Disneyland Recap

Guess which of these things happened at Disneyland this week!

1. I overspent my budget by $150.
2. I went on Splash Mountain 3 times in a row with Kimball.
3. I ate cookies for dinner one night.
4. Kate pooped all over me.
5. We waited in line for 45 minutes to go on Peter Pan, even waiting while it was broken down.
6. I got pink flowers painted all over my face at the Princess Fantasy Faire and walked around with my face painted all day.
7. I had a blast running around to rides and activities with Tony, Melissa, Megan, Logan, Kimball and Kate.
8. I had breakfast with Minnie and friends.
9. I was so tired on the plane ride home I sprawled out across 3 seats and went to sleep.
10. All of the above.

If you said, "All of the above" you are right. We had such a great time. This is my 3rd Disneyland trip with my brother and his family. Now the kids are big enough to go on most of the rides. (Nice job, Logan, knowing how to work the 40 inches requirement with your hat on!) The only thing the little kids couldn't do was the Indiana Jones ride so we did some fancy swapping with the adults. Megan was very brave this time too.

Disneyland was all decked out for Christmas even though it was 70 degrees. We loved seeing the characters and the parades and going on the rides. Here are a few choice photos:















A little worn out but ready to watch the fireworks above the castle.



















With the always fabulous and entertaining Captain Hook!

In honor of Grandpa Naccarato

On December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor was attacked and my Grandpa Naccarato was there on the USS St. Louis. According to an article in the Deseret News dated December 7, 1968, my grandfather recalls, "'That we were missed by torpedos and other fire was undoubtedly due to the skillful handling of our ship. I remember the ship's dash down the channel as it zig-zagged violently...In the mind's eye of every man on the ship, a torpedo was headed our way.'"

Grandpa died when I was 15 years old so I never got to ask more about the stories from Pearl Harbor. One thing I do have from grandpa is the collection of coins he had from all the countries he visited while in the Navy. I love getting the coins out and looking at them to remember all the places he'd been.

My Grandpa Naccarato was very loving and very patient (he had to have been to live with my grandmother!) He wore dentures and used to entertain us by flipping them out with his tongue and then smiling with his teeth sticking out. Grandpa always smelled like cigarettes and Listerine. In fact whenever I smell Listerine, I still think of him.

Grandpa used to love to take us to the airport to watch the airplanes take off from the observation area. (I don't think you can do this anymore.) Whenever we stayed with my grandparents we always knew we'd get to go see the airplanes and I think he enjoyed it as much as we did.

Grandpa was always a hard worker. He spent most of his life working at Jordan Meat (which no longer exists) in Salt Lake. He spent the last years of his life working for Salt Lake City Water.

Love you, grandpa and thinking of you today!

36 Hours in Washington DC can change your life

I just got back from a very fast trip to Washington DC. I left Denver in a snow storm on Thursday and the flight was an hour late. My good friend Leslie picked me up in Baltimore and we went to meet Leslie's husband Tom and our mutual friend Bridget for dinner. We had a great time at dinner catching up on life and reminiscing about all our election monitoring experiences. (That's how we all know each other.) After dinner we hung out at Leslie and Tom's place for awhile. Leslie and Tom graciously offered me their spare bedroom for the night.















The next morning I was off to the State Department at 6:00 a.m. to take the Foreign Service oral exam. Tom walked me to the metro and somehow I managed to find my way to the building I was trying to get to with only a few wrong turns.

Ever since I was 16 I have wanted to join the Foreign Service. In order to get in you have to pass a series of very hard and exhausting tests. I took the written portion back in March and then I was invited to take the oral exam. I paid my own way to DC and took vacation time from work. I tried this several years ago and went to Chicago to take the test but I did not pass. At that time I decided that I'd try it again.

The exam was a full day with a group exercise, writing exam and personal interview. You are being watched and evaluated at every moment. It's very stressful. At the end of the day they tell you if you passed or not. Around 4:00 I was called into a room with 2 other candidates and we were told that we passed.

I was in total shock. My dream is one step closer to coming true! We received lots of congratulations and well-wishes from the evaluators and then got down to business. There are no guarantees that I'm "in" just yet. I have to pass security and medical clearances and then I go on a "list" ranked by my score. My score is okay but I can earn extra points for language. I guess I know what I'm going to be doing for the next 2 months...Russian immersion. My Russian is so bad that it will take a lot of work to get it back to the point that I could pass a test.

It's so awesome to have made it this far on the journey. The process may be about a year and a half but at least I feel like I'm on my way. So now I wait.

I navigated my way back to the metro and Union Station to catch a train to Baltimore. I was pretty proud of myself for being able to do that while I was in a state of shock AND trying to text message everyone in my phone on the way.

Stay tuned...

Salsa Central Denver Holiday Party

Last night Salsa Central Denver held its annual holiday party. There was lots of yummy food, great dancing and, of course, my cool salsa friends. Dancing is so much fun and I am becoming a little bit better at cha cha each week. Here are my cool friends (the ones I spent Thanksgiving with).