Luncheon with the Daytona Ladies

This past Saturday my grandmother, aunt, great-aunt and some of the other female family members from Daytona came to our house for a luncheon. They had asked me a month ago if they could come up to see the new house and I wanted to make it special. I wanted to show them that I not only had a cute new house but I could also host a nice luncheon. I made chicken salad croissants and fruit salad. Everyone was quite impressed that I made everything from scratch.

A couple weeks before the luncheon my grandmother had called me to finalize some of the plans and at the time I told her that I had a surprise planned for dessert. She couldn't figure out what I was going to serve but was anxiously awaiting the surprise I had planned.

A day or two before my conversation with her I was going through my favorite Internet sites and I came across this recipe for dessert from ThePioneerWoman.com. And by the way, if you haven't become fast friends with Ree over at The Pioneer Woman, you better scurry on over there because you just don't know what you are missing.

Now, back to the topic at hand. I made these cute little flower pot desserts and they were a huge hit!!! The ladies ate them up, literally and figuratively.

These little goodies would be great at a bridal or baby shower. I can't wait to make them again.

Hittin' the Bottle Hard (and some other ramblings)

I took these picture of my niece, Bailey, at the Heart Walk a few weeks ago and thought they were too cute not to share with y'all. You might as well get used to it, too, because I love taking pictures! Especially of this little one. She is a very serious baby and to me, that makes her funny. Look at her little furrowed brow.

She gets this look on her face and I just have to chuckle for two reasons. One because she reminds me of her father when she makes this face. (By the way, he's never up to any good when he's got the same look.) And second, it's just funny. What could be so serious at three months old?

So, for the time being, until Will and I have kids of our own I'm going to have to ask you all to bare with me while I post pictures of my niece and my dogs. Thank you all for your patience.

Oh, and every now and then I'll give you a picture of this guy as well. (even when the pictures are unedited like this one here.) You can feel sorry for him because I am constantly in his face with a camera. It's not his favorite thing in the world but he lets me do it anyway.

Friends

Last night I had the chance to get together with these lovely ladies. They are wonderful. They are some of the best friends anyone could ever want. We had coffee at Starbucks and then just sat around and laughed. I can always count on these gals to give me a few good belly laughs. They are like therapy.

I haven't known these girls as long as they've all known each other. But I know that we will all be friends until we are little old ladies. They are all beautiful and have made living in Florida that much better. I love knowing them.

Running...

Okay, here goes. I know that as soon as I post this I am going to be held accountable for it. I'm just going to say it...I have started running...again...

A few months ago I was running and following the Cough to 5k training program and really enjoying it. Then after following the program fairly consistently for a couple of months I turned into a slacker and quit. I let our schedules get in the way and it dropped off my priority list. The really sad part of it all was that I was actually getting to where I liked running. It wasn't something to dread. But since I stopped I have to start all over again.

So, now I am back on track but still struggling through my runs. I just finished up week 3 and am going to try week 4 tonight.

My friend Rachel has been trying to get in shape as well and starting today we will be meeting a few times a week to do our running and walking. Thanks, Rachel! You help keep me on track.

My hope in writing about this is that I can use my blog as a way to seek encouragement from all of you. And along with that I would love some accountability. I hope to post weekly updates on my progress as well. So, stay tuned and wish me luck.

A New Form of Time Wasting

I stumbled upon this site the other day and successfully wasted an hour of my life but had a good laugh in the process.

Oh, should I consider it a bad thing that my hair in 1968 and my hair today look strangely alike?

Go make your own at Yearbook Yourself

I can't wait to see what you come up with.

The Heart Walk

This past weekend I had the privilage of walking in the Heart Walk with my best-friend, Kristina, and some of my former Wachovia co-worker's. One of those co-worker's is also Karyne, my mother-in-law. We all met up at Metro Park and walked 3 miles all around Jaguar's stadium and through Sun's stadium where Will and I had our first date.

It was a great walk and I really enjoyed reconnecting with my friends, Melissa and Brandy.

The Wachovia team finished strong and had a blast doing it. Thanks for letting me crash your party girls!

A Little Quirky

I've been tagged by Kristin at Blue Skies From Now On to post 6 quirky things about myself.

Here are the rules:

1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Mention the rules on your blog.
3. Tell about six unspectacular quirks of yours.
4. Tag six fellow bloggers by linking them.
5. Leave a comment on each of the six blogger’s blogs letting them know they’ve been tagged.

My personal Quirks:

1. I know a lot of people have this same quirk but I don't like for my food to touch on my plate and I can only eat one item at a time.

2. I can't sleep with my feet covered by blankets. I can have socks on but I have to have my feet sticking out the side of the covers.

3. I can't stand for dished to be left in the sink. Either wash them right away or put them in the dishwasher.

***Goodness, this is harder than I thought***

4. It bugs me when shampoo, conditioner, and/or body wash containers are left open in the shower. If they are open, I close them.

5. I can't go to sleep in an un-made bed. To clarify, when I go to get in the bed if it is unmade from the night before, I have to basically make it before I can get into it and be comfortable.

6. I have to have all the clothes in my closet organized by color and item. I have a pants section that is organized by color, a dress section that is organized by color and so on...

Since I don't think I even know 6 people that blog regularly I am going to break the last two rules and make it 3 people. However, if you read my blog and would like to tag yourself for me, please feel free.

I tag Debra, Rachel and Megan. Have fun!

It was bound to happen sooner or later...

I knew it was only a matter of time until my husband came to his senses. After several trips from Florida to North Carolina. After 2 and a half years of my influence. My husband has finally seen the light. Upon our last trip to Charlotte in the parking lot of the Chick-fil-a the skies opened up and Will converted...

He became a Panther's fan!!!

Okay, not really, he's still a Jaguar's fan, I'm sorry to say.

The truth of the matter is that we were in Charlotte and we were at Chick-fil-a. They were promoting their new chicken strips on Labor Day. So, any lucky patron that came into the store wearing their team gear received free chicken strips. My husband, who is a bigger Chick-fil-a fan than anything, clothed himself in a Panther's jersey just to get free strips. In exchange for me scrounging up a jersey for him I made him pose for a picture. So, for all my NC friends and Panther's fans. Enjoy. I know I did.

How I met my Husband

Well, as I said in my last post, I've been have a little bit of blogger's block. So, I thought I would kind of take Kristin's advice and blog about how I met Will.

When I moved to Jacksonville back in 2005 I didn't know anyone in the city except for my wonderful boss and her husband. They were kind enough to let me live with them until I found a place of my own and figured out a few things about this new city. After moving out of their house I had made a few friends but nothing like what I had back in Charlotte. And also, being the silly girl that I am, I had ended up dating a couple of the guy friends and when things didn't work out between us, well, that was the end of that friendship.

So, there I am was, a year into living in Jacksonville and really wanting to find my "place" in this city. I wanted to find my group to hang out with on the weekends. To meet up with for coffee or dinner during the week after work. And I just didn't know where to start. I was starting to get a bit discouraged and ended up talking to a co-worker about it one day.

My co-worker's name was Karyne and she had a step-son that was a couple of years younger than me who had grown up in Jacksonville. She told me to call him and see about hanging out so that he could introduce me to some people that he knew. I was all for it except for one thing. I don't call boys. (That's what my mother had always told me when I was growing up. As I got older that rule changed a little into I don't call guys I don't know.) She asked if I would give him my number and I was reluctant to do that as well. So, she gave him my email address. I didn't think much would come of it. If nothing else, we would email back and forth a couple of times and that would be it.

A couple of days later I was at work and I got an email from someone I didn't know. Turns out it was Will. Oh, how I wish I had saved that email. He confessed his love for walks on the beach by moonlight, puppies, rainbows and every other cheesy personal add type cliche'. It was silly and made me chuckle. He had a sense of humor and with that he had my attention.

We emailed back and forth a few times over the next two or three weeks before meeting or even talking on the phone. At that time Will invited me to go with he and some of his friends to a Sun's Baseball game. It was Thirsty Thursday so that meant the the stadium would be overflowing with 20-somethings. And as an added bonus love baseball and I like meeting new people so I thought this would be fun.

We made arrangements to meet up at the local community college where Will was taking an evening class. I didn't really know what to think of this outing as we weren't introduced in a romantic capacity and the initial intention of our introduction was just for me to meet people in my new city. The events of the evening didn't suggest that this was a date so I wasn't going to treat it like one. With that in mind I approached my closet. Now, you girls can probably relate to me with this one. I was going on a non-date to a baseball game with someone that I had never met before. I wanted to make a good first impression but I didn't want to over do it for a baseball game. I decided on a favorite pink polo, my jeans and flip flops. I felt confidant but not over dressed.

I left my apartment and headed to the school. Not knowing exactly where I was going I left plenty of time to get there not realizing the the school was literally a 2 mile drive from my apartment. I was 30 minutes early and I felt like a huge nerd! I tried to figure out what to do while I waited. Should I leave and come back? Should I just sit and wait. I think I ended up reading a magazine in my car while waiting.

Will got out of class and called me as he was walking out to his car. When I saw him for the first time he was talking to me on his phone and I remember thinking that he looked like a typical bachelor. His hair needed cut, his pants needed ironed and I think one of his shoes was untied. But he was cute. He was very polite and easy to talk to. And it wasn't until I saw him that I was actually nervous. But why? This wasn't a date. He was helping me meet friends. Why was I nervous over that? I tried to talk myself out of being nervous for about an hour. I felt silly and could figure out why.

Well, we arrived at the game and after some interesting encounters at the concession stand we got to our seats. I met a few people as we got situated and then we started to just watch the game. We would talk in between plays about little things. Getting-to-know-each other types of things. It was fun and I was starting to relax a little.

After the game had ended we went to grab some food with some friends and then started planning out the rest of the evening. I had to work the next day but it was still early and I was having a great time. It was decided that we would all go and sing karaoke. Yikes! I wasn't so at ease anymore. I didn't want to sing.

Now, let me just give you a little back ground but not get too far off track. I love to sing! In fact, I've been singing in some capacity for my entire life. I have been in a choir or ensemble ever since I can remember. But I have terrible stage freight. If I have to sing a solo I want to die! I would rather crawl into a hole and never come out. I did overcome it at one point in my life while I was singing in a band for church. It was the only time in my life I can remember not wanting to wet my pants when singing by myself.

So, there we were at the karaoke bar and I was terrified that I was going to have to get up and sing. I really didn't want to. I didn't say anything in hopes that Will wouldn't try to talk me into singing. I just went along with the crowd and started watching everyone else. Next thing I know the KJ (karaoke jockey) was calling Will. He got up there and sang I Like My Women Just a Little on the Trashy Side. I was in shock. He wasn't bad. He made me laugh. It was encouraging to see him get up there. When he came back and sat down he asked me if I was going to take a turn. I don't know what in the world came over me but I agreed to sing a song. I sang one of my favorite Alison Krauss. And I have to admit, although I was terrified I still had fun.

After we finished up with karaoke we spent about an hour talking. We had both had a great time and wanted to see each other again. I never imagined when I started emailing that anything would come of it. I was pleasantly surprised and we did end up declaring the evening our first date.

Nothing to blog about...

I read through my last blog post and decided that I didn't really like what I had written but I didn't want to delete it. So having said that, I would just like to apologize for my last boring blog post. Now that we have that out of the way.... I had made plans to come up with a new post that would make up for the last one but unfortunately, I have nothing interesting to blog about. I don't have any cute pictures to post. No meal to talk about. I have nothing to give you but more apologies.

I promise I will do my best to make it up to you. This week I will come up with wonderful and fabulous things to blog about. In the mean time, does anyone (All two of my readers) have any requests? Is there anything that you want to know? Anything you want to talk about? I'm up for just about anything...

Labor Day Weekend

Last weekend Will and I headed north to visit with my family in Charlotte. I always love going home to visit. Every meal is a huge event. We try to get the most out of every day that we are there. This trip was no exception. Friday was a bit on the low-key side, though. My mom had to work and Will had made plans to play golf with his friend Matt. So, I spent a greater part of the day catching up on relaxation and spending time with my beloved Molly.

She is by far the greatest dog ever! (Just please don't tell Eeyore and Rosie I said that.) We got Molly when I was a senior in high school. She was a little puppy and would ride with me everywhere I went. She also slept in my room with me. Now, when I go home I can sometimes get her to cuddle with me still.

Now, I would like to add that although Molly is wearing a lovely t-shirt in the photo above my family is not the sort that dress their animals. No, Molly had just had a few cysts removed from here chest the week prior to our visit and had been instructed to wear t-shirts to protect her sutures. But all the same, I think she's really cute.

While we were in Charlotte we also had the chance to go and visit with my grandparents. (My mom's parents.) They live in Pinehurst, NC or actually Southern Pines to be exact. They just moved into their brand new house. Will and I got to go and see it for the first time since they moved in and I must say that it is adorable!

See. Just look at the porch.

They are very patriotic with their flag waving proudly. And look, they are friendly folk! See, they're waving at you. Wave back, y'all. (Please excuse my husband as he rubs his eye.)

And here we all are. Just sitting on the porch watching the neighborhood walk by. It reminds me of something right out of Mayberry.

But they are just my grandparents. My lovely, wonderful grandparents. Aren't they cute? They still hold hands, see. They've been married to each other for over 50 years and I think they are both really neat. I think I'm lucky to know them let alone be called their grand-daughter. Some day I'll have to tell you all about how they met.

The next few days in Charlotte didn't hold any huge events. We just did what we love to do and that is spend time with family. Oh, and eat. We ate at a couple of my favorite places. We enjoyed fried pickles at The Penguin and then had dinner with my parents at Manzetti's. On top of that, my parents both happened to be wonderful cooks and I love to join them in the kitchen as the whip up their masterpiece for the evening.

Every time I go back to NC it gets harder and harder to leave. I love it there with my family.

After coming home from Charlotte we resumed our life as normal here in Florida. We were just thankful that we didn't have a hurricane waiting for us once we got home.