I've lived in the Northeastern United States all my life...but I feel like I'm a Florida native. It's like my flesh and blood belongs there.

Would part of the reason be Disney World? Well, yes and no. Florida does something to my spirit...You're talking to a girl that wants to own a palm tree here. Seeing rainbows every 20 minutes across this endless blue sky...it's so breathtaking. I even took a picture of it. To me, being there is like wow...it's more than wow...it's such an awesome place to be.

I think Florida is a romantic place in it's own sense. I think it would be very exciting to go to Florida with Marty and show him all the wonderful things I see in that place. When I see something about Florida, I think..."Marty and I have to go there together" and I'm right. If one place can pull at my spirit, I know it will do the same to him. Now that I have such a wonderful person in my life, I would like to be there with him. All the experiences I've had in Florida have only been mine, because not many understand what goes through my mind. I feel confident that Marty would understand my spiritual side and I want to share my experiences and the allure of Florida with him.

Sunsets are amazing in Florida, especially over the ocean. I think that's the best thing about having a relative live a block from the beach. I sat and watched the sun set from the window over the water. I never wanted to be disturbed. I would like to sit on a pier with Marty and watch the sun set over the waves. Yes, I am smiling and yes I might cry because it's something I hope to do with him.

I was watching Travel Channel (purely by accident) and they had a feature on Disney's Animal Kingdom. I have never been to that theme park, but watching all the things about it made me want to go there right away. At first, I thought the park was not my thing, but after seeing EVERYTHING about it, I'm putting it on my list. Beautiful animals, amazing stage shows, totally fun rides....Ooooo Oooo!! And I can't forget about the characters that walk around that you can get autographs from and take pictures with. I love those. Anyway...while watching it I actually cried. What is with me? You would think...FLORIDA IS JUST A PLACE! Not to me...Florida is more and I can't really say why it is more to me. Even I have myself completely confused.

I think of all the fun times I had while I was there...and I think of all the hell I went through to get there (courtesy of Amtrak's lousy service). Some memories include:

1) I went to my very first Wal-Mart and boy was I excited!! I don't think I wanted to leave. Too bad I forgot my camera and I wanted a picture to remember that.

2) I became a serious HRC pin collector after going to HRC Orlando. $90 later and bargaining to pay $500 for a rare pin (only recently valued at $50). Boy did my mom want to kill me for that one.

3) I was the lunatic wearing the Backstreet Boys shirt and standing on a chair in Orlando's HRC singing to a Backstreet Boys song playing.

4) I rode the monorail so many times in one day, I almost memorized how to say the whole..."Please stand clear" thing in Spanish.

5) My sister and I got to ride in the front of the monorail with the pilot or driver...whatever you call a person who drives a monorail...

6) One time, we spent the vacation at a hotel that was so close to MGM Studios that when I looked out the window, I could see The Hollywood Tower of Terror ride and it was so close by. Standing on the balcony, I could hear the people screaming.

7) I rode Star Tours (The Star Wars Ride) 13 times at MGM...6 times in one day.

8) Maelstrom was the best ride in Epcot. I rode it 11 times...all in one day. Who cares if that ride was predictable...I like it.

9) Cinderella's castle!! I have a picture of it at nighttime when it turned colors. Of course I got it in purple!

10) At the hotel, I took a few copies of the local section of the Orlando Sentinel when I saw that Howie was in it. I currently have 2 copies.

11) I met my cousin Ruth for the first time in my life in 1998. I found out she was dying from Lupus, just like Howie's sister did 4 months earlier.

12) While our ship...the Disney Wonder pulled out of port en route to Nassau, Bahamas...Dolphins followed our ship on both sides. It was sooooooooo cool.

13) Palm Trees!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Need I say more?! I want to own one and name it Chevy (Amanda and Jenn would get that one). Yeah, so I'm the one that took a picture with a palm tree...lol.

14) The fact that it rains every 20 minutes is a bummer for most, but not for me. Lightning is only cloud-to-cloud down there and after it's over...beautiful rainbows fill the sky.

15) So I'm a celebrity between the Bahamas and the Florida coast...Yes that means I'm famous in the Atlantic Ocean. I sang 2 standing-room only performances on back-to-back nights to 400 people. I did sign some autographs too.

Those are all I can actually think of right now. I think when I go to Florida again and hopefully with Marty, we can make some more weird and fun memories together. Who knows...maybe I will write another entry of southern memories…this time with the love of my life.

I LOVE YOU MARTY :)

@->--

Princess Kimerella

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