Fun adventure at Mai-Kai in Ft Lauderdale

On Saturday, Dale's family, Dale, & I went to Mai-Kai in Ft. Lauderdale to enjoy the wonderful dinner show filled with fire dancers and hawiian dancers. It was an amazing show. Dale & I really enjoyed ourselves. We're thinking about going there again for our anniversary!

Engagement Party for Jimmy & Lauren

It's a little late, but I wanted to share some memories from Jimmy & Lauren's engagement party. The party was at the club house. Lauren's family came down on a cruise and stayed down for a few days. A lot of family from FL came to the party. Lauren's family is very nice. She'll fit into our family just fine. We had a lot of delicious food, followed by great a few drinks, lots of laughter, singing, and dancing.

Summer Goals.

It's been a while since my last blog, but I decided to give a little update before school starts back up again. I decided to take a semester off from school to relax and enjoy the summer a little. It was well needed and well spent. During the summer, I began working on a scrapbook album for a friend, I got back on track with my diet and exercise, and shifted priorities to finding a house. I'm about half way finished with my album.

I've lost 3 1/2 lbs in the last 3 weeks and lost a total of 3 inches so far. I'm taking it slowly with the weight loss, but that's a sure way to keep it off. I've been using a great website called www.sparkpeople.com to journal my food intake and excersise. This website is amazing. It is a whole network of people with similar goals. They give you your own web page, plan your meals for you, give you options for running various reports, etc. I just plan my meals for a week at a time and post it on the fridge so when it gets hectic during the week all I have to do is glance up at the fridge. I'm also tracking how many points I consume using the Weight Watchers method in addition to this. Since I've made the switch to a healthier lifestyle, I have so much more energy, I've been sleeping better at night, and I'm in a much better mood. What a great change!

As for the house hunting, we currently have a contract on a short sale in Wellington, FL. It's a beautiful home in a great neighborhood with A-rated schools. What more could you ask for. The only thing I don't like is it is still about 30 min from family and work. We decided to extend our contract for another month. The good news is the BPO (sort of like an appraisal) was done recently and now at least a negotiator is looking at our offer. So hopefully within the next couple of weeks, the offer will go to the bank. Dale & I are praying our offer is accepted soon. We are anxious to get out of this tiny 1 bedroom apartment and move into our first home.

School starts August 31st, which is not too far around the corner. It's going to be rough juggling everything in addition to getting my masters degree, but I'll get through it. This sacrifice will be well worth it in the end.

This Saturday I'm going to an engagement party for my cousin Jimmy and his new fiance, Lauren. A lot of family will be coming into town. I'm reallly looking forward to seeing everyone again. I'll be sure to take lots of pictures! :)

Mother's Day

Today was a great day. Aunt Teresa invited the family over for a Mother's Day brunch. Pretty much the entire family was there. There was soooo much food! We had eggs, bacon, pancakes, a few quiches, coffee cake, french toast pie, sandwiches, bagels, etc. I was SO stuffed. All the mothers got a special seat at the dining table with champagne and orange juice and a flower. My cousin Michelle is in town for the next week. She brought her little dog Baby Cash on the plane. He was so cute. He burned his feet when walking on the pavement :( It's always nice to see family. We all sat and watch an old video of our family way back in the day. Wow it's amazing how everyone has changed! Here's a few pictures from today :)

House Hunting....First week

Yesterday was our first day for house hunting. We found a couple of really cute townhomes in the Wellington area. We have been looking in that area for a while because the schools are really great. Dale & I really loved the 3rd place we looked at. It was a two-story 3 bedroom 2.5 bath townhome. It needed a little work, but it is being offered at a great price and we just loved the layout of the home. The thing we loved the most was the quiet neighborhood. It just seemed so peaceful. In fact, we even bumped into one of the owners of a different townhome and she said it was very quiet and a nice place to live. We saw a few other townhomes after that, but for some reason that one townhome keeps sticking in our minds. The current owners were also willing to throw in a $2500 decorating bonus to replace the flooring and whatever else we wanted to replace. We definitely want to look at a few more places before making a decision, but this one looks promising :)

Getting Preapproved for our first home...

Today Dale & I got pre-approved for our first home. I was amazed of how good our credit is! All the hard work of paying off our debt has really paid off. We are going to start looking next Saturday and we're really excited! We will finally have a place we can truely call home. We both really look forward to decorating our house at Christmas, having family BBQs in the back yard, celebrating birthday parties with friends and family, and decorating our home. This is the start of a new chapter in our lives. We're ready to take the next step in our marriage. Everyday our love seems to grow stronger and stronger. It's just amazing how beautiful love can be if you just open your heart and let it lead you. We're excited to share our journey of purchasing our first home. There will be more to come for sure.

Swine Breakout

Here are some precautions against the swine flu at home, the office, and other public places:

· Cover your mouth and nose when coughing or sneezing
· Wash your hands often to keep them free of germs
· Avoid close contact with people who are sick
· Stay at home when you are sick
· Avoid touching your nose, eyes, or mouth

There are some very informative Web sites if you want more information. Visit:

World Health Organization
http://www.who.int/csr/disease/swineflu/en/index.html

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu/?s_cid=swineFlu_outbreak_internal_001

Good websites for mothers day gifts....

I found a few really nice web sites for mothers day gifts. The flowers are actually affordable and absolutely beautiful.

http://www.proflowers.com (if you go to coupons.com, you can get an additional 10% off your flowers)

http://www.ftd.com (you get $15 off if you order two or more sets of flowers from here)

http://www.newyorkandcompany.flowerclub.com

Last year, my mother said the flowers I got her lasted well over a week without dying. I'm glad to do something nice for my mother. She's always been there for me throughout my life. She and my dad really went through a lot of trouble to give me and Dale a nice wedding. It really was beautiful and everything I'd ever hoped for. She deserves the best! Well off to studying again before bedtime... :)

Fun day of shopping...

What a great day of shopping! I'll tell you, New York and Company has become my favorite new store. I owe a great thanks to my mother for introducing me to that store! She always new how to find great clothes for me at Christmas time. They are having a really great sale this weekend. I got three new pairs of work pants for under $20 a piece! I also got a nice button down top also for under $20. They have these tops in multiple colors and patterns. I may go back and get a few more later ;) I took some more pictures of the clothes I got! Can't you tell I'm excited about my new camera!

I love my new digital camera! Check out the pictures below. You can e-mail pictures to friends and family. Also, there are a lot of different options for the pictures such as black and white or panoramic photos. It's amazing how far technology has come over the last couple of years!

I also got a great new bra at Victoria Secret. It's called the "Perfect Bra". Now i know why they call it that! It really gives you so much support and is so comfortable! Well, off to studying! :)

Back to reality today....

Today, I went back to work (with leftovers of course!) It was a very productive day. I discovered a problem with one of our external tools. Working with IT can be challenging at times as a business person. I'm still trying to understand all the lingo they use and the SQL queries they design. I've started to learn a little bit myself. It really helps to find data much quicker!

Mom and dad left to go home today. They went to the Bowers family reunion in the Panhandle. It's a shame Dale and I couldn't be there. Poor Dale is in great pain from an ingrown toenail :(

I met with my study group for my Managerial Accounting MBA class tonight until about 10:30 pm. We spent about 3 hours just trying to solve one problem! We figured it is probably a good idea to go home, rest our brains for the night, and try again Sunday afternoon. I'm blessed to have such an easygoing study group. We all get along really well. One of the girls also went to FSU and graduated about a year or two before me. There are actually quite a few FSU graduates in my graduate program. Go Noles! Well, it's about that time to catch a few zzzzz's before a long day of shopping tomorrow! :)

Family celebrations...continued

Boy when we celebrate, we celebrate! Our family always knows how to throw a good party! Today was a great day. I took the day off work and drove down to Grandma's to spend the day with my parents. We took a nice swim in the pool. Boy, the weather was so beautiful today! The sun was very bright, but there was a wonderful breeze. Perfect sunbathing weather :) We went to the farm in Deerfield Beach and loaded up on tons of fruits and veggies. Then we had to go to Publix to get ready for our big dinner tonight. I never realized how much cheaper fruits and veggies are at the market! For $15 dollars, I got a whole watermelon, a pineapple, 2 lbs of green beans, 1 head of broccoli, 1 pkg of asparagus, apples, and 5 ears of corn on the cob. That would have probably costed me double at publix.

Then we went to see the remodeling work everyone has done on their condos. It's like everyone is moving to Deer Creek now! Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Teresa's condo is beautiful. Uncle Jim just finished putting up the backsplash in the kitchen to match the new granite countertops. Very nice. Also, Dolly showed us her condo. I was amazed by how clean it was! The walls were filled with pale greens and corals. The kitchen was beautiful with dark wood floors. It made me even more excited for when Dale and I finally purchase our 1st home!

Then came dinner. Grandma really cooked up a storm! She made sauce with homeade ravioli's, rigatoni, meatballs, and pigs feet. Aunt Mary made her world famous salad. We also had fried mushrooms, roasted peppers, and bread. Don't forget the key lime pie and carrot cake for dessert. Boy am I stuffed!

I had to leave a little early to get home and finish some schoolwork before my group meeting tomorrow. The ride home was really long since I was stuck in bad traffic on 95 :( I got home a little after 9 in just enough time to do a little school work. Just as I was beginning to feel frustrated about not being able to get a problem, Dale comes in with a margarita (the recipe we got from our honeymoon in Puerto Rico). So, I think now I'm just going to sit back, relax, drink my margarita, and then get ready for bed. I'll sleep good on this nice full stomach!

Birthday Surprise!

I'm really excited about starting a new blog. This is my first blogger, so hang in there with me! Today is my birthday it was really such a wonderful day. My family took me out to a nice Italian restaurant in Boynton Beach. I thought it was going to be a small outing with my grandmother, Aunt Mary and Uncle Dick, my husband Dale, and my cousin Stephanie. Little did I know, my parents were in town all week for a convention and paid a little surprise visit at dinner :) What a pleasant surprise! I really was not expecting it at all! Everyone said I had a dumbfounded look on my face when my parents walked out! Funny thing is I kept calling my parents all week and they weren't answering my calls. I even told Dale they were acting "weird" all week. When I didn't receive a "Happy Birthday" phone call like I usually do, I felt a little disappointed. Now I know it's because they were only a short distance away! I am going to go birthday shopping this weekend for some new work clothes and I'd love to get a new digital camera so I can get caught up with pictures again.

Also, I received a voicemail on my phone after work today. I listed to it and heard a sweet voice singing happy birthday. It was Dale's mother singing. That was very sweet of her. His grandmother also called to wish me a happy birthday. It's so funny that Dale's mother has the same birthday as me! And Dale's birthday is only one day before my mothers. How ironic? I guess it was meant to be :)

It was a wonderful day I will never forget. I can't believe I am already 27! Whoa!