The End of a Beginning

August marks our one year mark of living in Florida. I can't believe it has already been a year since we moved here. It is bittersweet because on the one hand I feel more comfortable now with the area I live in, the friends I have made, but I am super sad because this means my 3 year vacation is already one year down. I try not to think about when we will have to move out of our apartment. It has been awesome living here so far. I hope the next two years slow down and are better than the first. It's hard to believe Robert will be finished with school in two years and then another adventure will be awaiting us.

Recap of our first year in Florida:

* Robert started his first year of law school at Stetson University College of Law

~ I started my new position at work - working from home

* Attended lots of Stetson student socials, so we could meet new friends

~ Experienced what church is like in a small branch

* Learned the directions and hot spots of our new area (still a work in progress)

~ Went to Busch Gardens, Sea World, Disney World, Epcot, and Hollywood Studios

* Enjoyed our balcony view watching the dolphins, manatees, sting rays, birds, storms off the coast, boaters, beautiful sunsets, and night time views. This is my favorite place to read a book.

~ Enjoyed going to the Stetson Intramural softball games to watch Robert and hang out with friends.

* Played beach volleyball with friends from Stetson

~ Entertained lots of visitors: (Jenny & Tyler, Jason, Lori & family, Austin, Spencer & Hayley, Chris - Robert's dad, my dad & Kristi)

* Went to lots of Rays baseball games

~ Went to the Orlando Temple for the first time and I was able to see two friends get married there (Brett and Amy), as the Atlanta Temple is closed for remodeling.

* Went swimming year-round

~ Spent lots of time on the beach playing, strolling, exercising, and laying out.

* Watched the cruise boats sail out each week

~ Went to Ft. De Soto

* We took a boat ride out into the gulf on a friend's boat

~ Saw my first professional tennis event

* Played lots of golf

~ Enjoyed decorating a new place and much more

We definitely had a busy first year and enjoyed our new adventure. We are very happy that we picked to come to school here. Round two here we come!

Where did July go?

Before I knew it, July was over. We arrived back from Utah just in time for the busiest month for church youth activities. We had youth conference, busy mutual nights (wednesday activity nights), planned and performed our Sunday program, and took a trip to the Temple. Here we are outside the temple in Orlando, FL.

It was an awesome experience to be serving my young women and helping them in the temple. It was also fun to watch all their faces light up at the sight of the temple, many of them had never been before EVER! I feel so spoiled for having grown up in such a great ward when I was a youth and especially thankful to all of my amazing leaders. It is through their example, that I am even able to survive this calling. It is my first time in the Young Women's Program as a leader not a youth. Even though it keeps me super busy, which is a good thing most of the time, I am really enjoying serving as Young Women's President here in our branch. It is has truly been a blessing, and I hope that I can give back what my leaders gave to me. I love watching the girls progress. It can be a challenge at times, but we are making some right steps in the right direction. I think I may even have convinced a few of my girls to even take their nose rings out, among other things. ;)

4th of July/Trip to Utah

WARNING: Long Post Below

For this very special person below is how this whole trip started...

My Grandma, Nelda Tolsma, turned 80 on July 1st. As such, my entire family decided we would all fly out to Utah to help her celebrate. My Dad's siblings all did a wonderful job throwing the party, which was held at the Maddox Restaurant Clubhouse. It was a delightful dinner, where we were able to catch up with all of our extended family. I love celebrations!

Plus, dinner was delicious! The steak was unbelievable - all 14 oz of it.

The next day we celebrated another set of birthdays, Keaton's (who is in the background playing with Robert) and Jason. We took Keaton to the Nickelcade to have some fun!

After we used up all of Jeff's nickels, we headed to the Union Train Station to see some big trains.

I really did mean big! Look at that wheel.

Following the morning birthday adventures, we made it out to my Uncle Garn and Kim's home for his retirement party from the Fire Station.

Here's to retirement!

Jeff loves to jam on the guitar and Tyler love guitars too!

My Uncle's home overlooks a beautiful valley.

We spent lots of time hanging out eating, playing an endless game of Horse/Pig, and socializing.

The retiree taking a classic horse shot off the truck. Always remember to call your shot. We saw lots of granny shots, opposite hand shot, eyes closed, etc. You name it, we did it.

For the 4th of July we started the morning off getting ready for the big day. Or should I say the boys made sure we were ready...

Grill, check. Hot dogs, check. Now that's what I am talking about. What 4th of July is complete without some grilled hot dogs?

Picnic time on the back patio!

My mom completely surprised us all with a remolded new look to my grandpa's home. It was like walking into a totally different house. She did such a great job. The backyard was all trimmed up and beautiful as well. Which we enjoyed, with a classic game of backyard soccer to get in the spirit of the World Cup festivities. We only suffered a few minor injuries.

Cheese!

After our picnic, we made our journey down to Provo where we finalized our 4th of July celebration watching the Stadium of Fire. Look at the gorgeous sunset.

Carrie Underwood performed!

My concert buddy.

My other concert buddy.

The firework show was incredible. Thankfully, we got some of it on video, so I could enjoy it later. I had an ash fly into my eye, so I spent half of the concert trying to get my eye to recover. By the end of the show, I looked like two face. One eye with full make up and the other with zero. Good thing we didn't get a photo of that.

Our other concert buddies. Not everyone enjoyed the firework display though.

Happy Independence Day!

After the concert ended we rounded up the troops, packed the car and headed down to Cedar City. We arrived at approximately 3 am. We spent the remainder of the trip in Cedar City at my Uncle Kevin and Aunt Shari's house. They were brave souls to let all 14 of us come and stay with them. We had a great time going to Zion's National Park, watching Eclipse, playing lots of ping pong and tennis, and just enjoyed our time together.

Tyler loved picking up all the sand.

Sightseeing.

Laura and Jeff. After this trip, Laura got home and had to suffer through a kidney stone attack! Luckily, it didn't ruin her trip though and she is on the mend now making a full recovery.

Our professional tour guide, Uncle Kevin. After our Cedar City adventure, Robert and I rented a car and headed up to Provo for the night. I took him to the airport the next day, so he could get back home for work. I stayed in Utah for another 4 days and worked myself. It was great to see everyone at the corporate office, as well as, I was able to meet up with those that were still in Utah for one more evening out together as they made the drive back from Cedar. I also dropped in to see some of my friends at the Cougareat and did a little Provo shopping. It was a blast and we had a great time!

Other Trip Highlights:

Ligori's (closed), so we went to Tony's. Just as good.

El Matador - went out for lunch to celebrate Jason's birthday

World Cup Soccer - the boys got up to watch this every morning

Sleeping Arrangements - We spent everyday, minus the last one sleeping on the floor. Why it pays to be the oldest and not the youngest.

Colter - how he managed to stay alive in HORSE when he wasn't even present for 2/3 of the game.

Mr. & Mrs. Coleman - getting to meet my new cousin in law. My cousin, Amy got married the weekend before we all came out to Utah.

Carrie Underwood - I know it is mentioned above, but seriously it was an awesome concert.

If I think of others, I will add them, but for now I think that about sums it up! Whew, it was one busy and crazy trip. I still need that vacation where I just relax.

The Trop

Between all the chaos of hosting visitors, we squeezed in a day (on Saturday) at the Rays Game with some friends. There were more of us than what is pictured here, but I forgot to get a whole group shot. The Rays host a fun event called the Summer Concert Series, where they will host concerts after some of the Saturday night games. They put the stage out in center field, and a few fans get to go out on the field, while others watch from their seats.

We lucked out with some people giving free wrist bands away, and we were able to go down onto the field to watch the concert.
It was my first time on a major league field!
The Barenaked Ladies performed.
Robert and his friend had to test out the wall by running into it. This is the lady yelling at them to stop!

Last shot before we left to go home. We had a blast! And, the Rays won.

Whirlwind

Out of nowhere, this past week turned into a whirlwind of a week hosting people at our house. First off, I noticed on Facebook that one of my childhood friends, Jessica (Wells) Rabun was in the Tampa area, so we met up for lunch on Thursday. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of us together. During my lunch with Jess and her family, I received a text from Robert telling me that his best friend, Spencer Jones and his fiance Hayley, would be coming down for a couple of nights to stay with us. So, they arrived late that evening and we had a great time hanging out the next day or so. We laid out by the pool, went out to dinner, and enjoyed the sunset on the beach before they had to go home.
Spencer & Hayley

After they left (Friday afternoon), that night Robert's friends from school dropped by unexpectedly and wanted to play some ping pong and pool. Afterwards, we were able to recover for one day before another unexpected visitor(s) arrived. This time the missionaries from our church decided to come over on Sunday evening for a visit/dinner. Just when I thought we were going to make it safe and sound through all of our visitors (Jess's 2 year old, friends, & 4 sweaty guys), one of the missionaries spilled half of a pitcher of bright red Koolaid all over our table, where it continued to pour off the side onto our ivory carpet....

YES, I know what you are thinking, it is as bad as it sounds. Luckily, Robert and I acted fast and we were able to get most of it out of the carpet. We will be trying round two tonight to see if we can get the now slightly pink spot out of the carpet. If you have any special cleaning secrets, I am all ears.

Other than that one "minor" incident, this past week was a lot of fun and we enjoyed staying busy. It was fun getting to interact with so many different people in such a short time frame.

Let's Make Some Waves

This weekend was spent out in the sun! We started it off with tennis, soaked up some sun at the beach, played 18 holes of golf, and then finished up the weekend with a boat ride out on the bay/gulf. We finally got a chance to take a boat ride around all the water that surrounds us. A lady from our church has a nice boat, and invited us out for a ride. It was a beautiful day for a boat ride, and made us want a boat even more than we already do.

Captain Robert - I think he could get use to this. We had a wonderful weekend and wish we could play like we did everyday. We love the Florida sunshine!

Happy Anniversary

On Sunday, we celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary. Thanks for all the calls/cards. We appreciated it and are happy that our first two years of marriage have been such a blessing and some of the best years of our life.