Archive for July, 2006

Girls Night Out!

On Wednesday nights throughout the summer, the men and women have been doing separate studies at church. The men are going through a study called “Gleaning from the Greats,” and are studying godly biblical men. The women are going through the Beth Moore study, “A Woman’s Heart: God’s Dwelling Place.” We are watching the video and breaking into small groups to discuss and apply.

I didn’t know most of the women in my small group, and I’ve only been able to go twice so far, which made our girls night out that much more welcome. I’ve been wanting to get to know them better, but summer is such a crazy time with people’s schedules. Although I still feel that our church is small, when I get in a small group without knowing several people, I realize that we are a growing body! It really has been awesome to watch the church grow from it’s tiny inception to 500-ish people. Compared to my home church in Fort Lauderdale, it still feels really intimate.
Here are some FUN images from our girls evening. Maureen graciously took us out on their pontoon at Lake Ocoee, and I had no idea how much fun we’d have. Unfortunately, Beth and Anne couldn’t make it, so the six of us are below. From top (left to right): Me, Ashley, Maureen, Marilou. From bottom (left to right): Jennifer and Kellie. I rode with Jennifer and Ashley, and very shortly after we got there, Maureen turned the key to start the engine and it actually broke off in the ignition!!! Jennifer and Kellie both put forth valiant efforts in trying to retrieve the key, but to no avail! Maureen’s husband, Clark, had to drive 50 minutes round trip just to get the engine started with a screwdriver! Thank you, Clark! While he was there, we had him take several pictures of our girlie group. He was such a trooper and got this cute shot!

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We came across these SUPER fun floating balloon things and just had to play! We swam to the trampoline and made complete fools of ourselves. This is not like a normal tramopline! We couldn’t even stay standing up…we kept falling down because of the movement in the water. Very fun. I’d like to have one of these in my backyard. I had forgotten my suit, so I had to swim in Marilou’s shorts and my tank top :) Not too comfy once you’re totally soaked.

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Then we swam to this large slide thing. We actually had to ascend a climbing wall to get to the top…it was a workout!!! Kellie and I were the first two up, and as we were standing on the top preparing to go down the slide, the entire thing began to topple over! We both realized what was happening, shrieked, and fell the ten or so feet to the water! I can’t remember the details - I was thinking about how my bible study girls would have to tell my husband that I died by falling from a floating balloon thing in the lake and getting trapped underneath with no air to breathe. Okay, that was a SLIGHT embellishment :) Here are the fun shots of us - this is me about to launch ashley from the balloon thing. (By the way, do these things have names? If no one informs me, I claim the right to continue calling them “balloon things.” Let me know if my technical jargon becomes too lofty for you).

Before…

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And after…

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Here is the sunset that God gave us as we were on our way back to the marina. It was gorgeous and I got to enjoy it from the tube as I was pulled by the pontoon, with water splashing on me and air blowing on my face. It was simultaneously fun and peaceful. I am thankful for these girls and looking forward to getting to know them better!!!
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Birthday Girls

Happy Birthday Amber and mom!!!

Rich and I were happy to have mom spend her weekend with us before she continued on to spend the week with her longtime girlfriend Karen, in Highlands, N.C. Amber’s birthday was Saturday and mom’s was Sunday. Of course, we were sad that Amber could not be here also!

Here is a sister picture for Amber (from our recent trip to Fort Lauderdale) and then I’ll post pictures of our weekend in Chattanooga with mom!

Happy Birthday, Pixie! You’re the BEST!

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And as for mom, especially in light of her birthday, I have to brag on her a bit. There are a million great things that I can say about her…but I just want to mention how much I want to look like her when I have adult children!!! When I am with her, everyone who meets her for the first time says one of two things: 1) “You two look SO MUCH ALIKE!!!” or 2) “Are you sure you two aren’t sisters? You don’t look old enough to be her mom!”

Diane Rawlings even went so far as to say “When I went to Rich and Heather’s wedding, I was trying to figure out which one was the bride!!!” Note to my girlfriends: when I am a bit older and have had several children, I want to hear things like that!

My mom is just so fun and sweet, so wise and down-to-earth, so approachable and humble. She’s the real deal. I want to be like her when I grow up. I can honestly say with all my heart that I want to be just like my mom!!!

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These shots are from mom’s birthday last Sunday. Rich and I took her to a new restaurant downtown on the river. It’s called “The Blue Plate,” and it’s a really neat place. It’s like a retro diner…a modern twist on homestyle favorites…everything from scratch. Yum. We had a great time and even ran into a girlfriend of mine, Briana, whose mom was also in town - we should have taken a picture together! Anyway, here we are…

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And right next door is Coldstone Creamery…so mom and I split a cup…sweet cream with Oreo’s mixed in…now THAT is what I call Cookies ‘n’ Cream! It was my first time in Coldstone, but I’ve been to Marble Slab and I love the concept of making the various flavors right there…SO good. If there was one food that I wish was healthy, I think I would chose ice cream…or maybe pastries…

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This was one of the gifts I bought for mom…it’s a plaque that I had to get for her since it SO reminded me of her. It says “Now what did I come in here for?” I can hear her saying that in my head…living at home, I heard it countless times as she came into a room of our house and had to stand there and figure out why she came in the first place :)

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And this was just amazing. Mom was in Williams-Sonoma shopping for a wedding gift and found this sandcastle bundt pan. She decided that she wanted to use it for her birthday cake, so on Saturday night, we made her cake from scratch and we made bavarian creme and whipped cream from scratch. Wow. Then on Sunday (her birthday) we filled the castle with the two types of creme and added strawberries and blueberries to the top. It was beautiful! And delicious!

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Happy Birthday, mom! We love you!
Here is a passage that describes my mom…and it is what I strive for as well.
Proverbs 31: 25-31
Strength and honor are her clothing;
She shall rejoice in time to come.
She opens her mouth with wisdom,
And on her tongue is the law of kindness.
She watches over the ways of her household,
And does not eat the bread of idleness.
Her children rise up and call her blessed;
Her husband also, and he praises her:
“ Many daughters have done well,
But you excel them all.”
Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing,
But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised.
Give her of the fruit of her hands,
And let her own works praise her in the gates.

A Dominican Wedding

As most of you know, Rich and I went to the Dominican Republic last year as youth leaders with our youth group. We had an amazing time (ahem…I know that I still need to create the photo gallery from that trip) and made many new friends. Rich and I made the difficult decision not to go this year, yet hopefully we will be able to go again next year (if God opens the door for our team to go again). Sunday morning was the prayer send-off for this year’s team, and it was simultaneously a blessing and a sad realization for Rich and I that we will be missing out.

Kenny shared a bit about biblical compassion, and explained the team’s emphasis on it this year. It’s going to be a great trip and I’m so excited for the youth whose lives will be changed as a result.

Then Valerie got up and shared what God has been doing in her and Brad’s relationship and how it relates to the Dominican trip this year. She told of how they’ve been engaged for quite a while and have been waiting on God’s timing. And of how it’s been so difficult wondering why God was asking them to wait when they wanted to get married so badly. She shared how painful it was putting the brakes on the relationship until God gave the green light. Then she shared the gorgeous story of how God placed it on their hearts to be married next week on the beaches of the Dominican Republic with the youth group and village people and those who live in the dump gathered round to witness the gospel through thier marriage. I already knew much of the story, but still, chills ran down my spine as I sat and listened to how their obedience has come to fruition.

I truly believe that because Brad and Valerie trusted the Lord in the midst of everything, He is going to make an eternal impact through their wedding ceremony. Congratulations, Brad and Valerie, and we will be so sad to miss your Dominican wedding! But we know that God plans to use it mightily in the lives of the people we have grown to love!

Here are a few pictures from Valerie’s shower Monday night! We had a blast…and laughed so much that our faces were hurting. This is Naomi, me, and Steph at the shower. It was so good to see Steph and have a chance to catch up a little, though it wasn’t nearly enough time! I always enjoy talking about life with Steph…she is so wise and understanding. Naomi is a precious friend who I get to see on a regular basis. Her son is little Nathan, who I posted a blog about in June.

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Here’s a shot I took of Naomi, Laura, Jennifer, Valerie, and Laura at the shower…

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And this is just a great shot of Kelly. Her expressions and mannerisms could literally provide me with hours of entertainment. I think I will call this one “subdued.” Kelly put together an incredible video for Valerie’s shower, and is one of the most talented people I know. She’s got a quick wit, an endless repertoire of songs on hand at all times, and is the most awesome worship leader ever!

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Then on Tuesday night I had a crop. Since I became a Creative Memories consultant in March, I’ve been having scrapbooking get-togethers (”crops”) at my house on the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of every month. I love it! It is often one of the sweetest times with my girlfriends and my mother in law, and a time set aside to stay current on our album projects. Last night, it was Naomi, Jennifer, Becca, Cemele, my mother-in-law and I. We had a great time scrapbooking and talking (okay, we did more talking than scrapbooking) and we managed to gobble down some homemade chocolate chip cookies while talking about diets and healthy eating ;) what are girlfriends for???

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Vacation Pics - v.2.0

Okay, Heather has gotten to blog about our vacation and throw a bunch of pictures everyone’s way but she skipped a few of my favorite pics so I’m going to share them now.

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Here we are after our 11 hour trip to Ft. Laudy, sitting at Chili’s waiting for the family to show up. I think my wife has an amazing smile! Just the right amount of smile and eye squint. I’m usually just all out there. Wide eyed with huge smile, looking like a dork. As you can tell by our smiles, we had a pleasant trip with no bumper to bumper traffic. The way a trip is supposed to be!

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This is like Day 5 or so. We’re at the Magic Kingdom about to go through the Haunted Mansion. I was just playing in this picture on how scared I was but Heather isn’t playing. I had to comfort her the whole way through. You know… be her knight in shining armor and fight off the ghosts. Like the double chin on me? Time for a diet.

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Here we are about go into a really spectacular 3-D show called “Mickey’s Philharmagic” or something like that. It was unbelievable. You could swear the characters were floating on top of the audience. There’s the double chin thing again. I’m sure it’s the lens that I’m using. It exaggerates everything.

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I just like this photo. It’s on Cinderella’s castle. That thing is HUGE! We wanted to eat at the restaurant on the second floor but they were booked. Maybe that was a good thing. I’ve heard that the restarant employs loan officers so they they can help the patrons take a second mortgage out on their house so that they can pay for the meal. “Would you like to have dessert and a second mortgage on your house with us today?”

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The next day, we went to Animal Kingdom and went to this really cool bird show. First live eagle I’ve ever seen. Very cool. Did you know you can teach a bird to steal money from the audience? I had no idea. I kept a closer eye on my wallet after that. Cool little known fact: bald eagles are not actually bald. But don’t quote me on that since I haven’t researched it myself.
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We also took a “safari”. Only Disney could make a safari where all you are doing is riding in a jeep and still make it into a amusement ride. Also found out that lions are WORTHLESS to have at a safari. They sleep for 20 hours a day. 20 hours! Typical cat. We just saw them afar off sleeping under a tree. What’s the point of a safari if there’s no chance at all of being attacked by lions? I had my camera posed and ready. But taking pictures of sleeping lions is boring.

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Here’s my cool little bro at Downtown Disney at our 3rd day at Disney. They should have had him as an extra on the new Pirates of the Caribbean movie. At least that would have made the movie somewhat bearable. Uggg… don’t get me started.

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Check out this sweet bike made out of legos. It has working pistons, chain and wheels. Surprising, it costs almost as much as a real bike! Just wish I had a polarizer lens to take the reflection off the glass.

Well, that’s about all the pictures we have. Our vacation was awesome. The only way to have made Disney better for me was to have gone with a small kid who is still filled with wonder and excitement. Disney is the place to bring that out in a kid and it tends to rub off on everyone around him. But next time, I’m going to beat dad on that Buzz Lightyear ride. He’ll have no chance.

Congratulations, Cami and Andy!!!

Cami is one of my dearest friends in the whole world, and she recently had a precious baby boy, Max Winston. I wanted to take a few moments to say Congratulations to Cami and her husband Andy!!!

Cami and I met and roomed together in college, and became kindred spirits. She’s the kind of friend a person only comes across a couple of times in a lifetime, and I love her dearly. She was a bridesmaid in my wedding, and got married a week later herself. Everyone who meets Cami loves her, so I thought that all my girlfriends who have met her would enjoy seeing the new little one. Isn’t he amazing???

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I love and miss you, Cami! Congraulations on your precious gift from God!

Vacation - The conclusion!

Day Eight - We celebrated Amber’s birthday a little early. Everyone wish her a happy birthday on July 22nd!!! It will be her “golden birthday” since she will be 22 on the 22nd.

Here she is wearing a necklace from me…
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And modeling a bright tee from mom…

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Mom had bought me a little gift as well…a fun little wall hanging that says “If the princess ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy.” :)

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Day Nine - We relaxed, did a little shopping at the mall with mom and Shawn, and went to the Saturday evening service at Calvary since Rich and I had to leave the next morning. Before the service, we ate dinner at the Daily Grill, Calvary’s brand new GORGEOUS restaurant where the Calvary Cafe used to be.

Mom and I inside the Daily Grill…

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The service was great, the food delicious, and we got to say goodbye to Papa over the dinner…

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When we came back from church Rich and I began to pack. Mom came in with several gifts for Amber and I, and then dad mysteriously disappeared and came back with an 18-volt cordless drill for both Rich and Jonathan. They were very surprised and happy about their drills, and Rich decided he needed to open the case immediately :)

Here are the manly men…

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Day Ten - Well, our vacation has come to a very sad conclusion…we tearfully said goodbye, knowing it would be about six months until we are together again. This is BY FAR the worst part of vacation with my family. I always drive away with a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes. But, I am so thankful for the time that God gives me with them!!!

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Sayonara, Fort Lauderdale, until Christmastime!

Vacation…continued!

So much for a daily “chronicle” of the trip! Ha! I guess we ended up having too much fun and staying too busy to blog that often! So here are more pictures from our week…

Day Two - We sleep in and my little bro, Shawn, makes a yogurt parfait for Rich and I for breakfast. I think he and mom make them often. He was like a professional…layering the vanilla yogurt, fresh fruit, and granola. Not bad for a 12-year old, eh? Rich was so impressed he took a picture of the one Shawn made for him…

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Amber and Jonathan arrive and the whole fam goes to pick them up at the airport. It is GOOD to see them…

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Mom and her girls…
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Back at the house, dad recruits the guys to help him lay the new mulch around the pool in the backyard. They work hard and then jump in the pool to cool off.
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Hanging out at the dinner table. We had the Elliotts over for dinner, so there were too many of us to fit at the dining room table. So, mom added a smaller table next to the main one and Rich and I sat there with Amber and Jonathan. I gave mom a hard time about always putting us at the “kids” table and told her I didn’t think I’d graduate to the “adult table” until I have kids of my own… :) Oh, well…we have fun at the kids table.
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We all get to meet Shawn’s new pet, Freddie, a Chinese Water Dragon. Freddie is very social and we all decide he’s pretty cool. And his colors are awesome…
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Amber even put the moves on him…

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Day Three - Sunday was a wonderful relaxing day. We went to the 10:00 service at Calvary (I always love being able to choose from 4 weekend services when I am at Calvary Fort Lauderdale) :) and came home for lunch.

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Then we met Papa at Granny Bear’s grave. Amber and I hadn’t been there since the buriel last year, and Papa had since purchased a beautiful memorial stone for her grave. We took a few pictures, as Papa wanted to send some to relatives. It was beautiful, but incredibly sad because Papa is so lonely after 60 years of marraige to her.

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On a lighter note, we decided to go to dinner at Olive Garden (one of my favorites) and go see the LONG awaited Superman Movie! For those of you who do not know, my husband is an AVID Superman fan. I think his excitement is completely contagious, so I was really looking forward to it as well. It did NOT disappoint. Great movie. Great acting, great story, great special effects and action sequences. I’m mad that we didn’t take any pictures in front of the Superman poster at the Theater. Oh, well.

Day Four - Amber, Jonathan, Shawn, Rich, and I spent the morning at the beach…

A super cute sibling shot…

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Sweethearts…
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I’m rather proud of myself for this one…I love the “looking-out-at-the-ocean-unaware-that-a-picture-is-being-taken” feel that it has. Plus, I love the relationship between my brother and husband. They’re my boys.

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Then we headed back to the house, showered, and left to spend three days in Orlando. These shots are at the resort where we stayed - it was beautiful, but we didn’t spend much time there at all - we were up early and back late since we were enjoying Disney!

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Beautiful palm trees…

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Day Five - Rich’s first day at Disneyworld EVER!!!

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On the monorail…

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At the Magic Kingdom…significant because mom and dad actually met at the Magic Kingdom on a blind date!!! Thier best friends set them up and they figured Disneyworld would be a great place for my parents to be able to get to know each other. It worked :)

Dad took this one…

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Me, Amber, and Shawn at Splash Mountain. We all had an AWESOME morning at the park, getting there when it opened and before it got too busy. We went on Space Mountain twice with NO WAIT and then went on Splash Mountain and Thunder Mountain all before 10 AM. Whew!

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And for all you Johnny Depp fans (ahem, Amber) here is the new Captain Jack Sparrow “robot” in the Pirates of the Carribbean ride. It closed down for a few weeks and reopened with the new character made famous by the movies.

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And here we are with all of our pirate mickey mouse caps…wow…we are goofballs.

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Heather at the Castle…
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I have no recollection of why we were making these hideous faces…

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Since we were at the Magic Kingdom on the Fourth of July, we stayed for the famous fireworks display…none of us had ever been for that. It was pretty amazing, though very brief. The fireworks were shot around the entire perimeter of the park, so you had to turn in circles to see it all. Rich got a couple of gorgeous shots of the display…

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Day Six - we spent the day at Animal Kingdom and LOVED the new ride, Expedition Everest. Amazing, fun, fast rollercoaster. Here are some shots of the day…

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The “Tree of Life” in the center of the park with very impressive animal carvings all over, and a really fun 3D show inside it :)

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This is the new Expedition Everest ride in the background, and we all loved it. We were able to go on twice…with a much longer wait the second time…
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We ate at Rainforest Cafe and thoroughly enjoyed sitting down since our legs were so tired, and being inside in a dark, cool place since we were so hot and getting so much sun outside :) We ordered a huge mountain of chocolate brownie and ice cream for dessert and it took all 7 of us to eat it. Mmmm…

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Day Seven - Dad had to go back to Fort Lauderdale for work :( and the rest of us stayed and went to Downtown Disney on Thursday. We enjoyed the shopping, food, and of course the Ghirardelli Factory where we all got milkshakes or cones. Shawn got an amazing Cookie Dough Milkshake. :) We took some really fun pictures that I’ll include below…

We packed up and said goodbye to the beautiful place where we stayed, stopped for bagels and coffee at Dunkin Donuts, and headed for Downtown Disney…

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Arriving at Downtown Disney…

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In front of the Disney Store with a gigantic “Stich” on top. It’s really fun to watch people walk by and get spit on by Stich as he shoots water out of his mouth…

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And my philosophy for shopping is this: if you find something really cute and you decide not to buy it, take a picture of it! Amber and I fell in love with these fat little round guys with stubby arms and legs and decided that we were going to put them on our kids beds when we have kids :) Here are the cutest little Piglet, Eeyore, Pooh and Tigger that I have ever seen…

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We are Disney Princesses…I know, I know, you don’t have to say it, we look just like her ;)

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Then we spent some time at Lego World and Rich wanted a picture next to this dude (made entirely of individual lego pieces!). This place is amazing. I didn’t know there were so many legos in the entire world.

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I love the way this picture turned out. Rich, Shawn and I all bought a pair of sunglasses so we could be cool like Amber and Jonathan.  Then we decided that we needed a group sunglasses shot…I think we’re stylin’ :) Notice Mickey Mouse behind the glass also wearing his shades!
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We have a couple more pictures to conclude the trip, so we’ll post them soon! We hope you enjoyed going on our vacation with us!

Vacation - Day One!

Rich and I left at 8 AM Friday morning to drive the 12 hours to Fort Lauderdale! We decided to chronicle our trip day by day for the full blog effect of the vacation :) So, here are pictures from day one - our trip down!

Rich and I at the Florida State Line! It’s funny, with as many times as I have driven back and forth between Chattanooga and Fort Lauderdale, I have never taken the time to stop at the Florida Welcome Center (which we have done in many other states). We love to get pictures at state signs and grab free state maps. We’re nerds:) And blatant tourists…even here in my home state!

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Here I am in the passenger seat, having taken the wheel for Richard, who is sitting in the drivers seat taking a picture of me. I do not recommend doing this :)

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Getting off the Turnpike in Fort Lauderdale onto Cypress Creek Road!!!

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I had conspired with my dad and brother to surprise mom…we had originally planned to leave at noon and thus get to my parents home at midnight. But Rich and I decided to head out earlier and only tell dad and Shawn. So, they took mom our to dinner at Chili’s and we met them there as soon as we got into town at 7:00 PM (We made it in 11 hours! Yay!)

Below are the pictures of her surprise when she walked into Chili’s and saw us :) Priceless…

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And the happy hug :) We haven’t seen each other since Christmas!

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And the group self-portrait at Chili’s, beautifully taken by my sweetie!
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Now we are just waiting for Amber and Jonathan, who arrive at the Fort Lauderdale airport on Saturday afternoon! Then the family will be complete and the vacation officially begins!!!