Family rocks

It's been a great ten or so days with my sister and her husband here in town visiting. I'm sure it's been hard for them as they're transitioning back to the states from China but I really appreciate them taking the time to come hang out with us. Mom and I have had a blast having them here, showing them around our new town, and eating. We do a lot of eating all the time, but enjoy it more when we're all together. Even Dad and Dave were in town for part of their visit so we were ALL together again. It was wonderful.

I'm so lucky to have my mom here full time but it was fun to have a glimpse of what it might be like to have my sister here as well. I'm doing pretty good so far on getting people I love to move down, so I'll keep working on them!

365

It's been one year since we moved into our extended stay hotel in Tampa. I can't believe it. At times our life here feels completely separate from the life we had up in DC. I love Florida. I love the heat. I love the sunshine and all the animals I see out side (birds walking around everywhere, cows, turtles, manatees). I love the expanse of blue sky and white clouds as I drive. I love that it's me and Dave building a life together in a new place for us both.

 

So many things have happened for us since we moved down here and while it hasn't been all rainbows and sunshine we've grown together and have come out stronger for it. I'm so happy we chose Florida as our home and I'm looking forward to all the memories we will continue to make throughout our years here.

4th with family and friends

This weekend was so.much.fun. It's just what I needed. There's something to be said about being around old friends and family. It's natural, you don't have to try. They can nap on the couch while you do laundry and watch an episode of a show they think is boring. My friend Nicole and her boyfriend flew down last week and stayed with us. It was tons of fun. We ate well, bowled, played tennis, the men folk golfed, and had a lot of pool time at my parents.

For the 4th of July, my parents hosted a pool party/cookout. Everything was delicious and it was a blast to be together. Everyone pitched in with making things and we were all super full by the end of the day.

{me and my momma}

{my sister put this as my iphone wallpaper....it's staying like that}

A lot of us spent most of our time in the pool. We played our own version of horse with the pool basketball hoop. We played USA because it's more patriotic and shorter. Everyone got really creative on how to make their shots. It makes it more difficult that the basketball hoop floats and can go anywhere in the pool.

We were home early enough to shower and relax and take care of Finley. Nicole bought some bottle rockets and sparklers and we had fun setting them off. We saw some fireworks that were set off around our neighborhood but not a massive show of them. It was a great weekend and I'm so thankful for the freedoms we have in our country because of the brave men and women that serve to protect them.

7.4.14

Dear DAD, yay for you being in town!!!! Dear Nicole, I'm so glad you're here! Dear Spaz and Nate, So excited you guys are in town too. Can't wait to hug on ya! Dear Momma, thanks for sitting at our house multiple times this week. You're the best. Dear Best Friend Megan, I'm sad we won't be spending the fourth together this year but I hope you're ready for our tradition of a flag cake. I really brought it this year! Dear Aubrey, I'm so proud of you for starting your personal blog back up. You're amazing and funny and I can't wait to read every day. Dear Friends, you should check out my friend Aubrey's blog The Found Life. She's crazy funny, a talented photographer, and has such a big heart. You'll love her, I swear.Dear friends, I'm doing ok. I still really struggle with our miscarriage and sometimes it hurts so much I don't know what to do. But Dave and I are so strong and so good that I know I can get through this. Just an update that I'm doing much better and the sadness is kept at bay most of the time. I just don't like thinking that people think we're fine and healed, because it's far from the truth, but we're ok. Dear Nicole, I loved sitting in my closet among all my pretty clothes and talking till midnight the other night.

hey you

It's so strange-a nickname. It feels oddly personal, so I refrain from going by it to the outside world. It's homey to be called it-to be known so well by friends that they kind of fall into the family category and with that, pick up on what your family calls you and end up calling you that too. I love when I have my family and close friends around. Lauren isn't really said-it's not my name.
I'm excited to be around such loved ones this weekend where I can slide back into my nickname like a comfy and well worn sweater. It makes me feel loved and known.

With one of my best friends getting in last night and my sister flying in today, and our pool party cook out tomorrow with my family I'm just really excited to be surrounded by loved ones that know me, really know me.

Funnily enough Nicole doesn't call me by my nickname as we met at work in a professional setting. More than 3 years later she still hasn't gotten comfortable with calling me anything but Lauren. I still love her lots though.

{my VERY first instagram pic!}

Random

Today was supposed to be a post about my summer reading list challenge, but since I haven't finished any more books it's kind of pointless to write about it. (I'm currently in the middle of The Memory Keeper's Daughter and am enjoying it.)

{he's the cutest!}

{too hot at the dog park}

My mind is kind of blown that it's JULY already. I don't know where the time has gone. One of my best friends flies in tomorrow and then my sister and her husband (still weird to say), and my dad fly in the following day. I'm excited for all the quality time with loved ones. June was a really good month. While Dave traveled for work my Momma and I got to spend a lot of fun time together-mostly over food, which I love. Dave and I love being back together and don't take those moments for granted. Finley, as usual, is the center of our lives but he's so stinkin cute it's ok.

 

Summer Bucket List- LINK UP!

I wrote here about my summer bucket list and have crossed a few things off but haven't made as much headway as I would like. Dave was gone all last week so when he's not here I'm unmotivated to go out and have all this fun without him. I love that Florida is hot pretty much year round but the summers here can get really hot. I still enjoy being outside but would prefer to be by the water with the breeze when we do go out. I have things I keep adding to my summer list but with our big upcoming trip I would rather save money for that. So I may have to tweak my list here and there. Below is what we've crossed off the list so far.

Add your link below and I'll be checking in again at the end of July to see how you're doing on your list!

 

An InLinkz Link-up

pansy

Saturday I was supposed to drive to a blogger meet up, but I chickened out. Even with encouragement from my sweet friend Katie (because she knows me so well) I still stayed home. I'm bummed I did because I think I missed out on a great opportunity to meet fellow bloggers and form new friendships. I tried to make excuses by saying that I needed to stay home and catch up on sleep. Which is partly true because I was exhausted from work and taking care of Finley on my own all week. But it was just a poor excuse to not go.

I don't know what it is that takes over sometimes and immobilizes me with fear, but I don't like it. People tend to think I'm this outgoing person, and I can be, but usually I am shaking with fear when it comes to putting myself in new situations with people I don't know. I'm hoping that I will learn from this and next time I have the opportunity to do something outside of my comfort zone that I will.

pinky's out

Sometimes it's fun to get a little dressed up and go out with your Momma for tea. So that's just what we did. Although it was Father's day, Mom and I went out and had ourselves a nice little girl time this past Sunday. We explored a new place in Tampa (the Oxford Exchange) ate wonderful finger sandwiches, scones, and treats, drank tea, and had great conversation.

 

I love having my mom literally minutes away from our house. On Saturday Dave and I were running some errands and what do you know but my Momma in the turning lane about to pass us. We all waved wildly and my heart about burst. I love that random things like that can happen. Feels like home down here, having her nearby. And that's great because this is our home now. I can't wait until my dad is down here with us full time too.

Summer Bucket List- Link Up!!!

I wrote here about my summer bucket list and really want to start making headway with it. I have a tendency to put things off, so making a list really helps me when Dave asks what I want to do. I'll be checking back the last Thursday of every month (June-August) to see how you're doing with your lists. I found this awesome printable How To Summer list from You Are My Fave. 

  

Get your own here. 

 

I've added a few things to my list including: make homemade ice cream, go to a farmer's market, possibly visit a local nude beach, beat Dave at Scrabble, tea time with Momma, and make cards more. I'll hope you'll join me in keeping track of what we're up to this summer and sharing our fun with others!

 

 

 

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another one

{Dave and his mom on Bayshore Blvd}

I love Florida. I love that my parents live here, that my aunt and uncle bought a house down the street from us, and that I have friends considering moving down here. And now we have our next Florida transplant in Dave's mom! She was here this weekend and we had a lot of fun looking at places, scouting out areas, and spending time together. It's always wonderful to spend time with Dave's family and I love how we get along. I love watching Dave interact with him mom as well. He's such a good man and does whatever he can to take care of his family and the people he cares about.

I snapped the pictures below this weekend as well. Dave is so funny with Finley. I swear these two just adore one another. The way Finley lays on his back with his paws in the air cracks me up and before I knew it there was Dave, on the floor emulating his pose. It was too cute.

 

{what?}

It was such a great weekend with Janet here and we can't wait for her to be back FULL TIME in the Sunshine State!

Beach Week: beach essentials

Sometimes I feel like it takes so much effort to get ready to go to the beach that by the time we get there I'm so tired that I just sit for a good long while. But the packing and hauling is always worth it because I'm never uncomfortable or wishing I had brought something. I made a beach essential checklist so you're always prepared too.

Beach Week: beach day

 

For Memorial Day weekend we of course went to the beach (it wouldn't be complete without a beach trip). We went to Longboat Key to our favorite beach-it's also the one Dave used to go to with his family when he was younger. This place holds a lot of memories for him and is starting to for me as well, since we've been going there ever since we moved here. This time though, we finally made it to the infamous (if only with his family) Omas Pizza. Dave has been talking about this place ever since I've known him, so I was excited to finally go there with him. After our bellies were satisfied we laid out and enjoyed being together in the sun. On the way home we stopped and I got my after the beach traditional Slurpee. I have the most patient husband, because I had to go to two 7 eleven's as the cherry Slurpee machine wasn't working at the first place. It was a great day and I'm looking forward to all the visitors that are coming to visit soon so that we can take them to our favorite beach and explore the town a little more.

Beach Week: snacks

I'm making it 

 here on Bound by Love. Yay!

 

Let's get a little sandy shall we*.

Dave and I have a pretty good system down by now when it comes to packing snacks or lunch for the beach. We usually bring the smaller cooler unless we have friends in town. The small cooler doesn't give us too much room for extras so we're careful about what we bring.

The most important thing to pack is water as it's easy to get dehydrated being in the sun all day. After water, I make us sandwiches: usually I have peanut butter and Dave has roast beef. In the cooler we add any other items that need to remain cold such as my cheese for my cheese and crackers snack. Usually by then our cooler is full and ready to close. With snacks like Doritos and Pringles I'm able to carry then in my regular beach back since they don't need to be cold to enjoy. I also always bring a plastic shopping bag or two for trash and if we find any shells on the beach. It's a good way to consolidate our trash without getting it everywhere or having birds bomb diving our beach bag. These are just the typical snacks we bring and I'm always happy and full!

*I actually hate being sandy aside from my toes in the sand. I hate the feeling of wet sand on my hands or when sand gets into your sun screen. Makes me want to scream. So YOU can get sandy and I'll sit on my beach chair with only my feet in the sand. ok?

summer flex

I'm so excited for this weekend. It's the unofficial start of summer and with that it means beach trips, friend visits, and lots of Slurpees after a long day in the sun. My job has an awesome thing for summer-flex schedules. Basically I work 4 longer days and can have a day off, as long as there is coverage in the office. I'm starting my flex schedule today and will have tomorrow off so I can be home for the window repair guys. It give me a nice long 4 day weekend with Dave to play.

Don't you think ALL jobs should do this for summer?

March for Babies-we walked!

Every day, thousands of babies are born too soon or very sick. We walked with March for Babies and raised awareness of premature birth and funds for research to find the answers and develop preventions. It was amazing to see the emails come in that people were contributing, especially since I only had 3 days notice of the walk, so thank you to everyone that donated.

card

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