Totally Groovy

This is yet another reason why I love my job. Some of the girls and I made tie-dye tshirts during lunch time on Thursday and then wore them on Friday :) Yep... pretty much the best job ever!

Daddy-daughter time

Dad came to visit last weekend for Father's Day while mom went off with some of her friends to a wedding up north. It was so great to have some daddy-daughter time together! He arrived Thursday evening, so I picked him up after work and he hung out at the apartment most of the day on Friday while I was working. He did get to meet me for lunch that day though, which was great because it gave him an opportunity to finally see my office! Needless to say, I think his favorite part (understandably) was our awesome Super Mario Brothers themed wall in our design area ;)

On Saturday we ventured down to Cape Canaveral to check out the Kennedy Space Center. We got up bright and early for our 2 & 1/2 hour drive, got there around 9:30, and spent the entire day absorbing the sights & sounds of NASA. Cool factor of the day: the Space Shuttle Atlantis was sitting on the launch pad in preparation for its July 8th launch so we were able to view it from the observation tower and snap some awesome photos (thanks to our new 28mm-300mm zoom lens)! What a neat experience! I'd absolutely love to see a shuttle launch someday, but actually seeing it on the launch pad was pretty neat too!! Anyway, we had a great day! We were pretty tired by the time we got home though!

On Sunday, Father's Day, we enjoyed some time relaxing for a bit before heading out to Mayport to see the next ship Sayre will report to in the fall. Yes, for those that haven't heard already, we will be staying in Mayport for Sayre's next sea tour!! Anyway, it was pretty exciting to see his new ship. Granted, it's not like it's new to Mayport or anything... I mean heck, I'm sure I've unknowingly laid my eyes upon it many times before, but the fact that Sayre will soon be on it kind of shed a new light on that old chunk of metal ;) Anyway, later on we celebrated Father's Day with a delicious meal at PF Chang's and perused Barnes & Noble for a little while - another great day!

Unfortunately his time here came & went too quickly, just as it always does, but hopefully he & mom will be back to visit soon! Sayre and I always enjoy having company around!! (hint, hint to anyone thinking of coming to Jacksonville ;) )

Just keep swimming...

Guess who's a brand new Open Water NAUI Certified Diver?

Yep, that's me!!!

I had a fantastic time up at a lake in Bloomingdale, GA over the weekend getting certified through Atlantic Pro Divers here in Jacksonville. Their instructor was phenomenal - so patient and thorough in his teaching style. He made everyone feel so comfortable in the water and our entire class of 12 passed with flying colors! It was such a neat set-up too. They had one platform sunk in the lake at 10' for the pool phase of the certification and another one sunk in the lake at 20' for the open water phase, which enabled us to complete the course in just one weekend. We all had to complete the classroom material and take the test prior to showing up Saturday morning. Now I just can't wait for Sayre and I to be able to dive all over the place together! (He's already certified) And who knows, maybe we'll work on some more advanced certifications together in the future! 

By the way...

THIS made me really happy over the weekend:

Isn't the world wide web amazing? :) Yay for a long-overdue video chat with a very cute hubby!

Bayou Country Superfest

I took a trip back to Baton Rouge over the Memorial Day weekend to visit with family and check out the Bayou Country Superfest. I had a blast but, as always, the time flew by way too quickly!

Highlights from the BCS included performances by Josh Thompson, Luke Bryan, & Trace Adkins to start with followed by an awesomely fun performance by Sugarland and then Time McGraw. The event itself was held in Tiger Stadium on Saturday afternoon - needless to say it was a tad bit hot out there, but fortunately our seats were on the west side of the stadium so we were in the shade. I went with my mom, Aunt Debra, cousin Jill, & my aunt's neighbor and had a chance to make some rounds to see some friends.


On Sunday mom & dad had a little bar-b-que to get the family together while I was in town. Because it's summertime, it's hard to round up the whole gang, but it was still really nice to see everyone that was able to come. Unfortunately, time really did fly on by too quickly and before I knew it, it was time to head on back to Jacksonville. It sure was a nice little getaway though!

First 5k - Done!

I'm a little behind on my posts these days because I've been a bit busy, but I'm going to try to play catch-up!

On May 21st I ran in and completed my first 5k race! My timing was horrible and it was hotter than ever that day, but I finished and that's all that matters :)  It really was such a great experience... over 6,000 people participated! The only downside to having over 6,000 people packed at the starting line of a race on the beach in 90+ degree weather is that the body heat combined with the scorching sun made for a rather unpleasantly sweltering start, but once the race did actually start and we all fanned out, it was great to feel that ocean breeze.

When the race was over, participants were treated to free smoothies, chocolate covered strawberries, & some other tasty treats as well as some really cute sea turtle necklaces for the girls and nice running watching for the guys. They also had a big beach fest to accompany the race, which made for a really fun day.

One of the neatest things about it though, in my opinion, was that since the race was called the "Never Quit Beach Fest" you could write on your runner's bib who you would never quit for :) No real surprise here, but I happily scrawled Sayre's name across my bib before I took off to achieve my goal of finishing and "never quitting."