Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Europe Take 2

What do you do when you have a break between graduating law school and studying for the Bar?

Go to Europe, of course! 
 First stop: London. The jetway was not working, so we had to deplane down stairs in the rain. 
Welcome to the Central Park Hotel and our tiny little hotel room. 
The nice thing about London is the museums are free, so we dropped in at the British Museum and the National Gallery of Art.
 
 Very studious...
One of the most exciting things we did was stumbling upon the world premiere of the Snow White and the Huntsman.
 We just happened to walk by on our first night while exploring the city and scored a front row view to the premiere. 
 What you can't see is the Latina ladies in the back were getting "fresh" with Robert during the premiere! They kept pinching his booty and were screaming for Chris Hemsworth.
 We watched the celebs give their interviews.
And even snapped a few photos with Chris Hemsworth.

 Getting around London was very easy thanks to the Tube system. 

Mind the Gap!
 This is what our continental buffet breakfast looked like each morning provided by our hotel.
Another favorite highlight of London was touring the Tower of London.
 
 I'm not sure why I look so happy, many people lost their heads on that spot behind me. 

 Time for some traditional London photos.
Call me maybe?
 St. Paul's Cathedral. It's a massive!

Another highlight included watching Les Miserables on Broadway.

 Our hotel was located near Kensington Gardens, so we took a long stroll through the gardens and near by sites like the Wellington Arch:
Buckingham Palace:
 Followed by a trip to visit Big Ben, both houses of Parliament, and West Minister Abbey.
Robert needed some nap time, I think all the walking was getting to him. (this one's for Lori and Jason)
You have to wear a fancy hat while in London. We had a fun time trying on things in Harrods.
We spent the evening walking the pier by the London Eye.
 While on our stroll of the pier, we stopped in for some arcade bowling.
 Where I dominated, of course!
On our last day in London, we headed out to the outskirts to take a tour of the Wimbledon facility.
 Too bad they weren't holding the official tournament at the time, but we can now say we have been to 2 out of the 4 major tournament facilities.
 After checking in our luggage at the airport, we caught a taxi and headed out to Windsor Castle.  
 When in Europe, you spend lots of time listening to guided tours.
Windsor was amazing! It was truly impressive and they were even setting up for a banquet dinner the Queen was holding.

We loved London! 

Next stop: Dublin, Ireland

We decided to start off our adventure by taking a bus tour of the city. It was cold in Ireland, so I had my fair share of hot chocolate. 

Apparently, Robert needed some more sleep.

One of our favorite stops was Trinity College.
We received a fun guided tour by a history student who looked slightly like someone who should be attending Hogwarts.
 Another neat stop was the Kilmainham Gaol. 
Have I mentioned how good the food was? 
 It was fabulous! 
We had the best milk shakes ever, Starburst and Skittles. 

There's always time for a late night pizza stop. 
Okay...so Robert caught me dozing off some too. Blasted!
In Ireland, we decided to take more guided tours. One took us to the city of Galway.
 We took long bus rides out to the country, where we saw lots of sheep, cows, castles, homes, stone walls, cliffs, etc.

A thatch roof house.

Made a wonderful stop in Doolin, where we enjoyed the best seafood chowder and fish and chips.
Afterward, we headed out to one of our favorite stops, the Cliffs of Moher.
  Even though the pictures do not do them justice, these cliffs were impressive and scary!
 The cliffs are 600 feet tall.

To end our tour, we stopped at a Neolithic burial tomb out in the middle of nowhere.
Before ending our trip, we took a tour to the Wicklow Mountains where we visited an old monastery and then headed to Trim Castle. 

 Another successful trip to Europe! We loved both cities and enjoyed our time so much. This was a completely last minute trip, so the fact that everything went well and we got to most everything we wanted to was quite the success! We were in each city for about 4 days. 
I think we definitely have the travel bug. We enjoy seeing new sights and interacting with the different cultures. Until next time...

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Juris Doctor

 Well, I would say it's been a long time coming, but it really hasn't felt that long ago when Robert started law school. It still feels like we just moved here and started this whole adventure. Of course, he might say differently. Regardless, graduation day did come, and now we have a Juris Doctor in the family! 

One of the highlights from law school was making great friends and memories. 

Ready, you're up!

 Take the walk...

And relish in the reward. Robert Fountain, Juris Doctor:
Graduation was held outside in the Stetson Courtyard. We lucked out with beautiful weather and good seats that were covered by shade most of the ceremony. Thank goodness it did not rain! 

Robert's proud parents and grandparents.

Party time! After the graduation ceremony, we celebrated at Pia's Restaurant in downtown Gulfport with treats, snacks, and presents that followed at our place. 
Congratulations Robert, we are all so proud of you and all the hard work you have put in for this accomplishment! 

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Happenings

Speaking of graduations, Robert's brother, Austin, graduated from the University of North Florida's nursing program this past month. Near the top of his class, may I add. 
While Austin was graduating, I stayed busy down here in St. Petersburg helping to raise money for the girls in our church to go to camp. 
 It was a hot day for a yard sale, but we earned quite a bit of money. 
 I'm so thankful for good people who volunteer their time to help others. I could not have done it without these great people who sweated out the heat with me helping to set up and clean up. God bless us, every one! 
 In other news, we are celebrating Robert's graduation this weekend and will promptly leave for Europe trip #2! Yes, you heard right, we are heading to the UK and Ireland. We are so excited that we took the last minute deal and are ready to plunge head first into another adventure.

Friday, May 4, 2012

He Did It!

Yesterday, Robert took his last law school class final! 

Now all he has to do is graduate:


















Oh and pass that pesky "little" test known as the Florida Bar. Congratulations Robert!
For a better image of his announcement see it here.

Monday, April 23, 2012

Let the Countdown Begin

In less than 2 weeks, Robert will be finished with his last semester of law school.
Wow! I cannot believe it has already been three years. In keeping with tradition, I made him his favorite treat, banana bread, to help him study for his finals. Good luck Robert!