It's been a pretty busy week and a half, and now I'm going to be off again for another week and a half. Going up to NY for that time, and I dunno if I'll have internet access. Leaving tomorrow, ridiculously early in the morning and I'm not even packed yet. I know, I should probably be packing instead of writing this post, but I felt I couldn't leave everyone for almost a month without a little warning.
Anyways, details!!!
Thanks everyone for the mazal tovs! No, we're not joining our blogs, two totally different blogs generally about totally different things.
I got engaged the day after one of my best friends, and since I had two wedding dresses (long story short: a friend gave me two wedding dresses several months ago for free) I took one and the other one worked perfectly for S.S. I'm really glad about that since I know neither of their parents are wealthy, and it's one less thing to have to spend money on.
Hopefully I'll have more of an update for everyone when I get back, but right now I really should get back to packing if I want to get a semi-reasonable amount of sleep tonight. See y'all in a week and a half!

Savannah, Georgia

The Historic district: One of the largest historic districts in the U.S., and CJ and I walked all over it yesterday. We also drove all over it on a trolley tour, which was pretty cool. After the trolley tour, we had lunch and went on a walking tour. We got our own private guide (probably because it was 2 in the afternoon, and it was HOT) we walked pretty much everywhere, and after the tour, we learned to orient ourselves by the squares that were equally spaced througought the historic district. We went through an old mansion, and the carriage house. It was amazing, but sadly, we weren't allowed to take pictures of the indoors. Then we went shopping (of course) while waiting to go to the ghost tour. The ghost tour wasn't as scary as CJ had hoped, but we agreed later, it was still pretty good. All in all a good time, and definetely something I would recommend to anyone in the area, especially history buffs.

Hilton Head, Here I come!

Tomorrow I'm leaving for Hilton Head at 7 am, and driving up with CJ. It's an 8 hour trip, so should get there in plenty of time for shabbos. Currently packing, and worrying I'm gonna forget something. But, no worries, I'll be taking lots of pictures, and posting them. Yay for road trips!

My Trip to NY and Other things

I had a great time in NY, went to my friend's wedding, met Child Ish and Moshe, visited my aunt in the Upper West Side, and enjoyed myself overall. I stayed by my friend M.A., who was my roomie in sem, and stayed over at my house two years ago for a week. M.A. came with me over to Moshe's for Friday night dinner, and got a kick out of it, though I think she was a bit horrified over the fish. Good food, good company, good conversation, and didn't get home till about 1:30 in the morning. Actually, were it not for her insistence that her mother would be worried, we might have stayed even longer, but as it was, we were exhausted too, and walking back took WAY too long. Left NY early this morning, but for those bloggers upset that they missed me, don't worry, planning on coming back to NY in December, for a bit longer stay than just a long weekend.

And the other stuff? Pictures of Mariner of course! He graduated from puppy obedience training and they had a little graduation party. Including graduation caps...the owners were thrilled about this, the dogs less so.

Going to NY

Tomorrow I'm going to Brooklyn, NY for a friend from seminary's wedding. Staying there only till Sunday though, because I'm starting classes (again) on Monday. I just finished my semester today, and this is my "break", not very long, is it? On the other hand, only taking one class twice a week next semester, so it shouldn't be too bad.
Whenever I get into a discussion with a NYer about living in NY, I tell them I like visiting, but I wouldn't want to live there. For some reason, every NYer I have told this to, then decides to take it upon themselves to convince me how great NY is, and why I should live there instead of South Florida. I've heard it all, and I'm still not convinced. Then again, maybe I'm just biased. Both of my parents were born in NY and grew up there, and both of them hated it (which is why they moved down here obviously) so it's quite possible that I'm just brainwashed. But that doesn't mean I'm changing my mind, I love FL!

Lakewood, Voting and Puppies

Lakewood was interesting, though to quote my friend that I was staying by its also "one of the most messed up places ever." The weekend I was there, there was a chicken shortage, apparently no chicken to be found anywhere in Lakewood, which was to me amusing, to the people of Lakewood, rather less so. I went to the wedding, had a blast, got to see friends I hadn't seen in a year, and the friend I stayed by I hadn't seen in two years, since she got married as a matter of fact. All in all, a great time, though I have definetly decided I never want to move to Lakewood.
Today I'm going to go vote after my afternoon class, and hope that it doesn't take TOO long, I'd like to be able to get to my evening class on time. Luckily, the place where I vote is within walking distance so it should all be good.
And on Sunday I'm going up to Tampa with my brother to look at the puppies. No, we're not bringing one home yet, they're only six weeks old, can't leave their mother till they're eight weeks. So two weeks after that, we'll be bringing one home. I can't wait to see them, so excited about that. However, the one thing I am most certainly NOT excited about, is sppending 6 to 8 hours in the car with my brother.... I really hope he doesn't drive me too nuts.

The Funniest Thing

I saw this when Iwas in Myrtle Beach, and my brother went to the shooting range. Part of the range was also a civil war museum. I saw this and started laughing, my mother came over and started laughing as well. What do you think of it?

Frum in Myrtle Beach

We were able to actually eat out and order chalahs while we were in Myrtle Beach thanks to the local Chabad. My brother met the Rabbi of the Chabad at Walmart, and he gave my mother his card. So thanks to him we were able to get Challahs for shabbos. (Our alternate plan was to have them fedexed up to us) Then, when we went to a tourist gift shop (I think it was called pacific or some such thing) the owner was a religious bearded Jew. Not what I expected. Anyways, he gave us directions to a kosher restaurant, and we were able to eat out, which is a real novelty on a beach vacation. It's so nice that Chabad is everywhere!

What I did on Vacation

Monday - Awakened at 5:30 am by the fire alarm, we had to go down 16 flights of stairs, and then wait 15 minutes to finally get on the elevator back up was given (5 minutes after we got down) fire alarm went off again at 8:30 and again twenty minutes later. My mother and I did not g downstairs those times, because by then it was pretty clear that some kid was playing a prank. My brother went down however. He mentioned that the first time, 4 fire rescue trucks, the second time 3 showed up and the third time only one showed up. And all the fire alarms came from the 14th floor. (Really the 13th but they don't have that as a floor) We went on Dolphin Watch, we saw a pod of dolphins and I lost my long cherished CIA hat.
Tues. - We rented a boat for 4 hours, my brother drove it, we stopped on a deserted beach and I collected shells. We also saw two small crabs, watching them walk was odd.
Weds. - We went to the IMAX and saw two films, The Grand Canyon, and Monsters of the Deep, both were pretty good. It rained all day.
Thurs. - Went miniature golfing, and went to Barefoot landing, a tourist shopping place. Also went to the shooting range where my brother rented a gun for half hour. He did pretty good on the target. There was also a civil war museum in the shooting range, I took quite a few pictures there.
Fri. - My brother and I went Jet skiing for the first time, I had loads of fun, but my bum and back are rather sore today.We drove down to Rita's for ice cream, and then we went to see TIGERS!!! There was the cutest little baby tiger, it couldn't have been more than four weeks old, and it was falling asleep while people were taking pictures with it. There were four really big tigers, they were gorgeous, and quite a few cubs. I wasn't able to take pictures however because I forgot my camera at the apartment. Go figure. I have decided that I would love to volunteer t wok with tigers this semester. I think that would be an incredible thing to do! I start classes on Monday, and I'm taking five this term...we shall see if I get anything interesting to post about from college (it's almost guaranteed at least once...)

Vacation

On Friday, we left at 6 in the morning and drove to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. It took about 12 hours to finally get here, but we arrived with an hour and a half to spare before shabbos. I spent most of Tish B'Av sleeping, and trying to stave off the gigantic headache that was inevitable. Broke my fast on bagel and cream cheese and feel so much better. However, since I slept so much, I'm still wide awake now, at 2 am. We'll be here for a week, and hopefully I'll be able to update, and put up some pics of Myrtle beach, and all the things we'll be doing here.

Testsand Birthdays

Looking back at the last post, geez, did I really write that? My brain must have been completely fried, but it seemed like a good idea at the time. Yesterday I took my second to last math test, and I think (hope) I did well on it. I have two classes left and then I am done! Yesterday was also my kitten's first birthday, it's hard to believe she's a year old already. It seems like it was only weeks ago that she was a small ball of fluff, trying to climb over her gate, now she's a bit bigger and bouncing all over the house, but she'll always be a kitten to me.

Vacation!

In a few weeks I'm going up to South Carolina with my mom and brother. We're not going to Hilton Head though, beacause all the hotels there were booked. So we'll be in Myrtle Beach instead, I haven't been there since I was a baby, and my brother never was there. I'm looking forward to it, it'll be a change of scenery, and my Algebra class will be over! However before that I have to last tests to take before my misery will end. Wish me luck, I'm gonna need it!

Home Sweet Home

It's good to be home again, and life resumes. Right after I got home, my mother asked me to go get her sheitals from local sheitel macher, and drop off her other sheitals to be cleaned. This morning, I was supposed to go to class, but my car battery died on me. So I had to get it replaced, and by the time that was finished, class was already over. So I went and ran some errands instead. Life just keeps going.and going, and going and going...(cue energizer bunny)
A couple of funny things happened to me over vacation. On...Thursday, I think it was, my mother calls me up and squeals, "Angelina had the babies!!" I'm thinking, "Angelina who? I don't know any Angelina...." Then it dawned on me. Of course, my mother was excited over Angelina Jolie giving birth. Why? I have no idea, that's just the way my mother is. So I tell her I have some exciting news of my own. I got into the University I had applied to two weeks prior. I asked her how that compared to Angelina's giving birth. "Close." she said. I laughed. Yet more proof that my family is a nut house.

Blogging Hiatus (I think)

I mentioned a while ago that I'm going up to Baltimore for a friend's wedding in NY. (I know, that's a bit far, but whatever.) So while I'm there, I'm not sure that I'll be updating. I'll be back in a week, so it's not for long, and I may be able to blog at least once. Just giving everybody who reads this thing a head's up.

New York and Florida: How Different Are We? Part 2

I'm not sure how many "parts" this will end up being, until I run out of things to say I guess. Anyways, back to topic. I was actually talking about the whole thing with my mother on shabbos about how different schools are in NY as compared to Florida, specifically South Florida. The girls' schools all have a much broader...range? of girls than any NY Bais Yaakov.As for the boys' schools, I can't really say because I don't have that much idea, I just know what my brother tells me and he's not exactly un-biased. Neither am I....but that is neither here nor there. I think that the major difference between the communities is how much the central community varies. While down here we have several shuls all within two to three blocks of one another, we still count the community as a whole, no matter which shul you go to. Ok, I just re-read that last sentence, and I'm not sure that I'm getting myself across very clearly...gah. How do I say this? The actual level of frumkeit within the community varies from ultra-orthodox to very modern orthodox, which is why you won't see some of the issues that are in NY down here. Take the tznius issues for example that has everyone up in such a fuss. (Not that I'm not upset by it too) but down here it doesn't have quite so much of an effect, maybe because Miami is a bit more relaxed. I know that when some New Yorkers come down for winter they wear things they would not wear in NY, and that they don't feel so closed in. All right, I'm not sure that I'm making sense anymore, so I'll just post this now, and continue when I'm more sane. Again, please feel free to tell me if I have things wrong.

Back from Epcot!!!

I had a great time on my "mini vacation" in Orlando, it was nice to have one little vacation before a full month and a half of non-stop school. Especially right after my first statistics test. It was pretty chilly when we were there. The high was in the mid-60's with low in the high 40's. But other than that pretty nice. Shabbos was over cast and off and on rain, but since we didn't leave the house that we rented that was fine. On Sunday, until about 10 it was over cast then it really clearedup and was very nice, not too hot, not too cold. Well, cold enough to wear a sweater, but not bad. We went on almost all the rides and I got 3 little souveniers (two of which were dragons, no big surprise there). Anywho, here are some of the pictures.

You thought Pink Flamingoes on the front lawn were tacky? You ain't seen nothing!

Going to Disney!

I'm really excited, I'll be going up to Orlando/ Disney for the weekend! My mother, brother and his friend are already there, and I'll be driving up tomorrow with my step-father. It'll be good, especially since it will be my last "vacation" till March. And it will be right after my first statistics test, which is REALLY good, because that's when I will need a vacation.We'll be going to Epcot, it'll be my first time there in about 11 years, the last time I went, I went with my father and brother, and we were younger and din't want to go on anything. My father swore he wouldn't take us there till I was fifteen. Even after I turned fifteen he still didn't. Actually, there have been a couple of other places he swore never to take us to again. Boomer's for one, and Parrot Jungle (now Jungle Island) was the other.

And now on a completely un-related topic, my kitten has decided she likes to hang out on top of Baby's new cage. The funny thing is, Baby doesn't seem to care at all and when I take Mittens off the cage, Baby scolds me. Here's a couple of pictures:

School, Weddings, and Stuff

I'm almost finished with the second week of school, and so far so good. I really like my psych classes. (I'm taking 2; Abnormal Psychology, and Human Development) Statistics is OK....it's annoying, but I think (hope) I'll live. I'm taking Oceanography and Oceanography Lab, because I need a lab and refuse to take Biology. It's....in some things it IS interesting, in other things it's not. Whatever, either way, I will get through it and deal.

Tomorrow night I have a wedding to go to, one of my BYM classmates, and I have another wedding to go to in February, also a BYM classmate. Lots of fun, and as an added bonus, both times I'm missing statistics. Yay!

Next Friday, I might be going up to Orlando and going to Disney, which I really hope I end up doing, but we'll see if ends up happening. Let's see, what else has been happening....oh! On Sunday I went up with my father, his wife, my step sister and my brother to Del Ray for a birthday party for my Grandma, it was her 79th B-day, and we went to a restraunt, my brother and i ate before hand, and went to my aunt's house after and took some pictures at my grandmother's inssitence. Everyone else was a bit reluctant...but it was her birthday, so we did it to make her happy.

We got Little Bird a new cage on Monday night and gave Baby Bird Little Bird's old cage. The problem was that Baby's old cage was pretty small and not very steady, it was knocked over twice by the cats, and Baby escaped both times, it was fortunate I was in the room both times, otherwise he would have been lunch! So we finally got that taken care and now don't have to worry about that again.

That's about it...for now until the next time I can update.

My Week in NYC

Okay, so I haven't been here quite a week, i'm leaving tomorrow, but I figured why not update? I actually didn't do much this past week. I saw a movie with my aunt the day after I came into NY, the movie was Sweeney Todd. No idea WHY I agreed to see that, I hate horror movies and I was afraid I would end up with nightmares after that. I didn't thank g-d, but I have had some very srange dreams this week. The next day I went to B&N to meet a friend, who I saw for all of 10 minutes because she was busy researching for a paper. After that I went to the Museum of Natural History with my friend CJ (who I'm staying by) and the museum has an exhibit with DRAGONS!!!!!! That made me very happy as you can imagine, and I bought a book on Dinosaurs for my dad. The next day we went to see a Broaday show (we saw Chicago). Actually we went out to lunch with a couple of other friends first, after we got the tickets for the show. Lots of fun! Next day was Friday, hung out in the apartment and watched a movie until we left for my aunts for shabbos. Shabbos was nice and relaxing, after shabbos we went to another friends and watched a movie and then went back to the apartnment. Today, we just hung out and relaxed,which was very nice. Actually, currently not relaxing at all. CJ's roomie is acting crazy and I'm having fun watching her torment CJ. Will post more after I get home.

New York, Here I Come!!

Okay, so I mentioned in a previous post that I'm going to NY for a week. My flight is tomorrow afternoon. In any case, I'm not sure whether or not I'll be blogging while I'm there. I can try, but no guarantees. I'm very much looking forward to it, but not so much to the cold, I prefer warm weather, one of the reasons I like living in Florida. But, anyways, I get to see some friends and have fun, and am really looking forward to it.