Happy Birthday to Winnie

Monday was Winnie's birthday! A group of us and her family went to J. Alexander's in our Town Center - a fun outdoor shopping mall. Winnie and her husband, Alan, just had Clara Renee a few months ago. She is so cute!

Over the weekend Spencer had a few buddies in town to play golf. They got to play Sawgrass Stadium Course before it started dumping buckets of rain. It was so fun to see them! We all went to Baylor together. Alec lives in Ft. Worth and is going to Seminary and Blair is living the dream in New York. We grilled out, made homemade ice cream, we all played a 9-hole Par 3 and hung out. So fun! :)

Yesterday I saw George, the neighborhood aligator. He lives in the pond right behind our house. Thank goodness we have a fence! He's a small guy - maybe 4-ft? I took a picture but he was hiding under the water...He's kinda hard to see but look in the middle of the trees towards the center of the picture..that is George. :)

Beautiful Day(s)

Oh my gosh, I couldn't have had a better birthday. It all started with the Birthday Hut at work:) (See post below).

Friday night, our friend Dan came in from North Carolina! He is going to Duke Medical School. I have actually known Dan longer than Spencer! WHAT!? Dan and Spencer knew each other in high school and lived together in college. I met Dan my freshman year of college - I think. That is mainly how Spencer and I's paths crossed! Yeah! I tried to find a picture of the three of us....but I couldn't find a super good one....oh well! :) Dan was actually my date for one of my sorority formals! ha!

So we get a call around 8:30 p.m. Friday night from Dan....help....my car....died....Florida/Georgia state line....Bummer. We spent all night trying to fix it/get it towed. We ate dinner at midnight at McDonalds - NASTINESS! ugh.

Saturday was much better! Spencer and I decided to get a new car! I love it - even more than my 4-runnner! (Blasphemous, I know) We had been thinking about it and praying about and we decided to go for it! It was very sad saying bye to my beloved 4-Runner, but I did it. Dan figured out what to do with his car - leave it here in JAX and try to sell it for scrap pieces. It is amazing to me that a car that is in pretty decent shape interior/exterior is worth so little - I guess it does need a new engine but STILL!!

After the car situations, we went to the beach! It was amazing! I LOVE LOVE LOVE the beach. Then we ate at La Nopalera (my fave) and went to The Lemon Bar on the beach! Yes, on the beach. So much fun! We met some of my co-workers there for a bit.

Sunday was the big day! I am now officially 26. I bought my first pair of Spanx. I'm old and flabby. hehe :) We went to church and then the boys dealt with Dan's car all afternoon and I had a relaxing afternoon of napping with Bailey Bear and scrapbooking. I got so many calls and texts and I felt so special on my day!

So thank you to everyone for making my 26th so wonderful! :)



P.S. I have been blog tagged - Angela the post is coming!! :)

The Birthday Hut

SO, I don't think I've mentioned this before, but I work with some really incredible people. They are some of my dear friends - so trustworthy, genuine, supportive, encouraging and down-to-earth. Well, for everyone's birthday, (well not everyone - just the one's we are good friends with), we decorate their cube and it is transformed into.....The Birthday Hut.
Pictures of mine are below. :)

Emily (Em B), me (Em C) and Peggy

Didn't they do an AMAZING job!?

So over it

You know what REALLY bothers me!? Cliche business-world phrases.....

"at the end of the day"
"it is not your chair"
"in bed together" (yes one of my bosses says that ALL the time)
"get your arms around it"

I can't take it anymore! I'm leaving....good night! :)

Only on Animal Planet

So, as some of yall know, this week is the PLAYERS Championship at TPC Sawgrass. This golf tournament hosts almost all of the best players in the world. Anythony Kim walked right in front of me yesterday at the Clubhouse! He is very short by the way. If we got in a fight, I would win - unless he had his golf clubs of course.
Every year, the Lifetime Achievement Award is given. This year, former President George W. Bush (the dad) was the recipient. The ceremony was SO cool. The Navy base particiapted and there was a flyover of F-16s right after the Navy band played the National Anthem. The ceremony was on the 18th green/fairway of the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass.

There's President Bush!

Another cool thing happened yesterday! I had never seen this before, except on Animal Planet with the Crocodile Hunter explaining every detail. Good thing because I was able to explain to my co-workers what was happening to this poor turtle that they thought looked so distressed - which it probably was.

Outside our office door, there is a HUGE flower bed covered in mulch. It had rained the night before so it was nice and damp. A 12-inch long turtle was sitting at the edge of the mulch and parking lot pushing away mulch and patting it down, etc. When it stopped messing with the mulch - it started popping out eggs! It was the coolest thing. We saw him drop 5 eggs then he stopped and started covering them up with mulch. I marked on my calendar 2 months from now so we can go check and see if the turtle babies hatched. :) My good friend Google let me know when they should be ready. :)

My thumb is turning Green

So, I like to garden. Mainly flowers. Actually, only flowers. Trees/bushes are boring - unless they are house plants. You have to have oxygen flowing. ha :) I seem to have trouble with house plants though. I kill them. They turn yellow, then brown, then little bugs start to fly around and then they smell. I planted this one maybe 3 weeks ago. I'll give it another month then out to the empty lot it goes.
When I retire, in like 35 years - wow, that is a long time - I want to have a huge ginormous garden and be featured in Southern Living Magazine. Ha! Fat Chance! Maybe for an article titled "Florida Woman's Green Thumb turns things Brown - What Not to do When Gardening".
I went to the neighborly Home Depot a few weeks ago and bought some flowers. My favorite flower EVER is the hydrangea. I bought a light purple - and I found out if you alter the acidity of the soil you can turn the blooms deeper blue. They were so pretty on my back porch. But guess what?!
They're dead. :( Blooms shriveled and brown. Oh, well, I still have a picture, right?

SO, let me take you through my "garden". :)
The flowers below are in the corner of our driveway. They're another one of my favorites! I have two identical pots on either corner of the driveway.

These guys are in the center of the pots above. Lantantas on the left and marigolds and something else - I forget - on the right.



So the flowers on the right and in the center are a kind of cactus! They have prickly thorns underneath the flowers. They are eye level to Bailey so I have to make sure she doesn't try to eat them!

And the red ones are geraniums, the bottom right another cactus and I think the yellow ones are impatients. These are in the left corner of the back porch.

That's it! :) Hopefully, I can keep them all alive! :)

P.S. The Peanut Butter dilemma was solved. Keep both natural and regular on hand at ALL times. :) Happy Tuesday!

We have a new job! Tour Guides Unlimited

We'll take you anywhere you want to go in Jacksonville and surrounding areas - including Disney! Best of all - our services are free of charge! Tour Guides Unlimited is here to serve your every vacationing need! A detailed agenda is prepared based on your vacationing preferences! A list of our upcoming schedule is below. Book now before you lose your choice weekend!

March 24: Katie Verett Visit! (Pictures below!)

April 3: Austin for Andrea's Bachelorette Weekend!

April 10: My brother comes to visit!

April 17: Thunder over Louisville! (yes we are going)

April 24: Spencer wedding in Austin

May 1: Wedding in Waco!

May 8 - 15: OPEN!

May 23 - 31: Emily in Austin for Andrea's wedding and Waco for Leslie's wedding!

June 5: OPEN!

June 12: Christine comes!

June 19 - July 17: OPEN!

July 24: Holly's wedding in Dallas!

July 31: Allan and Betsy's wedding in Dallas!

After that, we're WIDE open to book our services! :)

Corny, I know - but I had fun with it...ha :) But seriously, it is so fun when friends/family from back home to visit. It's so refreshing and so good to see a familiar face! So, Katie came! We had so much fun and did a lot of things that Spencer and I had never done before here, but always wanted to!

Bailey Bear! She loves the beach! :)

ha around the shops at St. Augustine!

and I think this is St. Augustine, too!



and Bailey again...she likes to sit under the coffee table :)

Mickler Beach! Just down the road from our house!

Safe Harbor Fish Market - so amazing!You pick out your fish that is been dead for only 2 hours!

Katie admiring all of the dead fish! haha

AAARRRR! downtown San Fernandina Beach...a guy's worst nightmare! They have the cutest shops and antique stores! Spencer did good, though! :)

Yes, we had fun. :)

So, question of the day (this is really to see how many care to read my blog) :)

Regular Peanut Butter


or

Natural??

This is a huge dilemma.

Sic Em Bears.

Don't mess with Texas

Yea for Britni and Tim! Isn't she so cute!? :)


Britni has been my friend since we were in elementary school and now look at her! (I mean that in a completely good way!) We even lived together in college - and yes, I do have some funny stories! She should have Baby Pedro - (that is what I am calling him until he has an official name) - at the end of July. Yea! :)


So, I was thinking...as amazing as Florida is, there are a few things in Texas that will always make Texas better! So, I decided to make a Top 10 list...Drum roll please!


Reasons why Texas is better (in no particular order):


1. Our flag is better, I mean look at it...it is perfect.
2. We are the only state that has REAL bluebonnets - all others are fake
3. It is the home of Baylor University - Sic Em!
4. Bush's - the BEST fried chicken anywhere - Sarah can agree with me.
5. Remember the Alamo!
6. Texas Pride - what other state has it? It can't be explained
7. Texas football
8. The Mexican food
9. The rodeo
10. Texas Country - the real country music
I could go on and on..but I have to stop sometime! Florida isn't bad either...so to be fair.....



Reasons Florida is ALMOST as good as Texas - but not quite:
1. Disney World! Katie will soon find this out! Yea!
2. The beaches - I love living 10 minutes away!
3. Most of our family/friends live in Texas
4. Our friends we've made in Florida - yall are still great!!! :)
5. Have I mentioned Disney World?

















Happy Wednesday!