We're on our way home from Atlanta so I figured now would be as good of a time as any to update my blog :) I don't really know where I left off, but we left Wednesday night to come visit Gran & Pawpaw. We relaxed all day Thursday and went to the North Georgia State Fair that night (our annual tradition to go on opening night). Ryan got to see Chickfila cows first and thought it was hilarious to hear them moo, then we went to the petting zoo. We were greeted by like 5 goats and I thought he might be a little scared, but he just petted them and laughed. He also got to pet rabbits, emus, sheep, a chicken and a llama. From there, we went and ate ribbon fries and funnel cakes (after washing our hands of course lol), then we rode the Cyclops. Ryan loved the robot the best, and I suspect Gran did too after sharing a dance with it ;)
The next day we spent relaxing again since I didn't get much sleep for Terry's tossing and turning, and that night we had dinner with friends at Logan's Roadhouse. I don't think they all really know how much it meant to me that they were there, but we had such a blast! I did a "Surprise Theme" that we decided at the last minute to be "Halloween Shit"--bubble fingers, skull necklaces, stretchy skeletons and crazy eye glasses :) it was a night full of laughs and I hadn't realized how much I've been needing that!!
Today we got up and had lunch with Gran and Pawpaw before leaving. We stopped by to see Terry's family on the way out. Sure, we disn't get to see everyone, but we covered a lot of ground in our 2 days. I obviously miss Gran & Pawpaw already, but there's always next month when they come down to visit :)
Saturday, September 22, 2012
Friday, September 14, 2012
My Florida Bucket List
1. Learn to surf.
2. Ride on a fan boat in a swamp (preferably the Everglades)
3. Go to Sea World.
4. Snorkel in The Keys.
5. Go to the Hard Rock Casino in Tampa.
6. Try roller derby at least once.
7. Sponsor a sea turtle nest.
8. Camp out on the date that hatchlings are supposed to go back to sea.
9. Visit Pompano Beach where Terry grew up.
10. Take the dinner boat cruise that's across the street...well, Intracoastal.
11. Go to whatever spring has all the manatees in the winter.
12. Touch a manatee.
13. Jet ski the Intracoastal.
14. Learn to scuba dive.
15. Pick oranges out of an orange grove.
16. Visit all the amusement parks in Orlando.
17. Overcome my fear of snakes.
18. Catch a stingray while fishing.
19. Build the ultimate sandcastle.
20. Go to Cocoa Beach for Ron Jon's Surf Shop.
21. Visit the Space Center.
22. Get up in the middle of the night for a rocket launching.
23. Go to the beach for a meteor shower.
24. Visit Terry's uncle and other relatives in Florida.
25. Visit the Florida Caverns State Park.
26. Visit the Alligator Farm in St. Augustine.
27. Go on the Pirate Ship in St. Augustine.
28. See a ghost (this can be at any haunted attraction!).
29. Successfully fly a kite at the beach.
30. Convince 1 friend or family member to move here.
....I'm sure this list will grow, but I have enough for now!!! And for the record, I've accomplished some Bucket List things not on this list such as: Holding an alligator, trying fish tacos, having a paranormal experience, seeing a manatee, catching AND releasing my own fish, and many more I can't think of...of course, moving here in itself was on my Bucket List of Life! lol
2. Ride on a fan boat in a swamp (preferably the Everglades)
3. Go to Sea World.
4. Snorkel in The Keys.
5. Go to the Hard Rock Casino in Tampa.
6. Try roller derby at least once.
7. Sponsor a sea turtle nest.
8. Camp out on the date that hatchlings are supposed to go back to sea.
9. Visit Pompano Beach where Terry grew up.
10. Take the dinner boat cruise that's across the street...well, Intracoastal.
11. Go to whatever spring has all the manatees in the winter.
12. Touch a manatee.
13. Jet ski the Intracoastal.
14. Learn to scuba dive.
15. Pick oranges out of an orange grove.
16. Visit all the amusement parks in Orlando.
17. Overcome my fear of snakes.
18. Catch a stingray while fishing.
19. Build the ultimate sandcastle.
21. Visit the Space Center.
22. Get up in the middle of the night for a rocket launching.
23. Go to the beach for a meteor shower.
24. Visit Terry's uncle and other relatives in Florida.
25. Visit the Florida Caverns State Park.
27. Go on the Pirate Ship in St. Augustine.
28. See a ghost (this can be at any haunted attraction!).
29. Successfully fly a kite at the beach.
30. Convince 1 friend or family member to move here.
....I'm sure this list will grow, but I have enough for now!!! And for the record, I've accomplished some Bucket List things not on this list such as: Holding an alligator, trying fish tacos, having a paranormal experience, seeing a manatee, catching AND releasing my own fish, and many more I can't think of...of course, moving here in itself was on my Bucket List of Life! lol
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Old Brandi Vs. New Brandi
This week has been pretty productive if I do say so myself--and good thing too, because we're going to GA next week!! I'm pretty excited to see Gran & Pawpaw first and foremost :) I went from seeing Gran at least once a week to maybe once a month now, and I'm not liking that part of living here!! I'm also excited to see Terry's family and some of our friends too--and lastly, going to the fair!!! I had been feeling conflicted about the actions of some for when we go up there, but after a long talk with Mom yesterday at the beach, I feel pretty at peace about it. In the end, I'm doing my part and driving the 400 miles to be there. Whatever everyone else decides to do about it is their decision and I respect it either way.
Which reminds me...I was telling a friend over the weekend about how I wasn't going to worry about whether or not someone was mad at me because only they can make themselves mad, and I love what he said back to me (though I don't remember it verbatim) something along the lines about reading self-help books :) It seems to collaborate with what Terry has been saying lately when he always compares what The Old Brandi would have done in a particular situation. From what I gather, The New Brandi is less uptight, less confrontational, and above all, less mean! I have not completely mastered whatever new attitude I've taken on by any means, but I like that people notice that I have changed to some degree and hopefully for the better.
It's still not to say that I've become a complete and total pushover....just because I don't go off on someone when they make me mad doesn't mean my blood still doesn't boil and that it doesn't take everything in me to resist it. I just deal with it differently and with less opportunity for it to happen in the future. I love my new path in life and I refuse to bring unnecessary anger with me--to put it in a metaphor, I'm leaving that baggage where it is and moving forward without it--be it a person or a situation. Unfortunately, my temper still goes with me, so I still have to work on keeping that thing under control.....
Which reminds me...I was telling a friend over the weekend about how I wasn't going to worry about whether or not someone was mad at me because only they can make themselves mad, and I love what he said back to me (though I don't remember it verbatim) something along the lines about reading self-help books :) It seems to collaborate with what Terry has been saying lately when he always compares what The Old Brandi would have done in a particular situation. From what I gather, The New Brandi is less uptight, less confrontational, and above all, less mean! I have not completely mastered whatever new attitude I've taken on by any means, but I like that people notice that I have changed to some degree and hopefully for the better.
It's still not to say that I've become a complete and total pushover....just because I don't go off on someone when they make me mad doesn't mean my blood still doesn't boil and that it doesn't take everything in me to resist it. I just deal with it differently and with less opportunity for it to happen in the future. I love my new path in life and I refuse to bring unnecessary anger with me--to put it in a metaphor, I'm leaving that baggage where it is and moving forward without it--be it a person or a situation. Unfortunately, my temper still goes with me, so I still have to work on keeping that thing under control.....
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Let the guilt go....
Yes, that's a Korn song.
It has in fact, turned out to be one of those weeks. I think I've been upset over something every single day! I think I'm just ready to get some stuff behind me. I've always been one to prefer getting something over with and out of the way, so anything that goes this painfully slow just realllllly irritates me....and it makes me even more irritated that I not only get to do this on the home front, but now on the car front. I still have no regrets, and even with all the junk this week, it's been so nice to walk outside and go look out over the Intracoastal, or drive by the beach and feel the cooler air blow in the windows.....I don't feel "homesick" in the sense that I miss our old house, because I don't. I do feel "homesick" over my loved ones up there. I'll feel better in a couple of weeks when we go visit--it's just still part of getting adjusted to living somewhere so new. I do have friends now, and I really like the few I've made. They make me feel more settled in, and it validates how we've established ourselves here and that this is our new home.
I don't like feeling like I've hurt or disappointed any of the people I care about by moving here. Mom says I need to stop feeling guilty all everything. I do tend to feel guilt over a lot of things that don't really merit it. If I go to dinner with Terry and then decline to do something else over money, I feel guilty. If I decline doing anything in general, I feel guilty. To this day, I still feel guilty about a facebook disagreement 2 years ago that never even got heated. How do you let those feelings go? I've never been good at it, and then I often over-compensate for whatever wrong I've committed until I end up spreading myself too thin or getting my feelings hurt when it's not recognized. Is this some weird only child thing??? Whatever it is, I need to work on it.
Next goal.
In the meantime, it's coming up a storm, so I'm going to go enjoy that!
It has in fact, turned out to be one of those weeks. I think I've been upset over something every single day! I think I'm just ready to get some stuff behind me. I've always been one to prefer getting something over with and out of the way, so anything that goes this painfully slow just realllllly irritates me....and it makes me even more irritated that I not only get to do this on the home front, but now on the car front. I still have no regrets, and even with all the junk this week, it's been so nice to walk outside and go look out over the Intracoastal, or drive by the beach and feel the cooler air blow in the windows.....I don't feel "homesick" in the sense that I miss our old house, because I don't. I do feel "homesick" over my loved ones up there. I'll feel better in a couple of weeks when we go visit--it's just still part of getting adjusted to living somewhere so new. I do have friends now, and I really like the few I've made. They make me feel more settled in, and it validates how we've established ourselves here and that this is our new home.
I don't like feeling like I've hurt or disappointed any of the people I care about by moving here. Mom says I need to stop feeling guilty all everything. I do tend to feel guilt over a lot of things that don't really merit it. If I go to dinner with Terry and then decline to do something else over money, I feel guilty. If I decline doing anything in general, I feel guilty. To this day, I still feel guilty about a facebook disagreement 2 years ago that never even got heated. How do you let those feelings go? I've never been good at it, and then I often over-compensate for whatever wrong I've committed until I end up spreading myself too thin or getting my feelings hurt when it's not recognized. Is this some weird only child thing??? Whatever it is, I need to work on it.
Next goal.
In the meantime, it's coming up a storm, so I'm going to go enjoy that!
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
One of those weeks?
Is it going to be one of THOSE weeks????? I was sick all day yesterday, and then today I got in my first wreck EVER...well, where I was driving and hadn't merely backed into a parked car lol--but still, it has made way for continuation of a potentially bad week. I was turning left into the Palm Coast Rec. Center after having been to get more medicine from yesterday's illness when a car came up on my left going the wrong way hit the front of Terry's truck. I thought he was about to drive off because he continued further up, so I immediately starting trying to remember his tag, but fortunately he put his truck in reverse and followed me into the Rec. Center parking lot. Ryan was in the backseat, and his reaction was to tell me "No say that!!" when I yelled "Oh SHIT!!!!" I got my mom and my friend Danielle to take him and his ET doll into the Teddy Bear Picnic while I did all the report filing. I didn't flip out on the guy, who was very apologetic but also complaining that he was going to be late for a meeting. The hardest thing for me is going to be to not let my nerves get the best of me the rest of the week...there's alot that could go really well or really wrong!!!
Sunday, September 2, 2012
The Taco Trend
It's been another great week in Paradise :)
Well, except for Tuesday.....I think everyone got up on the wrong side of the bed Tuesday, because it was one of those days that just didn't flow. It started with our morning venture to Books A Million for story time, where a different girl was doing the reading and couldn't get through Green Eggs And Ham fast enough. She almost started without my friend and made a huge deal about how she "needed to get back to work." I don't really understand this...does she not get paid for story time? Or does someone just take her job waaaaay too seriously? In addition to this, Ryan was in a strange mood and pitched a fit near the end, then refused to eat when we got home and pitched another fit, so by the time 2:00 rolled around and he took his nap, I didn't protest when he slept almost 3 hours (I snuck in a nap of my own!).
Wednesday, Ry and I got up and I made him Green Eggs and Ham for breakfast--he ate all of it! It was his favorite all week :) We used green food coloring of course, and I made it into an omelet with cheese. I was quite relieved to not have to fight him on this! He then helped me to make some taco soup and once again he ate all of it for dinner. It makes me think that maybe I should let him help every time I cook because he was so much more enthusiastic about eating that way.
Terry was off Thursday, so we spent the day running some errands and later went fishing out back at the pavillion. We took Ryan's tricycle with us and let him run wild. Terry caught 2 tiny catfish and Ryan was brave enough to touch one. Oddly enough, we made sure we went to Taco Bell for lunch for some tacos, and for dinner we were even more unhealthy and had corn dogs and cheese fries--we were getting into the fair spirit for the fall :)
Friday, Terry worked late. I reallllllly wanted to go to Hurricane Patty's for their "Blue Moon Party" where they ran a special for $6.99 coconut shrimp dinners, but it was pretty hot so my parents offered to go with me to Cracker Barrel. It turned out to be a great idea, because Ryan and I had a great meal and we got to do a little shopping :) We decided to drive back up the coast afterward and then hung out at our place until Terry got home. The funniest thing that night was when we were talking about True Blood and Dad said that he didn't like it because it "wasn't true to vampires." I was going to let it slide, but Mom didn't! "You do know that all vampires are fictional, riiiiiight?"
Saturday, Ryan and I went to the beach with my parents at Marineland and me and Mom rode some waves. The water was PERFECT--great temperature, it was so clear you could see your own feet, and there was no rip current. There were also tons of fish that you could see in every wave and lines of them between you and whoever you were with. Ryan only wanted to stay for an hour, so we went back, got a short nap in, and then went to a birthday party. It was fun and Ryan played hard and then went to spend the night with his Grandmama and Grand-dude :) Terry and I still wanted to go to Hurricane Patty's, so we went there for dinner. He ordered shrimp tacos and I ordered cajun ranch wings (during Happy Hour they're $.50 each), and we split everything....And for the record, shrimp tacos are better than fish tacos. I'm totally hooked!! The live band was pretty good too--and they played Brandy (You're a Fine Girl) and I had to give Terry a hard time for having never heard that song before--people sing it to me alllll the time lol! After that, we went fishing out back and met up with our friends that are always there every Saturday too. I love how we've really settled in here. It really feels like home now :)
Today, Terry and I went to this beach this morning and we're having a cookout with Mom & Dad shortly for Labor Day. We're having ribs and other goodies :) I'm trying not to focus on some of the stuff going on in GA the next couple of weeks involving the house, but what will happen will happen, and I still have no regrets. Terry and I agreed on one thing last night that was for sure. "We've had one hell of an awesome summer." Soooooooo true!!!!
And also, what was with all the tacos this past week????
Well, except for Tuesday.....I think everyone got up on the wrong side of the bed Tuesday, because it was one of those days that just didn't flow. It started with our morning venture to Books A Million for story time, where a different girl was doing the reading and couldn't get through Green Eggs And Ham fast enough. She almost started without my friend and made a huge deal about how she "needed to get back to work." I don't really understand this...does she not get paid for story time? Or does someone just take her job waaaaay too seriously? In addition to this, Ryan was in a strange mood and pitched a fit near the end, then refused to eat when we got home and pitched another fit, so by the time 2:00 rolled around and he took his nap, I didn't protest when he slept almost 3 hours (I snuck in a nap of my own!).
Wednesday, Ry and I got up and I made him Green Eggs and Ham for breakfast--he ate all of it! It was his favorite all week :) We used green food coloring of course, and I made it into an omelet with cheese. I was quite relieved to not have to fight him on this! He then helped me to make some taco soup and once again he ate all of it for dinner. It makes me think that maybe I should let him help every time I cook because he was so much more enthusiastic about eating that way.
Terry was off Thursday, so we spent the day running some errands and later went fishing out back at the pavillion. We took Ryan's tricycle with us and let him run wild. Terry caught 2 tiny catfish and Ryan was brave enough to touch one. Oddly enough, we made sure we went to Taco Bell for lunch for some tacos, and for dinner we were even more unhealthy and had corn dogs and cheese fries--we were getting into the fair spirit for the fall :)
Friday, Terry worked late. I reallllllly wanted to go to Hurricane Patty's for their "Blue Moon Party" where they ran a special for $6.99 coconut shrimp dinners, but it was pretty hot so my parents offered to go with me to Cracker Barrel. It turned out to be a great idea, because Ryan and I had a great meal and we got to do a little shopping :) We decided to drive back up the coast afterward and then hung out at our place until Terry got home. The funniest thing that night was when we were talking about True Blood and Dad said that he didn't like it because it "wasn't true to vampires." I was going to let it slide, but Mom didn't! "You do know that all vampires are fictional, riiiiiight?"
Saturday, Ryan and I went to the beach with my parents at Marineland and me and Mom rode some waves. The water was PERFECT--great temperature, it was so clear you could see your own feet, and there was no rip current. There were also tons of fish that you could see in every wave and lines of them between you and whoever you were with. Ryan only wanted to stay for an hour, so we went back, got a short nap in, and then went to a birthday party. It was fun and Ryan played hard and then went to spend the night with his Grandmama and Grand-dude :) Terry and I still wanted to go to Hurricane Patty's, so we went there for dinner. He ordered shrimp tacos and I ordered cajun ranch wings (during Happy Hour they're $.50 each), and we split everything....And for the record, shrimp tacos are better than fish tacos. I'm totally hooked!! The live band was pretty good too--and they played Brandy (You're a Fine Girl) and I had to give Terry a hard time for having never heard that song before--people sing it to me alllll the time lol! After that, we went fishing out back and met up with our friends that are always there every Saturday too. I love how we've really settled in here. It really feels like home now :)
Today, Terry and I went to this beach this morning and we're having a cookout with Mom & Dad shortly for Labor Day. We're having ribs and other goodies :) I'm trying not to focus on some of the stuff going on in GA the next couple of weeks involving the house, but what will happen will happen, and I still have no regrets. Terry and I agreed on one thing last night that was for sure. "We've had one hell of an awesome summer." Soooooooo true!!!!
And also, what was with all the tacos this past week????
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)