Iowa here we come!!!!

You picked it so I'm off. Dad and I are flying out to Iowa tonight. Now, this is a really quick trip but I will get to see Uncle Shorty and Grandpa which was my goal for this trip. It's also kind of cool to be there on Halloween. I get to see how Lenox celebrates! I'll be back Saturday so stayed tuned.

More to come!
xoxo

The votes are in.....

Thank you to everyone that sent me suggestions for my next destination trip. They were all great ideas and most of them are places I actually wanted to go so that was great! Like I said the results are in and I picked three places (just because I am dependent on flights so I need a small variety to pick from) and the winners are.......

1. Iowa (dad are you coming with me???)
2. Cancun (Steph's pick but she didn't post it so not sure I should count it. Can I get a witness?? Sorry guys this is PIR humor)
3. Hawaii

I am looking today for flights so we will see where I end up!

BTW....Devyn I have been to Hollywood twice on my sabbatical and that darn Miley is never around. Trust me I will keep looking for her and if I have to me and you can go and hang out in front of the Disney studio. I mean she has to come out right??? : )

Thanks again for all the great ideas.

More to come
xoxo

Delirious and Dinosaurs.

OK, so we are heading home from LA and we are exhausted. I mean you have to remember we only had about 4 hours of sleep and then we were screaming and shouting it felt like for six hours straight. I think that is why I'm not a peppy person. It's so tiresome!! : )

Anyways, we decided to stop for food and gas in Tonopah(I think....). Not realizing the exit I got off on we had only the choice of Burger King or Spanky BBQ (which looked closed) so you guessed it we had BK. It was kind of a downer until we realized what else was at this exit.....yep, the dinosaur park! I have always wanted to stop here and I never do. Well, this time we did, even if was by accident. Here we are having some delirious dinosaur fun!!

Who knew the T-Rex could be so sexy....you go Steph!!!
Yeah, nothing sexy about this one. Just trying to avoid hitting my head on the teeth!

Here is Courtney and Alyssa.....apparently Courtney still thinks she is on TV with her cute little pose there!

Here is our group shot......and yes before you ask we were the ONLY people at the dinosaur park! I think it's cause it was late and not because it was lame or at least that is what I'm telling myself!

However, after all the fun the shots it began to get dark and scary......did you hear something???

Looks like Steph and Courtney thought the dinosaurs were alive or maybe there were......run Forest run!!!!

HA HA just kidding this is Steph and Courtney acting for their Next Top Model Portfolio. The "acting" part in the photo shoots. I think they have a real chance next season. Court make sure to add your Price is Right appearance to your head shot/resume!

I did say we were tired and slightly delirious at this point in the day but hey it was a fun 15 minutes we had at the dinosaur park so it was all worth it! Back to the car now to head home!!

More to come!

xoxo

And the actual retail price is.......

We made it to LA around 7:30pm exhausted but excited. We checked into our hotel which was conveniently located right across the street from the CBS studio lot. We wanted to make sure we were close because we knew we had to get in line early to make sure we got seats in the audience. I decided we should drive around to scope out the area so we knew exactly where to park and where to go the next morning plus we were all starving! After finding where we had to go line up for the show we decided to eat at the Farmer's Market located right next to the Studio. We grabbed a bite at Johnny Rockets. Our waiter Rocky made us these cute little hates with different sayings.....cute huh?? : )
After dinner it was straight to the hotel to get ready for bed. We had decided to get up at 2am so that we could be down in line by 4am. I know it sounds crazy early but we wanted to make sure we got seats in the audience and they stress on all the paper work that it's first come first serve so it was important. Needless to say we were all in bed by 9:30pm which is really early for all of us....well except for Alyssa!

We were all up and showered and ready to go by 3:30am so we headed out. We were number 18-21 in the line. Once we knew we got a GREAT place in line we set-up our blanket and we chilled out. Alyssa took her chillin one step further! Now Alyssa can say she has slept on the streets of LA!!! : )

It's funny how all the people that were in the line before us were older people and none of them very excited. I mean I know it was early but this was THE PRICES IS RIGHT! Good thing us girls were ready to have a good time even at 4am! We said "hi" to everyone and did our best to keep ourselves awake and hyped up.

Here we are in our custom shirts and cool Johnny Rocket hats lined up in front of CBS Studio!Here we are just hanging out on the streets trying to keep ourselves awake and have fun!

You always have to have the self-taken photo! : )

We got our priority tickets at 6am and then we decided to go back to the room until 9am when we had to head back to the studio. Here we are in our last phot before heading to the studio. You can't have your camera with you on the lot so this is the last photo you will see until after the show.

Now, there is a ton of processing crap they do for this show and it takes hours as there are about 300 people in the audience for each show so the majority of the time you are waiting around. However, eyes are always on you so you have to be excited and have fun at all times....trust me it was exhausting for all four of us to be that "ON" until the show started! : )

The final part of the processing is the interview where you have to dazzle the producers. This is how they pick the contestants. They ask where you are from and what you do. Just some basic questions. We all answered as "exciting" as we could considering our somewhat boring jobs.....well with the exception of Courtney that stated she was a hairdresser and then did her head roll to show off her great hair! It sucked. I had nothing cool like that. I mean I work at Intel what was I suppose to do to impress him??? Give him a PC chip!! I knew I should have gone to beauty school instead of getting that damn MBA!!

Well once we were finally in the studio a feeling of disappointment and excitement came over me. Disappointment because the place was so small!! So different then what you see on TV. Excitement because I WAS ON THE SET OF THE PRICE IS RIGHT!!!! I mean I have been watching this show my whole life so it was very surreal!! We had awesome seats in the third row on the end (get TV exposure) and they were playing some fun dance music so we got to our seats and stood up and danced and sang until the show started!

Now, they went over the rules and then they were ready to start the show. It was amazing to see how it's all done. They signal us to scream louder and get excited on cue. It was exhausting I tell you. So we all sit down as we are told so that when they call the contestants names only they are standing. Since it's so loud they write the names on cue cards so that you can read it. The show starts.....we are all siting down cheering.....when the first name is called.....COURTNEY BROWN YOU ARE THE FIRST CONTESTANT ON THE PRICE IS RIGHT!!!!!! Words can't describe the excitement we all had for her! She runs down and we were all pumped up! Now, I could tell you what happens but I won't because you ALL have to watch the show on DECEMBER 18TH of this year to see how Courtney did!! Either way were were all proud of her and excited that at least one of us made it on the show. Next time we go back we have all decided to do head flips as well since apparently that works! : )

Great job Courtney and we are all proud of you!

Ashton beware Courtney might trying to give you a run for your money with her new found stardom! I think she is planning to be a regular on the game show circuit now!

Thanks Alyssa, Steph and Courtney for the great time!!

More to come!

xoxo

Viewers Choice

OK, guys you have seen the places I have picked to go and now it's your turn. Post your destination choice for me by 12pm on Tuesday 10/28. I will then put all suggestions into a hat and pick one and then I will be off. Please make sure you tell me if there is something you want me to do at that destination as well. I can't wait to see your picks!!!


More to come!
xoxo

Come on down!!!

Yep, that is right we (Alyssa, Steph, Courtney and me) are heading off for The Price is Right a little later today!!! We are all SOOOOO EXCITED!!! We have our AWESOME shirts thanks to the graphic design work of my cool and creative stepmom Lara!! THANKS LARA!! We will give you a shout out when we get picked! : )

Now the show is being taped (not airing) on Monday so you will have to stay tuned to see how we did.......


More to come!
xoxo

I rushed home for this???

Today was an ASU game so as a season ticket holder I wanted to get home for the game. This meant Jenny and I were up at 7am to drive home from Yosemite and straight to the airport in SF to drop me off to catch my 1pm flight home. I arrived to the airport 45 minutes before my flight left. I rushed through security and ran to my gate. I got my boarding pass and it was off to the plane. Steph was picking me up once I landed and then it was off to my Grandma's house to head out for the tailgate. I hurried off the plane and hustled through the airport to met Steph outside. I jump in car and we are off! We get to Grandma's right at 3:30pm and then we head out to the game. All is great...until the game starts! ASU proceeded to play like a Pop Warner team and they got their BUTT KICKED!!! It was so bad we left before the 3rd quarter was even over!! PATHETIC!!!!

All I could think was why did I rush home to watch this crappy game??? ASU you need to get your act together or I will consult with my season ticket partner on whether we will continue to be season ticket holders!

More to come!
xoxo

No Pain No Gain

SIDEBAR-Isn't it funny that when you have a bathroom available to you that you never have to use it but once it on the other side of a camp site and it's dark you have to go all the time!!! Why is that??? Needless to say Jenny and I got a semi-decent night of sleep with the exception of having to pee all night but not wanting to go outside to do it! No more beverages after 8pm!

Anyways, we were up and at it around 9am so that we could start hiking before it got to warm outside. Our plan was to hike the Mist Trail which is a trail with two different waterfalls. Unfortunately, there was not much water coming down the falls due to the time of year. If you really want to see the falls in action you need to visit during the summer...just an FYI. However, I didn't care I really just wanted to see more of the sites and possibly see some more wildlife out in the forest.
Here some more photos as we began our hike.
This is the other side of half dome. More black and white....Ansel Adams inspired.
The great sequoia trees the surrounded the campsite.

The road we took to get the trail. Doesn't it look so cool???

I also hoped to see some other animals during my hike but all we saw were a bunch of little squirrels that just wanted food. I mean there are so darn cute but since you can't feed them we just stared for a bit and kept walking. My hope of seeing a bear or a fox was not realized on this trip to Yosemite

Cute huh??

This one was eating a nut....I think....

As we began the hike jenny warns me that it's a little steep at the beginning and that it's not that bad. Now maybe I should have done just a little cardio to get myself ready for this trip because I just about died at least ten different times on this hike!! Now, this was not just a basic hike either so it's not like I was being a total baby. We hiked over seven miles round trip and we climbed up over 5000 ft! We got to the top of the one waterfall and we got to just sit up there and relax or in my case catch my breath!! It was so peaceful up there. All you heard was the water from the falls and the trickle of the near by stream. It was a very serene place to just sit. It made the pain and suffering from the hike all worth it!

Here I am on one of the many breaks I had to take along the way....sorry Jenny! : )

This is a view from the top of the falls. Notice the trail way down at the bottom on the left. That is part of what we hiked up! We began way back in all those trees! Sympathy...I want some sympathy and support people! You can also see some people sitting on some rocks on the bottom if you look carefully.

Jenny and me at the top of the falls.

Another view from the top of the falls.

More artistic photos of the falls that I took.

This is the entire falls which is really a drizzle compared to what it normally looks like (per Jenny).

Here it is in color. Jenny and I at the bottom of the falls after we were almost done with the hike. This was to document that I lived!!! : )

After our long hike we grabbed some lunch and then it was off to the cabin to relax. We both showered and took a short little nap. Once we got up and moving again we decided it was time to go eat dinner before our Night Prowl tour started at 8pm. We ate some AWESOME pizza and had some yummy hot chocolate to warm us up. After dinner it was off to the Night Prowl tour. Now, this sounds cooler then it really was....trust me. Basically, all we did was go out into this open area in the forest in the pitch dark to try to get more familiar with our night vision and other senses such as smell and hearing. It was pretty lame but on the flip side it was a beautiful night. There are so many stars that could be seen from Yosemite it was INCREDIBLE! I think we saw at least three different shoot stars in that hour!! I had never seen a shooting star before so that made the whole tour worth it to me and as for my night vision....it sucks...along with my day vision!! : )

Once the tour was over we headed back to our cabin for bed. Now, one thing I didn't mention earlier was that I brought the book Twilight for Jenny to read. She laughed that it was a "young adult" book but I warned her she would love it if she started it. She read during dinner and almost all night. I think she finally put the book down around 1am Saturday morning. I told her it was addicting!! However, I was happy to see she liked....I had warned her earlier that if she didn't we might have to break-up but that was just an idle threat because I knew she would love it! I even gave her my copy of Twilight to keep so she could finish reading it. I told her to keep it and to pay it forward by encouraging someone else to read the book. : )

In the end Yosemite was a great time and I had so much fun! Jenny, thank you for taking time off work to hang out with me on my sabbatical. It was a lot of fun and I'm ready to go back (maybe when it's not so cold so you don't freeze). Just let me work on my cardio and I'll be there!! : )

More to come!

xoxo

Who said I don't like camping???

Jenny and I are off to Yosemite National Park this morning. We had a few technically difficulties with the GPS system so after a slight detour into Oakland we got it figured out and we were on the right highway towards the park. The drive was very uneventful which is always a good thing! We arrived to Yosemite around 1pm but we had to drive around the entire park to get to our campsite (Curry Village). However, the drive was quite beautiful so it was a nice drive. The park is AMAZING!
Once we arrived we checked in and it was off to our heated "canvas cabin." Now, I was not sure what to expect with this one but I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. I mean it did look like a cabin that "Jason" would kill us in with it being in the woods and all but I tried to put those thoughts out of my head. I mean I had bears to worry about and that was more serious then my obsession with fake movie characters!
This was our cabin. Cool huh?? : )

Here is the inside It had three beds so it was very spacious.

This was my twin bed. Now, this bed was REALLY comfortable and I'm not joking. I loved it!

Once we unpacked we walked around the grounds a little bit to check things out. We stopped by the stores and scoped out what we would eat later! Now for those people that don't know this there was a pretty major rock slide that took place a few days before we arrived so half of Curry Village was blocked off for safety purposes. Apparently some of the rocks crushed a few canvas cabins. So.....not only did we have to worry about bears we also had to worry about rock slides! Fun times! : )
After scoping out the place we decided we would go on a free twilight (no Bella and Edward...what a disappointment) stroll that took place over at one of the fancy lodges. I thought it would be educational and fun......boy was I wrong. I guess the fact that we never left the front yard of the lodge should have been my first sign that this was going to be lame. After about 15 minutes I look over at Jenny who is dying of boredom so we decide to hang back a little and just let the group leave us. Once we knew we were in the clear we made a run for it. Apparently we weren't the only ones bored as these other two girls did the same thing. Jenny and I decided to head back towards camp and these two girls decided to befriend us and walk with us. I mean nothing scary we were just staying in the same direction but the conversation became some what weird. So we ditched the girls and hurried back to our cabin. Now, a warning for all you girls out there traveling together. It seems that when there are only two of you together that the assumption can be made that you are possibly a "couple." I mean we were in California so maybe this only applies more there but I think people assumed Jenny and I were "together" as a couple and not just friends. We both found this to be quite funny so while in Yosemite we were a happy couple! Jenny of course was the girl since she had the beautiful wedding ring already! I never get to be the girl!!

Here are some pictures I took of the amazing views around our campground.

How Ansel Adams like huh?? This is part of the yard at the fancy lodge.

Here I am in front of the mountain where the rock slide occurred.

Not sure what this is.....just pretty

This is the famous half dome.

Now, after our couple encounter we decided to take the Yosemite Shuttle around to some of the different sites. While we were in front of one of the stops waiting for a bus two deer run out right in front of us and kind of stop. I mean they were like FIVE feet from us! They were so cute and I tried to take a picture but they were not having it and they quickly ran away. It was amazing to see how the wildlife just comes us to you here. Now, as long as they continue to be cute furry friends like deers and squirrels I have no issues! : )
I missed my chance to get the deer but here are several raccoons that hung out around the dining area.

After being shuttled around it was back to the cabin for some reading and sleep. We had a day of hiking prepared for tomorrow!

More to come

xoxo

Watch out for bears!!!

Sorry guys no trivia this time as too many people know where I'm going this week. However, for those that don't I'm off to Yosemite National Park. I have arrived into SF this evening and me and my friend Jenny will be off to Yosemite first thing tomorrow morning. I'm a little worried considering there have been rock slides near the camp sites we will be staying in and because of the bears!! However, like Steph says this is all about adventures so this is a BIG one! Wish me luck!

I will be back Saturday for the ASU game (assuming a bear doesn't eat me) so I will see most of you there!

More to come
xoxo

Yes, it was FREEZING!

Well today I was up early because I'm going on a guided tour of Alaska with a company called Salmon Berry Tours. Now, when I called this company the guy said we need at least two people to even get a tour so lucky for me there was another lady that also called the same day for a tour. This meant it was just the three of us off to tour Alaska!

I was excited to get to see as much as I could in the one day that I had. The tour was scheduled to last about five to seven hours so it was pretty much my whole day. The cost was pretty reasonable as well and it included lunch so you couldn't go wrong. My tour guide Daniel picked me and the other girl Lori up at the Hilton in downtown Anchorage. We started off the tour heading south along the Turnagain Arm. This is a great scenic drive as you can tell from some of the photos below.

Beautiful isn't it?? It was a mixture between the clouds and the sun. It was quite amazing!
It was crazy how one minute is was cloudy and then next sunny!
It's like the heavens are shining down in this one. I sat here staring and thinking that if heaven is even a little bit like this place I would really start acting better....you know to increase my chances of getting there!! : )
I couldn't stop taking pictures everything was so amazing to see!
The clouds were so low you couldn't see where this mountain top began!
We continued our drive to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center. This is where we were able to see to bears, moose, elk and more awesome live animals. We even saw two bald eagles just flying around. It was pretty cool!

See the eagle on the branch?? Sorry but my camera can only zoom so close. Trust me it's an eagle.

Here I am feeding a deer. Is he not the cutest thing?? We weren't suppose to feed them but it was just grass and he liked me. I want a deer now!!! I loved him!!
Yep, of course it wouldn't be Alaska without the moose!!
This is the one male Elk in a area surrounded by all females. Lucky guy!
Here are some playful black bears.
After the Wildlife Conservation Center we headed towards a town call Portage. Now this is a very remote little area. It's surrounded by mountains and glaciers (before they started melting). This was where we had lunch. It was at a family run place that was very cute. For all my food-followers I had the fresh salmon sandwich and homemade pecan pie!! YUMMY!!!

Once we finished lunched we did a little more site seeing. It was amazing to see what you could of the glaciers. I mean you really can only see them up close by boat but you could see a few. It really was an awesone site.

Here I am with Portage Glacier and and Shakespeare Glacier behind me.

This is another shot of both Portage Glacier and and Shakespeare Glacier. Portage Glacier is that little blue thing you can barely see behind the mountain. Shakespeare is the large white mass you see between the two mountains. Now this body of water was once all the Portage Glacier. It has been melting quite quickly and as you can see is barely visible by land anymore. This lake is over two miles wide and 600 feet deep! That is how much of the glacier has melted. And they say global warming is not real!!! This is the Byron Glacier located between those two mountains. Notice the little icebergs in the water as well. ("I'll never let go Jack....")
We stopped by Mt Alyeska to view one of the best ski resorts in all of Alaska (at least that is what Daniel said). It was starting to get some snow built up but unfortunately it was closed at the time we were there so we couldn't go to the top of the mountain. Next time!

Here I am taking self portraits at Mt Alyeska. BTW...that is not Mt Alyeska behind just some other mountain.

This is Mt Alyeska. Notice the snow is building but not quite ski worthy.

This ended our tour so now it was back to Anchorage. Along the way home I got a text from Randy (my step dad) asking me to bring home some crab. I laughed. I thought it was a joke. I mean I only carried on my luggage so how was I suppose to bring home crab but apparently that was not a joke. He was serious and he wanted 10lbs! So I had Daniel take me to one of the best fish markets in Anchorage and I got Randy his 10lbs of crab. I was stressed all night because I wanted to make sure they stayed frozen. I mean the place wrapped them in this gel pack but it didn't seem like it was enough. Needless to say I was very stressed out about this crab. I had it in my window all night just to keep it frozen. Yep, I froze that night but it's okay. Anything for the little "Sebastian" legs I had in the box! Once I finally landed in AZ I hurried to my car and drove straight to my Mom's house. It felt like I was part of a heart transplant team. I had to get them there before they defrosted!! It was a lot I know but 10lbs is very expensive!! In the end they got to Randy safe and still frozen so it all worked out! Now, I'm just waiting on my dinner invite! Hint...hint.....Randy.......

Oh, yeah this is just yet another stuffed bear they have in the Alaska airport. It's actually kind of scary all the animal heads and things they have mounted to the walls of this place. I feel like it's an old Lodge not an airport!! Those crazy Alaskan folks! It must be the Governor! : )

P.S. I learned that the Alaskan folks refer to the rest of the U.S. as the lower 48! It's quite funny to hear them say "are you from the lower 48?" Like it's just one place. I was like "ummm...yeah". Wasn't sure what else to say to that one! Alaskans! : )

More to come!

xoxo