Thursday, March 17, 2011

Our Trip!

Hi everyone!  Well, our trip is now over and we apologize for the lack of blog posts, but we had a few problems with losing our information that we had typed up and also with finding wifi.  Anyway, if you are interested in hearing about our trip I will try to recall as much information as I can to put in this blog.  Since I'm not writing this with Hannah, I'm sure that she has more to add than what I can think of, but I will tell you about what I experienced.


Saturday:  So we woke up between 8:30 and 9:00am (which I think is pretty impressive for a Saturday morning) and then went to the local cafe called Toast for breakfast.  We both had breakfast sandwiches and hashbrowns and we got to sit at the counter which has always been a dream of Hannah's.  Of course, it was delicious!  We then decided to walk around some of the shops downtown.  In one of the shops Hannah bought a Vera Bradley coin purse (I helped by convincing her that it was an investment!)  We also went to the coffee shop downtown because, of course, I have to have my coffee.  Being right across from Davidson College and after buying t-shirts from the bookstore off campus we decided to venture over to campus and check out the college.  We were in awe with the Student Union Building which we named the SUB lol.  After taking a brief tour of the campus and seeing the fine male selection (including the tennis team) we were convinced that we were both going to transfer to Davidson, but then we learned that they didn't have either one of our majors so I guess we will being staying at Huntington!  We took quite a few pictures on the campus though because it was such a beautiful day outside.  After heading back to the house we realized we had some time and decided to use that time to go shopping.  We originally went so that Hannah could buy a belt, but I ended up coming out with a scarf which I somehow managed to convince myself was an investment.  Later in the afternoon we went downtown to see the awesome Cirque Du Soleil show.  It was absolutely incredible and something I highly recommend seeing!  A few of the acts we saw included unicyclers riding about 7ft up in the air and tossing bowls off their foot and catching them on their head, a man holding up his body weight plus the weight of another person with just his neck, and a man supporting another man on a pole with his forehead.  I could go on all day about this awesome show but nothing I say will bring justice to actually being there so I'll leave it at that. After the show we headed back to the house to see Yvette and then Tim took us out to dinner at the Flat Iron Grill.  We got to sit at the bar while we were waiting on a table which we thought was pretty cool.  Dinner was great... I had rosemary chicken and Hannah had a New York Strip steak!  For dessert we had a special donut...so good!!  When we got back to the house we decided to act upon our dinner conversation and so we all took a personality tests.  Hannah and Tim learned that their personalities are like 1% of the population, and Yvette and I  discovered that our personalities match 6% of the population.  Saturday was definitely a very eventful, fun day!


Sunday: We had originally planned to leave on Sunday and head on to visit Hannah's family, but we decided to stay in extra day in the city.  We slept in until about 10 and then Tim made us omelets for breakfast!  They were awesome!!  We got around and spent most of our morning outside because it was really nice...73 degrees!!  In the afternoon we decided to take off and go shopping at a different mall.  We had success there.  Hannah bought two dresses and a really cute pair of shoes!  I got a pair of capris!  We had a lot of fun going into stores we had never heard of before and checking them out!  We came back to the house a little before dinner and decided to watch a episode of Grey's Anatomy outside.  Yvette got a kick out of watching us watch it because of our crazy facial expressions.  For dinner that night Tim fixed us chicken on the grill.  It was incredible!!  We also had sweet potato fries...one of my favorites!  After dinner we sat around talking for awhile and then I got up quickly to run into the house to get something and literally face-planted right into the screen at the back door.  I have no idea how I forgot the screen was there, but it was hilarious and I couldn't stop laughing.  After dinner we sat down to watch a little TV and then had dessert....vanilla ice cream with fresh fruit on top...so good!!!  We watched a few more Grey's Anatomy episodes but I was really tired and fell asleep through them.  We had a wonderful time with Yvette and Tim!!!


Monday: We got up so we could be on the road by 9am.  We ate breakfast before leaving and headed out just after 9. After crossing into Virginia we stopped at Bojangles for lunch because neither one of us had ever ate there before and we wanted to try it out!  It was ok but we would probably never eat there again.  However, we did learn that they were hiring so we are considering applying and moving to the South.  After our brief stop for lunch, Hannah took over driving and we drove until we reached Jewel's house.  We had a little trouble finding it but it all worked out and we made it there.  After getting there we sat out on the dock and talked for awhile and then started to watch Dear John.  Later we visited with her family and then had dinner with them.  After dinner we played a 1981 version of Trivial Pursuit...it was quite interesting!  I think I knew about two questions lol.  It was a lot of fun and my team won so that was good.  Then we decided to watch Bachelor and we were both really excited when Brad picked Emily!  Once again I fell asleep on the couch!


Tuesday:  On Tuesday morning we slept in a bit and then ate waffles and bacon that Jewel had fixed for us.  It was an amazing breakfast!  Right after breakfast we  headed for Williamsburg hearing that there was a lot of history there but because it was kind of chilly outside we decided that the Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum might be a better choice.  We drove to the museum, but seeing only two cars in the parking lot we weren't convinced to go.  Instead, we decided to go shopping and found a nice Goodwill and Marshalls to spend the afternoon in.  We both got a few things from Goodwill and I was in paradise when I found the cutest pair of Coach shoes at Marshalls on sale.  Hannah tried her best to get me to think about if I really wanted to buy them but once I saw them it was pretty much all history from there.  It was a really good shopping day for both of us!!  After shopping we met Hannah's great aunt and uncle for dinner.  They took us downtown to an elegant French Bistro restaurant.  I ordered crab cakes and Hannah had a pork tenderloin.  For dessert we had Creme Brulee, Hannah's favorite dessert!  I have to admit it was pretty good, but I still really like brownies!!  After having dinner with Hannah's wonderful family we headed out of town to begin our drive home.  Little did we know that we would be driving in rain and what direction the GPS would be taking us.  Hannah was driving and I began to see signs saying that we were 60 miles from Washington D.C., then 40 miles and so on until the next thing we know we are driving on the highway with 6 lanes of traffic, through the pouring rain in D.C.  I was pretty nervous but was trying to remain calm so that Hannah wouldn't freak out too!  We took a wrong exit and decided to switch drivers at this point.  I got behind the wheel and I was freaking out a bit as we followed the GPS to get back on track.  I never realized how confusing roundabouts can be but Hannah was pretty good at helping me with directions and God-willing we made it out of D.C.  After making it out of D.C. we felt like we deserved a reward. We saw an exit where there was a Dunkin' Donuts and decided to go there...except they closed at 10 and it was now 10:40.  Luckily, there was a McDonalds right next to it so we got Shamrock shakes!  We continued on and ended up going through Maryland and then decided to stop about 12:30 in Pennsylvania.  We got our first hotel room ever on our own and relaxed for the night!


Wednesday:  It was the last day of our trip and we wanted to get home at a decent time.  We ate breakfast at our hotel and got on the road about 10am.  Our original plan was to avoid Pittsburgh by taking a different route, but not wanting to go a different route than the GPS had us programmed to we decided to just go for it.  After all, we had conquered D.C. the night before.  Driving through Pittsburgh turned out to be a piece of cake and our drive back to Indiana seemed to go surprisingly fast...atleast for me it seemed that way!  When we got back we discovered Hannah had a flat tire on her car, but after a few phone calls Triple A came out to get her tire changed and all was well.  We said goodbye and finished our drives home!!  We had a fantastic trip!!  Thanks for reading our blog...hope you enjoyed hearing about our trip! :)

Friday, March 11, 2011

Day 1=EPIC

Ok. So, we started off the day with a Western Civ exam at 9:00 am. How did it go? Well, lets just say it probably could have gone better. However, it was not terrible. Whitney had a UCF exam right after that which she feels pretty confident about, so that is good. After the exams, we got the car around and loaded up the last few things, and then headed to Loew-Brenn for a quick lunch, and then off we went! Oh! But before that, Whitney had a little mishap and was almost decapitated by the trunk, but it's all good and she still has her head firmly attached to her body.
We started out our trip with me driving and there was smooth sailing until we hit Columbus and almost died once because people do not know how to drive! (Ok, I exaggerate, we did not almost die, but people need to watch where they are going.)
We decided that we would play a Justin Bieber song on the 17th minute of every hour we spend in the car and take a picture to document. This went well and we have many blurred photos to prove our dedication :).
The trip was pretty uneventful until we got a call from Yvette, Whitney's aunt, that she had tore a tendon in her leg, so she would need surgery in the morning. This screwed up our plans of going to Galax, but instead we went to their lovely home in North Carolina. We had a great time chatting with them and we are excited about the things we will do tomorrow. It also turned out better that we came here, because the weather is much warmer and better to walk around and enjoy the town in.
As we were driving, we went through West Virginia (The Epic Fail State). First of all, the state's layout is just plain ugly and all the places we drove through looked rundown and shabby. We stopped at a promising rest stop (promising only because of the Starbucks inside) to get a quick supper and coffee. The cashier at Burger King was a stereotypical redneck: missing teeth, notable accent, and a mullet. We would classify him as a creeper. And then, there was this nice man who took our picture for us and he asked us where we were from and we answered with just Indiana. He said he had just come from Indianapolis and then he asked us if he pronounced Terre Haute right. We answered that he did, and he replied with "I have always wondered how to say it". Hahahaha :)
We finally made it to NC and we are now checking facebook and in a short bit will watch an episode of Grey's Anatomy or two. :)

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

So Excited for This Trip

Hey guys...only a week and a half until our trip begins!  I must say I am super excited but realize I have a lot to do before then.  I love going on vacation but tend to always overpack, especially with shoes.  Pretty much if I feel like there is any chance at all that I may want to wear them then I pack them.  Oh well, I guess it's better to overpack than under-pack.
Yesterday was fun buying our shirts for the trip.  I'm mostly excited about the Justin Bieber logo that will be on the sleeve.  However, I'm pretty much leaving the t-shirt designing up to Hannah since her major is graphic design and she really loves doing this stuff.  To be honest I really have to no experience when it comes to t-shirt designing, but I know they will be awesome when Hannah is done!
After buying the shirts we thought it was appropriate to go to ihop and celebrate with free pancakes!  I have a few pictures from ihop so even though it isn't really part of the trip I will still go ahead and post them!  Thanks for reading and hope you enjoy future posts! :)

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Virginia, here we come!

Our first spring break of college is fast approaching! As many college students want to do, we are taking a road trip! Realizing that we both have family in Virginia, we knew that it would be a logical place to go (not to mention the free lodging*)! So, in order to get ready for this epicness, Whitney and I have been planning our events, schedule and costs. We will post a more detailed schedule later, but for now:

  Friday March 11-- Leaving from HU @ 11 a.m. // driving the 9 hours to Galax, VA.
  Saturday March 12 -- Hanging out in the mountains with Whitney's family // other fun things, I suppose.
  Sunday March 13 -- Drive the 6 hours to Newport News, VA // hang out with Hannah's family.
  Monday March 14 -- Stuff in Newport News....beach anyone?
  Tuesday March 15 -- More fun things near NPN
  Wednesday March 16 -- Finish packing and get ready to head out at 11 a.m. // drive back.

We decided that our first order of business would be to make trip t-shirts. So, today we went to Hobby Lobby to purchase the necessary supplies, such as pink t-shirts, iron on transfer paper, and iron on letters (and a few art supplies for my next 3D project). Oh and by the way, thank you mom and dad for making my name have double of at least 2 letters, so that no matter what, I have to buy two sets of letters so that I can spell either one.


(We were practicing taking pictures in the car for when we do the real thing next week--we do not want to look like amateurs! Practice makes perfect!)

After our Hobby Lobby trip, we made our way to IHOP for free pancakes! To make things even better, we could get chocolate chips in them for only 50 cents! They were so delicious!

We have also decided to document our trip through photos and videos! I am not sure how often they will be posted because of time constraints, but keep checking! We are both so excited for this trip and to share our experiences with you! We will try to keep you updated so that it feels like you are with us :)

<3 Hannah and Whitney

*A BIG thank you to the Jewell and Yvette!