Tranquility

Since our vacation seemed to be 3 separate trips all rolled into 1 I thought each part deserved its own post. So here goes part one.

The first leg of our vacation was in the Florida Keys. Which meant that we had to drive from Miami to the Keys which is about a 2 hour drive. The drive actually wasn't that bad. It was very scenic which made the drive go really fast. We decided to stop at a place called Mrs. Mac's Kitchen for dinner. It was a total dive but tripadvisor.com rated their food #1. They catch their fish fresh every morning from the dock in the back of the restaurant! The food all looked so good that between the 4 of us we ordered 2 appetizers and 5 entrees! It was amazing! So if you are ever in the Keys and need a place to eat I would recommend this place.

After we finished our delicious dinner we headed to the resort that we were staying at, Hawks Cay. What a beautiful resort it is! We stayed in one of the townhouses that they have there. It was so cute and fun.

When we went inside to check out our rooms we were surprised to find that we weren't alone! This poor gecko was trapped inside the house but don't worry we caught the poor little guy and let him go outside.

After the catch and release of the gecko we went out to see the rest of the resort (and to find the hot tub to relax in). There are several pools at the resort but we were looking for the adults only pool. Don't get me wrong, I love kids but if I wanted to hang out with kids on my vacation I would have brought mine. :) By the time we got to the "Tranquility Pool" it was dark. We enjoyed it anyways. On the walk back to the townhouse we saw fireflies! I have never seen one in true life. My only experience with them is on the Pirates ride at Disneyland. It was very cool!

The Keys are beautiful, just not what we were expecting. They are much more lake-like than tropical. Meaning there aren't really "beaches" to hang out on. We weren't too disappointed though because we knew that we were headed to some amazing beaches on the cruise. So we opted for the next best thing... the "Tranquility Pool".

We spent the whole day here. The whole day! It was wonderful. It was so hot though we would be in and out of the pool to stay cool. One of the times we were out of the pool, I was laying face down on my lounge chair and heard a strange noise. I looked up to see a giant iguana right under my face! I wasn't scared I know that they are harmless but it did interrupt my tranquility. All that he was really interested in was the last piece of fruit from lunch.

After a very strenuous day of lounging by the pool we needed some nourishment. We went to another highly recommended place called the Sunset Grille. It was an outdoors restaurant right on the water with an amazing view! After we had filled up on more delicious food we headed back to the resort where we called it a night.

The next morning as the girls were getting ready to head to the cruise ship Chet decided to head out back to try some fishing. He didn't catch anything but he sure looked cute trying.

All in all the Keys were very beautiful and relaxing but now I was ready for the tropical part of the trip. The Bahamas!!!

Mother's Day

I seriously have the best husband and kids. Saturday morning I woke up to breakfast in bed, cards and presents! Yes, Mother's Day came to our house on Saturday this year because we would be in Utah on the actual day and the kids would be with their grandparents so Chet decided we should celebrate Saturday before we left. I felt so loved and so special it brought tears to my eyes.

These are my cards that Chet and the kids gave me. I love that Liv's has Mickey's on it. Harris wrote his all by himself and told me that it was written in Spanish. :) If you take a close look at Chet's card you can see that some of it is underlined. My mom used to underline the parts that she thought were really important whenever she gave anyone a card. Chet always thought it was funny but being the good "son" that he is he does it too. ;)

My sweet Olivia made these for me at school. I absolutely love the painting! I am going to find a frame so that I can hang it in my bedroom. The bowl on the side is a paper plate that they cut up and drew on and then weaved it into a bowl. My daughter must really know me because she decorated it with "hidden Mickey's".  Can you see them? (she's so cute)

And last but not least is my new pride and joy! ;) My limited edition Dooney and Bourke Disneyland purse! Isn't it the cutest thing you have ever seen?! I am so spoiled. :)

It really was a great Mother's Day. I am so grateful for the opportunity to be a mom to two amazing kids and for my wonderful husband who works so hard so that I can stay home with them.

Celine Dion

One Friday in November 2007 I was listening to Christmas music on the radio and heard a commercial that Celine Dion tickets were going on sale the next morning. I was so excited I immediately called Chet and told him to check it out. He said that he was on it so I didn't think about it again until the next afternoon. I was like CRAP hurry and log on and get some tickets!!! Alas, they were sold out. I was sad but was ok because I didn't think that Chet would actually let me go because number one; he hates Celine and number two; tickets were like $150 bucks a seat! I forgot about it until one night we were watching TV and there was a commercial for a TV concert that she was going to be doing. I felt a twinge of pain because I did really want to go! (my mom always promised that she would take me and my sisters.) The night that the TV show was on I made Chet watch it with me. I started crying halfway through the show. (I didn't get to go with my mom and now I didn't get to go with Chet!) As I was sitting there crying, Chet said I have an early birthday present for you so that you will stop crying. He pulled up the email confirmation of the Celine Dion tickets that he had bought!!! I was shocked. He had heard way before I did that she was coming and signed up for the fan club so that he could get the tickets early! He was going to get them before I even told him! So 14 months later we got to go. (the pictures don't do justice to how close we were!)


She is so pretty and her voice is unbelievable! She did 5 costume changes! Each one was more beautiful than the one before!
It was a 360 degree stage. I was so cool! Different parts would move if she was standing on them and the very center of the stage would raise when she was on it!
She ended the show with "My Heart Will Go On" from "Titanic". Not my favorite song but still AMAZING!

2 in a row, Happy Birthday J-mo!

Well, well, 2 blog posts in a row for Chet...hot dog!

Anyway, I just wanted to post a short blog entry to wish my dear wife and friend, Jaime, a very happy birthday. I can't believe you are 29, I am sure this will be the first of many happy 29th birthdays!

I have seen this done in other blogs and thought I would copy. On Jaime's 29th birthday I thought I would share 29 things about my dear wife that you may (or may not) know.

Here it goes:

1. She is hilarious, especially when she doesn't mean to be. This one time she was trying to do her Severus Snape impression from the last Harry Potter movie. He says, "Obviously..." when it was mentioned that he didn't get the post of Professor of Defense against the Dark Arts, well Jaime was trying to do her impression of that voice and it came out unnaturally high-pitched. I thought it was hilarious, but reading this it doesn't sound quite so funny...

2. Sometimes she laughs so hard and uncontrollably that she starts bawling. Now, THAT is hilarious.

3. She has the most beautiful blue eyes I have ever seen. Some may even call them, "stumbling"...

4. She is a natural blonde...that has to have her hair colored to look it's natural color...

5. When we met she had a scrapbook of Keanu Reeves.

6. She also had a scrapbook of the Mazda Miata.

7. She is obsessed with Disneyland (most of you probably knew that one)

8. She loves Christmas (not too original, I know, but she really really does.)

9. She is an "animal person", meaning that she sometimes relates to animals easier than people.

10. She can be painfully shy.

11. She is an amazing homemaker.

12. She is a fantastic chef and cook. Almost every new recipe she has tried out on the family has been a success (the only real misfire would be the Polenta from last week...)

13. She is a big fan of high fashion and has greatly expanded my vocabulary with strange french and Italian designer names (Louboutin, Dior, Ferragamo etc.)

14. Her favorite Christmas movie is "Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas", look it up it is awesome.

15. Her favorite Halloween movie is "The Great Bear Scare", look it up it is soooooo lame.

16. She is most scared of Michael Myers, not Mike Myers from SNL but the scary mask-dude from the Halloween movies. Every year I threaten to purchase a Michael Meyers costume and wake her in the middle of the night while wearing the costume and brandishing a knife and every year she threatens to leave me if I do that...

17. She has an awesome talent where she can somehow lift a cup of ice cream by biting the side of the cup and raising her head...ask her about it some time, it is quite impressive.

18. She loves socks and slippers.

19. She would wear pajamas all day if it were socially acceptable.

20. She does not sleep well at night.

21. She is addicted to Pepsi, not to caffeine, mind you, but to Pepsi. (I know this because I used to substitute her regular fountain Pepsi with the caffeine-free version and she would never notice and it would seem to satisfy whatever weird cola craving she would be having)

22. She is soooo accident prone. I now have to supervise her when she uses sharp objects in the kitchen.

23. She is an expert gift-wrapper. It is probably hereditary.

24. She used to think that being a bastard meant that you didn't have a mom.

25. She also used to think that the Calvin Klein cologne, CK One, was a "bi-sexual" cologne. (She meant unisex, but in reality she probably wasn't that far off...)

26. She is a great gift-giver. She cares more than anyone I know about what gifts she gives to others at birthdays and Christmas.

27. She thinks that Pittsburgh is a state.

28. She sometimes suffers from "short-term memory". I think that is just when she remembers things that just recently happened...

29. She is the most intelligent, caring and beautiful person I have every met and I am honored and privileged to call her my trophy wife.

Happy Birthday Jaime, I love you always and forever.

Chet M.