Honey I'm Home!

Hiya! Did y'all miss me?

Well I got home from VA Beach the day before yesterday. I had an awesomesauce time,
Anyway the deets of the trip.

Monday, December 31st:

Dad woke me up at about 5am-ish. I had my alarm set for like 5:15 but I think Dad waking me up is better than a noisy alarm clock. I had packed everything the day before so after a bowl of cereal and some time to actually wake up and get dressed me and dad were out the door. We made it to the train station around six. Got my tags for my bags and got them to the baggage claim thingy. The train arrived a bit before or after Seven. Not a bad looking train. I found a seat by the window. Dad saw me and waved me off as the train left. I actually felt like crying after that but I think I managed to choke it down.

This was my first time riding a real train. The ride itself was nice. But boy was it chilly. I could feel the cold air through my shoes. I managed to get a cup of hot chocolate to help warm me up. Yummy.The man who sat next to me from home to Raliegh was really nice. After he left I had two more people sit next to me from there to Richmond.
To pass the long trip I tried accessing Netflix through my new 3DS. Didn't work. However I had my games (Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion) and my iPod with my music and a couple of episodes of Adventures in Odyssey to keep me occupied.

We arrived in Richmond a bit after 4pm. Like 20 minutes after. A bit late but no big. I got off and the first familiar face I see is of course Justin's. Naturally I greet him with a BIG HUG. His mother was there along with his grandmother on his dad's side She's really nice as well. Justin's mom drove from Richmond to VA Beach. I would be staying in there new house which they moved to before Christmas. I have to say, it's really nice! Since Justin's grandma was staying in the guest room. I slept in what would be the future Patriots room on a pull out bed. Real comfy. Prior to the trip I made Justin's mom a couple of housewarming gifts. Two potholders. She loved em! And Justin got me some Yankee Candle votive candles from his MA trip.
That evening would be a New Years Eve party. Didn't eat much there because me and Justin got some McDonalds on a store run. I did have a nibble or two though. And I tried some kielbasa. Not bad I guess. But I really enjoyed those big soft chocolate chip cookies. Mmm mm! I got to meet a few friend of the family. They were a real hoot. Especially when we were playing a couple of games. Like this...wheel where describe something on the screen and everyone has to guess what it is. They get it right, you pass the wheel down.

We saw the ball drop in NY on NBC and counted down to the new year. At midnight, or a few seconds after, me and Justin shared our first New Years kiss. EEHEE!
I even got to try wine for the first time. Lemme just say it does NOT taste like sparkling grape juice. I might just stick with daiquiris. I washed down the wine taste with peach tea. Now THAT tasted good. Course it's like Crystal Light. A powder drink mix. After an hour after midnight, we turned in for the night.

Tuesday, January 1st:
New Years day. First day of 2013. For breakfast we all went to Ihop where I got to try blueberry pancakes. Boy that was good but I was sure stuffed after that. Afterwards me and Justin spent the day visiting a couple of malls. Lynnhaven and Pembroke. Went to a Yankee Candle in Lynnhaven mall I think. I was looking for replacement votive to a tea light set of four. I broke one of them. Didn't have the one I was looking for, so I got a Mango Peach Salsa candle and a tea light candle set of True Rose. We went to the pet shop there and played with a female Miniature Schnauzer puppy. WHAT A CUTIE!! She was a bit of a biter though. But it was fun nonetheless. We also went to the Hot Topic in both malls, but I think it was Pembroke where I got my Purple TNBC nail polish and two MLP blind bags. =3

We also stopped at Burlington Coat Factory to exchange a pair of slippers that Justin had gotten for Christmas for a pair in a bigger size. They didn't have what he was looking for, so Justin got store credit instead. We were gonna attend a New Years Mass but we couldn't make it. So after the Malls we went straight back to the house for a dinner of chicken and rice with cream of mushroom soup as the gravy. Some of you may or may not know this, but I am a really picky eater. But the dinner was actually pretty good. OK so I ate the chicken and tried a bite a rice. Good thing they had corn too. I love corn. ^^
The rest of the evening was spent with relaxing before hitting the hay.

Wednesday, January 2nd:

Aquarium day! The Virginia Aquarium is always cool. I loved going there the first time I was in VA Beach. We walked around a bit looking at some of the critters and exhibits and took a few pics. We also caught a 3D show called Sea Rex. It was about Marine Reptiles in the days of the dinosaurs. That was really cool. After that we hit the cafe for some pizza. Call it a tradition that me and Justin get pizza at least once during a visit. Now, as I'm sure you know, I. LOVE. SHARKS!
So it's no surprise I was excited to see that there was an exhibit about the Megalodon!
Also in the aquarium we saw sea turtles, jellyfish, tropical fish, oh yeah, and SHARKS! We even saw a nursery for sharp pups. They actually displayed shark egg cases with the live embryos inside. Now THAT was really cool. I also got a real kick out of the ray touch tank. They're so cool to touch. Kinda slimy feeling but awesome! I also got me a shark glitter globe. Been needing something sharky for my knickknack collection. EEHEE!

We also got to go to the Marsh Pavilion, finally. We missed the chance last time because it was close to closing for the day. The walk from the aquarium to the pavilion is connected by a nature trail. The weather was a bit nippy and my sleeve being wet from the ray touch tank didn't help. x3 But anyway, we saw some of the birds they had at the aviary, saw an otter, some snakes, a snapping turtle and so on.

On the way back as we were leaving there was a tower where you could climb up and get a good view from the marsh. As we were going back down I saw some permanent marker graffiti. One of them was just so funny, I two two pics of it.
It said, clear as day: "is Mayonaise an instrument?"
FAMILIAR MUCH!?

So we went back to the house and had cheeseburgers for dinner. Pretty much chilled for the rest of the evening.

Thursday, January 3rd:

The day before I learned the 3rd was Justin's dad's birthday. So, I volunteered to bake the cake. Me and Justin went to Food Lion to pick up the ingredients needed to make the cake as well as some ice cream a couple of birthday cards. We decided on golden cake with chocolate frosting. Red and blue frosting and white pearl sprinkles for decoration. Patriots colors. After a period of time finding things such as the mixer and baking pan and stuff, it was time to get to work. It took a while for the cake to bake and even longer to frost and decorate, I think. But thankfully, the cake turned out great.
Dinner that night was spaghetti. Mmm mm! I love spaghetti! We chilled for a minute watching Shark Tale before we had the cake. Everyone loved it! Whew! Lol at Food Lion, I pointed out a red card with a guitar on the front. When you opened it, it played "I Wanna Rock and Roll All Night." Justin decided to get him that one. I got his dad a card that could double as a banner. x3 All in all I'm sure he had a happy birthday.

Friday, January 4th:

We decided to go to Norfolk to check out the MacArthur Mall. On the way we checked out the local Family Christian Store. I have to tell ya, it felt good going in a store where there's a wall of VeggieTales stuff. I decided not to buy anything though.
We stopped at a place where we would wait for this train called The Tide to take us the rest of the way to Norfolk. The ride there was pretty fun. We arrived at the mall after the ride there. Checked out yet another Yankee Candle shop to see if they had the tea light votive I was looking for. They didn't, darnit. But I got two Pomegranate Spice votive candles for myself, and a White Christmas jar for my mom. She loves that scent.

After lunch in the food court we decided to check out Nauticus, a museum dedicated to the Navy and ships and stuff. We got in for free because Justin volunteers at The Old Coast Guard Station and could bring in a guest for free. Lucky duck us. The exhibits were interesting I'll admit. But not everything was my cup of tea. However to my surprise, there was some fish tanks and whatnot. But what I was most excited about was a touch tank with, you guessed it, SHARKS! Small sharks mind you but boy were they pretty. After some waiting I got to to pet what I think was a bamboo shark. Man the skin felt so rough and smooth like fine sandpaper. It was awesome!
After a while I got so tired I felt my feet were gonna fall off. So we returned to the house for a dinner of KFC.

Saturday, January 5th
Last full day there. After some debate Justin and I decided to visit the Zoo. We were gonna go to the Virginia Living Museum but it was a ways away and his mom didn't feel like driving all the way to Newport News. Especially since it was in the opposite direction where she would be shopping with Justin's grandmother. So the zoo it was.

Now THAT was fun. I ain't been to a zoo in ages. They had lots of cool critters there. Monkeys, cranes, buffalo, peacocks, lions, red pandas, snakes and other reptiles, an orangutan, some bears, bald eagles, zebras, ostriches, ect.

The petting zoo was closed but we were fortunate enough to catch a woman about to take a ram named Tag for a walk. So I got to pet something there. ^_^
I was close to running out of memory on my SD card for my camera so I decided to use my camera sparingly. However as we were checking out the elephants and giraffes, the battery went dead. Thankfully Justin took some pics with his iPhone. We had lunch at a cafe there and I purchased up some postcards as souvenirs. Got an elephant one for my grandmother. ^^

After that we attended Saturday Mass, so that Justin wouldn't have to miss it on Sunday when I left. He even managed to make it to confession. The church was the same one I went to last time. It was decorated with Christmas stuff. You know, wreaths, trees, a nativity, the works. The service was nice. Managed to follow along to some stuff. Especially easy because we sang Christmas stuff. Unlike last time, I managed to not burst into tears. However, I could feel a headache coming on during the service. Afterwards Justin took me to a 7-11 for some aleve and water. After taking a pill and going back to the house we went to Golden Corral which I picked for where we were going to eat that night. But thanks to that darn headache  I didn't eat much. Just a plate of pasta (which I couldn't even finish), some water, half a role with honey butter, and a strawberry dunked in the chocolate wonderfall. I seriously felt like I was going to throw up. Thankfully I didn't. After going back to his house I rested in my bed for a bit. Eventually the headache was gone, than goodness. After I was up and about again, Justin helped me pack up for the trip back home, we had some leftover cake and ice cream and popped in a DVD I brought. Happy Feet Two, which we watched before bed.

Sunday, January 6th:

Homecoming.
I woke up around 8am and we were on the road again to Richmond some time after. We stopped at IHOP again for breakfast. This time I ordered Chocolate Chocolate Chip Pancakes. I was so full I couldn't even finish em. We arrived at the station about an hour before the train arrived. After saying my goodbyes to the family, Justin walked me outside to where the train would be. After it got there we said our goodbye and shared a couple of final kisses before I got on board.

This time I really started crying after I sat down. No one seemed to notice thank goodness. I think putting on my sunglasses helped that no one could see my teary eyes. After the train got going, I tried setting up a connection to my DS so I could play Netflix. They had Wi-Fi but I could never get to it. Weird. Next time, I'm taking a portable DVD player. The trip was once again long but bearable. Good hing I thought about putting on my pink fuzzy socks to keep my feet warm.
Even got a little pizza for lunch on the snack car in Raleigh.
It was past 8 o'clock when I arrived in Charlotte. And who else was there to pick me up but my daddy. ^^
As much fun as the trip was, it's great to be home. I was missing the folks. And my dog Baby. ^^

Also on the trip on days I cant remember exactly, me and Justin watched some videos on YT, some football with his family like almost every night, an episode of MLP on his laptop, as well as watching The Rescuers one night. And of course there was the playing with my DS games. Along with Epic Michey, I got Art Academy. Maybe with that I may get my drawing mojo back. Here's hopin'! Also at his house, I kept getting shocked! Static shocked that is. That place must be supercharged or something.
Also, next time, I'll be sure to bring my own soap for showering.

So yeah, that's pretty much what I remember from last week. What an adventure. =3
Can't wait till the next time I go up there. Well..maybe I can a little. Wanna get back into the swing of things back home.

Click here to read Justin's side of the story. fav.me/d5qti5j

It's good to be home!

Love you lots hon! I had a real blast!