Sadie

So ... I'm going to brag a bit about our cute little kitten, Sadie. She's adorable and has such a great little personality ... she's so tolerant and loving ...

Although we miss Ralph ... Sadie has truly established herself as a member of the family.

Lauren's birthday

YAY! Lauren turned 19 this past weekend! She came home and mom fixed pot roast and Lauren opened presents ... Good times! She even taught our cute little kitten, Sadie, how to drink from the faucet!

Biltmore Estates

Over the Christmas holiday I went to Asheville, NC and visited the Biltmore Estates and toured their winery. The grounds were spectacularly beautiful despite the dreary winter weather.

It had snowed a few days before (of course it couldn't wait until we got there) and I managed to capture a picture of some still on the ground.

When you first enter the estate you pass by a branch of the Swannanoa River and eventually travel under the interstate to be in the heart of the grounds.

The driveway is long and winding and the vegetation is breathtaking ... living in Florida you don't see the scale of the trees like you do in the mountains. It was so beautiful, even in the midst of winter.

The Biltmore Estate once managed a large dairy farm which has now been converted to their winery. The cows were so friendly and came right up to the fence which was quite a treat for my niece and nephew.

For dinner that evening we ate at the Deerpark Restaurant. They have a nightly buffet which was delicious but HIGHLY overpriced for the ambiance and service, unfortunately. I'm sure that in the summer when you can sit outside it has more charm.

The Biltmore house itself was absolutely amazing. We participated in Candlelight Christmas Evenings which is the only time of the year they open the house at night. Every room had a Christmas tree and the whole home was elaborately decorated and they take you into parts not open for general admission. There was a choir singing in the Winter Garden and all I can say is that I can't wait to go back one summer and take the Rooftop Tour and tour the gardens and Bass Lake.

Christmas trip

On Christmas day we hopped in the Highlander ... yes all three girls on the bench seat ... and headed for North Carolina to see my step-sister, Kristen, her husband, Darren, and their children, McKenna, Reed and and baby Kian. Dad even switched places with me on the trip while he and Ashley and Lauren watched Talladega Nights. We got to see Krissy's new house and we even went over to Biltmore in Asheville.

Christmas with Grandma Joan and Joey

This year we left on Christmas day to travel up north and visit family so Christmas with Grandma Joan happened the day before Christmas eve.

It was one of the most hilarious family dinners I have ever experienced ... the dinner Grandma had picked up from Publix was frozen and mom sent Ashley and I to grab a non-frozen one from a different Publix only to realize as we're halfway home that this dinner was not frozen but definitely needed to be cooked.

Mom sent us back to Publix and the nice lady in the deli gave us three rotisserie chickens. We took one dinner up to North Carolina and the other was given to a needy friend of Ashley's. This will definitely be one of my favorite memories for sure.

alright already

I really didn't think that many people read my blog but I have been given a lot of feedback on my lack o'skills in the updating department so here we go ...

First ... Thanksgiving was spent with my dad's family in south Florida. I was able to see my dad and Ann's condo ... it's beautiful ... overlooking a marsh ... very nice and I think they will be very happy in Venice (much, much better than Port Charlotte)!

Here is a picture of me and my dad when we went for dinner in Sarasota.

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!

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!

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!!!

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.

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!

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. ;)

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

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.

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.