Easter Sunday, Belly Update, & Planning for TWO huge events!

Happy Easter!!

Last weekend David and I made the drive down to Land O' Lakes to spend Saturday & Easter Sunday with my mom & extended family! It was a nice, relaxing weekend.

So onto wedding stuff... Why didn't I know how stressful this stuff was before?
I've watched wedding shows on TLC for the past few years gathering ideas and marveling at the messes the brides have made leading up to their weddings. However, I never realized how much really goes into planning this one day, once-in-a-lifetime event.
This is a little of what we have so far. Surprisingly, David & I agree on a lot of the main things. He has basically said he doesn't care about the details, just about picking a good band.

What I want to get solidified before our baby girl gets here...

-Ceremony & reception venues booked
-A set date- we know the general month & even week we want the wedding in, but it really depends on the cruise when we'll actually have it.
-Cruise package picked & spots reserved
-Save the Dates sent out

23 Weeks Update

How far along: 23 weeks!
Total weight gain: 10 lbs
Maternity Clothes: loving loose dresses for this summer heat. It's only going to get hotter, omg.
Stretch Marks: Yuck. I'm keeping my fingers crossed & using lots of lotion!
Sleep: Still good!
Best moment this week: It was great this weekend when my mom got to finally feel her kick! She's an active little booger now.
Miss anything: A stomach that isn't so sensitive. Baby Girl doesn't like a lot of things...
Movement: Just about every day I'll feel her kick once or twice.
Food cravings: I really wanted Velveeta today, does that qualify as a craving?
Anything making you queasy or sick: Fried/ greasy foods
Gender: Female!!
Labor Signs: Not yet
Symptoms: My stomach feels very tight/stretched. I swear she has tripled in size in the past week!
Belly Button In or Out: More out than in
Happy or Moody: Happy!
Looking forward to: Having my baby showers & being able to enjoy creating her nursery. 

Side Note:

Here's the new beds our kitties got as Easter presents. Reggie (the gray one) is bigger & squeezes into the "hut" while Kit Kat, our little one, lounges in the big bed. They're so funny. :) 

Have a great week!

Home Sweet Home

Wow it's weird to be living somewhere new....
& I just realized I haven't shown off the new house since we moved in!

David & I are finally nice and settled into our cozy place. Apparently, living in PSL makes us "Pizzle Rats" according to our friends in the area, but I could care less. With a cheap place to live 10 minutes from the beaches in a gated community nonetheless I'll settle for being considered a "rat"...for now. :)

Here, in pictures, is our place before & after.

Before:

The living room & dining room

Our porch

Another angle of the living/dining room...kitchen kind of in view!

Oh how I'm glad this is over!

Guest room/office

Our room

Pond in the back

After:

Still a little plain, but CLEAN.

Don't mind the random beer!

 & Pay no attention to my dirty dishes.... ;)

That cute little table was a steal for $45. Thanks mom!

Spare room/office

Master bedroom

Right now our house feels like a hodgepodge of things. Most of the furniture is mine, and it seems I had a bit of a thing for black furniture in college. However, now I would really like to lighten up at least the main living areas. The bedroom furniture is only a few years old and won't be changing for quite awhile!

David & I are going for- what else- a beach theme. I've always considered it pretty corny, but I think in the right doses (cute local art vs. terrible hotel style paintings) it will work out.

I also would really like to try to make some of this stuff. We're collecting shells on our bookshelf that we add to every time we go to the beach, but I would like to create something out of or inspired by the local terrain.  Any ideas for cute & fun beach crafts??


Speaking of art, I am SUPER excited for this Wednesday. It's my mom's (& her twin's) 50th birthday!!! To celebrate we're getting all her girlfriends together to paint & drink wine. I have heard amazing things about Painting With A Twist so I can't wait to try them out. Afterwards, we're going out to Cheesecake Factory for some dinner & dessert.

Stay tuned for a full post on my Land O Lakes trip...should be interesting spending 10 days back home!

Life is a Beach

*This was written about my day Thursday, June 23. *

Today I was supposed to be in Tampa visiting with my mom and a few friends from home that I haven't seen in awhile.

My mom & I

However, due to the craziness that is moving David & I had to drive to Jensen Beach last night for an appointment with the Home Owners Association. Apparently this is vital to do before we move in, and this is the only time they had this week if we wanted to move in Friday. Therefore, I am currently sitting at a Panera after exploring my soon-to-be new home.

On to the beaches!!

This morning, I dropped David off at his office down here and headed to Jensen Beach which was a quick 10 minute drive. I came prepared in my workout clothes, hoping to make up for missing my workout last night due to our unscheduled drive down.

After my run I took my shoes off to cool down in the sand & surf.

Arriving at the beach soon after sunrise, I set out with the goal to reach "those really small buildings in the distance". I felt like they stayed in the distance the entire run! Holy cow were they far away!

Finally, through semi-soft sand, I managed to reach my destination and turned around to run back.

See those blurs in the distance? That's what I ran to!

Feeling accomplished I headed to the next beach on my list: House of Refuge.

This historical site boasts the oldest building in Martin County as well as the only Refuge House left standing. These coastal homes were meant as havens for survivors of shipwrecks and other such disasters in the 1800s. Now, a maritime museum is hosted in the quaint looking house for a minimal entrance fee.

Bypassing the museum, I headed to the beach behind it to enjoy the view, test the waters, and explore the rocks!

This beach was completely empty save myself and a fisherman's boat in the distance.

The last beach I explored was Bathtub Beach.
Aside from the funny name, this out of the way beach is known as a great family spot where parents feel secure allowing their kids to explore because of the relative safety afforded the beach by a living reef that essentially blocks the area off to sharks and other such wildlife.

The water is beautifully clear- I felt like I was in a spring, never have I seen such crystal clear water at a beach!

There were also little areas sectioned off by posts meant for sea turtles nests! I researched it a little, and different community centers (http://discovermartin.com/events/) host educational nights where people are taught about the turtles' habits and then escorted to local nests to observe their nesting rituals and hopefully see the baby turtles' fated trek to the ocean.

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As far as the eye could see was a stretch of pure white sand untouched by litter despite the popularity of the beach. This beach is an amazing example of humans peacefully coexisting with the natural wildlife.

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At this point I was exhausted after spending an entire morning & afternoon in the sun so here I am at Panera waiting for David to get off work!

I can't wait to visit more of the small local beaches to discover each and every intricacy, nuance and that little something that makes them unique!

Friday will be full of moving the large stuff down to Port St. Lucie and then finally finish up my weekend of moving with a garage sale Saturday & some final cleaning to our empty house on Sunday!

Southern Charm & Fuzzy Feelings

Technically, Florida is in the South. Yes, I know, basic geography.

However, the culture within Florida isn't "Southern" like places in Georgia or North Carolina.

There is just this genteel attitude that permeates every aspect of life in these true Southern states.

Here is a quick recap of some "Southern" trips and then... onto the main event!

North Carolina with David

 Two years ago, I visited Hickory & Charlotte, North Carolina for a visit to David's hometown over break.

New Years Eve started out fun & full of life! We hit a few bars, danced, made merry and finally ended up at a bar a little outside of the city. As everything started to wind down, we took a taxi van for our large group and contentedly headed home.

As we started heading back into the city, our cab driver blatantly ran the meter up misunderstood where we needed to go & headed in the complete opposite direction!

At this point, we informed him that we were not going to pay when he was going the wrong way. With that, he promptly dropped us on the curb and drove away without a second glance. He was just about the only person without some Southern gentility in this state.

At 2:30am, we started walking home.

At 4:00am, in high heels and "downtown wear", through bad parts of town, and sometimes beer-goggled directions, we made it back home!




Through it all, everyone remained in relatively good spirits.
(I will admit to some frustration on my part...Blame it on the Florida roots!)
The rest of the trip wasn't as dramatic, and we continued to visit the cute restaurants and beautiful sites within North Carolina.

Also, I saw snow for the 2nd time in my life that trip- totally amazing!


Hilton Head Island, South Carolina with Kristin

Last summer, Kristin and I accompanied her parents & their friends to a timeshare in South Carolina.

This island was a haven of country clubs, horse stables, and generally healthy & friendly people all there for a good time.

I can't think of a time where there were unfriendly servers, people that weren't smiling, or strangers that when you passed them didn't say hi.

All around, it was a welcoming place. We visited the beaches, local bars by the pier, and well known restaurants.


That brings me to SoFlo!

To be honest, my general opinion of South Florida has always looked something like this in my head:

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When in reality, it looks something like this:

And this:

This crazy move to my former nemesis of Florida was brought about by my boyfriend, David.

David (pictured above) graduated from UCF (represent!) in May, and he was one of the few lucky engineers that was able to get a job right out of college. He started a week after graduation and has been impressing them with his skills since then. Last week, we found out that he was getting transferred down to the Walton office in Port St Lucie.

While I had entertained a job opportunity in teaching down there (A principle I met at a job fair, but that's another post), we weren't sure that the move was really going to happen.

It all became a reality this past week as our house has been a whirlwind of packing, cleaning, and general havoc as we've tried to find a way to move all our stuff, set up utilities, and wrap up the end of our lives here in Orlando.

All of this rearranging has had be feeling warm & fuzzy towards my favorite hang outs & unique places in Orlando.

Next post: Favorites in Orlando!