Orlando Field Trip 14.5

On September 24, 2012 I started my journey down to Orlando, Florida.  I had decided to go a few days early so that I would get to go out and experience some of the many attractions before the field trip.  On Tuesday, September 25, I got to Orlando and met up with a couple of friends at the airport who came from California.  We took a short cab over to the hotel.  Got settled in and then we decided to look around the hotel before getting something to eat.  We went to this restaurant where they have many items that you can choose from and decide which ones that you like best.  When I saw Alligator bites on the menu, I did not hesitate to order this.  I love trying out new foods, and this is something that you would never be able to get in Canada.  After dinner we went back up to our room and got into some hilarious discussions.  We realized very quickly that we were bonding and becoming great friends, especially with some of the funny/embarrassing stories that we were sharing that went on until the wee hours of the morning.

 The next day we found out that plans had changed for Field Trip 15.  My first reaction was hoping that everything was okay and understanding that sometimes things happen and there is no way around it.  But once I heard that most people were still coming, I started to realize that we would make this trip a once in a life time experience.  We truly bonded over the week and by the end of it we had all become even closer and did not want to go home. 

I was really excited to meet new people and reunite with friends that I had met at previous PRS events.  It felt more like a family reunion.  We all supported each other and no one was left out of anything.  Michelle Belanger and Tiffany did a great job getting some special locations set up so that we could all get together to socialize. 

Many of us stayed in Orlando for the full week, and we did a lot more things then I think any of us expected that we would.

We went to Island Paradise and went on the major rides which were the roller coasters.  The first roller coaster we went on was the "Incredible Hulk" It instantly took my breath away and I couldn't believe how fast it went but I loved it nonetheless. Whenever I go to an amusement park, my main goal is to go on every roller coaster possible.  I absolutely love them, and I was really excited that I was going on them with my friends.

While we were at the park, we met up with a few more people and they joined in with some of the rides.  By the afternoon, we decided to take a break and go to Margaritaville restaurant.  I was really excited that we were going here, as I had always heard good things about this place.

In the evenings for those of us who like to stay up until the wee hours of the morning, we would go to the hotel rooftop which was called the Moon.  It was a nice open space that looked over Orlando.  We would chat, play games, dance, and share stories.

For my birthday celebration we went to Senor Frogs.  I still don't know who arranged the VIP entrance and the birthday shots, so if you read this: thank you so much! It was an unforgettable experience.  It was one of the best birthday celebrations that I have ever had and I will never forget it.  Many field trippers as well as Michelle Belanger came out to celebrate, have drinks, listen to music, socialize and dance.  The waiters in the restaurant were really nice, and took good care of us.

When I was in Orlando I also had the opportunity to go go-karting with a couple of field trippers.  Go-karting is one of my favorite things to do.  We went to Fun Spot Attractions.  It was a small amusement park with a few rides and they had several go-kart tracks.  It was a lot of fun and I made friends with fraternal twins who worked for Fun Spot. They were really nice and let us stay after the park had closed to go on a couple more rides.  We went on the bumper cars, and decided to stay on there several times in a row, it was awesome! .

The day after go-karting I woke up with a horrible headache.  I was supposed to go to Disneyworld in the morning with a few of my Canadian friends.  I decided to go back to bed, and hoped that I could join them later on.  After getting a few more hours of sleep, I woke up and still had a really bad headache, but I thought to myself, "I'm in Orlando. Who knows when I will be back?" and I was dying to go to Disneyworld since I absolutely love Disney and I knew it would be a great day hanging out with some good friends.  So I got up, had a quick shower, took a cab and met them in the park.  We went to Magic Kingdom, and went on Space Mountain a couple times, Thunder Mountain, Astro Blasters, Thunder Mountain and Splash Mountain.  I was really glad that I went, since I know I would've regretted it if I hadn't.  It was a great day of fun with some awesome friends!

In the evening I went to Horror Nights which is in Universal Studios with one of my Canadian friends.  It was a lot of fun, and I'm so glad that I went.  When we got to the park we immediately decided to go on the Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit Rollercoaster.  After the ride we walked around, and they have scare actors who are dressed up in costumes and if you don't pay attention to what your doing, or if you are talking to someone they will try to scare you.  I had this happen several times.  We also went into a couple of haunted houses.  They did a really good job putting in that scare factor.  I just wished the lines weren't so long, because it would've been nice to have more time to visit more of the haunted houses since they all had different themes.

While we were in Orlando, we also did a NOH8 photo shoot.  Before the field trip Betsy had messaged me and asked me what I thought of the idea since this was something that she wanted to do that had a lot of meaning to her and she thought maybe we could also show our support for Ryan as well.  It was a huge honor that she had asked me to help out.  We had no problem with field trippers wanting to show their support and were more then willing to wear tattoos and have their photos taken.  Everyone played a huge role, for example getting a special card for all of us to sign, taking photos, applying tattoos, lighting candles, and coming up with ideas.  We all worked really well together as a team and I know this meant a lot to Betsy since she really wanted this for a special member of her own family, and for all of us who were so willing to show our support for Ryan.  Even though we all took this seriously, we were able to have fun with it as well.  Once we all got home from the field trip we got together online and discussed the NOH8 book that Betsy wanted to put together for Ryan.  The book was presented and given to him by Ewa and I at the Halloween Trick or Retreat as a gift from Betsy, and the rest of us who participated.

I couldn't believe how fast that week went by and that it was now time to say goodbye.  I always find the last day so hard to say goodbye to all of my friends that have become a huge part of my life.  Overall, I had a really good time in Orlando.  I made some new friends on the field trip and at Fun Spot, I learned a lot about myself, I had an awesome birthday celebration that I will never forget, I was open to trying out new food and drinks, I went on all of the major roller coasters, and I went go-karting. It will definitely be one of those holidays that I will look back on and think that was one of the best experiences of my life and I will never forget it. 

My Halloween Trick or Retreat Experience!

Some of you may have been at the Halloween retreat that took place this past weekend in North Carolina. For those of you who could not be there I wanted to share my experience so that you can get an idea of what it was like through my eyes. I have to say with all of the stuff going on with Hurricane Sandy, we managed to have an awesome time at the retreat! We had a great bunch of people show up, made lots of new friends and reunited with friends we had met at past events. We truly have become a PRS Family.  This was my second retreat that I have attended.  My first retreat was for Bureau members only and this was held in Pennsylvania in July 2012 for Ryan's Birthday.  The video link for the PA retreat is posted below:

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpQNcrjG-X0&feature=relmfu.  

The retreats are usually capped at 30 people so it is a smaller, intimate group which gives you a lot more opportunity to get to know one another. There is a schedule but it is a lot more relaxed, which I am totally happy with because sometimes I do like to have my own time or go off and create my own adventures.

New Hope Camp was a beautiful location. Lots of room with plenty of space for gathering, and sleeping. I just signed up for Camp Paranormal which is at the same location as the retreat. I'm very excited to go back!

We had three awesome volunteers that do an awesome job cooking for all of us. I can't imagine how difficult it must be to make sure there is plenty of food to go around, but they have proved to us over several events now that they make sure that everyone is well fed, even with some left overs.

It is  helpful to have lodging and food all paid for since traveling alone can cost a lot of money, especially if you live out as far as I do in Canada. I'm not constantly worrying about having a budget about how much money I can spend on food etc.

We had a HUGE Halloween party. Thanks to those who were able to bring some Halloween decorations, candies, drinks, and food to share. It was A LOT of fun! I still can't believe I wore my Tinker Bell and Boxing Girl costume! I'm not really into dressing up, but I'm glad that I went ahead and joined in with everyone. I really hope that PRS will hold another Halloween retreat next year! Be sure to come, you won't regret it!

Here are some of the things we did:

• Went for walks at night
• Watched horror movies and episodes of X-Files
• Had a costume contest
• Halloween party
• Costume photo shoot
• Decorated our cabins
• Decorated the main hall
• I-ching with Sergey
• Binural beats
• Played board games
• Danced to music

I really hope that this gives you a good idea of what went on at the Halloween retreat.  I have also posted a link to a video that I made with the help of fellow retreaters who were nice enough to share their photos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxktpEK047g

I wanted to thank Ryan, Sergey, Chris, Eilfie and our volunteers  for an awesome weekend! You guys all did an amazing job of making this a memorable event for me and everyone else. I am looking forward to going back to New Hope Camp for Camp Paranormal in March. Looking forward to seeing all of you then. It was a great bonding experience and I made a lot of new friends. There were lots of laughs, smiles, and a great experience all around!

Paranormal Experience Tour

Ryan, Serg, and Eilfie will be making their way to Chicago, Toronto, Dallas and San Antonio for a two day event at the beginning of 2012 for their new Paranormal Experience Tour.  Where they will be sharing never been told stories of the unknown, dark cases, and many obstacles they have had to face along the way.  They will have meet and greet, lectures and ghost hunts.  For more information on tickets, dates, and locations.  Please go to www.paranormalexperiencetour.com

PRS Gettysburg Field Trip #13 Video

Gettysburg PRS Field Trip #13

As some of you know I finally had the opportunity to go on one of the PRS Field Trips.  I attended Field Trip 13 in Gettysburg and I had such an amazing time.  I wanted to share some of my experiences with you.

I was so excited when I bought my EE (Extended Experience) ticket in late August, and started the countdown which was in the early 100s.  For some of you who know me, I am the countdown queen LOL.  I always do them whenever I am looking forward to a certain event or holiday.  During this time I still had a holiday to the Eastern Caribbean to look forward to with my husband, and three months of work ahead of me.  I have made so many friends from Ryan's Facebook fan page, Twitter, and the webinars who were going on the field trip and I couldn't wait to meet them in person.  Some of them had been on previous field trips, and shared some of their stories and photos.

Even though I was really excited to be attending my first field trip, I knew this was going to be a huge challenge for Chad and I since we have been married for 4 years, together for 10, and had never spent more than one night away from each other.  Chad and I are very close, he is my best friend and I like doing these adventures together, but unfortunately it didn't work for both of us to go.  I was stressed out about the idea of traveling on my own since I kept having nightmares of losing my plane ticket, sleeping in the airport and forgetting to board my plane, or not being able to find my way around the airport.  I also worried about sitting next to someone on the plane who ends up being airsick as I had a horrible experience of this happening when I was 15 years old.  An old neighbor came with me to England and she ended up being airsick the entire flight.  Thankfully, I can say this time that didn't happen.  When we got to the airport, Chad helped me check my bag in, then we walked up to security, said our goodbyes, and gave each other hugs.  This is when it hit me, I was actually leaving him for a few days.

In Gettysburg, we played Paranormal Jeopardy.  I was surprised at how much I knew about Paranormal State, PRS History, and Paranormal 101 webinar from Ryan.  I guess I do pay attention in class LOL.  I believe our group got up to 3200 points, of course we lost that in the Final Jeopardy round but for myself I really enjoyed the fun of it.  I also enjoyed the Iching lecture from Serg. He had an Iching book and we would shake the pennies and then he would go through what they all meant.  I shared something very personal, and the results I got were very interesting.  I will say that I have started to communicate with certain loved ones, but it is a slow and steady process.  The other lecture I attended was Paranormal Trauma which was given by Chris and Ryan.  Before the lecture started Chris shared some childhood stories of her and Ryan, they were so funny and cute.  I think its awesome how long they have been friends for.  I always enjoy listening to Ryan, he has some of the most compelling, personal stories.  I like that he takes his time. I get so absorbed by it, and sometimes even relate to what he is saying.  These are stories that we don't hear everyday, and that's why I find them so interesting. I also like how he puts his heart into it as well.

Over the weekend, I did the Ganzfeld experiment and every single time I had different experiences.  One of the experiences I had that stuck out for me was when I actually opened up to one of my room mates.  She was the receiver, and I was the sender.  The picture I had to get across to her was Albert Einstein with his tongue sticking out.  At the time I had different feelings, and later on I found out that she had picked up on the feelings I was having.  It was pretty incredible, considering Gettysburg was the first time we had met in person.  I think this is when we truly understood each other and became good friends.  I think Sergey was pretty excited about it too.

One of my favorite ghost hunts we did was at the orphanage.  The history behind it was so sad, but I related to it so well since I have worked with many children of all ages.  I decided to go in the dungeon, while Alex sat just outside of it.  For a while we didn't experience anything but then things started to happen.  We didn't know what had happened in there since the guy who worked there didn't share any of the stories.  He wanted to wait until after so it wouldn't take away from our experiences.  Dani, Lee, and Craig later joined me, and they brought in a flashlight.  Lee started to play jacks, and we would ask certain questions and the flash light would go off, or on depending on the question.  A couple times I felt like someone was playing with my hair, then I felt like someone was tickling me. At one point I also felt like someone had sat in my lap so hard that it made me jump.  I couldn't believe some of the experiences I was having.  I felt calm, and I didn't feel threatened in any way since I knew they were children.  After we were done the ghost hunt, the guy told us some of the stories that happened throughout the orphanage and in the dungeon.  I could not believe how much of his story had matched up with some of the experiences I just had.  It was incredible and definitely something I will never forget.  Since I have been home, I told a few people about my experiences and they believe that the children may have felt safe around me since I have worked with so many growing up babysitting, working in daycares, as well as teaching Sunday School.

I really enjoyed all of the events that I attended. They were so much fun and it was really cool to be with a group of people like myself who have had their own experiences, and finally having people understand.  We were kept so busy all weekend, that I only had a chance to FaceTime my husband once and I texted him whenever I could.  I'm pretty sure I only got 15 hours of sleep throughout the whole weekend.  It was really cool to meet Ryan's dog, Xander! He is such a friendly dog.  I have to say that was definitely one of my highlights.

The other highlight of the weekend was having social time with all of the PRS members and field trippers going to a local bar, having a couple of drinks and saying our goodbyes.  It was such a bittersweet moment.  Later on my room mates and I had pizza with Ryan, Serg and Xander back at the hotel, it was a lot of fun.  We talked about the weekend, had a very interesting hair conversation that Ryan brought up LOL! I still can't believe what he said. LOL!  I already knew that Ryan likes to be a big tease at times, but to hear his kind of humor was just icing on the cake. It was definitely a great way to end the weekend. 

I had already met Ryan, Serg, and Eilfie at previous PRS events but it was really cool to meet Chris, Katrina, and Heather.  If you haven't been to a PRS event, I can tell you by experience that all of the members make you feel so welcome and they are all down to earth people. 

My overall experience in Gettysburg was AMAZING! I can't express how much fun I had. I also learned a lot about myself, that I do have confidence in myself, and I need to show it more often.  I challenged myself to be away from my husband for a few days. It was definitely hard at times, and I did break down and missed him so much. I also challenged myself to mingle amongst other people who I hadn't met yet and made some awesome friends over the weekend, you all know who you are;)  I can't wait to go on Field Trip 14 wherever that may be, and have Chad come with me so we can have our next adventure together.  I wanted to say a special thanx to all of the PRS members, Jerae the most awesome events coordinator for keeping everything running smoothly, and all of the volunteers for their hard work and guests for an incredible time.  I will never ever forget my first field trip of a lifetime.

For those of you who have never been on a PRS field trip and have been thinking about it, don't think just do it!! You will meet such wonderful people, and have an incredible experience.  Don't worry about going by yourself, I can guarantee that you will make lots of friends and memories that will last you a lifetime.

Time to move forward....

I'm not sure what has happened over the last few weeks but ever since I have been home from Gettysburg PRS Field Trip 13 I realized that I need to get my life back in order.  Going on the field trip made me realize that I have a lot more confidence in myself than I even gave myself credit for.  Three years ago, I us to be a very confident person, I had just started a bright future by finishing the Resident Care aide program and found a good job working in a long term care facility.  Sadly, it was cut short because my dad passed away and I was extremely close to him.  I was very much a daddys girl always by his side doing the things we both loved.  It was the first real death that struck me so hard that I had to quit my job, because I knew at the time I was not in the right state of mind, and it wouldn't be fair to the residents to only give a small percentage of myself.  It was a tough couple years, I had a lot of anger, depression, and isolated myself from friends and family.  Three years may seem like a long time, but for me I still remember receiving the devastating news crystal clear, I don't know if it will ever fully go away.  My advice to others, tell everyone you love them, give them hugs and kisses, enjoy their company because we live in such a fragile world that we never know when our time is up.  I thought for sure I was done grieving, but today that proved me wrong.  I cried for hours this evening non stop, and told my husband the feelings that I had been having that I don't think he even expected.  I was just living in the moment, moving around every year, working endless jobs, and trying to fill the gap.  Today, I truly believe was a break through and want to make a change, need to move forward, thinking about the future.

Thanx for checking out my blog!

I am finally doing something that I have been wanting to do for awhile and that is to start blogging.  I love writing my thoughts down and sharing my stories of things that are happening in everyday life.  I am very excited to share this with all of you, and I hope that you will come back and check out my blog site often.  I will also be sharing some videos as well as photos.