Costa Rica

Posted on January 4, 2016 by vbvicwc

December started with a trip we had been planning forever and then POOF it was here. We went to Tamarindo, Costa Rica for my college friend Taamy’s wedding to her perfect match Dave. It all started with the card enclosed in our goody bag and ended with some of the best memories I’ll take to the grave.

We flew from Tampa to Atlanta, Atlanta to Liberia, Costa Rica. From there, we took a shuttle about an hour away to Tamarindo, a little surfer town right on the Pacific, close to the Nicaragua-side of Costa Rica. It was so cute and really hopping, with tons of shops, restaurants, and surfer hang-outs. We got to Hotel Pasatiempo, and tried to get a quick nap in before walking around and exploring the place.

Taamy is that friend (we all have one) who can’t wait to start planning her next exotic vacation, who will try anything once and more times if she likes it, who is fearless, beautiful, and fun fun fun. We were so honored to be invited to this intimate shin-dig and we were incredibly emotional to see their love and gratitude for their wedding weekend. Timmy actually had a moment during the ceremony where he couldn’t stop crying, it was really that overwhelmingly touching.

The first night we got there was the joint Bachelor-Bachelorette party at Casa Alang-Alang, the house that Taamy and Dave rented for the week. There was a moment where I was dancing on the side of one of their many infinity pools at the house they were staying at. All of the sudden, I got pushed into the pool, fully clothed. Now, I’m not one for drama, but if there’s ever a reason to get pissed off beyond belief, it would be when a grown ass adult pushes another grown ass adult into a pool fully clothed in a pretty dress.

Well, I did nothing because it was a wedding celebration party for Dave and Taamy and I will NEVER be THAT person who starts fights and takes attention away from the couple. I went upstairs, asked Taamy for a change of clothes, and obviously had to explain what happened, but I left it at that. Taamy and Dave were PISSED. I kept trying to diffuse the situation, but at this point, Taamy had had a few, and you could see the drunk spiral happen a mile away.

The next day, Taamy said she got so mad not because of the alcohol but because she hates when men think they can behave however they want around women because they’ve been drinking. I still think the spiral contributed to how upset she got, but either way, it was unfortunate and I wish it hadn’t happened. The guy who pushed me in however sent me and Timmy a nice bottle of sparking wine with a very classy apology note attached over the holidays, so it’s all good.

It was actually all good the first time he apologized, but I guess Taamy and Dave really let him have it later.

Their wedding was drop-dead gorgeous, their house was UNREAL (I mean it. It was like 10 bedrooms, owned by the guy who started Billabong and who owns Au Bon Pain, 3 infinity pools, and a cliffside view of the Pacific), their wedding vows were real and deep, and we couldn’t be happier that the two of these crazy people found each other in this world. Any opportunity to hang out with my college peeps is the best time ever.

Timmy learned from his Panama mishaps and decided to pack every undershirt he owns and also brought sweat towels. He DID NOT stop getting compliments from everyone on his suit choices and his towel decisions. He was so proud of himself. 🙂

There was a crazy, “This world is so small” moment we had while getting breakfast at a small place across the street from our hotel. We sat down and Timmy saw that the people next to us had an Oakland hat on. Taamy and Dave currently live in Oakland so it wasn’t a complete jump to assume they were there for the wedding. When we asked, they said no, they were actually on their honeymoon. This was the conversation.

Timmy: “Are y’all here for the wedding?”

Guy: “No, actually we’re here on our honeymoon.”

Timmy: “Oh cool, I thought you were since the bride and groom live in Oakland.”

Guy: “Nope, we live in Florida. We just got married in Orlando.”

Me: “Really?! I live in St. Pete and he lives in Orlando.”

Guy and Girl: “Where?”

Timmy: “Lake Mary.”

Guy: “Dude, I live in Sanford.”

After discussing the streets, they realized that they live 1.2 miles away from each other. WTF.

Then the owner of the cafe came out and said he was from Marietta and went to college at Georgia Southern. I mean, really.

So I’ll leave you with pictures, even though they don’t do any justice to the beauty and fun we had there. These college peeps of mine, god, I love them so much my heart wants to burst. Taamy and Dave, we love the hell out of you.

#DTInfinity

on our way to Costa Rica

our flask, aptly named

Bachelor/Bachelorette party

selfie stick time

views forever

Dave and Timmy

infinity pools

more infinity

me and the GORGEOUS bride Taamy

model couple

more infinity

wedding time

our pictures and placecards

Pangas Beach Club

just too pretty

us with the couple of the centurry

my NYU girls getting our pictures taken by our men

Taamy and Dave

♥,

Life Lately + Head Trauma

Posted on July 17, 2015 by vbvicwc

Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it. – Ferris Bueller

SO FREAKING TRUE. While we haven’t done anything monumental lately, we have had some really awesome weekends, and the more I forget to share, the faster the time seems to go.

Let’s start out by categorizing what’s been going on with our life lately!

Wedding Planning

I. AM. SO. EXCITED!!!! This is the stage where I’m the most comfortable being at when I’m planning anything. It’s the anticipatory, to-do lists, breathable, productive, I’m-going-to-conquer-the-world stage and I’m loving it.

Obviously, the beginning was ROUGH. Like, beyond rough. Like crying every day for a month rough. Once we set that date, it was a ticking time bomb strapped to my back. Looking back, it was a combination of everything in the world that overwhelms me, hitting me all at once.

Ginormous price tags? Check.
Guilt beyond belief at my parents paying? Check.
The idea of being married when I had never wanted that? Check.
Decisions that I never thought I would ever need to make and try to make them with someone who doesn’t like making decisions? Check.
Planning a major event from a different state for a reason that I never had wanted before? Check!

One of the main problems was that Timmy and I do not approach decision-making in the same way. In fact, we’re complete opposites. I’m a snap decision-maker. I don’t like to over-analyze anything and I just want to move on and get shit done. Timmy becomes paralyzed. He gets frustrated easily when it’s time to decide, and then he will just stonewall until he feels he’s had enough time (usually about 10,000 times longer than I’m okay with). This does not make for smooth decision making and it’s been an issue for a long time in our relationship in general.

But we sat down, hashed it out, and now we’re excellent. Timmy and I finally found a groove to wedding planning. I’ll do some research here and there and compile some ideas and send it to him, and then 2-3 weeks later, we’ll basically knock out like 3-5 decisions in one day. And I’ve had time to digest the fact that my parents WANT to do this for us and I can accept it now.

We have just under a year until we get married. This is what we’ve done so far:

wedding coordinator hired
date and time chosen
venue chosen
guest list almost complete
photographer chosen and engagement pictures printed
caterer, food options, baker, and design chosen
band chosen
alcohol package chosen
wedding website nearly complete
invitations printed
registries complete
save the dates designed
rehearsal dinner space booked
wedding dress and bridal party and outfits selected
bachelor/bachelorette party scheduled

I told you, I don’t mess around when it comes to planning. I want as much done now so that we can just pretty much coast up until the wedding. We have about 4 things on the docket that should be complete in the next few weeks, so as that to-do list gets done, I get happier and more and more excited to marry my partner.

Travels and Visits

The first weekend of June, I traveled to NY to celebrate my best friend Denise’s daughter’s baptism. Seeing as how I hadn’t met the little lady since she was inside her mom’s uterus, I thought it would be a great time to meet her and chill out with my besties. This trip, I didn’t even step inside Manhattan, which was a nice change of pace. It always feels like the city is trying to run me over when I visit because I try to fit so much into one weekend, and this time, we just stayed in the suburbs and enjoyed beautiful weather with family and friends.

Not going to lie, their apartment does not absorb sound well, so in addition to little Mary’s screams, I also was privy to the fighting Puerto Rican family below them, and good god, getting 4 hours of sleep is just not okay.

A few weekends later, my good friend from grad school, Alex, came down for a half week of relaxation and fun. This woman, god I love her. She’s amazing. Strong, driven, intelligent, and with a heart as big as the sun. I admire her in so many ways, and it’s always such a nice calming feeling to be around her. She pretty much came down to escape a little drama in her life in Atlanta, so we ate well, beached it, had a boat day with my old work colleague Leila and her husband, and just enjoyed ourselves thoroughly.

fun with Tia Victoria

starting them young on the Stuart Weitzmans!

this little lady…

boat day!

Leila and I

Alex comes to visit!

Pride Weekend

It’s really really fun living in monumental moments. Timmy had made the trek to St. Pete a few weekends in a row, and so Pride weekend (the last weekend in June) was supposed to be my weekend in Orlando. But then the Supreme Court upheld marriage equality Friday morning, and because Timmy is the most amazing person ever, he decided to come to St. Pete to help me volunteer and experience what a major civil rights victory feels like.

This year, I’ve been trying to volunteer more around my community, and Pride felt like another perfect moment to help out. I volunteered earlier in the week for the Stonewall Reception and got to meet the mayor of St. Pete. We volunteered together at a concert with someone from Glee (no clue, but holy cow they could sing!), and then we made it out to the nighttime Pride parade on Saturday night. Of course, Timmy is the greatest flirter in the world (which I warned him about), so he won the bead war. Hey, it’s not my fault most of the floats were men and Timmy was practically throwing himself at them!

Slut.

But all in all, it was pretty much the perfect weekend, and I can’t wait for next year! 🙂

Stonewall Reception

volunteering at Pride

nighttime Pride Parade

yes, this is on a float

Destin and 4th of July

UGGGGHHHH, this trip was no bueno for me. It seems like every time I’ve been to Destin, it ends in E.R. visits (which is actually the case for Timmy. He and his friends really have never been able to finish a trip to Destin without visiting a medical professional). They actually still had my information on file from the last time, like 5 years ago, when I jumped in the water and stepped on some barnacles which tore the sole of my foot up.

This time, it started out great. Magda and Corey, who so generously donated the BOTE board for our “30 Years, 1 Wish” party, invited us to stay in their renovated, white, shiny new home. Their house is super gorgeous and seems to be the perfect party pad. I’m not a huge alcohol drinker, so I knew I would have to psych myself up to hang out with this crew who have livers of steel. Not that I went overboard, but I definitely had to pace myself to get through the day drinking part (which for those of you who know me well, is NOT a strength of mine).

Friday, they had a get-together at their house where people just drove their boats up or paddled up on their boards (which is the greatest way of life, let me tell you) and we all hung out in the sun by their pool. Saturday started out much like Friday. The sun burning our eyes out (they hadn’t put up drapes yet), children crying, that sort of thing. But we were heading out to Crab Island, so I was excited to have a really awesome day.

The only photo I got of the weekend.

We made it out there, anchored the boat, played a frisbee game, met people, it was great! BOTE is constantly trying out new designs, and this weekend they were trying out a prototype for a wake surfing paddleboard. It’s smaller than a regular paddleboard, and way less stable. I tried it out a few times, was able to get the hang of it, and even tried (and failed) to do a little yoga on it.

But then, it all went downhill.

Here’s where my memory gets a little fuzzy. I remember talking with Timmy, facing their boat, and then all of the sudden I heard, “Look out!” and then BAM, the paddleboard came crashing down on the back of my head. If you’ve ever been hurt by something that’s also taken you by complete surprise, you understand the feeling. It was horrendous.

After that, I remember things in bits and pieces. I remember being brought on someone else’s boat to ice my head, I remember feeling really sleepy and just wanting to rest my eyes, and then I remember being at the E.R. with a brace around my neck, going in for a CT scan. I couldn’t remember who the president was at first (which made me cry because I was so scared).

Timmy was by my side the whole time. He was my rock, calming me down when I started to freak out, asking all the right questions, and helping me with insurance and confusing payments. In short, he was incredible.

The following week, I had some nausea, trouble sleeping, headaches, and general confusion. I had a lot of trouble getting words out, and am still kind of struggling here and there with speaking smoothly and quickly but in general, I’m completely back to normal. Timmy hated it but loved it because he eventually said, “I finally feel smarter than you!”

Slut.

After that, I felt good enough to have another St. Pete weekend (the last one in a while, since it’ll be my turn to visit Orlando multiple weekends in a row. It’s only fair). We had a really good time at the Rays game last Saturday night for an Emory alumni event, which I may or may not have outed him to everyone as a non-alum. As though his Auburn hat didn’t give him away. We had a delicious dinner at our new favorite place, Brick and Mortar, met a couple and talked with them the entire night. Sunday, we had lunch at Locale Market (an incredible, jaw-dropping place) and saw Jurassic World (which pretty much sucked. We were uber disappointed), and had ourselves a delightful weekend together.

Emory Alumni event, Tampa Bay Rays game

Timmy, the non-alum

on the field!

sunsetssssssssssss

the wine list at Brick & Mortar is top notch

the St. Petersburger at Locale

The weekends are getting harder and harder when it comes time to say goodbye. We may be seeing an end in sight as we try to figure out Timmy’s job and what moving will look like. We’re not there yet, but we’re definitely having the talks.

Life is so funny. As I’ve been going through the summer, I haven’t really felt like what we’ve been up to has been that interesting to share. I haven’t been taking as many photos, I’ve really been trying to be IN the moment. But now that I’ve finished writing this post, damn, we are busy people. I love our life.

♥, VB

The Ending of Summer

Posted on October 10, 2014 by vbvicwc

That really isn’t an accurate title seeing as how it’s still 85 degrees here in St. Pete every single day. Which probably explains how I had NO CLUE that it was already October, and trips and vacations have completely crept up on me, leaving me a little anxious and overwhelmed. When the seasons don’t change and every day the weather is the same, it’s really difficult to tell that time is passing.

But alas, it’s Fall now, and the only thing different here is that the sun is setting earlier. I can’t complain too much though, I’m still loving the warm weather and the ability to do anything I want outside now that the humidity is starting to slowly (and I mean slooooooowly) fade away. October here always means running around like crazy at work and in life, so I cannot explain how excited I am about our upcoming trip to Italy. A much needed vacation of wine, food, and enjoying our relationship. Coming home fatter is definitely the goal.

The last few weekends have slowed down as far as plans and visiting friends have gone, so it’s time to recap what life has been like lately.

First up, a month ago (good lord), Timmy’s best friends Corey and Magda were in Orlando selling their amazing stand up paddleboards (yes, they were the ones to donate the amazing raffle prize), so we ended up partying the night (almost) away on Friday. It was so fun to feel young again, we hadn’t gone out with friends to drink and watch a band in FOREVER. Was the band my type of band? NOPE. But Corey and Timmy felt 20 years old again, so Magda and I let them have their moment. The rest of the weekend was devoted to online classes for me, super blah.

Next up, Lucie and Mathew, one of Timmy’s best friends, flew down for a quick weekend getaway. I ended up quickly shooing them out of my apartment so we could get to the beach in time to watch a lovely Friday sunset. And man, was it spectacular.

I’m not even sorry that I hurried them out the door. It was necessary to see these views.

We spent a lot of time drinking that weekend as we got out for Local Fresh Brews Beer Fest in downtown St. Pete, which featured only local craft brews. And you know how Timmy and I love our craft beers! We had a great time, until a little snafu with the bouncer and the turning off of a t.v. featuring the UGA football game. We rallied as best we could, but for me, after my first full week with an added self defense class from 8-10pm on Wed. and teaching my class Thurs evening, I was DUNZO.

nailed it

Full disclaimer: I was not at my best this weekend. I was exhausted and I’m not the best day drinker. Once that sun set, I was pretty much done and couldn’t come up with the proper mature way to express myself. OBVIOUSLY, this started a huge fight between Timmy and I the next morning, which was clearly the last thing you ever want to happen with guests around. We ended up salvaging the day with a really fast beach trip (it started to rain almost an hour after we got there), so again, my apologies to Lucie and Mathew. I hope y’all still had fun, despite my lapse of etiquette.

The following weekend, one of my lifelong best friends came down with her son for a super quick weekend visit. We ended up at another beer fest (duh) which was really family and kid friendly, but Hank was having none of it. Heather ended up taking him back to my place for a little de-stresser, then came back for us in the pouring rain. Poor girl. We were super bummed they didn’t stay, but when momma starts to get stressed because baby is stressed, it’s just better for everyone involved to take a step back.

Timmy and I had a fantastic time at Green Bench Brewery, celebrating their one-year anniversary. We ended up hanging out with the bartender we met the weekend before, and the day culminated with a basketball game in the brewery. That night, the three of us played Cards Against Humanity, and had ourselves a super relaxing, fun night. All in all, not a bad day.

Hank and Floyd got along just fine

tug of war

riding dirty AND mean muggin

did you fart?

you did fart!

snuggles

basketball game in the Brewery…totally normal for St. Pete

best game ever

October is in the middle of its annual attempt to break me, so here goes nothing. I don’t plan on resurfacing for a while, not until it’s time for Italy. HOLY COW. ITALY.

♥, VB

3.5 Weeks, So Many Stories

Posted on June 17, 2014 by vbvicwc

So yes, that was a long blogging break. Although, I can’t say that it was a break from anything because since summer kicked into swing here at school, life has progressively gotten busier and crazier. And these are the months that are supposed to be slow, so that’s not saying good things for fall semester.

Life has been pretty freaking fantastic though, so don’t take me staying busy as a complaint. It’s been wonderful. I think of all those years I spent languishing at the CDC, sitting in front of a computer, hour after hour, with little face time with people I liked, and how every second I spent there, I wished for the life I have now. I appreciate everything I have here because I worked hard for it: my job, my friends, my relationships, and my partner. It has been 100% worth it to be able to say my life is busy all the time and I’m hardly ever bored anymore.

That last paragraph felt like the biggest victory ever.

I didn’t quite mean to stop blogging the last few weeks because things have been happening (I say that in the 70s, groovy, kind of way) but honestly, I just put this on the backburner to share. But now I’m back and I’ll fill you in on my life lately, because damn, it’s been good.

I’ve now had my new Mini for over 1 month and I’m totally in love. It’s fantastically fun to drive (like my last one) and I didn’t know this at the time, but it’s the perfect beach vehicle. We have packing for the beach down to an art. And since we know I love beautifully organized things, staring at my trunk filled with beach goodies is just such a joy. (I’m a dork.)

I’ve met a new friend, Jackie, and we’ve hung out a few times here and there, so that’s been refreshing. It’s so hard to meet new people, but if you don’t work with them, how on earth do you ever establish a relationship? She’s a super cool, chill woman, and her boyfriend and Timmy get along super well (like it’s hard to get along with Timmy), so hopefully we’ll be doing more things together this summer. Memorial Day weekend, we hit the Movies in the Park to see “The Jerk”, we took a dolphin sail tour and had a drinking day at the beach, and just in general had a great time! Yay to new friends!

monkey drinks

timmy and his bucket drink

timmy is ridiculous

jackie and i enjoying our monkey

timmy and jake enjoying each other

partnerships on the beach

Timmy and I finished the weekend in St. Pete with a fun date night and a stop at The Canopy, a beautiful downtown rooftop bar with amazing views of the waterfront. Since it was a holiday weekend, it was pretty empty, so we ordered some amazing drinks (my new favorite: Winter Sunset with a splash of agave), and loved on each other some more.

L-shaped handstands at Madeira Beach

almost there!

Timmy handstanding like a boss

me and the Winter Sunset

love this dude

The following weekend, my favorite NYU ladies came down to visit. This is the first time they’ve all been down to visit me since I moved away after college, and we could not have had a better weekend if we tried. The weather was amazing, we laughed, shelled, relaxed, and I made them all jealous of the beautiful town I live in.

Saturday, I took them stand up paddleboarding with a few friends from work, and we accidentally on purpose ended up paddling for two hours. If any of us had known ahead of time how long we’d be out there, I don’t think they would’ve signed up. But before we knew it, we were too far out to go back and too nice to complain, so ahead we forged. It ended up being one of my favorite days in St. Pete yet. 🙂

I also took them to the Canopy, and promptly forgot that the weekend before had been a holiday weekend, so therefore not representative of the normal crowd that goes there on Saturday nights. It was kind of gross. Like the tunnel crowd in Manhattan. It was very club-ratty, and my precious Winter Sunset didn’t have any agave at all. Whatever, we still had a blast because what else can you do?

Welcome to FL Leah!

candid at my front door

missing Taamy

love these beautiful ladies

#NYUinFL

freshman year suitemate reunion!

drinks at The Canopy

on our way to Shell Key

Leah loving the views

Jenny getting sun time in

Mel relaxing stylishly

Me doing the yoga, always

sand sculptures

Jenny, myself, Mel, and Leah at Treasure Island

the panoramic I tried to take turned into this

sunset viewing

of course we end with yoga. Love these girls

The next weekend (June has been and will continue to be PACKED on the weekends) we traveled over to Palm Coast to visit with Jake’s parents and his son. We previously had planned on the entire weekend, but due to a mistake in the planning, we only got one night with them. We wanted more, but hey, at least we got to visit at all! It was totally worth it too.

Jake’s son Aiden has such an immense love for his uncle Timmy, and I’m sad that I couldn’t get the one picture I wanted from that weekend. Those two together are like little devils, so I had to act fast to get candid shots like the one I wanted but ultimately got a blurred version. At dinner that night, Timmy was telling stories, and Aiden was staring at him with such a look of admiration, I got a little choked up watching it. It’s such an honor to be a part of that little guy’s life, and we definitely shared some age-appropriate stories about his father with him as promised.

Of course it was so difficult to leave them the next day as they packed up to head back to Atlanta. Cheryl cried, and it took everything I had in me to be strong and smile and wave. Love that family so much.

sunscreen time

the two are the best!

pool launch to commence in 3…

2…

1…

liftoff

the comedown

a little taste of Atlanta in Palm Coast

Cheryl and Tommy

blurry love

too much movement

they won’t stop

silly face take 1

silly faces take 2

The rest of the weekend we spent napping and loving on Floyd. Because he’s a rescue, we only know the history that was told to the organization that rescued him, and who knows if that was the truth. We don’t have an actual birth date for him and I so desperately wanted to celebrate one, so we made it up! We’re assuming he’s around 5 years old, so that’s what we celebrated on June 8.

the birthday boy and daddy

one happy family

baked good present!

sniffing the girl

um, what do I do with this?

I’m not eating this with this stupid hat on.

Dad, that’s not for you!

It’s mine!

Falcons bandana gift time!

As you can tell from the photos, Floyd has some warming up to do with his birthday hat, and Timmy thought I was a complete moron, but you know what. I. don’t. care. That little dog has lit up our lives, and he deserves to know that we love every year he’s with us!

The past weekend, my entire family came down to visit and oh what fun we had. My sister, Jared, and Charlotte came last year to stay with us in Lakeland while they visited Disneyworld, but this is the first time all the adults have been down, sans children. I didn’t particularly sell Lakeland well, so once I moved to St. Pete, I sold the hell out of it. I secretly wanted to talk my parents into buying a condo downtown near the waterfront and I could potentially move into a bedroom, pay part of the mortgage and serve as property manager at the same time, and hey, everyone wins! I may have gotten closer to that goal, I’ll let you know how it goes. 🙂

Friday night, we had dinner at 400 Beach Seafood & Tap House, right next to the historic Vinoy Hotel where they stayed. Holy cow, that’s beautiful place. I absolutely recommend it. As for food, I have now been to 400 Beach three times and I highly recommend it. The oysters are to die for, and the food is generally delicious and well priced. You can’t lose.

I then took them back to the Canopy and we had the greatest time. A few of us were a little happy, happy, but who cares when all you have to do is walk one block back to the hotel!? Also, after we returned to the hotel, we made a bathroom trip before driving back to my apartment, and when I exited the restroom, there’s Timmy, playing the name game with four people at the hotel for a wedding (we seriously can’t get away from them), one of whom was originally from McDonough, GA. Shocked I tell you. I was shocked.

Their last night, I made us a reservation at the Maritana Grille in the historic Loews Don Cesar Hotel on St. Pete Beach, mainly because I’ve been wanting to check out the hotel every time I drive past it to get to the beach. It’s GORGEOUS. And the restaurant knocked it out of the park. I didn’t have one thing I didn’t like, and my family for the most part agreed. All of the fish was cooked perfectly and the desserts, holy crap. We also celebrated Father’s Day, and because my dad is a dork, his favorite gift was the book of Godfather quotes my sister and I got him because he desperately needs a new line other than, “Leave the gun. Take the cannoli.”

my sister and bro in law

my fabulous parents

decor inside the Maritana Grille

beautiful people

very good looking people

World Cup footage on the iPhone…rude!

my black grouper, unreal

Timmy’s lamb chops

my sister and mom’s lobster papardelle

my chocolate dream of a dessert

time to study the quotes

the original gangster

That’s it for now. I think I’ve caught you all up. Do you feel caught up? Please tell me you do. I don’t have time to take that nap that I desperately want after writing this post.

♥, VB

Life Lately, According to my iPhone

Posted on April 24, 2014 by vbvicwc

Life has been pretty great lately. After all the traveling, things slowed down a bit, and I’m able to think clearly again. It’s so very nice.

We had a wedding last weekend in Atlanta which was a blast, and we have another wedding this weekend, which should be so so so fun. I have come down with a cold (thanks to the lady who was coughing up her lungs without covering her mouth on the plane last weekend…you suck), but I don’t care, I’m having fun this weekend no matter what.

Last weekend, we got a chance to visit with Matt after his first week of chemo, and I was so glad to be able to see him. After hearing about his stage 1 diagnosis, my mind was telling me “Yay! That’s good news as far as cancer is concerned.” But my heart was broken. Hearing this news so soon after Jake’s passing, I just don’t know how to describe the sadness I feel. And knowing about his chemo treatments, 5 days a week, 6 hours each day, one week on, two weeks off, 4 rounds…god, that’s going to be so rough on him and his family. I’ve been thinking about them nonstop, crying most mornings and fighting complete mental breakdown some days.

We also got to visit with Jake’s parents last weekend, and man, that was fun. Timmy had them dying laughing at some amazing Barbara stories. If only for 30 minutes, I’m glad we got them to laugh.

A few weekends ago, Timmy planned the best weekend in Lake Mary. We drove super fast cars at the Orlando Grand Prix where I was the only chick on the course and everyone was driving poorly (as in running into me and others. It’s not bumper cars…no wonder, since they were all dudes). We went to the Central Florida Zoo and were surprised at how sad zoos are once you’re an adult. The animals trapped in cages, unable to move very far…you don’t see that at all when you’re a child. And the weekend before that, we enjoyed a lovely day at Pass-A-Grille beach in St. Pete. God I love living here.

Here’s what life has been like the last month or so. Enjoy.