The Beach, A Rooster, and A Wedding, Oh My!

Hello friends! How have you been? Me...I've been caught in a whirlwind for the past two weeks! Last time I blogged, I shared that Miranda (my daughter) was coming home for a visit and to be a bridesmaid in my niece's wedding. She and her boyfriend, Shahid arrived in Orlando on Monday the 29th and just left yesterday. We had an amazing almost two weeks with them! When we picked them up in Orlando, Shahid had a lovely gift for us. He brought us some delicious Cadbury chocolates from England, along with some Kath Kidston hand lotion for me. I was tickled over these sweet gifts. 

While they were here, I was trying to balance family time and work. I ended up taking a day and a half off each week they were here. I took a half day off that Monday to pick them up from the airport and then on Wednesday, we took a road trip to Saint Augustine (the oldest city in the US) to introduce Shahid to this beautiful part of Florida. Miranda loves Saint Augustine and this was her choice. I was happy with her choice because I love Saint Augustine too! Joey and I, along with Miranda and Shahid and my mom, loaded up early and hit the road. When we got there, we parked the car and headed over to see Castillo De San Marcos. This is the oldest masonry fort in the US. You can read about the fort here if you are interested.  My phone battery was low so I didn't take many photos, but here a a couple.

Here's an aerial shot from Wikipedia. 

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After we left the fort, we walked through the streets and looked at some of the shops and stopped to have a gelato. Yum!

This whimsical fountain is outside of the visitor's center. So cool!

Here's my beautiful Miranda with Shahid.

Moving on, we headed to the Conch House for some lunch. We sat in one of the huts overlooking the water. This was part of our view. We could not have asked for a more beautiful day! The weather was absolutely gorgeous!

I didn't get a shot of the huts, but here is one from their website.

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I had shrimp and grits for lunch. This dish was a little different than the shrimp and grits dishes I have had before, but it was delicious! Shahid had this as well and he really enjoyed it. He had never had grits before. He also developed a taste for sweet iced tea while he was here. :)

After our relaxing and yummy lunch, we headed off to Crescent Beach. We parked and went walking on the beach for a bit. It was so nice. A cool breeze was blowing and the beach was not overly crowded at this time of year. We had a lovely time.

After our stroll on the beach, we headed back home.

. We watched this amazing sunset as we were driving back home. It was absolutely spectacular. This photo does not do it justice. We had a dinner to attend at my Aunt Loretta's house that evening. She cooked us a wonderful homemade Mexican dinner. We all enjoyed it very much

Now, here's where my week gets really busy! 

This is the newest member of my family....meet Rooster. Yes, I did say Rooster. This is my son's new puppy. No...I don't care for his name, but I do love this little fella. Isn't he adorable? We have taken to calling him Roosty or Little Bit. Isn't he precious? I had forgotten how time-consuming it could be raising a puppy though! He has kept us all busy!

And...I did mention earlier that Miranda came home for my niece's wedding, right? Well, our weekend was packed with wedding activities. I did manage to bake this delicious monkey bread Saturday morning before we left for the wedding rehearsal and rehearsal dinner.

The wedding was held at a beautiful venue called the Thomas Center in Gainesville. The grounds are just lovely! Look at this gorgeosu purple magnolia that was blooming. Spring has definitely sprung here in Florida.

This is where the ceremony took place. This was taken the day of the rehearsal. This area is called the Turtle Court because of the turtle fountain in front.

Fast forward to Sunday and here is the wedding party during the ceremony. See the turtle fountain between the palms.

The reception was held indoors. I love this view!

I was too busy to get lots of photos but I did take some of the tablescapes I put together. Shelby (my niece) borrowed a bunch of my milk glass, pitchers, and other decor to use along with the items she purchased for centerpieces. They turned out great!

Here's a collage of all of them. They were all one of a kind! Shelby did work for a florist in Gainesville while she was working on her bachelor's degree. Her former employer did all the arrangements (in my vases and pitchers) and bouquets. They were gorgeous! They were all unique and looked so nice with the centerpeices I put together. 

The wedding & reception was absolutely perfect in every way! 

Here's my beautiful niece, Shelby along with Miranda. Shelby is my sister's oldest child. Miranda was 4 years old when Shelby was born. She was the first cousin in her life. Shelby and her new husband, David are on honeymoon in Dublin, Ireland and having a wonderful time!

OK...on to some more cuteness! You've never seen such a cute Rooster before have you?

His mom is actually Sadie's sister. Sadie wasn't too fond of him to begin with. She was very impatient with him and overall very jealous. But, she is slowly learning to like him. He LOVES her and thinks she is the coolest Aunt a puppy could have. He follows her everywhere. It's almost like he mimics her every move. LOL!

This week was pretty busy as well. I took a half day off Tuesday and we went to lunch at my mother-in-law's for her birthday. Wednesday night, my Mama cooked for us all again. She made a mini Thanksgiving meal since Miranda missed it last year and she loves Thanksgiving dinner. It was delicious and a wonderful time spent with family. I took off Thursday as well since Friday I had to take Miranda and Shahid back to Orlando to fly back to Europe. I was sad to see them go, but Miranda will be back in June. She made the decision to return to the US for a while so she can get a job here and save some money. She doesn't make enough teaching in Prague. I am excited to have her here with me for a while. Anywho, my mom rode with me to take them to the airport and after we dropped them off and said our good-byes, we headed to Ikea! I love this store and only get to go when I visit Tampa or Orlando, which are both almost 3 hours away.

I bought a couple of their books for my classroom. I love the illustrations in their books.

I purchases 3 pillow covers for the pillows on my sofa. I was wanting some new ones for spring and summer. I will share a picture of them on soon.

I bought two sets of steak knives. This was something I needed and has been on my list to purchase.

And the last item I bought was another item on my list...two Antonius organizers to go in my Raskog carts. I was really good! I think I mentioned that I am trying not to buy too much stuff lately. I am really trying to be more intentional with my purchases. 

 Yesterday was the first day of my spring break as well. I am really excited to have 10 days off work. I have been busier than normal for the past month and really need a break. I plan to do a little more spring cleaning and organizing as well as enjoy some down time....which is what I did today. Of course I had Rooster in my lap for part of the day...lol! I was thoroughly lazy today and it was totally intentional! I am happy to report that Miranda made it safely back to Prague. I pray she is able to get some deep sleep tonight and rest tomorrow before going back to work Monday.

I hope you are doing well and are having a lovely, restful weekend. I will be back in a day or two and plan to post 2-3 times this week. Thanks so much for visiting!

Until next time.....