time to play catch up ...

Okay ... so mom's birthday was in February and I forgot to post some pictures, etc.

Mom celebrated her 40-10 with about 75 friends and family members!

Aunt Lisa and Uncle Charlie flew down from Virginia as well as Aunt Julie and Uncle Michael drove down from GA to suprise her. She was so excited to see all the people that came to celebrate her special day. There was a DJ so you know us girls tore up the floor ... and the cake was just amazing (great job Publix)!

words of wisdom ... thank you Matthew

Max Ehrmann
Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time. Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

Max Ehrmann, Desiderata, Copyright 1952.

obviously ...

I have obviously shown how awful I am at keeping up this blog ... I never was able to keep a diary for any length of time. I always seemed to forget about it eventually and move on to something else. Kinda reminds me of other aspects of my life but I won't go there. At least not today. Today I'm feeling: a) guilty for not writing more seeing as I have received several comments on how people keep checking my blog but I haven't updated AND b) frustrated because I have been having some awful dreams lately and have been suffering with a bit of anxiety. I am struggling with the whole 'give your problems to God' thing ... I've never been really good at that, unfortunately. I'm definitely the type that tries to handle it all myself. And of course, that means I take on way too much ... am concerned with things I have no control over ... and worry about things that don't really matter. SO ... here I am ... turning 28 this month ... and I think I'm aging myself more just purely by the stress I am self-inflicting. Good times!

Well ... where do I go from here?

I know I need to force myself to work out more ... I know that will do wonders to my stress. I know that I need to take more time to de-stress at the end of the day and to not take my work issues home with me. I already have enough to worry about with school, etc. I think that it is also hard being in limbo right now in my personal life. I just have to remember that May 4th is not too far away. This too shall pass. Soon I will be completed with the chapter that has taken the longest so far. I can't believe that I will actually have completed my bachelor's degree! And before my sisters complete theirs! Which, of course, was my main goal. It will be nice to not worry about the work-school-social life balance as much. I might even start to work on other things ... like maybe marriage and family. Who knows.

Anyway, I hate to be a downer. I promise that I'm alright. Everything will be alright. Spring break is this coming week. Thursday through Sunday I will be in Austin, TX, visiting my very good friend, Shay, with another good friend of mine, Terry. I am so excited to be able to get away! I only wish I had time to go to the Caribbean again this year. Although the Ritz was beautiful I think that next time I'd like to stay at the Westin in St John or at the Caneel Bay Resort. I do have my cousin's wedding to look forward to in September. It's in France ... woo hoo! It will be nice to see him (I miss him so very much) and of course, to see more of France. The last visit was to northern France so I think I will fly in to Paris and explore the city before heading down to Brignoles for the wedding. YAY!

As a little update: I was in Orlando a few weekends ago. I visited my good friend, Greg, and my sister, Ashley Lynn. We ate at the greatest little Italian restaurant in downtown Orlando, Bravissimo. It was fantastic! And it rained on Saturday night so Greg and I went to Winter Park for a glass of wine and a good chat. Sunday we had lunch with Ashley on Park Avenue in Winter Park before she had to head to work and that evening I had dinner in Palm Coast with my mom and my sister, Lauren, at Barbara Jean's. YUM! Yesterday I had someone come fix the water damage from the leak from the upstairs unit. It seems to be fine. Good thing. Ah, the joys of home-ownership!

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.