Video Killed The Radio Star

For those of you who watch the Bachelor (Dani recognized this broad-walk from the show in a matter of seconds)

Florida's Cool....We Have Proof

Dani and TJ came to visit us this weekend, and are living proof that Florida is really fun (yes the point of this post is to sell you on Florida and make you ask the question: why haven't I gone to visit Kevin and Nicole?)

We managed to do a lot with Dani and Tj even though they were here for only 2 1/2 days. We went to Islands of Adventures and rode roller-coasters, we went to Blue Springs National Park and swam with Manatees (that one is an extension of the truth, but like I said, I want to sell you on Florida), we went on an air-boat ride and saw massive gators and baby gators and then ate.....a lot. Mostly sea ford ending with a hint of BBQ (or if you are Kevin....3 BBQ'ued chickens)

Here is all the visual evidence you need:

- Islands of Adventure

Matching backpacks....its a must

We were the Poncho Nerd Herd...and proud of it!

- Blue Springs National Park

A mama manatee (AKA Mamatee) swimming with her baby (AKA babytee)

- Air-boat Ride

Gator pile!

- Food.

"World Famous" Dixie Crossroads, where we are their very yummy rock shrimp!

Have we convinced you yet?

Remember the Titans

Last weekend for Kevin's Valentine's present we went to see the Orlando Titans, an indoor lacrosse team. I have been surrounded by lacrosse fans and/or players for over 5 years now, and have recently discovered I still know nothing about the game.

When you take what little knowledge I have for normal lacrosse, then make me watch an indoor lax game where the rules are different, confusion will ensue.

Incase you ever find yourself at an indoor lax game here is Nicole's Indoor Lax 101:

1. Indoor lax is very dramatic (I was unprepared for the dramatics of it and missed the 45 second firework show, but on the upside I got the Titan Drum Line and players flames!)

2. Scoring goals in indoor lax is a lot harder then outdoor. This is due to the sumo-wrestler goalie, and a child's toy for a goal. There was roughly a 2 inch gap in which to score.

3. It is VERY VERY VIOLENT.

4. The goalie doesn't always stand in his goal. Sometimes he likes to take small time outs. Apparently this is something to do with allowing more people on the field to score...but to me it just looked lazy.

5. I am not your typical indoor lax fan, and that is probably the nicest way to explain an indoor lax fan. For example, PDA is highly encouraged, which the young couple in front of us demonstrated all night long (this is the family friendly version):

6. One indoor lax game is enough to last a life time, unless you married a lax fan who really wants to go again....

(NB - I know the title for this blog is extremely uncreative, but sometimes you just have to)

Sugar, Sugar?

It is fair to say that we Saltzman's love SUGAR! Dessert is very popular in our house (especially when it is something Mum's made!) So when I challenged everyone to a sugar free week they weren't too impressed. After some more convincing, Dani and Shelly were up to the challenge. Mum and Cori on the other hand....

It is day four, and I am dying. I find that I am sleeping better....unfortunately it is while I'm driving. My afternoon's are becoming a blur, I get super sluggish and if I am being honest, moody.

My self control was tested to the extreme, with Janice cooking up a cupcake storm. How I ever resisted this is beyond me:

So far I have not seen any benefit of doing this. I can only hope that Dani and Shelly fail the test so I can win the prize (not sure if I am allowed to mention the prize here...plus I run the risk of me losing and having things backfire)

I am still on the search for a sugar free desert that tastes good and still qualifies as desert. Maybe instead I'll just pray for monday (our ending day)

Nicole v. The Wolf Spider

Florida has countless numbers of disgusting creepy crawlies. Among these are the wolf spiders. As predatory arachnids go, wolf spiders are particularly horrid as they are large, not so much in length, but in body.

My encounter with the 8-legged beast was just the other day as I was cleaning out a room. Quite focused on my goal of cleanliness, I was hurrying along minding my own business, when I felt a crunch under my naked left heel. Yes, my barefoot came pounding down on a creature so repulsive children (and me) have nightmares about them. I have zero shame in admitting that as soon as I looked down I felt like I was going to pass out. Dry heaving shortly commenced after the dizziness. Kevin had to carry me to the bathroom, where I washed my ankle under hot water for 5 minutes. I then went to lay down to try and ease the horror of what happened.

Upon relaying this experience to my mother, she was extremely disappointed that I did not take a picture of the now dead spider. Photos were the furthest thing from my mind at the moment in time. I have however googled a picture for you delight (and just so you know, googling wolf spiders has made me itch like crazy, I feel like they are climbing all over me and the dry heaving has started again.)

Kevin, in effort to be supportive told me to look on the bright-side: "At least it was you who came off victorious."

News Flash: I'm Amazing

We are officially in Florida and I hate to be the one to tell you this, but I'm amazing.

The reason for this is as follows:

We had to be in Florida by Jan 4th, due to Kevin starting work. Seems simple enough, until you get stuck in England for an extra couple days, meaning you have to pack up and leave Phoenix roughly 12 hours after you touched down. Thankfully I am "overly organized" and had most things packed before.

So with all things in tow, plus a serious amount of jet-leg we set out for Houston where we spent two days with Dani & TJ; celebrating New Years (by going to bed) and also our anniversary. Being in the middle of a cross-country move was exactly how I pictured our first anniversary! Thankfully Dani & TJ know how to spoil and we were taken out for the best Mexican breakfast burritos, dinner with TJ's family and then Tres Leches, where we were serenaded by a single guitarist!

The drama commenced again on our last leg from Houston to Florida. Kevy's alternator decided to die, and we were rescued by some of the nicest people ever (accompanied by a valuable lesson on judgement) and then his tire popped on the freeway, as he was pulling a U-Haul. Which would be fine if this didn't all happen late at night in the freezing cold and prolonged our trip by about 6 hours.

If you think I am amazing for surviving that, you will be even more impressed when I tell you that I drove my own car behind Kevy's for 40 hours and 2100 miles....ALL BY MSELF. Yes, it's true I'm amazing. It may have taken me a week to recover, but by george I did it. Now proving I can do anything! Although I have made Kevin promise me, that I will never have to do that again.

We have enjoyed our first couple weeks here, and have just been settling in. We went to Kevin's best friend from High School's wedding, and I actually had fun! Generally I hate weddings and don't find them enjoyable (no offense Danielle. Although I may have enjoyed yours, if I wasn't so mad at TJ....clearly all TJ's fault)

We are excited for the prospects ahead of us in Florida and can't wait for people to come visit, even if they are using us to go to Disney.

Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas at home in England! The Saltzman Family has a few christmas traditions, one of these traditions is to do something different every Christmas, keeps us on our toes! This year we decided to give mum a break and have Christmas Eve dinner in a pub, which was very quaint in deed!

A tradition we have adopted since moving to England 20 years ago, is the Christmas cracker. We love them!

Getting ready to pull:

(No, they are not twins. Michelle is older by two years. Please try not to mention their similarities in front of them, they get very defensive. If you wish to compliment them, simply tell them they look like their older sister. It doesn't matter which sister, as Danielle and I get asked if we are twins too)

Christmas crackers always contain a crown and a joke inside. As for the other bonus presents, it could literally be anything. With these crackers we were lucky enough to win fake earrings! Hooray.

Christmas eve night we held a talent show. None of the footage taken worked out, which is a pity as we had:

Cori - doing impressions (classic)

Shelly - showing off her ability to do 20 "man" push-ups.

Kevin - solving a rubix cube under 2 minutes.

Me - naming all the capitals of the 50 states.

Dani & TJ - shadow puppets, the story of two dogs who fell in love and turned into birds.

Mum - a rewritten poem of "A Night Before Christmas", with all our names in it!

Christmas day was fantastic, as always. And this year it involved a lot of dancing:

(please note our matching PJs. My poor mum makes us PJs every year at our persistence. And every year she does a fabulous job, and we love her for it!)

My little sisters are what some may call "fashion forward." Apparently the next big rage is military boots. If you think that these are a little less than desirable, then my dad will be the first to tell you that, you have gotten old and loss your edge (something every girl wants to hear!)

The crackers!

One of TJ's and Kevin's Christmas presents were tickets to an West Ham football (soccer to you Yanks) game, they were completely thrilled, and are now Hammer fans for life.

At football games there is always lots of sining and chanting. Kevin said he couldn't understand half of them (which probably was for the best), however they were prepped for the West Ham song "Forever Blowing Bubbles."

Going home for Christmas was fantastic. There is nothing like going home! Same time next year?