2012 Has Been Busy!

Like I said, it's been a crazy month and a half since 2012 officially kicked off. I can't seem to get my bearings yet and it's almost March!

Not all of it's work either, we take time to frequently host the missionaries and friends over for dinner and family home evening.

We love being in a branch with two sets of missionary companionships. It gives us a chance to interact and meet new people and make new friends.

Um...I don't think that is appropriate Elder!

Fun times at the Fountains.

Around the middle of January, I traveled to Utah for a week to visit the corporate office for another round of work meetings.

And naturally, I found some fun things to do in the meantime as well:

like attend a Jazz game with co-workers,

and go shopping with my Grandma Tolsma and mom.

In all the store, my Grandma managed to find the two most misfit toys there were. Luckily, she gave them a good home. We had a hoot that night shopping together. She kept laughing at the funny quote signs on display and the fact that she couldn't part with a horse that was missing a wheel and a Santa who had a a chipped knee.

Robert continues to stay busy with school and intramurals at Stetson. His class load has been lighter this semester because he is doing an internship in Tampa at the U.S. Attorney's Office.

In January, I was surprised with a brand new bike! I have been wanting a bike for sometime now, and I love it! It's perfect. Robert ended up buying a bike for himself, along with a new set of golf clubs.

I managed to skin my knees last month and I am still trying to recover (hah). No, it's not from riding my new bike. Humiliating enough, I tripped while playing tennis with my boss when I was in Utah. This was after I cleaned them all up.

Ouch!

We finally found some time to go out with our friends for a night of iceskating and dessert.

Another month has almost come and gone, and I am still hoping for time to slow down a bit because I sure need it!

Gator Bowl

To cap off our holiday break, we drove back up to Jacksonville to attend the Gator Bowl (Florida vs. Ohio State) with Robert's brother Austin and his girlfriend Mel. Not only was it my first bowl game, but our tickets were free! We had such a great time and the seats were amazing.

To start off the drive into downtown, we followed the team in. Following the buses really helps you get pepped up for game day.

Outside the stadium ready to go in. Mel is a big Ohio State fan, so she proudly wore her colors amongst all the local Gator fans. This was Austin's first college football game!

Before the game started we enjoyed all the pre-game festivities at the tailgate party. We listened to Florida's band and cheerleaders, played skill challenge games like: how fast can you throw a football (Austin won this with 50 mph - one off from the top record that day), how high you can jump (Austin again won this challenge), throw the football through hole and obstacle while moving, etc. We were workin' up quite the sweat before we decided to head in for the game.

We enjoyed being a part of the college atmosphere again. It was entertaining to watch each school and witness the team spirit and passion each fan has for their schools.

My favorite and vote went to Ohio State with their marching band. This baton twirler stole the halftime show. He was quite the entertainer and it really sparked the atmosphere, even if they lost.

More fun from our pre-game tailgate. We received one free photo. This is a classic shot.

Game highlights for those that are interested:

FL Gators 24 - Ohio State 17

1:00 PM ET, January 2, 2012

Everbank Field, JACKSONVILLE, FL

For the second consecutive year, Florida used superior special teams and opportunistic play to beat a Big Ten opponent in a bowl. Two of the Gators' three touchdowns came in the kicking game, as Andre Debose had a 99-yard kickoff return and Graham Stewart scored following Chris Rainey's blocked punt. Neither offense was overly impressive, but the Gators limited Ohio State's rushing attack and forced a pair of turnovers, including a DeVier Posey fumble in Florida territory. The Gators responded to every Buckeyes surge and nearly kept Ohio State off of the scoreboard in the second half.

Needless to say, we had a fun time.

New Year's Eve

We decided since we didn't have any big plans arranged for New Year's Eve we would take the opportunity to go out and celebrate Robert's new job by eating at a highly recommended restaurant in Tampa called Bern's Steakhouse.

First, when going out on New Year's Eve and to a nice restaurant you have to dress up a little.

Here are the outfits:

A touch of sparkle is needed to ring in the New Year.

Robert looked dashing in his new dress jacket and shirt, but we didn't realize his shirt was a cuff link only shirt. We had to do some last minute "repair."

Yes, that is a safety pin. No worries though, we still had a great night and no one noticed.

Welcome to Bern's Steakhouse.

This is the actual tint of the entrance to the restaurant. It felt like we had entered a haunted mansion. We loved it! It was unlike any restaurant I have ever been too.

Dinner is served.

Dig in!

We ate dinner until it was officially 2012. Our dinner reservation was for 10, so that's about a 2 hour dinner, and we were not finished yet!

We headed up the stairs to the dessert parlor separate from the main dining area.

This was probably my favorite part of the whole experience.

Decisions, decisions...

Since I was freezing, I settled on some hot chocolate. Robert and I split a most pleasant banana cream pie. Best I have ever had!

I loved the dessert floor because each table was enclosed, so you had a private dining experience where you could control what music you listened to. They had a live pianist playing and you could call into his line to request songs.

Two hours later, so full...but so good.

And that's how we spent our New Year's Evening, eating for four hours! We finally left the restaurant at 2:00 am.

Christmas Shenanigans

December flew by, as usual. However, we were able to pack in as much fun as we could in such a short amount of time.

We had a dinner feast with friends.

We took a trip to Busch Gardens with Austin and his girlfriend Mel, where we rode lots of rides and played with the tigers through secure glass of course.

Found time after all of our trips to put up and decorate our tree and place.

Robert took a well needed break from studying for finals to watch a lighted boat parade with me, while we snuggled in blankets on our balcony to catch a glimpse of each one.

This made me want a boat even more than I already do because seriously, how fun does this look? I want a chance to participate in the parade. It looks like fun! Each boat was rocking out to music and having a party on board. Sounds like the perfect way to go on a night boat run. One boat even pulled tubers.

For Christmas weekend, we headed up to Jacksonville, where we in turn took a trip to St. Augustine to see the lights on a trolley ride.

We even got to wear these "cool" spectacles that turned every light into a snowflake. I guess it's the closest thing we have to snow in Florida.

The Fountain house on Christmas morning.

Robert opening his presents with his grandparents.

Christmas was a lot of fun, we went to the movies and saw the second Sherlock Holmes movie, played tennis, went shopping, and spent time with family and friends eating and playing games.

Santa was very generous this year. We received some wonderful presents. To highlight, here are a few of my favorite gifts I received:

1. My beautiful ukulele that Robert purchased for me.

Now I just need to learn how to play it.

2. Magic mouse

3. Jewelry and clothes

4. Backyard games and card table

5. Travel jewelry case

6. Family DVD and pictures

Robert's were:

1. Backstage penguin visit at our local aquarium

2. Framed jersey and other items for his office

3. Shirts and ties

4. Athletic clothes

We had a great time seeing everyone, thanks for hosting us!

Heading home with a loaded down car.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Baseball Winter Meetings - Dallas, Texas

Robert decided to skip out on his finals and head to Dallas, Texas for the Baseball Winter Meetings. Okay, so he didn't technically skip out, but he received special permission to have his finals moved to a later date.

The Baseball Winter Meetings are an annual meeting where all the Major and Minor League baseball teams gather together to discuss league matters. It's a four day conference full of lots of activities like a large trade show, job fair, gala, and other league meetings.

Below is a bat maker at the trade show.

Robert enjoyed seeing Nolan Ryan at the banquet where he discussed many different experiences during his career.

This is what you do when you are at a baseball conference instead of taking finals:

Robert trying to show off his bull riding skills.

Since the meetings were held in Dallas this year, Robert was invited to participate in a tour of the Texas Rangers Stadium, which was a highlight for him during the conference.

The main purpose for Robert heading out to the Winter Meetings was to find a job, which I am happy to report he did FIND ONE! We did not expect him to find it the way he did though. We thought he would spend most of his time at the job fair interviewing with teams, but to his surprise the President of Minor League Baseball personally extended a position to him over lunch that will allow us to remain in St. Petersburg.

As of January 1, 2012, Robert will join the full-time staff of Minor League Baseball. His role and title are still being finalized, but will include serving as a special assistant to the President of Minor League Baseball and providing support to the vice presidents throughout the company as part of the re-allocation of the COO's duties (COO just left the company and took a job with with the Texas Rangers). Therefore, he will be spending a lot of time learning the business of baseball from many different perspectives, including baseball operations, general corporate operations, and finance. In addition to this, he will also be doing legal work for the company, particularly contract review of sponsorships and other agreements that the company enters into. He is thrilled about this new opportunity to work as the President's right hand man! The president wants Robert to represent Minor League Baseball, particularly himself, at numerous types of board meetings and league meetings. So, he will be learning a lot about the game and business of baseball in the coming years. Congratulations Robert!