The beach in the fall...

We took a family vacation to Daytona Beach over Veteran's Day weekend.  I love the beach in the fall and winter.  I reminds me of my grandparents when I was a little.  Every year, they rented a condo on the beach through the winter and we would go spend weekends with them.  Plus, this is what the beach looks like in the winter:

What is not to love about that?  Beautiful!

We left Friday afternoon and stopped in Jacksonville at my brother's work to suprise him.  They were slow, so he left work about 15 minutes before we got there.  Wah-wah-wahhhhhhh!  So, we continued on our way.  We arived at our timeshare a little after dark (which is 6 nowadays).  The first thing we did was jump on the bed.  What is a vacation without testing the limits of the bed? 

After unloading, we went to dinner and then to but some groceries.  When we got back, we explored a little.

It was a windy night, not too cold, just perfect for exploring!  Then, it was bedtime.  Bedtime on vacations with little ones is always interesting.  Connor slept with Allen and me and Daniel with my mom on the pull out.  Allen and I slept great... mom woke up on the opposite side of the bed.  I didn't bother to ask.

Saturday morning..... our home town woke up Saturday morning to temperatures in the 20s.  Thats cold for us Floridians.  We, however woke up to temperatures in the 50s.  So, we sat on our porch, in our pjs, coffee in hand, and watched the sunrise over the ocean.  (na-na-boo-boo) Perfect.  We then decided to go to the beach.  Nothing says vacation like walking on the beach in your pjs.

Daniel went swimming in his pjs.  That was not supposed to happen, but he "accidentally" fell into a wave.  There was no point in fighting it.... go for it kid. 

We made our way back to our room and it was bathtime.  And Connor decided it was a good time to do some entertaining. 

Stylin'! His brother's underwear and mommy's iritis sunglasses.  He is such a little hottie!

Daniel on the other hand was watching the beach from the porch.  If it were easy, I would move to the beach tomorrow.  Just for him.

We then ventured to the boardwalk.  It is a pretty typical boardwalk..... complete with carnival rides, arcades, food stands, etc.  We ate at Bubba Gump Shrimp Company.  It was soooo good and a bunch of fun!  We went to an arcade and had some ice cream. 

That's my boat!

We headed back to the hotel room to watch the Noles STOMP the Hurricanes!  We took a break during halftime to watch the sunset... then back to the game! What a fun game to watch!

My brother arrived shortly after the game, and we headed down stairs to the hotel bar to get celebratory drinks.  The boys had dirty milkshakes, complete with worms and everything!

While the adults had "casmaritas"...

We had to check out Sunday morning.... but not without one more trip down to the beach!

We then had to pack up and leave the hotel.  Connor helped with that!

We were in no rush to get home, and since we had Danny with us, we wanted to use every minute we could for fun.  We started with mini golf at Pirate's Cove!

Then, we headed to the track..... What would a redneck family trip to Daytona be without visiting the "holy land?"  We were pleasently suprised to find out that they were racing older import cars while we were there.  My brother, Allen and Daniel, found a way to break into the track so they could see what was going on.  Then, my mom and I found a way to LEGALLY get into the track to watch the race.  Boys.  They had fun!

It was a little loud for Connor though.

Over all it was an AMAZING weekend.  I fall a little more in love with my family during this trip. 

We promised to spend more time at the beach next year.  There is nothing more peaceful than listening to the ocean and watching my boys laugh and play. 

The Fair!

I love the fair!  Especially now that I am a mama, there is a whole different sort of appreciation for it.  This year, Allen and I took Connor.  (Daniel was in a bit of trouble and could not go with us)  This is the first year where Connor is really responding to things.  He is becoming more and more independent.  I love it... his daddy however, wants him to shrink back down to 6 month old size. 

We started with the animals.  Connor loved it.  He giggled and giggled.  We bought carrots to feed them and he quickly got the hang of it.  No fear.

His favorite was feeding the "moo-moos" and the donkeys.  We then started walking around and all you could hear from him was "look at that" and "wow".  I am in love.  I love his reaction to things that are exciting.  We then found a couple of rides that he could go on.  Since this was his first experience, we figured we should probably ride with him.  So, my turn first in the monster trucks!

Of course, I had to unfold myself to get out, but it was definitely worth it.  Next, we went on the crazy bus.  This was not good.  He did not like it at all.

After the traumatic experience, we just walked and looked.  And, we got our funnel cake.  I look forward to this every year.  It was the WORST funnel cake EVER.  We threw most of it away.  Not sure how you can screw up fried dough, but those guys sure did one hell of a job at it. 

We then decided to win Daniel a prize.  We played the game where you throw the darts at balloons.  Well, Allen took a shot and popped one.  I took a shot and got all 3.  Yup, I won.  Allen's manhood was stung a little bit. (I sort of rubbed it in a little, too) So, $10, 4 popped ballons, and a little sting later, we walked away with 2 crappy stuffed animals. 

Then it was time to ride some more before we went home.  We went to the little kids part of the fair and found the fire trucks.  Connor's first ride by himself.

He did great.  It took him a little to warm up, but at the end he was smiling and having a great time. 

We went home, half frozen, but with big smiles on our faces. 

I cannot wait until next year when Daniel can join us and Connor can enjoy more of the rides!

Up next, our vacation to Daytona!

A long road...

No pictures today, just words. 

When I was 17 years old, I had big dreams of going to college and becoming a lawyer or engineer.  I recieved a scholarship to Florida State University.  I was in love with my high school sweetheart and knew that one day we were going to get married.  My future was developing right in front of my eyes and it was going to be perfect.

Through junior and senior year of highschool, things happened.  After senior year, my love and I moved into our own apartment and I started college.  Not too long after that, I dropped out of college, him and I split up, and I started my downward spiral.  Turns out, I was not handling those things that happened.  I was not well.

Shortly after my 19th birthday, I found out that I was pregnant with my Daniel.  I was naive with excitement.  I had no idea what was about to happen.

Daniel was born on March 23, 2003.   Daniel's father left in June of 2003.  There I was, a 19 year old, single mom to a new baby, no college degree, working part time as a waitress.  I was lonely, scared, depressed, and struggling to make it in every way imagineable.    

The next few years were filled with laughter, tears, mistakes, struggles, anxiety, sadness, love, and me and my little boy just trying to make it.  It was nothing close to easy and I was nothing close to the greatest mother in the world.

Christmas night, 2007 was the changing point.  I sat, all alone, in my apartment with a bottle of wine.  And I cried.  And I cried.  Was this what I did to myself?  Did I screw up so bad that I had to be alone on Christmas?  And did I dislike myself so much that the thought of spending time alone was that miserable?  I had enough.  I was going to make my life what I and my son deserved. 

So, I quit all of the bad habits that helped me hide my pain and sorrow and I dealt with it.  I dealt with guilt, fear, anxiety and sadness.  I dealt with it and I fought it off.  I started taking more pride in myself and I stopped allowing other people to take advantage of me.  I started respecting myself more.  I started forcing myself to hang out with myself.  And I started liking me. 

I went back to school and I tried, hard this time.  I was not going to let myself fail.  I was not going to fail my son. 

At this time of self revolution, I got fired from my job.  I was a manager at Cabos.  I was terrified at first.... how was I going to keep a roof over my son and my head and food in our bellies?  Little did I know, this was the very very best thing that could have ever happened to me.

After about a month, I got a job at Score Federal Credit Union.  A new start, a new hope. 

I worked as a teller, I went to school, and I raised my son.  I continued to push myself.  I steered clear of anything that could have started me back down the wrong path.  I stayed strong.  When something bad happened, I did not allow myself to drown my emotions, I allowed myself to feel them.  Every bit of them.  And I did not hide.... I did the exact opposite.  I took chances.  And through tragedy, I found strength and confidence, that I never knew I had.  And, I found my husband.

I fell in love, had my second baby, and continued school.  And I did great in school. 

I graduated college in April, right after I got married.  I graduated on the Dean's list.

And yesterday, I got promoted.  On Monday I will start training to be the Assistant Accountant at Score Federal Credit Union. 

And yesterday, Daniel came home with his report card.... he got A/B honor roll.

Its been a long hard raod, but we have made it.  Very few people have gone the complete road with us.  Some people I needed in my life for that time.  Some people I would have been better off without.  I am thankful for each and every one of the people that have been in my life for the last 9 years, either for a short time or the long haul.  You have made me what I am today.  Without the struggles, there would be no acheivements.

My Daniel and I have an unbreakable bond.  And I am so glad that he came into my life.  He saved my life, and now we get to accomplish great things together.  We made it.  We made it. 

Miracle League and Trick or Treat

A little back story...... my dear friend, Mike Schilling, is a coach for the Miracle League.  The Miracle League is a sports league for handicap children and adults.  They participate in sports all year long, playing baseball, basketball and football. 

This past Thursday, they had the Miracle League Seminole Showdown, where members of Florida State's baseball and softball teams came and played against the Miracle League players.  My friend Mike invited the kids and me and we had a great time.  The players signed autographs, the Chick-Fil-A cows came and the FSU Marching Chiefs came and played a few songs for us.

Legendary Coach Mike Martin, Daniel and I

It was an honor to go to the Seminole Showdown.  We had a great time and it reminded us how much we have to be thankful for.  It was overall an amazing experience and I hope that we get to go to another one of their games.

Next up was Halloween weekend.  We started the weekend with going to a Halloween party that our friends, the platoon boys, were throwing.  We had a blast.  We do not go out that much, and it is really nice to be able to when we do.  The boys were in their usual form and definitely did not let us down!

Peter Pan (Griffin) and Steve Irwin (Rio)

We had a great time!  I did not take too many pictures, and these were about as much as I was willing to post.  They behaved fine and had a great turn out!

The next day we attended Trunk or Treat at our church, Canopy Roads Baptist.  It was so much fun.  This was Connor's first time where he sort of knew what was going on. 

Daniel and Evan

Super baby and Darth Mal's cousin (I forgot his name)

Super Baby and Barack Obama (this went on for a couple of minutes)

We had such a wonderful time.  The boys loved it.... the little games added excitement to the trunk or treating.  The boys ( and the parents) were exhausted after the event.  We went home, made an easy dinner, ate some candy and went to bed.

Oh, to sleep like a baby again.  He looks so snuggly.... and if you look closely, he is sleeping on top of his "baby."  I love taking pictures of my kids while they are sleeping.  They remind me that they really are sweet and innocent!  Haha!