her relative herself, Chet knows he has to protect her from the enemy on their trail. Yet can he protect himself from falling for Mae again?

Mission: Out of Control: Brody "Wick" Wickham is a former Green Beret turned security agent-with a 100 percent mission success rate. No way is his new assignment changing that. Even if it's protecting a diva American rock star while she's on tour in Europe. Except Veronica "Vonya" Wagner isn't just a beautiful celebrity used to having her way-she's the daughter of a U.S. Senator. And she's hiding a dangerous secret. When Wick discovers what's at stake, how far over the line will he go to keep them both alive?

Undercover Pursuit: The only way to get security agent Luke Dekker to a wedding? An undercover mission as groomsman. He'll bust the groom, a drug cartel heir, before anyone can say "I do." Then Luke can escape all this love and romance nonsense-and the too pretty bridesmaid/agent assigned as his "fiancée" for the weekend. Until Luke discovers that sweet, vulnerable Scarlett Hanson isn't his contact. Isn't an agent.  Isn't trained for the high-stakes mission now trapping them both. And worse, Luke's falling for her-which is not part of the assignment.

My Review:

I adore Susan May Warren!  She’s one of the best romantic suspense authors that I’ve read.  Susan has an excellent way of transporting the reader into the settings and filling them with the conflict, emotion and heart of the characters; plus, always including the love of God into the story.

Of the three, Point of No Return was my favorite.  Why?  Because it was the perfect combination of high action suspense, faith and romance.  Plus, how can you not love a strong willed female lead like Mae?  She’s a hot shot helicopter pilot, after all.  It doesn’t gets much cooler than that. :)  I also feel that this was the most action-packed of the three.  Mae is trying to save her nephew, Chet is trying to save her, all in a country where he is public enemy #1.  Throw in a couple of explosions, a daughter that Chet never knew he had, an understanding of God’s love and forgiveness for both Mae and Chet, followed up by an intense final battle scene… I loved it!  Sara’s Rating: 5 out of 5 stars!

Mission Out of Control picks up the series not too long after the first book ends and it follows Wick on an outside job, while Chet is on his honeymoon.  I love Wick, but in all honestly, I didn’t like Vonya as much as the other female leads in this series.  She was just a bit too crazy for my tastes, but I did like how she “fit” Wick’s personality and they balance each other out.  The suspense in this book was enjoyable and it was fun to try to figure out who was behind everything.  Sara’s Rating: 4 out of 5 stars!

Undercover Pursuit didn’t have as much suspense as the first two books, but I found it very entertaining and it’s my second favorite of the series.  I loved the plot concept of “mistaken identities” from both Luke and Scarlett, and then, following them as they try to figure out what to do about it.  Also, this book has a strong faith element.  Luke is struggling to realize that he can be forgiven by God for his past mistakes, while Scarlett is trying to realize that she is worth something in Gods eyes and not just a shadow of her sister.  Lastly, I loved how the whole Stryker team shows up near the end to “save the day” and I loved the epilogue.  If you’ve read my reviews before, then you know that I’m a sucker for a happy ending. :)  Sara’s Rating: 5 out of 5 stars!

Susan May Warren has yet to disappoint me.  I thoroughly enjoyed all these books and many thanks to Litfuse for allowing me the opportunity to participate in this blog tour!  I received the 3 books in the Missions of Mercy series from them in return for my honest review. 

About Susan:

Susan May Warren is the RITA award-winning author of thirty novels with Tyndale, Barbour, Steeple Hill and Summerside Press.  A four-time Christy award finalist, a two-time RITA Finalist, she’s also a multi-winner of the Inspirational Readers Choice award, and the ACFW Carol Award.  A seasoned women’s events speaker, she’s a popular writing teacher at conferences around the nation and the author of the beginning writer’s workbook: From the Inside-Out: discover, create and publish the novel in you! She is also the founder of www.MyBookTherapy.com, a story-crafting service that helps authors discover their voice.

For more about Susan and her other books, please visit www.susanmaywarren.com.

To celebrate the series, Susan is giving away a Missions of Mercy Prize Pack worth over $200! One grand prize winner will receive:

* A brand new FLIP HD Camera

* The entire Missions of Mercy series

Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. You may enter once per email, facebook, and twitter. The contest ends on May 31st. Tell your friends! Winner will be announced on June 1st at the Litfuse Publicity site and at Susan May Warren's website. (While you're there, check out her rockin' new website!)

CSN Stores Product Review - Waffle Maker

Thanks to the fabulous people at CSN Stores, I have a new waffle maker!  Not just any waffle maker, mind you, a Belgian Waffle Maker.  Oooooh!  Aaaaah!

 

I travel a lot for work and most of the hotels that I stay at have Belgian waffles at breakfast.  In Texas, they even have waffle makers in the shape of Texas!  It's true.  Anyways, I enjoy the waffles when I travel, but then when I return home, I'm sadly without any waffles...until now! 

This Cuisinart Belgian Waffle Maker is wonderful!  It makes four 1-inch deep Belgian waffles and has a five setting browning control, so I never have to worry about how long to cook my waffles.  Plus, there is an audible alert for when it is heated up and when the waffles are ready to eat.  It is just so easy to use! 

The only issue that I’m having with it is that I don’t know how much batter to use (so really that is user error not a complaint about the product).  I’m worried about it leaking out the sides if I put too much, so I’ve ended up with round waffles. Oh well, I’ll figure it out eventually and even though they may not look normal, they sure do taste good!

 

Thanks again, CSN Stores for letting me do this product review!  My weekend breakfasts will now be more enjoyable.

Hello? Anyone Home?

Hello there!  Just in case you've forgotten me, I'm Sara, this is my blog, and yes, I am still alive.

(Please don’t mind my hair, it was very windy outside today!)

Over the past month and a half that I've been absent, I've been rather busy, so my excuse is totally legit…I haven’t just been lazy about blogging.  Well, ok, maybe I have been a little lazy, but for the most part I’ve been in busy.  Anyway, since I’ve last blogged:

1. It snowed!  That’s right for the 2nd time in 2011, Prescott, AZ got snow.  It was absolutely terrible!  I live in Arizona for a reason and snow is not one of them!

2.  Four of my past five weekends were spent in Reno, Hawaii, San Diego, Valencia, Ontario, Orange County and back to San Diego all for work.  I barely saw Jeremy and Diesel.  In fact, it's quite possible that they temporarily forgot what I looked like.  But oh yea, Hawaii was awesome.

3.  Jeremy has been busy with physical therapy with his knee and he's on his way to recovery.  He’s actually a bit ahead of schedule and is working out hard.

4.  Diesel took Obedience Class and contrary to popular belief…he passed!!  Yay!  Though we did get banished from one class...yea, let’s not talk about that one.

Yea, good boy, Diesel…chew on your certificate.

That’s about all that’s new and exciting, but do stay tuned!  I’ve got some new books to review and my CSN Stores product review will be posted soon!