I have been here:

visited 11 states (22%)
Create your own visited map of The United States or try another Douwe Osinga project

I am so glad I found this on my blogging friend, Drew’s blog! Sidenote funny: For the longest time when I first met him, I thought Drew’s name was ‘Ben’, because, in the online world he goes by ‘benspark’! It’s been a couple years now that I’ve known him, and by now I’ve forgotten the origins of that name!

But I am so glad that I saw that thing on his site, because, I was just saying to my kids recently that I wished there was something like that on which I could mark and see exactly where I’ve been. I know I haven’t been too far, but, I’d still like to ‘see’ it!

Momma – did I get it right? Did I leave any out? Can you believe – I almost left out New York!!! My dream trip, people – and my momma took me on it in 2000!! She put off her bathroom remodel just so that she could take me! Is she the absolute coolest, or what?! (And yeah, sometimes I forget some of our childhood trips – or I think I’ve been somewhere I haven’t – or I think my brother slept in a drawer….uh yeah…..I’m a dork, so I try to ask my mom to back up my stories all the time now! LOL)

As I was looking at the list of states, I was thinking, I really need to get to Vermont. That is where the first Burnett landed in this country. Burnett is my maiden name. My dad actually saw where this person signed the book in the town offices. (Eeps – did I get that one right, Momma?) Anyway, we went to Vermont first, so I need to go there.

But I’m dying, nay – salivating, jonesing, praying, hoping, wishing, and dreaming to go back to NYC! I loved it just EVERY. BIT. AS. MUCH. as I thought I would – and more! And it loved me, too! Oh yeah – Momma can back me up on that one, too! Hahaha! The stories, oh the stories!!

So you guys all go make your own maps – then leave the links to where you’ve published them in the comments! Let me see where you’ve been!

Momma – if you wanna do one, too – just send the html code it gives you to me in an email. You’ll have to make it a word doc. as I’m sure the email program on both or either ends will chop it up. And if you do, make two – I know you’ve been out of the country and will make a ‘World’ one, but, I’d like to plainly see all the states you’ve visited, as well! (Now see, I was right, we need to get you blogging!)

Ever since having a German next door neighbor last year, I have been so intrigued by Germany. I never really knew that much about it until I met Sonja, and she made it sound like such an interesting place. And the food she would bake for us – yummm! Every few days Sonja would knock on the door with some new taste treat that she had baked up and made sure to make plenty for us! She would often make German bread, because, she complained that our American bread was just too thin and light. Her bread was so delicious!

Being friends with her made me feel as though I was ‘experiencing’ some of Germany, but it would be really cool to actually go there and experience it! And from what I am finding online, the hotels in Germany look really neat. I mean, some of them sort of look like what you would find here, but, a lot of them just have really neat and different architecture than what I see here in Alabama.

I think one of the most exciting things for me to see would be the castles! The castles in Germany are called ‘burgs’ and they are all unique and different. That is so cool that they are not all your typical castle. I love that they vary so much in architecture and design. The Wartburg Castle is one of the oldest in Germany. It was built 938 years ago! That would be so amazing and would render me completely speechless. I get spellbound here in the States with 100 year old houses and such. I can’t even imagine being in a building that old!

I would definitely want to see The Berlin Wall. Going to Germany and not seeing it would be like going to Paris and not seeing The Mona Lisa. So I would definitely want to find about hotels in Berlin.

I would also look into hotels in Munich, so that I could see some of those old churches there. The on that is the oldest parish church in Munich has a very ornate interior and you can walk to the top of it, I’m assuming in a tower – and have a wonderful view of the city. But the one that I would love to see is this one:
It is the Heilig Geist, and I can’t find a whole lot of information on it online, but, the picture alone is haunting me. I’m going to have to keep looking and see what I can find out about it.

That is what my sweet little girl said to me the other day. I have been feeling sad that I am not going to Postie Con and BlogWorldExpo – two back-to-back blogging conventions happening in Las Vegas, that a bunch of my friends are going to – and that I could learn a whole lot from! Not to mention, have a great time!

And on that particular morning, I was feeling uber sad that I wasn’t even going to get to meet up with some of the PayPerPost crew in Atlanta, one of their many stops along the Blog America Tour. Ted Murphy, CEO of PPP, and a few guys decided to make a road trip from Orlando to Las Vegas for the conventions. And that way, they could stop at cities along the way, meeting posties as they go! They have been Twittering their whole trip, though, and so that has been fun to keep up with.
This is a pic of my friend, Colleen and her nephew with Ted and Ashley, from PayPerPost at their stop in Florida.

And knowing my sweet Punkymoms, I wouldn’t even have to pay for a hotel!

Now that sounds like a trip!

EasyToBook.com provides all kinds of information on hotels in various cities. You can get discounted rates on all levels of hotels, because, the hotels book rooms directly through the Easy To Book system, and that is cheaper for them to do. You also do not have to pay any reservation fees. They give a lot of information on each hotel to help you make your decision better. They tell prices, obviously, but, they go much further than that. They let you know about all the different services and room services available, times for check in and check out, information on taxes, and even distances to popular sites nearby.

The site features two of my favorite, dream destination cities. The first one is New York. Thanks to my wonderful mother, I have actually already made this trip, but, we are both wanting to go back very badly. So I am always looking at New York hotels and sites online, planning the next trip in my head.

One of the other places that I have always wanted to go is Paris. I honestly don’t know if this trip will ever happen, but, it is so exciting to ‘plan’ it anyway! I love checking out all of the things people do when they visit Paris. With all of the maps provided on EasyToBook.com, I can get my trip all planned out!

Ever since I moved to Alabama, I keep hearing about North Carolina and it just sounds so beautiful! I’ve even made some lovely blogging friends that live there! And now I’ve just heard about this contest to win a FREE Raleigh Getaway. Quoting from the site, this is all that you get if you win:

* One night accommodations for two at the Courtyard by Marriott Raleigh Crabtree Valley
* $25 gift certificate to Bloomsbury Bistro
* Free VIP admission for two to Rum Runners
* 2 tickets to the North Carolina Theatre
* 2 tickets to the N.C. Museum of Art’s Landscapes from the Age of Impressionism
* 2 tickets to Dinosaurs: Ancient Fossils, New Discoveries at the N.C.
Museum of Natural Sciences

I don’t know about you, but, that sounds like a lot of fun to me! But there is even so much more than just that to do in Raleigh! There is an Autumn Arts Festival downtown that sounds like a lot of fun, with music, food, and arts and crafts from local craftsmen. Also, there is the North Carolina State Fair, with all kinds of games, side shows, rides, and tons of food! And while at the fair, you could see Trace Adkins in Concert – that would definitely be awesome!

I am definitely signing up to see if I can win this trip – it would be so wonderful for my husband and I to have a Fall Getaway, just the two of us! I’d say – after fifteen years of marriage, we’re due, don’t you think?

It looks like the fall colors in Raleigh are just absolutely beautiful and that would be so nice to experience, but, even better than that – is the theater! There are tons of shows in Raleigh! They have Mamma Mia! coming up and that looks like it would be really good – it might be hard to drag Mark there, as it’s a musical. People who just shut their eyes and ears to great theater, just because ‘it’s a musical’ – are so silly! They are really missing out on a lot! And Tyler Perry’s What’s Done In the Dark sounds intriguing. I can’t tell if that one is a musical or not. I’ll have to do some more research on that.

Anyway, this sounds like a fantastic trip – I’d love to win it!

Several years ago, I picked up a book that was so interesting and helpful (and one that I definitely need to read again!) called Clear Your Clutter. I loved the book and the author’s way of looking at things so much, that I went out and bought another of her books, and it was all about the ancient art of Feng Shui. I was so taken with this author and her take on things and her way of living – she had me in a trance, almost. And she lives in Bali – she had gone there to visit, and loved it so much she just moved there. She sprinkles bits and pieces of information about Bali throughout her books. And ever since, I have wanted to go there so badly. She just made it sound like the most wonderful place.

I was looking at this website that lists discount Asian hotels, and I was floored at some of the prices! It was absolutely amazing – and there were pictures and full descriptions of the places and none of them look like dives. They actually list a whole range of prices, so there are expensive ones listed there, too. But from looking further into the site, one of the very cheapest ones so far is my favorite. It’s $34 a night and it’s a 3-star establishment. What is really cool about this site is that there customers can write reviews of the hotels. That is one of my favorite things about the net these days – you can always hear from other consumers before you shop or buy. And the site has the cutest logo:I’ve never traveled out of the country before, and I think Asia would be a good place to start. There are so many things about Eastern cultures that I admire, so visiting that area of the world would definitely be a good experience. I’d love to start in Bali, and now I know a good website to look for hotels in Bali. I love that they include multiple pictures for each hotel – some of the rooms look positively dreamy! It would be so awesome to get to travel there and see what life is like over there.

One of my Punkymom friends just got back from Maine and she let us see all of her pictures. It just looks so beautiful and idyllic. They were there ten days and had only two days of sun, but, even in her cloudy pictures, there is something so peaceful and ‘storybook’ about it, you know? That was one of my folks’ favorite places to travel and I can definitely see why. My friend has family there, so she of course stayed with them, but, I think if I went I would definitely try to stay in a Maine bed and breakfast. Ever since my brother’s wedding, where we stayed in a B&B, I’ve become sort of obsessed with them! I’ve always been obsessed with old houses, though, so I don’t know why it took staying in one to make me so crazy about them. Maybe it was too many years of watching Newhart, that turned me off prior to that! Theirs wasn’t a really old house, though, so it just seemed annoying. It might have just seemed annoying to me, because, it was from the owner’s perspective, and owning one, I’m sure – could be a pain in the neck! But Maine just seems like the most perfect setting to stay in a B&B! The whole historical, and laid back, atmosphere would be just right!

My two very favorite restaurants in Dallas are The Veggie Garden and Cosmic Cafe. They are so freaking good! I only got to go to Veggie Garden once, for my birthday dinner, and I didn’t get to Cosmic Cafe at all.

The Veggie Garden is really cool, because it has a nice, pleasant atmosphere. Everyone there, even the owner, Terri, is always very nice. The food is, of course, delicious, and Terri does things to get the restaurant involved in the community. And the community just happens to be, five minutes from my mom’s house. I almost always get the Kung Pao Chicken. It’s a very cool place, indeed. I surely thought that I would go there at least twice. What a bummer!

Cosmic Cafe is completely amazing because, as you can see, it is in this incredible building and the atmosphere is so warm and soothing. Their food is so delicious, the hummus is my favorite. But they also have yoga and meditation classes. And that involves them in the community! That is one cool thing about a lot of vegetarian places – they take an interest in the people around them! I sure wish I’d gotten to go there. When my mother and I went to pick up Lucy for the first time, actually, the veterinarian’s office where she was being taken care of was right up the street from it. We passed Cosmic Cafe and I hollered like a nine year old asking for McDonald’s! “Mo-om! Please! Take me there!!!” We, of course, didn’t have time, though. That was my trip in February for the funerals and it was a rush-rush trip. I just can’t believe that I didn’t go in June. What the heck is wrong with me?

Well, I had no car, whiny kids, a rotten stomach… I guess those all helped me miss some of my favorite spots. And I missed hooking up with some cool people, too. You’d think a month would be long enough to do all that stuff. The belly ache and the no-car really made it tough, though.

Ah well… there’s always next time!

…is happening to me since I’ve been back. I am not only going through the ‘getting use to being house’, and trying to readjust to the after-vacation-ness of it all. I am also feeling this all over again: What? I live in Alabama? How totally peculiar and also, rather annoying, that I should have to go through all of those feelings again! Gah!

I knew leaving my family would be hard, in fact, I almost didn’t want to go to Dallas just for that reason! How silly is that?

But who on earth knew that I would have to go through all of the shock of having really, truly moved away from home again?

It probably has a lot to do with the fact that we stayed out there so long – almost a whole month – and also with the fact that I think I still haven’t accepted the fact that we have actually moved out here. Yes, folks, after one year – I am still in denial!

I found this video on my friend, Deb’s, Surviving NJ blog. It was really cool to see the Atlantis landing and hear the lady speaking so calmly and officially, you know? But you know what really struck me about it? I’ve spent the last few days being discombobulated and thinking that it is so hard to adjust to being back to our ‘house’ (see: ‘Alabama is house’ post). But that astronaut they brought home, Sunny Williams, stayed gone waaaaaaaaaaaaay longer than I did (195 days!) and was IN SPACE!!!!!

How hard would that be to re-adjust yourself to not just life at home, but heck! Life on EARTH!

Weird…
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