Wednesday, November 29, 2006

thanksgiving overseas

Just thought I'd share with you some pics from my cousin's Thanksgiving overseas where he broke the news of the engagement to his mom and dad (my Aunt Carol and Uncle Jim). He traditionally celebrates Thanksgiving on the last Sunday in November as those in the UK don't have that Thursday off for obvious reasons.

The first is my cute Aunt Carol in the kitchen ... notice the apron ... LOVE IT!
The second is Aunt Carol, Uncle Jim and Matthew.
The third is of course Aunt Carol noticing Aude's engagement ring. How adorable!



Wednesday, November 22, 2006

good news


I've got some good news I'd like to share ... my cousin, Matthew, has just gotten engaged to his girlfriend, Aude. YAY! I knew it would happen and I'm so happy for them. Congrats y'all!

Monday, November 06, 2006

The Great Chowder Debate


This past Sunday was the Great Chowder Debate in St. Augustine. It was held at the Conch House and was tons of fun! (L to R: Shay, Stef, Terry, Caron and Kristin)

"Looking for the best chowder on the east coast? Satisfy your passion for great seafood at the Conch House Marina’s celebrated annual Great Chowder Debate. More than 30 area restaurants compete to see who has the best chowder. Participants are treated to an almost limitless variety – from local favorites like the Menorcan chowders to an assortment of New England chowders – made with clams, conch, lobster, scallops and crab and laced with secret concoctions of herbs and spices. The event starts at noon and runs throughout the day. All proceeds benefit the Shriners Hospitals for Children."

I think we liked Hurricane Patty's Seafood Chowder and The Fiddler's Green New England Clam Chowder the best. YUMMY!

Melissa's Birthday


Saturday was Melissa's birthday (the one in the middle) so we went to dinner at Daruma Japanese Steakhouse then bowling. It was tons of fun!

I actually managed to score above 100 so that made me quite proud ... hee hee. Although poor Melissa didn't fair so well and it was her birthday. Sorry babe. I know you had a good time anyway.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MELISSA!!!

Thursday, November 02, 2006

Art Walk

Last night I went with a few friends downtown to the Art Walk. We met at Burrito Gallery and I had a great Mahi taco. Yum! We then proceeded to walk around downtown to view the art on display in various buildings and in Hemming Plaza. It was nice to see what my city has to offer. I don't often get the chance to go downtown. I highly recommend the Art Walk ... first Wednesday of the month ... mark your calendars.

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

sparkly shoes ...


I'm sharing with you my sparkly shoes I wore as part of my Halloween costume ... my office dressed up as various holidays and I represented Valentine's Day. The rest of the costume was pretty lame but the shoes were fantastic!

Monday, October 30, 2006

oh ...

And Ashley introduced me to some pretty cool DVD's this weekend. Nooma is amazing!

"We can get anything we want, from anywhere in the world, whenever we want it. That's how it is and that's how we want it to be. Still, our lives aren't any different than other generations before us. Our time is. We want spiritual direction, but it has to be real for us and available when we need it. We want a new format for getting Christian perspectives.

NOOMA is the new format. It's short films with communicators that really speak to us. Compact, portable, and concise. Each NOOMA touches on issues that we care about, that we want to talk about, and it comes in a way that fits our world. It's a format that's there for us when we need it, as we need it, how we need it."


... please check it out ...

http://www.nooma.com/

okay okay

So lately I've been a little frustrated with my current situation. And I realize that it's not fun being friends with someone when they're so down. So, I've decided to practice the Jon Gordon mantra of Too Blessed to be Stressed. Or at least I'm going to try. HA HA.

Anyway, a little update ...

I've started knitting. My friend Shannon taught me how a long time ago on a trip to Ft. Lauderdale and recently I've started again. It is quite the stress relief believe it or not and quite a convenient way to create Christmas presents when you have a budget like mine.

My sister, Ashley, came up this past Thursday and we went to the Shawn McDonald concert at the Murray Hill Theatre. Good times! She stayed through Sunday which was such a blessing because I hardly see her anymore and we really got to spend some quality time together. Plus, her boyfriend was in town for the Florida-Georgia game and we all went out Saturday night to Six Pockets. Let me just stop there for a minute because it has been probably 3-4 years since I've been in Six Pockets and it was sooooo expensive and smokey and gross. I remembered why I don't go there any more.

Let's see ... I'm still 27 and single ... but I have a sweet roof over my head and a steady paycheck and of course I have my health. ;)

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

seriously!


Seriously! I'm so fed up with crap here at work. It's rediculous!
I need a freakin vacation!

And since I am not able to take one any time soon I am going to remember that one beautiful day in St. Thomas when I sat on the beach and did nothing and I will try my darndest to de-stress a little before I come in to work tomorrow because I am about to walk out the freakin doors and not look back.
ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Monday, October 09, 2006

thankfulness

Today I am going to try and practice thankfulness ...

Encarta defines it as such:

thank·ful (a)
Definition:

1. feeling gratitude: feeling or expressing gratitude. We must be thankful for small mercies.
2. glad about something: glad or relieved about something

thank·ful·ness (n)
Synonyms: gratitude, thanks, appreciation, appreciativeness, recognition, acknowledgment
Antonym: ingratitude

grat·i·tude (n)
Definition:

thanks: a feeling of being thankful to somebody for doing something. I'd like to find some way of expressing my gratitude to her for all she did.
[15th century. Directly or via French < Latin gratitudo < gratus "pleasing"]

Today I am trying my best to be thankful ... to express gratitude for the many blessings in my life. I tend to be one of those people who sometimes dwell on the negative when there is so much positive to think about instead. Sometimes I feel like things just aren't going "my way" and therefore I should just throw in the towel. I know, I know, it's an obsurd thought. But none the less, it enters my mind frequently. Therefore, today I am going to actively practice the act of thankfulness.

Monday, September 11, 2006

Remembering September 11, 2001

I would like to take a moment of silence for the memory of those who died on 9/11 and those who are fighting and dying each day to help make our world a safer one for us and our children ... at this fifth year anniversary may we remember what it means to have democracy and how lucky we are to live in this land that I love so dearly.

For this moment of silence I am including a picture of the scene that most often puts me in my place. The ocean always reminds me of how small I am and how there truly is something bigger at work here. God is in charge and we need to remember that and show him some respect.

I love you all.

gay wind


So ... recently I went home to spend some quality time with my sisters and meet Lauren's new roomie, Erica. We hopped in the 'Sunday Car' and traveled to Ponce Inlet south of Daytona Beach to take Erica (who is from Rockville, Maryland of all places) to check out the Lighthouse.

Here we are on the way down there ... Ashley, Erica and Lauren.

Of course I just had to take a picture of this old boat ... notice the name. ;)


Here's the beautiful sunset in Ponce Inlet ... and finally a windblown Caron atop the Lighthouse.

Wednesday, August 30, 2006

alright already


Okay ... Okay ...

I haven't posted in a while. This blog thing is way harder to keep up with then I thought. Anyway I haven't fallen off the face of the earth ... I'm still here, barely. This job is squashing me like a little ant. I will be so happy when things start to calm down next week and I will have time to breathe and relax a bit. So ... until then ... sorry I am not giving you a better update but to appease you I've included the funniest picture of my sister, Ashley, when I visited her at camp this summer. Notice the price tag on the plastic donkey ... you've got to be kidding me!

Thursday, August 10, 2006

an update ...

Okay ... so I know the last two posts were rediculously short ... sorry.

Life is just crazy right now. Work is really getting on my nerves. I know that I really shouldn't have such high expectations and then it wouldn't bother me as much but that's not who I am. I expect things to be a certain way and when it isn't I'm not a happy camper. You'd think that as old as I am and as much as I've been through I would have learned better ways to handle this stress but I think it bothers me this much because I am personally invested in UNF. This is where my degree is from. This is where I have spent (off and on) about 10 years of my life. I feel the pain of the students when they feel we are screwing them over. I've been there ... done that.

Anyway, recently some pretty cool people have come into my life and for that I am thankful. I also just learned that my Grandma Hoo Hoo and Aunt Trish are doing fine ... no cancer ... and that is quite a blessing. Also, I suprised my dad with tickets to a Tom Petty concert and he's pretty darn excited. Score!

So ... this weekend ... let's see. I have a work happy hour social at the Cheesecake Factory this Friday ... nice (not to mention free). Friday is also my friend Michelle's birthday (happy birthday, Michelle). Saturday I'm hanging with friends, cleaning house and doing laundry ... woo hoo. Sunday I am starting a"new members" class at church. I think I'm going to go ahead and make Southside my new church home. I really haven't found a church I feel at home in here. Southside is as close as it gets and I'm sure that after I really start getting involved it will feel more like a home and I won't feel so much like a visitor.

Well, that's all for now. Enjoy the weekend. TTYL.

Saturday was Julie and Dennie's wedding at a chapel downtown. It was beautiful and the cake was from Cinnotti's so you know that it was fantastic. I know Julie and Dennie will enjoy a lifetime of happiness together.






YAY! A diva birthday celebration is always a fun event. Diva Shay celebrated her birthday on Friday and we all showed up at the Lemon Bar for drinks and then after a bit of a fiasco with Ragtime we headed to Sun Dog for dinner and dancing. Good times were had by all.

Friday, August 04, 2006


Thought I'd share with you my thoughts for this Friday summed up in a lost Dr. Seuss poem ... enjoy!

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

brand new ...


Well, here goes nothing. I am giving in. I've decided that it is nearly impossible for me to keep up with my friends and family so I'm creating a blog. I can't believe it. I remember how long it took for me to get a cell phone and now I've got a blog. Man how times change.

Here I will post updates and pictures to keep you posted on what's happening in my life. Hopefully this will be better than what I'm doing currently which is managing to send out an update at Christmas and if you're lucky I might manage a card randomly sometime in the year with a short "hello". This will hopefully solve that problem and hopefully this will be a fun way to catch up on the life and times of, well, myself.

Anyway, into the great wide open ...