reliving the magic

last week we went on vacation with my husband's family to disney world. it was amazing. definitely one of the best vacations i've ever been on. i guess the best part of going to disney world as an adult with no children (yet) is all the nostalgia. i had not been back since i was 13 to the magic kingdom and probably since i was 10 to epcot. it was my first visit to the animal kingdom and hollywood studios. visually i couldn't get enough of "it's a small world", the colors and the art design had me captivated. i loved going to the carousel of progress and being instantly transported to being there as a child. i love every detail i could find anywhere that they have kept the same all these years and enjoyed the new rides while lamenting the loss of "mr toad's wild ride" and "if you had wings". the place is truly magical. it's unbelievable the pains they go through to take care of every last detail. even the quick service food was really good. epcot is probably my favorite, where you can go globetrotting in a day and then travel to the future. i loved shopping in the stores and bought my first presents for our little girl in japan and the united kingdom. nathan stole my heart when he came back with a toy he found for her on his own. we had so much fun together remembering so many things we enjoyed as children there. it was so sweet to dream together of the day we can take our little girl there. for a lover of mid century modern - there are many treasures to be found in the magic kingdom, epcot and hollywood studios. we ate at a diner that was decorated like a 50's kitchen with all the kitschy decor to match. the fried chicken was good but mostly i loved just looking at the decor and pretending to be transported in time. going to florida always makes me nostalgic as well, since i lived there three times as a kid. it makes me homesick every time. swimming, sunshine, great food, rides (even ones for expectant mommies), bits of mid century modern design, childhood memories, hanging out with the love of my life, laughter...it doesn't get much better than this.

things are looking better....

think pink, originally uploaded by goldiestereo.

nathan's mom is doing so much better, she might even get to come home in a few days (edit 1/11/09: she came home!). thank you to everyone who prayed, we believe it's only because of your prayers that she is getting stronger every day. thank you God. so here's to mamma pam today and here's to more days like
this

our hearts are broken

some of our best friends, austin and maggie baxter, lost their beautiful baby girl, beatrix clementine baxter, this week. maggie was about 8 months pregnant. her best friend jenny explains what happened better than i ever could here on her blog. If anyone in our community wants to send a card or gift card or bring a meal I am organizing meals and can give you the info. Email me at meridith21 at g mail dot com.

pink/orange/red/wonderful

so i am cheating a bit and combining the last days of color week. the colors aren't quite as vibrant in photo as in person. all my pictures in this series have been from our wonderful trip down to georgia in june for our second reception at the beautiful bellevue mansion in my hometown, father's day, a day trip to cumberland island, going to savannah and YES going to paula dean's restraunt (totally worth the 2 hour wait), charleston SC, cherokee NC and gaitlingburg TN. we drove down with my wonderful mother and father in law and equally wonderful brother in law and got to spend time with my entire wonderful family including my grandmother, aunt & uncle, mother & stepfather, brothers, dad & stepmother and very dear friends. all the pics are up on my flickr page. there are so many stories behind each picture. if you are ever in gaitlinburg, take the time to go to the new ripley's aquarium...it was very impressive.