update

I've realized that for the first time since 2003 I have free time. I'm no longer working all day and taking courses in the evenings. I now have the ability to focus on my friendships and hobbies and family.

I started a new bible study at church on Tuesday evenings. We are working through Beth Moore's study Breaking Free. It couldn't have come at a better time. I absolutely love Beth's studies and this one, or so I've heard from several people, is pretty fantastic.

Also, I'm starting to run again. I had been running for a while and working my way up to completing a 5k with little difficulty. Because of my schedule during the first half of the summer I had stopped running regularly with my friend Kristin. I feel so blah right now and I know that it's because I'm not exercising regularly. Hopefully within a few weeks I'll be back to my normal self. :)

Tonight I'm meeting my friend, Heather, in Ponte Vedra. Should be fun. I'm ready to get out ... especially somewhere new! I have to work Freshman Orientation this Friday but that evening my friend, Melissa, is coming over and we're sharing a bottle of wine and watching a movie. Hopefully by the end of the weekend I will be refreshed and renewed and ready to tackle work that next week. I'm still praying for a teaching job although I know it's not likely with our economy being the way it is ...

So, that's all for now. Still haven't had a chance to work on uploading some pics for y'all but I'll try again to find time this weekend :)

University of Dreams

Hey y’all … as you may or may not know, my sister, Ashley, is participating in a summer internship in Los Angeles, CA, through the University of Dreams.

This internship allows her to partner with a company and pursue her dream of working in the film industry. She is working for 8 weeks with a company called In The Mo. They go around and find the latest greatest places to eat, party, etc and it’s shown on local L.A. television. She’s hoping to build some good connections while out there so please think good thoughts, pray, whatever you feel compelled to do.

Their site isn’t fully up and running yet but they are getting ready to launch. If you want to check it out here’s the link. http://inthemo.com/ If you would like her address to send her best wishes, etc. please let me know...

today

Today is hump day ... I'm halfway through the week and already can't wait for it to be over. I found out through a friend that St. John's County had too many applicants and were only interviewing those with experience. That seems to be the trend right now ... but seriously ... how am I supposed to get the experience they're looking for if no one will hire me!?! So, for now I'm here ... frustrated as all hell with the staff at UNF. I really need to branch out a bit I guess. Maybe start applying for positions in corporate America ... we'll see. Until then ... I'll keep on keeping on.

So ... bottom line is ... continue to keep me in your prayers and hopefully I'll also have some time this weekend to get some recent pics on here! Much love to you all :-)

wow how time flies ...

So, not sure if anyone still reads this thing ... but I just realized I haven't posted anything since April of 2007. Good golly! So, it feels to me like not much really happens in my life anymore which is why I hadn't posted anything ... but then when I talk to people they say, you've done this and this and this, etc. SO, I'm going to start blogging again. Mostly to keep up with my friend, Shay, who just created her own blog and I know she'll be much more faithful than I am ... which is a powerful motivator!

So, let us see now ...

First, they opened a new bar downtown called Mavericks. It's a "rockin honkey tonk" according to their website. It's like Crazy Horse but cleaner, less smokey, and with better looking bartenders. Hee hee. It's super fun! And me and the girls have been trying to go every other weekend. I even purchased a pair of boots at Western World in Orange Park. They're fantastic!

Second, most recently I went on a cruise with some girlfriends a few weeks ago. We went on a Carnival "booze cruise" ... I'm not going to lie ... parts of it were hella ghetto ... but overall it was super fun! We left on a Thursday afternoon out of Port Canaveral, went down to Nassau, and back early Sunday morning. Right away we found a bar on ship with an amazing band and became their groupies. They are a group of Asian men who sing classic rock. One minute they're on stage talking with Asian accents and the next they're singing Lynard Skynard and you can't even hear the accent. They rocked! We had so much fun although I think we're all planning on going Royal Caribbean next time.

Let's see ... I finished up my teacher's certification coursework and am now fully certified with no job in sight. Gotta love the budget crisis. YAY for Amendment 1 ... I swear, people really don't realize what happens when you cut taxes from one area it affects another. Now, I'm not saying we should be like France and fork over 60% of our incomes ... because I don't trust that our gov't will use the money correctly ... however, things like education, our national park service, etc. are grossly underfunded. It's pathetic. Anyway, I'll keep y'all posted on all of that should something change. For now I'm continuing to work at UNF.

This past year in 2007 I went to France in September with my good friend, Jeannie. We spent 7 days (including travel time) and visited Paris and southern France for my cousin Matthew's wedding. It was quite a trip. Very whirlwind ... but fun! We spent a few days in Paris, toured around, and took the train down to Brignoles. Matthew was married in a beautiful monastery and the reception was at an old chateau. It was absolutely beautiful! We went down to the coast and put our feet in the Mediterranean. I wish I had more time but it was so worth it!

In November we took a family trip to the southern Caribbean on the Holland America Cruise line. It was a week long. We visited their private island, Grand Turk, St. Thomas, and Tortuga. I loved the little port area created for the cruise boats in Grand Turk ... even had a Margaritaville! We walked around St. Thomas and took a taxi van to Mountain Top, had a banana daiquiri, and took lots of pictures. The British Virgin Islands are hella scary. It was dirty and disgusting and unfortunately we quickly decided never to go there again. The ship's stabilizers were broken and crossing the gulf stream put quite a many guests into awful seasickness. I would say that Holland America is not really worth the price and is also full of the elderly. But, overall it was a great vacation!

For Christmas, the family rented a cabin in Blowing Rock, NC. It was super cute but super run down unfortunately. It was nice and cold and we even got to play in the snow a bit! I drove my car and she got to experience the cold and snow for the first time ever! I took pictures, don't you worry ... ;-)

I know there are things I'm forgetting but I'll try and post more later. I'll be sure to post some pics of all my trips as soon as I get a chance. Now that I'm not working full time and taking courses at night I should have much more time to keep up with this thing!

Happy Easter ... He is Risen

Hey y'all ... this past Sunday was Easter and I went home to be with the family. We had some good quality time together and the church service was nice. We even hunted Easter eggs! We're such kids ... no matter how old we get it's still exciting when the Easter Bunny comes!

My 28th Birthday

I can hardly believe that I'm twenty-eight years old! For my birthday this year, as usual, we started at the Lemon Bar and went over to Sliders for dinner. I was amazed that we had so many people show up! Over twenty people showed up off and on over the course of the evening and there were eighteen at dinner.

Afterwards we went to Sun Dog to check out what band was playing and even played the touch screen photo hunt game ... ha ha ha. Then stopped by Sunny Caribbee to watch Pili Pili play a set before heading home. I had a great time!

Divas Do Austin

In March, over spring break, my friend Terry and I went to visit our good friend Shay in Austin, TX. Shay is the founding Diva for Jacksonville and although I have taken over her role ... I have big shoes to fill. We miss Shay terribly but know that soon she will be starting an Austin chapter of the Divas and we can't wait for the updates!

We drove around Austin and the surrounding area and while out and about found a bunch of cars parked on the side of the road by the 360 Bridge. We decided to investigate. Thus we ended up climbing a cliff in heels ... but it was worth it! The view was amazing!

We went to Zilker Park and checked out the Blue Bonnets and even walked around downtown. We stopped by George W's old home and went in the Capitol building.

All around Austin are giant guitars painted like they do in other cities with bright colors. For example, in Jacksonville they have jaguars. So, of course I took a picture of one of them!

Austin is quite breathtaking. I didn't imagine it would look anything like it did ... it was so very hilly! And March is a great time of year to go as it was not too hot!

time to play catch up 3 ...

Okay ... one final installment and you're all caught up ...

This month my friend Renee celebrated her birthday at Mezza Luna in Neptune beach.

The food is always quite delicious ... and we really had some good conversation.

Will even busted out the grill for us all to enjoy. Good times certainly were had by all!

time to play catch up 2 ...

Also, in February was my friend Julie's birthday ... we celebrated at Cafe Carmon in San Marco and then went karaoke singing afterward ...