Christmas in Florida

I hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas celebrations. Joe and I missed seeing you all very much. Here are some pictures we wanted to share with you.

This is the village we put up on the landing next to the staircase

These are the decorations outside on the front of the house

This is the our tree... it is between 10 and 11 feet tall and smells soooo good. We had to use a ladder to decorate the top ( I rotated the pic before attaching... it didn't work :) )
This is the small artifical tree that we put in the dining room. We decorated it with all of Joe's mom's precious moments ornaments. (Again... sorry about the sideways pic)

The week before Christmas we went to see the Osborne Family Spectacle of Lights at Disney's Holllywood Studios Theme Park... They decorate the pretend houses with lights that cover every inch of them, there is fake snow falling and then every few minutes the lights will start to "dance" to the music. It is very cool to watch.


Here is a video of the dancing lights... Now this is my first video attachment... we'll see if it works...

I'm still here....

I know everyone is wondering where i've been but ... I am still here. Finally made it out of St. Augustine! Lol :~)

Love reading everyone else's posts, I just need to do better in posting myself!!

To catch everyone up...

I am working for Val-U-Vet, a small corporation of veterinary clinics in Florida. There are 5 locations in central Florida...and i was just promoted to MANAGER of one of them. YAY!! My clinic is the location in Deltona, FL. I'm still getting settled in my new position, but I love it. Anyone who wants to check out the website it is www.valuvet.com.

Joe has gone back to school and is going to become a massage therapist!! He loves his classes at Everest University and will graduate next spring/summer. The best is I get to benefit from his needing to practice!! He has learned so much already. I'm so proud of him!!

He has a good job in one of the retail shops at the Gaylord Palms Resort. It is a bit of a drive but they are very flexible with scheduling around his school so it is worth it. It is a beautiful hotel, though I have only seen pictures on the internet. I'm hoping to make it down to see it in person soon.

So I survived the humidity. The weather now is great! Cool (high 50's - low 60's) in the morning and evening, and then it only warms up to about the high 80's. We are entering the 'dry' season I guess... but not dry like AZ :)

Pics will be on the next post... so stay tuned...

Love and miss all of you!

St. Augustine

Last weekend Joe and I got to visit the oldest city in the United States... St. Augustine. It is only a little over an hour away. We had a great time seeing all of the old buildings and all the history that the city has.

We spent alot of time in the historical district going in all the little shops there.
Joe and I bought these new hats at the Panama Hat Company... what do you think?




Aren't you glad I didn't choose this one (pic below)!!! It just wasn't me! :~)

There are so many restaurants and little bakeries and ice cream shops and chocolate shops... Yum!

We went to the national monument 'Castillo de San Marcos' which was built over 300 years ago by the Spanish.

We went on a self guided tour... it was WARM so we didn't stay too long but here are some pics we took.






It is a very beautiful city... Joe and I can't wait to go again. You can easily spend a few days there. We will be going back at night next time to do a ghost tour of the famous St. Augustine Lighthouse... The same one that the Ghost Hunters did an episode about on TV...

Tacos, Burritos, Enchiladas... OH MY!

Joe and I found this fun Mexican food restaurant called Carlos n' Charlie's.

Not only is the food good but you get entertained while you wait for your food to arrive and while you eat. The wait staff have choreographed dances to certain songs and completely stop what they are doing to perform. Any customer that wants to join in can to. It's pretty noisy inside, a live DJ plays alot of popular songs that everyone knows so you can join in a sing a long too!!

We weren't prepared with our camera as we didn't realize dinner was going to be sooooo entertaining) so these pics were taken with Joe's phone... excuse the blurriness.

Here are two of the waiters dancing on the chairs.


Our waitress made guacamole table side for our appetizer.

Joe and I ordered tacos and they make you wear these silly bibs... I now know NOT to order the tacos. (just kidding they were very tasty)
The bibs say "I'M EATING TACOS"


This waiter delivered a beer to the table next to us using his head...


I checked them out online when we got home and there is only one other location in the US and it is in TX all other 5 locations are in Mexico...

It was a really cool place that we will definitely be visiting again... I'll have to remember to wear my dancing shoes! LOL :~)

ADIOS AMIGOS (English translation = GOODBYE FRIENDS )

"Visitors"

We had surprise "visitors" the other morning... 3 Sandhill cranes were in our backyard. We usually see them on the golf course near the house or by the little lake across the street... But this was really cool to see them so close. They are not afraid of people and have a very unique sound.




I think they look similar to the blue herons in AZ but bigger and taller. They didn't stay too long once the dogs started to bark at them...Oh well! Thanks to Joe with his camera phone at least we got the pics before they flew away.

Got Ink?

So Joe and I went to do something exciting together... We both got tattoos. It has been something I have been wanting to do for awhile now and Joe wanted to get another one. We both got tattoos that represent our astrological signs.

We went to a place in Winter Springs called Steel Quill Tattoo. It was extremely clean inside and they have all necessary sterilizing equipment. They open all of the needles and sterilized pieces in front of us so we know it is safe and clean... No need to worry Mom :)

Here is Joe's finished tattoo... A bull on his shoulder (Taurus).


I got 2 butterfly koi fish and the Pisces sign on my lower back! The colors are amazing. Joe took a few pics of the process...

This is the tattoo on paper... it then becomes the stencil.

After putting the stencil on Mike makes sure it is centered...

Now assuming the position... I was surprised that it did not hurt at all. It is hard to describe what it feels like... kind of an annoying burning feeling but with NO pain.


This is Mike, our tattoo artist. He drew both of them... very talented. All the guys at the shop were very cool...and hilarious.

And the finished result...

The colors are very vibrant... I told him blue and purple and he chose the shades. The Pisces sign in the middle he left as a shaded outline since the main focus is the fish. I may need to name them since they will be with me FOREVER... any suggestions?

I absolutely love it!! I understand why people get more than one... it's addicting. What will be next... a dragonfly maybe :)

SUSHI !!

For all those who love sushi... there is a great place near us called Amura. (Well, not really near all of you, but anyway...)

The sushi is not only delicious and fresh, but the presentation is amazing.

I had the Kiwi Philly Roll which has smoked salmon, cream cheese and kiwi and the Hawaiian Roll which is tuna, spicy tuna, salmon, avocado and cucumber.

The orange topping on the Hawaiann Roll is caviar


Joe had the Louisiana Cousin Roll which had crawfish, avocado, and a white sauce on top and the Volcano Roll which is baked scallops, crab, salmon and avocado.


The pictures don't give it justice... but take my word for it!

Soooo yummy!! We will definately be going back soon.

The Beach

So Joe and I have ventured to the beach 2 times since our arrival in Florida. The closest one to us is New Smyrna Beach...only about a 1/2 hour away. We went with Joe's parents the 1st time and then just the 2 of us on the next.
As you can see... you can drive right onto the beach here... sooo coool!!! Just unpack your chairs and towels, put on the sunblock, and head to the water.

The water is much warmer(72 degrees actually) on the Atlantic ocean side vs. the Pacific. When you are in the water here it is cold at first but then your body gets used to it kinda like a pool.

There are lots of seagulls and pelicans flying and walking around. I attempted to get a picture but it didn't come out to clear... I'm sure there will be many more visits and I will try again... if only they would sit still! Oh and we are coming into sea turtle season so maybe I'll get to see one of those as well.

And on a side note.... I HAVE A JOB!! YAY! I start tomorrow at a vet clinic in the area as a receptionist. I will keep everyone posted on how it goes.

And Now... The Rest of the Story

Next stop Mississippi...



Biloxi, MS happens to be where my mom was born. Tried to get a good picture of the water tower...kinda difficult in a moving vehicle.


There was a scenic drive we could have taken that goes right along the coast line to see the lighthouse, but we stayed on route to our motel in Moss Point, MS. We will need to go back without "the kids" to actually do sightseeing stuff.



At this being our last night at a motel, I would like to give acknowledgement to our wonderful accommodations we had along the way.
La Quinta Inn, Thank you for having convenient locations, reasonable rates and for being pet friendly (and not adding an additional fee for pets!!)



OK, Can anyone guess what state is next...




Yup, That says Alabama! The camera decided to focus on the wonderful bug splatters on the windshield and with the sun shining in that is what you get... oh well...




Here is a pic of the battleship Alabama







And to all Forest Gump fans, Bubba Gump Shrimp this a way --->
In the far bottom left hand corner on the exit sign in AL says "Bayou La Batre", if it's hard to read. If you click on the picture it should make it larger... that goes for all the pics!

Florida, the Sunshine State, welcomed us with what else... SUN. So, yet again, NO picture of the sign (looked just like AL - a buggy windshield), but this is what it looks like thanks to a pic from the Internet :~)

We arrived safely at our destination in Sanford, FL. Joe's mom and step-dad welcomed us with open arms.







Our "kids","Lilly" top right,"Guiness" bottom center, were introduced to their dog "Charley",top left in pic. They seem to be tolerating each other well.

The moving truck arrived 3 days later. Everything traveled well, nothing broken or missing so that's good. We unpacked what we needed and the rest was loaded into a storage unit until we have our own place.

Time to explore our new surroundings... GO TO THE BEACH... oh...and find a job!!

The Move

It's hard to believe that 2 weeks ago we were in AZ. Here is how it began...

Boxing and packing up our stuff... lots and lots of boxes... only about half are in this picture!









Here is the moving company that loaded all of our belongings and took them safely down to FL.









And these are the FINAL 2 boxes to be waiting to be loaded.








The truck is tightly packed (our portion of the truck anyway), everything looks secure!









The moving truck started its journey the day before we left. My mom and dad played host for Joe and I for 2 nights so we wouldn't be stuck in sleeping bags in an empty house. It was nice to spend the extra time with them right before we left.



We picked up this U-Haul car transporter, Dad gave Joe a hand with getting the car loaded. Can you believe that the trailer had a flat tire before we ever started on our journey... They sent someone right out to replace 2 of the 4 tires. We are thankful that it happened before we were on the road.


With the car loaded on the trailer, hitched to our truck... Joe in the driver seat, myself in the passenger seat, and "the kids" all in their places (Guiness and Lilly together on the seat behind me and Carmella in her cage on the floor behind Joe)... away we go!





AND THE JOURNEY BEGINS...
It took Joe and I 4 days to go from Gilbert, AZ to Sanford, FL. We drove on average 8 hours each day with stops every 3 hours or so to strech our legs, and let everybody(except Carmella)go potty. (She can go whenever she wants...lucky bird!)

Sooo I missed the Welcome to New Mexico sign... I think I'll go with "What sign? They didn't have one". Yup that's my story and I'm sticking to it... lol.
Even with no evidence, I promise we did drive through it!!!

Next came Texas...


I thought we would never get out of Texas. It's HUGE!!! We did 2 nights one in Fort Stockton and one in Houston.



These funny looking "mountains"?? are missing something...weird!








Lots and lots of pretty spring flowers along the highway...


And these beautiful pink flowers (have no idea what they are) were actually at a rest stop right before Louisiana...









I even got a turn driving... Yay!




And then came Louisiana...




... And now I believe its time for a brief snooze... :~)


TO BE CONTINUED