Super Fun Summer!

Our "Super Fun Summer", as John puts it, has kicked into high gear. John's been golfing, fishing, and mountain bike riding on his days off, now that he's finished with school (YAY, Congrats John!) And I've been trying to have as much fun as possible on my weekends and sneaking in days off during the week whenever possible! My cousins Heather and Anna, from Tennessee, visited recently with their husbands, we had a great time on Uncle Moe's boat and cooking out at our house. John went to the Obama rally at the St. Pete Times Forum yesterday and is getting even more excited about the upcoming Prez. election!
We're leaving to go to Panama on Friday to continue our super fun-ness. Going to another wedding on Saturday (my best friend Kelly's younger sister's), then celebrating our neice Kelly's high school graduation (good lord that makes us feel old), and sunning by the pool or at the beach.
I forget sometimes that life needs to be a happy balance of work and fun... and doing what makes you happy. With all the budget cuts and layoffs at the University, it makes me really realize that maybe it's happening for a reason, and that I have other options in life other than not living it to its fullest (i.e., sitting in a windowless office with florescent lights for 8 hours).
So, therefore I'm going to try to LIVE IT UP and not let people or things get to me! Life's waaay too short, right? Happy Thursday, A.

Weddings, weddings, more weddings

We were invited to a few weddings in May. One was for my ex-supervisor at work, Christie. Her and her partner, Charlotte, were married in Vermont, and had a reception here in Tampa at the Westin Harbour Island. It was very lovely. Great decorations, food, and music to dance to. There were several people from my work that attended, including my good friend Dani and her husband Tyson, and Maureen and her husband Nick. Good times had by all!

Another wedding was that of Erik and Lauren Beach, who are friends of our friend Jesse (used to be in the Army with John) and Jesse's sister Danielle and soon to be brother-in-law Richard. Erik and Lauren live here in Tampa and we're looking forward to hanging out with them more often. Their wedding was held at the Vinoy Resort in St. Petersburg, and the reception was held at the Vinoy's Sunset Ballroom on Snell Island. Gorgeous and decadent! There was a cocktail hour poolside on the deck, followed by a wonderful sit down dinner, then great speeches and fun music. John and I danced the night away! I love weddings and just seeing people in love, no matter what their preference ;) And I'm getting great use out of my bridesmaid's dress (thanks Kelly!)

Some recent events

My friend Brooke and I went to a Tim McGraw concert (for free!), with Jason Aldean opening. I'm pretty much open to all kinds of music, and country and I definitely have a background (being from the Panhandle of Florida and all). I just don't like it if it's too "twangy." An old classmate of mine from high school went to Nashville to pursue his dream of making it big in music. He eventually got to play guitar in Jason Aldean's band (who was an upcoming star himself)...now he's also toured with LeeAnn Rimes and Gretchen Wilson. So it was fun seeing Jason Aldean, a rising star. John likes his song "Amarillo Sky." He currently has a song out on the radio in which he mentions going down to the "Panama strip" with his friends :) Brooke and I had a great time singing along...one of her favorites was a song Tim sings about soldiers sending letters home to their families. And of course, there was the favorite "I had a barbeque stain on my white T-shirt, she was killin me in that miniskirt...." and "I'm an Indian outlaw, half Cherokee Choctaw, my baby's she's a Chippewa, she's a one of a kind...Cherokee people, Cherokee tribe, so proud to live, so proud to die!" Haha, yeah, there were definitely people with the cowboy hats and boots in the crowd!

We're jumping on the Blog-wagon!

Hi everyone!
I had the idea to start a web page for John and I so that it would be a shared place where our close friends and family members (our very large families) could go to in order to get updated on our lives and see pictures. In case you're not familiar with blogging, it's like a journal you can update either daily or just whenever you feel like expressing yourself. I'm not much of a phone person for some reason (yeah, not very girl-y right?), but I'm pretty good at computer communciation! So, check in when you want and get informed!
Peace and love,
Andrea