A trip to see the National Christmas Tree - Dec 2010

I LOVE Christmas! I love it probably more than anyone should! I love Christmas music, gift giving, family time, the food, gift receiving, days off from work, decorations, Christmas trees, parties, etc! I love it! I found a cheap bus ride that cost less than $10.00 to go to Washington DC so I figured why not go and see the National Christmas Tree and see all the things I hadn't been able to see the last time I went!  My friend Amber came with me! 

The bus line we took was Megabus!!! It wasn't bad of a ride at all! I definitely preferred them over Greyhound!!!! They also offer free wifi but it didn't work most of the ride! Amber and I made friends with the people sitting behind us! They were cool shit!

We got to DC Friday evening and met Amber's friend, Bryan, and his girlfriend, Annie! We went out for dinner and then went to see the National Christmas Tree and all the State Christmas Trees! I can tell you Massachusett's tree was pretty boring!!! I LOVED it! Then we bid adieu to them. 

We went to our hotel at the Days Inn and then met up with my friend, Patrick in Adam's Morgan to party for the night!!! We went to Peyote's Cafe and did some karaoke...well, more like I did some karaoke! Some guy bought me a shot and chatted with me before he went MIA and a group of guys told me that they were shocked that I sang "You Oughta Know" good.  Adam's Morgan is not complete without a stop at one of those pizza places.  I went to Jumbo Pizza and got a slice! Amber didn't think I'd eat the whole thing but boy did I prove her wrong! haha. The slice of pizza is probably the size of a small-medium pizza!! It's really huge! On the way back to the subway, they were going down the escalators too fast for me (I really had to pee) so I stopped and talked to some stranger who's name was Butch! Poor Butch. Hahaha..my drunk ass was probably a little overbearing.  He did give me his number though.

Saturday we got up early and did a tour of Ford's Theater (where Abe Lincoln got shot), walked around and found Whoppi Goldberg (it was fake), visited the Washington Monument, waited and sat with Santa (yes, we really did),  checked out the Arlington Cemetery and saw the changing of the guard, and listened in on a talk at the Lincoln Memorial.  It was a busy day!!! We ate at Moby Dick's, which wasn't as good as I had remembered it!!! We then met up with Amber's friend who we were staying with for the night and we went out to a new area in DC!!!! We even met up with Butch!

Sunday was a crappy day! We had to get up early to get on the bus.  I had woken up early to use the bathroom SEVERAL TIMES!!! My stomach did NOT like me! Even on the way to the bus stop, I had to stop and use a bathroom! The whole way home, my stomach hurt and I had to go to the bathroom!! I either had the stomach bug that was going around or I had food poisoning (which could have been either of those)!! Also, Amber lost her ticket to get back onto the bus so she had to pay for another ticket!! So Sunday wasnt a great day! I was so happy when I got back home!!!!

A wedding and Mt Washington

So I'm still back tracking and I got ahead of myself when I posted about my birthday and my lovely Halloween costume!!! Lets go back to about mid September when I attended Kalene and Shane's wedding.  Kalene is a lifelong friend of my family.  Her father, Gabe, and my dad are best friends and my siblings and I grew up with Kalene and her twin brothers, Jake and Gabe.  The wedding was a ton of fun and it took place in Nashua, NH.  The day after the wedding, I had planned a hiking trip up Mount Washington with my friend Justin so he came up after dinner and joined the wedding....

So Saturday morning came way too soon!  I didn't get much sleep because my dad snores like a banshee!!!! Seriously, noises like that should NOT be coming out of a body part!  Anyways, Justin and I got up and made the trek to the White Mountains. 

For those of you who don't know, Mount Washington is the highest peak in Northeastern United States and is known for its dangerous and unpredictable weather! At 6,288 feet, Mount Washington holds the record for the longest wind gust of 231mph winds. Kind of scary when you hear stories about people dying or caught in dangerous weather conditions! You always have to be prepared for this hike because it could be nice and sunny one minute and then a blizzard the next. 

The hike takes on average about 4 hours to do which is what it ended up taking me (Justin is abnormally fit and could probably run up this mountain in under 2 hours!)  It probably would have been a great hike but I ran into a few issues.  Maybe a mile or so into the hike (definitely the first hour), I started getting blisters!  Something you don't want to be dealing with when you aren't even 1/3 of the way up this mountain! It was getting so bad that I was thinking of turning around when we ran into this group who had wolf skin to let me put over my blisters! This lady was a savior because without her, there was no way I'd get up that mountain! Then, when we only had a 1/3 of the hike left, my groin started to pull (which is a reoccuring injury from soccer)!!! But we did it!!! We made it to the top! I was in so much pain from my feet and groin that there was no way that I was going down the mountain, however, Justin wanted to hike back down.  I took the van down and napped in the car while he hiked down!

Next time, I plan to be prepared!!! I will make sure I stretch before the hike starts, don't double up on socks so I don't get blisters, bring wolf's skin in case I do get blisters, and get a decent night sleep!!!!

All Beef Patti

Happy Halloween! For 2010, I was a drag queen named All Beef Patti! :) Enjoy!

There's really no explanation for me!! I wanted to be a dragqueen for years but it's kind of hard to pull off being a girl and all...so I thought hard, was invited to a party with the type of crowd that would appreciate it, and just went for it! It was a big hit!

Corey turns 27

My 27th birthday took place on Sept 26, 2010!!! I rang it in with a bang! Check out my photos! I really don't remember all that much of it but it was a good time! It was also a great weekend too so I got to go jet skiing at my friend's lake and we went to Fire & Ice! It was a GREAT weekend!

My trip out west - Aug/Sept

So I haven't updated my blog in what seems like forever so lets back track a little. I took a trip out to Idaho and Wyoming last August! Oh boy was it a blast! I did soooo much there!!!

Highlights of Day 1:
*visited one of my best friends from high school! She moved out to Boise, ID and I hadn't seen her in AGES!
*visited the Idaho State Penetentiary - got to see where all the bad guys went to jail!!!
* visited the Idaho Botanical Gardens - some pretty flowers there but boy was it windy.
* experienced the awesomeness of huckleberry vodka and awesome Idahoans at a bar!

Highlights of Day 2:
* stopped at the Bruneau Sand Dunes State Park - I didn't spend much time here as I had a lot to see/do but I don't think it was all that worth it.
* visited Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument - most of the park was closed due to a fire. I would've liked to have explored this a bit more! From what I could see it was interesting and the views were spectacular!
* checked out Minidoka Site - small area that you are there for like 5 minutes to see where the Japanese Americans were sent during the war.
* bought myself an ice cream potato - AMAZING and is a MUST HAVE if you visit Idaho!!! It's vanilla ice cream shaped like a potato, dipped in cocoa powder to resemble a powder. then they slit the top and put cookie pieces, whipped cream and hot fudge to resemble toppings. YUM YUM YUM!
* visited City of Rocks National Reserve! Great hiking and gorgeous area. Very quiet! Castle of the Rocks State Park (I think thats what it's called) goes with the National Reserve. Both are fantastic and worth the visit! I camped there too! Nice campsites!
* Lynn, Utah - 15 miles from City of Rocks...some great views but seriously, there is nothing out there! haha.

 
 Highlights of Day 3:

* drive from City of Rocks to Montpelier, ID = GORGEOUS!!! Especially when it's a little cloudy so you can see the mountains in the clouds! It's gorgeous

* went to the National Oregon/California Trail Visitor Center..very informative museum!!! I didn't have time for the tour but I wanted to do it!
* Hot springs was alright town to stop in. I just drove through. Looks like some good shops. There was a museum. Not sure if there were any hot spring bath areas?
* WENT TO THE IDAHO POTATO MUSEUM!!! It's a must see if you go to Idaho!!!! It's a silly museum but so worth it! Everyone who goes gets free hashbrowns!!! It's great! I loved it!
* went to the Idaho National Labrotory: Experimental Breeder Reactor which is the world's first nuclear power plant. It was worth it if you are into that sort of thing! I enjoyed it.
* Rainey Creek Store - home of the square shaped ice cream! I personally did not enjoy it. I got bubble gum ice cream. Maybe I should've stuck with something normal?

* visited Driggs, ID for the night. Worth going!

* SPUD DRIVE IN is a MUST SEE!!!! Loved it! The restaurant is really cute!! And I mean, the name is Spud so how can you not go?

 

 Highlights of Day 4:

* drive to Jackson Hole was breathtaking! It was gorgeous! You can see the Tetons to your left, the village down below, and just more mountains all around! GORGEOUS!

* Jackson Hole = WORTH VISITING!!! I wish I spent more time there! It was a great area to visit! Loved every second there! Lots of shops, places to eat!

* Grand Tetons is ABSOLUTELY STUNNING!!!! I wish I had days to explore the mountains! I just did a short hike and the drive through but I wish I could have hiked for a few days! It was amazing! Probably one of my highlights of the trip!!! I camped at Flagg Ranch! Good place to camp!

 
Highlights of Day 5:

* YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK = AMAZING BEAUTIFUL BREATHTAKING!!! Checked out West Thumb and Grand Canyon of Yellowstone area...Grand Canyon was simply Incredible! It looked like a painting!

 
Highlights of Day 6:

* More of Yellowstone National Park!!! I did the Norris and Old Faithful areas. It was gorgeous! Morning Glory didn't look as pretty as it did in photos (because the pictures were old before people ruined it). It was a great area! The most populated area of Yellowstone!

 

Highlights of Day 7:

* Mammoth Springs area was very nice! There are Elks EVERYWHERE! I did a horseback riding (bucket list item) tour of the park! It was pretty nice even though my horse hated me! ;) I made friends with some girl, Steph! She was pretty awesome!!!

* visited the original entrance to Yellowstone! Was very nice!

* checked out Gardiner, MT. Cute area. Had some bars and souvenier shops that I checked out!! It's worth making a visit to!

 

Highlights of Day 8:

* stopped in Atomic City...home to ABOUT 25 people! haha. Nothing there to do. It's just a small town! Not really worth the drive.

* Devils Submarine in Arco, ID. why not stop by and take a picture? lol

* Craters of the Moon National Monument = worth visiting! It was fun, pretty, and educational!

* Ice Caves - interesting if you are in the area. If not, not worth the drive. They were very informative! I enjoyed it but if I was not driving near it, I would not have found it worth the drive.

* hot air balloon festival in Boise! sooo much fun!

* drank my first jungle juice! It's amazing!

 

Highlights of Day 9:

* saw a Mormon church. nothing thrilling. Just your average church

* Drove by Idaho State to see the blue turf! woot woot!

* went to a restaurant (that was closed) called Boobies! Yes, I said BOOBIES! haha. They are closed on Sundays & Holidays (of course, the two days I was in town happened to be a Sunday and Labor Day)!!!

* drove to Oregon just to say I visited 5 states in 1 trip! Nothing thrilling there. Just went to Walmart, bought myself an Idaho Sate shirt and we left! LOL.
* went to a grocery store and learned they love whole chickens in a can! grosss!!!!

 

Day 10:
* flew home :( Sad day

It was a great experience! I got to see Yellowstone finally...i've been dying to see it for years! :) Hope you enjoyed the pictures and my highlights.

Happy New Year!!!!

Sooo 2011 has arrived and boy do I have a lot of stories to tell you from probably end of Aug/Sept.  I will do that when I have time to sit and think of what I want to type. If you look at my bucket list to the left of my blog, you will see that I have been busy getting some items completed.  In the coming weeks I should be adding snowboarding to my list! :)

Keep an eye out for upcoming posts!

oh my it's been too long

Boy do I have a lot of updating and pictures to post! However, right now I just wanted to talk about the number game on people's facebook statuses..

So this is what has been happening. People have been posting the following (or something along the lines): "In my inbox, send me a number (1-500) & I'll write something under my comments on this status about you using that number & no one will know who I'm talking about but you"...I find this to be a great idea so I have posted it.  I wanted to share what some people wrote about me because I thought they were wonderful:

12 you're an amazing person. Total package, looks intelligence, sense of humor, and a wild side. It's truly sad you're out of my league. Definately wish we could hang out more, but schedules are difficult. Hope things are going well for you. Stay beautiful ;)

#12=You are a NUT!!! thats what people love about you...

12: Well lady what can i say.I have known you forever! You are so funny and fun to be around! Me loves you

#12 what can I say lol.. you are an amazing woman and I envy all that you can do with your life. We have gone through so much the last 2 years experiencing similar heart breaks. You are an awesome friend and I love you to death.

#12 another good friend i met recently and def one of the ones i plan on keeping in touch with for a long time, in everytime we have hung out its never been a dull moment

#12 I aspire to live my life the way you do! I've never heard of someone doing so much! The stories you must have :) You always make it to anything you're invited to and that's greatly appreciated because you're a joy to be around! We should make time to hang out more often! :)


I am truly loved.