Summer

Today was my first official day of summer.  I have been out of school since the beginning of June but I have had to work several days here and there as part of my new position.  I have the next month off before I have to report back to school.  I am very excited about that!  

I spent the day cleaning, which I haven't done in a long time, and went to the gym.  It was a pretty crappy day outside so I couldn't get any sun.  Maybe tomorrow.  We did head out last night to IBG for a beer tasting and ran into my brother.  It was packed there last night!  I have found out recently that I get quite drunk after drinking 2 beers when they are over 8% alcohol.  The last few times we have gone there I have come home feeling pretty good.  

I don't have much planned for this next month but I am sure I will stay busy.  

Our Trip to the Dominican Republic

We had a great time in the Dominican Republic.  We went there not really knowing what to expect or what we would do.  In the end, we did a lot of relaxing on the beach and by the pool.  

Wednesday, 6/17

We left Tampa and headed to the Dominican Republic at 11 in the morning.  We flew American Airlines again this year, after all of the problems we had with them last year.  I was a little worried but how many more problems could we have this year.  When we got on board our flight in Miami, we had to wait an hour because several people decided that they didn't want to go to the Dominican Republic anymore and their luggage had to be taken off.  Why anyone would decide to not go to the Dominican Republic is beyond me but still, we had to wait on a hot plane. Not so fun!  Once we got in the air, I was excited because I knew we would be there soon.

Upon arrival, we took the Expedia van (which I booked with our trip) and drove through the city of Puerto Plata.  There was not as much poverty as in Jamaica but there was still a lot of it.  People just lay on the side of the road or on the side of a wall.  They drive mopeds everywhere and they drive like crazy.  They pass on the right, on the left, and they always use their horn.  This is the common driving technique for all of the Caribbean I think.  There are few stoplights (I think there were 2 in the 45 minutes it took us to get to our resort) but once you get passed the city, it's beautiful.  The country looks like Hawaii, but with less money.  It truly is something you have to see if you have never seen it before.  

When we arrived at the RIU Bachata we checked in and were off to our room.  We got there before dinner was served so we decided to go exploring.  Our resort was next to 2 other RIU resorts so we went and explored those resorts too.  We had the best amenities though (that's why I booked it).  We made our way to dinner at the buffet and were starving.  We ate different kinds of things and were stuffed.  We then decided to go and explore the beach at night.  How gorgeous!  It was a great start to our trip.

Thursday, 6/18

Today we spent most of the day on the beach.  The beach is great because they have planted trees in the sand.  So if you want to get some shade, you move your sun lounger into the shade of the tree.  Renato put suntan lotion on me, all over, but somehow I still managed to burn, badly!  We did make it into the water, which was a little rocky and we could have used our water shoes for, and we walked most of the beach.  It was nice, blue water where you could see everything.  

Me reading "Mommywood" by Tori Spelling

The view from our loungers

After I needed to get out of the sun, we went and had lunch (which they do a lot of things with bananas) and had some drinks by the pool bar.  Everyday they have a different drink on special and those were always good.  Renato managed to get a little drunk off of the drink we had.  It was some purple concoction and it was good!  We went back to our room and took a nap (we did this almost everyday) and got ready for dinner.

The purple concoction drink

We made reservations for dinner this time because we were over the buffet.  We had a nice Italian dinner.  Shortly before we were finished, it started to rain.  I figured it would rain so we brought the umbrella that they provide for you (they tell you that you will need it and they were right!) and had some fun taking pictures in the rain.  What else were we suppose to do?  

Us after our dinner playing in the rain

We finished the night off by watching the Michael Jackson show (which was similar to the one in Jamaica) and went off to bed.  Another great day!

Friday, 6/19

Each morning we started off by having breakfast at the breakfast buffet.  We both LOVE breakfast buffets!  This one had fresh, hot pancakes and these french toast things that were soooo good!  I had several of those everyday.  I think I had 7 at one point on 1 day.  They were that good.  

We had our traditional couples massage in the morning and decided to get facials as well.  Renato has never had one and wanted to try it.  It was very relaxing.  After the massage, I found out that Renato was asked by his lady (she was old) to flip over and she didn't cover him up.  So he was fully exposed for her to enjoy!  How funny.  My lady covered me up just fine.  Renato also had to get naked in front of his old lady.  Mine left the room for me.  I got a good laugh out of this once he told me about it.  I bet she enjoyed seeing my husband naked!

We headed to the pool after and got a seat under a covered area.  They have tree-like covers all around the pool for shade.  It's nice!  We were hot very quickly though so we went into the pool and enjoyed drinks from the swim-up bar.  Renato got us drinks of the day, which were the Miami Vice drinks and those are really good.  We had them in Jamaica and I forgot how good they are.  

In the covered shade

After that we walked along the back path of our hotel and found a private beach.  We were the only hotel guests on it!  We walked over to the shops where the locals try to bargain with you and they bargained with us.  Renato is a great bargainer.  I just keep my mouth shut!  He made friends with them, as usual, and even brought them some drinks.  My husband!  They thought he was part of the mafia, which I got a good laugh out of that.  After we bought some things, we headed out to the lookout that was on top of the cliff of our hotel to look out over the Dominican Republic and the Atlantic Ocean.  We enjoyed the view, as you could see everything.  There were mountains all around and there was a deep drop into the water which was very rocky.  Renato had to go down as far as he could so he could be dangerous.  I don't know about boys and danger but Renato likes it!  

At the private beach

Renato and the "Liquidators"

My husband, the daredevil!

We had some time to kill so we enjoyed the local beer and the cigars Renato bought from the locals.  Both were good!  We headed to dinner at the nice restaurant and tonight was steak.  It was very enjoyable.  It's always nice to get dressed up for dinner and enjoy a good meal.

Enjoying a cigar and a cold beer on our patio

We decided to go back to the hotel and take a nap before we went out to the Disco.  About 10:00, we got a phone call.  It was Roxy calling to say she had her baby.  I about flipped!  I couldn't believe she had tracked us down in DR and called to say she had the baby.  It made my night!  After that, I couldn't go back to sleep.  I was too wired up!  However, my husband kept sleeping and we never made it to the Disco.  I managed to get to sleep finally at 1:00.

Saturday, 6/20

We decided to spend the day at the beach and then at the pool.  We wanted to enjoy both aspects today.  We also wanted to go on the free paddle boats they have but we had to wait until 4:00 and we didn't want to wait.  So we just enjoyed the beach.  When we were hungry, we went to the pool, had lunch, and laid out.  There is one thing I have to say about people who come to these resorts.  They LOVE speedos and too-small bikinis.  There were a lot of big people and small suits.  I mean come on, put on a better bathing suit.  2-pieces are not designed for everyone!  Just because you can get in to it, does not mean it looks good.  We did get a good laugh out of all of the people in their suits!

One of the many unflattering people by the pool

Throughout the pool, which there are 2, there are different games you can play.  Renato and I decided to try volleyball today and we had a blast.  I won, even after he made us play the best of 5 because he was losing!  

We had our final romantic dinner at the Italian restaurant again.  It was nice!  We took pictures along the beach after.  Renato loves to take pictures of me.  I think he could do take pictures as a hobby and make good money.  We went to watch the final show and it was a Caribbean theme dancer show.  At one point a Mariah Carey song played and we both looked at each other and thought "I didn't know this was a Caribbean song."  We finished up the night by shopping at the street within the hotel that has lots of different little shops.  It was a nice evening.

Our final romantic dinner

One of the many pictures Renato took of me

Sunday, 6/21

We enjoyed our final morning with breakfast and packing.  We didn't have to check out until noon and once we did, our Expedia van was ready to take us back to the airport.  I do have to say that the Puerto Plata airport is one of the smallest and hottest we have been to.  Hawaii's was a little bit smaller and hotter but this one was not much better.  They did have duty free shopping so we stocked up on liquor and got on our plane.  The plane ride was smooth but once we arrived in Miami, I opened my suitcase and someone had gone through it.  My lotions were opened and all over my shoes and clothes.  They also went through my jewelry and it was opened and all over my suitcase.  I did lose at least 1 pair of earrings, or maybe they were stolen.  Not a good way to end the trip!

I got over it though so that I wouldn't make the end of our trip bad and we went and had dinner.  We walked around that airport for over an hour trying to find a good place to eat and we finally settled on the food court right outside our terminal.  Go figure!  

This trip was a great trip.  We needed rest and relaxation badly!  It was hard to come home but in the end, we were ready.  We had a wonderful time and can't wait to go away someplace else soon!

Posting

I just realized that it's been forever since I last posted!  Let's see...Summer officially began for me yesterday.  I have a few more days I have to work over the summer for my math position but for the post part, I am done with work!  We leave for the Dominican Republic on Wednesday and I am super excited.  :)

I did chop my hair short yesterday, probably the shortest ever.  It's shorter in the back and longer in front.  It was a total relaxing day yesterday with shopping with Jess and cutting my hair.  It was great!  I need more days like that, however, I don't have enough money to fund those habits.

I have come to a conclusion that I would blog more if my friends blogged more too.  So this is a plea to them to start blogging because really cool people blog and they should get on top of it and blog!!  

That's it for tonight.  Off to relax with Renato after a long day at the beach with Berni and some other peeps.  :)

Great Anniversary Weekend!

Renato and I had a great Anniversary weekend.  It was much needed!  It started Friday night with dinner at BD Mongolian Grill and then we saw the Terminator.  I liked it but I have decided that I really like all movies.  Renato has been dying to see this movie since he was like 5.  He loves Terminator movies!  It must be a guy thing.  

Saturday we spent the day doing house stuff.  I finished anniversary shopping for Renato.  2 years is cotton and china so I settled for sunglasses (not really both but he needed them) and a cotton shirt.  We went to Mimi's for dinner that night and enjoyed a great meal!

Sunday we spent at my parent's for the annual Memorial Day picnic.  The Vandy's joined us this year and we spent the day enjoying everyone's company.  That night we went out to celebrate Todd's birthday in St. Pete.  It was a late night!  We ended up getting kicked out of the club we were in because of Anson.  He got really drunk and fell asleep on the bar.  Needless to say, the bouncer didn't like that and threw him out, which meant we had to leave too.  Oh well!  It was getting late anyways and this was just a reason to leave.

Monday was our actual 2-year anniversary.  We started a tradition last year to go to Cracker Barrel every year for our anniversary breakfast.  That way we eat a lot and are not hungry until dinner.  After breakfast, we got home and literally laid in bed all day.  We watched several movies and I slept some.  My parents stopped by too and we didn't even hear them because the movie sound was so loud!  We also exchanged gifts, which I have to say I have the best husband. He got me a beautiful long summer dress and a new shirt, both having cotton in them.  He also picked out a bracelet to go with the shirt.  After that, we headed to Ceviche in South Tampa for some tapas. His boss decided to pick up our bill as an anniversary gift so we took full advantage.  We walked out of there spending $100 and enjoying a LARGE pitcher of Sangria.  I was feeling great when we left!  

I love nice long weekends and I love being able to spend time with Renato.  I am hopeful that next year's anniversary weekend will be just as wonderful!

2 Year Anniversary

I can't believe that 2 years has flown by.  It seems like yesterday I was waking up and getting ready for our wedding day.  It was such a great day and it has been a great 2 years!  I love Renato more now than before and I can't wait to keep spending more happy days with him by my side.  I am excited for what this next year brings and can't wait to share more exciting memories with him.  

DR

We are headed to the Dominican Republic this summer and I am so excited!  We leave June 17th and are staying for a few nights.  This marks our 3rd consecutive summer of tropical vacas.  We did Jamaica last summer and Hawaii the summer before.  Getting it all in before babies!

Mother's Day Weekend

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful Moms out there!  Hope everyone has had a great weekend.  My weekend has been enjoyable.

Last night we went out to celebrate Jen's 30th birthday (or should I say 29 as the DJ announced it).  We went to SoHo and ate at a great restaurant.  Leah and Blair drove down with us. We did get the drinking started a little early, so by the time we reached the restaurant, I was a little buzzed!  After we ate, we headed over to a nearby Bowling Alley.  We bowled and drank some more. Leah and I put bumpers on our lanes and Renato and Blair had no idea how our scores were so high.  Each time one of us was up to bowl, we would turn the boys attention to something else so they wouldn't see the bumpers. They finally figured it out during our second game.  It was fun fouling them!  When we left the bowling alley, we were craving some McDonald's.  We stopped (and I can't believe I was eating McDonald's at 1:00 in the morning) and enjoyed some tasty treats!  It was a great night.

Today I went with my mom, grandma, Cindy and her daughter, and Jen and her mom to a local tea room.  We do this every year for Mother's Day.  It's so nice to get out and enjoy tea and small sandwiches and treats.  I look forward to this every year and I know everyone else does as well.  

Teacher Appreciation

This week was Teacher Appreciation Week across the country.  Hopefully if you have kids, you sent something in to say how much you appreciate their teachers!  (Trust me...it is something you should do, especially for younger kids teachers!)  Since I am out of the classroom, I really didn't expect to get anything at all.  However, at 3:00 today, I received a phone call from an old student asking to stop by and see me.  She arrived, along with another ex-student, to say thank you and they gave me a dozen PINK roses!  These were 2 students who I taught my first 2 years of teaching, and who are now in high school.  They came out of their way to say Thanks for being their favorite teacher!  It meant so much to me that they did this.  Too often, students and parents do not say thank you.  In fact, teachers aren't sure that they impact the life of a child the way they do until they have moments like this.  It reminds me of why I became a teacher and why I truly love what I do.  It's about the kids and leaving that impact on them.  I am truly blessed to have students who remember me and come back to visit many years later.  

A Wedding and a Graduation

One thing I have come to realize over the years, is that when I have one big event planned for the weekend I usually always have something else going on!  Case in point, we had a Wedding Saturday night and had to be up at 5 for a Graduation in Gainseville.  It's the story of my life: 1 Big Event=2 Big Events on the same weekend!  It keeps us busy and I LOVE it!

Saturday night we had Jason and Kelsey's Wedding.  They have been engaged for awhile and he has decided to go off and join the service so they finally decided to get married.  They were married at The Fenway Hotel in Dunedin. It was a nice service outside (a little toasty, but it is Florida) followed by some great food.  It was all finger food and pasta but they had a great selection.  We only stayed until 10 because we had to get up early for the Graduation.  

We both set our alarms for 5:10 this morning.  We had to get up so early because we had to be in Gainseville by 10:00 and Renato was getting the smoker ready for dinner when we got home. We didn't actually get up at 5:10 though.  I set my alarm for 5:10 p.m. and Renato set his for 5:10 weekdays only.  At 6:40, Renato woke up and was freaking out!  We did manage to get dressed, put food on the smoker, and get out the door by 7:15.  

The drive to Gainseville was great!  We made it there in 1 hour and 45 minutes.  We arrived just in time to see Bernadette (Renato's sister) walk in with the hundreds of other graduates. The entire ceremony lasted about an hour and a half.  After, we went to her restaurant (well she just quite since she is moving back here) and had a great Asian lunch.  After we left and got back home to check to make sure the smoker didn't burn down our house!

We then had Renato's boss and Renato's family over for dinner.  His boss took the puppy home, after she crapped on the floor 3 times while he was here, and I am hoping she won't be visiting again until she is potty-trained.  :)  

Puppy Sitting

As many of you know, we have a dog, Kenoke, who is 2 1/2.  He is really great and gets along with other dogs.  My husband's boss asked us to pet sit a brand new puppy girl this weekend.  Of course I said yes because it's his boss.  However, I didn't realize what this would entail on my nice, long 3-day weekend.  So far she has peed on my lanai door mat, tried to bite my fingers off, and won't stop barking at Kenoke.  Kenoke, on the other hand, won't stop humping her (thank God he's fixed!).  She is cute (not sure what she is) but I can't imagine this for the entire weekend. 

Mood Swings

I am just making this a short and sweet post but I have to admit that I am having HUGE mood swings lately.  I feel really bad because I only take them out on Renato.  Last night he got so mad he decided to throw pepperonis at me!  It was all over Stromboli too.  I think that I need to try to get pregnant sooner than later because these are horrible!!  

Last Night

Last night we headed out to Tilted Kilt with Jess and Mike.  If you have never been there, and you want to make your husband happy, please take him there.  This pub/brewery is intended for the man who LOVES to look at breasts!  Hooters has nothing compared to this.  The girls flaunt around with bras on and their chest hanging out.  They wear these short mini-kilts.  I could care less but my husband surely loved the view!

The food was great!  I had Shepard's Pie, which is a Scottish/Irish dish.  It was quite tasty.  And I enjoyed some Kelly's Cider beer.  I would recommend the restaurant to all, and not just because of the scantly clad women, but because of the excellent food!

After our restaurant experience, we headed back to the MacAvey's house for some game time.  Jessica beat us all at Yahtzee (which she says she has never played before??) and we enjoyed some more drinks.  Renato was a little drunk by the end of the night and passed out on their couch.  I had to get him up and he slept the entire way home.

I did manage to get home and get some chapters in on Eclipse.  That book is getting good!!!

Great Weekend

Recap of the weekend:

Friday night: Dinner at Krista and Pat's.  Krista invited us over for dinner in exchange for helping her with her new Blackberry.  Of course I would help and dinner was an added bonus! We had yummy pizza, wings, and salad and some late night ice cream snacks (thanks to Renato for going out and buying those!).  Krista and I also enjoyed some Verdi and a chocolate cigar (Krista's first!). Renato bought me some really tiny ones and those were much better than the one I had last weekend. And by the way...email Krista so she gets her blog up and running!

Saturday: For Christmas, Leah and I got Blair and Renato tickets to the Outback Pro Am Golf Tournament.  The tickets included free admission to the tournament all weekend and all you can drink and eat on one of the days.  Since Renato would be drinking all day, I drove him to the tournament so he wouldn't have to drive home later drunk.  After I dropped him off, I met up with Leah on the Suncoast trail and we walked for  1 1/2 hours and over 4 miles!  The time flew by.  Hayden joined us as well and he loved to watch the bikers pass us by.  After our lovely walk, we headed over to Sweet Tomatoes for a filling lunch.  Later that evening, Renato called and wanted me to pick him and the other guys up from the tournament, as they were all drunk! Of course, being the wonderful wife that I am, I went and got them all.  Blair and Renato went on and on about how this was the best Christmas gift ever and they wanted it next year too.  So if you have a husband that loves golf, I would highly recommend getting this as a gift!

Sunday: Not much occurred today.  I went to the gym and got home and read the rest of the second Twilight book, New Moon.  It was excellent!  It made me cry in the beginning but in the end, I was very happy.  (That gives you all a hint when you read the second book!)  I texted my old student, who brings me the Twilight books, and she is bringing the next one tomorrow. Can't wait to start that one soon.  We did manage to make it over to my parents for dinner tonight.  We were going to go to the golf tournament today (Renato was going to take me with him) but he went to work and didn't get home until 4:30 and by that time it was over.  So we called up my parents and they invited us over for homemade Macaroni and Cheese.  Our fave!

All in all it was a great weekend.  Next weekend looks just to be as busy as this weekend was.  :)

Twilight

I started the Twilight series last weekend and finished the first book rather quickly.  I started the second book last night and was in tears by the third chapter!  I just had to blog about this series because this is the best set of books I have ever read!  Never in my life have I cried over a book and never have I wanted to keep reading.  I can't put the books down.  I am determined to finish the second book this weekend (it's much harder to read them when you work!) and start the 3rd book next week.  If you have not read these books yet, you need to.  I strongly recommend them to everyone and anyone.  And you can't just see the movie.  You have to read the first book too.  It was better than the movie, and I loved the movie too!  

Happy Easter

Happy Easter weekend!  The weekend started with me beginning the book Twilight.  I saw the movie awhile ago and wanted to read the book.  I didn't realize when I started it, that it would be so GOOD!  I started it Friday afternoon and finished it just a few minutes ago.  I have never in my life read a book so quickly.  And it was 500 pages!  I would recommend this book to anyone and can not wait to start the next one.

This weekend also consisted of another trip to IBG.  We celebrated Aaron's birthday there last night.  We had a great time!  I did enjoy my second cigar and have decided that I like the small chocolate-flavored ones better.  We got home around 11 last night and then had to be up at 6:30 this morning for church.

We went to church and came home and got ready for Easter brunch.  We enjoyed Easter Brunch over at my parents house.  The Vandy's came for brunch again.  It's always nice to spend holiday time with friends and family.  I have to say that brunch is one of my most favorite things about the holidays.  I enjoy it better then dinner!  When we got home, we both took a nap and when I woke up I finished the book.

Back to work for me tomorrow.  I am not looking forward to that.  I know once I get there though, everything will be fine.  It's just the initial thought of having to go back after having a vacation.  Oh well-only 8 weeks to go and then summer vacation!

I hope that everyone else had a Happy Easter.  :)

Outlet Shopping

My mom, Cindy, and I always try to go over to Orlando and outlet shop when I have time off of work.  We decided that today would be a great day.  All was in our favor when we first started off.  We left my house at 8:30 and thought for sure we would make it to the mall by 10:00. Well not so.  We were in I-4 traffic in Orlando for 3 hours!  We were in bumper to bumper I-4 traffic, so we thought we should get off at International Drive.  Everything was moving along well on International Drive and then bang...more traffic!  GPS told us to take the Toll Road, so we did that.  And what do you know...more traffic at the toll booth!  

We finally arrived at the Prime Outlets at 12:00.  That's right noon!  It was the longest drive to Orlando of my life.  (We did stop 2 times along the way for the bathroom and a snack as I was very hungry!).  We managed to shop until 3:30, we only stopped for 15 minutes to take down a burger for lunch.  I did buy a really cute new dress from the Loft, my most favorite store, some new sneakers for running, more soap, and some other things too.  The traffic stunk but overall, it was a successful shopping day!  

Cupcakes...Yummy!

Today was my second excursion of the week.  (Not much happened yesterday!)  Jen, Krista, and I headed out for cupcakes and brought Kyla and Isabella along.  We began at Firehouse Subs in South Tampa.  We enjoyed some tasty subs and headed a few doors down to The Cupcake Spot. (Check them out at www.thecupcakespot.com)  

I have always wanted to try a cupcake store out.  They have all kinds of cupcakes and not your boring cupcakes either.  There is not really plain chocolate or plain vanilla.  Everything is different.  I enjoyed a strawberry cupcake with raspberry icing.  It was so moist and super good! I also brought home 2 more for later.  One is chocolate chip with chocolate chip icing and the other is butterscotch with peanut butter icing.  I figure Renato would love one and I should have another one too!  

All in all, another great day.  I would go back to The Cupcake Spot again and I would recommend it to my friends.  I forgot to take pictures today so be sure to check out the website to see what they look like.  :)

Spring Break

Today was the official first day of Spring Break.  What a great start to the week...NOT!  Lots of wind, rain, and cold temperatures.  Doesn't that sound like great beach conditions?  Roxy and I decided to go to the beach today.  We headed out at 10 this morning and made it to the beach in one piece.  (It was a bit windy in the car ride over but that didn't stop us!)

After we arrived at the beach, we got settled in.  By settled in, I mean we put down our chairs and couldn't even manage to take our shirts/bathing suit covers off.  It was that chilly!  After about 20 minutes, it started to feel warmer (or maybe it was just us thinking that) so we revealed our cute bathing suit tops.  We were enjoying our books and my iPod when all of a sudden it started to rain!  We quickly picked everything up and headed out.

 It appears to be a little sunny out!

Check out that beautiful sky and those awesome waves!  (And don't mind my finger in this picture.)  

We were planning on eating at the beach diner (if that's what you call it) but since it started to rain, we decided to eat elsewhere.  We weren't really dressed for a fine dining experience though.  Renato called and we met up with him for lunch.  We decided to eat at the Thirsty Marlin.  We got there and sat down and were really excited about what we would eat for lunch. Then out of nowhere, a tree falls on a power line and the place loses power.  Well there went that idea!

We left and walked across the street to an Irish Bar.  We had the best food there!  I guess everything was meant to be today because if it didn't rain or a tree didn't fall on a power line, we wouldn't have had the best lunch ever!  

It was a very tiring day, as I just woke up from a 2 hour nap.  I did manage to get further along in the Shopaholic Book that I am reading.  I hope to get that done and back to Jen next week!

Stay tuned for more Spring Break happenings!!  

31 Party

The 31 Party was last night and it was awesome!  18 people showed up and had a great time (at least I think they did!).  There was lots of chocolate desserts and some yummy Oreo Irish Cream Milkshakes made by me and Marie.  I was super tired at the end of the night but couldn't fall asleep right away, due to my sugar high.

Now that the party is over, I have to decide what to get.  I am debating on the Cindy bag and the backpack that had the brown and white design.  Any ideas?  I also want another skirt for my purse.  The pink and white stripe is limited so I want to start there and if it's out of stock, I am going to go with the grass skirt.  I also saw a cute small backpack in the kids catalog but it only comes in brown.  So not sure there.  I have 2 more parties to go to in the immediate future so I am already planning on what to get buy next.  

All in all it was an eventful night!  Thanks everyone for coming.  :)

Things Happen in 3's

Let's see, start with the positive or negative....Well I'll start with the negative and end on a positive note.  Just when you think things can't get any worse, they do and they always happen in threes!

2 things occured today that I won't get in to but they were not so great.  One thing was minor, but still it hurt me and then the second event was worse but still not as bad as the 3rd event of the day.  One of my mom's close Jazzercise friends was murdered in her sleep last night.  Her husband killed her and then himself.  This is a friend that I saw a few months ago and one that my mom did things with frequently.  I saw her at Cindy's 31 Party in January and she asked me when we were going to start our family and couldn't wait to see our future babies.  In fact, every time I saw her she always asked about that.  Now she will never have the chance to meet our future family.  It is so sad to think that someone you love (her husband) could do that to you. My mom is devastated and shocked at the same time.  She just saw her Monday night and everything was fine.  How can someone kill someone else and no one has any clue they are that messed up?  He left a suicide note and blamed it on financial reasons.  I couldn't even imagine this happening to me or one my close friends.  This was a pretty crappy day!

And now the positive note...Roxanne came over to help make all of the many desserts for tomorrow night and was there when I got the call about my mom's friend.  She was very supportive and I am thankful she was there, as Renato is not this week.  We managed to bake lots of desserts for tomorrow night and enjoyed some yummy pizza rolls in the process.  At least my night had some good to it. 

Renato Left

I just got back from the airport where I dropped Renato off.  We had a great lunch at Daily Eats and then said our good-byes.  I am hoping this week flies by and Sunday will be here before I know it!  That also means that Spring Break will be starting, so I am really hoping the week flies by.  I hate when Renato goes away and with all of the recent plane crashes, I can't stop thinking something bad could happen.  I mean it can always happen but there have been so many accidents in the news recently.  

On another note, I just went to Publix and purchased everything for my 31 Party.  It's a chocolate theme and I bought so many things that are for chocolate lovers.  All I have to say is come hungry because there will be lots of yummy desserts.  And I bought stuff to make Irish Cream Oreo Milkshakes.  I hope those are tasty too!  (And for you non-alcoholic drinkers I also purchased Sweet Tea.)  

Weekend Update

Renato leaves this weekend, which I am not to happy about.  He will be gone a full week this time and I will be missing him a bunch!  We do have DATE WEEKEND planned however.  Tonight is Bonefish and tomorrow night is some place yummy too!  I hate when he goes away but there is one positive...I get to catch up on all my DVR'd shows!  I do enjoy that part.  :)

Sleep???

Right now I am living on 2 1/2 hours of sleep...maybe.  I can't even remember!  All I know is I was up until 3 this morning.  Why you ask?  I was thinking about work, babies, my blog!  Who knows why I was thinking of these things, I just couldn't sleep.  This morning I woke up to my alarm.  However, I turned that off and went back to sleep.  

I did make it to the gym and just got home.  I am really tired but that usually means I won't fall asleep right away tonight.  AHHHHH!  I want a nice night of sleep.  I hope that I get that tonight.  :) 

Ethnic Night #3

Every month we have a tradition where we go someplace new that is Ethnic.  We have been to Mexican and Thai places so far.  Last night Renato and I chose La Terrazza, in Ybor City.  This was an Italian restaurant (since we can't eat meat on Friday's, we chose Italian).  I had ravioli's and they were pretty good.  It was a little pricey for the portion size but overall it was nice.  It was very small and everyone said stuff to you in Italian.  I would rate it a 6 out of 10.  The best part was the company.  We go each month with the Vandy's.  

After we ate, we decided to walk around Ybor a little, especially since the Vandy's had never been there before.  Tim and Renato decided they wanted a handmade rolled cigar.  We found a small cuban cigar place and they got their cigars.  While we were sitting there, I noticed girly cigars that tasted like chocolate, vanilla, rum, etc.  I decided that I needed one too!  So I smoked my own cigar last night.  It was quite tasty!  And now that I know these cigars exist, I will be smoking more.  

It was a really great evening.  Stay tuned for next month's pick.  It's the Vandy's turn and I heard we might be going German.  We shall see!

Weekend

I am thankful for the wonderful weekend that is here.  We have lots to do this weekend, which means it will be Monday before I know it.  Let's see...Ethnic Night tonight.  I am super excited for Italian.  I hope it's a yummy place!  Tomorrow night we have a birthday party to attend.  It's at this place where all high school people hang out.  That should be interesting!  This weekend I am really looking forward to sleeping until I want to get up, instead of my alarm making me wake up.  I love that feeling!

Another try...

So I am trying out another blog.  Everyone complained about the other one (and I have to admit it was a bit difficult to find things on it).  I am hoping this blog works better and that we will be able to do just as much, if not more than the other site.  

In other news, tomorrow is Friday and I am super excited for the weekend.  We have plans all weekend long and I can't wait!