We're On!

We're on the plane! Yay! It's very spacious. Definitely the biggest plane I've ever been on! I've never seen so many happy passengers! I feel like we know many of these people.

7 1/2 hours in the air, then beautiful Hawaii!

On a side note, we extended our vacay two days and got United to waive our airfare transfer fees! I still hate you United...but mahalo!

Nightmare on United

So here is the blog post I wrote this morning and wanted to post it mobile style, but it wasn't working...

6:55 a.m.


Here we are at the airport! We say good-bye to KC in about an hour - Denver first, then Honolulu! We arrive around 3:30 their time (8:30 KC time--which means about 12 hours of traveling-ugh!). Then out in Waikiki for the bride's bachelorette party! It's gonna be a long day, that's for sure! But SO worth it!!! Good-bye to the mainland and aloha to Hawaii!!!!!! See ya in a week!!

9:40 p.m.

Here we sit at the Baymont Inn in none other than Denver. Yes. Denver. Here's the story nightmare. Just remember words can't even describe how awful of a day it's been. Awful, stressful, disappointing, sad, and just plain shitty.

So we get to Denver-on time I might add after a smooth flight from KC-sit for awhile, decide to grab something to eat, and then hear the announcement to begin boarding. Then, after boarding about 30 people, they make an announcement that the flight is delayed. Something about a mechanical issue. No wait, it wasn't initially "delayed" but rather "declined" by the pilot...whatever the hell that means. No biggie. We figured it'd be "accepted" sooner than later. Well sooner turned into 20 minutes, which turned into an hour. Meanwhile we also learned we were gonna have to stop in Cali for fuel. So not only were we going to take off an hour late, but we had to make a pit stop along the way. {Looking back, I'd clearly take that!} Sarah's (the bride) sister was on the same flight and was one of the "lucky" ones who got to sit on the plane during this time. With two young children plus a month-old baby I might add. Sucks to be her. We were texting the entire time and rumor on the plane was that they over-fueled it. Because of the heat, they couldn't just empty some of it because it expands and that's bad??????? Your guess is as good as mine. They never mentioned that at the gate but rather told us there were engine problems.

Anyway, an hour and a half later, our flight was cancelled. I don't even think the words sunk in for awhile. They told everyone (I don't know, maybe 300 people?) to head to customer service and they'd do their best to accommodate. Well, I don't know what accommodate means to them but they sure did a sucky job.

We waited in line for 3 1/2 hours. Here's how you know it's bad...you get the update for the start and end of the Royals game while still in line. Not only did we wait, but Craig was on hold with United, my mom was on the phone with her travel agent, and I was furiously emailing our travel agent. Meanwhile, there are multiple people bitching, yelling, complaining, and crying (I was the later) because of this huge disaster.

To top it off, the United operator Craig was talking with thought she found us something (this was maybe after an hour) and as he was handing the phone to me I dropped it, the battery fell out, and we lost her. I'm pretty sure he was about to kill me!

We talked through so many situations and flight changes, I can't even tell you! Denver to LA to Hawaii, Denver to Vegas to Hawaii, Denver to San Fran to Hawaii, Denver to Sacramento to Hawaii. We actually transferred to this one until we fount out it was overbooked and there was a chance we'd get booted off. Eventually, United decided to add a direct flight to Hawaii tomorrow morning because they realized "this was a huge inconvenience". YOU THINK?! We jumped on this opportunity, which puts us in Hawaii a whole 24 hours later than planned.

(The front 10% of the sucky line. At this point I was thinking "I hate you United")


Instead of checking into our ocean front hotel, we checked into the Baymont Inn...second best, right??

This means I'm missing Sarah's bachelorette party and last night out as a Rauscher. *Tear* Believe me, I broke down about it many times today. Well that, and the fact that we should be in paradise. If you remember correctly, one of my plane projects was her bachelorette bouquet. Instead, I completed it while eating our complimentary dinner (and much needed drink) at the airport. Woo hoo! Party or not, she still deserves her bouquet!



So here we sit. With only half our luggage I might add. Half our luggage and NO toiletries! (Supposedly it's being transferred to our flight tomorrow *fingers crossed*) I'm praying nothing goes wrong and that we make it in time for rehearsal. Please please please we deserve this after the hell they put us through today!

I can only hope my next post is an official aloha from Hawaii!

Ray Concert

A couple weeks ago, we went to the Ray LaMontagne concert at Starlight.  Ray is the hubby's favorite singer--so much so that our first dance song was one of his.  The opening act was Brandi Carlile, a favorite of our Wichita friends Brandon and Jessica, so they played hookie to go with us!

Starlight is aweomse, if you ever get the chance to go.  Well, except the $12 igloo margs (yes, I call them margs Brandon!).  They're good, but $12???  And I spilled about $4 of mine my first one.  Oops.

The weather was awesome, concert was great, and night was perfect.  We even made a late-night trip to Micky D's on the way home.  Good times for sure...

I wasn't feeling too hot when I had to get up early the next morning for summer school (probably better than I would have had I not eaten a 6-piece Chicken McNugget though).  I guess that's the beauty of summer.

On a side note, I had to skip class for the concert, which meant an extra 3-5 page compare/contrast paper on the topics from that night.  I was so stressed about it so the hubs convinced me not to write it.  And I still got an A in the class! =)  I don't even think my teacher remembered! 

Here are the concert pics!
Tailgating pre-concert.  Notice the empty parking lot.

Us 4

Again

Pretty

More pretiness

The venue



I'm not sure what's up with the next series of photos??







$12 marg









Baked Potato Salad

This recipe is awesome and has scored some rave reviews by family and friends.  Baked Potato + Potato Salad = Awesome Summer Side Dish!

Baked Potato Salad
2 (24-oz) bags frozen cut russet potatoes, Ore-Ida Steam 'n Mash
1 1/2 cups sour cream
3/4 cup mayo
1 pkg Hidden Valley dry ranch mix
1 pkg real bacon bits
1/3 cup chopped green onions
1 pkg shredded cheese (recipe calls for Swiss, I prefer cheddar in this particular dish)

1.  Cook potatoes according to package directions.  Immediately, and carefully, open bags to release steam.  Spread potatoes in a single layer on a baking sheet, and refrigerate until potatoes are cool (about 2 hours).

2.  In a large bowl, whisk together sour cream, mayo, and ranch mix.  Stir in bacon bits, green onion, and cheese.  Gently fold in chilled potatoes.

**MAKES 10 SERVINGS!!  CAN EASILY CUT THE RECIPE IN HALF FOR 2-5 PEOPLE!!

This isn't my picture--I stole it from the Internet.  I've just never taken a pic of my own.



Sister's Visit

Lots of blogs posts today!  That's what happens when it's cloudy and I can't spend my afternoon at the pool.  I was a little behind on blogging anyway!

Last weekend, my sister and brother-in-law came to KC to visit.  They are both teachers and decided to spend a few days of their summer down here.  We enjoyed the visitors and tried our best to keep them entertained!

On Saturday evening we headed out on Lake Jacomo with J&R.  It was Lakefest which meant fireworks after dark.  It was the perfect evening for both floating around in the water and watching fireworks--and the water was way warmer than our last visit to the lake!
Floating

Williams' fam

Grilling some dogs

Brayden - the Superbowl baby, almost 5 months old here!

Some cliff jumpers - scary!


Other boats waiting for the fireworks

Hubbu

Sister Trisha


Rachel and I

Again, with Brett this time

J&T

Brayden with Daddy

Us =)

Sis and I

Beautiful

Sunday we headed to the Legends to wonder around, shop, and go to the T-Bones game.  It was our first ever and boy, was it hot.  Definitely one of the hottest baseball games I've ever been to!  Not too many photos, but we did stop at Yardhouse pre-game for a drink.

Nothing wrong with this!

T-Bones Stadium--yes Trisha I do have to document my first game

Not quite the same as a Royals game, but still a good time!

New soccer stadium

They stayed until Wednesday, but we didn't do much else, but hang out and eat!  And watch "The Bachelor" on Monday night.  Thanks to the Copelands for making the trip south!  Come back anytime!