A Beach Retreat

This past weekend we have the pleasure of going to the beach with The Mims and The McKinnons.  It was such a great time to get away and relax and enjoy the beach.  We took Friday off and headed down Thursday night.  Friday morning the guys headed out deep sea-fishing while we parked ourselves on the beach.  We all we able to read a lot (and it was kinda nice to have a day where the guys did not ask us to get in the water every 5 minutes)!

They caught lots of fish and came home that night to cook the Fresh Catch of the Day. Snapper was on the menu for dinner and it was delicious. Thank you Clayton for cooking the fish!

While being at the beach we celebrated Ted’s Birthday.  He turned the BIG 25 on Sunday and is now a 1/4 of a century old.  Please excuse the cake (long story ordering a cake from the Walmart at the beach)!  We cut the cake after the long day of fishing and the guys were exhausted. Happy Birthday Ted! Saturday morning it was raining when we woke up – but no worries as soon as the rain stopped we were all out on the beach.  Look at the beautiful rainbow that was in the sky, I am not sure how you can look at this and say there is no God. We stayed on the beach until late Saturday and then came in to get ready for dinner.  We headed to Salt Water Grill and then played some Miniature Golf after dinner.

Thanks Mims and McKinnons for a great trip with great friends.  We will have to do it again soon!

** Shealy and Laura Ann have other pictures – but this was all that was on my camera.

Welcome to …

HOLLYWOOD! Our first stop yesterday morning was Hollywood.  We have fun filled day packed with lots of sight-seeing.  This was as close to the Hollywood sign as we went, but it was still a great view.  

We spent most of our time in on Hollywood Blvd where both sides of the street have all of the stars with names for the Walk of Fame.  We also went to the Grumans Chinese Theater where lots of stars have their hand and foot prints in the concrete.  Below is George Cloney’s and the main cast in Harry Potter.  No, I have not read any Harry Potter books, but I know lots of people have so I thought some people may be interested.

It was very cool to see things like the Chinese Theater and the Kodak Theater where lots of “stars” visit regularly.

   From Hollywood…went went to………RODEO Drive!  We definitely could not afford anything – but It sure was High Class.  The street is not very long, which was not exactly what I had envisioned. 

For good measure, here is a picture of my mom and I in front of the sign. We are heading to Universal Studios today!  Be back then for pictures!

The Beaches are a Little Different

Ted had to go to LA on a business trip this week -- so why not take the family and make this a vacation? I am very lucky that my parents and brother were able to join me so we can sight-see together while Ted is in his meetings. (Sorry Allison that you could not be here -- but thanks for staying at the house and keeping Huck!)

We arrived yesterday afternoon around lunch time (PST) in Los Angeles. We got our bags and headed to our hotel. This would be Ted's only afternoon he was not in meetings, so we headed to the beaches. We drove down Pacific Coast Highway, which runs along the coast. We stopped and got out at Malibu beach. The water was COLD and there was a nice breeze - but that did not stop Ted and Taylor from getting in the water.

After leaving Malibu beach we headed down to Santa Monica Beach. There were a lot more people here. We went to the Santa Monica Pier and boy was it crowded. It was nice to walk out on the pier and see everything. Here are some pictures of the view from the pier.

The beaches are for sure different than our AL & FL beaches. These beaches have lots of rocks and the sand is more brown and dirty looking. It makes me love our white-sand beaches even more. The weather was great and we enjoyed our day. Today we are headed to Beverly Hills and Hollywood!

I will leave you with a picture of the way the houses are built on the sides of the hills. This house overlooks the water. There is no telling what the price tag on a house like this cost.


Have a great day and I will be back with pictures from Rodeo Drive!

Lack of Posts/Need your Input

I apologize for the lack of post lately. 

Work has been busy (a good busy)!  We are preparing for a conference for work, starting new projects, and trying to maintain current systems – It is always exciting around here.

Our weekends have been full with family events, moving Ted into his office, Easter and all sorts.  Life has been busy but I would rather be busy than bored.  I have been posting a good bit at Ways to Save in Lee County and forgetting about my blog. I will try and do better.

So – done with my lame excuses!

I need your help.  I will be going on 2 trips within the next month and a half to places I have never been. 

1. I am going to Iowa State University in Des Moines, Iowa for a conference with work for 6 days and I will have a few nights to see the sights and such.  Do you have any suggestions of things to do in Des Moines?

(If you happen to think of Ted that week – call him – I am sure he will be lonely and hungry :) )

2. The following week, Ted has a business trip to Los Angeles, CA he must take and I have decided to join him.  I will work remotely some during the day (and he will be in his meetings) but I am hoping that we can find some fun things to do at night.  Any ideas or fun things/places in Los Angeles that I must not miss?  I actually think his meeting is about 30 miles from Los Angeles – but I am not sure. It is definitely close enough to enjoy some sight-seeing adventures while we are there.

Family Fun in NYC

We definately had a Christmas that we will always remember. We are so blessed to have been able to go to NYC right before Christmas with my family, both sets of grandparents and my dad's brother! I consider this a real treat and something I am thankful for the opportunity to have been able to do.

We did everything from The Statue of Liberty, Rockettes, Grease on Broadway, Grand Central Station, Times Square, Subway rides, Central Park, 5th Avenue -- I am not sure if there was anything that we missed -- including the LONG airline delays!

I hope that you enjoy just a few of the 300 pictures that we took! I am very grateful that all of my grandparents were in good health and able to enjoy this trip -- as well as no one slipped and fell on all of the snow and ice -- What a Blessing!

Beach Update - A Little Late!

The weekend before Thanksgiving we had a family girls trip to the beach. It was wonderful!! There were definitely great deals at the outlets and I am now completely done with my Christamas shopping. I find that getting done early with my Christmas shopping allows for a more relaxed and enjoyable Decemeber with all of the hussle and bussle of the holidays. The weather was perfect and I throughly enjoyed spending time with my family. Here are some pictures of the beautiful view we had from our room. We were very fortunate that we were able to stay at the Grand Sandestin in a 3 bedroom suite for Free. My aunts company is having a huge conference at the resort at the first of the year and they offered the room to us as a Thank you for her booking the conference with them. Enjoy the pictures.

Beach Bound

As soon as work is over I am headed to the beach for the weekend. I am very excited to just get away and spend time with the family. We are doing a family 'Girls' trip to Destin. I will be joined by Allison (my sister), Mom, Gran (grandmother), Lou (mom's sister), and Rachael (cousin)! We are going to do some Christmas shopping at the outlets and watching movies. I think that everyone deserves a trip like this sometimes. Hopefully I will find some good deals and finish my Christmas shopping.

While I am down at the beach (hopefully where it is a little warmer) - Ted is doing the exact opposite. He is headed to go hunting for the weekend (as it is the first weekend of dear season). He will be camping out - in the cold - and he thinks that is awesome. I hope he has a great time and at least stays some warm and possibly have some luck at hunting too!

I hope everyone has a great Friday and a wonderful weekend!