Vacation.Twenty.Fifteen.(part 1) -- LA

Oh, how I love summertime! This year my summer break flew by, especially considering that we were gone for three weeks of it. Earlier in the summer, we took a trip up to east coast to add a few more rollercoasters to our list and to revisit the place we stayed on our honeymoon. Then, we spent the last two weeks exploring LA, California and The Big Island of Hawaii. We had a blast! 

first stop -- LA

We flew out July 4 to head to LA. I must admit that this southern Alabama girl was in for a bit of a shock. My heart crumbled as we drove around exploring Los Angeles -- as we passed a "Self Realization Fellowship - church of all religions" sign, a "Church of Scientology", an entire portion of the city dedicated to gay pride (including an "out of the closet" thrift store), and countless ads for strip joints and hiring topless maids. Although we were on vacation, the reality of our broken world was like a kick in the chest and one that is hard to forget regardless of the circumstances.

• Nonetheless, we did have some fun exploring Rodeo Drive and its super expensive stores, the nice homes in Beverly Hills, the Hollywood Sign, the Star Walk (which is not as impressive as I once thought), and more!

The next stop (and MY FAVORITE PART OF LA) was the trip to Warner Brothers Studio. We had a small tour group and a wonderful tour guide named Eric, who made sure to show us backlots, sets, and sound stages for some of our favorite shows and movies, including PRETTY LITTLE LIARS (I was obsessed), Big Bang Theory, Friends, Fuller House (and Full House), the movie Annie, Growing Pains, ER, the movie The Grimlins, and more! Pictures are below.



*** These are only pics from the backlots; We were not allowed to take pics of sets/sound stages. I can see why as I saw a set for a future episode of PLL - no spoilers, though! :)

*** NEAT FACT: None of these buildings are "real". They are made from cardboard, styrofoam, and other materials - not the wood, stone, or brick that it appears to be.

Pretty Little Liars Pics

 * Barn where Emily is pulled out/ Shady Oaks hotel where A's lair was

 * Dilaurentis' House

 * Hannah Marin's House

* Rosewood Florist / "Davis Bros" is the site of creepy doll place in PLL
They just replace the logo on the window. :)

 * Emily Field's House (this was Monica and Ross' house in Friends)

 * Rosewood High School (remember, these are all fake buildings -- crazy!)

 * Rosewood PD and Fire Dept. (these "buildings" are on back of Rosewood HS)
As the tour guide kept saying - "Believe nothing you see on TV" haha

 

* Hollis College Entrance

 * Ezra Fitz's apartment complex/ Museum that Ezra and Aria go to

 * Radleigh Insane Asylum

 others...

 

 * Theatre in Friends (white one- where Joey's big premiere is shown) and in
Big Bang Theory (tan/black one - where the crew goes to see Raiders of the Lost Art)

 

*Orphanage in Annie (the one with Carol Burnett)

 

* Seaver's House in show Growing Pains

* Patchett storefront is actually changed in Big Bang  Theory to be the front of the apartment complex that Penny, Sheldon, and Leonard live in. You see the front in episode where Sheldon has hotdog and dog is chasing him. / Stage Set of BBT

* Hospital in ER/ House for "new" show of Fuller House

 * Gizmo brought down these steps in movie Grimlins

 * Batman memorabilia and the building of a set design for a show

• Finally, we went to a couple theme parks - of course! We had to add just a few more rides our list, so we made it to Knott's Berry Farm and Six Flags Magic Mountain. Some of my favorites from Six Flags Magic Mountain were: Twisted Colossus (a woodie that has been renovated to have a steel track; it's long, has a good bit of air time, and you also race another car) and The Green Lantern (a different kind of coaster that I'm pretty sure gave me whiplash, but it was fun!). I also braved a drop tower that was 415 ft tall called the Lex Luthor: Drop of Doom. This was huge for me, as I HATE drop towers. I can do any coaster, but I do not like the free fall. I was doing my nervous laugh so hard on this ride that I actually started crying - haha.

Lex Luthor:  Drop of Doom (found on Google images)

Overall, we had a great time in LA! Then, we headed out for 9 days in the Big Island of Hawaii!!

Check out that post here: http://lanzaletters.blogspot.com/2015/07/vacation-twenty-fifteen-part-2-hawaii.html

Until next time...

Lanza Road Trip - Rollercoaster Style

.... and we're back!

5 theme parks. 7 days. 13 states. 34 coasters. 2400 miles. Immeasurable fun!

These rollercoaster junkies were at it again! We packed up the car and hit the East Coast to add some more coasters to our list. We made it to the following theme parks:

• Six Flags Over Georgia (Georgia) -- this was just a little warm-up for our trip 
• Carrowinds (North Carolina) -- my personal favorite theme park
• Six Flags America - (Maryland)
• Six Flags Great Adventure (New Jersey)
• Six Flags New England (Massachusetts)

We rode a lot of great rides, but four really stand out in my mind:

1. Fury 325 @ Carrowinds - this has now taken over 1st place on our rollercoaster standings! We have been on a lot of great coasters, but this one takes the cake by far! This is a newer ride with half the coaster in the state of North Carolina and the other half in South Carolina. It is the tallest and fastest gigacoaster in the world (tallest chain lift).
2. Kingda Ka  @ Six Flags Great Adventure - this is the tallest coaster in the world!!
3. Zumanjaro @ Six Flags Great Adventure - a free fall drop from the tallest coaster in world!!
        I will admit that I do not do free fall drops, but Paul did this one and loved it!
4. Wicked Cyclone @ Six Flags New England - a wooden rollercoaster with a steel track - this is a newer, unique style that we loved!

Fury 325 - 95 mph & 325 ft tall. - the tallest and fastest gigacoaster in the world!

Kingda Ka - 125 mph in 3.5 sec & 456 ft tall.

Here is a quick video to show just how fast this coaster is going: 

 

Paul also did the drop tower from this, meaning he dropped from 456 ft in the air at 90 mph. Here is the video: 
(If you look closely, you can see him waving on the left side of the video screen.)

Below are pics of us on several of the coasters, including the ones shown above:

It's hard to make a funny face going 128 mph! haha

FURY 325 - our favorite ride!!

This was a fun-filled week full of thrill rides, but we also took some time to just relax and take a trip down memory lane. We took the last two days of our trip to head back to the couples' only resort where we stayed on our honeymoon  three years ago. Three years! I can't believe it has already been that long. The Cove Haven Resorts are in the beautiful Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. We had such a great time playing games, enjoying good eats, playing couples' games with other fun couples, exploring the outdoors, and relaxing in our in-room pool (yes, a private pool in our room!). We couldn't have asked for a better time! To make things even more memorable, we were able to listen to the same band that played on our honeymoon - M80. What a coincidence! They have a new singer in the band - Tyler Grady from American Idol -- so we got to hear him, too! They put on a great show, and we also go to hear comedian Brad Lowery, as well as a few others.

Dinner @ the resort!

After a relaxing two-day stay at the Cove Pocono Resorts, we made the fourteen hour drive back to Huntsville. We were sad to see our vacation time go, but we sure were ready to get back and see our little Dapper dude. He had a fun week staying with MiMi (Paul's mom). He grew SO MUCH; we couldn't believe it! Here are a few pics we received from Paul's mom during the week to keep us updated:

This is what you do when you're too little to climb the big furniture.

Always HAPPY!

A fun day of playing wore this baby out.

Now we are happily back home and spoiling this "outdoor" dog ... yeah right. He goes outside to potty, take a walk, or play in his pool. Haha!

Until next time...

Congratulations to our friends Coy and Melissa on a beautiful wedding!!

LEATHER -- Celebrating our 3rd Anniversary!

LEATHER - that's the traditional gift for anniversary #3. 

So, in keeping with tradition, leather was the main prop for this year's anniversary pictures. There are three distinct qualities about leather that make me love its symbolism for our third anniversary:

1. It's NATURAL. 
Leather is a natural product, and I love how natural our relationship is together. No, it's not perfect. We love with a passion but we argue with the same. We laugh and we cry.  But it's never fake. At the end of the day, it's completely natural. It's beautiful. It's us.

2. It's UNIQUE.
Leather is unique; no two hides are the same. I could sit here and compare our relationship to others (as I've honestly done before), but the truth of the matter is that an original is always worth more than a copy. Our relationship is unique. I'm quirky, and he's quirky, too...and our quirkiness makes for a fun, adventurous marriage. It's a unique, one-of-a-kind kind of love, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

3. It's DURABLE. 
Leather is also durable. It can stand the test of time. However, it's durability does not mean it's invincible. It can stretch, wrinkle, stain, and show scratches. In the past three years, I think our relationship has been stretched in ways we never knew possible; we've had wrinkles and bumps along the way, maybe even a few stains and scratches. But if there's one thing anyone knows about me, it's that I love the worn/vintage look. Those scratches only add character, and each mark tells a story and attests to its durability. That's our relationship. Persistently imperfect, yet beautifully blessed. 

Now, that we've maxed out our three years - I'm glad we opted for the marital extended warranty - a marriage founded on God. It's a stability that only our Lord Jesus Christ can provide.

Our anniversary pics are below. Leather luggage. An antique bridge. A world globe. I'm so blessed to to get to live life with this man.  

"Where you go I will go, where you stay I will stay.
Your people will be my people and your God my God."
- Ruth 1:16

Outtake #1 -- the reality of trying to take pics with a pup

Outtake #2: He wasn't too fond of pics, but he was sure full of kisses!

Until next time...