Florida. In words.

This is going to be long but here is the story.

For those of you who don't know, I went on QUITE the adventure this past weekend. It all began a few weeks ago when I saw on DisneyAuditions.com that there was to be an audition for Ariel in Voyage of the Little Mermaid (full-time and part-time). And after much conversation and ticket searching, Stephen insisted that I head down to Florida (ON MY OWN!) to do this audition. We are in no way ready or even wanting to move there quite yet, but we figured if God wanted us to, then this would be a very fruitful audition. I had to at least give it a shot. It helped that we found a super cheap ticket down there.

So I devoted most of my life for the past few weeks to preparing for this audition. I spent part of most days at my brother-in-law, Phil's house, using his piano and singin away. THANKS SO MUCH PHIL POOP! I am so grateful to have been able to do that because it absolutely gave me the confidence to walk into that audition and sing my best.

Fast forward to this past Wednesday. I headed to the parents house because they were going to take me to the airport the next day. We were hearing rumors of the big storm that was coming, so I was very grateful to be leaving right away on Thursday morning. Liz and Jay ended up taking me early in the morning because they had a meeting somewhere down 275. THANKS LIL and JUAN! I was a nervous wreck that morning. Most people know, I am just not a great flyer, and this time I was doing it ALONE. This was a very big deal to me. I got through security just fine(sorry to the lady behind me who got chosen for the annoying scan) and went on my way to wait for my plane.

I feel the need to take this opportunity to tell you not to fly Spirit airlines. Yes, they sell you cheap tickets. No, your carry-on is not free. No, your checked baggage is not free. No, you do not get free drinks or pretzels. Yes, they will over-sell their flights often. Yes, they will have mega delay's and not update it ever on the internet.

Needless to say, the lady at the gate was so frazzled that she didn't end up charging me for my bag on the way down and our flight that morning was more or less on-time. I managed to sleep on the flight, which is a first, and I didn't have anyone annoying next to or behind me. Woot. We arrived in Orlando to about 50 degree weather, so that was a slight improvement. Luckily, I had done the whole "Magical Express" experience before so I knew right where to go and how to get on. I was beginning to relax just a little bit. Though, the idea of auditioning the next morning was starting to come back to the forefront of my mind. I got to Coronado Springs and checked right in. I had quite the adventure getting to my room as the complex was ENORMOUS and the map doesn't quite represent certain paths and places correctly. Luckily it was sunny and I didn't mind the walk too much:-) The room was adorable! I was expecting it to be a little less cute and a little less fancy since Old Key West tends to give me a skewed vision of what hotel rooms should look like, but it was lovely. AND QUIET! I hadn't eaten yet so I was off to find some grub and maybe go on an adventure. Hey! I was alone and had the whole "World" to myself! I discovered my new favorite little quick take-out place in the resort called Cafe Rix and took my food outside to eat my first alone meal:-). It was wonderful. I read my book, enjoyed the sun, and enjoyed just being there.

I spent the rest of the day exploring the Boardwalk area and after a pretty cold and long trip home (stinkin Disney Transit denying me a bus ride), I got back to my room and really needed some time to relax and focus on the audition again. I did my best to relax and sing it through a few times and got to sleep pretty smoothly.

The next morning I woke up right around 6am because I really wanted to be able to warm up slowly, take a long shower, and relax. I had scheduled a cab for me the night before, and true to form, they were waiting for me right at 8:45 when I was to head over there. He didn't speak very much English so I had a small freak out that we weren't going to find the place very easily. But he got me there and I was one of the first twenty to arrive so I knew I wouldn't have to wait TOO long to sing, which I was very grateful for. I made a few friends while waiting; a couple of them were totally new to the audition world and one was a "veteran" so there was lots to talk about between the four of us. They took us back in groups of ten to wait outside the rehearsal room door. I heard probably the ten girls before me and around 8 of the 10 were absolutely fabulous and out of those, only one got a callback sheet. I was pretty confident that I wasn't going to get a callback, just because the girls they had picked were probably 15 pounds lighter than me or more. I am pretty confident that they want MEGA-petite girls for Ariel. I believe I sang well and did it with confidence so I am in no way disappointed with myself and I really did learn a lot about what they are looking for and how I need to present myself and such. I called my taxi man back and began to truly relax.

I feel really good about the whole audition experience; I am pretty sure Stephen was more disappointed than I was. I went in there with confidence. I sang my heart out. I looked professional. And I will absolutely do it again as soon as we can afford to send me:-) And so, my vacation truly began. I had worked nine days in a row leading up to this, so it was a much needed break. The rest of Friday was spent riding the monorails around the Magic Kingdom area resorts and EPCOT. It was so fun seeing all of the lobby's decorated for Christmas! The Grand Floridian has a full size Gingerbread house! It was amazing! Every single lobby has a giant tree in it that is decorated for the theme of the hotel:-) I could catch glimpses of the different parks, which I have never seen in person. It was a totally new Disney experience, which is hard to come by for me. I headed to Sarasota Springs since I had never seen the inside of that (too confusing of a layout to be pretty), took the boat to Downtown Disney so that I could catch my bus back home. I caught dinner at Cafe Rix for the millionth time (The individual pizza's are SO good!).

The next day I got to spend a couple hours at the pool! It was probably right around 70ish and perfectly sunny, which I believe is the absolute best laying out weather because you don't sweat up a storm. After another quick bite, I headed out to explore Animal Kingdom Lodge and Wilderness Lodge. I had never been to Animal Kingdom Lodge and I refused to believe that they actually have animals right outside the guest rooms but THEY DID! They were right there! It was so fun just because I was not expecting it! The Jambo House lobby is also BEAUTIFUL! Its just a beautiful resort in general. I apparently missed out because I didn't go check out the pool, but I have to leave something for my next solo trip right? Then I headed to Magic Kingdom and caught the boat to Wilderness Lodge. I hadn't been back there since I was a little tyke and I was so IMPRESSED with that lobby. It is MASSIVE and everything in it is massive. Just gorgeous construction. Yes, this is the epitome of the nerdiness of Laura, but I was just in awe. Headed back to my room for the night and watched all three of the Tim Allen "Santa Claus" movies, which was thouroughly delightful!

On Sunday, I hit the pool early because I knew the cold front was coming and I actually ended up watching the line of clouds and cold come accross our lake so I was very ready for it. It got cold and windy very very fast so I got some hot food and ate it inside this time. My final resort goal was to go see the Port Orleans resorts so I headed to Downtown Disney and caught the boat... mostly because I love that boat ride, although it was not quite as nice as it is when it is closer to 100 degrees....I stopped at the French Quarter first. Unimpressive. Then off to Riverside, which is forever Dixie Landings to me. This is a much more beautiful grouping of buildings. The lobby is fine, the pool is super fun, and it has a stinkin water wheel. It was much more beautiful than I remembered even though I was seeing it through the rain. I boated back to Downtown and got to whitness a pretty hysterical angry lady that said the boat captain leaving some pregnant lady back at the dock , because, his boat was full, was like leaving her in a concentration camp...... ridiculous? I think so. Got back to my room and had to get a little pretty before meeting up with Tangie and Jim for dinner! We eventually found each other and headed to Celebration to eat at a place called Columbia that Jim knew about. It was so fun to hang out with them and the food was so incredible! It was just nice to hang out with people and especially someone that I miss a lot like Miss Tangie!

I was stuffed and sleepy so bedtime was easy. Monday morning, I woke up unusually early and putzed around because I knew I would have to check out around 11 and then I would be stuck out in the cold the rest of the day. I had some lunch, went over to Downtown to waste some time but it was just too chilly so I headed back to try and find some place warm to wait for my 2:45 magical express. At this point, I was very ready to be home. I sort of shifted from place to place reading my book and trying to stay warm. I actually found a place outside that was sheltered from the wind and was in the sun so I was fairly warm. Eventually I got on my bus and got to the airport only to be told that the flight would be delayed an hour. This turned into 2 hours... two verrry long hours as the magical express takes your three hours before your scheduled flight to ensure you making it on-time. ! So I went to Ruby Tuesdays and walked and sat and read and walked and got some coffee and called people and sat and read... you get the idea. It was decided that I would not be going to work the next day and would not be driving home that night... :-( I just wanted to see my hubby! I got back to Detroit around 10:30 and to the parents around 11:30 and the roads really were terrible. I spent the night and finally made it back home to Bay City around 1:30pm yesterday.

Stephen had taken the day off of work because we had a pipe burst next door and he had a few fire calls the night before so we got to hang out alllll day! It is nice to be home, though I do miss the palm trees. Pictures will be coming soon! I am so excited to edit! Next up on the docket... Baking and Bonding!

Ramona Jean. This is the story.

  

 

 

Ramona Jean was born on November 12, 2010. Mom, Dad, Liz, Jay, Papa V, and Mama V were all able to come meet her! 

We had a wonderful time ooing and ahhing all night and day long. 

Plus we had a whole bunch of fun with Mr. Miles. 

He is a new firefighter in training, by the way.

Let the story continue...

A little update-er-ooni

So life in the Eich household continues to be blissful, wonderful, funny, and filled with a whole lot of working in between. This fall, Stephen and I attended a few of his old high schools football games. Let me tell you, they are just about as exciting as any college football game... perhaps even more emotional. MLS did well and we had a lot of fun going to them! I thought I should throw in a pic from the last game of their season this year (they made the playoffs!).

 

And I thought it might be fun to include a little apartment update to this update-er-ooni.... I have found out that I am just a little nester. They say it happens when you have a baby, but apparently my apartment IS my baby. I just don't even have enough space(or funds) to do all I want to do, and do not worry, the Christmas decorating ideas have already begun. I am sure that will be a whole separate blog. Anyway, here is our little home!

***This first one, by the way, is for Kait Botma, Jess Weyburne, Josh Weyburne, Jon Chew, Whitney Luce and whoever else was in on these dumb little monkey things.***

 That is our fun new little shower rack gizmo that allows me to clean the bathtub MUCH more easily!

 I love my red teapot.

 I call them my gourd friends. AKA: my only fall decorations.

 This is our amazing little corner book case that is full of so many fun treasures!

 Where the big fake tree is, is where the big fake Christmas tree will go:-)

 That is my couch. And it is cozy. Oh, PS. We have 13 blankets.

My picture wall is my absolute favorite thing. I wish more more to put up there. Thank goodness for a freaking LARGE wall to be able to play with. 

So that is our little apartment so far. The bedroom is still such a mish mash of free stuff at this point that there was just nothing that need be shown yet. I WILL make it homey as best as I can. We would love to paint but we are also aware that we don't plan to live here for too long, so I have had to learn how to use color pretty much everywhere else. For a while, it was just beige and blue, and oh BOY is that boring. 

That is all for now as I am about to go to bed.

But here are a few fun things I have learned about married life to leave you with:

1. Boys are clean when they feel like it, which may NOT be when you feel like they should be.

2. They still need someone to make their lunches for them

3. I think they might need more relaxy time than women do.

4. My husband is hot (but I already knew that)

5. I eat a lot more than I used to because I am just trying to keep up.

6.When you fight, its best to do it right before you watch a movie because by the end of the movie, you will have completely forgotten what you fought about.

7. Guy jokes are different than girl jokes.

8. Bay City is crap.

9. I'm more high-maintenance than I thought I was. 

10. I am learning to hate laundry and grocery shopping.

Disney Audition. Woot.

Alright, so I suppose I should explain what happened on that infamous weekend when I decided to audition for the Happiest Place on Earth.

So the weekend began with a lovely drive to Chicago-land. I drove. Stephen slept. It was a good time.

We arrived at Kevin and Christines house around 10pm (i think) their time and they are just great. We watched a little Jersey Shore, played with Payton, and got the tour of all the new baby stuff. Sadly, this was about all the time we got to hang out with them as they had to work the next day and we supremely wanted to sleep in.

And sleep in we did! Woke up around 10am and got ready to go meet up with Agnes. We did lunch at Palm Court, per usual, and spent a couple hours visiting with her after lunch. We brought her some wedding photos and she showed us some great old stuff about her family tree, etc. Agnes is just the best. The woman is 90+ and still going strong. It is always great to see her, even if it is just for a little bit.

After our Agnes time, it was time to head downtown! We got there in about an hour, which was pretty good for Chicago traffic. We got there with about 45 minutes to spare because I still needed to change and walk a little so I could feel a little warmed up. The Dance Studio was just down the street from the Sears tower so we walked almost to it and back, stopped in a Staples to change (it was convenient). Walked a bit more, then it was off to the audition! The Studio was enormous and I was directed up to the second floor to studio D. When I got to the top of the stairs, I was confronted by a mob of mom's and dad's who were all huddling around the little window which freaked me out because I thought I must have been super late if they were already dancing. Luckily, those parents apparently find registration facinating because that is all that was happening. I popped into the end of the line that was probably 60 some people long at this point. I grabbed and audition sheet and filled it out as I made some friends with the girls around me. Most people there were auditioning for the college program which successfully made me feel old. Most looked like college freshmen or younger if you can believe it! After all 117(or something) of us were registered, we were taken to the larger studio. They informed us that there would be three sections to the evening and two cuts. The first section was just a simple traveling dance where we were encouraged to "show our personality" as much as possible. And this is where I failed. I learned the dance just fine but did not smile nearly as big as I should have and did not put nearly enough energy into it. A girl that had befriended me had done this before and had tried to explain it, but I guess I didn't take it seriously enough. Or rather, I took the "get the dance right" part TOO seriously and the "show your personality" not seriously enough. I got cut (along with probably 60%) of the rest of the group in the first cut. I truly did not feel that sad. I don't think I ever felt really prepared for this and now I will be for the next one. The second section of the night was to be a more advanced dance portion, to truly weed out us fakers:-) and the third section was to be "tell a story with dance." I am endlessly gratefull that I didnt' make it to that section, as I would have been at a total loss as to what to do! 

All in all, it was a fantastic experience. Easily the FUNNEST audition I have ever been to. I know not to be scared of the casting directors because they really were super nice and super happy. I know what I need to do to prepare for a dance audition now. And I know that I was very much not the worst one there, by a long shot, which is very encouraging.

It was a great experience and one that I would and will happily do again! I can't wait til my next shot at this!

Football, fish, food in general.

Life has continued on... as it usually does. 

Mostly, I work. 

Sometimes I cook.

But we always have fun.

Here are some highlights from the past couple of weeks. First comes my next big meal experiment. I tried my hand at cooking fish! I chopped up some onions, green pepper, mushrooms, and mixed them with butter and bread crumbs. I layed out the fish after having spread some crumbs on the bottom, and threw my little concoction over the top. I cooked the fish at 400 degrees for twenty minutes. It was good, but I am fairly certain I should have sauteed the onions, peppers, and mushrooms. Any suggestions?

Then one night, after work, I came home and found my apartment suprisingly spotless, flowers on the table, candles lit, and a story written out in a card for me.... it was a good night.

Next came an MLS football game. Stephen, Dinger, and Miller all played football together, so it is really fun to go to games with them. They judge every movement on the field, whilst I have no clue what is going on...

Then came Jay-mas at home this past Friday. It was so nice to be home even if it was just for a little bit, and even when I wasn't actually home, I was at Liz and Jays (AKA Grandma and Grandpas). It was so nice to be with Jay, Liz, Mom, Dad, Lori, and Melissa Taylor again. Pretty much, it is movie quotes, laughs, and jabs at each other all night. Loved it!

This brings us today, the end of an eight day stretch at work, and moosh came to visit! She had some things from my room at home to bring and wanted to... help me cook dinner..... We made mussels, pasta, and ceasar salad, and it was FABULOUS.

Life continues... who knows what is coming next?!

How to make a kick-a** sandwich!

Ok. So some of you know I really enjoy my cheese sandwiches. I started eating them when I was a vegetarian and just never stopped! In Stephens' opinion, I make the best sandwiches (meaty or otherwise) in the whole world and we thought I should share my expertise with the rest of the three people that read this blog.

So here is what you need to know:
    1. First of all, you need to freeze your bread. I know it seems annoying to have to defrost it everytime you want some but this is the first key. When I defrost it, I put it in for thirty seconds and this leaves the bread a little cold and a little warm. This half and half temperature is a tricky thing to figure out.. on my microwave in Bloomfield, it takes 14 seconds, but in my Bay City microwave, it is a solid thirty.

   2. After you have defrosted the bread comes the time for the mayonnaise. THIS IS IMPORTANT. You MUST spread the mayo evenly from bread crust to bread crust. The amount you put on is up to you; I prefer to have just a little brown showing through the white, but every bit of the surface needs to be covered. This makes me a crazy person, I am aware, but it is incredibly important. If you want to get really specific, I determine the amount of mayo based on the amount of stuff you plan to put on top of it (3 pieces of turkey, two pieces of cheese, etc).

   3. Then comes the substance. The issue here is to KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE. I know Stephen and myself pretty well, so I know that I don't like meat and I know he only really likes turkey and not too much cheese. So, Stephen gets two pieces of turkey and one piece of muenster. I prefer my two pieces of cheese, either muenster on muenster or muenster on provolone. All you need to know is preferences to do this part well.

4. THE KEY: lettuce. You MUST have something crunchy to have a good sandwich. Maybe I am just a texture freak but the idea of all mushy things = EW to me. Therefore, I put a WHOLE bunch of lettuce on top. I probably use three or four leaves per sandwich, preferably the CRUNCHY parts of the leaf. Use the nutritious parts for a salad :-)

5. Cut diagonally and you have the perfect sandwich.

6. Serve with Cheez-its and a yogurt and you have the perfect lunch:-)

I hope this was informative and that all of your sandwich pleasures are now fullfilled.

Life = Work... again

Life is settling once more. I have begun my job. It's pretty wonderful. Everything is so similar to the H.I. that my training is pretty complete. After a few more morning shifts I will feel quite confident in most every area. After a doosy of a first week (7 days straight and three in a row not seeing my husband), I have been loving my "weekend" these last two days. I got plenty done and my feet got a wonderful break!

Truthfully, there is not much to share. I am making dinner tonight and it is a little bit of an experiment... Tilapia topped with bread crumbs, chopped green pepper, chopped onion, chopped mushrooms, and a little bit of lemon juice. I am throwing it in the oven momentarily so we will see how that turns out. I am also cooking up some corn-on-the-cob sort of as a back up plan... or just because it is corn season and it is so wonderful!

I think that is all for now! As I say probably 123,948 times a day... Have a great day!

The Wedding Season.

I truly did not understand what the wedding season was until this year. I only officially second shot two weddings but with the addition of my own as well as Dinger and Kristy's, it was a busy couple of months from July to August.

I thought I would just put up a couple from each wedding that I went to, whether I was an official shooter or not. I enjoyed each one and each one was perfectly wonderful! (Mine was of course the best but, to view those photos, you will need to visit www.stilllifephoto.com/sleich )

Alright. I am done plugging. Enjoy!


First came Jon and Carly Van Eck on July 10, 2010.

Then was our own big fiesta... like I said, please visit www.stilllifephoto.com/sleich for pictures :-)

Then I was second shooter with Ambie at James and Laura Zandstra's on August 6, 2010.

and finally, Stephens best friend Nathan Breidinger married miss Kristy Clark on August 14, 2010.

 And there you have it! One more to go.. Josh and Sarah, here we come!!

And life goes on...

Since the honeymoon, Stephen and I have been having many new adventures. I shot a wedding with Amberle in Chicago, Stephen has gotten underway at his full-time job with the H.D., Stephens best friend Dinger married his beautiful wife Kristy, we have fully unpacked and put everything in its place, we have finished our wedding shower thank you cards (its a start;-), and as of recently, I found myself with my own full time job at the H Hotel in Midland!

The first weekend after our honeymoon, I headed to Chicago with Ambie to shoot a wedding with her. While we were there, we got to see and play with Christopher, Ryan, and of course Tucker (their dog).

And, Stephen and I have discovered (well its pretty hard to miss, ) that we have approximately 134 ducks living in the pond behind our house. Sometimes we feed them. Sometimes they are vicious. I had the terrifying experience of watching one duck bite a seagull in the neck, just for being in the crowd waiting for food. I tried really hard to get the seagull some food but, to no avail. He was sort of far away from the rest of the ducks after that and bread isn't super aerodynamic. Here's our ducks; the little devils...

They really are nuts. Anyway, I have also tried my hand at cooking a couple of times now. (Though I still think Mac'n'cheese and hot dogs make a perfectly good meal.) My first attempt was to do a baked pasta that Lily is super good at and, as far as I'm concerned, I thought it was fabulous! And so did the boy which is probably the most important as he usually eats most of whatever I cook...

I tried enchiladas this week! I made them last night and Stephen managed to finish them off my lunch today. Guess that went well too. I also went home for a day last week, while Stephen was at work. Miles was chillin with Mom for a couple of days so I thought I would get in on that action; plus, Lily had the day off and I still had more stuff to bring back here.

There's my guy. Love him.

I have orientation for my new job today! That will definitely be an adventure. The hotel is a LARGE one. It's not so much that there are so many rooms, as there are a lot of rooms, a full work-out facility, two restaurants, a few banquet centers, and I don't really know what else. Check it out for yourself!

Anyway, I think thats all as adventures go for the last couple weeks. I might throw some pictures up here from the wedding I shot as soon as I finish editing them, as well as some from Dinger and Kristy's and our weekend up north! See ya real soon!

Well, we did it.

Stephen and I have been married for a couple of weeks now and I feel the need to write it down. These are very new adventures we are embarking on and if you are interested, you can come along for the ride.

The honeymoon was FABULOUS! It was so fun to be taken care of every step of the way. We stayed at Old Key West resort at Disney World. The second we got off the plane, we were greeted by cast members who lead us to the Magical Express that whisked us away to our resort property. Then began the congratulatory remarks. When you have those just married pins on, you become a celebrity; and when you wear the hats, everyone else becomes the paparazzi. We made our way into many peoples family albums. Here are a few pictures from our family album!

The trip was absolutely perfect. We had a shuffle board tournament (which I won, of course), we took tons of boat rides to and from downtown Disney, we cooled off in the pool, went to Animal Kingdom and Epcot, and got free deserts with every meal. If we could have stayed longer, I am sure we would have. But back to real life we came, and this time we didn't have to say goodbye!!

On that note, married life is weird. I love it, don't get me wrong. But the things you disagree about are just different than before. For example, we had a solid discussion about which side of the sink we should regularly run the water on. In my family, it always runs on the disposal side, but in his, it runs on the sinky side. These are strange discussions. I never would have even thought to ask him this before we got married. It doesn't really even matter. Marriage is just weird. I think I will stick with it though...

As a happy post script, I will add that I have an interview at a swanky little hotel in downtown Midland today! Wish me luck!