That's a BIG Guppy!!!!

Last week the stars finally aligned and I was available, along with my friend Jenn and her husband Damian, to join The Boy in some late night Tarpon fishing. 

Tarpon fishing is a pain in the butt. It has to be the right time of the year, the moon has to be right, the tides have to be right, the weather has to be right, and you have to be available when all of that happens. I was pretty excited that it finally all worked out and I was able to come. (The Boy has been MANY times without me) Jenn and Damian have been asking to go for a while too, but as this is usually a last minute deal, it's rare that they can drop what they are doing to join us. 

Jenn and I just waiting on the big one while I drove the boat

It was very late, and we were very tired, but the fish were biting everywhere and we were determined to hook up with a big one. And a big one we did hook.... well, Damian did.

 These fish put up the BIGGEST fight. You actually have to chase them with the boat to gain on them at all. As soon as Damian would think he was gaining on it, it would get a burst of energy and run off. He was exhausted, and had to ask Jenn for a drink, lol....

 Here is The Boy making it an "official catch" with a "leader touch". In competitions, if you can get the fish close enough to the boat to touch the leader on the line it's considered a catch.

 As The Boy would say - "That's a big guppy!"

A much deserved beer for a job well done! There was some serious teamwork that went into catching that fish! (yes, I cut Ed's head off...it was dark, gimme a break)

So sorry about my absence...

But not really...

You see, I've been very busy this month.

I spent 3 days in the Keys doing some of this....

Came home to un-pack, re-pack, sleep in my own bed for 1 night, and then took off to North Carolina to spend a few days with this sweet face.

Totally valid excuse for being absent, right???

So if you were upset about my absence, I'm still only a little bit sorry. Will you forgive me? I'll try and fill you in with some more adorableness soon to redeem myself.

While you were freezing...

While most of you were probably freezing your behind's off this past weekend... the high was about 75 degrees around these parts, and we spent a gorgeous afternoon out on the water! The day started out pretty chilly and boring...

but things picked up a bit in the afternoon and we brought in a 150-200 pound MARLIN!

Most amazing fish I have even witnessed being caught...

We put our underwater camera to use and got this spectacular (and HILARIOUS!) shot of our friend PJ who was REALLY excited about reeling this monster in!!!!

There was even an article published in the local paper about it all!!!!! Apparently it's very rare to catch one of these babies... especially where we were, with the bait we were using, and more importantly, by not even trying!?!?!? We were definitely not set up for such a big catch, but it was SO AWESOME!!!!

Stay warm ya'll!!!!!

My Grinch, in disguise...

So, aside from my new background, and un-centered header (grrr)... Did you notice that I added a new pic of the boy with his big catch I told you about? You know, the one that he got during our Thanksgiving Weekend in the Keys? Over there on the side... teeny tiny... under that header that says "My Handsome Boyfriend." No? Well here it is in biggie-size.

How awesome is that?!?!?!?! He was such a good sport for my Godparents, allowing them to have a photo-op with the santa hat :-) You'd never know he's really the Grinch in disguise!

Making the best of things...

This weekend could have been bad. In fact, it could have been horrible. It didn't start off too great, but it sure did turn out pretty darn good!

I had my very first test for this semester on Friday, and when I left I sure didn't feel good about it at all! I was exhausted, and bummed, and just in a really foul mood about the whole thing. I kept myself busy until I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer and I went to bed.

The next morning, the Boy came home from work and woke me up so we could head down to the Keys for the day. If you've been following my blog for any length of time, you should not find it unusual that we would just up and run down there for the day... And if you do, you haven't been paying very much attention!

Anyway, I was still not quite awake and ready to take on the day, but I just hoped it would get better... and it did. Halfway down I was able to get on the Boy's spiffy new Evo and check my grade - I passed! Finally, my day could go on! We had a fantastic day on the water with my Godparents. We caught 15 Blackfin tuna, and quite a few junk fish that we threw back.

Unfortunately it takes FOREVER to clean so many fish and we got a late start heading back home. I drove, and let the Boy sleep... It was pretty brutal, but had to be done. He was back on shift again today! He's been working tons of hours lately between overtime, his second job, and working shifts for friends so that they will work for him down the road. Between my school/study schedule, and his work schedule, I feel like I haven't hardly seen him in weeks! Sure was nice to spend a whole day with him out on the water....

Being that I passed my test and all... I felt that I could afford to spend most of the day today slacking off on my studying and spending some much needed time with friends, so I headed off to Ft.Lauderdale Beach.

We soaked up some sun, downed some yummy frozen drinks, and had lunch at Hooters.

I got home just in time for the afternoon rain to start comin' down hard... and I'm back to the books for the rest of the week!

September 11th is a sad day, and I sure am glad that I was able to make the best of it. I do know one thing though... I'll never forget...

My prayers are always with the heroes of our country, as well as their family and friends. I pray for my Boy, that he will always be safe when he leaves me for his 24 hour shifts to serve our community. I pray for my best friend Melissa, that she will stay safe while serving our Country and come home soon and safe. And I'll always remember my friend Chris...

And.... we're back!

We are back from our third, and final, trip to the Keys this summer. This time we stayed with Ed's sister and brother in law at a friend's condo. We fished... we lobstered... we snorkeled... fished some more, and had a fantastic time!

The first day of fishing was productive... At first, all we caught were these teeny tiny tuna...

But we progressed to some big ones after that and came in with 3 nice Black Fin for dinner. YUM!

The next day we went lobstering.

Then snorkeling at a reef.

These fish just come RIGHT up to you! It's the coolest thing!!!!

We fished for a bit after that but didn't catch anything dinner worthy. Just some big low quality tuna that we kept for bait.

On our last day we parted with the siblings and my Godparents joined us for the day. We went almost 30 miles offshore and had a fantastic day of fishing!

The weather was pretty gorgeous for most of the day. The water was smooth as glass, and we brought home a Wahoo, and 7 Black Fin!!! Unfortunately, a big huge storm blew in while we were out there so we got wet on the ride in and didn't take any pictures.

We loaded up the boat in the rain, drove home in the rain, lost the tread off our trailer tire in Miami and had to change it on the side of the road, got home at like midnight, and cleaned fish and unloaded until about 2 am. Thank goodness I got to sleep in the next day! The boy on the other hand had to get up early and go on shift at the fire department. I'm pretty sure he's still trying to recover....

Sadly, I'm back to school on Monday... and my summer adventures are over. But we are looking into going back down within the next few months and staying at Hawks Cay because they are discounting their rooms for "local heroes". I can't wait!!!!!

Wondering where I have been?

I know... I've been slackin' on bloggin'... I promise I have good excuses though!

Wow... my last blog was on July 20th!!!! Whoops.... Anyway. Things have been mucho crazy around here. School is wrapping up for the semester, and I have been trying really hard to stay on top of things and keep my grades up. Which I am in succeeding in... I got another A last week ;-). No complaints here!!!!!! The other reason I have been trying to keep on top of my school work was so that I could afford to play hooky for 2 1/2 days. Yup, that's right, I played hooky.

Last Saturday I went to a bridal shower for my friend Danielle, then rushed home to change and pack and drove to the keys for some of this...

I skipped clinicals on Monday for some more of this....

(I got the biggest catch of the day of course)

And then drove home Monday night to be back in class on Tuesday. (Leaving the boyfriend behind with my godparents for some more of that...) Then I went to class and studied uber hard for 2 days, took a test on Thursday (my A) and signed myself out right after to drive back down for some of this.... Thank goodness it's only a 2 hr drive!!!

We go EVERY year, I couldn't resist!

I came back home on Saturday after some more of that fishing stuff, to rush off (in every sense of the word) to a Bachelorette party for my friend Jess! Partied hard, went to bed at 5 am, spent Sunday cleaning, laundrying, cooking, spending time with the boyfriend and the puppy dog! The puppy dog who I missed so dearly that we had picked up from a full fun filled week at Grammy Angie Camp! I planned on doing some Mutt Monday yesterday about that, but got tied up with that studying junk again :( No worries, there is always next week!

Grammy Angie took LOTS of pictures!

So anyway, that's why I have been MIA lately. I apologize.

On a sadder note... I know some of you have been following me for a while and following Ed's Grandma's story. So, I wanted to share with you that we got the sad news today of her passing. Please say a prayer for the family as they truly need your thoughts and comfort at this time. She will be missed greatly.

This is Grandma meeting Zoey for the first time last year on Christmas.