Sunday, April 27, 2014

What happens in Mexico, Stays in Mexico (well, except for this)



In November, I wrote a post about our vacation plans for our amazing friends' wedding in Mexico


Well -- I am thrilled to announce Brittany and Darren were married in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico on April 11, 2014. The wedding was simply stunning and the memories we made will last a lifetime.

To be completely honest, Mexico was a roller coaster ride. There were some "OH MY GOD" times and many "Keep this memory forever" times. And if you can't tell by the title, a lot of those times are going to "stay in Mexico"

A "Brief" Synopsis:
  • It took me three times to fill out our immigration papers before landing. And I still had mistakes on the third copy.
  • Our luggage was lost for the first day and a half. Thanks to the lady who didn't double check that it was her bag before taking it back to the hotel.
  • Because of our lost luggage, we didn't have swimsuits or sunscreen - So I laid out on the beach in my leopard print bra and some fugly, ten sizes too big, thong like bikini bottoms that cost me $40 at the resort store.
  • No sunscreen = HORRIBLE SUNBURN
  • Once we got our luggage, some of Matt's things were stolen. Twice.
  • I got my job offer via email from my new boss right after our luggage was delivered to our room.
  • We got to hold two parrots, a toucan, a monkey, and an iguana. 
  • I got into a very strong, very loud, very heated argument with some drunk, old broad after she said a completely inappropriate and ignorant statement to Matt regarding our vegan lifestyle. And I was sober. (Just a friendly heads up: I'm feisty when it comes to sticking up for my husband) My Madison friends would call this "going all Rockford". 
  • Bodyshots -- enough said.
  • Pina Coladas
  • Shots on Fire
  • Skinny Dipping in the ocean with the hubs at 4 AM. 
  • Remained Vegan throughout the whole trip
  • Ziplined over crocodiles and cougars, through fire, into water, all while being 100 feet in the air and at 30 MPH.
  • ATV'd through mud, caves, and water -- which  convinced Matt that WE - MUST- BUY - AN - ATV!
  • Went swimming and rafting in ancient, underground caves.
  • Smoked my first celebratory cigar.
  • The red dress I wore to the wedding has been to Mexico THREE times already this year. My two friends from work borrowed it on two separate vacations to Mexico. SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELLING DRESS!
  • I was one of the "wedding photographers". It was so - much - fun
  • Best of all: After spending like ten minutes in the sun (a little exaggerated) Matt got super duper tan. When walking around the resort, one of the employees walked up to Matt and started speaking a full on Spanish conversation with him. Matt looked confused and just stood there. "Um, No hablamos Espanol," I said. (The only thing I remember how to say after my two years of Spanish classes). She looked equally confused and stared right back at Matt. "You're not Mexican!??" she replied.
Enjoy the pictures:




Immigration Papers -- all three attempts



Our room and the view



What we had to live off of for almost two days






Leopard print bra. Ugly bikini bottoms.


A coati -- the cutest little raccoon rabbit like animal in Mexico -- that we wanted to take home and introduce to the cats as their new sibling



OUR LUGGAGE IS HERE!!





Vegan Food


Yum!









I love my husband





The newlyweds!



Bodyshots. Classy Jaclyn.


Me pretending to be a wedding photographer for a day -- while my bra AND underwear hangs out of my dress --- Classy Jaclyn.


Sexiest Groomsman EVER!



ADORABLE ANIMALS:






XPlor Park:


These are not my pictures, they are from the website. Click here to go there.


ATV's



Swimming through caves



Rafting through caves



Ziplining


My "D and Brit are getting married and I just got the job" celebratory cigar.




Mr. and Mrs. Ebany:



Congratulations! We love you!!




Last and certainly not least ---- My hot husband.




And an adorable monkey
Not you Darren -- the one under this :)












Saturday, April 26, 2014

Disney Movie Collection

I've always been fascinated by collections. Collections of stamps, coins, action figures, baseball cards, etc..

And I've always wanted to start a collection of something-- but never had enough passion for a particular item to make a commitment to hoard it. Other than cats, but Matt put a stop to that immediately.


That all changed around Christmas time when trying to make my Christmas list for my in-laws. I realized that it'd be pretty cool if we had a collection of all the Disney movies ever made. I mean, the classics go into the vault all the time then skyrocket in price. Disney is never going to go out of fashion. Its a great investment. And if you know Matt and I at all, you'll agree that we are kids at heart to the end.  So I made my Christmas list full of my favorite Disney movies. And thanks to my mom, Matt, my mother and sister in law -- I got a pretty good head start.



Since Christmas, Matt has really gotten into this Disney collection thing, too. In fact, on Easter Sunday, we sat with the computer in one lap and a notebook in the other -- writing down all the movies we needed to buy to "complete" our collection.

Just think about how fabulous Baby Fennel will have it. Their choice of any Disney movie ever made. Not saying that is happening anytime soon, people. Its quite a long list anyways.

We have added some non-animated movies and also some non-Disney (but still awesome) movies to our list. And preferably, we'd like all these in Bluray -- or as many as we can get. DVD will have to do otherwise. The list is quite extensive. And we obviously know it will take lots of time. Thank heavens, my friend at work introduced me to the Disney Movie Club -- which I will be signing up for ASAP. Also -- if its great condition, I will buy used Disney vaulted movies off Amazon any day. Some of these movies we haven't even seen -- actually a lot. But that's the exciting part! New movies to watch all the time. And some of these movies haven't even been made (but have been confirmed by Disney) or are coming out shortly.

To our loved ones, you never need to worry about what to buy us for Christmas, birthdays, etc. Just look below and help build to our collection. Even better, leave a note and sign your name. We'll keep them forever.



So--- Here's the List! I will cross off the ones we buy every now and then to keep you updated. (And now I don't have to worry about losing my three page list of Disney movies titles!)

Disney movie (not all Disney) animated (not all animated) collection:


  • Snow White and the Seven Dwarves
  • Pinocchio
  • Fantasia (1940)
  • Dumbo
  • Bambi
  • Cinderella
  • Alice in Wonderland
  • Peter Pan
  • Lady and the Tramp
  • Sleeping Beauty
  • 101 Dalmations
  • The Jungle Book
  • The Aristocats
  • Robin Hood
  • The Sword in the Stone
  • The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
  • The Rescuers
  • Balto
  • The Fox and the Hound
  • The Great Mouse Detective
  • Oliver and Company
  • Land Before Time
  • The Little Mermaid
  • The Rescuers Down Under
  • Beauty and the Beast
  • Aladdin
  • Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
  • Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
  • The Lion King
  • Pocahontas
  • Hunchback of Notre Dame
  • Hercules
  • Mulan
  • Tarzan
  • Fantasia 2000
  • The Emperor's New Groove
  • Wizard of Oz
  • Lilo and Stitch
  • Brother Bear
  • Chicken Little
  • The Princess and the Frog
  • Tangled
  • Wreck it Ralph
  • Frozen
  • Cars
  • Planes
  • Pirate Fairy
  • The Incredibles
  • Ratatouille
  • Monsters Inc.
  • Toy Story 1
  • Toy Story 2
  • Toy Story 3
  • Up
  • Happy Feet 1
  • Happy Feet 2
  • Babe
  • The Secret of NIMH
  • Wall-E
  • Muppets - A Christmas Carol
  • Muppets - Most Wanted
  • Extremely Goofy Movie
  • Looney Toon's Collection (a collection in a collection)
  • Monster's University
  • Brave
  • An American Tale
  • Shrek 1
  • Shrek 2
  • Shrek the third
  • Shrek forever after
  • Shrek 5
  • Puss in Boots 1
  • Puss in Boots 2
  • Shrek the Halls
  • Charlotte's Web
  • Piglet's Big Movie
  • The Tigger Movie
  • Finding Nemo
  • Ponyo
  • Madagascar 1
  • Madagascar 2
  • Phineas and Ferb
  • Finding Dory
  • A Bug's Life
  • Antz
  • The Wild
  • James and The Giant Peach
  • Valiant
  • Bedknobs and Broomsticks
  • Tinkerbell
  • Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
  • Enchanted
  • Despicable Me 1
  • Despicable Me 2
  • The Great and Powerful Oz
  • Saving Mr.Banks
  • Dinosaur
  • The Nightmare Before Christmas
  • Gnomeo and Juliet
  • Neverland
  • The Odd Life of Timothy Green
  • Ducktales
  • How to Train your Dragon
  • Mary Poppins
  • Walking with Dinosaurs
  • Prince of Egypt
  • The Muppets
  • Rio
  • Epic
  • Narnia Series
  • Cars 2
  • Surfs Up
  • Polar Express
  • Arthur Chrismas
  • Hop
  • The Bee Movie
  • How to Train your Dragon
  • Bolt
  • Frankenweenie
  • Hotel Transylvania
  • Turbo
  • The Croods
  • Annie
  • Who Framed Robert Rabbit?
  • Where the Wild Things Are
As of April 26, 2014: we have 19 out of 125.

For our Easter presents to each other, we went out the Saturday before Easter to buy Jungle Book and Mary Poppins on Bluray at Best Buy. When checking out, the cashier asked,
"Who are you buying these for?" (expecting us to answer with "our kid!")
Us: (Blink. Blink.) "Um, Us."
Cashier:  (Laughs) "Oh okay. Well, great choices. Classics!"

Our kid is going to be so f'n lucky.........

What is your favorite "kid" movie? Can you think of any one we left out?? If so, suggest it below or o my FB!

Until next time.....