Taking a break!

With as much work as we've been doing around the house on the weekends, we haven't had much time for fun stuff. On Sunday we took a break and headed on down to the Keys for the day to fish with my Godparents. The weather was beautiful, but the seas were quite bumpy. Much  more bumpy than the weather forecast called for. I get motion sickness and I held in there pretty good for most of the day, but it finally hit me and I decided I wasn't feeling too hot. I took my usual spot flat on the deck of the boat (trust me, you feel much less rocking) and missed out on most of the fish catching. Sad :-(  Fortunately, no chunks were blown and I felt fine as soon as we hit calmer water. We got to watch a beautiful sunset while the boys were cleaning fish....(no amazing catches to take pics of, just a few small Dolphin)

We stopped for a nice dinner, and then made our way home. It's so nice being 2 hours from paradise. It made for a very long day, and a sleepy Monday, but a break is a break, and it was nice to get away. Sickness and all. There is no such thing as a bad day in the Keys!

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.

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!!!!!

Did ya miss me?

Did you even notice I was gone?!?!?!

Maybe not... but in my absence, I've been a busy little girl!

I started my first semester of RN school.

I took a crazy busy trip to the Keys for Mini Lobster Season in the middle of my semester.

And I PASSED my first semester of RN school. YAY me!

I'm sure you're much more interested in seeing pics from the Keys though, right?!?!?!

Yeah, I thought so...

We travel in style - can't have just one boat!

Nope... we brought two!

One for offshore, and one for the flats - DUH!

Spent some time at the private beach watching the sunset where the Margaritaville Frozen Concoction Maker made an appearance and Mango Margaritas were had by all!

The catch! Day 2 of Mini Season

(I actually traveled back home mid-week for school, hence why it was "crazy busy", and missed the first part of Day 1, so I have no pictures. Sadness!)

Saw a gorgeous sunset while coming in from fishing 30 miles offshore!

(we came in with empty fish boxes, but at least we saw a cool sunset!)

Sooooo pretty!!!

And then we came down the canal to the house right as it was disappearing....

It was a gorgeous end to a wonderful trip!

Good news is, I'm out of school for 2 weeks, and I'm going back again this weekend! Ha!

VACATION!

All I ever wanted... Vacation.... Had to get away!!!!!

That was our theme song this past weekend as we took off to the Florida Keys with 2 other couples for a short getaway :) The perks of living 2 hours from Islamorada is that we don't have to plan these trips forever in advance and can be there in a heartbeat. Love it!

We stayed at a GORGEOUS townhouse...

The boy wasted NO time and got right to makin' some Bahama Mama's with his new Frozen Concoction Maker!

Very soon after our arrival, we packed up the blender and took off to the beach in our new boat!

We spent some time floating around with our Frozen Concoctions!

The girls had way too much fun playing with a noodle...

We watched for manatees in the canals.

We swam with the fishes and even saw a stingray and a turtle!

We caught some fishes... (but I spent more time un-hooking Jenn's fishes than catching my own!)

We dressed up pretty to watch the sunset and have dinner... and we visited the Tiki Bar after!

And then on our last day we did a bit more fishing, Kimmy caught some reef, and we said goodbye and headed back home.

With as much time as I spend in the Keys, I have NEVER stayed in a hotel down there. (I'm lucky enough to have grandparents with a vacation house down there that we usually stay at, or we rent a house with my godparents during lobster season) I have to say, I was pleased with the experience, and I would definitely recommend the Lime Tree Bay Resort to you if you are ever looking for a place to stay. It's a little bit south of Islamorada, but close enough to not be inconvenient. We stayed in the Zane Grey Townhouses (which was VERY nice), but they have lots of different kinds of rooms of various sizes and they offer great amenities such as free Wi-fi, Kayak use, Pools, boat dockage, etc. The rooms were very clean, and fairly priced. The only problem was that parking was a little bit tight for us at the townhouse because we had a truck, car, and SUV... but it wasn't anything we couldn't work out. Overall, it was a nice experience, and good times were had with great friends.

(and the bahama mama's were nice too!!!)

Just... Chillin'!

That's what I'll be doin' in just a few short weeks! I just booked a three bedroom townhouse at a resort in the Keys for me, the boy, and 2 other couples and I'm super excited! It's gonna be my last shabang before headin' back to the books for the next year in RN school. We're taking the boat, and just CHILLIN' for three whole days!

I'm pretty sure you'll be able to find me on one of these at some point, but I can't promise that I'll get up if you need me!

Farewell Sweet November...

I can't believe November has come and gone so fast! I must have been really busy, I only blogged twice in the WHOLE month!!!!!

We started the month off with a bang celebrating my "not-so-little" brother's 14th Birthday.The boy and I took him to his very first concert without parents! We were rockin' out to Chicken Fried and Toes while laying on a blanket under the stars at a Zac Brown Band Concert!!!!

The rest of my days were filled with some of my favorite things, and I'm sad that I didn't take the time to share them with you throughout the month. Things such as Pumpkin Spice candles, fall leaf decorations (since we don't get real fall leaves in S. Florida), Turkey-lurkey dinner, Wii time with the family, and PIE!!!! Mommy makes some AWESOME pie. And I think I've eaten about 2 loaves of Pumpkin bread this month for breakfast too...

(btw. this is an actual picture of the pies my mom made for Thanksgiving)

Right after Thanksgiving dinner we loaded up the truck and headed to the Keys for the weekend where we froze our booty's off fishing offshore when it was 50 degrees out!!! It's hardly ever cold down here, but it was just our luck! :(We were troopers though. We bundled up and stuck it out!

We still had a good time, and brought home a big ol' Kingfish that we smoked and I'm about ready to whip it up into some Smoked Fish Dip. Yum yum!

So.... even though it flew by in the blink of an eye, November was filled with good things, and I'm thankful for each and every one of them. Especially all the wonderful days spent with family.

If you'll excuse me now, I need to go make my dip and bust out some Christmas decorations!!! See ya later Pumpkin Spice! It's time for some Christmas cheer!

It's the thought that counts...

A few years ago, some of my wonderful family came down here from Kentucky and went with us crazy people from Florida to a Kenny Chesney concert. We had THE BEST time! We all piled into a limo and cruised on up to West Palm Beach where we saw Gary Allen, Sugarland, and of course, Kenny! (Just for the record, I LOVE me some Kenny!). I was pretty excited when I heard that Sugarland was going to be down here in S. Florida this week and I REALLY wanted to go. They were so amazing when we saw them in West Palm. Jennifer Nettles is jam packed with energy and they put on an awesome show!!! However, being a non-working, full time student, un-wife housewife with a serious case of "Fundsalow", I didn't push the issue with the boyfriend. (or splurge and buy tickets for myself as much as I was tempted) So last night was the concert, and all day long they have had on radio how AWESOME it was. I'm a little jealous. Okay, so a lot jealous. But I am reminded of a silly conversation I had last night with the boyfriend that makes me smile. Last night, I was sitting on the couch and happened to mention to Ed that I was bummed that we weren't going to Sugarland. You know what he said? "That was tonight, huh? Actually, it's a funny thing honey... I was going to buy us tickets to go and surprise you when I found out they were coming.... and I even had it all looked up online, but the service charge at Ticketmaster was outrageous. I figured I would just stop by FYE one day and pick them up and save the charge. But then I forgot. Sorry. I was gonna!!!!" Now of course I had to laugh at this, and still feel totally touched at the same time. It was such a sweet thought! He really NEVER thinks to do things like that. It's a shame he forgot to follow through with it. So, instead of an A for effort, he gets an A-. He still gets an A though! It's the thought that counts!!! Too cute!!!!! I can't be too upset though. I happen to know that a trip to the Keys to a REALLY NICE resort (instead of my grandparents house) is in the works. It'll be nice to go out to eat and have housekeeping instead of doing the cooking and cleaning at the house. Keep your fingers crossed that it works out. I'll keep you posted ;-)

Farewell crazy mangoes...

My 10 day break just FLEW by! I knew it would, but it's still annoying! I'm not all that disappointed though. I got to do almost everything I wanted. I didn't have as many lazy/boring days to get little non-important things done as I thought I would, but that's okay too.

I let my nails grow out, and painted them a nice BRIGHT color.

Mangoes Loco to be exact!

I spent a day with my bestest friend from high school, and spent that evening with another special friend from high school. We went to see Time Travelers Wife, ate some pizza, and stood around in the parking lot reminiscing about the good ol' days for a few hours!

And then... thankfully... the storms that were heading towards Florida decided to stay far far away, and we took a last minute trip to the keys! So I packed up my shorts, tank tops, flip flops, and bikini's... and the boyfriend took me and my Crazy Mangoes down to paradise for 4 days :)

I love the keys, and our lazy days on the boat out in the sun!

I made it back in time for Jess's bridal shower on Sunday, and on Monday it was time to say goodbye to my Crazy Mangoes, and get back to the books! School started off in full force and we had our first test today. (In case you care, I got an 87) Tomorrow I have my first day of clinicals, so I was able to slack a bit and relax tonight since I don't have anything to prepare for.... Hopefully I have some time to get a little bit ahead of the game this weekend so I can spend some more time relaxing next week, but I doubt it. We have LOTS going on this weekend, and I have 2 tests next week, back to back! I'll try my hardest though, stick with me!

OH! And I almost forgot!!!! Happy 100th Post to ME!

Wordless Wednesday....