My Grandmother's 70th Birthday cruise!

I apologize now, but I don't have the NW trip post up and ready yet. Blogger is giving me major issues with some of my phone pics, and I haven't transferred the big camera's pics just yet. So please be patient with me ; )

 

Last weekend I made a trip down to South Florida for a 3 day cruise with some of the beautiful women in my family. It was my Grandmother's on my mom's side 70th birthday, and so we all came together to celebrate it right. My mother, sister, me, Aunt Jackie, cousin Chelsey, and Grandmother. It was the perfect amount of amazing time we spent together. As a family we definitely laugh a lot and (sometimes) push each other's buttons for sure. In the end though it was awesome to have these amazing memories with them.

 I hope you have a great week! Luv- Di

My Grandmother, Mom, me, cousin Chelsey, and sister Monica

My mom and my Aunt Jackie

The private Key through the cruise line. It cleared up after I took the picture- of course lol!

 

 



Her Birthday cake

 



We arranged for a special dinner on the boat to celebrate her birthday in style :)

My sister, cousin, and I at dinner

Love the laid back Bahamian lifestyle- this guy was clearly recovering from last night since this was at 9am ha ha!

We did a glass bottom boat tour, and we were all really impressed how fun it was :)

 



My cute cousin Chels enjoying all the coral reefs below

 



View from the view deck on top of the boat on the tour

One of my favorite pics taken on the tour

We also did a little shopping in town. The church in the background was really pretty inside

Found this guy over at the Atlantis Resort

We discovered a few of their fish tanks while sneaking around the ground ; )

Chels and I loved this mural on our way back to the boat

Best afternoon reading spot

This was me playing around with an app that works with instagram. I admit it I have a slight instagram problem lol

This is a little photo Collage my mom made and sent to all of us :)

 

So we have all been pushing my grandmother to get a little companion for years, and with all of us together ( kindly nudging her) she finally caved. Meet the newest member of the family- Mr. Coco. She found him at the Palm Beach animal shelter , and we all are already in luv!

 

my quick trip to South America

 I had the wonderful opportunity to go on a quick trip with my family to Cartagena, Columbia. It has been a wish my mother has talked about for the past few years, and when she saw that my sister's and I's schedule opened up - she jumped on it like white on rice lol.  These pictures are all kinda jumbled together, but that is kinda how my family travels, lol. 

Since this trip was so last minute, unfortunately Ricky wasn't able to join us : (    

Don't worry though because we left for a week long trip to the Pacific NW a few days after I got back from this trip.
 





My mom and Sister at  Mother's Day Brunch




Our view from the Hotel and my view from the flight back ( 3 layovers later)

 




This cute little restaurant we stopped in had these for us to play with : )

Just any other day -taking a stroll on the public beach on a horse



My mom arranged for us to visit the Islands of Rasario for the day. I've traveled to a few different places around the Caribbean, but this place by far had the most beautiful water I have ever seen. I seriously felt like I was in Fiji or something.



One of the many delicious meals I had on my visit



Pops and I at dinner one night

The Ladies on the other side.  My Grandmother, me, my mom and my sister (left to right)

 



Sunset on the beach one night from our hotel. (fun fact!) The water is so clear, but looks dark due to the volcanic dark sand.

Beautiful mural along the side of a random building

 



We took a hop on- hop off tour of the city. This picture was one of the city streets inside the fort ( also know as the old city).

 



Another view- minus my ugly toes

 



all around the city is beautiful architecture like this

 



My mom loves all food from here. She went crazy for all the street food that she ate during her childhood. This was some kind of cheese and guava thingy.  Most of us weren't as brave as her to eat from street vendors, but she didn't get sick at all from them :)

This is a condensed milk and coconut thingy

 



To say she was in Heaven with all these treats would be an understatement

 



My parents- happily married for the past 30 years :)

 



When we hopped off of the plane and into the taxi this is what we saw on the streets. Pretty neat and definitely different ; )

 



View of the bathroom in our nice little hotel room

 



My parents checking out the view from our room.

 

So Blogger is giving me some major issues right now, boo!

 So this post looks a little on the sloppy side, but at least I got it out to ya!

Have a great week- Luv Di

Next week I'll have our trip to the NW posted

Long overdue post

I'll just be honest and admit that I've just completely put this blog on the back burner : (

We have finally settled into our place (pics below) and I've stored up a few travel adventures as well. Add a few great friends coming into Austin for a visit and me wrapping up a few tests for my teaching certification and you've got a glimpse into the last month for me, lol. Hopefully my pictures below will explain it a little better. I promise to not be so MIA from now on 

- scouts honor ; ) Have a great week!- Luv Di

Our friends from college Jen and Nelson came into town to visit us and Anna early May. It just worked out perfectly with the concert dates for Jimmy Buffet ; )

This was day 2 of tailgating for us - minus the best part of tailgating for Jimmy Buffet, Anna. A random cold front had come in the night before and made the venue close due to high winds. We tried our best to power through day two of drinking though. We can't tailgate like we use to, ha ha.



Needless to say we were sad the weekend was over and they had to head back to West Palm



 This is our new entry way.. don't mind the injured puppy in the back

This is our side hall way/ office space to the guest room. To the Left is our second bathroom

 

 



This is our messy bedroom, lol

 



 

This is our kitchen that opens up to the living room/ dining area

 

 



 

Finally this is the other half of our living room/ dining area left out of the picture above.

 

 

 

We were very fortunate to be the first people to move into this space, since the building is brand new. Since we have started to travel more in the past few months - this place fits us perfectly. I promise I have more posts to come this week!

New digs and more!

As you saw on my last post our home is on a countdown to being  "ours no more". With that in mind I've also officially transitioned full time into a new career, eek!  Some people have asked where we are moving? Well we  have decided to rent for the next year in downtown Austin. We are planing on taking a little brake from working on a house, and just want to relax and travel a little more next year. But don't worry we plan on getting back into home ownership next year ; )With so many scary, but great changes going on I've kinda but the blog on the back burner. But have no fear because I have returned! A little update is below : )

 

Unfortunately we have no Easter pictures to share, so sorry. We did have a fabulous time with our family in Houston, but sometimes you just want to enjoy the moment vs. document it ; )

 

Also I want to give a little Chloe update for all the friends and family out there that knew of the little scare we went through on Easter weekend. For those of you who aren't familiar with Chloe she is our family dog.  Our first and only fur-baby, and we love her sooooo much. She is a 7 year old black lab mix that I have raised since she was a tiny little puppy my senior year in college.

     The Friday of Easter weekend I took her into the vet for her annual shots, and to have her hip examined.  During this time the vet found a rather large mass under her neck fat close to her thyroid. Needless to say I freaked out. The mass is huge and I felt like it came out nowhere. We immediately drew blood for a few tests, but her results were not going to be ready until the end of the following week. My mind went to the worse place all weekend- trying to prepare myself for the possibility of it being cancer. I am my Father's daughter and I tend to worry about EVERYTHING, lol. Since we were in Houston I decided to go ahead and research A&M Veterinary School small animal clinic (particularly their oncology department and ongoing studies). By the end of the weekend  I was so stressed out that Ricky and I decided to just go to the clinic and have them do whatever needs to be done. I just wanted her to be taken care of ASAP. Well after a full day of tons of different diagnostic tests we were able to conclude the mass is benign. We are beyond grateful that our prayers had been answered!! The mass does need to be removed, but the Chloe-ster is happy and healthy : )

I do want to point out that we currently have pet insurance with her, and I highly recommend it if you do not have it. In the past year alone we have had several "out of the blue" moments with her, and to not be financially burdened during a very stressful time is priceless.

 Just do it- and do it now rather than later.

 

A few weeks ago we had the most delicious crawfish at Evangeline's down in South Austin with our friends Becca and Sam.  You know it's good stuff when you get the approval of Louisiana folks ; )

 


This is snap shot of our new favorite bar "Moontower". It's got fire pits, live music, and tons of outdoor seating. Unfortunately it's everyones favorite so the place gets pretty packed.

 


This a picture my sister sent me of her recent travels in Australia. Her boyfriend Grant is from Sydney, and he got to show her around the country with family and friends for a few weeks.

 

 Ricky and I can occasionally get our fix for Cuban and Colombian food from a great restaurant near our new place called Casa Columbia. This place always cures us when we feel a little home sick for South Florida.

 

Last weekend Austin had it's annual Hot Rod Rally downtown. This was only a snap shot of the thousands of cars that were lined up on South Congress. We had most of the Houston family in town to celebrate my sister- in law and mother in-law's birthdays! ( both were born on April 7th)

 

 

I'm obsessed with these cute tear drop trailers, and this one was display on south congress during the hot rod parade.

 

Another view of the Rally all along South Congress to the Capital.

 

This picture  is blurry I know, but I found it too funny to not share. That is not a sweater on that dog, but her coat was partially colored that way, lol.

On Sunday, as part of birthday celebration, we decided to visit the Wildflower center. My Mother-in-law is a wonderful gardener, and she LOVES flowers. It was a big hit with everyone :)

 

the observation tower

 

one of the many gardens and wind sculptures

 

another garden

 

I just thought this little turtle family sunbathing was so cute!

 
 

We ended our afternoon at the famous Salt Lick BBQ and vineyard. It was a perfect afternoon to sit outside with a few drinks and listen to the live music with some delicious BBQ meats : )

 

Loved these limited addition wines for the another large musical festival out here - and it's happening really soon! Unfortunately we can't go this year since we will be moving that weekend, boo :(

 


My cute sister in-law with her first official legal beer, she turned 21!! Wahoo! Now we get to take her to the really fun bars downtown ; )

 

another picture of the beer garden

 

a far away view of the delicious smoked meat pit

 

This man had a pretty little impromptu serenade during our meal. Anywhere else you might think it's weird, but in Austin- it's the norm, ha ha.

 

my handsome hubster- Love this man!

Well have a good week everyone!- Luv Di