Florida 2011

So I survived my first vacation by myself! haha I had no problem connecting to my second flight. The gate was 10 gates down so no biggie...even had time to grab a bite to eat at the TGIF's! I arrived in Tampa at midnight their time! I cannot even tell you how excited I was to see my cousin! When you are so used to seeing someone every day for like 20 years its hard to go 2 years without seeing them!!



Tequila loves toothpaste!



Sunday we drove for about 2 hours down to Siesta Key. The beaches were GORGEOUS!! The sand is white and shiny like sugar and feels as soft as flour! We spent the day on the beach, going into little shops, and eating yummy food!

Monday we went to the causeway in Tarpon Springs. This was cool to me cuz you just park on the side of the road and lay your towel out and sunbathe and then walk like 5 steps down to the ocean...lol and get bit by a fish! haha the fish for some reason in this area liked to bite me!! Later that night we got all dressed up and went to Club Venue! It was SUPER fun...if you're a fan of Jersey Shore...DJ Pauly D goes there every once in a while to DJ-bummed we missed him by 1 week!!!

Tuesday we spent the day at Honeymoon Island! The beach was as gorgeous as ever! We were out there for quite awhile...just sunbathing and talking about life. It really made me miss having my cousin close by to just talk about anything and everything! Later that night we went out for Sushi...yummm I love sushi!

Wednesday was spent in Clearwater. The beach was just that...clear! The water is so beautiful and the beach is white as sugar! The town is really cute too! Lots of shops and beautiful hotels! Our trend seemed to be beach in the morning, come home shower, and then go back out! That night we went to the "Sponge Docks" it was really cool. People go out to the ocean and harvest sponges and then sell them! Sponges everywhere and homemade soaps to go with them! Lots of litle shops filled with anything you can imagine...even puffer fish!! haha After the Sponge Docks and yummy Greek food, we decided to go to the movies! Went in and the weather was normal...came out and it had apparently poured down rain while we were inside!! haha I guess thats Florida for ya!

Thursday was SUCH a relaxing day! I treated Amber and I to a spa day! Got mani and pedis followed by a relaxing massage! The spa was so pretty!!! Afterwards we walked around the mall, bought a couple of things, and then went to dinner! SIGH...loved this day!





Friday was spent back at Clearwater beach...couldn't get enough of it! Oh and driving home we saw Hulk Hogan! haha We visited Greg-my cousin's husband-at his work. He's in the coastguard so that was cool to see the HUGE planes he works on!! Next stop...atomic tattoo!! Yep, thats right...I am now the proud owner of a tattoo!! haha Never in a million years would I have thought I would have one. But over the past couple of years I've thought about getting one but just never really knew what I wanted or where I wanted it. I got the inititals HMS. Heart, Mind, and Soul. This is something that my husband and I have always said to each other...that we loved each other with our heart mind and soul-hms for short! I am SO happy with the results and my hubby likes it too! We ended the night by going to Indian Rocks Beach to spend some time with Greg and Ambers friends! So glad to have met some really cool people!



Tequila--she loved me and I love her!



Saturday-my last day was just spent relaxing. We went back to the sponge docks and I bought a couple of things for family. Then we ate lunch at a place with a SUPER rude waiteress...no tip for her! Then a little bit more shopping and ended the day with ordering Pizza and watching a movie!

Sunday I had to wake up at the butt crack of dawn to catch my 6:40 flight...but it got me in to Sac by 11am...so I was happy about that. Even more happy when I came down the escalator and saw my sweet Wesley AND my tricky Husband!! He was supposed to be working that day but switched with a different day! So that was SO nice to be welcomed home by my two boys!

All in all...the trip was SO much fun! It was non stop fun! I miss my cousin and Florida a lot already. If my family could move I would move us all over there in a heartbeat! I love it! =)

Catch ya on the flip side..

So it has finally come....I'm leavin on a jet plane!!! I will be flying to Florida tomorrow to spend a week with my cousin!!! I am extremely excited and extremely nervous at the same time! haha  I've never flown by myself so I'm kinda freaking out about it! Not so much the plane ride-I'm totally fine with that! Its the plane change that scares me!! I have a 1 HOUR window to get to my connecting flight. I am not even going to attempt to find the gate myself. As soon as I get off the plane I will be asking the flight attendent where the gate is located and I pray to GOD that its not clear on the other side of the airport! haha Pray for me if ya think about it! =)

I am so excited to spend some much needed time with my cousin Amber. We have always been super close-growing up down the street from each other made this very easy! So I cannot wait to laugh at all our inside jokes together and make even more memories with her!

I'll be gone June 11-19...so expect to get a blog update with LOTS of pics when I get back!!!

5 Years and Counting...

"The more you invest in a marriage, the more valuable it becomes."

--Amy Grant

Over the weekend my husband and I celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary. FIVE YEARS!!! I cannot believe it has been 5 years already! Where did time go?

We met at the end 2004 at the church-although I do not remember this. :-/ And then again at the beginning of 2005. He was working in the jr. high department and I had been asked to be on the committee for the jr. high department. So I figured since I would be helping make decisions on what goes on in the department, I might as well help out and really find out what the kids want! After the evening services at church I walked up to the Jr. High Pastor-who my husband just happen to be talking to-and told him since I was on the committee I should probably start helping out! He then "introduced" me to James and asked if we had met yet. To which I replied No and James replied Yes...awkward!!! haha Well the following Wednesday I showed up to youth group. I was excited to see James but was quite surprised when I was completely ignored the entire 2.5 hours by him! In my head I assumed well he must have a girlfriend then-bummer!! In fact I even think I txt my mom and said "well I think he has a gf :-(" After youth group was over he came up to me and said "Hey, the rest of the leaders are going to Carls Jr. would you like to join us?" HECK YES I WOULD!! haha After about a 3 hour conversation at Carls we were hooked. The weeks that followed involved us practically attached at the hip, spending all our free time getting to know each other. We officially began dating Superbowl Sunday in 2005!

 

When we began dating, we both had the same mindset in that we were dating with the intentions of getting married. After 8 months of dating we were engaged!!! Every girl dreams of the day she becomes a bride. The wedding was beautiful and the reception was fun. I could not have asked for anything more. It was such a special day that neither of us will ever forget.

After our wedding in June 06' we moved down to Sacramento. James was scheduled to start his Masters Program in the fall so during the summer we both worked at Phantom Fireworks in the office. Because of this we didn't really get to take a big trip for our honeymoon! We spent a couple of days in Tahoe and then began working immediately after since it was firework season! Because we didn't get to take a trip for our honeymoon we decided to go big for our 1 year anniversary-Sandals resort in Jamaica!!! The trip was such a blast and Sandals makes it so easy to vacation. The resort was all inclusive so everything was paid for-makes it SO relaxing and enjoyable! Happy 1 Year to us...

2008 was a pretty big year for us. In July our family grew to 4...we added 2 cute lil pups to our family! They are a chihuahua poodle mix and we were SO excited to welcome them to our family. They are brothers from the same litter and we named them Chitto and Timmy. Also another big change in 2008 was a new job for my husband! Good-bye school Administrator...hello Apple!!! My husband has loved macs ever since I've known him so when he got the job at Apple he was thrilled!! He is still currently working for the company and it has been such a blessing for us. The company itself is wonderful and we've had no complaints thus far! Happy 2 years to us...

2009...a fabulous year and a horrible year all in one!! We began the process of searching for a home! With the economy the way it was it was actually more expensive to live in an apartment then it was to live in a home!! So we figured...gosh, we should start looking for a house!! Little did we know what we were getting ourselves in to! The process of finding a house is not difficult whatsoever..there was a TON of houses on the market! However, the part that became torturous was getting the bank(s) to agree to our offer, the current owners to agree with us AND the bank(s), and then the timeline and multiple signing appointments! In August we thought we had finally found our home-long story short the day we were to move in, it fell through. So here we are in the middle of all of this...and on July 10, 2009 we found out we were expecting our first child!!!! I was blessed with a very smooth pregnancy. I was never sick and never had to take time off of work due to my pregnancy! We ended 2009 still in our apartment, with all of our posessions in boxes...haha Happy 3 years to us...

2010...HOORAY!!! This year was by far the most jam packed year. Back in November we found a home that we absolutely loved. We put the offer in and on February 26th we officially became HOMEOWNERS!!! What a huge relief to finally be in our own home, to unpack our boxes, and to get our soon to arrive son's room set up! Little did we know just how "soon" his arrival would be. On March 7th, 2010 (the very next weekend) we welcomed into our family Wesley James Gregory- 6lbs, 3oz, 19in and absolutely perfect! I was able to take 3 months off for maternity leave-such a HUGE blessing. An even bigger blessing was our childcare for when I went back to work in June...family! James' grandpa lives here in Sacramento and was willing to watch our Wesley while I was at work. It is so neat to see their relationship...Wesley loves his Papa! We had a lot of fun watching Wesley grow and reach the different milestones. There is something so amazing about having a child. The bond that it creates between husband and wife is amazing! I am very thankful for the little blessing God gave to us. Happy happy 4 years to us...

Well, here we are in 2011!! We have been in our home for a year now and are finding being a homeowner is a never ending process. There is always something we need to do, want to do, don't want to do...haha I guess thats how it goes though! We are loving every minute with Wesley. He is the center of attention-and knows it!! Even though 2011 is not over yet...we are so grateful for the blessings thus far. We both have steady jobs, we have our health-although we've all been hit by the cold bug lately, but nothing serious-, we have wonderful families, we have each other! Happy 5 years to us...

Thank you Lord for the blessing of marriage...