Not so cool afterall...

When I first started writing this blog my ultimate goal was to become one of those cool moms who had tons of funny and witty things to say about their life, their kids, etc or the cool moms who knew how to cook kick ass meals,take AMAZING photos, or craft tons of really awesome stuff that of course, they would sell on Etsy and make lots of money while also staying home and raising their super photogenic children-me, well I'm making no money but have you seen my child? Model in the making! ;)The moms who blog everyday, have a million readers and sponsors who join them in this ever growing sisterhood of moms who like to share TMI(but totally rock for doing so!) lol Me? Well, I'm just a mom who gets sidetracked (A lot, my last post was 2 1/2 months ago), goes to school full time, is raising a 20 year old (subtract the 0, well sometimes! lol) and planning a wedding...most of the time the best thoughts come into my head right before I fall asleep and after a day of chasing a toddler, writing papers with a million words each, picking up the same toys over and over and OVER again, etc, etc, I am certainly not taking my sweet head off that pillow! SO here I am again, playing catch up!


We are currently in Atlantic City after spending about two months at Lake Norman, one week at Holden Beach and then a week in Tampa for the Fourth of July!

I can't say that we will be hitting up any Casinos (for anything other than dinner of course!) since I'm pretty sure gambling with a two year old is illegal..plus, the last time Chad and I went to a Casino we didn't do so well! lol But, I am excited to be here since beyond the Taj Mahal and Revel there does seem to be an abundance of things to do with children so that's nice! Oh, and their aquarium only costs $8 per person TAKE THAT! Georgia overpriced Aquarium! Seriously, we spent $70 bucks just to get in that place and for what? One cool dolphin show 

and a slide she was too small to go down!  (take my advice, save your money!) Also, they have an outlet mall so..you know where I'll be! lol

Hmm, what else?

This little beauty

Is talking up a storm these days I mean, full fledged sentences! Which could be a good thing OR a bad thing depending on who you ask! lol She is also learning new tricks such as, jumping off the table-which IS a bad thing no matter who you ask! lol All in all, this new two year old chapter even with its occasional attitudes is a lot of fun! The world really is a better place when you are looking at it from the eyes of a child!

What else? Oh yes, marrying the love of my life! :) We still have some ways to go BUT we are about to sign a contract for this lovely little place that we are in love with (which deserves its own blog, coming shortly!) So that is SUPER exciting! I have other ideas as well which I promise to also blog..lord knows, I need help sorting them all out and figuring out which ones we will use!

My cool mom promise from here on out is to blog more, even if that means getting "my sweet head off my pillow" :)

Till next time..

My very big girl!

I woke up to a little girl singing "Happy, B Happy, Happy Irthday" a little girl who turned 2 today! I certainly had one of those Mommy flashbacks starting from the day she was born, to her first birthday and then now.Thinking of how much has changed, how much she's grown,enriched my life and what the future holds for us! She gets "bigger" everyday, more self aware and that is exciting! She is becoming a little person of her own which at times gets so frustrating for the both of us..mainly because she wants to do EVERYTHING all on her own and I'm still learning that she can..learning to let go of my little bambino and let her be a little girl, which is hard sometimes...In the words of Jack Johnson:

                        "My little girl, you've gone and stole my heart and made it your own"

                                                       Happy Birthday Lily Anne!!

                                      Little cupcake face wouldn't sit still for any other picture!! :)

Things I love Thursday!!

Whelp, we didn't go to New Hampshire but..I still love it! :) It is one of things I love and hate about Chads job, the spontaneity of it..on one hand I love the adventure, the unseen, the possibilities and on the other I hate making plans(or not being able to make plans) because things change so last minute...so until tomorrow anyways, we are still in Va beach and I am in my final week of Algebra 1 and Special Education for Today's Teachers so sorry if I have been MIA until now! :) with that being said...

I LOVE Virginia Beach!

To be honest, it might be the Florida girl in me but I love any beach! :) Of course this one will always hold a special place in my heart since after all, it is where I got engaged to the most marvelous man! :) Here are a few of our favorite places:

Great Italian Restaurant! Good fresh food(they make their own pasta, sauce, etc everyday) and well, this is where we had dinner right before the BIG moment! ;) P.s. Ask for Rich he is an awesome server!

Doc Taylor's is the local favorite for breakfast around Virginia Beach and after eating there a few times we could see why..SO good!! Everything is cooked perfectly-the eggs, bacon, all the way down to the toast-not too hard, not too soft, just perfect(I'm big on breakfast and bread y'all! lol) I should warn you, that if your like me, who occasionally likes a good Mimosa for breakfast beware because they are SUPER strong..I literally watched the bartender pour an entire wine glass full and splash in some OJ(which I won't lie, is exactly the way I do it at home! ha). ALSO, prepare to wait at least 30 minutes on a SLOW day but believe me it is worth

The Taphouse has great burgers, wings etc(casual food) and an awesome beer selection..plus it is on the beach with an outside seating area where you can bring your dog which is really nice!

Isn't that thing awesome? The Abbey Road Pub and Restaurant is dedicated to the Beatles(they even state that they have the largest collection of Memorabilia this side of England or whatever!) Good food, a plethora of beer choices and never ending Beatles tunes which makes for a pretty good lunch!

This is where we stayed while in Va. Beach and I highly recommend it! Four pools, four playgrounds, putt putt golf, an arcade, two stores on site and a bike bath that leads directly to the beach(we used that often!) overall it was a really great place!

I LOVE Dick Clark! :(

I am a New Years baby. I did not know the Dick Clark of American Bandstand(well, not until later in life when I researched his bio) I simply knew the Dick Clark who ushered in my birthday every year..for a long time as a child I thought the celebration was just for me(delusional I know! ha ha) and as I got older and starting going out to parties I had only one stipulation: I must be in front of the  TV before the ball drops, to watch Dick Clark, to watch the show..when he suffered his stroke and Regis Philbin took his place(later Ryan Seacrest) I cried and boycotted the show that year..it just wasn't the same and now it never will be again! I will miss him, he was a constant in my life, part of my birthday tradition and New Years Eve just won't be Rocking without him!

On a happier note we are headed home to Winston this weekend for Lily's early birthday party and to hang out with family and friends which is much needed! YAY!!

Things I love Thursday!!

I love New Hampshire!

Which is probably a good thing because that is where we are headed for the next five weeks!
This trip feels very full circle for us because Portsmouth, NH/Kittery Maine is where I spent my first trimester of pregnancy and now we are returning there(well, about an hour away) engaged! :) I'm excited to experience the warmer activities that New Hampshire/Maine has to offer since the last time we were there Fall was turning into Winter!

I promise to post more season appropriate photos once we get up there-but seriously, how beautiful is this place!?!

I LOVE the movie BRIDESMAIDS!

I have probably watched it three times since getting engaged..hoping and praying that my wedding is nothing like that..well, except the end with the Wilson Phillips guest appearance..I'm totally down for that! lol Plus, Chad swears that the dancing scene between Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wigg is Julie and I so...re-enactment? ;)

The entire airplane scene..so funny!

I LOVE Lange Farm(located in Dade City)!!

So...without totally jinking myself..this is ONE of the spots we have officially chosen for our wedding and if everything goes according to plan it will be our Ceremony/Reception site! :) The other place is in Jacksonville and while I do love it Lange Farm just spoke to me more if that makes sense..so JVille is plan B ville! :) Just check out this photo that I found from a recent wedding at Lange Farm..it is so magical..the entire property is just magical and really fits our Rustic theme!

Yay!! Slowly the wedding preparations are coming together..in a beautiful way too which is exciting..beautiful in the sense that we found out the other day, or rediscovered I should say that May 25th, the day we have chosen is also the day Chad's Poppa was born which is tremendously meaningful for the both of us since Chad has always felt so close to him,..it will be nice to share that day with him as he watches over us from heaven! :)

Egg-straordinary Weekend!

I meant to post these pictures yesterday but it was such a nice day outside that Lily and I spent most of our time on a bike ride! :) So without further ado here are the pictures from our Easter weekend!

She was saying CHEESE!! :)

                              She's a totally rad chick!

Meeting the "Easter Bunny"

My very brave girl making her way up the slide !

and then down again! She must've done this a million times to the surprise of everyone around us-even the guy next to me was like "that is incredible, she is so brave for her age" and I just nodded my head, and smiled real big, just like the proud Momma I am! :)

We missed the Campground's Easter Egg hunt so we created a little mini one of our own! :)

We lost the boys mid way through our little hunt! lol

All in all it was a great weekend full of grilling out, making new friends, bike rides, family time and the news that we are heading back to good ole New Hampshire/Maine!

Making Plans

I can't believe it has been almost a week since that very special day!! :) I've kind of been in this dream state because while I have been "planning" I still feel as if it isn't real-you know, since I've been planning my fake Pinterest wedding for so long now! lol I did buy my first bridal magazine which is exciting in itself since I mean, what girl doesn't dream of buying one of those? I used to stand at the magazine counter in Barnes and Nobles skimming the pages of The Knot or Brides Magazine daydreaming of what or when that day would come...and now it has!! :)

We haven't gotten too far into the planning process since well, we just got engaged silly..BUT we did set a date: May 25th, 2013!! The 25th is a special number/day for us since I found out I was pregnant with Lily at age 25 and she was born on the 25th of April so it seemed only fitting-not to mention May is just a great month especially in Florida! :)

We also picked out colors, Chad picked them out actually..he is doing a re-model at Men's Wearhouse and found a magazine that included the color combo of Guava, Coral and Lime which we fell in love with since it is both Summery and totally Tiffany! ;)

We are still looking for a Ceremony/Reception site to go with our theme which is Country Chic/Rustic/Vintage something along the lines of this:

I really LOVE those little hay bales!!

While we do not have a site picked out yet I am positive that God will find the perfect one for us, one that fits us perfectly and I'm excited about that-the possibilities!

                       Changing subjects...My baby is turning two in two and a half weeks!! :(

I know that parents say this a lot, but I feel like it was just yesterday that I was giving birth and now she is turning two..sigh...she is quick to remind me too of just how little she is NOT anymore..ha ha With her bossy attitude(MINE is her favorite word these days) or her need to do everything by herself, for herself..and the fact that she walks around saying TWO, one TWO! ha ha I might miss my little baby sometimes but I wouldn't trade my growing girl for anything-despite some terrible two moments that kid is pretty dang cool! :)

A new beginning..

I'm getting MARRIED!!!!To this handsome man right here--->




I LOVE that man so completely! He is my best friend, Father of my child and love of my life! I prayed for him long before we met...crying out to God tired of heartache, wishing upon wish that I would meet someone who I could spend my life with and then he came along;God far exceeded my expectations with this one I might add! :) He makes me happy everyday and I am so lucky that God chose him for me, and me for him because well, like I said I LOVE him! lol Last night at sunset this beautiful man asked me to marry him along with our daughter who was in cahoots with him the whole time! ;) and it was beautiful..I pretty much cried for two hours off and on..so it begins..hahahaha I have been on cloud nine ever since and it is only going to get better so stick around, because the wedding planning has commenced! :) YAY!!!!!!! Seriously, I cannot stop smiling!!!!

He picked the ocean because of this song, our song, our life..Did I mention that I love him? I'm soooooo excited, did I mention that yet? haha

Things I love Thursday!!

Man, I have been slacking!! It has been almost a full month since my last post so without further ado, this is what I have been up too:

-We did not go stay in Georgia(as I stated in my last post, that is where Chad's job was "supposed" to be) but instead we headed to Virginia Beach which is slowly becoming one of our favorite places despite the fact that it is just now getting warm enough to actually go to the beach!

-I am 6 weeks into an Algebra class (I have one other class as well) and I am proud to say that I am still holding onto an A! For those who know me that is a VERY big deal as Math has never been an easy subject for me..it could also explain why I have been so absent from blogging except let's be honest we all know the real reason..Pinterest!! ha ha

-We have been planning Lily's 2nd birthday party, her 2nd!! Hard to believe that my baby will be two sometimes..well until she starts bossing me around! lol Anyways, it will be Dora the Explorer themed, her new favorite, and totally awesome just you wait and see! :)

My little Irish girl on St. Patty's Day!

Now let's get to my favorite part of Thursday, the things I LOVE! :)

I love Summer!!

But that should be no surprise since I posted about my infatuation with all things Summery last year and although we are barely into Spring I am SO looking forward to the warmer months! The Popes are taking a much needed weeks vacation at the beach and it cannot get here fast enough-the salty air, sun kissed bodies, toes in the sand, drink in hand, grilling out, chilling out kind of vacation! :) Until that week arrives I have been listening to my favorite Summer time (or anytime) tunes such as ANYTHING by Jimmy Buffett(because well, he's the King of Summer in my book!) Bob Marley(HELLO!), The Beach Boys(okay not really, just Kokomo! ha ha), Kenny Chesney, Zac Brown, ya know all the classics..;) and last but not least my new favorite song:

I LOVE Happy Endings!

The show on ABC that is! It is one of the funniest shows on TV right now as far as I'm concerned seriously, if you haven't checked it out then you're missing out! Case in point:

or this:

Try not to laugh at either..the characters on this show are awesome & it never fails to make me laugh..9:30p.m on Wednesdays following another favorite show of mine, Modern Family!


I LOVE Pinterest!

Which you already know..but I love that it has made me really enjoy cooking(which I was never too fond of before) instead of just loving to eat(which I still do!) I love when I find a recipe that adds a new spin on something I already love such as Chicken Parmesan..I found this recipe on Pinterest and then on Can you Stay for Dinner (link below) that calls for Wonton wrappers instead of your typical bread, or pasta for the Chicken Parm:

Doesn't it look delicious? IT IS!! Just a few ingredients makes this light, and delicious meal! I highly recommend it to anyone who loves pasta, Italian food as much as I do, you will not be disappointed!
http://www.canyoustayfordinner.com/2011/02/17/chicken-Parmesan-wraps/

Things I love Thursday!

I love my Mother. I know that kind of goes without saying, since well..she's my Mom but this last week has truly taught me just how much. My Mother had surgery last week to repair a severe hernia that began to intrude on her other organs-& while it is considered a "routine" surgery it is still a scary thing watching, and waiting for someone you love so deeply to pull through.. I'm thankful, so thankful however, that she is in recovery doing very well I might add and if anything this experience has brought us together and made us realize once more that you are never too old to be a Mommas girl! Never too old to need her during a difficult time even if she is under anesthesia! lol

and it was!

I don't have anything else for Things I love Thursday other than we are headed to Georgia for Chads next job and I LOVE Georgia so I'm sure that I will finally have some stuff to post about, often, as in I will live up to my resolution to blog more! :)

Things I love Thursday!

I love chocolate!

I have Lily to thank for that actually! Before she was born I was one of few (very few) women who did not like chocolate..in fact I much preferred salty snacks over sweets but that all changed on April 25th, 2010! The second Lily was born I immediately started to crave chocolate-like in an over the top way and have been seriously hooked ever since! I'm sharing this so that I can share this:

Chocolate HEAVEN!!!

This is the second year that MOSI has put on this event and luckily this year we were actually in town to attend it! Chocolate everywhere, in every form-even chocolate BBQ rub! I even tried a chocolate covered cricket! It wasn't that bad by the way! In the words of Lily: yum yums

 

I tried the cricket, Chad had the jalapeno & gator jerky

Oh snap, I love chocolate!!

Just some of the chocolate creations!

I LOVE these cards!!

They never cease to make me laugh and this one especially cracked me up since well...Chad wears them..I mean I love HIM but those Crocs..I truly think they are the ugliest shoes on the planet..nonetheless, he will continue to wear them and I will continue to love him..but seriously, these cards crack me up and this one was just perfect!

I love this song!

& the video is pretty great too! I can admit that I have dated a guy who couldn't bait a hook and as you can see that clearly didn't work out! :)

& here are some more highlights from our time in Tampa

She wasn't super impressed by these birds( @Busch Gardens) hanging on her Daddy!

He is SUCH a boy! lol

Sesame Street Safari-she prefers her Elmo and Abby on the small screen and not in real life!

First time getting her face painted

The finished product!

Chad took Riley on his first "big" roller coaster

 
 Another trip to MOSI

 Tunnel crawler

The height calculator said she was as tall as Yoda! lol

Gasparilla doggy parade-although it really wasn't a doggy parade! She still enjoyed it though!

Future BUCS cheerleader

Dirt diggers