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.