Steph Lloyd » USA

Road Trippin’ – Week 1

Steph — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 05:00:38 +0000

Matt and I are taking a giant road trip this month. When we set out, I had each day planned in detail but we quickly dropped our plans and started taking it a day at a time. We are still hitting each destination but in a different order. We were planning to camp the last two nights but decided to get a room when we realized the 100 degree temperatures were wiping us out and that we wanted to have air conditioning and a shower to go back to after a long day of hiking.

So far we’ve spent one day walking the strip in Vegas, one day at Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada, one day working (we left town before my vacation started) and today at Zion National Park in Utah. We’re definitely looking forward to hiking at a higher elevation tomorrow so we can get some relief from the hot weather. This part of the country is so beautiful. I’m glad we took the chance to take this trip.

Gate 52

Steph — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 03:35:56 +0000

Our flight from Tulsa to Denver was delayed and then canceled last week. We busted out our cameras and started taking fun airport pictures. Near the end I ordered Matt over near the giant 52 and set the self timer.

We are cute.

Spring Cleaning+Spring Break=Happy Lloyds

Steph — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 06:24:05 +0000

In order to lessen our carbon footprint, we’ve decided forego the waste associated with a ‘traveling vacation’ and stay in our own town for spring break. Okay, I’m lying. That is not the real reason… but it sounds good. As I said yesterday, we decided to stay in town for our break. We’re going to re-discover Tulsa and I’m going to share it all with you!

Matt has agreed to eat out and to abstain from working out this week. That helps a lot. Sometimes I feel like our life revolves around his workout/eating routine. It’s cool though because he’s become quite studly. Haha. We aren’t going to go all Burger King for a week or anything but I foresee some guacamole in our not too distant future. And maybe some Mexican Coke for me. Yes, please!

After I got home from work tonight, I decided to clean and organize the kitchen. It had been bothering me for awhile. I hate things sitting all over the counters and stuff had accumulated. Ugh! I rearranged the contents of our cupboards, put the things on the counter in their new homes and then scrubbed everything. It looks so much better!

I’m so glad that spring is finally here. What a great time for a vacation!

——-

I’ll admit, I had to look up whether to capitalize “spring break” or not. I could have pulled out our Little Brown Book and spent an hour looking but I Googled it instead and found a super easy site. ComDor Editorial Style Guide is a reference for some of the geniuses at MIT. I’ll also admit I had no idea that there is a difference between “awhile” and “a while”. As in I’m pretty sure I’ve only ever used “awhile”. I’m in serious need of a re-fresher course!

EFFFFFFFFFFF!

Steph — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 08:18:17 +0000

We made it to Austin. I’m glad that we’re here and not on the road still… it was a looooong drive. A bit of construction, plenty of bad drivers and driving half of it after dark made for a longer than expected drive. We had fun on the road though. Matt bought lots of fruit and granola bars for us to snack on. Good times.

So we pull into town, find our hotel and check-in. As the guy was giving me the door cards, I asked if we had a non-smoking room and he told me that they had none left. So that’s why the room was discounted online. Sonuva. I couldn’t very well argue with him so we walked up the stairs and were hit by a wave of stink from the smokers wing. Danggit. We walk into the room, it smells like a wet ashtray. Eff Crowne Plaza.

Next, we go to the lounge. Tonic water is flat… emmmm… yum. Matt ordered a beer. Also flat. We are so loving this place right now. Eff Crowne Plaza’s lounge.

We’re back in our room now and apparently the smoker in the adjoining room will be coughing up a lung all night. The absurdity of it is making me laugh. I’m going to go put some Vics vapor rub under my nose and sleep. Eff smokers.

Good night.

Three Days in Texas

Steph — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 06:31:12 +0000

Matt and I are taking a trip down to Austin tomorrow. We’re so excited about our road trip! The main reason for going is to see Trey Ratcliff speak. His blog introduced me to the concept of HDR and inspired Matt to learn more. HDR is more up Matt’s alley than my own but I’m excited to hear what he has to say too.

We’re also going to see the state capitol, walk around downtown and possibly go to the zoo. Thanks to a couple of friends, we have many possible places to eat while we’re there.

Neither of us have been to Austin before. I’ve heard so many good things about it and am excited to check it out for a couple of days. I’m looking forward to some good BBQ and Mexican food too!

Our hotel has wi-fi so I’m sure we’ll update while we’re there.

Hey Yo

Steph — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 05:21:06 +0000

I wrote a post featuring the highlights of the previous week but I need to pull a couple of pictures off my memory card before I post it. It’s on the list for tomorrow…

For now, I thought I’d put this picture up. Last Friday Matt, Mary and I took the ferry to Coronado Island for a few hours. Matt and I speed walked across the island so we could see the Hotel Del Coronado and the beach. It was beautiful over there and definitely one of my favorite vacation moments.

I love the beach. I loved how warm San Diego was. Tonight, while I’m tucked away, under my layers of blankets, I’m hoping for beachy dreams. I had one last night. Here’s to recurring dreams! Hehe.

It’s Vacation Time

Steph — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 20:19:05 +0000

Mary and I are packed and ready to go to the airport. After several nights of not sleeping well, I crashed last night. That, along with the extra hour of sleep, felt really good!

I can’t wait to see my husband again. Not having contact with him for nearly a week has been such a bummer! In about 30 hours I’ll see him again. I’m pretty emotional. Might cry. Everyone will be balling because their husbands, wives, sons and daughters have come home from months in Iraq and I’ll be balling because I’ve been without my husband for a week. I probably shouldn’t tell anyone that. Hehe.

I’ve decided to leave my computer at home. Insane, I know. I’ve never been without this puppy for more than a day either. My camera is charged and ready to go though. If I feel the urge to blog while we are there, I’ll use Matt’s computer.

So long, friends!

Autumn Vacation

Steph — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 23:22:04 +0000

Guess who’s going on vacation this fall? WE ARE!! I wasn’t sure I’d be able to get time off of work but I did today so we are making plans for our trip to San Diego. Curtis (Matt’s brother) is coming back from Iraq in the end of October and Matt is going to hop aboard the aircraft carrier in Hawaii and ride back to San Diego with him. Matt is excited because he’ll be get to spend an entire week with his brother, he’ll get to feel what it’s like to be in the middle of the ocean, with no land in sight, and he’ll get to shoot a bunch of weapons. I’m excited for him too! Mary (Matt’s mom) and I are going to fly out to meet them when they port and then we’ll spend a few days in San Diego. I’ve never been, so I’m pumped. We’re going to do some sightseeing and spend a bunch of time with the fam. I can’t wait!

Livin’ It Up In San-Tone

Stephanie — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 02:29:21 +0000

Levi and I flew into San Antonio this morning. I got about four and half hours of sleep last night, so I’m pretty tired. We toured a Level 3 facility earlier today and then ate at Cheesecake Factory. There is one in Tulsa but I’d never been there before today. It was pretty good.

Tomorrow is the Spurs game, so we’ll be at the stadium most of the day. I’m excited!

There is so much to do and see in this city but I didn’t really want to do or see any of it. Matt and I have had San Antonio on our list of places to go, so I didn’t want to go see stuff without him. Levi and his wife have a trip planned for here too, so he didn’t want to see anything before then either.

We ended up going over to Border’s for a little bit tonight. I finished The Witch of Portobello (from Denver’s trip) and needed to get another book. I ended buying Anna Karenina. I’m thinking it’s going to take more than the two days it took to get through the last book. I’m excited though, I’ve been wanting to read it for a long time.

Do Fries Come With That Shake?

Stephanie — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 23:18:05 +0000

I found a really great website yesterday called inmod. They have all kinds of stuff that I’d love to get for our home. They also have some bedding that I absolutely love. I’ve been having a hard time deciding on which direction to take our bedroom. I thought I wanted a duvet from Pottery Barn but in the end I decided that I didn’t really love it. The bedding I like today is the Amanda Green Duvet Set (pictured above). Matt likes it and was wondering if we could get the brick wall as well. My sister said it looks like me, so I guess it’s settled. Haha.

Matt and I have also been going back and forth on the whole bookshelves thing but I think we finally have a plan that is going to be quick, easy and look good. I’m excited to finally get a project started for the house. I’m thinking we’ll wait just as long as it takes to warm up a little bit outside. I don’t want cold fingers while I work my carpentry magic.

I haven’t taken any pictures of our place yet. I’ll make it a point to do it the next time I’m off. They’ll definitely be classified as “before” pictures since our place is kind of empty still.

I’m off to San Antonio, Texas in the morning. We’ll be there for a couple of days, working a Spurs game at the AT&T Center. I’m not going to do any sightseeing because Matt and I have wanted to go down there for quite awhile to see everything. I’m not sure there’d be any time anyway. I’m looking forward to getting out of this cold… it’s going to be in the mid 70′s while we are there. I’ll be able to thaw from all this cold!