Vote Today

If Darin and I can stand in line for 2.5 hours to vote - you can too!

I have to say though, it wasn't too bad of a wait. We talked to some interesting people and met some new neighbors.

I was mad though when I got to work and my boss had only waited 5 minutes.

Oh well.

Go and V.O.T.E!

Happy Howl-o-ween

Well, Darin and I are sitting here waiting for the last of the trick-or-treaters. Kids started coming about 7 pm, and I'm hoping for some more.

(I bought a lot of candy because I felt guilty about running out last year.)

I took some pictures.

(Of course.)

I hope you enjoy.

The candy.

I chose kit-kats and chocolate with almonds. I couldn't find the snickers. I totally miss going out and getting a wide variety of chocolate. We're just stuck with these two.

The greeter.



He's a shark.
(But not a very happy shark.)



Much better.
(Ski Patrol Dog Rescue.)



I'm a Lady Bug.



The Killer Lady Bug
(Watch out Jake.)

It was so fun to watch the kids - but man were they greedy. We had to move the candy up off the floor because they were reaching into the container to get more! How crazy is that?! No cute political outfits; I was waiting though. :(

Lots of princesses, witches, karate people, etc.

I was pretty proud of my lady bug outfit. Last year I think I was a bunny.

Hope you had a great Halloween!

Broccoli Surprise

Just a funny thing:

Last night I made some cupcakes because it's by boss' birthday today. I love to make cupcakes or anything that's sweet and bring them to work because my colleagues will eat them and I won't eat them all!

First I fixed myself some dinner (Darin was at his folks) and while it was cooking, I made the batter and got the cupcake cups filled.

For dinner I had chicken kiev (bad Dru for talking about this the other day) and broccoli. When I put everything on my plate to eat dinner, Kerry came into the kitchen and gave me a suggestion:

Why not put a piece of broccoli in the cupcake and try to get Darin to eat it later?

What a fantastic idea?!

So a piece of broccoli was added to a cupcake (after double checking we were sure which one it was in) and the cupcakes were cooked.

I ate dinner, iced up the cupcakes, and then put the special cupcake aside to wait for Darin to come home.

When Darin got home I told him I had made cupcakes and there was one there for him. He went about his normal stuff (playing with Jake, putting stuff away) - and Kerry and I were waiting for him to get the damn cupcake. Eat it already.

After what seemed like forever, I finally was like, "you need to eat your cupcake now". I guess I said it loudly and forcefully. I'm not a patient person.

So he started eating it.

I was in the other room peering around the corner, and Kerry was sitting across the couch from him. (Jake was right next to him on the floor trying to get a piece of the cupcake he was not allowed to eat.)

Darin was like, "This is weird tasting. What's different?"

I said it was a different frosting - cream cheese whipped compared to the normal just white icing whipped.

And then he got to the piece of broccoli.

Hee hee.

This was very funny because Kerry and I were just staring at him. Darin was very confused about what was happening and we just started laughing.

Hee hee.

Then he pulled out the broccoli from the cupcake. And looked at it.

Kerry and I laughed some more and told him we put the broccoli in the cupcake and how we're awful awful people, blah blah blah....

Then Darin was like, I told you it tasted funny...

And proceeded to eat the piece of broccoli.

Ick.

I guess I have ruined him forever when it comes to cupcakes.

It was definitely worth it though.

Joining Our Church

I wanted to write a quick post about Darin's and my big day on Sunday.

We decided to become members of the church we are getting married in - First Congregational Church of Winter Park.

We never really had the intention of becoming members - just started going every Sunday to try to get to know the Senior Minister - Bryan - better. (He's super funny and caring. Always begins his sermons with a stupid/silly/strange/funny joke.)

Both Darin and I were actually enjoying every minute of the service - and were getting up in the morning to go (this is important because it takes forty-five minutes to get there every Sunday morning and we are lazy people). People started remembering who were were, asking how we were doing, and we really felt as though we were welcomed.

This past Saturday night, we were invited to a New Member get-together. Had a blast! Ended up talking a lot about us; how we met, where we went to school, what we do, etc. Had a great dinner and talked to some fantastic people.

It was good for us to get out and met new people; people who we can be honest with and don't judge us. (Not to say that we get judged a lot, but just knowing that these people have similar opinions than we did.)

Talked a lot with Talia, who is the Minister of Arts and Education. She's my age and had just dyed her hair platinum blond with hot pink stripes. So cool!

Ended up signing up for some activities as well. We're excited to help out and make new friends.

It truly is a great feeling.

Sunday during the regular service, the new members were introduced - twelve of us. They said where we were from and what we did. Embarrassing. After the service, we stood up front again and people came to congratulate us and welcome us to the church family. It was plain nice. Many people asked us about our upcoming wedding and all that jazz.

It was really the first thing we did together as an 'almost' married couple. Something we decided together, to do together.

A good memory overall!

(And to celebrate, we went to Darin's all time favorite restaurant for lunch - the Olive Garden. Sigh.)

Scary Night: HHN

Last Wednesday, my friends from work Janice and Tony joined Darin and me on a wicked scary adventure at Halloween Horror Nights. Ohhh, scary.

Ended up getting there (Universal) early for some food/drinks - went to Margaritaville for a margarita. obviously. And then headed out to the park.

Ahh. Margaritas.

For some reason (Darin and Tony's fault, I believe) we decided to go on the new Simpsons Ride. Bad idea. Though I have to say that we had a good time standing in line and looking at all of the cool Simpsons stuff.

Waitin' in line.

I didn't feel too good after the ride. We went over to watch the Bill and Ted's Scary Halloween thing (that is definitely not the name of it... it had something to do with Hellboy. And was strange. Political stuff, and random other stuff.) Then went to wait in line for our first haunted house.

Side note: Do people know what HHNs was? Most Orlando people hopefully do. Basically, Universal Studios took their back stages and transformed them into haunted houses. Maybe like eight total? And in the park there were only certain rides open. And when you walk around, there were all of these dressed up zombie/crazy chainsaw/ghosts/etc people walking around trying to scare the bejesus out of you. It's fun. Oh, and alcohol was served. Alcohol = better zombies.

Back to the story - went to wait in line and I guess I turned green. It was a combination of a top shelf margarita, fish tacos (bad bad), and the Simpsons ride.

Ralph.

Ended up leaving Janice and Tony and going to the First Aid area. I honestly was afraid that I'd end up throwing up on some poor zombie. Ick.

Darin was a sweetie and took me. And made me lay down. I didn't want him to lose out on the fun night, so he ended up going on some rides while I rested.

Poor Del.

(I think the pepto bismol did wonders.)

About an hour and a half later, after some hot chocolate from Starbucks (inside Universal. really.), we met up with Janice and Tony and went to some houses.

So fun.

Well, some of them were. Some were stupid. Most were cool.

I end up laughing a lot because I think it's so funny. We all each screamed at least once from someone popping out on us or coming after us with a chain saw.

Janice and Tony with Jaws.



Del and Darin with Jaws.

Good times.

Must. Go. Next. Year.

On a sad note, we did not hear the Monster Mash once. It was sad.

The end.

A Wonderful Night

Saturday night, our very good friends Mike and Carrie held our First Orlando (third actual) Engagement Party.

First of all, let me thank them SO much. You both mean a lot to us and are the best of friends. Thank you for caring for us and being there for us. I hope you like your gnome.

The Gnome.

Darin and I had a great time. I can't even begin to describe how exciting it was to have a party for us! Our previous parties were really to introduce Darin to my incredible/large/loud/fun-loving family... this one was for us.

And it was a wonderful night.

Carrie had the best food. She got the sha cha chicken recipe from China in Epcot and had a chocolate fountain. With pretzels. And marshmallows. It was beyond good. And hummus. I forgot all about the hummus. We love hummus.

My baby.

We all ate and drank. Talked.

Darin, Del, and Kucku

Laughed. Told stories.

Goestov, Diana, Keay, Carol, Darin, and Del



Court, Darin, Daryl, and Mike

Ate some more. (The Chicken.)

Meet new people. (Well, Darin and I didn't, but a lot of others did...)

Opened presents. How great was this?!

And almost cried.
* Carrie had everyone send her recipes for a cookbook she put together for us. I knew if I would have read it right there I would have cried... so I waited until I got home that night. It was so very special. Thank you!

Thanks again to everyone who came and those of you who couldn't.

We had a wonderful night.

Urban Dictionary - It's all in a Name

My friend Kara did this today and I thought I'd give it a try...

If you go to Urban Dictionary and type in your first name in the box above:

Del -

1. "A very sexy, witty, and entertaining individual" - hmm. Is that not the best description of me? I don't really see myself using those adjectives, but what can I say. I can be entertaining though...

2. "Ruler of the free world" - Not yet. Still working on it. (Also, I am not old enough to run.)

3. "Part of the Alfredian language". Riiight.

4. "Del the funky homosapien". Heard that before. I AM funky, yo.

5. "Derived from the Welsh for sweet or cute. Used to describe someone or something that is quite cute". This is my favorite. Aren't I quite cute? I'm not. I don't think I've ever been described as cute. Maybe when I was little? Hmm.

Darin's turn -

1. "Tough guy". Ahh.

2. "One who can't finish watching the movie Congo because he cries". How awesome! I wonder where this one came from.

3. "a pimp by blood, not relation". I don't even know how to comment.

4. "a grown ass man". What? Like an adult who is an 'ass' man as apposed to a 'legs' man? Or Someone who has a pronounced butt? Darin really isn't either. Or at least I don't think he is.

And just for fun, my sister Dru -
(whose birthday was yesterday!)

1. "adjective describing one as: courageous, heroic, maliciously sly, witty, funny, outrageously good looking, OUTRAGEOUSLY good looking, apparently god's gift to the world". Ahh. I totally didn't make that up. The others are not appropriate for blog.

Have a great day!