I'm Back.

Last week, I was out in Utah for a work conference that I helped plan. Luckily, I can say it turned out great! Everything went really well and everyone enjoyed their time.

I helped to present our annual company awards. People started calling me JoVanna...maybe I have some hidden talent somewhere for presenting.

Tiffany! She is one of my favorite people to work with at Simplifile. I have lots of favorites, but she always brightens my day.

As one of our traditions, we spend an evening bowling at FatCats and eating Costa Vida with all the employees.

And this year's Dundee goes to...

Yes, to make it even more exciting we hand out a few bowling trophies. It gets pretty competitive, we even had to have a bowl off to decide one of the awards. I was in charge of the awards again this year, so once again here I am doing my best presenter impressionation. I know cheesy, huh?

After bowling that night, my awesome friends Kaydee and Devin picked me up and drove me out to see their new house! It was beautiful, thanks for the tour guys! It was so much fun catching up.

We were really spoiled this year, after bowling night the following day, the sales team and myself went snowmobiling. It was my first time ever and I loved it!

Park City, UT

After snowmobiling, we met up with the rest of the team for a nice casual dinner on one of the Park City Mountain Resort ski slopes. We traveled by sleigh to get there and back. Another first for me, so it was a lot of fun. Dinner was excellent! We went to a place called Snowed Inn, this cozy cabin with delicious home made food, and live music.

After working hard all week (I know it doesn't look like we worked too hard, but trust me we did), I caught a ride up to Ogden to spend the weekend with my mom and family.

It was a fun visit, where we did a little shopping, lots of eating out, went to the temple, and work. I helped her put her pink letters on her car and tried to redecorate the pink bedroom. I also got to see my grandma, cousins, aunts, and uncle while I was in town. It was great!

Well, after a long full week, I made it home back to Florida, where Rob was anxiously awaiting my return. Probably because the fridge was empty by then. No, it worked out perfectly, Rob had a big memo due the week I was gone. I have a wonderful job and feel extremely blessed to be working for such a great company. I am still trying to catch up from such a busy week, but it was definitely worth it and I had a lot of fun. Thanks Simplifile!

Catch up!

So, it has been a busy last couple of weeks and I need to blog before I leave for Utah this weekend, otherwise, I will have a lot more to catch up on when I get back.

Here's what we have been up to lately:

We have been going over to Orlando as often as we can because for Christmas we received Disney season passes. It has been a lot of fun to go to the parks and take our time exploring all the fun adventures there.

At the beginning of last week, my Dad and his wife Kristi came into town and stopped by to visit us.

It was their first time visiting our place, so we had a nice visit. We took them around to some of our favorite local restaurants and out to the beach.

We also spent time at the hot tub and the facilities playing pool and ping pong. After a few days they had to go to Orlando for Kristi's work conference, but we were glad they had a few days to drop in and spend some time with us.

The following weekend was Valentine's Day and Robert bought me some beautiful flowers. What a nice guy, right? He gave them to me after he came home from picking up my dress from the dry cleaners for our night out.

That night, we spent the evening at a local Marriott Hotel with the rest of the Stetson student body at the Mad Hatter's Barristers Ball.

It was a fun evening filled with a reception hour where we mingled with a lot of our friends. After that, we went into the main ballroom where our dinner was served.

During dinner we had a talent show. Below is a photo of a couple of our friends who got a band together. They were awesome and they should have won! They were hilarious. I think Ashley is singing Lady Gaga at this point.

After dinner we danced the rest of the night away. It was so much fun!

They also had a room set up for mini golf, so of course we played a few rounds.

Robert and some of his friends that he played softball with.

So, I forgot to take a picture of my hair before we left but this is what it looked like at the end of the night. I am shocked it stayed together this well. I did it myself, trust me it looked a lot better at the start of the night.

We had a wonderful Valentine's weekend together! I am glad we got to do something different.

As for a follow up to my last post, we did get the piano moved in without any complications. Thanks to a bunch of our friends, we were able to do it. Here is the actual piano in our place. I am still so happy that I have a piano. Hopefully, the neighbors won't complain...

$50 Can Buy

half to two thirds of my groceries on a typical grocery run.

It can also buy a couple of shirts and accessories.

$50 is a nice meal/evening out for two.

You can go to Busch Gardens for around $50 (maybe).

Well, I could go on and on, but of late $50 can also buy you (drum roll please)...

A beautiful black Wurlitzer spinet piano. I am not kidding!
You are looking at my brand new piano I just purchased last night!

(this is a photo I found offline of the same make and model as mine- selling for $900). It does work and plays great, in case their was any skepticism in this too good to be true deal.

It was completely luck how I came about acquiring such a beautiful piano for only $50.
On Sunday evening, as in two days ago, Robert and I decided to play some ping pong and pool in our building game room facility. As we were about to finish, two older ladies walked in to play a board game on our ping pong table (don't get me started on that subject). We decided to strike up a conversation with them about their game. They were funny ladies name Bobby and Margo who had been kicked out of the board game room by other old ladies for being too loud.
We had a nice chat about ping pong, their game of dominoes, and living here at the complex. Just as we were heading out the door, Margo said do you know anyone who wants to buy a piano, so of course with my dream of always wanting a piano I entertained her question. I asked well sure, "I like pianos, how much are you selling it for?" She said, you will never believe it, $50! So, I chuckle, and say well we will think about it as we walked out the door. That was it. We left, didn't even ask her what it looked like or anything. I all knew was that it was about 51" long.
That night, I couldn't shake the idea of possibly getting a piano for $50. I explain to Robert how that is an amazing deal! With it being just only $50 and coming from an old lady, I am thinking this thing is going to be pretty worn out and OLD. My mom calls that night and again, I can't shake the thought, so I pass it onto her. I tell her about that evenings events to see what she has to say. Naturally, she is just as intrigued, if not more, than me. She points out that she sold our piano at our house for $300 or so and that piano was completely out of tune and used. She encourages me to go and take a look at it. "You just can't get a piano for that price, not even a decent key board" my mom states.
She's right, I have nothing to lose, so I decide that tomorrow I will go look at it. Robert is a little hesitant, but is more eager to take a look at a different apartment in the building (each unit is different). As a result, Monday evening rolls around and we are on our way to Walmart to do some grocery shopping. We decide to jump off on floor 9 (we live on 15) to make a visit to Margo. We walk in. Immediately, you know you are in an old woman's apartment. All the furnishings date way back, so I immediately lower my expectations, which are already pretty low. She walks us through the kitchen to turn the corner, and there it is.
It's absolutely stunning and it's BLACK! I never imagined it would be black, when I think of an old piano I always think oak or mahogany. NO, this one is black and it's a Wurlitzer (a very nice brand). Of course, I cannot control my emotions, I wear them on my sleeve. I am smiling from ear to ear. Even if this thing doesn't play it matches my room decor since it is black. I try to calm down before I get ahead of myself, thinking I need to make sure it plays. In my head I am thinking..."to my luck it won't play well at all." Stunned again. It is actually pretty in tune (which is rough since I don't really have the best ear for tune). However, I sit down pump out a couple of songs I know by heart, they sound the same. I arise from the piano with the same smile I had before sitting down to the instrument. Robert can tell I want it. I tell Margo we will think about it and she responds well I have a lady who wants and will have the money for me tomorrow. I get defensive, I want it! I tell her I will be back tonight after I go to Walmart and discuss it with Robert.
We leave Margo's place. I jump like a giddy school girl outside her apartment and tell Robert let's go back upstairs and make sure we have the room for it. We measure the space out one more time, and I give Robert my best puppy dog eyes, and of course he can't resist. We go straight back to Margo's with cash in hand. We hand over the $50. Just like that, I now own a beautiful black Wurlitzer spinet piano of my very own. I am so excited that on the way to Walmart I phone my mom letting her know I bought it. She is so excited and shocked that I purchased something so nice for such a steal! Margo practically gave me the piano for free! These type of pianos are selling for $500 plus.
I LOVE GOOD DEALS! There is nothing better than feeling like you got a great deal!
Now all there is left to do is move it, yikes. Pianos are so heavy, so Robert is recruiting some of his guy friends from law school. Once we have a crew together we will be back at Margo's door ready to move her. I cannot wait, I already cleared the space where I want it to go.

Since everyone is wondering...

Just how well did my first semester of law school go? Surprisingly, I did extremely well, especially for the expectations I had going in. I got a 3.266, which is great because the class average is between a 2.9 and 3.1. In other words, I was above the curve! Overall, I enjoyed the semester. I did well without getting overwhelmed with stress during the semester. I think this upcoming semester will have a greater workload, which I am bit nervous about. However, I do think I am more prepared for the workload now after going through one semester and learning how to juggle everything. So, here's to next semester, wish me luck.

Christmas and New Year's Fun

Merry Christmas from the Fountain household!

We spent Christmas this year with Robert's family. It was nice to have everyone in town. Even his Aunt Kathy was there, she lives in California. We enjoyed a wonderful and relaxing Christmas weekend playing games, watching football, playing tennis, and the boys even got in a round of golf.
We were also were spoiled with wonderful Christmas presents. To highlight a few, we got a hot stone massage kit and some fun games like Scrabble Slam, Blockus, and Bananagrams. We also received Disney Annual Park passes! We are definitely excited to use those! Robert got a Playstation 3, clothes, and other items. I got a jewelry armoire (something I have always wanted), jewelry, and a new baseball glove (thanks to my hunny)!

After Christmas, we threw his grandfather a surprise party for his 80th birthday. Kathy was part of his surprise. He was told she could not make it home for Christmas, but to his surprise she did! He spent the night talking with old friends and enjoying good food and drinks.

On the following Monday, we decided to make the drive up to Georgia to visit my family for New Years. My mom flew into town around the same time we arrived, so it ended up working out perfectly. It is nice to still be within driving distance to family.

One of the first things on our agenda when we got into town was to go to Cafe Pig, our favorite BBQ place! It was just as good as I remembered. It has turned into quite the family tradition. This time, we included all of Ben's (my brother-in-law) family. His sister lives in PTC now, where we grew up. Crazy huh? So, all the Saville's were in town for Christmas as well. My sister and her family came down as well, so we got to see everyone except my brother Jeff and Laura. We missed you guys!

Bowling anyone?

Kayla had fun hanging out with her friend Hallie. They are a fun pair to be around. I got to relive my old middle school days when I spent some time hanging out with the two of them. They were fun to be around. Kayla and I went shopping together to this amazing jewelry store, Charming Charlie. I wish I had one like that close to me. I think we will have to make it a tradition when I come up.

These boys would bowl all day if we let them.

Mama T and her girls.

A family that jams together stays together.

Everyone loves uncle Robert!

Got to love matching pajamas, especially Superman ones!

We played lots of games together, including Yahtzee (Robert killed us all with his amazing score of 497), Blockus, Bananagrams, and of course Monopoly (a family favorite/tradition). It came down to Jason and I at the end, even against my best efforts to not join in the Monopoly fun.

For New Year's Eve, we went out to dinner at Texas Roadhouse, then came home and celebrated into the night out in the front yard setting off fireworks and roasting marshmallows and Starburst. We almost blew up the neighbor's dog! haha! It was quite funny, let's just say the dog did not like us setting off the fireworks and came barreling toward our lighted explosive. I think the best part was the owner running down the street screaming and yelling at the dog at the top of her lungs.

It was one chilly night! A perfect time to be around a campfire.

My nephew Keaton, getting ready to make a s'more, or just ate one (by the chocolate evidence around his mouth). He's a choc-o-holic, the sweet tooth must run in the family.

Best wishes for a warm and comfy New Year! 2010 here we come!

Thank you Teri and Chris and Jason and Lori for letting us come up and stay at your houses!

Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party

To kick off the Christmas season, we went to Disney World for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. It is one of Robert's family's favorite holiday traditions.

We love Christmas time! It was fun to watch it snow on main street while sipping the free hot chocolate and eating sugar cookies they handed out to everyone in the park.

Just like Tyler, this is Robert's favorite ride. What boy doesn't like shooting things and competition? We rode it twice that night. I think I am getting a little tired of riding Buzz lightyear! That's 4 times in one month.

We had one crazy carousel ride.

Giddy up!

We also watched the parade and fireworks! My favorite part of the parade is behind me, if you can see it, it is the march of the tin soldiers.

Aren't they beautiful?

3 years ago at this time of year we got engaged at this exact spot, except we were sitting up in the castle behind us in the second to far right window.

It was the start of a happily ever after...